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My PCs got cliffhangered into the Parrot Island tunnels last session, so I'm looking for ways to make the zombie jamboree memorable and scary.
Since Vanthus threw Shefton's body down there with our heroes, I'm planning to have him animate as a zombie as well, for the creep factor of seeing someone they knew get all ravenous, and also for the tactical scare of being trapped between a wave of zombies ahead and one attacking from the rear.
I'm also thinking about placing the zombies ahead of time, havong each roll Listen checks to hear the PCs, and then converge on them - with the huecuva coordinating their tactics to a degree (Int 4 instead of mindless).
What have y'all done or thought about with the Parrot Island scenes?
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in my campaign, Shefton got thrown down a room after they started exploring, hung on the rope they used to 'ensure they could get up later' it wasn't until here that they actually met Vanthus (a well described scream ending a loud cracking noise brought them to see what was up). When they came back to the entrance after, they found the one ravenous zombie that was left alive snacking on the body of the still hanging Shefton.
For my game, instead of giving Penkus' information through a written down handout (it didn't make any sense to me that he would stop to write all that crap down), I decided to have it delivered by Penkus himself, now an urchin covered, unique zombie*, waiting for the PCs at the way at the western end of the sea caves. Instead of the players finding a note from Penkus, I used the text of the note for Penkus' dialog instead. After the scene was over, he tried to eat the players, and they killed him.
*Unique zombie meaning that he had his memories, and could talk, but was otherwise crunch-identical to a normal zombie for the encounter.
well not sure about Shefton animating, since the original zombies died from starvation and cursing their fate.... But if you feel mean...
What really helped with the athmosphere was placing more small crabs throughout the dungeon, nibbling on the zombies and anything dropped.... put in a small swarm of them too (analogous to an aquatic centipede swarm without poison ) . Plus, I had the ground partially covered with slimy algae and crushed clams etc.. slippery ground, demanding balance check and making outrunning the zombies more difficult
..... Bought some feed for aquarium fish (soft flakes with the ounfgent aroma of a fishing boat ) ... the odour really helped freaking them out with an appropriate "tangy" smell.
Olfactory background iis something I tend to do frequently - usually when the signficant other is away and I can air the place afterwards at leisure. Can work wonders for setting the mood
My party was a bit higher level than was to be expected (just dropped some savage tide stuff into my homebrew), so I changed some of the zombies to ghouls. That made it a little more tense. I also threw in an allip that was a pirate that locked himself in a room away from the rest when they started going mad and then killed himself.
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32
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At the end of the tunnel to the east, in the water, I put a bloodbloater ooze from the Fiend Folio. The barbarian water genasi swam in to explore the crates under the water and then the things started sucking his blood. THAT freaked them out!
I also left a few blessed bandages in a box (Magic Item Compendium) as a bonus since they have no cleric, but I'm a nice guy like that.
While they were under, Vanthus holed their hired boat and decapitated the spellthiefs companion Dire Otter, Big Jim. He threw the head down after Shefton and they found them both when they tried to get out. (They were too watchful to have V realistically get the drop on them when they went down. Shefton wasn't with them when they went down either).
According to party CSI work, the otter was herded onto the beach, where Vanthus did the deed. His body was bitten all over (ixits).
I took advantage of the huecuva's 4 INT and used a bolster attempt on itself and the majority of the ravenous zombies prior to having him pincer the PCs in that hallway they made the mistake of camping out in.
The cocksure cleric ... wasn't ... when his repeated turn attempts failed miserably after thier previous successfulness...
As far as creepiness, I played up the atmospherics somewhat, although what I've seen posted earlier were as good if not considerably better - especially the aromatic/olfactory tips, which are GREAT!
I've found that most D&D games have MORE than enough olfactory stimulation to invoke an atmosphere of undeath. Something about having your own personal bowl of cheetos i guess.
I'm about to run this next session. I've been thinking of just playing up the setting itself, the half sunken tunnels, the darkness and the play of shadows on the walls, the moaning of the ravenous dead. I have to increase their numbers a bit as my pcs are a higher level.
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Here are some things I did:
- Introduce Penkus as a zombie, as others suggested. I had him mistake their approaching light as the return of Vanthus, and they played along and got most of the handout information as dialog. Once they pushed Penkus too far, he went nuts and they killed him & took his masterwork leather armor. Next session I had the handout ready and told them they had noticed this message scratched by unusually sharp teeth into the inner leather surface of the armor's breastplate, written before he died & was reanimated.
- Had Shefton Rosk's body start moaning as the curse on Parrot Island re-animated him as a zombie. The players were shocked that Vanthus had murdered him in cold blood and wanted to bring out his body to give it a decent burial. So the body was already strapped over the barbarian's shoulders. When he started making sounds, they saw that his teeth were becoming elongated, but thought maybe he had somehow survived the fall and were eager to try to save his life. So the druid used his only CLW on Shefton - which I decided caused enough positive energy damage to destroy the nascent zombie. The players still laugh about having (accidentally) saved the barbarian from having a ravenous zombie strapped on his back!
... The players still laugh about having (accidentally) saved the barbarian from having a ravenous zombie strapped on his back!
woot O:)
Poor Shefton. Recruited not by the Lotus Dragons but by the ravenous dead. On the other hand he was a rat. Served him right.