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The Scenario
You're going about your regular everyday life when at some point when your alone (at home, walking to the car, out for an early jog etc) you feel a sharp prick as a dart hits you pumping a potent sedative into your body and knocking you out. When you wake up you find yourself wearing a collar (metal, locked on) with a group of people (who all say the same thing happened to them) and your instructed your going to particpate in a little experimentt. To start with you need to equip yourself with an assortment of gear and then move onto the next area that is designed to simulate a small town where you shall face a series of challenges. Last to morning and you'll be realized with 10 million dollars each, fail and it wont be an issue. Failure to comply with any instructions will be punished by steadily increasing electric shocks from the collar each time including a lethal one if you attempt to escape (and yes these are real shocks so if you have a heart condition even a mild one may be fatal obviously).
Scattered around the warehouse sized room is a vast assortment of beginner gear (swords, staves, armour, etc but only for the basic 4 concepts wizard, priest, fighter, thief although there is a lot of variety in those areas e.g. light duelling fighter or heavy armour can both be made) its also real e.g. you can cut yourself on the swords/daggers/etc. There are also a variety of "suits" of varying complexity for different races ranging from pointy ears for elves to a full body green one for orcs (as its beyond the scope assume any reasonably equivilent to human pathfinder races exist here i.e NO Balrogs, Djinn, etc but there are elves, dwarves, kobolds etc.) There are also changing rooms for men and women on either side once you've selcted your gear.
The Question
Do you suspect its maybe something more than a dangerous game and dress according to what you'd like to be (or as close as you can get) or do you think its just a madman with too much money and time on their hands and equip yourself to try and survive whatever they throw at you?
Serious answers please and don't try to gimp the system by proposing some exotic Codzilla just a simple "I would try to dress according to what I want because ..." or "I'd try to dress for survival because . . ." PLEASE.
Response #1: It would require a lot more than waking up in a warehouse full of fantasy props to convince any rational person that magic is suddenly real, so there'd be no point to dressing up as a wizard or cleric; there's no expectation you'd be able to exploit their class strengths. Ditto the racial "suits"; no reason to believe that giving myself pointed ears would suddenly grant low-light vision or whatever. (On the other hand, that would be a simple enough experiment, so see Response #2 below.)
I would suspect I'd been dropped into an RPG-themed version of "Saw" by some lunatic, ignore the racial suits and adopt light armor and a couple of weapons I might reasonably expect to use untrained: staff and a light sword, probably. This is not because I consider myself to be a competent Fighter; I don't. It's because the Fighter's skill set is the easiest of the four for a mundane to fake and the easiest of the four to pick up quickly.
Response #2: Assuming that from observing others it becomes apparent that adopting a racial suit or class-appropriate gear does somehow grant the abilities linked to that race/class combination, I would still stay away from Wizard, because there are too many unknown variables in terms of spells available, etc. I'd probably stick with Fighter, but on the assumption that whatever is granting racial and class abilities will now make me compenent with whatever gear I choose, I'd get slightly heavier armor and weapons, and add a bow. I presumably don't know what game system/edition is being simulated here, but I would probably add a racial suit that has the best chance of increasing my STR and CON: dwarf or half-orc.
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Oh my response would be to match crazy with crazy.
So clearly I would dress up as a CN elf sorceress/wizard.
I would then proceed to seduce the game master.
Response #1: It would require a lot more than waking up in a warehouse full of fantasy props to convince any rational person that magic is suddenly real, so there'd be no point to dressing up as a wizard or cleric; there's no expectation you'd be able to exploit their class strengths. Ditto the racial "suits"; no reason to believe that giving myself pointed ears would suddenly grant low-light vision or whatever. (On the other hand, that would be a simple enough experiment, so see Response #2 below.)
