Help a new DM

[BENINHB]

My players are about to finish their current mission and i am working on what comes next.

They have to hunt down and take a ledger from a debt collector in the employ of the BBEG.

What i need help with is figuring in out how to make this an adventure, I don't want it completed with a quick gather information check, i want them to work to track this guy down and then leave options open to them to Fight/Kill/Trick/Bargain with him once they find him.

I'm thinking a scavenger hunt style plan. So they start to gather info on this guy, bartender says you should go talk to that Dwarf he's a black smith, Dwarf says "I'm awful thirsty and my throat is too dry for much talking." The PC's bring him a drink and he say "I'm only the assistant smith you need to talk to my boss, the shop i work at is over there", they go to the blacksmith shop and talk to the clerk at the front of the store, he says the Head Smith is far to busy working for PAYING customer to be bother with personal questions. PC's either bribe/intimidate the clerk or buy something from the store or Bluff a question about the specifics of a weapons construction or something to get past the clerk to the owner of the shop. The Boss is offended that strangers and asking him about his debts and then its either a Diplo check or fight. After the fight (if he's still alive) he tells about his debt, the debt collector, the last time he saw him and some of the other businesses in town the Debt collector has called on. ETC...

Something along these lines, if you have any thoughts or experience to add I would appreciate it. I have already had a couple of mission completely de-railed but unforeseen PC actions that i wasn't prepared for.

Oh BTW the party consists of...
Hexblade5
Rogue3/Swash2
Ranger5
Barb5
Scout4 (+1LA)
Spelltheif1/BattleMage4

 

[BENINHB]

Looking back i just explained what i'm planing without emphasis on my question.

How can i make this feel like THEY are hunting this guys down and not just being railroaded along by me??

Never used Gather Information in my game either, any tips on what to prepare??

 

[IronWolf]

The idea sounds good, but the path you expect them to take sounds a bit rigid. As you've noted, PCs are really good at taking actions you never expected. I believe the key to minimize unexpected actions derailing a plot is flexibility.

Say A is the starting point and E is where they ultimately need to end up. During planning and design, don't think the party has to do A to get to B to get to C to get to D to finally get to E. But think of it in a manner that they start at A, but can get more information from any number of people to ultimately end up at E.

So I would suggest coming up with a couple of information paths to track down where the debt collector is at. You have the blacksmith route already outlined, but what if the PCs end up getting in a bar fight with the assistant and he gets hauled off by the local authorities before being able to give out info? Or what if they get to the blacksmith and that goes poorly and they end up killing him? To keep those events from causing problems you need another way or two or three for the PCs to track down the info.

This allows the PCs to feel like they can talk to any number of people and possibly get useful info, that helps make the world feel a little bigger and more alive. It also gives you more flexibility if during one of the information gathering paths they completely blow getting the information you thought they would get from some of those NPCs.

 

[Animal]

of course your players will have to spends lots of time dealing with scavenger hunt and fedex quests. but will they have fun? i know i wouldn't.
why won't you make up a real detective story instead of boring crpg-style quest chains?
for example, the said debt collector is kidnapped by someone from the third side of conflict (local powerful thieves guild) or is just lying low trying to hide. leave some clues for the players in the place where he was last seen and let them work their way forward. just don't make them fetch beers for thirsty smiths.

 

[Gilladian]

This kind of encounter is where I would make a flowchart. Give each potential resource they can question a positive outcome and a negative outcome (ie, they succeed at bribing the guy on the counter/ fail to intimidate him).

For each outcome, you need to know what can happen. If they get past the obstacle, they get to talk to the head smith. If they fail, they get thrown out/leave the shop. But where do they go from there? You might leave it entirely up to them, or you might hint at possible solutions. I'd expect the PCs to do one of three things:
1) find another way into the shop (or send another fresh PC in to try again)
2) wait for the NPC to leave work at the end of the day and follow him to his favorite tavern/home and try talking to him there
3) notice the beggar who sits across the street from the smithy every day and is willing to chat for a few coins.

ALWAYS give the PCs a loose thread to pull on. Keep describing the surroundings, including the hint/clue you want them to pick up on. Have the beggar approach a PC himself, if they don't notice him.

NEVER assume the PCs will do the logical thing and "bring the guy a drink". Instead, teh cleric may create water over his head, soaking him down; or the rogue may pass him a waterskin spiked with everclear, etc...

Be flexible and ready to change your plans and get them back on one of the flowchart paths without being rigid about it...

 

[BENINHB]

Thanks for your help

I like that idea, I can write out 10 or 12 different people they might talk to and the consequences of their interactions. Then the players can jump from person to person in any order they want and I'll be prepared.

Your right, I could tell my way was going to be really ridged. That is why i came on here asking for help ; )

@Animal, that would be interesting but sounds like a bigger investment of time than this part of the story needs. Infiltrating a thieves seems like a multi session adventure. This is just suppose to be a little filler that gives the players a chance to RP and use some of their social skill points while poking around town. I don't intend for this to take more than a quarter session.