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View Full Version : DM needs creative help with a gaming situation [3.5, Eberron, but anything really]



Kol Korran
2010-10-04, 03:27 PM
first of all- Itay, Guy, Ariel, Tomer and Alon- stop reading here. it would ruin the surprise for you. shoo!

if any of you are reading my campaign log (in my sig) the following concerns what's about to happen in the next meeting, so if you prefer to be surprised, you've been warned. :smallwink:

The situation is like this. the party was duped to retrieve some item from a ruin (a bit like Nale duping the OOTS at the Dungeon Crawling Fools comic). In the next session, they are going to get said item (can't be used right now), and emerge from the ruins, to find 2 of the villains there, along with many of the warriors of the hobgoblin tribe (Skull Reavers) that the ruins belong to. the villains are goingto get the item (unless the party really pulls one of the hat :smalltongue:), but instead of killing them, one of the villains decide to study the characters due to some magical affliction they got. (there is more to this. it will be explained). so the characters are captured (most likely by getting them to the negatives, stabilizing them, removing all their gear, and putting them in chains).

here is the deal: from here on i want to let the party kind of a free reign in temrs of creativity as to how to try and escape. either to manipulate people, raise a rebellion, sneak out, bribe their way, whatever. but as is my experience with any sadnboxy situation- you have to have good foundations, and a good setting. so here i come to you! i ask your help in:

Helping me flesh out the existing elements in the situation, and point out flaws.
suggest new elements that i haven't thought of.
suggest possible actions/ plans of the players!


Ok, lets first start with the players:

Kalashtar Sorceress level 4, specializes in enchantment: the face of the party, the negotiator and subtle manipulator. very beautifull and charismatic. The player unfortunatly won't get it to the meeting. I intend for the warchief to take her as a prize/ status symbol, than locking her in her room. (and no, he is only into goblinoids!) she will be locked up with "Trisha".
"Trisha": BIG complication number one. this NPC accompanying bard is in fact the princess of Aundair (major country in Eberron) who used a magic item to assume a different appearance, and tag along with the party on their adventurs. the party learns who she is when the item is taken from her (IF they are awake) hopefully, they will try to get her free.
Half elven Rogue 1/duskblade 3- the party's jack of all trades, knows to do many things, from fight, to magic, to thieving, to manipulating. quite a crafty fella
Half giant Psy war 3- plays the gentle uncomplicated good and trusting giant. the player id quite inventive though.
Orc Dragon Shaman 4: dumb brute force sort of character.
poisondusk lizard folk sword sage 3: think Belkar. brutal, abusive to others (good humor!), but very cunning. can poison craft, has quite a few posions, though most will be taken from him


The general situation:
The party are in Darguun, a rising new nation of goblinoids, who tries to appear civilized and get along with the world. The Skull reave clan is more backward however. they still keep slaves, quite a few of them, and worship dark gods.

the village and it's surrounding area holds about 700 goblins, 450 hobgoblins, and 50 bugbears. nearly all of the non goblins have some sort of martial training (some more, some less). about half of the goblins have minimal martial training (can use a bow or the like). each race has it's duties and occupations, they get along well with each other. Hobgoblins rule.

There are about half as many slaves (500-600) of the various common races (human featuring prominently), who do most of the menial work (mostly tending farms and carrying ore to the forges). very few of these have any martial training, and are in a poor shape as it is.

Ruler:
Creelog Daames, Rogue 1/Ftr 5. cunning, but still rules mostly by force of persona, and skill of arms. he dislikes where the country is going, and is trying to rally other tribes to join his cause, perhaps carve their own part of the country (this most likely won't be used by the party, but who knows?)
His adviser is Sheelesh, a goblin female adept 4. she is quite observant and more diplomatic than he is, and her combat prowess relies on wands and potions mostly, and staying out of reach. she is quite religious, and believes the PCs might be some omen.
There are also other power holders in the tribe (A few lvl 3 hobgoblins), which the party may use to influence matters. i haven't fleshed any of these out yet. help please?

Worgs: there is a pack of worgs and wolves (about 20 worgs, 60 wolves) led
Rores the worg (advanced a bit). some of these may guard the PCs (and they could have negotiations with a worg), and they might be sent after the party (with goblin riders) if they try to escape. i'm not sure how to use the worgs in this fully. i'm worried they might be a tad too much.

The Villains:
I won't go into the whole make of the villain's group or goals. inSkull reave there are currently 2:

Traveler: a changling artificer 10. (in my house rules the artificer has been changed quite a bit). she prefers the appearance of a blue-grey appearing catish humanoid. she carries a lot of scrolls, and other knick knacks. she doesn't have a companion, but she has several mindless warforged serving her (a failed experiment with a creation forge). she prefers notto kill, and is on the whole more of the researcher type than adventuer type. for her reasons, she tries to protect the PCs. she was the one who suggested they should be studied, and she might interact in the escape some other eay. HOWEVER- it is essentail that her contribution will be minor, and most of all discreet (i think she might return their major magic items to them once they have a plan, or cause a diversion). she must not be found out by the other villains.
Devourer: an elf/ druid 5/ Barghest 3 (check my sig if you wish to know)- this guy is pure sadistic evil, who seeks to satiate his endless hunger (barghest). at first he will be in argument with devourer, but most other time he will hunt for beasties in the country side. once the party escapes, he is summoned, and sent to hunt them. that is supposed to be the climactic battle.