I would suspect I'd been dropped into an RPG-themed version of "Saw" by some lunatic, ignore the racial suits and adopt light armor and a couple of weapons I might reasonably expect to use untrained: staff and a light sword, probably. This is not because I consider myself to be a competent Fighter; I don't. It's because the Fighter's skill set is the easiest of the four for a mundane to fake and the easiest of the four to pick up quickly.
Response #2: Assuming that from observing others it becomes apparent that adopting a racial suit or class-appropriate gear does somehow grant the abilities linked to that race/class combination, I would still stay away from Wizard, because there are too many unknown variables in terms of spells available, etc. I'd probably stick with Fighter, but on the assumption that whatever is granting racial and class abilities will now make me compenent with whatever gear I choose, I'd get slightly heavier armor and weapons, and add a bow. I presumably don't know what game system/edition is being simulated here, but I would probably add a racial suit that has the best chance of increasing my STR and CON: dwarf or half-orc.
Basically this. Stick with something simple. Ranged weapons as primary with a melee backup. Dont be a hero and don't go first. Plus I'd assume there is no money or happy ending if you "win." I'd play along while looking for an actual exit.
Edit: Now if the "racial gear" was actually something to give me an edge such as "darkvision" being a pair of night vision goggles, then I'd do that.
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Oh my response would be to match crazy with crazy.
So clearly I would dress up as a CN elf sorceress/wizard.
I would then proceed to seduce the game master.
Actually, this has some level of merit when dealing with crazy people.
I would go for the rogue gear and approach.
Definitely stay hidden and take out anyone or anything that seems like a legitimate threat. I wouldn't go looking for trouble.
Perhaps I would try to ally myself with some others, but only if I REALLY trusted them with my life.
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Do you suspect its maybe something more than a dangerous game and dress according to what you'd like to be (or as close as you can get) or do you think its just a madman with too much money and time on their hands and equip yourself to try and survive whatever they throw at you?
Serious answers please and don't try to gimp the system by proposing some exotic Codzilla just a simple "I would try to dress according to what I want because ..." or "I'd try to dress for survival because . . ." PLEASE.
Dressing for survival and dressing as what I'd like to be are not mutually exclusive. If I don't get any abilities my odds for survival are best with a chain shirt, longspear, dagger, and light crossbow (the whole point of a crossbow is it's easy to learn to use). This is a perfectly acceptable set of gear for a priest, assuming we're talking about a 3E/PF version rather than the AD&D "can't shed blood" restriction. Grabbing a prominent holy symbol and a false beard costs me nothing and thus is a safe decision even if it is exceedingly unlikely that doing so will actually turn me into a dwarven priest.
I do try to find a group at least at first since I expect that even having a barely-competent person watching my back is better than being on my own and this isn't a "last man standing" scenario.
Assuming those elf ears are latex prosthetics, I'm going to try to block the electrodes on my collar with them so I can try to escape without getting shocked (or at least, not as bad). Then/Or I'm grabbing some chain mail from the armory to try to create a crude Farraday cage around my neck to block whatever signal gets sent to my collar. Then I start looking for a way out.
This sounds like an episode out of Criminal Minds but with a Fantasy twist.
Definitely light armor. As above, I don't know what is really going on here. If I have shock collars and then I have fantasy D&D stuff (?!?) What sick mind is running this. I've used a bow before, so I would try to find one that I could pull easily. I don't know how to make arrows, so hopefully I could get a good quantity of them.
I have a "Combat ready" longsword at home and I would rather have something that isn't that heavy to weigh me down. A Short Sword would do.
I'd also make sure to have a backpack with gear. I am not a woodsman, so I would take all the things I could think of and a little more, because I have watched too much Survivorman. (and hope I don't have to survive on grubs (eeeewwwww!)
I don't care about the 10mil, just getting out alive and if this has anything to do with the Criminal Minds episode, there WILL be PvP!
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I would promptly kill the other contestants and yell to the sky
"DO I GET BONUS EXPERIENCE?!"
