RangerWickett
Legend
I'm editing the text of the fourth ZEITGEIST adventure, which sees the PCs going undercover on a transcontinental railroad as they try to find a villain traveling incognito. I was hoping to get feedback from the board on the guidelines we're including for handling surveillance and interrogation.
Running an Undercover Adventure
While we have included a mix of action scenes and dungeon crawling, a major element of Always on Time sees the PCs going undercover and trying not to be detected as foreign agents. This might be a big departure for players used to being able to kill anything that gets in their way.
Two common actions during this adventure will be following suspects to see where they go, and engaging suspects in innocuous conversation to try to tease out their motives. While you can always handle these situations narratively or with ad hoc dice rolls, those who want more structure can use the following skill challenges. Be sure to make reasonable adjustments in reaction to what the PCs are doing, and remember to tie the skill checks to actual character actions and roleplaying.
Tailing a Suspect
Variable Level Skill Challenge
Key Skills: Athletics, Bluff, Perception, Stealth, Streetwise
Difficulty: Skill DCs are based on the level of the person being tailed (see page xx). To start, use the ‘Moderate’ DC rating.
When a PC tries to tail a suspect, try to think of the target’s movements in three stages. For instance, in Orithea Elanor might head to the apothecary’s district, shop innocuously for a bit, then head to a shop that sells illegal love potions. In Trekhom, Luc goes to a bar near the enclave, then his guards look for signs of pursuit, and finally he heads to the harbor lighthouse where guards stop anyone who isn’t an approved visitor.
For each stage, narrate what the target is doing, then the PC has to make two checks, one to keep up, the other to stay hidden. Based on the result of the PC’s checks and the target’s plans, narrate the next stage of the pursuit. After the third stage, the target reaches his or her destination, and the PC should be able to witness something noteworthy and important.
If a PC fails a “keep up” check, increase the DC of further “keep up” checks by one step, regardless of what skill is used. This represents the PC falling behind and having trouble seeing where the target is going. A second failed “keep up” check means the PC has lost his target.
Likewise, if the PC fails a “stay hidden” check, increase the DC of further “stay hidden” checks. The target has gotten suspicious and is more on guard. A second failed “stay hidden” check means the target has made the PC. The target’s reaction will vary based on situation and personality – flight, confrontation, attack, calling the guards – but he or she almost certainly won’t let the PC see anything incriminating.
It might help to remind the players that if they think they might fail, it could be smarter to give up and try again when the train reaches another station on the next day, instead of tipping off a potential enemy.
Keep Up
Each stage have the PC make a check, typically Perception. If the target runs it might be Athletics. If the target goes through a crowded district, perhaps Streetwise would be more appropriate. If the target asks the town guards to be on the look-out for the PC, Diplomacy or Bluff might allay the guards’ suspicions. Let the PCs come up with suggestions, but feel free to adjust the DC based on how likely the skill would actually help the situation.
Stay Hidden
Each stage have the PC make a check, typically Stealth. Athletics might let a character stalk along rooftops, if the terrain is appropriate. Bluff might let a PC blend into the patrons at a coffee shop. Perhaps a character might even hold his breath and hide underwater with Endurance when following a target near the docks.
Multiple PCs
Because there are so many suspects to investigate, the players have to decide whether they want the wider coverage of splitting up, or the easier success (and safety in numbers) of working as a team. If multiple PCs are trailing the same target, whichever PC has the better skill modifier can make the necessary checks.
Interrogating a Suspect
Variable Level Skill Challenge
Key Skills: Bluff, Diplomacy, Insight, Intimidate
Difficulty: Skill DCs are based on the level of the person being interrogated (see page xx). To start, use the ‘Moderate’ DC rating.
An interrogation might involve subtly getting a suspect to talk about himself, verbally intimidating or manipulating a prisoner into confessing a secret, or physically punishing a target until he breaks. To get useful information, the PC must establish and maintain a rapport, and then extract information out of the target.
Rapport
Rapport reflects the target’s trust of the PC. In a casual conversation, a target might think the PC is just a normal person and have no reason to look for ulterior motives, and after establishing a rapport with the PC he might be willing to share things he wouldn’t with a total stranger. During a harsher interrogation, the PC must make sure that the target’s anger or loathing of his captor does not overwhelm whatever other emotion the interrogator is trying to evoke.
To establish rapport, the PC must make a skill check. If the PC has a genuine connection to the target, he might make a Diplomacy check to keep the target happy. Bluff works if the target is faking a connection. If the target is a mage or scholar, the PC might even use Arcana, History, Nature, or Religion to make the target think they have much in common, and Streetwise might work to pose as a fellow criminal.
If the PC succeeds his check, he establishes rapport, and he can move on to “extraction.” If he fails the check, the target cannot be coaxed to open up. The PC can try again, but the DC increases to ‘Hard.’ If he fails a second time, the target won’t respond to further attempts unless something changes in his or her relation to the PC (such as if the PC saves the target’s life).
Extraction
Once the PC has established a rapport, he can make a skill check to extract information from the target. This is almost always an Insight check, unless the PC sets up a very specific gambit. On a success, the PC gets the target to reveal something useful. The target might tell a total lie, but the PC is able to see through it and figure out what’s really true.
For each NPC, we include guidelines to the information the PCs can glean this way. Multiple attempts can reveal a lot, but pressing too hard too fast can tip off enemies that you're onto them.
