RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32
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What are your favourite weird monsters which could be made into seaweed analogues (with the same statblock) and used in the sargasso to complement the Vine Horrors and assassin vines?
After seven hours of grappling and animating I'd like to throw something with 'interesting' mechanics at the party without making them struggle through difficult terraina and infinite assassin vines to win every single encounter.
Make no mistake, the vine horrors will be waiting in the Thunderer like Borg in their alcoves. I just feel like livening up the trek without dragging it out. My first thought was Weed Xorns with Sargassoglide and a swim speed instead of Earthglide - just the thought of those maws under your feet - yikes!
What do you lot recommend?
My players were really freaked out by the rhagodessas. Perhaps you could make an advanced seaweed version of them :-)
Rhogadessas is a cool idea.
The horrors got Thunderstrike in my campaign, so I made sure to have one of them large and quadripedal. You can simply alter their shapes for variety, but I think you are asking for a little more.
Maybe crocs, ichthysaurs, sharks or octupus that players would not normally encounter above ground? The horrors are supposed to be the bodies of former victims so it makes sense there would be victims from the bottom of the sargasso as well. Hydra, ettin or some doubley (multi-) headed critters makes a lot of sense to me for plant creatures. Water trolls (scrags? scags?) with regen are a fun break too. and if it is not too far a seaweed dragon. Play off the fear and size, but leave out the flight (maybe breath weapon could be something choking or even steam per dragon turtles the creature opens it maw and spews streams of clinging weeds) a dragon could trump MamaWeed though.
Have fun.
I used the spider web encounter when the PCs were voyaging with the sea wyvern along the jungle coast (one of the small atmospheric encounters described in SWW), and they kept their distance, thinking it was a rhagodessa lair :-)
Naturally occuring coral golems? Thats a nasty suprise, but it might be outside the CR range.
Could always just use an animated object of the appropriate size as a "weak" coral golem.
For that matter, you could use animated objects to represent just about any sort of clump of debris "posessed" by a sentient mass of seaweed and moving about. Picture this:
"From the mat of seaweed beneath your feet something surges up, tearing through the briny carpet. At first, you think it might be a ship, somehow coming up from below the water, as the first thing you recognize is the prow of a small fishing vessel. But as more of it rises into view, you realize the ship before you is most certainly not seaworthy. Its hulk is a shattered relic of its former function, with broken railings and masts, and tattered sails and rigging, all barely held together by a tangled web of kelp like the bandages of a mummy. To your disbeleif, the ruined hulk somehow turns in your direction, and the main mast whips towards you in what is obviously a hostile action! The ruined ship is not just covered by the seaweed; it is controlled by it!"
Huge Animated Object CR 5. Hows that?
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32
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Brilliant! Lots of great ideas, but BB - the animated objects are pure cinematic genius! I expect them to be loaded up on anti-plant spells so I'll need to figure out how to let that affect the animated thingies. One of those, and maybe a golem of drowned bodies (statted as an animated object) should make it a trek to remember.
They're planning on putting the Forsaker on a sled and towing him and the cohort cleric using flying party members - should be a hilarious session!
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32
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Wow... that's ... um ... amazing. Imagine if the Vine Horrors looked like that!
<takes a PrtScrn and mails it to the players>
I've just read the latest Shilsen Storyhour update on enworld and might throw in a seaweed Tendriculous. At this rate I'll have a whole Random Encounter Table!
Well, that will keep them busy!
I think I am going to steal the idea of the animated boat. It was really awesome.
How about some zombie variants, like the Drowned One (CR 8, in MM3), or the Sea Zombie (CR 6, from the Ravenloft monster book, Denizens of Dread)? The intelligent Sea Zombie has the peculiarity that it can advance in character class levels, unlike its more mindless cousins.
Combined with the adventure as written plus the Animate Object idea above, the encounters then become more varied (Plant, Construct, and Undead).
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32
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Just bought some Warhammer Vampire Counts Dire Wolves - BIG undead wolves basically. I'm painting a few up green and slimy, then I'll give them advanced rhagodessa stats (weed tendrils on the forepaws do the grabbing) and set them to guard the Mother :)
By the way, the Gargantuan animated shipwreck gave them the willies, they ran from an encounter (well, flew or ran hasted with snowshoes on) for the first time in the whole campaign!
