D&D 5E First Encounter of a New Campaign: Thoughts

[TheSword]

Important: Guy, Ryan, Matt and Pete: Do not read this thread!

So we’re starting a Dark Sun campaign next year. Using the 1D&D playtest rules and an excellent 5e conversion by @toucanbuzz and Psionic rules by @Steampunkette

I have mentioned in other threads that the chassis of the campaign will be Hell’s Rebels AP by Paizo modified to fit Athas and the overthrow of Kalak of Tyr. The party are likely to be a Druid, a Soul Knife, a Wizard, and a Barbarian. The PC are all travelling to Tyr and they have been asked to explain why they are I’ll disposed to King Kalak, Defilers, Templar’s or the current order in Tyr (or all four).

The first encounter is a bit of a departure/interlude to bring the party together and set the scene. There were a few design goals for the opening scenes.

• Show that life outside the cities is deadly
• Introduce some Darksun specific rules around thirst and starvation
• Introduce the concept of psionic creatures
• Introduce some of the unusual species that characters can play
• Show that the campaign isn’t fair and they will not necessarily fight level appropriate creatures.
• Bring the players together as a party
• Showcase some of the key 1D&D rules like exhaustion and grappling.
• Reference the campaign as a whole.

So the premise is this: The party awake one at a time in a rocky cave with light filtering through holes in the ceiling. They are battered, thirsty and hungry and have one level of exhaustion (-1 to d20 rolls and save DCs). They have all equipment their character would have been wearing but not items in backpacks or bags. (These will be available at the ruins of their caravan after the encounter)

The cave is part of large network of caverns that acts as a lair for a large psionic creature - a Feylaar (think evil Girallon with mind powers) which in @Toucanbuzz’s guide is a CR 4 creature, with 60+ hp, 5 attacks, a nasty equivalent of Tasha’s mind whip and some other unpleasant powers. It could basically wipe the floor with the party in a straight up fight.

The creature and it’s lair guards the hidden valley of a Thri-Kreen Druid who sees the threat Kalak of Tyr presents and wants to sponsor an expedition to Tyr to overthrow him, using all her contacts and resources to do so. But first she wants to be sure she’s picking the right people. The Feylaar has been active attacking caravans and travelers in the desert wastes approaching Tyr and bring back tasty morsels to eat at its leisure. The Druid intends to observe these survivors and has sent her own student (the Druid PC) into the caves to rouse/heal the latest group and see how they act. Do they have the sense, skill, bravery and teamwork to defeat a powerful psionic creature that overmatches them in its lair? (A good test for folks who aspire to overthrow Kalak).

Below is map of the caves (on two levels) and the exit is overlooked by the Feylaar’s resting spot. It has been ordered by the Druid (which which it has a grudging tolerance) not to attack any captives unless they provoke it, or try to leave the caves - in which case it is free to feast on them.

There are a number of planned encounters in the caves.

