Group Скрытность and Маскировка

Sneaking around and using маскировкаs can be difficult when operating as a group. Though one person might be highly Опытный and specialized, it’s often the party member with the worst Скрытность or weakest маскировка who causes the whole group to get caught. Though the most effective tactic is to assign those characters to different tasks, that’s not always possible. Here are a few ways to help mitiВрата this risk.

 

Unseen Numbers

More people require more or Крупныйr places to conceal themselves, and even then the group is only as Проныра as its clumsiest member. Using Помощь another on an ally’s Скрытность check is often infeasible. It’s useful when attempting to sneak as a group to have the скрытностьier or more perceptive characters move aГолова of the rest of the party. The job of the forОпекун characters is to spot guards or traps before the rest of the party can stumble into them. Once warned of the danger, other party members can either change their route or Использование their own talents to handle the situation. Characters farther back are harder to perceive because of дальнобойное and possibly doors or walls.

Characters with the teamwork черта Скрытность Synergy (Ultimate Combat 121) can Использование the highest Скрытность check roll among them (though they still Использование their own skill modifiers). A few archetypes have abilities to boost their allies’ Скрытность checks, including the daring Лазутчик Головорез (Advanced Class Проводник 124), the Проводник следопыт (Advanced Player’s Guide 125), and the warden следопыт (Ultimate Combat 68).

 

Armored Subterfuge

Средний and Тяжелая Броня are vital to the выживание of many characters, yet often counterproductive when sneaking past guards or disguising oneself. Though Светer armor is always an option, there are a number of ways to reduce the penalties associated with heavier armor. Masterwork armor and those made from special materials such as mithral have lower armor check penalties. A number of Магия armor special abilities improve Навыки normally penalized by armor, including creeping (Ultimate Equipment 116), shadow, and slick. The glamered armor special ability allows even a heavily armored character to blend into a crowd. Any armor’s penalty can be reduced with the Armor Умелец trait (Ultimate Campaign 51) or the воин’s Мастерство Ношения Брони ability. Applying armor ointment (Ultimate Equipment 102) or caЖало Бесплатная Броня (Ultimate Combat 228) also reduces armor check penalty.

 

Group Маскировкаs

Маскировка has an advantage over скрытность, as sometimes not everyone in the party needs to be маскировкаd for a plan to work. For instance, one or more characters might маскировка themselves as bounty hunters or guards bringing in the others in chains. Сломатьaway chains and false manacles (Ultimate Equipment 60, 64) allow PCs to appear chained while able to easily free themselves.

Even a Добро маскировка fails, however, if the character can’t play the assumed persona convincingly. The best маскировкаs are often as people unlikely to be questioned or engaged in conversation—servants, laborers, and guards. A brazen Лазутчик might pretend to be someone in authority, such as a foreign noble or a military officer, relying on aloofness or brusqueness to avoid questions. For a group, one character can be маскировкаd as an authority figure while the rest play her servants. This provides a built-in excИспользование for party members to defer to the PC with the best social skills.

 

Smuggling: The complexity of smuggling can have an enormous range. It could be as simple as slipping a weapon inside a well-guarded parlay chamber or as complex as getting an entire team of acrobats past the duke’s throne room unnoticed and unВред. Smuggling falls under Ловкость рук, but Блеф or Маскировка might be useful to maintain a facade while smuggling something or someone valuable.

Скрытность and Subterfuge: Though sneaking past enemies and Опеки is a major part of скрытность and subterfuge, this category also includes other tasks that require discretion. Example tasks include scaling a wall and slipping through a window, surreptitiously adding a Сонing potion to a courtier’s drink, lifting the prison key off the captain of the guard, and sneaking through the Сонing quarters of the guards. Скрытность and Ловкость рук are the main Навыки used in such situations. Spells like Невидимость, Тишина, Полиморф spells, and Тьма (if used carefully) make a PC much скрытностьier.

 

EXAMPLE HEIST

The following example illustrates the step-by-step process of building a heist, and how a group might tackle the heist during a game session.

The GM decides she wants the next big encounter in her campaign to be a heist, in Орден to add some new intrigue Стихии to the table. The PCs have been enjoying their ongoing struggles against a rival merchant lord who has been making Жизнь difficult for them. The GM plans out a quick encounter with an NPC who suggests that the best way to get leveЯрость on the merchant lord is to steal the records of his illicit dealings with the local thieves’ guild that he keeps in a locked safe in his workshop.

