iserith
Magic Wordsmith
Originally posted by iserith:
THE CORROSION OF GEDREN'S POINT
A 5th-level ready-to-play situation inspired by the genius of Akeisha
Gedren's Point, the City of Smiths, sits in the midst of iron-rich lands - so rich that the soil itself is flecked with oxidized metal, giving the ground a reddish hue. Every bit of the place is comprised at least in part of the metal that is mined and formed day and night in their forges and smithies. Houses are stone and metal, railways carrying ore and finished goods crisscross the city, and metal catwalks connect buildings to each other for quick and easy travel in this bustling burg.
These days, there is a corrosive element in Gedren's Point in the form of Tetanus the Transmogrifier, a deformed transmuter that has lost his grip on sanity after too many alterations to his body and mind. Using his arcane skills and the muscle of his goons, the Blighters, Tetanus has created a unique rust monster that is capable of copying itself whenever it consumes enough metal. He controls it and its progeny via a magical device he calls the rust belt.
Now from the top of his stone tower, Tetanus the Transmogrifier cackles with glee as he watchs his twisted creations devour the city he once called home. If nothing is done to stop this corrosion, the once-great City of Smiths will rust away to nothing and blow away in the wind.
ENTER THE HEROES!
The adventurers arrive on the scene after the attack is underway. While there are numerous rust monsters in other parts of the city being dealt with by lesser adventurers and the town militia, the PCs arrive at the epicenter of the deterioration - the tower of Tetanus the Transmogrifier. What they do here in this moment will mean the city is saved or lost.
Ten rust monsters - one in each building and one under the water tower - ravage the structures in this area while the Blighters (eight of them) run off citizens, loot, and otherwise cause a ruckus. Tetanus observes the scene from atop his tower, directing the rust monsters and Blighters while reveling in his own evil genius. Within his tower, several animated objects and his pet basilisk, Lith, await any intruders who dare encroach upon his lair.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Tetanus the Transmogrifier: Use the Mage stat block from the Hoard of the Dragon Queen online supplement, but substitute the spell list below. Tetanus is up on his stone tower and tries to keep the PCs from killing the rust monsters. He doesn't care about the Blighters. If he's hurt badly enough, he'll retreat into the upper level of the tower.
[sblock]Cantrips (at will): fire bolt, acid splash, mage hand, prestidigitation1st level (4 slots): feather fall, mage armor, magic missile, shield
2nd level (3 slots): levitate, spider climb
3rd level (3 slots): counterspell, fly, slow
4th level (3 slots): greater invisibility, polymorph
5th level (1 slot): telekinesis
[/sblock]
The Blighters - Goon, Thug, Hooligan, Lummox, Lout, Bruiser, Oaf, and Hood: Use the Bandit stat block from the Hoard of the Dragon Queen online supplement. Some are on the catwalks with light crossbows at the ready; others are on the ground with scimitars drawn. Their goal is to keep the PCs from killing rust monsters or harming Tetanus. Each of them has an odd and unsettling mutation that many try to cover up with hats or bandannas.
Rust Monster: Use the stat block here. At the start of the scene, there is a rust monster inside each building and one next to the water tower. One of them is the unique rust monster. For the unique rust monster, it gains 6 hit points when it devours metal from a building. When it reaches its hit point maximum of 45 hit points, it loses 18 hit points and spawns a new rust monster that acts on the rust monster's next initiative count. Rust monsters do not attack PCs, even if attacked. Their goal is to devour the metal in the structure of the buildings. Rust monsters all act on initiative count 0.
VICTORY & DEFEAT
The adventurers win if they find and kill the unique rust monster and disenchant the rust belt.
The villain wins if all the structures are destroyed (nine buildings plus the water tower). Remaining rust monsters disperse into the city, overwhelming the remaining defenders and ruining Gedren's Point. You can increase the difficulty of this challenge by setting this win condition to "more than 5 structures are destroyed" (or adjust to taste).
