Misadventure

[diamabel]

I'm curious how you cope with misadventure in your campaigns. So you get a clearer picture of what I have in mind, here are a few examples:


1) Your adventuring party is traveling through a region where there was barely rain for the last few months. You decide to make a camp, light a camp fire, etc. Do you automatically assume the party took all precautions to prevent a fire? Say your party leaves the camp the next day, but didn't make sure the fire is completely extinguished. The party might leave the region in time and not notice what's happening or they might not realize they were the cause for the disaster.

2) The party is in a city/village and there happens to be a fight your party is involved. The wizard casts a firewall within the settlement. Adjacent buildings catch fire. In a worst case scenario a big part of the settlement might get ravaged by the fire.

3) The party is traveling on a road and get's waylaid by bounty hunters. During the fight the wizard casts a cloud kill which hits crops (or even cattle) that are besides the road as well as some attackers.


These examples may be a little too constructed. D&D rules, especially spells and their descriptions rather put a focus on internal game mechanics (saving throws / damage range / etc.). How do you cope with such situations? Especially how do you confront the party with the results of their actions?

[Ethiel]

I had a similar instance happen in one campaign I was running.

To be fair I play a fast and loose high power campaign style. Very free form, so my players learn to expect anything.

Well this was a mixed party (character types and alignments) of very high level toons, So i had them fighting a pumped up Kraken, and the Chaotic Good priest type of Moradin, befouled the water, well with his level, the entire fresh water lake of some good size was affected, while he did kill the Kraken, he also killed all marine life in the lake. Adversely affecting all those in the fishing and tourism industries of the surrounding villages, as well as a majority of the drinking water.

this action not only changed his alignment putting him at odds with his deity, it brought him to the attention of another deity who made him an offer he could not refuse (seriously changing the characters attitude and playstyle)

the player was seriously messed up by this, and is referred to as the fish slayer to this day.

[systemstate]

I had a similar instance happen in one campaign I was running.

To be fair I play a fast and loose high power campaign style. Very free form, so my players learn to expect anything.

Well this was a mixed party (character types and alignments) of very high level toons, So i had them fighting a pumped up Kraken, and the Chaotic Good priest type of Moradin, befouled the water, well with his level, the entire fresh water lake of some good size was affected, while he did kill the Kraken, he also killed all marine life in the lake. Adversely affecting all those in the fishing and tourism industries of the surrounding villages, as well as a majority of the drinking water.

this action not only changed his alignment putting him at odds with his deity, it brought him to the attention of another deity who made him an offer he could not refuse (seriously changing the characters attitude and playstyle)

the player was seriously messed up by this, and is referred to as the fish slayer to this day.

THIS is why D&D is awesome.

[diamabel]

@Ethiel

A good example. The shift of alignment is reasonable as the character commited the act deliberately. But out of curiosity, did the character stay on the new path or did he try to atone at a later time (maybe he changed his mind a few "years" later?)?

[DFraser]

In case 1 I would look at skills and background to decide if a wildfire started. Either way there should be no alignment change as it was not on purpose.

Case 2 I would ask them "really?". That should prompt the question of what the buildings are made of. If they do it anyway and the buildings are wood, then there is a fire. How big is up to the GM. This one is grey to me. I would look at how ambivalent the player was. Showing concern for their actions means remorse.

Case 3 They did not choose the battlefield. Pay for the cattle, not sure cloud kill would effect the crops.

In MHO alignment change requires a series of actions, or 1 BIG one, AKA willing and actively killing a good person , not he was accedently caught in the fireball, but I am cutting him down because I want to or using a cloud kill in a bar filled with noncombatants.
Gods on the other hand they are fickel and will drop people for minor, accidental, unintentional actions.

[JustWinBaby]

What happens when the Rogue gets mad at the Paladin who is hogging all the gems for himself, decides to take the Bag of Holding the Pally is holding, and throw it into a Portable Hole?

Well let me answer that for you...the DM closes the book he is looking in, stands up, and tells the group what just happened...and things proceed from there

[Ethiel]

@Ethiel

A good example. The shift of alignment is reasonable as the character commited the act deliberately. But out of curiosity, did the character stay on the new path or did he try to atone at a later time (maybe he changed his mind a few "years" later?)?

Nope he went all out with the new alignment.

said his character suffered a mental break.

