WotBS EmeraldBeacon's Burning Sky (online game)

[emeraldbeacon]

Rushing to investigate the reported fire, the team found a smoldering building, already attended to by some of South Harbor's residents, while a distraught family waited outside, in the early morning rain. After helping to extinguish the blaze, investigations eventually revealed a number of things: While many pointed fingers at the refugees causing trouble, the fires seems to have started in the basement. The only access to the otherwise-sealed cellar was small cracks in the foundation, that would fit only vermin. A brief exploration of other burnt homes discovered similar circumstances to the fire.

Failing to find a direct answer, everyone moved north to continue spending time with the collected refugee camps. Ostaliners were cagy and observant, but eventually, their priest's favor for aerial combat became apparent. The Ragesian Philosophers all wanted to hear a good story, while the Druids favored good hospitality (and cats). Finally, in Seaquen, while everyone hoped to meet Torrent at the temple to the sea gods, they instead found a junior priest who made his general disdain for the refugees all too apparent.

Eventually, the team returned to the Lyceum in the evening, hoping that a bit of research at the library might aid their cause...

SESSION NOTES: As the heroes began to learn about rodent activity in the basements prior to the fires, they began to concoct elaborate conspiracy theories about Ragesian efforts to infuse rats with extraplanar fire energy and loose them upon the city... a possibility I readily encouraged, just to make the eventual reveal that much more disappointing.

 

[Tormyr]

SESSION NOTES: As the heroes began to learn about rodent activity in the basements prior to the fires, they began to concoct elaborate conspiracy theories about Ragesian efforts to infuse rats with extraplanar fire energy and loose them upon the city... a possibility I readily encouraged, just to make the eventual reveal that much more disappointing.

I mean, they are not that far off...

 

[emeraldbeacon]

I mean, they are not that far off...

That was the closest theory to reality. They were also wondering if Ragesia were training rats to bring incendiary devices into the homes, or if a disgruntled refugee druid was using wild shape to slip in and out after starting the fire, etc. They haven't even considered going to the eastern ruined city, but I planted a hint in the team's Dasseni member that there was something about this region (the gate to the fire plane, the pyromancer's tomb, etc) that almost sparked a memory, and the Lyceum library might help them research local history.

 

[emeraldbeacon]

After a bit of magical item requisitions from the Lyceum guards, the group completed a bit of research on Seaquen history. It turns out that, in ages past, a mighty pyromancer prepared a tomb for himself here, thanks to a naturally occurring weakening of the veil between the material plane, and the elemental plane of fire. That place, where fire energies seep through into your plane, accounts for the vulcanism, geysers, and hot springs that the eastern peninsula is known for.

The next day, the bard heads to the Wayfarer's Theater and begins rehearsing for the play, along with renewing tensions with the resident diva, Giorgio. Hoping to bury the hatchet, though, apologies and a promise of cooperation were made (regardless of appropriateness). The cleric returned to the Hospitalers, and in assisting them with their work, gained their trust further. Meanwhile, the Rogue, Warlock, and Barbarian returned to the Ostalin sector, and learned a few more pieces of information... their priest is not only a sound tactician, but an aficionado of live combat drills.

Ultimately, the party returned to their resident drunk's alley to discuss their findings, along with a new piece of information... the gift to the goblins is complete and ready for pickup at their convenience. Now, it's time to decide what to do going forward, with the following time constraints... in 10 days, the play begins previews, and a week after that is the grand performance for all of Seaquen's dignitaries...

 

[emeraldbeacon]

In an investigation-heavy episode, the party split up to cover a few topics at once. A crucial book of philosophy was found in the Lyceum student library, and some magical items were ordered (though they wouldn't be completed for about a week's time). Meanwhile, the team searched in vain for someone who might know a bit about nature.

Everyone convened at Laurabec's tent, where they discussed efforts to unite the collected religious groups in a cooperative effort to build the pantheistic temple. A tentative plan was established to start the negotiations in a few days. Meanwhile, the crew decided to secure the mayor's support for goblins to enter the city for trade and commerce, before the finalized the deal to provide safe passage through the Sour Lake Swamp...

 

[emeraldbeacon]

As the party has been itching for some combat, I'm intending on having them stumble across the Fire Rat Swarms shortly... but looking at the team, compared to the CR of that encounter, it seems rather... anticlimactic. I'm toying with ways to amp up the threat level of that encounter, for a cluster of level 5 heroes. Since the as-printed fire rats seem to be basically just a regular rat swarm, with a tiny bit of extra fire damage flexed in, these are the changes I'm thinking of making:

1. Doubling the number of swarms, from 1 per PC to 2. This would create action economy issues, because ten attacks coming in are worse than 5. I would have them arrive in waves, rather than dogpile the heroes... say, 1d4 new swarms arrive at Initiative Zero, until the total number runs out.
2. Increasing each of the swarms' hit point pool from 24 to somewhere around 40. This makes them harder to drop, and monsters that last longer are more dangerous.
3. Up their fire damage beyond just 1. If the fire damage they can deal is 1d4, 1d6, 2d4, etc, instead of just 1 per hit, they become a lot more frightening. Perhaps a successful strike also has a chance to set the attacked creature on fire, a la the Indomitable Fire Template.
4. Give the swarms Fire Resistance, or even Immunity. These creatures have become infused with pure elemental power, and as such, should exhibit some of the same resiliency of creatures from that plane.

