Help! My players are driving the plot!

[Doug McCrae]

Bah! Those players aren't driving the plot. They're just following the clues they think you laid for them. Now if instead of tracking down the criminal they'd decided, out of the blue, to set up a black lotus smuggling operation using the Greenwald bakeries as a cover - that would be driving the plot.

 

[smetzger]

Ooh, Ooh I got it. The elemental was a side effect of the Cult of the Elder Elental Eye getting one step closer to the fulfilment of their ultimate goal. Now just a few more bread crumbs and get them to Homlet by the time they are 4th level and you can run RttToEE.

 

[Boddynock]

Just a thought - what if the fire started through natural causes (coal slipping from fireplace, candle knocked over, whatever ...) and destroyed a spellbook which was the loot from the aforementioned heist. A spellbook which was trapped with a Summon Monster spell - hence the fire elemental!

Now, whose was the book? Why was it stolen? Are they going to want it back? - are they ever! And what responsibility does the party have for this outrage perpetrated upon the august mage's person?

Just a thought!

'Nock

 

[arscott]

Three day's later, An air elemental starts wreaking havok near the outskirts of town. This one isn't a fluke. It's been summoned by a cabal of elementalists to assassinate the cheif magistrate.

The cabalists strike again two days later, this time sending a water elemental to kill the head of the merchant's guild.

Two days after that, the cabal sends an earth elemental to kill the captian of the city guard.

After fighting the four elementals, your players think they're out of hot water, but they're not. The first fire elemental was a fluke, drawn to the scene by the burning building. And two days later, the cabalists send a fire elemental to attack the mayor, while simultaniously attacking in person those targets that the PCs have managed to save.

 

[sword-dancer]

He only appeared to be drunk, in fact he was poisoned/enspelled to immobilize him so that he could be murdered & disposed of in the fire.
.

Or he was drunk and someone decided to use the possibilitie in a quick strike, or someone detected the pcs and decided to cut the lose end.
Perhaps this someone or so had hired him for something in the past(a day or a week or so) , and consiedered it possible that he get knowledge of something important.

 

[derelictjay]

Well, what if the halfling is an assassin, after the missing tenant. The missing tenant releases the fire elemental, while the tenant makes good on his escape. The robber, well all he is is a lead-in to a larger conspiricy between to evil groups vying for power in the city, that will unfold as the PCs continue their investigation.

 

[Castellan]

I appreciate all of the advice and suggestions.

I hadn't initially considered the rescued halfling to be anything other than an opportunity for the PCs to heroically rescue someone (incidentally, during this part of the adventure, one of the PCs stepped on some weakened floorboards and nearly fell through to the ground floor -- only the quick reflexes of one of the other party members was able to keep that from happening!). However, the few questions the cleric PC asked of the halfling didn't do anything to establish or refute the halfling's potential involvement.

I think I'll mull this part over a bit. I like rat-bastardly things like revealing that the person they so valiantly rescued was actually the perpetrator. Might be a nice development!

Thanks!

 

[The Shaman]

The fire elemental had been the familiar of a wizard who stayed in the apartments. After the wizard died, the fire elemental remained, hiding out in fireplaces, stoves and the like.

It attacked the players who were about to accidentally discover the (insert Macguffin of your choice here) that the wizard hid behind a stone in the fireplace...

 

[taliesin15]

first as to players say the darndest things, I have also been using their bizarre suggestions too--especially if it involves whining--the sorceror with a 1 in Alchemy whining that the gnome with a score of 9 was getting all the credit for identifying magical elixirs (later I have the gnome all crying that he never gets any credit)--the ultra suspicious Elf Druid is constantly barraged by other Elves and Druids giving her gifts and compliments...

as to this situation, what if the small Fire Elemental was summoned to this building entirely by mistake? I think folks forget to put a dose of stupid/incompetent behavior--most crime (acc to police) is some form of stupid/incompetent--I love to have Orcs & Goblins alternate between settting deadly traps and stupid/incompetent traps--I think its more realistic--in this case its probably a midlevel mage struggling to get the summoning done right (or say teleport) and just thought it never worked (maybe afterwards he's laying low)

and maybe what drew the elemental was a gem that the hafling owned or the rogue stole or someone traded for at some huge outdoor market, they just don't suspect its a Gem of Fire Elemental Summoning, they think its a 50 gp Garnet (never having done Detect Magic, speakin of stupid/incompetent )

 

[mythusmage]

An ordinary coincidence, the sort of thing that only happens in real life. The building's owner was having it torched for the insurance money, but the authorities got there too quick. The thief was there for an entirely different reason. You know, the sort of thing a publisher would reject as being too pat.