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Question:  Dungeon Monkey, I’ve got a very specific question for you, our DM told us that in our next adventure in our fantasy campaign that we need to plan how to kidnap a rather powerful local evil mage alive so we can get information from her for a quest our group is currently on.  The problems are two fold, first the mage is only vulnerable while she goes out for a daily ride through her estates and second she always rides surrounded by some really powerful monsters.  We have a few ideas on how we would actually kill the mage at a distance but the DM has told us several times we need to actually capture the mage alive.  So any thoughts on how we might do this without killing her?  (I should add that we are really good at dealing damage but none of us are skilled in anything “live capture” oriented like wrestling or grappling.)

Answer:  One of my favorite missions for players in any sort of campaign is a mission involving them capturing an individual alive and intact rather the simply killing them off, the default mode of operation for most campaigns is seek-and-destroy, kidnap-and-question requires players to stretch themselves a bit and plan a new approach for their current skill set.  Fortunately for you actually the most important task is not to actually find an approach to the problem that the GM (Game Master) has not considered in their planning in advance.  One of the most critical problems you need to neutralize is the standard method that a mage with monstrous escorts will utilize, mainly allow the monsters to bear the brunt of your attack and the mage uses her magic at range to further weaken you.  Many groups will base their plan on getting through the monsters defending the mage as quickly as possible, your goal instead should be to neutralize the mage first and then deal with the escorts.

The first thing you need to do is get your hands on an incredibly fast acting and highly powerful knockout potion if you can, you want something that could tranquilize a creature between three to five times the physical size of your mage.  You will want to prepare a series of darts that can deliver your tranquilizer over a distance to the mage, be sure that your method of delivery will allow you to deploy multiple darts at once.  Set yourselves up in position and when the mage comes into range, without warning and without coming out of hiding, spray the mage with tranquilizing darts.  This is the most critical step, you want your target mage not just slumping in the saddle, you want her falling out of the saddle onto the ground, snoring before she even completely finishes tumbling to the ground.  At that point you should be able to deal with her monster escorts directly as you would any other set of monsters, if you are really lucky some of them might run off as their loyalty might have been based on fear rather then actual respect or sincere love.  Be certain to kill off the escort as quickly as you can, because some mages might have standing orders with their escort to kill the mage rather then let her fall into your hands.

However most Non-Player Character (NPC) mages are not that forward thinking so you should not be seriously concerned with this possibility, however killing her monster escorts quickly is also critical to avoid their attempting to eat or harm the fallen mage on their own initiative.  In the event you cannot get your hands on a powerful enough tranquilizer though another substance you might want to consider instead is a powerful pleasure inducing drug, something to create a state of euphoria in the target mage.  The goal remains the same, to restrict their ability to perform magic, a mage tripping out of her mind on happy drugs is highly unlikely to be any more able to muster her esoteric powers to protect herself then one asleep on the ground.  Ideally you could use the same method of delivery as originally planned, darts or other projectiles to deliver the drug, however many mages are protected against projectiles of this nature.

If you suspect your target mage has this sort of magical protection, this does not preclude using the approach of drugging the mage.  Instead you will need to obtain a large amount of any drug that is taken through inhalation, obtain a large enough amount and then burn it, using magic or natural resources to create a wind to blow the smoke towards the mage and her escorts.  This method is not ideal, because it requires a great deal of raw material to actually get the necessary density of drug in the smoke to effect your target.  However if you are able to get enough drug amassed this approach has the added bonus of also probably effecting the escorts as well as the mage herself, if this occurs you might be able to capture the mage without even having to kill or engage her escort in combat.  Be sure if you use this approach to be professional about the situation, bind the mages hands and feet, gag her so she cannot cast any spells, and bring along some snacks because it is highly likely after coming into contact with your drug laden smoke your target will probably have the munchies.

- Dungeon Monkey

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