Unexpected twists

[MerricB]

Our most recent D&D session saw my players investigating a cult in Greyhawk. They were informed by the Thieves' Guild of shifty characters, and - through their investigations - were directed to a shack in the Beggar's Quarter, which they attacked with a frontal assault: no questions asked.

When I described the inhabitants, I called them "Human Guards" - you know, mercenaries hired by the cultists to protect the secret entrance to their lair. Only, that's not what the PCs heard. After bursting through and attacking, somehow they interpreted this as "City Guard". So, they believe they've just killed a squad of the city watch.

Luckily, this was the last encounter of the session, so I didn't have time to correct their mistake. Next session, I'm going to proceed as if they *have* killed the city watch. It's just going to be fun to watch.

It opens up lots of interesting possibilities:
* Were they actually the city watch, and they were misdirected?
* Were they directed to the right location, but the watch is corrupt and helping the cultists?
* Were they cultists posing as the city watch?

Yeah... fun!

Cheers!

 

[Rechan]

* Were they actually the city watch, and they were misdirected?

Or worse:
*Were they actually the city watch, investigating the cult?

Unrelated, this made me chuckle:

They were informed by the Thieves' Guild of shifty characters

Because if anyone knows shifty characters, it's a guild of criminals.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Sounds a little like the Sellswords of Punjar.

In that case, the player's wouldn't have been too worried as long as they didn't leave any survivors. It's every man for himself in the Tarnished Jewel.