PCs vs. Beholders vs. Dragon

[d12]

Help me with a short (1-2 session) scenario please.

When the PCs were less experienced, they were exploring a dungeon complex beneath a city. At the end of a corridor they came upon a room with three trolls. The three trolls were way too much for the PCs but through very clever uses of spells and the environment, the PCs actually managed to win. Inside the room was a very large pit that went down very deep into the earth (several hundred feet at least). Having cleared the complex and seeing no way forward but WAY DOWN at this point, the PCs turned around and went on other adventures.

Now, the PCs are much higher level and they've just finished a major plot arc. They are talking about going back to the big pit.

Here's what I need help with.

1. I'd like descending into the pit to be a challenge itself. The PCs have a broom of flying, access to the feather fall spell and can afford potions of flying, but there are 8 of them so they are unlikely to all go down in the same fashion. What hazards or creatures might they meet on the way down?

2. I've been thinking of why the trolls were down there to begin with. I came up with the idea that there's a complex of passages and chambers at the bottom. One part is controlled by a nest of beholders and their charmed slaves (which the trolls used to be, but escaped). Another, smaller, part is controlled by a black dragon with levels in wizard and rogue who is adept at creating traps to fight a one-dragon guerrilla war against the beholders.

What are the beholders and the dragon fighting over? What else does the complex include (i.e. what food sources are available, etc..)? How have the dragon and the beholders altered the complex to defend their parts better? What other dangers or resources might the PCs encounter?

(I use 3.5 but that doesn't matter. I just need ideas.)

 

[fba827]

1. I'd like descending into the pit to be a challenge itself. The PCs have a broom of flying, access to the feather fall spell and can afford potions of flying, but there are 8 of them so they are unlikely to all go down in the same fashion. What hazards or creatures might they meet on the way down?

Spikey rock outcroppings - if you fall while against the wall, you have just as much chance to grab a hold of a rock as you do of being impaled by it ...


Creatures crawling on the wall (easily spiders).

Or Spiders that have made webs across the pit (i.e. if you go down, you'll fly right into a spiderweb - possibly thick depending on how long the hole has been left untouched)

2. I've been thinking of why the trolls were down there to begin with. I came up with the idea that there's a complex of passages and chambers at the bottom. One part is controlled by a nest of beholders and their charmed slaves (which the trolls used to be, but escaped). Another, smaller, part is controlled by a black dragon with levels in wizard and rogue who is adept at creating traps to fight a one-dragon guerrilla war against the beholders.

What are the beholders and the dragon fighting over? What else does the complex include (i.e. what food sources are available, etc..)? How have the dragon and the beholders altered the complex to defend their parts better? What other dangers or resources might the PCs encounter?

Presuming that the beholder and dragon have strong personalities (rather than simply mindless monsters to fight) they both might be described as egotistical.
Perhaps the cavern has some (edit: magic dust) that can be mined out (like magical ore) - or there is a lost artifact buried in the wall somewhere and they just take a long time to find it, and so the beholder wants the slaves to mine for it. But it has been the dragons home for a long time and believes it is his territory to claim based on that.

Maybe the dragon and beholder are in an agreement (but each planning to betray the other at the end of the agreement) -- the beholder offers the occasional slave as food and the dragon, in exchange promises not to bother the beholder while he's down there (the beholder might be down there to get some resource and is expecting to attack/kill the dragon for his horde at the end of his mining, while the dragon is expecting to take whatever the beholder is mining for as soon as it is found)

Maybe it's been the beholder's home all this time and the dragon came down for some reason.

Maybe both of them

Maybe the dragon is polymorphed to look like a human/humanoid and the beholder tried to bring it down here as a slave. The dragon might have gone along with it out of amusement and curiosity more than actually being subdued into it. The antimagic field of the beholder, or something in these passages prevents him from returning to normal form. so he has his magic abilities and skills but not his dragon form. and now is basically against the beholder for bringing him down here but not friendly enough to want to deal with anyone else who tries to work with him against the beholder.

Keep in mind (if you wish to get this specific) a dragon, being a creature of flight, may not have just flown down here for no reason. and if it does frequently fly up to the surface (for food or what not) than the hole to get down here wouldn't have much "clutter" from spiders and such due to the dragon's traffic.


that's all just off the top of my head, i didn't really think too hard so there are obvious gaps in any of those suggestions.

 

[d12]

Great stuff! I should add that I envision tunnels that lead off into other sections, so both the dragon and the beholders could have alternate exit routes. They may not even know about the hole.

 

[Noumenon]

The dragon might have gone along with it out of amusement and curiosity more than actually being subdued into it. The antimagic field of the beholder, or something in these passages prevents him from returning to normal form.

This gave me a great idea for a beholder encounter. The beholder is floating behind a prisoner and staring directly at him with his large central eye -- it seems afraid even to blink, because if it doesn't keep that magic suppressed all of the prisoner's abilities will come back. You could run this at lower levels (because the beholder is restricted and the prisoner may help you) or at higher levels (because the beholder wasn't the real threat after all).

 

[DeBasilisk]

Hmm...Ok, here's how I see it.

The challenge getting down the hole are the traps that the dragon placed there to prevent the Beholders from escaping. See, the hole was an escape hole for the beholder hive years ago. When the dragon arrived, he captured the beholders and booby trapped all the exits. The dragon is a powerful enchanter, and has been working for years on enslaving the beholder hive for use in his war against the noble _______ realm on the surface. He has at his disposal an artifact known as the Orb of the Eye, which empowers his efforts against the beholderkin. His plan is almost complete, and a small coerced army of beholders is within his grasp.

Fortunately (?) some of the beholders have escaped his sway, but are unable to leave the extensive caverns. With a little help from the PCs, they should be able to infiltrate the hive, destroy the Orb, and challenge the dragon one on one. He's sure to have some treasure lying around nearby. Of course, the big question is what exactly the beholders intend to do to "reward," the victorious heroes for their liberation.

-DeBasilisk

 

[d12]

Thanks all! Keep em coming!