• Introductions - including with the PC Druid who has been asked to act like any other captive.
• Any party with wild talents can sense the oppressive mind of the Feylaar and know there is a powerful creature active in the caves that poses a threat to them. Some may remember being taken by the beast.
• At the far end of the PCs first cave is an sunburnt elf, who hates being enclosed here and has no intention of dying with the rest of the suckers. He wants to run for the exit that he can see through the caves. He can also point out the Feylaar to the PCs as it rests on its plinth. If the PCs can’t convince the elf to be more cautious he will sprint at great speed for exit but be slain by the Feylaar’s mind whip.
• Up the stairs from the PCs cavern is another that overlooks the Feylaar from above. A haughty human caravan master is ordering a Mul caravan guard to roll a boulder down onto the Feylaar from above. The PCs may realise that while this might work the boulder is unlikely to kill it. The caravan master will try and recruit the party into the scheme but won’t risk herself. The Mul wants to act and see everyone out but doesn’t want to make the decision. Both can be influenced by the party. If the rock is pushed off the ledge it will do some damage to the Feylaar which will leap up to the ledge and make a round of attack on the Mul (plus any PCs that assist) then will return to its rest.
• In the next cavern a Halfling is silently edging around a large tangle of flowers in the center of the cavern - it seems to be trying to reach a ledge bridging the cavern below. Also some orchid like flowers that are growing one the cave wall. The tangle of flowers is a Bloodbloom - that fires poisonous needles at any movement nearby and then drains the victims blood with its tendrils. A Zhackal (psionic hyena) is currently caught in the tendrils. The Halfling will react with hostility to any threat by PCs but if allowed to continue will sneak past cost three javelins in poisonous nectar from the flowers and then leap across suspended walkway to hide amongst the stalactites until someone else attacks the Feylaar. The PCs can poison their own weapons the same way. Or retrieve the body of the Zhackal - eating it’s meat and drinking it’s blood will remove exhaustion from 1 PC. Or the PCs can trigger the bloodbloom and need to deal with that. Eating the moist fleshy central root of the plant also counts as eating and drinking for one PC.
• The final NPC is across the sky bridge, a Dwarf psion fighting against a pack of Zhackals that live on the pain and death cries of the Feylaar’s victims. The exhausted dwarf is swinging a rock at the Zhackals that are attacking with their Mind Whips - a lesser version of the Feylaars. The Dwarf has made leaving the lair his focus. He will die without the PCs support but will help them if saved from the psychic scavengers. If he dies he will rise as a Banshee and assist the party in the fight. Each Zhackals meat and blood can satiate a PC and remove their exhaustion. There is also the corpse of another victim in their lair. Who has an obsidian weapon that can replace any of the PCs that gets broken. They also have a potion fruit of heroism and a potion fruit of cure wounds.

When it comes to the final fight, hopefully the PCs have recruited allies and preparations - strengthening themselves. The Feylaar will fight fiercely but target NPCs first (there has to be a bit of plot armour for the PCs and it’s a reward for recruiting them). It will also use the new grapple rules and its mental prowess.

If the Feylaar is defeated the Thri-Kreen Druid makes an appearance and explains that these caverns and the creature protect her Lake and Valley from the defilers and templars of the sorcerer kings - and ask if they still intend to kill the creature and ask them to justify their actions. If the Feylaar wins the Druid stabilizes them and commands the Feylaar to back away.

Either way if they interact well with her she invites them to her home, explains the threat posed by defilers in particular king Kalak and asks them to carry a message to a good friend of hers Korgunaard the Preserver who she believes they can assist. He can be reached through another contact the Noble, Agis of Asticles who is a friend of the land. The PC Druids role in the test is revealed, though they believed they were as at much risk as anyone else.

So there’s a lot to digest there. It’s controversial to have such an overwhelming creature as an early combat encounter. Any thoughts or feedback on whether it would work, or advice?

 

[Steampunkette]

Number 1 most important thing I can tell you is this:

Communicate that the party cannot reasonably defeat the Feylaar in a face-to-face fight. With a Barbarian in the party they're liable to try it and it can derail the entire remainder of your campaign. Don't just talk up the beast, make sure the Druid enters into the situation actively knowing that a head-on confrontation is suicide. Not "Practically impossible for common folk" but, like. ACTIVELY impossible. Outright "We will all die, ugly, if we do this."

Because without setting that expectation, the default assumption of Heroes + Monster is "I will violence them to death." and it won't go well!

Also yes. The Sword and his table have access to Paranormal Power, already!

 

[Ruin Explorer]

It seems like there are a ton of good ideas, and opportunities the PCs can use, and the real issue is going to be, can they be communicated to the players successfully.

I don't think the Feylaar is totally outrageous or anything, I think your main risk is as @Steampunkette says, that they won't necessarily get that they're supposed to work around it, or gather forces before attacking it. Particularly the latter is something very rarely done in D&D, so it might be an idea to have one of the NPCs make the first move on that front.

For example, one major risk I see is that elf who wants to flee. He may well convince the PCs to take the same approach - honestly it seems fairly logical - we can't fight this thing, and as a great ape-type-deal, it's probably territorial and might not pursue us (or not pursue very far), unlike a dash predator or an exhaustion predator - therefore running for it makes sense. It might be better to have him urge caution, because he knows what that is (he could still try and run past it when the actual fight comes and get nailed by the lash, of course).