[donfilibuster]

1) Adventurers tipically want to remove their tracks including bonfires. Unless they love random encounters.
If a fire spreads then it's bluff time! Plenty of rp opportunity to get back on the friendly side of the poor villagers.

2) Sadly on 3e there's no longer an "affect fire" spell to deal with accidental fires.
Maybe a sleet storm could take care of it and hope they buy your good intentions for the additional structural damage.
Now a good nuker never trash the surroundings so carelessy, least you enjoy having ceilings drop over your head often.
It is always better if you can tap the villagers for help though after a brawl fight they might not be too inclined to.
If all fails it is good to have some contacts on the book, like some cleric, wizard, druid or psion that may help you for a fee or favors.

3) Cattle casualties are high on any heroic skirmish, but the villagers won't mind if you offer some payback in return.
That gotta be done before gossip spreads though, and gossip spreads fast, let they become wary of your witching ways.
A good nuking wizard is fast to pass the blame on collateral damage, but should be careful with those pesky npcs that know better and are quick to point fingers.

4) As for spoiling the lake or marine enviroment, if there's a deity willing to 'negotiate' over the incident it is the deities of water or sea.
Deities and guardians of any water bodies are often the sort to take up offerings and sacrifices.
And the returns are quite more tangible, able to swiftly deal with tides, winds, storms, wrecks, floods, pollution, etc.
Sure the rewards are only weather based and short term but you can't go wrong with those.

[ArchStriker]

Tell them what they did. Tell them what the monster did. Seems simple to me. I don't think you have to go into this whole master of dungeons and dragons dungeon master 101 here lol.

[Postumus]

In case 1 I would look at skills and background to decide if a wildfire started. Either way there should be no alignment change as it was not on purpose.

Case 2 I would ask them "really?". That should prompt the question of what the buildings are made of. If they do it anyway and the buildings are wood, then there is a fire. How big is up to the GM. This one is grey to me. I would look at how ambivalent the player was. Showing concern for their actions means remorse.

Case 3 They did not choose the battlefield. Pay for the cattle, not sure cloud kill would effect the crops.

The beauty of DnD is that the answers are only limited to your creativity and desire to provide a rich in game experience.


These simple scenarios could actually be turned into great morale decisions for characters (#s 2&3)


Case 1: Depending on who is starting the fire, a quick stat check against INT or WIS should suffice. You can add modifiers depending on class, or character back ground. You might exempt a Druid from the check.

Or if the 'special' character in the group is building the fire, and a druid or ranger is in the party, you still might give them a chance to see if they notice the fire starter doing something that could lead to something disastrous.


Case 2: You can do a stat check here as well.

If you don't want to leave it completely to chance, you can do the equivalent of a RL stat check/warning (as mentioned above): "Really? You guys realize these buildings are all made of wood and it hasn't rained for months." Any players ignoring this warning deserve facing the resulting consequences - possibly run out of town, put on trial, liable for damages & injury, etc. This could result in some unintended, yet fantastic role play opportunities.


Case 3: Again, I agree with Dfraser here. They may not have picked the battlefield, and they may have chosen the most expedient method to defeat the monster for the party, but the unintended consequences to NPCs should be addressed. Remuneration, NPC reaction, deity/patron reaction could all be addressed here.


It's also an opportunity for characters to be rewarded for good role play. A cleric who champions for the downtrodden could actively lobby to fight the monster (change venue, tactics) in a way that would be least detrimental to the poor farmers - which still might be using the cloud- and receive bonus xps for his efforts. Same for the farm boy turned adventurer character.


The party who helps prevent damage to the local lord's lands while defeating the monster might get an additional monetary reward.


The non-human party who causes a lot of collateral damage to the human lord's property or human farmer's crops might be run out of town without reward despite besting the monster.


The options are limitless. And each of the scenarios you raise are just great opportunities to enhance and reward role play.


BTW, I love the Kraken/Cleric story. That is just great DnD.

[Postumus]

I'm curious how you cope with misadventure in your campaigns. So you get a clearer picture of what I have in mind, here are a few examples:


1) Say your party leaves the camp the next day, but didn't make sure the fire is completely extinguished. The party might leave the region in time and not notice what's happening or they might not realize they were the cause for the disaster.

Also a great opportunity to introduce a party nemesis like a vengeful druid, ranger, or forest creature.