D&D 5E I Am the Lizard King!

[iserith]

Originally posted by iserith:


 
T H E   S I T C H
Princess Lilac (or Prince Lotus, if you like), heir to the Enchanted Domain of the Fey Folk, has been abducted by The Lizard King, a maniacally evil lizardman with ambitious plans, and his scaly subjects. The tribal shaman has read the entrails of a catoplebas and learned of a rare celestial event, a night when the two moons will be consumed by the shadow of Sess'inek. This marks a time when the Shadowfell is coterminous with a ley line that slices through the Oozing Bog of Ugh. On this night, an offering of noble fey blood can be used to transform The Lizard King into a powerful shadow dragon.
 
The adventurers have been hot on the trail of the lizardfolk, pushing deep into their swampy domain in an effort to rescue Princess Lilac and prevent The Lizard King from completing his dark metamorphasis. As they arrive on the scene, the ritual is nearly complete: Princess Lilac is lashed to a huge dragon's skull atop a pile of skeletons which drains her lifeforce and powers a spinning whirlpool in the muck where The Lizard King is transforming.
 
Will the heroes be able to rescue Princess Lilac before her noble essence is stolen away and prevent The Lizard King from becoming a fearsome dragon?
 
T H E   K I N G ' S   C O U R T
Shetharularor, The Lizard King (MM pg. 205)
Sazglaur, lizardfolk shaman (MM pg. 205)
7 lizardfolk (MM pg. 204)
Princess Lilac, a noble (MM pg. 348, modified to reflect elf traits)
 
Possibly:
Adult Black Dragon (MM pg. 88, modified with shadow dragon template on pg. 84-85)
 
While Shetharularor swims in a whirlpool of swamp water, bathing in the power of the Shadowfell, Sazglaur chants praises to Sess'inek, a tanar'ri demon lord. Seven lizardfolk warriors - the fiercest of the Forked Tongue tribe - witness the transformation and guard against interference. The Lizard King will dive beneath the water to avoid being killed before the ritual is completed if he must. The lizardfolk do what they can to keep the adventurers away from Princess Lilac.
 
Princess Lilac is currently having her fey essence drained by the evil magic of the skull altar. Her arms are outstretched, wrists tied with vines to the two horns of the dragon skull. At the end of each round, Princess Lilac loses 2 hit points. When she reaches 0 hit points, The Lizard King transforms into a shadow dragon if he is still alive. (Because The Lizard King and his tribe claim the Oozing Bog of Ugh, it becomes the dragon's lair for the purposes of Lair Actions.) The dragon tries to drive off its enemies, standing its ground only until reduced to 25% of its hit points at which point it flees, vowing revenge.
 
The "I Can Do Anything" Option: If Princess Lilac is taken from the altar before she is reduced to 0 hit points or the altar is disrupted, The Lizard King transforms, but is not imbued with the power of the Shadowfell. As a result, he becomes an adult black dragon without the shadow dragon template. This option makes this encounter a bit more difficult.
 
T H E   O O Z I N G   B O G   O F   U G H
Dry Land (or not): As the ritual draws to an end, The Lizard King's draconic presence begins to transform the land. The relatively dry land upon which the adventurers walk when they arrive begins to change into a sucking morass. Any enemy that ends its turn in this muck must make a DC 12 Strength saving throw or start to sink and is restrained. Once restrained, escape requires an action and a DC 12 Strength check. Three consecutive failures means the creature is pulled under and is at risk of suffocation.
 
Lilipads: These large lilipads look like they could support the weight of a man, but at best they can support Small creatures. The beauty of the water lilies thriving in such a dark place is inspiring to Princess Lilac. If she is given a flower, she regains 2 hit points.
 
Log Rafts: Thatched huts made of damp reeds and mud are built upon rafts of logs lashed together with vines. They are not attached to anything so they can be moved around with an appropriate amount of effort. Because they are constantly soaked in water, they are not flammable, nor are the huts themselves. Inside each hut are primitive tools, weapons, and animal trophies, plus a small amount of treasure. Large fires burn in the center of two of the rafts.
 
