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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Devo" data-source="post: 2764790" data-attributes="member: 32183">Evil GM onlineSo, this is the evil GM. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />I'm not so sure where to start with this, so let's start here: There are things going on in the background, and I don't really like sharing information that the players don't have some way of getting. It's hard to justify my actions (as is clearly needed in this situation) without explaining too much backstory. There is a story, there, though.I'm not sure if Jubilee could have prevented the attack. Partly, that's because the story was scripted out, and I had in my head that it would happen. That's not to say that I am intractible with storylines -- I'd like to think that I provide elements of the story, then let the characters drive it. I'm just saying that I had a plan, and it would have taken something serious to deter me.The other reason it would have been hard for Jubilee's character to prevent the attack is because of everything going on in the background.The wizard who was being hunted is named Gadron. Gadron is very powerful, and he has a secret to protect. As such, it is very, very hard to get at that secret, or at Gadron. The best an Elder of Halruaa could do is find a general area to search. So he gathered his mage-hunting party and came to Camber. Pascal (the evil spellcaster that Jubilee noticed sniffing around Camber), has the ability to detect the spellcasting prowess of anyone he touched. He was looking for Gadron in disguise. Other members of his party were subtly asking around town for a powerful wizard, but since Gadron kept a low profile, virtually no one knew anything about him. The evil group knew he was around here someplace (they didn't even know it was a "he" they were looking for, in fact), but they couldn't narrow down their search any further. They also knew (via high level divinations) that Gadron would protect those closest to him.Jubilee confronted Pascal and told him that there was a powerful wizard named Gadron in the Winterwoods. She couldn't say where he was exactly, though, or give up any means of finding him. She did say that her party communicated with Gadron while here in Camber, though. Pascal (and those he reported to) rationilzed that either Gadron was in hiding in Camber, or he had a contact here who could provide the information they were given. At this point, Pascal and his friends had the choice of searching the Winterwoods (no small feat given the protections Gadron had already shown, and the elder of Halruaa was a little pressed for time), or continue with their plan of striking at Camber in hopes of flushing Gadron out. These people were evil enough (that is, they believed in what they were doing strongly enough) that the lives of these 400 people of Camber didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. So they chose to attack Camber.First, they checked out the PC's -- maybe one of them was strong enough to be the one they searched for. No luck. They then watched the PCs to see if they made contact with a more powerful person. Again, no luck. Then they waited for the PCs to leave. They verified that the PCs were actually gone and not trying something tricky. Once they were sure of that, they launched their attack. The PC's were still close enough to see the attack, so they turned around and began their counter-attack, so to speak.By the time it was all done, there were some signs that Gadron had been around, and that he had struck out against the evil NPCs. In fact, Gadron had been fighting against those who attacked Camber, but he had to wage a guerilla war against them. He knew that he was being hunted (hence the warning to the PCs before they got to town), so he had to figure that whoever was attacking the town would be capable of dealing with him. There was another sinister NPC in town for the festival. He served as both a red herring for the PC's investigation and as a replacement NPC for one of the PC's to play in the event they fell during the game. (I knew this one would be tough.) In the end, he served both purposes.So now here we are. The PCs killed everyone who attacked the town except Elder Furnael. He was spotted in the town and though there is no direct evidence that he orchestrated the whole thing, the magic necessary to accomplish the deed was phenomenal. The PCs have (probably rightly) assumed that he was not only involved, but responsible. So how does a Paladin deal with that situation? She is on a quest for her god. (It's a complicated story, but her god has been missing for about four thousand years, and she has been tasked with uncovering him.) How to find her god isn't terribly clear, yet -- there are few signs left. She does know that the quest that the rest of the group is on will lead her in the right direction, though. Her god has been missing for four thousand years: is it so bad to delay his awakening for another six months or a year in order to see this gross injustice dealt with?             D.</blockquote>

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