D&D 5E Holiday Challenge: Vow of the Silent Knight

[Bawylie]

I am going to Charades the F out of this.

But if the players do insist on a paper & pen scenario, then I'll just do it as Pictionary instead. Nothing there indicates Noelle is literate, necessarily.

 

[pukunui]

[MENTION=97077]iserith[/MENTION]: Since you talk about possibly including more encounters prior to reaching the grove, I was thinking that I might try to capitalize on your use of "over the river and through the woods". Perhaps they come to a bridge guarded by a winter-themed troll? Then they face off against some wolves (led by a winter wolf) or something in the woods before finally reaching the grove.

What do you think?

... Fey Charm doesn't compel a character to do anything except treat the dryad as a trusted friend to be heeded and protected.

Right. Hence my use of the word "potentially".

It really depends on how the players decide to approach the challenge. I honestly couldn't say. I designed it so that it's open-ended in this regard.

OK. Just trying to get my head around it.

I would just tell them if they figure out what the elf is trying to communicate, they get Inspiration. If they decide they'd rather break out a pen and paper instead, they'll just get the information, same as asking the sprite.

All right.

I didn't do the math on the CR, but that sounds fair. As for the aside, that's how I read it, yes. I also slowed the tree down to a speed of 20 feet so that clever players might use the difficult terrain to kite it. The attack modifier and damage the animated tree can do is pretty high for this level.

Thanks.

Cool, I like that.

 

[iserith]

I am going to Charades the F out of this.

But if the players do insist on a paper & pen scenario, then I'll just do it as Pictionary instead. Nothing there indicates Noelle is literate, necessarily.

You could also have it where Noelle only speaks Sylvan (instead of Common and Elven). Chances are probably good that nobody in the party has taken it and written communication is thus not viable. At least not without some useful spells like comprehend languages.

 

[iserith]

@iserith: Since you talk about possibly including more encounters prior to reaching the grove, I was thinking that I might try to capitalize on your use of "over the river and through the woods". Perhaps they come to a bridge guarded by a winter-themed troll? Then they face off against some wolves (led by a winter wolf) or something in the woods before finally reaching the grove.

What do you think?

Sure, that's the idea. Here are a few other ideas:

• A group of abominable snowmen (yeti) hunting the PCs through the forest, trying to drive the PCs to an area of primitive traps.
• Building on the winter wolves, a small group of them has cornered a giant reindeer (giant elk) whose nose is red with blood. If the PCs can stop the wolves from killing the reindeer, they receive some kind of blessing or boon that is potentially useful later.
• Perhaps during a long rest, the PCs are visited by three ghosts whose presence interrupts the rest unless they can convince the ghosts of their goodness. If the PCs succeed, the ghosts depart, but not before they share three true facts about the past, present, and future (whatever is important in your campaign).

 

[pukunui]

Building on the winter wolves, a small group of them has cornered a giant reindeer (giant elk) whose nose is red with blood. If the PCs can stop the wolves from killing the reindeer, they receive some kind of blessing or boon that is potentially useful later.

I love this one! Will definitely use that. Except I might use crag cats instead of winter wolves. (Spell reflection for the win!)

 

[iserith]

Another option:

Ba Rumpa Bum Bum
The Little Drummer Boy doesn't use a longsword or shortbow. He just has a drum that can impart the effect of a guidance spell to an ally within 15 feet once per round. No Concentration is required as long as he is playing. The PCs can direct him to move about the battlefield providing bonuses to ability checks (such as when they are trying to get across the rough terrain or climb the tree). This takes some of the control of the NPC off the DM and reduces his contribution to the combat (and thus affecting the overall CR).

 

[Bawylie]

I'm doing a chase scene with a pack of wolves before we get to Tanenbaum - the drummer boy guidance variant is gonna be good for that.

I'm thinking it'll be abstract, starting off with distant (but approaching) howling. Then movement in the night, and finally I'll bring it concrete (if they can't lose the wolves) and go round by round.

I'd like to go a little more Christmassy with it though. Maybe I'll start them with a sleigh they can use for travel.

 

[pukunui]

So how are y'all gonna do the charades bit? I'm not that good at it, so I could use some ideas.

 

[iserith]

So how are y'all gonna do the charades bit? I'm not that good at it, so I could use some ideas.

I don't know, I don't plan to run this scenario, haha!

I guess I would probably distill the information into as few concepts as possible and do my best to act it out: Fallen star, tree, climbing, danger, help, etc.

 

[Valmarius]

I'm doing a chase scene with a pack of wolves before we get to Tanenbaum - the drummer boy guidance variant is gonna be good for that.

I'm thinking it'll be abstract, starting off with distant (but approaching) howling. Then movement in the night, and finally I'll bring it concrete (if they can't lose the wolves) and go round by round.

I'd like to go a little more Christmassy with it though. Maybe I'll start them with a sleigh they can use for travel.

If you want to go REALLY christmassy, you could replace the wolves with corrupted reindeer. The PCs spot their baleful red noses through the fog and snow.