Response #1: It would require a lot more than waking up in a warehouse full of fantasy props to convince any rational person that magic is suddenly real, so there'd be no point to dressing up as a wizard or cleric; there's no expectation you'd be able to exploit their class strengths. Ditto the racial "suits"; no reason to believe that giving myself pointed ears would suddenly grant low-light vision or whatever. (On the other hand, that would be a simple enough experiment, so see Response #2 below.)
I would suspect I'd been dropped into an RPG-themed version of "Saw" by some lunatic, ignore the racial suits and adopt light armor and a couple of weapons I might reasonably expect to use untrained: staff and a light sword, probably. This is not because I consider myself to be a competent Fighter; I don't. It's because the Fighter's skill set is the easiest of the four for a mundane to fake and the easiest of the four to pick up quickly.
Exactly!
Response #2: Assuming that from observing others it becomes apparent that adopting a racial suit or class-appropriate gear does somehow grant the abilities linked to that race/class combination, I would still stay away from Wizard, because there are too many unknown variables in terms of spells available, etc. I'd probably stick with Fighter, but on the assumption that whatever is granting racial and class abilities will now make me compenent with whatever gear I choose, I'd get slightly heavier armor and weapons, and add a bow. I presumably don't know what game system/edition is being simulated here, but I would probably add a racial suit that has the best chance of increasing my STR and CON: dwarf or half-orc.
If it was possible I would throw caution to the wind and become an Elven Wizard! I would try to learn about its capabilities as fast as I could. Who wouldn't want to know magic. Plus, they do become more powerful (albeit at a slow pace) than the more mundane classes... At the very least in versatility if not straight fire power.
However, I would try to make friends and help people. You don't want to be alone in this "Game."
LOOPHOLE become something resistant to electricity damage, and escape.
LOOPHOLE become something resistant to electricity damage, and escape.
....LOL! That's brilliant!
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Putting the stuff on doesn't seemm to be turning people into their characters and attempting to interfere with the collar got you a lethal shock you are now dead. As for the guy who just started slaughtering people several ones you know and like (friends, family, kids) are now screaming in horror.
As for how I'd react in this situation I'd dress up as what I'd like to be because even if there is no magic I'm out of shape and not really a fighter so I'll probably be dead by dawn anyway I'm going out with a LARP to remember.
seriously though, to stop the collar from working all you need is 2-3 pegs to suspend the collar off your neck. explosive collars would be much more deadly.
and if they killed everyone the moment they messed with their collars, everyone would be dead in the first 5 minutes as this is the first thing everyone would do even if they gave them a warning.
Putting the stuff on doesn't seem to be turning people into their characters.
So, my Response #1, then.
As for how I'd react in this situation I'd dress up as what I'd like to be because even if there is no magic I'm out of shape and not really a fighter so I'll probably be dead by dawn anyway I'm going out with a LARP to remember.
I do not want you, or anyone with a "screw it, we're doomed anyway" attitude, in my party. Feel free to run ahead of everyone else and get yourself killed. Your death may be instructive.
The only clear objective is to follow instructions, face these "challenges" and survive the night, correct? As it stands there is no penalty for failure, and presumably the first challenge is the least dangerous. Nobody benefits from the death of others in this scenario, so I try to convince everyone to work together. I bring weapons and gear (comfortable and protective matters more than anything) and do not take a suit as there is no clear benefit. I try to stall for time, taking the challenges but very slowly and carefully, trying not to make progress quickly but not wanting to be punished for disobeying instructions. By morning we will all be 10mil richer for little to no risk. No need to kill anyone or endanger ourselves.
I would take it seriously, because the consequences for not doing so are too dire.
I would also be fully aware that, if these challenges have to involve weapons or any kind of survival skills, I'm already dead, having precisely zero skills with self-defense or survival, and being out of shape and chronically ill.
So ... I'd probably just grab a big-aft weapon (well, the biggest I can lift) and, if a fight starts, hope I can at least serve as a distraction.
