Thieves - does this sound fun to you? (please help)

[Wraith Form]

Starting a new game, all chars are 2nd level. Mostly thugs and rogues. (4 players) They (both players and their characters) don't realize this yet, but they're in the demiplane of Ravenloft currently. I plan on ramping up the horror gradually. They're all working for a thieves' guild in a major city (likely Richmulot or Mordent, not that it matters).

This will be the first adventure using their new thiefly PCs.

Here's the important part --> If you were a player, which selection sounds more fun?

1) Robbing a manor house, no special guards (standard bodyguards) in a sleepy country town. Maybe some guard dogs. Snatching something (a McGuffin) that the guild wants. (Think Train Job from Firefly, a standard smash & grab.) Any advice on how to "spice up" (add a subtle twist to) this plot would be handy, but I don't want 'em up against armies of opponents--should be fairly simple for them.

2) Impersonating "government agents" doing a transaction for a few crates full of weapons from (___insert forgein nation here____). The sellers might be thieves themselves, or may be soldiers from the foreign nation's military. The players'll be requested to try to find out where the weapons came from (which foreign city they're being manufactured.) Twist: The players won't realize the weapons are guns--muskets, to be exact--and if they snoop...which I hope they do...they'll likely get a shock as they don't expect the high Tech Level of Ravenloft. (I'd really appreciate and advice on how to "subtly" encourage them to snoop in the crate and discover the guns, if you have any.) The guild wants these weapons, and it adds a layer of "conspiracy" to the local government--their king is buying guns?!? (The real govt agents have been kidnapped by the guild and will be hold hostage in an attempt to frame the other foreign nation).

3) Any quick, low-level, easy-to-run larcenous plots you'd like to add, with advice on how to run it. (I'm a n00b DM.)

 

[Aurora]

I think that the first one sounds good. I don't really have any plot ideas for you. Hmmmm....maybe make the McGuffin a person? Give them a name that sounds like an object, but make it like a child or something.

If you go with idea #2, you could make one of the crates get bumped and part of it breaks open. It would be hard not to look at that point.

Good luck!

 

[Wraith Form]

If you go with idea #2, you could make one of the crates get bumped and part of it breaks open. It would be hard not to look at that point.

Mmm, maybe a fight will break out during the sale....

 

[jezter6]

hrmm...if the crates of guns are so mysterious..why the heck are the guys transporting them not using that same weaponry? seems kinda dumb to be carrying around a load of guns armed with a crossbow.

but I do like the ideas of bringing a little higher tech to ravenloft.

 

[Wraith Form]

hrmm...if the crates of guns are so mysterious..why the heck are the guys transporting them not using that same weaponry? seems kinda dumb to be carrying around a load of guns armed with a crossbow.

but I do like the ideas of bringing a little higher tech to ravenloft.

So, you're saying arms merchants selling bazookas will be weilding bazookas?

....But I take your point, the sellers would likely be given guns to protect themselves. Unless something goes seriously awry, they hopefully don't need to pull the pistols on my players. If they do, it'll likely entice my players into opening the crates, so that wouldn't be bad.

....Uhh, assuming the players survive the battle. Death would be bad.

Ravenloft lands, specifically the western Core--which is where I'm looking to run this--is Tech Level 9 (which is mid- to late Renaissance level tech). They have pistols and muskets and fun weaponry like that. Having said that, the guns were so crap at that time they often hurt the weilder almost as much as the victim.

 

[Mark CMG]

Starting a new game, all chars are 2nd level. Mostly thugs and rogues. (4 players) They (both players and their characters) don't realize this yet, but they're in the demiplane of Ravenloft currently. I plan on ramping up the horror gradually. They're all working for a thieves' guild in a major city (likely Richmulot or Mordent, not that it matters).

This will be the first adventure using their new thiefly PCs.

If you were a player, which sounds more fun?

1) Robbing a manor house, no special guards (standard bodyguards) in a sleepy country town. Maybe some guard dogs. Snatching something (a McGuffin) that the guild wants. (Think Train Job from Firefly, a standard smash & grab.) Any advice on how to "spice up" (add a subtle twist to) this plot would be handy, but I don't want 'em up agains armies of opponents--should be fairly simple for them.

