Topic: You r hunting a dangerous mage. What would you do in this situation as a player?

[Druss_the_Legend]

This is a real situation in my campaign. the pcs have located a guy they need info from.

THE PROBLEM:
you are a bounty hunter and have located your mark... a dangerous magician to an alleyway in the city.
the mage has a tough fighter bodyguard.
The mage has information you need so you need to take him alive... time to plan and execute an ambush... what would you do?

RESOURCES:
you have two allies (one is a thief npc, the other is a burglar pc)
you have a heavy crossbow and a large weighted net
about half an hour to plan... you overheard he is meeting someone there in the alleyway (so you could run off and buy a few general items if needed)

NOW WHAT?
ok so lets assume your amazing ambush actually works... how do you get him to talk?

[jdale]

Does he know the person he's meeting with? If not, delay that person and take their place. That provides the means to talk without the necessity of kidnapping, which seems like it might get the conversation started on the wrong foot. A similar possibility would be to contact that person first and pay them to make an introduction.

[vector]

Tricky situation. A lot depends on how much I know about the mage. Where do I think he is likely to go after the meeting? If he lives in or is staying in the city for awhile, why do I need to ambush him in an alley at all?

If my allies are a burglar and a thief I would have them stake out the alley and observe the meeting. Then shadow him for the rest of the day until he is in a more vulnerable position. Does he return home or to a local inn? Now I know where to find him. They have to sleep sometime, and it would be easier to neutralize the mage and his bodyguard when one or both is asleep.

Now if I suspect the mage is just in town for the meeting and will then promptly teleport away, that is a very different situation.

Does your world have any handy ways of neutralizing spell casters? Kregora manacles or something like that? If not I hope the mage doesn't have Lofty Bridge to too high a level.

[Druss_the_Legend]

Does he know the person he's meeting with? If not, delay that person and take their place. That provides the means to talk without the necessity of kidnapping, which seems like it might get the conversation started on the wrong foot. A similar possibility would be to contact that person first and pay them to make an introduction.

great ideas... i like the impersonation angle. he knows who the meet is with and where the npc lives... its cose by in a tavern... he onbserved a meeting with them earlier in the day. A switch or pre-meet with the client could be achieved. the guy the mage is meeting with is a client... the mage is casting a protective curse on him... or at least that was their agreement. he deal is made and money paid for the service already.

the bounty hunter is rather 'old school' and dislikes sneaky deceptions, preferring the more direct approach... he does have two sneaky thieves tho, so it just might work. thanks for this. its got me thinking what they will come up with that doesnt involve direct confrontation.

[Spectre771]

NOW WHAT?
ok so lets assume your amazing ambush actually works... how do you get him to talk?

RM2 has a skill called Interrogation.



That may seem overcomplicated and I'm not trying to be a churgle, but your title seemed to imply "how would you handle getting the mage alive" then your final statement is "assume your ambush works, how do you get him to talk."

I roll Interrogation.  Possibly Intimidation if I also have that skill (also RM2).  Is the mage an NPC or a player?

[Druss_the_Legend]

Tricky situation. A lot depends on how much I know about the mage. Where do I think he is likely to go after the meeting? If he lives in or is staying in the city for awhile, why do I need to ambush him in an alley at all?

If my allies are a burglar and a thief I would have them stake out the alley and observe the meeting. Then shadow him for the rest of the day until he is in a more vulnerable position. Does he return home or to a local inn? Now I know where to find him. They have to sleep sometime, and it would be easier to neutralize the mage and his bodyguard when one or both is asleep.

Now if I suspect the mage is just in town for the meeting and will then promptly teleport away, that is a very different situation.

Does your world have any handy ways of neutralizing spell casters? Kregora manacles or something like that? If not I hope the mage doesn't have Lofty Bridge to too high a level.

ok good questions... heres some more info
1 you have not met the mage but know he is mixed up with an evil cult (you can identify him by sight as the person that hired you has given you a detailed description and as mentioned earlier you observed a previous meet with the mage and his client.
2 the information he has is knowledge about a recent kidnapping of an ally of yours (another mage)
3 the mage is staying overnight at a heavily guarded guest house and somehow has gotten himself in with the governor of the city... so killing him and getting caught doing it might land in you hot water with the gov who has 5 super tough bodyguards of his own and here is the city guard... who are prone to bribes and corruption but can still come after the pcs if the govenor puts out a warrant or bounty.
4 there could be time to get hold of Kregora manacles or something similar... actually interesting link here is the cult the mage is mixed in with use these cultist rings which scramble magic cast on them and buy the person wearing them if they are not 'activated' by someone who knows how to use them. They have an flower insignia/symbol on the top which changes when the ring is activated so that a new symbol appears and it will then operate as a key into the cults stronghold (a temple)
5 its not known where the Mage will go after the meet, possibly to the temple stronghold of the cult... which is close to the meet (that seems like the most likely destination but he may just head back to the Guest Embassy?)

[vector]

...its not known where the Mage will go after the meet, possibly to the temple stronghold of the cult... which is close to the meet (that seems like the most likely destination but he may just head back to the Guest Embassy?)

