D&D 5E Feathergale Spire: The players want revenge!

[pukunui]

Hi all,

I'm looking for some DMing advice ahead of my next session. As part of my episodic homebrew campaign, I had the PCs run into the Feathergale Society from Princes of the Apocalypse. I ran that section as a standalone episode, since I'm not planning on running PotA as a whole. Also, since the PCs are all 5th level, I modified it slightly by powering up Merosska and the hurricane and adding an air cult priest.

During the session, the cultists divided and conquered the PCs handily (you can read all about it here), and we ended the session with one PC dead, one presumed dead, one who should've been dead but somehow survived and got away, and another who got away more or less scot free, along with a hippogriff he'd tricked into carrying him away. The dead PC has since been reincarnated. The presumed dead PC is going to be replaced with a new character.

The players (and, by extension, their characters) now want revenge. I have no idea what their plans are, but I need to think about what the surviving occupants of Feathergale Spire will do.

At the time the cultists attempted to sacrifice the PCs, their numbers consisted of nine initiates, ten knights, Lord Commander Merosska, the air cult priest, the hurricane, and assorted flying mounts.

During the ensuing battle, the PCs managed to kill most of the initiates and half the knights, along with one vulture. That means that there are now only three initiates and five knights (including Savra) left, plus the three leaders (Merosska, the priest, and the hurricane).

Given that I am not planning on running Princes of the Apocalypse in its entirety (I have merely been cherry-picking the parts that I like), I removed all the obvious leads to other parts of the campaign. Were the PCs to search Merosska's room, I was just going make it clear that the society was part of a larger cult but provide no direct leads anyone or anywhere in particular. I'm toying with the idea of having Aerisi present in the tower when the PCs return, but that might be too mean of me. They had enough trouble with Merosska and his cronies as it was. Instead, I might just give the knights some reinforcements. Perhaps some skyweavers. Perhaps just some more knights and initiates.

Anyway, what I'd like help with is figuring out what the knights are likely to do. Even though their numbers have been decimated, I don't think they'd just abandon their base. And it's pretty easily defended as well, unless the PCs think to approach in the night under cover of the fog. (But they never went into the canyon before, so they haven't encountered any of its denizens. A fight with the griffons or the gnolls might alert the knights that something is going on down in the canyon.)

I'm also debating on whether or not the knights would try to strike back at the PCs *before* they return to do more damage. Would they send out a strike team of some kind? Maybe a few skyweavers on giant vultures? Would they threaten the PCs' hometown? (The PCs made the mistake of revealing to the knights where it is that they're based.)

So, my fellow DMs ... if you were in this situation, what would you do? How would you have the bad guys respond to the PCs' actions?


Thanks in advance!

Cheers,
Jonathan

 

[Valmarius]

If they're striking back relatively soon after the initial confrontation I wouldn't reinforce the spire much.
I'd give the Players their sweet revenge, but turn it bitter by revealing that Merosska is elsewhere. Possibly off requesting reinforcements from the greater cult.
So they get to finish what they started, and feel kinda good about it, but have the threat of a powerful cult leader hanging over them. A recurring villain who happens to know where the PCs home base is.

How's this for a cliffhanger. The PCs fight their way through to Merosska's chambers only to find it empty. There they find evidence that Merosska has gone to find reinforcements that will be led in an attack against the PCs homebase in just a few days.

 

[pukunui]

That's a great idea! Thanks!


EDIT: The "Reckless Hate" cult retaliation scenario looks like it could work ... but is it just me, or is the air orb not as devastating as the other types? Earth orbs create an earthquake effect, which can be pretty nasty, while water orbs cause flooding and fire orbs can create wildfires ... but the air orb just creates strong wind that does a puny bit of damage and can knock down "light structures", whatever those are. I reckon it ought to be able to create a tornado or something.

What if his superiors in the cult give Merosska an elemental gem that he brings with him when he goes to attack the town? I like the idea of the cultists summoning up an air elemental only to have it turn on them when they lose control over it (and I would give the PCs a chance to know about this so they could try to make it happen on purpose).

 

[Valmarius]

Sounds pretty cool.

As for the Air orb... It's pretty open to interpretation I suppose. I'd have it cause damage to any structure that isn't built on a stone foundation. So, castles/forts are safe, but smaller taverns farms etc. are knocked about.

