# Creative ways to break out of a dungeon - ideas?



## Karsa Orlong (Jan 27, 2010)

At our last session my players did something so incredibly stupid that the only logical outcome was for them to be overpowered by the local constabulary standing nearby and hauled off to the town dungeon.  So next week they are going to start their session locked in their individual cells, without weapons or other tools, and their first order of business will be to get out.  

I am looking for some ideas for creative ways that I could set things up so that the players have to use their brains and really think outside the box to break out.  For example, maybe they tied up the wizard so that he can't talk and move his hands to cast spells.  A shard of metal in another cell would allow him to cut his bonds, if it could be passed to him somehow.  Or maybe there is a rat in one cell.  If someone kills the rat and tears it apart, the bones of its rib cage could be used as lock picks, if only they can be passed to the thief.  Of course someone would have to think of that.  

I am almost certain that none of the players look at Enworld, so I'm not worried about them seeing any ideas that are posted here. Besides, I will probably just use any ideas posted as a jump off points.


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## aboyd (Jan 27, 2010)

I'm pretty sure rat bones are not going to be strong enough to manipulate the tumblers of a lock.  Maybe if someone cast iron bones one them first, I guess.

When the PCs in my game were locked up, they surprised me with a zero-level spell -- Acid splash.  I told them that the acid would indeed eat away at the door, but that the door (according to the SRD we used) would have too many hit points.  However, they had previously asked me to describe the lock, which I had pointed out was a padlock.  So they targeted the thin arm of the padlock, and yeah, that worked.  Freedom from four castings of a zero-level spell.


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## Raven Crowking (Jan 27, 2010)

Need to get out of prison?  One of the things D&D players never think of is "Wait 20 years, or 10 with Good Behaviour."  

Seriously, though, you might want to start by listing the problems they must overcome to escape (cell locks, guards, etc.).  Then list at least three sets of supplies that could help overcome those problems (picks, weapons, etc.).  Then figure out how to disguise those supplies as something else (fork, bone [makeshift club], etc.).


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## Starfox (Jan 27, 2010)

Will they or will they not be allowed to play D&D while incarcerated?


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## coyote6 (Jan 28, 2010)

Starfox said:


> Will they or will they not be allowed to play D&D while incarcerated?




I kept seeing this thread and the two about playing D&D/RPGs in prison, and thinking, "boy that's an adventure that wouldn't last long in prison." 

"No, Warden, we weren't planning on breaking out, we were pretending to plan to break out of a fictional prison. Really."

If you want them to break out, maybe let them come up with a plan. Restrain the wizard and other obvious spellcasters up, come up with a description of their environment, and let them figure out how to escape. 

You can come up with a couple of ideas that could work, if you want. Maybe there's a sharp sliver of rock in one of the spellcasters' cells, that they could use to help escape, if the PC looks for it (or if they are stuck, and you want to provide A Clue). Maybe one particular guard is dimwitted and thus vulnerable to subterfuge (the classic "sick prisoner needs help", or whatever).

Another option besides escape is to be released. Perhaps someone with power or influence needs some deed done, dirt cheap, and here are some conviently located & conveniently expendable resources that might be able to do the job.


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## Celebrim (Jan 28, 2010)

I guess it depends on how gritty your campaign is.  I can see hung from the neck until dead as a possible outcome here, although I'd assume you want to avoid a TPK.

In my campaign, the most likely outcome is that they would become toys of some secret faction way above their current weight class with an unrevealed agenda who would arrange for them to be 'released from custody' through bribery, forgery, and/or charm spells and then force them to do skullduggery for them in the role of expendable slave.

Scenario #1:  Whoever is capable of putting the PC's into a donjon against there will is probably more than capable of keeping them there.  In a world filled with magic and superheroes, they won't be the first mighty individuals to be thrown in a lock up.  Someone will know how to take care of them.  Escape is going to require extreme creativity because anything obvious that they think up is certainly going to be such a common ploy that the guild of gaolers/executioners/tortorurers/whatever have had thwarting it as part of their art for thousands of years, and any such attempts will just amuse them.  It will turn out a betting pool has been set up as to what sort of trick they will try first.  I consider this the most likely scenario, based on what you describe. 

My solution here would be to make them sweat it for a few hours describing their incarceration, sentencing, etc. and see if they can surprise you.  If they can't, let them rot in jail for a few weeks game time and then bring on the deus ex machina.

Variant A: Their liberators are villains, although that may not be clear from the start given the layers of deciet and intrigue.  The trick here will be surviving long enough in the hands of ruthless bad guys who have more or less complete control over their lives, knowing that they can't go back to the good guys for help, until such time as they can turn the tables on the villains, spoil their plans, and win for themselves a repreive from the grateful rulers.

