Okay, since apparently the only thing you can find on google when looking for "distractions" in D&D is GMs complaining about their players getting distracted by their phones while playing or other shenanigans like that, here my very simple question: What are some good and simple distractions you can come up with to keep the guards from noticing you while you are trying to sneak around the place for a bit? Preferably I'm looking for something that doesn't immediately draw attention to your presence, so no inexplicable wild fires that suddenly start springing up without anything burnable nearby that could have realistically catched fire on their own.
Things I could come up with from the top of my head would include stuff like: -rile up some animals, if there are any -get two guards to get into an argument -create noise (marginally, as for every sound there must have been something that created that noise, cluing your enemies in on the presence of something) -illusions (again while distracting from you, the guards will be on the look out for whatever your illusion created, so they will be on hightened alert, wich isn't the desired outcome)
The problem with any of these distractions is that they would prompt enemies to go in to search mode. While you could set them looking in the wrong direction or even attack with advantage, it would negate surprise.
I think some well placed vices might be the best distractions. A bottle of hooch, a mellow smokable or some cheap game cards could keep several guards busy celebrating their good fortune.
Here's a tactic I came up with but never actually got around to using in my current campaign...
Approach two guards... Use Major Image to create an illusory duplicate of one of the guards, but the duplicate looks like it just got mauled by an animal. The Duplicate yells, "No! Get away from it before it gets you too!" before "dying" from its injuries, then watch as the plot of the Thing plays out in small scale. Bonus points if you can approach after the conflict and convince the surviving guard that you're hunting the creature and get him to spread fear and paranoia about doppelgangers attacking.
If you only have a small number of guards to distract, you can make it more personal. Pay a child (or do it yourself in disguise) to tell a guard that his wife got run over by a cart/son fell down a well/ dog ran away/etc. You can also pretend to be their replacement/superior officer relieving them of duty. I've gotten good use out of having a bird or squirrel (with speak with animals or a familiar) steal their hat and see how long they will chase it. Even just getting a drunk to throw up on them will probably get them to go home and change.
Excellent ideas so far and while all of them would be serviceable in most situations, I admittedly was less thinking city guard and more hideout guard. You can use the people around you as a distraction when you are in a city, where there are enough people around for you to work with, sure, but what about a cave or an abandoned ruin where no one else is supposed to be around?
Also about the abusing their vices things. Sure, but wouldn't a competent guard wonder where those things suddenly came from?
I know, I know, I'm thinking too hard about it, but it still bugs me nonetheless.
I know, I know, I'm thinking too hard about it, but it still bugs me nonetheless.
I actually dont think you're over thinking it at all. This isn't a video game where an effect had a specific trigger and NPCs have worse short term memory than an amnesiac Dory.
This is D&D where the NPCs and PCs are as good and realistic as the DM & party wants to allow and creating a creative elaborate scheme will impress your dm a heck of a lot more than 'I roll performance to distract' 'ok how are u distracting?' 'Uhhh... idk but I rolled a 17'
Well, for abusing vices... in a recent game I played as a Goblin Bard, and while sneaking into a slaver's camp he presented himself as a "Goblin-Gram", delivering one of the party members disguised as a, uh... "Lady of the Night" to the camp's leader. So me, her, and one other party member who had turned invisible were brought directly to the leader's private chambers, where we could just jump him and steal some keys and stuff.
I was thinking a city in my first post. I’m trying to go non-magical since I don’t know what spells you gave access to. In the wilderness you could have a middle-aged couple bickering about how did they manage to get so lost out here and can we ask the nice young man for directions.
Capture an animal native to the area and release it pointed at the guard. Maybe sneak some bait near the guard to make sure the animal goes toward him.
Rockslide.
Light a campfire far-ish away. Close enough that the guard sees it keeps an eye out, but far enough that’s it’s not an immediate threat and is probably just a traveler passing by.
Disguise self as another guard and offer some whiskey laced with sleeping potion.
Familiars.
Pay a beggar or local waifs to throw stuff(smelly stuff) at the guards.
Make a loud noise at the same time 3 or 4 nights in a row in the same spot.