FEATURES OF THE AREA
Tetanus' Tower is 30 feet high at the top and is comprised of two levels. Ten feet above the ground is a metal catwalk that was once connected to the catwalk that runs around Gedren's Point, but it has been detached. There are arrow slits on the middle and upper levels. A secret door on the southeast side of the building opens into the middle level and is found with a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check. The level of the tower below the catwalk is solid stone (or you can add a level here yourself).
The buildings are various one-story (10 feet) homes or businesses, the structures of which are stone and metal. When the metal is eaten away by rust monsters, it collapses in a heap as does the catwalk on top of or adjacent to the building. Buildings have structural hit points equal to their length (3, 5 or 6) and one or two doors and a few windows.
The water tower is 30 feet high, most of it comprised of a 20-foot-wide sphere filled with clean water. It has 7 structural hit points. When it is destroyed, it erupts in a torrent of water that pushes any creature near it to a point 30 feet away from it and does 1d6 points of structural hit point damage to buildings within 30 feet.
The railway is one of many that crisscross Gedren's Point. It is functional and there are three hand carts in the area. Climbing inside grants three-quarters cover and the pump can be operated by one person. The carts can be moved up to 30 feet per move.
Will the adventurers be able to save Gedren's Point from this corrosion? Or will Tetanus lock this up and see the city become a rusted ruin?
THE CORROSION OF GEDREN'S POINT
A 5th-level ready-to-play situation inspired by the genius of Akeisha
Gedren's Point, the City of Smiths, sits in the midst of iron-rich lands - so rich that the soil itself is flecked with oxidized metal, giving the ground a reddish hue. Every bit of the place is comprised at least in part of the metal that is mined and formed day and night in their forges and smithies. Houses are stone and metal, railways carrying ore and finished goods crisscross the city, and metal catwalks connect buildings to each other for quick and easy travel in this bustling burg.
These days, there is a corrosive element in Gedren's Point in the form of Tetanus the Transmogrifier, a deformed transmuter that has lost his grip on sanity after too many alterations to his body and mind. Using his arcane skills and the muscle of his goons, the Blighters, Tetanus has created a unique rust monster that is capable of copying itself whenever it consumes enough metal. He controls it and its progeny via a magical device he calls the rust belt.
Now from the top of his stone tower, Tetanus the Transmogrifier cackles with glee as he watchs his twisted creations devour the city he once called home. If nothing is done to stop this corrosion, the once-great City of Smiths will rust away to nothing and blow away in the wind.
ENTER THE HEROES!
The adventurers arrive on the scene after the attack is underway. While there are numerous rust monsters in other parts of the city being dealt with by lesser adventurers and the town militia, the PCs arrive at the epicenter of the deterioration - the tower of Tetanus the Transmogrifier. What they do here in this moment will mean the city is saved or lost.
Ten rust monsters - one in each building and one under the water tower - ravage the structures in this area while the Blighters (eight of them) run off citizens, loot, and otherwise cause a ruckus. Tetanus observes the scene from atop his tower, directing the rust monsters and Blighters while reveling in his own evil genius. Within his tower, several animated objects and his pet basilisk, Lith, await any intruders who dare encroach upon his lair.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Tetanus the Transmogrifier: Use the Mage stat block from the Hoard of the Dragon Queen online supplement, but substitute the spell list below. Tetanus is up on his stone tower and tries to keep the PCs from killing the rust monsters. He doesn't care about the Blighters. If he's hurt badly enough, he'll retreat into the upper level of the tower.
[sblock]Cantrips (at will): fire bolt, acid splash, mage hand, prestidigitation1st level (4 slots): feather fall, mage armor, magic missile, shield
2nd level (3 slots): levitate, spider climb
3rd level (3 slots): counterspell, fly, slow
4th level (3 slots): greater invisibility, polymorph
5th level (1 slot): telekinesis
[/sblock]
The Blighters - Goon, Thug, Hooligan, Lummox, Lout, Bruiser, Oaf, and Hood: Use the Bandit stat block from the Hoard of the Dragon Queen online supplement. Some are on the catwalks with light crossbows at the ready; others are on the ground with scimitars drawn. Their goal is to keep the PCs from killing rust monsters or harming Tetanus. Each of them has an odd and unsettling mutation that many try to cover up with hats or bandannas.
