As I've mentioned in other threads, my current group consists of seven PCs + one riding dog who tends to roll really well. So I've been buffing encounters, and lately I've found it more fun to throw in different monsters rather than just double-up on everything. For example, I added level 3 tasloi ninjas in Vanderboren Manor during "The Bullywug Gambit" and called them "Disciples of the Glutton" - part of a cult that worships Emraag.
I could use some cool ideas, either for specific encounters or just random world-stuff. I'm open to any and all books.
I could use some cool ideas, either for specific encounters or just random world-stuff. I'm open to any and all books.
Sorry to say, that is pretty unspecific for an "idea trawl", and also there is little specification just where in the STAP you are and what your group's composition is like. Some more info would be ....helpful.
And I wonder - how would jungle dwelling primitive arboreals have heard of and started worshipping a Dragon Turtle 1800 miles (as the crow flies) distant ?
And I wonder - how would jungle dwelling primitive arboreals have heard of and started worshipping a Dragon Turtle 1800 miles (as the crow flies) distant ?
While I agree that more info would be helpful, nothing stops tasloi worshipping a great big Dragon Turtle. Maybe they got to Sasserine the same way the Rhagodessas did, by getting captured and sold as slaves. Maybe they then escaped and joined up with the Bullywugs. It doesn't really matter so long as your players are enjoying it and don't see the fourth wall breaking.
OK, some ideas: some more encounters with the Crimson Fleet during Wake of the Sea Wyvern... maybe some swashbuckling, derring-do, and adventure so as to make the adventure a bit more interactive and less "railroady" as some people have complained. Let your PCs explore the world a bit... they have just got hold of a boat, and the first thing they do is go 3000 miles away from anywhere they know?
What I found useful for these was the Dragon articles running parallel to Savage Tide... there were all sorts of info on critters nearby, people you could meet, things that could happen. Especially the Vanderborens' journal, it had quite a lot of useful stuff.
One idea I've been working on is how to make the Crimson Fleet and their 7th Coil allies a little less like PC fodder and more like interesting villains. So I've tried to begin preparing to flesh out possible encounters for the voyage and for jaunting around the Isle of Dread itself. For instance I have a group of pirates acting as slavers in the area, using evil tribesmen as guides and hunters. The pirate leaders from this particular ship intend to bring home a tidy profit. (you can always add another couple of pirate ships--say that someone missed the rendezvous before the attack on Farshore or whatever)
I also have been using the old AD&D Module "Isle of the Ape" for inspiration. The idea that perhaps the different kinds of tribes that are on the island came from different eras or places when the demonic mists hit the place seemed fun to play with. So for instance in developing the five unknown tribes that are in the northern part of the isle I have the following:
1. a tribe of displaced people from Nyambe (D20 version of fantasy Africa) that have domesticated dire apes and use them as guards and hunters--they sacrifice people to their god, which is actually a the remnant of a minor Olman god now trapped on Earth. (haven't figured out which one yet though)
2. a tribe of cro-magnon type people from another era who worship a tyrannosaur and have managed to get it not to attack them since they provide it with food. A shrewd druid or ranger might figure this out on encountering the beast--it will be a more likely candidate for being charmed. On the other hand the tribesmen won't exactly be thrilled by their protective totem being removed.
3. Another cro-magnon tribe that have been displaced somewhat by the other tribes--reduced to a couple dozen people that desperately try to steal from and rob from others if they can.
Finally I'm using this modified adventure for the sea voyage--we'll see how it goes. http://hyboria.xoth.net/adventures/index.htm
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I suggest trying to finagle Rowyn kelani to die by drowning, then bring her back as a drowned warlock (MMII, Complete Arcane) in the attack on farshore, since demogrgon noticed her connection to vanthus and brought her back, and changed her talents into warlock energy. then, bring her back again in Into the Maw as a half-fiend drowned, and in enemies of my enemy as some fiendy drowned mega cool villain.
I could use some cool ideas, either for specific encounters or just random world-stuff. I'm open to any and all books.Sorry to say, that is pretty unspecific for an "idea trawl", and also there is little specification just where in the STAP you are and what your group's composition is like. Some more info would be ....helpful.
And I wonder - how would jungle dwelling primitive arboreals have heard of and started worshipping a Dragon Turtle 1800 miles (as the crow flies) distant ?