Set the stables on fire 3 streets over (ok this was an accident really! When I told the wizard to make some smoke appear I didn't mean real smoke, he took me literally)
Buy a shipment of manure from a local farmer and pay him to deliver it at a certain time near the guard station. Make it all legal like, forge a city document with all the proper paperwork showing it has to be delivered at that specific station at that specific time and include in the order, they have to help unload, signed by their Captain.
Have the local tavern deliver food and drink(lots of strong drink) to the station as a "thank you"
Have the bard start of a group of roaming carolers and have them serenade the guards.
Have the bard show up and sing one of the guards a love song from a "secret admirer" (if he sings loud enough it can give a code when to leave and the jig is up)
While there are many magical and ability based ways to achieve the desired effects for a distraction, it seems many here share the same sentiment as I that a mundane and likely to occur distraction will yield the best results.
As far as how realistic some of these ploys would be, think in terms of almost all other fantasy, sci-fi or action mediums out there. There is a need for the "suspension of disbelief", it's what brings out the best in all tongue in cheek(usage: whimsical exaggeration) movie scenes for instance.
Here's a simple and common ploy most will recognize. A group of hero's are trying to save a kidnapped princess. They manage to sneak in to a fortress but, when they get to where she is being held they realize it's much harder to escape with the princess than it was to get to her. The beautiful princess flirts with her captors allowing her allies to get the drop on them.
Ultra realistic. No. Incredibly fun role play potential? I say, yes!
Also, never underestimate the ability to simply pay the guard to simply look the other way. The Adventuring lifestyle skews the player's perspective on money... remember that the average villager only makes the equivalent of a few silver per day.
Potentially non-magic solutions that might require some flexibility from the DM:
* Divert a river to flow into the area where the guards are. Probably would require someone with the game equivalent of medieval engineering skills.
* Start a stampede of herd animals that gets frightfully close to the entrance of the cave/house that happens to be in the wilderness. Think Lion King. Probably would need to involve the whole party.
* Get a lot of honey and use it to coat a large treasure chest. Leave the treasure chest out of sight of the guards, just around the corner. Make a bit of noise so that the guards find the treasure chest. Ants find the guards. Or befriend a Mimic and do the same thing.
Okay, since apparently the only thing you can find on google when looking for "distractions" in D&D is GMs complaining about their players getting distracted by their phones while playing or other shenanigans like that, here my very simple question: What are some good and simple distractions you can come up with to keep the guards from noticing you while you are trying to sneak around the place for a bit? Preferably I'm looking for something that doesn't immediately draw attention to your presence, so no inexplicable wild fires that suddenly start springing up without anything burnable nearby that could have realistically catched fire on their own.
Things I could come up with from the top of my head would include stuff like:
-rile up some animals, if there are any
-get two guards to get into an argument
-create noise (marginally, as for every sound there must have been something that created that noise, cluing your enemies in on the presence of something)
-illusions (again while distracting from you, the guards will be on the look out for whatever your illusion created, so they will be on hightened alert, wich isn't the desired outcome)
Any ideas? Thank you all in advance for reading^^
My favorite is to Druidcraft or Prestidigitation the smell of smoke or, for even more fun, a skunk.
The problem with any of these distractions is that they would prompt enemies to go in to search mode. While you could set them looking in the wrong direction or even attack with advantage, it would negate surprise.
I think some well placed vices might be the best distractions. A bottle of hooch, a mellow smokable or some cheap game cards could keep several guards busy celebrating their good fortune.
Here's a tactic I came up with but never actually got around to using in my current campaign...
Approach two guards... Use Major Image to create an illusory duplicate of one of the guards, but the duplicate looks like it just got mauled by an animal. The Duplicate yells, "No! Get away from it before it gets you too!" before "dying" from its injuries, then watch as the plot of the Thing plays out in small scale. Bonus points if you can approach after the conflict and convince the surviving guard that you're hunting the creature and get him to spread fear and paranoia about doppelgangers attacking.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
If you only have a small number of guards to distract, you can make it more personal. Pay a child (or do it yourself in disguise) to tell a guard that his wife got run over by a cart/son fell down a well/ dog ran away/etc. You can also pretend to be their replacement/superior officer relieving them of duty. I've gotten good use out of having a bird or squirrel (with speak with animals or a familiar) steal their hat and see how long they will chase it. Even just getting a drunk to throw up on them will probably get them to go home and change.
