| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Mr_Miscellany |
Posted - 16 Dec 2010 : 22:16:17
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| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Brynweir |
Posted - 28 Dec 2010 : 03:44:36
I ran one once that I actually modified from a d20 module. There was a tower that had been frozen in ice, but over time the ice had broken loose from the mainland. Basically the entire tower was floating in the sea encapsulated inside an iceberg. Only one side if the top floor was visible, and that was the only way in and out. Of course the ice was melting a little bit each day as it floated further south. The PC's had to get in, get the artifact and other treasures and get out before enough ice melted that the place sank. Throw in the fact that the former owner of the tower had filled it with traps, both magical and mundane, and another adventuring group was trying to find the same artifact and were already inside the tower setting traps of their own... Not to mention someone had taken their boat so they really had no way back to land unless they found something useful in the tower before it sank... It was great fun. |
| Sill Alias |
Posted - 22 Dec 2010 : 07:19:36
I am not really familiar with Grinch except for the movie. Were the people there gnomes or some kind of humanoids? Well, that is off topic for sure.
Well, back to the first page.
1. No.
2. Why not? There are spells like animate breath, why not change it with some kind of metamagic? But the White Dragon must be old and VERY powerful, at least thats what I think. |
| Alystra Illianniis |
Posted - 21 Dec 2010 : 21:43:19
Maybe he's a half-troll? Might explain the appearance. |
| Sill Alias |
Posted - 21 Dec 2010 : 07:23:08
I would count Grinch as goblin or hobgoblin, actually. And he is good tinkerer. |
| Rhewtani |
Posted - 20 Dec 2010 : 22:02:10
I left Old Verdigris (i.e. Secret of the Silver Blades) encased in the glacier, with New Verdigris above, and the only link being mine tunnels. So, as both Verdigrises (Verdigri?) were whisked away in Pools of Darkness, the PCs did have to venture through the ice-city to deal with part of the situation there. Admittedly, I was a little behind and didn't count on them choosing Verdigris as their first target for liberation, so I didn't really have much in there then their need to quickly dry off after ending up in the Well of Knowledge and the primary aide from the townsfolk being the gathering of cold weather gear for them. |
| Diffan |
Posted - 20 Dec 2010 : 16:46:54
quote:
Originally posted by Arik
Hairy green curmudgeon who hates elves, parties, and singing ... Grendel?
Which leads me to consider ... frozen trolls! Unspeakably nifty.
Well there are Frost Trolls, I think described in the Unapproachable East supplement. |
| Mr_Miscellany |
Posted - 20 Dec 2010 : 16:31:27
Erk...thread (scroll) drift.... ;) |
| Galuf the Dwarf |
Posted - 20 Dec 2010 : 16:19:40
Actually, I think Alystra's referring to the Grinch. |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 20 Dec 2010 : 11:04:52
Hairy green curmudgeon who hates elves, parties, and singing ... Grendel?
Which leads me to consider ... frozen trolls! Unspeakably nifty. |
| Alystra Illianniis |
Posted - 20 Dec 2010 : 06:24:31
How about an arctic elf named Jack, and a yeti and a singing snow golem with a gray mustache and a vest, a large hairy green curmudgeon who hates elves, parties, and singing, and a small, horned dog named Olive..... |
| Galuf the Dwarf |
Posted - 20 Dec 2010 : 03:52:25
quote:
Originally posted by Arik
Encased in ice doesn't necessarily mean "airtight"; the ice could be impassible layers full of cracks, gaps, and sharp edges, there could still be some airflow with the outer environ. If the structure contains sufficient volume (huge cavern, castle, etc) then air quality shouldn't really be an issue for the duration of one short adventure. Sticking around and building campfires would foul air pockets ... maybe the spelljammer rules concerning air would be applicable.
