So in a nut shell, my adventuring group has spent the last 4-5 weeks worth of sessions planning and executing a jailbreak into what is pretty much Alcatraz/Azkaban to rescue my PC's two younger siblings, who have been taken prisoner by who is pretty obviously the big bad guy. What was originally a stealth mission decomposed into a shit show resulting in the party members left standing being beaten into submission and taken prisoner. We were all tortured for around 4-5 days in a shitty cell, separated and stripped of everything, anti magic buildings all around no discernible way out save for hint of where the guards put the keys after cuffing and gagging us and a flirty half orc janitor. Finally the Barbarian remembered his rage and was able to overpower the guard before being restrained, causing a commotion that gave us the opportunity to free ourselves from our cells and fight our way out.
So, we've gotten out of our cells, stolen some of the guards gear and have one nearly deaf old man(a clerk I assume) and four guards locked up in our former cells. In the cells near our are an owlbear that the warden likes to ride, a Minotaur and another monstrosity I cant remember. There's a courtyard, the wardens office, a cafeteria, and a small office that looks to be the security door between sections. We stopped the session pretty abruptly but I was able to get onto the roof of the cafeteria. My group consists of a Dragonborn paladin of devotion, an Aarocokra monk (way of shadow), a Half-Orc barbarian, a Half-Elf Cleric of Light and maybe a mysterious wizard guy who might be there next week. I'm loving the engaging story but I don't want my PC to die trying to free his siblings. It's looking pretty bad. There seems to be an endless supply of guards on this enormous prison island and all the buildings are warded against magic. I'm trying to free my family and find our shit on the way out, any ideas?
If you don't want your character to die, talk to your DM. Seriously. They're the only person in a position to directly address that concern.
Depending on the DM, they might have already been planning on pulling their punches so you don't get killed unless you do something really stupid, or planned on giving the party a way to revive fallen characters. Or, they might just tell you that he's going to stick to the script and if someone dies, well...that's part of the game he's running. Either way, there's probably not much we can do to help you.
Set the prisinors and creatures loose, jump on the back of the Owlkin and ride it to the warden’s office. In all the chaos, make him tell you where your items and siblings are or threaten to kill the Owlkin. Alternatively, bluff about being able to fix all this instantly and get the warden out of this mess if he complies!
In my experience, there are two general categories of DM that set up this sort of scenario that you describe: those that have done it because they think it'd be awesome to see the players cobble together success from what little they notice available to them, and those that have done it because they want the players to fail and "lose".
That all the characters aren't all already dead suggests decent odds your DM falls into the first general category, as any DM that is trying to make the players "lose" with this sort of scenario is very likely to have made sure the odds are insurmountable (and back that up with fudging rolls to make sure any appearance of success is stamped out before hope can form).
So I'd say you've got decent odds of getting the characters through this alive if you proceed with an appropriate measure of caution. You may want to start measuring in-character the party's ability to potentially hole up in some room, like a guard station or an office of some sort, and secure the entrances well enough to rest and recuperate for some amount of time.
Of course, I also think you should talk with your DM so that the two of you can try to reach common ground on desired lethality of game - it's important that the DM know how you feel about character death, because with that information the DM can make better choices about what goals to give the NPCs and monsters that the character will face. For example, when I am DMing for a player that does not want their character dying to be a possibility, I make it so that they are never up against opposition for whom that is the goal - they can be captured, left beaten, even left for dead, or any other result of not coming through an encounter victorious that is not "they made sure you were dead." The thrill of the game remains, even when having to replace a lost character is not a potential outcome.
Of course, I also think you should talk with your DM so that the two of you can try to reach common ground on desired lethality of game - it's important that the DM know how you feel about character death, because with that information the DM can make better choices about what goals to give the NPCs and monsters that the character will face. For example, when I am DMing for a player that does not want their character dying to be a possibility, I make it so that they are never up against opposition for whom that is the goal - they can be captured, left beaten, even left for dead, or any other result of not coming through an encounter victorious that is not "they made sure you were dead." The thrill of the game remains, even when having to replace a lost character is not a potential outcome.
As an honorary member of the FFISV (the Foundation in Favor of Intelligent and Sensible Villains), I must object. As someone who has gotten rather tired of accidentally killing the PCs, I must agree. Now look what you've done!
Sadly, it is necessary for me to point out that this post was intended to be humorous and that, to the best of my knowledge, I just made up the FFISV.
This has been a public service disclaimer.
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"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
As someone who prefers to play magic wielders, get out of the buildings! Two of the players are useless within the buildings and another is an mediocre fighter. You didn't make it clear which character you were and what level you are. Definitely take advantage of the owlbear, minotaur, and whatever the other monstrosity was. If it is a similar level to the other two, distraction is the way to go.
