RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32
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Having finally completed more tasks than Hercules, and swung the vote Lavinia's way, and teleported back to Sasserine for major shopping, my group has finally, finally started their defence of Farshore.
At the end of our last session we left them waiting anxiously (SPLIT UP) at various handy locations. The Water Genasi twin-shield fighter and the Halfling Spellthief are underwater where a two-headed elasmosaurus has just appeared out of invisibility. It's master/ controller has not yet revealed himself.
The Forsaker is waiting in the bar with a SWAT team of Olman and Farshore fighters, and the VOP Druid and the Arcane Archivist are at the docks planning something that is bound to tick me off ;-)
I suspect Control Water, and so does the invading fleet. They are intending on raising the water on their final approach, which may cancel out the party's plans. They may have some other trick up their sleeve though - I'll just have to improvise if that's the case.
I'm looking for more ways to make the assault memorable. So far I've figured out a few to avoid a standing battle in the bay and to bring the fight to the defenders asap, hopefully keeping them reactive and not proactive.
2) A few more scrolls will let V'Sesslin cast invisibility sphere on two or three jollyboats. The boats are 20 feet long, just fitting in a 10' radius. An invisibility sphere may look weird riding the waves, and the permanent arcane sight of the Arcane Archivist will surely pick them out, but that's his thing anyway.
The idea is to do as much as possible using magic instead of mundane methods - just because it's the Forgotten Realms really. Any more ideas, guys? I don't want more encounters, just twists on the existing ones or alternatives.
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Nothing really "built" per se, but I always liked the idea of
aah....memories.
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32
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That could really work, and fit too.
A zombie brachiosaurus packed full of ...say...Mummified Ogres is right up his street :-)
Awesome, Heathy! Thank you :)
Flying monsters dropping alchemist's fire (or the little missiles of a necklace of fireballs) on the village...
My players asked me last week how well the phanatons could fly, and how big they were. When I told them, they decided against using them for aerial combat. But the catapults, well, they change everything.
My players plan to use catapults, but want to use them for firing missiles. Especially burning ones.
control weather + hugemongous bank of fog shrouding the attacking fleet with a 2 mile radius of concealment. Arrival in the dead of night - when most humanoids are asleep - will also benefit the attacking fleet.
BBEG NE druid under cover of wild shape positions above the village, deploys a control wind to shatter the defender's ability to use ranged weapon attacks and generally lay waste to all but the flimsiest structures.
control weather to whip up a ferocious tropical storm ahead of the assaulting fleet's arrival. Timing should be done by way of telepathic bond between the BBEG spell casters so as to minimize the delay between cessation of hostile weather and bad guys' arrival.
call lightning storm - several ideally - blasts the defenders, sourced from the tropical storm that provides greater striking power and obliterates vast swathes of defending mooks.
Departing from the ship to come around behind Farshore from the landward side - especially by an "elite strike team".
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idea 1:
Robots in Disguise. Use the golem encounter, but make them look like more innocuous critters...dinos, fishy-things, etc.
ideaa 2:
Vrock me like a Hurricane: don't hold back with those feathery cads...each can ferry a pirate or 2 via flight, a scroll or spell of featherfall and you have a LALO aerial assault
idea 3:
Pirates, more pirates. Sure, the individual mooks go down with a swing or 2, but what if you double their numbers? Even if the additions are illusory or summoned, they PC's are going to have to split their attention.
idea 4:
With regards to water/bay protection...if you submerge a ship, they won't see it coming...U-Boat attacks, anyone?
finally,
Idea 5:
Big V actually uses the pearl before his death-throes. Hell, he'd probably want to start off with that one, assuming he can grab sis off the docks/piers/etc. with a flying buddy beforehand. Now they have to deal with everything, taking acid damage every round, and have to figure out how to stop/disable/remove the pearl before it goes boom.
-t
The way the scene involving the actual attack on Farshore, the trio of vrocks under magical cover of the wizard's spell list - since it is a simple matter to rearrange the wizard's spells prepared - can initiate the assault with a dance of death directly overhead. It's a supernatural ability, one for which I do not recall a description stipulating any noise is required for it to work.