To make Emraag more interesting, I made him more of a legendary "power" in the region, and his cult extends pretty far. Also, I set my Savage Tide campaign in my own "kitchen sink" world, so the tasloi could come from anywhere. Overall though I plan to have a pretty involved side-quest with Emraag, where the PCs are charged with killing him, only to discover that Emraag is nothing but a pawn to a powerful aboleth and his minions. I have a whole underwater-lair thing planned out with weresharks, sahuagin, etc. That's going to be a ton of fun.
One idea I've been working on is how to make the Crimson Fleet and their 7th Coil allies a little less like PC fodder and more like interesting villains. So I've tried to begin preparing to flesh out possible encounters for the voyage and for jaunting around the Isle of Dread itself. For instance I have a group of pirates acting as slavers in the area, using evil tribesmen as guides and hunters. The pirate leaders from this particular ship intend to bring home a tidy profit. (you can always add another couple of pirate ships--say that someone missed the rendezvous before the attack on Farshore or whatever)
I also have been using the old AD&D Module "Isle of the Ape" for inspiration. The idea that perhaps the different kinds of tribes that are on the island came from different eras or places when the demonic mists hit the place seemed fun to play with. So for instance in developing the five unknown tribes that are in the northern part of the isle I have the following:
1. a tribe of displaced people from Nyambe (D20 version of fantasy Africa) that have domesticated dire apes and use them as guards and hunters--they sacrifice people to their god, which is actually a the remnant of a minor Olman god now trapped on Earth. (haven't figured out which one yet though)2. a tribe of cro-magnon type people from another era who worship a tyrannosaur and have managed to get it not to attack them since they provide it with food. A shrewd druid or ranger might figure this out on encountering the beast--it will be a more likely candidate for being charmed. On the other hand the tribesmen won't exactly be thrilled by their protective totem being removed.
3. Another cro-magnon tribe that have been displaced somewhat by the other tribes--reduced to a couple dozen people that desperately try to steal from and rob from others if they can.
Finally I'm using this modified adventure for the sea voyage--we'll see how it goes. http://hyboria.xoth.net/adventures/index.htm
"Isle of the Ape" is a pretty good source to mine for ideas. I'm also using "Quagmire," "The War Rafts of Kron" and "Drums on Fire Island" to flesh out different parts of the adventure.
given the volcanic nature of the Isle of Dread I really missed some (fiery) elemental mayhem there - may I suggest a "population" of Fire Elementals. once servants of the Olmani god of fire who have been left behind and regard any settlment by non-olmani humans as an attack on the Olmani gods ?
Have some elementals, elementite swarms (planarHB), fire bats, salamanders and perhaps an elemental monolith make their home in the southern volcanoes and first threaten to brun to cinders Temura and farshore, and getting beaten back from that, try to re-incite some volcanic channels underneath Temura to lay the colony into ashes ?
Led by some powerful elemental weird or Efreeti Lords (I would rework these some, efreeti are too "arabian nights" for my taste ) bound to the Olmani pantheon's service ? Or perhaps a powerful clerical Lich of the forgotten Fire-God ?
Burned Effigy and some death-by-flame undead might provide additional variety for opposition and recurring anatagonists stalking the ruins of the Olmani settlement.
Depending upon just how the characters deal with Zhozzila, that avatar might provide keen insights into the problem of his predecessor's servants and aims, or he might try to harness the elementals into his own service and try to take revenge on those pesky interlopers....
Bring on the lava, bring on the noise.....
Should provide additional opposition for ToD preliminaries and between Lightless depths and "CobI".
I like the idea of there being possible exploration of the volcano post Zotzilaha--maybe magma para-elementals or some such thing as well as what you suggested, a whole odd eco-system living in the volcanic systems of the place?
War Rafts of Kron--how IS that by the way? I have a chance to get a copy but I'm a little wary of that line of modules...
A little more info about my PCs - the party make-up is:
Athal, elven warblade
Kithkanin, elven fighter
Morderas, half-drow rogue/fighter
Arjan, human druid (Vow of Poverty feat) w/riding dog, Korlic
Quinn, human scout
Thalas, elven duskblade/wizard
Rhiannon, elven cleric of Pelor
As you can imagine, it's a pretty capable group.
