What's gonna happen now? [Archive] - Wizards Community

What's gonna happen now? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Jaxian Redleaf
07-22-04, 07:23 AM In the last adventure i ran my PCs where being chased trough Sundabar by the watch... They made it by the first gate but on the bridge they were surounded. I had planned them to be taken prisoners... But instead they jump of the bridge!:confused: I stopped the game there... What to do now?
aravilar_holistacia
07-22-04, 07:31 AM First of all, make each do a Swim check. Then, you might have the guards use ranged weapons to try and subdue the party; if you want to really make your players squirm, have a mage or two use walls of force to box the party in, and to keep them in the water. You might want to have the guards offer a bargain: If the party allows themselves to be taken captive, the guards will pull the part out of the water (using 10-foot poles, perhaps, or maybe a net or two). Mages could use Tenser's floating disk to get the party to safety.
Jaxian Redleaf
07-22-04, 08:11 AM Isn't it deeper that 10 feet you think?
aravilar_holistacia
07-22-04, 08:18 AM Originally posted by Jaxian Redleaf
Isn't it deeper that 10 feet you think?

Hmm... well, add in the reach of the player (5 ft, right?) so that's 15, and if I was really going to be technical I would say that they get an extra few feet if they make a Swim check at a DC of 20 or so to kick up and push themselves up out of the water a few feet.
Jaxian Redleaf
07-22-04, 08:49 AM well ok i just tought that it was really deep... Maybe i have read it somewhere...
Tempus665
07-22-04, 09:18 AM When I look at the picture on page 66 of Silver Marches, I also get the impression that it would be rather deep - a big plunch that not just anyone would even survive. Of course, it's too late to tell the players this now (if they had known, they might not have jumped).

Also, according to Sundabar's entry in that book, the water in the moat is icy cold (non-lethal damage), and reputedly roamed by man-eating eels. :mymy:

This seems to me a worse alternative than being taken captive by the guards.
Jaxian Redleaf
07-22-04, 10:43 AM Originally posted by Tempus665
When I look at the picture on page 66 of Silver Marches, I also get the impression that it would be rather deep - a big plunch that not just anyone would even survive. Of course, it's too late to tell the players this now (if they had known, they might not have jumped).

Also, according to Sundabar's entry in that book, the water in the moat is icy cold (non-lethal damage), and reputedly roamed by man-eating eels.

This seems to me a worse alternative than being taken captive by the guards.

I told them they had heard about the eels... And i said they could not see the bottom... Yet one jumped and the others followed...
Tempus665
07-22-04, 12:30 PM Well, that's a pretty bad situation, but you can do a number of things to save them.

For instance:

*Use what Aravilar suggested (the mages with Tenser's Floating Disc).

*Have them go unconscious, and let them awake somewhere you like them to be. This could be a temple inside the city, a jail, or maybe somewhere in a cave not far from Sundabar, which happens to be the home of their rescuer (which could be either friend or foe).

*You could place a portal in the water, a portal that sucks them all to wherever you want them to be.
Thelandrach
07-22-04, 01:04 PM Have they hit the water yet, or did you end the game with them suspended in mid-air?

If it's the latter, there could be a prison barge going under the bridge, chock-full of guards...
Brahzs M'ahnkei
07-22-04, 04:02 PM Use the fact that the guards know the lay of the land more than the PCs do. They would have thought of something like this. Quickened Walls of Force, portals, Floating Disks, Mordenkainen's Transmute Water to Jell-O... you get the idea. :D

Perhaps the aforementioned eels can be controlled by the guards- those grapple checks outa be fun for full-plated PCs in freezing-cold water...

;)
Alac Luin
07-22-04, 07:07 PM with the eels and the cold water, the charicters (if not the players) will probobly be begging to be rescued!!!!

So, now they will face the aditional charge of "Resisting arrest" and get fined to pay for thier rescue!!!!

Resisting arrest can be called "Failure to abide by the vebal demand of an officer of the city"
Malkore
07-23-04, 06:53 PM Don't they have a chance to escape? I sometimes plan for the party to be captured, but I never force the story to go that way. If the party escapes despite my best efforts to capture them by controlling guards then they get away and grats to them.

Anyway I don't mean to change your DMing style, just offering a different suggestion of what you could do. I know it might hurt your planned story, but I'll be betting your players will appreciate the feeling of free will.

Goodluck however it goes :)
createvmind
07-24-04, 11:32 AM Whats the problem with them doing the unexpected, it will make you a better DM to have them do things you really didnt plan for and that should reflect in the Npc's you play as well. The pursuerers should be just as surprised and therefore the party should have a brief moment to swim away before the watch can formulate what to do. How well the players know the city is obviously an important factor but its good that you have players who dont do what you expect all the time....not much of a game for them or you if they did.

