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Lord Il Palazzo
2013-01-08, 10:55 AM
I'm going to be running a session next week in which the players' characters have to break a potential ally out of a very tightly guarded prison in a city they've never been to where they'll stick out like sore thumbs and need advice on running the session. This is kind of the culmination of one of the PC's personal storyline, having tracked down this NPC who is important to his backstory and resolved to find and free him and I want to make sure it doesn't play as a bunch of hide and move silently checks with the possibility of a fight or two with some guards. Does anyone have any advice for running an adventure like this?

SilverLeaf167
2013-01-08, 11:29 AM
What level are the PCs?

Coming up with some actual plan will probably be the most fun way for both you and the players. For example, instead of just sneaking in and killing a few guards, how about calling in a favor from some old allies, infiltrating the prison (disguised as guards maybe), freeing their friend and fighting their way from inside out?

What is the prison like? If appropriate, consider adding some interesting magic traps and protections. Guards can be way more interesting than just level 1 Warriors, especially monsters or just lieutenant guards.

I should be able to help more once you give us more information about the situation.

Lord Il Palazzo
2013-01-08, 12:01 PM
I was originally looking for general suggestions, but here are the details if anyone wants to buld from them. Spoiler for length.

The PCs* are level 11, but the prison in question is also suitably buffed up. The entire city (barring a few secret spots) is dimensionally anchored so teleporting or planeshifting in or out isn't on the table, though I plan to allow it as an escape means if they can disable the McGuffins/enchantments that produce the anchoring effect. The prison itself is actually the dungeon of the Emperor of the Efreet, located under his palace on the Elemental Plane of Fire so getting to the plane without landing in some inopportune spot, infultrating the palace, finding the dungeon and the prisoner, freeing the prisoner and escaping are all part of the challenge. While some guards may be efreet, many will be other firey races like salamanders and fire giants, possibly with a few advanced hellhound guard dogs.

Magic is very much an option, and I'm planning on a few choice illusions (maybe some cells that appear to contain the prisoner in question, but actually have monsters/traps) and a few anti-magic fields are a possibilty as well (there's at least one permanent one, in which the prisoner in question, a noble djinni, is chained.) Other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

At least one reliable NPC has warned the PCs that the emperor himself is way out of their league and should be avoided at all costs. I'm hoping they don't have a "We're the PCs! We can do anything!" reaction, as the guy should absolutely be able to mop the floor with them, even if he just called for his guards to rally to him. Finding a way to distract the emperor has been strongly recommended.

*Wizard with a focus on battlefield control. Druid with a mix of blasting and control. Ranger/swordsage sneaky two weapon fighter. Beguiler whose main fallback is Glibness. Dread Commando, heavilly armored melee with good stealth and sneak attack. One of the PCs has an in with the queen who has her own reasons to want the prisoner freed so she may be persuaded to send a few special forces types along.

SilverLeaf167
2013-01-08, 12:09 PM
Well, you seem to have the prison itself planned out quite well, and what sort of plans the PCs make is almost entirely up to them. Basically, you'll just have to make it clear to them that they actually do need some kind of plan. :smallwink: A lot of players might just try to go dashing right in.

I still hold on to my previous point: Complicated plans are way more fun than kick-in-the-door-prison-breaks (as long as they don't get too complicated).

Lord Il Palazzo
2013-01-08, 01:07 PM
I still hold on to my previous point: Complicated plans are way more fun than kick-in-the-door-prison-breaks (as long as they don't get too complicated).Absolutely. It helps that the party has two players (the prepared casters, appropriately) who like this kind of planning. If I let them, they will huddle up, plan every aspect they can control (and maybe a few they can't), collaborate on the spells they prepare and tactics and just generally synchronize their (figurative) watches while the other players throw in the occasional suggestion (Beguiler: "Would it help if I made an illusion do X?") It's quite entertaining to watch and leads to some great games, even if the Swordsage player gets a bit bored by the planning stages.