Variant B: The liberators look just like those in Variant A, but gradually it will become clear that the liberators just look like villains and in fact the real bad guys were the ones that they thought were good guys.

Variant C: The liberators claim to be representatives of the higher powers of good, and oddly enough, this claim turns out to be true.  Such honesty and openness is rare in the world, especially when dealing with covert organizations.  The twist is that there is no twist.  This is a conveinent way to push the characters toward one of the world's larger story arcs.  

Scenario #2: The people who locked them up thought they were average commoners.  They didn't know who or what they were dealing with, and so haven't taken adequate precautions.  As a result, security is shoddy compared to the character's abilities.  This sounds like what you want, but this is likely to only be true if the characters are fairly high level and either choose not to resist (because of a moral imperative) or else were taken by complete surprise.  In particular, if they aren't high level escape is likely to take game weeks, months, or years of time to plan and arrange as the players slowly scrounge items and craft suitable tools.  If this isn't what you want, then have someone higher level in the prison organizing an escape (alla 'The Count of Monte Cristo') and include them in their plans, or else have their be a prison riot or a mass breakout as a scenario adventure.  Keep in mind that breaking out in this situation by any means is not likely to be the end of the PC's troubles, as they will now be seen as more dangerous trouble makers and worth spending more resources on capturing and detaining.  

If you want to spend significant time on the characters in prison, I suggest you study ancient prisons and customs so as to not make the mistake of treating the situation exactly like the modern one.  The PC's may have surprising resources - loved ones on the outside, the ability to pay for better accomodations or better treatment might not even be considered a bribe, the ability to ransom themselves, etc.

Scenario #3: Out of the frying pan and into the fire.  One of the problems with scenario #2 is that if you are breaking out of prison controlled by the good guys, its really hard to do so and not harm the innocent.  If your PC's are all persons of high integrity, it may be particularly hard for them to escape and maintain character.  One solution in this case is to move the character's somewhere less savory by some device.  One possibility is for them to be put in a work detail, and from there to be captured by a warband of evil humanoids.  Another possibility is to be transferred to another facility where the warden turns out to be mad or a member of a evil cult or to run an illegal pit fighting scheme.  A third possibility if your society supports slavery is to have them legally sold into bondage.  Their new owner might be either much more cruel or else much more sympathetic.


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## ExploderWizard (Jan 28, 2010)

If you want the PC's to actually learn a lesson about the behavior that landed them in jail then don't make escape easy or even very likely. 

I would have them stuck in jail for a few game days then play out thier trial. At the trial you can beat them over the head with the details of the actions that led to all this. Perhaps a deal could be offered that would exhange prison time for help with a dangerous matter. 

In any event, trivial escapes just lead to a repeat of the crimes.


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## Celebrim (Jan 28, 2010)

Ok, escaping confinement...

The most important line of imaginative thought is how the prison works.  Presume for the moment that the jailers want to preserve the lives of their charges, or at least make a good show of it for the powers that be.

1) Food and Water: Several times per day, each prisoner is fed and watered.  If the prisoner feeds himself, at minimum this means a container of some sort is provided.  This container is probably recovered when the prisoner is next fed.  If the container is presented, then no food or drink until it is, so presumably you only have the container for a while and you can't damage it too much or it will be eventually noted.  Depending on how well the society in question treats its prisoners, or more particularly how well the jailers have been told to treat _these_ prisoner by the powers that be, other comforts can be provided, up to a full table setting and even a servant (however lowly) dedicated to provided for the prisoners basic needs.  The more stuff that is provided, the less likely it is anything missing goes noted.  I doubt the PC's have that sort of clout, but if they have noble titles then its a possibility.  Stephen King's story 'Napkins' (later the novel 'Eyes of the Dragon') revolves around exactly this possibility.

2) Sanitation: Either the prisoners are given a container or chamber pot which is emptied on a schedule, or else there is some sort of hole an an amount of sanitary water provided.  

3) Warmth and Shelter: In a cold climate, the PC's will need some source of warm during cold periods.  It's quite possible the PC's are unclothed, as cloth is valuable and the jailers may either steal it or the society may simply feel that prisoners have no need of such expensive things as cloth.  If unclothed, then either a small fire is provided in the vicinity (probably not under their control) but perhaps a central brazier containing hot coals shared by several cells, or else rudimentary bedding is provided - rags and straw for example.  

4) Confinement: The PC's will likely be shackled or have their feet placed in pillories when not under observation or made to wear a cangue or yoke.  This makes it harder for the PC's to help themselves when the gaurds aren't around.  Known spellcasters are likely to be even more debilitated or even maimed.  The problem with this route of confinement is that anything solid enough to serve as a shackle is also solid enough to make a very good weapon.  So, the PC's may just be left in an empty space and the security device is never give them anything to work with.