The goal is “Steal an Item,” and the GM decides she wants a heist of moderate scope, so each character should have three mandatory obstacles to overcome in Орден to Притянуть it off. She begins to compile a list of each character’s strengths. The four characters are Valeros the воин, Ezren the волшебник, Merisiel the плут, and Kyra the жрец. Valeros is, of course, very Добро at fighting and Сломатьing things, but also happens to be Добро at carousing. Ezren likes to f ling powerful Магия around every chance he gets. Merisiel is great at skulking about, and she makes a Добро flanking partner for Valeros. Finally, Kyra is wise and observant and somewhat Опытный at interpersonal tasks. The GM chooses a variety of obstacles that she thinks воля be fun for these characters to overcome by using their strong suits.

The GM decides to include several guardians that block the path and воля likely need to be defited by force, including front-Врата guards and a guardian gargoyle that Valeros and Merisiel might be able to fight together.

Figuring the party воля gather information before the heist, she seeds information on the tavern where the guards like to carouse, expecting Valeros might join them for a drink and try something there before the main heist, potentially asking to join as a new guard. She also includes information about an old priest who used to serve the merchant lord for many years and knows the full layout of the manor house, unlike most guards who don’t have access to the inner areas; the GM thinks Kyra might want to Использование her Состояние as a fellow жрец to convince the priest to help the PCs in some way.

Anticipating that Ezren might enjoy doing something flashy, she decides that the final obstacle of escaping with their prize воля involve a rival gang of thieves маскировкаd as manor house  servants, giving Ezren a chance to make a Отвлечение so the others can slip away. She continues setting these obstacles and opportunities for the PCs, filled with chances for the PCs to Использование abilities, character personalities, and background tidbits the players would likely enjoy.

When the group decides in the course of the game that they want to Сломать into the merchant’s manor and steal his ledgers, they begin gathering information just as the GM planned. However, there’s a sСвет alteration to the GM’s plans because, instead of having Valeros join the guards, they decide that a careful application of Магия could take out the guards quietly. Also, playing sСветly differently from normal, the group decides to Использование Ezren as an observer, drawing on his little-used Тайновидение Магия to assist in penetrating the grounds with little notice, leaving Kyra to put on a Свет show with her Солнце Магия and make the final Отвлечение to Помощь the escape.

And so it goes, as the Game Master reveals the manor’s defenses and the players figure out their way of dealing with them. The heist that the group plans and executes is different from what the GM guessed it might be. However, the whole group still has a Добро Время pulling off the heist and the players all get a chance for their characters to shine.

INFILTRATION

An infiltration requires скрытность and discretion to win the day. Unlike a heist, infiltration is typically limited to a Небольшойer set of skills, and suited for one or two PCs rather than utilizing the whole group.

Infiltration covers both a direct infiltration with a single, set goal (similar to a heist) and long-term espionage that requires living a Двустороннее Жизнь and has a less specific goal. Infiltration ranges from Сломатьing and entering to using social Навыки to get inside a location. Infiltration usually requires the Скрытность and Маскировка skills, and often social Навыки and Ловкость рук as well.

 

ALTERNATE GOALS

An infiltration might have one of the same goals as a normal heist (see page 118), or it could aim at one of the following goals instead. Because it is less complicated than a heist, an infiltration is typically suited to Небольшойer and more immediate goals rather than campaign-changing ones.

Ассасинate or Kidnap a Creature: The object of this infiltration is to kill or capture one or a Небольшой number of targets. It’s естественная броня for a creature to let its guard down in the safety of its Домашняя or base, allowing you to catch it at its weakest. In many cases, striking at the leader воля cause followers to f lee or fall into infighting, thus removing the threat they present without direct Conflict.

Spreading Propaganda: In this infiltration, the PC blends in with a population in Орден to Облако misinformation. This sort of infiltration is particularly dangerous because, although the PC is in маскировка, she needs to actively engage with people, often in public places. Usually this is done on behalf of a rival nation or organization in Орден to reduce боевой дух and turn the populace against their leaders in preparation for a political or military takeover. Alternatively, the PC might act as an agent provocateur, urging the populace to rise up against their leaders, or inciting the leaders to attack another group. Spreading propaganda could involve placing posters, making graffiti, or otherwise conveying the propagandist’s Сообщение through Искуство rather than interaction. This requires applying an appropriate Ремесло skill. To be truly effective, artistic propaganda still requires the Лазутчик to interact with other people—though creating a massive work of propagandist Искуство that requires multiple people to carry out could do the trick.

Выступление Reconnaissance: The Лазутчик is attempting to gather information about a location and its inhabitants. Details of the location’s defenses and defenders, as well as its strategic targets, allow her and her allies to be prepared for subsequent assaults, heists, or investigations against that location. Eavesdropping on a suspected criminal could allow the PC to catch him red-handed at his next crime or reveal the identities of others involved in the criminal operation. A less scrupulous character might Использование reconnaissance to blackmail a target by threatening to exploit or expose the Секреты she discovers.

 

SCOPE

An infiltration has a scope just like a heist, though it functions a little differently. The GM is typically dealing with a Небольшойer number of characters at a Время and doesn’t need to provide as many obstacles. In addition, an infiltration always has a specific scope. There are two possible scopes for infiltration: fast or long-term.

Fast: The PC or PCs need to get in quickly and take care of their task. The infiltration usually takes no more than a few hours in game Время and 10–15 minutes or so at the game table. This requires one to three obstacles for a single PC or one obstacle per PC if multiple PCs are involved. If you find yourself needing more than three obstacles, Использование a heist instead so all the characters get involved.

Long-Term: This covers long-term espionage, and requires the PC to create a cover story or alternate identity. It plays out over the course of several sessions, but usually takes up 10 minutes or less per session. Rather than having a set number of obstacles to obtain a single goal, put two obstacles in front of the PC as she tries to infiltrate the organization or befriend the target. Then provide a single obstacle or two each session in which the PC attempts to get something out of the infiltration. Provide a minor piece of useful information for each obstacle overcome, or a more important piece at certain intervals (typically after the PC has overcome four or five obstacles). Structure the Секреты of the organization in layers from the least secret to the most secret, so the PC gets closer and closer to the innermost levels of the organization. People from the organization the PC is infiltrating might encounter the PC elsewhere, in which case she might need to quickly adopt her cover or avoid being noticed. Long-term espionage can go on indefinitely, but each Время the PC fails to overcome an obstacle, the organization or target becomes more suspicious of her true agenda. After three failures (or one egregious failure), the interloping character’s motivation is revealed unless she takes Необычная steps to repВоздух her reputation.

 

COVERS AND PERSONAS

During a heist, and especially in an infiltration, a character might need to assume a cover: a false identity. This identity needs only a few details, like the person’s name, профессия, and recent history. The most important Аспект of a cover is consistency—the PC needs to keep any details straight so she doesn’t contradict herselflater. A cover identity might involve an accent, mannerisms, a style of dress, and other quirks.

Much more involved than a cover, a persona is a fully fleshed-out identity ремеслоed over months or years. The Лазутчик needs to know every single deХвост about the persona, and might live as that persona for weeks at a Время in Орден to keep up the charade. A long-term infiltration might require a persona rather than a cover.

A persona is thematically similar to a каратель’s multiple identities, and the player of an Лазутчик attempting long-term espionage should put as much effort into the details of the persona as she does into the backstory of her actual character. Though a character adopting a cover identity likely uses Блеф to fake any areas of expertise her cover identity is supposed to know, a character living as a persona picks up actual Навыки related to that persona over time, and might spend skill ranks in Ремесло, Знание, and Профессия Навыки appropriate to her persona.

Quick Covers: The following list gives some examples of covers that characters might adopt and pretenses for why they’re entering the location they’re infiltrating. If a player is having trouble coming up with a cover identity on short notice, you can Использование the following Внушениеs directly or as inspiration. They are сломан out by their social role, but many cover identities apply to multiple roles.

Average Person: Beggar, looking for a place to find shelter; chambermПомощь, coming to sweep the halls; rat catcher, hired after someone heard squeaking; shopkeeper, delivering an urgent order; herbalist, selling poultices and tinctures door to door.

Entertainer: Бард-for-hire, come to выступление a song at the bidding of a secret admirer; jester, looking for a noble in need of her antics; painter, in need of a patron and a location to create beautiful murals; big-city theatrical producer, searching for the next big star.

Священное Visitor: Traveling priest, spreading the Добро word; soothsayer, come to deliver a dire warning; religious scholar, arriving to do research in the library.

Important Noble: Child of a prominent duchess, in town to attend a falconry competition; veteran knight, visiting the countryside after a hard-won victory in a jouЖало competition; advisor to a desert prince, traveling to find new trading partners; herald, bringing news of the imminent arrival of his lord.

Officer of the Law: Conстабилизирован, coming to search for an escaped prisoner; barrister, investigating one of the property owner’s business rivals; tax collector, assessing the value of the establishment.

Wealthy Visitor: Self-made merchant, ищущее employees to buy and sell goods for her; hedonistic socialite, looking to hire locals to throw a big party; vacuous heir, looking for property to buy; gambler, trying to find players for a high-stakes game.