Hire some ladies or gentlemen to go flirt with them.
Get a person or group to perform nearby — could be a juggler, or a play or someone faking being hurt.
Have a cart tip over near them, and have the driver ask for help righting it.
Excellent ideas so far and while all of them would be serviceable in most situations, I admittedly was less thinking city guard and more hideout guard.
You can use the people around you as a distraction when you are in a city, where there are enough people around for you to work with, sure, but what about a cave or an abandoned ruin where no one else is supposed to be around?
Also about the abusing their vices things. Sure, but wouldn't a competent guard wonder where those things suddenly came from?
I know, I know, I'm thinking too hard about it, but it still bugs me nonetheless.
Traditionally, hideout guards aren't competent. That's why they were stuck with the guard post. :D
I actually dont think you're over thinking it at all. This isn't a video game where an effect had a specific trigger and NPCs have worse short term memory than an amnesiac Dory.
This is D&D where the NPCs and PCs are as good and realistic as the DM & party wants to allow and creating a creative elaborate scheme will impress your dm a heck of a lot more than 'I roll performance to distract' 'ok how are u distracting?' 'Uhhh... idk but I rolled a 17'
Well, for abusing vices... in a recent game I played as a Goblin Bard, and while sneaking into a slaver's camp he presented himself as a "Goblin-Gram", delivering one of the party members disguised as a, uh... "Lady of the Night" to the camp's leader. So me, her, and one other party member who had turned invisible were brought directly to the leader's private chambers, where we could just jump him and steal some keys and stuff.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
In winter, use Shape Water to melt some of the snow overhead to drench one of them. Better if you can Subtle Spell it.
Insect SwarmInfestation cantrip. Also good with Subtle Spell.Minor Illusion the sound of an crying infant in the bushes.
Inside someone else's fortress or mansion, minor illusion the sound of the dinner bell. Then show up in disguise to relieve the guard.
Speak with animals to convince some bats to fly into their hair.
Wildshaped Druid -> Skunk form -> BWAHAAHAAHAAA
I was thinking a city in my first post. I’m trying to go non-magical since I don’t know what spells you gave access to. In the wilderness you could have a middle-aged couple bickering about how did they manage to get so lost out here and can we ask the nice young man for directions.
Capture an animal native to the area and release it pointed at the guard. Maybe sneak some bait near the guard to make sure the animal goes toward him.
Rockslide.
Light a campfire far-ish away. Close enough that the guard sees it keeps an eye out, but far enough that’s it’s not an immediate threat and is probably just a traveler passing by.
For Towns
Like some others pointed out, my very first thought was “Dancing Girls” like at the end of the old James Bond movie Octo*****.
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While there are many magical and ability based ways to achieve the desired effects for a distraction, it seems many here share the same sentiment as I that a mundane and likely to occur distraction will yield the best results.
As far as how realistic some of these ploys would be, think in terms of almost all other fantasy, sci-fi or action mediums out there. There is a need for the "suspension of disbelief", it's what brings out the best in all tongue in cheek(usage: whimsical exaggeration) movie scenes for instance.
Here's a simple and common ploy most will recognize. A group of hero's are trying to save a kidnapped princess. They manage to sneak in to a fortress but, when they get to where she is being held they realize it's much harder to escape with the princess than it was to get to her. The beautiful princess flirts with her captors allowing her allies to get the drop on them.
Ultra realistic. No. Incredibly fun role play potential? I say, yes!
Also, never underestimate the ability to simply pay the guard to simply look the other way. The Adventuring lifestyle skews the player's perspective on money... remember that the average villager only makes the equivalent of a few silver per day.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
Potentially non-magic solutions that might require some flexibility from the DM:
* Divert a river to flow into the area where the guards are. Probably would require someone with the game equivalent of medieval engineering skills.
* Start a stampede of herd animals that gets frightfully close to the entrance of the cave/house that happens to be in the wilderness. Think Lion King. Probably would need to involve the whole party.
* Get a lot of honey and use it to coat a large treasure chest. Leave the treasure chest out of sight of the guards, just around the corner. Make a bit of noise so that the guards find the treasure chest. Ants find the guards. Or befriend a Mimic and do the same thing.
throw a rock, works in the movies