How might one inflitrate a convoy fleet?

[Aotrs Commander]

As usual with my threads, there is a load of preamble as I tortously come to the point, so bear with me...

I have (FINALLY) finished preparing Rise of the Runelords (which required some modifications to meet my 3.Aotrs standards, but mostly because of the double-the-number of characters), and now need to make a start on writing my day-quest for summer. Tiem is not hugely on my side, and so I ocne again turn to the boards and how I missed them last week!) for some ideas and suggestions. (And this will likely be one of two or three grovelling for-ideas



The party in question is basivally the Dark Lord's dirty black ops. A group that the good-guy Northern Nations do not even know exists, and who operate in total secrecy doing the Dark Lord's will right under their noses. In this particular instance, the PCs are basically in Not-Rome, in the 1300AD-tech level Not-Roman Empire. The party has just hit 5th level.

My outline for the adventure (and indeed a short arc of 3-4 quests) is that they will be tasked to get themselves (and Some Backup1 inflitrated aboard the convoy of vessels which will be making the long trip over what amounts to the Not-Atlantic/Pacific/etc over the the imperial colonies on the Great Continent. (Which, as far as is known, is characterised by no currently known races and a lot of dinosaurs.) There, they are to do some recon and come home. The idea being that there should be at adventure on the outbound and inbound streches, and one in the middle.

For the outbound stretch, the adventure will be the convoy reaching A.N. mid/early trip island, where a city (relatively new) allows them to resupply. but a magical, saptient/sentient virus has been quietly infecting and controlling the entire populace, and it wants to spread across the world. But it doesn't affect the PCs. The reason being, ironically, because they are Evil. The PCs wil eventually somehow defeat the virus, and go alogn their way, hopefully with no survivors to the
wiser as to what just happened...!



However, before we get to that, there is the slight problem of getting the PCs into the convoy/trading ships in the first place. If not a forth part of the adventure I'm not sure), it warrents at least some effort, since a good chunk of this party is all about planning, intelligence gathering and executing said plans.

And this is the part that is leaving me a bit stumped. I would welcome any suggestions on ways that they might accomplish this (so that I can write the appropriate hooks in), bearing in mind there level. They are no magic shops that they can just go and buy scrolls in (they might be able to request something from their bosses if they really need it), but mundane (or at least self-sufficient to the party) options would be best.



Rough breakdown or party capability follows, as a rough guideline. As we have not organised the date yet, not all of the characters may be present in the foreground, though they may be "on-tap" if required, and the number of players is expected to be about five to eight (maximum!)

Warblade, rogue, ranger, monk/rogue, all of whom are evil races, but who have been provided with hats of disguise (which, considering magic is reasonably rare on this world, is a major resources from the bosses and woe betide them if they lose them!) so the can pass for human without fuss.

Two Dark Mistresses (based on the Dungeon Keeper 1 Mistress, a two-level monster class), opne fighter, the other a homebrew psionic/martial adept ninja (with a strong (early) Naruto flavour), both of which can pass for human naturally.

A human rogue/cleric, a dark elf wizard (generalist, pretty much blasting and the usual suspects, since the player only plays day quest and doesn't play very often), human wizard (more tending towards battlefield control, but also probably one of the least likely to be make it)

Finally, a young Great Drake (currently only Small size, and dragons are their own mnonster class), notably with the abillity to shapeshift into small-to-dimunitive creatures.

(Though note that the world does not use any of the standard D&D monsters and is entirely ground-up homebrew; the ecology is roughly 1 mya North America ('cos tat's where all the cool stuff lived), with magical creatures and elements of dinosaurs, pterosaurs and any other prehistoric creature I happen to think is awesome.)

Any suggestions would be welcome! (And I can provide, likely at tediously exhaustive length, other information you might think pertinent (and if I can't can go away and think about it!)




1Basically so I have some room to tailor for what players can make what session.

[Vinyadan]

Silly answer: they can work in the fleet. If they need civilians, they can try and pass for some. Their weapons and such can be loaded as crates in locations they know. They could even have a small number (1 or 2) of pcs working as harbour laborers and smuggling crates with weapons and allies inside the ships.

