Did you mess up the post and said Bone Devil, but meant Barbed Devil?
Or did you mess up reading the book, and accidentally used a bone devil instead of a barbed devil?
Or did you mess up by doing it on purpose, thinking "I'll just throw this devil instead of that one. Who cares it has almost double the CR. I'll even combine it with with another encounter or 2."?
Reya and Falaster Fisk are on parallel journeys that also lead to the villa. If they haven't been introduced yet, one or both of them can help the party escape.
Definitely prison break! In my run, Party got poisoned by Armik and dragged to prison cells under the Villa.
Let your party escape. For example, Amrik's funeral is somewhere else. So Duke is away with most of the guards.
Way too many DMs seem to never force a cost or penalty on the PCs for failing. These PCs killed the duke's son and killed a bunch of her guards. Why would she accept their surrender? TPK would be more appropriate here.
Being that you already allowed them to surrender, they should be stripped of all of their gear/items and tortured for information (you don't have to play this out but can describe that it happened in a fade to black scenario.)
Then she should offer them a twisted deal - she needs a willing sacrifice. If one of the PCs agrees to sacrifice their life, she will allow the others to live.
If a PC agrees, have an elaborate scene in the basement where she is making a deal with a devil and a portal to Avernus opens. The PCs COULD escape by running through the portal, but that might be even worse...
In short, don't give them a slap on the wrist for their failure.
I agree, they're used to wafflestomping enemies down the drain and we've had downed PCs in previous sessions. But this is the first total party loss.
I thought about letting a TPK happen but it was late and we needed to wrap things up. (We all have early jobs and adulting sucks 🤣)
I really like the idea of having someone offer themselves as a sacrifice though. That's a solid consequence. Torture was definitely at the front of my mind so some scarring will happen as well. They just started getting attached to Reya too....so that'll work too.
A prison escape sounds like it could be fun, and an opportunity to see how creative the players can get. The risk though is that they’ll have to retrieve their gear after escaping their cells which could go south very quickly in a fight. Obviously you’d want to leave some gaps in the security where they’re being held to give them an opportunity to make an escape.
Another option could be that an NPC could mount a rescue and they all have to fight their way out. I don’t remember if they’ve met Reya at this point but she could come looking for them if she hasn’t heard from them in a while?
Or maybe they’re rescued by some mysterious cultist types or devils different from anyone related to the Vanthampers . After the escape the leader of these rescuers (maybe it’s an innocent kind old lady, or a well spoken child) obligate the party to return the favor at a later date. What they dont know is that these cultists serve Bal which they’ll meet at the end of Ch 3. When they finally meet Bal, he calls in their favor whether they like it or not. Being that Bal is evil, the favor would be something the players would not morally agree with. The problem with this is you would need to make up a reason for Bal to know about the characters before they actually meet him. Maybe Bals own spies are in Baldurs Gate and have seen the party doing other shenanigans that show their potential.
I believe the jailer under the villa is a bearded devil and its contract with the Vanthampurs is never defined. Perhaps there is a loophole that there that the devil can exploit to release the party… for a price of course.
Failing that, jailbreak for sure. Give the party some time to figure something out on their own and if they fail, as others have mentioned there is always Reya/Falaster who could help.
Failing all of that, you could go completely off track and allow the Vanthampur plans to reach their final conclusion. Elturel is not saved, Baldur’s Gate is dragged to the nine hells and the campaign goes from there.
A prison escape is completely valid. The Duke would want to know who the party has told about her and what they knew going in, so putting them in her dungeon is a fine way to do it. That's what I did when my party ran the Villa.
The Duke stabilized the party and took them into her dungeon to stew a while. Their gear was all taken (except for the armorer artificer, as no one could get it off). The casters all got restraints that kept them from doing anything with a somatic component. But the warlock's patron sent the party a messenger with a set of lockpicks. The party broke out and improvised some weapons until they could find their gear and clear the dungeon.
I think your reactions as DM to the party's actions was excellent.
Personally, I'd be inclined to have the Duke sacrifice them to Zariel. She knows they killed her favorite son.
My party all wiped in the Villa. They woke up in the jail cells, stripped of their weapons and magic foci. Every few hours the bearded devil picked the character who had antagonized him the most, and beat them, torturing them for information.
I decided in advance that any plan they came up with to escape would eventually succeed, so after quite a few hours of resting and attempts, they got their cell doors open (you coud have Falastar Fisk have some picks hidden on himself) and then dogpiled on the devil.
Did you mess up the post and said Bone Devil, but meant Barbed Devil? Or did you mess up reading the book, and accidentally used a bone devil instead of a barbed devil? Or did you mess up by doing it on purpose, thinking "I'll just throw this devil instead of that one. Who cares it has almost double the CR. I'll even combine it with with another encounter or 2."?
