Encounter with unarmored player characters - New GM

[KissyLipRaptor]

Hey! I'm planning my first Pathfinder campaign. Really excited for the beautiful train wreck it's going to be. I'm in the early stages, so the whole party isn't set on classes yet, but I know I have a party of five lvl 3 characters with a witch, a mesmerist, and a rogue amongst them. One of the first encounters is a prison break-in with them faking being cuffed/subdued. I'm giving them daggers and a lvl 3 NPC melee based (haven't decided on the class yet) ally, but the party won't have armor for the encounter.

CR and XP measurements seem to work when the party is fully geared, but I'm not sure quite how to deal with this. What sort of enemies would be appropriate for the party? I was thinking a few lvl 2 warriors would be a good struggle without fear of death.

[MisterSlanky]

Flagging for being in the wrong forum; hoping it's moved to the right one.

You're located in the Pathfinder Society GM discussion - not the general gaming discussion. You may discover more responses in the general Pathfinder section!

[quibblemuch]

Two thoughts:

1. Consider dropping the NPC. In addition to splitting the GM's attention between defending the party and attacking it, it also risks having the NPC take all the spotlight while the PCs don't do much to help themselves.

2. If the guards are armed with saps, they will deal nonlethal damage. That means that even if things go really badly, the PCs won't actually die. You might have to do something about them being beat unconscious and thrown in prison themselves, but it's better than wiping out the party in the first encounter of your first campaign. And it makes sense to not give prison guards lethal weapons, because that's something prisoners can steal and use themselves.

[KissyLipRaptor]

Thanks y'all! I'm new to forum life, thanks for pointing me in the right direction!