Group problem

[Shallown]

Going to get help is not a bad idea and you shouldn't punish them for it... However... it is not always a good idea. so here are some ideas most already suggested I am just repeating for added support and to consolidate them.

1) make time an issue not every encounter they can plan on but on some.
2) if they have time to plan and recruit so do the bad guys.
3) information they act on to plan with changes over time. Make the enemy dynamic not static.
4) if they end up with dead hirelings then no one will work for them make reputation important.
5) conversely if they keep people alive and the rewards are good this attracts the unscrupulous (sp?)
6) Cost is always a factor
7) most people /guilds want their money up front and a reward so bleed the characters dry and no money = no help.
8) make what is going a big seceret.
additional comment - I am doing this in my game the characters are in a more or less secret war with the major bad guy organizations with the world at stake and i have them balanced with warnings that if they make it an open secret then the bad guys will have no choice to make it an open war and being evil they can do a lot outside the bounds of ethics, plagues, poisons etc they won't risk now for fear of being exposed. So even though the leaders of several nations know they aren't openly helping the characters in fear of it getting worse. I keep the game under control with real world (fantasy world anyways) reasons. It also makes for fun roleplaying when they meet the king/queen etc in secret and other agents as well.

Just a few borrowed/shared thoughts.

later

 

[Chondu]

Nobody likes a heavy handed DM....but sometimes players are just asking for a smackdown. I used to have a problem with a guy who had some sort of wierd wardog fetish. Every damn game it was "I buy a wardog", "How many wardogs can I get", "Where the wardogs at ?" Eventually I just had to wipe every damn wardog off the face of the planet with The Horrible Wardog Wasting Disease.

Now, I'm not suggesting you should have every hireling in the land drop dead, but once the combat starts they're fair game. After wasting enough money on fighters who get killed in the first round, 'scouts' who rob them blind, and healers who get excommunicated for having lusty thoughts about every barmaid they meet, your PCs will eventualy get the message.

 

[Creamsteak]

Re: Re: Re: Group problem

CS has a point, but if it turns out that the players are just being timid you may have to roleplay some more compelling reasons for them to take action. The time limit thing is good. Getting the proverbial clock ticking, or failure being the alternative, is about the best way to get quick results.

Yep. I just took one of three or four different perspectives I had. I could have went with the, "you should know better!" approach and get myself alienated. My first post to the boards was basically the same as this thread, I was complaining about my airship obsessed half-dragon githyanki PCs that started at level 1 in a mid level game.

 

[Numion]

Nobody likes a heavy handed DM....but sometimes players are just asking for a smackdown. I used to have a problem with a guy who had some sort of wierd wardog fetish. Every damn game it was "I buy a wardog", "How many wardogs can I get", "Where the wardogs at ?" Eventually I just had to wipe every damn wardog off the face of the planet with The Horrible Wardog Wasting Disease.

Now, I'm not suggesting you should have every hireling in the land drop dead, but once the combat starts they're fair game. After wasting enough money on fighters who get killed in the first round, 'scouts' who rob them blind, and healers who get excommunicated for having lusty thoughts about every barmaid they meet, your PCs will eventualy get the message.

I like some of these ideas. Since the hired mercs don't know their level, and may consider themselves "experienced" at level 2, good PCs should be horrified to notice they've brought low-level henchmen into far too deadly situations. And maybe they'd learn something.

LOL at that story of the wardogs! (I guess it wasn't funny to you though... )