Freeport DMs Plot Help! (Spoilers!)

[Gizzard]

SPOILERS!

OK, my players are nearing the end of the second module, Terror in Freeport.

They've worked themselves into a bit of a corner; they are extremely paranoid after finding The Secrete Historie and after being betrayed and thrown in the Crusher. They are moving very slowly and cautiously and they are alienating potential allies with a "if you ain't in the party, I can't trust you" attitude.

Worse, it seems like the events of the final part of the module need to take place within hours of each other, and once the lower temple is invaded the clock is set in motion. My players have cleaned out the lower temple (and taken Egil "prisoner" in their paranoia!) and now they want to retreat and regroup.

So, what to do? In a small sense, I wonder how to re-jigger the plot so it matches with their actions. It seems somewhat likely that they will not investigate V's house for several days; perhaps they never will.

In a larger sense, how can I get them back into a heroic mode? They seem to be in a downward spiral; every time they ignore or mistreat an NPC with valuable information or abilities they end up missing clues or making life harder for themselves. How can I show them what they are missing out on without just jacking them -- "Ha! First you trusted X and he screwed you! Then you didn't trust Y and he had a widget you needed to complete the module! Now you are totally hosed. Ha ha ha!."

 

[Gizzard]

This question is just too specific, isn't it? Yet too general. Difficult to answer.

OK, let me try and refocus it a bit:

Sometimes parties have little bouts of paranioa, especially when dealing with shapechangers, possession or even traps. How do you (or your DM) break this mode and encourage your heroes to act decisively?

Maybe even more specific: if the scenario is timed, how do you let your players know?

 

[MeepoTheMighty]

You could always just let them fail. Nothing says the heroes need to save the world every single time.

 

[Gizzard]

You could always just let them fail. Nothing says the heroes need to save the world every single time.

I've considered letting them fail at this mission; though if they can't find or make an ally pretty soon then they're going to get driven out of town by the combined might of the people they've offended / annoyed / opposed. Being driven out isn't the end of the world, I could restart a new (less political) adventure somewhere else. More smashing, less diplomacy.

Still, I was hoping to find a good trick to get them back on the right track. Normally, a trusted NPC can come to them with information and give them a nudge, but now that their motto is "Trust No One" that approach is on the wane.

They're essentially paralyzed; double-overthinking everything that happens. "...Now, a clever man would put the poison into his own goblet, because he would know that only a great fool would reach for what he was given. I am not a great fool, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But you must have known I was not a great fool, you would have counted on it, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me!... "

 

[Psychotic Jim]

Resorting to Underhanded, Dirty, and Manipulative Tricks

Since they are so paranoid and won't listen to reason, you may have to resort to some underhanded, rat-bastard, manipulative DM tricks to get the adventureWell, since they don't trust anybody, perhaps you can use that to your advantage. Have some NPC they mis-trust to sugguest going to a place you don't want them to go, anyplace but Verlaine's house. Maybe try sending some armed thugs sent by opponents of Verlaine (or perhaps Milton Drac himself) to warn the PCs that their investigations are known about and that they should steer clear of all of this and leave Verlaine alone. The PCs might instinctively believe that Verlaine actually sent the goons to stop them and decide to investigate Verlaine's house. You might want to avoid having them wear Verlaine's "V" as it might seem to obvious to the PCs that they are being duped into breaking into Verlaine's house.
Or you could recommend the characters starting to use some information gathering abilities. The PCs should be about the right level to cast Divination spells like Detect Thoughts or Augury or Zone of Truth . These spells might put them on the right track.

 

[Gizzard]

Have some NPC they mis-trust to sugguest going to a place you don't want them to go, anyplace but Verlaine's house.

Ah, the old reverse psychology. ;-) It could work, though subtly hinting about Zone of Truth and Augury is maybe a better long term solution. I imagine there will be a period where they Augury every possible action, but at least they would eventually drift back and be confident in their adventuring.

 

[drnuncheon]

[HUGE SPOILERS AHEAD! EVEN BIGGER THAN THE ONES ALREADY SEEN!]




















Let's see. If I remember right, the purpose of the encounter at Verlaine's house was to frame the PCs for Verlaine's murder. Thus, if they don't go investigate, the first time they will be aware of this is when everyone starts looking for them for murder. That ought to put them on the track towards wanting to clear their name, especially if you make it very difficult for them to leave the city.

If you're going to do that, though, you may want to have someone opposing Drac try to contact them, to give them a chance to get the information that they otherwise would have learned at the Sea Lord's Ball in the beginning of Madness. Otherwise, you're going to have your hands full trying to get that to them so that they know who is /really/ behind things.

J

 

[Gizzard]

SPOILERS:
SPOILERS:
SPOILERS:

If I remember right, the purpose of the encounter at X's house was to frame the PCs for X's murder.

Yes, well, it's a short, sad story, but the party gave their opponents a very sweet opportunity to frame them earlier in the adventure. Half of them ended up in jail; half of them on the lam in the town. I stitched that deviation back together by having Brother Egil come with a writ from Thuron etc to have the prisoners released from the Tower of Justice. If you know what I mean. ;-)

So they're already in up to their necks in trouble. They've gone above and beyond in annoying Verlaine; they are convinced Thuron (Secret Historie) also is up to something. They are boggled by Egil, so much so that he is currently tied up. Captain Lydon (Holiday in the Sun) is currently the only one who they have good relations with.

Thus, if they don't go investigate, the first time they will be aware of this is when everyone starts looking for them for murder.

The problem here is that the villians have big plans in motion. If they were to successfully frame the PCs for X's murder, it would imply that they also had succeeded at other parts of their plans. That the PCs had been "out of the loop" while big stuff happened.

I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve; I'm hoping it won't come down to it, but I fear that they may miss the whole end of the module. (And the beginning of Madness as you point out.)

Here's the situation in Freeport-specific terms: 1) they did not search Temple 2, therefore they did not find any clues contradicting their current assumptions, 2) no information is being exchanged with Egil due to mutual distrust, they are missing those clues which might also cause them to reconsider, 3) Nikko fled Temple 2 up the secret stairs, setting in motion the final part of the adventure, 4) the party decided not to pursue Nikko.

Does that look ominous for our heroes? ;-) I think so. I suspect that the bad guys can carry out the final part of their plans unopposed, which is bad news.

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Thanks to all for the brainstorming. Each new idea gives me more options to play with, and since I expect things to diverge rapidly in the next session, I need all the options I can get!