Tatu

Opening Statement: You have all woken in darkness. Three walls, floor and ceiling are made of cold stones, and thick iron bars make up the last wall door. You're in a cell. A cool dampness hangs in the air around you. The sounds of slow running water and other inmates permeates the space, although you can also hear what sounds like fighting somewhere in the distance. There are sconces on the wall, although none are lit. Worst of all - it appears that none of you have your gear.

Some Potential Rolls: Rolling for Perception: PCs might notice the water passage running through the middle of the room, that other prisoners are also awake, or that the cell door is to strong to just be broken off it's hinges. They may also notice the body of a dead guard sitting a few feet away from their cell door, just out of reach. Rolling for Investigation: PCs could investigate the corpse (determine possible cause of death, notice a set of keys on the body, determine any identifiable markings, ect.) or look over the lock for potential lockpicking.

Description of the Cell: The cell is empty, except for cloth blankets on the floor, and a few empty bowls sitting near the door. It is an utterly unremarkable space.

Escaping the Cell: Some solutions for this are

Break off the door - This requires a DC 20 Strength check.

Get the keys - This requires somehow reaching the corpse of the guard (who is about 10 ft away) but is easier than breaking the cell door down.

Picking the Lock - Although the Rogue would not have their Thieves Tools, they could smash wooden bowl and use pieces as a make-shift lockpicking kit. This doesn't really make to much sense but idc. This will require a DC 15 Dexterity roll.

Outside of the Cell:

Every cell looks to be about the same, maybe a little bigger or smaller to accommodate the occupants. The distant sounds of fighting continues to loom overhead, maybe a little louder now than before.

A Perception Roll: * PCs may notice that other occupants in their cells, the stairway leading up and out, or the storm drain in the middle of the room. They may also notice the unlit sconces if they haven't before.

A Investigation Roll: * PCs could investigate the storm drain and determine that one of the grates are loose leading into the tunnel. They could chose to take it off, but larger party members will have to squeeze through the tunnel, and they can't determine where/how far it goes. * PCs could investigate to look for a release of the cell doors, if they want to let the other prisoners out, or pick locks of specific prisoners in a similar way to before. * PCs may want to investigate for their stuff, but no matter where they look they wont find it in this room.

Other Prisoners: If questioned - none of the prisoners remember the last past 72 hours, but do remember everything before that. The other prisoners in their cells include: * A human monk, he was arrested a few days ago for undisclosed reasons and refuses to leave his cell - preferring to serve his sentence and wait out his time in meditation. * A Minotaur named Momuk. Once a navigator aboard a pirate ship - he has been in the prison for about a month, and is the last remaining member of the crew to not be killed or shipped away to another location. He is appreciative of any attempt to escape from the prison, but does not want to fight, simply escape. * A Bugbear named Yoko, she is openly hostile and refuses to be helpful. She can't remember why or how she got to the prison. She has an open hatred for Orcs and will try attacking any PC orcs if they get within 5 feet. * A Human Oathbreaker Paladin named Roki, he seems very relaxed and is not concerned about the fighting. He is in the Prison for being caught in a barfight. He is happy to escape with the others and is the only NPC they will be able to bring into any conflict.

At this point NPCs only real option is to Enter the Storm Drain Tunnel or Escape up the Stairs to the rest of the prison.

The Link to a Dungeon Scrawl version map can be found here

A version of the map I drew over in Procreate can be found below: