D&D 5E Candlekeep Mysteries: Mazfroth’s Mighty Digressions ethics issues

[Oofta]

They aren't going to "come quietly" under any circumstances. Negotiation or death are pretty much the only options available to the PCs. And they are too powerful for "the authorities" to deal with in any case.

As for punishing them, cui bono?

They could also be subdued with non-lethal damage. Not my call how you run your campaign's justice system, or lack therein.

Again, I'm done so I'm not going to reply to you either on this subject, we're just repeating the same things and I don't see the point.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

They could also be subdued with non-lethal damage.

It's a tough enough fight without holding back. And the moral situation is changed if the people you are fighting are trying to kill you.

Not my call how you run your campaign's justice system, or lack therein.

The Flaming Fist mercenary company is still the canon law enforcement in Baldur's Gate. And they are more concerned with order than law. It's pretty much required that any region with adventurers is fairly lawless, and any amount of pseudo-medievalism is going to favour pragmatism over a complex code. The Elizabethans went in for state sponsored piracy.

Again, I'm done so I'm not going to reply to you either on this subject, we're just repeating the same things and I don't see the point.

Just making the point that your attempt to be dismissively simplistic is inappropriate. There are multiple right answers.

 

[FrozenNorth]

Crimes. Fraudulently selling a shapechanger as a book is the first one. The next charge is more serious. Sooner or later the starving shapechanger will eat the first thing it encounters, likely a person. I'd categorize it as attempted second degree murder or possibly reckless endangerment.

Second degree murder as defined here

• An unplanned, intentional killing (reacting in the heat of the moment when angry)
• A death caused by a reckless disregard for human life

Cool. Aren’t the PCs guilty of exactly the same crime if the kill the Amberdune group within the walls of Baldur’s Gate? (Yes, yes they are).

There is no self-defense when you actively go to someone’s hideout and kill them for selling fake books (even dangerous ones). Pre-emptive self-defense isn’t a thing either.