D&D General Not enjoying the urban adventure I'm running

[Dioltach]

First time the PCs go running to the guards: "OK, let's see what the fuss is."
Second time: "You again ...?!"
Third time: "You lot are troublemakers, either you leave our city or you get locked up."

 

[Maxperson]

I was worried about this before it started and it's actually worse than I feared. My worry was that, with an entire town of NPCs to pester, the PCs would be constantly talking to anyone and everyone making planning for an upcoming session quite hard. The worse part is that they (reasonably) keep expecting the powers that be to sort out their problems. In the most recent session, one of the party got taken prisoner by the local gang and after discussing possible options amongst themselves they went with going to the city guard to help them recover their comrade. Absolutely reasonable and, of course, no self-respecting city guard person is going to ignore a cry for help (and it doesn't help that one of the PCs was a member of the city watch, so has contacts). But they're doing it a lot and it's a bit frustrating.

Now I certainly didn't help myself by having them going up against a gang that is much more powerful than them (they're level 3) but instead of trying the softly, softly, sneaky, sneaky approach they went running to the guard for backup (again entirely reasonably to choose that option, but it turns them into bystanders). Amusing anecdote, they tried this a couple of sessions ago when they discovered the identity of a villain (and left a mess in the process) and then while they were off rounding up the constabulary, the villain returned discovered that their lair had been ransacked and made their escape, and is now plotting their revenge... I thought that might have learned them...)

So (and I realize I'm opening myself up to a lot of criticism here) what, if anything, can I do about this? And is this the norm for urban adventures where NPC aid is around pretty much every corner?

Keep applying consequences, only spell them out more clearly. In the case of this gang, it's unlikely that the guard captured all that many of them if it's that powerful, so the gang is still going to be a terrible power in the city. Have a note delivered to the PCs, either by a courier or placed in their rooms in an envelope. Have it say something to the effect of, "It was a mistake going to the cops over this. Next time we won't take a prisoners or leave body parts." Then let them worry for a while. Give the party enough time to gain enough levels to have a chance before bringing the gang back for revenge.

 

[Maxperson]

Well not quite, where I live the patrols are always at least two cops (except in unusual circumstances)
The reasons for this are manifold, as simple as four eyes see more than two, one can concentrate on observing / stopping the traffic/ radio operation while the other steers the vehicle.
But there is more to that: Despite the fact that one police witness outweighs two civilian witnesses two police witnesses are hard to top if anything goes to court.
The other thing is: you are never alone, if you break the rules on duty there is always someone who could possibly rat on you later on. So much on loyalty amongst the troops, it does exist but it is not a must.

Even modern police forces aren't always likely to do much. This is a true story.

My wife and I were driving to one of the local malls here in Los Angeles. As we were approaching it in the right lane, a cop had stopped a vehicle and was writing a ticket. He waved the Mercedes in front of us around him, and I was getting ready to look behind me at traffic so I could go around, all 4 doors to the Mercedes fly open and 6 or 7 kids between the ages of 12 and 15 fly out and start running down the sidewalk.

Amazingly, the cop who was about 10 feet away from this didn't notice as he was writing the ticket. I got out of my car and was like, "Excuse me!" The cop looked up at me and saw the now empty Mercedes with 4 doors still open. I said, "I think this car was stolen" and pointed at the kids running away. The cop looked at the kids running away for about 15 seconds until they disappeared down an alley and was like, "Hmm. I'll call this in in a bit. Would you two please wait so I can talk to you?" He then looked down towards where the kids ran one more time and then finished writing the ticket.

After he finished, he came over and asked us for descriptions, which is when I found out the differences between myself and my wife. I was able to tell him ages, faces, hair and eye colors for a good number of these kids, but when it came to what they were wearing I was at a total loss. My wife on the other hand couldn't describe any of those things, but was like, "One had a navy hoodie on, jeans and blue Nikes. Another had a grey hoodie, ripped jeans and was wearing Converse. A third had a <insert rock band> T-shirt on..." Between us we did a good job describing these kids.

After it was done I asked him if he was going to do anything about the kids and he said, "Nope." I asked why and the cop said, "Because I'm alone and we are instructed never to go into a potentially dangerous situation without backup. Besides, I'm 6 months from retirement and I'm not going to do anything that would jeopardize that." Then he said we could go and started poking around inside the Mercedes.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Thief Takers

The thief takers of the 17th-18th century where MASSIVELY corrupt, often bringing in perfectly innocent people for reward money, or because they refused to bribe them.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I have only skimmed the replies to this but in my opinion in situations like this to give agency to the party I would give them power in the city. Make the party part of the governing hierarchy. In your outlined situation make the watch commander deputise the party on the grounds that he/she does not have the resources but give then a warrant to sort it out themselves and may be some henchmen to help.

 

[robus]

I would wrap the adventure up as quickly as possible - perhaps with a TPK - and start an adventure of a type you do like. It sounds to me like your players aren't to keen to play it as designed ether, so they probably won't object.

