Help me design an encounter in which there will be a TPC (Total Party Captured)

[reveal]

In my current campaign, I want to design a combat in which the entire party is captured. It is a d20 Modern campaign and there are currently in a Holiday Inn. The session will start with an NPC giving them valuable information about people and places.

One thing I want to stress is that this is an Urban Arcana type of d20 Modern game, which means that any and all D&D monsters/races can be in the game (even though all the PC's are human). I want a mix of different creatures for this encounter.

After she is finished, and there is a lull in the conversation, all hell will break loose. I want it to be pretty dramatic. For example, suddenly there is a huge explosion outside as one of the PC's cars explodes. The door breaks down and.... See where I'm goin'?

The NPC in question is CR 8. The party is comprised of Four 4th level characters.

I do NOT want a TPK. I want an encounter tough enough so that all the characters will be captured and the NPC will, of course, be left for dead (I have plans for her... )

Anyway, basically, the PC's need to be captured to lead them into my incorporation of ENPublishing's Deadly Games into the campaign.

Like I said before, all the PC's are 4th level. They consist of a Dedicated Hero, a Dedicated/Smart Hero, a Tough Hero and a Charismatic Hero.

Edit: Something I forgot to add originally; I know that capturing PC's is tricky. Doing it wrong can cause grief for the player (read: no one likes a captured character). This is why I'm asking for help; so I can get advice on how to do it properly.

In the end, it will all work out for the PCs; not that they know that of course.

 

[Ozmar]

Here is what you do.

The door breaks down, and a mind flayer blasts the room with a mind blast.

After the mind flayer acts, 8 goons (each a 6HD monster who is dominated by the mind flayer) rush in and begin beating down the unstunned PCs. Have them attack to subdue once, and then revert to real attacks after delivering any subdual damage. The mind flayer continues to mind blast unstunned PCs until all are so hopelessly stunned that they cannot resist. Goons continue to beat down stunned PCs until they fall unconscious. He reserves 4 more goons at his side just in case he stuns the first 8 goons, and thus doesn't concern himself with collateral damage.

If that doesn't take out the whole party at 4th level, then your campaign might be characterized as... munchkin?

Ozmar the PC-Killer

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

My best idea in this:
"Here comes the plot device: You are all captured."
I think it is the best - possibly even only - option to make it.
Players hate their characters to be caught. They have no control over the situation, and that`s not what you want in game, it´s something you might have in real life.

But if you say the players "this is neccessary for the story", they will go along with it. They know they have no control, but they know they will get it again, and it will be fun later.

If you don´t make clear its a "capture"-situation, the characters will fight, the players will come up with cunning counter-measures, and if nobody can escape, at least one will die. Bad introduction into the adventure...

Mustrum Ridcully

 

[AuraSeer]

Immediately after the explosion, a set of tear gas canisters crash in through the windows, and the room begins filling with gas. One round later, a pair of summoned kytons storm in through the door, their animated chains writhing out to entangle the PCs. A dark naga slithers in at the same time, using its spells to confuse the rest and prevent escape; if forced into melee, it uses its poisonous sting. Behind her comes a pair of drow rogues, wearing gas masks and wielding stun batons that they use on the most dangerous enemy. PCs trying to escape out the back door run into a duergar Dwarven Defender who uses Combat Reflexes, Improved Trip, a spiked chain, and his racial enlarge power.

Edited to add: Mustrum Ridicully makes a good point. As soon as combat starts, you may want to let the players know it's a plot fight they can't possibly win. Otherwise, it feels like railroading (which it is, really) and it isn't fun.

An even better option would be to make allowances for one or two characters that manage to escape. If the rogue equivalent takes off at the first sign of trouble and somehow gets away clean, maybe he gets a short solo mission where he can try to sneak in and save the others. He probably gets captured then too, but he still feels more like his actions had an impact on the story.

 

[StalkingBlue]

My best idea in this:
"Here comes the plot device: You are all captured."
I think it is the best - possibly even only - option to make it.
Players hate their characters to be caught. They have no control over the situation, and that`s not what you want in game, it´s something you might have in real life.

But if you say the players "this is neccessary for the story", they will go along with it. They know they have no control, but they know they will get it again, and it will be fun later.

If you don´t make clear its a "capture"-situation, the characters will fight, the players will come up with cunning counter-measures, and if nobody can escape, at least one will die. Bad introduction into the adventure...

Mustrum Ridcully

Emphatically seconded. You might be able to pull a capture off without a PC death if you use overkill of the kind Ozmar suggests, but the fight and capture scene as such will be very disempowering and potentially frustrating for the players if any dice are rolled. It's not a challenge for PCs/players after all, you're setting it up as a no-win situation for them - so don't pretend they have a chance of winning by playing through it step by painful step.

If you want to be sure of capture, do it swiftly, don't play it out at all but simply cut ahead to where the PCs wake up in captivity, each with some hazy memory of what they last remember. In fact if I were running this, depending on how much active input I wanted to give players on the 'information dump' from their NPC visitor, I might dispense with that as well and just give each PC some fragment of memory concerning what she told them - one might remember how she was left for dead when PCs were dragged out unconscious or half-unconscious by their captors (as a plant for when she reappears later).

Much more satisfying than being dragged through a fight that's been set up to prevent any outcome except what the GM had planned.

 

[Agemegos]

Do the PCs have gas masks?

If not a half dozen tear gas canisters and half a dozen flashbangs coming in through the windows, combined with a ambush with tazers in the hallway ought to get you off to a good start. Then send in sweepers in heavy kevlar and gasmasks, with MP5SD submachine guns, and you ought to get there.

