The wind and snow batter vivid stained glass windows, drawing the colors into even starker contrast from the inside. The musicians play, the jesters jest, the nobles dance and the royal family greets guests. Your name is Edwin Panril for the night and the diamond signet ring you had to filch to gain entry isn't worth nearly as much as the jewels you are here to bag. A cumbersomely overflowing table of goodies and giblets stands thirty feet in front of you, the one hundred ton royal vault door forty to your right and the royal family will be seated at the long table to your left-and the prince will be crowned where your are standing with queasy guts-dead center of the dance floor, in less than three hours.
This has got to be an impossible task, or at least it keeps running through your mind. Just stay in role and don't look nervous-hard to do with all these damn guards around. You're not alone, remember, you have friends here doing the really dangerous stuff, all you have to do is distract the party at the right time, no pressure. Its not like you will all get killed if you screw it up.
This coming week I am running a game we have been building up to, the hiest of the Crown Jewels. It takes place in a city where each of the PC's are wanted men-with death sentences hanging over their heads, and a history of intrigue. The dangers are more than just guards, there are assassins and bounty hunters searching for them, not to mention a man who betrayed them just a few short months ago. No doubt the PC's will use this trip to attempt to tie off some loose ends, but they are on a timeline. This is business and any mistakes could be fatal.
This is a complicated Job involving a whole team of PC's working together to make it work. Some just need to act, others pick locks, disable guards, bag jewels or snatch valuables. Stealth, disguise, lockpicking, forgery, trapfinding, diplomacy, bluff, use rope, and many other skills will come into play as the PC's navigate the labyrinthian vaults, catacombs, castle passages and fool the party, guards, and royal family. A lot can go wrong here and they need to get it right in order to get paid.
This will be just one of many hiests I have planned for this game, each will build in complexity and difficulty eventually culminating in some rather legendary challenges.
I need some ideas for those following hiests. Good complex, innovative, and difficult hiests. So please, put your creative writing skills to use and give me some dangerous places with tantalizing rewards.
...and in the ancient voice of a million squirrels the begotten chittered "You have set upon yourselves a great and noble task, dare you step further, what say you! What say you!"
A truly great heist would be one where you simply establish the routines around the object(s) in question, guards, defenses, movements, etc. then allow the players to gather some of this information and then the PCs design how they are going to pull it off.
It sounds like you may be focused on the solution and not just planning on presenting the problem to the players for them to solve. You shouldn't be discussing what the PCs need to do to succeed - just build an interesting problem.
Example: PCs are hired to steal the King's Crown.
Easy to find info: The Crown is stored in a well-guarded vault in the castle when not in use. Always several gaurds, dogs in the vault with the valuables, magic alarms. When the King dispenses justice or meets with the governing council the Crown is obtained by members of his personal bodygaurd (very skilled and loyal fighters) and brought to him to wear.
Hard to find info: Every couple of months the Crown is secretly brought (by the court high mage) to a skilled jeweler for cleaning and maintenance. The court high mage maintains a tracking spell on the Crown at all times to quickly regain it in the event it is stolen or misplaced. The King sometimes obtains the Crown to impress his mistresses in his private chambers.
Flesh that out a bit more and then let the PCs decide how to approach it and which skills to employ. They will appreciate this more open ended approach, however it will require a bit more ad libbing as the DM.
If I gave the impression that this isn't open ended that would be incredibly false. This game is about as open ended as it can possibly get. So all that has already been taken care of and played out; so your response isn't actually what I'm looking for. I need story hooks for new heists, areas well guarded or interesting, not advice on how to conduct a hiest, but thank you for your concern.
I constantly get this kind of response to questions and I'm getting tired of it. I've been DMing for years and my games are very open ended. I usually come on here to see if I can get story hooks or creative ideas but people rarely answer the question I ask. I rather explicitly asked for story hooks, not advice. So please, no more advice, its useless and condescending to assume that I need it when I'm not asking for it.
I don't feel like hitting you all with a giant wall of text everytime I post something so I give a summary of events or ideas, I don't feel I need to explain that I'm not railroading my players and that the entire thing was planned by them over the last month-I'd rather just give a synopsis and ask my question. This is really getting old and irritating, not sure why I bother coming to these forums anymore.
Story hooks, its a lot more fun and something I'll care enough about to read all the way through.
...and in the ancient voice of a million squirrels the begotten chittered "You have set upon yourselves a great and noble task, dare you step further, what say you! What say you!"
Hmmm I'm not sure about what realm your campaign is set in, but I have a couple that I've thought of for mine.
One isn't a single heist but rather a series of heists. It's not a hack and slash adventure but a skill adventure. The relic that the PC's are hired (blackmailed into) to collect has been broken into 4 peices by an unholy order of priests and stored in seperate locations. He's the catch. The guardians of the pieces are in telepathic communication with each other so all 4 peices need to be collected AT THE SAME TIME! If one of the guardians are alerted to a theft the other 3 will know instantly. The temples that the pieces are stored in have hired guards, priests, and various contructs and raized mosters/deamons. There are also other items and side quests that the PC's can pick up on while in the temples but they are inconsiquential. The final part of the heist is they have to assemble the relic at the shrine of the evil god, but unbeknown to the PC's they happen to arrive on a holy day for the order and the place is swarming with preists and their guardians.
