Delandel
First Post
My previous thread about ancient dwarven guardians yielded some great suggestions. I wanted to expand on the idea and see if I could get some more suggestions.
There are four PCs at 4th level. They have just landed at Port Nyranzaru on the northern tip of Chult. They must venture to Rune's Hollow, an old dwarven mine/headquarters that was abandoned during the Spellplague.
Balrum, the NPC that hired the PCs for this mission, hires a guide from a small Tabaxi village just south of Port Nyranzaru, a young hunter (ranger1) named Elijah. His family traces their ancestry to a long line of priests of Ubtao in the glorious city of Merzo. The Spellplague took away their crown jewel of civilization, leaving a massive crater teeming with foul undead in its wake. While his family is opposed to Elijah helping the adventurers, he knows that they can use the money, and he's itching for some exploration. Still, Eilijah refuses to enter Rune's Hollow, since he knows it was hit badly by the Spellplague and the "blue curse" is strong there. With a guide in tow it's onward to ADVENTURE!
Travel in the heart of the rainforest is easier than one might expect. The tall trees stretch hundreds of feet overhead, barren of branches or leaves, save for the huge canopies that spread wide in search of light and rain. A thin carpet of fallen leaves, pale vines, and hearty fungus covers the hard ground. The biggest obstacle to travel are the trees themselves, which sport huge, buttressed boles. The rainforest is bordered on the west and south by low mountains, hills, and lakes. Traveling here is much more difficult, as the towering trees give way to smaller copses. Low shrubs and tangles of vines block movement on every side, often hiding small pools and narrow streams from sight. Since snakes, crocodiles, and other dangerous creatures often lurk in these waters, inattentive wandering in these areas can prove deadly.
Okay, so what nasties can be in this jungle, hmmm? I'm thinking a whole bunch of random encounters. Some ideas so far:
- a gang of raptors! rawr! and the commotion draws a trex!
- ptera-men
- batiri, a gang of goblins, at night
- lizardfolk with crocodile/giant lizard pets
- lizardfolk led by a yuan-ti
- a group of yuan-ti?
- undead at night?
- not sure what else
- dragon?
Quicksand. A creature that steps into the quicksand must succeed on a DC 11 Dexterity saving throw or sink into the quicksand and be restrained . On its turn, as part o f its movement, the trapped creature can escape by making a DC 15 Strength check . Another creature can attempt to pull the restrained creature out of the quick sand as an action but must succeed on a DC 15 Strength check to do so. As in a movie , the trapped creature is always more than 5 feet from the edge of the quick sand, so rescuers can’t just grab the character; they must find a vine, a rope , or a pole and toss it to where the trapped character can reach it.
The PCs eventually reach Rune's Hollow.
RUNE'S HOLLOW
During the events of the Spellplague, Rune's Hollow suffered cave-ins. Worse, blue flame flared deep within the mountain, spewing upward and incinerating nearly all the inhabitants. The flames melted through the earth and stone like butter, leaving two new gaping chasms in its wake. The blue flame came in contact with the Myststone, reacting violently with it. The result was an explosion of tainted magic that coalesced into crystals that now coat the Myststone's vault and the new chasms created by the blue flame. These crystals, called azureflame crystals, are being harvested by the kobolds now. Proper handling can tap into the power of the blue flame within -- improper handling can release the destructive fire within, instantly incinerating anything it touches.
The kobolds are here for the azureflame crystals, though Balrum has never heard of these gems before. The kobolds work for the yuan-ti, who in turn are under instruction by Sif'il'akh. The sarrukh ultimately wishes to uncover the Myststone said to be hidden in this mine, but for now is content with the haul of azureflame crystals.
OUTSIDE:
A kobold encampment has been set up at its entrance, guarded by lizardfolk and maybe other stuff, administered by yuan-ti. Some of these creatures are spellscarred from exposure to the azureflame crystals. Lots of small tents, some big ones, little campfires, giant lizards hauling carts full of azureflame crystal.
MAIN ENTRANCE:
A1: Main tunnel leads past a guard room, assayer's office, two kobold barracks, and a storeroom. At the end of this initial tunnel before the first chasm (A2), these is a huge hole in the tunnel's ceiling. This is where the boulder trap is.
