Radiating Gnome
Adventurer
I only have on question.
Are you coming to Gencon with this adventure? Cause I wanna sign up
If you are.
Are you coming to Gencon with this adventure? Cause I wanna sign up
If you are.
-
The VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Show us your Rat Bastardry!
- Thread starter Rune
- Start date
Wicht
Hero
The adventure I wrote for this year's Origins (I try to have at least 1 new one each year) was called Fox Hunt. It's a pretty typical setup - PC (and 30 NPCs) trapped on an island with a huge bloodthirsty demon. But at the start of the game, I have the players choose from 10 available pregens. All they get to choose from is the PCs public persona, as revealed to those hunting the demon. Only after making a choice do they get to see the stats and learn the PCs true agenda. Each PC has one secret (damaging to their ability to either operate in society or with the other PCs) and knows the secret of their single companion (the PCs are all paired up) and they suspect the secret of one other PC. As for the rest of the PCs, they don't know their alignment, class, or even race, except as those things are revealed during the game. Thus Assassins, bandits, samurai, yokai, and imperial agents all mingle together, not sure who to trust as they work together to stay alive. It made, when I ran it, an interesting experience of role-playing and trust. In the last game of it I ran (with eight players), the party had figured out how to actually defeat the demon (just killing it doesn't work as it comes back each night) and then the fun really started as two of the players snuck off to fulfill their mission, taking the only means of leaving the island with them, and two of the other players began trying to kill off the other players in their sleep. At the end of the game, four PCs were dead (killed by other party members), two escaped the island, and four characters were left stuck on the island to await rescue. (By having ten available pregen PCs, I was also able to keep players in the game when they got killed by giving them another pregen - complete with a new set of goals for the adventure and a little more insight into who everyone really is.) (Also, by pairing the pregens, players begin the game with a preset partner, furthering the "us vs. them" mentalities.) I still liked "Up From Darkness" better, but Fox Hunt was very fun to run also and I'll probably run it again next year at least once.
Wicht
Hero
In my first game of Fox Hunt at Origins this year, there was one notable scene...
During the first night, huge shark-eating crabs come ashore and begin smashing the boats. Two of the PCs were hiding down near the boats, spying on the imperial yacht stationed off the beach when the crabs came out of the water and attacked. They were very, very well hidden. So well hidden that the one sorcerer didn't see them when she fireballed the crabs. That wasn't the funny part though (well, it was a little funny). The funny part was when these two brave ninjas ran away from the crabs. All the other warriors were rushing in to do battle and save their boats, but these two had a mission to stay alive for and so got away from the danger. They fled through the crowd of warriors, back towards the camp. And right into the clutches of the Fox Demon who was sneaking into the back of the group, using the crabs as a distraction. Compared to the demon, the crabs were pushovers.
Ironically, after the fight, the player of the ninja that died from the demon's attack (the other went crazy from some rather nasty venom) got to play the character of the sorceress that had just fireballed her deceased character.
During the first night, huge shark-eating crabs come ashore and begin smashing the boats. Two of the PCs were hiding down near the boats, spying on the imperial yacht stationed off the beach when the crabs came out of the water and attacked. They were very, very well hidden. So well hidden that the one sorcerer didn't see them when she fireballed the crabs. That wasn't the funny part though (well, it was a little funny). The funny part was when these two brave ninjas ran away from the crabs. All the other warriors were rushing in to do battle and save their boats, but these two had a mission to stay alive for and so got away from the danger. They fled through the crowd of warriors, back towards the camp. And right into the clutches of the Fox Demon who was sneaking into the back of the group, using the crabs as a distraction. Compared to the demon, the crabs were pushovers.
Ironically, after the fight, the player of the ninja that died from the demon's attack (the other went crazy from some rather nasty venom) got to play the character of the sorceress that had just fireballed her deceased character.
Wicht
Hero
Got any others to share?
Wicht
Hero
I like that one. Got more?
Electric Wizard
First Post
I don't have a lot of stories because I usually never set out to be a bastard. But if the players make mistakes, they have to face the consequences.
In another campaign, the players were trying to save a city from a massive storm that was not moving. They decided that looking for trouble with the thieves guild and looting decadent noble mansions was more fun than solving the mystery of the storm. I made a tally for each night they slept in the city, and each morning I dropped hints about more of the city was washing away. By the time they finally stopped the storm, the city was reduced to driftwood. Nobody was left to reward or congratulate them. The flocks of refugees despised them for wasting time and spread word of their behavior throughout the land.
The players went to the other side of the world to escape their infamy. Eventually they came back with lots of levels and gold and rebuilt the city in their own images, so it was all good.
