forums.cubicle7.co.uk
archive

What was suggested was to punish deceiving the Master and destroying it without his knowledge, and that I understand.
On the other hand I would go great lengths to disguise the players feeling the end result is and was always the army crossing the river!

Destroying the bridge and dealing with the master are not incompatible.

In my campaign, the Heroes destroyed the bridge, then fought a long, pitched battle at the ford.
Mind you: the Celduin is a big river: crossing it at a ford isn't a breeze, let alone when the ford is defended.
That said, I admit that a battle at a bridge is visually more dramatic and satisfying.

I loved the battle at the bridge. To me, that adventure and that battle is the climax of TfW. My character would not have destroyed the bridge and foregone the brilliant, romantic, dramatic imagery of holding the line for anything!

Battles like this give us songs like When the Tigers Broke Free!

Back to the original question though. To be honest, sometimes the best thing to do when your characters come up with something like this is to interpret the action as logically as possible, and award them with the full long term consequences of their actions.

Good work. You destroyed the bridge. The Gibbet King, unable to advanced, sounds a full retreat. The next day, Bard's army arrives with nothing to do. He congratulates you for your clever thinking, but openly laments that, had the company just held the enemy off a little while, they could have sprung a trap and destroyed the Gibbet King and his forces entirely. Now they will have to deal with the evil spirit at some point in the future. The cost of morale to Bard's raising of an army without purpose and the lack of trade from the East due to the destroyed bridge leaves the Dale Lands demoralized and with less income/trade than in previous years, overall weakening their position.

On a side note, I've never understood when my players, who are playing ADVENTURERS do everything possible to avoid...you know...adventure. Drives me nuts.

Wow, some really great ideas here. I thought I had it figured out already, but reading some of this stuff is gold. I don't want to punish the players for taking out the bridge, but I do want there actions to have consequences. For one thing, the army is not going anywhere. What I am thinking is that they will fight to the east as described, but the ford is still only able to handle 3 abreast. I like the idea of having the fight at night, especially since some of my players get bonuses in the dark. The only real difference will be the Troll attack will not have the gates, and the Gibbet King wont be able to show off his power against it. I will give them time to make some make-shift defense at the last minuet. I will really miss the tower fight, but hopefully I can make it memorable. Bringing up the weather is a great idea. Especially if they trigger an Eye.

There isn't a ford on the Celduin near the town, at least it is not mentioned in the adventure. The description specifically states that the trolls and orcs had to create the ford by throwing stones and debris into the Celduin. So unless the players are scouting the river, at night, looking for this type of behavior then they are going to be surprised when the Gibbet King's army shows up on their side of the river. That is how I plan on playing it with when my Fellowship gets to this adventure.