D&D 5E The Snow Job

Originally posted by iserith:

T H E   S N O W   J O B
As the plane of Risia becomes coterminous with Eberron, frigid winter descends upon the Ironroot Mountains. Lack of food and supplies drives the Jhorash'tar orcs out of their lands deep in the wilderness to within striking distance of Korunda Gate. The forces of House Kundarak and the clans of the Mror Holds rise to face the threat head on, defending their ancestral lands and the many rich vaults in their care that lay deep underground.
 
As the brave dwarves defend their homes from Blood Spiller and the howling horde at his back, few remain to guard the vaults of Korunda Gate.
 
Opportunity knocks...
 
T H E   S E T U P
The Snow Job is a D&D 5e heist scenario set in Keith Baker's Eberron campaign setting and draws upon some of the rules for Eberron presented in Unearthed Arcana. The format is inspired by two excellent blogs on heists, bawylie's Heist By Numbers and Runagame's Heist Framework. Thanks to both for their advice in the creation of this scenario!
 
The Snow Job is intended to be a one-off adventure on an off-night for your campaign or can be slipped into a regular campaign with some modifications. It might be fun to have this scenario be played as a vignette in your game where the regular player characters must then deal with the aftermath created by these characters in a later adventure.
 
This adventure is built with 3rd-level player characters in mind. Some pregenerated characters for this scenario can be found in the spoiler block below.
 
Pre-Generated Eberron Characters

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Tchotchke d'Cannith, human wizard 3 (guild artisan)
A scion of House Cannith excoriated for creating Colonel Clank after the Treaty of Thronehold
 

 
Colonel Clank, warforged fighter 3 (soldier)
The latest model of warforged, designed for command and ruthless efficiency
 

 
Billy Gruff, shifter rogue 3 (criminal)
The meanest second-story man in the business
 

 
The Visage, changeling bard 3 (charlatan)
Jack and Jill of all trades, Master and Mistress of Disguise

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T H E   H O O K
 
The team leader (likely Tcotchke d'Cannith if the pre-gens are used) or a quirky, cagey (but usually trustworthy) quest-giver approaches the adventurers with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to break into a Kundarak vault and steal a priceless piece of Cannith technology - The Ice Ray of Graystone, a powerful weapon that draws upon the plane of Risia to produce blasts of cold that can freeze enemies right in their tracks. In addition, the vault contains countless chests of gold, coveted magical relics from the Last War, and libraries of information both damning and valuable. The team leader or quest-giver has one of two keys necessary to unlock the vault and provides those to the team.
 
Anyone daring and lucky enough to successfully pull off this heist would make themselves rich and powerful and would be counted among the greatest of thieves in history...
 
Work with your players to tie their characters into the scenario by establishing wants and needs for the adventurers' such as:
 

• An enormous debt that is owed to the quest-giver;
• A desire to be known as the greatest thief in Khorvaire;
• Unrivaled greed for gold;
• A grudge against House Kundarak or House Cannith;
• A need for a particular magical item known to be in the vault;
• An insatiable desire for valuable knowledge.

Originally posted by iserith:

Once the hook is accepted, it's time to identify the Big Problems. Before the would-be thieves can even get close to the vault, these Big Problems must be resolved. There are a couple of ways to do this: You can, as one blog suggests, collaborate with the players and have them establish what the Big Problems are. Or, you can use the Big Problems I suggest below. The point of the Big Problem is to identify an obstacle that must be overcome with an Outlandish Solution. (See this blog for more on that.)
 
No matter what, the Big Problem will be resolved by the Outlandish Solution; however, depending on how the scene(s) involving that Big Problem play out, other stakes are in play. Using the example Big Problems below, the characters have a tough time of getting to Korunda Gate, but they will definitely get there. As the scenes play out - actions taken, ability checks made - it may just cost them something in the process.
 