A2: First chasm. 80ft. wide and at least 100ft deep, this chasm gives off a faint blue glow from all the azureflame crystals dotting the walls. Reinforced wooden cube platforms are suspended from the ceiling with thick iron chains. Each cube has three mechanical levers, one to go up/down, left/right, and forward/back. The cubes are hollow and can be loaded up with azureflame crystals for easy transportation. These platforms are used by the kobolds to build the numerous shallow tunnels that honeycomb the chasm's wall, which are then loaded with crystals and hauled back to the main tunnel. The PCs can use a cube to get across the chasm.
The end of the black tunnel glows a dim blue color. Beyond, you hear the distinct clanging of numerous pickaxes echoing in the distance. As you reach the end of the tunnel, you're confronted with a vast chasm sprinkled with glowing blue crystals dotting the chasm's walls. The chasm is 80ft wide and its bottom is swallowed up in the darkness. A wooden cube-shaped platform is suspended by thick iron chains in its center, sitting by the edge of the tunnel in front of you. Three metal levers are located on top.
All along the chasm's walls are other of these wooden cube platforms suspended at various heights, with humanoid figures standing atop them, chipping away at the blue crystals with pickaxes. The chasm walls are honeycombed with shallow holes.
If the kobolds see the PCs on a cube, they attack with projectiles, send winged kobolds on the platform, and toss over rust monsters to eat the chain and send the PCs down to their doom.
A3: The main tunnel continues on the other side of the chasm to.. another chasm. Same thing as A2. This is where the hidden entrance (B) connects to the main one.
A4: There are many side tunnels here, all leading to dead ends where the original dwarven miners abandoned them to excavate elsewhere. The kobolds don't bother with this area much. One of the tunnels has an enchanted wall that looks mundane. If you say thanks to Moradin while touching it, you can pass through the wall into the treasure vault (C1).
Main entrance also is lined with kobold traps. Kobolds love making them on their time off. It's their damned favorite hobby! Couple ones I've got so far:
- crocodile pit trap
- ooze pit trap
- hold person + catapult trap
- automatic phalanx trap
- poison dart trap
- tar + feather trap
- oil + fire trap
- illusory pit trap (PC thinks they are falling, goes prone, "Ahhhhh...!!!")
- at the end of A1 is the boulder trap. if a lever in the adjacent kobold barracks is pulled, a giant boulder rolls out indiana jones style. except this one is enchanted with dozens of arcane runes that fire off cantrips and low level spells in random directions as it rolls. if the PCs run at full speed, they maintain their distance from it each round. acting on a turn brings them one square closer. getting hit by a trap or something else suitable brings them one square closer. if the boulder catches up, squish!
SECRET ENTRANCE:
B: The kobolds aren't aware of this secret entrance. Balrum knows where to find it. There will be a puzzle to gain entrance but I don't know what it should be. It connects to the main tunnel in A3.
TREASURE VAULT
C1: There is another small hallway with a dead kobold and the entrance to the treasure vault, guarded by a Helmed Horror and some animated weapons chilling in the hands of some dwarf statues. The Helmed Horror casts Evard's Black Tentacles at the start of combat before wading into battle and the animated weapons get up close and personal with ranged attacks to give them disadvantage.
C2: The treasure vault -- a fake one!
The fake treasure room has some neat stuff:
- fool's gold coins
- cursed magic items -- a bow of returning (arrows come back and attack you), an amulet of silence (if you cast a spell it constricts and strangles you), a leather amulet of caution (it yells "hey! look out!" when you're near enemies), and a weapon of shocking (it electrocutes you when you hit an enemy with it)
- a hidden entrance to the REAL treasure vault!
Someone mentioned to me that the coins could actually be an earth elemental, which is awesome and I may do that. My only worry is if I throw so many bad guys at the PCs they're going to be massacred for the following encounter or take a long anti-climatic rest.
C3: Another small hallway leading to the REAL treasure vault. It's guarded by a spectator, some sort of trapped floor, and will need some minions to make sure the PCs don't zerg it down in one round before it can do any of its cool stuff. I'm thinking since the spectator floats, there could be pressure plate traps, and maybe I can put in specters as they wouldn't trigger the plates either.
C4: And now we get to the real treasure room. The blue flame from the Spellplague warped this place something fierce. The chamber is now a giant sphere shape, the walls coated in thick azureflame crystals the shimmer with the fire within. Multiples platforms float around the room, the remnants of what it used to be. The only thing still intact is the platform holding the Myststone, in the center of the room. It sits atop a pedestal that has been unchanged for hundreds of years. The artifact radiates a brilliant blue light that illuminates the entire chamber, the light bouncing off the crystal-encrusted walls. The PCs can navigate between the floating platforms to get to the center.
