BookBarbarian
Expert Long Rester
You are not the only one, but you're probably in the minority on the 5TH EDITION forum.
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D&D 5E Dwarven Barbarian solo quest?
- Thread starter Slit518
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You are not the only one, but you're probably in the minority on the 5TH EDITION forum.
Quickleaf
Legend
[MENTION=6803713]Slit518[/MENTION] Any info on Throgren? Didn't see it among the Morndinsamman. It's a homebrew deity right?
Mechanically, I'd say you want to shoot for encounters worth roughly 1,100 - 1,700 XP. For example, a CR 4 Ettin is worth 1,100 XP.
Barbarian is a good self-reliant class when it comes to physical challenges, so probably a good class for a solo adventure. Because they have #rages/day, I'd suggest tweaking the long rest rules so that the PC doesn't benefit from a long rest until he descends to a lower altitude basecamp or makes it to the dwarven citadel. IOW he gets no long rests between the 5 challenges up the mountain. This requires strategizing when to use rages (and any other daily resources he might have).
You might want to consider having some sort of "Climbing Clock" running in the background with checks / player decisions determining how long each encounter or the traveling between encounters takes. This can influence whether the PC has to do a forced march at any point (making CON checks to keep exhaustion at bay).
Also, consider foreshadowing encounters #4 and #5.
Story-wise, here are 5 potential challenges that you might make some interesting connections between...
1. The Dwarf Gate
An old trail framed by two massive statues representing king-priests of Throgren; the base of one statue reads: Enter the brave and true. The plaque on the base of the other reads: Perish between the true and brave. Anyone attempting to pass between the statues is targeted by a 2nd level thunderwave (DC 14 CON; 3d8 thunder damage and pushed 10-ft). The trick is to show respect to the the two statues — one represents the Truth aspect of the god, the other the Bravery aspect — by bowing and/or offering a sacrifice. A character doing so (or one succeeding a DC 25 Perception check) notices a secret door forged of same material as the statue between its legs. Feel free to say "yes" to other creative solutions the player might have!
Note: From here, the PC might see dancing "dragon-wisps" like hallucinations amidst the snow flurries higher up the mountain (see #4).
2. Bolkrov's Pass
A windswept mountain pass, well known to be haunted by "The Wailing Demon Bolkrov", is the last flat ground before the steep ascent up to the citadel. An ettin (CR 4) named Bolkrov guards the pass. Kick its ass or find out why it's always wailing (it has a tooth infection but the head with the infection is too stupid to explain the problem in words) and perform a bit of dwarven dentistry. Optionally, a lucky crit or a called shot could dislodge its tooth and pacify it.
Note: The PC might find traces of the Legion of Cold Iron dwarves' old camp here (see #5).
3. Steep Ridge
Skill checks and smart mountaineering play are needed to endure high winds, extreme cold, and the travails of following a perilous mountain ridge. You can even throw in an avalanche hazard using the trap in the DMG to simulate it, or an encounter with a hostile griffon (CR 2)...possibly hinting at griffon-mounted dwarven cavalry at the citadel?
Note: From here, the PC might hear a dwarven horn sounded by the Legion of Cold Iron who've seen the PC's approach (see #5).
4. The Wyrm's Graveyard
The dwarves of the citadel are tough no doubt. Their tales tell of brave Throgren and how he smote the white wyrm Gaszrefax whose skeletal ribs poke through the snowy rocky ground till this day. However, dozens of white shadow dragon wyrmlings (CR 2, as "dragon-wisps") haunt the bone-strewn valley, though they only attack 1-2 at a time. They're basically never-ending unless the PC... destroys whatever part of the dragon keeps them animated? invokes a prayer to Throgren? uses a magic object? buries a dead dwarven explorer found between #2 and #3?
Note: If dragons aren't to you're liking (I was thinking of something thematically tied to HotDQ), you could put undead here like ghouls (CR 1) and a ghast (CR 2) which would be terrifying to a solo PC cause of their paralyzation ability and could force the barbarian PC to adapt different tactics.
5. Legion of Cold Iron
A group of evil dwarven mercenaries sworn to Tiamat are after the 3rd piece of the broken tablet (to destroy it? for their own power? to corrupt it?). They include Rothgan the berserker (CR 2), Filder Four Hands the spy (CR 1), and a bunch of dwarven guards (CR 1/8). Flesh out their motives to better suit your campaign.
