What level are they? If they are level <5 have them fight a bunch of Clerics who are just a bit too powerful. Eventually the Clerics should kill one of the party members.
At that point have a 5th level cleric state:
"I can revivify your companion, but only in the next minute. Surrender immediately and after we have secured your weapons, I will save his life."
Works on almost all good PCs.
No it doesn't. That sort of demand only works if the players characters lack the ability to raise the dead character themselves and are willing to believe that the enemy is telling the truth. Many players wouldn't even consider accepting such an offer, on the grounds of just how big of a fool do you think they a
The reason I said <5th level is to make sure they lack the ability to Raise Dead. Similarly, people trust Clerics if they know their God is not Evil. I should have expressly stated the Clerics work for a Neutral God. That should be enough for a smart PC to surrender.
Given that the scenario calls for the party to be fighting an evil cult, I don't see why they'd be willing to trust any clerics associated with it (or why non-evil clerics would then turn them over to the cult).
1) They get invited to dinner with poison drinks that knock them out.
2) They get caught in a trap that keeps them still to be captured.
3) An assassin sneaks into their homes while they sleep, drug them, and they wake up captured.
THE WORST way to capture the PCs is to force them to fail. A) if they don't fail, you'll be left dumbfounded and unable to continue plot, B) people HATE losing unfairly.
This is a brilliant example of the "Murder Hobos Dilemma." If you run a game where the narrative arc has been habitually driven forward through combat, and the shortest path to a solution of any problem is murder, then when you present them with a problem that can't be solved with killing, they're going to A: try to kill their way out of it, and B: get upset when they can't kill their way out of it.
Just capture them. It's as good a time as any to shift the paradigm. Present them with an obviously overwhelming force. If they fight back, pound the tar out of them. They huff and puff that you gave them an unfair fight and you say "yeah, well, that's life." AND THEN you show them that the world doesn't end. Because they live, obviously. You give them a long rest, the story moves on with them captured and having to do whatever. So now, you've built trust at the table that, if they're presented with an overwhelming obstacle, it might actually BE overwhelming. But that overwhelming is okay, and they'll live to see the other side of it.
Just don't use it as an opportunity to monologue. Make sure any points of time where they aren't PHYSICALLY in control, they have the ability to ask questions, make plans, gather information. Break up any time where you have to be in control of them (especially as they're getting used to not being successful murder hobos) with opportunities to question people, sway dissidents to their cause, advance the plot in their own way. Otherwise, you're telling them "I'll sometimes overwhelm you with force just so I can talk a lot."
Only have one thing to say here. Whatever you do, make sure the players roll checks/saves. These checks/saves can have very, very high DCs, but so long as they roll they'll feel that it wasn't impossible. You of course will know it basically was, but you definitely don't tell your players that. If some how the a PC succeeds, use it to your advantage. Make a cool solo stealth mission, where the PC has to use their wit and tactics rather than their attacks to try and save the party, with the ritual happening just too quickly, so that the players feel like they had a chance. Even if there isn't any chance, you must give your players the illusion of the possibility of success.
Only have one thing to say here. Whatever you do, make sure the players roll checks/saves. These checks/saves can have very, very high DCs, but so long as they roll they'll feel that it wasn't impossible. You of course will know it basically was, but you definitely don't tell your players that. If some how the a PC succeeds, use it to your advantage. Make a cool solo stealth mission, where the PC has to use their wit and tactics rather than their attacks to try and save the party, with the ritual happening just too quickly, so that the players feel like they had a chance. Even if there isn't any chance, you must give your players the illusion of the possibility of success.
To add to this. There's nothing that says you can't make up a new kind of poison where you need to succeed, say three saving throws in a row with the DC going up each time. Let them roll and if they succeed they are fine for a round before they have to roll again. And again. And again. And again...
I would strongly recommend doing against something like that. You're just setting yourself up for party resentment when the barbarian rolls a 27 of their constitution save and you announce that they end up failing anyway.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Only have one thing to say here. Whatever you do, make sure the players roll checks/saves.
Only do that if you're prepared for the PCs to succeed. If the plot requires the PCs fail (or succeed) at some task, don't let the dice mess it up. Of course, you should probably avoid creating plots that require the PCs failing (or succeeding).
I'm probably too late replying for this to be of any use, but it could help in the future. I like to lure my party in with fun or loot or some other bait which they enjoy until they try to leave. At that point, there are a number of tactics you can employ to get them to stay. Feign hurt on the side of the NPCs so that the party feels too guilty to leave them. If they're a gambling-prone player, play on that weakness with a game of chance - whether it's rigged or not and what the stakes are is completely up to you, it could even be their freedom.
I've recently lured my players into a tavern using ultra-sexy doubles. The party discovered a village where all the inhabitants were in the tavern. Each PC had a double who was actually a succubus/incubus in human (or whichever race the players chose) form. The PCs are wined and dined and flattered. One is currently being taken upstairs while another is dancing while a party-sided NPC bard plays for them. Tonight will see the trap spring where the doors are shut for a "lock in" and it will be revealed that the tavern itself is an enormously huge mimic. The succubi and mimic have a symbiotic relationship that allows the mimic to eat the flesh of any adventurers and the succubi to take their souls.. I haven't yet decided if an extracted soul will be put into a gemstone as an offering to a fiendish deity as the encounter could quite easily kill one or two members.
