Jailbreak! - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Jailbreak!

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
amazingmoondog
Jul 02, 2010 3:08:26 I've been wanting to do a campaign in which my players are (temporarily) stripped of their equipment and thrown into jail. They are forced to work alongside or against the various prison gangs, escape the maximum security wing, and regain their equipment before they defeat the warden and his maniacal guards. Any tips on how I should scale the monsters/general tips?

Thanks!

Edit: I've really liked the idea of making them use stuff like shivs, makeshift clubs, and stuff like that as they make their escape. You know, some real gritty Riddick-esque stuff.
#2
David
Jul 02, 2010 4:56:44 Use some skill tricks. The players will need to find out where the guards keep their stuff. This can be done by sneaking around, or by asking questions to other prisoners.
Split up the party. Usually, players get tossed into adjacent cells in a small facility. (Come on, that doesn't really pose a challenge, now does it?) You want to create a Bastille. A big fort that allows you to seperate the players from each other. This way, you really challenge the players to contact each other. Cooperation becomes harder this way, and the players will have to lead a mass escape, leading the other prisoners.
NPC's will play a big part. And you should remember that the population of a prison isn't static. New prisoners will arrive, some will be released and some may die.
In some games, the players rush through the adventure with great speed, but it doesn't have to be that way. Don't be afraid to put the PC's in prison for a longer time. You can let them rot in prison for months with little news of outside events. This also allows you to make some changes to the world for when they finally do escape.

I hope that helped. What do you think?

Edit: Okay, forget about the Bastille. It could only hold some 50 prisoners. Think bigger!
#3
amazingmoondog
Jul 02, 2010 11:34:01 Thanks, David! Those are some really good ideas; I'll make sure to include those. I never even thought of having them in prison for an long period of time.
#4
David
Jul 02, 2010 16:13:30 Yeah, but that's where the problem lies. You can keep a fighter or a barbarian locked up savely. Try the same thing with a spellcaster, and you've got a big problem. You'd have to seperate spellcasters from their spellbooks, holy symbols, spell components and it's still not a sure thing. Anti-magic field cells would work though, if you'd want to go that way.
Putting the PC's in jail is gonna take some railroading. Most players won't go down lightly, and each an every player will surprise you when you least expect it. Try to force them to commit a crime, then send in some bounty hunters who specialize in taking prisoners without killing them.
#5
amazingmoondog
Jul 04, 2010 10:48:48 Well, my characters will be level 13 (Human Ranger, Minotaur Fighter, Revenant Invoker, and either a Human Rogue or a Dragonborn Paladin, depending on who can make it that week) and are going to already be being hunted down by someone powerful they've upset in the past. My plan is to have them being relocated to a notorious prison in the Shadowfell- I've just read about domains of dread and I like the idea of the warden being the dark lord of the area and his prison encompass his domain. I was thinking that I could also use this as a way to incorporate some sort of anti-magic or anti-divine force field that could either hinder or completely nullify my non-martial PCs' powers.
#6
Bandikoot
Jul 04, 2010 19:43:51 At that level I would consider using the inherent bonuses rules from DMGII rather than massively scaling down their opponents. Either way works of course, but most people I've played with prefers their PC feeling stronger to the monsters feeling weaker. For improvised weapons/fists I would also recommend giving them +3d6 damage on a crit, as if they had a magic weapon. You can explain it how you want - they're better at hitting vitals with that table leg now than they were at level one - but they deserve the extra damage and creature HP kind of expects it.

If you do scale down completely, figure that the PCs are losing +3 enhancement, +2/+3 proficiency, +1 expertise so opponent AC should be at least 6 lower than expected for their level. Your ranger and rogue will likely now have noticably better AC than your fighter and paladin due to the equipment loss, so rigorously following mark mechanics could be quite dangerous to your party's defenders.