So ... I'd probably just grab a big-aft weapon (well, the biggest I can lift) and, if a fight starts, hope I can at least serve as a distraction.
"Biggest weapon you can lift" is a big mistake. Even from SCA mock combat decades ago, I can tell you that holding things out away from your body tires your arms quickly. You need to be able to swing, keep swinging and resume swinging at something else without overtaxing your arm(s).
Shields are especially tiring, as they tend to weigh more and you have to hold them up and out for defense against an active opponent even when you aren't attacking. If you forego a shield in favor of using your weapon to block/parry, you want to be able to move that weapon quickly, not draaaaag it from one side of your body to the other.
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Honestly? My response is this. "Not again guys, look I didn't press kidnapping charges last year but you can't force me to LARP."
This being the case because I was kidnapped by my school's football team, who then proceeded to set up this kind of thing. (said the collar was explosive, I'd have to roleplay my way out of the woods, etc etc). I just walked home and almost called the cops. Until I realized they had set up a huge brunch buffet at my house for after. Oh, and the collar was an anti-barking shock collar that didn't even have batteries in it.
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Putting the stuff on doesn't seem to be turning people into their characters.So, my Response #1, then.
As for how I'd react in this situation I'd dress up as what I'd like to be because even if there is no magic I'm out of shape and not really a fighter so I'll probably be dead by dawn anyway I'm going out with a LARP to remember.I do not want you, or anyone with a "screw it, we're doomed anyway" attitude, in my party. Feel free to run ahead of everyone else and get yourself killed. Your death may be instructive.
Don't get me wrong I'll still try to survive I'm just realistic about my chances.
Not sure how you plan to suspend the collar aa it's tight up against your neck. However I'd rather instead of people trying to outthink the scenario I'd rather just an answer to the question.
Having been both a security professional and SCA heavy weapons fighter, I would gear up as a light Fighter/rogue. Find a decent polearm, a small shield, chain byrnie over leather or padded. Heavy boots that go over the knee or knee guards. Get a couple back up weapons. Heavy glove on left hand. Light glove on right. Helmet, hopefully with a light.
I can actually pick simple locks, etc.
I'd gather some holy symbols, holy water and what not, since I know a few phrases, etc, and was once made a Lay Priest.
So- triple threat.
Mind you, I am no longer agile, so no climbing walls, jumping etc, but I can wield a weapon, pick a lock, mutter a blessing.
Not sure how you plan to suspend the collar aa it's tight up against your neck. However I'd rather instead of people trying to outthink the scenario I'd rather just an answer to the question.
I think you should be responding to someone else here; I never mentioned the collar.
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Not sure how you plan to suspend the collar aa it's tight up against your neck. However I'd rather instead of people trying to outthink the scenario I'd rather just an answer to the question.I think you should be responding to someone else here; I never mentioned the collar.
I was in a rush, so yes that was aimed at someone else.
As is this, you could still at least answer the question rather than ignore it to try and hack the system in a way I seriously doubt you would attempt in real life. I know its foolish but I hope one day people will just answer the question given and not prompt me to come up with ridiculously complex limitations e.g. if you attempt to tamper with your collar we shoot your most beloved person, in the head, repeatedly, then cut out her heart and behead her before chopping the body into little bits and feed it to multiple sharks who we then kill half of and and feed to your Second most beloved person as sharks fin soup while firing a quarter into the sun and releasing the other quarter, THAt PERSON YOU LOVED IS NOW DEAD< NO COMING BACK DEAD BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T ANSWER A SIMPLE QUESTION. Caps represent my frustration at this.
Not sure how you plan to suspend the collar aa it's tight up against your neck. However I'd rather instead of people trying to outthink the scenario I'd rather just an answer to the question.
well if it's tight enough where you can't get the electrodes off with some wedges, everyone's strangled to death and probably never actually woke up.
also, they must have put in some extra care to make sure all the colors were the correct size for the various contestants.
also, we ARE answering the question, people don't act like people from Saw movies, they'd instantly try to escape.
