It all started out so innocently–just a normal, every-day mattress fire started by our cleric. You know, in a wooden inn. And in the end, the Golden Grain Inn (from N1: Against the Cult of the Reptile God) was in ashes.
This, my friends, is the danger of giving players freedom to choose. It’s possible that they may just burn the inn down!
Now this came as no surprise to me. As a player character, I’ve roleplayed as arsonist a time or two. I’m sure you’ve seen it happen too. But these sorts of character actions cause a problem for us: offering freedom to players often constrains the story.
In the case of this unfortunate fire (which occurred in last Monday’s session, mind you), we now have a major set piece in ashes. But beyond that, as the DM, I’m faced with a really complicated conundrum: how do the [bad guys] respond? The module does not have much fluff about these folks. So now the storyline has been shaken. Where do I go from here?
While many GMs would default to railroading the players (thus limiting the players’ freedom), some would abandon the storyline altogether (thus limiting the GM’s freedom). But I think there’s a better way to handle situations like this when players throw the story into a tailspin. The answer? Consequences.
For every action, there must be an equal and opposite reaction. And that is what the GM must be prepared to do. Here’s how you can do it with ease:
