[MoN] Only one session and the PCs have locked themselves in a room with zombies!

[Chivalrybean]

At the end of Session 1, one player is running to get a Cop, and the other three have locked themselves under Ju Ju house with an angry crowd that was alerted by the PCs roughing up the 70 year old shop keeper (with the tiniest shred of good reason.)

I want to get them tied up, and have the cops rescue them. Humiliate them rather than kill them.

I think I can do this by modifying what is there a bit. I can send out the zombies, then have the Priest do his shout spell and stun the investigators. They wake up shackled to the wall. Then the cops break in just as the priest is raising the stone.

I figure the screams will again daze people, or at least the cops, so the Priest gets away. I want to summon that haunting horror at some point }:0D

Then Poole can berate them for being dumb, but thank them for uncovering the cult, but let the professionals do the work. {;0)

I just worry if I manhandle them too much (arbitrarily knock them out and shackle them up) it may not be as fun as letting a fight happen where they may or may not die.

An option would be to let them fight and see if they easily best the zombies, or run, then decide on the fly if the priest knocks them out.

They might not get the clues in the alcove too, unless they get the cops to let them look at it (which they probably could.)

Any ideas?

I'm using Trail of Cthulhu FWIW.

[Justin F]

Could it be that there is a secret escape route that leads... somewhere dramatic/narratively useful or just plain safe?

[Raiko]

If you go with the players getting knocked out and captured followed by a police raid, then consider having the police wholly unprepared for the opposition they face. Just a couple of local cops, or maybe Poole and one other detective, rather than a major raid (so that no one knows where they are).

Let the players think that the cops are about to rescue them, but dash their hopes and have the cops captured and sacrificed to the creature in the pit (costing the players some sanity).

Then with his pet fed for now, have Mukunga leave the investigators shackled to the wall telling them, "You die tonight!"

Then it's up to them to find a way out of their predicament before they're sacrificed. Maybe their friend can sneak back in to rescue them. If Poole has gone missing they might struggle to convince other cops to help in time.

Don't worry about the clues, I've run through this twice and on neither occasion did the investigators take any clues from the cellar. Once they fled from the zombies and torched Ju-Ju House, the other time they sent some cops to their deaths and then fled New York.

Any clues that are missed can easily be inserted later if you want. The British Museum Library in London or the museum itself are excellent places to insert missed clues, so is the Penhew Foundation.

[Raiko]

By the way, I definitely think it's better to play out the situation and hopefully capture the investigators fair & square rather than fudging things.

I don't know how it is in Trail of Cthulhu, but in CoC the zombies are almost impervious to damage unless the investigators have shotguns. So driving them into Mukunga's hands shouldn't be difficult, and capture is better than death.

[Chivalrybean]

By the way, I definitely think it's better to play out the situation and hopefully capture the investigators fair & square rather than fudging things.

I don't know how it is in Trail of Cthulhu, but in CoC the zombies are almost impervious to damage unless the investigators have shotguns. So driving them into Mukunga's hands shouldn't be difficult, and capture is better than death.

I don't have book with me, but it's about the same for damaging the zombies. I'm not even sure any of them are carrying guns. I know one was punching in Elias' room, another had a sword cane, and the one who will insist he has a gun on him wont have a shotgun, so I think I should be good.

I was jonsing to get started so soon as the points were spent I started the game. At least two would easilly have a pistol, not that it will help too much. I agree, now that I consider the situation, that I can likely capture them, and I'll leave it to the remaining PC to determine how ready the cops are.

This is going to be fun! {:0D

[Tigger_MK4]

It certainly gives you an excuse to "almost"feed them to the chakobsa.

As the police break in to upstairs, you could have the high priest flee, leaving the pcs to thier fate whilst the chakobsa is let loose. This could lead to a great bit of black humour as the police try to break down the cellar door before the chakobsa eats the prepared victims.

Policeman (as he tries to get the door open) : now, just calm down sir, after all, patience is a virtue.
Pc ( as monster climbs out of put ): Not right now it isnt !

Etc...

[Chivalrybean]

It certainly gives you an excuse to "almost"feed them to the chakobsa.

As the police break in to upstairs, you could have the high priest flee, leaving the pcs to thier fate whilst the chakobsa is let loose. This could lead to a great bit of black humour as the police try to break down the cellar door before the chakobsa eats the prepared victims.

Policeman (as he tries to get the door open) : now, just calm down sir, after all, patience is a virtue.
Pc ( as monster climbs out of put ): Not right now it isnt !

Etc...

I like the way you think.

[Gaffer]

The priest can have the zombies set to 'capture' rather than 'kill'. No matter how well the PCs do, there are just too many zombies. Maybe one character gets away to summon help while the others are captured.

This is also a good lesson that guns won't always (often?) protect you.

[Chivalrybean]

The priest can have the zombies set to 'capture' rather than 'kill'. No matter how well the PCs do, there are just too many zombies. Maybe one character gets away to summon help while the others are captured.

This is also a good lesson that guns won't always (often?) protect you.

One character was smart enough (despite being against her Drive (ToC rule) to not go down there in the first place {:0p And has reason to go get a cop.