So I'd like to have my party captured and put to work as gladiator/slaves. Outside of combat encounters what else would they do day to day?
I don't like to railroad them into one way of escape, but these are my teenage daughters, not exactly Ocean's Eleven here. How can I leave it open and up to them while offering enough bread crumbs to allow them to plan, scheme, and execute an escape?
So a little background, I'm running a 5e homebrew. This session I'd like to introduce the concept of the Underdark,specifically an underground city of Drow akin to Menzoberranzan. As they approach the surface part of the city they are either kidnapped by a slave party or drugged while sleeping, captured, and then spirited to the Auction House. From there the companion NPC's (human Druid, Halfling Rogue) are sold off to the mines while the two PCs (Paladin and Sorcerer) are sold to a well-to-do Drow household.
They are fitted with a slave bracelet that is controlled by the head of house. A command word by the holder of the control crystal will render a specific target paralyzed, asleep, or incapaciated with pain. With attunement the holder of the crystal can form a clear image in their mind and know the general location of their owned slave. They'll know direction and distance, nothing more specific like images or be able to point to them on a map.
Among the other servants is a pecking order. People who have resigned themselves to a lifetime of servitude so the only thing they have left is their position in the house. An obstacle the PCs will have to account for.
Any way they go with this, I want it to be their idea. In the meantime they are put through the average day-to-day of a bound slave. I mean they can only clean so much and run so many errands. I was thinking that their learning about the slave bracelets and the control crystal would be discoverd in the day-to-day. A slave gets lippy or something and they see how the control crystal works. I also was thinking that they may be tasked as part time gladiators. Which would lead to a plot point for the overall campaign narrative.
The way I see it for the most perfect ending they'd have to remove the bracelets, escape unseen, grab their gear, get their friends and then finally escape to the surface. Do I just run with what I have and see what they come up with? Find the solutions as they work them out during the game session. Should I have some aces up my sleeve if they stall? Something like an organized rebellion? A rival house interested in embarrassing the hosts offer a window of escape? A chance encounter that reveals an opportunity to remove the bracelets or deactivate the control crystal?
Out of the Abyss actually starts with the PCs in a drow prison. The first couple of chapters of that adventure would probably be worth looking at.
Spellcasters come with a built in escape plan. The Paladin not so much, but the Sorcerer probably is going to have access to all of her spells, unless they keep her tied to a chair or muted. Technically Drow would probably kill any spellcaster on sight, they are just too dangerous to keep as slaves, but its easy enough to assume that the drow didn't notice the PC was a spellcaster. (Unless you mute and keep the spellcasters hands tied, you could get fireballed at any second, hence very unlikely they would ever knowingly take a spellcaster as a prisoner. Though the use of anti-magic fields could grant a reason to do so. Would also add to the skill needed to escape). Charm Person if known could make most activities relatively easy.
Many things for the escape plan is going to depend on 1) how you describe the area and 2) the results of any skill checks in regards to the bracelets. I would assume it is a good idea to have a backup plan in case the PCs fail. A Deep Gnome attack on the city to free prisoners could be a wonderful solution and provide more roleplay opportunity.
Odds are the NPCs are getting left behind. These are level one characters vs drow,, and locating where the two NPCs are may be beyond the desires of the PCs for two unknown people. If you want the NPCs rescued, then you need a plot hook to make the PCs want to rescue the NPCs. Depending on what happens, the PCs may also forgo their gear and instead take gear from the Drow. At level one it is doubtful the PCs have anything worse retrieving, unless the Paladin happens to have Plate Armor, and even that is probably not worth the effort to retrieve it (especially with no knowledge of where it is).
With only two players, encounters are going to be tough against drow at level one. As 3 drow can probably tpk both of them. (especially if the Paladin is stuck without weapons). Because of this, the PCs are almost certainly going to leave the city as soon as possible, leaving everything behind that isn't deemed essential.
Couple thoughts in case they aren't following or formulating an escape plan. The collars sound pretty powerful, so the slave master would probably have few qualms about letting some slaves who have proven themselves to wander around the city. The party can meet and interact with NPCs, but have an ever present leash that they will either push back on, or will embolden them to become the slave master's adventuring party. If there isn't an arena fight, maybe the Drow in charge has an item they want delivered or fetched or a person they want killed or protected.