If I know the mage is likely to return to the temple stronghold or the embassy I would have to conclude that taking him in the alleyway is the best option.

Since the bounty hunter knows about the mage's client, I like jdale's idea of interception and impersonation of the client. That removes a potential witness/combatant from the coming confrontation. We still need to capture the mage though, as I'm sure if his "client" just happens to ask, "Hey, about this other mage that I heard was kidnapped?", that wouldn't go well.

So I'm a bounty hunter (literally a RM bounty hunter profession? Not just my, uh, profession?) and I have two sneaky allies in a thief and burglar? And I have a heavy crossbow and weighted net.

This is what I would do if I was feeling a bit crazy!

Whoever between the thief and the burglar has the best acting and or disguise impersonates the client. Let's pretend it's the thief. If I was lucky enough to have acquired the kregora manacles then the theif will carry those. If no kregora, then he will carry normal manacles, rope, ball gag and blindfold. The thief will have their normal weapon hidden on them also. Being a thief I would hope they are something easily concealable like a short sword and daggers. He will also have a healing potion handy.

Now for the burglar. I want him with the weighted net. Ideally, I'd love to get him hidden in the alley before the meeting.  I want him to be able to get that net on the target as easily as possible.

If I'm the bounty hunter then I probably have the best weapon skills, so I'll take the heavy crossbow. I'll want to be hidden on a roof over the alley if it is not too high. I'll have a rope secured that I can slide down into the alley after I take my shot.

Now for the crazy fun part! The GM would expect me to use the crossbow on the body guard and the net on the mage. No!

Hilarity ensues when I snip the mage. Bolted! How often I do I get a one shot one kill? Not bloody often. But a mage who is stunned and bleeding and suffering high would penalties isn't teleporting out or fire-
bolting us.

Simultaneously, the burglar drops the net on the bodyguard. If that works he will be easy to eliminate after I slide down into the alley next round and the burglar subdues him. If I was feeling foolish and sentimental I would explain to the bodyguard that he has already failed, and his only choice is to die for the mage or sit this one out. If I wasn't an idiot I would realize I could never trust him to run to the mage's allies as soon I release him. The burglar and I begin stabbing through the net. What's the bonus for attacking doomed men stuck in a net? The Prone bonus (+50) might be a bit much, but I bet it's pretty good.

Meanwhile, assuming the mage is alive but in very bad shape, the thief secures him with the kregora manacle or the more mundane items if necessary. If the crossbow bolt didn't do the trick then the thief would have acted immediately with a followup attack.

If all goes according to plan (yeah, right), the mage should be secured and the bodyguard dead by the end of round two or three. The thief can administer the healing potion before the bleeding gets out of hand.

Surely, we wouldn't have done this if we didn't have some sort of safe house nearby? Getting the mage out of the alley and into the safe house might be tricky. I've always liked having a horse and cart parked nearby with a tarp and other goods in the back. We would then drag the mage into the back of the cart and place him under the tarp along with the thief, who keeps a dagger on him.

Once in the safe house the mage knows we're serious. The interrogation begins.

Granted it would be a terrible time for that lucky 100 on the "E" Puncture critical table.

[Druss_the_Legend]

...its not known where the Mage will go after the meet, possibly to the temple stronghold of the cult... which is close to the meet (that seems like the most likely destination but he may just head back to the Guest Embassy?)

If I know the mage is likely to return to the temple stronghold or the embassy I would have to conclude that taking him in the alleyway is the best option.

Since the bounty hunter knows about the mage's client, I like jdale's idea of interception and impersonation of the client. That removes a potential witness/combatant from the coming confrontation. We still need to capture the mage though, as I'm sure if his "client" just happens to ask, "Hey, about this other mage that I heard was kidnapped?", that wouldn't go well.

So I'm a bounty hunter (literally a RM bounty hunter profession? Not just my, uh, profession?) and I have two sneaky allies in a thief and burglar? And I have a heavy crossbow and weighted net.

This is what I would do if I was feeling a bit crazy!

Whoever between the thief and the burglar has the best acting and or disguise impersonates the client. Let's pretend it's the thief. If I was lucky enough to have acquired the kregora manacles then the theif will carry those. If no kregora, then he will carry normal manacles, rope, ball gag and blindfold. The thief will have their normal weapon hidden on them also. Being a thief I would hope they are something easily concealable like a short sword and daggers. He will also have a healing potion handy.

Now for the burglar. I want him with the weighted net. Ideally, I'd love to get him hidden in the alley before the meeting.  I want him to be able to get that net on the target as easily as possible.

If I'm the bounty hunter then I probably have the best weapon skills, so I'll take the heavy crossbow. I'll want to be hidden on a roof over the alley if it is not too high. I'll have a rope secured that I can slide down into the alley after I take my shot.

Now for the crazy fun part! The GM would expect me to use the crossbow on the body guard and the net on the mage. No!

Hilarity ensues when I snip the mage. Bolted! How often I do I get a one shot one kill? Not bloody often. But a mage who is stunned and bleeding and suffering high would penalties isn't teleporting out or fire-
bolting us.

