Nightmare sequence in Cairn of the Winterking

[Sarasani]

I'm running a campaign as the DM for 4 players. They are currently 4th level and the group consists of two fighters, a wizard and a cleric. In our last sessions we played through the first part of Cairn of the Winter King. The session ended when the group decided to take an extended rest just inside the cairn in the (unbeknownst to them) magically cursed beds. This intelligent decision will result in them having nightmares. The flashbacks of these nightmares will grant them some combat handicaps in the upcoming encounters.

In the next session, the wizard won't be able to play so I am planning on running a 4-5 hour game which features the remaining 3 players in the actual nightmare sequence. In the sessions after that the group will be complete again, so I can start at the point where they wake up and continue the published adventure.

What I need are some good ideas on how to run this nightmare session with 2 fighters and a cleric. These players prefer a good mix of roleplaying and long difficult fights, so I am looking for about 3-4 encounters containing a good skill challenge, some roleplay opportunities and an over-the-top combat encounter which pretty much guarantees a total wipe-out. Because it's just a nightmare where they wake up from, it thought that would be a good idea.

Any ideas to help this newbie DM out?

 

[Balesir]

I don't know the adventure, but I would be very wary, personally, of playing out a hopeless combat using the combat system and then revealing it as a "dream sequence". Horrible flashbacks (irony!) of Bobby in the shower stories...

I would suggest running the thing as a series - or even an interlinked web - of skill challenges. You could even have the scene be a battle or fight - but run as a skill challenge. This might (hopefully?) allow the players to infer that something odd is going on. You can use "to hit" rolls and powers in a skill challenge just as easily as you use skills (use DCs around the PCs levels +5, or +3 for attacks vs NADs).

For stakes - all skill challenges require some improvisation, but successes gaining clues about what they will be fighting (for real) later on and maybe showing ways to mitigate the "flashback" effects could be appropriate. Failures making the flashback effects worse and/or more frequent is obvious, but hints that they are missing something might be a more subtle "penalty". Possibly use something like:

- a PC's weapon or implement breaks in the dream, spoiling their attack and rendering them weaponless

- each time they use that weapon/implement in the ensuing dungeon, have them roll a d20; don't tell them what for

- if they roll a 1, tell them it was just a dream and stop asking for d20 rolls.

 

[Sarasani]

Thanks. That was a very helpful reply.