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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Talmek" data-source="post: 6709419" data-attributes="member: 74486">I ran the capture/escape scenarios with a group this past weekend, and probably had one of the best sessions ever out of the fifteen years I've been running games. It could have been simply because we were all in a good mood and were enjoying the suspense, but here's where I broke away from the book and kinda went our own way with it...- Followers: I didn't like the idea that ten folks were going to be running around with the group, possibly giving away their positions or worse, turning on them when they were already weakened by not having their gear (this didn't happen but I had to be prepared for if the group just hauled *** after breaking free). So, I had the entire group there for the prison break, started initiating some type of drama (between Ront and Prince Derendil) and seeing who the group was interacting with the most. They liked Stool (of course they did...) the most, so by the end of the escape all they had was Stool following, with the remainder either running different directions or being taken down by the drow. While I realize this could have significantly limited the storyline, I felt that just because there were something like ten NPCs in the book did not mean that we should try to run all of them with a group of four adventurers.- Gear: I made an effort to point out to my group that they were without their gear, which was going to greatly diminish any chances of survival without finding some kind of replacement. Mind you, this was with a group of players that have never read about the underdark or the survival aspect of that place. My expectations would have been much higher had this been with an experienced group of players. However, this statement alone created an interesting roleplaying session between the players and the NPCs prior to the prison break, where the players ended up asking Stool if he knows where their gear was taken, how to get it, etc. The end result was a great roleplaying experience for new(er) players and they ended up getting their stuff back...for the most part.- Encounter Difficulties: After running the first scenario I realized that the drow outpost inhabitants could have absolutely wiped out the entire group on multiple occasions, and I would warn any GM attempting this scene to keep that in mind. This group consisted of 3rd level (relatively) inexperienced players who knew how to work together and play well off of one another's abilities. However, the absence of their equipment made everyone but the rogue squishy to the point where they could have very easily ended up back in that cell awakening from unconsciousness. I'm going to take this lesson into account with the various chase scenes that may occur in the next sessions.Overall, the first session went over extremely well. The PCs aren't entirely alone (they have a myconid 5-year old to deal with) in a very dark and dangerous place, and they feel like they accomplished something by making it out of there alive, especially when they saw some of the cell mates cut down in the mayhem of the prison break. I would suggest putting in a fair amount of pre-work to get the post-escape prison break encounters assembled, but I base that statement only on reading the results of others within this thread.</blockquote>

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