I want to throw in a "nemesis" character for the PCs so I came up with an idea of a magically attuned werewolf subconsciously connected to the Myststone, trapped here in stasis:
When the Spellplague hit, the most intense concentration of blue flame was here, drawn by the Myststone. It washed over the entire chamber. Skoll Thunderaxe was the only survivor from this chamber. He is a werewolf, a fact he kept hidden from his comrades. Dozens of his friends died in front of him, "shielding" him from the flames. Skoll was crystallized with the rest of the room, preserved yet horribly warped by the flames. The PCs might see a blurred humanoid figure in the crystal, unable to discern any features. Skoll's experiences that day forged an unconscious bond with the tainted Myststone. Whenever he turns into a werewolf, he loses complete control of himself and hunts down the stone, killing any in his way. His magical connection to the stone makes tracking it incredibly simple.
When the PCs grab the Myststone, the place starts to collapse. Rune's Hollow was only held up by the power of the artifact, and with its movement, that small falter, is causing a full cave in. The azureflame crystals shatter and crash to the ground. The PCs have to make haste getting out. The kobolds are in a panic as well. They will leave the PCs alone as they try to flee, the only exception being if the PCs attempt to cross the chasms with the cubes, potentially leaving some kobolds stranded behind on the other side. Aside from that, the only thing the PCs have to worry about are the multitude of traps on their way out -- the ones they trigger, and the ones that may randomly trigger from falling debris. If all goes well, they trigger the indiana jones boulder trap on their way, rushing to the entrance as a boulder chases them firing firebolts and rays of frost while the whole place collapses around them!
It would suck if the PCs ran out the main entrance and there was a whole encampment of kobolds waiting for them, right? Well, there is. But the commotion of an entire mine collapsing has drawn the attention of some big ol' dinosaurs. They take advantage of the commotion and attack! What do the PCs do?
The secret entrance eventually connects to the main tunnel. Here they may be spotted by kobolds working on the chasms. Large cube platforms suspended on iron chains are held at the edge of the chasm, with two levers, one to go up/down and another to go forward/back. These platforms are the main method getting past these 60-80ft wide chasms, and the cubes are hollow inside which let kobolds fill them up with azureflame crystals for easier transportation.
That's what I've got so far.
There are four PCs at 4th level. They have just landed at Port Nyranzaru on the northern tip of Chult. They must venture to Rune's Hollow, an old dwarven mine/headquarters that was abandoned during the Spellplague.
Balrum, the NPC that hired the PCs for this mission, hires a guide from a small Tabaxi village just south of Port Nyranzaru, a young hunter (ranger1) named Elijah. His family traces their ancestry to a long line of priests of Ubtao in the glorious city of Merzo. The Spellplague took away their crown jewel of civilization, leaving a massive crater teeming with foul undead in its wake. While his family is opposed to Elijah helping the adventurers, he knows that they can use the money, and he's itching for some exploration. Still, Eilijah refuses to enter Rune's Hollow, since he knows it was hit badly by the Spellplague and the "blue curse" is strong there. With a guide in tow it's onward to ADVENTURE!
Travel in the heart of the rainforest is easier than one might expect. The tall trees stretch hundreds of feet overhead, barren of branches or leaves, save for the huge canopies that spread wide in search of light and rain. A thin carpet of fallen leaves, pale vines, and hearty fungus covers the hard ground. The biggest obstacle to travel are the trees themselves, which sport huge, buttressed boles. The rainforest is bordered on the west and south by low mountains, hills, and lakes. Traveling here is much more difficult, as the towering trees give way to smaller copses. Low shrubs and tangles of vines block movement on every side, often hiding small pools and narrow streams from sight. Since snakes, crocodiles, and other dangerous creatures often lurk in these waters, inattentive wandering in these areas can prove deadly.
Okay, so what nasties can be in this jungle, hmmm? I'm thinking a whole bunch of random encounters. Some ideas so far:
- a gang of raptors! rawr! and the commotion draws a trex!
- ptera-men
- batiri, a gang of goblins, at night
- lizardfolk with crocodile/giant lizard pets
- lizardfolk led by a yuan-ti
- a group of yuan-ti?
- undead at night?
- not sure what else
- dragon?