My experience is that players often make a lot of assumptions about monsters they're unfamiliar with, and as the goal is to have a cool adventure rather than wipe the PCs, I think communicating how weird and dangerous this one is, is important.

Also, if I'm reading correctly, they basically have to go through the Feylaar one way or another (sorry if I've misread!), so slowing things down and preventing anything happening early on until they've explored a bit is important.

 

[Quickleaf]

A few bits of feedback from me:

• Based on my own 2-session One D&D playtesting, getting players to remember their Exhaustion level in an online play environment is very hard. They often forgot.
• You didn't mention starting level, but did mention a Soul Knife (3rd level)... but if they're lower elvel, then you may have PCs outright dying from massive damage / damage exceeding negative max HP if the monster is a heavy-hitter, which could undermine your "soft ending" scene with the druid stabilizing them (can't stabilize a dead man).
• If PCs recognize the Bloodbloom as shooting poison needles, it's possible they might question whether eating the Zhackal meat is safe.
• When I see PCs in "evade the monster" scenarios, they often try low-hanging fruit first, like distracting it with minor illusion. I would give some thought about how that would play out, ideally in the same way you did with the boulder/caravanmaster thing – the Feylaar lashes out, but doesn't prompt it to commit to hostilities.
• With the boulder/caravanmaster thing, back in AD&D, I just would have given the monster a few free attacks, but 5e players may be more insistent that you roll initiative – and even the act of rolling initiative can lock players into "this is a combat, time to fight to the death" mentality that is contrary to what you're trying to achieve with that boulder/caravanmaster scene.

 

[TheSword]

It seems like there are a ton of good ideas, and opportunities the PCs can use, and the real issue is going to be, can they be communicated to the players successfully.

I don't think the Feylaar is totally outrageous or anything, I think your main risk is as @Steampunkette says, that they won't necessarily get that they're supposed to work around it, or gather forces before attacking it. Particularly the latter is something very rarely done in D&D, so it might be an idea to have one of the NPCs make the first move on that front.

For example, one major risk I see is that elf who wants to flee. He may well convince the PCs to take the same approach - honestly it seems fairly logical - we can't fight this thing, and as a great ape-type-deal, it's probably territorial and might not pursue us (or not pursue very far), unlike a dash predator or an exhaustion predator - therefore running for it makes sense. It might be better to have him urge caution, because he knows what that is (he could still try and run past it when the actual fight comes and get nailed by the lash, of course).

My experience is that players often make a lot of assumptions about monsters they're unfamiliar with, and as the goal is to have a cool adventure rather than wipe the PCs, I think communicating how weird and dangerous this one is, is important.

Also, if I'm reading correctly, they basically have to go through the Feylaar one way or another (sorry if I've misread!), so slowing things down and preventing anything happening early on until they've explored a bit is important.

Totally agree with both you and @Steampunkette. I think the introduction text needs to make clear that this creature defeated the caravan and captures them all, single handedly

I think the Elf is the key to setting up the encounter. Making it clear that it’s suicide to attack it head on. The PCs getting to watch the Feylaar shred that elf is no bad thing to set the scene for how dangerous it is.

They do have to go through the Feylaar so yes we need to get the signposting right. I’ll also be making that message clear in the character prep stage. To be honest it’s a lesson they need to learn early. The premise of the campaign is that they form a guerrilla resistance within Tyr - effectively reforming a long destroyed Veilled Alliance. If they think they can take on the night of the Sorcerer King’s templars directly and in force then the campaign is going to come to a sudden end.

 

[Steampunkette]

To make it extra unnerving, I offer the following:

The mind whip appears not as a pink translucent flailing neon tentacle, like many videogames might portray it, but instead as a distortion in the air. Transparent, but warping the perspective of reality through its presence, it strikes the Elf with all the force of a fairy fart, yet he collapses with little more than a yelp of pain and a sigh, his hands clutching his head before he tumbles to the floor, dead...

