Hey, I'm a DM running a campaign for a few new players. Last session they were about to travel through some marshland and decided to ask a random NPC if there was anything they should watch out for, so naturally I told them all about bullywugs. I seem to have overdone it a bit because my players all decided that they sounded like great fun and it would be really cool to get themselves captured by them.
Now I believe in the players having a good time, so if they want to be captured, sure! I'm planning to send a ridiculous amount of bullywugs at them so that they either surrender, or all get knocked out and wake up in a cell.
I really don't want to kill these PCs as they're only just getting confident in roleplay, and I don't feel the need to remind them of the 'actions have consequences' thing as their NPC ally was only just killed by the first wave of bullywugs. So any ideas of how I can, as much as possible, guarantee their escape from the bulllywug lair? Can anyone recommend any resources for running an escape encounter where the players don't have any weapons or equipment and can't fight their way out? They're only second level right now if that's relevant. I can't wait until they're more powerful as they are just passing through this area of the kingdom.
All suggestions very much appreciated!
Edit: Thanks a bunch, the kidnapping and subsequent escape both went fine!
If you come up with five ways for the party to escape from the lair you'll then have the players choose the sixth option. Meaning, the one you never planned for, just as you had not planned for BullyFest 2020.
Still if you want to come up with some quick ideas, there is always the lazy cell guard who could drop or be bribed to let them escape before the Bully cook finishes his stew where the party will be the 'meat' of the meal. Or have the Bullywugs get attacked by another faction of Bullywugs the creates chaos and somehow the party can escape by their own creative means. There is always the Bullywug child who is enamored with the party and will do anything to help them if the party treats the child nice or entertain it. In most cases the party can then try to stealth out of the Bullwug lair, and more likely high-jinks ensue.
Just a few quick thoughts they may not help but some simple encounters ideas.
Hey, I'm a DM running a campaign for a few new players. Last session they were about to travel through some marshland and decided to ask a random NPC if there was anything they should watch out for, so naturally I told them all about bullywugs. I seem to have overdone it a bit because my players all decided that they sounded like great fun and it would be really cool to get themselves captured by them.
Now I believe in the players having a good time, so if they want to be captured, sure! I'm planning to send a ridiculous amount of bullywugs at them so that they either surrender, or all get knocked out and wake up in a cell.
I really don't want to kill these PCs as they're only just getting confident in roleplay, and I don't feel the need to remind them of the 'actions have consequences' thing as their NPC ally was only just killed by the first wave of bullywugs. So any ideas of how I can, as much as possible, guarantee their escape from the bulllywug lair? Can anyone recommend any resources for running an escape encounter where the players don't have any weapons or equipment and can't fight their way out? They're only second level right now if that's relevant. I can't wait until they're more powerful as they are just passing through this area of the kingdom.
All suggestions very much appreciated!
There was already a rescue attempt in progress by NPC adventuring party to get some merchants son.
they just happen to be there at the same time.
but, I’d allow them to try their own escape stuff too, for fun, but have it effect some stuff they can’t see directly, like guards alertness, time it takes, time to snoop around a “possible” treasure room, etc etc.
Bonus treasure room: just go money and consumables. Unless you’re a nicer guy than I
The problem is players do not surrender. It's not real to us, we are not afraid of character death. We may hate it after the fact, but we know it's just a game, and we want to win.
If you want to capture players, you need a ton of magic. Hypnotic Pattern, Hold Person, etc.
The problem is players do not surrender. It's not real to us, we are not afraid of character death. We may hate it after the fact, but we know it's just a game, and we want to win.
If you want to capture players, you need a ton of magic. Hypnotic Pattern, Hold Person, etc.
Nets are good. So are pits. Real hard pits with a DC 20 to find.
While it is generally true that PCs won't surrender, this particular situation might be an exception. However, it's not really that hard to capture PCs, just have the NPCs choose to use nonlethal strikes (remember, you only get the proper flavor in the stew if they're alive when you put them in).
