Re: mechanics of surprise

In article <T6lFh.18282$j7.366880@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
Russell Wallace  <russell.no.spam@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>Simon makes some very good points here: the op****tunity for a perfect 
>ambush isn't necessarily easy to come by.

>Consider the "we lie in wait outside the enemy's cave and whack them as 
>they emerge" scenario. Yes if you can pull that off, and if the two 
>sides were roughly equal in strength, then the ambushers should have a 
>very good chance of scoring a TPK with few or no casualties on their own 
>side.

>Consider the setup, however. An isolated cave with no neighbors or 
>passersby to get suspicious and alert the authorities - convenient. But 
>then how do the ambushers know where their enemy's hideout is, let alone 
>their schedule?

When my PCs recently needed to pull off such an ambush, they came to
town a week early and investigated questions like "How are these
guys getting fed?"  There were only a few businesses in town that
could cater for a group the size of the enemy's team (it would have
been harder to track this in a city) and questioning the
caterer's low-level employees gave the PCs some idea of the enemy's
location, schedule, and approximate numbers.

A lot of additional information came from staging a preliminary
attack (by two dinosaur skeletons, as it happens) on the road.
This told the PCs that the foe would tele****t instantly if spooked,
and also revealed the foe's use of baboons as forward scouts.  The
PCs then waited several days (in case of heightened readiness)
before staging the actual attack.

Catching and questioning one low-level foe is an incredibly
powerful technique, even without magic and especially with it
(Detect Thoughts/Zone of Truth/Charm Person in D&D).  It would be
harder in a more lawful area but in a remote location like this
putative cave, the law is unlikely to be able to react effectively.
And if the PCs are ruthless, they can kill the victim afterwards.
(If they are necromancers, killing the victim beforehands works
fairly well too!)

Attempts to do this to the PCs in return would have been more
difficult because they were not locals, and were not trying to
operate a business (as their foes were).  On their home turf,
where they *do* operate a business and have scheduled appointments,
they'd be rather more vulnerable than their foe, and I believe
would fall to an attack very similar in kind to what I just
outlined.  I honestly don't know how to prevent it.  The location
of their hideout is known and they cannot afford to guard the
entrance constantly.  (At much higher level they may start
Tele****ting in and out, and dispense with having a door, but they
can't do it now.)  Sending a scout out might save the group at
the cost of certainly losing the scout, and with only 6 PCs this
is not very affordable.  Low-level hirelings cannot deal with
attackers who are stealthy or invisible or shapechanged or just
blending in with the urban crowds.  And it is next to impossible to
do business without ever establi****ng a pattern that can be
used to ambush you.

Mary Kuhner mkkuhner@[EMAIL PROTECTED]