6. Hand of Throgren
When the PC finally reaches the citadel, I was thinking introducing a crawling claw with some kind of souped-up stats/abilities/invulnerabilities with special weaknesses would be present holding the tablet in its grasp. Maybe the dwarves of the citadel believe it to be the severed hand of their god Throgren?
Mechanically, I'd say you want to shoot for encounters worth roughly 1,100 - 1,700 XP. For example, a CR 4 Ettin is worth 1,100 XP.
Barbarian is a good self-reliant class when it comes to physical challenges, so probably a good class for a solo adventure. Because they have #rages/day, I'd suggest tweaking the long rest rules so that the PC doesn't benefit from a long rest until he descends to a lower altitude basecamp or makes it to the dwarven citadel. IOW he gets no long rests between the 5 challenges up the mountain. This requires strategizing when to use rages (and any other daily resources he might have).
You might want to consider having some sort of "Climbing Clock" running in the background with checks / player decisions determining how long each encounter or the traveling between encounters takes. This can influence whether the PC has to do a forced march at any point (making CON checks to keep exhaustion at bay).
Also, consider foreshadowing encounters #4 and #5.
Story-wise, here are 5 potential challenges that you might make some interesting connections between...
1. The Dwarf Gate
An old trail framed by two massive statues representing king-priests of Throgren; the base of one statue reads: Enter the brave and true. The plaque on the base of the other reads: Perish between the true and brave. Anyone attempting to pass between the statues is targeted by a 2nd level thunderwave (DC 14 CON; 3d8 thunder damage and pushed 10-ft). The trick is to show respect to the the two statues — one represents the Truth aspect of the god, the other the Bravery aspect — by bowing and/or offering a sacrifice. A character doing so (or one succeeding a DC 25 Perception check) notices a secret door forged of same material as the statue between its legs. Feel free to say "yes" to other creative solutions the player might have!
Note: From here, the PC might see dancing "dragon-wisps" like hallucinations amidst the snow flurries higher up the mountain (see #4).
2. Bolkrov's Pass
A windswept mountain pass, well known to be haunted by "The Wailing Demon Bolkrov", is the last flat ground before the steep ascent up to the citadel. An ettin (CR 4) named Bolkrov guards the pass. Kick its ass or find out why it's always wailing (it has a tooth infection but the head with the infection is too stupid to explain the problem in words) and perform a bit of dwarven dentistry. Optionally, a lucky crit or a called shot could dislodge its tooth and pacify it.
Note: The PC might find traces of the Legion of Cold Iron dwarves' old camp here (see #5).
3. Steep Ridge
Skill checks and smart mountaineering play are needed to endure high winds, extreme cold, and the travails of following a perilous mountain ridge. You can even throw in an avalanche hazard using the trap in the DMG to simulate it, or an encounter with a hostile griffon (CR 2)...possibly hinting at griffon-mounted dwarven cavalry at the citadel?
Note: From here, the PC might hear a dwarven horn sounded by the Legion of Cold Iron who've seen the PC's approach (see #5).
4. The Wyrm's Graveyard
The dwarves of the citadel are tough no doubt. Their tales tell of brave Throgren and how he smote the white wyrm Gaszrefax whose skeletal ribs poke through the snowy rocky ground till this day. However, dozens of white shadow dragon wyrmlings (CR 2, as "dragon-wisps") haunt the bone-strewn valley, though they only attack 1-2 at a time. They're basically never-ending unless the PC... destroys whatever part of the dragon keeps them animated? invokes a prayer to Throgren? uses a magic object? buries a dead dwarven explorer found between #2 and #3?
Note: If dragons aren't to you're liking (I was thinking of something thematically tied to HotDQ), you could put undead here like ghouls (CR 1) and a ghast (CR 2) which would be terrifying to a solo PC cause of their paralyzation ability and could force the barbarian PC to adapt different tactics.
5. Legion of Cold Iron
A group of evil dwarven mercenaries sworn to Tiamat are after the 3rd piece of the broken tablet (to destroy it? for their own power? to corrupt it?). They include Rothgan the berserker (CR 2), Filder Four Hands the spy (CR 1), and a bunch of dwarven guards (CR 1/8). Flesh out their motives to better suit your campaign.
6. Hand of Throgren
When the PC finally reaches the citadel, I was thinking introducing a crawling claw with some kind of souped-up stats/abilities/invulnerabilities with special weaknesses would be present holding the tablet in its grasp. Maybe the dwarves of the citadel believe it to be the severed hand of their god Throgren?
Slit518
Adventurer
Yes, Throgren is a homebrew diety of the dwarves.