B I G   P R O B L E M S
 
Getting to Korunda Gate
War and winter turn a fairly simple task into a logistical nightmare with the added risk of having one's head put on a spike by fearsome orcs or suspicious dwarves. Freezing to death on the mountain is also a possibility. While the Outlandish Solution will definitely work, the stakes in play might be the adventurers' hard-earned gold, the threat of exhaustion, or the expenditure of hit dice.
 
Access to the Vault
The Warding Guild of House Kundarak have security measures that can thwart even the most concerted of efforts to rob their vaults. Even getting close to the vault, let alone getting inside, is a major challenge. The stakes in play here might be gold, the promise of favors that must be fulfilled, or leaving incriminating evidence behind that may come back to haunt the adventurers.
 
The Other Key
As part of their security measures, the Warding Guild uses a system of dual control when it comes to locks and keys. In order to open very secure vaults, two people must use two different keys at the same time. The quest-giver (or team leader) has but one of these keys. The stakes here might again by gold, favors, or accidentally tipping off House Kundarak who put guards in the lift just in case.
 
An Escape Plan
Once the theft of goods in their care becomes known (and that'll happen quickly for sure), there will be precious little time to get out of the vaults and Korunda Gate. There needs to be a plan in place or else the adventurers are as good as caught. Again, the stakes here might be gold or favors or anything else that's reasonable for the situation.
 
O U T L A N D I S H   S O L U T I O N S
 
This is the players' role! Don't you be coming up with solutions for them! The key thing to get across to them is that, whatever craziness they come up with, it's going to definitely work (but maybe at a cost). So encourage them to come up with Rube-Goldberg style solutions and/or cinematically pulpy actions. Try to get one character to deal with one Big Problem - that character is the "lead," and the rest of the characters act in support as "features." Set some stakes for the scene(s), then play them out, throwing some dice if you find actions to have uncertain outcomes. Cut the scene when it's been resolved and jump to the next one. For example, if a player proposes he calls upon his Criminal Contact to get The Other Key, present a social interaction scene with that contact. If the player does well (and rolls well) in the scene, then he gets the key, no problem. If he doesn't do so well (or rolls poorly), then he gets the key but it costs him something.
 
T H E   T W I S T
 
At a point that most makes sense in the action (after the PCs are in the Lift or Vault), one of the four Big Problems come back to threaten the whole scheme. As it turns out, one of te adventurers' Outlandish Solutions just doesn't work out even when they thought it would. Choose one that'll be most interesting or just pick one at random. Then throw that monkey wrench at the characters and see how the players deal with it. It might be that The Other Key doesn't work or the airship they arranged for their Escape Plan isn't at the docking port. Whatever it is, give the players a fair chance of resolving it, rolling ability checks or the like when the outcome of their actions are uncertain.

Originally posted by iserith:

T H E   L I F T

 
Once the Big Problems are resolved, cut to this scene: The Lift. This is the top chamber of a 10-level vault deep under the mountain where the Warding Guild stores its clients' valuables. While ten floors of loot may make gold-hungry adventurers paralyzed with avarice, they need to focus because time is of the essence and what they're seeking is on the final floor. The challenge here is to get the lift to function in a timely fashion and without summoning this area's defenders. Within five minutes of the adventurers' arrival here, a guard rotation will come along - one knight (MM p. 347) and two guards (MM p. 347) with dwarven traits. You can adjust that time limit upward or downward to make it an easier or harder challenge for the players.
 
Turn to page 122 of the Players' Handbook and show it to any player whose character speaks Dwarvish.
 
F E A T U R E S   O F   T H E   A R E A
 
Entrance: A grand marble arch bounds a set of heavy stone and metal doors that lead into the area of the lift. On the inside the arch is incribed in Dwarvish: "The Eyes of the Manticore Be Upon You."
 
The Lift: A magically-powered apparatus that can be controlled to hold a half-ton of weight and raise or lower it to one of the ten floors of the vault. It is emblazoned with the seal of House Kundarak. It cannot be used unless it is unlocked (see below). Once unlocked, touching the Dwarvish runes ("I, II, III, and IIII") will send it to the desired floor (e.g. "I" and IIII" will send someone to the fifth floor") after a short pause to allow for people to step on the platform.
 
