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General Tabletop Discussion
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Realistic Consequences vs Gameplay
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<blockquote data-quote="hawkeyefan" data-source="post: 8005146" data-attributes="member: 6785785"><p>I think I generally agree with you in this regard, and I think this is a really relevant point. The only way I disagree is that this situation largely worked for my group because the way I kind of framed things was that there was no clear favorable outcome available to the PCs, and that this speaks largely to the overall situation in Barovia. The land is corrupted, and things can't really be fixed until you deal with the actual cause of that corruption.....Strahd himself. So in that sense, it worked for my group. I think that it helped that they're all familiar with Ravenloft and the general themes and concepts at play. I agree that under normal circumstances, this kind of no win situation can be an obstacle to satisfying play.</p><p></p><p>My PCs behaved very largely in a way as described in the OP, although I hope and suspect it was not out of boredom. At one of the festivals of the sun, I played out the burgomaster punishing a villager for some minor infraction. A total injustice. The PCs saw this and reacted. At this point, they were known about town as outsiders (which is kind of a big deal in Barovia, I think) and as capable outsiders.</p><p></p><p>They tried to reason with him....it was like bashing their heads into a brick wall, and they quickly realized this. Things escalated. The fighter said that if anyone of the burgomaster's men made a move, he'd respond in kind. The other PCs agreed and got ready. It wound up being a showdown between the fighter and Izek Strazni, the burgomaster's champion. The fighter PC won. </p><p></p><p>Once that happened, the burgomaster retreated to his manor behind some of his guards. The PCs didn't even both pursuing him at that point. I figured that Izek (clearly the most physically powerful person in the town prior to the PCs' arrival) being killed would pretty much be a major blow to the burgomaster's grip on the town. The PCs left soon thereafter, realizing that if they didn't get rid of Strahd, nothing good would ever really happen in these lands. </p><p></p><p>When they eventually made their way back to Vallaki, they saw the burgomaster's body hanging in the town square and signs that there had been fighting around town. They didn't linger long enough to really even investigate what had happened, but I had figured that the Strahd-sympathetic lady (her name escapes me) had taken the loss of Izek as her cue to make her move, and she took over. </p><p></p><p>I expect that my experience with this whole scenario is why I'm questioning so much how it played out in the OP's game. I do think that the players not all being on the same page is a big part of why things went south, and I do understand that a player having his character do something solely out of boredom can be problematic.....but I can't look at it as a case of that player being solely to blame.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="hawkeyefan, post: 8005146, member: 6785785"] I think I generally agree with you in this regard, and I think this is a really relevant point. The only way I disagree is that this situation largely worked for my group because the way I kind of framed things was that there was no clear favorable outcome available to the PCs, and that this speaks largely to the overall situation in Barovia. The land is corrupted, and things can't really be fixed until you deal with the actual cause of that corruption.....Strahd himself. So in that sense, it worked for my group. I think that it helped that they're all familiar with Ravenloft and the general themes and concepts at play. I agree that under normal circumstances, this kind of no win situation can be an obstacle to satisfying play. My PCs behaved very largely in a way as described in the OP, although I hope and suspect it was not out of boredom. At one of the festivals of the sun, I played out the burgomaster punishing a villager for some minor infraction. A total injustice. The PCs saw this and reacted. At this point, they were known about town as outsiders (which is kind of a big deal in Barovia, I think) and as capable outsiders. They tried to reason with him....it was like bashing their heads into a brick wall, and they quickly realized this. Things escalated. The fighter said that if anyone of the burgomaster's men made a move, he'd respond in kind. The other PCs agreed and got ready. It wound up being a showdown between the fighter and Izek Strazni, the burgomaster's champion. The fighter PC won. Once that happened, the burgomaster retreated to his manor behind some of his guards. The PCs didn't even both pursuing him at that point. I figured that Izek (clearly the most physically powerful person in the town prior to the PCs' arrival) being killed would pretty much be a major blow to the burgomaster's grip on the town. The PCs left soon thereafter, realizing that if they didn't get rid of Strahd, nothing good would ever really happen in these lands. When they eventually made their way back to Vallaki, they saw the burgomaster's body hanging in the town square and signs that there had been fighting around town. They didn't linger long enough to really even investigate what had happened, but I had figured that the Strahd-sympathetic lady (her name escapes me) had taken the loss of Izek as her cue to make her move, and she took over. I expect that my experience with this whole scenario is why I'm questioning so much how it played out in the OP's game. I do think that the players not all being on the same page is a big part of why things went south, and I do understand that a player having his character do something solely out of boredom can be problematic.....but I can't look at it as a case of that player being solely to blame. [/QUOTE]
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