Another I've taken from the Forgotten Realms guide and modified it. An exiled mage has hired the PCs to collect some of his belongings from the mage college. When they arrive at in the room they find a minor apprentice cleaning and tells the PCs that the mage's items have been moved to the storage vaults in the lower floors of the college. As an amusement (mainly for myself) one of the items that the PC's need to collect is a sentient skull of a former bard (NG and slightly loopy) who constantly talks to the PC's while they are attempting to sneak through the college. Again I've have ideas of peppering the area with side quests and items to collect.
One that I completed in another campaign was designed for my halfling rogue: You are given a band of invisibility (bracelet) but the magic will only last one day once worm, long enough to get into the heavily guarded embassy and find/discuss plans with a contact there. Removing the bracelet ends the spell and the magic in the item. The embassy was HUGE and required constant skill checks. Moving in bright light people can see the shimmering outline of you, and the embassy has large windows and is very will lit, so anytime that you get near anyone you have to still hide (not move) and be silent. Even when you find the contact you need to first let him know you're there without freaking him out, then getting the info without alerting anyone else AND then try and get out of the building again (which happened to occur during a guard change so there was double the amount of guards in the place). You could probably take this and modify it to have all the members wearing a similar band or even turn it into an assassination attempt.
Hmmm I'm not sure about what realm your campaign is set in, but I have a couple that I've thought of for mine.
One isn't a single heist but rather a series of heists. It's not a hack and slash adventure but a skill adventure. The relic that the PC's are hired (blackmailed into) to collect has been broken into 4 peices by an unholy order of priests and stored in seperate locations. He's the catch. The guardians of the pieces are in telepathic communication with each other so all 4 peices need to be collected AT THE SAME TIME! If one of the guardians are alerted to a theft the other 3 will know instantly. The temples that the pieces are stored in have hired guards, priests, and various contructs and raized mosters/deamons. There are also other items and side quests that the PC's can pick up on while in the temples but they are inconsiquential. The final part of the heist is they have to assemble the relic at the shrine of the evil god, but unbeknown to the PC's they happen to arrive on a holy day for the order and the place is swarming with preists and their guardians.
Those were all very good but I think this one is most suitable/adaptable to my campaign. I like this idea a great deal and may use it-albeit with some alterations to fit my game world.
The campaign setting is homebrew, I call it the deadweave. The game picks up several centuries after the weave which kept magic alive has died, it still exists in remote exotic places but most of the mortal races have forgotten about it or it has faded into myth and legend. The PC's are all playing fairly Rogue-ish characters, ie Rogues, ninja's, scouts, modified bards, other types of thieves or scoundrels, etc.
The hiest theme is only one part of the story, but it is a generally pivotal event and the rewards or consequences can be great or dire.
...and in the ancient voice of a million squirrels the begotten chittered "You have set upon yourselves a great and noble task, dare you step further, what say you! What say you!"
Those were all very good but I think this one is most suitable/adaptable to my campaign. I like this idea a great deal and may use it-albeit with some alterations to fit my game world.
The campaign setting is homebrew, I call it the deadweave. The game picks up several centuries after the weave which kept magic alive has died, it still exists in remote exotic places but most of the mortal races have forgotten about it or it has faded into myth and legend. The PC's are all playing fairly Rogue-ish characters, ie Rogues, ninja's, scouts, modified bards, other types of thieves or scoundrels, etc.
The hiest theme is only one part of the story, but it is a generally pivotal event and the rewards or consequences can be great or dire.
As a side bar, although if you have no magic in your realm it may not fit, is that each of the temples are a mirror of each other. Certain rooms in each of the temples allow transport to the other temples and many of the areas you can see shadowy outlines of people in one of the other temples. I was going to surprise the PCs with the transport rooms and maybe have a accidental chance of running into each other even though they are suppose to be miles away. That and the shadowy figures may or may not see them as shadows in their temple .
This mirroring is for two reasons.. only one map is needed and all players can be on it without having to run seperate areas, and two the chance of being seen is possibly increased
Those were all very good but I think this one is most suitable/adaptable to my campaign. I like this idea a great deal and may use it-albeit with some alterations to fit my game world.
The campaign setting is homebrew, I call it the deadweave. The game picks up several centuries after the weave which kept magic alive has died, it still exists in remote exotic places but most of the mortal races have forgotten about it or it has faded into myth and legend. The PC's are all playing fairly Rogue-ish characters, ie Rogues, ninja's, scouts, modified bards, other types of thieves or scoundrels, etc.
The hiest theme is only one part of the story, but it is a generally pivotal event and the rewards or consequences can be great or dire.
