Subject: Magical Prison
From: "John Jackson" <[email-masked]>

This is a prison developed for the GEA campaign. Originally run by the
drow in that world. Developed by John Jackson ([email-masked]). Feel free to use
it. If you improve it or change it, or just use it, drop me a note, I'd like
to hear your comments and ideas. Thanks - John

----- Forwarded message follows -----
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 97 09:53:33 CST
From: "John Jackson" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Epilogue: Drow Prison 
To: "GURPS List" <[email-masked]>
     
Three weeks ago I requested details to assist in the design of a drow
prison. I received a number of helpful ideas, and would like to thank those
who provided inputs. The adventure has now been run, and I'll share the full
details of the prison as it was modeled. Ideas borrowed from posters are
noted by *idea...*[name] type format.
     
     Ground Rules I used in the design: This was a medium security facility.
Things requiring great expense, huge expenditures of resources, or large
numbers of guardians on a regular basis were out. It had to be something
that the drow could maintain practically on a day to day basis. That ruled
out some cooler ideas like the "herd of invisible dragons" that would make
things impossible. On the other hand, the drow didn't worry overly much
about defenses causing collateral damage to the prisoners if they needed to
be employed.
     
     CONSTRUCTION:
     Walls are steel reinforced. Walls are two feet thick, with a two foot 
no manna zone air gap, followed by another two foot stone/steel reinforced
layer. The no mana seal is completely contiguous on all sides, top, and
bottom. The stone is essential. The jail has two floors, one at ground
level, the other below the ground. 
     The jail is in the middle of a large grassy park. There are no windows.
The jail facility is surrounded by a 8 hex no mana zone, 24 feet high. There
is a 24 foot high NMZ on the roof and below the bottom floor as well. There
is a teleport shunt over this part of the city that prevents teleports over
20 feet. Anyone trying it gets diverted to a holding facility.
     Each cell will have one or two walls of steel bars (tightly placed) for
easy viewing. Most cells are no mana zones, most hallways are normal mana.
     
     GUARDS
     The jail had 10 guards at a time, 5 on each floor. 2 guards replaced
each hour, one for each floor, 5 hour shifts, 25 hour day. Always one
captain, sergeant, and three privates top floor, and one lieutenant, one
corporal, and three privates on bottom floor.  The average guard was worth
64 points, not much for a 30 point race. Points costs ranged from 20 points
(the worst private) to a 130 point captain. 
     *Guards are never left alone with a prisoner. The enlisted men are
randomly assigned to this guard station and nobody knows who they will be.
They serve as a check against bribed officers. If a prisoner escapes, all
officers are demoted and all slaves currently working the jail are
executed.*[Fred Wolke] While the drow value _drow_ life very very highly, if
a drow guard is directly responsible for an escape through treachery or 
negligence, he will be given a new career: dying slowly.
     
