Speaking of mushrooms - are there any UA myconid playable races? If there aren't any, and assuming I don't resort to homebrew, which race can be a closest fit to be mapped to myconids?
@Wearingglasses, I think a reflavored Yaun-Ti Pureblood might be the closest.
The only ability that really makes no sense that would stay is that you can cast Animal Friendship an unlimited number of times, but you can target only snakes with it.
So... Maybe your mushroom race struck an ancient deal with a snake god?
Fungus Nobunagus, his edgy samurai who is designated to turn on him in the final battle and die helping the heroes.
So one player may not be able to make it to our scheduled game tonight. If not, I told the rest that I could do a small one-shot and just make everything up on the fly. Definitely going to do an underdark thing where the party works with a myconid colony, and this badboy is going to be an NPC that travels with them and helps out.
Well, that player was able to make it (just a little later than usual) so we got to play our regularly scheduled game! Only the second session, but still. They eventually made it to the side-scrolling dungeon but had to quit midway in (I had to wake up at 5am for work). I had fun mostly, but I kept feeling like I was missing something, like I wasn't doing something right. The fights didn't feel good, like either the enemies were too weak to do shit or had too much health (but still too weak to do shit) or there was too many enemies and it took forever for the fight to end. The dungeon was a cool idea, but it had the same enemies in it and with it having cramped conditions, our cleric wasn't able to do anything because he didn't have any ranged weapons or spells (and our paladin and fighter have like 17 and 18 AC so he didn't need to heal anyone). The last room of the dungeon I had planned to be a more traditional top-down affair, with like 6 thugs attacking the party while 2 low level wizards tore into them, but now even that seems kind of bland. Do any of y'all have any advice for a struggling DM? My players all say they had a good time, but even if they're being honest I still feel like I'M missing something, which is super vague and frustrating.
I did get a copy of, "The Monsters Know What They're Doing" in the mail, so hopefully that'll at least help me play out the combats in an interesting manner (but I should still design more interesting ones)
We finally finished the Oracle of the All Father chapter in SKT last night. Oracle of the Giant Gods. Six questions to further the goals of the adventure. They asked 1, useless, question about the dead giant body in the room and then wanted to leave. I had to have Harshnag step in and growl at them about wasting his efforts to help them if they are going to only ask 1 question. The then asked maybe 3 pseduo-appropriate questions but again none of them phrased in such a way that they got to meat the issue. Harshnag had to step in again and ask his own question in order to trigger the "find the relics to get to the conchs" quest. They asked, "who has the conchs" Answer: In typical Oracle vagueness, The Giant Lords each have a conch. They did not follow up with "Where can we find the Giant Lords". Clearly, they are assuming that just faffing around in the wilds again would solve their problems. They expressed great interest in helping put the ghost of Eigeron to rest, but did not ask where they could find his father's castle.
MFers, I want to make this adventure SHORTER, not drag it out! Ask better questions!!! :razz:
Top DM monster tips
1. Suddenly a big neutral monster appears! A giant spider bursts from a trap door. An albino alligator launches from the swamp. The boulder gets up and it’s grumpy y’all woke it. Use it to clear the enemies they’re easily beating and turn it into a new encounter.
2. Second forms. When an enemy is cut down to half HP they speed up, hit harder, or gain a spell or ability.
3. Killing the enemy isn’t the point. Save the kidnapped kid. Stop the ritual. Race to the finish. Build the portal.
4. The environment is an indifferent character. Lava burns whoever falls into it. Ice is slippery. The cracked floor can only be stood on for one round before it breaks. The lever will open the spike pit.
5. Lame-o forms. When an enemy is cut down to half HP their AC become 1 and they can be negotiated with, or made to flee.
6. Positioning powers. A big tongue that pulls them close. A spell to make a weak wall. Teleportation. Make the fight feel lively!
I do think a reason to fight is a good driving factor, and I like named mid-boss type guys to give the enemy a reason too, though don’t be surprised if they don’t get chance to escape to fight again.
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WearingglassesOf the friendly neighborhood varietyRegistered Userregular
I spent way too much time with this duel set up, so I'm putting it here in case it all goes to waste with the encounter (via hilariously bad rolls)
1. Initiative is rolled every X rounds (am dithering between one or two).
2. Before the enemy takes its turn, the player gets to guess how it's attacking - either it's a Charge, an Exchange, or a Feint. It's always one of the three.
3. Each type gives the enemy a small boost (Exchange makes her do her multiattack, Feint gives her a +2 to the attack).
4. I'll give out a short description of the enemy's attack, as a vague clue on which of the three types is coming. (ie "She spares a moment to eye your shield placement before attacking.") There are clues that can be deliberately attributed to two attacks, for good measure.
5. The player can roll a Perception check to remove one wrong choice from the three.
6. If he guesses correctly, he gets a bonus depending on the attack that's coming.
7. I've made something akin to a state machine that will automatically drive the enemy's choices instead of me making them.
I use an initiative tracker app that rerolls initiative each round. People with higher initiative statistically go earlier more, but each round is more unpredictable too (i just announce who goes now and who is next).
