Something humorously unhappy in last night's game.

[RangerWickett]

I just want to get this off my chest, since I'm a little peeved with it. I'm currently running the second campaign with the same group of friends, and I was trying to learn from the last one and make this one better.

Now, Ted, one of my players was frustrated in the last game that the rest of the party ended up working for an NPC he really didn't like. The NPC, an Elf general named Shaaladel, was very arrogant and condescending to the party, and my friend Ted really hated the guy. At the end of the campaign, the group defeated the main villain, and that was the end. At the time, there was no real reason for the group to harm Shaaladel, even though Ted really hated the guy. Imagine that annoying boss guy from Office Space, give him a sword, and make it so that everyone other than you thinks the guy's the best thing since sliced bread, and that's Shaaladel. I helped foster the frustration to provide some fun roleplaying moments.

The frustration was so great that Ted's character even came up with a cute song about a mean and nasty Elf named Shaaladel, and he taught it to a bunch of Gnomes, assuring that "I'm Going to Kill Shaaladel" would be sung in Gnomish villages for generations to come.

Now, to reward Ted a bit, in this campaign, I moved forward about 150 years to a bleaker future (the storyhour's link is in my sig), where Shaaladel has eventually risen to one of the 8 sub-rulers of the world. The cruel emperor who was the primary ruler of the world was killed, and the PC group is trying to thwart attempts by his second in commands to restore the oppressive regime of the empire. I basically wanted to make Shaaladel out to be one of the bad guys, and give Ted to defeat him.

That was not to be.

In last night's game, the group comes across an army commanded by Shaaladel, and they manage to get captured. My plan as a DM was to show how viciously devoted to conquest Shaaladel was, to make it clear that he's one of the bad guys. Now, Ted's character is a Gnome, and since Shaaladel knows about that nasty little Gnomish nursery rhyme, he talked to the rest of the party first, trying to be polite, hiding his true intentions while hoping to get out of them all the information they knew. They were likewise polite, and they fell for his act, but they didn't know the answers he wanted. Shaaladel assumes they're hiding things from him, and so he has them leave, then calls in the gnome to interrogate him a little more forcefully.

Okay, so here, I planned to have it be revealed what an ass Shaaladel is, so the group will realize that he's duplicitous and can't be trusted. I had planned out a way for the PCs to eventually escape, and I would've had a nice set up for the PCs to know who they need to stop, which would give the rest of the campaign a solid direction. Shaaladel was going to have his men torture the Gnome in an attempt to get information out of him, since he saw the Gnome as less useful of a pawn than the other PCs. After being tortured, I had a few ideas for how Ted's Gnome could escape, or free himself, or be rescued, or alert the rest of the PCs so they could rescue him and escape.

Unfortunately, Ted didn't let me get that far. I'm not really angry with him, just frustrated and a little amused. After first claiming out of character that he would not work for Shaaladel again, while Shaaladel was talking to him, Ted's character attacked the Elf. Unsurprisingly, the large number of bodyguards Shaaladel have prove too much, and they take down Ted's character. I would've been content to let Ted just be knocked out, and have Shaaladel really have it out for him later on, but not kill him yet.

But . . . okay, to all you GMs out there, have you ever really, really tried not to kill a PC, because you think the player is just confused and doesn't realize that he's making a huge mistake? Well, that's how I felt.

Ted's character, a psion, makes an Autohypnosis check to remain conscious after being dropped below 0 hp. And he keeps on trying to fight. What choice did I have? I suppose I could've concocted a contrived deus ex machina to save him, but he couldn't possibly have thought I would, could he? I don't mind PCs dying in combat, but when they throw themselves to their deaths, it irks me.

So now Ted's character is dead, in the middle of an army base controlled by bad guys. When the other PCs found out what happened, emotions ran high, and one decided to make a break for it, and the others agreed. And I would've let them make an escape attempt, and possibly get out (if for nothing else than to save my campaign). But . . . but they decided to make a break for it only after waiting until they'd been marched into the middle of a crowd of soldiers. They could've waited until they had a better chance, so why did they go then? Again, what could they have expected, except that their characters would get killed?

So my campaign got seriously side-tracked last night because Ted was just stupid. He ruined the game for the rest of us for his own personal grudge. I'm wondering whether it's worth the hassle to say, "Everyone who tried to escape was just knocked out, and you're going to get tortured, then dragged along with the army as prisoners and hostages." Or, since it's the end of the college semester anyway, should I just end the game now, and be done with it?

*sigh* Man, Ted is so hard to GM for.

 

[Chauzu]

Well... did the group have a fun time with the plot?

If they did, I'd say stop the game right there and say they were knocked out. The next time you guys are able to start playing a lot again, start off with them being delivered to their cells just after being tortured or whatever. Have Ted roll up a new character.

If they didn't, call it quits... but let Ted get a second chance at his revenge on Shaaladel, just for fun! Host a final game one on one (or whatever is fair) with the two in a gladiatorial arena.

