Creamsteak
Explorer
My home game players stay out.
If you're participating in any of my other games, you're welcome to read on and contribute.
This post is somewhat divided into two parts. The first part details the game (as an Eberron game). The second part details my interest in real-world examples, concerns, and ideas related to the design of this "dungeon".
PART 1
I'm working on building a prison facility for my Eberron game. The characters are 4th level with some characters as much as 50% of the way to 5th. They consist of the following:
A Kalashtar Soulknife.
A Tiefling Wizard. (alternate tiefling with no level adjustment)
A Goliath Ranger/Fighter. (alternate goliath with no level adjustment)
A Human Rogue.
A Dwarf Cleric.
The group has mainly been adventuring out of the city of Adderport into the jungles of Q'barra. On their previous adventure they were employed by an Aurum ship captain named Stone who operates the Higgins and Stone trading company. They raided a lizardfolk tribe on the outskirts of their territory and stole a cache of dragonshards. Of course, things were not exactly as they appeared, and circumstances changed.
The party figured out, through taking captives, that the Riedrans were the original target for the dragonshards. And of course, the Riedrans report to the inspired. Further, part of house Tharashk is in on the exchange with the Inspired pocketing a good deal of gold for it. All in all, the party learned that their actions made them a number of local enemies. What they don't know is that they've also made a few friends, like some anti-riedran humans in the local community and a few lizardfolk tribes that were opposed to the one they attacked.
So on the very last adventure, they pocketed their rewards and boarded Stone's vessel for a late-night party. Everyone was invited, by which I mean a number of people that hate the PCs. A house Tharashk representative and a few riedran commanders of various sorts attended, in addition to the usual party attendees. Even in the insect infested swamps the gambling remained popular with the locals. Much fun and tension was had.
However, that was not Stone's reason for the ordeal. He's set-up the players a bit. On their way home, they were attacked by inspired shocktroopers. The group split up 2/3 on their way home, and each group had success in driving off their attackers. They took one hostage (as they constantly do) and attempted to interrogate him. The relevant quori spirits abandoned the bodies, and now it looks very much like the party murdered 5 innocent riedran patrolmen that were augmenting the town watch.
They stayed in the inn, and the next morning they will be greated by the town watch plus two hidden inspired commanders. One beign a crusader, the other being a telepath. The party will be taken alive (most likely by charms/dominates) hopefully. Failing that the crusader and the grunts will have to get involved. This isn't the kind of group to just submit obviously.
Once captured, they'll have their list of crimes stated to them. Besides the obvious lie of "assaulting and killing five riedran officials acting on behalf of the Adderport Watch" they will also hear that they performed "the theft of one-thousand platinum dragons from a Mr. Stone of the Higgins and Stone trading company." This should let them know that something is up. First of all, Stone reported that they stole his money, they were not traded it. Second, Stone is saying they stole twice as much as they recieved. This is a double-ploy. Stone is making it look like he isn't aiding the group, so he looks to the Riedrans and House Tharashk as a legitimate ally. Second, this allows Stone to make claim to all of their possessions (minus some odds and ends that the guards might steal if they like them).
The party will hopefully feel betrayed and have some foul things to say about the silver-ringed dwarf. However, he's not betraying them as they assume. He's actually helping them escape and keep their equipment, in a round-about way. Stone is having his first mate (a changeling) get arrested on the following evening for insighting a fight with the watch. The first mate will then be in the same facility as the group, and should they escape he can inform them that Stone is onboard his ship off-coast of the prison waiting for them.
PART 2
All that background said, here's the general idea. The inspired have taken over a human-built castle or keep either on an island just off the coast, or on the edge of a rocky cliff along the coast. I'm inspired by some French prisons and Irish castles I've watched documentaries on. The central notion is that the party will be imprisoned below ground in what amounts to a dungeon. They'll likely never ascend the tower to its top, but rather escape through a hidden passage the Inspired were not aware of that leads to a small path down the cliffs into the water below. There are a couple notable features I'd like to have:
The dungeon needs to be secure. It should be fairly hard to escape, and the inspired should be able to negate the soul-knife's abilities in some way (probably anti-psionic shackles). The riedran guards are not entirely aware of what the Kalashtar is, but their masters know. The execution is set for three days after they are imprisoned, so the riedrans should feel confident that the party won't break free in that much time.