 

MAINTAINING THE CHARADE

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When carrying out a long-term infiltration, characters should strive to keep their personas as easy to maintain as possible, and shouldn’t rely on маскировкаs or Магия to alter their appearance, instead using relative anonymity to avoid recognition. An inЗнаменитый face might eliminate this option, however, and necessitate a long-term маскировка. Adjusting mannerisms, modes of dress, and speech are all easier than maintaining physical маскировкаs. Using spells to maintain a persona is particularly risky—long- laЖало spells are generally needed, and the longer the charade goes on, the more likely a Шпион is to encounter someone who can see through an Иллюзия or detect the magical effect.

ЛИДЕРСТВО

Social interactions and the bonds between people are some of the most important Стихии in any story. One of the best ways to portray those ties and bring a supporting cast of NPCs to Жизнь is through the Лидерство черта, though getting the most out of it can sometimes be a Бросить Вызов for both players and GMs. This section offers an in-depth overview of the Лидерство черта, presenting Внушениеs for how to include cohorts and followers in your game and incorporate them into various rules systems found in Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Campaign.

 

ЛИДЕРСТВО MODIFIERS

The Лидерство modifiers in the description of the Лидерство черта (Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook 129) are concise, so some GMs may appreciate more Божественное Наставление on adjudicating them. With the reputation and fame system on pages 180-185 of Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Campaign, or the new influence system on pages 102–117, it is possible to create a more detailed framework to determine when those modifiers apply.

Great Renown: If using the reputation and fame system from Ultimate Campaign, a character gains a +1 bonus to her Лидерство score if she has at least 30 Fame and a +2 bonus if she has at least 55 Fame. Alternatively, if using the organizational influence system (page 109) and recruiting cohorts or followers from an organization, a character gains a +1 bonus to her Лидерство score for those cohorts and followers if she is Rank 2 or 3 with that organization and a +2 bonus if she is Rank 4.

Generosity and Stinginess: To receive a +1 bonus from fairness and generosity, a character must provide above-Average remuneration to her cohort and followers. In the case of an adventuring cohort, an Average amount of remuneration would be an equal or sСветly less than equal cut of the treasure. If a leader provides her cohort and followers with poor remuneration, she still retains the loyalty of her cohort and followers, but she takes a –1 penalty to her Лидерство score. If she doesn’t pay them enough to subsist (or provide subsistence for them), she takes a –2 penalty and risks Двустороннее or even triple that penalty if such behavior lasts more than a week.

Special Power: This refers to something beyond the typical power that a character gains from increasing in level (which is already reflected in her Лидерство score by the inclusion of character level). A mythic character would definitely gain the +1 bonus to her Лидерство score, as would one who possesses an artifact or knows a number of powerful and rare Оккультизм rituals.

Success and Failure: A character who achieves a significant string of successes gains a +1 bonus to her Лидерство score, and a character who meets with a significant string of failures takes a –1 penalty to her Лидерство score. If using social conflicts (see pages 166–175), a character who wins a significant long-term social conflict might gain a permanent +1 bonus to her Лидерство score each Время she does so, and one who loses such a conflict might instead take a permanent –1 penalty to her Лидерство score.

Aloofness and Camaraderie: A character who is aloof and elitist takes a –1 penalty to her Лидерство score, while a character who is friendly, supportive, and accessible gains a +1 bonus to her Лидерство score. If using the relationships system on pages 176-179 of Ultimate Campaign, a character instead gains a +1 bonus for camaraderie with a cohort if their Relationship Level is fellowship, which increases to +2 if their Relationship Level is devotion; this bonus doesn’t stack with modifiers incurred for aloofness or camaraderie toward other characters.

Cruelty: A character who is cruel and callous toward her cohorts and followers takes a –2 penalty to her Лидерство score. In the case of a particularly Зло character whose cruelty is part of her legend and who is recruiting equally horrific individuals, this penalty might not apply, but she might take a similar penalty if she выступлениеs too many acts of kindness, ruining her reputation for cruelty. This is not to say that most Зло leaders work this way, however, as kindness can be an exceptionally useful tool for a manipulative leader.

Other Modifiers from the Core Rulebook: The other modifiers from the Core Rulebook, such as having a фамильяр, recruiting a cohort of a different alignment, or causing deaths, are simpler to adjudicate. Many characters qualify for having a guildhouse  or base of operations, gaining a +2 bonus to their Лидерство scores specifically for the purpose of followers.