Brainstorming Stealthy Encounters [Archive] - Wizards Community

Brainstorming Stealthy Encounters [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Furluge
03-29-06, 11:22 PM Currently I run an Eberron campaign with a small group of friends more or less weekly as sort of a fun experiment to get a little more experience in writing and running adventures and having a good time while doing it. I've run lots of RPGA modules and such so it's more about learning how to write adventures better. In any case, so far most of the adventures have been straight combat, some diplomatic situations sprinkled into things, usually dealing with different figures between adventures.

For my next session I'd like to try something different. I have some general ideas for what I would like to do but am unsure the best way to realize it in a way that will be fun for the entire party. Our party is currently composed of a Half-Orc Ranger/Barbarian, a Kalashar telepath, a changling rogue, and a human fighter/cleric. The general premise is that an evil warlord has ursuped the title of a small underwater kingdom. While underwater the PCs (hopefully) come to the rescue of a maiden being attacked by the warlords henchmen, afterwards getting the PC's involved in a plot to retake the kingdom hatched by the laypeople of the kingdom. To do this the PC's are going to need to sneak into the castle the warlord has claimed and recover an artifact of some power which is also the symbol of rulership.

To accomplish this the PC's will need to sneak into the newly claimed castle and accomplish a few objectives inside the castle to disable the security around where the artifact is kept, and then of course to escape with it. The biggest thing is I don't want this to just become a test of who has the better hide and move silently check, I want to make things more interactive and nerve-wracking. Also, since only one person in the party is a real stealth type there still needs to be things to do for those who can't sneak.

(Disclaimer: A lot of this has been inspired by modern sources, since I've seen these kinds of setups in movies, games, and books in modern settings more than fantasy ones. I'd even find simply pointing out common castle structures, like dumb waiters, that would lend themselves to this would be helpful. Pointing out how these strucutres are helpful is even better.)

The basic idea for how to accomplish this is that we have the party split into two groups. The rogue is by himself, sneaking around the castle. The object for the rogue is to go ahead and set things up so that the party can advance. For example, the rogue may go ahead and do something to unlock the door to the guard's armory so that the rest of the party can enter and ambush some guards and steal their uniforms to impersonate guards. (This situation also allows to use our telepath's ability at bluffing and speaking with others to pull off the impersonation, with our fighters available when muscle is needed.)

What I'm looking for right now is is ideas for things to be accomplished for the other party to advance. EX: Have the rogue steal a sigil of rank to allow the rest of the party to pass a checkpoint inside the castle so that they can gain access to an area crowded with guards and read today's combonation for a certain door so that the rogue can onlock it so... etc. I have a few sparse ideas on things to do but am unsure how to put it all together.

The other thing I'm looking for some ideas on is how to make the sneaking for the rogue more interactive. I mean, I suppose I could making facing matter for a change, plan out guard routes, etc. but I'm unsure how tha would work well at the table, as well as how to put some of that together to make it interesting.

Also not quite sure how I should award XP for this one.

In any case, any and all help and suggestions are appreciated and thank you for your time.
Furluge
03-31-06, 08:54 AM Please excuse me for bumping, but if anyone, anyone at all, has some advice or assistance it'd be really appreciated and would help me out a lot here, and you know, gameday is coming up, so, at least you won't have to worry about my bumping this again.
KnaveofClubs
03-31-06, 10:08 AM Well, I had run sort of a mission for this with my party. Our kobold sorcerer had to infiltrate an outpost witht the help of other members of his tribe. 2 rogues, 2 warriors (kobold default entry), and another kobold sorcerer. The party had one of the rogues spot from the tree and draw a map for them. Then, using the map they discussed where they were to go and what their plan was. Spegk stopped and hid in the shadows of buildings and viewed the patrols. I would slowly move them along the map until Spegk said he wanted to go. Everytime he made the quick move he had to roll a move silently check and if he passing a guards line of sight, hide check. He rolled move silently for opening windows and sneaking into buildings. I am not sure if this is clear and if it helps. I could try another story I had if you need more examples.
Ash the blackcowl
03-31-06, 12:46 PM I love DMing these types of adventures, because it allows the PC to really take over and devise there own infiltration plan. To make it fair you should have a couple of general defensive plans in mind.

First is the commander of this stronghold over confident or unaware of the parties intentions. If this is the case security will likely be soft and allow for an easier penetration. If he is cautious or paranoid security will most likely be tighter.

The first thing the party should do is gather information on the objectives defenses, and recon the objective. This gives charisma based skills an opportuity to shine, divination spells to pulled from the dusty closet, and perhaps a side trek to meet and informant (disgruntled employee, ex-prisoner, etc) or steal a map from a library of temple. As a DM know how the stronghold is postured. Do they have there on spies working the local area keeping tabs on snooping adventurer types, or looking for that escaped prisoner or convict. What does the party do to keep there intents secret?