The dungeon should have whatever accomodations are "necessary" to support the staff and prisoners for a long term. Luxury shouldn't exist, but there should be supplies and things like a kitchen.
There should be some hidden traps, some found, some undiscovered. These would represent things that the original human owners did as precautions against attackers more than for keeping prisoners. The original facility was someone's home before it was a prison.
There should also be at least a few creatures that fit into a prison dungeon. An ooze of some kind in one place or another would work. Other similar hidden creatures should work. I also am tempted to include at least one Earth or Air elemental so that my parties cleric can turn/control it at some point. I think tha would be a fairly satisfactory method.
Some of the guards (notably the captain, maybe others) should be using some of the player's original equipment if they had nice stuff. That will allow them to recover part of their equipment to use later in the dungeon.
The underground level needs to be about 2/3 the size of the aboveground. I figure that they will explore only the first floors of the above ground facility to avoid running into the more dangerous inspired that they fought in the city. The mainstay of the game should be focused on the underground parts (both the prison and the hidden passages).
The final leg of the escape (running down the cliffs) needs to feel time-sensative in some way. There needs to be some looming threat so that they feel more motivated to dive into the water and swim to the waiting ship. I think that will help make the entire thing more climactic.
PART 3
This part is probably the least significant. What are my long-term plans? My intent right now is to go from the prison to the ship, then sail away from Adderport for the time being. Stone will have gathered all of his resources (so he's gambling quite a bit of his wealth on this, and probably wants the party for backup). They'll sail either south or north of Q'barra (I'm uncertain on this). Off the top of my head I'm thinking of running "The Last Breaths of Ashenport" next, since it would fit. If that were the case, I would have the ship dock or crash after a storm, and then proceed into that adventure with Stone and company taking part as well.
If you're participating in any of my other games, you're welcome to read on and contribute.
This post is somewhat divided into two parts. The first part details the game (as an Eberron game). The second part details my interest in real-world examples, concerns, and ideas related to the design of this "dungeon".
PART 1
I'm working on building a prison facility for my Eberron game. The characters are 4th level with some characters as much as 50% of the way to 5th. They consist of the following:
A Kalashtar Soulknife.
A Tiefling Wizard. (alternate tiefling with no level adjustment)
A Goliath Ranger/Fighter. (alternate goliath with no level adjustment)
A Human Rogue.
A Dwarf Cleric.
The group has mainly been adventuring out of the city of Adderport into the jungles of Q'barra. On their previous adventure they were employed by an Aurum ship captain named Stone who operates the Higgins and Stone trading company. They raided a lizardfolk tribe on the outskirts of their territory and stole a cache of dragonshards. Of course, things were not exactly as they appeared, and circumstances changed.
The party figured out, through taking captives, that the Riedrans were the original target for the dragonshards. And of course, the Riedrans report to the inspired. Further, part of house Tharashk is in on the exchange with the Inspired pocketing a good deal of gold for it. All in all, the party learned that their actions made them a number of local enemies. What they don't know is that they've also made a few friends, like some anti-riedran humans in the local community and a few lizardfolk tribes that were opposed to the one they attacked.
So on the very last adventure, they pocketed their rewards and boarded Stone's vessel for a late-night party. Everyone was invited, by which I mean a number of people that hate the PCs. A house Tharashk representative and a few riedran commanders of various sorts attended, in addition to the usual party attendees. Even in the insect infested swamps the gambling remained popular with the locals. Much fun and tension was had.
However, that was not Stone's reason for the ordeal. He's set-up the players a bit. On their way home, they were attacked by inspired shocktroopers. The group split up 2/3 on their way home, and each group had success in driving off their attackers. They took one hostage (as they constantly do) and attempted to interrogate him. The relevant quori spirits abandoned the bodies, and now it looks very much like the party murdered 5 innocent riedran patrolmen that were augmenting the town watch.
