The players are being tailed but aren’t aware of it. What is the right play to clue them into this fact? Do they need to roll survey occasionally on the off chance they might be tailed? Is there a resistance roll? Do I just tell them and they can figure out how to deal with it?
The players are being tailed but aren’t aware of it.
The players are being tailed but aren’t aware of it.
Assuming you can elide time to skip the travel (which you usually should) I would just jump to the destination and then when it becomes relevant you go, “by the way, you were followed and” is right behind you.” Then they can use the tools available to them, like flashbacks, to avoid it.
I generally wouldn’t allow a resistance roll to avoid being tailed, but would allow it to resist the immediate effect of the ambush.
So, right now it’s a bit like an escort job. I’m zipping them along to different decision points and obstacles and I’d like this being tailed to be another monkey wrench in their plans. It could be interesting that when they get to the next obstacle they also notice the tail and have another thing in their way.
Agreed. If it’s a real nasty one you could even start a clock for “escape the tail” and then they’d have the choice to work against it (with all the usual tools) or against the current obstacle. If they get to the destination without filling in the clock, boom.
See Gather Information for details on the flow of information. I usually tell players the moment a consequence becomes relevant, rather than way before when its not doing anything meaningful yet. With a tail, that is almost immediately though
Course that moment probably passed! Tell them the consequence (maybe fortune roll to see how bad) if it was out of their control. Or tell them the unseen consequence as it manifests, and why, so they can resist not knowing (with Insight probably) – if they care about that
Then an action roll or fortune roll might determine what they know (also see Gather Info)
If you don’t mind them getting the sense that “something is wrong,” I enjoy asking if anyone wants to make a Survey check, without explaining why unless someone succeeds.
Introduce the fact as a (minor or major) complication when an action roll is due. Maybe when it’s rather inconvienent (like meeting a contact who don’t want to be recoginized.
Or: Remember they are competent scoundrels. If the tail slipped just tell them.
We don’t know if they’re aware of it or not without a roll. The players don’t have to announce that they’re always looking for tails — that’s just something that scoundrels do.
I like to say, “Someone’s trying to tail you, of course. How do you usually look out for that?” Then we can make action rolls as needed.
But I play with people that don’t mind “out of character” knowledge, so that makes this a lot easier.
Hidden information about traps, ambushes, and being followed is a tricky thing in games. Lately I’ve been finding the most fun coming out of a very up-front approach. “He is nervous and won’t look you in the eye. It’s probably a lie.” or “Of course there’s gonna be some kind of trap down here in this part of the dungeon. How are you gonna keep yourselves safe from that?” which invites the players to make action rolls or whatever.
So I’ve decided to stop keeping secrets! After all, if I just wait for the players to say they’re doing a thing that then makes it ok for me to give them a roll to save themselves from my cleverly hidden danger, it will eventually end in a system whereby Players incessantly narrate the fact that they constantly look over their shoulders and painstakingly tap each space on the floor in front of them with a 10′ pole before making a move. That’s actually a part of OSR gaming for some folks, but I’m less interested in it as a GM. So I tell them they’re being followed. After all, the most interesting part of the game isn’t do they realize they’re being followed? In my opinion, the most interesting part is What do you do with that information?
I would also want to know what is at stake. If they just ignore the tail and move on with their lives, what will the consequence be? Is this tail just following them around and reporting their day to another faction? Are they one half of an ambush team? Are they waiting to see if the crew does a specific thing and then is going to assault them?
It might help direct how to address it if you are more comfortable with what type of risk the tail represents.
It totally agree with the sentiment that giving more information to the players is almost always more fun. (Even in an OSR context where you’ll get diehards who will tell you never to do that.) The players will just use the extra rope to trip themselves up with anyway.
Make a trap completely obvious but guarding something the players want and I guarantee you they will still barge right into it.
Tell the players they are being tailed and let them decide what they want to do about it. The fun is not in whether or not they notice, but how much it catches them off guard when they do.