All the other kings said I was daft to build a castle in a swamp.

S

Scott Graves

First Post
So I am running Tyranny of Dragons and the fast talking Paladin managed to get the Lizardfolk to turn against their masters. He was fighting about a half dozen Lizardfolk and Rezmir (the big bad of the chapter) and after Rezmir got a critical hit with the sword of ultra death and deadlyness the Paladin turned around and knocked Rezmir down to 1 HP. He then gave a impassioned cry to the Liardfolk about how they outnumbered the Bullywugs and the dragon the cultists worshiped were clearly weaker than the Mighty Tyr God of Justice. He had a total of 23 on his Persuasion check and Rezmir didn't do anywhere as good.

So, the worm turned as they say and the Bullywugs were purged. The Lizardfolk are "worshiping" Tyr as best they understand the concept and the castle is held by the heroes. They haven't moved onto stage two since no one escaped through the teleport circle to the next step. So, the swamp is a horid mess and clearly getting anywhere in it is a mess. Thus the castle in the swamp seems kinda silly in the greater scheme of things.

What I'm looking at is a possbile side quest of trying to clean up a section of the Mere of Dead Men to make the castle a going concern and something of value to those other than the lizardfolk.
 

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Sadras

Sadras

Legend
TaranTheWanderer said:
There is a dragon in that swamp, you know....opportunity for 'bad things' to happen.
Click to expand...


SPOILER!








A pair of dragons.
[MENTION=6981164]Scott Graves[/MENTION] if you're looking for a side quest other than the obvious, one of the random encounters in the Mere of the Dead Men includes a Yuan-ti Hunting Party seeking suitable victims to sacrifice to their long-slumbering deity. You could build on their existence within the Mere.

Perhaps the lizardfolk don't dare venture deep within the Mere due to the return of the Penanggalan, a rather exotic undead. (Supposedly exist in the Mere according to the wiki). Build on the fact that this type of creature possesses several lairs...each one with its own physical challenges (sunken water-clogged mausoleum, the hollowed out corpse of a huge shambling mound, a spire-formation within a crocodile infested river, an area of enchanted quicksand that leads to an underground dungeon..etc)

Another option, a hunting party of lizardfolk find one of the dreaded Rings of Myrkul in the belly of a crocodile which had been lost within the swamp...one of the lizardmen place the ring on their finger and become possessed by the spirit of its previous wearer...and undead start plaguing the PCs at all times of the day. The lizardfolk start beginning to believe that the PCs have been cursed and any alliance between the two starts unravelling. The PCs would naturally assume the threat to be something other than the lizardfolk and much time and energy is lost, but the clues start turning the investigation inward...
 
Last edited:


S

Scott Graves

First Post
Sadras said:
SPOILER!








A pair of dragons.
[MENTION=6981164]Scott Graves[/MENTION] if you're looking for a side quest other than the obvious, one of the random encounters in the Mere of the Dead Men includes a Yuan-ti Hunting Party seeking suitable victims to sacrifice to their long-slumbering deity. You could build on their existence within the Mere.

Perhaps the lizardfolk don't dare venture deep within the Mere due to the return of the Penanggalan, a rather exotic undead. (Supposedly exist in the Mere according to the wiki). Build on the fact that this type of creature possesses several lairs...each one with its own physical challenges (sunken water-clogged mausoleum, the hollowed out corpse of a huge shambling mound, a spire-formation within a crocodile infested river, an area of enchanted quicksand that leads to an underground dungeon..etc)

Another option, a hunting party of lizardfolk find one of the dreaded Rings of Myrkul in the belly of a crocodile which had been lost within the swamp...one of the lizardmen place the ring on their finger and become possessed by the spirit of its previous wearer...and undead start plaguing the PCs at all times of the day. The lizardfolk start beginning to believe that the PCs have been cursed and any alliance between the two starts unravelling. The PCs would naturally assume the threat to be something other than the lizardfolk and much time and energy is lost, but the clues start turning the investigation inward...
Click to expand...

Actually I added another, the father of the twins and the father of the half dragon Rezmir. Made it a family affair. I wasn't sure if they could kill the kiddies off at first since we plan to play the second book as well. The first book claims they play a part in the rise of the dragon queen. Haven't found what it is. Now the Monster Manual says that they make swamps worse than they are and your other points are good. I see a good direction to take with it. Several different effects mucking it all up. Perhaps groups of two or three shambling mounds playing filter feeders blocking up the rivers that would naturally drain the swamps. Gotta kill them which in difficult terrain would be fun. I like the idea of a Yuan-Ti cult set up. They already tangled with a handful trying to sneak into Baldur's Gate (random encounter while traveling north).

I just need to figure out how to slip the info to them that the swamp isn't a natural thing and there is a reason...

Yuan Ti sounds like a good central villain for it all.

Hmm... Map maker map maker make me a map!
 


77IM

77IM

Explorer!!!
Supporter
I like the Director's Cut ending where Leonardo DiCaprio is rescued by dolphins and taken to Dolphin Island where he makes a full recovery and lives happily ever after.
 

S

Scott Graves

First Post
77IM said:
I like the Director's Cut ending where Leonardo DiCaprio is rescued by dolphins and taken to Dolphin Island where he makes a full recovery and lives happily ever after.
Click to expand...

Hmm... I may be skating the rules on this one. Best to let discretion be the better part of valor and cowardice be the better part of discretion. Thus I shall valiantly leave this line alone and run for the hills.
 


S

Scott Graves

First Post
I'm now working up what they must do to save the Mere from those dragons, the dracolich and the real lich that lives there. Then kill all those Shambling Mounds that are gumming up the waterways by filter feeding. Then it can start to drain correctly and they will be able to go into real estate. "Yes, I AM selling you swampland on the Sword Coast!"
 

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