Paintings: On the walls west, north, and east of the lift are fine paintings. The west painting depicts a manticore observing a battle between dwarves and Jhorash'tar orcs on a wintry mountaintop. It is initialed by the famous Dwarven artist Deft Otak ("DO" in Dwarvish script). The northern painting shows dragonmarked dwarves forging an alliance with manticores in a vast cavern warded with runes. It is unsigned. The final painting, on the east wall, shows crossbow-wielding dwarves flying atop manticores, driving orcs before them and out of the Ironroot Mountains. It is initialed by another famous Dwarven artist, Welv Naldra ("WN" in Dwarvish script).
 
Hexagonal Pillars: These pillars are constructed of metal and stone. On each side are letters in Dwarvish script. On the SW pillar are the letters, H - K - L - D - Z - G. On the NW pillar are the letters, C - E - I - O - Q - R. On the SE pillar are the letters, V - N - B - T - S - N. On the NE pillar are the letters, W - X - A - F - J - Y. The pillars can be rotated clockwise which each face of hexagon pointing toward the Dwarvish runes on the lift apparatus. When placed in the correct sequence, the lift is unlocked with an audible "click." If, however, the wrong sequence is set (all four pillars must have been manipulated in some fashion), then a manticore (MM p. 213) is summoned from one of the paintings and it attacks. Three manticores can be summoned in this fashion after which the lift completely shuts down, useless until reset by the Silver Keys.
 
The Correct Combination?

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[sblock]I - D, II - O, III - W, IIII - N. The initials on the two paintings provide a clue to this. As well, the only letters of the alphabet missing from the hexagonal pillars are "U" and "P," which may provide a hint since this lift is at the first floor and can't go up at all.
 
Wait - isn't this a problem with One True Solution? Hell no - the players remembered to bring a rogue along, right? Good. The rogue can always try to hotwire the lift or whatever - it just takes more time and probably has a chance of failure. If that's the case, consider adjudicating failure on the check as "progress combined with a setback." For example, the rogue gets the thing working, but the thieves' tools are ruined or it takes up more time than expected or it shocks the crap out of him for 2d10 lightning damage.

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Originally posted by iserith:

T H E   V A U L T
 

 
If you've made it this far, then your player characters haven't been arrested by House Kundarak or eaten by manticores. That's good! But things are just getting interesting now...
 
At the bottom of the lift shaft, two metal doors open to trapped hallways which lead into the vault proper. Once past those hazards, the adventurers will have to deal with a shortage of time, their own greed in the face of immeasurable wealth, a precarious pit, and a guardian in the form of a helmed horror (MM p. 183) The helmed horror is dwarf-sized, uses a battleaxe instead of a longsword, and floats silently above the pit and will accost anyone who is not affiliated with House Kundarak or in the company of the same. In addition to its normal abilities, it can also innately detect the keys to the vault and will try to take said keys as its primary objective.
 
Remember, the characters have only a five minute window including the time they spent on the lift to successfully get what they came for and get out before a guard rotation comes around. If any traps are set off, however, the guard rotation shows up one minute later.
 
F E A T U R E S   O F   T H E   A R E A
 
The Lift: There is a control panel on the wall northeast of the lift that can send it back up.
 
Beyond the Northern Door: A 20-foot-long empty hallway ends at a locked metal door with no obvious keyhole, doorknob, or mechanism. Above the door is carved in Dwarvish: "The Wise Tongue of Lord Morikkan is the Key."  Along the walls are variously-carved dwarven faces, mouths agape as if talking, four on each side of the hallway (about 5 feet apart from each other). There is an obvious seam on the ceiling at the midpoint of the corridor.
 
