Hey guys. I need some ideas on how to make a challenging, but not impossible, safe-cracking mission for my players.
Basically, my players previously broke into a combination lock safe in the Mayor's office of the town they're in, thinking there'd be something plot-relevant in there. When they realised that it was just legal documents and the modest treasury of the town, they decided to leave it alone, and one of the players changed the combination on the lock, leaving a note for the mayor saying that he was an idiot for setting the combination to the date of his election.
Since then, they've had a player die, and they need money to get him resurrected, so they've decided to break into the safe and rob the town. I'm thinking that the Mayor will have changed the code, and maybe have added some extra security measures in order to protect the safe. But I'm not sure how to go about designing it. I want it to be challenging but not impossible, as from a DM point I don't want them to succeed, but I also don't want to railroad them. They're low-level players (lvl 2/3 cleric, fighter, druid, and wizard, the wizard being the dead one) so they've not got any super-fantastic abilities that would assist them. The safe itself is built into an entirely internal wall within the mayor's office, is hidden behind a portrait (though the players already know that) and can only be opened by the combination.
Does anyone have any suggestions/examples for how I could design this?
Here are a few practical matters to consider. First of all, the mayor would presumably need to get into the safe every now and again, so the process of opening the safe shouldn't be TOO convoluted, despite the temptation to make it so. And since he presumably also knows the party has broken into the safe before, a savvy mayor may want to leave that safe as a trap and have a completely separate actual safe installed for official use.
If you want to go this route, consider leaving the decoy safe with a suitably simple combination that the players can crack without TOO much trouble. But when they open the safe, you could have an alarm spell go off. You may or may not want the players to know this has happened. If you want to get a bit more dramatic, you could have bars drop down blocking the exit as well as the windows. That will alert the players that they have been tricked. At this point, you could require a skill challenge to defeat the security system and release the trap. If the players can't escape within a few minutes, you could have the city watch show up to arrest the players. Even if the players got away, you might have the city watch see them fleeing out of town so they know that they can't return to town without dealing with the consequences.
As for the real safe, you could have it in the same room or elsewhere. Bonus points if the mayor still uses his election date for the combination :D
I think TexasDevin is on the right track. There's only so complicated you can make a safe, the Mayor is presumably "low level" as well, and with enough time any safe is going to fall to a band of adventurers.
Creating guards, traps, barriers and other impediments around the safe is the way to go - plus the addition of low level magic ( probably which would alert the Guards and not try and kill the Party ).
Plus - there could be security through obscurity - the safe just isn't in the office anymore. It's now being hidden, and it can be a minor series of Social encounters ( Persuasion, Intimidation, Deception - bribery, charm, and blackmail of guards, locals, and town employees ) to find out where the new safe even is - but as noted, the Mayor still needs to access it.
Borrowing from the Sherlock Holmes story The Speckled Band - you could even have a small but deadly Creature in the safe, so there is an unexpected ( but likely not too deadly ) combat right at the end. Could they dispatch the Creature without raising the alarm - which is probably more challenging than outright killing the creature. I can see them trying to do stealthy combat :D Maybe if the Party has enough forethought to toss the Mayor's quarters you could throw them a clue: why does the Mayor have long thick leather gloves suitable for snake handling?
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How cool would it be if the decoy safe was filled with a small gelatinous cube in the shape of the interior of the safe? Just adjust the stats for the cube to make it an appropriately difficult encounter.
I definitely like the idea of the safe being emptied as a decoy and them ending up in jail. Especially as it'll fit in quite nicely with the next major plot point I've got coming up. What I think I might do is have the portrait bolted to the wall this time, and removing the portrait is what triggers a silent alarm. Then while they're trying to crack the safe itself, the town guard will come along and surround them. I'll make it a medium combat encounter if they do try to fight their way out, but I'm hoping they'll choose to surrender. Thanks for the suggestions, guys.
Hey guys. I need some ideas on how to make a challenging, but not impossible, safe-cracking mission for my players.
