Telling players about the consequences of PC actions

[LostSoul]

Quick question:

Trying to run a sandbox game.

Should I tell the players what the consequences of their actions will be?

[sblock=The Situation]The King's Road is being plagued by bandits. It seems like they know when and where merchants are going to be!

The PCs successfully figured out who was tipping off the bandits - the cooper Nolor whose brother's farm was raided by kobolds (and the old Lord Padraig did nothing about it, that douche). His brother joined the bandits and through social pressure ("If you don't give them info they'll kill me") Nolor started tipping them off.

The PCs turned things around; they ambushed the bandits. But one of them escaped. He (is going to) run back home and tell his bosses about the PC's ambush.

The bandits are going to try and figure out who tipped the PCs off. This will lead to some investigation in Winterhaven (the PC's home town) and they'll figure it out. Nolor will be killed in retaliation.[/sblock]

I don't really care if the players know and act on things the PCs don't. I am focusing on challenging players, not PCs. This whole "sandbox" thing is pretty new to me, and I think the players as well, so I'm not sure if - at this time - I shouldn't make the consequences of their actions obvious.

 

[fba827]

let them find out in character in natural progression of the story.

to me, part of a sand box game is just an ever-evolving story based on whatever the PCs do. you'll find that every session they will do things to dramatically altar something or completely shift the direction you expected them to go....

so, really, my point is, this will just be par for the course. so no need to specifically call out the consequences now.. just let it play out.

 

[LostSoul]

Story schmory. I really couldn't care less about it.

And that goes for what they do; I don't really care, as long as they do something.

But: If I am running NPCs around the sandbox as real people, and they don't expect that (yet), should I let them know? I want the players to know there will be consequences to their actions. But I don't want to spring things on them that they didn't really expect.

I guess what I'm trying to say: Will there be more satisfying player choice if they know (at least at the moment) what NPCs are up to, or if they don't?

Once they get used to this play, no problem, but for now?

 

[Parlan]

I guess what I'm trying to say: Will there be more satisfying player choice if they know (at least at the moment) what NPCs are up to, or if they don't?

Once they get used to this play, no problem, but for now?

I ve also struggled with this issue. I ve relied on the old adage I heard in the context of story-telling, don t TELL the audience, SHOW them.

In other words, if you tell the players "yo, these bandit dudes are serious bad@$$es and are totally going to seek revenge", that s very vanilla.

The players will think, "oh, the GM wants us to go protect Nolor. Guess we d better do it". I`d feel like I was being led by the nose.

If the PCs come across Nolor`s body and he s been flayed alive, with his head on a pike and "Snitch" written in blood, that`ll show them.

The players will think, "oh cr@p! These bandits are no joke? What are we going to do about them? Did Nolor give them our names? Are they going to come after us next? What about our friends/family?" I`d feel much more engaged by the story.

Letting people see for themselves that their actions have consequences will hammer home the lesson that actions have consequences faster and better than telling them ad nauseum.

My advice: give it to Nolor in the neck. Brutally. And then when the players get around to wondering whether they might be next, raise an eyebrow and say, "good question. I wonder..." And practice your evil grin for the occaision.

You ll have their full attention then...

 

[fissionessence]

Did the PCs get info from Nolor? If so, he should have said "but be careful, because they might figure out I told you and kill me!" Then, when they don't do anything to stop it, and he dies, they'll realize they should have seen it coming. Not satisfying per se, but it would definitely make sense in a satisfactory way.

If they didn't talk to Nolor . . . then would they even care that the bandits killed him?

~

 

[S'mon]

If the PCs would logically know, tell the players, or have them make an INT check etc. Otherwise don't.

 

[LostSoul]

The players will think, "oh, the GM wants us to go protect Nolor. Guess we d better do it". I`d feel like I was being led by the nose.

Yeah. I would follow that up with, "I really don't care, you can do what you want." Which is true, I don't care. (Well, more to the point, I do care, but only as an audience member - to see which way they go. The bandits are tough and probably too much for them right now but if they act smart...)

Did the PCs get info from Nolor? If so, he should have said "but be careful, because they might figure out I told you and kill me!"

I may have. If not it should be obvious. If it's not obvious, oh well. Welcome to the points of light.

If the PCs would logically know, tell the players, or have them make an INT check etc. Otherwise don't.

Why? What are your reasons for that?

 

[Starfox]

If the players are in Winterhaven, have Nolor come whimpering to them, asking about his brother, expressing his fears. Then they decide what to do about him or not.

Otherwise, I'd make the call based on skill rolls - if the players have Intuition and Streetwise, they should get more hints than if they don't.

 

[roguerouge]

It's a convention of heroic stories for the hero to be attempting to atone for an early mistake. Give them ample time to figure out what they're going to do, now that one of the bandits has left. IF you're feeling really generous, have old Lord Padraig totter by as a hint. "You did WHAT?! Norbert, call up the reserves. These whippersnappers antagonized the bandit army! Why did you think I didn't do anything to help Nolor out?"

 

[vagabundo]

Maybe dont kill off a decent NPC just yet, but as someone mentioned earlier: dont tell, show.

So maybe Nolor's brother manages to deflect blame to a no-name bandit or townsman, who ends up hanging from a tree with traitor written on his shirt. Have Nolor maybe come to the PC's saying his brother is real nervous now and he blames the PC's, demands protection for his brother, blah blah...

I'd look for in-game ways to inform the players. Don't be afraid to kill off a few red shirts to get your point across.