Prisoners

[Nilbog]

So I was reading the thread about the intimidation skill, and it got my pondering, how does your group handle prisoners? It's always been an area o e struggled with, the options as I see it are:

1. Take no prisoners, not especially heroic or 'good'
2. Bind them and take them with you. Seems ok but can lead to a host of problems as you are responsible for their well being, and also the danger of them trying to sabotage you.
3. Strip them of all but a few basic possessions and send them packing, again this could come back to haunt you as they may return to extract retribution
4. Secure them in a room and sort them later when the immediate threat is dealt with, I think this is the best option but not always possible.

Again it is circumstancial but I'm thinking in a standard dungeon crawl scenario by default.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

It depends on the group...and the specifics...but usually we tend to take prisoners of a few higher ups and tell the lower level ones to "not let me see you around here again".

If the beings are particularly evil, or have done really extra evil things, then they might not get taken prisoner unless there is something to be gained from them being in captivity.

METAGAMING: After the second or third time my character takes a prisoner only to have them escape (Batman's entire lifetime of work) or lets someone go only to have them come back and attack us again (the german soldier from Saving Private Ryan) they aren't going to let it happen again. No more prisoners from that point unless there is a REALLY good reason for doing so. I once got the stink eye from the rest of the party for offering an evil mage we had just defeated one of two fates...either we cut off your head or your hands.

GMs....don't keep punishing your players for being Good.

 

[aco175]

Lately, since 5e started, my main group has been letting them go. A few times a monster like a goblin surrenders and grovels for his life. The PCs talk to him and get any information before sending him on his way- sometimes with threats if he is seen again. Only a couple times has he come back with problems for the PCs.

I think some of the how they are treated is based on the DM and how the game is run. Similar to checking every door if the DM likes to throw traps and such. If the DM is punishing the players for things, then the players react in the way that avoids the confrontation.

 

[Cadence]

The three ten-to-twelve year olds I'm DMing for:

• Offered to let two surviving Kobolds join them. One decided it was a good deal, the other ran away later.
• Made a deal with the Bugbear Witch (who knew the cure to what ailed their village) and agreed they would leave each other alone
• Sent the two surviving bandits tied-up and in custody of the bandits' two captives who were going to the next village.

So far they've always tried to stop the fallen foes from dying if they weren't dead yet. They also try to capture anything vaguely an animal that attacks them to try and tame. I suggested to one last night that the Ankheg might not be safely trainable even if they did stop it from dying. He rethought and let it go.

Edit: Let the idea of taming it go. They probably would have let it escape if it gave them a choice.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

The three ten-to-twelve year olds I'm DMing for:

• Offered to let two surviving Kobolds join them. One decided it was a good deal, the other ran away later.
• Made a deal with the Bugbear Witch (who knew the cure to what ailed their village) and agreed they would leave each other alone
• Sent the two surviving bandits tied-up and in custody of the bandits' two captives who were going to the next village.

So far they've always tried to stop the fallen foes from dying if they weren't dead yet. They also try to capture anything vaguely an animal that attacks them to try and tame. I suggested to one last night that the Ankheg might not be safely trainable even if they did stop it from dying. He rethought and let it go.

I don't think I could resist the urge to have a "teachable moment" scene where a trusty or loved captured animal saw a mate or pack in the distance and yearned for freedom.

Good on the kids for being kind by default! Tell them random internet stranger gives them a thumbs up.

 

[Jd Smith1]

In the last eighteen years with my current group, they keep a policy of no quarter given or asked. Occasionally they will take a prisoner for the purpose of 'vigorous interrogation' and then a summary execution. Otherwise, a foe surrendering is simply an easy kill.

In our current campaign (Degenesis setting) they take the occasional prisoner so the Judge PC can have them stand trial (on the spot, with him presiding), which nearly always results in execution.

 

[Nilbog]

The reason I ask is that it causes such decision paralysis for the group I DM for, they agonise for so long over what to do that it brings the session almost to a halt. I now tend to have foes fight to the death just to avoid the situation.

Even as I DM I've tried to emphasize ( without straight out telling them) that letting creatures live isn't always bad, but they still have the paranoia that anything left alive will come back to haunt them, even though on the rare occasions it happens it never has.

 

[Tonguez]

Eat them

 

[aramis erak]

So I was reading the thread about the intimidation skill, and it got my pondering, how does your group handle prisoners? It's always been an area o e struggled with, the options as I see it are:

1. Take no prisoners, not especially heroic or 'good'
2. Bind them and take them with you. Seems ok but can lead to a host of problems as you are responsible for their well being, and also the danger of them trying to sabotage you.
3. Strip them of all but a few basic possessions and send them packing, again this could come back to haunt you as they may return to extract retribution
4. Secure them in a room and sort them later when the immediate threat is dealt with, I think this is the best option but not always possible.

Again it is circumstancial but I'm thinking in a standard dungeon crawl scenario by default.

Mine have done all of that and beyond... in a supers campaign, the part deposited some NPC supers into a prison in another dimension.
"Hire them" has happened a few times, and make them a party member a couple times.

 

[aco175]

We have had a group of bandits surrender and it turned into a plot point where they were mostly farmers trying to not starve. It led to a group blackmailing all the locals to do their bidding. The PCs even gave them gold in the end. The farmers ended up fixing the road and making a decent wagon stop out of it with the PCs help.

I had a goblin fight that the PCs just stepped in and offered gold for information rather than just fighting. They ended up finding out the location of the boars they were hunting and left only to return with one of the boars to give to the goblins since they had killed three and could not get them back to town.

Side note; the group had been more free with gold in 5e since there appears to be less to spend it on. Like the goblins, they will walk into bars and just buy everyone a drink.