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<blockquote data-quote="Agemegos" data-source="post: 1538961" data-attributes="member: 18377">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%.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Agemegos, post: 1538961, member: 18377"] 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 [i]James Bond 007[/i] 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%. [/QUOTE]

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