Player with D&D Game Problem - Advice requested!

[Raloc]

I think going after the Elder that got away is what I would most like to do, and what seems like the most reasonable thing for the Paladin to do. She is, afterall, a Paladin of Horus-Re, and Retribution is one of his "Things."

The problem is:

One of the characters in the group is a Sorceress from Halruua who cannot or will not return there.

Another character in the group is the daughter of one of the missing people we're ostensiably on a mission to discover - Calimport is believed to be a place where we can get information as to what they were doing and perhaps retrace their steps to figure out where they are. Another character is the aformentioned character's half-brother and will likely want to go with her.

Another character is the husband of one of the missing.

There's 2 other characters that I couldn't say for sure what they'd do when faced with bringing the bad guy to justice vs. finding their missing friends. One of them owes a debt to one of the missing and the other was an apprentice/assistant of sorts to one of the missing.

In all likelyhood, pursuing vengeance means the Paladin leaving the group, maybe taking 2 with her, with 4 wanting to continue on with our other tasks. I'm not sure how breaking up the group is a good roleplaying opportunity. =(

/ali

Breaking of the group like this doesn't necessarily have to be doom and gloom. Split groups can actually be much fun, provided everyone keeps a bit of patience about them. The quest to find missing friends is more important to some of the characters, maybe they should go and investigate in Calimshan while your character and any others willing go and try to liberate the town, and you all meet up later.

 

[Storm Raven]

Any other suggestions? Want to help me put this in a better perspective? Which option would you pick, and why?

I would call the situation you described pretty good DMing. You and your character began to care for the town. The town was then devastated. You care about what happened. That's a level of emotional involvement that makes playing characters fun - it makes it that much more satisfying to deal with.

If you didn't care what happened to the town, then threatening or damaging it would be of no consequence.

 

[Raloc]

I would call the situation you described pretty good DMing. You and your character began to care for the town. The town was then devastated. You care about what happened. That's a level of emotional involvement that makes playing characters fun - it makes it that much more satisfying to deal with.

If you didn't care what happened to the town, then threatening or damaging it would be of no consequence.

Agreed completely. The character was invested emotionally in the town, and now it's destroyed. What do you have the character do? Even if other characters in the party don't agree or care enough, your character *does* and should go and do what she must in this particular instance. At least, that's how I would see it. Hopefully, you can go roleplay that out, then regroup with the rest of the party down the road. At least, that's how I'd do it. If only your character goes, you can always do it yourself. Having a party at all is important and fun, but you shouldn't have to sacrifice your character because she needs to leave the party.

 

[Geron Raveneye]

Not meant as a hijack or anything, but does anybody have a good map of Athkatla, or can tell me where to find one? I'm running my group through a Dungeon adventure set in Athkatla, and I wouldn't mind a bigger map of the whole city.

 

[radferth]

This is exactly the sort of Forgotten Realms-style event that put me off that setting. That notwithstanding, I'd cast my vote on the side of revenge. Playing a character in that situation, I would try to ally with the wizard and exact revenge on those responsible, pull a Kaiser Soise (except for the killing you own family part). If the rest of the party wants to ignore the purpotrators, then send the paladin off to do that and roll up another character for use with the party. I have let beloved character go before when it became clear their motivations would take them on a different path then the rest of the group, but it hurt much less than hanging on to them and have them follow a path that made no sense for them.

 

[Jubilee]

Why are there no options for dealing with the situation in character? Do you feel that there aren't any possible ways to resolve it in game? It seems to me that the afore mentioned situation would be perfect to roleplay your character seeking to right the situation and and least liberate the town, even if the people are gone. Alternatively, you could ask if you could go back and play your character differently in the situation, as the information about the Wizard wanting to keep his location secret was not apparent at the time?

At the time of my original post, I suppose I was still too upset to see clearly a way to deal with it in character that would also allow me to feel good about continuing to play the game. I'm still not positive the in character solutions I'm going to try will make me any happier about playing, but I guess that's life.

/ali

 

[Woas]

I don't get it... if I were a player in that game, I would love something like this to happen! Really get my character motivated and emotional... something that really gets to him/her. As opposed by "oh, save the farmers son from the orcs and take their stuff while were at it again? Deliver a message to Bobar Ironbeard the dwarf in the next town?" adventures, this sounds like an awesome game.

 

[LostSoul]

I don't get it...

I think the problem is/was that there is some disconnect between the player and the DM regarding what kind of game Jubilee is looking for. I believe that's been cleared up in the thread.

 

[Jubilee]

Breaking of the group like this doesn't necessarily have to be doom and gloom. Split groups can actually be much fun, provided everyone keeps a bit of patience about them. The quest to find missing friends is more important to some of the characters, maybe they should go and investigate in Calimshan while your character and any others willing go and try to liberate the town, and you all meet up later.

The group is already rather large (7 players) and game time limited - we try to play twice a month for 4 hours. The group also tends towards chaos as it is, and it's hard to find time for all of the characters to do what they want while we're generally doing the same thing - I don't think trying to run two concurrent events with the party split in half is anything that the GM or players are really wanting to attempt. I'm not even sure I'd want to attempt it. I just can't see how this would be satisfying for either group if it lasted more than a session, which it certainly would.

/ali

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

I don't get it... if I were a player in that game, I would love something like this to happen! Really get my character motivated and emotional... something that really gets to him/her.

But, on the other hand, it would definately get old after awhile, wouldn't it?

"No, seriously, guys - don't get emotionally attached to anything in this campaign. [DM Joe] totally loves to just smash it to pieces as soon as you've found a connection in his world."

In other words, yes, doing this can instantly hook your players into a campaign / adventure. Do it too often, though, and you'll breed cynicism and detached players.