In my campaign, the party's paladin just rolled a nat one on a stealth check to sneak into a drow city. I just realized I forgot to think of what happens next, other than, "They see you, you can run, fight, bluff, or something else". So, I need a reasonable investigation team composition and an underdark chase table (based on chase rules in the DMG). I do have some time, as the campaign is play by post.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Pronouns: he/him/his.
My posting scheduled is irregular: sometimes I can post twice a week, sometimes twice a day. I may also respond to quick questions, but ignore harder responses in favor of time.
My location is where my character for my home game is (we're doing the wild beyond the witchlight).
"The Doomvault... Probably full of unicorns and rainbows." -An imaginary quote
Make the stealth check a group stealth check; half the party need to pass in order to be successful.
If you give individual stealth checks at DC10 to a group of 4 characters, then on average 1 in 4 of the characters will fail the stealth check. If any of them are wearing heavy armour, the probability increase significant. This means that even at a very easy difficulty, there's little chance that the whole party are going to pass. This is the case for any situation where you require multiple rolls to succeed.
Additionally, try not to make Stealth vs. Perception binary, just "you pass or fail." Here's an alertness system you can use:
Guards on duty, but for whom there is no reasonable reason to believe that a threat could pop up at any single moment, have an alertness level of 1. At Alertness 1, guards are standing around cleaning their fingernails, thinking about what's for dinner etc. Failing a stealth check near them puts them to Alertness Level 2.
At 2, the guards heard something or caught a glimpse; they frown in puzzlement, and start paying more attention to their job.
At 3, the guards are intent on the situation and are really having a look around. They begin patrolling, trying to identify the source of whatever they heard.
At 4, the guards have seen the PCs and will engage them.
If you just want to stick with basics, then choose Drow that will provide a reasonable encounter from the Monster Manual (we don't know your party's size, level, or composition so nobody can help without that) and then run a DMG chase.
Make the stealth check a group stealth check; half the party need to pass in order to be successful.
If you give individual stealth checks at DC10 to a group of 4 characters, then on average 1 in 4 of the characters will fail the stealth check. If any of them are wearing heavy armour, the probability increase significant. This means that even at a very easy difficulty, there's little chance that the whole party are going to pass. This is the case for any situation where you require multiple rolls to succeed.
Additionally, try not to make Stealth vs. Perception binary, just "you pass or fail." Here's an alertness system you can use:
Guards on duty, but for whom there is no reasonable reason to believe that a threat could pop up at any single moment, have an alertness level of 1. At Alertness 1, guards are standing around cleaning their fingernails, thinking about what's for dinner etc. Failing a stealth check near them puts them to Alertness Level 2.
At 2, the guards heard something or caught a glimpse; they frown in puzzlement, and start paying more attention to their job.
At 3, the guards are intent on the situation and are really having a look around. They begin patrolling, trying to identify the source of whatever they heard.
At 4, the guards have seen the PCs and will engage them.
If you just want to stick with basics, then choose Drow that will provide a reasonable encounter from the Monster Manual (we don't know your party's size, level, or composition so nobody can help without that) and then run a DMG chase.
I've made it a group check, and I am combining the wilderness and city chase tables, to make an underdark one. Thanks for the advice!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Pronouns: he/him/his.
My posting scheduled is irregular: sometimes I can post twice a week, sometimes twice a day. I may also respond to quick questions, but ignore harder responses in favor of time.
My location is where my character for my home game is (we're doing the wild beyond the witchlight).
"The Doomvault... Probably full of unicorns and rainbows." -An imaginary quote
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
In my campaign, the party's paladin just rolled a nat one on a stealth check to sneak into a drow city. I just realized I forgot to think of what happens next, other than, "They see you, you can run, fight, bluff, or something else". So, I need a reasonable investigation team composition and an underdark chase table (based on chase rules in the DMG). I do have some time, as the campaign is play by post.
Pronouns: he/him/his.
My posting scheduled is irregular: sometimes I can post twice a week, sometimes twice a day. I may also respond to quick questions, but ignore harder responses in favor of time.
My location is where my character for my home game is (we're doing the wild beyond the witchlight).
"The Doomvault... Probably full of unicorns and rainbows." -An imaginary quote
Make the stealth check a group stealth check; half the party need to pass in order to be successful.
If you give individual stealth checks at DC10 to a group of 4 characters, then on average 1 in 4 of the characters will fail the stealth check. If any of them are wearing heavy armour, the probability increase significant. This means that even at a very easy difficulty, there's little chance that the whole party are going to pass. This is the case for any situation where you require multiple rolls to succeed.
Additionally, try not to make Stealth vs. Perception binary, just "you pass or fail." Here's an alertness system you can use:
If you just want to stick with basics, then choose Drow that will provide a reasonable encounter from the Monster Manual (we don't know your party's size, level, or composition so nobody can help without that) and then run a DMG chase.
I've made it a group check, and I am combining the wilderness and city chase tables, to make an underdark one. Thanks for the advice!
Pronouns: he/him/his.
My posting scheduled is irregular: sometimes I can post twice a week, sometimes twice a day. I may also respond to quick questions, but ignore harder responses in favor of time.
My location is where my character for my home game is (we're doing the wild beyond the witchlight).
"The Doomvault... Probably full of unicorns and rainbows." -An imaginary quote