We just got to this cult room in Dragon Heist, I have an item that lets me teleport in dark light as a bonus action, it's crucial that this is NOT a spellcast.
I said "I um, we hear chanting in that room, right? I peak around the corner"
DM: There is an opening ahead, a dimly lit room ahead, the sides of it overlook a large ritual chamber below. The chanting is coming from below, from this angle you can see the movement of apparently rows of people, chanting in infernal, you hear the name Asmodeus.
Me: Okay... uh... how far to the center of the room
DM: 30 feet from where your token is, it is a 20 foot drop there
Me: I hold an action to cast a spell, Heightened spell, and I use my robe to shadowstep to the center of the room, so I fall down.
DM: You will take some fall damage... what spell are you holding....
Me: Divine Word
DM: ..................................
Me: ?
DM: hold on
Party: oh no
DM: lets reveal the vision of the lower level you are falling into
Party: OH NOOOOO
(the map's squares aren't quite lined up with 5 feet, the spell hit every creature in this area)
every one of them failed the save
I asked how many maximum HP the cultists have
The DM linked the video from kingsman where everyone's heads exploded, the devils were sent back to the nine hells (including 2 invisible bone devils)
DM forgot he gave me an item that could cast that spell lol, its from so long ago
Given their position I convinced the Cassalantars that I could save their children, we have a Raksasha on retainer for legal or investigatory services
this big fight is the last boss fight of the campaign and... It ended with my character hands and knees pleading with the cassalantars that I could save their children, but only if they listened to me, that they're making the same mistake as their grandparents (we found evidence a similar pact had been made with their grandparents, a cycle tying their family to the nine hells going back generations), there was a flaw in the contract.
it was such a wonderful narrative moment because my character is an expert at deception, +15 bonus to it, and NOT proficient in persuasion, I'm playing a fey trickster who ALWAYS lies, and fitting with the character's genuine care about the safety of children, I chose *not* to lie to them for such an important roll
and I rolled a natural 20 (the cassalanters do know a few of the characters including mine, so it's not like rando adventurers pleading like this, earlier the rogue had been talking to Victorio, trying to poke cracks in the contract by what he knows about the pact primeval, the two of them go way back in Rogue's backstory, to before their children were born)
despite essentially stealing the final boss fight from my party, it's ending on a really narratively satisfying note
Of course the DM had the devil reinforcements react with extreme violence upon finding out the Cassalanters were looking for another way out, because they dont *actually* work for them. I know this was an asspull from the DM so we could still have a final boss battle, but this time with the Cassalanters on our side, but nobody cares, this was a really satisfying ending to this arc.
Dragon Heist 4 Seasons score:
Manshoon - Killed dead, I had his bed eat him with animate objects
Xanathar - Killed, reincarnated as a child, currently driving very expensive Cassalanter nanny crazy
Jarlaxle - Made a deal, he ended up seducing 2 different party members, gave up what he knew in exchange for Xanathar's Fortress and an alliance with the Skull Lords of Skullport brokered by the party had him concede the vault of dragons treasure (there's more than enough money to be made with full control of skull port)
Cassalanters - Well find out how the actual discussion hammers out next (and the last) session, but likely we're going to Phlethegos with a rakshasa attorney
(Its not like I actually "Stole" the last fight, we had telepathic bond up and the party agreed to this, and the whoops were universal when that nat 20 rolled across fantasy grounds)
I got a gargantuan version of this figure to represent the god Zehir:
I've also had a project going on to get minis that could represent the slaad lords. With that in mind I ordered a huge version of this figure to represent the most obscure of the slaad lords, Urae-Naas (from 4E's Demonomicon, which explains she is the consort of the bullywug god Ramenos and lives in the god's innards):
So I'm working on a thing and I'm curious if anyone has some takes on it.
General Descent into Avernus spoilers, especially Chapter 2!
Near the end of Chapter 2, the heroes are trapped in the doomed city of Elturel hanging in the sky above the hell plane of Avernus. They seek to rescue an important NPC and recover an artifact that he found so they can receive a vision of how to save the city.
The way its supposed to go is the party recovers the NPC, finds out hes locked in the middle of a psychic battle between the God of Law, Torm and Baphomet, a Prince of the Abyss, Lord of the Endless Maze, and certified Big Deal. They bring the NPC to a friendly exorcist they recently met, they perform a simple ritual, pass a check or two, take a little damage maybe, and if they don't fall unconscious they succeed and free the NPC. He explains the visions he saw and sends them off to the next chapter.
I find that really anticlimactic and would prefer to have the party actively participate in freeing the NPC from his psychic battleground.
The obvious solution is some sort of Inception style ritual that ends up placing them in a Maze where they have to deal with Baphomet's minions or be chased around by the demon prince and find the NPC and lead him out. But every piece of advice I can find on mazes in D&D says that they're a bad idea. Just due to the way the mechanics of D&D work, whether you provide a map or have the party map it themselves, the whole "you reach a two way/three way fork, which direction do you choose?" over and over wouldn't make for a great session. Assuming the party doesn't find an unexpected way to circumvent it or just decide to put their hands on the right wall and stick to it, etc.