5) Work Program: No matter how spartan the prison, prisoners are a drain on the economy.  To solve this problem, the prisoners are likely to be put to work doing something, and that almost certain means access to tools and greater amount of freedom when not under observation.

6) Health: Assuming that the society cares whether they live, which it may not, the prison likely has some sort of way of handling illness and injury.  It won't be anything like a spellcaster on call waiting to take care of every need.  It will likely be rude, crude, and cheap and perhaps only nothing more than confinement for a while in a slightly warmer, cleaner and drier place.

7) Age and Deterioration: The prison like anything wears down.  It must be repaired and maintained.  This represents a reutine and not unexpected disruption, and a chance to investigate prisoner's cells closely (for tunnels, damaged doors, bars, etc.)  However such maintenance is work and disrupts the schedule.

Figure out how you want the jail to work.  Figure out what the security precautions are like.  Then we can devise a plan of escape and subtly facilitate for the PC's so that they stumble upon it.


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## Philotomy Jurament (Jan 28, 2010)

Karsa Orlong said:


> At our last session my players did something so incredibly stupid that the only logical outcome was for them to be overpowered by the local constabulary standing nearby and hauled off to the town dungeon.



In many fantasy worlds, long-term incarceration of criminals isn't common; it's usually a temporary measure until the real punishment is meted out (flogging, hanging, branding, loss of hand, monetary restitution to a victim, weregild to a family, et cetera).  Is this the case in your campaign, or does your fantasy world have the equivalent of modern prisons, with many criminals held there for long periods of time?

If it's a long-term prison, it's very likely that the jailers will be competent and experienced in handling what sounds like relatively low-level characters.  Escape in that kind of situation should be very, very difficult.  I'd make a list of "edges" or "breaks" that the PCs might get, and give them a small chance (1% to 5% per month, maybe) of receiving an edge.  I'd roll that immediately to see if they get an "edge" right away.  I'd start the session describing the conditions and the security (including the presence or lack of an "edge") and see what they do.  If they have no edges, escape should be unlikely, at best.  They can try, but unless they come up with something truly surprising and extraordinary, it will probably fail and may make their situation worse.  If they decide to wait and see what happens, I'll start counting off months and rolling for "edges."  Once they accumulate one or more edges, they'll have an increased chance of escape.

One interesting thing about this approach is that the PCs could be incarcerated for a significant amount of campaign time.  

In addition to escape edges, you might include some random tables for prison events like fights and NPC interactions with other prisoners.  Those can be little "scenes" you can play through, even if they're not directly related to escaping.  Later, you can bring those characters and events into play, if you want to.


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## Mark (Jan 28, 2010)

A lot of games don't take into account that characters are actually living in the world 24 hours a day and seven days a week (or whatever your world actually covers).  This disparity fails to realize that the PCs have many relationships, familial and otherwise, that extend beyond the adventuring group.  This can be especially important for this sort of scenario to work fairly for the PCs.  Make sure to explore what folks on the outside might be working toward helping the PCs, either bribing guards on their behalf or slipping things in for them to use to escape.


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## Raven Crowking (Jan 28, 2010)

Perhaps their brother was the genius architect who designed the prison, and tattooed its floorplans on his body.


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## Pig Champion (Jan 28, 2010)

I like to get PC's involved with inter-prison politics. It's a fun way to run a prison-movie style session and most PC's love wheeling and dealing their way out of jail rather than planning a breakout themselves.

I set up a series of people they could make deals with and how that would effect their time in the cells while they waited for the other NPC to come through with the goods.

I.E If they make a deal with the big bad guard then other inmates might try and kill them for being rats.

The longest it took two sessions and the PC's had dealed their way right into the wardens office and blackmailed him to get out, only for him to be murdered by his right-hand man (who he had been undercutting for years) which lead to a nice foil later on in the adventure when the newly appointed warden turned up claiming the PC's fugitive and trying to get them back to face their sentence.


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## Thornir Alekeg (Jan 28, 2010)

I would say leave it very open to the players.  Listen to what the players ask about and reward creative, plausible  ideas with a "yes."  

Not knowing your players, I have no way idea what they think about being imprisoned like this.  I've played with groups where this would go over like a lead balloon, and the DM is resented for "screwing the players."  If things are moving in that direction, or the players are getting frustrated because they can't figure out some reasonable plan, then be prepared with a backup plan for getting them out.  Something like; someone they pissed off in another adventure (or from backstory) has been looking for the PCs, hears about them being captured and sends someone to kill the PCs.   In the process of trying to kill them, the PCs have an opportunity to escape since the assasin has incapacited/bribed guards and has opened the cell door - they just have to get by the assasin first.


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