Imprisonment predicaments and complications:
Re precautions of a failed escape or causing trouble: I don't want to protect the players too much. The Hobgoblins have been slavers for a long time, and they don't mess about. in case the PCs fail or act stupid, i intend the overseers inflict some serious damage. this can be ability drain (physical most likely, due to lashing or other torture), or even a broken limb that is healed the wrong way (minuses to movement and certain skills) or cut fingers... i don't want it to be too harsh, but harsh enough to pay attention. thoughts on this matter?

I think I'd like to have the players work in the village in some sort of capacity (the hobgoblins not wanting to "waste" good slaves). the bigger PCs might be used to menial works in the forges, the lizardman might be used to craft poisons, but what would the duskblade do? it will on the whole give them opportunity to access various tools and people.

can someone help me with the imprisonment itself? do they sleep in cells? alone? together? separated? and what about during the day? i thought to have them be linked to another prisoners or two each, making their escape difficult. any ideas of cool prisoners to be tied to?

there are two major complications for the party: first, they "must" save the princess (see PCs. they can choose not to help her, but then their situations will become much more problematic once they escape). secondly they suffer from a serious affliction, that is liek a disease that never goes away unless you cast a remove disease and succeed on a CR level check. needless to say, that ain't happening here. moreover- the princess seemed far less resilient then the PCs are...

The PCs items are spread around the village, mostly with Creelog, Sheelesh, Traveler, and the minor power holders. i'm listing them here in case anyone is interested, though i can think of a special use only for the pigments and possibly the raise/dead/ reincarnate stuff. oh, and the holding bag.
Holding bag type 1
marvelous pigments
one of the following (hasn't been decided): a diamon that enables raise dead (used by anyone), 3 wooden rings enabling reincarnate (used by anyone), elemental gems (air and earth), a belt that reduces ability damage by 2.
lesser rod of extend
a bunch of poisons (don't have the list with me)
sword +1, small great axe +1, large +1 keen great sword, shock morning star (no +1)
Wands of lesser vigor (about 60 charges), wand of scorching ray (about 20 charges)
chain shirt +1, 2 cloaks of resistance +1
possibly a stone salve.



thoughts play grounders? :smalleek:

Quirp
2010-10-04, 03:48 PM
First of all I would say you shouldn´t tie them to other prisoners, since you want the PCs to make a plan and follow it. The members of the party should be kept together, but with different handlings by the slavers (stronger manacles for obviously stronger characters). For example you could give them the possibility to escape by having them work outside, where one or two of them can create a diversion (the brutes), so that the others can steal the keys for their manacles/prison cells. If they are caught they could get the opportunity to pick the pockets of the guy who beats them up, so they suffer for failing (minor HP damage), but can still escape.
This gives your players three different ways to escape:
1. breaking their manacles/using escape artist checks
2. creating a diversion and steling the keys while working
3. stealing the keys from a guard

By using the abilities of the poison guy you could give him the choice of collecting some ingredients while working so he can poison some guards to make the escape easier (some special poison to knock out some worgs may be useful if you want them to have a slightly easier life after the escape).

Kol Korran
2010-10-05, 10:29 AM
First of all I would say you shouldn't tie them to other prisoners, since you want the PCs to make a plan and follow it. Maybe have them tied to each other then? though i do think it might be fun to tie them to interesting/ amusing/ frustrating characters, and have them deal with them as part of the escape plan
The members of the party should be kept together, but with different handlings by the slavers (stronger manacles for obviously stronger characters). For example you could give them the possibility to escape by having them work outside, where one or two of them can create a diversion (the brutes), so that the others can steal the keys for their manacles/prison cells. If they are caught they could get the opportunity to pick the pockets of the guy who beats them up, so they suffer for failing (minor HP damage), but can still escape.
This gives your players three different ways to escape:
1. breaking their manacles/using escape artist checks
2. creating a diversion and steling the keys while working
3. stealing the keys from a guard
Oh, they will also have to deal with their pursuers. i intend the manacles to
be able to be broken only by the strongest characters, and then with tools... using the tools causes some noise though...
My intention is that the escape should be HARD, and that the hobgoblins are on the most prepared.


By using the abilities of the poison guy you could give him the choice of collecting some ingredients while working so he can poison some guards to make the escape easier (some special poison to knock out some worgs may be useful if you want them to have a slightly easier life after the escape). hmmm. i shall need to have the hobgoblins stock n disabling pison materials...hmmm...

thanks for the suggestions, i just wish there were more.