D&D General Dwarf adventure advice

[Whimsical]

I want to run a Dwarf-themed D&D adventure for a gaming convention. I want to make it the dwarfiest adventure that I can, and I would like some help fleshing it out.

The pregenerated Dwarf characters would be around 10th level, and every dwarven subrace would be represented.

The adventure would start with these Dwarf PCs coming back from the underdark to their undermountain hold to discover that it has been taken over by orcs & goblins, lead by drow (classic dwarven enemies.)

They need to use Stonecunning to remember and find the ancient secret passageways to their hold’s royal chambers (it’s meant as a emergency escape for royals). The passageway is full of traps that Stonecunning can be used to find and disable. The air is poisonous, and requires a saving throw every minute to avoid taking poison damage and the Poisoned condition (Dwarven Resilience.) Every two failed saving throws also afflicts a level of Exhaustion. There are also stone golems to overcome. They can be fought, deceived, or halted by a specific ancient dwarven song. The clue for this is on the murals on the walls (Ancestry & History).

Enslaved dwarves can be rescued (clan & family ties). A cache of arms & armor can be reached to equip the dwarves (Dwarven Combat Training.) Several skirmishes can be fought, with an opportunity to trigger a hidden stone trap in the room or hallway during the fight.

The final fight will involve reaching a poison gas trap that will flood the entire complex with the poison gas for a couple of minutes. Everyone inside will have to dwarf through the saving throws to endure and persevere (Dwarven Toughness.)

I’m trying to think of a way to add Tool Proficiency to this adventure. Either something needs to be repaired to work again, or something needs to be disabled to stop working.

So what do you think?

 

[Unwise]

I like the idea. What sort to timeframe are you looking for for the duration of the game?

I can help with song suggestions:
- dwarven mining song
- dwarven war song
- song of Durin

 

[Oofta]

You could easily pull in a few skill checks using smith and mason's tools. A collapsed section perhaps that needs work and a temporary reinforcing brace for example. Maybe repair a gateway, resetting some of the stonework while also fixing the metal bars. Use those skills to figure out how to break into a prison without collapsing the stone in on the prisoners.

Brewing would be a bit more tricky, but it could be something as simple as recognizing that the guards have been keeping the prisoners complacent by poisoning their drink.

In any case, sounds like a fun game.

 

[Flamestrike]

You and your six Dwarven companions must rescue a raven haired fair skinned beauty from the clutches of an evil sorceress....

 

[Bayushi_seikuro]

I like it.

Maybe the secret passages/doors are part of the dwarven defenses? Maybe they're to create chokepoints or seperate out enemies or cause chaos during an attack - like being attacked inside a hall of mirrors.

 

[Krachek]

The royal alambic that need skill in brewing tool to be operated. Can produce beer with magical effect and a royal taste.

 

[aco175]

It sounds ok, but I'm not sure why every sub-race is needed and how they would all know the theme song to the royal hallway of one of the kingdoms? I would think that they all would be of the same sub-race as the kingdom.

I'm also thinking that you should hold off the poison and use it as the end solution to the takeover of the halls. Have the PCs choose to turn it on and flood the tunnels to kill the rest, but most of the dwarves may survive. Fill the secret hall with undead and oozes they need to get through before they come to the poison vault and need to decide.

 

[LordEntrails]

That's a lot of poison saves. Even dwarves are going to fail a few, and do you really want that? Plus it kind of sucks as a player to constantly be making saves for something you have no control over, can't impact, and just have to accept. Instead, if you insist, just use averages and tell them every x minutes y happens or gets worse or whatever.

 

[Whimsical]

Good point.

 

[Whimsical]

I like the idea. What sort to timeframe are you looking for for the duration of the game?

Four hours for the game session itself.