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.
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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.