Okay, so it's practically never airtight. Wasn't sure if that was even possible or not. Thanks.  |
| Sill Alias |
Posted - 19 Dec 2010 : 07:03:15
And appearance of unturnable skeleton in smoking with ghost dog? I can continue throw references all day! |
| Alystra Illianniis |
Posted - 19 Dec 2010 : 06:54:32
LOL!! Cute, Sill. Ooh, what about an awakened snow golem? Wearing a funny hat, of course.... |
| Sill Alias |
Posted - 19 Dec 2010 : 06:42:14
Or maybe get a very dark dungeon where you must use a magical beast with red glowing nose? |
| Alystra Illianniis |
Posted - 19 Dec 2010 : 06:38:32
That ice maze idea is great! Hey, what about a snow-covered hedge-maze, with animated topiary animals, like the ones from The Shining? Or maybe an evil sorceress who uses ice spells to keep the land under a blanket of snow and ice, and holds an Avatar of Nobanion captive? (Wink to anyone who gets this!!) Perhaps the party could be aided by a kindly old man in a sleigh coming along with a bag full of magical gifts..... Since we were on a Christmas-y theme.... |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 19 Dec 2010 : 06:23:35
Mindless zombie Red Wizards, still protected by some of their enchantments ... |
| Sill Alias |
Posted - 19 Dec 2010 : 05:53:29
Perhaps the encasing in ice could be a trick of evil ice fey who decided to have fun and create a labyrinth of snow and ice populated with various snow monsters, elementals, undead frozen adventurers... Tribes of many polar savage bestial races... Maybe a crazy frost mage... Not just zombies... How about Christmas themed adventure?
Maybe inside the maze will be captured prizoner in red robes...Elminster who decided to take a walk? Nah, he is too thin. Maybe could be used halflings dressed like Santa elves? Corrupted deer beasts? |
| Alystra Illianniis |
Posted - 19 Dec 2010 : 05:39:18
I'm loving some of these ideas. Will definitely find a place for them in my next campaign! (Just as soon as I find a new game group...) |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 19 Dec 2010 : 02:15:22
Encased in ice doesn't necessarily mean "airtight"; the ice could be impassible layers full of cracks, gaps, and sharp edges, there could still be some airflow with the outer environ. If the structure contains sufficient volume (huge cavern, castle, etc) then air quality shouldn't really be an issue for the duration of one short adventure. Sticking around and building campfires would foul air pockets ... maybe the spelljammer rules concerning air would be applicable.
PCs might be able to use shatter, fireball, dig, earthquake, passwall, and other magics (or brute force and persistence) to escape. They might need to simply wait until the ice melts a little, alternately, they might have to escape before the ice melts and becomes unsafe/unstable.
There's plenty of rules for cold exposure and cold damage. And slippery terrain, especially slippery terrain in combat. |
| Galuf the Dwarf |
Posted - 19 Dec 2010 : 01:56:33
Okay, some concerns/questions I have with the initial idea:
1) By "encased in ice", is the structure actually supposed to have every orifice of itself coated with ice to where it is a challenge to escape?
2) If it's supposed to be encased in ice, especially in the above notion, are characters going to be able to breathe, or would they really start suffering from game mechanics such as suffocation? What about hypothermia (as per the DMG and/or Frostburn rules)? Slippery surfaces? |
| Bladewind |
Posted - 18 Dec 2010 : 19:40:31
Whole cities lie encased in ice under the high glacier north of Vaasa. These are likely to have been built by the giants of Ostaria. So huge giant ice zombies, stuck in ice in their day-to-day activities, could be found by enterprising ice-expert adventurers in those regions.
I believe the ice mummy can be found in the 3.5 Frostfell tome. Very nasty undead that spreads a thermal based melting disease.
A lot of traps can be made alot less expensive if the stone compartments are replaced with blocks of solid ice... Try a Falling Block of ice trap, (Spiked) Pit trap (CR 5), Singing Block of Ice trap (CR 1), Falling Bricks of Ice trap etc... I'd say the cost would be halved at least.
I'd use the following stats for ice walls, doors and other barricades:
typical thickness: 10ft Break DC: 15 Hardness: 7 HP per 10 by 10 ft: 100 (vulnerability: fire, immune: cold and acid) Climb DC: 40 |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 18 Dec 2010 : 08:43:54
Sinking a few ships would help speed up the gathering process ... lots of rotted treasure on board, plus of course some kind of necromancer/monster sort installed as a captain on each one ... |
| Diffan |
Posted - 17 Dec 2010 : 18:49:46
quote:
Originally posted by Mr_Miscellany
Thanks Diffan for the template. That's one of the features of the 3E game that I like the most, because as a DM it's fun to build creatures, change and modify them. Sort of like Legos for beasties.
