I'm running a campaign with two friends, and all they want to do is cause trouble and kill people.
So, logically, I'm going to send them to prison to lead the campaign towards missions given by a thieves' guild (involving a lot of blood and murder).
So I need help finding a way to make them escape, but I don't want something like: “Oh, you jump out the window and run away.” No, I want a crazy plan for them to escape. I've planned for another prisoner who has had a plan for a long time but needs two people to help him. (And the guy would be a high-ranking member of the guild.)
And the problem is very simple: I have no freakin' ideas what this plan should be.
So I thought, why not ask other GMs with great imaginations?
So here I am.
Thanks in advance for all your ideas!
P.S.: I want this prison part to last a long time (like 1-2 sessions), so don't hold back on ideas ;-)
Assign the two PCs jobs in the prison. That is why the person with the plan will include them. (This fulfills: another prisoner who has had a plan for a long time but needs two people to help him)
Next, figure out something that has regular runs into and out of the prison. Bakery/cleaning supplies/consumables/actual Guards transport/Medical/etc. (This will be the actual way to leave the prison.)
One PC (#1) job (aka cooper) allows them to supply the "barrels/boxes/etc." large enough for the prisoners to fit into. The other PC (#2) works in the office that has the regular "supply runs".
PC (#1) gets the barrels to the shop for PC (#2) to load empty onto the wagon. PC (#2) loads the wagon with lots of barrels and then the Prison Guards now escort PC (#2) back to his cell.
Original Prisoner is able to get Both PCs out of the cell and PC (#2) can guide the 3 through/toward the barrels using shortcuts only an inside person would know. PC (#1) secures the other two into the barrels, and PC (#1) is able to secure himself into the 3rd modified barrel.
Wagon leaves the prison. The flaw is the the timeline between loading and leaving, but that can be overcome by the teamster is in on the plan (so he acts slower in prep to leave) and/or distracts the guard while the party gets onto the wagon.
In addition, as the PCs have a role to play, they need to roll for multiple DCs to execute.
I am sure there are other ways. and this needs to be fleshed out, but it is a solution..
P.S.: I want this prison part to last a long time (like 1-2 sessions),
I missed that part. Depending how you flush it out; you can extend the escape. Put in a lot of false advances and have a redo. Have a mini prison riot so that the the 2 PCs can have a "unarmed'" fight, but have some inmates have shanks and other inmates are double/triple teaming some other inmates.
Another thing to add as a time grabber. When a PC blows (or thinks he does) a DC role, have them report back to their cell. have alarms go off, have an "experienced inmate report that the Guards have found out an escape plan and build it up that the guards are coming for them, but instead, it is a neighbor or even better, a cell mate.
Have a PC poisoned by the prison food and deal with that scenario. If one of the PCs screw up his DC rolls, the Guild Prisoner may want to leave the one PC and instead have him assassinated so as not to reveal the plans. The other PC needs to roll persuasion to keep the other alive.
Turn prison into an everybody for himself situation. Basically naked AC & unarmed combat.
You’re the DM, it’s not your job to figure out how players escape from prison. It’s their job. You can give them leads like a corrupt guard or a fellow inmate with some home made thieves tools but all you can do is set the scene and see what they’ll do
You’re the DM, it’s not your job to figure out how players escape from prison. It’s their job. You can give them leads like a corrupt guard or a fellow inmate with some home made thieves tools but all you can do is set the scene and see what they’ll do
I disagree. Some players will never figure it out. Some want to be part of the story but do not have the inclination to actually figure out the plan.
There is an NPC that can be the "brains". The DM doe not even need to determine all of the details, but if the players were teh masterminds, then they would need to figure out the details. The DM with that NPC can be "you do this" and "you in the corner do that." No fine group details needed or anything else.
By the DM coming up with the plan, he can make parts fail, without any hurt egos.
Remember the description of the PCs: all they want to do is cause trouble and kill people. A group description that implies they will never figure out how to get out of prison.
Assign the two PCs jobs in the prison. That is why the person with the plan will include them. (This fulfills: another prisoner who has had a plan for a long time but needs two people to help him)
Next, figure out something that has regular runs into and out of the prison. Bakery/cleaning supplies/consumables/actual Guards transport/Medical/etc. (This will be the actual way to leave the prison.)
One PC (#1) job (aka cooper) allows them to supply the "barrels/boxes/etc." large enough for the prisoners to fit into. The other PC (#2) works in the office that has the regular "supply runs".
