| Kemiroch |
Hi all,
I am a GM for a 4-man party of 17th level. It is comprised of an archer Ranger, 2h Paladin, Cleric, and a Barbarian. This is my last adventure of a strange campaign where myself and another GM trade off every 3 adventures, and I want my finale to be epic and memorable. The previous adventure was marred by a mistake I made with a too-high-cr encounter and one player holding a grudge, so I want to make sure I get it right this time.
Anyway the idea:
A large hexagonal room. In in the center is a pool of water, just deep enough to make it difficult terrain. One end is the stairs the PCs will come up; on the far side is the Darkness Engine and the BBEG. The BBEG turns on the Engine and flees up, leaving some demons (I'm thinking Omoxes atm because of the water). The twist is that the Engine can be sabotaged by the PCs if they get to it within a certain amount of time, but if not something is altered in the next enounter (I can't decide what yet). The Engine is supposed to be the keystone to the BBEG's plot to cover the world in darkness (it's a drow).
I guess my main questions atm are:
1) What should be the consequences of failing to stop the Engine? (In this encounter; they can still stop the Engine by defeating the BBEG later).
and
2) How to design the encounter so it is fair to the players in terms of how long they have to deal with the engine whilst being harried by the monsters?
Thanks for any help.
GeneticDrift
|
the BBEG flees? seems like he would stay to make sure the machine is not destroyed/turned off.
some ideas.
for each round the machine is left on after he flees, he gains 1 round of immunity to everything next fight.
each round greater shadows are summoned for the final fight.
It is actually turned off, if they mess with it - it secretly turns on. They can spend time to find this out. But each round allows him more time to buff and call in allies.
He is also using control weather to make the area dark, a delay allows his allies to complete the spell. The hazardous weather is advantageous some how.
| Propsken |
To answer the second question first: aaah, this calls for some 4E shenanigans, methinks.
In 4th edition D&D there was (or rather, still is) this cute little concept called "skill challenges". Basically, everybody who wishes to participate in the challenge can make skill checks to try and resolve it, each check taking up the character's action for that turn. The DC for the checks depend on the skills used and the challenge's CR. The number of successes determine how difficult the challenge is in number-of-monsters-terms (by eating up PC actions); finally, at 4 failures, the challenge always fails. This allowed skill challenges to be mixed with combat encounters; you could have, for instance, 3 monsters and a 2-monster-worth skill challenge in the same encounter. And in a way, this also works like a trap in a combat encounter.
You could extrapolate this idea concept in a half-assed semi-backward-compatible way, and design a combat encounter that isn't TOO challenging, but adding the skill challenge to spice it up. Make sure to stress the urgency of the situation - in this case, the Doomy Doommachine of Doom.
Let's try to be a little more specific. So, an APL 17 party eh? 2 CR 15 demons would provide an appropriate challenge; adding a CR 15 skill challenge to represent the Darkness Engine should do just fine. The PCs need to make 6 successful checks before getting 4 failures (usually it's 4 before 3, but this ramps up the base CR from 14 to 15); thing is, every round nobody makes an attempt at sabotaging the machine, a failure is accrued automatically. A successful check can, instead of generating a succes, remove a failure at the PC's option. Now we have to decide the skills and their DC's.
First, let's look at DC's. A "normal" trained skill is at +3 for training, +14 for ranks (it's a base CR 14 challenge, remember?), and for shytes 'n' gigglez, +2 for an ability score. That's a +19. An average roll of 11 means a DC 30 would be a normal target for a trained PC. Lowering this by 5, 25, gives us the "easy" DC; hard would be +5, or 35.