Because of the way 4E works I would recommend against nullifying non-martial PC powers. While it might make sense for story purposes, the classes are much better balanced now than they were earlier in the decade. It would also suck to be playing an invoker/paladin that got stuck making melee basic attacks because all of their divine keyword powers were forbidden. If you do so, then I would recommend that one of the first things that the party is able to do is nullify the field.
#7
mehukatti
Jul 06, 2010 8:59:34
Give the heavy armor wearing guys some armor, so their AC doesn't drop too much. Call it forced labor harness, heavy slave shackles or something similar. It could be mechanically same as mundane chain mail with bigger check and movement penalties.

Cheers
#8
syntic
Jul 08, 2010 5:49:47 One of the problems I've always had with jails and D&D is how do you balance them.

Ok it was mentioned anti-magic fields so that your wizards can't just teleport out, or use a big explosion and walk out. But ok now your wizard can't use magic. What left does he have that keeps him useful in the party? I mean if you put a warrior with 18 st in a jail, he still has his strength if not any of his weapons. He can be all like "I bend the bars, oh the bars are to strong, well I grab a guard and put him in a choke hold and take his keys by force, and his weapons"

Wizard though? Oh yay, I have 18 intelligence, I'll think my way out of jail. All I need is a jar of shoe polish, a bit of cloth, and a drainage pipe. And if that doesn't work, I can think my way out of this jail in three other ways. Matter of fact, I'm going to use the front door because I'm just that smart. Ok makes for a great boast, but seriously what does a wizard have to aid in prison escape? He's not likely the most charismatic person in the group, so he's not likely the tricking people to do what he wants. He's not all that strong so he's not likely to be over powering anyone with brute strength. He doesn't even have his can-trips with the anti-magic field so he can't create distractions. In regards to skills he's likely to have Arcana, History, Religion, and perhaps Nature or Insight to round him out.

Sure you could use Religion/Insight to learn that Guard Bob is superstitious so even without magic you could seriously mess with his mind. You could use History and recall tales of how people escaped in the past. Perhaps even Arcana to realize that the anti-magic field is only for certain parts of the Jail, and that it only prevents people from casting magic in the field, not from having things casting from outside into the field. (IE: The guards up in the guard tower might have magic that would pacify people in the courtyard, but wizards in the courtyard would be under the anti-magic field.)

So ok other than all that what's a wizard to do? I mean sure I suppose after you learn all that you could use the party to trick the Guard Bob into thinking that a witch put a curse on him and that your wizard could remove it for him and because everyone's been nice to guard Bob, he trusts taking the wizard up to the guard tower where he can remove the curse. But seriously other than that what can a wizard do now that he's cast a spell putting the guards to sleep up in the tower and is in a prime sniper position? I mean seriously? What can a wizard do in jail? It's not like once he's up in the tower that he could say use Knock on the magically sealed gate the other adventurers are waiting behind, because it's not like the thief didn't tactically acquire a few pages out of the wizards ritual book for him.

GOSH I hate how Wizards have nothing to do if you take away their magic. I mean without even the cantrip how are you going to light that black shoe polish on fire so Guard Bob thinks that because he's been cursed he's about to burst into flames and that it just so happened to be a good thing you had been polishing his boot at the time and had been able to put out the flame before he got hurt. Oh and wow his boots sure are shiny now. I mean heaven forbid you have to start a flame with anything other than a snap of your fingers.

I know the only reason wizards have 18 intelligence is for the +4 ability modifier, and what's the point of that ability modifier if I can't just fireball my way out of a problem.

(Disclaimer: I'm just joking around a bit, clearly the wizard does have things to do in such a situation even with most or all of his magic removed, but I have played with people in the past that just want to play wizards because they "blow stuff up" and all the 18 intelligence meant to them was an ability modifier. I recall that person getting annoyed when people expected him to try to solve problems without magic. So I make this posting more to warn you that unless you know your players really well be prepared for magic users to whine a bit about them not having power.)

(Edit add: I think from now on as a player playing a wizard I'm going to use secret page on every page of my own ritual and spell books so it just looks like a big book of poetry. Then if I'm ever in an adventure with someone that takes away all our gear that I'll be able to get back my book of poetry by having the high charisma guy in the party sweat talk a guard into getting it)
#9
mehukatti
Jul 08, 2010 7:13:35
Syntic:

My interpretation would be, that a wizard loses his dailies, utilities andrituals, if you take away his ritual book. Might be enough for the jailers. Might be they don't even know about the at-wills and encounter powers.

