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wizrares
Acolyte
3 Posts |
 Posted - 25 Nov 2012 : 01:49:59
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Well met again, fellow scribes!
As I wrote in the intro forums a few weeks ago, I am an aspiring DM which would like to make his adventures as memorable as possible. The group with which I'm playing at the moment is a group in which we inter-change DMs and the DM before me has run the basic DM handbook encounter session in which Tiamat was slightly involved. Knowing a bit about gods and wanting to explore them more, I decided that I'd involve Tiamat cultists in my adventure.
Till now I have my main villain, called Alakil, who is an illusionist which was once a priest of Bahamut but now has gone over to Tiamat. The characters have been to his former temple and have met his mentor who told them about him, but don't know much more about him other than that he's now sworn to Tiamat.
The next encounter I make will revolve around Alakil taking hostage his mentor in Bahamut's temple and the PCs will have to find and kill him, only for him to mysteriously vanish (he was just an illusion after a while).
What I'd like to do to finish the adventure is to have the PCs in Alakil's tower(yes, he has a tower) going through 5 rooms which have been designed as to reflect each of Tiamat's 5 aspects. At the end there will be a 6th room in which they will fight Alakil.
I would have to also mention that the plot-hook was that the PCs have seen 5 aspected dragons flying over their current town and that they think they are going to fight Tiamat's concubines at the moment.
What would you recommend in terms of Alakil's powers and the traps/hazards/monsters in the 5 thematic chambers?
Thanks,
Wiz
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Kyrel
Learned Scribe
151 Posts |
Posted - 25 Nov 2012 : 23:56:45
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Well...That would rather depend on which level PC's we are talking about here. It makes rather a big difference, depending on whether we are talking lvl. 5 or lvl. 15.
First of all I probably wouldn't have had Alakil be an Illusionest. It can work, no question, but Illusions isn't something I normally connect with Dragons. To me Dragons are more a matter of POWER and Breath Weapons. In that light I would take inspiration from the different types of Chromatic Dragons, and let the content of the 5 different rooms be inspired by that. I.e. a Fire based room to represent the Red Dragons etc. Check out the descriptions of the various types of Dragon in Dragonomicon or a similar book, and let that serve as an inspiration.
Similarly, let yourself be inspired by the description of Tiamat's portfolio as well. Destruction, Dragon*, Evil, Greed*, Law, Trickery (Hatred, Scalykind, Tyranny).
Personally I might do something along these lines:
Black: Swamplike room. Reduced visibility and reduced movement due to water impeeding movement. Have the players be ambushed by some form of amphibious creature(s) with acid resistance, and have the area cause a given amount of acid damage over a given time period spend in the room (i.e. 1hp/X round(s)).
Blue: Hot, dry, desert room with apparently several exits which flicker and shift like a desert mirrage. The group can only move on if they manage to either pick the right exit through luck, or if they can somehow pierce the illusion and determine which door/portal isn't the real one. If they pick the wrong portal they set off a lightning attack of some sort.
Red: Apparently large cavern with hot sulphorous air and a large pile of treasure in it, which apparently is undefended. If the group as much as moves any of the treasure, a large Red dragon will appear and accuse them of being thieves. The group can avoid a confrontation with the enraged wyrm, if they are willing to part with part of their wealth, and thus contribute to the Dragon's hoard. The "tribute" should be substantial enough that it becomes a tough choice for the characters to decide if they want to risk fighting the Dragon or wave goodbye to a sizable portion of their valuables. As the Dragon is angry, there could be a strict timelimit on how long time they have to make up their minds. i.e. 30sek. to 1 minute. If the group simply moves (silently) through the chamber and touches none of the treasure, they will not be confronted by the dragon. This is a test of the character's Greed.
If you really want to twist their heads, however, have the "right" way to get them through the room without a fight, be to give into their greed, and consciously elect to fight the Dragon, at which point the Dragon will congratulate them for having understood the importance of amassing wealth and subsequently protecting it. In this case, the Dragon should always show up, even if the group doesn't try to steal anything.
White: The room is obviously extradimensional in nature, and is impossibly large in scope. Basically the room is an icy, snowfilled wilderness which the characters will have to pass through. Passage should take them around 24 hours or more, depending on their choices. Underway they should realise that they are being stalked by a White Dragon, which they should try to evade. Coming across a snowbank with some more or less frozen pray might provide the group a clue that this is White Dragon territory (White Dragons only eat their food once it is frozen, according to Dragonomicon pp. 55-56). A Wilderness Survival/Knowledge Nature/Tracking test Vs. a Tracking Test on behalf of the patroling White Dragon can get them through without a confrontation, as they are cunning enough to outwit the hunting Dragon. If the Dragon finds them, it will attack them. Regardless of the outcome, the group will have to deal with the cold somehow. It should be fairly obvious for the group to get an idea about where they should be heading, in order to get out of the room again.
