Puddleyc Oct 21, Replies 11 Views 2K. Dec 3, Run N. November Chapter Reports. Elihu Nov 30, Nov 30, Elihu. BF3 Damage Spreadsheet. Run N. Gun Nov 29, Nov 29, Run N. Any plans for a game night? Keero Nov 21, Nov 27, Run N. BF3 First thoughts. Puddleyc Oct 25, Replies 7 Views 2K. Nov 13, Run N. BF3- Who's in? DanR12 Jun 24, 2. Replies 38 Views 9K. Oct 14, Blackbeard. Caspian Border rocks. Keero Oct 8, Oct 13, Blackbeard. Nuggets, Porter had a heated exchange with Lucas, threw an object and promptly left the arena — and Wood refused to sub into second half.
Lucas called out entire team at halftime, and focused on Wood's effort level. Porter had a heated exchange with the longtime assistant, and drove out of arena at halftime. That makes sense. Well, in the last few paragraphs, we incorporated the lake instead of an island and the flying dinosaurs.
Regarding our last two missing pieces, several crappy ideas have come and gone, but I just realized that I have been operating on an early assumption that the tower was on an island in the lake. What if I move the tower?
It seems like it would go well inside the haunted ruins of the ancient city, especially if there may be a specter within. Yet, that would put my ghouls and specter in very close proximity. That may be ok. Maybe they are working together. Yet, that seems to reduce the combat encounters from five to four. I could spread them out the ruins are expansive , but would the PCs run into them both?
I guess I could lay the breadcrumb trail right past them both. I have several thoughts, but all are too complex. I want this to be simple. I just had an idea. If I want to make it seem necessary to go into the tower, why not change it slightly into a gatehouse? Perhaps that gatehouse sits on the edge of the cliffs, overlooking the lake. Then they can notice that the path continues on the other side, rising up toward the gatehouse.
Once they get up there, they must pass through the gatehouse to enter the ruins. That works, but what of the specter? Perhaps it is a spirit from the ancient city. Who knows why it haunts that place?
Our crude outline suggests a story that could unfold as follows:. Perhaps the ambush site is still ahead so the same brigands could attack the PCs directly. That would probably do it. Signs of battle are there, but no bodies. The ancient path that leads along the edge of the lake ends abruptly. The PCs spot a ruined gatehouse on the cliffs on the far side of the lake. They find a boat or two at the camp. These could eat the PCs maybe tearing them apart if not swallowing them.
Drowning is also a possibility, if PCs fall into the water. The dinosaurs may also grab PCs and fly away with them, and PCs wriggling free could fall into the lake. Perhaps the entrance is now completely blocked with tons of rubble.
PCs could scale the wall to climb through an arrow slit or upper window. They may also find a hidden sally port the snakeman trail leads there and a narrow, crumbling, spiral stairway hazard.
The stairwell or any arrow slit or upper window leads to an upper room. The floor here may be very weak, risking collapse during combat. If the PCs get past the specter, they would find a door leading outside to the ruined city beyond. They must track the captives. Yet, perhaps that entrance is closed somehow, requiring the PCs to figure out how to open it. I cannot yet think of a way to make this battle dynamic.
I also worry what would happen if the PCs arrived here during the day. Perhaps I can time their arrival at the camp for twilight, and the need to save the wounded captives should hopefully keep them from passing the night. Perhaps some captives are in the room, forcing the PCs to worry about them while fighting the snakemen. The sunsword could be here too. Something also causes the ceiling to start collapsing during the battle.
Hopefully the PCs win. We have five non-combat encounters and five combat encounters. The antagonists caused this whole plot because they too have a logical goal feed the giant snake with captives. The story has a creepy twist brigands are not holding the captives; snakemen are. The snakemen also obtained the captives in a logical way raiding the brigand camp. This last part, how to use your lists of components, deserves additional attention.
Realize that your lists are guides, not handcuffs. This is important. An example may illustrate how this plays out in practice. My initial list of PC deaths from Step 7 includes a conflagration, which sounds exciting.
Yet, I could not think of a reasonable way for a fire to start amidst ancient ruins ghoul combat or in the crumbling tower specter combat.