Does anyone have a clever solution for making something feel like a maze, even if it might be significantly more linear? I figure if its all taking place in this NPC's mind it might give me an opportunity to give a lot of context to his character. They could potentially wander through his recent memories of the fall of the city and all the horrible things that have happened in the last few weeks.
Then cut it into sections.
Put the sections face down like a deck of cards.
The party clear a section, by either:
- Getting to the end of a corridor.
- Killing all enemies.
- Solving a simple riddle that is scrawled continuously on the walls (so it can’t be missed at all)
Once cleared, a party member receives a vision (just go left to right with the players, no particular reason). The vision will show two rough options for the next section.
- Slimy and dark or dusty and hot?
- Hungry beasts on the move or looming statues?
- A street on fire or a sewer?
They get to choose one.
Next that player picks a section from the deck and lines it up as best they can. If they draw a section that ends with only dead ends, that’s a puzzle room. The dead end opens up upon completion.
Populate this section with their preferred vision (on the fly or from a table you set up in advance).
Repeat until they are out of sections to draw from, that’s your finale.
Bonus round 1! Sections can be turned 90 degrees by either the party, a villain, or both. Doing so leads to a section you put down, which hold secrets, but they have no clue what it’s going to be populated by. A villain can turn sections to try to block them off, but there’s always another way out.
Bonus round 2! While they’re in the maze swap their characters for relevant monsters. Each one from a different power. It allows them to play around with some nifty abilities, that’s all; I think it’d be fun.
Edit:
Bonus round 3! After the finale have the sections rearrange as they race back through it to get to the exit!
Looks like New Zellatia is going to take until sometime next month to complete due to work, for those interested. Anyone wanting to know about a particular bit just send me a message. I have all the mechanics done, it’s just a matter of a paragraph here and there (for instance races are complete mechanically, but don’t have the descriptive fluff to go with them).
Right now I’m picking at festivals while I’m on a train, of which there will be many.
Sailing is done too, mostly because I’ve chosen to make it very simple. Given you’re gonna have, what, 5 battles at sea in an average campaign (if you even go to sea) it makes sense to me.
A morbid curiosity formed of calcified seashells and bleached, weathered bone, it carries with it a sorrow as deep as the bottomless sea.
As a bonus action, you can invoke the echo of a presence long forgotten. Choose one:
Harpoon Form
Foul, dripping sinews latch onto your hand and extend into a long rope connected to the cleaver. The weapon gains the thrown (15/30) property, and returns to you at the end of your turn. If the target of this attack is prone, unconscious, stunned, paralysed or tiny-sized, you pull them towards you up to 15 feet.
Ripper Form
The blade’s edge grows slick with a mix of sea salt and ichor. Raw flesh pulses beneath the surface, spreading the shells apart. When you make a successful melee attack with this weapon, the target bleeds profusely. They lose 1 Hit Point at the start of their turn, and this wound can only be healed by magical means. The bleeding stops when they have just 1 Hit Point left.
DM Note:
Bottomless Curse
During a short or long rest, the wielder of this weapon must make a 15 DC Wisdom saving throw. On a success, they remain as they are. On a failure, they take on a minor, barely noticeable feature reminiscent of the sea, such as blue tinged lips, wet skin or a growth like shells.
If they fail 3 + their Wisdom modifier times, they begin to transform into the Orphan, a dangerous, eldritch being born of the sea. They have until the next dawn to find a cure.
Does anybody know the kind of saving throw-based spells monsters are most likely to resist? I figure it'd be con and dex, since lots of monsters have high stats on those, but I'm not really sure. Most of the stuff I found online just talks about what saving throws are best to have for the characters or how many spells there are for each type of save. I'm going to be playing in another one-shot Wednesday, and I want a character themed around poison or acid and stuff (probably an artificer, I asked the DM if I could be an artillerist with the damage reflavored to poison or acid or something and he was cool with it), and I was wanting to look at which cantrip I should take between acid splash and poison spray. The information would also come in handy later for other characters as well
I presented my idea for my next campaign, in the later-time, probably in the aftervirus, or (hopefully) after the end of the reign-of-orange
I want to just steal some of sunless sea's atmosphere, but still Forgotten realms. We never got to finish Salt Marsh sooooo
A few years ago a coherent, stable portal opened in the Sea of Swords. Any ship that sailed into this portal found itself in the lightless expanse of the Dark Lake in the underdark. The first terrified ship crew to find themselves in this situation also discovered that the portal could take them back. After the initial worry about being a prelude to some kind of invasion of horrific sea creatures from the underdark, the Masked Lords of Waterdeep decided that the trade opportunities in the Underdark for Adamantine, great works of art of Faerie Fire, Duergar forged weapons, and the lure of even more mysterious things accessible *beneath* the darklake from the realms beyond knowledge were too great, and an expedition was formed.