Green: Lush forrest where the exit is apparently guarded by a Green Dragon. If the group wants to pass they will either have to answer a riddle posed by the dragon, or pledge their service in the future (providing you with a future plot hook/device...). Or they can simply attack it if they dare. If they can't answer the riddle correctly, or if they refuse to serve the Dragon in an undeclosed manner in the future, they will still have to fight the dragon.
As for a possibly 6th room, this could be a council room where the PC's find themselves standing before a council of Chromatic wyrms who challenge them to prove that they understand what it means to be a Dragon, and if they understand what Tiamat demands of her children. This should pose the characters with a number of questions where they will have to think as Chromatic Dragons and in terms of the dictates of Tiamat, in order to prove themselves, including a "practical" challenge, where they are turned into different types of Chromatic Dragons, and are then tasked with apparently razing a nearby town, plundering its wealth, slaying any defenders, and causing great destruction upon it in general.
If they complete the task, it could have an impact on their alignment if they are not evil. If they complete the task, they might find that they begin to forget their true selves, and give into the thoughts and instincts of their new form. If they fail a Wisdom Save, they are lost within the Dragon and effectively "die", becoming true Dragons. If they complete the task and make their save, then they return to their normal form and might then find themselves facing Alakil, who might hope that they will join him in his worship of Tiamat, given their new understanding of what it means to be a Dragon. How they respond to that is up to them.
If they refuse to complete the task set before them by the Council of Wyrms, their draconic "judges" will each unleash their breath weapon upon the group, who will have to make a Wisdom Save or find themselves teleported out to the entrence again, if they fail (or die if you want to be evil). If they succeed, the council and the surroundings disappear, and they find themselves facing Alakil, who will then seek to destroy them.
Again, if you really want to twist the players heads with the last room and challenge, let their change into dragons be the real deal, rather than an illusion, (as many of the other challenges in the place can have been,) and have their razing of the nearby town be happening for real. Preferably they should know the place, so that if they return to it again, they will find it in the state they left it in as Dragons.
Hope you can use this for inspiration. This suggestion might be better suited for mid or high level characters, but you can adjust the difficulty by having more or less of the challenges be illusions or the "real deal", and you can adjust the age of the dragons they might face. Similarly can the Save DC's be tailored to the required level.
If you want to add to their challenge, prevent the players from resting in anything but the White room, for instance by having the room disappear once they have completed the challenge, and begin filling up with some form of obviously harmful substance they can't stick around and rest in (Acid for the Black room, Poison/Acidic gass for the Green room, Lava for the Red room, Blizzard and dropping temperature for the White room, Sandstorm or a gigantic Swarm of some sort in the Blue room, for instance). If the group has access to extradimensional dooms they can rest in, you might prevent these from working somehow (divine influence or common sense by letting them understand that casting such spells here might result in a planar rift, as if they tried to put two Bags of Holding into one another).
Hope you can use this for inspiration. Have fun :-)
/Kyrel |
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wizrares
Acolyte
3 Posts |
Posted - 02 Dec 2012 : 12:03:07
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Thanks a lot for the suggestions, Kyrel! I had something similar in mind as well, thanks for clarifying some things, especially related to the personalities of the dragons. The Monster Manual is rather poor on them and I'll definitely have a look over the Dragonomicon.
The reason why I wanted to have Alakil as an Illusionist was because the party is really low level - 3 and I don't want to outright kill them. Yet.
I believe that your idea with the council of dragons is particularily interesting since one of the players is a paladin of Bahamut, and it will create some interesting dynamics in the party, regarding their decision to either side with the evil dragons or try and fight them off. Of course, they will probably go on the digital RPG path and not consider it too much before they attack the council, but it's worth a shot.
I will let you know how it went :)
Wiz |
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Kyrel
Learned Scribe
151 Posts |
Posted - 02 Dec 2012 : 15:51:55
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If they are level 3, I'd probably be tempted to have "dead" PC's simply be teleported out of the place, and appear alive but hurt and shaken up at the entrence to the place. I'd also make sure that there is a way through the place that doesn't require them to fight at all, if they are clever enough. If they are the digital RPG "let's kill anything in our path" type players, I'd be tempted to take the opportunity to force them to solve their problems of getting through in some other manner than through trying to hack their way through. Especially the "Council" room. If they are lvl. 3, hopefully they won't attempt to outright attack 5 obviously old dragons.
Anyway, I look forward to hearing how things went. |
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wizrares
Acolyte
3 Posts |
Posted - 08 Dec 2012 : 23:45:13
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I'm playing the first rooms tomorrow. I decided to go with your description for the Red chamber, and have the PCs do well if they decide to take some of the treasure. I will try and make the end of the adventure a big choice for the PCs. Basically the Alakil guy didn't do anything wrong till now, and it will be proved that he's only trying to recruit the PCs into Tiamat's followers, and wanted to make sure that they were ready by submitting them to these challenges. I don't expect them to actually try and consider that, but surprises can always happen. Here's what I have written down for the first 3 rooms:
Tower of Alakil
Swamp Room:
As the players enter the tower, the door closes shut behind them and disappears into nothingness. They are now in what seems to be a vast swamp. A powerful odor takes hold of them and gives the weaker ones a migraine (DC 15 Endurance Check, lose 1 healing surge if failed).