While the group builds the beginnings of an escape plan, let their Drow overlord treat them like property. They want a special sandwich, so slave team A goes to their favorite deli. They want a special sacrifice guarded until it reaches the temple, guards cost money but slave team A is free. The Dwarves have delved too deeply into a mine that Drow overlord hasn't been paying taxes on, slave team A go and protect my tax evasion! During all of these adventures the group is learning more about the surrounding area, getting to know NPCs who might potentially help free them, so on and so forth.
This is basically what I was thinking about. These collars are pretty powerful, and the Drow are arrogant. So they'd let them have a fair amount of freedom and assign them tasks based on that trust.
Not only that, but some slaves are institutionalized, they have position among the slaves. They won't want to mess that up i.e. Samuel L. Jackson in, "Django Unchained". So they'd get to meet the spectrum of fellow captives that are around them.
The other part I was thinking about was that the Upper-class Drow would view open conflict as something for peasants. So they'd have the slaves in their houses act as proxies. Lady A has slaves getting their master their favorite sandwhich. Lady B is made aware and slaves disrupt the delivery. There could be a lot of these little encounters through out the quest. Maybe random table so I don't have to plan out each and every encounter? Which will allow the game to flow and give them opportunity to plot an escape.
Some ways to Deus Ex Machina their way out of this situation occurred to me last night, if they aren't actively working to escape or they are stuck on how I figure one or more of these situations can help push them in the right direction.
The sorcerer discovers a flaw while examining their bracelet. Using her wild magic powers she can shut off the bracelet for 8 hours. If the Lady of the House uses the crystal is the only time she'll be made aware that the command crystal isn't working. This will be difficult to implement as the bracelet has a pretty potent anti-magic field, so the timing has to be right. Maybe on one of these errands or trips to the arena?
A slave rebellion. On one of these errands they manage to get recruited into a rebellion being planned.
A slave with status wants them gone as they threaten to usurp her position. I actually thought that this would be a good trap for the PCs if they go for it. As eveything would appear to be good for an escape but they are betrayed, recaptured, and punished. They could still be shown some ways to help plan their escape. I could walk them through a basic plan that they could then use as a framework for their own plan.
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So I'd like to have my party captured and put to work as gladiator/slaves. Outside of combat encounters what else would they do day to day?
I don't like to railroad them into one way of escape, but these are my teenage daughters, not exactly Ocean's Eleven here. How can I leave it open and up to them while offering enough bread crumbs to allow them to plan, scheme, and execute an escape?
So a little background, I'm running a 5e homebrew. This session I'd like to introduce the concept of the Underdark,specifically an underground city of Drow akin to Menzoberranzan. As they approach the surface part of the city they are either kidnapped by a slave party or drugged while sleeping, captured, and then spirited to the Auction House. From there the companion NPC's (human Druid, Halfling Rogue) are sold off to the mines while the two PCs (Paladin and Sorcerer) are sold to a well-to-do Drow household.
They are fitted with a slave bracelet that is controlled by the head of house. A command word by the holder of the control crystal will render a specific target paralyzed, asleep, or incapaciated with pain. With attunement the holder of the crystal can form a clear image in their mind and know the general location of their owned slave. They'll know direction and distance, nothing more specific like images or be able to point to them on a map.
Among the other servants is a pecking order. People who have resigned themselves to a lifetime of servitude so the only thing they have left is their position in the house. An obstacle the PCs will have to account for.
Any way they go with this, I want it to be their idea. In the meantime they are put through the average day-to-day of a bound slave. I mean they can only clean so much and run so many errands. I was thinking that their learning about the slave bracelets and the control crystal would be discoverd in the day-to-day. A slave gets lippy or something and they see how the control crystal works. I also was thinking that they may be tasked as part time gladiators. Which would lead to a plot point for the overall campaign narrative.
The way I see it for the most perfect ending they'd have to remove the bracelets, escape unseen, grab their gear, get their friends and then finally escape to the surface. Do I just run with what I have and see what they come up with? Find the solutions as they work them out during the game session. Should I have some aces up my sleeve if they stall? Something like an organized rebellion? A rival house interested in embarrassing the hosts offer a window of escape? A chance encounter that reveals an opportunity to remove the bracelets or deactivate the control crystal?
Out of the Abyss actually starts with the PCs in a drow prison. The first couple of chapters of that adventure would probably be worth looking at.