Rust Monster: Use the stat block here. At the start of the scene, there is a rust monster inside each building and one next to the water tower. One of them is the unique rust monster. For the unique rust monster, it gains 6 hit points when it devours metal from a building. When it reaches its hit point maximum of 45 hit points, it loses 18 hit points and spawns a new rust monster that acts on the rust monster's next initiative count. Rust monsters do not attack PCs, even if attacked. Their goal is to devour the metal in the structure of the buildings. Rust monsters all act on initiative count 0.
VICTORY & DEFEAT
The adventurers win if they find and kill the unique rust monster and disenchant the rust belt.
The villain wins if all the structures are destroyed (nine buildings plus the water tower). Remaining rust monsters disperse into the city, overwhelming the remaining defenders and ruining Gedren's Point. You can increase the difficulty of this challenge by setting this win condition to "more than 5 structures are destroyed" (or adjust to taste).
FEATURES OF THE AREA
Tetanus' Tower is 30 feet high at the top and is comprised of two levels. Ten feet above the ground is a metal catwalk that was once connected to the catwalk that runs around Gedren's Point, but it has been detached. There are arrow slits on the middle and upper levels. A secret door on the southeast side of the building opens into the middle level and is found with a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check. The level of the tower below the catwalk is solid stone (or you can add a level here yourself).
- Middle Level: This fairly sparse chamber has a few bits of furniture and ornamentation - a high-back chair, an armoire, a suit of armor, a fancy sofa, and a bear-skin rug. Everything but the chair is an permanent animated object (see the animate object spell in the PHB) and they attack anyone who doesn't speak the pass phrase: "Tetanus Shot First." The bear-skin rug is a Large animated object and the rest are Medium-sized. Underneath the bear-skin rug is a teleportation circle (see below).
- Upper Level: This disgusting place is Tetanus' laboratory where he conducts his foul transmogrifying experiments. A couple of tables are covered with alchemical reagents, books, and implements. A vat is filled biological material that moves of its own accord. And a surgical table with a dissected rust monster is on the west wall. In the center of the room is a teleportation circle (see below). The arcane items in this chamber can be used to disenchant the rust belt. Lith, a basilisk, guards this chamber (see DM Basic Rules).
- Roof Level: The crenellation here provides three-quarters cover to those on the roof level. The statue of a dwarf stands here - someone the PCs once knew and who disappeared one day. (This poor sap fell victim to Lith the basilisk.) A teleportation circle (see below) is in the center of the roof.
- Teleportation Circle: These permanent magic circles allow transport, at will, between the roof and middle and upper levels. One only need stand on it and them and will oneself elsewhere (one gets a innate sense of the choices available). There's a catch though: With each use, the magic of the circle changes the user in some fashion - skin color changes, hair falls out, odd mutations appear, etc. Ask the player what changes about them. These changes are cosmetic in nature but weird and noticeable.
The buildings are various one-story (10 feet) homes or businesses, the structures of which are stone and metal. When the metal is eaten away by rust monsters, it collapses in a heap as does the catwalk on top of or adjacent to the building. Buildings have structural hit points equal to their length (3, 5 or 6) and one or two doors and a few windows.
The water tower is 30 feet high, most of it comprised of a 20-foot-wide sphere filled with clean water. It has 7 structural hit points. When it is destroyed, it erupts in a torrent of water that pushes any creature near it to a point 30 feet away from it and does 1d6 points of structural hit point damage to buildings within 30 feet.
The railway is one of many that crisscross Gedren's Point. It is functional and there are three hand carts in the area. Climbing inside grants three-quarters cover and the pump can be operated by one person. The carts can be moved up to 30 feet per move.
Will the adventurers be able to save Gedren's Point from this corrosion? Or will Tetanus lock this up and see the city become a rusted ruin?
Last edited by a moderator:
This is a wonderful write-up, and I love the baddie's name and 'twisted mind' outlook. 
Iserith