Other things are pretending to be shipwrecked and have themselves rescued while in the open sea. The problem however is how to gain some freedom of movement while aboard.

[Aotrs Commander]

Silly answer: they can work in the fleet. If they need civilians, they can try and pass for some. Their weapons and such can be loaded as crates in locations they know. They could even have a small number (1 or 2) of pcs working as harbour laborers and smuggling crates with weapons and allies inside the ships.

That was among my first thoughts and general intentions... But the problem is that the crews for these ship will have already been hired, so they would have to somehow replace people and how to do that for (say) upward of a dozen people (giving some breathing room) without being incredibly obvious.

Obviously, this is not an insurmountable problem (indeed it i sort of one I half-expect would be the approach to take), I'm just not sure yet how one could go about it, so that I could provide the PCs with appropriate tools.


Other things are pretending to be shipwrecked and have themselves rescued while in the open sea. The problem however is how to gain some freedom of movement while aboard.

Interesting idea; though it would be very difficult to pull off. The big danger is actually having to go out to see and get convincingly shipwrecked.(The black ops might struggle to easily find the resources to pull that off, come to that, it'd be a big risk.) Nevertheless, I don't think I would have thought of that, so it is a useful option to consider, if only to disuade the players of they come up with it as being A Bit Risky.

[scalyfreak]

That was among my first thoughts and general intentions... But the problem is that the crews for these ship will have already been hired, so they would have to somehow replace people and how to do that for (say) upward of a dozen people (giving some breathing room) without being incredibly obvious.

Poison the food supply of one of the ships. Nothing deadly, just something that works at medium-speed and makes the crew members who eat it physically weak and incapable of doing their jobs as sailors/soldiers. Split the group up and sign on as replacement crew in at least two different ports, preferably more, so it's obvious they don't know each other.

Done.

Just don't forget to pack the antidote.

[aimlessPolymath]

Hm. This is easier in some ways because they can back up each other's stories, but harder because not all of the party can maintain the lie easily. Ideally, minimizing contact between the targets and the bad liars.

I would say the #1 tool to aid infiltration would be the Hypnotism spell, which allows them to apply a longer-lasting effect which makes selected individuals amenable to specific requests.

Using this spell, the wizards + roguish types convince the leader of the expedition to let them come along, under the pretext of being, uh, land surveyors, prospective immigrants, or something. Then, they just keep to themselves for the duration of the trip, as passengers.
Variations could include actually hiring their own ship to travel with the rest.

Alternatively, if they want to join as crew (which is not necessarily the best plan- they need Profession(sailor) or something), the simplest method is to discredit or otherwise remove the existing crew- for example, infecting them with an illness, making them unable to join the journey temporarily, should force the leaders to scramble for replacements (note that seasons and their associated weather are extremely relevant for sailing).
Unless the players are actually able to pose as crew, though, this is a risky plan.

[scalyfreak]

Good point on the profession drawback. I overlooked that.

How about posing as high-paying passengers? Preferably employees of a ally of the convoy, if possible. Surely the organisation has access to a skilled forger?

[redwizard007]

A few thoughts here.

1. Profession, Sailor for a low level commoner with standard ability scores is not much better than many untrained PCs. Don't rule out replacement crew as an option. Also, specialist crewmen might have Profession, Cook or similar skills instead.

2. Stowing away is another possible (but not great) option.

3. Buying passage is probably the best choice, but could be expensive.

4. The old "hire on as guards" seems to work more than you might expect.

5. Forging a royal order to allow them passage could work.

6. Bullying, sweet talking or bribing there way on to ships could work in some cases.

7. Let the players figure it out. It's not your problem as the DM.

[McNum]

I'm honestly thinking that for this, the direct method might be preferable. It's simple, and it's stupid.

Buy passage.

Some ships might be more receptive to letting armed passengers on board, but that would be the challenge. Find out which captains are willing to let you on for gold and help in emergencies. If there are pirates and sea monsters, having someone who isn't an integral part of the crew handle that seems like a good idea. Plus, the party could get to fight pirates and/or sea monsters if you feel like it.

