Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Jan 10, 2006 14:40:58	[Please note that the ‘logical situations’ described below are made with common sense in mind, and my personal opinions as a DM on how NPCs would act. As each DM is different, these situations may very well be inaccurate in the context of your specific game.] The classic challenge to a Paladin: A fleeing villain, almost cornered, grabs a commoner in desperation. Holding her at dagger-point, he orders you to drop your weapons. The possible penalties for poor thinking in these scenarios include the death of an innocent, escape of the villain, possibly even the loss of most class abilities. So, how to combat this fickle foe, or to make encounters using hostages without your players wanting to kill you? Read on. For those who have found themselves stumped by this all-too-common tactic, a few tips can cause a world of help. 1: Hostages don't work. It may seem blunt, but it's completely true. If the would-be hero doesn't back down, the hostage hinders more than it helps. While slitting the victim's throat doesn't take much energy, it doesn't empower you in any way either. If the hostage is killed, all it results in is the loss of a hostage. And while this would definitely be something for players to avoid, it doesn't actually hinder them if you kill her. Thusly, the villain has no actual motivation to kill the hostage (unless he's sadistic bordering on insane.) Keeping this in mind, you can get away with all sorts of stuff. Nocking an arrow almost always causes nothing more than another warning from the villain. Firing it, assuming it doesn't hit the villain or hostage, is likely to cause nothing more than yet another warning. You can see what the villain's main tactic is here. Since he can't use the hostage for anything other than warnings and killing the hostage only removes a defense, he has nothing left but warnings. Now keep in mind, pushing him too far will very likely result in killing the hostage, so it's not usually a good idea to tempt him. Still, if a rescue plan involves a seemingly threatening movement and you don't have anything else, go for it. This plan can cause the players no end of suffering if the villain has multiple hostages, because he can merely kill one of them. This shows the players that the villains are dead serious, and deep-sixes any further attempts to approach the villain while still allowing the villain to maintain his threat. 2: Keep an eye on your options. In most cases a villain reaches for a hostage as a last line of defense, as such a tactic is more likely to fail then succeed, even if the villain is forced to kill the hostage. Even if the villain has a lot of options, you still can use yours to their greatest extent. In this case, a spellcaster, spontaneous ones especially, with access to still and silent spell are godsends and, from about level five on, can defeat almost any conventional hostage situation with ease. You're not alone in the struggle, and you should always look to your partners. The character not yet noticed by the villain, the rogue with a rod of invisibility, the cleric with sanctuary prepared, all near-priceless tools in these situations. Use them wisely. 3: Don't make a move prematurely. Remember, you're at a stalemate. And in stalemates, one can stay put for as long as needed until one party manages to break it. Take stock of your surroundings, double-check for any flaws in your plan, you have all day. Let the Galstaph the Vile threaten you, you're the ones with the real upper hand. This plan is also subject to multiple hostage situations, as the villain can merely kill one of them if you take too long. 4: Despite the last tip, hostage-takers do not remain frozen in time while you ponder. While this goes doubly true for spell-casters, even the most idiotic fighter can create another difficulty to overcome during a hostage situation. Perhaps the villain knows teleport. Perhaps he has a wounding trait or weapon, forcing you to stop to heal the hostage while he flees. Perhaps the villain's subordinates or peers are rallying to his aid, or about to complete their master plan. Don't do anything stupid, but don't dillydally too long. Certain situations will, of course, require different plans. While your own judgment should be your number one guide, there are two situations that come up frequently enough to make writing down specific tactics worthwhile. Multiple Hostages: Mentioned previously in this entry, more than one hostage can make a bad situation that much worse. Any tactic you do attempt must be either instantaneous, or unnoticeable until it's too late. Luckily, your average fleeing enemy only has time to grab one hostage, and as for the others, read on. Not actively chasing the hostage-taker: If there's no risk in waiting a day or two, you gain a substantial advantage. Even if the hostage-taker is asking for your surrender, even if there's more than one hostage, they won't waste time killing the hostage(s) if you turn tail and run. You can always return under cover of night, or better prepared to face a hostage-taker. Even so, most villains won't try this twice as it's almost always a tactic born of desperation. For the DM: Hostage encounter creation. Hostage encounters are always an exciting moral challenge, and a good way to force the more uninterested players to think hard. However, they're almost always harder than the CR of the monsters instigating the situation, and rescuing hostages should always boast a hefty experience bonus. During a hostage encounter, you must be, above all, flexible. The players are most likely to do something truly unexpected when direct combat is not the answer. On a similar note, you may need to blatantly tell the less ponderous players that the hostage(s) will die if you run in, and that such a blatant sacrifice of an innocent(s) when there are many more possible strategies can result in a loss of paladinhood. (If that's your style.) Keep in mind though, one or two hostage encounters are an interesting challenge for a good-aligned party. Many more, and it gets annoying. You're adventurers, not medieval S.W.A.T.! Sample encounter and how it all plays out: What they can only assume is the head cleric darts past the heroes and flees into the prison. Realizing he's trapped, he opens one of the cell doors and grabs the prisoner from within. His hand glowing wickedly, he steps twenty feet away and calls out. "A step closer and he dies." Mialee takes a cautious step towards the villain and moves her hands as if about to try to reason with him, but the priest merely pricks the prisoner on the neck. With a resigned groan, she steps back. "Leave, or I stab him!" Tordek, usually not one to come up with good ideas, mutters to Lidda. "Step right behind me." Tordek is wide enough that the halfling is concealed completely from the high priest's view. "What are you doing!? Surrender or I kill him!" Regdar turns around. "Enemies! I'll handle them!" With a mighty cry, Regdar and Krusk charge the cultists who have just appeared out of a side door. Tordek continues to mutter to Lidda, just silently enough that the cultist cannot hear. "Do you still have that rod of invisibility?" "It's futile! I have the hostage! Even if you defeat my guards, you'll just be back where you started! Your only choice is to surren..." His words were cut off as his eyes roll upwards and he collapses to the floor. Wielding a sap, Lidda is revealed standing triumphantly over the high priest's unconscious body. The coast now clear, Mialee intones the complex words of power that will teleport all the prisoners to the center of a nearby town. Seeing their leader defeated, the guards flee. Krusk, still raging, gives chase while Regdar returns to the others. "What do we do with him now?" Lidda holds a seemingly mundane bag up. "Time to worry about that later, look what I found! Looks like the guy didn't trust a safe." She inverts the bag, and vast riches the bag could not hope to hold tumble out.
#2 wotc_mel Jan 30, 2006 13:33:47	*bump*
#3 zombiegleemax Jan 30, 2006 16:39:48	Good stuff. Though, arguably, neutral PCs should still feel the pull of a hostage-taking situation; even evil PCs might be concerned about special hostages (such as their family, someone they'd sworn to protect, or a prized magic item). Just one thing: Keep in mind though, one or two hostage encounters are an interesting challenge for a good-aligned party. Many more, and it gets annoying. You're adventurers, not medieval S.W.A.T.! While I agree with the sentiment, disbelief shouldn't be strained. If a hostage-taking villain has defeated the PCs in the past, they should probably keep taking hostages. (In fact, it stands to reason that they should reach for the commoner more quickly if that's what it takes to beat those do-gooders!)