I Just Couldn't Bring Myself to Do It

[Blood Jester]

...The Dwarven PC was subtly insulted all evening and eventually blew his cork, throwing a decanter of wine into an expensive oil painting and declaring that his host's ancestors were obviously pig farmers little better than the swine they raised, then stormed out. Yeah, they hated each other all right...

I've been on the recieving end of this type of 'fun' and you know what? It isn't.

It especially isn't when the 'heroic' PC can not respond.

So you basically twitted the Dwarf's player all through the dinner, and when he role-played an appropriate response, you set on a course to 'get' him.

I think the problem with this assassination started long before the actual event.

 

[BSF]

I've been on the recieving end of this type of 'fun' and you know what? It isn't.

It especially isn't when the 'heroic' PC can not respond.

So you basically twitted the Dwarf's player all through the dinner, and when he role-played an appropriate response, you set on a course to 'get' him.

I think the problem with this assassination started long before the actual event.

That may be true, but keep in mind that the dead son was another PC. That PC intentionally brought another PC to a dinner with his father. He knew that his father was a bigot and he still brought his friend along to raise his father's ire.

In character, the son was a jerk for subjecting his dwarf "friend" to the verbal abuse his father would dish out.

Out of character, surely the players were expecting all of this. They were playing the PCs true to character and possibly having a fun time with it.

Back to the OP: I probably would have let the PC die. It is harsh in a campaign without raising magic, but there are times when the death of a PC makes for a great story and cna provide RP opportunities for the other players as well.

So long as your group is having fun though, everything is good.

 

[fanboy2000]

Comparing and contrasting is always fun. Let's compare Blood Jester's statement:

I've been on the recieving end of this type of 'fun' and you know what? It isn't.

To Twofalls' statement:

the players left with smiles on their faces. Even the crippled PC's player thanked me.

Normaly, I'd agree with you Blood Jester, but Twofalls' players had fun. It's not like blackleaf died and her player committed suicide.

Twofalls, I hope you keep us posted on this. I'm curious to see how the assissan takes failing twice. I'm also curious to see if the party does something about the contract out on thier party members head.

 

[TheGemini]

<snip>...is a pretty harsh NPC. I mean, as I said, I wasn't at the table, but I hope the dwarf was severely rude and tactless to warrant such an NPC reaction (NPC reaction is equivalent to DM reaction). Technik

I don't want to get too far off topic, but I don't think what I'm about to say is really off topic at all if you think about it...

If you hold that NPC reaction is equivalent to DM reaction, then you insist that the DM is not allowed to simulate a legitimately disturbed/illogical NPC -- or even just a uniquely interesting NPC. It's the DM's job to come up with a variety of NPC's. Some of these won't make sense to you. You didn't grow up the physically abused, morally confused son of a harbor merchant in a fantasy setting -- you're not the leader of a gang of desert bandits -- and you're not a fearless, mysterious assassin trained to kill targets in hard-to-reach places.

The NPC's reactions SHOULD NOT BE the equivalent of the DM reaction. If it is, then you've got a DM with a very limited ability to suspend disbelief, who has difficulty establishing trust with the players, and who will develop increasingly boring and predictable adventures. You will have boxed him into a very restrictive comfort zone that will stifle creativity and enthusiasm. Either that, or he will "rebel" and makes things much less enjoyable for you.

Logically, you can never really tell the DM what an NPC would do in any given circumstance. Any more than you could predict what a criminal in the latest local news report did. "He was such a good neighbor, we had no idea he was capable of anything like this." What someone would do in a given circumstance is hardly an easy matter, and it's the DM's job to make those actions adventurous. There are crazy people in every world -- let your DM show you.

 

[twofalls]

I've been on the recieving end of this type of 'fun' and you know what? It isn't.

It especially isn't when the 'heroic' PC can not respond.

So you basically twitted the Dwarf's player all through the dinner, and when he role-played an appropriate response, you set on a course to 'get' him.

I think the problem with this assassination started long before the actual event.

Yes Blood Jester I can see how that would be uncomfortable for a player if they didn't expect it. Nino's player is a great guy with a really fun sense of humor (not silly, he's a great role-player). Grendel's player is more serious (plays the stubborn stoic Dwarf to the hilt) and a DM in his own right. Nino taking Grendel to his father's house was perfectly in character for his spoiled rich kid character. You identifing the events with a pesonal experience is perfectly reasonable, but I think the situations were different here. You are absolutly correct however iin saying that the problem with the Assassination started long before the actual event, even if not the way you meant.

Twofalls, I hope you keep us posted on this. I'm curious to see how the assissan takes failing twice. I'm also curious to see if the party does something about the contract out on thier party members head.

I've been thinking about this fanboy. First off thanks for expressing interest, I've been thinking about this a lot. Zoa is a big city, and its rife with politics so I can see an organized Assassins guild taking root there. This Assassin is supposed to be "really good" at his chosen profession. His mark escaping would be a business disaster for him. From the standpoint of what would be most fun for the players, I think they want to have vengeance on the Assassin and the Merchant.