So, just have the trio of greater invisible, silenced vrocks do an aerial tap dance over Farshore ... over and over and ...
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32
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Ohhhh yeah.... starting with the Vrocks is just the thing to shake them up! And the fog is a good idea too. I've just had them catch a glimpse of the ships, so it's time for fog to start billowing up. I can always say its a custom spell if anyone asks ;-)
A few (let's call it) Walls of Fog which get blown along by a few air necromentals. Dispel the wall and see the hundreds of pirates in jollyboats advancing under cover.
If the underwater partymembers take out the dino and the illthid quickly, they can start letting their boobytrapped logs float upwards, causing carnage among the pirates.
And as long as they are underwater and the Forsaker is refusing to fly...it's going to be VERY difficult for the wizard and the druid to stop 4 dancing vrocks. Very difficult indeed.
I warned them not to split the party too much ;-)
Ohhhh yeah.... starting with the Vrocks is just the thing to shake them up! And the fog is a good idea too. I've just had them catch a glimpse of the ships, so it's time for fog to start billowing up. I can always say its a custom spell if anyone asks ;-)
A few (let's call it) Walls of Fog which get blown along by a few air necromentals. Dispel the wall and see the hundreds of pirates in jollyboats advancing under cover.
If the underwater partymembers take out the dino and the illthid quickly, they can start letting their boobytrapped logs float upwards, causing carnage among the pirates.
And as long as they are underwater and the Forsaker is refusing to fly...it's going to be VERY difficult for the wizard and the druid to stop 4 dancing vrocks. Very difficult indeed.
I warned them not to split the party too much ;-)
Kill them ... kill them all, then make them Death Knights in service to Demogorgon, to spread Shadow Pearls all over Faerun ... and let 'em whack the Big Name NPCs ...
Ohhhh yeah.... starting with the Vrocks is just the thing to shake them up! And the fog is a good idea too. I've just had them catch a glimpse of the ships, so it's time for fog to start billowing up. I can always say its a custom spell if anyone asks ;-)
A few (let's call it) Walls of Fog which get blown along by a few air necromentals. Dispel the wall and see the hundreds of pirates in jollyboats advancing under cover.
If the underwater partymembers take out the dino and the illthid quickly, they can start letting their boobytrapped logs float upwards, causing carnage among the pirates.
And as long as they are underwater and the Forsaker is refusing to fly...it's going to be VERY difficult for the wizard and the druid to stop 4 dancing vrocks. Very difficult indeed.
I warned them not to split the party too much ;-)
Kill them ... kill them all, then make them Death Knights in service to Demogorgon, to spread Shadow Pearls all over Faerun ... and let 'em whack the Big Name NPCs ...
They have to EAT Drizzt though. No Savage Drow, they have to eat him, not infect him.
They have to EAT Drizzt though. No Savage Drow, they have to eat him, not infect him.Ohhhh yeah.... starting with the Vrocks is just the thing to shake them up! And the fog is a good idea too. I've just had them catch a glimpse of the ships, so it's time for fog to start billowing up. I can always say its a custom spell if anyone asks ;-)
A few (let's call it) Walls of Fog which get blown along by a few air necromentals. Dispel the wall and see the hundreds of pirates in jollyboats advancing under cover.
If the underwater partymembers take out the dino and the illthid quickly, they can start letting their boobytrapped logs float upwards, causing carnage among the pirates.
And as long as they are underwater and the Forsaker is refusing to fly...it's going to be VERY difficult for the wizard and the druid to stop 4 dancing vrocks. Very difficult indeed.
I warned them not to split the party too much ;-)
Kill them ... kill them all, then make them Death Knights in service to Demogorgon, to spread Shadow Pearls all over Faerun ... and let 'em whack the Big Name NPCs ...
Good call
I gave the yuan ti scrolls of
also I noticed one of his spells was
I gave the yuan ti scrolls of ** spoiler omitted **
also I noticed one of his spells was ** spoiler omitted **
?!?!?
