der_kluge
Adventurer
Nice stuff.
I love the idea about the swamp being unescapable. That'll freak 'em out. I think I may even have the entire place be on a demi-plane somewhere.
When they divine where to go, I'm gonna say, "Seek the natives to locate your destination." And then I'll have them wander for a while. Umbral Banyan does look pretty scary for this purpose.
Eventually, they'll come across a lizardfolk druid gathering some herbs somewhere, and when he spots them, he'll take off. Knowing my party, they'll toss a resilient sphere around him, which of course would be considered hostile. These lizardfolk will be totally xenophobic, and will flee from the party. So, this will frustrate them mightily.
Eventually, they might find them, living in a village somewhere in a particularly dismal section of swamp, with crocodile pets, and whatnot.
Funny thing is, the spellsword in the group has a helmet that they took from a lizardman king that they killed in this pyramid that they went into. It has d-door twice per day, so he is quite fond of it. But, these lizardfolk might see something on it that indicates that this character is a king of lizardfolk. So, they might try to worship him as their newly found king. "The prophecy has come true! You are here to lead us to victory against our oppressors!" Of course, if he tells them that he killed some lizardman king and took it, they'll likely try to kill them as murderers, but I doubt my players will be that dumb (knock on wood).
I'm thinking that the dungeon they need to get to can only be accessed via a secret method in a particular location in the swamp. Maybe like a portal, you need the right key to get through, or something. And only the lizardfolk know the right key.
Just need to think of some oppressors... maybe a three-way conflict. Something like the lizardfolks (A) want to eliminate (B), but to eliminate (B) would be in direct conflict with (C)'s goals, who really have no beef at all with (A).
Oooh, something else I just thought of - what if the PCs can't figure out who the "natives" are? So, they end up meeting like shadow pixies, and swamp elementals, and lizardfolk, and each of them have their own agendas. But, the PCs have to figure out which ones are the real natives in order to figure out which one to trust.
My party, in case anyone cares:
minotaur barbarian11
dwarven ftr11/dragon disciple 1
human arcane sorcerer (with paladin code)
human ftr5/necromancer7 (spellsword)
human cleric12 (npc, because the player is out of town)
No druids or rangers.
I love the idea about the swamp being unescapable. That'll freak 'em out. I think I may even have the entire place be on a demi-plane somewhere.
When they divine where to go, I'm gonna say, "Seek the natives to locate your destination." And then I'll have them wander for a while. Umbral Banyan does look pretty scary for this purpose.
Eventually, they'll come across a lizardfolk druid gathering some herbs somewhere, and when he spots them, he'll take off. Knowing my party, they'll toss a resilient sphere around him, which of course would be considered hostile. These lizardfolk will be totally xenophobic, and will flee from the party. So, this will frustrate them mightily.
Eventually, they might find them, living in a village somewhere in a particularly dismal section of swamp, with crocodile pets, and whatnot.
Funny thing is, the spellsword in the group has a helmet that they took from a lizardman king that they killed in this pyramid that they went into. It has d-door twice per day, so he is quite fond of it. But, these lizardfolk might see something on it that indicates that this character is a king of lizardfolk. So, they might try to worship him as their newly found king. "The prophecy has come true! You are here to lead us to victory against our oppressors!" Of course, if he tells them that he killed some lizardman king and took it, they'll likely try to kill them as murderers, but I doubt my players will be that dumb (knock on wood).
I'm thinking that the dungeon they need to get to can only be accessed via a secret method in a particular location in the swamp. Maybe like a portal, you need the right key to get through, or something. And only the lizardfolk know the right key.
Just need to think of some oppressors... maybe a three-way conflict. Something like the lizardfolks (A) want to eliminate (B), but to eliminate (B) would be in direct conflict with (C)'s goals, who really have no beef at all with (A).
Oooh, something else I just thought of - what if the PCs can't figure out who the "natives" are? So, they end up meeting like shadow pixies, and swamp elementals, and lizardfolk, and each of them have their own agendas. But, the PCs have to figure out which ones are the real natives in order to figure out which one to trust.
My party, in case anyone cares:
minotaur barbarian11
dwarven ftr11/dragon disciple 1
human arcane sorcerer (with paladin code)
human ftr5/necromancer7 (spellsword)
human cleric12 (npc, because the player is out of town)
No druids or rangers.