In another campaign, the players were trying to save a city from a massive storm that was not moving. They decided that looking for trouble with the thieves guild and looting decadent noble mansions was more fun than solving the mystery of the storm. I made a tally for each night they slept in the city, and each morning I dropped hints about more of the city was washing away. By the time they finally stopped the storm, the city was reduced to driftwood. Nobody was left to reward or congratulate them. The flocks of refugees despised them for wasting time and spread word of their behavior throughout the land.
The players went to the other side of the world to escape their infamy. Eventually they came back with lots of levels and gold and rebuilt the city in their own images, so it was all good.
Pbartender
First Post
I'm going to bump this thread with a slightly different type of Rat Bastardry...
I had a BBEG who was an orc shaman. One of his spells was Magic Missile. I decided that I wanted reskin the spell's effect a little to make it a little more shamanish. When the orc shaman cast it, he would look a target in the eye while swiping through the air several times with a ceremonial dagger, and equivalent cuts would open up on the target's body.
The PCs encounter the shaman, he gets the drop on them and since he doesn't' have anything else that can hit from that distance, he opens up from long range with Magic Missile. The party's fighter takes a few d4s worth of damage, and is left with cuts across his chest beneath his armor, without the armor even being touched.
The players don't recognize the spell straight away, and are completely stunned. All they know that this is a spell that hits from long range, doesn't require an attack roll, doesn't require a saving throw, and it bypasses armor. Suddenly, they were all clamoring to know what this fantastic spell is! The party's wizard is all jazzed about getting a hold of this shaman's spellbook so he can learn it!
ME: Sorry, you can't learn that spell.
WIZARD: Wait, what?!
ME: You can't learn that spell.
WIZARD: What do you mean?
ME: What do you mean, what do I mean? I mean you can't learn that spell.
WIZARD: So, your NPC can use it, but I can't?
ME: No... You can use it, you just can't learn it.
WIZARD: Why not!?
ME: It's already in your spellbook.
WIZARD: 
ME:
Priceless.
I had a BBEG who was an orc shaman. One of his spells was Magic Missile. I decided that I wanted reskin the spell's effect a little to make it a little more shamanish. When the orc shaman cast it, he would look a target in the eye while swiping through the air several times with a ceremonial dagger, and equivalent cuts would open up on the target's body.
The PCs encounter the shaman, he gets the drop on them and since he doesn't' have anything else that can hit from that distance, he opens up from long range with Magic Missile. The party's fighter takes a few d4s worth of damage, and is left with cuts across his chest beneath his armor, without the armor even being touched.
The players don't recognize the spell straight away, and are completely stunned. All they know that this is a spell that hits from long range, doesn't require an attack roll, doesn't require a saving throw, and it bypasses armor. Suddenly, they were all clamoring to know what this fantastic spell is! The party's wizard is all jazzed about getting a hold of this shaman's spellbook so he can learn it!
ME: Sorry, you can't learn that spell.
WIZARD: Wait, what?!
ME: You can't learn that spell.
WIZARD: What do you mean?
ME: What do you mean, what do I mean? I mean you can't learn that spell.
WIZARD: So, your NPC can use it, but I can't?
ME: No... You can use it, you just can't learn it.
WIZARD: Why not!?
ME: It's already in your spellbook.
WIZARD:
ME:
Priceless.
Lwaxy
Cute but dangerous
I was co-GMing this one. The players had managed to derail our story quite a bit and seemed to be out more to kill off the plot than anything else.
The not totally good aligned group had lately rejected the idea to help a kingdom's capital against 2 warring groups of drow, assessing that the kingdom would, albeit with heavy losses, manage on its own in time. Reason for not helping was that there was no point in using up charges of their most valuable magic items for people they barely knew and didn't like the party to begin with (for good reason).
Instead, they raided the tower of a (good aligned) wizard on the premise that said wizard had another item that would allow frequent recharges of their own stuff. The wizard wasn't home, so the raid went well. The lazy party wizard didn't set to identify what they had stolen immediately, as he assumed there was enough time once they were in their lair.
Much to their annoyance, they found a war party of drow coming their way, survivors of the battle at the kingdom's capital. The drow were looking for easy prey after their defeat, and a group of 7 was just the thing to loot for them. Before they knew it, the party had to use up the charges of their precious items anyway, barely defeating the drow. Worse, the drow had nothing worth looting really, as they had been on the run.
They had barely time to heal their wounds and gather their stuff when the drow queen from the other drow war party, together with some high level sorcerers of her kind, found them as well, having been in pursue of the other war party. By now, the wizard of the party was trying his best and fastest to identify the item that would recharge their magic toys, but he didn't get far before the queen demanded all their stuff in exchange for their lives. The fighter in the group managed to hide his sword, and the bard hid his flute, but that was about all of obvious value they had left when the drow were done with them. They were only left alive because they had finished off the queen's enemies.
