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Help with a quest

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
korik1
Nov 17, 2008 22:10:34 I'm going to be running a quest for my d20 Modern group where there is a big game hunter who decides to start hunting mercenaries. He does so in a big city and the PCs end up getting hired to bring him in alive. The party is mostly level 4, with a martial artist, a field scientist, a bodyguard, an investigator and an Inventor. I need suggestions for stats for the big game hunter AND what sort of traps he can lay against the party in a big city. The setting is my 4th City Setting.

Any suggestions are welcome.
#2
nclanceman
Nov 18, 2008 3:34:03 Gosh, this looks familiar. I saw this in /tg/ like five hours ago.

How big a threat is this guy supposed to be? Level 6, maybe?

Tough Hero 3 / Fast Hero 3 with the Adventurer occupation might do it. The Urban Tracking feat from d20 Future would also be worth looking into.

Claymore mines are about the only traps I can think of at the moment, but I can come back with something when it's not... you know, 3 AM.
#3
korik1
Nov 18, 2008 8:03:53 Yeah, since /tg/ and normal forums aren't always productive I usually post the same thread on both so that I get SOME help. Plus you can get some very different ideas from each crowd and if /tg/ takes an interest you could very well end up with an epic thread all about your quest.

I think level 6 is probably good for the party to go against. He's supposed to be alone so he should be challenging in a straight up fight, but he's also supposed to be pestering the PCs with traps, so it a straight fight shouldn't happen.

I think the first line of defense should be alarm of some kind, tripwire with a bell, or guard dogs that'll alert him to intruders. I want to keep him low tech, like Rambo, or the Ewoks, though a simple explosive doesn't seem like a stretch to me. The real issue I think is how does one implement such things in an urban steampunk environment?
#4
tema69
Nov 18, 2008 8:07:04 This looks like a good idea for a 4th City adventure. Mind if I tag along and use the same idea for my 4thC?
#5
korik1
Nov 18, 2008 12:08:22 Go right ahead and use it.

Does anyone have any suggestions about how the PCs can bring him in alive? I kind of suspect that they'll forget (honestly) or that they really won't prepare properly. Any suggestion for how to use the cluebat on them?
#6
tema69
Nov 18, 2008 12:18:15 Perhaps they could be disarmed somehow before going at him? The only available weapons would be fists and improvised weaponry? That would limit their deadliness, and the chance that they reduce him from [low amount of hp] to [-10] in one blow...

Or have an NPC remind them that he should be brought in alive.

About the rambo-traps in an urban environment, how about having it be in a (or a few) warehouses in a deserted area. That would explain not-set-off traps, no immediate reinforcements, and less bystanders...
#7
korik1
Nov 18, 2008 13:39:37 I don't much care for railroading the party into being disarmed. I think that their client will EXPLICITLY say that they want the person brought in alive. If the party doesn't listen, they don't get paid.

I like the warehouse idea. I think perhaps the party investigates the hunter and eventually catches up with him. He then escapes and decides that the party are his next target, and sets up clues to lead them to his funhouse in the warehouse for the final confrontation. Though I still need suggestions for traps.

Also, would it be overly ****** of me if the client that hired the party let the hunter go after they caught him? The idea was that the hunter killed the client's sister and the client now gets the family's inheritence because the sister is dead. He wants to "thank him personally" implying torture, but actually meaning thanking him. When the party brings the hunter to him, the client frees him and invites him to his home for a chat. The hunter gives the party a wink as he leaves. This might teach the party to investigate their clients a little bit in the future. So, is that overly mean?
#8
tema69
Nov 18, 2008 14:33:54 Railroading it is bad, indeed, but you asked for solutions, and it was one. Perhaps not a perfect one though. :D

Good idea about him escaping, I'm definetely using that too. That allows the PCs to prepare for their foe (for example: "you see a heavily armoured man jumping nimbly through the window" - they then know that they're gonna need armour penetrating gear and that he is fast/quick/nimble --- I'm probably not gonna have be like that though, it was just an example). Also, he might change his gear for the next encounter, so when they show up all geared for a nimble armoured opponent, he has a different approach.

