ideas for a Rogue hideout. [Archive] - Wizards Community

ideas for a Rogue hideout. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
capt. narcissist
10-23-03, 10:03 AM Im trying to get a good idea to set up shop for a Rogue game my friends and I are playing. I didnt want to place it somewhere like in a sewer. I mean for go sakes when you are victimized by the local street gang it doesnt take a genius to start by combing the sewers. I was thinking like a dug out bunker with the entrance as a hallowed tree? an underwater place maybe where if we get invaded we could flood the joint.

Im planning on setting up some James Bond like traps in said hideout as well. any ideas?
Gingerbread Guy
10-23-03, 12:19 PM Hiho,

Well, I assume you want this hideout somewhere close to a city or something, right? The difficulty with this is that constructing such a building is very difficult to do without attracting notice. You can't just hollow out the earth under a tree and expect no one to notice the giant pile of dirt. [Unless you have some magic that'll do the trick].

My suggestion is to get a front going and operate right under people's noses. If you're a good [and I don't mean the alignment] gang, you should have some key figures manipulated. Zone yourself a nice little tavern or inn or factory or something and turn it into your hideout. You don't have to worry about attracting too much business - your real money will come from crime, naturally. But you do need a place to hang out and an excuse for where your money is coming from.

Build underneath it, or own several adjacent properties and link them all with underground tunnels. I ran a rogue game once wherein the thief guild hall was composed of two buildings - a brewery and an inn, which were back to back looking out onto different streets. If you wanted to escape, the best thing to do was quickly duck into one of the buildings, rush into the secret passage underground, travel through to the other building and emerge on a totally different street. ^_^ Looks like you just walked out of an inn, who would guess you were up to something?

~Ginger
Mancer
10-26-03, 02:49 AM Here's an idea that we used in our game. We founded a little social club that anyone could join, the only requirement being a nominal membership fee and allowing the use of your home as a meeting hall sometime shortly after becoming a member. The group would meet in a prominent member's home or well appointed local venue once a month to discuss club business. There are three layers to our club:

-Local gossip
The reason most people join is to bump elbows with local celebrities. Little cliques have since developed within the club, and it has become a sort of dating service/YMCA for the rich.

-Monkeying around with the big spender crowd
The first "secret" layer of the group exists to subtly influence local business and politics. This isn't done illegally, but through covert alliances with important community figures. Rarther than buying favors, the club earns them through bonds of friendship, and never resorts to strongarm tactics. Members who are in the know can utilize this aspect of the organization to get the best deals on service charges for many of the things the wealthy buy, have taxes waived. Some members can be given preferential treatment outside of the club if they simply suggest that they can make it worth someone's while to aid them.

-Illegal activities
The innermost layer of the group consists of a local merchant, a foreigner-turned-local merchant, two famous adventurers, and a young city council member. These are, coincidentally, the party members. While the club has no offcial ranking system, they are known to be the founders, and as such have a certain degree of weight to throw around. The insignifigant social manipulations that take place within the club all serve the interests of the local theives' guild, but only the guildmaster knows of this. There are some half dozen theives who are members of our little social club, not knowing that they are beholden to it for support. The best part of all this is that if a member found out about the illegal activities, they would have a very hard time doing anything about it, because every single member has, at one time or another, taken direct action in a matter that was some type of illegal activity.

This all took several levels to build from the ground up, but the roleplaying rewards have been great, exceeded only by the monetaryrewards. Building an operation like this has helped me not only as a PC, but as a DM as well. I highly recommend it. :)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
capt. narcissist 10-23-03, 10:03 AM	Im trying to get a good idea to set up shop for a Rogue game my friends and I are playing. I didnt want to place it somewhere like in a sewer. I mean for go sakes when you are victimized by the local street gang it doesnt take a genius to start by combing the sewers. I was thinking like a dug out bunker with the entrance as a hallowed tree? an underwater place maybe where if we get invaded we could flood the joint. Im planning on setting up some James Bond like traps in said hideout as well. any ideas?
Gingerbread Guy 10-23-03, 12:19 PM	Hiho, Well, I assume you want this hideout somewhere close to a city or something, right? The difficulty with this is that constructing such a building is very difficult to do without attracting notice. You can't just hollow out the earth under a tree and expect no one to notice the giant pile of dirt. [Unless you have some magic that'll do the trick]. My suggestion is to get a front going and operate right under people's noses. If you're a good [and I don't mean the alignment] gang, you should have some key figures manipulated. Zone yourself a nice little tavern or inn or factory or something and turn it into your hideout. You don't have to worry about attracting too much business - your real money will come from crime, naturally. But you do need a place to hang out and an excuse for where your money is coming from. Build underneath it, or own several adjacent properties and link them all with underground tunnels. I ran a rogue game once wherein the thief guild hall was composed of two buildings - a brewery and an inn, which were back to back looking out onto different streets. If you wanted to escape, the best thing to do was quickly duck into one of the buildings, rush into the secret passage underground, travel through to the other building and emerge on a totally different street. ^_^ Looks like you just walked out of an inn, who would guess you were up to something? ~Ginger
Mancer 10-26-03, 02:49 AM	Here's an idea that we used in our game. We founded a little social club that anyone could join, the only requirement being a nominal membership fee and allowing the use of your home as a meeting hall sometime shortly after becoming a member. The group would meet in a prominent member's home or well appointed local venue once a month to discuss club business. There are three layers to our club: -Local gossip The reason most people join is to bump elbows with local celebrities. Little cliques have since developed within the club, and it has become a sort of dating service/YMCA for the rich. -Monkeying around with the big spender crowd The first "secret" layer of the group exists to subtly influence local business and politics. This isn't done illegally, but through covert alliances with important community figures. Rarther than buying favors, the club earns them through bonds of friendship, and never resorts to strongarm tactics. Members who are in the know can utilize this aspect of the organization to get the best deals on service charges for many of the things the wealthy buy, have taxes waived. Some members can be given preferential treatment outside of the club if they simply suggest that they can make it worth someone's while to aid them. -Illegal activities The innermost layer of the group consists of a local merchant, a foreigner-turned-local merchant, two famous adventurers, and a young city council member. These are, coincidentally, the party members. While the club has no offcial ranking system, they are known to be the founders, and as such have a certain degree of weight to throw around. The insignifigant social manipulations that take place within the club all serve the interests of the local theives' guild, but only the guildmaster knows of this. There are some half dozen theives who are members of our little social club, not knowing that they are beholden to it for support. The best part of all this is that if a member found out about the illegal activities, they would have a very hard time doing anything about it, because every single member has, at one time or another, taken direct action in a matter that was some type of illegal activity. This all took several levels to build from the ground up, but the roleplaying rewards have been great, exceeded only by the monetaryrewards. Building an operation like this has helped me not only as a PC, but as a DM as well. I highly recommend it. :)