A vampire vine horror with a desiccating attack. Instead of sucking blood the vine horror sucks the (Fresh)water from the victim. Leaving them a salt encrusted dried out husk, that is inhabited with spores and becomes a vampire vine horror a day or so later. The VVH (Vampire Vine Horrors) can also target the fresh water supply on the Wyvern making things even more precarious
Sandstorm has rules on desiccation damage. Nice to use those for this kind of vampire!
Sandstorm has rules on desiccation damage. Nice to use those for this kind of vampire!
“Becalmed and trapped in a hellish sea of Sargasso the crew of the HMKS (His Majesties Keolandish Ship) Dauntless suffered terrible privation. Low on fresh water and with the death of the ships cleric in the first assault by the vine horrors leaving them no way to summon more fresh water.
Soon the lack of fresh water caused the crew to turn on each other. As the crew died of thirst or were slowly smothered by vine horrors, only the Captain seemed unaffected by the lack of water.
The first mate discovering that Captain had been hording water laid a terrible curse upon him.
“By the dark gods of the blackest depths I curse you to know nothing but thirst even upon death”.
The dark gods of the deep heartily lent their power to the curse transforming the Captain into a Vampiric Vine horror.
His first victim was the first mate."
They ran from my boat? Oh, I am happy and sad at once! Happy that my idea spawned a memorable event at your game table, sad that my poor boat has no one to play with...
Just bought some Warhammer Vampire Counts Dire Wolves - BIG undead wolves basically. I'm painting a few up green and slimy, then I'll give them advanced rhagodessa stats (weed tendrils on the forepaws do the grabbing) and set them to guard the Mother :)
By the way, the Gargantuan animated shipwreck gave them the willies, they ran from an encounter (well, flew or ran hasted with snowshoes on) for the first time in the whole campaign!
Advanced Deathbug stats ? OOOoooOOOhhh ... whose are you using carborundum ?
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32
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Those would be yours, o naughty one. :-)
(You forgot the copyright symbol!)
Can't play 'til January 16th unfortunately, but it's going to be fun! They're all buffed up and no bad guy has Dispel. Can't really give the Mother that, now, can I? Maybe a Dispelling Screen? Nah, too evil!
Mind you, the VoP Druid/Monk has an AC of approx 45 at the minute, though if I pump up the bad guys for her, the AC 18 Forsaker is toast!
Those would be yours, o naughty one. :-)
(You forgot the copyright symbol!)
Can't play 'til January 16th unfortunately, but it's going to be fun! They're all buffed up and no bad guy has Dispel. Can't really give the Mother that, now, can I? Maybe a Dispelling Screen? Nah, too evil!
Mind you, the VoP Druid/Monk has an AC of approx 45 at the minute, though if I pump up the bad guys for her, the AC 18 Forsaker is toast!
Heheh ... "touch AC" = grapple-chomp city ... and don't forget the summoned choker vines to throttle + grapple said VoP prior to commencing deathbug chompage and dismemberments...
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32
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Hehe, yeah, his touch AC is only about 30. Much more respectable!
(I don't really mind that much. He cashed in Wildshape and Animal Companion to get a few monk things (AC and movement) which I think was fair. He's unhittable and a great distraction but will never become a Celestial Triceratops or give me problems with casting while wildshaped and uberbuffed). I act frustrated and occasionally hit him with a targeted dispel, he giggles and annoys the mooks. Everyone happy.)
Hehe, yeah, his touch AC is only about 30. Much more respectable!
(I don't really mind that much. He cashed in Wildshape and Animal Companion to get a few monk things (AC and movement) which I think was fair. He's unhittable and a great distraction but will never become a Celestial Triceratops or give me problems with casting while wildshaped and uberbuffed). I act frustrated and occasionally hit him with a targeted dispel, he giggles and annoys the mooks. Everyone happy.)
True - that is actually a personally appealing combination for me as both player and GM - hard to get rid of, but not in the long haul unreasonable unless you just HAVE to kill a character for some reason.