As the DM know your strongholds strengths and weakness' if the party chooses to infil and a point of strength doom on them. If they locate a weak point or just get lucky great! New owners rarely know every crack and crevice of there new digs so it is likely that if the party searches they can find a secret entrence or just might come up with a good plan.

Traps and tricks are up to you. Some traps will be deadly, others designed to capture or hinder, and others just give early warning. In a laxed security environment you will likely find these uncovereed, however in a more stringent security environment obstacales will be covered by guards. Another thing I like to add in scenarios like these are hidden boons. One of my favorites (giving this up for free guys and gals) is a friendly ghost or spirit that offers valuable info to the PCs.

Insure your have a reaction plan. What do the guards do when the alarm is sounded. Again this is dependent on the security posture of the stronghold. It is also somehthing the PC's may be able to find out either through observation (a unique way to use appraise, or profession soldier), or through the use of charisma skills (get the guard drunk and pump him for info), or enchantment spells.

This type of scenario never comes down to hide vs spot. Every class can lend itself to some aspect of the infiltration, snatch, and exfil. Speaking of exfil make sure you have a reaction plan. If the party succeeds, the BBEBG will be hot on there trail.

Hope this helps let me know if I can be of further assisstance.
Furluge
03-31-06, 03:13 PM Thank you, both of you for the response. This has certainly gotten me thinking on ways of doing things I hadn't yet considered before. Originally I had planned this to be a infiltration zone without traps but with lots of patrols (Our big evil bad guy has all his evil minions wear the same very distinctive armor which makes it so you can't see their faces. He apparently hasn't read the "Things to do when I become an Evil Overlord" entry about guards having clear plexiglass faceguards so heros can't disguise as minions. ;))

As far as a reaction plan I'm currently planning to go by an alerts system as well as out and out alarm. Certain alarms will be placed around which will throw all the guards into high alert if it's triggered. Otherwise suspicious situations leads to guards slowly stepping up security. EX: Hey, Bob hasn't reported for his shift change...

