The Great Escape

[Canis Wolfsong]

Hello All,

I am turning to the playground to seek help regarding a rather unfortunate situation, my character has been captured and looted by a group of bandits. I am currently playing a Knight 5/ Fighter 1, we had been sharing living space with bandits for close to three weeks and they chose their time to attack me when I attempted to barter for healing potions they had taken from my team. Their leader decided that my gear looked good but would look better on him, so he and 20 or so bandits piled on me and beat me unconscious. I have yet to wake up, but can safely assume that all of my gear that has served me well for the entire campaign is gone. My question is how would you go about escaping from a cell that I am currently chained up in, being a martial class i have access to mostly combat feats; the only ones that seem like they would help at the moment are Improved unarmed strike and dodge(homebrewed). So without any magic, or sneaking ability how do I get out? Even better how do i get out and at least recover my sword? All comments are welcome please let me know if there are specific questions. Thanks in advance.

[Kerilstrasz]

1st things 1st..
describe your cell. how are you chained? where are you chained at? what things are there in your cell? anything.. even some dust may be useful. When the guards pass by to check on you? how many? armed? are you able to make much noise without draw attention? what are you wearing atm?
add anything more you may think it might get useful :)

[Thistledown]

Do you speak the same language as your captors?
Are you the same racial type/citizen of same country as your captors?

What can you hear from your cell?

Are there other prisoners being held?
If so, do you recognise any of them from their voices?

What materials is your cell made from?

[Canis Wolfsong]

I have asked my DM to give me a better description of my surroundings, but I will share thus far. It is a old stone sell with crumbling walls and rusted metal chains that hold me by a metal collar. I speak the same language as my captors and before the betrayal had a business relation, I can hear the guards every 10 or 20 minutes moving about but cannot make out what they are saying. Hope that helps, more to follow thanks for the quick response.

[Psyren]

"Rusted chains" sounds to me like you can break out, especially if you're a fighter type.

Are you playing solo?

[Canis Wolfsong]

No, I am not solo I still have 3 party members out there and a npc who could come to my aid. However, they are all elves as well as casters with a dump con; and aside from the npc have half or three quarters BAB. The other issue is that our DM does a variant HP system similar to Pathfinder, since I am considered bloodied I am taking a -4 to STR checks. Also, breaking the chains is noisy and breaking down the door is nosier still. Since I lack Stone Dragon maneuvers as well as Iaijustu focus I cant really smite the door in one fell swoop, and would generate more noise to draw additional guards. Hope that clarifies a bit.

[Codyage]

Hmm, you could always Test of Mettle when the guard comes again (If he is alone) and get him to attack you. Goad him into coming into (or close to) the cell, beat him up, take his gear and uniform if possible, and go on in the bandit camp looking for items disguised as the guard.

If he doesn't wear a uniform, try and hide your identity while snooping around. That is just off the top of my head.

If the guard is to far away to challenge, make some noise by breaking the chain, and when the 1 or 2 guards (Hopefully) come, repeat the above process. If they have ranged weapons, you may not want to challenge them.

[Canis Wolfsong]

That's a great idea! I had never used the Knight's Challenge in any situation, but it seems like this would be a great time to try and get some mileage out of it. As much as i would love to blend in and explore I kinda stick out, got a bit of a burn mark; though its much better now thanks to an unholy necro tree. I realize im being stupid, wanting to recover my gear in the shape I am in. But the sword I use has so much flavor to it, cause we have been too poor to identify it; so I want to at least recover that. Though most likely the leader of the bandits has it, I have a sneaking suspicion he is either a sorc or a duskblade.

[Psyren]

You may be best off waiting for your party to pull a daring rescue. Elves may be frail but they're pretty good at sneaking, particularly if there are secret doors near your position. Casters also have all kinds of options for getting to you - illusions and charms to divert the guards, a distraction to draw the guards away so you can use force on your chains, even sending a familiar to relay messages or check up on you.

[Kerilstrasz]

crumbling walls and rusted metal chains

if there is enough chain length, face the wall were chain is connected, and using the chain rings try to loose it. either by "digging" the wall around the chain base or if the chain base is screwed on the wall, use the chain rings as tools to unscrew it. then do that challenge thing and use the chain as weapon. If you play it well , guard will be flatfooted since he things you are chained in place and unarmed.

Another thing to think about... if you realize that sneaking out is impossible, get guards keys and free as much prisoners as possible. lead em to riot and during the panic, escape.

[Canis Wolfsong]

I had thought about releasing the other prisoners and using the commotion to run away, though sadly there are only three others; two women and a young girl and they dont make for very good distraction or a very good act. As much as i want to say that i have faith in my party to rescue me I do not, two of them have negative con and rather limited spell lists due to class selection and LA. I was contemplating going full black guard and beating one guard silly then running to the room where our party found a fungus that was used to kill dragons, then throw in the middle of the bandits and put that Endurance feat to the test while i hold my breath and run for cover. Sadly my character would never do that, so right now the best option would be just escape and abandon my gear again. Side note, this is the second time in the campaign I have been stripped of EVERYTHING I own and forced to start out like your character in Skyrim at the start.

[Psyren]

You may want to talk to your DM and let him know it isn't very fun for you to keep losing your gear like that, especially since you're a martial class who needs it. Just get an idea if he has something planned for you to eventually gear up and stay that way, or if he's subtly trying to force you to reroll.