PC (#1) gets the barrels to the shop for PC (#2) to load empty onto the wagon. PC (#2) loads the wagon with lots of barrels and then the Prison Guards now escort PC (#2) back to his cell.
Original Prisoner is able to get Both PCs out of the cell and PC (#2) can guide the 3 through/toward the barrels using shortcuts only an inside person would know. PC (#1) secures the other two into the barrels, and PC (#1) is able to secure himself into the 3rd modified barrel.
Wagon leaves the prison. The flaw is the the timeline between loading and leaving, but that can be overcome by the teamster is in on the plan (so he acts slower in prep to leave) and/or distracts the guard while the party gets onto the wagon.
In addition, as the PCs have a role to play, they need to roll for multiple DCs to execute.
I am sure there are other ways. and this needs to be fleshed out, but it is a solution..
Hi!
Your work idea isn't bad at all.
I didn't quite understand the PC task (#2), but other than that, it's a great idea.
I also didn't understand the “timeline” issue, but I'm sure you'll be able to clarify these points for me.
P.S.: I want this prison part to last a long time (like 1-2 sessions),
I missed that part. Depending how you flush it out; you can extend the escape. Put in a lot of false advances and have a redo. Have a mini prison riot so that the the 2 PCs can have a "unarmed'" fight, but have some inmates have shanks and other inmates are double/triple teaming some other inmates.
Another thing to add as a time grabber. When a PC blows (or thinks he does) a DC role, have them report back to their cell. have alarms go off, have an "experienced inmate report that the Guards have found out an escape plan and build it up that the guards are coming for them, but instead, it is a neighbor or even better, a cell mate.
Have a PC poisoned by the prison food and deal with that scenario. If one of the PCs screw up his DC rolls, the Guild Prisoner may want to leave the one PC and instead have him assassinated so as not to reveal the plans. The other PC needs to roll persuasion to keep the other alive.
Turn prison into an everybody for himself situation. Basically naked AC & unarmed combat.
So maybe two sessions is a bit too much and it won't last as long.
I don't understand the part where “an experienced inmate reports that the guards have found out about an escape plan and builds up the idea that the guards are coming for them, but instead, it's a neighbor or even better, a cellmate.” Why would the inmate tell them that?
PC#2 is in the part of the prison that receives/sends the supplies. He unloads incoming and loads out going wagons.
PC#1 creates/builds the box/barrels/containers that contain outgoing supplies. Therefore, PC#2 needs to load the "empty" containers onto the wagon. If he does not load empty containers, then only filled ones get loaded. Also, but loading the containers, he knows were to place them to be easily accessed, but hard to spot.
Pc#1 needs to build containers that upon inspection contain goods aka false top.
Timeline issue. PC#2 loads the wagon. Why is the wagon not leaving immediately? If the prisoner & PC#1 are loaded into empty containers in real time. What about PC#2? He can't load and climb in as the guards would pay attention to that and search the wagon. If PC#2 suddenly is gone, then the others would be discovered.
First off, I 100 percent agree with Cunningsmile that its not your job to plan the break. You plan the security. it's up to the party to figure out how to get out.
But, before that, I think you need to take a few steps back. The original issue you are describing seems like a playstyle problem. Your friends want to play one kind of game, and maybe you don't, is the impression I'm getting. The answer to that is not prison, it's an out of character discussion about the game you all want to play. (Of course, I may be misreading that part, so my apologies if I am.)
If we're sticking with the prison thing. The bigger problem is going to be getting them in, not out. Firstly, players hate, hate having their characters captured. They will do everything they can to avoid it. And by the time the PCs are 3rd or 4th level, avoiding it will be pretty easy. The monk and the rogue just take off running with their bonus action dash, even horses will have a hard time keeping up. The druid turns into a mouse and scampers off. The wizard, or any number of other classes and some species, misty steps to safety. The sorcerer turns invisible. The cleric casts spirit guardians and dares the guard to approach him. The fighter and barbarian just stand there and crack skulls. Really, the only way to be able to take PCs prisoner is through some kind of very contrived railroad -- five dozen soldiers appear, and they have the mystical device of anti-magic field or some such. Or there's some kind of sedative in their food, and for some reason they don't get to even attempt a con save. That kind of thing. Essentially, you use your DM's prerogative to force them to do something (which is not fun), and brings us back to the whole, out of character discussion about the kind of game you all want to play.