If the PC fails his check, the target gives up nothing and becomes a little wary. If the PC fails a second time, he loses his rapport with the target, which counts as one failure on a “rapport” check.
What do you think?
Running an Undercover Adventure
While we have included a mix of action scenes and dungeon crawling, a major element of Always on Time sees the PCs going undercover and trying not to be detected as foreign agents. This might be a big departure for players used to being able to kill anything that gets in their way.
Two common actions during this adventure will be following suspects to see where they go, and engaging suspects in innocuous conversation to try to tease out their motives. While you can always handle these situations narratively or with ad hoc dice rolls, those who want more structure can use the following skill challenges. Be sure to make reasonable adjustments in reaction to what the PCs are doing, and remember to tie the skill checks to actual character actions and roleplaying.
Tailing a Suspect
Variable Level Skill Challenge
Key Skills: Athletics, Bluff, Perception, Stealth, Streetwise
Difficulty: Skill DCs are based on the level of the person being tailed (see page xx). To start, use the ‘Moderate’ DC rating.
When a PC tries to tail a suspect, try to think of the target’s movements in three stages. For instance, in Orithea Elanor might head to the apothecary’s district, shop innocuously for a bit, then head to a shop that sells illegal love potions. In Trekhom, Luc goes to a bar near the enclave, then his guards look for signs of pursuit, and finally he heads to the harbor lighthouse where guards stop anyone who isn’t an approved visitor.
For each stage, narrate what the target is doing, then the PC has to make two checks, one to keep up, the other to stay hidden. Based on the result of the PC’s checks and the target’s plans, narrate the next stage of the pursuit. After the third stage, the target reaches his or her destination, and the PC should be able to witness something noteworthy and important.
If a PC fails a “keep up” check, increase the DC of further “keep up” checks by one step, regardless of what skill is used. This represents the PC falling behind and having trouble seeing where the target is going. A second failed “keep up” check means the PC has lost his target.
Likewise, if the PC fails a “stay hidden” check, increase the DC of further “stay hidden” checks. The target has gotten suspicious and is more on guard. A second failed “stay hidden” check means the target has made the PC. The target’s reaction will vary based on situation and personality – flight, confrontation, attack, calling the guards – but he or she almost certainly won’t let the PC see anything incriminating.
It might help to remind the players that if they think they might fail, it could be smarter to give up and try again when the train reaches another station on the next day, instead of tipping off a potential enemy.
Keep Up
Each stage have the PC make a check, typically Perception. If the target runs it might be Athletics. If the target goes through a crowded district, perhaps Streetwise would be more appropriate. If the target asks the town guards to be on the look-out for the PC, Diplomacy or Bluff might allay the guards’ suspicions. Let the PCs come up with suggestions, but feel free to adjust the DC based on how likely the skill would actually help the situation.
Stay Hidden
Each stage have the PC make a check, typically Stealth. Athletics might let a character stalk along rooftops, if the terrain is appropriate. Bluff might let a PC blend into the patrons at a coffee shop. Perhaps a character might even hold his breath and hide underwater with Endurance when following a target near the docks.
Multiple PCs
Because there are so many suspects to investigate, the players have to decide whether they want the wider coverage of splitting up, or the easier success (and safety in numbers) of working as a team. If multiple PCs are trailing the same target, whichever PC has the better skill modifier can make the necessary checks.
Interrogating a Suspect
Variable Level Skill Challenge
Key Skills: Bluff, Diplomacy, Insight, Intimidate
Difficulty: Skill DCs are based on the level of the person being interrogated (see page xx). To start, use the ‘Moderate’ DC rating.
An interrogation might involve subtly getting a suspect to talk about himself, verbally intimidating or manipulating a prisoner into confessing a secret, or physically punishing a target until he breaks. To get useful information, the PC must establish and maintain a rapport, and then extract information out of the target.
Rapport
Rapport reflects the target’s trust of the PC. In a casual conversation, a target might think the PC is just a normal person and have no reason to look for ulterior motives, and after establishing a rapport with the PC he might be willing to share things he wouldn’t with a total stranger. During a harsher interrogation, the PC must make sure that the target’s anger or loathing of his captor does not overwhelm whatever other emotion the interrogator is trying to evoke.
To establish rapport, the PC must make a skill check. If the PC has a genuine connection to the target, he might make a Diplomacy check to keep the target happy. Bluff works if the target is faking a connection. If the target is a mage or scholar, the PC might even use Arcana, History, Nature, or Religion to make the target think they have much in common, and Streetwise might work to pose as a fellow criminal.
If the PC succeeds his check, he establishes rapport, and he can move on to “extraction.” If he fails the check, the target cannot be coaxed to open up. The PC can try again, but the DC increases to ‘Hard.’ If he fails a second time, the target won’t respond to further attempts unless something changes in his or her relation to the PC (such as if the PC saves the target’s life).
Extraction
Once the PC has established a rapport, he can make a skill check to extract information from the target. This is almost always an Insight check, unless the PC sets up a very specific gambit. On a success, the PC gets the target to reveal something useful. The target might tell a total lie, but the PC is able to see through it and figure out what’s really true.
For each NPC, we include guidelines to the information the PCs can glean this way. Multiple attempts can reveal a lot, but pressing too hard too fast can tip off enemies that you're onto them.
If the PC fails his check, the target gives up nothing and becomes a little wary. If the PC fails a second time, he loses his rapport with the target, which counts as one failure on a “rapport” check.
What do you think?