I could have been creative to force a round peg into a square hole. Alternatively, there could be some foul oil on the surface of the lake for some unknown reason.
I could also give the flying dinosaurs flaming breath. Since I found many of these ideas to be stretches except the flaming breath, which I plan to use in another adventure , I opted not to force the fire idea. Sometimes, more is less. Instead, I changed my list, replacing a fire with the obvious risk of drowning.
Thus, four of my five battles now have a dynamic feature. Perhaps, the risk of fantastic death is unnecessary here, especially if I give the battlefield terrain some interesting features.
Perhaps the ground is very uneven, featuring several trenches, slopes, or pits three dimensions always make play more interesting. While pits and trenches do not threaten PC death, they should make the battle more than a slugfest.
Before moving on to the next step, I started to fill out that template, but in doing so I noticed a problem. During that phase of the adventure, they are supposed to have combat.
I have none. As I currently have it, they reach the empty camp and learn of the new plot that snakemen took the captives. In short, my encounters, though logical, are not really aligning with the template. The problem here seems to be that the PCs shall discover the new plot too quickly.
They could find a trail, but perhaps the ground is too rocky to allow for tell-tale, sidewinding, snake tracks. This makes me wonder how the PCs would follow, but the answer is simple. They could follow a blood trail left by the captives and the snakemen are making no effort at stealth.
So where might the PCs finally learn of the snakemen? They need the wrinkle sometime after the combat with the dinosaurs. That should work. The water barrier or water filling a room stumped me for a bit. My problem is that I envision the ruins as rocky and dead. I want that area to seem dead. The ruins are also high up on cliffs, whereas I imagine water collecting in low spots. The only possibility that makes any sense to me is a low spot inside the temple, which is already underground.
Only the cliffs stand out. I have two thoughts on using those. The essence of their danger is climbing and potentially falling. If the PCs do not find the sally port at the gatehouse or if they opt against using it , they can climb the side of the gatehouse and try to enter through an arrow slit or window.
Also, if PCs opt not to cross the lake for some reason, they may attempt to scale the cliffs to reach the gatehouse. At present, the temple can be as simple or as complex as I want it to be. It may be two or three rooms or it may be ten or twelve. I am very tempted to make it larger, but I remind myself that this is supposed to be a practice run on Roll Thus, I may force myself to keep it simple.
However, they have no real connection to anything. The ad-hoc nature of our current online campaign will make this rougher than usual. The group has little glue holding it together, and few players fleshed out their characters much. No one has any particular animosity to snakes, snake cults, or brigands. No one has yet met the priestesses of Palladine Mithrallas. The half-elf in the party may have the most in common with these priestesses of light and truth.
Perhaps I can give her recurring dreams about smashing the head of a serpent with a club or even crushing its head with her own two hands. If I go with this, I would send the player this tidbit before we start the adventure.
This information would mean nothing until the PCs discover that snakemen took the captives. Thereafter, it should give her incentive to continue on. It may even distract her from the immediate goals of saving the captives and retrieving the sunsword, as she is likely to try to kill every snake in the temple. That might be interesting.
One of the PCs specializes in fighting undead, so the ghouls and specter should make him happy. I need to make sure that he cannot turn them or destroy them with ease. Likewise, another PC specializes in fighting spell-casters.
In any case, he should appreciate the magic-using snakeman leader. I try to avoid dreams, visions, and prophecies these days, as I tend to overuse them.
However, these seem fitting for a cleric. In addition, the cleric has not had much of the limelight in recent adventures.
Maybe the player will appreciate the attention. Customize Monsters I try to avoid stock monsters like the plague. This game is all about exploring the unknown, and few things are as scary as the unknown. Thus, I shall make sure that each monster has some twist to keep the players on their toes. The brigands and traitorous caravan guards may be the most difficult to tweak, for they are just plain humans.
I shall avoid spells and other supernatural powers here. They probably expect several weak brigands of poor skill. For the most part, I want this to be true, but I also need a twist. Perhaps their riding skills will prove to be enough. They may attack as one level higher when mounted. They may have a much lower chance of being knocked from the saddle when hit.