 

[RangerWickett]

Oh, well, they did indeed have a grand time. It was fun for them to get full of righteous indignation and try to avenge the fall of one of their comrades. So yeah, I think I'll try to keep the game going.

 

[dave_o]

That gladitorial arena idea is quite rad.

Maybe, Shaala-pants gets so fed up with the PCs, and is so insulted by them (as they rise to be his power level, or close), that he finally says "Alright, fine. Let's go."

The arena battle could have all kinds of implications. Bets, offers to the victors, cheating, political repercussions (maybe the winner will be asked to take a seat on a senate, or a rulership in a military), etc. could all run high.

I think you should build the campaign toward it, and let Ted's character deal the final blow.

(Also, while I don't advocate making death an easy thing in DnD, depending on your campaign, Ted's PC could hop right back into the came with a simple spell.)

(AND! Maybe Ted's former PCs song, and teachings, have made Shaala-pants a general cultural enemy of Gnomes, like Fidel Castro and Americans.)

 

[Silver Moon]

But . . . okay, to all you GMs out there, have you ever really, really tried not to kill a PC, because you think the player is just confused and doesn't realize that he's making a huge mistake? Well, that's how I felt....And he keeps on trying to fight. What choice did I have?

Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt. Happened 20 years ago, and to this day the player is still upset about it. It was in a city adventure, and the character tried to attack the Captain of the Guard (with minimal provocation) who had two dozen of his best archers with him. A few well placed arrows bring him down to single-digit hit points, and he keeps on trying to attack the Captain. He is warned to stop, twice, but keeps on attacking!

I'd recommend going with Plan B with the others, having them captured rather than dead. One person's stupidity shouldn't be everyones.

 

[Angcuru]

I also know an annoying player named Ted. The name seems to be a curse. HE ruined blackshirt5's first campaign in a rather pointless and humorous manner. He put a longsword in the front and back of his neck and ran into a tree, effectively committing self-decapitation, and apparently this was contagious and everyone else's characters comitted sucicide. HE hates Ted, but I think he's just amusing.

 

[Nareau]

Don't know if this would work in the scope of your campaign, but what would you think about having a group of renegade gnomes work to liberate Ted's corpse, and bring him back from the dead? It's a bit of a Deus Ex...but it sounds like he might have a shot at being some kind of folk-hero to the gnomes. After all, he has been working against this guy for a very long time, and he did sacrifice himself in a heroic attempt to kill the tyrant.

Of course, that might mean one or two sessions with the party split up (as Ted gets brought back from the dead, and the rest of the PC's wake up in thumbscrews). But it might be doable (especially if you let Ted play the NPC interrogator during one session, and then let the rest of the party play the worshipful gnomes in another session.)

Just some thoughts...

Spider

 

[RangerWickett]

Hey, that actually works pretty well. There was a group of gnomes nearby that the party encountered. Both the PCs and the group of gnomes were both investigating the castle where the Emperor had been assassinated (initially it had been abandoned by the armies because of a strange magical storm). All the PCs except Ted's character were suspicious of the other group of gnomes, and forced them to hang back while they checked out the castle (which is where they were eventually captured).

The PCs assume the gnomes were all killed off by the army, but next session I could have them all play a bunch of gnomes on a commando raid. When they first met the gnomes, they were worried about what they'd have to deal with if they ended up fighting a bunch of tricksters. Heh, sounds cool.

Thanks for the idea. I need to make some stats now.

Oh yeah, and I don't have resurrection spells in my game. There are a few ways you can ressurrect someone, but those require things like quests, blood pacts, or bizarre rituals that will leave the ressurrected person not quite the same. Of course, it is Easter, so a ressurrection miracle wouldn't be unheard of.

 

[RangerWickett]

So . . . lesse. Originally there were 8 Gnomes, but I've got only 4 players, so probably 4 of the Gnomes managed to survive, but they're haggard and injured.

Hmm. What would my players like? I need at least one illusionist, definitely. And my current game has been sadly bereft of rogues. Michael is having fun with his wizard in my game, but he's commented on missing the good old-fashioned simplicity of running up and smashing someone. And I think Tom needs to play a bard.

So . . . how about 7th level.

Tom can play Tom-Tom Magook, a Gnome Bard 7. Named after a character from Piratecat's storyhour, he'll be focused on illusion magic and misdirection.

Michael can play Rebo Pen, a Gnome Rogue 7. Some sneaking and backstabbing should be fun.

Neil, who has a heck of a time powergaming even if I force him, can play Ernest Flintflindercandle, a Gnome Paladin 8, higher level than the others. Named after a character in Sagiro's storyhour, he'll be a bad mother.

Ted can play Zooty Teller, a Gnome Sorcerer 7, also focused on sneaking around. Also, since Ted's original character was a psion, at the beginning of the game, this character will find Ted's psicrystal, which scurries to them and asks for aid.

Any advice for making this adventure fun?

 

[jgbrowning]

I'd go with the "they're all dead" option and start over. Pick up with a different group (same players, different characters) and work in the old groups demise into the new groups creation.

joe b.