I think what I'll do is have the Assassin follow the PC's to their next destination and strike again, giving them a better chance at catching him. I really don't think they will expect that, they seemed to believe they were leaving the danger of this situation behind them by leaving the city. I like reoccurring villains. I don't think the Assassin would make a good one because at some point the law of diminishing returns comes into play for a character like that. However Papas Calindrino is very wealthy, feels a strong desire for vengeance, and is difficult to touch. I think he'd make a great recurring villain.

Once the PC's gain more strength and experience they might be able to become a political factor that can directly confront the Calindrino's where it will hurt most, their power base in Zoa. We will see where it goes and what they want to do. And by the way, thanks for the support. You're check is in the mail.

 

[Technik4]

The NPC's reactions SHOULD NOT BE the equivalent of the DM reaction.

I agree, to an extent. However, if the DM is 'trying to teach the party a lesson about preparedness" or "reinforce that he is willing to kill PCs" then it IS the DMs reaction instead of the NPCs reaction, and most people seemed to laud twofalls for those characteristics rather than the charateristics of a well-played villainous NPC.

I do not insist that every NPC must be held to the DMs morals, psychology, beliefs, etc. DMs aren't evil (well not all of them ).

I certainly wouldn't tell a DM that he is playing an NPC wrong, but DMs can and do railroad characters, forcing things to happen. I'm not saying that happened here, but my comment about the dwarf deserving such a reaction is in the context of the game. If you are low-level and mind your own business and someone who hates you hires a potent expensive assasin (and you didnt get any clues it was coming), I think that is harsh. Again, that is not the case here, but I wasn't necessarily sure of that from the OP.

Technik

 

[twofalls]

I agree, to an extent. However, if the DM is 'trying to teach the party a lesson about preparedness" or "reinforce that he is willing to kill PCs" then it IS the DMs reaction instead of the NPCs reaction, and most people seemed to laud twofalls for those characteristics rather than the charateristics of a well-played villainous NPC.
Technik

Yeah, I wasn't really teaching any lessons here. These are experienced role-players who forgot to point out to me that they were increasing the guard on their ship. The party leader later told me that he assumed that it would be done... so if there was a lesson to be learned here I suppose it was to be more clear in their commnications to me as the GM.

 

[Sigurd]

Originally Posted by Planesdragon
The whole point of the game is PC action. When an NPC can destroy a PC without any real action, the whole point of the game is broken.

The point of the Dungeon Master's role is to be an impartial participant. Sounds like he played it very impartially and played the assassin very smartly, as fitting. It is the players' fault for not taking better precautions. I know that after surviving the first attack, the merchant would have some 'splanin to do . . .

You're both right

I'd have killed him. Or pulled him overboard with poison in his veins and 4-6 die rolls to determine his fate.

I try not to punish foolish play but neither should you reward it by scaling back yr attacks. They knew there were assassins after them - they might have at least blown town to let things clear.

 

[Andor]

1: Not used an assassin two levels higher than the party.

The whole point of the game is PC action. When an NPC can destroy a PC without any real action, the whole point of the game is broken.

A single character 2 levels above the party is too powerfull? It's a CR 6 encounter for a level 4 party. Nothing I'm familiar with in DnD requires NPCs to be either stupid or incomptant.

And DnD is not a pure action game. It can be. In those campaigns everything takes place in the dungeon, and the in town action is glossed over. But DnD can emcompass games of politics, of wit, of intrigue.

Frankly I think they fully deserved death for their complete lack of precaution. They made a powerfull enemy, knew an assasin was after them, and all they did was sleep in the same room? For the love of dice, they have a ship! Why didn't they anchor in the middle of the bay thus requiring the assasin to either row out to them, or swim? Why didn't they post a guard in the sleeping room? Why didn't they disguise the dwarf?

 

[Rel]

I think what you did was fine but I don't quite understand why you felt the need to pull your punch this time when you've thus far had no problems with PC's dying under unfortunate circumstances (such as the nasty jungle o' death).

I must agree with this:

It will always comes down to the one final roll; even in straight, open combat. One roll always has to be the last.

I get that you feel a bit bad with having the assassin stab the wounded dwarf in the dark and make his escape without the player ever having gotten to roll (except the Fort save vs. Coup de Grace). But that's really no different than a PC failing his Initiative roll and dying to a couple lucky crits in the opening round of a combat. Sometimes that's just the way the dice fall.

It doesn't sound like the player was crying foul on account of not having been able to prevent the death of the PC so I probably would have just let him be dead. There were clearly additional security measures that could have been taken to prevent this sort of thing. If I knew that my character had been targeted for assassination then I'd have been somewhat more careful about making sure that I was watched over, especially while I still hadn't recovered from the first attempt.

Still, it seems like a fine solution so long as it doesn't cause you problems down the line (like if the other players want to insist that they get to be "mostly dead" when their characters bite the dust). And I think that the setup for the whole situation seems very interesting. I like the idea of the racist and proud NPC and I even more like the "Rich Kid" PC rubbing his horrid father's nose in the fact that he was associating with a Dwarf. Very good characters all the way around.