I am a relatively new DM and I am going to be running a one shot for my party so our forever DM can take a break and I have chosen to base it off of the premade adventure module "Prisoner 13" as our party had a heisting phase and I wanted to give them something tailored to that end.
One issue though, the adventure is made for 4th level characters and our party is all 9-11th level. How should I approach making the adventure suitable for higher level characters and what aspects need to be modified. I want to make sure I don't leave any parts that would be insultingly simple for characters of their caliber such as security systems and enemy difficulty etc...
Any tips would be greatly appreciated! Ty!
Note: Also, I know that Keys to the Golden Vault has heist adventures made for higher level characters but Prisoner 13 specifically leaped out at me as something quite interesting and I think it would be perfect for the type of shenanigans out party gets into. I also found a way to link the ending into some of the lore in my DM's world that he approved so I think it could be a very cool tie in and I am set on doing Prisoner 13.
You just need to raise the Challenge Rating of the combat encounters. You can either replace them entirely or reskin them with the higher level creatures. And then raise the Difficulty Challenge of the locks, traps, etc. found in the adventure.
If you don't know how to do this, use the higher level adventures from the Keys to the Golden Vault that would fit the party as the basis for your adjustments. You can also find many online combat generation websites.
Prisoner 13 is a heist so you don't necessarily have to replace all the guards with more powerful creatures. You can just make the requirements for stealth stricter and add more obstacles to stealth. For example:
Approaching or leaving the prison requires going through an adult bronze dragons territory. They have a deal with the prison to sink unauthorized and will be attracted to the prison if the alarm is sounded. The dragon made this deal when they were younger and now feels they've outgrown this role but are honor bound to stick to the deal.
The surveillance tower has an anti magic field too so that players cant simply charm some one to open all of the prison cells. The tower also has a spot light that can be shone on any of the cells that has the same anti magic effect.
The top of the elevator from the dock has a priest with the zone of truth and the guards there are protected from mind control. They question any one who tries to take a prisoner out of the prison and can seal the entrance releasing a stone golem
All of the guards, including the players if they impersonate guards will be given tattoos that will alert the warden if a guard dies
The area of the prison is effected by a forbiddance spell preventing any extra planar creatures entering or players from teleporting in or out.
The biggest adjustments you would have to make are bumping the levels/CR and numbers of all opponents in the complex. A level 9-11 party is far more powerful than a level 4 one and has a much larger number of tricks in hand if the party includes spellcasters.
However, the concept of an exclusive prison makes much more sense for high level encounters than for level 4 :) .. so it shouldn't be too hard to make adjustments.
1) High level guards.
- perhaps use the warlord stat block from MotM - CR 12 (could use this for the warden)
- some War Priests from MotM - CR 9
- some Wizards from MotM - the abjurer, evoker and necromancer are CR9
- The rest of the guards should be at least CR 7-9 I would think - maybe 30 or so? spread through the complex?
The NPC stat blocks from the MM are a bit on the low side for the most part for a group at this level.
This is required depending on the party attitude. For many parties, the lack of a reasonable threat will result in the party just slaughtering everyone, finding the prisoner, and dealing with them. You will need to bump up the stat block for Prisoner 13 to the CR 12-14 range. Three attacks, something like +10 to hit, a bit more damage and other tricks. This is required to make the prisoner a reasonable challenge if the party tries to subdue and capture them.
The exact strength of the opponents depends on the actual party levels and composition since you want the opponents to be challenging enough to provide the same constraints as the original module on player decisions while not being too much that might result in a TPK.
Luckily, the layout of the prison allows for the DM to adjust fight difficulty with reinforcements. If a fight breaks out that is going badly, the DM can delay guards (they fail their DC15 perception check) or speed them up so that they can arrive every round until it is a decent challenge. If the party loses such a fight then they can be locked up in the prison until a judge is sent from Luskan that would take quite a while. This gives them a chance to escape and still complete their mission. This is a less than ideal outcome from a character perspective but provides a decent path for continuing the adventure if things go completely sideways. It is also a good option for parties that like to kill everything, there are times when this doesn't work and they get in over their heads.