The dwarven barbarian Durrick has already forged "Throgren's Right Hand", which allows him to wield two-handed weapons with one hand, it also grants +2 AC and a +2 enchantment bonus with any weapon wielded in that hand. He can also insert gemstones of various sizes to a max of 6 to add damage to an attack once a long rest per gemstone. The damage is dependent on the type of gemstone. This hand also takes up 2 of his attunement slots.
I like your ideas, a lot of interesting stuff.
Let's just say in my campaign one of the players holds the full, completed Dragon Mask and has control of the cultists.
Also, what is an equal Challenge Rating for a level 7 character? Would that be CR 4?
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Slit518
Adventurer
How I am thinking of running it, after the introduction to the quest, the doors shut behind him. He must venture forth to prove his worth and retrieve the relic to prove that he is chosen by Throgren. Others have come before him, and they have all vanquished.
He goes into the first room, it's decent size room with high ceilings. It's dark with little light from a torch on the wall. The room is made of cobblestone, the kind with moss growing across it. In one corner of the room is a giant spider's web (the real life person is afraid of spiders) that funnels out from the corner and stretches across the floor. He sees old bones of long past dwarves still stuck in the webs.
Depending on how he solves each room will boost that stat permanently, but not over 20. This will be called Throgren's Blessing, and as long as he is in good standing with Throgren, his blessing will persist. If he is in bad standing with Throgren, he looses the blessing and must atone for 7 days to regain it again.
So, here are the ways he could solve it,
Strength: Battle the spider and smash it to bits
Dexterity: Run across the web and run from the spider, dodging it's bites and going into the next challenge
Constitution: Battle the spider and take heavy damage, get poisoned, survive poison
Intelligence: Use the torch to burn the web and kill the spider instantly as it burns in it's funnel web
Wisdom: Step around the webbing avoiding the confrontation with the spider entirely
Charisma: Befriend the spider and take it into the next challenge with you
So depending on how he solves it, I would make a note and at the end that stat would raise. I would do this for all 5 challenges. More and more dwarf bodies as he gets closer to the goal.
Once at the relic he must pass a Constitution save while grabbing it, or die. The relic will be on an alter. (he could get around grabbing the relic by using a cloth or not his flesh, kind of like Indiana Jones in that one movie of his)
I imagine the space around the alter looking like this,
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/93/2f/cf/932fcf8c264805b9dc0b7ef5b71b6472.jpg
He goes into the first room, it's decent size room with high ceilings. It's dark with little light from a torch on the wall. The room is made of cobblestone, the kind with moss growing across it. In one corner of the room is a giant spider's web (the real life person is afraid of spiders) that funnels out from the corner and stretches across the floor. He sees old bones of long past dwarves still stuck in the webs.
Depending on how he solves each room will boost that stat permanently, but not over 20. This will be called Throgren's Blessing, and as long as he is in good standing with Throgren, his blessing will persist. If he is in bad standing with Throgren, he looses the blessing and must atone for 7 days to regain it again.
So, here are the ways he could solve it,
Strength: Battle the spider and smash it to bits
Dexterity: Run across the web and run from the spider, dodging it's bites and going into the next challenge
Constitution: Battle the spider and take heavy damage, get poisoned, survive poison
Intelligence: Use the torch to burn the web and kill the spider instantly as it burns in it's funnel web
Wisdom: Step around the webbing avoiding the confrontation with the spider entirely
Charisma: Befriend the spider and take it into the next challenge with you
So depending on how he solves it, I would make a note and at the end that stat would raise. I would do this for all 5 challenges. More and more dwarf bodies as he gets closer to the goal.
Once at the relic he must pass a Constitution save while grabbing it, or die. The relic will be on an alter. (he could get around grabbing the relic by using a cloth or not his flesh, kind of like Indiana Jones in that one movie of his)
I imagine the space around the alter looking like this,
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/93/2f/cf/932fcf8c264805b9dc0b7ef5b71b6472.jpg
Quickleaf
Legend
Ah, you're looking for a dungeon quest. I thought you were looking for a "quest up the mountainside." My bad!
For one 7th-level PC the lower boundary conditions for encounters are:
easy 350 XP
medium 750 XP
hard 1,100 XP
deadly 1,700 XP
Now, there's normally a bit of art to balancing an encounter that incorporates comparing the PCs abilities to the monsters's abilities, where the encounter falls in how many encounters/day the party will have, how hard the DM runs the monsters, how savvy the PCs are with tactics, and a host of other factors.