Cheers
#10
PoetheSchizo
Jul 08, 2010 10:47:58 This is very interesting and a good campaign to try.
I have been watching a lot of Prison Break and came up with some ideas..

1.] I would take every PC out of their own element:
-Big guys who wear armor no longer get that advantage and become susceptible to attacks from
smaller more devious characters, possibly throw them in with an equally strong NPC that completely hates the PC for race, they way the look, or they talk to much.
-Spellcasters get their spells taken away (all of their magic abilities) because what prison warden or head would have a dangerous wizard running around able to cast spells?,
-Rogues and other PCs that would actually thrive in this environment, I would put them in with other rogues, murderers, rapist, that are 10x worse than them. To put that extra fear into them that if they make the wrong move, they will get a shank in the eye socket.

2.] I would incorporate near-evil guards that despise all inmates but some can be bought for the right price.

3.] Have each character bring something to the escape. In Prison Break, each character did this and it was interesting to see how they functioned. They even had people (murderers, killers) that helped them in return for letting them escape with them. You could bring in some vile NPCs that can only be trusted enough to not stab you in the back (until they see freedom anyways).

4.] Dont make the escape straight forward. Make it tough, to where they have to backtrack or find another way out.

5.] Give a sense of urgency. Maybe the PCs need to be out by a certain date, or one of the PCs is scheduled for execution in a week. This will keep them moving forward and willing to do things they wouldnt normally do.

6.] Make them think they are just surviving and not thriving. Make it tough on them, if they step out of line with a guard or mouth off make up a place where they will be sent. And they will be beaten or placed in a dark disease ridden hole or both ;)
I would personally make it so they are in a fight constantly to where they hover around 1/2 of their health almost all the time.

