D&D 5E (2014) Brainstorming needed for DnDNext playtest: "Against the Tyranny of the Frost Giants!"

[steeldragons]

heh heh. Very deadly, er, nice! I mean nice! Love it. Clean. Seemingly simple. Can't wait to hear how it goes.

As for the escape, I'd say set a series of skill challenges (5, 6...10?), climbing, jumping, helping each other over/around/through the huge mounds of ice collapsing in their path, dodging massive chunks of ice raining down on them...enough successes and, eventually, a crack/opening appears that allows them egress at just the right moment before the whole thing comes crashing down. Take that with a grain of salt as I hav no clue how that would mesh with established 5e rules.

Oh!...how are they helping/getting the slaves out in time if they're racing against the collapse themselves?

 

[Piratecat]

...poorly?

I have no idea. Anyone else want to take a stab at it?

 

[Kaodi]

I had an idea that is perhaps unworkable but worth relating at least, though it is somewhat different from your own. The undead giant commander keeps a number of trophies in his lair. One of these is the skull of a white dragon, kept particularly close at hand. Part way through the fight he removes his helmet and reveals that he has no head. And then he takes the white dragon skull and puts it on, subsequently undergoing a terrible transformation into a white dracolich, his true form.

 

[RangerWickett]

A countdown is key. If you're mapping the whole place (huge map, apparently), it's easier. But what I'd suggest is set a large, easily-read D20 in the middle of the table. Say, "You have 20 rounds to get out of here before the place collapses."

Turn it to 19.

"What do you do?"

Maybe try to scale the facility so the nearest exit is 10 rounds of running away, so you can throw in a few avalanches, walls that collapse as they try to climb, pitifully endangered prisoners, guards who try to stop them, and so on.

 

[Piratecat]

Using a 10-round danger radius (ie 500 feet) seems just about right. You'd have to make the chase move quickly, though. It would be deadly dull if it bogs down.

I'll have to review the rules on multiple skill checks. One method would be saying "success is a full move, failure is a half move" may be an option. That way people who had made their saves that round could legitimately stop to help someone else.

 

[Piratecat]

I'm suddenly picturing the frost giants carving out their fortress with a slightly tamed remorhaz, cudgeling it through the glacier to carve out rooms and tunnels. It's probably imprisoned in the one stone room, fed the remains of sick and wounded mammoths. It really wants to get out; it'd make a fantastic distraction for anyone releasing it.

 

[MortalPlague]

Oh!...how are they helping/getting the slaves out in time if they're racing against the collapse themselves?

If the Swashbuckling Cat is willing to change the design of the dungeon so the slave pens / boss fight is at the top, you could have the PCs escape by riding (crewing?) a giant sled through the halls... Slaves on board to boot.

 

[Piratecat]

Holy crap, that's superb. What a great way to end it! Giant sled through the collapsing dungeon: check. And now they have to deal with any monsters or obstacles they've left behind...

 

[RangerWickett]

*polite clearing of throat*

None of you would mind if some of this ended up in a published adventure, would you? Just, y'know, asking. *grin*

 

[steeldragons]

Fine with me. Contributor credit? No?...Maybe?...No?...ok. fine.