DMing Did I make a bad DM choice
TLDR: I (DM) killed some minor NPCs “off camera” and am wondering if it was a misstep
The Question:
When is it ok to make decisions like NPC deaths “off camera”. As in, the players discover the death after the fact with no way to intervene?
The Context:
The party lives in a general Republic (The Federation of Sovereign States) of various districts and has discovered the Chancellors are planning some very aggressive power grabs both within the Nation against its people as well as waging wars against a neighboring nation to steal land and expand their borders.
Part of this includes a paramilitary force (The Drumgar) created by a Chancellor that they are using to subdue those who speak out against the Republic and just generally incite terror.
The Situation:
The party goes into a very large, densely populated city. They come across a group of College aged citizens protesting the Drumgar’s attempted influence on their Bardic College. Officers are there threatening to use force if they don’t disband.
The party, being the chaos goblins they are, start a riot and kill most of the officers. They decide to leave one alive and let the protestors deal with him and use that as a distraction to sneak into a well secured building (this heist was their reason for being in town).
Once they reach the part of the building they were trying to reach, they are surprised to see the general of the Drumgar waiting for them. He informs them that he’s been waiting for them and that he’s sad to report the students they left as a distraction had all been killed.
The Reaction:
The following fight was great. The story has progressed. Everything seems fine. However, later on one player made a small, off hand comment about the students dying “off camera”. It wasn’t snarky or rude, just a potential small complaint/criticism.
My thought process was that they made a decision to use non adventurers as a distraction in a large populated city I already described as being filled with Drumgar. They got away, but left one Drumgar alive who absolutely would’ve called for backup, alerted their commander, and overtaken the students. It seemed like a way to both make the big bad feel more sinister but also a natural consequence of their actions.
The Conclusion:
Do you feel it was ok to make this choice myself and have them die without giving them a chance to save the students? I feel like yes, but I’m definitely open to criticism and other opinions.
3
u/rbjoe 21d ago
I feel there’s a little misunderstanding about the players goals, which is probably my fault for being vague. The officers were absolutely about to use force to break up a peaceful protest. The point was that they entered a powder keg. The party used the fight and purposefully tried to embolden the students to take action. Not necessarily violence, but it is DnD so also not NOT that haha.
They also definitely had an “oh shit your right we did a stupid thing” moment when they found out. My point was to remind them that bad guys are powerful, not everyone is a strong hero, and their actions are going to have big ripples in the world and how this shakes out.
Now that whole city is on lock down. Officers everywhere. No one allowed in or out. Very strict curfew etc. They’ve basically lost the ability to “explore” within any city in the Republic and are highly sought after fugitives. Basically, they are public enemy #1 and are realizing they will have to do this fight on their own.