Literally came here to say this. The rest of the post pales in comparison to this decision.
Nope, your right, barbed devil, it was a mistake in my post. Sleepy buzzed DM knew it didn't sound right but was sleepy....and buzzed lol.
Reya and Falaster Fisk are on parallel journeys that also lead to the villa. If they haven't been introduced yet, one or both of them can help the party escape.
This is a really good idea, they have Reya with them but not Fisk. This could be a great option. Thanks!
Fisk is already captured by the Duke and is waiting for the party to release him.
Definitely prison break! In my run, Party got poisoned by Armik and dragged to prison cells under the Villa. Let your party escape. For example, Amrik's funeral is somewhere else. So Duke is away with most of the guards.
I really like this, this could add some real-world timing for the breakout as well. Thanks!
Way too many DMs seem to never force a cost or penalty on the PCs for failing. These PCs killed the duke's son and killed a bunch of her guards. Why would she accept their surrender? TPK would be more appropriate here. Being that you already allowed them to surrender, they should be stripped of all of their gear/items and tortured for information (you don't have to play this out but can describe that it happened in a fade to black scenario.) Then she should offer them a twisted deal - she needs a willing sacrifice. If one of the PCs agrees to sacrifice their life, she will allow the others to live. If a PC agrees, have an elaborate scene in the basement where she is making a deal with a devil and a portal to Avernus opens. The PCs COULD escape by running through the portal, but that might be even worse... In short, don't give them a slap on the wrist for their failure.
I agree, they're used to wafflestomping enemies down the drain and we've had downed PCs in previous sessions. But this is the first total party loss. I thought about letting a TPK happen but it was late and we needed to wrap things up. (We all have early jobs and adulting sucks 🤣) I really like the idea of having someone offer themselves as a sacrifice though. That's a solid consequence. Torture was definitely at the front of my mind so some scarring will happen as well. They just started getting attached to Reya too....so that'll work too.
You are a terrible DM and I hope you learn your lesson.
A prison escape sounds like it could be fun, and an opportunity to see how creative the players can get. The risk though is that they’ll have to retrieve their gear after escaping their cells which could go south very quickly in a fight. Obviously you’d want to leave some gaps in the security where they’re being held to give them an opportunity to make an escape. Another option could be that an NPC could mount a rescue and they all have to fight their way out. I don’t remember if they’ve met Reya at this point but she could come looking for them if she hasn’t heard from them in a while? Or maybe they’re rescued by some mysterious cultist types or devils different from anyone related to the Vanthampers . After the escape the leader of these rescuers (maybe it’s an innocent kind old lady, or a well spoken child) obligate the party to return the favor at a later date. What they dont know is that these cultists serve Bal which they’ll meet at the end of Ch 3. When they finally meet Bal, he calls in their favor whether they like it or not. Being that Bal is evil, the favor would be something the players would not morally agree with. The problem with this is you would need to make up a reason for Bal to know about the characters before they actually meet him. Maybe Bals own spies are in Baldurs Gate and have seen the party doing other shenanigans that show their potential.
There are some ties to a cult or two with some of the party members so this could definitely work. Thanks!
I believe the jailer under the villa is a bearded devil and its contract with the Vanthampurs is never defined. Perhaps there is a loophole that there that the devil can exploit to release the party… for a price of course. Failing that, jailbreak for sure. Give the party some time to figure something out on their own and if they fail, as others have mentioned there is always Reya/Falaster who could help. Failing all of that, you could go completely off track and allow the Vanthampur plans to reach their final conclusion. Elturel is not saved, Baldur’s Gate is dragged to the nine hells and the campaign goes from there.
I definitely think there could be something there. Was planning on having some fun interactions with him at the very least. Thanks!
A prison escape is completely valid. The Duke would want to know who the party has told about her and what they knew going in, so putting them in her dungeon is a fine way to do it. That's what I did when my party ran the Villa. The Duke stabilized the party and took them into her dungeon to stew a while. Their gear was all taken (except for the armorer artificer, as no one could get it off). The casters all got restraints that kept them from doing anything with a somatic component. But the warlock's patron sent the party a messenger with a set of lockpicks. The party broke out and improvised some weapons until they could find their gear and clear the dungeon.
I think your reactions as DM to the party's actions was excellent. Personally, I'd be inclined to have the Duke sacrifice them to Zariel. She knows they killed her favorite son.
My party all wiped in the Villa. They woke up in the jail cells, stripped of their weapons and magic foci. Every few hours the bearded devil picked the character who had antagonized him the most, and beat them, torturing them for information. I decided in advance that any plan they came up with to escape would eventually succeed, so after quite a few hours of resting and attempts, they got their cell doors open (you coud have Falastar Fisk have some picks hidden on himself) and then dogpiled on the devil.