I've recently been asked to do a homebrew for a few experienced players. I've only run published 3.0/3.5 stuff to date, and not much of that (a few Dungeon adventures and the first STAP entry so far). I'd really like to hit the first encounter out of the park, hence this request for help.
The initial encounter takes place in a crowded marketplace. Our heroes are charged with the seemingly mundane task of protecting the king's daughter (a young, trouble-making socialite type) while she shops. A high-level wizard duel erupts nearby -- the wizard PC's mentor is in pursuit of another wizard. The identity of the other wizard is unknown, and the reason for the battle unclear. The evil wizard casts a summon monster spell, conjuring a monster(s) to menace the innocents in the marketplace in hopes that the good wizard will stop his pursuit to deal with this threat. Of course, when the good wizard spots our heroes, he calls on them to deal with the monster(s) and flies/teleports/blinks off in pursuit of his quarry. Alternately, the evil wizard might have summoned a number of huge monsters and the good wizard does stop to deal with them. However, one of the monsters appears near the king's daughter, and our heroes are forced to deal with this one while the mentor wizard makes short work of the others.
I'd like the summoned monster(s) to be something that will challenge the PCs and be memorable. I'd love to throw them against something in the Huge size category (these raw young heroes facing a much bigger foe makes for a cinematic start). However, the closest thing I could find would be along the lines of a huge fiendish monstrous centipede, which despite its CR3 seems to be a very difficult challenge for first level PCs due to its DR5/magic and spell resistance (11). I considered throwing a handful of large fiendish monstrous centipedes at them, but several large monsters don't quite have the cinematic impact of one HUGE one.
Any recommendations for something that perhaps doesn't appear on the summoning tables, but would be appropriate in this situation, both in terms of CR and dramatic impact?
I actually think a Huge viper snake may be a good idea. Yes, a fiendish version would be CR 4, but it's pretty similar to the cenitpede and deals less damage. The DR and poison will be a bit scary, but a way around this could be to give the princess a magical weapon. She carries it around for show more than anything else, and doesn't even really know how to use it. The party may even look at her with disgust/envy ("Why does she get to carry a sword like that, when I, her bodyguard, have this inferior blade?"), but can snatch it away from her and use it on the monster when it arrives.
Additionally, they could either have been given some vials of antidote, for the princess in case of an emergency, but easily used for themselves as well; or, a panicked cleric arrives on the scene to help the innocents, and when the fight is over/the party is on the verge of death, he runs over to provide a bit of healing. In any case, this can be held in reserve so the party doesn't lose their sense of danger. Or perhaps the cleric is with the princess and looks to her first, only then tending to the party's needs.
The threat of the snake can be reduced somewhat by playing up the presence of the crowd. Perhaps it goes after a commoner or two first before the party attracts its notice.
Sounds like a good set up. Hope it goes well!
Hope this helps Bad...
I am guessing that your PC's are around 1st or 2nd level? You did not mention in your post. Here are a couple of my best suggestions based on the info I've got...
1- One of my favorites for low level Pc's is a Rust Monster or two. They will tear your party's armor and weapons apart, but at 1st and 2nd level they have nothing that gets destroyed that a quick trip to the marketplace can't replace (perhaps financed by a greatfull Princess?).
2- While not exactly size Huge, a Troll skeleton appearing from nowhere as the wizard summons it, its jaw gapping in a silent scream can cause the kind of stir in the players hearts you may be looking for.
3- Finally, if you HAVE to go Huge, my recomendation is the Huge Viper. Having it appear in the crowd, you can give the players a feel for just how big it is by having the snake wrap itself around something equally big... like the Princess' carriage? Now the PC's must slay the beast to extract the Princess from inside the carriage!
Hope this helps!
-Roth
I actually think a Huge viper snake may be a good idea. Yes, a fiendish version would be CR 4, but it's pretty similar to the cenitpede and deals less damage. The DR and poison will be a bit scary, but a way around this could be to give the princess a magical weapon. She carries it around for show more than anything else, and doesn't even really know how to use it. The party may even look at her with disgust/envy ("Why does she get to carry a sword like that, when I, her bodyguard, have this inferior blade?"), but can snatch it away from her and use it on the monster when it arrives. The threat of the snake can be reduced somewhat by playing up the presence of the crowd. Perhaps it goes after a commoner or two first before the party attracts its notice. Sounds like a good set up. Hope it goes well!
Thanks Saern! Your suggestions regarding the princess carrying a magical weapon, and the monster going after some commoners first to reduce the threat to something more manageable, are right on! I love solutions that work on both the mechanics/crunch and roleplay fronts. And a huge viper is probably a bit more menacing in appearance than a huge centipede....
Hope this helps Bad...
I am guessing that your PC's are around 1st or 2nd level? You did not mention in your post. Here are a couple of my best suggestions based on the info I've got...
Hope this helps!
-Roth
Thanks Roth! Sorry, I wasn't clear, the PCs are 1st level. I appreciate your suggestions, and note that like Saern you recommend a viper if I go huge. Just realized one thing about the "huge" thing that makes me reluctant, as much as my cinematic inclinations want to go that way -- the 10' reach could be a killer in terms of AoO's for the party. I like the image of skeletal trolls -- can this be done by summon monster, or would I have to use animate dead, which would require the presence of mostly intact troll skeletons nearby? Ooh, idea -- a traveling exhibit in the market this week features displays of various monster skeletons (kind of like dino exhibits in a museum), and the evil wizard uses animate dead to make the exhibit come to life. How does that sound?
The animated menagerie could work, too, though I think the summoned monster bit is just as good. Either way, none of the creatures discussed thus far have Combat Reflexes, so the AoO problem shouldn't be too bad. It will be a tough fight, no doubt, but I think the party should be able to pull it off.