Cut to: Start of the campaign. 10 years have passed, and the Lords Alliance joint colony of Salt Marsh, formed by Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter, Waterdeep, Silverymoon, along with free captains and admirals and Luskan and even a few bold Calashites is thriving. It is a dangerous city, built on the remnants of a Kua-Toa city destroyed years ago by the Demon Demogorgon. Raids by Drow Pirates, supposedly houseless rogues, are frequent. Trade relations with the Duergar, and the Drow cities of Menzoberranzan and Gauntlgrym are tense, but everyone on all sides is getting too much out of it for anything other than privateer actions. Raids from greater horrors, Illithids and Beholders, have happened, but with the resources of Mighty Waterdeep only a tenday away by ship, the town of Saltmarsh thrives.
Until one day when the portal simply disappeared
This is where I wanna start the campaign, the players I've pitched it to are all in on this idea, which literally just came from "Hey sunless sea has some cool shit that would be fun to stick in D&D" and also "sexy drow pirates??"
That matches my intuition. There are reams of monsters that you would describe as being strong, tough, or agile, but far fewer where the primary characteristic would be that they were smart, wise, or charismatic.
Edit: on the flip side, there are plenty of mindless or unintelligent enemies that will have low mental stats, but most things that will be used as a physical threat to the party are at least "average" at physical stats
For those interested, the original creator of Eberron is soon going to be releasing a new (technically unofficial) book on DMs Guild that explores aspects of the Eberron setting that haven't been covered before. Here are some preview pages for the book, titled "Exploring Eberron".
Why release it through DMs Guild instead of WotC? Less hassle and able to get it out faster or something?
could also be that he wanted to be the final say in his own world and releasing it through wotc would open it up to other people messing with it more. he probably also gets a bigger cut on the DMs guild. there also may not have been internal support due to other books being pushed more or the timetables would have pushed the book to be released way later.
Why release it through DMs Guild instead of WotC? Less hassle and able to get it out faster or something?
could also be that he wanted to be the final say in his own world and releasing it through wotc would open it up to other people messing with it more. he probably also gets a bigger cut on the DMs guild. there also may not have been internal support due to other books being pushed more or the timetables would have pushed the book to be released way later.
So I've been reading a looooot of stuff online and off about DM prepwork and general advice on running games and stuff. A lot of it seems like really fantastic advice and I'm actually excited to start prepping for my next session!
But unrelated to prepwork, I started daydreaming about a scene from the last book of the Craft Sequence series by Max Gladstone. I think thematically it's fuckin rad but I don't know how I could work it into a campaign. Probably something for a higher level party.
Basically about 150 years before the books start there was a guy, Gerhardt, that learned how the gods accessed and used their powers. He researched and learned and wrote down the process for humanity, and basically invented the field of human magic. He also pissed off a lot of people and their gods, meddling with powers he shouldn't, and it caused a huge war. It permanently scarred and destroyed parts of the world, and left many gods dead or enslaved. Gerhardt was eventually mortally wounded, stabbed in the heart by his own lover while he broke angels and gods atop a great center of learning. His anger and power were so great that he refused to die.
He broke reality, the entire city frozen in time, himself always dying but never dead, screaming in rage. I forget the exact details, but an empire with their own weird squid gods slapped a band-aid fix on this wound in the world by sort of folding the rest of reality around the city like it didn't exist anymore and built a new city there. But if you knew how, you could slip into the other city (mostly treasure and lore seekers). It was incredibly cold there, deadly even, and the dead and dying angels and unleashed monsters in the city could still kill you even though they were frozen in time. Plus moving between cities alerted the squid gods and they'd send enforcers to kill you.
Anyways, I thought it'd be cool to have a session in a similar locale for the purpose of recovering an artifact or some shit, but not any time soon. Just the idea of describing a colossal battle between mortals and deities, frozen in time, seems like it could be real fuckin cool but also really hard to do until I get more experienced at DMing.
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NipsHe/HimLuxuriating in existential crisis.Registered Userregular
So I've been reading a looooot of stuff online and off about DM prepwork and general advice on running games and stuff. A lot of it seems like really fantastic advice and I'm actually excited to start prepping for my next session!
But unrelated to prepwork, I started daydreaming about a scene from the last book of the Craft Sequence series by Max Gladstone. I think thematically it's fuckin rad but I don't know how I could work it into a campaign. Probably something for a higher level party.
Basically about 150 years before the books start there was a guy, Gerhardt, that learned how the gods accessed and used their powers. He researched and learned and wrote down the process for humanity, and basically invented the field of human magic. He also pissed off a lot of people and their gods, meddling with powers he shouldn't, and it caused a huge war. It permanently scarred and destroyed parts of the world, and left many gods dead or enslaved. Gerhardt was eventually mortally wounded, stabbed in the heart by his own lover while he broke angels and gods atop a great center of learning. His anger and power were so great that he refused to die.
He broke reality, the entire city frozen in time, himself always dying but never dead, screaming in rage. I forget the exact details, but an empire with their own weird squid gods slapped a band-aid fix on this wound in the world by sort of folding the rest of reality around the city like it didn't exist anymore and built a new city there. But if you knew how, you could slip into the other city (mostly treasure and lore seekers). It was incredibly cold there, deadly even, and the dead and dying angels and unleashed monsters in the city could still kill you even though they were frozen in time. Plus moving between cities alerted the squid gods and they'd send enforcers to kill you.