They stayed in the inn, and the next morning they will be greated by the town watch plus two hidden inspired commanders. One beign a crusader, the other being a telepath. The party will be taken alive (most likely by charms/dominates) hopefully. Failing that the crusader and the grunts will have to get involved. This isn't the kind of group to just submit obviously.
Once captured, they'll have their list of crimes stated to them. Besides the obvious lie of "assaulting and killing five riedran officials acting on behalf of the Adderport Watch" they will also hear that they performed "the theft of one-thousand platinum dragons from a Mr. Stone of the Higgins and Stone trading company." This should let them know that something is up. First of all, Stone reported that they stole his money, they were not traded it. Second, Stone is saying they stole twice as much as they recieved. This is a double-ploy. Stone is making it look like he isn't aiding the group, so he looks to the Riedrans and House Tharashk as a legitimate ally. Second, this allows Stone to make claim to all of their possessions (minus some odds and ends that the guards might steal if they like them).
The party will hopefully feel betrayed and have some foul things to say about the silver-ringed dwarf. However, he's not betraying them as they assume. He's actually helping them escape and keep their equipment, in a round-about way. Stone is having his first mate (a changeling) get arrested on the following evening for insighting a fight with the watch. The first mate will then be in the same facility as the group, and should they escape he can inform them that Stone is onboard his ship off-coast of the prison waiting for them.
PART 2
All that background said, here's the general idea. The inspired have taken over a human-built castle or keep either on an island just off the coast, or on the edge of a rocky cliff along the coast. I'm inspired by some French prisons and Irish castles I've watched documentaries on. The central notion is that the party will be imprisoned below ground in what amounts to a dungeon. They'll likely never ascend the tower to its top, but rather escape through a hidden passage the Inspired were not aware of that leads to a small path down the cliffs into the water below. There are a couple notable features I'd like to have:
The dungeon needs to be secure. It should be fairly hard to escape, and the inspired should be able to negate the soul-knife's abilities in some way (probably anti-psionic shackles). The riedran guards are not entirely aware of what the Kalashtar is, but their masters know. The execution is set for three days after they are imprisoned, so the riedrans should feel confident that the party won't break free in that much time.
The dungeon should have whatever accomodations are "necessary" to support the staff and prisoners for a long term. Luxury shouldn't exist, but there should be supplies and things like a kitchen.
There should be some hidden traps, some found, some undiscovered. These would represent things that the original human owners did as precautions against attackers more than for keeping prisoners. The original facility was someone's home before it was a prison.
There should also be at least a few creatures that fit into a prison dungeon. An ooze of some kind in one place or another would work. Other similar hidden creatures should work. I also am tempted to include at least one Earth or Air elemental so that my parties cleric can turn/control it at some point. I think tha would be a fairly satisfactory method.
Some of the guards (notably the captain, maybe others) should be using some of the player's original equipment if they had nice stuff. That will allow them to recover part of their equipment to use later in the dungeon.
The underground level needs to be about 2/3 the size of the aboveground. I figure that they will explore only the first floors of the above ground facility to avoid running into the more dangerous inspired that they fought in the city. The mainstay of the game should be focused on the underground parts (both the prison and the hidden passages).
The final leg of the escape (running down the cliffs) needs to feel time-sensative in some way. There needs to be some looming threat so that they feel more motivated to dive into the water and swim to the waiting ship. I think that will help make the entire thing more climactic.
PART 3
This part is probably the least significant. What are my long-term plans? My intent right now is to go from the prison to the ship, then sail away from Adderport for the time being. Stone will have gathered all of his resources (so he's gambling quite a bit of his wealth on this, and probably wants the party for backup). They'll sail either south or north of Q'barra (I'm uncertain on this). Off the top of my head I'm thinking of running "The Last Breaths of Ashenport" next, since it would fit. If that were the case, I would have the ship dock or crash after a storm, and then proceed into that adventure with Stone and company taking part as well.
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