Everyone is third level right now, and is about to finish "The Bullywug Gambit," at which point they'll be fourth.'
I want to add two sidequests to "The Sea Wyvern's Wake." The first is an expansion on Fort Blackwell. I have a feeling that enough members of the party will be suspicious enough of Father Conrad to follow him to the "shrine" of Hieroneous, and will get the gist that the place is not what it seems. So I've fleshed out the shrine as the HQ of the Wizards of the Hopping Prophet. The party will eventually ace Ciermaeth and Valia Jahn, a brother & sister pair who are totally nuts and worship a red slaad named Xeboalej, who they think is a god. In the shrine the party will face human monks, boggard barbarians (from Pathfinder #2), the Jahns and finally Xeboalej himself. Should be a good time.
I'm still fleshing out the second sidequest that will take place after Fort Blackwell. It will be an expansion of "The Great Web" idea. I'm going to have one of the PCs experience a vivid dream that the truth about something hidden in their past will be revealed in a part of the jungle choked by great webs. The next day a battered raft will be sighted off the port port of the Sea Wyvern. On it will be a delirious halfling who is about to die from a mix of some strange poison and starvation. In the moments before she expires, she'll tell a disjointed tale of how she and her wealthy husband formed a small exploration group after a half-elf merchant sold them an old "treasure map" of ruins a few miles in from the coast.
Well, not only was the map bogus, but it's a trap set up by the half-elf (who will later be revealed as the half-drow's father). The halflings get caught in a horrifying stretch of jungle overrun by giant spiders. They flee for two days straight until a storm hits, and the seek shelter in a cave network. Unfortunately the cave is the lair of the lhosk who lord over this area of the jungle. They immediately devour half the party, and cocoon the rest to be sold to some shadowy slaving group. The female halfling is the only one who escaped, and she begs the party before dying to rescue her poor husband.
A little more info about my PCs - the party make-up is:
Athal, elven warblade
Kithkanin, elven fighter
Morderas, half-drow rogue/fighter
Arjan, human druid (Vow of Poverty feat) w/riding dog, Korlic
Quinn, human scout
Thalas, elven duskblade/wizard
Rhiannon, elven cleric of Pelor
Hmmm, as for Fort Blackwell, that does sound reasonable, although monks (always lawful) worshipping a chaotic Slaad ? And I never got the impression that Slaadi were all that unknown - hence that you wouldn't recognise one, for what it actually is if you met it - instead of worshipping it as a god. Your call though...
I would contemplate exchanging the monks for Swordsages and perhaps a capable leader, to provide the Warblade with a nice challenger to gather some glory in a one-on-one.
Also, this does actually balance the Book of Nine Swords rather well, that is, if the mooks use the stuff in it too.
Some Nephilim (from Planar Handbook) and/or FireNewts might provide additional exotic cannon-fodder. Oh, and of course, the local shrine of Pelor will be well-liked n fort Blackwell, so strangers burning it down and massacring the priests might expect the guard out inf ull strenbtth and an angry mob of locals chasing them to the quay....
Just remember, you will take the reward of the Blue Slaad encounter on board later on away from the group, xp-wise, so perhaps compensate for that as well.
As for the second plot, I find that a bit too clichée (well, at least for my group of "seen-it-all" oldtimers, hehe ), and it might conflict with the overall "sail to the Isle fast" mission statement.
Besides, overall that is a pretty wacky plan - have a dying halfling(no idea if he will be found at all before expiring) drift (no control about where he is going.... smart) into the PCs path ( how does anyone even know they are coming through this spot ).....
What't the chance of that going off ? One in a million ? This will be pretty unbelievable once the BBEG flaunts his colours, sorry. There WILL be groaning and eye-rolling if this is exposed as a "villainous plan".
Other ideas - perhaps even for the "I am your father" plot. Upgrade the pirate ship the group is bound to encounter (it's a wimp as is ) , or add a local pirate stronghold to it (discovered from maps and information from any surviving pirates ), giving the PCs some opportunity to free hostages (spare characters and replacement crew), treasure and useful equipment for their own use.
