DMs, Prevent Murderhobos By Rewarding Alternative Player Strategies

We're all used to hearing from the dungeon masters who complain about the murderhobos at their table. DMs who are trying to run a world with depth, complexity, and meaningful characters, but where the only response from their players seems to be to keep stabbing until either the plot moves forward, or people stop trying to talk at them.

He's a big guy, right? I take his shoes.

While there are numerous reasons that players turn to the life of the murderhobo, there is one thing you can do to help reform them. In some cases it even stops PCs from becoming murderhobos in the first place. The method is simple.

Reward the effort that comes with taking alternative routes, rather than simply making death the quick and easy answer to everything.

Enemies Should Be More Than Mere Mooks

There are going to be some enemies that have no unique characteristics. They have no personality, they aren't important to the story or the world, and they really are here just to have their heads staved in by the PCs. Your automatons, your mindless undead, things like that. However, any time there is a living, breathing creature involved in a combat, you need to signal to players that these characters aren't just targets to be knocked down so they can progress. They're a living, breathing part of the world that can be interacted with in ways other than violence.

It's still AN option, just not THE option.

 

You can lead by example on this, if you want to. For example, rather than just having a gang of outlaws ambush your party while they sleep, have them hail the camp. The leader lets the party know they're surrounded, and they have a choice. They can hand over a tithe (some reasonable amount of gold, typically), and the gang will leave... or if they refuse, then the gang will take everything they have.

Sure, some players are going to just draw steel or cast a spell, drawing all the readied actions coming their way. But others might try to get a dialogue going. To make a deal with the bandits by appealing to their sense of professionalism, by scoffing something like, "I thought the Cardinal's men had honor, yet you approach us like this?", or even by challenging them to single combat. But by opening the scene with dialogue, you've shown these particular bandits are characters. They react like reasonable, rational people, and they're open to suggestions if the party can make something worth their while.

That's a start.

Taking Prisoners, Instead of Taking Heads

Another thing you can do, as a DM, is to institute the Old West rule of bounty hunting, as I call it. If you've seen old-timey Wanted posters, then you know the phrase, "Dead or Alive," that was so famously tacked to the bottom of them. But the thing a lot of folks forget is that the reward for a live capture was often a great deal more than that given for a dead body. And in some cases the reward was entirely contingent on the individual being handed over while they were still alive, and able to stand trial, with no reward for someone who was dead.

Poster don't say nothing about the condition his knees have to be in, though.

 

Take that logic and apply it to early quests in your game. PCs want to get paid, but if killing someone means the reward for them goes up in smoke, then they're going to approach the situation very differently. It will get them thinking about the world, and about how they can win without needing to deliver a death blow. The sheer challenge is why I listed this approach in my 3 Ways To Spice Up Combat in RPGs, but it can have a larger effect than a single mission.

Especially if you plant the seeds just right.

Let's go back to that bandit gang example. Say you've got a low-level party, and they want to claim a reward that's out right now for the Cardinals; a gang of cutthroats and highwaymen who have plagued the area. Rather than just giving the PCs a flat reward for killing all the bandits, change it up. Give them a big reward for bringing in the leader of the gang to stand trial, with a smaller reward for him dead. Give the lieutenants the same treatment. But for the smaller foot soldiers of the gang, there's no reward if they're dead, unless a living prisoner verifies who they were.

Now you've got a challenge on your hands. Because not only do you have to take captives (ideally), but you may need to negotiate with some of them get them to act as your witnesses that their dead comrades-in-arms were actually part of the Cardinals so you can get paid. How do you persuade them to do that? Do you scare them into it with Intimidate checks? Do you talk to these bandits, and find out who they are, and who they used to be? Does the fighter recognize an old army tattoo on one of the prisoners, cajoling him to stand up, and tell the truth like a soldier should? Can the rogue get one of them talking over their soup, finding out that he only joined the outfit to get the money to take care of a wife, or a sick mother? Do they use that knowledge to make a deal with them, agreeing to take some of the proceeds to that bandit's family, if they help them out here and stand witness?

Repercussions For Their Actions

If you set the tone early, then you can give PCs repercussions for their actions... both good and bad.

Valor may be its own reward, but sometimes it helps to sweeten the deal.

 

As an example, say your PCs are trying to stop the bloodshed between a clan of orcs, and a local town. Common setup. While some raiders might be slain, those who are taken prisoner present another opportunity. Can the PCs show their captives that they will treat them with respect and dignity, as enemy combatants are due? Does this improve the attitude of the prisoners (perhaps from hostile to distrustful)? Do they find that the orcs are unique from one another, with some holding forth about the blood debt the town owes them, and others saying this whole thing is just a show because they're hungry and pushed off their land, but pride won't let them just move onto greener pastures... so to speak?

To take it a step further, say that the chieftain's son was among the raiders. A party of murderhobos would see his fine equipment and noted rank (likely as the raid leader), charge him, and kill him. Doing so might make him a martyr, and entrench the orcs that much more deeply. PCs who think to make knowledge checks, and who disable him so he can be captured may find they now have a prisoner who is very valuable... both for the information he possesses, and because he could force the chief to come to the negotiation table so terms for ending this feud can be discussed.