Perhaps a few also have bows and can loose arrows without much penalty while riding. I will not allow them this luxury because many of the caravan guards are traitors.
The caravan will be strung out in a long line, and calls to circle the wagons will go unanswered perhaps traitorous guards already killed some of the drovers.
If the PCs simply stay put and shoot at the horses, the brigands will go to where they are not and plunder. As for the flying dinosaurs, the players will not expect them, for we never see these in our games. Yet, these creatures need to be more than flying stat blocks. The claws would do damage, of course, but the serious risk after being snatched is actually wriggling free and falling.
I also want to make a mechanic by which the PCs might fall into the lake the PCs may be on a boat. Perhaps if the dinosaur hits its prey, there is a chance of carrying it away. If that fails, it deals claw damage and knocks the prey down as it swoops past. Perhaps a dexterity check would make more sense. In any case, failure means that the struck PC will fall into the lake. That should be fun. For the incorporeal spirit not necessarily a specter , I need to decide what its touch will do.
I loathe the idea of draining levels. Yet, if you drain people too low and if restoration takes too long, the party will likely sit around for a while before continuing. That could be interesting. The effect is permanent and will affect most characters, but not in the short-term. As for ghouls, we need a twist because the players have faced ghouls many times.
Perhaps I can kill two birds with one stone. What if the ghouls keep their paralyzing touch lasting 1d4 rounds , but upon paralyzing a victim, a ghoul immediately sits down and tries to start eating that victim?
Perhaps he deals 1d4 in damage per round, plus paralysis again. That adds the fear of being eaten alive a horrifying twist , but it also prevents ghouls from concentrating their attacks on the few PCs that remain standing. For the snakemen, I envision hybrid yuan-ti, with a human torso but snake head and tail as depicted in Monster Manual II.
Each can strike with a sword and bite for 1d8 damage. Perhaps the venom deals 1d4 in damage for three rounds half if the victim saves. Since I shall not give them each spell-like abilities, perhaps each can fight with two swords, getting three attacks in total. Finally we need to look at the magic-using snakeman. I was tempted to give him paralysis venom, but this is too similar to the touch of the ghouls.
I could give him a few standard spells that seem to go with snakes, like charm person and cause fear. Yet, I dislike both of these because they essentially tell players to stop playing their characters as they wish. Then again, those do seem fitting, and I may be able to use them on NPCs, like the captives that the PCs are trying to save.
Perhaps a freed captive walks back towards the snakemen just as the PCs are fleeing the chamber. Perhaps two captives run in fear down a dark corridor that leads back into the heart of the temple. Both of these could be fun and memorable scenes. I want to avoid spells that simply provide a mathematical modifier bless, bane, etc. Perhaps the snakeman can summon dozens of regular snakes, which emerge from small holes in the stone wall.
This may be enough. Customize Spells I do like to include at least one custom spell in each adventure that I write. How would the PCs encounter this spell though? Would it be on a magical scroll or would it be something cast against them? The snakeman seems to be the most logical choice for the possessor of a unique spell. I want it to be something memorable. What would creep out PCs and players? What if the snakeman has a spell that transforms a victim into a snake?
Perhaps the snakeman has a variation of this spell. A successful saving throw against polymorph negates the spell. If it takes effect, however, the change is permanent though dispel magic will negate the effect. If the change occurs, the victim must also make a system shock survival roll to see if he survives.
Now we just need a name for this. I like it. Remember what I wrote about these lists being guides? A quick review may help. In , Luke Skywalker wielded his iconic lightsaber, which needs no explanation. In the animated cartoon called Thundarr the Barbarian, the hero wields a unique and powerful Sunsword, which was effectively a lightsaber. Better yet, against vampires it deals an added 10 points of damage per hit. Then, in , Unearthed Arcana introduced a type of magical sword called a Sun Blade.
When used against undead and other creatures from a Negative Material Plane, it deals double damage. So how can we borrow some of these and still make our Sunsword unique? The priestesses will obviously be very grateful if the PCs retrieve this sword for them. If the PCs take the sword for themselves, however, the priestesses will stop at nothing to get it back. I like this item, though I realize that the PCs will probably not keep it.