Thats all I got for now.. I may try this too lol. Oh and Prison Break is such a good show, check it out.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 amazingmoondog Jul 02, 2010 3:08:26	I've been wanting to do a campaign in which my players are (temporarily) stripped of their equipment and thrown into jail. They are forced to work alongside or against the various prison gangs, escape the maximum security wing, and regain their equipment before they defeat the warden and his maniacal guards. Any tips on how I should scale the monsters/general tips? Thanks! Edit: I've really liked the idea of making them use stuff like shivs, makeshift clubs, and stuff like that as they make their escape. You know, some real gritty Riddick-esque stuff.
#2 David Jul 02, 2010 4:56:44	Use some skill tricks. The players will need to find out where the guards keep their stuff. This can be done by sneaking around, or by asking questions to other prisoners. Split up the party. Usually, players get tossed into adjacent cells in a small facility. (Come on, that doesn't really pose a challenge, now does it?) You want to create a Bastille. A big fort that allows you to seperate the players from each other. This way, you really challenge the players to contact each other. Cooperation becomes harder this way, and the players will have to lead a mass escape, leading the other prisoners. NPC's will play a big part. And you should remember that the population of a prison isn't static. New prisoners will arrive, some will be released and some may die. In some games, the players rush through the adventure with great speed, but it doesn't have to be that way. Don't be afraid to put the PC's in prison for a longer time. You can let them rot in prison for months with little news of outside events. This also allows you to make some changes to the world for when they finally do escape. I hope that helped. What do you think? Edit: Okay, forget about the Bastille. It could only hold some 50 prisoners. Think bigger!
#3 amazingmoondog Jul 02, 2010 11:34:01	Thanks, David! Those are some really good ideas; I'll make sure to include those. I never even thought of having them in prison for an long period of time.
#4 David Jul 02, 2010 16:13:30	Yeah, but that's where the problem lies. You can keep a fighter or a barbarian locked up savely. Try the same thing with a spellcaster, and you've got a big problem. You'd have to seperate spellcasters from their spellbooks, holy symbols, spell components and it's still not a sure thing. Anti-magic field cells would work though, if you'd want to go that way. Putting the PC's in jail is gonna take some railroading. Most players won't go down lightly, and each an every player will surprise you when you least expect it. Try to force them to commit a crime, then send in some bounty hunters who specialize in taking prisoners without killing them.
#5 amazingmoondog Jul 04, 2010 10:48:48	Well, my characters will be level 13 (Human Ranger, Minotaur Fighter, Revenant Invoker, and either a Human Rogue or a Dragonborn Paladin, depending on who can make it that week) and are going to already be being hunted down by someone powerful they've upset in the past. My plan is to have them being relocated to a notorious prison in the Shadowfell- I've just read about domains of dread and I like the idea of the warden being the dark lord of the area and his prison encompass his domain. I was thinking that I could also use this as a way to incorporate some sort of anti-magic or anti-divine force field that could either hinder or completely nullify my non-martial PCs' powers.
#6 Bandikoot Jul 04, 2010 19:43:51	At that level I would consider using the inherent bonuses rules from DMGII rather than massively scaling down their opponents. Either way works of course, but most people I've played with prefers their PC feeling stronger to the monsters feeling weaker. For improvised weapons/fists I would also recommend giving them +3d6 damage on a crit, as if they had a magic weapon. You can explain it how you want - they're better at hitting vitals with that table leg now than they were at level one - but they deserve the extra damage and creature HP kind of expects it. If you do scale down completely, figure that the PCs are losing +3 enhancement, +2/+3 proficiency, +1 expertise so opponent AC should be at least 6 lower than expected for their level. Your ranger and rogue will likely now have noticably better AC than your fighter and paladin due to the equipment loss, so rigorously following mark mechanics could be quite dangerous to your party's defenders. Because of the way 4E works I would recommend against nullifying non-martial PC powers. While it might make sense for story purposes, the classes are much better balanced now than they were earlier in the decade. It would also suck to be playing an invoker/paladin that got stuck making melee basic attacks because all of their divine keyword powers were forbidden. If you do so, then I would recommend that one of the first things that the party is able to do is nullify the field.
#7 mehukatti Jul 06, 2010 8:59:34	Give the heavy armor wearing guys some armor, so their AC doesn't drop too much. Call it forced labor harness, heavy slave shackles or something similar. It could be mechanically same as mundane chain mail with bigger check and movement penalties. Cheers
