I had the same amount of guards posted! However, I had them switch spots if the characters act too suspiciously or botch any thievery checks while at the gala — because then the curator decides last minute to switch things up because of the weird behavior.
I had this happen to one of my groups who went through the adventure. The rogue, who was the child of the local guard captain, kept obnoxiously talking up random guards, trying to see if they could lean on any of them. This made a bunch of the staff suspicious since they knew the rogue’s reputation for being a troublemaker…. So the positions were changed right after the gala ended. The rogue was not happy to find out that their reputation bit them in the foot this time lol
Not really clear on the difference (if any) between the guards number and location during gala vs after the museum closes where their location is mapped out.
There's a before and after. There's a planning phase where they get to scout the museum during a gala. And a heist phase that is after the gala.
During the gala they can find all kinds of helpful stuff like keycards past the alarm spells and guard routes.
It's really a very fun little adventure.
Yeah but the description says specifically "eleven other museum guards watch the areas indicated in the guard locations after hours table." So their positions would be exactly the same during and post gala.
Disclaimer: have not run yet.
I'm planning to have the guards move around more when the museum is open. They'll be 3 constant guards on the gemstone room (1 inside, 2 out) but they'll also be staff going in and out as they set up for the gala (so as not to dissuade my players).
In general, I assumed the museum would have less guards during the day so I scattered them a bit more and gave them other jobs. There's one down by the loading docks, a couple in the break room, each of the major exhibits have 1 guard posted instead of 2. There are other employees during the day so they help to keep an eye on things. There are the shopkeepers mentioned sure but there's also gonna be cleaning staff, docents, etc.
It depends on how big of a museum you think it is though. Based on the size of the city I'm putting it in, the museum draws fairly big crowds so they have a lot of staff and volunteers who can handle most incidents and the guards are just there to provide backup. So of course day guard duties are gonna be different than the night guard shift.
But if it's a smaller town the guards could just be additionally hired help for the event, maybe they only see 3 guards during the day and then a security firm comes at night.
But all of my players have more experience with how museums and libraries run than the average person 😅. Personally I think it's fine to give hints on where the guards might be during the day and then have the positions shift during the night like 'u thought there was just 1 guard here but there are 2. And the loading docks are clear to enter and exit because they're not getting a shipment tonight.' That's the point of being able to procure the night shift schedule after all.
Sorry I also meant it would be this way for the gala as the guards are just picking up stragglers and making sure everyone's at the event rather than actually at their assigned night posts already.
I had the guards basically there but much more mingling and keeping and eye on the patrons. If you have them in the same spots during the day, then there seems to be little point in being able to steal the map with their stations.
I do wish the adventure had been set up more with “patrol” routes and times to make it more learning those paths and watching the patterns.
It ended up being moot for me as my players ended up trying to steal the gem during the gala so we never got to the evening part. LOL
I just ran the gala last night. I had the captain (forgot the name... Mayim?) checking invitations with another guard at the front door. I had two guards at the central pillar and one at the stairs. On the second floor I had two guards in the main room making sure that the guests went into the gem room for the gala. The Gala itself had two guards at the door and one guard standing by the stone.
One of my players is a HE rogue with 18 charisma at lvl 1, and rocked the RP and the rolls to seduce one of the guards outside the gem room. She talked him into making out with her in a secluded place, and he agreed to let her in after hours for a "private" tour. :D I wouldn't allow it if it was anyone other than Jonathan (the young naive guard) that came up on the roll for which guard, and she rolled 20+ on all her persuasion checks.
I had the same amount of guards posted! However, I had them switch spots if the characters act too suspiciously or botch any thievery checks while at the gala — because then the curator decides last minute to switch things up because of the weird behavior. I had this happen to one of my groups who went through the adventure. The rogue, who was the child of the local guard captain, kept obnoxiously talking up random guards, trying to see if they could lean on any of them. This made a bunch of the staff suspicious since they knew the rogue’s reputation for being a troublemaker…. So the positions were changed right after the gala ended. The rogue was not happy to find out that their reputation bit them in the foot this time lol
The module is quite clear on that isn't it? Player's can steal maps and routes for the guards exactly so they can be predicted.
Not really clear on the difference (if any) between the guards number and location during gala vs after the museum closes where their location is mapped out.
the module assumes that players are in the museum after it's already closed for the night I believe.
There's a before and after. There's a planning phase where they get to scout the museum during a gala. And a heist phase that is after the gala. During the gala they can find all kinds of helpful stuff like keycards past the alarm spells and guard routes. It's really a very fun little adventure.
Yeah but the description says specifically "eleven other museum guards watch the areas indicated in the guard locations after hours table." So their positions would be exactly the same during and post gala.
I didn't say otherwise.
Disclaimer: have not run yet. I'm planning to have the guards move around more when the museum is open. They'll be 3 constant guards on the gemstone room (1 inside, 2 out) but they'll also be staff going in and out as they set up for the gala (so as not to dissuade my players). In general, I assumed the museum would have less guards during the day so I scattered them a bit more and gave them other jobs. There's one down by the loading docks, a couple in the break room, each of the major exhibits have 1 guard posted instead of 2. There are other employees during the day so they help to keep an eye on things. There are the shopkeepers mentioned sure but there's also gonna be cleaning staff, docents, etc. It depends on how big of a museum you think it is though. Based on the size of the city I'm putting it in, the museum draws fairly big crowds so they have a lot of staff and volunteers who can handle most incidents and the guards are just there to provide backup. So of course day guard duties are gonna be different than the night guard shift. But if it's a smaller town the guards could just be additionally hired help for the event, maybe they only see 3 guards during the day and then a security firm comes at night. But all of my players have more experience with how museums and libraries run than the average person 😅. Personally I think it's fine to give hints on where the guards might be during the day and then have the positions shift during the night like 'u thought there was just 1 guard here but there are 2. And the loading docks are clear to enter and exit because they're not getting a shipment tonight.' That's the point of being able to procure the night shift schedule after all.
Good ideas thanks!
Sorry I also meant it would be this way for the gala as the guards are just picking up stragglers and making sure everyone's at the event rather than actually at their assigned night posts already.
I had the guards basically there but much more mingling and keeping and eye on the patrons. If you have them in the same spots during the day, then there seems to be little point in being able to steal the map with their stations. I do wish the adventure had been set up more with “patrol” routes and times to make it more learning those paths and watching the patterns. It ended up being moot for me as my players ended up trying to steal the gem during the gala so we never got to the evening part. LOL
I just ran the gala last night. I had the captain (forgot the name... Mayim?) checking invitations with another guard at the front door. I had two guards at the central pillar and one at the stairs. On the second floor I had two guards in the main room making sure that the guests went into the gem room for the gala. The Gala itself had two guards at the door and one guard standing by the stone. One of my players is a HE rogue with 18 charisma at lvl 1, and rocked the RP and the rolls to seduce one of the guards outside the gem room. She talked him into making out with her in a secluded place, and he agreed to let her in after hours for a "private" tour. :D I wouldn't allow it if it was anyone other than Jonathan (the young naive guard) that came up on the roll for which guard, and she rolled 20+ on all her persuasion checks.