Also, I'm pretty sure clobbering the guard without a straight up fight would violate your code, but taking him head on while naked will likely just get you killed or just thrown back in jail again.

As for your friends, the idea is for them to spring you without attracting attention, so their Con shouldn't matter; if they get into a bunch of fights they're doing it wrong. Sleep is a great spell for them to use in the rescue attempt since they are immune to it themselves.

[Canis Wolfsong]

Its interesting that you picked on my DM hinting at something, the fact of the matter is the first time I lost my gear so did the others. We failed to assassinate a foreign agent who was manipulating the lord regent and systematically purging the seasoned leadership or royal houses. We failed my character's brother died in the attempt and my character was stripped, tortured, and scheduled for execution. I was saved by the other PC whom plays a beguiler, and we were give equipment and horses by her wolf demon acquaintance ( dont ask I have no idea what is going on there). The most recent time was because the npc i mentioned got harpooned through the leg in the middle of a trap room, and we had done some work for these bandits and they seemed more than willing to not strip us and kill us. So while I was attempting to barter a bow I had found for a cure potion, the jackals closed a circle around me and mentioned how I had some nice gear and that I should barter with it too. At that point they pounced, I did what little I could and am now in this sorry state. Hope that shines some light on my predicament and my DM's motivations.

[Codyage]

You can violate your Knight's Code, just fine. Feel free to break it at the cost of one of your challenges for the day. (Just make sure you don't run out so you don't get penalized.)

[Canis Wolfsong]

Correct me if I am wrong but i thought braining a murderous brigand was considered a public service by many Knightly orders. The way I have been playing my character is that although he has Knight levels he is low born and has simply received the training, and hopes to one day to become a very Kingdom of Heaven Baleon type.

[Psyren]

Even if he is periodically robbing all the players equally, as a martial class you are hit much harder by the lack of gear. A wizard can actually do quite well with nothing but book and pouch up to mid levels (or even without either of them, for a few spells), but if you keep losing your sword you're going to have nothing to do but sit on your hands.

[Canis Wolfsong]

Psyren, I really do agree with you. Sadly my DM is studying to be a lawyer and my concerns fall on deaf ears. He is firm in stating that I was the one who chose to go speak with them knowing they were bandits, and despite our previous relationship I should have expected to be robbed and beaten because some how bandits can tell the steel at your side is demon made vs some crappy pig iron you pilfered off a corpse. If any of you have ideas on how to better present my case I would greatly appreciate any input. Thanks in advance.

[Psyren]

Well... to be perfectly fair, your approach wasn't very wise. Also, your sword, even if they couldn't tell it was magical, would still need to be masterwork to be enchanted/cursed, thus it would look valuable to them whether they could sense the magic on it or not. Looking like pig iron or scrap metal was unfortunately never an option (unless the sword could magically appear rusted/pitted/undesirable.)

Anyway, it does suck, but I still think your best bet is to let your friends make the first move. Even if they bungle it and cause a row outside your cell, it may distract your guards enough to give you an opening. And hey, if you all fail and are killed, you'll have learned your lesson about bargaining from a position of strength and get to reroll.

[Canis Wolfsong]

Yes, it would be a bitter lesson. However, I dont have the luxury of letting a TPK go down. I am pretty sure that if that happens then the DM will just call it quits and then I will be left without a game to call home. Seeing as how everyone I know is either unable or unwilling to run a 3.5ish campaign with the level of attention to detail and pseudo realism that this guy can. So I am rather desperate to not let this end in a TPK.

[Thistledown]

Being able to speak their language helps as you may have the opportunity to overhear things which will help you asleep.
You'll also know what they are saying if your escape is discovered.

With regard to the other prisoners, do you have any idea of how long they have been there?

This may give you some idea of how well the bandits treat their prisoners and how long you have to sort something out.

Things to be aware of:

If you are unable to free the other prisoners, they may betray you to your jailors out of spite or frustration.

If you do have the opportunity to make friends with the other prisoners, do so as this may reduce the risk of them betraying you.
They may also be able to give you information about your surroundings and your captors which may help in planning and/or accomplishing your escape.

Find out how much play the chains and iron collar gives you i.e. how far along the cell you can move before being stopped by the collar.

Do you have any idea of what surrounds your cell walls?
For instance, if you were able to break through one of the walls, what would be there?

Is there anything you can use in the cell as a tool or a weapon other than the chains?

Are they feeding you while you are in the cells?
If so, what?
If they are feeding you something like chicken which is greasy, you may be able to use the grease at a quiet time to lubricate/loosen your bonds.

If you can eat or drink, do so unless you know there is something wrong with the food i.e. it's spoilt or drugged. This will help to keep your strength up.

How strict are the bandits?
Do they let you speak?
If they let you speak, see if they'll let you sing to yourself without punishment.

If your party is going to mount a rescue, having an idea of where you're being held will help them.

If you have any skill in Diplomacy, you could try to use it to improve how your captors treat you i.e. if you can improve their reaction to you.

What do you know about the bandits?
Do you have any idea of how their band is structured?
For instance, if it's a case of the strongest leads, if you can somehow come up with a means of escaping and deposing/incapacitating the current leader, you might be able to temporarily take the lead and order the bandits to free the other prisoners etc.