First thing is Swim checks and then go with the flow;)
And defintely make concentration checks for spellcasters if they try to cast above the surface. Or at least follow the rules in the DMG regarding spells above and below water.

And most importantly, just have fun with them...I write many path-branches for my players but sometimes they still do kooky things I wasnt expecting. Let the story go off the path for awhile until you figure out how to bring it back to where it should be close too. If you strong arm them then they really going to feel that their never going to have a choice- no fun there
Lashan
07-26-04, 09:43 AM I say give them a great chase through the city streets. If they actually make it out, you can always sick bounty-hunters on them.
Prince_Inari
07-29-04, 09:34 PM I must say as a player its interesting to see the various ways DM's sometimes plan to screw over their players. I must say I have to agree with teh earlier posted kudos if they escape plan. However I also have lost at least one character to the drowning rules, and swimming in armor sucks. However, as I am usually a player and more often than not not a DM, I enjoy being able to dupe the undupable. Being able to actually succeed in something feels completely wonderful.
Jaxian Redleaf
07-30-04, 04:30 AM I didn't planned to have them be taken prisoners i only expected them to be. My question is not how to prevent them but how to take the story from here... What will happen down there? With the maneating eels of DOOM!:D
Tarus
08-01-04, 10:20 PM Tell them: You drown in the current. Re-roll.

That'll learn 'em!
Jaxian Redleaf
08-02-04, 04:43 AM Originally posted by Tarus
Tell them: You drown in the current. Re-roll.