For this adventure idea, I think if I ran it myself then I'd have the Cormyrean noble be a good guy. Often when PCs get involved with them in my games the nobles are suspect in some way, so it would be good to introduce and keep some nobles as good guys.
That way the PCs might actually be motivated to help one of the "few good noble families" in Cormyr.
That's cool. Figured I'd throw out some random ideas. Use whatever you feel fits best!
quote:
Originally posted by Arik
This does bring up the question of how long zombies can remain intact before enough of their flesh decays to demote them to mere skeletons.
Well, I think that really depends on what Genre your going with. Traditional zombies (ie Romero, World War Z, The Walking Dead) decayed much slower as they walked around. A couple of examples from the Original Dawn of the Dead shows the zombies walking around a mall, yet one destroyed zombe lay rotting (and really far gone from the looks) in the parking lot. So obviously the bodies decay yet the "walkers" seemed rather lively and mobile.
World War Z (by Max Brooks) goes to explain that his zombies were created from some viral strain (can't spell the name) and this preserved their bodies much like Imbalming fluid does. Once destroyed, the virus is no longer active and thus the body decays much faster.
Also, one could assume that their slow pace and gait puts less stress on rotting muscles and bones, allowing for a slowed process of decay where as zombies who run (like D&D's ghouls or the re-make of Dawn of the Dead) would amount to a faster decomposition rate for the wear and tear of the bodies. |
| Brix |
Posted - 17 Dec 2010 : 13:32:38
Bard's Tale. I have even some ideas for a FR conversion |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 17 Dec 2010 : 05:30:51
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Wasn't there a fairly recent movie about undead and the cold? Or was that vampires? I just remember a creepy, snow-covered (and mostly abandoned) town, and some flesh-eating undead that were almost a cross between zombies and vampires.
You may be thinking of 30 Days of Night, about a town in Alaska that was far enough north that during the winter, there was a 30-day period where the sun never rose. It was also a comic series, and there's at least a couple of novels, too.
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
The 'undead' in I am Legend were kinda cool, but I still prefer the Charlton Heston version, Omega Man. Not that I don't love Will Smith - Independece Day was the bomb - but tI am Legend didn't acknowledge the fact that it was a remake.
I saw the Will Smith movie, and I know it didn't have much in common with the novella. I'm told Omega Man didn't, either. |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 17 Dec 2010 : 04:52:34
Blizzard has always had a few "cross-universe" inside jokes and easter eggs in their games. I played Diablos (1/2/2x) but never WoW - there's a limit to how much zombie-killing I can tolerate, at least the Diablo games have an ending and can be put away when they're done.
I don't think I really approve of D&D being expected to import or emulate lore from WoW - for a number of reasons. Of course some amount of this is unavoidable as it meets the expectations of the overlapping gamer market; WotC might as well publish (and control) selected WoW-inspired D&D canon instead of letting somebody else do it.
I feel D&D zombies have always been portrayed well, especially within the Ravenloft material. They aren't as glamourous as any other type of undead (not even skeletons) and are - I feel - sorely underused. People would have a lot more respect for zombies if they were portrayed more menacingly ... though it might be too late to fight the momentum of zombie evolution being seen in popular zombie-apocalypse movies and games. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 17 Dec 2010 : 04:36:37
Wasn't there a fairly recent movie about undead and the cold? Or was that vampires? I just remember a creepy, snow-covered (and mostly abandoned) town, and some flesh-eating undead that were almost a cross between zombies and vampires.
And then there is the comic series based-upon a 'Day of the dead' scenario, but vampires are trying to help humans survive (cause if humans die-off, so do the Vampires!)
The 'undead' in I am Legend were kinda cool, but I still prefer the Charlton Heston version, Omega Man. Not that I don't love Will Smith - Independece Day was the bomb - but I am Legend didn't acknowledge the fact that it was a remake.
quote:
Originally posted by Arik
Tis a shame ye don't like Griswold, he could be quite entertaining. Tis more of a shame ye can't kill the annoying Wirt, only loot his corpse. Shoulda been the other way around, though I suppose Wirt the crippled beggar zombie wouldn't be as much of a challenge.
