PCs vs. The Law -- my players stay out!!

[Elephant]

First, play through the trial. If the PCs make the Diplomacy checks, the "Sea Lord is an evil cultist!" defense will work - but the DCs will be high in order to get the Zone of Truth/Commune/etc spells rolling, given their foe's political standing. More likely, their defense fails and they get the death sentence - hung, drawn, and quartered with cremation afterwards.

Next: They rot in the gaol for a week. If you want to be lenient, give them a chance to escape using the old "sick prisoner" routine - or they could take a page from Lone Wolf and hide at the bottom of the cell door. When a guard comes to check on them, he doesn't see them and stupidly opens the door to get a better look. Escape time!

If they don't manage to escape, they die. Campaign over.

 

[Vraille Darkfang]

Just came up with a 'Save the Campaign Idea'!

SOMEBODY else completes the module as stated. While the PC's rot in jail awaiting exectuion, some other band of adventures save the day!

This other band manages to uncover the plot, expose the Sea Lord publicly & become elected the new Sea Lords & Ladies.

They get all the glory, all the adoration, all the treasure, & all the rewards.

Your PC's get to fight rats over gruel.

Afterwards, the 'New' Sea lord brings them forward out of their stinking holes & tells them how they were, indeed right about the Sea Lord. Blah, Blah, trully brave, yadda, yadda, if things had gone differently....

Then he mentions the innocent deaths of the guards. For this crime, he cannot simply let them go, but rather than kill them, they will instead simply face banishment from Freeport, upon pain of life-long Imprisonment if they should return. Also, the new Sea Lord keeps all their stuff 'to recompense the fallen soldiers' families'.

Or, the new Sea Lord may make them 'indedured servants of the Crown'. Makes them virtual lackeys of the new government until they have attoneed for their crimes in the eyes of the new Sea Lord.

That Option allows you to continue to use any Freeport accessories you might have.

later,

 

[Andor]

Heh, the discussion of raise dead and punishment reminds me of a bit from World Tree where a criminal was beaten to death and healed and burned to death and healed and drowned and then (since he hadn't actually caused any harm) was healed one more time and released. He was very contrite.

 

[atom crash]

I went into the session last night not sure exactly what would happen, but I had several ideas. I knew I was going to punish them severel, but I left room for them to save themselves. I'm rather pleased with the way it turned out.

Because of logistical issues, only 3 of the 5 players were present last night. Two of these 3 PCs had the least bit of involvement in the whole attack; the third was responsible for the fireball that killed 5 minor nobles).Their weapons were confiscated and they were split up and interviewed individually to maximize their sense of solitude and helplessness.

One PC proclaimed his guilt but maintained that it was all for the greater good. One PC tried to weasel her way out of her responsiblity in the attack, claiming self-defense to a perceived threat. The third PC sang like a canary and told everything to the Captain of the Guard. He also gave some good leads that the captain could follow up on, and the captain (who is a fighter/paladin) was convinced enough to check up on some leads. Meanwhile, the Sea Lord bluffed his way past the interview with the Captain of the Guard and had the werewithal to cast undetetectable alignment when he was taken into protective custody.

When their attorneys showed up, they were encouraged to lie about what happened -- "You were under a magical compulsion and forced to do things you normally wouldn't do, right? And make sure you tell the judge you won't rest until the real culprits are caught. They always go for that line." The attorneys were appalled that the PCs refused to lie about their involvement. "Well, if you really did these things, there's not much we can do to help you," the attorneys told them.

The PCs were berated repeatedly for their actions first by the Captain of the Guard then by the judge. The main themes were "death of innocents" and "you can't take the law into your own hands" and "law and justice must be maintained." The list of charges was as long as my arm. The PC who sang asked the captain if he had found any evidence to back up his claims. Without answering the question, the Captain of the Guard, who presented evidence against them, explained to the judge that he believes the PCs think they are telling the truth (in their claim that the Sea Lord is evil) but they are "paranoid, delusional, sociopathic and obviously have been mislead at many turns by those they think they can trust." The PCs agree that he was right on the money. The captain then called for leniency; he recommended exile from Freeport.

Ah, a light at the end of the tunnel, they thought.

The judge was having none of it. "I sentence them to execution by hanging at daybreak tomorrow."

So the PCs were taken into custody, sent to the dungeons of the Fortress of Justice, and waited out their last day. At sun-up the next day, they were hanged for their crimes. They took it all very well, I might add. They knew it was what they deserved. The Captain made a statement to all the people gathered to watch the hanging -- which included the families of those killed and many who were attacked at the ball -- then signalled to the hangman. The PCs dropped and were slowly strangled to death on the gibbet.

Several minutes went by as it sunk in that they were dead, then I started with each PC individually. They awoke to an oppressive blackness and heard a voice tell them, "Shut up. You're dead." One player said, "Oh crap, we better not be being buried alive." The Captain of the Guard, as he pried open each coffin containing a PC, told them that they died for what they did. Now they have been enlisted by him as secret weapons to finish what they have started -- stop the evil Sea Lord's plot without destroying the peace and stability of the city. He had found evidence of their claims after all, but he also knew they must be punished for what had happened. He told them basically, "You died, now your slate is clean. I can't use my position to openly fight the Sea Lord. You are secretly opposing the Sea Lord's plots. Make sure those you attack from here on are guilty. No more deaths of innocents. If you have to die again for doing something stupid, then I'm willing to have that price paid."

