D&D 5E How do you prep/run stealth missions?

[iserith]

Yep, definitely trying to prepare interesting complications that are suited to a stealth-based mission.

But there's also a point where those two things meet – actions the players might take, and presenting interesting complications. In order to be interesting, the complications I present need to be meaningful challenges based on the PCs' capabilities and strategies/actions the players lean towards. A DM needs to think of both, right?

I think it's easy to fall into thinking that way, but I also think it's not necessary and sometimes actively unhelpful (such as spending time on prep that gets set aside because the players don't do the thing the DM imagines they will do). A solid list of complications, some idea of when the overall challenge is won or lost, and a bit of nimbleness on one's feet is what I would lean on here.

 

[Quickleaf]

Just was thinking about how I might adopt ideas from other game systems to put emphasis on this being an assassination mission (and not just a stealth mission). Shadowrun 6E has you competing for "edges" in combat, basically a mechanical representation of jockeying for superior positioning/situation. I also thought about how taking out several humanoids like lizardfolk with 22 HP each in just one round (before they can raise alarm) can be hard for some PCs. So I came up with this...

Stealth Takedown Pool: For each “edge” the party gains over the lizardfolk camp – learning useful intelligence, distracting a patrol, loosening straps on a dinosaur howdah, taking out a cluster of sentries quietly, poisoning food or drink – they add a d6 to their Stealth Takedown Pool. When a PC surprises an enemy and their initiative comes before that enemy, the player may spend any number of dice in the Stealth Takdown Pool and add the result to the damage of their first attack that hits that enemy on the surprise round.

 

[Quickleaf]

I think it's easy to fall into thinking that way, but I also think it's not necessary and sometimes actively unhelpful (such as spending time on prep that gets set aside because the players don't do the thing the DM imagines they will do). A solid list of complications, some idea of when the overall challenge is won or lost, and a bit of nimbleness on one's feet is what I would lean on here.

I've worked up 6 out of 10 or 12 complications so far. Do these look good? Do they seem like they'd threaten the PCs being hidden, but avoid the extreme of the alarm being sounded and whole camp going on alert?

1	Kobolds have captured remnants of the Hooting Skulls goblins and are tormenting them. The PCs’ goblin allies break ranks to exact revenge.
2	A flock of archaeopteryx go after a familiar or animal companion. If the familiar returns to safety of the PCs, it risks giving away their position.
3	Lizardfolk warriors with murderous looks lead a wounded lizardfolk priest deeper into the camp, past the PC’s position.
4	Swarm of mosquitos attack a concentrating PC. If hit, the PC takes 3 damage at start of their turns until mosquitos driven off with action.
5	Hunters have brought back game, and shrill cries echo through the camp. Hungry lizardfolk move through PCs’ position en route to hunters.
6	The PCs’ current cover they’re using to hide is at risk of moving. Lizardfolk might intend to harvest a tree while a dinosaur might lumber off.

 

[iserith]

I've worked up 6 out of 10 or 12 complications so far. Do these look good? Do they seem like they'd threaten the PCs being hidden, but avoid the extreme of the alarm being sounded and whole camp going on alert?

1	Kobolds have captured remnants of the Hooting Skulls goblins and are tormenting them. The PCs’ goblin allies break ranks to exact revenge.
2	A flock of archaeopteryx go after a familiar or animal companion. If the familiar returns to safety of the PCs, it risks giving away their position.
3	Lizardfolk warriors with murderous looks lead a wounded lizardfolk priest deeper into the camp, past the PC’s position.
4	Swarm of mosquitos attack a concentrating PC. If hit, the PC takes 3 damage at start of their turns until mosquitos driven off with action.
5	Hunters have brought back game, and shrill cries echo through the camp. Hungry lizardfolk move through PCs’ position en route to hunters.
6	The PCs’ current cover they’re using to hide is at risk of moving. Lizardfolk might intend to harvest a tree while a dinosaur might lumber off.

Yep, all seem reasonable for the scene and flexible enough to drop in anywhere as a complication to what's currently going on.

I'd add a lizardfolk youngling turning up on the PCs' position by happenstance (perhaps it was chasing its toy, a ball made of stitched human skin) and staring at them wide-eyed. "What do you do?"

 

[aco175]

You can also have boons for the PCs to go along with the complications. Guards sleeping in the tower or playing cards. Guards drinking and getting into a fight or passing out. Dinosaurs stampeding, a yelling contest or fighting over a woman to see who is the strongest. Hanging up laundry to block perception. Things like this.

 

[Quickleaf]

You can also have boons for the PCs to go along with the complications. Guards sleeping in the tower or playing cards. Guards drinking and getting into a fight or passing out. Dinosaurs stampeding, a yelling contest or fighting over a woman to see who is the strongest. Hanging up laundry to block perception. Things like this.

For sure. I was mostly imagining the PCs creating these opportunities/boons (e.g. drugging food to sedate guards, using illusion magic to provoke a fight, etc), but having a few preexisting ones for them to exploit would be fund. Is there some mechanic you were thinking for how/when to introduce them? Or just good old fashioned DM common sense?

 

[aco175]

I do not think I would have a mechanic or plan other than just have a list. Maybe every time the players come up with a good idea you can have them roll for a boon, but DM sense would keep it fluid and may keep things moving. You could have degrees of success and failure where if they fail a check they are not automatically spotted, but get a penalty or if they make a good roll, they get a boon. There would need to be some sort of finale where they all sneak in and meet up before getting to the next part. You whould add all the good and bad to see if they were noticed.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

regarding scry and fry: if your Emperor is paranoid and also doesn't use teleport tactics himself, have you considered the use of Forbidance? He might have access to pay a high level cleric or, perhaps the place is on a Ley line that recreates such a thing. It is permanent until dispelled if it has been cast everyday for 30 days, so this might be one of the reasons the emperor chose this spot for his forward camp...perhaps it already had such an enchantment on it from the previous owner. It also seems reasonable that the emporer would have a mind blank/non-detection item to prevent them from scrying him.