Basically, my players previously broke into a combination lock safe in the Mayor's office of the town they're in, thinking there'd be something plot-relevant in there. When they realised that it was just legal documents and the modest treasury of the town, they decided to leave it alone, and one of the players changed the combination on the lock, leaving a note for the mayor saying that he was an idiot for setting the combination to the date of his election.
Since then, they've had a player die, and they need money to get him resurrected, so they've decided to break into the safe and rob the town. I'm thinking that the Mayor will have changed the code, and maybe have added some extra security measures in order to protect the safe. But I'm not sure how to go about designing it. I want it to be challenging but not impossible, as from a DM point I don't want them to succeed, but I also don't want to railroad them. They're low-level players (lvl 2/3 cleric, fighter, druid, and wizard, the wizard being the dead one) so they've not got any super-fantastic abilities that would assist them. The safe itself is built into an entirely internal wall within the mayor's office, is hidden behind a portrait (though the players already know that) and can only be opened by the combination.
Does anyone have any suggestions/examples for how I could design this?
| D100 Non-combat Random Encounter Table | Enchantments Galore |
| Pulsing Brazier Magic Trap | Gnome Capsule Machine | Language - A Primer |
Here are a few practical matters to consider. First of all, the mayor would presumably need to get into the safe every now and again, so the process of opening the safe shouldn't be TOO convoluted, despite the temptation to make it so. And since he presumably also knows the party has broken into the safe before, a savvy mayor may want to leave that safe as a trap and have a completely separate actual safe installed for official use.
If you want to go this route, consider leaving the decoy safe with a suitably simple combination that the players can crack without TOO much trouble. But when they open the safe, you could have an alarm spell go off. You may or may not want the players to know this has happened. If you want to get a bit more dramatic, you could have bars drop down blocking the exit as well as the windows. That will alert the players that they have been tricked. At this point, you could require a skill challenge to defeat the security system and release the trap. If the players can't escape within a few minutes, you could have the city watch show up to arrest the players. Even if the players got away, you might have the city watch see them fleeing out of town so they know that they can't return to town without dealing with the consequences.
As for the real safe, you could have it in the same room or elsewhere. Bonus points if the mayor still uses his election date for the combination :D
"Not all those who wander are lost"
I think TexasDevin is on the right track. There's only so complicated you can make a safe, the Mayor is presumably "low level" as well, and with enough time any safe is going to fall to a band of adventurers.
Creating guards, traps, barriers and other impediments around the safe is the way to go - plus the addition of low level magic ( probably which would alert the Guards and not try and kill the Party ).
Plus - there could be security through obscurity - the safe just isn't in the office anymore. It's now being hidden, and it can be a minor series of Social encounters ( Persuasion, Intimidation, Deception - bribery, charm, and blackmail of guards, locals, and town employees ) to find out where the new safe even is - but as noted, the Mayor still needs to access it.
Borrowing from the Sherlock Holmes story The Speckled Band - you could even have a small but deadly Creature in the safe, so there is an unexpected ( but likely not too deadly ) combat right at the end. Could they dispatch the Creature without raising the alarm - which is probably more challenging than outright killing the creature. I can see them trying to do stealthy combat :D Maybe if the Party has enough forethought to toss the Mayor's quarters you could throw them a clue: why does the Mayor have long thick leather gloves suitable for snake handling?
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
How cool would it be if the decoy safe was filled with a small gelatinous cube in the shape of the interior of the safe? Just adjust the stats for the cube to make it an appropriately difficult encounter.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
I definitely like the idea of the safe being emptied as a decoy and them ending up in jail. Especially as it'll fit in quite nicely with the next major plot point I've got coming up. What I think I might do is have the portrait bolted to the wall this time, and removing the portrait is what triggers a silent alarm. Then while they're trying to crack the safe itself, the town guard will come along and surround them. I'll make it a medium combat encounter if they do try to fight their way out, but I'm hoping they'll choose to surrender. Thanks for the suggestions, guys.
| D100 Non-combat Random Encounter Table | Enchantments Galore |
| Pulsing Brazier Magic Trap | Gnome Capsule Machine | Language - A Primer |