Last I checked, Mirror Image only affects the caster and Haste only affects "creatures" (and not objects). And Invisibility would have to be really metamagicked to affect a ship, what with the normal limit of 100 lbs/caster level. Not to mention that if it affects the ship, it doesn't affect any crew/passengers who are on deck or up the masts.
Which isn't to say that there might be other, higher level spells which could do something similar.
And that's a good use for Shrink Item! :)
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32
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I put the attacking pirates in jolly-boats with invisibility spheres on them. The boats were 20 feet long, so it fitted perfectly. Then I stuck water elementals behind them to push - making invisible speedboats traveling at 90' per round and making them only trackable by their wakes, which were subdued and hard to spot due to the elementals.
Once I've finished my monster I'll post the results of first contact between the party and the invading forces.
Hint: the invaders had a bad day.
Monster progress: ARGH! 317 words!!!!
Give Vanthus a body guard - His Harem of the Dammed, all of his former lovers, Rowyn, Brisa, (extra previous ones if needed) - Make them powerful undead highlight that this will be Lavinia's reward for joining him.
Give Vanthus a body guard - His Harem of the Dammed, all of his former lovers, Rowyn, Brisa, (extra previous ones if needed) - Make them powerful undead highlight that this will be Lavinia's reward for joining him.
Or, due to the betrayal of them by Vanthus, have them shamble out of the water as Revenants. Whether clambering up the anchor chain(s), up the aft of the ship (rudder, into cabin) or the like. Vanthus it is true is going to do Very Bad Things to Lavinia. It could also be shown that the path Vanthus chose so long ago is not without repercussion.
I gave the yuan ti scrolls of ** spoiler omitted **
also I noticed one of his spells was ** spoiler omitted **
?!?!?
Last I checked, Mirror Image only affects the caster and Haste only affects "creatures" (and not objects). And Invisibility would have to be really metamagicked to affect a ship, what with the normal limit of 100 lbs/caster level. Not to mention that if it affects the ship, it doesn't affect any crew/passengers who are on deck or up the masts.
Which isn't to say that there might be other, higher level spells which could do something similar.
And that's a good use for Shrink Item! :)
yes they were intented as a different spell, at much higher levels. Maybe they should have been wondrous items, but I dare not give that kind of money to my PCs :)
Give Vanthus a body guard - His Harem of the Dammed, all of his former lovers, Rowyn, Brisa, (extra previous ones if needed) - Make them powerful undead highlight that this will be Lavinia's reward for joining him.Or, due to the betrayal of them by Vanthus, have them shamble out of the water as Revenants.
I have literally been looking for that template for years. What book is it in?
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I have literally been looking for that template for years. What book is it in?Give Vanthus a body guard - His Harem of the Dammed, all of his former lovers, Rowyn, Brisa, (extra previous ones if needed) - Make them powerful undead highlight that this will be Lavinia's reward for joining him.Or, due to the betrayal of them by Vanthus, have them shamble out of the water as Revenants.
http://www.d20resources.com/menaces.d20/menaces/revenant.template.php
Hope that helps
-t
I have literally been looking for that template for years. What book is it in?Give Vanthus a body guard - His Harem of the Dammed, all of his former lovers, Rowyn, Brisa, (extra previous ones if needed) - Make them powerful undead highlight that this will be Lavinia's reward for joining him.Or, due to the betrayal of them by Vanthus, have them shamble out of the water as Revenants.http://www.d20resources.com/menaces.d20/menaces/revenant.template.php
Hope that helps
-t
I use the one in Pathfinder #3 (I think - RotRL has it)... mucho nasty.
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32
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I meant to give a quick summary of what happened in the first night of the battle. While I’m twitching about the unveiling of the monsters in an hour or two, I’ll see what I can remember.
The group had made all sorts of preparations, from alchemist’s fire torpedoes to stockpiles of scrolls and training of catapult-launched phanaton glide-bombers. The lookouts on the cliffs sent word of four ships approaching and the water-clock was set in motion. They’d timed the trip many times from various directions and the wizard swiftly estimated the time of arrival of the fleet. The water genasi and the spellthief went under the waves to ready the torpedoes which were weighted to the bottom. Ten residents who could ride well were mounted on waveriding Phantom Steeds, from scrolls scribed by the party wizard in the previous month.
