Imprisoning the PCs

[rogueattorney]

Let me get this right... There are characters in this prison that have information that the pcs need. The plan is to have the pcs thrown in prison, too, and have them learn this information as the pcs and the others break out of the prison together.

If I'm right, wouldn't it be easier from a player buy-in standpoint and possibly even a bit more fun to let the players know that the people with the information they need are in this prison and then let the pcs figure out a way to get into the prison and get the information out of them.

Maybe they decide to fake getting thrown in jail. Maybe they try to strong-arm their way in. Maybe they try to bribe/bluff/sweet talk their way in. Maybe they just go to the king, tell them why they need in and the king helps them. Do they have to torture the prisoners to get the information? Or maybe they have to bust them out. Or go on some quest. ("You get my wife and daughter safely to Safe City, and I'll tell you everything you need to know.")

It just seems to me a pretty cool adventure could be put together based on these circumstances without taking away the player agency.

 

[delericho]

So let me get this straight (I am going to be a bit harsh here)- the King manages to throw all the PCs into prison at a flick of his hand, but the prison guards are too dumb to "disarm" all the prisoners?

Basically, yes.

Presumably, he had his best people working on the "throw them into prison" part of the play, and the guy who wasn't good enough to get the plum gig working on the "and keep them there" part of it.

The alternative is that you throw the PCs in an inescapable prison, and your game sucks from that point until you deign to let them out. (Or, yes, you can never run this scenario.)

Are you going let the barbarian sneak his greataxe in too (I'll let the read infer where the barbarian will hide it to get it in).

The difference is that if the barbarian doesn't have his greataxe, there are still things he can do. He can improvise a new weapon, he can wrest a weapon from the guards/other prisoners, he can manage without a weapon for a while...

A Wizard without his spells, on the other hand, is basically a Commoner. He loses far, far more, and the player is likely to be very bored.

Granted, I'm being harsh here, but I think that will just piss of players even more - "If can still cast fireball, how the hell did I get in here?!?".

Hence my recommendation to end one session with the PCs partying hard, and start the next with them in jail - it's easy to see how they might have been drugged and dragged off, yet still have some spells prepared.

The rogue and the fighter can still do some stuff...

Not really. In a 'realistic' fantasy realm, you hit the Fighter with several curses to reduce his strength to a point of uselessness, or bind him in place with soverign glue or similar. In short, the Fighter (and other classes) can be rendered just as impotent as the Wizard.