I rather like sea zombies, the sort who crew ships raised from the depths, covered with seaweed and barnacles. They seem to generally be described as more "decayed" than their dry counterparts.
You know you can get Wirt's Third Leg as a rare item in WoW?
I was hoping they were going to link the two worlds by saying the Diablo game takes place in the distant past of Warcraft, and that the Diablo world (Sanctuary) is where the Demons (Burning Crusade) came from in Warcraft (Azeroth), after that world's final fall (the second game ends leaving you thinking something VERY bad is about to happen). I suppose it's still a possibility, since they have Diablo items popping-up in WoW. |
| Diffan |
Posted - 17 Dec 2010 : 04:15:18
Oh, and the Called Shots table in case you'd like to add some different styles to your campaign:
Size Modifier
Tiny No called shot
Small +6 to AC
Medium +4 to AC
Large +4 to AC
Huge +2 to AC
Gargantuan No modifier
Colossal No Modifier
Headshots: Making a successful called shot to the head is an automatic critical.
Limbshots: Making a successful called shot to a limb will reduce speed by 20% and/or reduce attacks according to limb being hit. Arms reduce attacks by -1 and damage by -2. |
| Diffan |
Posted - 17 Dec 2010 : 04:08:27
quote:
Originally posted by Mr_Miscellany
I'm thinking it'd be fun to do something along the lines of the last Resident Evil movie and The Walking Dead (American) television series, where the characters are trapped in a building that's surrounded by legions of undead.
Thus the PCs are trapped inside a castle that's been frozen in thick layers of ice, along with all the other occupants of the castle, and frozen zombies are slowly digging into the catacombs and burrowing up into the castle from below.
The idea isn't just to slay the zombies (and higher undead), but to prevent the castle and its important occupants (say a Cormyrian* noble family) from being overwhelmed and turned into zombie food.
It'd be tough to strike a balance between letting the siege run too long (and get boring or seeming hopeless) vs. keeping the party on the edge of feeling overwhelmed after their resources run out (i.e. they feel like they're just barely stemming the tide of the dead).
*Is it "Cormyrean" or "Cormyrian"?
It's Cormyrean.
And I really like the idea. When I ran my d20 Modern campaign, it was set in our home city of Pittsburgh (the birth place of the Zombie genre) and the undead legions were constantly a threat. I allowed them "head-shot" attempts in order to instantly kill the buggers. Sure, do this a couple of time and it's no bigger. But when your targeting 10, 20, or 30 of them it gets difficult.
Alternatively, you can use the 4E "Minons" idea and make all the zombies with good AC, Fort/Ref saves but only 1 HP. Their attacks should be pumped up a bit to make them more challenging.
OR...
You could use the "28 Days Later" theme and make them ravenous infected creatures. And maybe the Cormyrean noble has something to do with their demise? He could be a wizard/artificer working with strange necromantic magic and it got released too early OR even maybe the noble is secretly a high-priest of Talona and it's her dream to see these infected people turn the county-side into a blighted zone of oozing death and decay?
Here's the Infected Template I created for just this very reason! Enjoy!!
Infected Template
Infected is an acquired template that can be added to any humanoid or monstrous humanoid creature (referred to hereafter as the base creature).
An infected uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.
Size and Shape: The creature's type doesn't change. Do not recalculate base attack bonus, saves, or skill points. Size is unchanged.
Hit Dice: Same as base creatures.
Speed: Same as base creatures.
Attack: An infected retains all the attacks of the base creature and also gains a bite and 2 claw attacks if it didn’t already have one. If the base creature can use melee weapons, the infected retains this ability. A creature with natural weapons retains those natural weapons. An infected fighting without weapons uses either its claw or bite attack or its primary natural weapon (if it has any). An infected armed with a melee weapon uses its claw, bite, or a weapon, as it desires.