Could you do this in two sessions? recon session and an execution session?

 

[Quickleaf]

regarding scry and fry: if your Emperor is paranoid and also doesn't use teleport tactics himself, have you considered the use of Forbidance? He might have access to pay a high level cleric or, perhaps the place is on a Ley line that recreates such a thing. It is permanent until dispelled if it has been cast everyday for 30 days, so this might be one of the reasons the emperor chose this spot for his forward camp...perhaps it already had such an enchantment on it from the previous owner. It also seems reasonable that the emporer would have a mind blank/non-detection item to prevent them from scrying him.

Could you do this in two sessions? recon session and an execution session?

It needs to happen in one session, due to real-life limitations with folks moving in December and there's still a bunch of content for us to work through (running a customized Tomb of Annihilation). After this, we'll have 2-3 sessions for Omu and the Fane, and 4-5 sessions for the Tomb. So it's going to be tight. Also, at least one of my players gets impatient with excessive table time spent on recon.

The war camp site is actually established on an old druid grove that has long since been desecrated and forgotten. I'm still working out what that means.

The Emperor has no allied clerics. This tribe of lizardfolk worship the demon lord Sess'innek. The only 13th+ level caster available to the Emperor is a warlock who is busy back in the capital city working on a summoning rite for the demon lord.

A ring of mind shielding is a possibility.

One thing I'm confused about is how does scry targeting work if there's a decoy? Let's say everyone (save his close advisors) thinks the Emperor looks a certain way, but that's just a decoy to keep the real Emperor safe. Would scry end up targeting the decoy or the real Emperor?

 

[Imaculata]

I designed a dungeon once where the players had to bypass an army of skeleton pirates. Stealth was encouraged, but not mandated, because you can never force your players to do what you want them to do.

Instead, what I prefer to do is offer a lot of options to my players. This means including branching paths in the dungeon, and making stealth the easiest approach for them. For this to work there should be an initial opportunity for the players to get a glimpse of what they're up against, without immediately getting caught. So the first encounter with the guards requires no check, the players can simply see the guards from a safe position, without being spotted. This allows the players to get an idea what the positions of the guards are, how to stay out of sight, what their patrol routes are, and form a plan.

Patrols
I try to make guard patrols very simple and easy to understand. While a real guard would not be this predictable, I tend to wave realism away in favor of gameplay. I treat this like a computer game, by having every guard behave predictably and simple. Some guards may stay in one place constantly, and merely face different directions every now and then. While other guards simply move from A to B and back again. This allows the players to clearly state an approach, such as: "I wait till the guard on the tower is looking away from us", or "I wait till the guard walks towards us, and then grab him as he turns around".

Cover spots
You'll want to include plenty of cover for the players, so they have things to hide behind. And they should be able to take out some of the guards without being spotted by the rest. The players may want to wait for one guard to be alone, and then quickly drag him behind cover to quietly take him out.

Height differences
I also tend to include lots of height differences, because this provides more ways for the players to stay out of the line of sight of guards. For example, a guard on a bridge will probably not notice a player swimming underneath it, or swimming entirely underwater. Where as a guard on a balcony will be able to see very far, but will have a blindspot underneath the balcony it is standing on.

Not too many checks
The more rolls the players need to make, the higher the chance their stealth fails, despite their best efforts. Unlucky rolls are always lurking, so try not to force too many rolls on your players if you want them to consider stealth a valid option. Because statistically, they are eventually going to make a bad roll. For example, if a player has to cross an area without being noticed by guards, that should require just one stealth check, even if there are multiple guards. You could even decide that only one party member makes all the stealth checks, and he then helps the other players cross unnoticed. This simplifies the stealth a lot, and makes the stealth not hinge on the weakest link of the party.

Failure conditions
But as a DM you need to have a plan regarding what happens when the stealth fails. Is the entire dungeon alerted? Or is only a small section alerted? Can the players perhaps intercept a guard who runs for an alarm bell? I tend to be rather lenient in this regard, because the players aren't perfect. They make mistakes, and they can have an unlucky roll.

Most importantly: One failed stealth check should not immediately alert all the guards, it may just draw their attention to a suspicious noise, leading to an exciting challenge where the players must hide from sight, kill the guard quietly or distract the guard. As long as the guards are unaware of the presence of the players, one strange sound is no reason to sound the alarm... yet. Use this as an opportunity to build suspense, rather than punish the players for making a bad roll.

Drunk, stupid and talking guards
These are best to teach your players how to use stealth, so use them early. Drunk/stupid guards are easy to bypass and easy to fool. They don't pay a lot of attention and can add a bit of humor to your stealth challenge. I also like to give my guards dialogue that my players can overhear. Guards that are talking are an easy tool for exposition, giving the players information about the dungeon and the guards themselves, plus a talking guard is distracted, so easy to bypass.

Monster guards
Lastly, if the players need to sneak past monsters, this may be easier or harder, depending on the monsters. A dragon could easily sniff out any intruders and has excellent hearing, while skeletons possibly can't hear any sounds at all. Orc guards could be stupid and easy to fool with a simple distraction. Undead will probably not follow up on a false alarm, and resume their usual patrols unaware of the player's presence. Plus they usually can't communicate with each other. Give some thought to the level of intelligence of your guards and how this affects their behavior.