Serial killers adventure. Need some help pls

[Grimmjow]

Hey guys. My group is almost finished with the adventure we started last week and the one i had ready next wont work. I need one filler adventure in between. What i want to do is have a paladin come to town and attempt to arrest one of the players, accusing him of being a serial killer from the town he is from. He will want to execute him right there (before he can escape)

The way i have the game world set up the players wont be able to return to the town to find evidence of his innocence (or maybe guilt). They will have to convince the paladin that he is innocent right here. I just dont know what they will be able to do. you guys have any ideas??

One more thing: The players who i plan to have be the paladin's target is a shade bladesigner. He is also four days away from his own wedding.

What do you guys think?

 

[Dragongrief]

I think the biggest issue you'll come against with the scenario is how well the party knows the target character and his history/home town.

A Paladin shouldn't be accusing someone of crimes without reasonable evidence, especially if demanding immediate execution. If the Paladin is willing to talk to the party, and if they know the background well enough, then they may be able to convince the Paladin to stay his hand until more evidence can be found.

Ways they can avert the execution:
*Cast doubt on witness testimony ('witness' hated the character)
*Provide an alibi (character was somewhere else when one or more murder occured)
*Character reference (whatever good deeds have been done)

Actually convincing the Paladin that the character is innocent would be very difficult/near impossible without being able to find actual evidence.

If the party isn't familiar with the target character's background, the choice of Fight vs Surrender the character is highly likely. Since paladins are supposed to uphold the Law for the greater good, the party may be able to use that in their favor.

 

[Jester David]

Don't make it an overt physical threat or the party might just kill the paladin and walk away. Instead, have the paladin arrive with a warrant/bounty and try and take him into custody for trial back in his town, which is more than 4 days travel away.
Have the paladin say he will not hesitate to use lethal force if the PC resists or attempts to endanger any innocents. This sets the paladin up as more of a legitimate authority and not a killer to be taken out.

Convincing the pally might be tricky. An alibi might work. Rounding up witnesses who can account for the character's whereabouts.
The paladin might belong to a more medieval religious order and believe in trial by ordeal or trial by combat. In a world where the gods exist and can literally walk among men, these become a little more understandable. The local temple of the paladin's order might have a "gauntlet" to challenge the accused.

 

[Unwise]

What if the RP and skill challenge is only partly to do with convincing the paladin? Why not have them convince him enough to hear them out. Then the next step is they need to convince a certain person to help them out.

Options include:

1) Convince the local priest of Pelor to use his truth-finding spell to confirm that the character is not lying.

2) Convince the highly respected soothsayer that lives on the nearby mountain to scry on the murders and see if they can shed any light on it.

3) The local priest does not have any magical powers to help determine guilt, but what he does have is authority to issue a Fatwa to limit or stop the paladins actions. So if they paladin is a hardcore unmoveable guy, they can instead work on the priest to convince him instead. The paladin is then forced to go back to the high temple and have his orders re-issued to overwrite the local priests.

4) Convince a rival adventuring group who they don't really get on with to vouch for them as being travelling adventurers who were not in the town at the time.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

What sort of evidence does the paladin have? Why does he/she believe it? Is the PC in fact guilty?

You could have the paladin's group (don't send the paladin by himself, he'll just get beaten unconscious) have received a sending from someone they trust, telling them about this. This could even explain the lack of evidence - sending has a word limit.

In this case, the paladin probably wouldn't try to execute the PC. They'd toss them into a cage wagon and take them to justice. That trip would take more than four days, so that PC already doesn't want to get arrested. In addition, the rest of the PCs will probably back him up due to friendship and lack of evidence.

Assuming the paladin doesn't get killed (or his group doesn't beat all the PCs unconscious), the skill challenges start. There might be a negotiation to give the PCs rights to investigate, try to not have the nosy paladin follow them around everywhere (it might be better if the town guard did, and you might have to negotiate with them) and then ... actually finding clues and solving the mystery. Possibly after the wedding.

Convincing the paladin not to tell the PC's fiancee about this might be a skill challenge in itself. She might believe the PC, but I'm sure her family doesn't, and there's a complication for you. (They can send ninjas. Now people can look around and think "ninjas! Why?" Also makes for a great pacing encounter when things slow down.)