Non combat climactic challenges

[TerraDave]

I have had the "escape", the "negotiation" and the "ritual" as sort of mini-climaxes. Ohh, and also the "trial"

I have also had "surprise revelation" but at the end of a campaing, but that was not really the climax.

Actually in the last adventure in the current campaign, the climax was not freeing the monster and hence avoiding combat...some thing that the PC's really took the initiative on (I was ready for the combat).

 

[the Jester]

Of Sound Mind has a great ending. I don't want to spoiler it, but it involves a situation in which the pcs prolly can't win through violence.

 

[Warehouse23]

I'm a big fan of the grand finale where, after defeating the evil Mind Flayer "Mother Brain" the adventurers have to make a series of insanely challenging jump checks to climb their way out of the dungeon by means of a secret passage which runs directly up from the final chamber (and which they could have used to bypass the dungeon and attack the mother brain from behind....if only they'd known). They have to make it to the top before the end of 20 combat turns, else a magical vortex opens and destroys the dungeon with the adventurers inside!

Wait, no, scrap that. Somehow Metroid just doesn't translate to D&D the way it should....

 

[painandgreed]

In one game, it was a matter of people not being who everybody thought they were and once the secerts had been found out and the true identity of the BBEG was revealed, he politly explained how and why he tricked and forced others to do what he wanted, and then left. He was a prankster and only really wanted to gain the control as a prank and not keep it. He did so from a position of strength so that he wouldn't be attacked. The one PC who did attack got levitated off the ground and was turned to face away from the NPC.

Another situation was to place them in a dangerous spot where to fight would be next to suicidal. The party had to enter into an evil humanoid city to make a business deal for a merchant. The only real solution was to remain unobtrusive, make the deal, and then sneak out of town because causing any trouble would have brought bigger and badder monsters to deal witht he PCs including the epic level creatures that ran the city. It was a LE city with strict rules about combat in the city center so as long as they kept their cool, they were fairly safe.

 

[sniffles]

A couple of years ago my group completed a Fantasy Hero campaign in which the climax included combat, but a great deal of the final denouement involved negotiating a sort of agreement with a group of god-like beings. Ultimately the result of this "treaty" would probably mean that the way magic functioned in the world would change, and the elves would fade out of existence. The PCs had to decide if they were willing to make that sacrifice in order to prevent the evil "gods" from returning every thousand years and trying to enslave the world.

 

[Quickleaf]

Some ideas for climax without combat:

1. Theft/secrecy/smear campaign PCs reputations are damaging them in some way. Perhaps they are TOO loved by the populace and can't get a single night's rest without someone calling for their aid. Perhaps they are a witness protection program scenario. Perhaps lawsuits are coming after them. Perhaps they risk incirmination/condemnation if evidence (true or false) leaks out. Their task is to destroy the evidence, concoct secret identities, or destroy/build up their reputation.

2. Find the Killer: A classic mystery trope is "find the killer." You might want to use some urban tracking rules from Crime & Punishment (Atlast Games). The climax occurs when the PCs finally reach the criminal, only to find they need to negotiate with him because...
- Innocent lives are in danger (He has someone trapped in a coffin and their air is running out, he has a secret weapon hidden in a population center, only he has the power to defeat the demon he summoned, etc)
- Only he knows some information they need
- Back-up is on its way and will be very put out if they kill him (he could be bluffing)

3. Chase: I'd recommend Hot Pursuits for an epic chase that your players will love you for.

4. Moral dilemma: If I kill my enemy, do I end up too much like them? Do I honor my dying foe's last request? Is the greater good more important than my personal welfare? Is it better to die with honor or to cheat and live? These moral dilemmas are usually quickly resolved, making for a very fast climax. They can be lengthened by combining them with other scenarios (escape, chase, etc).

5. Trial: I LOVE running these scenes, though they are more suited for justice-minded PCs who don't kill their enemies. A great example is found in the M&M adventure Church & State. What happen if the bad guy gets off scott free?

 

[Tonguez]

Rescue the Orphans: I once had the PCs have to rescue the kids from a burning three storey orphanage ( the roof and floors were collapsing)

Engineering Challenges: I had a player who was an engineer and decided to play an engineer in game. We had a couple of 'engineering challenges'
- whilst using the magical 'magnetic lifts' to install new catapults along the city walls the PCs have to go into action when one of the guide ropes snaps causing the plates to slip and threatening the whole contraption to plummet to the ground

- having to repair a dam, in the rain in order to stop raging flood waters bursting through

- whilst exploring the sewers (doing routine maintenance checks) the PCs were confronted by a swarm of giant rats running towards them. One of the pc threw their torch at the rats - andhit a methane pocket (which exploded)

Save the boy: the Climax involved bursting into a star chamber and stopping a young neophyte of the church from giving his soul into the hands of a fiendish BBEG

Die for the Cause: the only way for the PCs to acquire the artifact (the Heart of the Land imc) is to sacrifice one of their number. the climax is deciding just who will be the sacrifice.

and while we're at it it occurs to me that the rolling ball trap at the start of Indiana Jones could be the climax of a low level adventure (it was the climax of his 'first' adventure)

 

[aguynamedbry]

Along the lines of an engineering challenge (leaned heavily on Iron Chef). Had a PC cleric of Gond interact with the local temple ruler, he eventually learned that he was corrupt and one way to remove him was to have 3 other temple rulers travel to the city and evaluate the PC's worthness vs. the current leader via a competition of talent. Set various engineering challenges - specifically, the PC had to choose the DC level he wanted to attempt and if successful scored that many points. As part of the competition he had befriended several of the temple acolytes who could assist in his crafting, while the current ruler had acolytes who sandbagged and thereby didn't get the +2 assist from the 2 assistants.

If you wanted to fold in another layer you can have the player give a speech ahead of time that would influence the actions of his assistants.

 

[Quickleaf]

Iron Chef for cleric? What a great idea!

Arch-bishop: OK, the rules are simple. You each have 1 hour to inspire your congregation into a total frenzy, and you must include the line "no indulgences accepted" somewhere in your speech.