I don't want to kill him and rob him after we broke into his home.

"I don't want to kill him and rob him after we broke into his home." - my younger son in our last D&D session.

So my youngest son is making life interesting for this old DM and his big brother, it seems he doesn't like kicking in folks door killing them and taking their stuff. He's totally fine with killing giant rats and laying low the undead but doesn't feel right breaking and entering and stealing from walking talking folks.

Night before last the four valiant adventurers played by my sons returned to the dungeon hiding under a nearby village and discovered a new passage that was blocked off by a recent collapse so they went back to the rat shrine they discovered before and had a desperate fight against 3 skeletal rats and later an authentic "GIANT RAT" that was quickly killed by a desperate spear charge by the feeble Strength 5 Healer in the party. The secret door they posited was there in the shrine last year was certainly there but they couldn't figure out how to open it so they did the most logical thing...they rented a pickax from the gremkins they tangled with but spared last session.

 Working away at the secret door almost got them taken out by a sleep spell from a Boggart which still caused two members of the party to doze off. Luckily they still dealt with him quickly and that's when my youngest son said the line above... preplexing my older son. They eventually decided on tying him up and questioning him after taking his lapis ring and leaving him his scroll fragments and sack of coins. After some amusing discussion he agreed to show them him his escape tunnel and way in and out if the dungeon.

The group later returned to the collapsed tunnel section and managed to get all but one of the characters badly stuck in another collapse. The remaining mobile character hired the gremkins to help him free his companions and then they all came to an agreement to work together to clear the collaspe. It was an expensive endeavor but lucky reaction rolls (known to the players) and substantial fees (for the situation at hand) paid off and the young adventurers were able to discover a connection to a slightly more distant dungeon through a magical goblin door.

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If it wasn't for the lapis ring they'd have spent more money than they gained but they did discover two new routes in and out and earned enough experience points for the Petty Dwarf Mage Thorn to level up to level 2 with the rest of them very close behind.

My equipment wear and tear rules are working out okay with the low quality gear they have and limited range of choices available in the local villages motivating more travel and treasure seeking.  Want to motivate your players to have simple early goals and encourage them to think? Start them out with the equivalent of 50sp in gear as opposed to 100 GP (or more).