The Sargasso mat of Journey's End is described as being an extension of the Mother Of All, similar to hair, in that it is a part, but isnt animate. But the text also suggests that the Mother can feel the intruders upon the sargasso.
My question: is the entire sargasso mat considered a creature for the purposes of being targeted with spells, or an object. Obviously, the Mother herself is, but what about the sargasso five miles away from her?
The party druid does have access to diminish plants, which would enable the party to escape the sargasso moderately quickly (5-6 days of castings). I realize I can swarm them with vine horrors, but my group is pretty heroic, and even if they got the ship free of the mass, they would have the crew hold position, and then get in a launch and go back to see if anything could be done to end the threat Journey's End poses to sailors everywhere.
So, is the mass itself just normal sargasso, or is it technically all one big collosal++++ sized creature, and thus immune to spells that don't work on creatures? And what suggestions, if any, do you all have regarding the running of the Journey's End scene?
Creative Director
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While the sargasso grows out of the mother of all, it's basically just plants. Diminish plants actually would work quite well to open up a 100-foot circle around the Sea Wyvern of no plants. Unfortunately, the stuff grows back pretty quickly overnight, so unless the druid has a lot of the spells (or you have lots of druids, or a wand of diminish plants the stuff grows back overnight and the Sea Wyvern is back where she started, but now the Mother of All has a reason to be really angry with the ship and sends more vine horrors after them.
That all said, it's perfectly cool (and huzzah for the druid!) to escape Journey's End in this manner. I'd let the druid have the limelight and save the day, personally, especially if the PCs seem interested in heading back in on their own terms to finish things off. In the end, avoiding the Mother Of All just has the PCs miss out on a cool encounter, some XP, and some treasure; it won't impact the overarching plot if the PCs are canny and escape without having to kill the mother.
While the sargasso grows out of the mother of all, it's basically just plants. Diminish plants actually would work quite well to open up a 100-foot circle around the Sea Wyvern of no plants. Unfortunately, the stuff grows back pretty quickly overnight, so unless the druid has a lot of the spells (or you have lots of druids, or a wand of diminish plants the stuff grows back overnight and the Sea Wyvern is back where she started, but now the Mother of All has a reason to be really angry with the ship and sends more vine horrors after them.
That all said, it's perfectly cool (and huzzah for the druid!) to escape Journey's End in this manner. I'd let the druid have the limelight and save the day, personally, especially if the PCs seem interested in heading back in on their own terms to finish things off. In the end, avoiding the Mother Of All just has the PCs miss out on a cool encounter, some XP, and some treasure; it won't impact the overarching plot if the PCs are canny and escape without having to kill the mother.
It would add to the "creepy" factore to have the sargasso grow back at an accelerated rate. Within a few seconds of the casting of the spell, while the PCs are rejoicing, the vinework of the ominous mat of plant starts growing before their very eyes with a squishy, creaking sound. Mabey throw in some shifting of the other boats nearby and a baleful moaning in the distance from the direction of the Maw. Try not to chuckle when the players say something like,"oh S#!T, what did we just do?"
Maybe have the spells trigger an autonomic defense reaction. Each time the growth is reduced, it grows back in greater strength and profusion, like scar tissue, threatening to engulf the Sea Wyvern, and each new casting results in more vine horrors in subsequent attacks.
It would add to the "creepy" factore to have the sargasso grow back at an accelerated rate. Within a few seconds of the casting of the spell, while the PCs are rejoicing, the vinework of the ominous mat of plant starts growing before their very eyes with a squishy, creaking sound. Mabey throw in some shifting of the other boats nearby and a baleful moaning in the distance from the direction of the Maw. Try not to chuckle when the players say something like,"oh S#!T, what did we just do?"
I humbly disagree. This feels like it's cheating the players out of a very well thought out plan and seems a bit like railroading. I think this is a very novel idea to escape and really lets the druid shine.
I'd allow them to escape this way, but if they're interested in returning, the Mother is going to be very aware of them and target the druid like nobody's business...
~ Bryon ~
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Creative Director
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I humbly disagree. This feels like it's cheating the players out of a very well thought out plan and seems a bit like railroading. I think this is a very novel idea to escape and really lets the druid shine.
