How do you deal with captured PCs?

[Dog Moon]

So this past Sunday the group was captured and tied up by rat people. They're second level and when they awoke, they found themselves attached to basically crosses. The rat priestess decided to give them one option: one of them has to die. They choose and the other two are let free [note that I wanted something interesting to do and believed correctly that one of the players wanted to change anyways, which is why I went through with this].

So after a few attempts at Diplomacy/Bluff at which the rolls or the ideas were poor [free us because our allies are coming, says the PC. Then I'll kill you all now and escape, says the rat priestess, for example].

The Pally managed to Diplomacy himself an extra couple of minutes, but that was about it. The idea of slaves MAY have worked had the tribe been strong enough after suffering through 4 assaults by the PCs - and though beaten, they could probably wreak a lot of havoc as prisoners; the weaker Goblins were preferable.

So one PC bit the dust and the other two awoke naked in an alley above street level.

So that's how I dealt with the captured PCs. What do YOU do? Anything interesting?

 

[Nifft]

Sometimes I kill them.
Always I take their stuff.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Glyfair]

Runequest, back in the "old days" used to have a standard system. If you were clearly about to lose you could surrender and be exchanged for a standard "ransom." It was almost necessary given the potential lethality of the game system.

Of course, there were certain things to which you never surrendered. Surrendering to chaos was certain death, or worse (often worse).

 

[kaomera]

Keep them drugged for a few weeks, then let them go unharmed, with all their stuff (and even a little extra coin for their troubles!)...

While you're waiting, magically disguise your servants as the PCs and have them commit murder, treason, etc.

 

[smootrk]

Sometimes I kill them.
Always I take their stuff.

Nifft used my answer!

 

[The_Gneech]

Favorite Option:

Put them into an unnecessarily-slow and elaborate deathtrap with one guard and then leave, assuming that naturally they will be killed.

Second-Favorite Option:

Put them into mines or a galley, in which they are sure to organize the other prisoners and engineer an escape.

-The Gneech

 

[smootrk]

Put them into an unnecessarily-slow and elaborate deathtrap with one guard and then leave, assuming that naturally they will be killed.

Batman and Robin style (tv show)

 

[Janx]

Normally, I advise new GMs to never capture the party. It's certainly bad to "plan on capturing the party" because that almost always leads to railroading.

The other reason to avoid capturing the party is because it leads to several other problems.

Firstly, all PCs hate being captured (they hate dieing, too). So they want to try everything to escape. An unprepared DM can easily turn this into a railroad of non-progress because they get stuck in the mindset of "I must keep the captives", which defeats the purpose of adventuring (running around and doing stuff).

Secondly, it can lead to doing things to PCs that players really don't like. A smart captor will remove all gear from a PC. Even smarter is to leave them naked. For female players, this can be offensive (or it can lead to worse things that offend them even more).

Side note: 1 in 5 women in the US is raped. Odds are good, a female player is close to someone this happened to. It is not something they care to experience in a game. Getting stripped down is step one to raping a PC. Therefore, out of respect for your players, you should avoid this topic, unless you REALLY know your players won't be offended.

Thirdly, getting captured pretty much ends the action. The players are stuck unless the GM leaves them a means of escape. And for some GM's the thought of letting them escape is furthest from their mind.


However, all is not lost. I believe a prepared GM can use capture as an effective tool. It just takes a bit of planning.

Here's some rules of thumb that I try to go by:
Use a capture if it will avoid killing PCs (or prevent a TPK)
Always allow for escape (expect that escape is the NORMAL outcome)
Never strip a PC naked (especially with women gamers, it's a socially polite thing)
Unless time has passed, the PCs' useful gear is nearby (being used by the leader, or stored/carried in a sack)
If the PCs' search, they find a lock pick or weakness in the cell
If the PCs' talk to other inmates, they find a plot to escape
If the PCs actions warrant execution, it will be scheduled for "later" (allowing time to escape)
The PCs are never too exhausted from working in the mine, to prepate for an escape
Make escape "easy" if the capture was just to prevent a TPK
Make escape complex if it will expand the adventure

 

[Glyfair]

A smart captor will remove all gear from a PC. Even smarter is to leave them naked.

I think this is "gamer logic" rather than "real world logic." They gamers sees the pluses and decides that it's the only right move.

Look at the real world. When police capture suspects do they strip them naked and leave them that way? Do soldiers strip enemy soldiers and leave them that way? Do hostage takers normally strip their captives? While there are exceptions, they are rare or brief (usually for searches).

There are reasons it doesn't happen that often in the real world. A practical one is that, when is hostile areas, you just made yourself a target. When a hostage taker strips his hostages naked the snipers know to aim for the clothed people. A more common reaction is that these things "just aren't done" and there are repercussions for those that break these societal rules.

This shouldn't happen any more often in a game than it does in the real world. That it does is usually a sign that either the DM wants to humiliate his players, or that he is looking at the small picture.

 

[Shadeydm]

What do YOU do? Anything interesting?

Shortly after the PCs wake up the BBEG's top aide usually make the following announcement; "Bring out the gimp!"

Ok not really but imagine the horror lol.