Quicksand. A creature that steps into the quicksand must succeed on a DC 11 Dexterity saving throw or sink into the quicksand and be restrained . On its turn, as part o f its movement, the trapped creature can escape by making a DC 15 Strength check . Another creature can attempt to pull the restrained creature out of the quick sand as an action but must succeed on a DC 15 Strength check to do so. As in a movie , the trapped creature is always more than 5 feet from the edge of the quick sand, so rescuers can’t just grab the character; they must find a vine, a rope , or a pole and toss it to where the trapped character can reach it.
The PCs eventually reach Rune's Hollow.
RUNE'S HOLLOW
During the events of the Spellplague, Rune's Hollow suffered cave-ins. Worse, blue flame flared deep within the mountain, spewing upward and incinerating nearly all the inhabitants. The flames melted through the earth and stone like butter, leaving two new gaping chasms in its wake. The blue flame came in contact with the Myststone, reacting violently with it. The result was an explosion of tainted magic that coalesced into crystals that now coat the Myststone's vault and the new chasms created by the blue flame. These crystals, called azureflame crystals, are being harvested by the kobolds now. Proper handling can tap into the power of the blue flame within -- improper handling can release the destructive fire within, instantly incinerating anything it touches.
The kobolds are here for the azureflame crystals, though Balrum has never heard of these gems before. The kobolds work for the yuan-ti, who in turn are under instruction by Sif'il'akh. The sarrukh ultimately wishes to uncover the Myststone said to be hidden in this mine, but for now is content with the haul of azureflame crystals.
OUTSIDE:
A kobold encampment has been set up at its entrance, guarded by lizardfolk and maybe other stuff, administered by yuan-ti. Some of these creatures are spellscarred from exposure to the azureflame crystals. Lots of small tents, some big ones, little campfires, giant lizards hauling carts full of azureflame crystal.
MAIN ENTRANCE:
A1: Main tunnel leads past a guard room, assayer's office, two kobold barracks, and a storeroom. At the end of this initial tunnel before the first chasm (A2), these is a huge hole in the tunnel's ceiling. This is where the boulder trap is.
A2: First chasm. 80ft. wide and at least 100ft deep, this chasm gives off a faint blue glow from all the azureflame crystals dotting the walls. Reinforced wooden cube platforms are suspended from the ceiling with thick iron chains. Each cube has three mechanical levers, one to go up/down, left/right, and forward/back. The cubes are hollow and can be loaded up with azureflame crystals for easy transportation. These platforms are used by the kobolds to build the numerous shallow tunnels that honeycomb the chasm's wall, which are then loaded with crystals and hauled back to the main tunnel. The PCs can use a cube to get across the chasm.
The end of the black tunnel glows a dim blue color. Beyond, you hear the distinct clanging of numerous pickaxes echoing in the distance. As you reach the end of the tunnel, you're confronted with a vast chasm sprinkled with glowing blue crystals dotting the chasm's walls. The chasm is 80ft wide and its bottom is swallowed up in the darkness. A wooden cube-shaped platform is suspended by thick iron chains in its center, sitting by the edge of the tunnel in front of you. Three metal levers are located on top.
All along the chasm's walls are other of these wooden cube platforms suspended at various heights, with humanoid figures standing atop them, chipping away at the blue crystals with pickaxes. The chasm walls are honeycombed with shallow holes.
If the kobolds see the PCs on a cube, they attack with projectiles, send winged kobolds on the platform, and toss over rust monsters to eat the chain and send the PCs down to their doom.
A3: The main tunnel continues on the other side of the chasm to.. another chasm. Same thing as A2. This is where the hidden entrance (B) connects to the main one.
A4: There are many side tunnels here, all leading to dead ends where the original dwarven miners abandoned them to excavate elsewhere. The kobolds don't bother with this area much. One of the tunnels has an enchanted wall that looks mundane. If you say thanks to Moradin while touching it, you can pass through the wall into the treasure vault (C1).
Main entrance also is lined with kobold traps. Kobolds love making them on their time off. It's their damned favorite hobby! Couple ones I've got so far:
- crocodile pit trap
- ooze pit trap
- hold person + catapult trap
- automatic phalanx trap
- poison dart trap
- tar + feather trap
- oil + fire trap
- illusory pit trap (PC thinks they are falling, goes prone, "Ahhhhh...!!!")
- at the end of A1 is the boulder trap. if a lever in the adjacent kobold barracks is pulled, a giant boulder rolls out indiana jones style. except this one is enchanted with dozens of arcane runes that fire off cantrips and low level spells in random directions as it rolls. if the PCs run at full speed, they maintain their distance from it each round. acting on a turn brings them one square closer. getting hit by a trap or something else suitable brings them one square closer. if the boulder catches up, squish!
