Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 7149988" data-attributes="member: 20323">Thanks, Jester, that makes sense!A lot of feedback helped me realize that maybe a trap is a better fit, so I looked back over complex traps in the <a href="https://media.wizards.com/2017/dnd/downloads/0227_UATraps.pdf" target="_blank">Unearthed Arcana article</a>. Maybe I'll go back to making it a monster if this doesn't pan out like I hope...Dance of Many VeilsComplex trap (level 11-16, dangerous threat)The Bonfire once imprisoned three sorceress sisters, forcing them to weave cunning magic into the 50-foot diameter seraglio, with the promise that the one who served him best would win her freedom. While the youngest and eldest sisters realized the Bonfire’s ploy was meant to make them build their own prison, the middle sister was ambitious beyond measure and created a trap she was certain would earn her freedom, and then, she reasoned, she could come back and rescue her sisters. ##work-in-progress story## Exits from the seraglio include two halls and a spiral staircase going up and down.   Trigger. Objects in the seraglio are enchanted with dormant magic to animate when the command words “Pev’ari nimar te” (meaning “Arise now I call you” in Infernal) are spoken. Only the maelephant #, the mage slave #, and the Bonfire know the command word.   Initiative. The trap activates on initiative 20 and 10.  Active Elements. Animated objects within the seraglio include diaphanous curtains, killer pillows, and perfumed veils.______________________________________________   Diaphanous Curtains (initiative 20). Diaphanous curtains whirl about the seraglio, disguising the exits. As an action, a creature may make a DC 18 Intelligence saving throw to locate the exit of its choice. A creature failing this saving throw (or not attempting it) ends up moving in a random direction without locating any exits.   Killer Pillows (initiative 20). Silk pillows launch from the floor to latch onto intruder’s faces. A killer pillow attacks each creature in the seraglio wielding a weapon, implement, foci, or holy symbol, with a +10 bonus to the attack roll. A creature hit by this attack is grappled (escape DC 18), and while grappled it is also blinded, cannot speak, and is at risk of suffocation. If the creature has not acted yet, it cannot hold its breath while grappled. A creature wearing the nightmare-ruby gorget that the maelephant # wears is never attacked by the killer pillows.   Perfumed Veils (initiative 10). It becomes impossible to readily differentiate the various pleasure slaves in the seraglio, as the confounding perfumed veils make them look and smell the same. As an action, a character can make a DC 18 Intelligence (Investigation) check to determine the identity of any number of slaves whose identity is known to the character.______________________________________________   Dynamic Element – Bewildering Incense. Starting on the third round, each creature in the seraglio must make a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw at the start of its turn or become bewildered by the incense. A bewildered creature experiences the room spinning around them. Anytime a bewildered creature makes an attack or moves, it must repeat the saving throw; on a failed save, it actually attacks a random target within reach or moves in a random direction determined by the DM. A bewildered creature remains so until leaving the seraglio or the trap ends.______________________________________________   Constant Elements. The diaphanous curtains, killer pillows, and perfumed veils continue to be threats to creatures within the seraglio. On the third round and beyond, bewildering incense becomes a constant element as well.______________________________________________   Countermeasures. An antimagic field negates the trap’s effects within the field’s 10-foot-radius sphere as long as the field is in effect. Alternately, animate objects can be used to negate one of the trap’s elements of the caster’s choice for as long as the caster concentrates. Each of the trap’s elements also offers potential unique countermeasures.______________________________________________   Countermeasures: Diaphanous Curtains. ##work-in-progress##  Countermeasures: Killer Pillows. A creature not wielding any weapons, implements, foci, or holy symbols will not be attacked by the killer pillows, nor will a creature wearing the nightmare-ruby gorget.   Alternately, the pillows can be destroyed or dispelled. A pillow has AC 14 and 10 hit points; destroying a killer pillow reduces their overall attack bonus by 2. However, attacking a pillow that is grappling a creature causes half the attack’s damage to affect the pillow, and half to affect the grappled creature.    A dispel magic spell targeting the pillows also reduces their attack bonus by 2, while each spell level above 3rd that the dispel magic is cast at reduces the pillows’ attack bonus by another 2 (i.e. a 7th level dispel magic reduces the pillows’ attack bonus by 10).    Once their attack bonus is reduced to +0, the killer pillows are no longer a threat, reduced to goose feathers.   Countermeasures: Perfumed Veils. Truesight allows a creature to see through the illusion created by the veils.    A creature proficient with a disguise kit who dons the veiled outfit of a pleasure slave, or a creature using an illusion to present itself as such becomes swept up in the illusion of the veils.    A gust of wind can negate the veils for as long as the caster concentrates.</blockquote>

Verification