One observation, this ties into the "Tropes that are totally wrong" thread. In a standard D&D pseudo-medieval setting there should be no cops. Even the "city watch" trope is an anachronism. The local lord and his henchmen would be responsible for dealing out what justice there is, and that would come down to the wealth and status of the complainant. Indeed the local governance is probably more like an organised crime gang itself, handing out protection in exchange for gold.

I'm running it for some college kids so it's going to end before summer anyway. So I'm not worried about it long term. Just frustrated in the moment that it's not going well.

 

[Todd Roybark]

I would wrap the adventure up as quickly as possible - perhaps with a TPK

My friends and I refer to this as “The Flood Option”.
I personally, am not a fan of being a Palpatine DM:

It sounds to me like your players aren't to keen to play it as designed ether

Wait, so the players approach a game scenario in an unexpected manner....so kill Them?

I know I have taken some Flak, for advocating ‘not giving up on games’. Even with rough transitions and missteps, 2nd or 3rd acts in a campaign, can become rather awesome, if given time.

If my advice is at one end of the bell curve, the above referenced quotes must represent the opposite pole.

Paul, all seriousness aside, you must be one stern Maths teacher!

“James, you missed at step...time for the brass knuckles.”

 

[tommybahama]

The worst advice is to TPK and start over. If you have to do that then you are the problem, not your players.

You can have the guards direct them to some NPC that can help them and give them guidance on how you want them to deal with those situations. Like they say in horse training, make the right things easy and the wrong things difficult. Once they fix the problem they are in with the help of the NPC then have him send them on a minor quest far away from the city. Problem solved.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

My friends and I refer to this as “The Flood Option”.

I refer to it as the other end of the Blake's 7 campaign.

Wait, so the players approach a game scenario in an unexpected manner....so kill Them?

As a teacher, I know there is a difference between creative thinking and acting up because of boredom. And this sounds like acting up, not creative thinking, to me.

And in this situation the DM has allowed themselves to be talking into doing something that should not have been possible - there should not have been any cops for the players to run to, and what authorities do exist should have been less capable of dealing with the problem than the PCs.

Urban/detective based adventures take a lot of prep and a lot of thinking on your feat to run successfully. There is a reason for the popularity of dungeons - they are nice and easy to run. I have found myself in the situation of having to play Xanatos speed chess against the players as the villain responded to the actions of the PCs.

 

[Coroc]

Even modern police forces aren't always likely to do much. This is a true story.

My wife and I were driving to one of the local malls here in Los Angeles. As we were approaching it in the right lane, a cop had stopped a vehicle and was writing a ticket. He waved the Mercedes in front of us around him, and I was getting ready to look behind me at traffic so I could go around, all 4 doors to the Mercedes fly open and 6 or 7 kids between the ages of 12 and 15 fly out and start running down the sidewalk.

Amazingly, the cop who was about 10 feet away from this didn't notice as he was writing the ticket. I got out of my car and was like, "Excuse me!" The cop looked up at me and saw the now empty Mercedes with 4 doors still open. I said, "I think this car was stolen" and pointed at the kids running away. The cop looked at the kids running away for about 15 seconds until they disappeared down an alley and was like, "Hmm. I'll call this in in a bit. Would you two please wait so I can talk to you?" He then looked down towards where the kids ran one more time and then finished writing the ticket.

After he finished, he came over and asked us for descriptions, which is when I found out the differences between myself and my wife. I was able to tell him ages, faces, hair and eye colors for a good number of these kids, but when it came to what they were wearing I was at a total loss. My wife on the other hand couldn't describe any of those things, but was like, "One had a navy hoodie on, jeans and blue Nikes. Another had a grey hoodie, ripped jeans and was wearing Converse. A third had a <insert rock band> T-shirt on..." Between us we did a good job describing these kids.

After it was done I asked him if he was going to do anything about the kids and he said, "Nope." I asked why and the cop said, "Because I'm alone and we are instructed never to go into a potentially dangerous situation without backup. Besides, I'm 6 months from retirement and I'm not going to do anything that would jeopardize that." Then he said we could go and started poking around inside the Mercedes.

Yes in the states it is different sometimes. Where i live cops are state servants for lifetime, no short education a bit training on the job and then you are set of for the streets and it is hire and fire for deputies and the like. But here in Germany it is three years of police academy and a fundamental study of all things necessary.

On your example: tbh depending on the car that gets stolen, if it would happen to me i normally would not want it back, better cash in insurance. You do not know at all if the thieves ruined your motor or something else on their joyride.

Juvenile car thieves are a nuisance, but the biggest danger from them is not the potential finacial loss for some insurance company, but them eventually endangering other people in traffic or overreacting when the law busts them. So i can totally understand your cop, it really just is not worth it.
If caught, they get a few month in jail, where they are together with, and learn to be like real pro criminals , and after that they get back on the streets and get themselves a new tattoo and nothing is the better.