#8 syntic Jul 08, 2010 5:49:47	One of the problems I've always had with jails and D&D is how do you balance them. Ok it was mentioned anti-magic fields so that your wizards can't just teleport out, or use a big explosion and walk out. But ok now your wizard can't use magic. What left does he have that keeps him useful in the party? I mean if you put a warrior with 18 st in a jail, he still has his strength if not any of his weapons. He can be all like "I bend the bars, oh the bars are to strong, well I grab a guard and put him in a choke hold and take his keys by force, and his weapons" Wizard though? Oh yay, I have 18 intelligence, I'll think my way out of jail. All I need is a jar of shoe polish, a bit of cloth, and a drainage pipe. And if that doesn't work, I can think my way out of this jail in three other ways. Matter of fact, I'm going to use the front door because I'm just that smart. Ok makes for a great boast, but seriously what does a wizard have to aid in prison escape? He's not likely the most charismatic person in the group, so he's not likely the tricking people to do what he wants. He's not all that strong so he's not likely to be over powering anyone with brute strength. He doesn't even have his can-trips with the anti-magic field so he can't create distractions. In regards to skills he's likely to have Arcana, History, Religion, and perhaps Nature or Insight to round him out. Sure you could use Religion/Insight to learn that Guard Bob is superstitious so even without magic you could seriously mess with his mind. You could use History and recall tales of how people escaped in the past. Perhaps even Arcana to realize that the anti-magic field is only for certain parts of the Jail, and that it only prevents people from casting magic in the field, not from having things casting from outside into the field. (IE: The guards up in the guard tower might have magic that would pacify people in the courtyard, but wizards in the courtyard would be under the anti-magic field.) So ok other than all that what's a wizard to do? I mean sure I suppose after you learn all that you could use the party to trick the Guard Bob into thinking that a witch put a curse on him and that your wizard could remove it for him and because everyone's been nice to guard Bob, he trusts taking the wizard up to the guard tower where he can remove the curse. But seriously other than that what can a wizard do now that he's cast a spell putting the guards to sleep up in the tower and is in a prime sniper position? I mean seriously? What can a wizard do in jail? It's not like once he's up in the tower that he could say use Knock on the magically sealed gate the other adventurers are waiting behind, because it's not like the thief didn't tactically acquire a few pages out of the wizards ritual book for him. GOSH I hate how Wizards have nothing to do if you take away their magic. I mean without even the cantrip how are you going to light that black shoe polish on fire so Guard Bob thinks that because he's been cursed he's about to burst into flames and that it just so happened to be a good thing you had been polishing his boot at the time and had been able to put out the flame before he got hurt. Oh and wow his boots sure are shiny now. I mean heaven forbid you have to start a flame with anything other than a snap of your fingers. I know the only reason wizards have 18 intelligence is for the +4 ability modifier, and what's the point of that ability modifier if I can't just fireball my way out of a problem. (Disclaimer: I'm just joking around a bit, clearly the wizard does have things to do in such a situation even with most or all of his magic removed, but I have played with people in the past that just want to play wizards because they "blow stuff up" and all the 18 intelligence meant to them was an ability modifier. I recall that person getting annoyed when people expected him to try to solve problems without magic. So I make this posting more to warn you that unless you know your players really well be prepared for magic users to whine a bit about them not having power.) (Edit add: I think from now on as a player playing a wizard I'm going to use secret page on every page of my own ritual and spell books so it just looks like a big book of poetry. Then if I'm ever in an adventure with someone that takes away all our gear that I'll be able to get back my book of poetry by having the high charisma guy in the party sweat talk a guard into getting it)
#9 mehukatti Jul 08, 2010 7:13:35	Syntic: My interpretation would be, that a wizard loses his dailies, utilities andrituals, if you take away his ritual book. Might be enough for the jailers. Might be they don't even know about the at-wills and encounter powers. Cheers
#10 PoetheSchizo Jul 08, 2010 10:47:58	This is very interesting and a good campaign to try. I have been watching a lot of Prison Break and came up with some ideas.. 1.] I would take every PC out of their own element: -Big guys who wear armor no longer get that advantage and become susceptible to attacks from smaller more devious characters, possibly throw them in with an equally strong NPC that completely hates the PC for race, they way the look, or they talk to much. -Spellcasters get their spells taken away (all of their magic abilities) because what prison warden or head would have a dangerous wizard running around able to cast spells?, -Rogues and other PCs that would actually thrive in this environment, I would put them in with other rogues, murderers, rapist, that are 10x worse than them. To put that extra fear into them that if they make the wrong move, they will get a shank in the eye socket. 2.] I would incorporate near-evil guards that despise all inmates but some can be bought for the right price. 3.] Have each character bring something to the escape. In Prison Break, each character did this and it was interesting to see how they functioned. They even had people (murderers, killers) that helped them in return for letting them escape with them. You could bring in some vile NPCs that can only be trusted enough to not stab you in the back (until they see freedom anyways). 4.] Dont make the escape straight forward. Make it tough, to where they have to backtrack or find another way out. 5.] Give a sense of urgency. Maybe the PCs need to be out by a certain date, or one of the PCs is scheduled for execution in a week. This will keep them moving forward and willing to do things they wouldnt normally do. 6.] Make them think they are just surviving and not thriving. Make it tough on them, if they step out of line with a guard or mouth off make up a place where they will be sent. And they will be beaten or placed in a dark disease ridden hole or both ;) I would personally make it so they are in a fight constantly to where they hover around 1/2 of their health almost all the time. Thats all I got for now.. I may try this too lol. Oh and Prison Break is such a good show, check it out.