[edited to add] By the way, it might help if the villains give some sign early that they are trying to capture, not to kill the PCs, because maybe that way they will be less inclined to do desperate things. But given the bad rep hostage-takers and other people holding captives are giving themselves these days, perhaps you ought not to count on it. Since the passengers on the fourth plane on 9/11 set their heroic example, a lot of people have reasonably and commendably resolved to die fighting rather than be captured.

So I would throw in a couple of reasonably tough NPCs who face the choice of surrender or resistance before the PCs face it. Show that the one who surrenders is captured unharmed and that the two who resist are blown to bloody rags.

A friend of mine is very keen on the 'PCs are captured' trope. Outside of James Bond 007 genre (where it is a convention) he has tried it four times, resulting in one successful adventure, one total party kill, and two campaign collapses. I rate the chances as being 75% that your plan will cause enormous resentment among the players, and 25% that it will end your campaign. And if you have the PCs rescued by NPCs without achieving anything themselves, the chances of a successful outcome are much worse. But you know your players better than I do, and perhaps you can be confident that they are in the tolerant 25%.

 

[Bloodsparrow]

If you have magical items in your game world... I have two words for you,

"Bands of Bolarro"

You will find them listed in your 3.5 DMG.
(Though you would want to be careful in your use of them since they can be picked up and thrown back if your guys miss. Of course... Your NPCs will know the command words for them to retract so...)

Other then that, I don't have much in the way of specific TPC advice... More like TPC Theory...

In capturing PCs, I found it very effective to split up the party. Which can be difficult, considering that not splitting up the party is a mantra of our kind. However, you don't need to split them up very much, the party won't think of themselves as split up if they can see each other, but it will be enough for you and work to your advantage when they can see their friends fall into your hands like candy from a piñata.

Have at least one fellow with some sort of ranged device that has an area effect. (Or more then one, but only have one visible and active at a time.) With any luck, your players will decide to keep a certain amount of distance between each other to mitigate the effectiveness of the device. This will make it easier for your superior numbers to corner and take down each member of the party. Or, they'll stay clumped together and make things easier for you.

Once you have at least one separated, have something entice that player even further away. (Like, make them think, "If I can just take out that guy with the gun that's throwing tear gas canisters...", and when they go to do it have that guy's friends that have been hiding around him jump the player.)

The important thing to remember is that you don't have to get them all at once. You can pick them off one by one. It's more physiological, and easier to boot.

Once you have one or more at your mercy, get them out of there. *POOF* Gone. ... Okay, maybe not *Poof*, but definitely gotten out of there quickly. No hesitation.

Don't put a gun to their head and demand that the rest of the group surrender, they'll just do some crazy thing that'll f-up all your plans. Just take them away, throw them in the trunk of a car and speed off.

This will throw the remaining players into disarray. Pick them off as they try to regroup and find a way to chase after the car with their friend.

Though there is the temptation to use an already captured PC as bait to lure the rest of the party in, it's not really a good idea to do this on the fly. Save that tactic for a place on your turf where you have all of the advantage.

It is, however, a good idea to use a "partially captured" PC to enable the capture of more PCs.

In my case for example, I hit one of the members of the party I was running with the aforementioned Bands of Bolarro. At that point, two other members of the party became completely useless as they both attempted to free her.

This was a perfect time for me to snag both of them as well.

Any PC that attempts to help a helpless or hindered friend becomes a sitting duck.

Have back-up plans. If some of the party does escape and some does not. Quickly have them mysteriously contacted by the captors and set up that friend as bait trap earlyer discussed.

On the other hand, you can do it more on the down-low if you like...

As your NPC is talking, the room has been filling up with gas. When the car outside blows they'll rush to the door to find it barred and they're all rather dizzy. They can bust the window and crawl out if they like, but it's too late...

And then they wake laying on a cold basement floor.

 

[arwink]

Emphatically seconded.

Thirded. I'd even take a page out of the Buffy system when doing so - if the players accept and go along with the story that you've got in mind, reward them with a couple of extra action points so they can be suitably heroic and effective during the escape. After all, if you need the capture to start the story, you need the break out to finish it

 

[Sir Whiskers]

Thirded. I'd even take a page out of the Buffy system when doing so - if the players accept and go along with the story that you've got in mind, reward them with a couple of extra action points so they can be suitably heroic and effective during the escape. After all, if you need the capture to start the story, you need the break out to finish it

Fourthed. Unless you have a very exceptional group of players, they will not enjoy being run through an encounter where you, as GM, have predetermined the outcome. Would you? IMO, your only good choices:

1. Play it out for real, but leave the characters meaningful choices, which means one or more may get away. That means don't make the encounter impossible.
2. Let the players know they're going to be captured and suggest if they play it out, they may gain some useful info and an action point or other reward. If they don't want to, go to option 3.
3. Just cut-scene the capture then pick up play when the characters can once again make meaningful choices.

 

[arwink]

The other way around it is, of course, to make the PC's want to be captured. Have some higher-up NPC point out that the bad guys have the necessary information or such at their base, and that the easiest way to get that information is to let themselves be captured. The trick is to make the capture seem realistic - if the bad guys figure the PC's go down to easy, they're like to either just kill them or dispose of them elsewhere because they figure there's a risk.

This puts the sense of power back on the PC's side of things - they have to put up a convincing fight, but not so convincing that the capture doesn't work. The ball's in their court, and they want the capture to succeed. (And, for added fun: Rather than bulking up the enemy team, tone them down and watch the players freak out as they realise they have to find a convincing way to loose to the equivelent of a half-dozen goblins they could take in their sleep...)