So, OK, now they're in prison. As above, why doesn't the druid shapeshift and run off? Why doesn't the wizard misty step out of the cell? etc. You need to solve these sorts of problems. Remember that this is a world where magic exists, and everyone knows it does. Any prison facilities would be designed accordingly. But that's what you do. You design them. Coming up with a way out is a video game mentality where because of the medium, the game developers need to design a correct path to escape. And more, it punishes them for any creative thinking (They want to seduce the guard, nope. Use mage hand to pick a pocket, nope. Make a weapon from a mop handle and start a fight, nope. Make friends with other prisoners and hatch a bigger plan, nope. There is one correct way to escape, and I, the DM, know what it is, and that's what they have to do). It just turns into another railroad.
L'agent PC#2 travaille dans la partie de la prison qui réceptionne et expédie les approvisionnements. Il décharge les wagons entrants et charge les wagons sortants.
Le PJ n°1 fabrique les caisses, barils et conteneurs destinés à l'expédition. Le PJ n°2 doit donc charger les conteneurs vides sur le chariot. S'il ne les charge pas, seuls les conteneurs pleins seront chargés. De plus, en chargeant les conteneurs, il sait où les placer pour qu'ils soient facilement accessibles, mais difficiles à repérer.
Le Pc#1 doit construire des conteneurs qui, après inspection, contiennent des marchandises (c'est-à-dire un faux couvercle).
Problème de chronologie. L'agent n° 2 charge le wagon. Pourquoi celui-ci ne part-il pas immédiatement ? Si le prisonnier et l'agent n° 1 sont chargés dans des conteneurs vides en temps réel, qu'en est-il de l'agent n° 2 ? Il ne peut pas monter à bord, car les gardes le remarqueraient et fouilleraient le wagon. Si l'agent n° 2 disparaît soudainement, les autres seront découverts.
Ah, okay, that makes more sense.
That's a very good idea.
To solve the problem, PC #2 (which loads the carts) could break a wheel and immobilize the wagon until the next day. And they come in at night.
Or better yet, weaken the wheel so that it breaks when they start moving.
First off, I 100 percent agree with Cunningsmile that its not your job to plan the break. You plan the security. it's up to the party to figure out how to get out.
But, before that, I think you need to take a few steps back. The original issue you are describing seems like a playstyle problem. Your friends want to play one kind of game, and maybe you don't, is the impression I'm getting. The answer to that is not prison, it's an out of character discussion about the game you all want to play. (Of course, I may be misreading that part, so my apologies if I am.)
If we're sticking with the prison thing. The bigger problem is going to be getting them in, not out. Firstly, players hate, hate having their characters captured. They will do everything they can to avoid it. And by the time the PCs are 3rd or 4th level, avoiding it will be pretty easy. The monk and the rogue just take off running with their bonus action dash, even horses will have a hard time keeping up. The druid turns into a mouse and scampers off. The wizard, or any number of other classes and some species, misty steps to safety. The sorcerer turns invisible. The cleric casts spirit guardians and dares the guard to approach him. The fighter and barbarian just stand there and crack skulls. Really, the only way to be able to take PCs prisoner is through some kind of very contrived railroad -- five dozen soldiers appear, and they have the mystical device of anti-magic field or some such. Or there's some kind of sedative in their food, and for some reason they don't get to even attempt a con save. That kind of thing. Essentially, you use your DM's prerogative to force them to do something (which is not fun), and brings us back to the whole, out of character discussion about the kind of game you all want to play.
So, OK, now they're in prison. As above, why doesn't the druid shapeshift and run off? Why doesn't the wizard misty step out of the cell? etc. You need to solve these sorts of problems. Remember that this is a world where magic exists, and everyone knows it does. Any prison facilities would be designed accordingly. But that's what you do. You design them. Coming up with a way out is a video game mentality where because of the medium, the game developers need to design a correct path to escape. And more, it punishes them for any creative thinking (They want to seduce the guard, nope. Use mage hand to pick a pocket, nope. Make a weapon from a mop handle and start a fight, nope. Make friends with other prisoners and hatch a bigger plan, nope. There is one correct way to escape, and I, the DM, know what it is, and that's what they have to do). It just turns into another railroad.
So I agree with you, my players really surprised me at the beginning of the campaign with their idea of “fun.”