Repercussions can be small things, as well as big ones. Characters who bring in prisoners instead of corpses might find themselves admired and treated as heroes, while those who kill for gold are seen as untrustworthy and dangerous. PCs who pause long enough to find that the rampaging manticore has a toothache might be able to solve the problem without slaying the beast, giving them an opportunity to, if not tame it, then to earn its positive regard. Those who challenge an ogre to a test of strength when it tries to mug them on the road, and who then trick that ogre with some Grimm fairy tales Sleight of Hand shenanigans, may find that other ogres are deferential to them, having heard the tales of the man who squeezed blood from a stone.

And so on, and so forth.

You Get What You Give

To carry through the theme I started with If Your Players Focus On It, Make It Matter, players are going to latch onto the things that reward them. Both in a monetary sense, as I mentioned above, but also in the sense that you show them their actions are having an effect on the game world around them. That what they're doing matters, even if it's in small ways.

Return on investment is the name of the game, here.

 

If you want your players to take actions other than mindlessly killing NPCs, then those other actions need to give them something. Because if you stolidly refuse to have any give-and-take when PCs interrogate prisoners, you insist that all enemies fight to the death like zealots, or you refuse to reward any other course of action, then sooner or later players are going to stop using any other method because they aren't getting anything out of it.

On the other hand, if you show them there are multiple ways to approach a problem, and that the NPCs they deal with have real concerns, real lives, and are still characters in the world, then the PCs are more likely to treat them as such. And when they take actions, play them out. If the PCs try to reform a goblin rogue, throw them a bone for their efforts. Maybe he runs away after a while, but then at a climactic moment returns to stab another enemy in the back because a little glimmer of what the paladin was saying to him actually got through. If the party makes a deal with a crime boss instead of just killing him, develop that relationship. It could become a kind of gentleman's agreement over time, and he could act as a neutral player in the city, rather than just being another mobster to hack on their way up the chain of command.

And so on, and so forth.

This mindset takes some work, and you don't have to go whole hog on it right away. Start small, and keep several NPCs around who have more going on than just enemy #4 in this evening's fight. Lead by example, and show your enemies interacting with the party in different ways; bartering, threatening, cajoling, but doing more than just mindlessly attacking them. It's something a lot of players will pick up on, and you can establish some real back-and-forth once they've got the tune.

And if you're looking for some ready-made NPCs to help get the train rolling, I'd suggest checking out the following:

- 100 Random Bandits To Meet: Whether you want to follow the example I gave above, or you're just looking for more personality for your highwaymen, there's all sorts of thugs and mugs you can use in this supplement.

- 100 Pirates to Encounter: Whether your game is on the high seas, or just near a port town, there's scalawags aplenty to choose from in this collection.

- 100 Prisoners For A Fantasy Jail: Whether the PCs sent them there in the first place, or the game starts off in a prison, there are lots of colorful characters here that can add a dash of danger and intrigue to any game.

Lastly, there is one other thing I'd like to draw your attention to as a DM. The concept of a PC (or even a party) rogues' gallery. As I said in Who's in Your Character's Rogues' Gallery?, the individuals you oppose can define you in important ways. And if your party tries not to just murder every NPC they find (or if they do end up killing someone whose brother, father, mother, lover, etc. swears vengeance), then this can be a particularly useful narrative device.

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That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. Hopefully you enjoyed, and if you've used this tactic successfully in your games why not leave a comment below?

For more of my work, check out my Vocal and Gamers archives, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

DM Advice: Front-Load Prison Breaks in Your Campaign

There are few things more iconic in fantasy RPGs than the prison arc. Whether you're starting your game Suicide Squad-style and having your party all drawn out of the dock to go on an adventure to earn their freedom, or you want to do a daring prison escape arc that relies more on the party's brains and planning than brute muscle, this can be one of the best parts of any game if you do it right.

With that said, if any part of your campaign is going to take place in a conventional prison, then you need to front-load that part so you don't get a pipe wrench hucked into your gears.

What do you mean you got teleport as a supernatural ability last level?

It Needs To Be A Challenge

Rock and iron prisons are built to keep people inside. However, there are so many class abilities, spells, and other features that a party will acquire by mid-levels that it's just easier to make a prison escape arc an earlier challenge in your game.

Trust me, if you haven't done it by level 6 then it's best to just move on with the rest of the game.

Hey, new fish! Who you bunking with, huh?

When all the party has are some starting spells and abilities, as well as improvised weapons and tools, getting out of prison is a tall order. Whether it's locating the secret, monster-infested tunnels below the mountain, making a daring escape over the wall in the middle of the night by combining stealth, magic, and muscle, or just building up enough influence in the cell blocks to unite the gangs and stage a riot that cannot be contained, these things are a challenge when you're relatively low level and have a limited tool box.

By the time you can blast a door off its hinges with a wave of your hand, smash through stone with your bare fists, take control of someone's mind, or pickpocket the keys from a dozen yards away, the challenge of escaping a prison goes down significantly. And if you can just step through a hole in the reality, or turn yourself into a falcon and fly away, it becomes negligible.