Nature check:
DC 15: Areas like this one are usually inhabited by lizardfolk, who aren’t friendly, generally speaking
DC 20: The players notice what seems to be a ceremony going off in the distance. If they are quiet enough, the lizardfolk might not notice them.
The players also notice a large portal in the distance, which seems to lead out of the realm that they currently are in.
They are confronted with a choice. If they decide to go and check the ceremony out, they will be surprise attacked by lizardfolk. If they decide to head towards the portal, the players must make a stealth skill check (DC 15, difficulty 6) to go through the room unnoticed. If they fail the check, they get noticed by the lizardfolk and get attacked, without the surprise element this time around.
Lizardfolk encounter (887XP):
2x Poisonscale Magus
2x Poisonscale Savage
2x Poisonscale Minion
1x Poisonscale Slitherer
1x Poisonscale Myrmidon
The players get 2 acid dmg/round due to the environment they’re in. Each Stealth Check counts as a round.
Desert Room:
Leaving the swamp behind them, the characters enter what seems to be a vast desert and are overwhelmed by the heat that emanates from the three suns that are in the sky. No exit seems to exist, but the characters notice that not too far in the distance, a bit distorted due to the high temperature, is what seems to be an oasis. If the players choose to head towards it, as they get closer they realize that it’s nothing but a mirage. Any other course of action leads to them eventually noticing a door in the distance, once again distorted by the high temperature.
If the players choose to go towards the door at full speed they will have a -5 to their perception check in noticing if the door is an illusion or reality. Dc 20, the players can find out if the door is real or not. If the door is a trap, when a PC touches it, a lightning trap is activated and the PC takes 2d10 lightning damage.
Each door will spawn 6 miles away from the PC’s in any direction. If the PCs decide to run towards it they get to the door in time but will have less of a chance to find out if it’s trapped or not. If they move cautiously towards it, every 2 miles a DC 10 check will keep the door in place. If it’s lower than 10 then the door disappears and appears somewhere else. There is a total of 10 door that appear, 1 of which is the right one. Roll a DC 10 to decide which door appears and there, following a circular pattern around the characters, with the 1 at the topmost North and the 10 just to 1’s West.
Forest room:
The players enter a lush forest. Upon closer notice, they see that part of the foliage in front of them is actually a green dragon.
“Well well well, what have we here? Adventurers! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen your kind among these paths. And what might bring you here?”
…
“I am inclined to let you through, but one of your party brings insult to my goddess. As such, I will pose a riddle for you. If you answer it correctly, I shall let you pass. If not…well, we’ll see then. Listen carefully, as I will only say it once. Your next words to me from you will be your answer”
What does man love more than life?
Hate more than death or mortal strife?
What do contented men desire?
The poor have, the rich require,
The miser spends, the spendthrift saves,
And all men carry to their graves?
-Answer: Nothing
If the players get the answer correctly, the green dragon lets them pass. If they don’t, he’ll offer them one more chance, in letting them go in exchange for a future favour. If the PC’s don’t accept, then they will have to fight a Young Green Dragon.
If they pass the encounter without battle, the dragon will also tell them something about the symbols that they carry.
(The PC’s got necklaces with Tiamat’s symbol on them from fallen servants and also have symbols of Bahamut with them, given to them from a priestess in the last town they were in. Also one of the PCs is a Paladin of Bahamut)
“As a word of advice, when the time of challenge will come, your holy symbols of Bahamut will get you into trouble. Nor do I think your trick of strapping the symbol of Tiamat to a fork (yes, 3 PCs did that) will please the wise ones too much. If you truly want to get out of here alive, consider the alternatives as well as what’s in front of you. I would suggest you all wear the symbols of Tiamat on you from now on, and get rid of Bahamut’s blessings, they do not bode well in a place like this”
Let me know what you think :) |
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Kyrel
Learned Scribe
151 Posts |
Posted - 09 Dec 2012 : 14:32:04
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Sounds like some cool encounters. I know I'd find them enjoyable as a player. A single thing I'd considder though, depending on how good the players themselves are with riddles, is that they IRL might suck at solving riddles like that, but their characters might in theory be fairly decent at it (or the other way around, for that matter). If that is a possible situation, I'd considder having them have the option of a Wisdom test for their characters. But it should really be down to the nature of your players and their characters.
Nice idea of having the green dragon be able to act as a "guide" of sorts, with regards to the last rooms. Without any sort of hints, I'm tempted to believe that the nature of the red room test will fool them.
But basically I like your setup. I look forward to hearing how it went :-) |
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Running a Tiamat-priest adventure
