Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is LIVE! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
PHDungeons Nentir Vale homebrew
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="PHDungeon" data-source="post: 5195516" data-attributes="member: 86320"><p>Some DM commentary. I had a lot of fun designing the nasty traps for Ludvag's Hateful Halls. It's not that often that I find an excuse to build a Tomb of Horrors style dungeon.</p><p></p><p>I was particularly pleased with the final trap/encounter it was probably one of my favorite encounters that I've devised as a dm. In case it isn't entirely clear in the journals I'm going to attempt to explain exactly how it worked.</p><p></p><p>The PCs step onto a teleportation circle, and it sends them to this ledge overlooking a massive pit of fire. The ledge is about 30' wide and goes 25' back. The pit of fire is the same width as the ledge that overlooks it, but it is about 60' across. It is a 50' drop down to the bottom of the pit from the ledge, and the entire pit is filled with permanent magical flames. A single chain dangles from the ceiling in the middle of the pit chamber. On the far side of the pit chamber (opposite the ledge) is a single exit which is a 2' by 2' opening in the wall, which is set at the same height as the ledge. The chain is lined up with the opening, so that it is possible for one to jump from the ledge to the chain and then swing to the opening. It is not an easy jump.</p><p></p><p>When the characters arrive on the ledge they find themselves naked. The only thing around them are some mundane weapons scattered on the ground. There own gear has been teleported nearby (as you will soon see). As soon as they arrive the trap triggers. The back wall slowly starts to move forward. It moves 5' each round, so that after 5 rounds it will push anyone left on the edge into the 50' deep pit of fire. Furthermore the wall is covered in aberrant glyphs. They trigger when the characters arrive with a Close Blast 5 squares from the wall (thus effecting anyone on the ledge). Everyone is subject to an attack vs Will. Anyone who it succeeds against takes psychic damage and is dominated (save ends, as per 4E rules). Dominated characters spend their actions picking up weapons and trying to attack their allies instead of worrying about the wall that is moving forward.</p><p></p><p>Several heroes were dominated but luckily made their saves pretty easy. However the glyphs have a 5,6 recharge, so they aren't out of the woods once they make their saves. In 4E this encounter is especially nasty because the heroes don't have easy access to flight magic and other effects that allow them to get to the other side of the pit easily. The sorcerer had a single round fly effect that could transport one other character with her (and she took one of the three kobolds, as opposed to an actual PC), but everyone else was SOL, so they had to jump for the chain. The cleric went first, making the jump, which he could have easily failed (resulting in a plunge to almost certain death). He then got the chain swinging back and forth. Other PCs (once they made their saves vrs. being dominated) started jumping to the chain (again they were lucky and no really low rolls showed up), so soon nearly the whole party was clinging to the chain). However, as the wall moved closer, so did the glyphs, so being on the chain was soon unsafe because those on the chain became in danger of being dominated again. The kobold guides were affected by this, and ended up trying to pull Bella off (it was a weird/hilarious image of an entirely naked party dangling from a chain over a pit of fire- Bella with kobold on her head trying to haul her off the chain). In the end the kobolds were too weak and they were tossed off into the pit.</p><p></p><p>The next problem was that opening on the far side was too small and not deep enough to hold the party. It was basically a 5' long tunnel that was 2 x2'. It ended with a 20' drop into another room, which contained all the party's gear scattered on the ground. It also had a flesh golem, which had enough reach to smack anyone coming out of the tunnel. Derren ended up feeding the chain through the tunnel and bracing his legs against the side wall to hold the chain so that the rest of the party could climb off it and start hopping down into the room with their gear. All the while the golem was smacking him for plenty of damage. It was nasty. Then the heroes had to run around and scoop up all their gear while the golem chased them and tried to trample them. Fortunately, they scooped up their bag of holding pretty early and managed to throw a lot of gear into it. None of them were in good enough shape to actually fight the golem in any real way, so they pretty much gathered as much of their magic items as they could and jumped onto the teleportation circle (it wasn't actually that easy because I believe the golem knocked a couple of heroes down to 0 hp requiring magical healing and the like to be doled out).