I called the session there. I'll have to deal with the other two PCs later. Their fate is in their own hands, but I doubt either will be as lucky.

 

[DonTadow]

Great way to bring it around and turn what could have been tragedy into more of an adventure plot

 

[S'mon]

Nice work

 

[atom crash]

Thank you, thank you, both.

I told them before the session that they'd probably need to roll up new characters and we'd have to discuss how we wanted to start a new campaign. They admitted that they realized they were in deep trouble and couldn't see how they could make it out alive. I was completely prepared to execute them all; I even set out some blank character sheets. How the session ended predicated solely on the one PC's willingness to tell the captain of the guard everything.

Now I have 3 PCs (who are the core group) in a situation where they can be given detailed orders and specific game goals that we can more easily manage instead of just letting them wander around town and get into all kinds of trouble as PCs are wont to do.

I punished them for the stupid thing they did but also rewarded them for fighting the good fight. Of course, some of their gear was returned to them at the end of the session but some of their gear had been confiscated.

And I've left it open for now as to what happened to the other PCs.

 

[DonTadow]

Thank you, thank you, both.

I told them before the session that they'd probably need to roll up new characters and we'd have to discuss how we wanted to start a new campaign. They admitted that they realized they were in deep trouble and couldn't see how they could make it out alive. I was completely prepared to execute them all; I even set out some blank character sheets. How the session ended predicated solely on the one PC's willingness to tell the captain of the guard everything.

Now I have 3 PCs (who are the core group) in a situation where they can be given detailed orders and specific game goals that we can more easily manage instead of just letting them wander around town and get into all kinds of trouble as PCs are wont to do.

I punished them for the stupid thing they did but also rewarded them for fighting the good fight. Of course, some of their gear was returned to them at the end of the session but some of their gear had been confiscated.

And I've left it open for now as to what happened to the other PCs.

That is cool. I was hoping that as I read it you made them think that their character's were dead. It feels so season finaleish. The cliffhanger followered by the glimmer of hope as you read the paper and notice that the show was renewed for another season.

 

[atom crash]

Another update, but first a few words about my group:

We used to have 5 players and a GM. One player moved to a city about 3 hours away last year and returns infrequently to play. His character is the one that attacked the Sea Lord and started the whole ball rolling. Another player recently moved about 4 hours away and hasn't had an opportunity to return and resolve what happened to his PC and cohort.

The three players left in my core group (plus myself as DM) haven't been able to play in a while because I've been moving in with my girlfriend -- who is one of the players as well -- and we're starting a second campaign with one of the other players as GM.

Anyway, last week the player of the PC who initiated the attack was back in town. He's been told that the other three characters were hanged. Now he's got to stand trial for the same crimes before a tougher judge. Here's the kicker: he's a dwarven paladin of Tyr.

So he is "interviewed" by the Captain of the Guard and admits his guilt. I've decided that he is not in danger of losing his paladinhood as long as he tells the truth, accepts responsibility for what happened -- especially to his friends and the innocent guests at the ball he endangered -- and accepts the punishment given him. During the attack, his only target was the Sea Lord, so the blood of the innocent is not on his hands, though he feels partly -- and rightly -- responsible for what became of the others because he started the whole thing. He never told them to attack, but they followed his lead. But for now Tyr is taking a wait and see attitude.

He justifies his attack on the Sea Lord -- "The man is evil!" -- but can offer no proof other than his own detect evil ability, though the Captain of the Guard also tried that on the Sea Lord and got nothing, thanks to the undetectable alignment spell. So all he has are accusations and no proof. The Captain tells him, "So a man with evil in his heart deserves to die? Can he not be redeemed then? I say he can. I say a man must pay for the evil he has done rather than the evil he hides in his heart but has not acted upon."

In the end the PC is also found guilty and sentenced to death by the judge. At that moment, the Sea Lord -- bandaged and obviously greivously wounded -- sweeps into the courtroom and begs leniency for the PC. He asks that his life be spared but demands the weapon used to attack him. And the hand that wielded it. So the PC has his hand and forearm cut off, then he's paraded before the people at the ball, who feels justice has been served. The Sea Lord keeps the hand and the weapon as a trophy. He also comes off as a compassionate man and scores loads of public opinion points.

The PC can't argue about his fate because it is more merciful than death, and it is the same injury suffered by his god! The Sea Lord has maimed the PC in the same way Tyr was maimed when he gave up his arm so that Fenris Wolf could be chained by the other gods. Tyr would see this as a worthy badge in the fight against a great evil and would definitely be upset if his servant complained about such a punishment. And the PC -- and the player as well -- still thinks his comrades are dead, so he has to live with the guilt of surviving the ordeal that resulted in the deaths of his friends.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

That was impressively done, AC.