[RPG] How to kidnap the characters without bending the rules

dnd-4egm-techniques

I'm about to start a new arc with my characters and I'd really like it to begin by having them be kidnapped. It would be easy for me to just do this by fiat and say that "You are knocked unconscious by a dart to the neck!" But that feels a little like cheating.

If necessary I think I can get them to split up, but what items or abilities could I use or tweak to quickly knock my characters unconscious while still giving them the feeling that it fit within the rules of the game?

Currently my characters are level 6 but I think this question could apply to all levels.

Best Answer

In terms of how to do this, F. Randall Farmer's answer gives you some brilliant ways in, but how exactly to do it depends entirely on the strength of your party. The fact is that any in-game knock-out effect I can think of allows for some form of save, and is thus vulnerable to them passing it. That dart's not going to have much effect on a guy with rock skin, for example. At which point you either have to change the plan or add more force.

As far as it goes, I would personally plump for a good old Sleep spell, cast on them while they were already asleep and thus vulnerable. But you're still going to have to change the details of the spell to railroad them. Alternatively, unspecified mystically-enhanced drugs are a reliable way to go, especially as they're not bound by annoying issues like turn limits. But at the end of the day, it's just a dart to the neck via a roundabout route.

However, remember that anything that would kill a player can actually be said to have merely gravely wounded them, like for example, a knife in the back. Thus, just start a fight, aim to take a player down to 0, and then before anyone can heal him, he gets snatched by the kidnappers. This tells the players that "dying" here is expected, and quickly wipes them out by attrition. At worst, one escapes, and ends up having to track down his comrades.


One critical thing that isn't mentioned in your question is what your party is used to, and thus what their expectations are. The fact you're worrying about bending the rules is interesting, as there's no limit on the number of by the rules ways to incapacitate players.

The critical issue here, as other answers have described, is that you absolutely have to make your players "lose" to get them to this point. By definition, a capture contains an event that is bad (at least superficially). For example, "Your ship gets destroyed/you fall in a deep pit/their guys kick seven bells out of you"

Now, none of these things are actually losses, they're merely doors on the path to adventure, so the important thing is that the players realise that, for example, managing to work out who's kidnapping you, or being taken prisoner without losing your stuff, counts as a win in this event.

This is fine, if your party has previously encountered "survivable loss states" (e.g. areas where they lose but can continue). Generally there are a couple of ways this gets introduced.

  1. Your current case, where the DM wants the party to lose in order for the plot to progress as planned (the Classic "Railroad" plot as demonstrated here)
  2. The party loses in a way that ruins the fun, so the DM re-writes the effect so you survive but in a weakened state (in jail, badly injured, as a spectral wraith)

Note again that neither of these things are bad, unless they're done badly (for example, the DM gets frustrated that the party's not "losing right")

However, your question suggests your party are used to victory or death situations, where losing literally kills the party atmosphere as well as the adventurers themselves. Which is why you're now looking for a "justifiable" way to have them lose.

In this case, you have to judge your group and decide how best to "lead them to the loss". There are three basic variations on this:

  1. As Brian Ballsun-Stanton suggests, simply warn them in advance. This kills the suspense, but also kills the frustration, as they know what to expect. The only issue is if your party is the kind of party that will attempt to deliberately frustrate your plan by refusing to surrender, or trying dirty invisibility tricks to escape. But at least then they're aware of why "rocks fall, everyone is captured"
  2. Make it very clear that they're supposed to surrender. You must make them aware that surrender/failure is an option, and in fact the preferable one. If the surly hill barbarian then chooses to charge the massed ranks of the Imperial army, lugging his unwilling companions behind him, that's their choice, and you can enjoy beating them into submission.
  3. Make failure the more entertaining option. Use your player's vices and virtues to put them in situations where they can't possibly win. The mystical damsel offering a cup of drugged wine, for example. Or the illusion of a tiny puppy about to be squished by a rock, where the rock is no illusion.