[REALMS] How would you handle this?

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

There might be complications though .. the guards might not want to come back, or devils or demons migth've taken their souls. As it is hard to know which is true for certain, there still might be dire consequences...

That just made my Evil DMometer go off! Of course!
The guards DON'T want to come back...sooo, the PCs are sentenced to BE the guard. Adventure comes to them, and the political stuff can possibly come into it.

 

[krunchyfrogg]

Turn yourselves in to the Cleric of Tyr, and if your DM is really nasty, have the Ranger player roll up a new character.

 

[Enceladus]

Thanks to your ranger prematurely sating his bloodlust Starmantle is most likely off your list of possible vacation spots for all time.

I don't think your DM was going to allow you guys to go along quietly and then in an anticlimactic way execute the lot of you. Had it been me, since you obviously didn't do it, I would have humored the poor guy and played along for awhile.

 

[Dash Dannigan]

What level were these guards? (In-game, were they low on the totem pole as far as guards go? Were they appear difficult to fight?) If they seriously threatened the life of the ranger (i.e. NO other choice) attempting escape then he was, sorry to say, somehwhat justified to slay them in self defense (even if they were just doing their job).

However, in the strictest sense, if the ranger did not excercise every precaution and attempt to spare their lives (and yes even at greater risk, though not mortal risk, if neccessary). Then his alignment might be shifting a bit towards neutral now.

Like as not all the PCs disobeyed the law (whether they were afraid of corruption or not) and are subject to the consequences accordign to Starmantle. In fact it appears that the PCs walked right into their nemsis trap and did exactly what the bad guys wanted! Heck now they LOOK guilty! Now the corrupt evil folk can righteously track down and slay the adventurers now considered outlaws.

The only recourse I can see for them is redemption by completely unmasking the evil folk and their corrupt ways, but now it will be that more difficult to do so.

Bad ranger bad, if the rest of the PCs roleplay it they should be upset (perhaps sympathetic too if the ranger is remorseful) at his lack of self control. Either way not an enviable position to be in. Especially for the so-called ranger. Hope these PCs are close (otherwise ranger seriously in trouble).

Interestingly enough let us know how it goes, sounds pretty exciting!

 

[scalwith]

options galore

Well, I'm the DM of this campaign and to say the least it has raised some questions in my mind as to what steps to take in the next session.

I'll explain the party's current situation:

As the last session ended the party had just left the Starmantle area via gate having escaped the city. They are now left camping someplace in the Giant Run Mountains above the remains of an ancient dwarven mine which is being has been inhabited by variety of evil creatures.

The party is not alone having brought along several noncombatants (including families) and are not only forced to defend themselves and clear their collective names, but also keep these people safe while doing so.

The party is still separated. The gnomish illusionist/thief is unaware of what happened to the party because of his choices to pursue some pirates on his own (believe me when I say this character is the luckiest character on the planet). This character will be returning to the city stripped of almost all his wealth and posessions not knowing he's a wanted gnome and companion to known murderers.

Can they recover? Possibly. I have a lot of work to do between now and then, but this definitely creates an interesting campaign opportunity for both me and the players.

Any other feedback would be appreciated.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

I don't think what the ranger did is as dark and dastardly as some posts seem to indicate. Let's not forget that the ranger was being captured to be tried for a crime he did not commit. If the punishment for Espionage is death, then what the ranger did was more akin to self-defense.

That aside, a Good creature still does not have an obligation to accept social judgment, especially when he knows he is innocent. So when those guards chose to create conflict with him (only doing their jobs or not, they are the ones who instigated the incident, not the ranger,) they also chose to place themselves in danger.

So they died for it. The ranger might regret the necessity of their deaths, and may also seek to see to it that their families are taken care of, but he hardly need turn himself in to be tried for murder. Especially if/when it comes to light that he was innocent of the first charges to begin with.

 

[Enceladus]

To be fair to the players, capturing, enslaving, or otherwise rendering a PC helpless is not a great way to kick of a campaign or another leg of a campaign. The player most prone to have the "kill everybody and run hell" response is guaranteed to do it in this situation.

As a DM who has a couple of players who would be very good candidates for this approach I would find another way to start things off. Unless I wanted that situation to happen of course.

 

[Bard Lucian]

capturing, enslaving, or otherwise rendering a PC helpless is not a great way to kick of a campaign or another leg of a campaign.

Well, if you're referring to the gnome, believe me when I say, he brought it on himself, and really should be dead at this point.

And the same goes for the rest of us. There is nothing that happened here that is not a result of our own actions. The DM wanted to bring us in for a big climactic scene and wrap up some plot threads. Instead, he made his life enormously more complicated.

 

[Enceladus]

Instead, he made his life enormously more complicated.

Lol! And that particular campaign idea is usual never tried again.

 

[mmu1]

Given that this was an 8th level character fighting guards that were presumably weak enough to be disabled with Sleep, I think it's safe to say that, right or wrong, attacking to kill instead of doing subdual damage was probably not the smartest thing to do...

And I think no DM in history was ever happy with the turn of events when he did something because he expected the whole party to go along with it.