So, we've all seen and read the scenarios in which a hero or team infiltrate an enemy base and stealthily pick off guards as they work they way through. My Party is about to infiltrate an evil temple to rescue some prisoners and, unless I make the guards extremely low level so they can be one-shotted, running a stealth mission scenario is difficult.
They're fairly high level so they can use Invisibility easily, but even if the slayer sneaks up behind a lone guard he'll get one shot with sneak attack damage (unless he takes the risk of "pausing" for a new round so he can start the combat with a full-attack). The guard isn't helpless, so coup de grace really wouldn't apply.
The monk has a stealth of 13 so she has a decent chance of sneaking, but the rest all have stealth in the single digits. The druid could wildshape into something sneaky but, again, how much damage is a wolf going to do on a guard unless it's extremely low level?
Any suggestions on how to run this so stealth is a viable option if they choose to do so?
Does "fairly high level" possibly involve the Slayer having access to adavnced talents? Like Assassinate?
Because assassination mechanics are kind of the Slayer's "thing"...
You patiently study the target for one round before you strike, and it forces a Fortitude save... killing the target on a failed save. Done and done.
14th level, so could have taken Assassinate but hasn't. I guess I should stop worrying about them and let them figure it out!
If the Monk happens to already have Improved Grapple... they could take Chokehold, and possibly Bushwhack, too. That will keep people from screaming for help.
The Slayer could take Throat Slicer to be able to walk up and Coup de Grace the guy as a standard action since the Monk has them pinned with Chokehold.
I suspect part of the problem is that most GM’s try to keep all encounter level appropriate. So as the party levels up so does the opposition. The prison guards in the 1st level encounter are considerably weaker than those of a higher level adventure. While this makes since form a game balance point it makes no sense otherwise. Why are the guards in the same prison the player broke out of at 1st 6 levels higher when they come back in a few years?
I know some people will try and say that the new guards are higher level because the players breaking out cause tougher guards to be recruited. The problem I have with that is that why did they not recruit tougher guards in the first place if they were available? Some variance is understandable. There may be different security levels on prisons like in the real world. The minimum security prisons would staffed with less experience (lower level) guards. But these are still NPC’s so should follow the norms with regards to levels. Even in the maximum security prisons you are not going to have a bunch of 6+ level characters as the “ordinary” guards.
I used a prison to illustrate my point, but you can it could just as easily been anything else. The stealth scenarios in books and movies have the mooks as ordinary people, not level appropriate challenges for high level characters.
I was coming to a similar conclusion. It's actually a Red Mantis hideout/temple, so I'm going to use significantly lower level Red Mantis assassins in most locations with the elite assassins and leaders in reserve. They'll be able to wipe the regulars pretty easily, but if they screw up or just go in guns blazing, so to speak, the response team will hit hard. So if they play it right they could be in and out without raising an alarm. Or it could get bloody!
I treat low level guards like alarm traps that can be disabled by anyone with the trap finding ability replacing the spot and disable checks with a stealth and attack check. It steps out of the usual combat encounter for killing things, but the guard is essentially an alarm for the purpose of building the encounter.
You can leave it as is, there's silencing weapons to raise the DC to hear the sound of battle to 10. There's the quiet death feat, that lets you use a stealth check in place of the sound of battle DC, but it's level 10 rogue only. That limits infiltration style encounters quite a bit.
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I treat low level guards like alarm traps that can be disabled by anyone with the trap finding ability replacing the spot and disable checks with a stealth and attack check. It steps out of the usual combat encounter for killing things, but the guard is essentially an alarm for the purpose of building the encounter.
why require trapfinding? are they magic?
anyone can just bypass non magic traps
Trapfinding
A rogue adds 1/2 her level to Perception skill checks made to locate traps and to Disable Device skill checks (minimum +1). A rogue can use Disable Device to disarm magic traps.
That's funny... I make generic "guards" of any level with high AC, high HP, and high Perception because they are freaking guards. Lol. It is literally their job to sound that alarm, to be in the way... you do not do that job remotely "well" if any sucker off the street can not only hit you easily, but also knock you out of the fight in one hit. What's the point of even having actual guards otherwise?
If you want guards to act as traps, just use traps.
If you want guards to be a foregone conclusion, don't even bother with them... if you are using completely generic low-level guards as a source of experience for the party, just stop. Use milestone leveling. Add extra minions to the meaningful encounters. Give them XP for crossing the unguarded doorway, because that's what you are doing with BS guards, anyways.
The real purpose of a guard is to spot things when they go wrong, and make sure appropriate responses are made. They are more of a warning system that a problem solver. Sure if the problem is easy they will take care of it, but their main job is to make sure nothing unexpected happens. The first thing they should be doing when something happens is sounding the alarm not killing the invaders. If the temple is being attacked in one location it may be also being attacked in another. The guard that tries to kill the invader and does not give warning is not doing his job.
Traps are all well and good, but they can only deal with specific situations. Even magic traps follow this pattern. A human or at least sentient guard can assess the situation and adapt to the unexpected a lot better than any trap.
A good perception roll is going to be more important than high HP. I a temple devoted to a good of assassins I would imaging there are magical defenses that even a low level guard can activate.
I treat low level guards like alarm traps that can be disabled by anyone with the trap finding ability replacing the spot and disable checks with a stealth and attack check. It steps out of the usual combat encounter for killing things, but the guard is essentially an alarm for the purpose of building the encounter.
why require trapfinding? are they magic?
anyone can just bypass non magic traps
So that not everyone can do it, and so that the trap finding ability is more valuable. I could tie it to some other ability, or be more specific in which classes I thought needed the ability, but this has worked well so far.
I'm not convinced that putting significant combatants on guard duty would be as good a use of their abilities as having them available to respond to whistles or trumpets, pursue the spotted threat together, and leave their other guards in place to continue spotting.
Generally, archers are my quick reaction force... because, short of magic, it is THE martial response capable of shutting down the widest variety of threats. Archery happens to also be capable of some of the most significant damage... short of magic, of course.
Big, dumb Fighter rings the bell because your pathetic assassination attempt didn't kill her in one hit... And she knows she has enough health left in her to use her first, full BAB, attack to strike the bell instead of the worm that tried to kill her.
The archers will be here soon, scum. The clerics will heal me should I fall doing my duty...