I'm planning to give them a series of very tough fights if they do just go charging in without a plan. They were warned that this is a dangerous undertaking so if they don't plan well it will be a dangerous undertaking. Hopefully the first or second such fight will be enough to make them find somewhere safe to regroup.

Hopeless
2013-01-08, 01:21 PM
So its not possible for a couple of them to replace some new guards under a geas to avoid detection which is time lapsed to expire inside the prison so they can help the others as new convicts whose job is to locate the npc and get to their fellows so they can make their way to an escape route.

I believe Avatar the Last Airbender season 3 The Boiling Rock two parter may be a perfect episode for you to check out.

Not sure this is allowed (http://www.animedreaming.tv/avatar-the-last-airbender-episode-54/)

Hope that helps...

Pokonic
2013-01-08, 05:24 PM
I think half the fun would be staffing the prison.

Who's the warden? A low-level wizard who has a full staff of scryers would be a tough cookie to surprise, and a warlord in control of his own little group of personal security could be quite rough.

Is there any sadistic rouges and scoundrals the PC's would be half-forced to ally with to insigate a excape? A low-level Chaotic Evil demon-worshiping warlock in the next row over could be a interesting distraction if the PC's just slowly slip off the magic-restraining chains he was fitted with. Even better, throw them the loop with mixed expectations in what they would find: the feared Troll who is locked up in solitary is a CG Barbarian, and would actualy berate the PC's for breaking the wards on his cell and possibly attack them.

Does the prison proper have any defences? Constructs that would attack them if they do not show the possession of the proper magical signet ring and the like?

What would the cast of guards be? Surely, in a large prison in a magical world would have a few tough cookie's that are worthy of a unique write-up? A human cleric who uses a spiked whip on disobediant prisoners and quickly heals them would be a useful designated mini-boss, while the high-level CN Minotaur head of security could be "befrended" to walk in the prison unharmed if they "pay" him for the passes.

TuggyNE
2013-01-08, 09:42 PM
the feared Troll who is locked up in solitary is a CG Barbarian, and would actualy berate the PC's for breaking the wards on his cell and possibly attack them.

I have trouble figuring out why a CG prisoner would care about people being broken out of prison, including themselves. LG, now, I can plausibly imagine being so devoted to due process that they'd stay in the prison even if they were innocent; NG I can suppose as being unwilling to break out if they knew they were guilty of something, in some cases; but CG? Nah. About the most you could get is being unwilling to seriously injure the guards. CG doesn't care about justice very much, per se.

Need_A_Life
2013-01-08, 10:49 PM
The troll might not be there because he's CG, but because he knows someone will suffer if he escapes as punishment for his escape (directly or indirectly, as you prefer) and has reason to wish that the person in question is not punished.

If we're talking CG troll, having the ability to care about others doesn't seem like a stretch.

TuggyNE
2013-01-08, 11:10 PM
The troll might not be there because he's CG, but because he knows someone will suffer if he escapes as punishment for his escape (directly or indirectly, as you prefer) and has reason to wish that the person in question is not punished.

If we're talking CG troll, having the ability to care about others doesn't seem like a stretch.

OK, fair enough. Still, though, yelling at or possibly attacking your erstwhile rescuers? Why not team up with them to try to keep your loved ones out of danger, or just tell them "nah I'm good here"?

Lord Il Palazzo
2013-01-09, 02:38 PM
The prisoners are all people or being considered enemies of a lawful evil empire of efreet and specifically those the emperor personally hates the most. After all, why would you keep prisoners in the dungeon of your palace unless

1) You want easy access to them.
2) You're convinced they pose no threat.
3) You want to make a show of not being threatend by them.
4) Some combination of these.

Most prisoners have been there a very long time and are enemies the emperor enjoys watching suffer when he's bored or who he believes may still be useful some day. As such, while there are relatively few prisoners, security is still very high. (A hidden entrance in an unremarkable room of the palace. Magical wards and traps. Very experienced guards with several layers of identification in case someone tries to bluff their way in and so forth.) A few prisoners will be brought to this dungeon from elsewhere for interogation or the like if the emperor want to handle them personally, but they aren't kept there for long.