Any other thoughts?

 

[RangerWickett]

You could make a whole 'death trap' sorta scene out of it, making the threat more environmental than just a raw combat. The party goes into a basement of a book-binder (who works for all the wizards of the Lyceum, obviously) to investigate, and they see a lot of paper, plus rare alchemical reagents for use in creating enchanted inks. It's a bunch of valuable stuff. The owner waits upstairs.

They spot a rat that's smoldering, follow it into a cramped tunnel that leads to a warren. A pair of flaming dire rats are the brood mother and father of the swarm, currently sleeping surrounded by hundreds of their children, nestled against some sort of glowing crystals that can function like alchemist fire but better (if you want there to be treasure). Invariably the PCs spook the swarm, which flows past them and sets the whole basement full of paper aflame, while the dire rats attack the intruders.

There's all the precious books and other materials worth rescuing, and the owner upstairs who's crying for help as the swarm attacks him. Does the party just flee? Do they try to save valuables? Rush to save the owner?

The basement is a 25-ft. by 25-ft. room, with stairs at the north leading up, and the entrance to the warren to the south. The whole basement is difficult terrain for non-swarm creatures, due to all the furniture and clutter. The warren is bigger, maybe 50-ft by 50-ft, with several chambers ranging from narrow tunnels to small rooms that interconnect in odd ways, and maybe a couple areas of lower or higher elevation.

In the first round of combat, two of the swarms move from the warren entrance to the base of the staircase, so getting out means running through them. The five squares they moved through catch fire. The other three swarms remain in the warren complicating the fight against the dire rats. The swarms are CR 1/4 each, so for the dire rats, use the stats for an ankheg (CR 2) except it breathes fire instead of spraying acid.

If you enter 1 or more burning squares on your turn, you take 1 fire damage, and if you end your turn in one of those squares you take 3 (1d6) fire damage. If you spend an action or bonus action, you can shove some of the clutter and furniture into another square (even doubling up), so that you clear a space. If the stuff you move is on fire, you take 1 fire damage, but it means that the clear space has no fuel to burn, so it's safe to move through or stand there.

One round later, the fire spreads to two more squares with flammable fuel, and the basement fills with enough smoke and embers to require a Con save to avoid being blinded.

One round after that, the fire spreads to another two squares. The stairs leading out are burned to the point that anyone larger than Tiny who tries to ascend them causes them collapse. Getting out now requires climbing 20 feet of burning debris while rats clamber over you.

One round after that, the fire spreads two more squares and a few ceiling beams start to crack. The warren is now filled with smoke that can blind, and the basement is filled with enough smoke that anything beyond 5 feet has concealment. Unless you're prone, you have to make a Con save at the end of your turn or else you take 1 nonlethal damage.

That's turn 4. After that, things don't get much worse environmentally, and if the dire rats aren't down by that point, they retreat into their warren and then disappear through tiny tunnels to be a problem elsewhere later. The challenge then becomes 'how do we get out of here?'

If any PCs get stuck down there, on turn 10 you can have some refugee bystanders come to their rescue. A low-level cleric happens to have create water prepared, and heard the commotion, so ran into the store. He extinguishes the flames in the basement. Other bystanders can help pull PCs up with ropes.

 

[RangerWickett]

Oh, and if the PCs take a bit of damage and you expect them to have other combats the same day, I'd have a bystander provide a couple healing spells. This lets you have some more action without overly depleting party resources for other challenges.

 

[emeraldbeacon]

You could make a whole 'death trap' sorta scene out of it, making the threat more environmental than just a raw combat. The party goes into a basement of a book-binder (who works for all the wizards of the Lyceum, obviously) to investigate, and they see a lot of paper, plus rare alchemical reagents for use in creating enchanted inks. It's a bunch of valuable stuff. The owner waits upstairs.

You know, this gives me other ideas. It's already afternoon, and the party probably won't be doing much more than just this, but they ARE going to the home of Magistrate Lorb Votberd, to convince him to permit the goblins of the swamps to practice trade within the city, and protect them from local harassment. I was going to limit the encounter to "go ahead and persuade him if you can, but it'll be tricky," but now I'm thinking of adapting your plan into something more robust.

Votberd wants no part of the goblins, and will press the party to just exterminate them if possible... but when HIS home is suddenly on fire, and the party members rush to save him, his demeanor might undergo a sudden shift in attitude. During the meeting, the fire might be reported as nervous and harried staff members trying to deal with a situation without disturbing the boss, or all-out panic as an evacuation is called for... but regardless, the party can find the rats in the process of torching the larder, leading to your "situational hazard" encounter. If they search, they find a burrowed tunnel BARELY large enough for them to squeeze through, that they can follow through a shallow cavern system to find a nest that's more dangerous than just a couple of swarms.

 

[emeraldbeacon]

A DungeonDraft map I threw together for the potential purpose of a fight...