The party is splitting up. Help me screw... er... challenge them.

[reveal]

Here's the situation:

Since the beginning of the campaign, about 3 months ago, the PCs have been looking for a colleague. Well, they now know where she is: She's being held in a mental health facility on an island off the coast of Crete. The island is privately owned by the head of the facility. In fact, the Doctor owns all land up to 100 feet away from the island, so parking a boat right off the coast is out of the question.

The party consists of 4 people. They have come up with a plan to have 2 people pose as patients to get inside the facility while the other 2 rent a fishing boat and park off the coast of the island, 110 feet out so as not to be in private waters.

Anyway, I have plans galore for the PCs in the facility but I didn't plan for the PCs splitting up and two staying outside (what a surprise, right? )

So what should happen to them? The facility itself is very private as a lot of rich people use it because of it's discrete reputation. Perhaps the fishing boat can be harrassed by the facility's security, which consists of a lone security guard, because he thinks they're paparrazzi. Dunno.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

[Maerdwyn]

Not sure of the setting - CoC? Spycraft? D20 Modern? Something else?

 

[Thanee]

They could... uhm... catch fish?

Well, they might be able to notice something going on at the island... something that hints them at getting closer and investigate, maybe. As long as they stay outside, they won't really be able to do anything useful, I guess.

Bye
Thanee

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

So what should happen to them? The facility itself is very private as a lot of rich people use it because of it's discrete reputation. Perhaps the fishing boat can be harrassed by the facility's security, which consists of a lone security guard, because he thinks they're paparrazzi. Dunno.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

There's only one security guard? If the PCs can find that out (and they ought to be able to, with good detective work/rolling):

Sneak in, bop him on the head with a sap, hog-tie him, break colleague out, and exfiltrate via the boat (which you parked on the beach since you weren't going to be harrassed by the guard).

Steps two and three can be replaced by a gunshot to the back of the guard's head if the players are hardcore enough (though I don't encourage it). Step five can be replaced by "Steal the good doctor's boat while you're at it, for fencing later", with slightly less in the way of moral qualms.

This way, though, they don't have to split up. :-D

Brad

 

[reveal]

Not sure of the setting - CoC? Spycraft? D20 Modern? Something else?

d20 Modern

 

[Karlson_the_red]

Why not take a page from some spy movies? Have the second team, out on the boat, encounter some of their own problems, ranging from engine trouble to some secret security measures. Underwater patrols? Mines? Satellites monitoring them? After all, they are in private waters.

The best thing to do, is play out the situations at the same time, switching back and forth, just like in a movie. It helps to build the excitiment. Each team, begins to wonder if the other team is gonna be able to pull their part of the mission off.

By knowing their plan ahead of time, you have the ability to plan a surprise for them. Throw both teams into turmoil. Have the boat they rent rigged with explosives with a remote trigger. While the first team searches for their missing friend, have them discover the "Big Brother" watching the boat. Have the guy who rents them the boat, be nervous and paranoid. Give the PC's a "good" deal on the boat, asking few questions.

Just a few ideas. I hope they help.

Karlson

 

[Maerdwyn]

*********
In the morning, mention that it's a little breezy, and let it pick up as the day goes on.

A little while after the boat gets parked out by the lake, rain starts and the wind keeps picking up. Not dangerous yet, but enough a lone security guard would take note of a fishing boat obstinately staying put right off shore when any sane local would have gone in for the day.

********

One of the rich/famous patients is a major drug addict, and a supplier arrives by boat with a delivery. The two fishermen see the deal, and the buyer and dealer know they've seen - they, too, assume the characters are photographers, but have more to lose than a security guard and more willingnes to do something about it.

********

If the party has anything that might be considered illegal, a variant of the preceding scenario would be to assume that law enforcement assumes that the characters are drug dealers, and want to board the boat and conduct a search.

********

Someone else is trying to escape the island - She swims to the boat and begs to be taken away. Her story seems creible at first, but gradually it falls apart, until eventually it's clear she's actually utterly nuts. Paranoid with delusions of grandeur, for example. The character can either return her to the island (make sure she gets her revenge on them for this, later in the campaign), thus providing them with an excuse to go to the island, or help her escape, but have to deal with having a crazy person among them.

 

[DralonXitz]

Being a DM of a Modern d20 Scarface campaign, I have set my players up with multiple Florida Island encounters. One possible scenario, the island being full of rich people, could be part of a arms smuggling ring, and one of the people chartered some young people with a boat to run guns to another island, and mistakes your two boat players for the smugglers he hired. This could pose an encounter for the boat people, while the other two were dead in the water, metaphoriclly speaking, with no escape.