"The relevant equation is: Knowledge = power = energy = matter = mass; a good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read." - Terry Pratchett
The anti magic buildings were the biggest set back by far. I'm playing the paladin with the leather armor I stole from the guards. We are all level five except our cleric who is at six.
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So in a nut shell, my adventuring group has spent the last 4-5 weeks worth of sessions planning and executing a jailbreak into what is pretty much Alcatraz/Azkaban to rescue my PC's two younger siblings, who have been taken prisoner by who is pretty obviously the big bad guy. What was originally a stealth mission decomposed into a shit show resulting in the party members left standing being beaten into submission and taken prisoner. We were all tortured for around 4-5 days in a shitty cell, separated and stripped of everything, anti magic buildings all around no discernible way out save for hint of where the guards put the keys after cuffing and gagging us and a flirty half orc janitor. Finally the Barbarian remembered his rage and was able to overpower the guard before being restrained, causing a commotion that gave us the opportunity to free ourselves from our cells and fight our way out.
So, we've gotten out of our cells, stolen some of the guards gear and have one nearly deaf old man(a clerk I assume) and four guards locked up in our former cells. In the cells near our are an owlbear that the warden likes to ride, a Minotaur and another monstrosity I cant remember. There's a courtyard, the wardens office, a cafeteria, and a small office that looks to be the security door between sections. We stopped the session pretty abruptly but I was able to get onto the roof of the cafeteria. My group consists of a Dragonborn paladin of devotion, an Aarocokra monk (way of shadow), a Half-Orc barbarian, a Half-Elf Cleric of Light and maybe a mysterious wizard guy who might be there next week. I'm loving the engaging story but I don't want my PC to die trying to free his siblings. It's looking pretty bad. There seems to be an endless supply of guards on this enormous prison island and all the buildings are warded against magic. I'm trying to free my family and find our shit on the way out, any ideas?
If you don't want your character to die, talk to your DM. Seriously. They're the only person in a position to directly address that concern.
Depending on the DM, they might have already been planning on pulling their punches so you don't get killed unless you do something really stupid, or planned on giving the party a way to revive fallen characters. Or, they might just tell you that he's going to stick to the script and if someone dies, well...that's part of the game he's running. Either way, there's probably not much we can do to help you.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
Set the prisinors and creatures loose, jump on the back of the Owlkin and ride it to the warden’s office. In all the chaos, make him tell you where your items and siblings are or threaten to kill the Owlkin. Alternatively, bluff about being able to fix all this instantly and get the warden out of this mess if he complies!
In my experience, there are two general categories of DM that set up this sort of scenario that you describe: those that have done it because they think it'd be awesome to see the players cobble together success from what little they notice available to them, and those that have done it because they want the players to fail and "lose".
That all the characters aren't all already dead suggests decent odds your DM falls into the first general category, as any DM that is trying to make the players "lose" with this sort of scenario is very likely to have made sure the odds are insurmountable (and back that up with fudging rolls to make sure any appearance of success is stamped out before hope can form).
So I'd say you've got decent odds of getting the characters through this alive if you proceed with an appropriate measure of caution. You may want to start measuring in-character the party's ability to potentially hole up in some room, like a guard station or an office of some sort, and secure the entrances well enough to rest and recuperate for some amount of time.
Of course, I also think you should talk with your DM so that the two of you can try to reach common ground on desired lethality of game - it's important that the DM know how you feel about character death, because with that information the DM can make better choices about what goals to give the NPCs and monsters that the character will face. For example, when I am DMing for a player that does not want their character dying to be a possibility, I make it so that they are never up against opposition for whom that is the goal - they can be captured, left beaten, even left for dead, or any other result of not coming through an encounter victorious that is not "they made sure you were dead." The thrill of the game remains, even when having to replace a lost character is not a potential outcome.
Sadly, it is necessary for me to point out that this post was intended to be humorous and that, to the best of my knowledge, I just made up the FFISV.
This has been a public service disclaimer.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
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As someone who prefers to play magic wielders, get out of the buildings! Two of the players are useless within the buildings and another is an mediocre fighter. You didn't make it clear which character you were and what level you are. Definitely take advantage of the owlbear, minotaur, and whatever the other monstrosity was. If it is a similar level to the other two, distraction is the way to go.
I would also like the FFISV to exist.
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Astromancer's Homebrew Assembly
"The relevant equation is: Knowledge = power = energy = matter = mass; a good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read." - Terry Pratchett
The anti magic buildings were the biggest set back by far. I'm playing the paladin with the leather armor I stole from the guards. We are all level five except our cleric who is at six.