Skull Altar: On one of the log rafts, the lizardfolk shaman has gathered a pile of skeletons, victims of his tribe's raids on civilized lands. Atop the pile of skeletons is a very large dragon skull decorated with primitive symbols painted in blood. Princess Lilac is tied to the skull and as it drains away her life force, the ocular cavities of the dragon light up with a baleful glow. A dispel magic or similar effect can suppress the draining effect of the skull altar (DC 15) for 1d4 rounds.
 
Swamp Water: Any given spot in the murky water is as deep in feet as it is far from the dry land to a maximum of 60 feet. The water is muddy and filled with vegetation which makes any creature completely submerged within it heavily obscured.
 
Whirlpool: The magic of the altar and the power of the ley line on this night of darkness creates a whirlpool in the murky water of the bog. Any creature without a swim speed that is in the whirlpool at the end of its turn must make a DC 15 Strength save or be moved 15 feet counter-clockwise and be pulled under the water to a depth of 15 feet. Getting away from this effect requires an action to make a DC 15 Strength check. Creatures with a swim speed can choose to go with the flow. The whirlpool dissipates when the ritual is completed or disrupted.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
How would you or your players (if you're DM) take on this challenge? What would you add or change? As always, constructive feedback is welcome and if you use this is in your campaign, let me know how it went!

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by bawylie:

For me, the whirlpool really makes the challenge. In a straight fight, we likely can either save the protectee or eliminate the BBEG p quickly. The whirlpool effectively stalls around 2 moves (more if luck isn't with you). And that's enough to ratchet the countdown tension. 
 
I'm not looking at the MM, however, if the lizardmen don't have a swim speed, I'd add one. 

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by Akeisha:

Definitely an interesting premise!
 
If the party were large enough, perhaps it could be split into two with one group focusing on the lizardfolk while the other group does what it can to reach the princess as quickly as possible.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by iserith:

bawylie wrote:For me, the whirlpool really makes the challenge. In a straight fight, we likely can either save the protectee or eliminate the BBEG p quickly. The whirlpool effectively stalls around 2 moves (more if luck isn't with you). And that's enough to ratchet the countdown tension.

 
Yeah, the whirlpool makes a direct line to Princess Lilac difficult. Since swimming costs 2 squares for every one, that's another issue. Spells and items would help here.
 
Princess Lilac has 9 hit points, so at 2 hit points per round, she's done for in 5 rounds. I'd be having lizardfolk grappling to slow the PCs down further. For a harder or easier challenge, the DM could make her lose 3 hp per round or just 1 hp. I like building in dials like this.
 
The Lizard King would go underwater (heavily obscured) if he takes too much heat so that'll likely keep him alive. He's got 78 hp I think and that's pretty sturdy. I'd be interested to know what 8th-level PCs could unleash a nova on him that hits that kind of number in a single round.
 

bawylie wrote:I'm not looking at the MM, however, if the lizardmen don't have a swim speed, I'd add one.

 
They got one - this is their turf for sure.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by iserith:

caridhor wrote:hmmm..here we have a conflict of interest...I want the lizards to win

 
Me too!
 
Now, as a player, how would you try to make that happen at the table? I'm an advocate for players making choices that will make for a more fun situation for them (even if that means their character makes substandard choices sometimes).
 

Akeisha wroteefinitely an interesting premise!

 
Thanks!
 

Akeisha wrote:If the party were large enough, perhaps it could be split into two with one group focusing on the lizardfolk while the other group does what it can to reach the princess as quickly as possible.

 
Oh yeah, split dat party!
 

caridhor wroter the party could offer to bring the chips and soda since the lizards provide the main course but seriously, nice scenario.

 
Thanks!

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by raleel:

Well, they effectively have 5 rounds to prevent her from dying. If they have no intelligence about the situation, they are going to lose, because they are not going to get to her fast enough (barring flight and other options).
 
I would think that the alter would have an option for more permanent disruption than a dispel magic, assuming that the party is under about level 7.  However, disrupting the skull is a priority. That'll buy them some time. The wizard probably needs to do that on the first round. As positioned on the map he can JUST reach it with one move. However, any oddity (even being a gnome) would be enough to make it out of reach. Hope he's got a buff. The wizard's next move is going to be to cast fly and move up. He needs to be at least 30' up to get out of easy javelin range.
 
