Disarming a character from powers?

[keterys]

The first 4E demo I ran included the party being captured by the Slavers (capital S) and needing to escape. Their equipment was down a certain path and there was overwhelming force around (especially in one direction), so they had a skill challenge to figure out how to get out.

They figured out which other prisoner was kinda ring leader of resistance, made a deal with him to help create a distraction, snuck someone up to get the keys to the room out, stealthed and sleight of handed some orcs into stabbing each other, and then tore off when the orcs started running around.

They didn't try to go the other way, cause I said there was a pulley drawn lift that went up to two ettins by a pile of boulders guarding the way. They understood it as a finesse exercise instead of a 'use your magic abilities' exercise.

 

[Enoch]

I for one am planning on using 'fluff' descriptions as canon rules of the world. I'm tired of the term 'fluff' to begin with.

So to stop eladrin from teleporting, simply strap their legs so they can't step into the feywild.

 

[WyzardWhately]

Yup. I like that series too. The author also has his main character make extensive use of circle magic, implements, and a number of other things that fit in VERY well with the way arcane magic works in 4E.

And the countermeasures only work to the extent that someone invests will and emotional energy into the counter in question. And preventing a wizard from teleporting through a locked cell is no more, nor less, fair than preventing a fighter from walking through it. I believe, in some cases, the main character in that series will blast a door down rather than bypassing it because it's "easier" for him to do. However, for that kind of magic, he usually needs an implement.

The author is also, I believe, a D&D player from way back.

I can't conclusively confirm D&D or not, but a buddy of mine plays Call of Cthulhu with him.

 

[Rex Blunder]

So to stop eladrin from teleporting, simply strap their legs so they can't step into the feywild.

Tying the eladrin up seems perfectly solid to me, and solves the issue nicely as far as I'm concerned.

So once every 5 minutes, the eladrin can phase into the feywild, and then lie there for a few seconds, still tied up, till he reappears right where he was.

 

[Oni]

Prisons could be built on deadmagic zones. once they're out of it (it needed encompass the entire prison) they can open up. Or if you want them to be able to overcome it give it a source that can be disrupted like a circle of chanting monks that can be disrupted (suddenly I'm reminded of skyhold from battlechasers).

Or drug the captives. If you have a drug that's mixed in the food given to all the prisoners that causes an inability to concentrate that'll fix the problem (and keep your prison populace docile) until they stop eating long enough to get it out of their system (how long, that's another problem for them to overcome) Or maybe there's an drug that's fairly readily available that disrupts magical ability, then you've something they'll need to watch out for even beyond prison walls.

 

[DarkKestral]

I think there's an interesting point made: if you say that fighters/rogues/warlords/rangers and other 'fighty' types lose their powers when bound because they are away from their weapons, why is it fair to say that wizards/warlocks/clerics/paladins don't? I certainly don't think it is. I would probably support siomething in the form of a "focus component" in that case; it provides some balance.

But one thing I think that hasn't been brought up is that there's several different ways a campaign can start in a prison. A campaign can start in the prison and wait for hours while the PCs flail around trying to think of ways to get out, or the campaign can start with the characters shackled up, then, if it proves necessary, after a few minutes bring the game to them by having some guards show up that the players can defeat. (perhaps the guards are bringing their food and have the keys the players need to escape) The first is boring. The second provides a fairly legit place to start the game that is well supported as a "standard" beginning place for a story and gives the PCs a fairly obvious reason to start being action-y and heroic, at least under some definitions. Plus, it can provide them with a sometimes needed reason for the characters to rely on one another; if they try to backstab, no one will believe 'em anyway, so they have to take what's given to 'em.

 

[robertliguori]

Given 3W abilities at first level, I'd be less worried about prisoners teleporting out of prison and more worried about then (nonmagically) tearing through every mundane restraint you put on them.

Of course, this is assuming the basic paradigm of objects having hardness and HP. However, if they do, I'm pretty sure that given enough time, the half-orc monk escape artist of 3.5 will be replicated as a general case.

 

[ZappoHisbane]

Hmm. This thread has given me an idea that I think I'll use for my first 4E campaign start (if the overall story fits - still working on that). Everyone starts in prison, but it's a sort of a 'Usual Suspects' round-up. A threat to the town that has the guards sweeping the streets of the unknown and possibly dangerous folk. Shortly after, the captain of the guard gathers the PC's, and says something along the lines of "Okay, sorry for the hassle, we know it wasn't you. Want to help?" If the PCs are cooperative, great. If not, the captain promises to make life difficult (trumped up charges, rumours, etc). Anyway, just a thought...

 

[JohnSnow]

I can't conclusively confirm D&D or not, but a buddy of mine plays Call of Cthulhu with him.

Color me jealous of your buddy...

I'm pretty sure about the D&D thing - at least back in the old days. When they were making the TV series, the producers asked Jim if it would be okay for one of the villains to jump out of a sixth-story window and land safely. His response was "Sure, that's just a 1st-level spell, no big deal."

Referring to feather fall, rather obviously.