Full Attack: An infected fighting without weapons uses either its claw or bite attack (see above) or its natural weapons (if it has any). If armed with a weapon, it usually uses the weapon as its primary attack along with claw, bite, or other natural weapon as a natural secondary attack.
Damage: Infected have claw and bite attacks. If the base creature does not have this attack form, use the appropriate damage value from the below according to the Infected’s size. Creatures that have other kinds of natural weapons retain their old damage values or use the appropriate value from the table below, whichever is better; Fine-1 dmg, Diminutive-1d2, Tiny-1d3, Small-1d4, Medium-1d6, Large-1d8, Huge-2d6, Gargantuan-2d8, Colossal-4d6.
Special Attacks: An infected retains all the special attacks of the base creature and gains those described below.
Rend (Ex): If an infected hits with both claw attacks, it latches onto the opponent’s body and tears the flesh. This attack automatically deals an additional 2d6 points of damage and might cause infection.
Retching of the Sick (Ex): Disease-bite and claw; Fortitude DC 13, incubation period instantaneous. The DC save is Con based. Also, an infected can spew blood from its mouth as a breath weapon with a range of a 10 ft. cone. The blood is highly contagious and anyone caught within the cone must succeed on a Fort save DC 13. If it fails the save, the target then becomes infected and has 1d6 rounds until showing symptoms and gaining this template. A save can be during each round the infection spreads. For each time a character must make a saving throw after the 1st successful attack, the DC increases by 1 until the subject either becomes infected or is cured by a potion, spell, or natural recovery. If healed so in this way, the DC then drops down to 13 again.
Special Qualities: An infected retains all the special qualities of the base creature and gains those described below.
Natural Armor: They receive a natural armor bonus of +2. This stacks with any existing natural armor bonus.
Damage Reduction (Su): An infected has damage reduction 5/-.
Rage (Ex): An infected is in a near-constant state of rage. An infected can enter full-rage at-will. In this rage, an infected receives a +4 bonus to Strength, a +4 bonus to Constitution, and a +2 morale bonus on Will saves, but he takes a -2 penalty to Armor Class. The increase in Constitution increases the infected hit points by 2 points per level, but these hit points go away at the end of the rage when his Constitution score drops back to normal. (These extra hit points are not lost first the way temporary hit points are.) At no point can an infected use any Charisma-, Dexterity-, or Intelligence-based skills (except for Balance, Escape Artist, and Intimidate), the Concentration skill, or any abilities that require patience or concentration, nor can he cast spells or activate magic items that require a command word, a spell trigger (such as a wand), or spell completion (such as a scroll) to function. He can use any feat he has except Combat Expertise, item creation feats, and metamagic feats. A fit of rage lasts for a number of rounds equal to 3 + the character’s (newly improved) Constitution modifier. An infected may prematurely end his rage (though this is unlikely). At the end of the rage, the infected loses the rage modifiers (but not restrictions) and becomes fatigued (-2 penalty to Strength, -2 penalty to Dexterity, can’t charge or run) for 1d4 rounds.
Immune: An infected is immune to fear and pain effects.
Abilities: Increase from the base creature as follows: Str +2, Dex +2, Con +2. An Infected has an Intelligence score of 2 and has a Charisma of 2.
Skills: An infected receives a +6 racial bonus to spot and listen checks. Otherwise same as base creature.
Feats: Infected gain Dodge, Improved Grapple, Improved Initiative, and Multi-attack, assuming the base creature meets the prerequisites and doesn’t already have these feats.
Environment: Any, usually same as base creature.
Organization: Solitary, pair, gang (3-5), or mob (5-20), horde (21+)
Challenge Rating: Same as base creature +2.
Treasure: Standard.
Alignment: Always Chaotic Neutral.
Advancement: None.
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| Ayrik |
Posted - 17 Dec 2010 : 02:35:19
Tis a shame ye don't like Griswold, he could be quite entertaining. Tis more of a shame ye can't kill the annoying Wirt, only loot his corpse. Shoulda been the other way around, though I suppose Wirt the crippled beggar zombie wouldn't be as much of a challenge.
I rather like sea zombies, the sort who crew ships raised from the depths, covered with seaweed and barnacles. They seem to generally be described as more "decayed" than their dry counterparts. |
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