D&D (2024) Amnesia Sequence Yea/Nay?

[Shadowdweller00]

So in an upcoming session in the campaign I'm presently running, the PCs are approaching the hidden stronghold of a heretofore unknown faction. This group is generally hostile and unfriendly to outsiders, but not to the point of being murderous or attack-on-sight. First and foremost they wish to remain secret. One possible option I have been considering would be to have a fugue or amnesia sequence where the PCs find themselves wandering away from the area in question, with blurry memories of fighting and being interrogated by.... SOMEone. And having been threatened not to return. The in-game justification would be that the PCs were eventually captured by the faction, and drugged with a memory-inhibiting poison. EDIT: Also, to clarify, despite my use of the word Amnesia I'm NOT actually suggesting that the PCs forget who they are; just what they had been up to for a few days

Pros -

• Preserves the mystery a while longer
• Requires less prep work on my part
• Pre-empts the possibility of the PCs getting themselves in a fight they can't actually handle
• Doesn't waste time on a fight the PCs are likely to lose, which might not be fun.

Cons -

• Violates player agency
• Nothing really to stop the PCs from just going back.
• Heavy-handed / unsubtle

My main question is this: If such a thing happened to YOU in a game, dear reader, would it be an unpleasant experience? Or an intriguing mystery? Or....something else? I consider the violation of player agency a pretty major issue.

EDIT: Because I kinda flipped the wording of the title and underlying question, please keep in mind that
Yes = unpleasant = NAY
No = pleasant or at least acceptible = YEA
Thanks for your help!

 

[Deset Gled]

Cons -

• Violates player agency
• Nothing really to stop the PCs from just going back

Neither of these really bother me. But my bigger concern is that amnesia as a plot device is just, well, cheap. It's a plot point for hacks and soap operas. That being said, you can get away with it exactly once. Ever. If you do this with a group, never pull anything like it again with any of the players, even if you game with them for decades.

 

[briggart]

Neither of these really bother me. But my bigger concern is that amnesia as a plot device is just, well, cheap. It's a plot point for hacks and soap operas. That being said, you can get away with it exactly once. Ever. If you do this with a group, never pull anything like it again with any of the players, even if you game with them for decades.

I think your second point strongly depends on your group. My players drink amnesia inducing potions between every session.

 

[Shadowdweller00]

But my bigger concern is that amnesia as a plot device is just, well, cheap. It's a plot point for hacks and soap operas. That being said, you can get away with it exactly once. Ever. If you do this with a group, never pull anything like it again with any of the players, even if you game with them for decades.

I expect that my games regularly feature a bit of soap-opera level melodrama. I try my best, but....

 

[Ombre29]

As a player, I don't mind the Dm's tricks as long as the story is eventually great (and will be remembered).

 

[Clint_L]

Seems lazy…which you already allude to, so that’s not news. Also, if it’s a fight the players are unlikely to win, then why have it there, unless there’s a way around it?

It’s a very railroad-ish device.

 

[Shadowdweller00]

Also, if it’s a fight the players are unlikely to win, then why have it there, unless there’s a way around it?

Because not everyone and everything in the game world is expected to be defeated in combat?

This is more of a case where the PCs could potentially win a skirmish against a few members of this faction; but not a full assault...or accidental full alert of those guarding an entire stronghold. The PCs could absolutely just avoid the place and the faction, if they wanted to and knew it was there. But their present avenue of exploration is going to lead them there.

Negotiation is certainly an option if I choose to go the non-drugging route. Part of the issue with that that I would need to work through is that I want to portray the faction as uncaring and favoring the most expedient route that would preserve their secrecy. And I don't think "just letting the PCs go if they promise not to tell" fits that concept. But drugging them so that they can't actually remember does. Trying to disguise the full nature of the faction might work. As might a prison escape. I tend to imagine that the faction would be leery of execution / long term imprisonment of the PCs because they have no way of knowing whether missing people would result in others coming to look for them.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

As most of the responses above indicate, it's going to depend on your players. So I wouldn't use it on players I didn't already know. My bigger concern is its a cliché, especially in CRPGs.

 

[DrJawaPhD]

I voted "Other" because I wouldn't have a huge problem with your scenario as a player, but I wouldn't really like it much either - it just feels really unnecessary and doesn't sound like it would even add anything interesting to the story.

If you want to preserve the mystery then just don't have the players find the stronghold until you're ready to reveal it in the story. It's literally that easy. The stronghold doesn't exist to the players until you reveal it, so there's no reason to blindside your players with confusing amnesia shenanigans to keep something hidden when you could just not reveal the info in the first place. If you want to add to the mystery and plant some story hooks for later, then have them spot clues like tracks or shadowy figures watching them from the bushes, that sort of thing.

 

[Clint_L]

Because not everyone and everything in the game world is expected to be defeated in combat?

Perhaps read my entire sentence.