A rope flying out from an alley is a good way to pick them off. Like one gets pulled into an alley after getting hit with a poison dart, then another gets pulled into a shop by multiple large men, and so on
that way, it ups the suspense “oh, who’s going to disappear next!” And gets all the players captured
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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The reason I said <5th level is to make sure they lack the ability to Raise Dead. Similarly, people trust Clerics if they know their God is not Evil. I should have expressly stated the Clerics work for a Neutral God. That should be enough for a smart PC to surrender.
Given that the scenario calls for the party to be fighting an evil cult, I don't see why they'd be willing to trust any clerics associated with it (or why non-evil clerics would then turn them over to the cult).
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Couple ideas:
1) They get invited to dinner with poison drinks that knock them out.
2) They get caught in a trap that keeps them still to be captured.
3) An assassin sneaks into their homes while they sleep, drug them, and they wake up captured.
THE WORST way to capture the PCs is to force them to fail. A) if they don't fail, you'll be left dumbfounded and unable to continue plot, B) people HATE losing unfairly.
This is a brilliant example of the "Murder Hobos Dilemma." If you run a game where the narrative arc has been habitually driven forward through combat, and the shortest path to a solution of any problem is murder, then when you present them with a problem that can't be solved with killing, they're going to A: try to kill their way out of it, and B: get upset when they can't kill their way out of it.
Just capture them. It's as good a time as any to shift the paradigm. Present them with an obviously overwhelming force. If they fight back, pound the tar out of them. They huff and puff that you gave them an unfair fight and you say "yeah, well, that's life." AND THEN you show them that the world doesn't end. Because they live, obviously. You give them a long rest, the story moves on with them captured and having to do whatever. So now, you've built trust at the table that, if they're presented with an overwhelming obstacle, it might actually BE overwhelming. But that overwhelming is okay, and they'll live to see the other side of it.
Just don't use it as an opportunity to monologue. Make sure any points of time where they aren't PHYSICALLY in control, they have the ability to ask questions, make plans, gather information. Break up any time where you have to be in control of them (especially as they're getting used to not being successful murder hobos) with opportunities to question people, sway dissidents to their cause, advance the plot in their own way. Otherwise, you're telling them "I'll sometimes overwhelm you with force just so I can talk a lot."
Only have one thing to say here. Whatever you do, make sure the players roll checks/saves. These checks/saves can have very, very high DCs, but so long as they roll they'll feel that it wasn't impossible. You of course will know it basically was, but you definitely don't tell your players that. If some how the a PC succeeds, use it to your advantage. Make a cool solo stealth mission, where the PC has to use their wit and tactics rather than their attacks to try and save the party, with the ritual happening just too quickly, so that the players feel like they had a chance. Even if there isn't any chance, you must give your players the illusion of the possibility of success.
To add to this. There's nothing that says you can't make up a new kind of poison where you need to succeed, say three saving throws in a row with the DC going up each time. Let them roll and if they succeed they are fine for a round before they have to roll again. And again. And again. And again...
I would strongly recommend doing against something like that. You're just setting yourself up for party resentment when the barbarian rolls a 27 of their constitution save and you announce that they end up failing anyway.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Only do that if you're prepared for the PCs to succeed. If the plot requires the PCs fail (or succeed) at some task, don't let the dice mess it up. Of course, you should probably avoid creating plots that require the PCs failing (or succeeding).
I'm probably too late replying for this to be of any use, but it could help in the future. I like to lure my party in with fun or loot or some other bait which they enjoy until they try to leave. At that point, there are a number of tactics you can employ to get them to stay. Feign hurt on the side of the NPCs so that the party feels too guilty to leave them. If they're a gambling-prone player, play on that weakness with a game of chance - whether it's rigged or not and what the stakes are is completely up to you, it could even be their freedom.
I've recently lured my players into a tavern using ultra-sexy doubles. The party discovered a village where all the inhabitants were in the tavern. Each PC had a double who was actually a succubus/incubus in human (or whichever race the players chose) form. The PCs are wined and dined and flattered. One is currently being taken upstairs while another is dancing while a party-sided NPC bard plays for them. Tonight will see the trap spring where the doors are shut for a "lock in" and it will be revealed that the tavern itself is an enormously huge mimic. The succubi and mimic have a symbiotic relationship that allows the mimic to eat the flesh of any adventurers and the succubi to take their souls.. I haven't yet decided if an extracted soul will be put into a gemstone as an offering to a fiendish deity as the encounter could quite easily kill one or two members.
A rope flying out from an alley is a good way to pick them off. Like one gets pulled into an alley after getting hit with a poison dart, then another gets pulled into a shop by multiple large men, and so on
that way, it ups the suspense “oh, who’s going to disappear next!” And gets all the players captured