Running a single PC through an adventure is a whole other ball of wax, however.
Some things you'll want to look out for:
Others probably have more insight running one-on-one games. I've always DMed for a full house.
Props for a great name
That's a tricky question, but I'll give you the straight mathematical answer using DMG pg. 82:
For one 7th-level PC the lower boundary conditions for encounters are:
easy 350 XP
medium 750 XP
hard 1,100 XP
deadly 1,700 XP
Now, there's normally a bit of art to balancing an encounter that incorporates comparing the PCs abilities to the monsters's abilities, where the encounter falls in how many encounters/day the party will have, how hard the DM runs the monsters, how savvy the PCs are with tactics, and a host of other factors.
Running a single PC through an adventure is a whole other ball of wax, however.
Some things you'll want to look out for:
- Multiple monsters are even MORE dangerous for a single PC. This is mitigated a bit by the barbarian's damage resistance, but still you're going to find a group of hobgoblins coordinating ranged/melee attacks more dangerous than an ettin for your lone dwarf barbarian. Definitely error on the side of not throwing excessive numbers at the PC all at once.
- Certain monster powers are designed to be used against a group, things like stunning and paralyzation for instance. Such conditions can spell death for a lone PC (unless you're weaving them into the story and not playing ghouls as "murder death kill" entities). Even poisoned is a crippling condition for a single PC. Be very cautious about what conditions you lay down on the PC.
- Healing may very well be an issue, especially if you're running a combat heavy scenario. Hey, the PC is a dwarf barbarian, sue me for making assumptions
Consider including some kind of magical waypoints (hallowed statues? sacred pools?) where the PC can recharge by expending resources like healing surges or #rages/day.
Others probably have more insight running one-on-one games. I've always DMed for a full house.
Slit518
Adventurer
I do DM for a full house (4 players), but the story for this character has him going from the group to discover the kingdom upon the mountain.
He has healing potions, I think around 4 of them. I believe they do 4d4+4 in healing. He also has a belt which replenishes potions once a long rest, and he has access to 3 types of potions on that belt once each. A potion of healing 2d4+2, a potion of antidote, and a potion of healing 4d4+4. So he should be good in the healing department.
If he is in melee range of a group of enemies, and drops an enemy with carry over damage, I have him roll a separate attack roll, if it hits the carry over damage carries to the next enemy. The half-orc Barbarian in the group fell 3 enemies and hit a 4th with one critical blow once!
He has healing potions, I think around 4 of them. I believe they do 4d4+4 in healing. He also has a belt which replenishes potions once a long rest, and he has access to 3 types of potions on that belt once each. A potion of healing 2d4+2, a potion of antidote, and a potion of healing 4d4+4. So he should be good in the healing department.
If he is in melee range of a group of enemies, and drops an enemy with carry over damage, I have him roll a separate attack roll, if it hits the carry over damage carries to the next enemy. The half-orc Barbarian in the group fell 3 enemies and hit a 4th with one critical blow once!
[MENTION=6803713]Slit518[/MENTION] I think that your suggestion about stat upgrades is just punishing the PC for not doing silly stuff largely. As a Barbarian, he cares about Str and Con mostly, so if he does something clever as opposed to just attacking the spider, does it feel right to 'punish' him by giving him +Int instead? I would rethink that a bit mate.
If it was a shrine to Gruumsh or something, sure, punish the weaklings that just don't run in and smash stuff, but what is the dwarf god about?
Secondly, why would the dwarf god want to kill anybody that touched his stuff? Is he a homicidal? Why constitution? Why not displaying knowledge of his teachings, being of fine moral fiber, solving a riddle, showing skill at crafting? It just seems oddly out of place and a bit arbitrary. As a home brew god I can't know for sure of course.
If it was a shrine to Gruumsh or something, sure, punish the weaklings that just don't run in and smash stuff, but what is the dwarf god about?
Secondly, why would the dwarf god want to kill anybody that touched his stuff? Is he a homicidal? Why constitution? Why not displaying knowledge of his teachings, being of fine moral fiber, solving a riddle, showing skill at crafting? It just seems oddly out of place and a bit arbitrary. As a home brew god I can't know for sure of course.
Slit518
Adventurer
I really haven't thought much about it yet. It is just an idea brewing in the clouds at the moment. I just want to put him through some trials mainly, and in the name of his god. The hook is as to why his god would want this of a devoted. That is the gap I need to fill, and of course the trials.
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