As a side bar, although if you have no magic in your realm it may not fit, is that each of the temples are a mirror of each other. Certain rooms in each of the temples allow transport to the other temples and many of the areas you can see shadowy outlines of people in one of the other temples. I was going to surprise the PCs with the transport rooms and maybe have a accidental chance of running into each other even though they are suppose to be miles away. That and the shadowy figures may or may not see them as shadows in their temple .
This mirroring is for two reasons.. only one map is needed and all players can be on it without having to run seperate areas, and two the chance of being seen is possibly increased
I wouldn't consider that a problem, afterall its not that magic is non-existent, just rare and exotic. So there is magic, but it is usually far from civilization locked away in ancient ruins or tombs. So it would really only require some minor alterations to fit into the story. The city they live in was built directly over an ancient city which existed prior to the death of the weave, so remnants of magic remain. The weave isn't dead everywhere, part of the allure of a game like this is drawing the players into areas seeking magic items or power they wouldn't be able to find otherwise-so I don't consider this a problem at all.
I'm really enjoying this idea, its something I would definitely enjoy using.
...and in the ancient voice of a million squirrels the begotten chittered "You have set upon yourselves a great and noble task, dare you step further, what say you! What say you!"
An alchemist/herbalist asks the party to steal incense powder from a temple/monestary a few days from the town. the monestary is only open to monks, and the party will have to aquire monk robes either by forging a copy with "borrowed" satin or ambush the few monks that come to a village for supplies. Alternatively, the incense is to be stolen from a brutal underground cult. The party must find a representative/recruiter, steal notes from a hopeful candidate, or rumage through the guard barracks to get the when and where to meet this cult. Then the party will have to...eat a few kittens to get access. Bonus points if the adventure is interrupted by the guards at the worst possible time and they have to make a getaway. Either way, when the deed is done, the herbalist will now sell poisens for a fee.
He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. -Revelation 21:6
If I gave the impression that this isn't open ended that would be incredibly false. This game is about as open ended as it can possibly get. So all that has already been taken care of and played out; so your response isn't actually what I'm looking for. I need story hooks for new heists, areas well guarded or interesting, not advice on how to conduct a hiest, but thank you for your concern.
I constantly get this kind of response to questions and I'm getting tired of it. I've been DMing for years and my games are very open ended. I usually come on here to see if I can get story hooks or creative ideas but people rarely answer the question I ask. I rather explicitly asked for story hooks, not advice. So please, no more advice, its useless and condescending to assume that I need it when I'm not asking for it.
I don't feel like hitting you all with a giant wall of text everytime I post something so I give a summary of events or ideas, I don't feel I need to explain that I'm not railroading my players and that the entire thing was planned by them over the last month-I'd rather just give a synopsis and ask my question. This is really getting old and irritating, not sure why I bother coming to these forums anymore.
Story hooks, its a lot more fun and something I'll care enough about to read all the way through.
I think you will get better responses with more focused posts - less is more. Had your post only said this: "Good complex, innovative, and difficult hiests. So please, put your creative writing skills to use and give me some dangerous places with tantalizing rewards."
I suspect you might have gotten only the kind of responses you sought.
I have an idea for one of those grand heists you speak of. But without much party info, I'm going to assume you have a basic party of wizard-type, fighter-type, cleric, and rogue-type.
The heroes have been caught. After a long series of extremely succesful and extremely risky heists, they have been caught. However, the monarch recognises the heros' skill. In return for a favor- a grand favor, and of course their discretion in the matter, (s)he will pardon them. Once. The job is simple enough in theory but nigh impossible in practice. The heroes must assinate the ruler of a rival nation. This ruler's palace is a massive spire, with a rounded glass dome surving as the roof, with its center directly above the ruler's throne. Those that visit are forced to walk up the rediculous amounts of flights of stairs, and so by the time they reach the top and sit in the chairs provided by the ruler, they are leaning over in exhaustion, forcing them to bow in their seats. The task asks for the fighter (with a small group of sellswords, funding for which provided by the stte they work for), distracts the lower gaurds. The cleric assists with this battle, and the wizard keeps a scry going on the rogue, who scales the tower. The rogue scales it using whatever means necessary, with grappling hooks and ropes and such. Some sections require entering the building itself for periods, where stealth or death is required. If able, the wizard keeps some sort of death hex on the rogue so if he is captured, he will not be tortured for information. The rogue plays the biggest part in the heist, despite the fighter leading a charge in the lower floors to draw the guards' attention. The wizard, while seemingly useless despite watching the rogue, is actually a vital part, as due to his scrying, he is able to help the rogue, casting feather fall if (s)he falls, assisting acrobatics, and maybe dispelling magical barriers. This is especially possible if the rogue carries some item the wizard can cast spells through. If the rogue makes it to the top, it is their job to kill the ruler as discretely as possible. That could range from carving a small hole in the roof to drop a dagger onto the ruler's head, or finding and entering a hatch and slitting his/her throat.
Have you ever wanted to play a character out of the norm? A character... reviled by society, something that offers you a unique role-playing challenge? Have you ever wanted to play something more hated and innately evil then Drow? Have you ever wanted to be a...Mind Flayer? Page 8 has the current complete version.
.