Now then; skills. I'm assuming here that the Darkness Engine is a magitek device; a machine driven by arcane energies. The most obvious skills are Disable Device (to, well, disable the device) and Spellcraft to redirect or sabotage the energy-flow. Those would be regular difficulty skills. But let's not forget that anyone who want to simply use brute force to HULK SMASH STUPID MACHINE can do so; Acrobatics (well, athletics really) seems appropriate, and there's no reason not to make that any harder than the other skills. Maybe Use Magic Device could work as well, but since this is a far more complex machine than just some wand or staff, it would be a hard DC skill. That gives us 4 primary skills to work with and disable the contraption, each requiring a standard action. But even those not trained in those skills can still contribute with secondary skills! Secondary skills require only a move action (usually), and give an ally a +2 circumstance bonus to the next linked primary skill he makes. Knowledge (engineering) can easilly help with Disable Device or Acrobatics; Knowledge (arcane) with Spellcraft and Use Magic Device. 2 funny things about secondary skills: they're almost always easy DC skills, and they never accrue skill challenge failures. But a secondary skill failure does provide a -1 penalty instead of the +2 bonus! The same applies to the regular use of a skill to aid another. If a player comes up with a different skill to use in a creative way, don't be affraid to let that player try it, assigning primary or secondary to it. Just remember: most non-standard skills are usually a harder DC than their standard counterparts. You can optionally limit the number of successes certain skills can provide; for instance, Disable Device can only provide up to 4 successes, because that doesn't resolve the arcane energy flow. Finally, your should consider certain attacks and/or spells to grant an automatic success, but only once; high-level dispelling magic or high-powered melee attacks could easily replace a Spellcraft or Acrobatics check, respectively, for instance.
As for the first question, or the aftereffects of the success or failure of the challenge: adding challenging terrain or extra mooks to the bossfight usually works.
INCOMING: my next post will have a clearer layout for the skill challenge.
| Propsken |
Skill Challenge: The Darkness Engine
Setup
The party has to deal with the Drow's infernal darkness-spreading contraption as the cowardly Dark-Elf flees, leaving some of his demonic subordinates to harrass them.
Complexity
2, level 14 (6 successes before 4 failures)
Special: at the end of each round, if no PC has attempted a check, the challenge automatically accrues a failure. A PC may spend a successful check to remove a failure instead.
Primary Skills
Acrobatics, Disable Device, Spellcraft, Use Magic Device
Acrobatics (DC 30)
The PC applies brute force to damage critical components of the Darkness Engine. This skill can be used a total of 2 times in this skill challenge.
Disable Device (DC 30)
The PC applies his technical savvy to disassemble the Engine. This skill can be used a total of 4 times in this skill challenge.
Spellcraft (DC 30)
The PC actively guides the flow of arcane energies surging through the machine, turning it against itself. At least 1 successful Spellcraft check is required to complete this skill challenge.
Use Magic Device (DC 35)
Using more rudimentary magical knowledge and a healthy dose of luck, the PC attempts to sabotage the contraption's functions. This skill can be used a total of 3 times in this skill challenge.
Secondary Skills
Knowledge (arcane), Knowledge (engineering)
Knowledge (arcane) (DC 25)
The PC uses his knowledge of all things arcane to assist his allies in redirecting the Engine's energies. A successful check grants a +2 circumstance bonus to the next Spellcraft or Use Magic Device check made for this skill challenge.
Knowledge (engineering) (DC 25)
The PC's experience in the field of mechanics allows him to select prime sabotaging components for his allies. A successful check grants a +2 circumstance bonus to the next Acrobatics or Disable Device check made for this skill challenge.
Success
The party disables the device; without repairs from its Drow inventor, it will never threaten the lands again.
Failure
The Darkness Engine is only partly sabotaged; while its function has been hampered for now, it will soon repair itself. The next encounter with its Drow creator will have the entire battlefield shrouded in magical darkness, as per the Deeper Darkness spell heightened to level 9.
| Propsken |
I forgot to add the actual CR (15) and its XP value (51,200) at the end of the first "complexity" entry.
Between the two CR 15 demons and the CR 15 skill challenge, that should be a CR 18 encounter; a nice challenge for a penultimate encounter, methinks.
I'm happy to see you like it! I just totally winged it as far as the skill check DC's go; I hope the whole "16-plus-level" thing works out... And of course, the same applies for the final CR/XP; with encounter/monster design being completely different between PF and 4E, that's the best I could come up with.