Spellcasters come with a built in escape plan. The Paladin not so much, but the Sorcerer probably is going to have access to all of her spells, unless they keep her tied to a chair or muted. Technically Drow would probably kill any spellcaster on sight, they are just too dangerous to keep as slaves, but its easy enough to assume that the drow didn't notice the PC was a spellcaster. (Unless you mute and keep the spellcasters hands tied, you could get fireballed at any second, hence very unlikely they would ever knowingly take a spellcaster as a prisoner. Though the use of anti-magic fields could grant a reason to do so. Would also add to the skill needed to escape). Charm Person if known could make most activities relatively easy.
Many things for the escape plan is going to depend on 1) how you describe the area and 2) the results of any skill checks in regards to the bracelets. I would assume it is a good idea to have a backup plan in case the PCs fail. A Deep Gnome attack on the city to free prisoners could be a wonderful solution and provide more roleplay opportunity.
Odds are the NPCs are getting left behind. These are level one characters vs drow,, and locating where the two NPCs are may be beyond the desires of the PCs for two unknown people. If you want the NPCs rescued, then you need a plot hook to make the PCs want to rescue the NPCs. Depending on what happens, the PCs may also forgo their gear and instead take gear from the Drow. At level one it is doubtful the PCs have anything worse retrieving, unless the Paladin happens to have Plate Armor, and even that is probably not worth the effort to retrieve it (especially with no knowledge of where it is).
With only two players, encounters are going to be tough against drow at level one. As 3 drow can probably tpk both of them. (especially if the Paladin is stuck without weapons). Because of this, the PCs are almost certainly going to leave the city as soon as possible, leaving everything behind that isn't deemed essential.
Couple thoughts in case they aren't following or formulating an escape plan. The collars sound pretty powerful, so the slave master would probably have few qualms about letting some slaves who have proven themselves to wander around the city. The party can meet and interact with NPCs, but have an ever present leash that they will either push back on, or will embolden them to become the slave master's adventuring party. If there isn't an arena fight, maybe the Drow in charge has an item they want delivered or fetched or a person they want killed or protected.
While the group builds the beginnings of an escape plan, let their Drow overlord treat them like property. They want a special sandwich, so slave team A goes to their favorite deli. They want a special sacrifice guarded until it reaches the temple, guards cost money but slave team A is free. The Dwarves have delved too deeply into a mine that Drow overlord hasn't been paying taxes on, slave team A go and protect my tax evasion! During all of these adventures the group is learning more about the surrounding area, getting to know NPCs who might potentially help free them, so on and so forth.
This is basically what I was thinking about. These collars are pretty powerful, and the Drow are arrogant. So they'd let them have a fair amount of freedom and assign them tasks based on that trust.
Not only that, but some slaves are institutionalized, they have position among the slaves. They won't want to mess that up i.e. Samuel L. Jackson in, "Django Unchained". So they'd get to meet the spectrum of fellow captives that are around them.
The other part I was thinking about was that the Upper-class Drow would view open conflict as something for peasants. So they'd have the slaves in their houses act as proxies. Lady A has slaves getting their master their favorite sandwhich. Lady B is made aware and slaves disrupt the delivery. There could be a lot of these little encounters through out the quest. Maybe random table so I don't have to plan out each and every encounter? Which will allow the game to flow and give them opportunity to plot an escape.
Some ways to Deus Ex Machina their way out of this situation occurred to me last night, if they aren't actively working to escape or they are stuck on how I figure one or more of these situations can help push them in the right direction.
The sorcerer discovers a flaw while examining their bracelet. Using her wild magic powers she can shut off the bracelet for 8 hours. If the Lady of the House uses the crystal is the only time she'll be made aware that the command crystal isn't working. This will be difficult to implement as the bracelet has a pretty potent anti-magic field, so the timing has to be right. Maybe on one of these errands or trips to the arena?
A slave rebellion. On one of these errands they manage to get recruited into a rebellion being planned.
A slave with status wants them gone as they threaten to usurp her position. I actually thought that this would be a good trap for the PCs if they go for it. As eveything would appear to be good for an escape but they are betrayed, recaptured, and punished. They could still be shown some ways to help plan their escape. I could walk them through a basic plan that they could then use as a framework for their own plan.