Make it a kidnapping, of sorts, where the target is a zombie that they are not allowed to destroy so that it can be raised from the dead, perhaps by a relative who also is high up in the guild.

2) Impersonating "government agents" doing a transaction for a few crates full of weapons from (___insert forgein nation here____). The sellers might be thieves themselves, or may be soldiers from the foreign nation's military. The players'll be requested to try to find out where the weapons came from (which foreign city they're being manufactured.) Twist: The players won't realize the weapons are guns--muskets, to be exact--and if they snoop...which I hope they do...they'll likely get a shock as they don't expect the high Tech Level of Ravenloft. (I'd really appreciate and advice on how to "subtly" encourage them to snoop in the crate and discover the guns, if you have any.) The guild wants these weapons, and it adds a layer of "conspiracy" to the local government--their king is buying guns?!? (The real govt agents have been kidnapped by the guild and will be hold hostage in an attempt to frame the other foreign nation.)

If something comes loose inside the crate they might be compelled to look inside to make sure they didn't break what they have to hand over later, for fear of having screwed up.

3) Any quick, low-level, easy-to-run larcenous plots you'd like to add, with advice on how to run it. (I'm a n00b DM.)

Have them pass counterfeit coins in exchange for supplies in the next town over. Sounds simple but the rub might be that they can only pass so many per transaction so that it covers their tracks. In the meantime, you can have them running into all sorts of other complications and personalities.

 

[Wraith Form]

Thanks for the input, Mark! (I think it's cool when game developers give we "peons" ideas...! )

 

[Wraith Form]

Have them pass counterfeit coins in exchange for supplies in the next town over. Sounds simple but the rub might be that they can only pass so many per transaction so that it covers their tracks. In the meantime, you can have them running into all sorts of other complications and personalities.

At first I didn't catch the implication of this...but that's fairly brilliant! I can run them through any number of "small village" adventures (Crucible of Freya comes to mind since I was just reading it) and still do their "job" of spreading fake coin.

Wow. Nice. That's why you get paid the big bucks, I guess. (Hopefully it's all real.)

 

[Mark CMG]

Thanks for the input, Mark! (I think it's cool when game developers give we "peons" ideas...! )

Oh, I think we're all members of the irregulars. Glad to help, though!

At first I didn't catch the implication of this...but that's fairly brilliant! I can run them through any number of "small village" adventures (Crucible of Freya comes to mind since I was just reading it) and still do their "job" of spreading fake coin.

Wow. Nice. That's why you get paid the big bucks, I guess. (Hopefully it's all real.)

You're very kind but it is, admittedly, a smoke and mirrors approach to setting the stage for a freeform style of campaign DMing. If you can put in some time now and sprinkle lots of variety during their escapades spreading the funny money, you'll have the opportunity to introduce allies they can call on later and future adversaries of all ilk and levels, from your Irene Adler to your John Clay to your Toby to your Colonel Sebastian Moran to your Moriarty. Seed your campaign now, liberally and with variety, and no matter which way the party explores, they'll find the tie-ins and the pseudo-foreshadowing very satisfying as the campaign unfolds. You can just pick and choose which NPCs to re-introduce based on what fits into their plans. Even if you use a store-bought adventure here and there you can simply change the name of an NPC to the name of one you introduced earlier that you hadn't previously defined in setting terms beyond their general motivations. It increases the sense of freedom of choice while, at the same time, bolstering the settings depth and verisimilitude.

 

[Wraith Form]

I'm not trying to "hog all your time" but you're very obviously more experienced than I regarding DMing. So I'll turn to you again for advice and clarification....

Reading between your lines, are you saying that I should populate my initial adventures with hero (a/k/a friendly) & villain NPCs now, so that they can make return appearances later?

Or are you saying something else when you say, "put in some time now and sprinkle lots of variety during their escapades spreading the funny money"?

I mean, I'm not great at creating NPCs but I have plenty of resources to turn to in order to learn how to create them (NPC Essentials, etc). But if you're talking about events or activities, I'm really winging this for the most part, and I'm doing it utterly blind.

I have lots of pre-published adventures to run my players through, but many are dungeon crawls (Goodman's DCCs, Dungeon Mag, etc). To add flair and personality to the session, I have to rely on my not-as-fertile imagination to flesh out the details, and I'm usually great at thinking them up when I'm alone but forget the details by the game session.