Now, arranging for them to escape is harder, because our normal models for heroic escapes are heavily based on plot contrivances that work in a novel (where the author is controlling everyone's actions) but not as well in a RPG. The traditional solutions are:
Friendly NPC among the captors, who lets the PCs free (though they have to sneak out on their own)
Stupid guards who let the PCs trick them into coming in and getting ambushed (at which point the PCs have to sneak out).
A distraction occurs (some other monster attacks, or w/e).
It could also be that the Bullywugs have come into possession of a powerful magical artifact they don't fully understand that performs some magic that isn't a normal spell, for example it could simply apply the Stunned condition with no save. The party wakes up later in a cell with little or no equipment. Just be prepared that one or more of the party may feel the urge to remove the artifact from the Bullywugs' possession... so if you go that route, have a plan for what the item actually does if your party does decide to keep it.
A potentially important question... what classes and, where applicable, subclasses, are the party? Because if it's Bullywugs that captured them, it's safe to say whatever prison will be made of natural materials, which could theoretically allow a Druid to craft a new Druidic Focus on the spot, allowing them to use their spells right from the get-go. Or maybe the Rogue has a knife (not a Dagger, just a normal pen knife or whatever) hidden in their boot that the Bullywugs simply missed. Or maybe there's a structural flaw in the cell that the Barbarian can make a Strength check to force their way through.
I'd say a great circumstance for the party to escape would be a Lizardfolk raid of the Bullywug encampment. The races hate each other, right? The ensuing chaos would give the party ample opportunity to free themselves.
Don't forget the role-play option. Maybe your players can talk their way out of it by offering to perform a service for the bullywugs or some other tangential-adventure-generating sort of thing--like find and deliver a valuable artifact or kill a bullywug rival while one or more of the PCs remains as hostage, for example.
Don’t be afraid to kill them. It changes their play style when they realize you’re fine letting them die.
3 other points
If they go to 0 and stabilize, they can be taken prisoner
if they’re all dead and some are still doing death saves you can say those were stabilized by the baddies
if they do out-right die, look at strahd’s ‘expanded dark gifts’ (free on dmsguild) ...nothing wrong with some dark power bringing them back from the dead for some unknown reason.
The thief would try to hide something. Like a lockpick. They'd try to talk their way out in a skill challenge. They'd try to brute force the cage open.
But if all else failed and they were just not going to escape. Maybe the bullywogs have been under attack recently and they mistook the players as those people. Could open a dialect and a sub quest to help them. Could even earn some friends that may help in the future.
Oh and my players have run from an encounter before back at level 3. Lol. That was a fun fight.
Hey, I'm a DM running a campaign for a few new players. Last session they were about to travel through some marshland and decided to ask a random NPC if there was anything they should watch out for, so naturally I told them all about bullywugs. I seem to have overdone it a bit because my players all decided that they sounded like great fun and it would be really cool to get themselves captured by them.
Now I believe in the players having a good time, so if they want to be captured, sure! I'm planning to send a ridiculous amount of bullywugs at them so that they either surrender, or all get knocked out and wake up in a cell.
I really don't want to kill these PCs as they're only just getting confident in roleplay, and I don't feel the need to remind them of the 'actions have consequences' thing as their NPC ally was only just killed by the first wave of bullywugs. So any ideas of how I can, as much as possible, guarantee their escape from the bulllywug lair? Can anyone recommend any resources for running an escape encounter where the players don't have any weapons or equipment and can't fight their way out? They're only second level right now if that's relevant. I can't wait until they're more powerful as they are just passing through this area of the kingdom.
All suggestions very much appreciated!
Edit: Thanks a bunch, the kidnapping and subsequent escape both went fine!
If you come up with five ways for the party to escape from the lair you'll then have the players choose the sixth option. Meaning, the one you never planned for, just as you had not planned for BullyFest 2020.
