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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Stormonu" data-source="post: 5710833" data-attributes="member: 52734"><a href="http://community.wizards.com/stormonu/blog/2009/10/02/night_of_the_walking_dead_part_1_encounter_1" target="_blank">Night of the Walking Dead, Part 1 Encounter 1</a>   Friday, October 2, 2009, 02:02 AM CST [<a href="http://community.wizards.com/stormonu/blog/cat/dungeons_and_dragons" target="_blank">Dungeons & Dragons</a>]      ***DMs only***  As I stated in my previous blog, here begins my attempt to convert the 2E Ravenloft module "Night of the Walking Dead" by Bill Slavicsek to 4E.  You can download the original module at <a href="http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/downloads.%C2%A0" target="_blank">www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/do...</a> You will need the module for the story, background and plot.  I will only be presenting the updated/revised encounters here.  For this adventure writeup, I am assuming a party of 5 players of 2nd level.  Because the DCs for so many skill checks have changed since 4E has been out, I am referring to difficulties as "Easy", "Medium" or "Hard" instead of giving exact numbers.  Consult p. 42 or whatever skill system you are using for the exact DCs.     Night of the Walking Dead   Part 1, Encounter 1 (EL 2 - 625 XP)  Setup  This area is a sandbar that is the haven of a pair of Visejaw Crocodiles and a few Stirges.  A few coffins from a water-flooded graveyard have ended up here, with all but one of the undead occupants succumbing to the Visejaw's hunger for flesh.  This encounter includes the following creatures.  2X Visejaw Crocodiles ("V", MM, p45)  2X Stirge ("S", MM, p248)  1X Decrepit Skeleton ("D", MM, p234)  ----------------------------------------------  The day is dark and dismal, painted gray by the vapors that rise from waters around you and the misty clouds that obscure they sky above.  The sun has not shown its face since you arrived in this swamp, and the air is clammy and cold.  The water below your raft is several feet deep, and runs deeper into the swamp on a slight and invisible current.  To one side of your raft, black logs drift lazily amid a patch of pond scum that has snatched their rotting carcasses.  Barely visible in the mist behind the logs you can make out a clump of trees sitting atop a small sandbar.  Not far ahead, a huge cyprus tree has collapsed into the water, its dead limbs held outward as if in a plea to be pulled out of the muck that surrounds it.  To your astonishment, you catch the glimse of what appears to be three coffins half-buried in the water next to the uprooted tree.  From one coffin, a skeletal arm dangles, unmoving, its fingertips dipped in the dark water.  -------------------------------------------------------  Features of the Area  Deep Water:  The light-colored water is about 5 feet deep.  Characters attempting to slog through the muck move as if Slowed or attempt to swim through it with an Easy Athletics check.  The dark water is difficult to see through, granting creatures under the surface a +4 bonus to Stealth checks.  Shallow Water:  The dark-colored water is about 3 feet deep.  Characters attempting to slog through the muck treat it as difficult terrain.  It can be swam through with a successful Easy Athletics check.  Cypress Trees:  Each tree is between 10-15 feet tall, and can be climbed with an Easy Athletics check.  Creatures in a tree gain cover against ranged attacks, but not melee attacks.  The crocodiles can't climb the trees, but can rush them and attempt to knock PCs out of them.  Dead Cypress Tree and Logs:  The floating tree provides cover against ranged attacks and can be used to stay afloat while in the water.  If a character attempts to hang onto the wood while being grappled by a crocodile, make opposed Strength checks.  If the player wins, they can keep their grip on the log and surface for air.  Pond Scum:  The light green areas are masses of pond scum that block vision completely into the water beneath them.  Characters attempting to swim though the pond scum must make an Average DC Athletics check or become stuck for the round.  Sand Bar:  The sand bar is mud that is so saturated with water that walking on it creates a slurping sound.  The sand bar is treated as difficult terrain.  Development  Characters who make a successful moderate Perception check hear a strange buzzing noise in the area; it sounds like a mix of the flapping of bird's wings and the buzz of a flying insect.  Characters who make a successful DC 20 Perception check spot one or more of the Stirges hiding in the trees.  Characters who make a successful DC 20 Perception check spot the two Visejaw Crocodiles hiding among the logs.  If characters approach the coffins, logs, sand bar or trees, they are attacked.  If characters ignore the area and move on, the two ViseJaw Crocodiles follow the raft, attempting to ambush anyone at the edge of the raft at an opportune moment.  Mood  Be sure to play up the abandoned, decayed state of the area.  Attempt to give the impression of an area that is devoid of life, slowly rotting away in a forgotten corner of the swamp.  Contrast it sharply with the sudden onslaught of the crocodile's and stirge's attack.  Do your best to frighten players with the idea of something dragging them into the black depths of the swamp water, where they will never be seen again.  When the crocodiles enter the fray, play up their unnatural looks.  These are crocodiles that have gained an unnatural look from devouring the flesh of the dead - and they seek to add the PCs to their former meal.  As for the stirges, play up their unnatural looks and ability to suck blood from the PCs, almost as if they were insectile vampires.  You can make it really spooky if, while the characters engage the crocodiles and stirges, the skeleton silently slips into the water and heads towards the raft; if the characters are not attentive, the bony remains they spotted may seem to have suddenly just disappeared, only to suddenly pull itself up on the raft and rush a PC.  Tactics  The Visejaw Crocodiles swim up to the raft and attempt to pull any character they can reach into the water, dragging them underwater back to the thick pond scum to drown them.  They make sudden surges out of the water, attempting to pull a character back in, only to retreat into the murky depths if their attack fails - only to lunge out of the blackness again and strike from another angle.  Once the Visejaw Crocodiles attack, or if the trees are disturbed, the Stirges swoop down to the attack, concentrating on characters not grappled by a crocodile.  If the Stirges are bloodied, they retreat to their trees and hide.  If further pursued, they defend themselves to the best of their ability.   Once a fray begins, or if the coffins are searched, the Decrepit Skeleton rises and joins the attack, most likely swimming to the raft and boarding it to attack players.  It is ignored by the Visejaw Crocodiles and Stirges, and it focuses its attacks on the PCs.  It is mindless in its attacks, and if given the chance, will drag a PC off the raft and attempt to drag them back to the coffins and plunge them into the half-submerged tomb.  DM's Map  <a href="http://community.wizards.com/stormonu/gallery/view_gallery.one?pid=88704051" target="_blank">[ATTACH]91335[/ATTACH]</a><a href="http://community.wizards.com/stormonu/gallery/view_gallery.one?pid=88704051" target="_blank"></a>     Player's Map  <a href="http://community.wizards.com/stormonu/gallery/view_gallery.one?pid=88704071" target="_blank">[ATTACH]91336[/ATTACH] </a></blockquote>

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