Anyways, I thought it'd be cool to have a session in a similar locale for the purpose of recovering an artifact or some shit, but not any time soon. Just the idea of describing a colossal battle between mortals and deities, frozen in time, seems like it could be real fuckin cool but also really hard to do until I get more experienced at DMing.
That is rad as hell, and could easily see adapting it to a series of adventures. Or even just a place, and adventures happen in and around the cities as backdrop.
So I've been reading a looooot of stuff online and off about DM prepwork and general advice on running games and stuff. A lot of it seems like really fantastic advice and I'm actually excited to start prepping for my next session!
But unrelated to prepwork, I started daydreaming about a scene from the last book of the Craft Sequence series by Max Gladstone. I think thematically it's fuckin rad but I don't know how I could work it into a campaign. Probably something for a higher level party.
Basically about 150 years before the books start there was a guy, Gerhardt, that learned how the gods accessed and used their powers. He researched and learned and wrote down the process for humanity, and basically invented the field of human magic. He also pissed off a lot of people and their gods, meddling with powers he shouldn't, and it caused a huge war. It permanently scarred and destroyed parts of the world, and left many gods dead or enslaved. Gerhardt was eventually mortally wounded, stabbed in the heart by his own lover while he broke angels and gods atop a great center of learning. His anger and power were so great that he refused to die.
He broke reality, the entire city frozen in time, himself always dying but never dead, screaming in rage. I forget the exact details, but an empire with their own weird squid gods slapped a band-aid fix on this wound in the world by sort of folding the rest of reality around the city like it didn't exist anymore and built a new city there. But if you knew how, you could slip into the other city (mostly treasure and lore seekers). It was incredibly cold there, deadly even, and the dead and dying angels and unleashed monsters in the city could still kill you even though they were frozen in time. Plus moving between cities alerted the squid gods and they'd send enforcers to kill you.
Anyways, I thought it'd be cool to have a session in a similar locale for the purpose of recovering an artifact or some shit, but not any time soon. Just the idea of describing a colossal battle between mortals and deities, frozen in time, seems like it could be real fuckin cool but also really hard to do until I get more experienced at DMing.
That is rad as hell, and could easily see adapting it to a series of adventures. Or even just a place, and adventures happen in and around the cities as backdrop.
And now I need to go read some books...
Fuck yeah, the Craft Sequence is amazing. All of the magic in the books is via contracts with demons and shit and wizards have to basically go to law school and it's so goddamned good.
That Eberron stuff is very cool. I spent a LOT of time in Eberron in 3.5 and I loved it so much I'm liberally stealing much of it for my own homebrew campaign world (so much). What I appreciate about that fluff is that is the first time I've ever seen anything written about the oceans. That was good stuff just in the preview content there.
This spell attempts to reignite all inert magical effects that were ended by a Dispel Magic spell within its area within the last 24 hours. Any ended spell of 3rd level or lower in the target resumes with its remaining duration intact. For each ended spell effect of 4th level or higher in the target area, make an ability check using your spellcasting ability. The DC equals 10 + the spell’s level. On a successful check, the spell resumes. If the spell was a Concentration spell, it is not resumed.
Alternatively when you cast this spell you can choose one spell that was interrupted from the Counterspell spell within its area within the last minute. The spell reweaves itself and is recast from its original point of origin, and at its original target. If the target was a creature, and that creature is still within the spell's original range, the spell still targets that creature, otherwise it targets the space the creature was in. If the spell must target a creature, it targets the closest creature within range of where its original target was. If no valid targets are available, the spell targets the caster of Reweave Magic.
eberron is super cool. ive got so many ideas for campaigns and one shots. too bad even with everyone locked at home its still impossible to get 4ish people together online at the same time...
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Perdón! No moss?
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
...okay, I'll show myself out.
The puns are actually incredibly helpful as I decided that my bio had to be pun-dense.
Now to deal with my awful AC. Hopefully 17 is enough at level 5.
Steam: CavilatRest
With Fungus Humongous, its loyal lieutenant slash pet slash giant monster.
Every good villain deserves a kaiju-level underboss!
Better drop this. It seems to be a spore point.
@Wearingglasses, I think a reflavored Yaun-Ti Pureblood might be the closest.
The only ability that really makes no sense that would stay is that you can cast Animal Friendship an unlimited number of times, but you can target only snakes with it.
So... Maybe your mushroom race struck an ancient deal with a snake god?
So one player may not be able to make it to our scheduled game tonight. If not, I told the rest that I could do a small one-shot and just make everything up on the fly. Definitely going to do an underdark thing where the party works with a myconid colony, and this badboy is going to be an NPC that travels with them and helps out.