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[sblock]Inside each of the carvings' mouths is a stone button. If the correct button is chosen, the door at the end of the hallway unlocks and can be pushed open. However, the seam on the ceiling marks the edge of a huge block of stone, a 10-foot cube of dense rock that will fall when the wrong button is depressed. It also blocks further passage into the vault from this direction. The best way to avoid this from happening is to know what Lord Morrikan looks like which may be certain or uncertain (perhaps an Intelligence (History) check is in order here) depending on the established backgrounds of the PCs in the scenario. A clever rogue might also be able to detect and disable the trap with time (of which there isn't much) and effort. If anyone is standing under the block when the trap is sprung, they should make a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw or take 4d10 bludgeoning damage (half damage on a save) and is restrained until freed by an ally making a DC 16 Strength check to pull them out. While restrained in this fashion, the character takes another 1d10 damage per round. 
The carving that correctly depicts Lord Morikkan d'Kundarak is the second one on the left.
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Beyond the Eastern Door: A 20-foot-long hallway ends in a door covered in sharp iron spikes that bears the manticore-sigil of House Kundarak. The hallway-side of the door leading to this corridor is peppered with holes. A groove runs down the walls on either side from door to door. Above the spiked door is Dwarvish script: "Know the Bloodlines or Bleed." Eight names are carved in the ground at regular intervals between the doors (left to right, closest to farthest starting from the lift): Tasdar, Durbannek, Ghedin, Veracer, Cerusk, Tuvodni, Naldra, Ingnal, all in Dwarvish script.
 
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[sblock]The key to avoiding this trap is knowing which family names are among the nine bloodlines of House Kundarak and which aren't. Again, this might be certain for characters of particular established backgrounds and uncertain for the rest (and deserving of an Intelligence (History) check or the like). Stepping on the correct names (Durbannek, Ghedin, Tuvodni, Ingnal*) is safe and unlocks the door when the final one is stepped on. Stepping on an incorrect name activates the trap: The door closest to the lift slams shut and locks while the spiked door rolls along the tracks in the walls at 5 feet per round. If it makes contact with a creature, it inflicts 4d10 piercing damage and 1d10 piercing damage per round of contact. Once the spikes make contact with the holes of the door opposite it, the trap shuts down and waits to be reset by the Silver Keys. 
* The name "Ingnal" isn't canon, but the three others are. So if you have a particularly savvy Eberron player who knows his dwarven houses, he or she is not going to recognize this name and you'll have to help him or her out.
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Minor Vaults: There are eight minor vaults here, each containing vast amounts of gold and the like stored in chests, sacks, and crates. The doors are locked iron portcullises. Once past those, a character trying to snatch treasure as quickly as possible can grab 100 gp for each container in the vault per round. (So that's 200 gp to 500 gp per turn depending on the vault.) The locks are increasingly complex, however, starting at DC 15 for a rushed lockpicking job on the least-filled minor vault and escalating by +2 for each step up thereafter to a DC 21. Remember, there is a half-ton weight limit to the lift too!
 
Pit: A 20-foot-square pit yawns open here, the bottom 40 feet below. Falling in inflicts 4d6 bludgeoning damage and knocks the creature prone. At regular intervals, a magically-generated gust of wind blows downward from vents in the ceiling above the pit. This makes jumping across from one side to another uncertain in most cases, requiring either a DC 12 Strength or Intelligence check to power through or time the gust just so.
 
Control Panels: Flanking either side of the pit are stairs that lead into chambers wherein a single control panel is mounted on north wall (in the east chamber) or the east wall (in the north chamber). In the center of the control panel is a keyhole. When the proper key is placed in each keyhole and turned at the same time, the main vault door opens and the bottom of the pit rises to become flush with the floor, providing access to the vault.
 
The Vault: Inside the vault is a single dais upon which rests the Ice Ray of Graystone, a pistol-like device that glows blue and hums with power now that Risia is coterminous with the world. It is there for the taking! There are also two doors in this vault, one marked "Confidential Records" and the other marked "Experimental Devices." Behind these locked doors (DC 20 for a rush job of lockpicking) are vast stores of knowledge both damning and valuable and coveted magical items, respectively.
 