I know its foolish but I hope one day people will just answer the question given
I did.
I know its foolish but I hope one day people will just answer the question givenI did.
It's a thought experiment. It's for thinking. :-)
Because you are frustrated by not getting 'serious' answers, let me point out some ways you could hone in on getting them:
You have too much stick and not enough carrot in your set-up. Try reversing that. For example: are the shock/death collars necessary in a scenario where people are trapped? Not really. You've seen that it completely nerfs the millions in reward for surviving.
The gear offers no explanation as to what benefits it might have- why on earth would anyone select it? What basis does the madman give them other than a very far-fetched 'maybe' that it could do something other than make a person look silly while dying? Have some very explicit advantages (real or fake) that players are told they would get for selecting them.
In short, if you want a concise answer (would you A or would you B?), you need to tailor your set-up better- make the people believe they aren't in danger and free to engage in the 'game'. As it stands, I'm surprised that the ratio of meta is so low in the responses.
Even in the most optimal scenario you were to set up, you're GOING to have a percentage of people who try and game the system no matter what. Gamers are more prone to this than other demographics. I'm being 100% serious when I say that you're going to have to come to peace with this at some point in your life if you enjoy making scenarios like this. It's their choice if they wish to gamble their life (and apparently their loved-ones lives, even though I didn't see that in the original set-up) on calling the bluff of the collar. Why get hung up on that? Focus on the ones that do engage.
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The goal the night is survival so I'd use any and all information I could glean to choose the best stealth gear, camo myself for the environment I'm entering (if I know) including scent and heat, then hide like my life depended it. Preferably up a tree or underground with a good secondary escape route.
Seriously, fighting only makes you a target.
Ok, guys, why not try and give him a straight answer along the lines of what he wants. That would be the nice thing to do.
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My frustration in that reply was a combination of having recently injured my leg and being in pain on a horribly hot day (36 degrees celsius and required by work to wear long sleved shirt and pants made of thick fabric for safety reasons) when I logged in and the first reply I saw was the one about killing everyone for bonus experience. It caused me to snap and rant, I admit I shouldn't have done that in this thread as most people have been answering the question. I wish to apologize for that it was uncalled for.
There was no mention of loved ones in the initial scenario because I was trying to avoid too much stick. It was mentioned in my rant because I feel that the only way to get a straight answer is to get a lawyer to write the question sometimes, again not something that belonged here.
As for gaming the system there's two ways to do that, one is Bandw2's answer, they were doing EXACTLY what I asked i.e. yes they dress up as something resistant to electricity damage and try to escape. However that means (1) they dressed up as something they thought was resistant to electricity damage and (2) they went through the door to the area outside the warehouse. Sure they then tried to escape but they answered the question as to what they would do. Then there's building a faraday cage out of chainmail to block the signal, I mean really?
I had in mind metal collars rather than ones with a specific point of contact i.e. the entire things becomes live.
You'd be suprrised just what the extremely rich and powerful can get away with particularly if they're in a place without extradition laws, already of a criminal nature or feel they're already dying.
Maybe the collars aren't necessary but I wanted someway to prod people into actually doing something as opposed to sitting in the warehouse till they starve. I suppose the money would be a better way of dealing with that. However the problem is if its too game like everyone dresses up as something exotic because there's no risk rather than as what they would if pressed i.e. all the basic survival gear rather than racial suits. Which I expected and there are options for that there short swords, dark clothing, etc. I don't think I ever said that there were no benefits for dressing up as an exotic character just that the clothes didn't seem to turn anyone into their characters. I assumed that people would think if you dress up as a wizard it might offer some advantage later on e.g. being able to bypass a magical barrier (have a locked door unlock). I'm guessing that assumption was wrong?
