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I'm running a Kingmaker campaign that is currently in kingdom building mode between books 2 and 3. For this session, the party will consist of 2 7th level PC's and 3 5th level PC's with NPC gear. I'm posting here rather than the Kingmaker forums because my question concerns Galt.
For various reasons, they have decided that it would be a good idea to start establishing diplomatic relations with the neighbors of their neighbors, starting with, of all places, Galt. And while there, they want to purchase a moveable type press and hire a master printer to operate it when they bring it home.
Of course, this being paranoid Galt, diplomacy is unlikely to go well, and Galt will flatly refuse to allow export of a press. They then learn of a master printer who has run afoul of the current regime. He's being held in a nearby jail and will face the final blade in the morning. If they can spring him from jail and escape the country, he can set up a press back home.
I've got the Paizo Prison flip-mat so I'll use that. There will definitely be 1 or more Grey Gardeners from the Inner Sea NPC codex as the master jailers. My question for you is what sort of defenses and alarms and such should the prison have?
One of the things I don't like about fantasy settings is that there sometimes seems to be a "real world" that is much like ours, and a "hero world" where powerful PC's, creatures, and spells exist. These world's tend not to interact much, so, for example, all those powerful spells and magic items are rarely used by the rulers to, say, help with guarding prisoners.
Picture a typical jail in a psuedo renaissance setting. It would have strong stone walls, metal bars on the cell doors, armed guards to keep the prisoners in and those who might try to free them out. None of that would present any difficulty for a mid level PC. So what fantasy elements should a jail have to make it more secure? I don't want to take up more than a few hours of table time, so I don't want the place to be impossible to spring somebody out of, but Galt has been doing this for 40 years and ought to be prepared for most basic adventurer tricks.
If they can get away with the guy, either by bypassing defenses and escaping undetected or by fighting their way out after being discovered, I'll resolve their escape with chase cards, giving positive or negative modifiers depending on the success or failure of their stealth mission.
Hmmm, that flip mat is more of a jail than a prison (still, a very nice map). I recommend a squad with dogs patrolling the perimeter and off duty hounds in the inner courtyard (they're very good at scenting invisibile beings). Have the roof be flat and crenellated with and extra squad up top to monitor those approaching from any side. If this jail is in a city it's easy enough to assume that the bunks are just for a portion of the guards (maybe those on overnight duty).
Does lead block teleportation in your games? How much is required for a "thin" sheet? Leaded glass in the windows and lead paint on the building could be enough.
As guards aren't much of a challenge to 5th-7th level PCs, perhaps play up the morality of the party's decisions rather than run the guards as fight-to-the-death simpletons.
The master printer could be a legitimate criminal; killed his wife to gain control of her fortune, accidentally started a disastrous fire while he was drunk (as he perpetually is), etc.
If the PCs do any recon, have them witness the guards being good, decent people. One plays with the prison dogs and feeds them table scraps, another walks to work accompanied by his wife and half a dozen kids, another gives a large portion of his weekly wages to the poor and homeless.