help me figure out a way help my players get out of the mess they're in without ruining their fun.

The following all happens in a town and the nearby surrounding area.

So my party, hereby referred to as their classes are currently third level and have infiltrated a cults hideout, they went there looking for Rogues friend and snuck in with disguises and managed to bluff their way into where the friend was being held. She was in a holding cell. After some deliberation they devised a plan to cast silent image and sneak her out, they couldn’t manage to pick the lock and Cleric smashed the door in, this was heard by nearby cultists and they decided to just make a break for it. The cult massively outnumbered them and the party got surrounded. Sorcerer, who is an Aasimar and can fly at 3rd level, flew past everyone and escaped while the rest of the party surrendered. We ended the session there and Sorcerer told me after the session that they plan to go to Cleric’s tavern to get the barkeep and any tough looking patrons to form a quick mob.

The conundrum here is that I can’t think of a good reason for these cultists to not just kill the party aside from that’s not fun. The cult is aware that one of them escaped is probably going to bring the law down on them, so they’ll also want to leave. If I was them (and in a way I am) I’d probably kill the witnesses and bail.

Any advice?

beebarfbadger,

Hostage exchange.

Mediocre_Bard,

What is the goal of the cultists?

SwiggitySwole,

Their plan is twofold, firstly they are in service to a lich tried to take over the multiverse and got Strahd’d into a domain of dread and wants out. They sacrifice souls to him. Secondly, they’re necromancers and are trying to create an army of undead for him to lead when he gets back to the material plane. The players aren’t aware of this yet but I’m trying to put that information in front of them

_lilith,

Ok so the cult is going to kill them right? Cults kill stuff by sacrificing it to whatever they worship.

Lets also say they do it on the night of a full moon or something so everyone including the villagers knows when it happens.

Let the one dude rally the mob while you have the captured characters make some skill checks to free/arm themselves before the big sacrifice.

Guy with the mob arrives just in time because every villager told him when to show up. Mob busts in Players bust out.

Boom boss fight. You could even make a big bad out of a half summoned evil cult deity. Say the portal didn’t open big enough and only shadowy hands are coming through. These could grapple players and drag them toward the summon portal. Small damage if they actually hit the portal and plenty of chances to get away but it creates tension while they try to kill the summoner. Plus you don’t need equipment for the athletics checks.

CobblerScholar,

Is your party the first counter-force these cultists have encountered? Unless it’s like a mindless zombie type cult then they would want information from the mysterious party before killing them even if the rest of the cult is packing up shit to leave. To game-fy this you could have your Sorceror make a series of conversation checks to gather the mob at the tavern while the rest of the party is making checks to stall the cult as long as possible. Longer they can stall the bigger their rescue party can be. Worst case scenario happens and the sorceror runs out of time you have a cleric, start throwing in some divine intervention plot armor for some future cost

Nosavingthrow,

Let whatever the cultists believe in intervene on the parties behalf because it knows they are capable of getting【McGuffin】and now they either need to agree via binding ritual or die here and now. If not reasonable, it turns out one of the cultists accidentally became possessed by a Devilish entity and discreetly offers them help in exchange for 【McGuffin】.

southsamurai,
@southsamurai@sh.itjust.works avatar

Okay, there’s some great ideas already, so I’m going to swerve a bit and ask some questions to see if there’s an in universe reason for things.

Your assumption is that the cultists would kill the prisoners and flee.

Is that because of the cult’s beliefs? If not, then there’s no reason to start off from evil = kill as the first choice. You don’t have to be Stupid Evil just because you’re evil. What god or entity are they serving? What’s the “portfolio” of the entity? What is their long term goal?

Depending on those answers, it’s possible to cook things up that don’t break the world building, or rely on deus ex machina to save them.

As an example, I had a similar situation with an organization in my home brew world/system. A cabal of political and social manipulating villains captured part of the group because the players just did something silly, they didn’t even fail a roll until they were trying to escape, and it was already too late anyway, they would have been followed.

But, this organization was a secret organization. Disappearing people was definitely a possibility, but not when they didn’t catch everyone. So the minions of the organization rendered the captured people unconscious, then used memory wiping spells along with drugs to cover their tracks more fully. They dumped the party members off near a hospital, and “sanitized” the location they were at before the party came along. Now, the leadership of the organization were rightfully pissed, and took steps for revenge that would be much easier to cover up, but they didn’t make a rash decision in the moment so that they could make it clean.

It didn’t work out for the organization, the party did take them down eventually, but it was a much more interesting fight along the way because the players were invested more.

Not saying that’s the right answer for your story and table, it’s just an example of the kind of thinking that can be done in universe.

curiousaur,

Hostage negotiation. They are worth more alive then dead if they believe the law is coming.

Persuasion and intimidation checks to buy time. That time can be used by the rest of the party to escape or gain position and the upper hand in the battle to come.

Let them start escaping from being bound and blindfolded, stuffed into a wagon for transportation.

Funkmaster-Hex,

Bump. This is a good idea. Successful checks can make the cultists think they're worth more than they are too, turning it into a cultists greed angle.

KidnappedByKitties,

A stereotypical high drama continuation could be:

The cult know the law is on it’s way, and must now accelerate their plans for the final ritual to summon the dark lord to protect them and show the world the Might That Will Usher In the New Era.

Fortunately, the hapless adventurers could be just the sacrifice needed to boost the final steps.

If you need to kill time, the ritual might be preceded by a set of cage fights to find the most worthy sacrifice. Or an elaborate set of trials. Or they’re stripped of equipment and/or drained of magic before having to fight themselves out of the situation long enough for the cavalry to get there.