     MAGICAL PRECAUTIONS:
     Everyone entering the prison must walk through a no mana zone. They are
then subjected to the following scrying: Aura, Sense Foe, Detect Life, Mage
Sight as well as a pat down. *Everyone entering the prison must step through
a pentagram* [Bret Indrelee].
     Two guards on each floor have an item that allows them to cast sound
vision. Nightingales are enchanted in all hallways at strategic points.
Scryguards and pentagrams are located at two points on each floor. 
     Guards may be issued Amulets/Talismans vs. Daze, Sleep, Loyalty,
Entomb, Flesh to Stone, Immurement, Enthrall. One per guard, roll randomly
to determine type. *These are issued before reporting to duty. All guards
where a hat with a purify air enchantment. Two guards on each floor must be
able to cast and maintain a light spell at a central facility which will
wink out within one minute of their death/incapacitation.* [Bret Indrelee].
     Each of the 5 captains and 5 lieutenants assigned to the jail maintains
one link that will be triggered by anyone escorting a prisoner in a hallway,
or any prisoner in a hallway, without a special password being given.
Prisoners are never escorted at a time when the slaves can observe. *Most of
the links use Watchdog and Mage Sight in the triggers*[Bret Indrelee].
     Illusion shell - Illusion shells of trapped fake doors and a tortured
chained elf woman (its a trap) are maintained at various times.
     The drow use engravings and statues in their art work, which is present
everywhere. One of the statues on each level is a stone golem ordered to
obey the captains and lieutenants. Also, one of the statues holding up a
table on each floor is a clay golem. Each floor has a flesh golem "prisoner"
in a normal mana cell, with orders to attack anyone that  tells it to leave
(except its creator).
     *Hm... I guess you forgot about Psionics?*[Tony Limbert]. No. Psis are
rare and quite valuable. The preferred method is to ignore them up front. If
they are captured in the attempts, great. If not, there presence can be
detected after the fact if they used any psi powers. Vast resources will be
bent to their eventual capture. Captured psis will experience the full force
of the Dominions mind-shaping capabilities, and eventually will serve the
drow well. Bob Huss suggested numerous methods for active detection and
capture of psis, which would be employed once a psi was known to be involved.
     *All prisoners are shaved bald. Hair samples are kept for future
Seekers and other vile magics* [Bret Indrelee].

     THE RESCUE
     After three weeks of planning, the party came up with a number of
different scenarios. Some better than others. It was fun watching them plan
when I got the occasional glimpse of their brainstorming via questions to
the GM or discussions at lunch. Here's what they finally came up with:
     They used diplomatic ties from a previous mission to hire a man who was
known to be able to teleport even in no mana areas, call him the Teleport
Dude (the only NPC).
     The party infiltrated the city as lizard man slaves. In this guise,
they approached the jail area, spreading horse manure, sodding grass divots,
trimming hedges, and sewing seeds. Near the jail, one of the PCs ran to the
door and placed a satchel charge (brief case sized, black powder bomb),
which damaged the door and caused a real distraction. Meanwhile, a PC
dropped a delay grenade that created a very large suspend mana in the area
(30+ meter radius. The party didn't consider that this spell wouldn't effect
the basement level, only the surface level, but it didn't matter).
     Relying on interrogations of the jail slaves, the 'teleport dude' went
up to the wall nearest the targets' cell and did his thing.  The teleport
dude is basically a martial artist with two special gifts. He can enhance
mana by one level on himself only, and he has a teleport knack. He
teleported into the cell (on the second try). He evaded a sword blow from a
guard, dropped a fake satchel charge, and grabbed the prisoner target. He
then teleported back out to the outside of the jail (again on the second
try). At no time did he travel over 20 feet in this. The party was unsure of
the shunt parameters and didn't want to risk it.
    The PCs then split up. The PCs used delays to set off Hawk Flight and
Invisibility spells on themselves, along with some Mights and Vigors thrown
in. At this point, alarms were going off in the sector, and guards were
scrambling to the jail, on the city walls, and throughout the vicinity. The
party took off. They took some hits from crossbow bolts that were fired via
Lesser Wishes (they had four available in that sector, for four hits), but
they remained conscious (one just barely) and managed to escape to the
outlying swamps, away from the teleport shunts. They then pulled off an
intercontinental series of teleports and made good their escape.  
     Of their many plans, this end-around approach was probably the best,
and they implemented it well. They made good use of Bret Indrelee's advice
that the drow would rely very heavily on their magic, which was wise
counsel. The drow guards couldn't use their magic to stop the teleport dude
in the cell, because he was surrounded by NMZ, and the cell was large enough
for him to evade swords. By the time the guards got out the crossbows, they
were gone. 
     Drow lessons learned: Smaller cells or polearms needed in prison. Have
more Lesser Wish missile weapons on the walls. Magic is not a panacea.
Sometimes, stuff happens.

 John Jackson    /<  
 [email-masked] /<   
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 John Jackson    /<  
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