Episode 10.2
The Party headed up north towards Garrets reach, around 2 days away. Half way there they find a raided caravan. No bodies, but there are signs of a fight there. They find Durns holy symbol here. They pick up the trail and begin to follow it.
I wanted them to have a possibility of finding this Hidden stronghold I made were Durn is right off the bat. It would be tough (6 skill checks of 22+) but they could do it. I like my games to be sand boxy. It keeps me on my toes and forces them to have to think and have consequences in the world.
They got about halfway to the fortress and lost the trail. So they went to Garrets Reach and talked to Durn's father, a man I named Dangit Brewhammer (I thought that was funny). After some convincing (and a charm spell) Dangit tells them that he asked Durn to help him rescue his kidnapped wife and daughter. Granite Stoutfellow (the Stoutfellow that runs Garrets Reach) is involved in the slave trade and Dangit wasn't keeping up his part of the deal, so Granite took his wife and daughter as payment. The party decided to go and meet with Granite.
I've said before I try to give my NPC's motivations. Dangit is scared something worse is going to happen to him. Granite deals in a secret slave trade with the Dueregar swapping mithril for slaves. So he really wants to keep the city in good working order so he can do his dirty deeds behind the scenes where his family’s name won't be dirtied. This is important when my players talk with Granite.
They get a meeting with Granite and they open up by essentially asking him to sell slaves to them- they don't just come right out and say it, but they mention that Draggard recommended they meet Granite and buy slaves from him. Granite gets nervous hearing this and tells the players he doesn't deal in that kind of thing and basically tells them to get out- The players notice Kong's axe on Granites belt.
Its easy as a GM to design a dungeon or an encounter that has a solution. What is somehow both easier and more difficult is building an encounter with no preordained solution. From a certain perspective, you just put it out there and lean back while the players play with it. On the other hand, we tend to WANT to have an answer ready as a GM, and to think how we would do it. I made Granites Keep a place that existed with something the players wanted inside and that was it. If you don’t have a particular answer you open yourself up to letting the players make up something better than you ever could have.
Now the players decide to wait for a guard to leave Keep and follow him to an alley where Lina sneak attacks him with a blackjack. They invisible him and take him to Dangits house and tie him up in the basement. They find out that Kong is in the dungeon of the keep and that the guards do shifting rotations keeping people up on the wall at almost all times. Lina and Damone decide to go scout out the keep at dark while Sam says he and Urz will take care of the guard. At this point Sam makes a noose and strangles the guard to death.
I had something of a problem with this. I was super surprised that one of my more experienced players playing a LG character would do that. This is partly my fault. I have caused other NPC's they let go come back to haunt them and this is the over reaction to that.
Lina and Damone find a small window they can climb up to unnoticed at the keep and peek inside and find some stairs. Given these two are both new players they got a little nervous about being alone and booked it back to the party. Sam and Urz drug the body outside and were caught by a guard. They bluff and convince the guard that the body is just drunk; the guard offers to lead them back to the "drunken" guard’s house. When he turns around they hit him with color spray and the guard saves. Now the guard calls the other guards and Sam and Urz have to book it and get out of there. They manage to invis and get away.
This was the repercussion for killing the guard. Now this party of heroes is wanted for murder in Garrets Reach. It will certainly make things harder and I don't know what is going to happen to Kong.
The party all gathered up and rather than going after Kong that night before news spread about the dead guard they waited until the next night... when the guard was doubled on the keep. They decided to wait out Granite and follow him to his secret fortress. They found the way, managed to get a little ahead of him and caught him in an ambush where things finally went the player’s way. They dismantled him and his guard and now are camped out 1/2 a day’s ride from Granites hidden fortress.
Well, the night started out rough and had a few bumpy moments, but the players got where I hoped they would. They have less information than is ideal, but that’s okay. I was pretty frustrated at several points in the evening; I didn’t like some of my player’s choices. In retrospect this was the kind of stuff I want to happen. I want my players to muck around and do things with lasting consequences. When I get put in an uncomfortable spot as a GM that’s when I have the chance to really shine and make my game better. So that’s a lesson I will take with me, next time things are going awry, sit back relax and let the good times roll.
Until next time!
-Ubercroz
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