Huge = longspears. Nothing like having to grab up a weapon you are clueless with in order to save your charge! Summon Undead from Libris Mortis is the one you need. (I'm working on some necromancers for Lilith's stat-bank, so have been poring thru this tome lately) You can get a Huge skeleton at 5th lvl (Summon Undead III) or a Huge zombie (or 2 Huge Skeletons) at 7th (Summon Undead IV). Functions just like Summon Monster I (and following), except your summoning list is alllllll undeaders!
Huge skeleton = piercing weapons with reach don't do to well. <evil laugh here>
Let us know how it goes!
(fwiw, the summoning-oriented Necromancer will be statted up at level 20 and will have lots of boosts for summoned critters, just so there's plenty of challenge left over...)
Thanks Roth! Sorry, I wasn't clear, the PCs are 1st level. I appreciate your suggestions, and note that like Saern you recommend a viper if I go huge. Just realized one thing about the "huge" thing that makes me reluctant, as much as my cinematic inclinations want to go that way -- the 10' reach could be a killer in terms of AoO's for the party. I like the image of skeletal trolls -- can this be done by summon monster, or would I have to use animate dead, which would require the presence of mostly intact troll skeletons nearby? Ooh, idea -- a traveling exhibit in the market this week features displays of various monster skeletons (kind of like dino exhibits in a museum), and the evil wizard uses animate dead to make the exhibit come to life. How does that sound?
Sounds great actually! I never would have come up with that myself, I just don't think that way. Doc is right about the Summon Undead spells too if you feel animating the skeleton would be too mundane for your big bad evil wizard. (there is always something more impressive about making something out of nothing especially if you want to project power and mystery)
The more I thought about the Huge Viper though made me want to run something similar. I have to agree with you about Huge monsters impressing your group at low levels. The "pucker factor" jumps enormously! (insert evil DM laugh here)
Last but not least I forgot to mention in my last post that I really liked your story line leading up to the encounter. I thought it really gave you a bunch of windows of opportunity to use to take your group on further adventures down the line. Echoing Searn and Doc, let us know how it turns out.
-Roth
Doc is right about the Summon Undead spells too if you feel animating the skeleton would be too mundane for your big bad evil wizard. (there is always something more impressive about making something out of nothing especially if you want to project power and mystery)
Hear's a good example of the dichotomy of D&D players' tastes. I like outsiders and things from other planes to be summoned, but the thought of summoning animals (as in summon nature's ally) or undead (as in summon undead) makes me cringe and think "no, that's not how it's supposed to be!" It's all preference, but I personally prefer summoning spells to be limited (if you can call it a limitation) to bringing things from other planes- if it's on the same plane, it's a teleportation effect. And if it's undead, I would always much rather the creator animate a skeleton or corpse or even primordial darkness (see: nightwalkers) than summon it. Just rubs me wrong.
/end threadjack
Doc is right about the Summon Undead spells too if you feel animating the skeleton would be too mundane for your big bad evil wizard. (there is always something more impressive about making something out of nothing especially if you want to project power and mystery)Hear's a good example of the dichotomy of D&D players' tastes. I like outsiders and things from other planes to be summoned, but the thought of summoning animals (as in summon nature's ally) or undead (as in summon undead) makes me cringe and think "no, that's not how it's supposed to be!" It's all preference, but I personally prefer summoning spells to be limited (if you can call it a limitation) to bringing things from other planes- if it's on the same plane, it's a teleportation effect. And if it's undead, I would always much rather the creator animate a skeleton or corpse or even primordial darkness (see: nightwalkers) than summon it. Just rubs me wrong.
/end threadjack
I can understand your thoughts there Searn.
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I like the image of skeletal trolls -- can this be done by summon monster, or would I have to use animate dead, which would require the presence of mostly intact troll skeletons nearby? Ooh, idea -- a traveling exhibit in the market this week features displays of various monster skeletons (kind of like dino exhibits in a museum), and the evil wizard uses animate dead to make the exhibit come to life. How does that sound?
The problem with this is in the spell description.
Check out the material component (onyx worth 25gp/HD), so each troll skeleton costs 150gp, and zombies cost 300gp.These prices aren't bad for a permanent faithful bodyguard with no upkeep, as long as you're just scaring peasants in a backwater town, but considering the prevalence of clerics in any adventuring party (or in a city), they tend to be an expensive one-round speed-bump.
Even without the cost, the caster must have placed a gem inside the skull of each potential corpse, and be ready and able to touch each one during the casting. No fishing in your bag for a gem, in between moving to each one, as that would really eat away at the 6 second round. According to the general magic rules, under 'Range: Touch', "You can touch as many willing targets as you can reach as part of the casting, but all targets of the spell must be touched in the same round that you finish casting the spell".
So, no standing surreptitiously at the other side of the street with a bag of onyx chippings, which go 'poof', then slipping away...you have to be at the cages, and able to reach the skulls (something a showman may well have prevented, to protect his exhibits from public abuse).
Don't get me wrong, Animate Dead is a great spell, both in power and flavour, but it's something that will normally be cast 'off-screen'. Remember, too, the HD limit per casting, though this can be doubled via desecrate, requiring an allied evil cleric to cast, or maybe embedded in one of his wondrous items...
I'm not trying to rain on your parade, at all, but this is the sort of thing that experienced players can really pick apart, especially if they've played/DM'ed a necromancer at all. It's been over a year since I did, but the conditions of this spell are something that tend to stick in the mind, since it is one of the iconic spells of that school.
The last thing you want is to dramatically describe a series of events, with an expectant flourish, only to be met with a wall of blank stares and a chorus of "Can't do that...".
Being able to 'wow' the players is often best done by showing that you do understand the synergies of some spell combos, and their limitations, but still manage to pull something off that's greater than the sum of the parts.