But I think I've more or less figured out their way of playing.
Putting them in prison is no problem, I already have the whole scenario figured out. There's nothing they can do to avoid prison.
And as for magic, isn't there a spell to prevent it in a certain area?
I'm thinking of sending them to the royal prison in Neverwinter, since they must already be the most active serial killers on the Sword Coast. So high-level spells should be fine.
Putting them in prison is no problem, I already have the whole scenario figured out. There's nothing they can do to avoid prison.
This is one of the worst sentences you can write as a DM. If there’s nothing they can do, why should they bother playing? You might as well just send them all an email telling them what happens to the characters.
The point of DM’ing isn’t to force characters to do what you want. It’s to present them with challenges and let them figure out how to overcome those challenges. You don’t do things for them and you don’t do things to them.
Which brings me back to my first point. You need to all talk about the kind of game you want to play. You say you’ve figured out what they like. Do they know what you like? You all need to reach some kind of agreement, or people will end up frustrated.
Putting them in prison is no problem, I already have the whole scenario figured out. There's nothing they can do to avoid prison.
This is one of the worst sentences you can write as a DM. If there’s nothing they can do, why should they bother playing? You might as well just send them all an email telling them what happens to the characters.
The point of DM’ing isn’t to force characters to do what you want. It’s to present them with challenges and let them figure out how to overcome those challenges. You don’t do things for them and you don’t do things to them.
Which brings me back to my first point. You need to all talk about the kind of game you want to play. You say you’ve figured out what they like. Do they know what you like? You all need to reach some kind of agreement, or people will end up frustrated.
I think you keep missing the posters request, or I am not reading this correctly. The players want to be in prison and they want to do a jail break and they do not want to create the escape plan.
I think you keep missing the posters request, or I am not reading this correctly. The players want to be in prison and they want to do a jail break and they do not want to create the escape plan.
Nothing the OP said indicates that. The OP said all the players want to do is kill people and cause trouble (your classic murderhobo).
The DM wants to route the PC's towards a thieves guild. But a prison break is not the only possible way to do that. In fact, there are a lot more simpler and easier ways to point players towards a thieves guild than to arrest them and have them in a complicated prison break. The simplest being having a guild representative approach them and offer membership. Although a thieves' guild sounds like it would be too structured, and wouldn't like the heat from serial killers joining. Maybe the PC's should be recruited by gangs of bloodthirsty bandits, there must be high turnover in that line of work.
Honestly though, it sounds like the players and DM might not be on the same page in terms of the games they want to play, if the players want to kill and cause trouble and the DM is thinking "logically, they'd go to prison, so I'll send them there in an unwinnable situation..."
I also echo CunningSmile and Xalthu here. I lol'd at Xalthu's "Might as well just send them an email" comment :D. He's exactly right though.
I think myself, like several others here had a bit of a cringe-face, knee-jerk reaction when reading the following:
"Putting them in prison is no problem, I already have the whole scenario figured out. There's nothing they can do to avoid prison."
When I was new, I used to think that rail-roading was a narrative that moved players along a path--gives them only one primary narrative direction. I learned later that that was just 'on rails', which was both perfectly fine and often preferable by players, because them a clear direction, like a large single mission.
The best definition of railroading I've ever seen comes from Matt Coleville, and it's really clear: railroading is when the DM forces narrative outcomes irrespective of the players actions. Which is precisely what you've described.
A forced outcome means that their actions and choices don't matter. This is scripting.
There's lots of way around this to end up with a likely similar result, but their actions to avoid being arrested should always be taken into account. You'll need to establish the framework in your world at what constitutes a crime, and how that world typically deals with justice. The players job is then to navigate that system.
I had a similar situation happen to me with a group of new players who were testing the waters. They murdered a beloved town bard because they thought he was evil (surprise, he was a double agent!). In my world, the 'police' are called Pathfinders. Each small town has several of them. They're strong, have a hierarchy, and inform the players of laws. The local pathfinder will also inform consequences. The process in my world is this: If the pathfinder can't serve justice, they will bring in the investigator, called "The Watch", who is very, very formidable, who will both complete the investigation, speak to witnesses, and then there is a trial. If players flee, there will be increasing bounties.
My players avoided jail time due to their creative efforts. I set the framework, but I determine no outcomes--that's on them.
