Ok, so my party are in the process of storming a prison run by Frost Giants, who are using the prisoners as a labour force.
I want to give the guards something more interesting than just "they try to kill you" - they are going to be trying to catch them for questioning. So far, I have the idea of them having lasso sticks (like stray dog catchers) to hold them at a safe distance, as well as ice grenades with can freeze them to the floor and, naturally, big nets.
Can anyone else think of any good ideas for nonlethal tactics for frost giants equipped to keep prisoners from escaping?
Wall sconces that can emit freezing vapor, effectively choking out intruders, escapees, or rioting prisoners. Basically treated as a poison gas that causes those affected to pass out due to it making their lunger burn to breathe.
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Separate the party freeze one and have the giants put him in the meat locker to be used as dinner that night now the race is on to save that player lol.
Sticky nets near human sized exits, so they get stuck to the paper like flies. Of course you could also have the frost giants trap them under large glass mugs and the sort.
Ice Patches treating them as the Grease spell you could also have the patches of ice deployed in grenade form.
Ice Mephit and Cold Based Salamanders as Guards, the Mephits hide in the ice and using Fog Clouds to disorientate escapees whils the Salamanders chase down and apprehend them, maybe also use Chromatic Guard Drakes as well but given the lore around Giants and Dragons flavour the drakes a giant mastiffsand trained to grapple and retrieve people.
EDIT: Treat the prison as a legendary creatures Lair and have them deploy Walls of Ice and Hallucinatory Terrain spells that create the illusion of something impassable such as a crevasse or a fast moving cold but not quite freezing river.
There is the frost giant ice shaper that has two abilities that would be useful. One is to make creatures out of ice to fight for them the other is a freezing ray that can restrain.
There is also the rime hulk that has the ability to leave an area of ice that if stepped on slows targets and deals damage
The fact the creatures made of ice may appear from any ice around to block you is great deterrent. Another example is the ledualusca from pf2e. Its a water elemental that forms a copy of a person out of ice, the play on the old water has memory myth. https://2e.aonprd.com/Monsters.aspx?ID=1217 . You don't need to make a leda lusca stat block, you could use the Doppelganger and describe it as a clone made of ice.
Personally I would make a major barrier be the location of the prison. It could be somewhere dangerously cold to creatures other than frost giants. Like a floating sea of ice or deep in a land of permafrost. Then the extreme cold creates passive defences like metal doors that are so cold they burn to touch with bare hands, cold water that makes it dangerous to go out and thin patches of ice that may break.
There is also one of my favorite terrifying natural phenomenon. Brinicles aka fingers of death https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcUouLOmQuU . They normally only happen in water but fluid dynamics and air dynamics can be very similar. You could also describe it in air as a cold finger of mist slowly falling down to the floor before freezing everything it touchs. Walking in the effected area would make you freeze.
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Ok, so my party are in the process of storming a prison run by Frost Giants, who are using the prisoners as a labour force.
I want to give the guards something more interesting than just "they try to kill you" - they are going to be trying to catch them for questioning. So far, I have the idea of them having lasso sticks (like stray dog catchers) to hold them at a safe distance, as well as ice grenades with can freeze them to the floor and, naturally, big nets.
Can anyone else think of any good ideas for nonlethal tactics for frost giants equipped to keep prisoners from escaping?
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Wall sconces that can emit freezing vapor, effectively choking out intruders, escapees, or rioting prisoners. Basically treated as a poison gas that causes those affected to pass out due to it making their lunger burn to breathe.
Separate the party freeze one and have the giants put him in the meat locker to be used as dinner that night now the race is on to save that player lol.
Sticky nets near human sized exits, so they get stuck to the paper like flies. Of course you could also have the frost giants trap them under large glass mugs and the sort.
How about:
Ice Patches treating them as the Grease spell you could also have the patches of ice deployed in grenade form.
Ice Mephit and Cold Based Salamanders as Guards, the Mephits hide in the ice and using Fog Clouds to disorientate escapees whils the Salamanders chase down and apprehend them, maybe also use Chromatic Guard Drakes as well but given the lore around Giants and Dragons flavour the drakes a giant mastiffsand trained to grapple and retrieve people.
EDIT: Treat the prison as a legendary creatures Lair and have them deploy Walls of Ice and Hallucinatory Terrain spells that create the illusion of something impassable such as a crevasse or a fast moving cold but not quite freezing river.
From existing monsters
The fact the creatures made of ice may appear from any ice around to block you is great deterrent. Another example is the ledualusca from pf2e. Its a water elemental that forms a copy of a person out of ice, the play on the old water has memory myth. https://2e.aonprd.com/Monsters.aspx?ID=1217 . You don't need to make a leda lusca stat block, you could use the Doppelganger and describe it as a clone made of ice.
Personally I would make a major barrier be the location of the prison. It could be somewhere dangerously cold to creatures other than frost giants. Like a floating sea of ice or deep in a land of permafrost. Then the extreme cold creates passive defences like metal doors that are so cold they burn to touch with bare hands, cold water that makes it dangerous to go out and thin patches of ice that may break.
There is also one of my favorite terrifying natural phenomenon. Brinicles aka fingers of death https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcUouLOmQuU . They normally only happen in water but fluid dynamics and air dynamics can be very similar. You could also describe it in air as a cold finger of mist slowly falling down to the floor before freezing everything it touchs. Walking in the effected area would make you freeze.