I now need to make some items that they can keep. We may need a limitation on this frightening item, so perhaps it can penetrate only leather armor, padded armor, and normal clothing. My initial list of potential magic items included an amulet of protection against snake venom or against attacks by serpents.
My thinking had been to include a few human cultists, perhaps as guards or servants, and this amulet would protect them. This is still possible, but I am now leaning against this, thinking that evil snakemen that feed humans to their snake god could probably care less for the lives of human servants. Yet, I like the idea of PCs carrying away an ornament or holy symbol of the cult. This could be a nice seed for the future I did mention that I wanted to explore this snake cult more in a separate adventure.
Perhaps the purpose of the symbol is not to protect human cultists. Maybe it has another purpose, but, as a side benefit, no serpent will attack the one holding it.
Why not? What is the original purpose though? Perhaps anyone wearing the symbol casts magic-user spells as if two levels higher. This will entice the two magic-users in the party to keep it, while the cult may want it back and may come after it. In addition, perhaps the symbol has some negative effect on the wearer after a time. It would be a nice loose end for a DM to use later.
One of many snake statues found inside the Tower of the Serpent in Conan the Barbarian I think my initial idea of a magical gem still works. Perhaps it should be the eye of a sacred statue. I like that too. I need one more. I did briefly consider a snake staff for the magic-using snakeman, but this seems like overkill.
All of the above items shall be in the temple. Perhaps this last item should be lying in the camp OR perhaps this last item, while also in the temple, belonged to a previous victim and not to the snakemen. Perhaps this is a small item that fell off a victim, like a broach, clasp, amulet, or ring.
Several PCs have little to no armor, so perhaps they would welcome a simple ring of protection. Perhaps this ring bears a pentagram and a curious distinctive mark.
If the PCs consult a sage, they will find that the ring once belonged to a wizard named Kallax. Indeed, he was in the habit of summoning evil creatures, so he made the ring to gain some protection from them. Create Multiple Paths to Victory In general, players enjoy choices. They use the term railroading when an adventure has a noticeable lack of choice. The simple takeaway is that we should build choices into our adventures.
A sandbox adventure is the ultimate expression of choice, for there is no specific plot. In all other adventures, there is some degree of plot and some degree of expected progression.
I usually try to ensure that my rough plot outline has several possible paths to victory. This adventure has almost no choice. To reduce the railroading, I could add a natural divide in the cliffs, located a few miles down the road, where an ancient road once led up to the ruins.
This would allow the PCs to bypass the gatehouse, but I would put another hazard or monster along that route. I might also create a second entrance to the underground temple a back door of sorts , allowing PCs to gain an element of surprise.
Yet, since the primary purpose of this adventure is to give myself a short trial run on Roll20, I will grudgingly refrain from adding alternative paths. I can always do so later. Now that I have a clear idea of what the PCs will see and where they will go, I can shape my rumors. Some are true, others false, and still others partially true.
As I make my list of rumors, I make DM notes on the truth of each. What people lived there? What caused its downfall?
How long ago was that? Why do people now consider the ruins to be haunted? That gives the PCs a rough idea of what to expect without spoiling anything. Was it cursed? What was once housed there? Of course, I need to add some rumors about the snakemen and their ancient temple. Were they the rulers of this ancient city? Did they take it over at some point?
I may want an ancient rumor that a sacred serpent would always dwell in that place. Perhaps travelers tell rumors about dragons or one dragon that flies above the ruins. Of course, this refers to the flying dinosaur s. Most of my true rumors contain some misdirection or ambiguity. I think that makes play more interesting and satisfying because players feel a sense of progress as they discover more accurate information.
Names provide a great deal of atmosphere to the adventure, whether you intend it or not. If you play fast and loose with naming conventions, your players are bound to take your game less seriously than you wish. I avoid naming most of my monsters because it humanizes them, making them inherently less scary. If you question that, consider a few popular movies that are meant to be frightening.
I think not. If you want very strange creatures strange being a relative term to evoke fear and wonder, leave them nameless. The unknown is powerful. It fuels the imagination, and this is good.
In this adventure, there are few NPCs that require names. Are Warlocks a yes or no when it comes to a Christian?
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