The druid and the wizard went to the docks and stood on the central pier, the wizard shifted his form to that of an Olman bodyguard and kept his rod of still spell handy. No-one would target the wizard in the first attack if he could help it!
Phanaton lookouts spotted the ships about to round the cliffs and buffs were cast. Suddenly the phanatons were embroiled in a vicious fight with gargoyles and were unable to begin their bombing runs. (The party skipped a lot of HTBM).
As the four ships appeared, each surrounded by tens or more jollyboats, the druid struck. The water around the ships began to churn and drop as a whirlpool began to form. Expecting a druid, V’Sesslin counterspelled rapidly, and the boats sped towards the shore at astonishing speed. A second Control Water was too much, and the front two caravels foundered almost instantly. Dropping twenty feet and spinning uncontrollably, they were unable to target their ballistae on the town. Worse still, their wildly careening masts were spoiling the view for the other two vessels.
Underwater the Genasi grinned and motioned to the first of the many torpedoes. Working swiftly with the spellthief, they soon had it pointing upwards and straining to broach the surface. They guided its path as long as they could without getting too close to the churning whirlpool and released it. It burst out of the waves, sprayed alchemists fire over the rudder and stern and ignited the lot. Smoke and flames further hampered the view of the ships further out, and the pirate types on the water-elemental propelled speedboats thanked their darg Gods they’d got away quickly.
The underwater demolition squad never had time to celebrate, as a two-headed plesiosaur appeared out of invisibility and bit down hard on each of them. They backpedalled swiftly and reeled under the mind blast of the suddenly visible mind flayer that floated behind them. Surrounded and outclassed, with the beach under attack, they swam rapidly to the surface and flew towards Farshore.
That’s about when a column of shadowstuff swirled up in the bay and the flagship of the fleet materialized from the Plane of Shadows. (Using the shadow charts from a previous RPG Superstar IIRC, and rolling a 1 on the deviation dice placing it in the bay and in a perfect position.)
The wizard called a whole lot of small fireballs down on the approaching small boats, killing ten of the twelve pirates instantly. The boats beached and the remaining two sprang out and ran to engage him. Further up the beach on both sides, more boats landed and moved to engage the defenders. From the gates came word of dinosaur skeletons full of zombies (Wooden Horse of Troy style) and that the Olman were keeping them at bay with the help of the Jade Ravens. The Forsaker, watching from the pub roof, couldn’t quite choose which way to run and waited. When the heads of four flesh golems emerged from the waves he finally sprang into action himself.
V’Sesslin teleported onboard the Brine Harlot and quickly checked the situation. He headed up on deck with his Halfblood guards and let loose with a fireball at the pier where the druid and wizard had dispatched the other two pirates. The ten lancers on Phantom Steeds headed off across the waves to engage the pirates and the Forsaker arrived to engage all four golems just as the wizard slowed them with some lightning.
The druid flew towards the flagship and blasted V’Sesslin with a Miasma. It blew through his Spell Resistance and left him speechless and choking…
And that’s where we left it. The party pirate encounter was a pushover, the slowed golems are toast against a massive adamantium axe-wielding fast-healing Forsaker, and V’Sesslin is in trouble.
I don’t want you-know-who to appear yet, so I think I’ll have the four flying baddies take off invisibly for the town. That should get the whole flying party away from the ship long enough for someone to Dispel Magic on V’Sesslin. If they don’t do well with their summons or dance, the mind flayer can attack while you-know-who heads for Lavinia. Otherwise, there can be a breach at the gate. Or…?
So far it’s a spectacular end to the greatest scenario yet, with my WorldWorks Sea Maiden and Skull Cove scenery (including little boats) and flying bases from Combat Tiers. Awesome, and the best is yet to come!
Looking forward to it! Now .. don't you have a campaign journal somewhere? ^_^
Then tell us that you at least have pictures?