Make the PC's father the local pirate potentate - potential for a dramatic duel on deck or in the rigging =). Feel free to include some Flashy Warblades and or Swordsages here... or perhaps a Crusader of Olidammara to have the "BoNS" strike back, hehe. A solid 6th or 7th level Warblade should put down some serious fear and havoc (Insightful Strike for 11+D20 damage..... ouch ! best served with a rapier or scimitar for large crit range - this strike actually doubles all damage, a nice exception ) and should make everyone wary enough to approach. Max his ranks in Tumble, add Boots of Striding and Springing (cheap speed boost) and voila... severe piercing damage
More ideas - have some derelict, half-wrecked old galleon (or something of truly exotic origin) drifiting into sight of their path, allowing for a some haunted house/ghost ship athmosphere and/or encounters - perhaps with some foreshadowing of Morderas' father as a local villain, of which the original crew was wary and/or fleeing from.. unsuccessfully ? Or some maritime horrors are lurking in the hold of the ship, inhabiting it a s a sort of mobile "hive" and lure ? Say, a small tribe of Anguillans (from Stormwrack ?)... a Chuul and some still infantile offsping ? A colony of Giant Leeches perhaps controlled by some insane undead being ?
Best served at night or in gloomy light...
Good luck
As a comment about your group - it seems pretty weak as for magical ranged striking power (unless the duskblade/wizard sticks to only a single level of duskblade ) . E.g. "Fireball" etc.
That's a weakness which definitely will cause problems down the road - the Flotsam Ooze and the 'Mother of All' spring to mind, so you might want to showcase the problem early on. If the players get it, it might not become a TPK-capable problem later - I know someone who's swashbuckling-minded "low-magic" group wiped-out entirely on the mummies in "HtbM" since they lacked blasting (fire) magic and sneak-damage was useless
As an aside - how does a human druid (medium sized) use a rding dog (also medium sized) as a mount ? That usually should work only for small characters .... Or is that just his animal companion ?
A little more info about my PCs - the party make-up is:
Athal, elven warblade
Kithkanin, elven fighter
Morderas, half-drow rogue/fighter
Arjan, human druid (Vow of Poverty feat) w/riding dog, Korlic
Quinn, human scout
Thalas, elven duskblade/wizard
Rhiannon, elven cleric of Pelor
Hmmm, as for Fort Blackwell, that does sound reasonable, although monks (always lawful) worshipping a chaotic Slaad ? And I never got the impression that Slaadi were all that unknown - hence that you wouldn't recognise one, for what it actually is if you met it - instead of worshipping it as a god. Your call though...
I would contemplate exchanging the monks for Swordsages and perhaps a capable leader, to provide the Warblade with a nice challenger to gather some glory in a one-on-one.
Also, this does actually balance the Book of Nine Swords rather well, that is, if the mooks use the stuff in it too.Some Nephilim (from Planar Handbook) and/or FireNewts might provide additional exotic cannon-fodder. Oh, and of course, the local shrine of Pelor will be well-liked n fort Blackwell, so strangers burning it down and massacring the priests might expect the guard out inf ull strenbtth and an angry mob of locals chasing them to the quay....
Just remember, you will take the reward of the Blue Slaad encounter on board later on away from the group, xp-wise, so perhaps compensate for that as well.
As for the second plot, I find that a bit too clichée (well, at least for my group of "seen-it-all" oldtimers, hehe ), and it might conflict with the overall "sail to the Isle fast" mission statement.
Besides, overall that is a pretty wacky plan - have a dying halfling(no idea if he will be found at all before expiring) drift (no control about where he is going.... smart) into the PCs path ( how does anyone even know they are coming through this spot ).....
What't the chance of that going off ? One in a million ? This will be pretty unbelievable once the BBEG flaunts his colours, sorry....
Whoo boy, lot of stuff here. Let's see:
I'm not a big adherent to alignments, and I freely make things evil as I sit fit where I think it would make sense. In the case of the Wizards of the Hopping Prophet, the Jahn siblings have been up a kind of charismatic cult - think the Clan Davidians and David Koresh. The catch is that the Jahns are totally nuts, for reasons unknown, and have taken to worshiping the red slaad out of their dementia.Swapping the monks for swordsages isn't a bad idea. Actually, making the boggards swordsages would be an interesting twist. :)
I think the second plot is pretty workable. Sure, it's a longshot to have a drifting raft hit the ship, but it's not totally unheard of. Plus the plot is pretty simple: A group of bored, upper-class halflings decides to go on an adventure, gets schnookered by a slave-trader, and winds up marching right into a den of evil spider-gorillas and their pets. Half get eaten outright, the other are bound and kept waiting for the slave-trader to return to ship them out to parts unknown. The PCs bust this apart, kill the lhosk, and learn that the wife halfling (Yamalla) wasn't the only one who escaped. This sets in some good plot hooks for future side-quests on nearby islands.