I did get a copy of, "The Monsters Know What They're Doing" in the mail, so hopefully that'll at least help me play out the combats in an interesting manner (but I should still design more interesting ones)
We finally finished the Oracle of the All Father chapter in SKT last night. Oracle of the Giant Gods. Six questions to further the goals of the adventure. They asked 1, useless, question about the dead giant body in the room and then wanted to leave. I had to have Harshnag step in and growl at them about wasting his efforts to help them if they are going to only ask 1 question. The then asked maybe 3 pseduo-appropriate questions but again none of them phrased in such a way that they got to meat the issue. Harshnag had to step in again and ask his own question in order to trigger the "find the relics to get to the conchs" quest. They asked, "who has the conchs" Answer: In typical Oracle vagueness, The Giant Lords each have a conch. They did not follow up with "Where can we find the Giant Lords". Clearly, they are assuming that just faffing around in the wilds again would solve their problems. They expressed great interest in helping put the ghost of Eigeron to rest, but did not ask where they could find his father's castle.
MFers, I want to make this adventure SHORTER, not drag it out! Ask better questions!!! :razz:
1. Suddenly a big neutral monster appears! A giant spider bursts from a trap door. An albino alligator launches from the swamp. The boulder gets up and it’s grumpy y’all woke it. Use it to clear the enemies they’re easily beating and turn it into a new encounter.
2. Second forms. When an enemy is cut down to half HP they speed up, hit harder, or gain a spell or ability.
3. Killing the enemy isn’t the point. Save the kidnapped kid. Stop the ritual. Race to the finish. Build the portal.
4. The environment is an indifferent character. Lava burns whoever falls into it. Ice is slippery. The cracked floor can only be stood on for one round before it breaks. The lever will open the spike pit.
5. Lame-o forms. When an enemy is cut down to half HP their AC become 1 and they can be negotiated with, or made to flee.
6. Positioning powers. A big tongue that pulls them close. A spell to make a weak wall. Teleportation. Make the fight feel lively!
I do think a reason to fight is a good driving factor, and I like named mid-boss type guys to give the enemy a reason too, though don’t be surprised if they don’t get chance to escape to fight again.
1. Initiative is rolled every X rounds (am dithering between one or two).
2. Before the enemy takes its turn, the player gets to guess how it's attacking - either it's a Charge, an Exchange, or a Feint. It's always one of the three.
3. Each type gives the enemy a small boost (Exchange makes her do her multiattack, Feint gives her a +2 to the attack).
4. I'll give out a short description of the enemy's attack, as a vague clue on which of the three types is coming. (ie "She spares a moment to eye your shield placement before attacking.") There are clues that can be deliberately attributed to two attacks, for good measure.
5. The player can roll a Perception check to remove one wrong choice from the three.
6. If he guesses correctly, he gets a bonus depending on the attack that's coming.
7. I've made something akin to a state machine that will automatically drive the enemy's choices instead of me making them.
I'm about to spend too much money on plastic.
I said "I um, we hear chanting in that room, right? I peak around the corner"
DM: There is an opening ahead, a dimly lit room ahead, the sides of it overlook a large ritual chamber below. The chanting is coming from below, from this angle you can see the movement of apparently rows of people, chanting in infernal, you hear the name Asmodeus.
Me: Okay... uh... how far to the center of the room
DM: 30 feet from where your token is, it is a 20 foot drop there
Me: I hold an action to cast a spell, Heightened spell, and I use my robe to shadowstep to the center of the room, so I fall down.
DM: You will take some fall damage... what spell are you holding....
Me: Divine Word
DM: ..................................
Me: ?
DM: hold on
Party: oh no
DM: lets reveal the vision of the lower level you are falling into
Party: OH NOOOOO
(the map's squares aren't quite lined up with 5 feet, the spell hit every creature in this area)
every one of them failed the save
I asked how many maximum HP the cultists have
The DM linked the video from kingsman where everyone's heads exploded, the devils were sent back to the nine hells (including 2 invisible bone devils)
DM forgot he gave me an item that could cast that spell lol, its from so long ago
Given their position I convinced the Cassalantars that I could save their children, we have a Raksasha on retainer for legal or investigatory services
it was such a wonderful narrative moment because my character is an expert at deception, +15 bonus to it, and NOT proficient in persuasion, I'm playing a fey trickster who ALWAYS lies, and fitting with the character's genuine care about the safety of children, I chose *not* to lie to them for such an important roll
and I rolled a natural 20 (the cassalanters do know a few of the characters including mine, so it's not like rando adventurers pleading like this, earlier the rogue had been talking to Victorio, trying to poke cracks in the contract by what he knows about the pact primeval, the two of them go way back in Rogue's backstory, to before their children were born)
despite essentially stealing the final boss fight from my party, it's ending on a really narratively satisfying note
Of course the DM had the devil reinforcements react with extreme violence upon finding out the Cassalanters were looking for another way out, because they dont *actually* work for them. I know this was an asspull from the DM so we could still have a final boss battle, but this time with the Cassalanters on our side, but nobody cares, this was a really satisfying ending to this arc.
