Slamdarius
First Post
How's it going fellas, I need some opinions on a skill challenge I've got for my campaign - I'm not sure if I've gone and made it too elaborate is what the problem is.
So, a bit of background. The campaign is taking place in Cormyr's Hullack Forest, the four PCs (level 2) are part of a mercenary caravan transporting goods from Highmoon to Arabel. Travelling along the East Way, they take a detour through Hullack Forest (nothing they haven't done before, they're a fairly experienced caravan team). Orc bandits attack them while they make their way down the road. This is intended to be a breeze of an encounter. Once a good amount of the orcs are slain and the PCs are feeling cocky, I UNLEASH THE THUNDER on their asses. See, I plan on getting them lost in Hullack Forest. What's the best way to get someone to run?
Dragons.
So I figure once they've cleared out most of the orcs, a loud roar is heard and a giant silhouette rushes overhead. The orcs know what's going on, grab what they can and split - the PCs, on the other hand, are completely caught off guard as a young green dragon barrels out of the wood and bashes one of their wagons off the road. A second green dragon, this one an adult, swoops down towards them and bowls over another wagon, catching one of the NPCs in its jaws and flying out of sight with him. At this point, I expect the party will flee down the road on horse back (path of least resistance). If they're stupid enough to stay around and try to fight the dragons, no sweat off my back. The intent is to catch them, not kill them on the road. So the dragons fly down the PCs and grab them (double moving and spending action points when necessary), and then fly off over the forest canopy with one PC in each of their claws. This is where the skill challenge starts.
Captured by Dragons! Skill Challenge
Complexity: Variable
The PCs are given 5 rounds to escape from the dragons. Far in the distance, a massive crag juts out of the trees - a gaping hole in its side is the dragons' ultimate destination, their lair. I plan on making a small chart for the players that looks something like this:
Terrible, I know. Anyways. PCs can escape from the dragons grab by two means:
Athletics against Fortitude
or
Acrobatics against Reflex
In addition to this, the PCs can make a melee basic attack against the claw carrying them or the dragon's head (as long as they have a reach weapon). Ranged characters can also make a ranged basic attack (or any spell/ability that can be used as such by means of a feat or otherwise) against the dragon's head, but not without the proper feats (reapers touch, for example).
Damage dealt to the head grants a skill bonus to all PCs carried by the specific dragon targetted. The skill bonus is equal to the total damage dealt divided in half, rounded down.
Damage dealt to the claw grants a skill bonus equal to the full damage dealt to the claw, but only for the person being grabbed by it.
All bonuses are cumulative, and carry through until the skill challenge ends.
So the idea here is that the PCs will either try to worm or push their way out of the dragon's grasp, weakening their hold by damaging them if the dragon's defenses prove to be too strong.
If a PC manages to break free, he falls about 30 feet through the trees (leaves and branches softening his fall, so I'll only roll a 1d10).
Save Your Friends! Skill Challenge (if all of the PCs escape, continue on to the Skill Challenge Flee Through the Forest!)
Complexity: Variable
PCs who have escaped the dragons grasp get up on the following turn and do either one of two things:
Make an athletics check to sprint through the trees, hop over logs, etc
or
Make a nature check to spot trails through the brush, avoid natural hazards, etc
Either one works, it's just variety for the sake of class balance. Again, there are no DCs. The PCs roll either check (skill bonuses from attacking the dragons are lost at this point) and depending on their result, they move a set amount of spaces:
1-4: 0 squares (Lost, tripped, got turned around.)
5-9: 1 square
10-14: 2 squares
15-19: 3 squares
20+: 4 squares (Zooooom!)
At this point, the marks on the diagram need some explaining. If you'll scroll back up, you'll see the rounds 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. After each PC has performed an action (run through the woods, attack the dragons, try to break free), the dragons will fly one space towards the lair, dragging their helpless victims with them (abcd representing the PCs). At the bottom of the diagram are the numbers 10|9, 8|7, 6|5, etc.
When a PC escapes the dragon's grasp, they will land on the left-most square. For example, if a PC manages to escape in the second round, he will land on 8. On the third round, he will make an athletics check, rolls a 17, and so he moves forward to square 5. He's right under the dragons, nice work!