A few other notes:
Morderas knows all about his father already. His mother is a drow, and in a strange twist of fate, she was murdered by Morderas' father when the half-drow was just a child. Morderas fled to Sasserine, where he hid in the slums until about 20 years passed. Now a young man, Morderas vowed revenge on his father and set off to track him down and kill him.
...Thing is, no one is really sure what happened to Morderas' father or the underworld network he and his drow lover were once a part of, the Caitiff. At first Morderas chased rumors that the Caitiff are connected to the Lotus Dragons, but that has proved to be a dead end.
...
Also, Korlic is Arjan's animal companion, not mount. I think the player min-maxed things and determined that a riding dog is a better animal companion than a wolf, and so far I've been surprised at how hard the thing hits.
....
Thalas currently is a duskblade 1/wizard 2, about to be duskblade 1/wizard 3.
Also - I do like the idea of the haunted derelict galleon, but isn't that a tried-and-tired cliche?
I think the second plot is pretty workable. Sure, it's a longshot to have a drifting raft hit the ship, but it's not totally unheard of. Plus the plot is pretty simple: A group of bored, upper-class halflings decides to go on an adventure, gets schnookered by a slave-trader, and winds up marching right into a den of evil spider-gorillas and their pets. Half get eaten outright, the other are bound and kept waiting for the slave-trader to return to ship them out to parts unknown. The PCs bust this apart, kill the lhosk, and learn that the wife halfling (Yamalla) wasn't the only one who escaped. This sets in some good plot hooks for future side-quests on nearby islands.
Ok, I was under the impression that actually the halflings were the bait to lure in the PCs, not the initial victims. Under your premise, the setup makes sense
And the druid ? VoP on a druid ? right........ that is min-maxing to the tee (in my book, YMMV), but VoP-hassles were extensively debated on this forum a while back, if you need some opinions on that.
And yes the riding dog is actually quite the min-max choice (unless a player discovers the Mastiff in Races of Faerun, which is just slightly stronger ). Since you seem aware of the problem... one nasty Dominate (as in "Kopru") or Charm Monster later, and the group will certainly have second thoughts about the dog and its bite.....
the duskblade seems to be the lost brother of the elven mage in our STAP... monk/wizard... 1/X..
Also - I do like the idea of the haunted derelict galleon, but isn't that a tried-and-tired cliche?
Depends very much on what it is haunted by =)
Pulled this on my guys... a big junk (more exotic) drifiting in a lagoon, , half sunk.... Everyone went "awhhhh, here goes the ghost ship !".... so they went in loaded for undead (holy water by the gallon ) and got nicely munched and mauled by leeches and fungi....
Something more like a floating biolab (it had transported stuff and explorers from an alchemist trading coster ) gone wrong .... absolutely passiv, nothing evil but a lot of wicked stuff that needed to be overcome to stock up on chests of alchemists fire etc... Wanted them to have some stuff they would think to be useful once they got snared by the Sargasso.
There was a wonderful and memorable scene when they struck a bunch of fungi on one deck with a fireball, and the brown mold clinging to the same deck from the underside really "exploded" from the sudden rush of warmth.... and then fireballed it again, mistaking it for some form of aggresive undead ooze or mist, hehe.....
I like the idea of there being possible exploration of the volcano post Zotzilaha--maybe magma para-elementals or some such thing as well as what you suggested, a whole odd eco-system living in the volcanic systems of the place?
War Rafts of Kron--how IS that by the way? I have a chance to get a copy but I'm a little wary of that line of modules...
I very much enjoyed War Rafts of Kron. Few people seem to mention it. It was one of the few old-school modules that offered long sections of adventuring underwater. It featured cool stuff like a city made of coral, aquatic vampires, fighting off waves of mermen...good times.
Also, I've been flipping through my monster books, and I'm surprised to find that the wolf spider never made it to 3.5?