Back to your question: Let's presume your players are in prison. First, I'd say that time should be an impactful element. You can expect that prisoners would be malnourished and weak, but make a system out of it. Each week that passes they lose x hp and/or have enduring levels of exhaustion. I like others idea about a thieves guild--but what about an assassins guild? What about both? Maybe both attempt to recruit them and they have to kill the other faction's emissary. Your jail could have several characters in it that represent different factions, and joining their faction requires your players to murder one or more of the other factions within the prison. Give them the choice which guild they would want to join--the thieves guild? Assassins guild? Maybe a brutal mercenary group? Maybe a slavers guild? Each which will give them distinct benefits.
So then the players will join one group, murder the others, stage a riot, and make their escape with the help of the one they chose. The players now owe a guild a debt for freeing them, and will have to murderhobo to pay off that debt. Now you've set the stage for both their playstyle and framework for future content (the other factions are not happy).
Hope that helps!
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Hi!
I'm running a campaign with two friends, and all they want to do is cause trouble and kill people.
So, logically, I'm going to send them to prison to lead the campaign towards missions given by a thieves' guild (involving a lot of blood and murder).
So I need help finding a way to make them escape, but I don't want something like: “Oh, you jump out the window and run away.” No, I want a crazy plan for them to escape. I've planned for another prisoner who has had a plan for a long time but needs two people to help him. (And the guy would be a high-ranking member of the guild.)
And the problem is very simple: I have no freakin' ideas what this plan should be.
So I thought, why not ask other GMs with great imaginations?
So here I am.
Thanks in advance for all your ideas!
P.S.: I want this prison part to last a long time (like 1-2 sessions), so don't hold back on ideas ;-)
Assign the two PCs jobs in the prison. That is why the person with the plan will include them. (This fulfills: another prisoner who has had a plan for a long time but needs two people to help him)
Next, figure out something that has regular runs into and out of the prison. Bakery/cleaning supplies/consumables/actual Guards transport/Medical/etc. (This will be the actual way to leave the prison.)
One PC (#1) job (aka cooper) allows them to supply the "barrels/boxes/etc." large enough for the prisoners to fit into. The other PC (#2) works in the office that has the regular "supply runs".
PC (#1) gets the barrels to the shop for PC (#2) to load empty onto the wagon. PC (#2) loads the wagon with lots of barrels and then the Prison Guards now escort PC (#2) back to his cell.
Original Prisoner is able to get Both PCs out of the cell and PC (#2) can guide the 3 through/toward the barrels using shortcuts only an inside person would know. PC (#1) secures the other two into the barrels, and PC (#1) is able to secure himself into the 3rd modified barrel.
Wagon leaves the prison. The flaw is the the timeline between loading and leaving, but that can be overcome by the teamster is in on the plan (so he acts slower in prep to leave) and/or distracts the guard while the party gets onto the wagon.
In addition, as the PCs have a role to play, they need to roll for multiple DCs to execute.
I am sure there are other ways. and this needs to be fleshed out, but it is a solution..
P.S.: I want this prison part to last a long time (like 1-2 sessions),
I missed that part. Depending how you flush it out; you can extend the escape. Put in a lot of false advances and have a redo. Have a mini prison riot so that the the 2 PCs can have a "unarmed'" fight, but have some inmates have shanks and other inmates are double/triple teaming some other inmates.
Another thing to add as a time grabber. When a PC blows (or thinks he does) a DC role, have them report back to their cell. have alarms go off, have an "experienced inmate report that the Guards have found out an escape plan and build it up that the guards are coming for them, but instead, it is a neighbor or even better, a cell mate.
Have a PC poisoned by the prison food and deal with that scenario. If one of the PCs screw up his DC rolls, the Guild Prisoner may want to leave the one PC and instead have him assassinated so as not to reveal the plans. The other PC needs to roll persuasion to keep the other alive.
Turn prison into an everybody for himself situation. Basically naked AC & unarmed combat.
You’re the DM, it’s not your job to figure out how players escape from prison. It’s their job. You can give them leads like a corrupt guard or a fellow inmate with some home made thieves tools but all you can do is set the scene and see what they’ll do
I disagree. Some players will never figure it out. Some want to be part of the story but do not have the inclination to actually figure out the plan.
There is an NPC that can be the "brains". The DM doe not even need to determine all of the details, but if the players were teh masterminds, then they would need to figure out the details. The DM with that NPC can be "you do this" and "you in the corner do that." No fine group details needed or anything else.
