D&D 5E I Am the Lizard King!

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by iserith:

Regin_Vargtass wrote:Against waterwalk I suggest the aforementioned entangle, using the water lilies and other waterweeds for good measure. Actually, I would do it anyway ...

 
Between the terrain and the shaman's "control" spells (plus the odd grapple), one would hope that the PCs can be held at bay just long enough for the Lizard King's transformation. It's an interesting tension, I think.
 

SterlingRat wrote:Not sure if this would work...
 
1) Kill the princess to neutralize the ritual. A couple arrows or a magic missile should do the trick. (Logically, if killing her would complete the ritual, the lizards wouldn't be wasting their time with the whole "slow drain" thing.)
2) Kill the lizards
3) Resurrect the princess (Since there's a reasonable chance that the party can defeat the king, shaman and lizards given enough time, I assume that cleric is high enough level to resurrect.)
 
Keanu Reeves approves. ("Shoot the hostage")

 

caridhor wrote:Almost with you there. I say...Kill the princess, BBQ her, or teryaki whichever the king prefers, it is his party after all............don't kill the lizards, send them on the beer run.  GOOD GUYS WIN!!!

 
You guys are cold!

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by SterlingRat:

Just pointing out a tactic that would possibly negate the countdown. To keep the scenario while removing that tactic, change the live Princess Lilac to the murdered Princess Lilac's stolen life force. The bad guys, rather than kidnapping her, killed her and trapped her soul in the Doohickey of Evilness. Then they took the Doohickey to the altar to drain the soul. Have to make options to delay the countdown, and if the Doohickey is destroyed rather than recaptured and returned to the corpse, her soul is lost.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by Silarey:

Hale, the half-orc ranger.
Long have I been traveling the lands. My heritage a bane to my reputation. A brutal killer is what they call me. Perhaps it's what I am. This lizard king; he's no so different from me. No, perhaps we're both of the same cloth. Maybe we could have been friends. Yes, perhaps it may have been so at another time and another place. We're most likely both victims of circumstances.
 
*BBEG revels in the Shadowfell energies, a gruff snaky cackle resonates through the bog; drowns out the whimpering of the Elven princess*
 
Look at him, seems he found his place in the world. Yeah; maybe I should find mine. My 4 comrades pretends we're all friends, but I see it in their eyes when I let loose; the fear. It's something I came to realize in the past months. We accomplished many things together, but gradually, I came to understand this fear as something different from the ones I saw sketched on all my previous opponents. Aye, this one grew on them, like a comfortable blanket beside a campfire they wrapped themselves in it.
 
*Adventurers rush the lizards shouting battle-cries, flinging spells and launching bolts; the robe-wearer yelling Hale's name sternly*
 
Ah, I guess it's my turn now. Oh lizard pal; why'd it come to this. Now I have to draw both my weary blades in yet another addition to my grim tally, against a foe much in the same rut that I find myself. Oh look, there goes Mr.Toogoodforeveryone speared. Yeah I see you, from the bushes I catch your last look; it seems accusing. Sorry, not my fault; this time it wasn't me. And there goes the Golden Boy himself, hah, thrown into the waters: never liked your haughty brags, too bad I couldn't see it myself. These bushes are pretty nice right now. Looks like you're going to win this one Mr.Lizard King.
 
*Seeing his friends felled, the cleric bats away the spirits assailing him honing his god's symbol with his faith, the spirits dissipates to the great disappointment of the shaman. It is too late, and he starts the retreat hoping the thief can cover him*
 
Run robed dunst, they're almost at your heels. The short one won't help you; he got dragged under already. Probably have issues with seeing things clearly with those bushy eyebrows of yours. No matter, you'll be feeding the lizards too soon enough.
 
*The Elven Princess succumbs to disaster and expires*
 
Never like those elves; too frail, too much like our late Golden Boy. Ho ho priest, you chose the white and now wear the deepest red. I'll be seeing you one day. Not today, no, I'm hungry and this isn't my scene.
 
*The ranger leaves the scene through the bush, like an artist observing the work of another. He heads for easier game.*
 
"Hale hungry. Rabbit is good. Hale get rabbit."
 
There. Encounter done. The Ranger Wins.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by Shasarak:

iserith wrote: 

caridhor wrote:Almost with you there. I say...Kill the princess, BBQ her, or teryaki whichever the king prefers, it is his party after all............don't kill the lizards, send them on the beer run.  GOOD GUYS WIN!!!

 
You guys are cold!

 
I would probably change the sacrifice so that the treasure was slowly being consumed.
 
Now we are talking about pressure!

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by iserith:

SterlingRat wrote:Just pointing out a tactic that would possibly negate the countdown. To keep the scenario while removing that tactic, change the live Princess Lilac to the murdered Princess Lilac's stolen life force. The bad guys, rather than kidnapping her, killed her and trapped her soul in the Doohickey of Evilness. Then they took the Doohickey to the altar to drain the soul. Have to make options to delay the countdown, and if the Doohickey is destroyed rather than recaptured and returned to the corpse, her soul is lost.

 
I think I'd like that tactic to remain viable. It says something about the PCs or the desperation of their situation to take such a tact. That's a memorable story.
 

Silarey wrote:There. Encounter done. The Ranger Wins.

 
Nice story.
 

Shasarak wrote:I would probably change the sacrifice so that the treasure was slowly being consumed. 
Now we are talking about pressure!