I would grab the nearest bag of bat crap, a fake beard (I have a beard, but it is not epic-wizard level), and start flinging guano around the room like crazy. When it obviously won't burst into a huge ball of flame, I will sadly announce to the sky "Seriously? You're starting me at first level?! What kind of newbie GM are you? Everyone know it doesn't get fun until fifth or so!"
I think covering my compatriots with flying rodent feces will obviously cause instant rapport.
I would grab the nearest bag of bat crap, a fake beard (I have a beard, but it is not epic-wizard level), and start flinging guano around the room like crazy. When it obviously won't burst into a huge ball of flame, I will sadly announce to the sky "Seriously? You're starting me at first level?! What kind of newbie GM are you? Everyone know it doesn't get fun until fifth or so!"
I think covering my compatriots with flying rodent feces will obviously cause instant rapport.
jesus christ you're this kind of wizard aren't you?
nah but seriously, even a full metal collar can be suspended off your neck (like i originally imagined anyway) by just putting something in between at regular points. seriously, go with the exploding collar and just start off with a demonstration to a watermelon.
no but entirely serious, I would just run, either suspending the collar or grounding myself with full plate(or anything from head to toe made of metal that's lighter). and then just use metal gauntlets as weapons if i needed to, should be fun with electro fists. i'm actually liking this idea...
Step one is to make myself into a halfling by finding clothes that I can wear while only having my arms from the elbow down and my legs from the knees down emerging from the clothes. To hide the fact that I am actually regular sized, I would modify a backpack so that I could fold my body into it and just barely move about while hunched over. This would make me barely able to move, but my new small stature would give me a bonus to stealth if the costumes do anything, and that will be important later, so I feel like this step is worth it.
Step two is to grab as many vials and flasks of various liquids as I can and drink all of them, in case any of them somehow grant magical bonuses. I am not a chemist, so unless they are marked with large and easily understandable labels there is a risk that I will accidentally drink some alchemist's fire or acid, since those pretty much exist, unlike most magical potions, but this is a risk I must be willing to take, because I need a lot of bonuses for step three to work.
Step three is to - once whatever game this psychopath has planned for us has started - very publicly and dramatically betray everyone else, hopefully managing to kill one of them by surprise before shouting "You lose this time heroes! And next time I will kill you all!". Then I waddle around a corner in my adorable little halfling clothes and attempt to hide, hoping that whatever it was I just drank has given me enough magical bonuses that I will not be seen and that whoever runs this game will decide to extract me for use as a recurring villain.
That feels like the best plan to me, but it does hinge a bit on me actually getting magical bonuses, so it is not 100% perfect.
Good luck looking adorable when your outfit is covered with guano!
wait wait wait, what if someone is a druid and resurrects someone. EVERYONE GETS TO WIN! WHAT IF THE DRUID IS A RESURRECTION DRUID. GG
nah but seriously, even a full metal collar can be suspended off your neck (like i originally imagined anyway) by just putting something in between at regular points. seriously, go with the exploding collar and just start off with a demonstration to a watermelon.
no but entirely serious, I would just run, either suspending the collar or grounding myself with full plate(or anything from head to toe made of metal that's lighter). and then just use metal gauntlets as weapons if i needed to, should be fun with electro fists. i'm actually liking this idea...
Actually, not a bad idea.... There are street performers that use chain mail in a similar manner. The electricity wants to go through the path of least resistance and ground out. The metal suit, being a better conductor than our bodies, helps prevent the electricity from damaging them and provides a path that can be directed.
Wear a chain mail shirt (attach it to the collar), chain mail pants, and some metal boots ( if you want it grounded). If you want to use it as a weapon, for when mr. baddy thinks he can zap you because you are being bad, wear a chain mail shirt, metal gauntlets and an insulator on your feet(so it can't ground itself). Punch someone when you are charged and watch them twitch on the ground.