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View Full Version : DM Help Retaining player agency during a prison escape adventure



Altair_the_Vexed
2020-10-05, 02:23 AM
Obviously, if you're one of my player group, you shouldn't read this post.

I have a prison break style scenario in mind (the PCs are captured and held in cells, while the BBEG plans horrible tortures and eventual death for them), and I'm looking to the Playground to point out the pitfalls and mistakes that can rob the players of agency over the story.
My game is a fantasy setting, using PF1 - but I'd like to keep the discussion as generic as possible.

My set up is that the BBEG has TPKed the PCs, and they all regain consciousness in the BBEG's prison. The BBEG is using the prisoners to fuel her doomsday device, so there'll be a chance for some gloating and exposition. The PCs' awesome equipment has been taken, and is being held in a lab nearby, where the BBEG's minions are trying to work out how to destroy it - so that gives the PCs a chance to get their kit back.

What I'm concerned about is keeping the players engaged and hopeful, while also showing them how hopeless the situation is, before the chance to escape presents itself.

My current fall back plan for a chance to escape is that one of their allies breaks them out of the cells, but is then too injured to be useful - I have a barbarian who fits the bill there: he's only just made it before his rage ends, then he fall unconscious. I'm thinking that I'll only use this guy if the party don't figure out their own escape plan, or don't seem to be trying to.

Anyway - being system and setting agnostic, how do we keep our players engaged while running a prison escape game?

MoiMagnus
2020-10-05, 03:23 AM
Few years ago, we were essentially in the same situation.

Our DM was quite used to some on-the-fly narrative-RPG, so we (almost) did not use D&D for this session, and exceptionally played a fully narrative session (except for the very end).

He guided us in the beginning of the session into creating each a new character to form a rescue team.
(Narrative characters are quite easy to create. Chose who you play in the universe, 5 personality traits, and ~3 things you're very good at)
We then RPed the rescue and had a lot of fun (though not a lot of challenge), up until our main characters were back into fighting capacities and we could switch back to D&D gameplay.
The surviving members of the rescue teams became prominent NPCs latter in the campaign (if they were not already so).
While none of our PCs were eliminated during the campaign (except for one early on), this rescue team was also a good set of interesting character to draw replacement characters if ever needed [for example, if the rescue team had failed to rescue everyone, we would probably have promoted one of those NPCs into PC].

jjordan
2020-10-05, 09:01 AM
Medieval prisons were different from modern prisons. Prisoners would all be put into a common room rather than individual cells. They were also responsible for their own upkeep, having to pay to have food shipped in to them. It was expected that they would bribe the guards to obtain better living conditions (moving to a better room if there are more of them, getting a bed, some furniture, having family visit or even live with them). This was true even of higher status prisoners who might be separated. While most weapons would be taken away, prisoners could easily have an eating knife as part of their cutlery. In this type of setting, it's easier for players to retain their agency as they can gather together and plan.

So far as actually escaping goes, I suggest avoiding planning on the part of the DM. Set up the situation and let the players come up with a solution that they try to implement. That will also preserve their agency.

OldTrees1
2020-10-05, 09:54 AM
Some will provide detailed advice so I will provide broad advice.

1) It is player agency, not necessarily character agency. Start off by asking the players about having their characters go through a prison escape adventure. That alleviates concerns about how the PCs got inside.

2) Design the prison escape such that you know of at least 3 routes for escape. If the routes require multiple steps, design it so each step has at least 3 solutions you know of.

3) During play, if a player suggests an idea you did not think of, seriously consider it as a possibility.

Altair_the_Vexed
2020-10-06, 07:52 AM
Good stuff, thanks!

I'm a strong fan of the rule of 3! And if the players come up with something I didn't think of, I tend to decide that means the antagonist didn't think of it either (unless they have a good high INT score, or similar).

One thing I've been planning is that if the PCs are getting on with their escape successfully, I'm still going to have the rescue team turn up - but have them be all surprised and amazed that the PCs got out and rescued themselves.

Pex
2020-10-06, 11:57 PM
Don't make it a chance they get their stuff back; it's a guarantee. Doesn't have to be right away after breaking their bonds, but they get it back. It's not logical, but players hate losing their stuff more than losing their character's life. Getting their stuff is the emotional relief they need after dealing with the anxiety of being captured and having to escape. It also builds metagame trust between players and DM that as DM you're not screwing them over for the sake of screwing them over. You're the DM, not their enemy.

icefractal
2020-10-07, 01:26 PM
One factor in how much agency the players feel like they have is whether they way they solve things comes from the characters/players or from the plot/environment. The easy test to see which one applies is - could a generic humanoid played in a reactive (not necessarily inattentive) way have done the same thing?

This is orthogonal to how prestigious the actions are in-setting. "I was a starving beggar, so I instigated a commotion next to a baker's stand and snuck away with a couple of loaves in the confusion" is player-driven, "I was the the ruler of an empire, and the chosen one, so - following the prophetic sages' instructions - I collected the seven planar gems, brought them to the world axis, and performed the ritual of renewal, keeping the world going for another 10,000 years" is GM-driven (although if you played that out as a series of adventures there would likely be player-driven parts within it). But iIME, they're not entirely separate - players have more tolerance for following a pre-charted path when their characters are powerful and respected; when they're IC at a low point, like being imprisoned with bad things impending, that's when they most need to be the drivers of their own fate OOC.

So in this context, make as much of the escape possible reliant on the abilities of the characters or the ideas of the players, rather than lucky coincidences, outside help, or the attention the players pay to the environment/descriptions.*

Rescuers are a gray area. If the reason they came to rescue the group is because they're friends/allies of the characters and that's been established previously, then it does (IMO) feel character-driven, but OTOH it's definitely not player-driven. I think your plan of having that as a backup if the PCs fail to escape (and being impressed if they do escapes independently) is a good one.


* There'll probably be some disagreement on my putting "player ideas" and "paying attention to the environment" in opposing categories. I think that while they're both a subset of "player skill" (as opposed to character skill), they are different. There's nothing wrong with environment-based solutions, they're a fine ingredient in a game, but IMO they are still ultimately in the realm of "focus on what the GM has created" rather than "focus on what the players have created", and so they're not going to scratch the itch for more agency.