By the DM coming up with the plan, he can make parts fail, without any hurt egos.
Remember the description of the PCs: all they want to do is cause trouble and kill people. A group description that implies they will never figure out how to get out of prison.
Hi everyone!
First of all, thank you for all your responses. It's amazing how quickly you replied.
A special thank you to you,Character77006, all these ideas are incredible.
I will respond to your messages individually.
Hi!
Your work idea isn't bad at all.
I didn't quite understand the PC task (#2), but other than that, it's a great idea.
I also didn't understand the “timeline” issue, but I'm sure you'll be able to clarify these points for me.
Thank you very much !
So maybe two sessions is a bit too much and it won't last as long.
I don't understand the part where “an experienced inmate reports that the guards have found out about an escape plan and builds up the idea that the guards are coming for them, but instead, it's a neighbor or even better, a cellmate.” Why would the inmate tell them that?
Other than that, good ideas again.
Thanks.
PC#2 is in the part of the prison that receives/sends the supplies. He unloads incoming and loads out going wagons.
PC#1 creates/builds the box/barrels/containers that contain outgoing supplies. Therefore, PC#2 needs to load the "empty" containers onto the wagon. If he does not load empty containers, then only filled ones get loaded. Also, but loading the containers, he knows were to place them to be easily accessed, but hard to spot.
Pc#1 needs to build containers that upon inspection contain goods aka false top.
Timeline issue. PC#2 loads the wagon. Why is the wagon not leaving immediately? If the prisoner & PC#1 are loaded into empty containers in real time. What about PC#2? He can't load and climb in as the guards would pay attention to that and search the wagon. If PC#2 suddenly is gone, then the others would be discovered.
First off, I 100 percent agree with Cunningsmile that its not your job to plan the break. You plan the security. it's up to the party to figure out how to get out.
But, before that, I think you need to take a few steps back. The original issue you are describing seems like a playstyle problem. Your friends want to play one kind of game, and maybe you don't, is the impression I'm getting. The answer to that is not prison, it's an out of character discussion about the game you all want to play. (Of course, I may be misreading that part, so my apologies if I am.)
If we're sticking with the prison thing. The bigger problem is going to be getting them in, not out. Firstly, players hate, hate having their characters captured. They will do everything they can to avoid it. And by the time the PCs are 3rd or 4th level, avoiding it will be pretty easy. The monk and the rogue just take off running with their bonus action dash, even horses will have a hard time keeping up. The druid turns into a mouse and scampers off. The wizard, or any number of other classes and some species, misty steps to safety. The sorcerer turns invisible. The cleric casts spirit guardians and dares the guard to approach him. The fighter and barbarian just stand there and crack skulls. Really, the only way to be able to take PCs prisoner is through some kind of very contrived railroad -- five dozen soldiers appear, and they have the mystical device of anti-magic field or some such. Or there's some kind of sedative in their food, and for some reason they don't get to even attempt a con save. That kind of thing. Essentially, you use your DM's prerogative to force them to do something (which is not fun), and brings us back to the whole, out of character discussion about the kind of game you all want to play.
So, OK, now they're in prison. As above, why doesn't the druid shapeshift and run off? Why doesn't the wizard misty step out of the cell? etc. You need to solve these sorts of problems. Remember that this is a world where magic exists, and everyone knows it does. Any prison facilities would be designed accordingly. But that's what you do. You design them. Coming up with a way out is a video game mentality where because of the medium, the game developers need to design a correct path to escape. And more, it punishes them for any creative thinking (They want to seduce the guard, nope. Use mage hand to pick a pocket, nope. Make a weapon from a mop handle and start a fight, nope. Make friends with other prisoners and hatch a bigger plan, nope. There is one correct way to escape, and I, the DM, know what it is, and that's what they have to do). It just turns into another railroad.
Ah, okay, that makes more sense.
That's a very good idea.
To solve the problem, PC #2 (which loads the carts) could break a wheel and immobilize the wagon until the next day. And they come in at night.
Or better yet, weaken the wheel so that it breaks when they start moving.
So I agree with you, my players really surprised me at the beginning of the campaign with their idea of “fun.”
But I think I've more or less figured out their way of playing.
Putting them in prison is no problem, I already have the whole scenario figured out. There's nothing they can do to avoid prison.
And as for magic, isn't there a spell to prevent it in a certain area?
