Tannery, Magical hides and a fight coming up. Help me please.

[monboesen]

I’m expecting a encounter (and likely a fight) in a tannery next Tuesday. It’s located on the fringes of a small city (5000+ inhabitants), possibly a bit outside due to the smell. The tannery is partly a sham, the owner is an Acolyte of the skin and many of the workers fiendish Gnolls disguised by magical tanned human hides (crafted by the acolyte in his private quarters).

I have done a little bit of google research on tanning and it requires lots salt, soaking in strong bases and acids, stretching and scraping with sharp utensils.

Does anyone here have some ideas that will make this scenario cooler, the actual layout of a tannery and/or some suggestions as to how the workers/owner could take advantage of the environment.

Also would you suggest changes to the Acolyte of the skin prestige class for bringing it to date with the 3.5 rules.

I should probably stress that the group is large (6+ PC’s and about 7-8th lvl). Right now the Acolyte is Sorcerer 6/Acolyte 5 and the Gnolls a mixture of normal Gnolls (though fiendish) and 3rd level rangers.

The acolytes spell selection for now is
0/Resistance, Preserve organ, Unnerving gaze, Detect magic, Read magic, Mage hand, Touch of fatigue, Message, Ghost sound
1/Mage armor, Shield, Bestow wound, Seething eyebane, Animate rope
2/Desecrate, Darkbolt, Hideous laughter, Invisibility, Levitate
3/Ray of fatigue, Wall of chains, Fireball, Dispel magic
4/Damning darkness, Fire shield

 

[Shallown]

I would have the vats of tanning materials sunk in the ground some so you can bullrush players into them. Though the acids in tanning (from what little I know) aren't super strong it should be enough to scare the players. Also I think some earlier parts of tanning break down the skin some so leather equipment such as belts, backpacks, weapon slings may be extra vulnerable.

Also Tanneries smell to the high heavens so some saves versus fortitude or be Nauseated which is not a good thing. Make it a low DC but a constant concern.

Suddenly setting a room full of acidic vats etc into darkness may also be scary.

I found a way to really get the players. Seperate the area into rooms with hanging hides. Make it a move equivalent to pull aside a hide to move through that space. It slows down the party making it hard to fight in. This can go both ways but if the bad guys just ready actions to attack then it serves them to be on the defensive. Home territory should be a little more dangerous.

If you can put planks across a few pits/vats then those using them to cross need balance checks and lose dex while crossing, settingup some nasty sneak attacks if you want to arma few Gnoll rogues (instead of rangers) with short bows. to pick off crossing characters. Also animate rope and hideous laughter might prove more painful falling prone into a vat makes for some checks versus drowning, blinding from the acids etc. Youcan adjust the nastiness level based on your level of meanness.

Also using hides as nets to entangle and slow down the enemy is good. Even with improvised weapon penalties it could end up being unpleasant.

Sorry I am rambling on just trying to think of all the ways the environment can be used against the characters so you can pick the ones you like.

If you ever saw the old 3 musketeer's (michael yourk days) They had a fight scene in a wash room full of vats of steaming water and using wet sheets to fight with. An interesting inspiration maybe.


Edited to add : Don't forget those nasty hyenas in Dog skin cloaks.
later

 

[devilbat]

Also Tanneries smell to the high heavens so some saves versus fortitude or be Nauseated which is not a good thing. Make it a low DC but a constant concern.

To me this is an absolute must. If you've spent any time in a tannery or a taxidermy shop, you know that the smell is horrendous.

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

Are tanning chemical flammable? If someone drops a torch--or casts fireball--there could be trouble....

It's a fantasy world, so even if tanning chemical aren't flammable in the real world they can still be flammable in your game. Or the gnolls could throw oil into the vats and light it.

 

[adwyn]

While the acids are weak, there should be several large cauldrons full of boiling water and hides. They can either have fires directly under them or sit on raised stone furnaces.

Optionally treat the hanging hides as cover, at least for the big guys. It gives the short folks a real advantage.

Tanneries require a large amount of water, so most are situated along side a river. Its possible to add some small canals, perhaps a waterwheel (to lift water up) and such as well.

 

[Wombat]

Prepare your players for the strong smell of urine -- that was used in many medieval/early modern tanneries as the acid in question.

Foul? Yep. That's why they are on the edge of town...

 

[monboesen]

Thx a bunch guys (and girls?). Lots of nice ideas already, really like the large vats and planks+the streched hides dividing the rooms.

This one should hopefully stay in the players minds (or nightmares) for a while.

Just found out that you apparently can tan hides by smearing them with brains, hmmm now I know exactly how the acolyte made those magical human disguise skinsuits and why they are so effective. Bwahahahaha.

haha...ehh must go now. Men dressed in white by my door



PS.

If you ever saw the old 3 musketeer's (michael yourk days) They had a fight scene in a wash room full of vats of steaming water and using wet sheets to fight with. An interesting inspiration maybe.

Seen it a dosen times when I was a kid. Thats the best Musketeers movie ever. By far.

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

I had something similar in my last campaign - a golem making wizard based in a tannery complex. Was fun!

If the main vats are in the floors, how do you fill them?

I'd go for some other vats on chain/runner or rope/pulley arrangements hanging from the ceiling... used to move goop from storage to the floor vats.

Come up with a reasonable DC to tip them over. Some might do acid damage. Others may contain horrible magical goop that has random effects: Make a little table and if it lands on you, then roll... Perhaps some of them may even be beneficial? (if a little nasty!).

They might need to heat some of the chemicals, so the ceiling vats could be made of iron and heated in large fires at the edges of the room.

The fires themselves could even be disturbing. Perhaps a tribe of captured magmins? Properly tortured, of course.


Be prepared for what the players could do. Simply stand outside the room and shoot flaming arrows into the vats. My lot did this as they were leaving. Fortunately they needed to retrieve something so couldn't do it as a first option. You could have some innocent commoners in there?

You could drop the villan into the largest and goopiest looking vat... No-one could survive that! (Without hideous Joker like mutations, of course. )

 

[Shallown]

Perhaps not in the floor but having a second level like an in-ground pool with a deck.

The pulleys and chains would be interesting to move hides about over the vats.

You could have a water wheel to power things in the tannery. Since a lot of water is needed. Then you could lasso/net a character and have the tow line tied to a wheel that is engaged dragging the character along. It depends on how cinematic you want to be.

later

 

[monboesen]

Any opinions on the Acolyte of the skin prestige class. It seems a bit underwhelming to me.