I hadn't given much though about the gather information stage as I thought the basic gruntwork wouldn't be much fun and planned to have information provided by the NPCs the PCs will be assisting. Though perhaps I should add some opportunities to gain more info then what is provided and maybe throw some false information into the mix as well. Also, believe it or not I hadn't really consider traps too much either and mainly envisioned security provided by minion security, though I guess it's something I should go ahead and factor back into things. Once again, thanks for all the help.
Nerdicus
03-31-06, 09:11 PM As to the gather information part, you could have an Artificer NPC who helped instal a bunch of the security measures in the castle. He is willing to help the PCs out because he never got paid in full for the work he did, and wants to get some payback.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Furluge 03-29-06, 11:22 PM	Currently I run an Eberron campaign with a small group of friends more or less weekly as sort of a fun experiment to get a little more experience in writing and running adventures and having a good time while doing it. I've run lots of RPGA modules and such so it's more about learning how to write adventures better. In any case, so far most of the adventures have been straight combat, some diplomatic situations sprinkled into things, usually dealing with different figures between adventures. For my next session I'd like to try something different. I have some general ideas for what I would like to do but am unsure the best way to realize it in a way that will be fun for the entire party. Our party is currently composed of a Half-Orc Ranger/Barbarian, a Kalashar telepath, a changling rogue, and a human fighter/cleric. The general premise is that an evil warlord has ursuped the title of a small underwater kingdom. While underwater the PCs (hopefully) come to the rescue of a maiden being attacked by the warlords henchmen, afterwards getting the PC's involved in a plot to retake the kingdom hatched by the laypeople of the kingdom. To do this the PC's are going to need to sneak into the castle the warlord has claimed and recover an artifact of some power which is also the symbol of rulership. To accomplish this the PC's will need to sneak into the newly claimed castle and accomplish a few objectives inside the castle to disable the security around where the artifact is kept, and then of course to escape with it. The biggest thing is I don't want this to just become a test of who has the better hide and move silently check, I want to make things more interactive and nerve-wracking. Also, since only one person in the party is a real stealth type there still needs to be things to do for those who can't sneak. (Disclaimer: A lot of this has been inspired by modern sources, since I've seen these kinds of setups in movies, games, and books in modern settings more than fantasy ones. I'd even find simply pointing out common castle structures, like dumb waiters, that would lend themselves to this would be helpful. Pointing out how these strucutres are helpful is even better.) The basic idea for how to accomplish this is that we have the party split into two groups. The rogue is by himself, sneaking around the castle. The object for the rogue is to go ahead and set things up so that the party can advance. For example, the rogue may go ahead and do something to unlock the door to the guard's armory so that the rest of the party can enter and ambush some guards and steal their uniforms to impersonate guards. (This situation also allows to use our telepath's ability at bluffing and speaking with others to pull off the impersonation, with our fighters available when muscle is needed.) What I'm looking for right now is is ideas for things to be accomplished for the other party to advance. EX: Have the rogue steal a sigil of rank to allow the rest of the party to pass a checkpoint inside the castle so that they can gain access to an area crowded with guards and read today's combonation for a certain door so that the rogue can onlock it so... etc. I have a few sparse ideas on things to do but am unsure how to put it all together. The other thing I'm looking for some ideas on is how to make the sneaking for the rogue more interactive. I mean, I suppose I could making facing matter for a change, plan out guard routes, etc. but I'm unsure how tha would work well at the table, as well as how to put some of that together to make it interesting. Also not quite sure how I should award XP for this one. In any case, any and all help and suggestions are appreciated and thank you for your time.
Furluge 03-31-06, 08:54 AM	Please excuse me for bumping, but if anyone, anyone at all, has some advice or assistance it'd be really appreciated and would help me out a lot here, and you know, gameday is coming up, so, at least you won't have to worry about my bumping this again.
KnaveofClubs 03-31-06, 10:08 AM	Well, I had run sort of a mission for this with my party. Our kobold sorcerer had to infiltrate an outpost witht the help of other members of his tribe. 2 rogues, 2 warriors (kobold default entry), and another kobold sorcerer. The party had one of the rogues spot from the tree and draw a map for them. Then, using the map they discussed where they were to go and what their plan was. Spegk stopped and hid in the shadows of buildings and viewed the patrols. I would slowly move them along the map until Spegk said he wanted to go. Everytime he made the quick move he had to roll a move silently check and if he passing a guards line of sight, hide check. He rolled move silently for opening windows and sneaking into buildings. I am not sure if this is clear and if it helps. I could try another story I had if you need more examples.
Ash the blackcowl 03-31-06, 12:46 PM	I love DMing these types of adventures, because it allows the PC to really take over and devise there own infiltration plan. To make it fair you should have a couple of general defensive plans in mind. First is the commander of this stronghold over confident or unaware of the parties intentions. If this is the case security will likely be soft and allow for an easier penetration. If he is cautious or paranoid security will most likely be tighter. The first thing the party should do is gather information on the objectives defenses, and recon the objective. This gives charisma based skills an opportuity to shine, divination spells to pulled from the dusty closet, and perhaps a side trek to meet and informant (disgruntled employee, ex-prisoner, etc) or steal a map from a library of temple. As a DM know how the stronghold is postured. Do they have there on spies working the local area keeping tabs on snooping adventurer types, or looking for that escaped prisoner or convict. What does the party do to keep there intents secret? As the DM know your strongholds strengths and weakness' if the party chooses to infil and a point of strength doom on them. If they locate a weak point or just get lucky great! New owners rarely know every crack and crevice of there new digs so it is likely that if the party searches they can find a secret entrence or just might come up with a good plan. Traps and tricks are up to you. Some traps will be deadly, others designed to capture or hinder, and others just give early warning. In a laxed security environment you will likely find these uncovereed, however in a more stringent security environment obstacales will be covered by guards. Another thing I like to add in scenarios like these are hidden boons. One of my favorites (giving this up for free guys and gals) is a friendly ghost or spirit that offers valuable info to the PCs. Insure your have a reaction plan. What do the guards do when the alarm is sounded. Again this is dependent on the security posture of the stronghold. It is also somehthing the PC's may be able to find out either through observation (a unique way to use appraise, or profession soldier), or through the use of charisma skills (get the guard drunk and pump him for info), or enchantment spells. This type of scenario never comes down to hide vs spot. Every class can lend itself to some aspect of the infiltration, snatch, and exfil. Speaking of exfil make sure you have a reaction plan. If the party succeeds, the BBEBG will be hot on there trail. Hope this helps let me know if I can be of further assisstance.
Furluge 03-31-06, 03:13 PM	Thank you, both of you for the response. This has certainly gotten me thinking on ways of doing things I hadn't yet considered before. Originally I had planned this to be a infiltration zone without traps but with lots of patrols (Our big evil bad guy has all his evil minions wear the same very distinctive armor which makes it so you can't see their faces. He apparently hasn't read the "Things to do when I become an Evil Overlord" entry about guards having clear plexiglass faceguards so heros can't disguise as minions. ;)) As far as a reaction plan I'm currently planning to go by an alerts system as well as out and out alarm. Certain alarms will be placed around which will throw all the guards into high alert if it's triggered. Otherwise suspicious situations leads to guards slowly stepping up security. EX: Hey, Bob hasn't reported for his shift change... I hadn't given much though about the gather information stage as I thought the basic gruntwork wouldn't be much fun and planned to have information provided by the NPCs the PCs will be assisting. Though perhaps I should add some opportunities to gain more info then what is provided and maybe throw some false information into the mix as well. Also, believe it or not I hadn't really consider traps too much either and mainly envisioned security provided by minion security, though I guess it's something I should go ahead and factor back into things. Once again, thanks for all the help.
Nerdicus 03-31-06, 09:11 PM	As to the gather information part, you could have an Artificer NPC who helped instal a bunch of the security measures in the castle. He is willing to help the PCs out because he never got paid in full for the work he did, and wants to get some payback.