Ways to get a PC kidnapped.

[Lilitu]

I'm running an undead heavy campaign where the PC's are fighting against a cult of Vecna. One of the players wants his character to go through a dramatic event to help change his character into something that meshes better with the group(he's a naive goody two shoes while the rest are unaligned) and so I've decided to have him get captured by the cult and be turned undead temporarily(to be resurrected after). However I need some ideas on how I can get him kidnapped by the cult(I already know what I'm going to do after that). I don't want to railroad him into it(there has to be a chance for him to avoid it) so I want a few options to fall back on in case plan A doesn't work and currently I'm stumped. So I'm hoping the good people here can help me out.

Thanks guys

 

[storm_wolf]

Well, the old slience ritual + kidnapping when the goody-two-shoes goes to bed early and the rest of the party parties it up in the inn would work, if he is smart enough to run he has a chance of escape, however if he decides to try to fight it out, hit him with a ton of paralysis/daze/stun effects and take him away.

If that won't work the next time the party tries to use a teleportation circle have it open to a dark void and have a skeletal hand reach out for him, because Vecna needs to torture his new champion into the right mindset.

You could then let the PC be tortured to death and return as a revenant when the rest of the party rescues him. The body is the same, however the spirit within is now different...

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I'm running an undead heavy campaign where the PC's are fighting against a cult of Vecna. One of the players wants his character to go through a dramatic event to help change his character into something that meshes better with the group(he's a naive goody two shoes while the rest are unaligned) and so I've decided to have him get captured by the cult and be turned undead temporarily(to be resurrected after). However I need some ideas on how I can get him kidnapped by the cult(I already know what I'm going to do after that). I don't want to railroad him into it(there has to be a chance for him to avoid it) so I want a few options to fall back on in case plan A doesn't work and currently I'm stumped. So I'm hoping the good people here can help me out.

Thanks guys

I don't know why kidnapping PC threads even appear anymore.

Ask your player if kidnapping their PC is acceptable to them. If not, drop the idea.

PCs tend to stick together for protection, and also to make things easier for the DM to run the game. The PC is unlikely to fall into a position where a party can "gank" him by himself. (It's why I've never been able to pull a "mafia hit" on the PCs IMC; it only works on a solitary PC, not an entire party.)

If you try to kidnap a PC from their group, you effectively need to TPK the entire party to keep them from helping out, but for whatever reason the bad guys don't kill or capture the other PCs. Most players don't like it when the DM drops some horribly overpowered encounter on the PCs with no warning, and even then, the PCs might be able to escape or will fight to the death, literally. Using an OP encounter isn't necessarily unfair, but doing so without warning probably is, and it'll create resentment from the entire group of players.

PCs tend to cling to their gear. It's less of a problem in 4e than in 3rd, but unless you're using an inherent bonus campaign it's still an issue. If the villains have captured him, it makes sense for them to take his gear and never give it back. Perhaps they'll replace it with gear that only works for undead so they have a powerful servant. Either way, that means the PC is gearless once they've returned to normal.

What is the in-campaign reason for the villains going all out to turn that one particular character into an undead monstrosity? Why, when there are so many other NPCs ripe for the picking. They could try to kidnap the PC, fail (very, very likely, even with an OP encounter) and then pick someone more plausible, like the local champion, who of course will stay undead and pose a challenge to the PCs too.

 

[BobTheNob]

I once had a situation where the party as a whole needed to get kidnapped. Wasnt hard, in my case they just "woke up in a cell" with no memories of their former life, and the quest they had to go on was to recover their former memories and tie together how they got from the last adventure to this one.

There is nothing wrong with inserting a pre-scripted event to move the plot along. "On a night, the party wakes up in terror, bound within their beds and silenced, watching in horror as dark spirits take away their companion!". Then let the players figure out what happened, i.e. the adventure starts AFTER the event.

The only real difference between this and a more conventional plot point is that the person being saved is a team mate rather than an NPC.

 

[pemerton]

I think the approach to take depends a bit on how much the player in question is a co-conspriator in your plan. And how much the other players are prepared to go along.

One option, which depends on your players being prepared to play along, is to have the NPCs ransom some innocent villagers/family members/etc in exchange for the goody-two-shoes PC. Once the exchange has taken place, of course the other PCs try hard to rescue their friend, but tragically they arrive too late!

Another option, which relies a lot less on player co-conspiracy, is to have a fight involving a Naldrezu (sp?) demon - a level 8 or so capture-and-teleport demon from MM2. Assuming that your undead cult are Orcus-worshippers, it makes perfect sense for them to have bound demons serving them. Once the Naldrezu teleports the PC away, the other lurking cultists can wail on him and bundle him off while the rest of the PCs are still fighting on the front line.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I once had a situation where the party as a whole needed to get kidnapped. Wasnt hard, in my case they just "woke up in a cell" with no memories of their former life, and the quest they had to go on was to recover their former memories and tie together how they got from the last adventure to this one.

I was in a campaign that started like that. That was fine. But to suddenly erase a day would result in resentment. The PCs will want to have played the scene, even if it was just make a Perception check to notice someone drugging your drink.

 

[jcayer]

The player who plays our cleric knew he would miss a few sessions, so I kidnapped her. It was a really effective way to remove her while he was gone.

It was fairly simple, being the cleric, she tended not to mix it up much, so during a nighttime encounter, she hung back and then just disappeared.
The player was on board, so when it got to his turn, he just said, she was gone.

No need for anything so grandiose since the player was in on it.

FYI, you want to mess with a party, make the cleric disappear for a couple sessions...they get afraid a whole lot more.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

I'm running an undead heavy campaign where the PC's are fighting against a cult of Vecna. One of the players wants his character to go through a dramatic event to help change his character into something that meshes better with the group(he's a naive goody two shoes while the rest are unaligned) and so I've decided to have him get captured by the cult and be turned undead temporarily(to be resurrected after). However I need some ideas on how I can get him kidnapped by the cult(I already know what I'm going to do after that). I don't want to railroad him into it(there has to be a chance for him to avoid it) so I want a few options to fall back on in case plan A doesn't work and currently I'm stumped. So I'm hoping the good people here can help me out.

I'd check with your player to see if they're onboard for the kidnapping idea. If they are they shouldn't want to avoid it, so railroad away!

I was in a campaign that started like that. That was fine. But to suddenly erase a day would result in resentment. The PCs will want to have played the scene, even if it was just make a Perception check to notice someone drugging your drink.

It depends on the players. My group would go along with the plot without resenting not getting to play out the capture scene.

 

[Havrik Stoneskimmer]

You need to make sure your player is totally onboard with what you've come up with. I think a player needs to be the one deciding on any significant permanent changes to their PC like this.

Once you and the player are in league together, feel free to use BobTheNob's advice, and just start the adventure with the PC being kidnapped without the other PCs having any opportunity to prevent it from happening.

 

[Lilitu]

You need to make sure your player is totally onboard with what you've come up with. I think a player needs to be the one deciding on any significant permanent changes to their PC like this.

Once you and the player are in league together, feel free to use BobTheNob's advice, and just start the adventure with the PC being kidnapped without the other PCs having any opportunity to prevent it from happening.

He's on board, though I'm not sure I like the idea of having his character just wake up kidnapped, that seems to much like railroading to me. While I might be able to work it in as a last resort it's something I'd rather avoid.