2) Increase the DCs of any skill checks to a level more appropriate for the party.
P.S. All the light sources in the prison should also function as Lanterns of Revealing ... making invisibility almost impossible to use. These are the types of defenses a facility like this SHOULD have so you would want to give some thought to what else might be in place.
I am a relatively new DM and I am going to be running a one shot for my party so our forever DM can take a break and I have chosen to base it off of the premade adventure module "Prisoner 13" as our party had a heisting phase and I wanted to give them something tailored to that end.
One issue though, the adventure is made for 4th level characters and our party is all 9-11th level. How should I approach making the adventure suitable for higher level characters and what aspects need to be modified. I want to make sure I don't leave any parts that would be insultingly simple for characters of their caliber such as security systems and enemy difficulty etc...
Any tips would be greatly appreciated! Ty!
Note: Also, I know that Keys to the Golden Vault has heist adventures made for higher level characters but Prisoner 13 specifically leaped out at me as something quite interesting and I think it would be perfect for the type of shenanigans out party gets into. I also found a way to link the ending into some of the lore in my DM's world that he approved so I think it could be a very cool tie in and I am set on doing Prisoner 13.
You just need to raise the Challenge Rating of the combat encounters. You can either replace them entirely or reskin them with the higher level creatures. And then raise the Difficulty Challenge of the locks, traps, etc. found in the adventure.
If you don't know how to do this, use the higher level adventures from the Keys to the Golden Vault that would fit the party as the basis for your adjustments. You can also find many online combat generation websites.
Prisoner 13 is a heist so you don't necessarily have to replace all the guards with more powerful creatures. You can just make the requirements for stealth stricter and add more obstacles to stealth. For example:
The biggest adjustments you would have to make are bumping the levels/CR and numbers of all opponents in the complex. A level 9-11 party is far more powerful than a level 4 one and has a much larger number of tricks in hand if the party includes spellcasters.
However, the concept of an exclusive prison makes much more sense for high level encounters than for level 4 :) .. so it shouldn't be too hard to make adjustments.
1) High level guards.
- perhaps use the warlord stat block from MotM - CR 12 (could use this for the warden)
- some War Priests from MotM - CR 9
- some Wizards from MotM - the abjurer, evoker and necromancer are CR9
- The rest of the guards should be at least CR 7-9 I would think - maybe 30 or so? spread through the complex?
The NPC stat blocks from the MM are a bit on the low side for the most part for a group at this level.
This is required depending on the party attitude. For many parties, the lack of a reasonable threat will result in the party just slaughtering everyone, finding the prisoner, and dealing with them. You will need to bump up the stat block for Prisoner 13 to the CR 12-14 range. Three attacks, something like +10 to hit, a bit more damage and other tricks. This is required to make the prisoner a reasonable challenge if the party tries to subdue and capture them.
The exact strength of the opponents depends on the actual party levels and composition since you want the opponents to be challenging enough to provide the same constraints as the original module on player decisions while not being too much that might result in a TPK.
Luckily, the layout of the prison allows for the DM to adjust fight difficulty with reinforcements. If a fight breaks out that is going badly, the DM can delay guards (they fail their DC15 perception check) or speed them up so that they can arrive every round until it is a decent challenge. If the party loses such a fight then they can be locked up in the prison until a judge is sent from Luskan that would take quite a while. This gives them a chance to escape and still complete their mission. This is a less than ideal outcome from a character perspective but provides a decent path for continuing the adventure if things go completely sideways. It is also a good option for parties that like to kill everything, there are times when this doesn't work and they get in over their heads.
2) Increase the DCs of any skill checks to a level more appropriate for the party.
P.S. All the light sources in the prison should also function as Lanterns of Revealing ... making invisibility almost impossible to use. These are the types of defenses a facility like this SHOULD have so you would want to give some thought to what else might be in place.
Thank you so much! I will definitely apply these to the adventure!