Simultaneously, the burglar drops the net on the bodyguard. If that works he will be easy to eliminate after I slide down into the alley next round and the burglar subdues him. If I was feeling foolish and sentimental I would explain to the bodyguard that he has already failed, and his only choice is to die for the mage or sit this one out. If I wasn't an idiot I would realize I could never trust him to run to the mage's allies as soon I release him. The burglar and I begin stabbing through the net. What's the bonus for attacking doomed men stuck in a net? The Prone bonus (+50) might be a bit much, but I bet it's pretty good.

Meanwhile, assuming the mage is alive but in very bad shape, the thief secures him with the kregora manacle or the more mundane items if necessary. If the crossbow bolt didn't do the trick then the thief would have acted immediately with a followup attack.

If all goes according to plan (yeah, right), the mage should be secured and the bodyguard dead by the end of round two or three. The thief can administer the healing potion before the bleeding gets out of hand.

Surely, we wouldn't have done this if we didn't have some sort of safe house nearby? Getting the mage out of the alley and into the safe house might be tricky. I've always liked having a horse and cart parked nearby with a tarp and other goods in the back. We would then drag the mage into the back of the cart and place him under the tarp along with the thief, who keeps a dagger on him.

Once in the safe house the mage knows we're serious. The interrogation begins.

Granted it would be a terrible time for that lucky 100 on the "E" Puncture critical table.

excellent work my friend. Fearless and Inventive. i agree bolting the mage is the best course of action. he is dangerous and needs to be hit hard and fast.
what the players dont know is the mage plans to kill the client... this creates an interesting element for anyone impersonating him... double ambush... who's ambush gets to go first? id get the thief in disguise to roll initiative with the bodyguard. This is why you always have a backup plan right?

[vector]

excellent work my friend. Fearless and Inventive. i agree bolting the mage is the best course of action. he is dangerous and needs to be hit hard and fast.
what the players dont know is the mage plans to kill the client... this creates an interesting element for anyone impersonating him... double ambush... who's ambush gets to go first? id get the thief in disguise to roll initiative with the bodyguard. This is why you always have a backup plan right?

Ah, double ambush. And I thought the thief had the easy job!

In such situations my players back up plan usually consists of, "Well, We'll work up a "Number 6" on 'em." I usually like to be a bit better prepared, but I have to admit the double ambush would have taken me by surprise. I guess I wouldn't have much choice but to hope that I would have fired the bolt before the mage attacked.

Otherwise we stick to the plan as much as possible as the three of us go in, a whampin' and whompin'! After all, no plan survives contact with the enemy. That's usually were the fun begins!

[Druss_the_Legend]

ok so we played out this encounter and it did not go as planned for the party.
3 pcs were at the session. one of them, the burglar opted to find the mark and copy his disguise... a priest. he observes the mark in a tavern and then head off to find a suitable priest robe agreeing to meet back with the group in 15mins. as it happens the party passed a priest on the way to the meet so he doubles back to find him. something goes wrong and he doesnt return. meanwhile the other two pc, an assassin and a bounty hunter (they are the ones looking for the mage) set up on the rooftops near the expected meet. its raining so its slippery up there and the assassin slips and almost falls into an alleyway where 3 thugs are mugging someone... he scrambles back up onto the roof but hiding place is somewhat compromised.
the bounty hunter is in chainmail so that makes it more difficult for him to climb up onto the roof, even with a rope and grapple but he manages it.
they get set and its about 15mins before the meet is expected to go down. the assassin has hired two street urchins as lookouts at both ends of the street and they signal him that someone is coming (they make a cat noise). The two that arrive in the alleyway are two hunters, one with a wolf on a leash. Not exactly who they were expecting but it is 15mins prior to the meeting time. These hunters are actually bounty hunters that have been tracking a stolen amulet that belongs to their boss (actually a magician as well), They have a means to locate the amulet which is in the possession of the assassin up on the roof. Bad timing for them to showup i know. the hiding assassin overhears the two talking and he makes the connection that its him they are looking for because he has the stolen amulet (spoils of a previous job). the amulet is magical and it starts to glow and grow warm inside the assassins tunic. one of the bounty hunters climbs up on the roof and a battle ensues. the bounty hunter in the alleyway below with the wolf trades arrows with the pc bounty hunter above who is on a nearby building. The pcs manage to get out of their by clever role-playing so none is killed but the assassin with the amulet has been marked by them and they say they will catch up with him again to get it.
wounded and disappointed the pcs head back to a safe-house to recover... wondering what happened to their burglar companion.

[Druss_the_Legend]

so they didnt quite get to the actual encounter. had something to do with the two bounty hunters that were hunting them!

[Malim]

Ambush the fighter and ambush the mage with a metal bucket over his head.. ESF +50

[Spectre771]

Ambush the fighter and ambush the mage with a metal bucket over his head.. ESF +50

That is AWESOME!  I'd give bonus XP for the players thinking of it, and even more if they can execute it.

Heck, I'd give free XP just for making me laugh so hard!