Dragon Heist 4 Seasons score:
Manshoon - Killed dead, I had his bed eat him with animate objects
Xanathar - Killed, reincarnated as a child, currently driving very expensive Cassalanter nanny crazy
Jarlaxle - Made a deal, he ended up seducing 2 different party members, gave up what he knew in exchange for Xanathar's Fortress and an alliance with the Skull Lords of Skullport brokered by the party had him concede the vault of dragons treasure (there's more than enough money to be made with full control of skull port)
Cassalanters - Well find out how the actual discussion hammers out next (and the last) session, but likely we're going to Phlethegos with a rakshasa attorney
(Its not like I actually "Stole" the last fight, we had telepathic bond up and the party agreed to this, and the whoops were universal when that nat 20 rolled across fantasy grounds)
I've also had a project going on to get minis that could represent the slaad lords. With that in mind I ordered a huge version of this figure to represent the most obscure of the slaad lords, Urae-Naas (from 4E's Demonomicon, which explains she is the consort of the bullywug god Ramenos and lives in the god's innards):
General Descent into Avernus spoilers, especially Chapter 2!
The way its supposed to go is the party recovers the NPC, finds out hes locked in the middle of a psychic battle between the God of Law, Torm and Baphomet, a Prince of the Abyss, Lord of the Endless Maze, and certified Big Deal. They bring the NPC to a friendly exorcist they recently met, they perform a simple ritual, pass a check or two, take a little damage maybe, and if they don't fall unconscious they succeed and free the NPC. He explains the visions he saw and sends them off to the next chapter.
I find that really anticlimactic and would prefer to have the party actively participate in freeing the NPC from his psychic battleground.
The obvious solution is some sort of Inception style ritual that ends up placing them in a Maze where they have to deal with Baphomet's minions or be chased around by the demon prince and find the NPC and lead him out. But every piece of advice I can find on mazes in D&D says that they're a bad idea. Just due to the way the mechanics of D&D work, whether you provide a map or have the party map it themselves, the whole "you reach a two way/three way fork, which direction do you choose?" over and over wouldn't make for a great session. Assuming the party doesn't find an unexpected way to circumvent it or just decide to put their hands on the right wall and stick to it, etc.
Does anyone have a clever solution for making something feel like a maze, even if it might be significantly more linear? I figure if its all taking place in this NPC's mind it might give me an opportunity to give a lot of context to his character. They could potentially wander through his recent memories of the fall of the city and all the horrible things that have happened in the last few weeks.
Get yourself a simple maze.
Then cut it into sections.
Put the sections face down like a deck of cards.
The party clear a section, by either:
- Getting to the end of a corridor.
- Killing all enemies.
- Solving a simple riddle that is scrawled continuously on the walls (so it can’t be missed at all)
Once cleared, a party member receives a vision (just go left to right with the players, no particular reason). The vision will show two rough options for the next section.
- Slimy and dark or dusty and hot?
- Hungry beasts on the move or looming statues?
- A street on fire or a sewer?
They get to choose one.
Next that player picks a section from the deck and lines it up as best they can. If they draw a section that ends with only dead ends, that’s a puzzle room. The dead end opens up upon completion.
Populate this section with their preferred vision (on the fly or from a table you set up in advance).
Repeat until they are out of sections to draw from, that’s your finale.
Bonus round 1! Sections can be turned 90 degrees by either the party, a villain, or both. Doing so leads to a section you put down, which hold secrets, but they have no clue what it’s going to be populated by. A villain can turn sections to try to block them off, but there’s always another way out.
Bonus round 2! While they’re in the maze swap their characters for relevant monsters. Each one from a different power. It allows them to play around with some nifty abilities, that’s all; I think it’d be fun.
Edit:
Bonus round 3! After the finale have the sections rearrange as they race back through it to get to the exit!
Right now I’m picking at festivals while I’m on a train, of which there will be many.
Sailing is done too, mostly because I’ve chosen to make it very simple. Given you’re gonna have, what, 5 battles at sea in an average campaign (if you even go to sea) it makes sense to me.
—
In ordinary D&D, here’s a gross weapon!
Orphaned Cleaver
Magical melee weapon, rare, cursed.
Versatile 1d8/1d10 slashing damage.
A morbid curiosity formed of calcified seashells and bleached, weathered bone, it carries with it a sorrow as deep as the bottomless sea.
As a bonus action, you can invoke the echo of a presence long forgotten. Choose one:
Harpoon Form
Foul, dripping sinews latch onto your hand and extend into a long rope connected to the cleaver. The weapon gains the thrown (15/30) property, and returns to you at the end of your turn. If the target of this attack is prone, unconscious, stunned, paralysed or tiny-sized, you pull them towards you up to 15 feet.
Ripper Form
The blade’s edge grows slick with a mix of sea salt and ichor. Raw flesh pulses beneath the surface, spreading the shells apart. When you make a successful melee attack with this weapon, the target bleeds profusely. They lose 1 Hit Point at the start of their turn, and this wound can only be healed by magical means. The bleeding stops when they have just 1 Hit Point left.
DM Note:
Bottomless Curse
During a short or long rest, the wielder of this weapon must make a 15 DC Wisdom saving throw. On a success, they remain as they are. On a failure, they take on a minor, barely noticeable feature reminiscent of the sea, such as blue tinged lips, wet skin or a growth like shells.
If they fail 3 + their Wisdom modifier times, they begin to transform into the Orphan, a dangerous, eldritch being born of the sea. They have until the next dawn to find a cure.