 
That's an idea, too - swap Princess Lilac for an artifact of some kind that is being drained to fuel the transformation.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by SterlingRat:

iserith wrote: 

SterlingRat wrote:Just pointing out a tactic that would possibly negate the countdown. To keep the scenario while removing that tactic, change the live Princess Lilac to the murdered Princess Lilac's stolen life force. The bad guys, rather than kidnapping her, killed her and trapped her soul in the Doohickey of Evilness. Then they took the Doohickey to the altar to drain the soul. Have to make options to delay the countdown, and if the Doohickey is destroyed rather than recaptured and returned to the corpse, her soul is lost.

 
I think I'd like that tactic to remain viable. It says something about the PCs or the desperation of their situation to take such a tact. That's a memorable story.

True. Though I was part of a 3.5 group that played high levels once (and only once) where the wizard killed everything in a group of orcs with villagers as hostages, then the cleric resurrected the hostages. It didn't feel right to me, but I was playing a fighter and feeling pretty useless at the time, so it may have been that I was bitter.A couple other ways around the scenario without the "Kill them all" theory:
 
Wizard Solo solution round 1: cast something that lets you see through invisibility. Round 2: make the princess invisible. Round 3: polymorph her into a sprite and let her fly away, invisibly. (Edit: oops - too many concentration spells... but this is Level 8, so if the cleric can handle the "See Invisibility" function and the rogue is an Arcane Trickster with Invisibility....)
Wizard & Cleric solution: Wizard polymorphs the princess into a sprite, Cleric gives her sanctuary. She flies away.
 
In both cases, the Fighter and Rogue are in charge of making a loud, obvious, violent and hopefully distracting charge. Hit anything - just make sure you scream a lot when you do it to keep eyes on you rather than the caster(s) that are saving the princess. Once she's out of harm's way, it's Lizard Season.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by Timborama:

SterlingRat wrote:Though I was part of a 3.5 group that played high levels once (and only once) where the wizard killed everything in a group of orcs with villagers as hostages, then the cleric resurrected the hostages.

 
Hmmm, 2nd time today my post was eaten. Glad it wasn't very long!
 
Anyway, judging by how expensive this alternate plan is, I'd be super-okay with it. Partially due to the unique thinking of the PCs, and also due to the major resource drain it imposed (finances are very much a resource!). I wouldn't be bitter about it at all!

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by SterlingRat:

Timborama wrote:I wouldn't be bitter about it at all!

I'm just bitter because I was playing a fighter and I had spell envy.
 
And to be completely fair to those two.... they were playing their characters, not trying to cleverly undo a scenario by brutal tactics. The wizard was playing an arrogant SOB who took "ends justify means" to all new heights, and he was not aware of the hostages when he blew up the whole scene with some disgusting duplicated quickened maximized balh-blah-not-sure cone of fire. The cleric was playing a decent sort, who spent most of her time cleaning up the wizard's messes... which she did that time as well. And there were only a half dozen villagers.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by Rils:

I'm confused about the "I can do anything" option.  Why should rescuing the princess make the encounter harder?  Isn't saving her the point?

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by iserith:

SterlingRat wrote:True. Though I was part of a 3.5 group that played high levels once (and only once) where the wizard killed everything in a group of orcs with villagers as hostages, then the cleric resurrected the hostages. It didn't feel right to me, but I was playing a fighter and feeling pretty useless at the time, so it may have been that I was bitter.

 
Tasha's hideous envy.
 
When I ran the module Harbinger House (Planescape AD&D 2e), there's a scene where the villain is getting ready to sacrifice like a half dozen people to fuel his ascendancy to godhood. The wizard fireballed the captives to disrupt the ritual. As a player, I wouldn't be so sure about the NPCs coming back from the hereafter - the DM could always say they choose not to. As a DM, if the players spent the resources on it, I'd give them their due.
 

SterlingRat wrote:A couple other ways around the scenario without the "Kill them all" theory: 
Wizard Solo solution round 1: cast something that lets you see through invisibility. Round 2: make the princess invisible. Round 3: polymorph her into a sprite and let her fly away, invisibly. (Edit: oops - too many concentration spells... but this is Level 8, so if the cleric can handle the "See Invisibility" function and the rogue is an Arcane Trickster with Invisibility....)
Wizard & Cleric solution: Wizard polymorphs the princess into a sprite, Cleric gives her sanctuary. She flies away.
 
In both cases, the Fighter and Rogue are in charge of making a loud, obvious, violent and hopefully distracting charge. Hit anything - just make sure you scream a lot when you do it to keep eyes on you rather than the caster(s) that are saving the princess. Once she's out of harm's way, it's Lizard Season.

 
The polymorph is a cool tactic and only requires the wizard to get on the initial log raft to be just within range.
 

Rils wrote:I'm confused about the "I can do anything" option.  Why should rescuing the princess make the encounter harder?  Isn't saving her the point?

 
In that option, a PC win effectively results in a battle with an adult black dragon. The fail condition is a battle with an adult black dragon with the shadow dragon template, which is a harder fight by the looks of it (even if Challenge is not adjusted). This is because of its Lair Action (magical darkness) combined with the Living Shadow trait which gives it resistance to most damage types when in darkness.
 
So if this option is used, in the fiction, the transformation is a done deal - the Lizard King will be turning into a dragon. But if you save the Princess before she's drained of her fey energy, the connection to the Shadowfell is disrupted and the Lizard King cannot become a shadow dragon. Instead, he's just a black dragon.
 
This option is good for groups that are itching for a dragon fight or when the DM wants to present a tough challenge.