I'm thinking of sending them to the royal prison in Neverwinter, since they must already be the most active serial killers on the Sword Coast. So high-level spells should be fine.
in case I have a Sorcerer and a Rogue who are both level 3
The first is Neutral Evil and the second is Chaotic Evil
This is one of the worst sentences you can write as a DM. If there’s nothing they can do, why should they bother playing? You might as well just send them all an email telling them what happens to the characters.
The point of DM’ing isn’t to force characters to do what you want. It’s to present them with challenges and let them figure out how to overcome those challenges. You don’t do things for them and you don’t do things to them.
Which brings me back to my first point. You need to all talk about the kind of game you want to play. You say you’ve figured out what they like. Do they know what you like? You all need to reach some kind of agreement, or people will end up frustrated.
I think you keep missing the posters request, or I am not reading this correctly. The players want to be in prison and they want to do a jail break and they do not want to create the escape plan.
I can’t see anywhere saying that the players have already agreed to be in prison or that they’ve asked to be given a plan on a plate
Nothing the OP said indicates that. The OP said all the players want to do is kill people and cause trouble (your classic murderhobo).
The DM wants to route the PC's towards a thieves guild. But a prison break is not the only possible way to do that. In fact, there are a lot more simpler and easier ways to point players towards a thieves guild than to arrest them and have them in a complicated prison break. The simplest being having a guild representative approach them and offer membership. Although a thieves' guild sounds like it would be too structured, and wouldn't like the heat from serial killers joining. Maybe the PC's should be recruited by gangs of bloodthirsty bandits, there must be high turnover in that line of work.
Honestly though, it sounds like the players and DM might not be on the same page in terms of the games they want to play, if the players want to kill and cause trouble and the DM is thinking "logically, they'd go to prison, so I'll send them there in an unwinnable situation..."
A lot of good feedback here.
I also echo CunningSmile and Xalthu here. I lol'd at Xalthu's "Might as well just send them an email" comment :D. He's exactly right though.
I think myself, like several others here had a bit of a cringe-face, knee-jerk reaction when reading the following:
"Putting them in prison is no problem, I already have the whole scenario figured out. There's nothing they can do to avoid prison."
When I was new, I used to think that rail-roading was a narrative that moved players along a path--gives them only one primary narrative direction. I learned later that that was just 'on rails', which was both perfectly fine and often preferable by players, because them a clear direction, like a large single mission.
The best definition of railroading I've ever seen comes from Matt Coleville, and it's really clear: railroading is when the DM forces narrative outcomes irrespective of the players actions. Which is precisely what you've described.
A forced outcome means that their actions and choices don't matter. This is scripting.
There's lots of way around this to end up with a likely similar result, but their actions to avoid being arrested should always be taken into account. You'll need to establish the framework in your world at what constitutes a crime, and how that world typically deals with justice. The players job is then to navigate that system.
I had a similar situation happen to me with a group of new players who were testing the waters. They murdered a beloved town bard because they thought he was evil (surprise, he was a double agent!). In my world, the 'police' are called Pathfinders. Each small town has several of them. They're strong, have a hierarchy, and inform the players of laws. The local pathfinder will also inform consequences. The process in my world is this: If the pathfinder can't serve justice, they will bring in the investigator, called "The Watch", who is very, very formidable, who will both complete the investigation, speak to witnesses, and then there is a trial. If players flee, there will be increasing bounties.
My players avoided jail time due to their creative efforts. I set the framework, but I determine no outcomes--that's on them.
Back to your question:
Let's presume your players are in prison.
First, I'd say that time should be an impactful element. You can expect that prisoners would be malnourished and weak, but make a system out of it. Each week that passes they lose x hp and/or have enduring levels of exhaustion. I like others idea about a thieves guild--but what about an assassins guild? What about both? Maybe both attempt to recruit them and they have to kill the other faction's emissary. Your jail could have several characters in it that represent different factions, and joining their faction requires your players to murder one or more of the other factions within the prison. Give them the choice which guild they would want to join--the thieves guild? Assassins guild? Maybe a brutal mercenary group? Maybe a slavers guild? Each which will give them distinct benefits.
So then the players will join one group, murder the others, stage a riot, and make their escape with the help of the one they chose. The players now owe a guild a debt for freeing them, and will have to murderhobo to pay off that debt. Now you've set the stage for both their playstyle and framework for future content (the other factions are not happy).
Hope that helps!