As for your question about being mean: Yes, that would be mean. But I'd do it... Also shows them that the badguys often get away with it, just like in real life...
#9
nclanceman
Nov 18, 2008 17:38:11 Well, as far as steampunk traps go, you could do worse than a series of Rube Goldberg traps. The players step on a pressure plate and the mechanism starts with bells, whistles, moving balls, spinners, and so on. The players have a round or two before the trap springs, during which they need to roll Will Saves to avoid being mesmerized by the really neat-o workings of the trap, Knowledge (Technology) to figure out what the thing does and when it's going to do it, and of course Reflex saves for the effect itself. The effect can be anything from dropping a cage from the ceiling, activating turrets, releasing some dangerous animal from the hunter's expeditions, whatever. These things could even take up the entire warehouse, making the players run the gauntlet from the front door to the loading dock, dodging bullets, falling rocks, fire, lions, tigers, bears...

Or the guy could use the ol' "Open door, fire shotgun" trap. Whatever works.
#10
tema69
Nov 18, 2008 18:26:14 Mmmmmmh... "Open door, fire shotgun" :D

...classic!
#11
iron_stomach
Nov 19, 2008 15:16:27 well what if you use makeshift spike pits in the areas outside the ware house? or maybe a crate that looks like it might have some thing good in it and as they ruffle through it.... springing the bear trap waiting within:evillaugh . or maybe catwalks that are made to fall down. And last but not least good old guerilla tactics of hit and run.
#12
korik1
Nov 21, 2008 22:58:06 I'll have him use hit and run tactics as a means to get the PCs to follow him into traps. The warehouse will be a maze of crates and he'll shoot at one of them, then run off around a corner. The PCs follow, heyo, there's a trap!

Let's see what traps there are so far (plus some I've thought of):

bear trap
shotgun on door
pit trap
falling cage
explosives
animals
crate avalanche
path blocker (likely due to above)

Does anyone know where I can find a decent map of a warehouse that could suit my purpose?