The way I have it set up, the PCs (assuming they roll fairly; my players have been rolling dice for three decades, so they've somehow managed to "feel it out". I once saw eleven natural twenties rolled during a boss fight in Spellgard.) will be able to keep up with or trail slightly behind the dragons. Unless they roll faaaantastic, they won't get to the lair before them.
Also, if one of the running PCs is having bad luck, another player can subtract from his own distance result and "help out" his slower comrade, granting him a bonus to his distance result equal to the number he subtracted. If the wizard keeps rolling 1s, the next time the ranger rolls a 3 he can reduce his distance to 1 and give the wizard a +2 bonus to her distance result next round. This way, no one really falls behind during the skill check.
At the end of the fifth round, if any PCs remain captured, they move on to the Don't Get Eaten! Skill Challenge. While they perform their skill challenge, the PCs running towards the lair still have to get to square 1 to reach them. That way, I've got some people trapped in a cave with a dragon while others are sprinting through the forest to save them. I think it's a pretty cool idea.
Don't Get Eaten! Skill Challenge
Complexity: Ongoing
Now this is an actual skill challenge, with DCs and everything. One or both dragons (depending on how many PCs escaped) land on the outcropping in front of their cave and heave the PCs into the dimly lit cave. The two of them bicker and snap at eachother for a moment, then the larger one flies off, leaving the smaller green dragon to herd the captured PCs into the back of the lair. When he has them trapped, the dragon will start to toy with them until its parter returns (presumably, it went off to find the rest of the caravan NPCs). The PC's rough treatment causes all of them to lose one healing surge (not escaping during the flight is considered a failure.)
The major skills for this skill challenge are:
Diplomacy, used to distract the dragon with honeyed words. This distracts the dragon, allowing the next PC to make a skill check against the dragon to reroll the check if they do not like the result. This can be done only twice. DC 20
or
Acrobatics, used to dodge the dragon's swiping claws or flicking tail. DC 16
or
Stealth, used to hide in the dark recesses of the lair, or amongst the piles of bones scattered across the cave floor. DC 18
or
Endurance, used to withstand the effects of the dragon's noxious breath. DC 15, increasing the DC by 3 each time it is used.
The point of this encounter is not to reach a set number of successes - it's to survive until the other PCs doing the Save Your Friends! challenge arrive. Each failed skill check made in the cave costs 1 healing surge.
When an escaped PC finally makes it to square 1, he is at the mouth of the dragon cave. Looking in, he can see the young green dragon harassing his comrades, and can decide to either:
Wait for the rest of the escaped party members to reach the lair aswell (if any are still doing the skill challenge)
or
Spring into combat and save his friends.
The second option will start a combat encounter against the dragon, with the PC at the mouth of the cave gaining a suprise round to act against the dragon. Noticing the dragon's unprotected rear, the PC (or PCs) will be given the opportunity to charge and try to climb onto the dragon, but only during the surprise round.
A successful acrobatics or athletics check is required, DC 15. Any PC that climbs on the dragon's back gains combat advantage against it, and cannot be targetted by any of the dragon's attacks, save for one. As a standard action, the dragon can try to dislodge the PCs on its back by shaking its wings or charging and slamming against the cave walls. The PCs must then either make a:
Acrobatics check opposed to the dragon's attack roll to keep balance.
or
Athletics check opposed to the dragon's attack roll to hang on tight.
If the PCs fail to make the check, they land in a space adjacent to the dragon, prone.
The party then proceeds to fight the dragon its lair. If things aren't going so well for the PCs, they will discover a cleft in the cave wall hidden behind a pile of bones, either by having one of them get knocked into it, or having the dragon charge into a wall near it and dislodge the bones. The PCs may then escape through this tunnel, ending at deep fissure that extends downwards for a good 60 ft. The dragon will start to wheeze poison gas into the cleft, so they will be forced to leap down, landing in a 4x4 pool of water deep enough to prevent injury. They'll each roll 2d4 to determine which square they land in - if anyone lands on someone else, both PCs loose 1 healing surge. This pool is attached to a corridor blocked off by a rock slide. Once the rocks are moved, the PCs will find themselves in an abandoned iron mine.
However, if the PCs choose to escape from the dragon via the cave's entrance, this leads to the Skill Challenge Flee Through the Forest! If the PCs manage to actually kill the young green dragon (I've seen crazier things happen), they will be able to search the cave. They'll find fat loot, and perhaps even the cleft in the wall - if they go through the cleft, it leads to the same area described in the paragraph above. If they leave through the cave's entrance, they still must perform the Flee Through the Forest! skill challenge, as the adult green dragon spots them as they exit its lair and sets off after them.