The elemental gem is a cool idea. You could also play off the air cult's clandestine nature and put the gem in the possession of someone who is undercover. The PCs know that there's a gem somewhere in the village, capable of controlling and summoning the elemental, but don't know who actually has it. They'll have to find the culprit before the cult retaliation force arrives or deal with them both at the same time.

 

[THEMNGMNT]

I read the adventure recap and it sounds like a great session.

I think the key question is this: What do the villains want? Right now, it feels like they're hanging out being evil for the sake of being evil. Do they have a plot or scheme that's going to harm the region? If so, the players need to stop it. To me, figuring out motivation is key to determining what happens next.

I would suggest something like this:

1. Villains attack the village where players have gone to recuperate, hoping to finish them off.
2. Players return to Feathergale Spire. Villains fill Feathergale Spire with a suicide squad of goons who are prepared to fight to the last man, hoping to take the players down with them.
3. Clues from #1 and #2 point the players to location #3, where Merosska is working on some sort of evil plot that will harm the region or the world.

 

[pukunui]

As for the Air orb... It's pretty open to interpretation I suppose. I'd have it cause damage to any structure that isn't built on a stone foundation. So, castles/forts are safe, but smaller taverns farms etc. are knocked about.

I think what it needs is some lightning! I'm thinking of jazzing up the description a bit, so when it activates, it rises up into the air and starts spinning, faster and faster, and the air starts spinning with it, and a storm starts brewing above it ... and when it "explodes", it'll unleash a proper storm, with wind, rain, and lightning.

I read the adventure recap and it sounds like a great session.

Thanks. It was fun!

I think the key question is this: What do the villains want? Right now, it feels like they're hanging out being evil for the sake of being evil. Do they have a plot or scheme that's going to harm the region? If so, the players need to stop it. To me, figuring out motivation is key to determining what happens next.

Good point. I've mostly been avoiding grand plots and schemes, as I've been running most adventures as standalone episodes. I was just going to move on to something else for next session, but my players are all pretty gung-ho about going back and getting revenge, so I thought I'd humor them. There being a bigger plot for them to thwart could still work in the long-term, though. I could come back to it later after doing some unrelated things for a few levels or whatever.

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

I'm unfamiliar with POTA so forgive my ignorance (and I confess I haven't read your play transcript), but...

Can you make the 'presumed dead' character (who has been replaced now) have been revivified and 'turned' - or even raised as a zombie?

That'd be mean.

 

[pukunui]

I could. I've done that sort of thing before, though (and with the same player's character as well). I'm tossing up whether to have the cultists deliver his head to the PCs as a present, or have them drop his body from the sky above the village and maybe have it fall on a little girl the PCs know (unless one of them can get her out of the way first).

 

[NotActuallyTim]

1 hour of 1d4 damage =600 rounds *2.5 average 1d4 roll= 1500 damage if every con save is failed the character remains in the AoE the entire time.

Save of 18 means that with a Con of 10 and no proficiency, full exposure should do (17/20)*1500=1275 damage. Divide by 600 and we see a damage per round of 2.125 to 'ordinary' people. Increasing the saving throw by 1 decreases the total damage by 5% of 1500. So a save of 4+ would mean 975 damage, +6 would be 825, and so on. Most PCs will never have that much health. Even Moon Druids need 20 levels before they can just ignore the effect.

The AoE is a mile wide. No ordinary town could survive that. On top of it all, flight, ranged combat and hearing things becomes extraordinarily difficult (DMG pg 110, under strong winds).

If you want to make it more dangerous, I recommend just scaling up the dice every 5 minutes to represent heavier objects joining the debris, and assuming that buildings fail the save automatically, so that trees start smashing through castle walls after the air orb starts to get going. Hurricanes are scarier than lightning, anyways.

 

[Eltab]

Have the wounded knights stay to guard their base, send the other survivors and the bosses out to track the PCs down for revenge. One group to track from behind, one group goes to the PCs' home and sets up shop. Hammer and anvil, with the meddling heroes in the middle.
"We know they are weak, and we know where they will try to hide. But we shall get there first and surprise them ! Let all men learn not to interfere with the Power of Air !"

There is an L9 "Storm of" spell that you might want to put in the Air Orb. AFB and I don't remember the spell name, sorry. The PCs get hit by hail, lightning, wind gusts, and acid rain (not all at once).