More than escaping the prison, though, capturing a mid-to-high-level party peacefully and getting them in the prison in the first place can be nigh-impossible without some serious, hand-wavey shenanigans. When half the party is immune to poison, some can't be knocked unconscious, and some will just refuse to surrender when the bounty hunters or posse comes riding up to them, you've sort of backed yourself into a corner as an storyteller. And even if you do manage to lock them in, how do you keep them there? Anti-magic collars and shackles that block all spells above a certain level? Putting the prison in another dimension so you can't just pop out of it? Covering the walls with anti-magic runes and spell-dead zones so that every necromancer, evoker, and sorcerer in the block doesn't turn the place into an eldritch volcano of pent-up fury?

Can you theoretically imprison powerful spellcasters, iron-fisted warlords, and mind-bending enchanters in places like that? Sure, you can. But it's going to take a lot of time, and a lot of precautions to make it happen, and keeping that balancing act fair takes both some serious mechanics chops, and a lot of luck.

Then there's the question of player agency to deal with...

If It's Going To Happen, Don't Pretend They Had A Choice

Back in Avoid Submission Encounters (They Throttle Player Agency), I made the point that if players don't have a choice in what's going to happen, there's no point pretending they do. If you're just going to throw orcs, will saves, and knockout darts at the PCs until they eventually succumb, and there's no way to run from the fight, then you may as well drop the pretense and just say they're captured, tried, and sentenced in a cut scene.

And if you're thinking, "Wow, my players would be pissed if I just said they were captured, and didn't give them any chance to use their spells and powers to get away," then you're getting the point.

You say we're surrounded? I say we're in a target-rich environment.

A first-to-third level party might put up a good fight, but you can capture them through completely mundane means. You don't need to bring in anti-magic containment specialists, backed-up by hulking golems and alchemical snipers. In fact, you can probably narrate the scene with some text like, "The bartender says he has to go in the back to get your brews, but you hear the door lock behind him. A moment later a voice calls out, 'Gray Wardens, we know you're in there. Surrender now, or we will take you!' You fight hard, and leave your share of broken teeth in the street, but eventually they clap you in irons, and toss you into the back of a wagon." As long as you make it clear that they went down fighting, most players would simply accept that, eventually, their second-level barbarian or first-level wizard probably would have gone down under the slew of billy clubs and boot heels coming their way.

Could a low-level party fight their way free? It's possible, but they lack the ability to use a single power, or a couple of chained spells, to completely escape or just eliminate a mundane threat, which is what makes a similar scene happening to a higher-level party such a problem in terms of suspension of disbelief. After all, if the monk can teleport away at will, moving several hundred feet with a single action, then how did the bounty hunters capture him? If the druid can turn into an insubstantial puff of air and fly away, then how was she brought down? If the conjurer can grab the two martial characters and poof them miles away from where they were sitting in the inn, then why were they apprehended at all?

You get out ahead of all of these objections when the party is still low enough level that they don't have access to these tools. Because while they might be impressive by the standards of normal, everyday people, they haven't reached that superhuman standard where it takes a special force of hand-picked NPCs to bring them down, and a specially-constructed prison to hold them.

With that said, if you want your PCs to have to escape from an inter-dimensional jail, or break out of a genie's lock-up, you should totally do that. But as mentioned above, you might want to consider leading with that, instead of trying to find some contrived way for the party to all be thrown into the same prison. You should also work with your players to make sure they bring characters who would logically be in such a place.

Trust me, nothing is more annoying than bringing a guard captain paladin, and being told that no, actually, you're prisoner #57892. Even if you didn't commit the crime you were imprisoned for (a perfect reason to want to escape and bring the real party to justice), players should know they're walking into a prison break scenario so they can construct an appropriate story. Otherwise you run the risk of the game you're running not being the game the players thought they signed up for.

One last thing. If you're looking for a hot tip to get any and all PCs into a prison, then make sure there is something they have to achieve while they're in there. A piece of information they have to learn, a spy they have to break out, or someone they have to assassinate if you're running an evil game. The party then decides to get captured and sentenced in order to bring them closer to their actual goal, which tends to be easier to swallow as bitter pills go, and neatly solves this little dilemma for you. Especially if the PCs are imprisoned under false names, allowing them to hide things about themselves (like their in-born magical powers, for instance), which can be a huge advantage in the coming arc.

Remember To Populate Your Prisons!

A lot of DMs make the mistake of thinking all about the guards and the security when it comes to their holding facilities, but they seem to forget that prisons have, well, prisoners in them. These places are communities all their own, complete with slang, traditions, and cultures that don't exist outside the walls. Everything from gangs and tattoos, to rituals and currency is something you should think about.

And if you need some help seeding the cells, consider these handy supplements by yours truly:

- 100 Prisoners For a Fantasy Jail

- 100 Pirates to Encounter

- 100 Random Bandits to Meet

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That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. Hopefully you enjoyed the film, and it provides you all with the same sort of inspiration it did me!

For more of my work, check out my Vocal and Gamers archives, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!