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Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Steverooo" data-source="post: 1564401" data-attributes="member: 9410">The PCs were all captured.  Those at negative HP had a Cure Minor Wounds spell applied, to stabilize them, then Deeper Slumber, and then were transported to the Big-Bad's prison complex...Before the game begins, make sure the players have all updated their character sheets and equipment lists, and have noted where items are located (you can tell them that if a Thief picks their pockets, you want to know what's in them, and pouches, and where purses are located, etc., or that you want to know where weapons are located, so that Trapper attacks, etc., can be adjudicated).Once you have the equipment lists, go through them, removing any obvious weapons and armor, all packs, pouches, etc....  Anything which is obviously weapons, armor, or magical, the guards will take away, and lock in a locker in the main room.  Any hidden weapons, have the unconscious PCs' players roll a Sleight of Hand (skilled or otherwise) vs. the guards' unskilled Spot rolls, to see if they were found.Now, have the PCs wake up, chained to the wall in the dim, dank prison...  What do they have on them?  No armor, certainly!  Probably no weapons...  No packs, nor pouches, including spell component pouches!  Ergo, no material components!  Does the Rogue have his picks and tools?  (Where were they listed as being, on his equipment sheet?  If in a pouch, No!  If hidden about his body, perhaps!)Step 1, the PCs must get free...  If the Rogue has his tools, fine.  If not, does anyone else have a needle, or other makeshift tool for an attempt with a -2 Circumstance Modifier?  Does a Wizzer or Sorcerer have Knock, and can they cast it without Material Components (if any)?  Any Shadowdancers can shadowshift out?Once free, can they fight?  A Monk is very handy, here, as is anyone else with Improved Unarmed Strike, a Druid with Wild Shape, etc.  Everyone else needs weapons...Have a few "disguised goodies", such as some sand and a few small stones on the floor...  A belt or other strip of cloth can be made into a simple sling, and the rock becomes a missile weapon.  The sand in a sock or glove becomes a sap.  Someone might be able to rip a chain off the wall, thus arming someone with a light flail...After that, the door must be opened, or wait for someone to come check on the prisoners/bring them a meal, etc.  Time and noise are a factor, throughout...  Make too much noise breaking chains, etc., someone will come check!Once the PCs get free, they now have choices to make...  Run for it, or go to the guardroom to get their stuff back?  The layout of the prison is a mystery (Monks, Rangers, and Rogues with good stealth and perceptions rolls are required, here... or perhaps a wild-shaping druid)!Fighting the guards, unarmed and unarmored, when they have both, is a lousy idea!  Anyone have a better one?  Sneaking out without their stuff will be bad news, too...  The Wizzers and Clerics won't be much help, as Material Components will have to be gathered from the (literal!) dungeon, and Verbal Components are DC:0 (+1/10' distant) to overhear!So, what to do?  Search for a way out, then try to take it, armed with only saps and slings (-1, due to rock ammo), or try to draw off the guards, and dog-pile them?The Monks, Rangers, Rogues, and any Druids who can wild shape will shine, while the spellslingers will be in the background, for a change...To help the smarter ones get back in the game, however, you can include SOME Material Components in the dungeon...  Sand is a component for Sleep, is it not?  A cricket is another...  Spider Climb needs a live spider (should be easy enough to find), and a drop of sap/treacle...  Will other sticky stuff do?To make the dungeon a bit less dangerous, you can have the Big-Bad temporarily "out of town", and his underlings ordered to keep the PCs alive, for the time being.  Sleep/Deeper Slumber, Force Cage, saps, disarming weapons like Ranseurs and Spetums, Man-catchers, etc., are the order of the day.  This way, if the PCs try and fail, they can be beaten down, returned to their cells, and start all over again (with no weapons, and maybe even less equipment, the next time).In three days, or so, the Big-Bad comes back, and things get worse!  Can the PCs escape, with extremely limited magic?  Can they find a way out?  Can someone get to a window, undetected?  If so, can someone climb down with no rope or tools?  What about the rest?  Can the Wizard/Sorcerer find a feather to cast Feather Fall?"Quick!  Somebody find me a down pillow!" <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" /></blockquote>

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