Guards popping out for a sly [blank]?

[tarchon]

If it's a camp or fort or something, they probably have a latrine or privy inside. Making your troops go outside the fort to take a whiz, well it's not a brilliant bit of military planning.
"It is odd, General; our casualty rate always goes way up after we dispense the coffee rations."

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

To do their job!

Shows what you know of real guard duty

Real guards find a nice place to hide from the rest of the world and pretend nothing is happening. Taverns work well.

 

[Lasher Dragon]

LOL I'd much rather relieve myself just outside the "fort" or whatever it is than some privy (indoors or outdoors). I hope the place is big and has good ventilation... whew!! Sooner or later everyone's going to be on guard duty outside otherwise.

 

[Hand of Evil]

If it's a camp or fort or something, they probably have a latrine or privy inside. Making your troops go outside the fort to take a whiz, well it's not a brilliant bit of military planning.
"It is odd, General; our casualty rate always goes way up after we dispense the coffee rations."

Side note and little known fact (From Wild West Tech - History Channel): More men were bitten and died from Black Widow bites while using the out house than in gun fights, it was a common event based on some records.

 

[Lasher Dragon]

LOL Hand of Evil I saw that episode

 

[loki44]

So, would the guards pop outside for anything? What common drugs would they take? Etc? I'm sure you get where I'm going with this

Maybe they're slipping outside in pairs to make out. Those long night watches get awfully lonely I'd imagine...

 

[WmRAllen67]

Smoking would not be something they would go outside for, that is something that happens now days.

There's a line in Kelley Armstrong's Stolen (modern era werewolves, witches &c) that runs (in paraphrase) "Even super-secret conspiracies nowadays have to deal with the non-smoking crowd..."

Isn't it also one of the "Evil Overlord" items?

 

[BigRedRod]

Cigars are quite possibly the way forward. It just doesn't seem right using pipes, I just can't imagine it in a non silly way.

Cheers people

 

[Amaroq]

Maybe they're slipping outside in pairs to make out. Those long night watches get awfully lonely I'd imagine...

Or slipping outside (alone) to meet a wench - which could give your heroes some great ethical dilemnas, because of course we can take out the guard, but what about the (presumably) innocent witness?

Slipping out to meet somebody who is bribing the guard could be very interesting - though it might divert your players into finding out what the bribery is about...

Slipping out to see one of the guard's relatives might also be reasonable: more G-rated, provides the innocent angle, and there could be any number of reasons for that conversation: from here's a warm pot-pie on a cold night, to continuing an argument, to begging for help - again, player-diversion warning.

The pipe doesn't have to be 'refined'; it is the reasonable alternative to cigarettes for a nicotine addiction in a fantasy world, so I'd imagine any number of people would use it.

Finally, what about a flask of alchohol? Presumably, drinking on duty is forbidden by a competent guard captain, but those nights sure do get cold, and a shot of firewater might just warm me up. Of course, I have to be out of view lest the captain see me.

 

[Pielorinho]

Relieving themselves also occurred to me: if they have an all-night shift, they're gonna be pounding back the coffee (if it exists in your world). And as a professor once told me, "You don't buy coffee: you rent it."

Daniel