Flee Through the Forest! Skill Challenge
Complexity: 4
8 successes before 3 failures
PCs are sprinting through the trees, trying to run from an angry green dragon. Major skills:
Stealth, the PCs manage to conceal themselves from the dragon by wandering through thick terrain. DC 18
or
Nature, the PCs notice an clear trail through the trees. DC 20
or
Athletics, the PCs tear a path through the bush, tiring themselves but gaining slight ground. DC 16, +2 to DC for every consecutive use.
or
Perception, the PCs notice the dragon try to flank them or notice an alternate route. DC 18, gives a +2 bonus to the next stealth or nature check made, and 3 successful perception checks immediately ends the skill challenge in success (perception checks do not contribute to successes but they do contribute to failures)
If the PCs succeed, they reach the abandoned iron mine by an alternate route, and get inside without incident.
If the PCs fail the encounter, the dragon manages to catch up to them and knock them down with a powerful flyby swoop. The PCs manage to get to their feet and scramble into the mine before the dragon returns for another strike, but all suffer the loss of 1 healing surge.
So yeah. that's my skill challenge(s) involving the dragons. Here's a chart for easy understanding.
So yeah, that's what I've got so far. Sorry for the messy format, I'd like to thank you for reading this all the way through. Any comments or suggestions? (Sorry for the alignment problems with the diagrams, I can't figure out how to fix it on these forums.)
So, a bit of background. The campaign is taking place in Cormyr's Hullack Forest, the four PCs (level 2) are part of a mercenary caravan transporting goods from Highmoon to Arabel. Travelling along the East Way, they take a detour through Hullack Forest (nothing they haven't done before, they're a fairly experienced caravan team). Orc bandits attack them while they make their way down the road. This is intended to be a breeze of an encounter. Once a good amount of the orcs are slain and the PCs are feeling cocky, I UNLEASH THE THUNDER on their asses. See, I plan on getting them lost in Hullack Forest. What's the best way to get someone to run?
Dragons.
So I figure once they've cleared out most of the orcs, a loud roar is heard and a giant silhouette rushes overhead. The orcs know what's going on, grab what they can and split - the PCs, on the other hand, are completely caught off guard as a young green dragon barrels out of the wood and bashes one of their wagons off the road. A second green dragon, this one an adult, swoops down towards them and bowls over another wagon, catching one of the NPCs in its jaws and flying out of sight with him. At this point, I expect the party will flee down the road on horse back (path of least resistance). If they're stupid enough to stay around and try to fight the dragons, no sweat off my back. The intent is to catch them, not kill them on the road. So the dragons fly down the PCs and grab them (double moving and spending action points when necessary), and then fly off over the forest canopy with one PC in each of their claws. This is where the skill challenge starts.
Captured by Dragons! Skill Challenge
Complexity: Variable
The PCs are given 5 rounds to escape from the dragons. Far in the distance, a massive crag juts out of the trees - a gaping hole in its side is the dragons' ultimate destination, their lair. I plan on making a small chart for the players that looks something like this:
Code:
Rounds remaining
1 2 3 4 5
| | ( F DD ^^^^
|R| ( O abcd L {
|O|( R A { _(_)_
|A| ( E I {_ \___/_
|D|( S R
| | ( T
10|9 8|7 6|5 4|3 2|1
Squares to traverseTerrible, I know. Anyways. PCs can escape from the dragons grab by two means:
Athletics against Fortitude
or
Acrobatics against Reflex
In addition to this, the PCs can make a melee basic attack against the claw carrying them or the dragon's head (as long as they have a reach weapon). Ranged characters can also make a ranged basic attack (or any spell/ability that can be used as such by means of a feat or otherwise) against the dragon's head, but not without the proper feats (reapers touch, for example).
Damage dealt to the head grants a skill bonus to all PCs carried by the specific dragon targetted. The skill bonus is equal to the total damage dealt divided in half, rounded down.
Damage dealt to the claw grants a skill bonus equal to the full damage dealt to the claw, but only for the person being grabbed by it.
All bonuses are cumulative, and carry through until the skill challenge ends.
