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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sanzuo" data-source="post: 5228504" data-attributes="member: 66180">Iron Sky SucksThis is a 4th edition D&D adventure for upper heroic-level to lower paragon-level PCs.SummaryThe player characters are slaves forced to do battle in a celestial arena.  Only by dealing with the monstrous characters sharing their fate can the party hope to escape.Set UpOn the celestial plane of Chernoggar, Bane, the god of war and Gruumsh, the god of destruction wage a constant struggle.  Within this plane is the fortress-city of Clangor and within this city is the arena, known throughout the planes.  The arena is operated by the Hobgoblin exarch, Maglubiet, and his army of goblinoids.  Here they hold captured slaves from all over the planes to do battle in the arena for the goblinoids' own pleasure.The player characters begin this adventure as slaves of the goblinoids.  How this has occured is left up to the DM.  They could have been captured while in the Astral Sea on a previous adventure, or maybe how they were captured is left ambiguous and the party's first meeting together is in the slave pens of the arena.  They are, of course, to fight as gladiators.  None of their captors or spectators expect them to live for very long, but the party's survival depends on their ability to whether the harsh life as a gladiator-slave.The first match is set to go underway immediately.  The player characters are given no time to prepare or equip themselves and are thrown out onto the field completely bare.The First BattleThe first battle is practically a free-for-all melee.  The party is dumped into the sand of the battlefield with dozens of other rabble.  This match serves as a precursor to the more refined battles later on.  It also serves to illuminate the more skillful competitors in the eyes of the arena masters.The party is shoved out into the arena with no weapons or equipment.  There are, however, rusty weapons and shields littering the battlefield.  During the battle the player characters may search for a weapon of choice as a move action.  There will be several simple encounters followed by a difficult one with no short rest.Once all the other opponents are defeated, the party will be announced the winners (or they will die) and they will be ushered into the dungeons below the arena.The DungeonAfter the first battle the party is free to roam the gladiatorial prison beneath the arena.  This area for the slaves is a jumbled warren of dungeon cells and is highly disorganized and chaotic.  The bugbear guards serve merely to keep the prisoners within the dungeons proper, what happens within is not their concern.  Monstrous creatures roam freely in the darkness and fatalities amongst the prisoners are common. This is more-or-less a persistent dungeon which the party can explore between bouts.  They may even aquire better items and equipment for their curiosity.  They are even given a cell to rest in relative safety.  However, it should be noted that the party is limited in time, and taking an extended rest automatically moves the party to the following day where more matches await.Whether they explore the dungeons or decide to simply rest, they will either come upon, or be visited by several key NPCs who hear of the player characters and their fortunate victory.The first is the satyr.  The satyr is a former slave master who displeased the goblinoids and was cast down into the dungeon with the rest of the slaves.  He now wishes to bring down the arena, but requires the help of a capable group of adventurers.  He knows of a magical, but unassuming carpenter's hammer that is actually a powerful artifact.  It was used in the initial construction of the arena, but can also be used to destroy it.  He wishes the party to find the hammer so that he can realize his dream of destroying the arena.  There are two djinni that the satyr believes may know where the hammer lies.The djinni are a pair of brothers who were forced as slaves to help with the construction of the arena.  They helped create the carpenter's hammer and know how to re-aquire it.  If the party wants their cooperation, however, they will have to help them.  Since their enslavement, the two djinni have been bound and forced to share a single bottle.  This bottle has come into the possession of a cyclops who uses it as a drinking flask.  This cyclops also happens to be the current arena champion.  With their bottle, the djinni could cast a ritual taking themselves and the party, if they wish, to the elemental chaos from whence the djinni hail.  If the party agrees, the djinni will provide them with a valuable clue to find the hammer.Finally, there is the cyclops, who is the long-standing arena champion.  He loves menacing the other gladiators with promises of horrific death.  He offers to spare certain contenders if they perform “services” for him.  Neither of these fates are desirable.  The cyclops will taunt the party and make offers to them that if they become his personal slaves, he will spare them in the arena.The PlanThe satyr and djinni suggest that the party use their spare time, either that day or the following, to acquire the carpenter's hammer, as it is unassuming and will probably not be well guarded.  The party can find the hammer on some minor laborer protected by guards working deep within the dungeon.  As for the djinni's bottle; the party must wait for a more opportune time before they have a chance to acquire it.The hammer will eventually be found, but depending on the method the player characters choose to acquire it (through guile or force) the outcome of the mission will effect their ability to operate within the arena from that point forward.  If they are caught doing any shenanigans, they will be severely punished and kept on a much shorter leash.  Their captors will resist killing the player characters for their infractions.  After all, unruly slaves and escape attempts are to be expected.The Following DayThe party taking an extended rest signals the transition to the next day.  The party is due to participate in a series of unimportant matches.  This will be handled via skill challenge.  A success resulting in the player characters retaining health, healing surges, and acquiring a number of useful items.  A failure will result in the loss of healing surges and no new equipment or items.The satyr will take that point to tell the party about his plan for the cyclops.  The satyr is convinced at this point that the party are the only ones remotely capable of defeating the arena champion, but he also believes that the party will need help.  Through the satyr's natural talents and experience, he has become intimately familiar with the cyclops' “appetites.”  The night before the party is due to face the arena champion, the satyr is planning on holding a soiree in the cyclops' honor.  Using his skills, the satyr will make sure that the cyclops indulges, in excess, his every appetite.  This will hopefully give the party an edge in the upcoming match.The CyclopsHow soon the party faces the cyclops is entirely up to their performance in the arena.  It should become quickly apparent that the party is able to deal with any minor threats without too much trouble.  This sets up their eventual match with the cyclops.No one expects the player characters to succeed in this battle, however they did not count on the cyclops still recovering from his evening of revelry with the satyr the previous night.  This gives him substantial combat penalties and gives the party a fighting chance.  The player characters do not necessarily need to defeat the cyclops, they merely need to acquire the bottle he keeps on his person.  Though, defeating him is the surest way of doing this.After acquiring the bottle, the djinni will appear and begin the ritual to open a portal to the elemental chaos.  At the same time the satyr will begin using the hammer to collapse the arena.  The party must fend of waves of goblinoid guards and defend the djinni so that they can complete the ritual.  Once the ritual is complete, the portal will open and cast the party into the elemental chaos and onto another adventure.Ingredientscyclops - The gladiatorial champion that the PCs must defeatcelestial arena - Clangor Arena, located in the celestial domain of Chernoggarreformed satyr - A former slave master and engineer who wants to destroy the arenaunwelcome advances - the ominous rumors of what await the PCs if they do not defeat the cyclops.carpenter's mallet - An unassuming mallet with the magical power to craft (or destroy) mighty structuresTwo djinn one bottle - two djinn forced to occupy the same living space and compete in a ridiculous contest.  They offer a possible escape route for the PCs, once they've defeated the cyclops</blockquote>

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