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Playtest Campaign: Second Session TPK
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<blockquote data-quote="MortalPlague" data-source="post: 6058334" data-attributes="member: 62721"><p>We had a third session in the time the boards were down (posted below)</p><p></p><p>While the boards were down, I was cross-posting this on Wizards. Someone asked about the dungeon ecology, so in the interest of keeping the same information in this thread, I'm going to post it in here.</p><p></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'">The ecology of the dungeon is probably the hardest thing I've been trying to figure out. On one hand, I want things to make sense in world; I want the characters to be able to use politics and make alliances, to play sides against each other. I want them to be able to destroy the monsters' food sources. I want the dungeon and its denizens to react to the characters in a believable way. On the other hand, I do want the dungeon to be a little bit 'gamey'. There are deathtraps with little real explanation. There are a whole bunch of bands of monsters living here with only the most tenuous of reasons to be there. So in the interests of explaining things, here's what I've got.</span></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><strong>Where do all these monstrous humanoids come from?</strong></span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'">The dungeon has one <em>main</em> entrance / exit, but it has many secret ones as well. The denizens of the dungeon have arrived mostly through those secret tunnels. Some such tunnels connect up with the Underdark, while others offer alternative exits to the surface world. Either way, the location of those exits would be valuable information for any PC.</span></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><strong>What stops one faction from wiping the others out?</strong></span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'">There are two main reasons for the fragile peace between factions. The first is physical separation: the dungeon is shaped like a cross, with each tribe occupying a section that opens into a large cavern 400 feet wide and long, and 50 feet tall. This cavern is full of relatively docile fire beetles (a ready source of food), who only attack if provoked. So the various lairs are separated, and each group has plenty of food available.</span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'">Secondly, there is a human camp called Refuge on the first level. It is ruled over by a mad swordsman who styles himself "King Hydra the Brilliant". He has a retinue of criminal followers, who share the space with a band of aloof elves, and a dwarven expedition. King Hydra is no gentleman; given the chance, he will enslave any hapless adventurers he can trick. Once taken, he sells them to the gnolls (who then have dinner), or to the orcs (who put them in the arena). The gnolls have a steady source of high quality food (adventurers taste better than beetles), and being lazy, they are content with their situation. The leader of the orcs, a lady named Rusalka keeps her bloodthirsty forces in line with regular pit fights (it's an outlet for their orcish aggression), ensuring that they don't destroy their own strength with a futile war against the gnolls.</span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'">So yeah... there are politics at play. I really can't wait to see how the PCs handle the situations.</span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="MortalPlague, post: 6058334, member: 62721"] We had a third session in the time the boards were down (posted below) While the boards were down, I was cross-posting this on Wizards. Someone asked about the dungeon ecology, so in the interest of keeping the same information in this thread, I'm going to post it in here. [FONT=Verdana] [/FONT] [FONT=Verdana]The ecology of the dungeon is probably the hardest thing I've been trying to figure out. On one hand, I want things to make sense in world; I want the characters to be able to use politics and make alliances, to play sides against each other. I want them to be able to destroy the monsters' food sources. I want the dungeon and its denizens to react to the characters in a believable way. On the other hand, I do want the dungeon to be a little bit 'gamey'. There are deathtraps with little real explanation. There are a whole bunch of bands of monsters living here with only the most tenuous of reasons to be there. So in the interests of explaining things, here's what I've got.[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][B]Where do all these monstrous humanoids come from?[/B][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana]The dungeon has one [I]main[/I] entrance / exit, but it has many secret ones as well. The denizens of the dungeon have arrived mostly through those secret tunnels. Some such tunnels connect up with the Underdark, while others offer alternative exits to the surface world. Either way, the location of those exits would be valuable information for any PC.[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][B]What stops one faction from wiping the others out?[/B][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana]There are two main reasons for the fragile peace between factions. The first is physical separation: the dungeon is shaped like a cross, with each tribe occupying a section that opens into a large cavern 400 feet wide and long, and 50 feet tall. This cavern is full of relatively docile fire beetles (a ready source of food), who only attack if provoked. So the various lairs are separated, and each group has plenty of food available.[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana]Secondly, there is a human camp called Refuge on the first level. It is ruled over by a mad swordsman who styles himself "King Hydra the Brilliant". He has a retinue of criminal followers, who share the space with a band of aloof elves, and a dwarven expedition. King Hydra is no gentleman; given the chance, he will enslave any hapless adventurers he can trick. Once taken, he sells them to the gnolls (who then have dinner), or to the orcs (who put them in the arena). The gnolls have a steady source of high quality food (adventurers taste better than beetles), and being lazy, they are content with their situation. The leader of the orcs, a lady named Rusalka keeps her bloodthirsty forces in line with regular pit fights (it's an outlet for their orcish aggression), ensuring that they don't destroy their own strength with a futile war against the gnolls.[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana]So yeah... there are politics at play. I really can't wait to see how the PCs handle the situations.[/FONT] [/QUOTE]
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