A scout from the kingdom happened to witness the situation from afar and came to the conclusion that the PCs were working with the drow queen, so they couldn't return to the kingdom anymore for the rest of the campaign.
Same group a while later, after a plain old dungeon crawl, with plenty of small scale loot. Once again the wizard was too lazy to go about identifying items, especially as it looked to be only minor stuff. The knight, not the brightest of the bunch, picked a small silver bracelet from the loot to woo a dame of a traveling show. While he was successful, he unknowingly had given away the one important magic item of the whole loot which was later required as part of a set to open a gateway. Needless to say, when they realized what had happened, the traveling show had long gone on to other venues, and it took them some time to chase the dame and the bracelet down.
There are a bunch of other incidents from my games which I just can't remember right now (I'm getting old). I hope they will come to mind soon. The above was the most recent example.
The not totally good aligned group had lately rejected the idea to help a kingdom's capital against 2 warring groups of drow, assessing that the kingdom would, albeit with heavy losses, manage on its own in time. Reason for not helping was that there was no point in using up charges of their most valuable magic items for people they barely knew and didn't like the party to begin with (for good reason).
Instead, they raided the tower of a (good aligned) wizard on the premise that said wizard had another item that would allow frequent recharges of their own stuff. The wizard wasn't home, so the raid went well. The lazy party wizard didn't set to identify what they had stolen immediately, as he assumed there was enough time once they were in their lair.
Much to their annoyance, they found a war party of drow coming their way, survivors of the battle at the kingdom's capital. The drow were looking for easy prey after their defeat, and a group of 7 was just the thing to loot for them. Before they knew it, the party had to use up the charges of their precious items anyway, barely defeating the drow. Worse, the drow had nothing worth looting really, as they had been on the run.
They had barely time to heal their wounds and gather their stuff when the drow queen from the other drow war party, together with some high level sorcerers of her kind, found them as well, having been in pursue of the other war party. By now, the wizard of the party was trying his best and fastest to identify the item that would recharge their magic toys, but he didn't get far before the queen demanded all their stuff in exchange for their lives. The fighter in the group managed to hide his sword, and the bard hid his flute, but that was about all of obvious value they had left when the drow were done with them. They were only left alive because they had finished off the queen's enemies.
A scout from the kingdom happened to witness the situation from afar and came to the conclusion that the PCs were working with the drow queen, so they couldn't return to the kingdom anymore for the rest of the campaign.
Same group a while later, after a plain old dungeon crawl, with plenty of small scale loot. Once again the wizard was too lazy to go about identifying items, especially as it looked to be only minor stuff. The knight, not the brightest of the bunch, picked a small silver bracelet from the loot to woo a dame of a traveling show. While he was successful, he unknowingly had given away the one important magic item of the whole loot which was later required as part of a set to open a gateway. Needless to say, when they realized what had happened, the traveling show had long gone on to other venues, and it took them some time to chase the dame and the bracelet down.
There are a bunch of other incidents from my games which I just can't remember right now (I'm getting old). I hope they will come to mind soon. The above was the most recent example.
Kid Charlemagne
I am the Very Model of a Modern Moderator
Not at all... First off, I always treat the encounter buildings rules as more... guidelines [/Barbosa] than rules per se...
And you can still trick and surprise people by using good tactics and unexpected foes - the tough part is doing it and having it still seem fair - anyone can just up the encounter numbers and overwhelm the PC's; that's not Rat Bastardry, IMO.
Three examples from one 3E session I ran several years ago - the 7th level (or so) PC's are traversing a ruined elven city built over a massive waterfall - lots of bridges and towers.
1. As they approach the main tower, they are on a long narrow bridge, and get attacked by a single solitary Quickling. The Quickling has Spring Attack and sleep poison on his dagger. And 3 HP. But he's effectively invisible while moving, has a high AC, and begins and ends each round far enough away that the PC's can't counterattack. Multiple PC's go down into a slumber before the party druid stops and thinks for a moment; she readies her action for when she hears the Quickling zoom up, and then punts him into the river with a single well-placed kick.
2. Later that same session they are trying to make to the top of the main tower; the tower has a stair that runs around the outside (there used to be an outside wall, but it crumbled away). A werebat with a spiked chain defends the stair, and he attacks by trying to whip his opponents legs and then fly off of the tower, pulling the PC with him... He never quite pulled it off but it created a memorable encounter...
3. When the party fighter finally got to the very top of the tower, he got bull rushed off by an Ogre Mage, who didn't worry that he might go off the edge (because, hey, he can fly). I think the fighter managed to survive by grabbing hold of the Ogre Mage so he couldn't fly away, and then when they both hit the water below, he just pummeled him...
None of those foes were especially tough per EL rules, but created memorable and dangerous encounters anyway.