It might be worth it for him to LEAD with this instead, and drop it on the rogue, if the rogue and the wizard are going fast. Rogue can then move+dash and get up in the shaman's face. This would probably be the ideal tactic if you have a Rogue/Assassin rather than a Rogue/Thief, as he could potentially get his sneak against the not-particularly-fast lizardmen.
 
Cleric - I'd want to know if I can disrupt the ritual with silence, and I'd put it on anyone that it would be effective on.
 
If someone can get up and land a hold person on the shaman, that seems like it would also disrupt it. It seems unlikely that the party would be able to drop the lizard king from range in one round.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by Shasarak:

Just drop two fireballs on the middle Lizardmen and King, Bless and Polymorph into a T-Rex and Bobs your Grandad.  
 
Nice scenario Iserith.  

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by iserith:

raleel wrote:Well, they effectively have 5 rounds to prevent her from dying. If they have no intelligence about the situation, they are going to lose, because they are not going to get to her fast enough (barring flight and other options).

 
Yep, I like a scenario that makes people think.
 

raleel wrote:I would think that the alter would have an option for more permanent disruption than a dispel magic, assuming that the party is under about level 7.

 
I have the PCs at 8th level for this one.
 

raleel wrote: However, disrupting the skull is a priority. That'll buy them some time. The wizard probably needs to do that on the first round. As positioned on the map he can JUST reach it with one move. However, any oddity (even being a gnome) would be enough to make it out of reach. Hope he's got a buff. The wizard's next move is going to be to cast fly and move up. He needs to be at least 30' up to get out of easy javelin range.  
It might be worth it for him to LEAD with this instead, and drop it on the rogue, if the rogue and the wizard are going fast. Rogue can then move+dash and get up in the shaman's face. This would probably be the ideal tactic if you have a Rogue/Assassin rather than a Rogue/Thief, as he could potentially get his sneak against the not-particularly-fast lizardmen.
 
Cleric - I'd want to know if I can disrupt the ritual with silence, and I'd put it on anyone that it would be effective on.
 
If someone can get up and land a hold person on the shaman, that seems like it would also disrupt it. It seems unlikely that the party would be able to drop the lizard king from range in one round.

 
Dispel magic has a range of 120 feet - easy to get from where the wizard stands. Of course, she'll probably want to move to avoid getting stuck in the mud. I didn't link the shaman in any way to the ritual - he's done his part and is just extolling his demon lord at this point. So neither silence nor hold person would do anything as written, but another DM could certainly make the shaman's verbal and somatic contributions key to the ritual. When the PCs turn up, he can cast spells to slow them down as well - entangle and such. He can also conjure animals (reptiles only). Any idea what would be a troublesome monster(s) for the shaman to conjure?
 
I could see smashing the skull as another option for disrupting the ritual. I'd probably give it a set number of HP and if it can be destroyed in time, huzzah!

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by raleel:

Ah, level 8. Lots of options at level 8.
 
Wizard casts fly. Wizard moves. Next round, wizard moves, wizard casts Otiluke's resilient sphere around princess. Princess safe for a while.
 
Fighter pulls out longbow and hopefully takes out some dudes.
 
Cleric does freedom of movement, and if he's really smart, he did control water. Very large control of the battlefield at that point. Wizard can also do this. Wizard can conjure a water elemental as well... pretty handy for this sort of fight.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by thehobb:

I don't know if this would work but here's a plan I'd suggest:
 
Mage casts fly on the fighter.
The fighter flies over to the lizard king and grabs/grapples him, perhaps aided by a bless spell and perhaps a lasso.
Fighter flies back to the mage with the lizard king in tow.
Mage casts rope trick and fighter drags lizard king into the extradimensional space, maybe aided by the rogue.
Since the lizard king will be in another dimension, and spells can not cross the entrance to the extradimensional space, in theory this will sever the connection between the lizard king and whatever powers are trying to transform him.
 
Cleric dispells magic on the alter to give them more time
The party tells the clan they will get their king back unharmed in the morning (after the celestial event has ended of course) if they release princess lilac. Otherwise their king dies as he is at the party's mercy.