Nice pictures! Where did you find the two-headed dino? It looks really nice!
Massive... but in Dutch!
Sorry....
D'oh!! I do remember that ... finally. :) Good luck in slaughtering ... er, "running" the player characters in the conclusion of the next session!
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32
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Hey Luna, I got three of them last year for like 99 cents each in some really cheap store - the Wibra! Figured it might come in handy one day ;-)
I do that a lot.
Unfortunately due to bad weather and black ice we had two players call off for tonight. Looks like I have another week to plot and paint :-)
Turin, do you mean...
Hey Luna, I got three of them last year for like 99 cents each in some really cheap store - the Wibra! Figured it might come in handy one day ;-)
I do that a lot.
Unfortunately due to bad weather and black ice we had two players call off for tonight. Looks like I have another week to plot and paint :-)
Turin, do you mean... ** spoiler omitted **
Hey Luna, I got three of them last year for like 99 cents each in some really cheap store - the Wibra! Figured it might come in handy one day ;-)
Pity we do not have a Wibra here (only a Zeeman). I have to go to Nijmegen for a Wibra, which drives up the costs a bit.
My daughter has a lot of plastic dinos, perhaps I ought to check with her :-)
Unfortunately due to bad weather and black ice we had two players call off for tonight. Looks like I have another week to plot and paint :-)
Still freezing up north? We are having rain here. Surprising how different the weather can be in such a small country :-)
We have a few pictures, but I'll take plenty tonight.
Brilliant Carborundum. what enemy/PC is the 2-headed dragon representing?
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32
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Ah. That would be the two-headed fiendish elasmosaurus under the control of the aquatic mind flayer Psion.
Long story short - my group did all they could to skip HTBM and patched up the Wyvern enough to limp to Mora. I threw a lot of the stuff from HTBM into TOD,but not everything. The Gargoyles got hired in by the Fleet and were to be aerial firepower. The party gave the phanatons catapults to launch them into the air, saving the town from gargoyle strafing and producing hilarious dogfights!
No self-respecting aquatic invasion fleet sails into an unfamiliar harbour without checking out the sea bed. Especially when there are aquatic monsters galore. (Scrying also revealed all sorts of DIY activity and trips to the seabed with suspicious objects).
Time to use the Kopru druid & elasmosaur pet!
But...Since none of my group know the original Isle of Dread, the whole Kopru legacy has no extra coolness factor. Cue Mind Flayers! Everybody knows Mind Flayers!
He was also jointly responsible for the first PC death of the campaign.
DUN-DUN-DUHN!!!!
summoned dao -> massive fortifications, essentially securing the harbor with gates and such.
Big fortifications making it absolutely insane to try a mundane assault.
awakened dinos -> leading the less intelligent ones.
Pterodactyls dropping phanatons phanaton commandos.. sail, rigging, stray pirates
Giant waterdwellers basically getting in the way... (first hiding, then obstacles that bite)
20 T-rexes, enchanted with flight potions... (that part will get wild)
Zombies waiting on the bottom, some phanatons with weighted rope that is to be tied to something and dropped into the sea... zombiemaster zombies climb up..
Natives & poison arrows. Mostly phanaton commandos would get to use those.
so essentially they will never even close to threateing the town. Trapped out on sea, hemmed in by dinos, eaten by dinos
Mighty we fly
teeth are sharp
pirates soft and tender
By StarMoon, t-rex philosopher-mage & vice king of dinosaurs, transmuter 3 (int 25, empower and awaken...)
My players had:
driven sharpened tree trunks into the harbour that sat just below the waterline. In a pattern to funnel the ships into the kill zones for the catapults.
Ran ropes from the cliff face to create zip lines so that the Phanaton could drop from where they wanted.
Made fire ships manned by zombies who once their flaming outrigger collided with the pirate ship would while on fire climb up onto the pirate ship and burn.
They also had a elasmosaurus, some triceratops and a stegosaurus.
Merivanchi had created the 1st Farshore Terror Bird Cavalry squadron (The druid and ranger helped him train the terror birds. There were only 6 but they were fast and deadly.