Still if you want to come up with some quick ideas, there is always the lazy cell guard who could drop or be bribed to let them escape before the Bully cook finishes his stew where the party will be the 'meat' of the meal. Or have the Bullywugs get attacked by another faction of Bullywugs the creates chaos and somehow the party can escape by their own creative means. There is always the Bullywug child who is enamored with the party and will do anything to help them if the party treats the child nice or entertain it. In most cases the party can then try to stealth out of the Bullwug lair, and more likely high-jinks ensue.
Just a few quick thoughts they may not help but some simple encounters ideas.
There was already a rescue attempt in progress by NPC adventuring party to get some merchants son.
they just happen to be there at the same time.
but, I’d allow them to try their own escape stuff too, for fun, but have it effect some stuff they can’t see directly, like guards alertness, time it takes, time to snoop around a “possible” treasure room, etc etc.
Bonus treasure room: just go money and consumables. Unless you’re a nicer guy than I
Watch me on twitch
The problem is players do not surrender. It's not real to us, we are not afraid of character death. We may hate it after the fact, but we know it's just a game, and we want to win.
If you want to capture players, you need a ton of magic. Hypnotic Pattern, Hold Person, etc.
Nets are good. So are pits. Real hard pits with a DC 20 to find.
While it is generally true that PCs won't surrender, this particular situation might be an exception. However, it's not really that hard to capture PCs, just have the NPCs choose to use nonlethal strikes (remember, you only get the proper flavor in the stew if they're alive when you put them in).
Now, arranging for them to escape is harder, because our normal models for heroic escapes are heavily based on plot contrivances that work in a novel (where the author is controlling everyone's actions) but not as well in a RPG. The traditional solutions are:
It could also be that the Bullywugs have come into possession of a powerful magical artifact they don't fully understand that performs some magic that isn't a normal spell, for example it could simply apply the Stunned condition with no save. The party wakes up later in a cell with little or no equipment. Just be prepared that one or more of the party may feel the urge to remove the artifact from the Bullywugs' possession... so if you go that route, have a plan for what the item actually does if your party does decide to keep it.
A potentially important question... what classes and, where applicable, subclasses, are the party? Because if it's Bullywugs that captured them, it's safe to say whatever prison will be made of natural materials, which could theoretically allow a Druid to craft a new Druidic Focus on the spot, allowing them to use their spells right from the get-go. Or maybe the Rogue has a knife (not a Dagger, just a normal pen knife or whatever) hidden in their boot that the Bullywugs simply missed. Or maybe there's a structural flaw in the cell that the Barbarian can make a Strength check to force their way through.
I'd say a great circumstance for the party to escape would be a Lizardfolk raid of the Bullywug encampment. The races hate each other, right? The ensuing chaos would give the party ample opportunity to free themselves.
Don't forget the role-play option. Maybe your players can talk their way out of it by offering to perform a service for the bullywugs or some other tangential-adventure-generating sort of thing--like find and deliver a valuable artifact or kill a bullywug rival while one or more of the PCs remains as hostage, for example.
Recently returned to D&D after 20+ years.
Unapologetic.
Don’t be afraid to kill them. It changes their play style when they realize you’re fine letting them die.
3 other points
If they go to 0 and stabilize, they can be taken prisoner
if they’re all dead and some are still doing death saves you can say those were stabilized by the baddies
if they do out-right die, look at strahd’s ‘expanded dark gifts’ (free on dmsguild) ...nothing wrong with some dark power bringing them back from the dead for some unknown reason.
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
Deck of Decks
If my players got caught
The thief would try to hide something. Like a lockpick. They'd try to talk their way out in a skill challenge. They'd try to brute force the cage open.
But if all else failed and they were just not going to escape. Maybe the bullywogs have been under attack recently and they mistook the players as those people. Could open a dialect and a sub quest to help them. Could even earn some friends that may help in the future.
Oh and my players have run from an encounter before back at level 3. Lol. That was a fun fight.