So the idea here is that the PCs will either try to worm or push their way out of the dragon's grasp, weakening their hold by damaging them if the dragon's defenses prove to be too strong.
If a PC manages to break free, he falls about 30 feet through the trees (leaves and branches softening his fall, so I'll only roll a 1d10).
Save Your Friends! Skill Challenge (if all of the PCs escape, continue on to the Skill Challenge Flee Through the Forest!)
Complexity: Variable
PCs who have escaped the dragons grasp get up on the following turn and do either one of two things:
Make an athletics check to sprint through the trees, hop over logs, etc
or
Make a nature check to spot trails through the brush, avoid natural hazards, etc
Either one works, it's just variety for the sake of class balance. Again, there are no DCs. The PCs roll either check (skill bonuses from attacking the dragons are lost at this point) and depending on their result, they move a set amount of spaces:
1-4: 0 squares (Lost, tripped, got turned around.)
5-9: 1 square
10-14: 2 squares
15-19: 3 squares
20+: 4 squares (Zooooom!)
At this point, the marks on the diagram need some explaining. If you'll scroll back up, you'll see the rounds 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. After each PC has performed an action (run through the woods, attack the dragons, try to break free), the dragons will fly one space towards the lair, dragging their helpless victims with them (abcd representing the PCs). At the bottom of the diagram are the numbers 10|9, 8|7, 6|5, etc.
When a PC escapes the dragon's grasp, they will land on the left-most square. For example, if a PC manages to escape in the second round, he will land on 8. On the third round, he will make an athletics check, rolls a 17, and so he moves forward to square 5. He's right under the dragons, nice work!
The way I have it set up, the PCs (assuming they roll fairly; my players have been rolling dice for three decades, so they've somehow managed to "feel it out". I once saw eleven natural twenties rolled during a boss fight in Spellgard.) will be able to keep up with or trail slightly behind the dragons. Unless they roll faaaantastic, they won't get to the lair before them.
Also, if one of the running PCs is having bad luck, another player can subtract from his own distance result and "help out" his slower comrade, granting him a bonus to his distance result equal to the number he subtracted. If the wizard keeps rolling 1s, the next time the ranger rolls a 3 he can reduce his distance to 1 and give the wizard a +2 bonus to her distance result next round. This way, no one really falls behind during the skill check.
At the end of the fifth round, if any PCs remain captured, they move on to the Don't Get Eaten! Skill Challenge. While they perform their skill challenge, the PCs running towards the lair still have to get to square 1 to reach them. That way, I've got some people trapped in a cave with a dragon while others are sprinting through the forest to save them. I think it's a pretty cool idea.
Don't Get Eaten! Skill Challenge
Complexity: Ongoing
Now this is an actual skill challenge, with DCs and everything. One or both dragons (depending on how many PCs escaped) land on the outcropping in front of their cave and heave the PCs into the dimly lit cave. The two of them bicker and snap at eachother for a moment, then the larger one flies off, leaving the smaller green dragon to herd the captured PCs into the back of the lair. When he has them trapped, the dragon will start to toy with them until its parter returns (presumably, it went off to find the rest of the caravan NPCs). The PC's rough treatment causes all of them to lose one healing surge (not escaping during the flight is considered a failure.)
The major skills for this skill challenge are:
Diplomacy, used to distract the dragon with honeyed words. This distracts the dragon, allowing the next PC to make a skill check against the dragon to reroll the check if they do not like the result. This can be done only twice. DC 20
or
Acrobatics, used to dodge the dragon's swiping claws or flicking tail. DC 16
or
Stealth, used to hide in the dark recesses of the lair, or amongst the piles of bones scattered across the cave floor. DC 18
or
Endurance, used to withstand the effects of the dragon's noxious breath. DC 15, increasing the DC by 3 each time it is used.
The point of this encounter is not to reach a set number of successes - it's to survive until the other PCs doing the Save Your Friends! challenge arrive. Each failed skill check made in the cave costs 1 healing surge.
When an escaped PC finally makes it to square 1, he is at the mouth of the dragon cave. Looking in, he can see the young green dragon harassing his comrades, and can decide to either:
Wait for the rest of the escaped party members to reach the lair aswell (if any are still doing the skill challenge)
or
Spring into combat and save his friends.
