My players just had a hard moment of their campaign, where they decided to try and kill an NPC who had been with them since the beginning. They didn't feel good about it, and felt worse than the NPC gave them three chances to simply lead.
They were however not expecting to actually lose the fight, but the guy managed to wreck them. The session ended two hours ago with two of the PC's running dragging a third after one had already died. I decided to drink. I need to know though what you guys think of the NPC.
He is a man in his early fifties, the majority of his life spent in a field behind a plow. As such he has the weather worn and leathery body of someone used to working for ten hours a day. At the beginning of the campaign his livelihood and family farm, owned for generations, was burned down as the town ransacked. His wife and one son killed, only his young son surviving.
From here he became a soldier. In game it is now three years later and the man rising through the ranks and winning hard earned victories including ending a siege highhandedly.
The players later realize that the invaders are actually the good one in the grand scheme of things, and that the country the NPC belongs to the corrupt oligarchy. They tried to reason with him, but he gave this answer.
"I am so tired, so tired. Do I look like a man who can leave a life and start anew? I am a farmer, nothing more. I need to keep fighting for my son, for when this war is over he might have a better life than mine. The seeds of his future do not care who's blood feeds it, mine and enemy alike do not matter. I am a farmer, and am merely harvesting a different crop. Please, just leave, I do not want to have to lose more friends."
How is this for a confrontation?
Seems like a pretty cool in character moment that you fucking ruined by making an old man farmer who was forced to become a soldier be able to wreck a party of what I assume are 3-5 trained fighters and mages instead of making it a sad and bitter moment of striking him down instead.
You dropped the ball, seriously.
>>44125728
I agree here but I would like to know more about the fight.
Was he capable of wrecking them all of was it just bad luck and only 20's were rolled for the farmer?
>>44125728
He had been a soldier at that point and fighting for his life for four years straight. He has proven himself a commander and fighter. They knew he was strong.
He had more time in the field than the party.
Is this what they meant with fatguys liking dirtsucker PCs who are fighters and are as bland as possible to avoid being speciul snowflakes?
Sounds to me like we need more details to accurately judge this one though.
So your jimmies are rustled because the PCs touched your special DMPC, who had been accompanying them, kill stealing their shit and taking names instead of the PCs, who are supposed to be the protagonists of the story?
I do not give a shit what your campaign is about. In fact, fuck whatever your campaign was about. It's most likely retarded and no one cares and your players hate it.
There is one thing, and only one thing you can do that will actually salvage your situation.
That old man has to become the BBEG.
OP setup a good opportunity for a rival character for his party, I don't see what's wrong with that.
>>44125785
>>44125750
OP here. The PCs were level 11 at the time.
When they first met the fighter he was a Commoner 3 Fighter 1 and the players were level 2. They grew together because they all were in constant combat for several years. He has shaped and leveled up in essentially the same environment as the PCs (except then the PCs went into the enemy country on a spying mission that ended up with them changing sides, this was six months in game).
At the end the farmer was a Fighter 9 Commoner 3. During the fight what happened was the first round he called shot on the closest person, who was the aged caster (he had 12 con with his belt) and crit, doing a debilitating blow to the chest and doing 2d4 con damage. This was enough to straight kill the caster. It went downhill from here. He managed a second called shot to blind another PC and hit another. The PCs themselves did a number on him, but realized the alarms had been raised and that even if they won (they likely would) that they wouldn't be able to escape surrounded by men.
At this point this was the first time they had seen the NPC for six months in game, during which he had been besieging a port city.
>>44125835
>first met the fighter
meant farmer
>>44125835
>>44125846
You sound like a decent fellow.
Have the character who died reroll and let them duke it out on the battlefield next time, a nice clash with the farmer and his retinue/bodyguards. Sounds like a neat concept, in my opinion.
>>44125728
War changed people
>>44125835
So if I understand well, your party wanted to kill him and they attacked first... Yet he got the initiative somehow? And he went right for the weakest (intending to make the damage) 5 seconds after saying " I do not want to have to lose more friends"?
You should just have dropped it there or at least reduce the damage. You didn't let any chance to your party to get out victorious there and made it worse by getting the alarm raised. I'm sorry but I disagree with what you did. Ok it may be an important character (more for you than for the story probably) but even with bad luck you can still turn the odds a little more in the favor of the PC if they have had no chance to do something.
>>44126106
>And he went right for the weakest (intending to make the damage) 5 seconds after saying " I do not want to have to lose more friends"?
In the OP it's stated that he gave them three chances to leave. We can just assume that after the third attempt he gave up on convincing them peacefully and finally attacked.
>>44124774
Looks pretty good to me. People get worned out. There is only so much people can sacrifice for the Greater Good. His motivations were fine, his actions were fine.
And if the players took it all without biching, then props to them, because they are damnn fine too.