That'll learn 'em!
:rofl: :rofl:
Not a bad idea but since i have a habit of scrapping every campaign i begin and make new ones, my players have begin to hate making new characters... And i really like the idea for this one...
maynardjkeenan
08-02-04, 11:28 AM Acctually.... I don't think the moat is filled with man-eating eels. It was questioned in Volo's Guide To The North, and just think of it... Icy cold waters and a very limited supply of food.
ClobberinTime
08-02-04, 11:56 AM There is no reason to go high tech, just let the guards wait onshore, they can certainly walk faster than the PCs can swim, until the PCs give up, swim check, swim check, drowning, guards save them and they end up in jail or wherever else you want to put them. Certainly jumping in the water is not really any kind of escape at all, in fact its pretty much out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Jaxian Redleaf 07-22-04, 07:23 AM	In the last adventure i ran my PCs where being chased trough Sundabar by the watch... They made it by the first gate but on the bridge they were surounded. I had planned them to be taken prisoners... But instead they jump of the bridge!:confused: I stopped the game there... What to do now?
aravilar_holistacia 07-22-04, 07:31 AM	First of all, make each do a Swim check. Then, you might have the guards use ranged weapons to try and subdue the party; if you want to really make your players squirm, have a mage or two use walls of force to box the party in, and to keep them in the water. You might want to have the guards offer a bargain: If the party allows themselves to be taken captive, the guards will pull the part out of the water (using 10-foot poles, perhaps, or maybe a net or two). Mages could use Tenser's floating disk to get the party to safety.
Jaxian Redleaf 07-22-04, 08:11 AM	Isn't it deeper that 10 feet you think?
aravilar_holistacia 07-22-04, 08:18 AM	Originally posted by Jaxian Redleaf Isn't it deeper that 10 feet you think? Hmm... well, add in the reach of the player (5 ft, right?) so that's 15, and if I was really going to be technical I would say that they get an extra few feet if they make a Swim check at a DC of 20 or so to kick up and push themselves up out of the water a few feet.
Jaxian Redleaf 07-22-04, 08:49 AM	well ok i just tought that it was really deep... Maybe i have read it somewhere...
Tempus665 07-22-04, 09:18 AM	When I look at the picture on page 66 of Silver Marches, I also get the impression that it would be rather deep - a big plunch that not just anyone would even survive. Of course, it's too late to tell the players this now (if they had known, they might not have jumped). Also, according to Sundabar's entry in that book, the water in the moat is icy cold (non-lethal damage), and reputedly roamed by man-eating eels. :mymy: This seems to me a worse alternative than being taken captive by the guards.
Jaxian Redleaf 07-22-04, 10:43 AM	Originally posted by Tempus665 When I look at the picture on page 66 of Silver Marches, I also get the impression that it would be rather deep - a big plunch that not just anyone would even survive. Of course, it's too late to tell the players this now (if they had known, they might not have jumped). Also, according to Sundabar's entry in that book, the water in the moat is icy cold (non-lethal damage), and reputedly roamed by man-eating eels. This seems to me a worse alternative than being taken captive by the guards. I told them they had heard about the eels... And i said they could not see the bottom... Yet one jumped and the others followed...
Tempus665 07-22-04, 12:30 PM	Well, that's a pretty bad situation, but you can do a number of things to save them. For instance: Use what Aravilar suggested (the mages with Tenser's Floating Disc). Have them go unconscious, and let them awake somewhere you like them to be. This could be a temple inside the city, a jail, or maybe somewhere in a cave not far from Sundabar, which happens to be the home of their rescuer (which could be either friend or foe). *You could place a portal in the water, a portal that sucks them all to wherever you want them to be.
Thelandrach 07-22-04, 01:04 PM	Have they hit the water yet, or did you end the game with them suspended in mid-air? If it's the latter, there could be a prison barge going under the bridge, chock-full of guards...
Brahzs M'ahnkei 07-22-04, 04:02 PM	Use the fact that the guards know the lay of the land more than the PCs do. They would have thought of something like this. Quickened Walls of Force, portals, Floating Disks, Mordenkainen's Transmute Water to Jell-O... you get the idea. :D Perhaps the aforementioned eels can be controlled by the guards- those grapple checks outa be fun for full-plated PCs in freezing-cold water... ;)
Alac Luin 07-22-04, 07:07 PM	with the eels and the cold water, the charicters (if not the players) will probobly be begging to be rescued!!!! So, now they will face the aditional charge of "Resisting arrest" and get fined to pay for thier rescue!!!! Resisting arrest can be called "Failure to abide by the vebal demand of an officer of the city"
Malkore 07-23-04, 06:53 PM	Don't they have a chance to escape? I sometimes plan for the party to be captured, but I never force the story to go that way. If the party escapes despite my best efforts to capture them by controlling guards then they get away and grats to them. Anyway I don't mean to change your DMing style, just offering a different suggestion of what you could do. I know it might hurt your planned story, but I'll be betting your players will appreciate the feeling of free will. Goodluck however it goes :)
createvmind 07-24-04, 11:32 AM	Whats the problem with them doing the unexpected, it will make you a better DM to have them do things you really didnt plan for and that should reflect in the Npc's you play as well. The pursuerers should be just as surprised and therefore the party should have a brief moment to swim away before the watch can formulate what to do. How well the players know the city is obviously an important factor but its good that you have players who dont do what you expect all the time....not much of a game for them or you if they did. First thing is Swim checks and then go with the flow;) And defintely make concentration checks for spellcasters if they try to cast above the surface. Or at least follow the rules in the DMG regarding spells above and below water. And most importantly, just have fun with them...I write many path-branches for my players but sometimes they still do kooky things I wasnt expecting. Let the story go off the path for awhile until you figure out how to bring it back to where it should be close too. If you strong arm them then they really going to feel that their never going to have a choice- no fun there
Lashan 07-26-04, 09:43 AM	I say give them a great chase through the city streets. If they actually make it out, you can always sick bounty-hunters on them.
Prince_Inari 07-29-04, 09:34 PM	I must say as a player its interesting to see the various ways DM's sometimes plan to screw over their players. I must say I have to agree with teh earlier posted kudos if they escape plan. However I also have lost at least one character to the drowning rules, and swimming in armor sucks. However, as I am usually a player and more often than not not a DM, I enjoy being able to dupe the undupable. Being able to actually succeed in something feels completely wonderful.
Jaxian Redleaf 07-30-04, 04:30 AM	I didn't planned to have them be taken prisoners i only expected them to be. My question is not how to prevent them but how to take the story from here... What will happen down there? With the maneating eels of DOOM!:D
Tarus 08-01-04, 10:20 PM	Tell them: You drown in the current. Re-roll. That'll learn 'em!
Jaxian Redleaf 08-02-04, 04:43 AM	Originally posted by Tarus Tell them: You drown in the current. Re-roll. That'll learn 'em! :rofl: :rofl: Not a bad idea but since i have a habit of scrapping every campaign i begin and make new ones, my players have begin to hate making new characters... And i really like the idea for this one...
maynardjkeenan 08-02-04, 11:28 AM	Acctually.... I don't think the moat is filled with man-eating eels. It was questioned in Volo's Guide To The North, and just think of it... Icy cold waters and a very limited supply of food.
ClobberinTime 08-02-04, 11:56 AM	There is no reason to go high tech, just let the guards wait onshore, they can certainly walk faster than the PCs can swim, until the PCs give up, swim check, swim check, drowning, guards save them and they end up in jail or wherever else you want to put them. Certainly jumping in the water is not really any kind of escape at all, in fact its pretty much out of the frying pan and into the fire.