</p><p></p><p>All in all it was a really evil encounter but a lot of fun. I totally recommend inflicting similar nastiness on your party if you are a dm.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="PHDungeon, post: 5195516, member: 86320"] Some DM commentary. I had a lot of fun designing the nasty traps for Ludvag's Hateful Halls. It's not that often that I find an excuse to build a Tomb of Horrors style dungeon. I was particularly pleased with the final trap/encounter it was probably one of my favorite encounters that I've devised as a dm. In case it isn't entirely clear in the journals I'm going to attempt to explain exactly how it worked. The PCs step onto a teleportation circle, and it sends them to this ledge overlooking a massive pit of fire. The ledge is about 30' wide and goes 25' back. The pit of fire is the same width as the ledge that overlooks it, but it is about 60' across. It is a 50' drop down to the bottom of the pit from the ledge, and the entire pit is filled with permanent magical flames. A single chain dangles from the ceiling in the middle of the pit chamber. On the far side of the pit chamber (opposite the ledge) is a single exit which is a 2' by 2' opening in the wall, which is set at the same height as the ledge. The chain is lined up with the opening, so that it is possible for one to jump from the ledge to the chain and then swing to the opening. It is not an easy jump. When the characters arrive on the ledge they find themselves naked. The only thing around them are some mundane weapons scattered on the ground. There own gear has been teleported nearby (as you will soon see). As soon as they arrive the trap triggers. The back wall slowly starts to move forward. It moves 5' each round, so that after 5 rounds it will push anyone left on the edge into the 50' deep pit of fire. Furthermore the wall is covered in aberrant glyphs. They trigger when the characters arrive with a Close Blast 5 squares from the wall (thus effecting anyone on the ledge). Everyone is subject to an attack vs Will. Anyone who it succeeds against takes psychic damage and is dominated (save ends, as per 4E rules). Dominated characters spend their actions picking up weapons and trying to attack their allies instead of worrying about the wall that is moving forward. Several heroes were dominated but luckily made their saves pretty easy. However the glyphs have a 5,6 recharge, so they aren't out of the woods once they make their saves. In 4E this encounter is especially nasty because the heroes don't have easy access to flight magic and other effects that allow them to get to the other side of the pit easily. The sorcerer had a single round fly effect that could transport one other character with her (and she took one of the three kobolds, as opposed to an actual PC), but everyone else was SOL, so they had to jump for the chain. The cleric went first, making the jump, which he could have easily failed (resulting in a plunge to almost certain death). He then got the chain swinging back and forth. Other PCs (once they made their saves vrs. being dominated) started jumping to the chain (again they were lucky and no really low rolls showed up), so soon nearly the whole party was clinging to the chain). However, as the wall moved closer, so did the glyphs, so being on the chain was soon unsafe because those on the chain became in danger of being dominated again. The kobold guides were affected by this, and ended up trying to pull Bella off (it was a weird/hilarious image of an entirely naked party dangling from a chain over a pit of fire- Bella with kobold on her head trying to haul her off the chain). In the end the kobolds were too weak and they were tossed off into the pit. The next problem was that opening on the far side was too small and not deep enough to hold the party. It was basically a 5' long tunnel that was 2 x2'. It ended with a 20' drop into another room, which contained all the party's gear scattered on the ground. It also had a flesh golem, which had enough reach to smack anyone coming out of the tunnel. Derren ended up feeding the chain through the tunnel and bracing his legs against the side wall to hold the chain so that the rest of the party could climb off it and start hopping down into the room with their gear. All the while the golem was smacking him for plenty of damage. It was nasty. Then the heroes had to run around and scoop up all their gear while the golem chased them and tried to trample them. Fortunately, they scooped up their bag of holding pretty early and managed to throw a lot of gear into it. None of them were in good enough shape to actually fight the golem in any real way, so they pretty much gathered as much of their magic items as they could and jumped onto the teleportation circle (it wasn't actually that easy because I believe the golem knocked a couple of heroes down to 0 hp requiring magical healing and the like to be doled out). All in all it was a really evil encounter but a lot of fun. I totally recommend inflicting similar nastiness on your party if you are a dm. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
PHDungeons Nentir Vale homebrew
Top