Putting the PCs on trial for being heroic

[Haltherrion]

If the players aren't of that type, then it won't. They'll whine and moan and claim their characters wouldn't want to help a town that didn't appreciate it, when it's possible or likely that it is in fact they, the players, who don't want to help such a place, whereas their heroic PC's would.

Not sure I'd charactize my objections as 'whining and moaning' but I don't think I'd be very happy as a player with this situation in nearly all cases. (And 'whining and moaning' is also what ref's call player reactions when the ref does something the players don't like even if the players have a point. I.e., the ref will whine and moan about those stick-in-the-mud, unimaginitive players who just don't get what a creative, cool ref I am.)

You are correct this is an issue of buy-in but to get me as a player to buy into a trial like this, it would take a lot of set up. Without it, it would feel like a railroad. And frankly, this sort of reaction from the NPCs, while in a few cases understandable, is annoying and in-character, I'd be with the OP: I'd blow this joint and find another place to adventure. If that meant the ref had to come up with a new place for the campaign to focus on, well, as I ref I can understand the annoyance factor for that but, as an accomodating ref, I'd grin and bear it, having felt I took a risk with the players and basically overplayed the situation.

 

[Derren]

Something like that would require rather mature players. Many players, not only for PnP RPGs operate under the "When you do good things good things will happen to you" routine (except when specifically playing evil).

Thats also the reason why in video games the most "good" way to solve a quest will give you the best reward. Its simply a core rule of todays game design. You can deviate from it but only sparringly.

 

[Haltherrion]

Something like that would require rather mature players. Many players, not only for PnP RPGs operate under the "When you do good things good things will happen to you" routine (except when specifically playing evil).

Not sure I really buy this because, honestly, the whole trial concept sounds a bit like an immature ref imposing on his players. It does depend on how it is pulled off, as much by the ref as the players.

If I came out of a dungeon on a mission apparently in service for the top-siders and suddenly found myself on trial, with no forshadowing or reason other than, apparently, the ref thought this would be an interesting twist, I'd be inclined to be annoyed. Twists need to unexpected but fit the story/campaign to date. Unexpected by itself is arbitrary and often the sign of a ref (or a writer) grasping for some way to inject life into a dying campaign (or languishing story).