OK,
So it's been brought to my attention that I've been abusing the rules a bit much. I'm running an intro adventure for my group (the setting has been detailed somewhat on these boards before. I've avoided too many details so as not to give them to my players yet, but I'd like to detail the current status and hopefully people can suggest things I'm doing wrong, and ways to do it right.
As an overview: The setting contains no major vampire presence. We've stuck with primarily Wild Fae and mortals for reasons that'll be expanded upon throughout the adventure. Essentially, the city has 2 factions: The mortals who wish to keep the city in mortal control (including a paramilitary faction that harkens its roots to german witch hunters and still likes to use crossbows and the odd enchanted item) and the changelings, were's and minor practicioners who are still disorganized but finally realizing they're a faction.
An important thing to know about this particular setting is that, due to an aspect of the setting, there's a difference between changelings and Fae scions here. Some have the choice, but most are stuck in limbo, unable to make a choice to be either human or fully fae.
As par for this adventure, I chose a mildly Romeo and Juliet style story: Angelo is a hunter who falls in love with Jules, a changeling Fae. When Angelo is kidnapped, Jules and her friends assume that the Hunters have discovered their love affair and chosen to make an example of the pair. She contacts the group to help her and they discover (too late!) that it was not the hunters that took Angelo, but rather Jules sisters - who wish to frame the Hunters for Angelo's death and trick Jules into making her choice.
The major spoiler that my group hasn't seen yet? Jules is a Morrigan changeling. I've statted up her full form to be eventually a harpy with the ability to evoke rage and bloodlust in anyone en masse around her. Her sisters hope to capture her once her choice is made and sacrifice her in a ritual that should supercharge their own natures and allow them to also make the choice to become Morrigan. Once her choice is made, she'll be the real deal whether she likes it or not and will be compelled to start war and cause bloodshed.
Now, the group has rescued the boyfriend and are trying to catch up to Jules, who's been doing her own investigating while trying to avoid capture from the hunters, who in turn want her for questioning. They're arriving at a forest kegger in the area where they were told to meet up with her. About an hour in, the party werewolf gets a scent and wanders away, into a clearing where she finds the sisters plan coming together: They've lured the hunters to investigate something at the clearing, then used glamours to make it look like they've just finished hanging Angelo - just as Jules was wandering by. I've left the game at a cliffhanger as Jules screams and makes her change: intent on revenge on the hunters.
My intention for next session is to stick the group in the middle of a battlefield. The kegger filled with people nearby will be attracted to the ruckus and noise, and the Morrigan will use her power to rile the werewolves into a bloodthirsty mob. With tensions high already between the werewolves and hunters, all hell will break loose.
At this point, the group does not know the identities of the real culprit and only has hints as to whats going on. Admittedly, there has been a lot more railroading then I'd like so far: partially my bad GMing, partially just necassary railroading to put the group together and get a story going. From here on out, I'd like to open the game up and let the players run with it. I haven't decided how the battle will turn out (other than badly - this will be a messy combat that is more or less unwinnable if you take the attitude that winning is killing everyone) or even if the sisters will successfully capture their now morrigan sister.
So, thats it! My question is, how would you run this going forward? How do I open it up and kill off the railroading that's gotten to this point? I'm looking for suggestions please.