STR: 2.816
DEX: 2.003
CON: 3.346
INT: -0.439
WIS: 1.816
CHA: 0.866
So Constitution is the best across all creatures, Intelligence is by far the worst
I want to just steal some of sunless sea's atmosphere, but still Forgotten realms. We never got to finish Salt Marsh sooooo
A few years ago a coherent, stable portal opened in the Sea of Swords. Any ship that sailed into this portal found itself in the lightless expanse of the Dark Lake in the underdark. The first terrified ship crew to find themselves in this situation also discovered that the portal could take them back. After the initial worry about being a prelude to some kind of invasion of horrific sea creatures from the underdark, the Masked Lords of Waterdeep decided that the trade opportunities in the Underdark for Adamantine, great works of art of Faerie Fire, Duergar forged weapons, and the lure of even more mysterious things accessible *beneath* the darklake from the realms beyond knowledge were too great, and an expedition was formed.
Cut to: Start of the campaign. 10 years have passed, and the Lords Alliance joint colony of Salt Marsh, formed by Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter, Waterdeep, Silverymoon, along with free captains and admirals and Luskan and even a few bold Calashites is thriving. It is a dangerous city, built on the remnants of a Kua-Toa city destroyed years ago by the Demon Demogorgon. Raids by Drow Pirates, supposedly houseless rogues, are frequent. Trade relations with the Duergar, and the Drow cities of Menzoberranzan and Gauntlgrym are tense, but everyone on all sides is getting too much out of it for anything other than privateer actions. Raids from greater horrors, Illithids and Beholders, have happened, but with the resources of Mighty Waterdeep only a tenday away by ship, the town of Saltmarsh thrives.
Until one day when the portal simply disappeared
This is where I wanna start the campaign, the players I've pitched it to are all in on this idea, which literally just came from "Hey sunless sea has some cool shit that would be fun to stick in D&D" and also "sexy drow pirates??"
What do you guys think
(I will probably rename salt marsh)
Oh cool, thank you so much!
Can confirm, played a UA class (mystic) whose almost all spells and cantrips were int save. DM made the save maybe 4 times the whole campaign.
Edit: on the flip side, there are plenty of mindless or unintelligent enemies that will have low mental stats, but most things that will be used as a physical threat to the party are at least "average" at physical stats
could also be that he wanted to be the final say in his own world and releasing it through wotc would open it up to other people messing with it more. he probably also gets a bigger cut on the DMs guild. there also may not have been internal support due to other books being pushed more or the timetables would have pushed the book to be released way later.
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My guess is more profit for the author.
These make sense, thanks!
But unrelated to prepwork, I started daydreaming about a scene from the last book of the Craft Sequence series by Max Gladstone. I think thematically it's fuckin rad but I don't know how I could work it into a campaign. Probably something for a higher level party.
He broke reality, the entire city frozen in time, himself always dying but never dead, screaming in rage. I forget the exact details, but an empire with their own weird squid gods slapped a band-aid fix on this wound in the world by sort of folding the rest of reality around the city like it didn't exist anymore and built a new city there. But if you knew how, you could slip into the other city (mostly treasure and lore seekers). It was incredibly cold there, deadly even, and the dead and dying angels and unleashed monsters in the city could still kill you even though they were frozen in time. Plus moving between cities alerted the squid gods and they'd send enforcers to kill you.
Anyways, I thought it'd be cool to have a session in a similar locale for the purpose of recovering an artifact or some shit, but not any time soon. Just the idea of describing a colossal battle between mortals and deities, frozen in time, seems like it could be real fuckin cool but also really hard to do until I get more experienced at DMing.
That is rad as hell, and could easily see adapting it to a series of adventures. Or even just a place, and adventures happen in and around the cities as backdrop.
And now I need to go read some books...
Fuck yeah, the Craft Sequence is amazing. All of the magic in the books is via contracts with demons and shit and wizards have to basically go to law school and it's so goddamned good.
Reweave Magic:
3rd level abjuration
10 foot radius, 120 foot range
Casting time: 1 action
This spell attempts to reignite all inert magical effects that were ended by a Dispel Magic spell within its area within the last 24 hours. Any ended spell of 3rd level or lower in the target resumes with its remaining duration intact. For each ended spell effect of 4th level or higher in the target area, make an ability check using your spellcasting ability. The DC equals 10 + the spell’s level. On a successful check, the spell resumes. If the spell was a Concentration spell, it is not resumed.
Alternatively when you cast this spell you can choose one spell that was interrupted from the Counterspell spell within its area within the last minute. The spell reweaves itself and is recast from its original point of origin, and at its original target. If the target was a creature, and that creature is still within the spell's original range, the spell still targets that creature, otherwise it targets the space the creature was in. If the spell must target a creature, it targets the closest creature within range of where its original target was. If no valid targets are available, the spell targets the caster of Reweave Magic.
Also would be hilarious to see this after like 3 or 4 rounds worth of dispells and counterspells.
What order would they resolve in, original cast order, reverse, or something else (duration?)?
Can this spell itself be counterspelled? What about the individual spells it revives?
I'd play it like how Magic the Gathering handles the stack: last spell cast goes first, and working back from there
edit: it sounds like it would be a hilarious clusterfuck and I want to see it happen
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