SECRET ENTRANCE:
B: The kobolds aren't aware of this secret entrance. Balrum knows where to find it. There will be a puzzle to gain entrance but I don't know what it should be. It connects to the main tunnel in A3.
TREASURE VAULT
C1: There is another small hallway with a dead kobold and the entrance to the treasure vault, guarded by a Helmed Horror and some animated weapons chilling in the hands of some dwarf statues. The Helmed Horror casts Evard's Black Tentacles at the start of combat before wading into battle and the animated weapons get up close and personal with ranged attacks to give them disadvantage.
C2: The treasure vault -- a fake one!
The fake treasure room has some neat stuff:
- fool's gold coins
- cursed magic items -- a bow of returning (arrows come back and attack you), an amulet of silence (if you cast a spell it constricts and strangles you), a leather amulet of caution (it yells "hey! look out!" when you're near enemies), and a weapon of shocking (it electrocutes you when you hit an enemy with it)
- a hidden entrance to the REAL treasure vault!
Someone mentioned to me that the coins could actually be an earth elemental, which is awesome and I may do that. My only worry is if I throw so many bad guys at the PCs they're going to be massacred for the following encounter or take a long anti-climatic rest.
C3: Another small hallway leading to the REAL treasure vault. It's guarded by a spectator, some sort of trapped floor, and will need some minions to make sure the PCs don't zerg it down in one round before it can do any of its cool stuff. I'm thinking since the spectator floats, there could be pressure plate traps, and maybe I can put in specters as they wouldn't trigger the plates either.
C4: And now we get to the real treasure room. The blue flame from the Spellplague warped this place something fierce. The chamber is now a giant sphere shape, the walls coated in thick azureflame crystals the shimmer with the fire within. Multiples platforms float around the room, the remnants of what it used to be. The only thing still intact is the platform holding the Myststone, in the center of the room. It sits atop a pedestal that has been unchanged for hundreds of years. The artifact radiates a brilliant blue light that illuminates the entire chamber, the light bouncing off the crystal-encrusted walls. The PCs can navigate between the floating platforms to get to the center.
I want to throw in a "nemesis" character for the PCs so I came up with an idea of a magically attuned werewolf subconsciously connected to the Myststone, trapped here in stasis:
When the Spellplague hit, the most intense concentration of blue flame was here, drawn by the Myststone. It washed over the entire chamber. Skoll Thunderaxe was the only survivor from this chamber. He is a werewolf, a fact he kept hidden from his comrades. Dozens of his friends died in front of him, "shielding" him from the flames. Skoll was crystallized with the rest of the room, preserved yet horribly warped by the flames. The PCs might see a blurred humanoid figure in the crystal, unable to discern any features. Skoll's experiences that day forged an unconscious bond with the tainted Myststone. Whenever he turns into a werewolf, he loses complete control of himself and hunts down the stone, killing any in his way. His magical connection to the stone makes tracking it incredibly simple.
When the PCs grab the Myststone, the place starts to collapse. Rune's Hollow was only held up by the power of the artifact, and with its movement, that small falter, is causing a full cave in. The azureflame crystals shatter and crash to the ground. The PCs have to make haste getting out. The kobolds are in a panic as well. They will leave the PCs alone as they try to flee, the only exception being if the PCs attempt to cross the chasms with the cubes, potentially leaving some kobolds stranded behind on the other side. Aside from that, the only thing the PCs have to worry about are the multitude of traps on their way out -- the ones they trigger, and the ones that may randomly trigger from falling debris. If all goes well, they trigger the indiana jones boulder trap on their way, rushing to the entrance as a boulder chases them firing firebolts and rays of frost while the whole place collapses around them!
It would suck if the PCs ran out the main entrance and there was a whole encampment of kobolds waiting for them, right? Well, there is. But the commotion of an entire mine collapsing has drawn the attention of some big ol' dinosaurs. They take advantage of the commotion and attack! What do the PCs do?
The secret entrance eventually connects to the main tunnel. Here they may be spotted by kobolds working on the chasms. Large cube platforms suspended on iron chains are held at the edge of the chasm, with two levers, one to go up/down and another to go forward/back. These platforms are the main method getting past these 60-80ft wide chasms, and the cubes are hollow inside which let kobolds fill them up with azureflame crystals for easier transportation.
That's what I've got so far.
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