River of Lava and Consequence.

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Greyaxe
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River of Lava and Consequence.

Unread post by Greyaxe »

Played a session today where an 8th level Earth/Fire warlock inadvertently destroyed a city of 1000 goblins with a river of lava. It was a subterranean city in a large stone cave. The structures were wood and leather. The lava was huge in this cave which began burning all the structures caught near it and superheated the cave. There were a few who escaped but for the most part it killed everyone in the city. The warlock character is principled good. I had him make a saving throw vs insanity when the realization of his actions set in. He failed. Know he is a raging alcoholic unable to deal with his sadness. (The roll was an obsession with alcohol.) Was this a fair GM response?
Sureshot wrote:Listen you young whippersnappers in my day we had to walk for 15 no 30 miles to the nearest game barefoot both ways. We had real books not PDFS and we carried them on carts we pulled ourselves that we built by hand. We had Thaco and we were happy. If we needed dice we carved ours out of wood. Petrified wood just because we could.
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kiralon
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Re: River of Lava and Consequence.

Unread post by kiralon »

He will be hearing the baby goblin screams for the rest of his days.

Mostly it depends if he was raised thinking goblins are vermin to be exterminated (its fine, was just a cavern of rats) to oh no goblins are people too.
Southerners and westerners tend to be the former, easterners and northerners tend to be the latter.
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Greyaxe
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Re: River of Lava and Consequence.

Unread post by Greyaxe »

kiralon wrote:He will be hearing the baby goblin screams for the rest of his days.

Mostly it depends if he was raised thinking goblins are vermin to be exterminated (its fine, was just a cavern of rats) to oh no goblins are people too.
Southerners and westerners tend to be the former, easterners and northerners tend to be the latter.

He was a gnome born and raised in the Great Northern Wilderness....
Thoughts?

I am thinking the silence of the lambs.
Sureshot wrote:Listen you young whippersnappers in my day we had to walk for 15 no 30 miles to the nearest game barefoot both ways. We had real books not PDFS and we carried them on carts we pulled ourselves that we built by hand. We had Thaco and we were happy. If we needed dice we carved ours out of wood. Petrified wood just because we could.
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kiralon
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Re: River of Lava and Consequence.

Unread post by kiralon »

Oh that would likely break him. Gnomes seem to be pretty tolerant as a race.
Me personally, I'd give him nightmares every night to reduce ppe and healing until he seeks redemption (and randomly have him waking up screaming and if on ley lines accidently setting stuff on fire during his nightmare), maybe give him a few prods from priestly recognising his haggardness and saying "My god can bring you surcease", and My god can help you. If he didn't do anything to address the issue I'd give him blackout headaches, split his personality, let his personality be good, but have an evil personality with psionics so he can "I am not the murderer you are looking for" the party with psionics while they sleep. Then have a bit of a plot run where he is actually the bad guy, then when its figured out, have the opportunity to be fixed by a mind mage/sage who can send the party, with the good personality that the players plays into his mind and let them fight the bad personality for control of the character.
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Re: River of Lava and Consequence.

Unread post by Veknironth »

Well, Kiralon has the personal aspect covered. I'll tackle the exterior. Someone is going to notice 1,000 missing Goblins. There will be evidence of a horrendous cataclysm caused by lava. There will be no signs of an eruption or tectonics opening the earth up and creating the lava. So, someone is going expect foul play. Any good aligned adventurers, governmental institutions, or other organizations who care about the well being of their neighbors are going to be looking for who did this. Anyone with a little bit of psychic or magic ability should be able to get to the bottom of it. That place would be haunted and some spirit would know who eradicated the entire village.

Once the mystery is solved, that gnome is public enemy #1. The authorities, whatever they may be, are going to come after him. Heros are going to come after him. His comrades will be considered accomplices. Depending on who catches up to him first, they might not bother asking questions or trying to arrest. The bounty might be dead or alive.

The gnome and the group have two basic choices. Present themselves before the local power and plead mercy, or run for the hills. Even if it's an accident, I can't imagine any leader(s) allowing the gnome to continue to freelance. He killed 1,000 souls by accident. That's super negligence. Also, what could he do on purpose? No, an example needs to be made.

Conversely, as Kiralon pointed out, he might be considered having done the local communities a favor by ridding them of those pesky Goblins. That could save you from having to have the group harassed by bounty hunters and heroes and it could also play into the psychosis. The gnome is certain he was wrong, but everyone is patting him on the back.

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kiralon
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Re: River of Lava and Consequence.

Unread post by kiralon »

Way OP, if you read the description if you are an sdc being you're dead no save, if you are a powerful supernatural being you then get to take damage.
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Re: River of Lava and Consequence.

Unread post by Greyaxe »

Great advice all. I love the external measures consequences. Members of the coven escaped so the revenge element is in there as well. Lots of fodder for future role playing. Thanks for the creative boost.
Sureshot wrote:Listen you young whippersnappers in my day we had to walk for 15 no 30 miles to the nearest game barefoot both ways. We had real books not PDFS and we carried them on carts we pulled ourselves that we built by hand. We had Thaco and we were happy. If we needed dice we carved ours out of wood. Petrified wood just because we could.
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Re: River of Lava and Consequence.

Unread post by glitterboy2098 »

Veknironth wrote:Conversely, as Kiralon pointed out, he might be considered having done the local communities a favor by ridding them of those pesky Goblins. That could save you from having to have the group harassed by bounty hunters and heroes and it could also play into the psychosis. The gnome is certain he was wrong, but everyone is patting him on the back.


could easily be both too.. the populace might see it as a good thing he killed them all.. but he might get a price on his head and notoriety anyway because anyone with that much power at their fingers is going to be seen as a potential threat. only the wanted posters will have "alive and intact only" on them and the rulers will be looking to imprison and exploit him rather than punish him. or recruit him.. could go either way.

but of course, if the human populace is happy, the Goblins are gonna be ticked off, so he'd have a price on his head from that end for sure..
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Re: River of Lava and Consequence.

Unread post by Killer Cyborg »

Greyaxe wrote:Played a session today where an 8th level Earth/Fire warlock inadvertently destroyed a city of 1000 goblins with a river of lava. It was a subterranean city in a large stone cave. The structures were wood and leather. The lava was huge in this cave which began burning all the structures caught near it and superheated the cave. There were a few who escaped but for the most part it killed everyone in the city. The warlock character is principled good. I had him make a saving throw vs insanity when the realization of his actions set in. He failed. Know he is a raging alcoholic unable to deal with his sadness. (The roll was an obsession with alcohol.) Was this a fair GM response?


Depends on the campaign or adventure.
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