The second option will start a combat encounter against the dragon, with the PC at the mouth of the cave gaining a suprise round to act against the dragon. Noticing the dragon's unprotected rear, the PC (or PCs) will be given the opportunity to charge and try to climb onto the dragon, but only during the surprise round.
A successful acrobatics or athletics check is required, DC 15. Any PC that climbs on the dragon's back gains combat advantage against it, and cannot be targetted by any of the dragon's attacks, save for one. As a standard action, the dragon can try to dislodge the PCs on its back by shaking its wings or charging and slamming against the cave walls. The PCs must then either make a:
Acrobatics check opposed to the dragon's attack roll to keep balance.
or
Athletics check opposed to the dragon's attack roll to hang on tight.
If the PCs fail to make the check, they land in a space adjacent to the dragon, prone.
The party then proceeds to fight the dragon its lair. If things aren't going so well for the PCs, they will discover a cleft in the cave wall hidden behind a pile of bones, either by having one of them get knocked into it, or having the dragon charge into a wall near it and dislodge the bones. The PCs may then escape through this tunnel, ending at deep fissure that extends downwards for a good 60 ft. The dragon will start to wheeze poison gas into the cleft, so they will be forced to leap down, landing in a 4x4 pool of water deep enough to prevent injury. They'll each roll 2d4 to determine which square they land in - if anyone lands on someone else, both PCs loose 1 healing surge. This pool is attached to a corridor blocked off by a rock slide. Once the rocks are moved, the PCs will find themselves in an abandoned iron mine.
However, if the PCs choose to escape from the dragon via the cave's entrance, this leads to the Skill Challenge Flee Through the Forest! If the PCs manage to actually kill the young green dragon (I've seen crazier things happen), they will be able to search the cave. They'll find fat loot, and perhaps even the cleft in the wall - if they go through the cleft, it leads to the same area described in the paragraph above. If they leave through the cave's entrance, they still must perform the Flee Through the Forest! skill challenge, as the adult green dragon spots them as they exit its lair and sets off after them.
Flee Through the Forest! Skill Challenge
Complexity: 4
8 successes before 3 failures
PCs are sprinting through the trees, trying to run from an angry green dragon. Major skills:
Stealth, the PCs manage to conceal themselves from the dragon by wandering through thick terrain. DC 18
or
Nature, the PCs notice an clear trail through the trees. DC 20
or
Athletics, the PCs tear a path through the bush, tiring themselves but gaining slight ground. DC 16, +2 to DC for every consecutive use.
or
Perception, the PCs notice the dragon try to flank them or notice an alternate route. DC 18, gives a +2 bonus to the next stealth or nature check made, and 3 successful perception checks immediately ends the skill challenge in success (perception checks do not contribute to successes but they do contribute to failures)
If the PCs succeed, they reach the abandoned iron mine by an alternate route, and get inside without incident.
If the PCs fail the encounter, the dragon manages to catch up to them and knock them down with a powerful flyby swoop. The PCs manage to get to their feet and scramble into the mine before the dragon returns for another strike, but all suffer the loss of 1 healing surge.
So yeah. that's my skill challenge(s) involving the dragons. Here's a chart for easy understanding.
Code:
Dragon Skill Challenges:
Orc Ambush (encounter)
|
|interrupted by
|
V
Two dragons who capture the party.
------- [B]Captured by Dragons![/B] (s.challenge) ------
| | | PCs escape | Some PCs... | PCs caught |
(success) | /\ (3 rounds of [B]Don't Get [/B]|
| / \ [B]Eaten![/B] mandatory.)|
| ...Escaped <- -> ...Caught <-----------
| [B]Save your Friends![/B] [B]Don't Get Eaten! [/B]
| (s.challenge) (s.challenge)
| \ /
| \ /
| v v
| Dragon in the cave.
| (encounter)
| | |
| | |
| v v
| Dragon slain. Flee from dragon.
| (!!!!!!) |
| | |
| |<------------------>|
| v v
| Into the woods. Hidden cleft.
| | |
| | |
| v |
--> [B]Flee Through the Forest![/B] ---------> Abandoned
(s.challenge) Mine
(on with the plot)So yeah, that's what I've got so far. Sorry for the messy format, I'd like to thank you for reading this all the way through. Any comments or suggestions? (Sorry for the alignment problems with the diagrams, I can't figure out how to fix it on these forums.)