Bonus out is both the summoned Big Bad as a boss fight, or if they derail, they might find themselves fighting the High Priest and their most enthusiastic lieutenant/followers while they perform a ritual that adds puzzle like elements to the fight (the boss priest has a shield as long as the followers live, or elemental pillars that have to be destroyed before damaging the priest, etc).

Of course the cavalry arrives just in time, and the mob of townsfolk spread out to fight the cultists, so that only a few arrive to aid at the boss fight.

KidnappedByKitties, (edited )

Or you could have a cool siege type episode.

The cult can’t kill the adventurers yet, because they have to prepare the compound for the onslaught of the law and mob. They need to prepare arrows and reagents for the palisades/walls, prepare wards/rituals/cauldrons of hot water, organise the defensive teams, and the High priest needs their guards to protect the ritual of the demolition wave that will wipe out the assailants/everything outside the ritual circle for a mile wide radius after a long ritual that in it’s haste is leaking dangerous magics making a fight in the ritual room that much more hazardous.

The captured adventurers of course escape their improvised cages/fetters in time to sabotage and/or infiltrate the defences and let the law and mob in. And fight their way to the inner chamber just as the ritual is nearing it’s climax.

Bonus cinematic points if the ritual chamber is marked by a pillar of darkness, swirling clouds centered on it, or similar so that the outside sorcerer knows where to go.

FermiEstimate,

If I was them (and in a way I am) I’d probably kill the witnesses and bail.

So I totally get this conclusion, but I think it’s worth slowing down and considering whether this makes as much sense as it seems at first glance. The fact that magic exists means that simply killing someone simply doesn’t do much to shut them up, if a sufficiently powerful entity is willing to spend the resources. The fact that undeath exists means that killing someone has a very real risk of making them a bigger threat than they were in life–it’s not like you can just stab a ghost. Cultists, being familiar with eldritch powers themselves, know this full well. This means that keeping people merely out of communication might be the simplest way to achieve their actual goal with the minimum of fuss. They don’t need someone quiet forever, they just need enough secrecy to achieve their goals. Murdering every person who takes an interest in them is mission creep.

Also, keep in mind cults generally exist for specific purposes, and people join them for specific purposes. These purposes aren’t necessarily overtly evil at the rank-and-file level, which is integral to their recruitment. The turnip farmer who wants to resurrect a dead harvest god to grow more turnips might be okay with some dodgy rituals the church wouldn’t approve of, but straight up committing multiple murder might take some working up to, if he can be talked into it at all.

So in short, consider what your cult wants, and assume a degree of rationality and thoughtfulness (at least, when they’re not channeling horrors from another plane). What do they want, and how the party could provide what they want?

actionjbone, (edited )

Could be an opportunity for “a hidden ally with their own agenda.”

Maybe it’s another prisoner who has found a secret way to escape.

Maybe it’s another cult member who wants to prove the leader’s weakness, so orchestrates a coup using the PCs as either bait or allies.

Maybe it’s someone who infiltrated the cult to seek revenge, and they have a plan for the party to break out and sow chaos so that the revenge-seeker can get their revenge.

kakes,

I was thinking something along these lines too - making it more of a “character drama” rather than a large-scale political thing.

Like, maybe the cult does decide to kill these characters, so they assign a particular NPC (or maybe a duo of NPCs?) to do the job.

Depending on the tone of the campaign, these would-be-executioners could be humorously incompetent, or they could secretly side with the party, or they could have some other interesting quirks that make them something the party can deal with - maybe they bicker a lot and it takes their focus away from the PCs enough for them to make a move, or maybe they recognize one of the PCs from childhood, or myriad other possibilities.

edgemaster72,
@edgemaster72@lemmy.world avatar

Why were they holding Rogue’s friend? Whatever that reason was, it’s why they hold onto the party now.

tigeruppercut,

Cult can’t murder anyone until the new moon, as Lady Xra’nzt’z has long decreed

themeatbridge,

The conundrum here is that I can’t think of a good reason for these cultists to not just kill the party aside from that’s not fun.

That’s all the reason you need!

minnow, (edited )

Cults are about power, specifically for the leader of the cult. It’s reasonable to assume that the mayor of the town and most of his cronies are cult members themselves, willfully working with the cult for mutual gain, or the cult has some kind of leverage over them.

Let the sorcerer get a mob, which while enroute to the cult to rescue their friends will be joined by the sheriff etc.

Meanwhile, the rest of the party will want to fight their way out or die trying, and it won’t be fun for them if you railroad their actions in another direction. So, let them! The cultists won’t kill them without orders (because maybe it’s okay to kill these people, but maybe not, and none of them want to take the initiative and risk upsetting the leader)

The party successfully breaks free just as the sorcerer shows up with the mob lead by the sheriff who’s on the cult’s side. He then “legally” arrests the party for attacking the towns citizens. The civilian members of the mob are easily quelled and dispersed by the sheriff’s men, leaving the party to fight a proper mini-boss battle (the sheriff and his men) OR let themselves be arrested (maybe by the suggestion of the NPC friend?) as a means of getting closer to the truth and whoever is REALLY in charge.

If they fight and win, they’ll have a blast and earn their escape.

If they let themselves get arrested, you can advance the plot or have a sympathetic townsperson help them escape stealth fully.

Either way they should have a fun 🙂

geekwithsoul,

Maybe the cultists have another faction that they’re rivals with and the leader is impressed by the party’s ability to sneak in? So he makes them an offer - do a similar job against the rival faction and if successful, he’ll release the captive to them.

They can then either do the new job or try and bring the mob down on the cult. Or some kind of double cross later? Plenty of opportunities for shenanigans or they can play it straight and try and to do the new job.

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