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 korik1 Nov 17, 2008 22:10:34	I'm going to be running a quest for my d20 Modern group where there is a big game hunter who decides to start hunting mercenaries. He does so in a big city and the PCs end up getting hired to bring him in alive. The party is mostly level 4, with a martial artist, a field scientist, a bodyguard, an investigator and an Inventor. I need suggestions for stats for the big game hunter AND what sort of traps he can lay against the party in a big city. The setting is my 4th City Setting. Any suggestions are welcome.
#2 nclanceman Nov 18, 2008 3:34:03	Gosh, this looks familiar. I saw this in /tg/ like five hours ago. How big a threat is this guy supposed to be? Level 6, maybe? Tough Hero 3 / Fast Hero 3 with the Adventurer occupation might do it. The Urban Tracking feat from d20 Future would also be worth looking into. Claymore mines are about the only traps I can think of at the moment, but I can come back with something when it's not... you know, 3 AM.
#3 korik1 Nov 18, 2008 8:03:53	Yeah, since /tg/ and normal forums aren't always productive I usually post the same thread on both so that I get SOME help. Plus you can get some very different ideas from each crowd and if /tg/ takes an interest you could very well end up with an epic thread all about your quest. I think level 6 is probably good for the party to go against. He's supposed to be alone so he should be challenging in a straight up fight, but he's also supposed to be pestering the PCs with traps, so it a straight fight shouldn't happen. I think the first line of defense should be alarm of some kind, tripwire with a bell, or guard dogs that'll alert him to intruders. I want to keep him low tech, like Rambo, or the Ewoks, though a simple explosive doesn't seem like a stretch to me. The real issue I think is how does one implement such things in an urban steampunk environment?
#4 tema69 Nov 18, 2008 8:07:04	This looks like a good idea for a 4th City adventure. Mind if I tag along and use the same idea for my 4thC?
#5 korik1 Nov 18, 2008 12:08:22	Go right ahead and use it. Does anyone have any suggestions about how the PCs can bring him in alive? I kind of suspect that they'll forget (honestly) or that they really won't prepare properly. Any suggestion for how to use the cluebat on them?
#6 tema69 Nov 18, 2008 12:18:15	Perhaps they could be disarmed somehow before going at him? The only available weapons would be fists and improvised weaponry? That would limit their deadliness, and the chance that they reduce him from [low amount of hp] to [-10] in one blow... Or have an NPC remind them that he should be brought in alive. About the rambo-traps in an urban environment, how about having it be in a (or a few) warehouses in a deserted area. That would explain not-set-off traps, no immediate reinforcements, and less bystanders...
#7 korik1 Nov 18, 2008 13:39:37	I don't much care for railroading the party into being disarmed. I think that their client will EXPLICITLY say that they want the person brought in alive. If the party doesn't listen, they don't get paid. I like the warehouse idea. I think perhaps the party investigates the hunter and eventually catches up with him. He then escapes and decides that the party are his next target, and sets up clues to lead them to his funhouse in the warehouse for the final confrontation. Though I still need suggestions for traps. Also, would it be overly ****** of me if the client that hired the party let the hunter go after they caught him? The idea was that the hunter killed the client's sister and the client now gets the family's inheritence because the sister is dead. He wants to "thank him personally" implying torture, but actually meaning thanking him. When the party brings the hunter to him, the client frees him and invites him to his home for a chat. The hunter gives the party a wink as he leaves. This might teach the party to investigate their clients a little bit in the future. So, is that overly mean?
#8 tema69 Nov 18, 2008 14:33:54	Railroading it is bad, indeed, but you asked for solutions, and it was one. Perhaps not a perfect one though. :D Good idea about him escaping, I'm definetely using that too. That allows the PCs to prepare for their foe (for example: "you see a heavily armoured man jumping nimbly through the window" - they then know that they're gonna need armour penetrating gear and that he is fast/quick/nimble --- I'm probably not gonna have be like that though, it was just an example). Also, he might change his gear for the next encounter, so when they show up all geared for a nimble armoured opponent, he has a different approach. As for your question about being mean: Yes, that would be mean. But I'd do it... Also shows them that the badguys often get away with it, just like in real life...
#9 nclanceman Nov 18, 2008 17:38:11	Well, as far as steampunk traps go, you could do worse than a series of Rube Goldberg traps. The players step on a pressure plate and the mechanism starts with bells, whistles, moving balls, spinners, and so on. The players have a round or two before the trap springs, during which they need to roll Will Saves to avoid being mesmerized by the really neat-o workings of the trap, Knowledge (Technology) to figure out what the thing does and when it's going to do it, and of course Reflex saves for the effect itself. The effect can be anything from dropping a cage from the ceiling, activating turrets, releasing some dangerous animal from the hunter's expeditions, whatever. These things could even take up the entire warehouse, making the players run the gauntlet from the front door to the loading dock, dodging bullets, falling rocks, fire, lions, tigers, bears... Or the guy could use the ol' "Open door, fire shotgun" trap. Whatever works.
#10 tema69 Nov 18, 2008 18:26:14	Mmmmmmh... "Open door, fire shotgun" :D ...classic!
#11 iron_stomach Nov 19, 2008 15:16:27	well what if you use makeshift spike pits in the areas outside the ware house? or maybe a crate that looks like it might have some thing good in it and as they ruffle through it.... springing the bear trap waiting within:evillaugh . or maybe catwalks that are made to fall down. And last but not least good old guerilla tactics of hit and run.
#12 korik1 Nov 21, 2008 22:58:06	I'll have him use hit and run tactics as a means to get the PCs to follow him into traps. The warehouse will be a maze of crates and he'll shoot at one of them, then run off around a corner. The PCs follow, heyo, there's a trap! Let's see what traps there are so far (plus some I've thought of): bear trap shotgun on door pit trap falling cage explosives animals crate avalanche path blocker (likely due to above) Does anyone know where I can find a decent map of a warehouse that could suit my purpose?