I'd allow them to escape this way, but if they're interested in returning, the Mother is going to be very aware of them and target the druid like nobody's business...
Diminish plants is already so rarely used that yes, it would feel like a cheat to me to tell the druid that, on one of the few occasions where it can save the day, "It doesn't work and now you've made things worse." Much better to have the sargasso recede and then hear the distant roar as the Sea Wyvern breaks free. Of course, it'll certainly take more than one spell to carve a path to freedom. At the very least, the party'll be stuck there for a day waiting for the druid to rest and pray for a pile of the spells the next day. A lot can happen during that first night...
The Sargasso experience In Journey's end was a fantastic Idea, It really presents the Pc's and crew with a very well thought out encounter. It really sets a creepy mood and should get the Pc's crackin' on an Idea to get out of that jam. I would like to know what everyone else thought of this and If anyone's gotten this far along yet In their game? Also did you add or subtract any elements or left It as Is?
If your PCs are really good guys, they'll go back after escaping just to see if they can do something about it: it is a danger to every ship that sails, after all.
If they're good but not that good, the addition of a lone survivor from one of the other derelicts will generally motivate them to return. Especially if they never explored at all at first, and as they get free, the survivor sees them from the other wreck and comes running, screaming for help as they drift away. Dont be afraid to hit alignments if they turn their back on an innocent.
I'm going to be adding the "Red Flower".
What is the Red Flower? The ghost of a small girl from one of the stuck ships. She loved flowers in life, and slipped away from her ship to see if she could find any flowers on the sargasso. The vine horrors attacked her ship while she was away, and so she returned to a empty ship, with only a few bloodstains for company. Terrified, she crawled into the hold and waited for someone to come help.
But no one ever did. The vine horrors didn't find her, but after a week of hiding, she had no strength. She curled up in a corner of the hold, and watched the slowly growing sargasso creep in through the portholes and cover her like a blanket before she died.
So the PC will occasionally see a young girl in a red dress picking flowers from the sargasso and putting them in her hair. But if they ever approach the ghost, or touch her, it will desperately leap at them shrieking "Don't leave me!", transforming in visage to what the young girl truly looks like: a withered corpse covered in a "dress" of sargasso.
Thats my fun contribution. Anyone else?
If your PCs are really good guys, they'll go back after escaping just to see if they can do something about it: it is a danger to every ship that sails, after all.
If they're good but not that good, the addition of a lone survivor from one of the other derelicts will generally motivate them to return. Especially if they never explored at all at first, and as they get free, the survivor sees them from the other wreck and comes running, screaming for help as they drift away. Dont be afraid to hit alignments if they turn their back on an innocent.
I'm going to be adding the "Red Flower".
What is the Red Flower? The ghost of a small girl from one of the stuck ships. She loved flowers in life, and slipped away from her ship to see if she could find any flowers on the sargasso. The vine horrors attacked her ship while she was away, and so she returned to a empty ship, with only a few bloodstains for company. Terrified, she crawled into the hold and waited for someone to come help.
But no one ever did. The vine horrors didn't find her, but after a week of hiding, she had no strength. She curled up in a corner of the hold, and watched the slowly growing sargasso creep in through the portholes and cover her like a blanket before she died.
So the PC will occasionally see a young girl in a red dress picking flowers from the sargasso and putting them in her hair. But if they ever approach the ghost, or touch her, it will desperately leap at them shrieking "Don't leave me!", transforming in visage to what the young girl truly looks like: a withered corpse covered in a "dress" of sargasso.
Thats my fun contribution. Anyone else?
Black Beard great idea adding that "Red Flower" element In there, actually I don't think I need to change much for the Sargasso. I was writing an adventure centered around "Demogorgon" before Savage Tide came out, for my group to go through and I was going to start It out at first level as well. So basically I am know using "Savage Tide" as a template for my adventure. I have a different storyline going on but oddly enough It has a brother and sister element in there as well? And of course major influences for me when I was writing It were "Pirates of the Caribean", "Jurassic Park", "King Kong", "Planet of the Apes" and a good dose of ABC's "LOST". Although my first part of the adventure statrs off more up north and resembles more the movie "Ginger Snaps Back" heavily american Indian and Wendigo influence. when I have more time I'll try to write down my storyline.