The Ice Ray of Graystone

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[sblock]This oddly-shaped device was created by a mad artificer in the service of House Cannith near the end of the Last War. It was said she created it after finding relics from an unknown civilization among wreckage that appeared in a cornfield in Cyre. It is a martial ranged weapon that weighs 2 lbs., inflicts 3d6 cold damage on a hit, at a range of 50/150. A creature that is hit by the ray and takes damage is also restrained until the start of its next turn. It has 50 charges and can only be recharged by being at a point where Risia is coterminous with Eberron.

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Originally posted by iserith:

A D J U D I C A T I O N
When it comes to adjudicating the actions of the characters in this scenario, I recommend that the DM use the "middle path" discussed on page 236-237 of the DMG. That is, you keep a balance between granting automatic success (or failure) and asking for checks. You want the player's skill to matter in a game like this and checks to come into play only when dramatically appropriate.
 
As well, consider using "progress combined with a setback" (Basic Rules, page 58) wherever possible when adjudicating failure on a check. This means that on a failed check, the character succeeds totally or partially, but it costs something. Because of the timed nature of the scenario, a good cost is simply time. With only five minutes (50 rounds) to do what they need to do in the lift and vault, taxing the players 30 seconds on a failed Dexterity (Thieves' Tools) check to pick a lock stings, but doesn't stall the game or force the player to repeat actions. Another example of partial success would be in the traps in the vault. If the player fails an Intelligence (History) check when trying to figure out which of the bloodlines are correct, give them half of the answer (say, the two correct names nearest the spiked door).
 
Also remember that any character that takes 10 times the normal amount of time needed to resolve a task automatically succeeds (DMG, page 237). So if picking a lock or disabling a trap takes a round with a check, then taking one's time about it, it takes a full minute without a check. This makes the time they have a resource the players can manage. If they're ahead of the game, they can afford to take their time.
 
A F T E R M A T H
This scenario is called "The Snow Job" and there's no snow and no lies? What gives?
 
First, there is snow - it's set during a wintry period in the Ironroot Mountains when the plane of cold is coterminous with the world. Also, the MacGuffin is an ice laser gun. But to beat that horse some more, let's throw in another twist: This heist was all a ruse by some shadowy group to get the Ice Ray of Graystone out into the open where it can be stolen from the adventurers. Perhaps The Chamber knows it will be necessary to fulfill some aspect of the Draconic Prophecy. Or maybe The Trust orchestrated this whole thing to test the Warding Guild's security measures and get a feel for whether the adventurers might be capable of performing an even more dangerous and unlikely mission. Better yet, could this have been the work of a strange race of beings that live on the dark side of one of Eberron's moons, eager to get back a piece of technology they lost years ago in Cyre?
 
I leave that to you and future follow-up adventures you might understake that are inspired by this scenario. Thanks for reading. I welcome your constructive feedback. If you run this adventure at your table, drop me a line and tell me how it went!

Originally posted by Phobos:

Question 1, what map program do you use?

Originally posted by iserith:

Phobos wrote:Question 1, what map program do you use?

Click to expand...

 
I create all my maps on Roll20 using whatever I can find in the image gallery search function.

Originally posted by Phobos:

Excellent, I'm curious to see how this plays out.   Thanks for posting it.

Originally posted by alienux:

Nice to see my ice laser being used as a central quest item 
 
Also, good premise for an adventure and the maps look really good.

Originally posted by iserith:

Phobos wrote:Excellent, I'm curious to see how this plays out.   Thanks for posting it.

Click to expand...

 
Thanks for checking it out!
 
Big Problems and The Lift are posted. I'm trying to post The Vault and Aftermath today, but it might be tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

alienux wrote:Nice to see my ice laser being used as a central quest item 
 
Also, good premise for an adventure and the maps look really good.

Click to expand...

 
Thanks, glad you spotted the ice laser!