The more extravagant solution is a step above. Buy a ship and join the convoy. Or get a ship through other means. Depends on what the budget for the mission is. It's a convoy, after all. Strength in numbers. Pull the right strings and getting permission (or at least make it look like you have one) to join up with the rest of the fleet and you're golden. Especially if the ship is crewed by trustworthy people that may or may not be direct agents, or just paid off from a friendly benefactor, to get the party across the ocean.

[Firest Kathon]

a good chunk of this party is all about planning, intelligence gathering


And this is the part that is leaving me a bit stumped. I would welcome any suggestions on ways that they might accomplish this (so that I can write the appropriate hooks in), bearing in mind there level. They are no magic shops that they can just go and buy scrolls in (they might be able to request something from their bosses if they really need it), but mundane (or at least self-sufficient to the party) options would be best.

I think the best way would be to let them come up with the ideas. Whatever they suggest, answer with "Yes, but...". This requires some improvisation on your part, but I think that they would agree if you told them that you will have to think about it some time and then prepare it for the next session. You can also think up some generic obstacles (e.g. port patrols, customs, barroom brawl, etc) which you can throw at them until the session is over, and then have the actual plan played out at the next session.

[Aotrs Commander]

Thank you for the idea thus far, folks, and please keep them coming.

To address a couple of points - which I had not thought of (since why I posted this thread I wasn't even sure to where to start):

Buying passage/hiring on legimately: This will be an Imperial-overseen/sponsored venture, which means that the likes of the guards will be already filled out by the Not-Roman Legions (which themselves will have specialist Legionaries covering all the bases (scouts/casters etc), so just buying their way into the convoy is not going to be practical. (I know I didn't say that to start with, and that is because to start with, I really had not lodged that in my head myself. These threads often help me by at the very least rigidly defining my areas of doubt and uncertainty!) And we don't want to make it too easy anyway...!

I suppose they could try bribing a senator into getting them aboard, but the problem there is getting him to do it without putting themselves in a risk situation, exposure-wise. And it'd likely be exorbitantly expensive.

Impersonating a group of Legionaries might be possible (if more dangerous than trying it with crew), but it's an option I can plan for. (It would mean the PCs would first likely have to eliminate a conturbernum of Legionaries, which could make for an interesting operation all to itself). Forging additional papers for a new set of Legionaries alone (which would be about as close as practical to redwizard007's suggestion of a royal order) probably wont work, since someone will complain about the extra load of quarters and supplies. Both Validuslum and the Dark Lord both are really big on bureaucracy and record-keeping! Forging paperwork and slipping it in to get a legitimate contubernum or two reassigned and REPLACED by a inflitrated one could be something they could try with relatively more safety, though. (Relatively, since for it to be credible, they'd have to put it in earlier than just turning up on the day, as that would have people start to check.)

I checked: none of them have profession (sailor) - though that doesn't mean they couldn't flubb it as last minute replacement deckhands (Bluff pretty much al of the DO have, funnily enough, this being an undercover ops party!) And, considering this is the sort of party that is liable to be given bonus skills, by the end of it, they might get some bonus ranks...!

I suppose quietly knobbling one of the captains and his top crew might work as well (I'd consideredidly deck-hands, but the PCs might not want to stop there), so I ought, them, to provide a Most Likely Target captain for whatever nefarious plan they do come up with.



Please, keepo the idea rolling in (but if nothing else, I have some good places to start!)

[Dappershire]

Please, keepo the idea rolling in (but if nothing else, I have some good places to start!)


I think I can turn to Mr. Midshipman Hornblower for this one.
Bring (steal) your own ship, and sail right into the convoy. Its not like a land convoy, with the vehicles in a nice neat protected line. Ship convoys often sailed miles apart. And few captains were aware of each individual ship of the fleet. Usually only the Warships were recognizable by sight. If your just a grain hauler, you might be good.
You might need a pre-quest to steal a ship flag (not easy, but doable, according to Assassins Creed)