Then the Feylaar approaches the corpse in full view of everyone, and begins the grisly process of consuming a goodly chunk of the body with the sound of snapping bones and shearing flesh. Utterly unperturbed by being watched, it makes it clear that it sees the party (and any other character) looking at it by making fierce eye-contact as it takes its next bite.

And then have it leave a good chunk of elf behind for the party to either avoid or consume to remove that level of exhaustion... Athas is cruel and terrible.

 

[TheSword]

A few bits of feedback from me:

• Based on my own 2-session One D&D playtesting, getting players to remember their Exhaustion level in an online play environment is very hard. They often forgot.
• You didn't mention starting level, but did mention a Soul Knife (3rd level)... but if they're lower elvel, then you may have PCs outright dying from massive damage / damage exceeding negative max HP if the monster is a heavy-hitter, which could undermine your "soft ending" scene with the druid stabilizing them (can't stabilize a dead man).
• If PCs recognize the Bloodbloom as shooting poison needles, it's possible they might question whether eating the Zhackal meat is safe.
• When I see PCs in "evade the monster" scenarios, they often try low-hanging fruit first, like distracting it with minor illusion. I would give some thought about how that would play out, ideally in the same way you did with the boulder/caravanmaster thing – the Feylaar lashes out, but doesn't prompt it to commit to hostilities.
• With the boulder/caravanmaster thing, back in AD&D, I just would have given the monster a few free attacks, but 5e players may be more insistent that you roll initiative – and even the act of rolling initiative can lock players into "this is a combat, time to fight to the death" mentality that is contrary to what you're trying to achieve with that boulder/caravanmaster scene.

All good watch outs

- We’re actually playing Face to Face which is nice. I will be using the screen just for battlemaps and token position (Devin Night has two excellent token sets for Darksun - desert encounters I and II)

- The party are level one but luckily rather than having one massive attack the Feylar has multiple attacks. Off the top of my head I think a fist is 1d6+3. Don’t forget 1D&D monsters don’t crit instead recharging the ego whip.

- The poison is paralytic but it’s a good point. The Druid would know that, or the halfling might be able to communicate it if they aren’t hostile.

- The Feylaar being intelligent and cruel does give me a few options with responses to PC actions. It can be clearly a game of cat and mouse - toying with the party in its lair. Hiding and peppering it with ranged weapons is likely to end badly for instance. A response might be to Ego Whip or indeed leap up to the Characters location and throw them to a new area.

- I think you’re right about initiative and the boulder attack. Particularly if players are readying attacks etc. the Feylar has a 1/day displacement ability it can activate to reduce one attack which would blunt any surprise attack from the PCs. An alternative idea I liked was for the Feylar to throw the rock back at the Mul - killing him. That deals with the threat, allows the Feylar to still take a bit of damage but without engaging in close quarters.

 

[TheSword]

To make it extra unnerving, I offer the following:

The mind whip appears not as a pink translucent flailing neon tentacle, like many videogames might portray it, but instead as a distortion in the air. Transparent, but warping the perspective of reality through its presence, it strikes the Elf with all the force of a fairy fart, yet he collapses with little more than a yelp of pain and a sigh, his hands clutching his head before he tumbles to the floor, dead...

Then the Feylaar approaches the corpse in full view of everyone, and begins the grisly process of consuming a goodly chunk of the body with the sound of snapping bones and shearing flesh. Utterly unperturbed by being watched, it makes it clear that it sees the party (and any other character) looking at it by making fierce eye-contact as it takes its next bite.

And then have it leave a good chunk of elf behind for the party to either avoid or consume to remove that level of exhaustion... Athas is cruel and terrible.

Love it. The mental scratching of the Zhackals along the upper level walkway sucking the dying elf’s pain for nourishment would make a nice accompaniment!

 

[Steampunkette]

Also gives that Dwarf Psion a brief respite from the Zhackals, giving time for the players to move in for the rescue.

 

[TheSword]

A nice picture of the Feylaar - suitably horrific.