I'n going to need a lot of varied (island/aquatic themed, mostly) adventures for my upcoming campaign.
I'd like for anybody to suggest three or four odd, unrelated creatures and a circumstance or setting, and I'll see what I can come up with as a workable scenario. I'd prefer mostly lower level stuff, maybe up to CR six or eight.
a Xorn, a Leucrotta and a bunch of Giant Vargouilles
setting: a region divided into 4 sections, but each section experiences a different season. What's strange is the seasons aren't locked. Each individual region experiences each season in the normal sequence. A is summer, B is Autumn, C is Winter and D is Spring. But when A becomes autumn regions B, C and D Shift accordingly and so now it's summer in region D. One of the regions, predictably, is the same season as the area surrounding the region.
LordKailas wrote: a Xorn, a Leucrotta and a bunch of Giant Vargouilles
setting: a region divided into 4 sections, but each section experiences a different season. What's strange is the seasons aren't locked. Each individual region experiences each season in the normal sequence. A is summer, B is Autumn, C is Winter and D is Spring. But when A becomes autumn regions B, C and D Shift accordingly and so now it's summer in region D. One of the regions, predictably, is the same season as the area surrounding the region.
Wow, that's a challenge, all right. Merciless!
This may take a while...
Ok, the rough draft:
This island has a very thin barrier to the plane of earth, and very rare and valuable minerals can be found there. Over the centuries, the greed of men has led to numerous battles, making it into a graveyard, as much as anything. So much death has drawn the vargoulles to it, though it's not entirely clear how they arose.
Some time ago, a powerful druidic caster noticed the well of energy that had gathered there - mostly negative energy, in the crystalline structures. Hoping to capitalize on the power, he performed a ritual to cleanse the land, calling upon the elements - but the energies were more powerful, and corrupted the ritual, killing the caster, and causing the seasons to go amok. The xorn had come through some time back,and become fouled when it ate some of the necrotic crystal. It attacked the druid at the height of the ritual. It still lingers there,having developed a taste for necrotic crystal.
The leucrotta is the latest to hope to exploit the island, and it's come with a band of gnolls to pick through the corpses, looking for loot.
Among treasures that could be found there are the fine weapons of the fallen, necrotic crystals,and a strange but powerful item that was a part of the ritual, and controls weather somewhat, but has become corrupted.
It's rough, but I welcome criticism.
LordKailas wrote: cool :)
fwiw I like it.
Excellent. :)
Another?
heh, ok.
A mite tribe, a pair of Snallygasters and a Phase Spider
circumstance: In this area, the sun "never sets". The area remains brightly illuminated regardless of the time of day. This makes sleeping in anything but total darkness, so difficult that no creature can sleep for more than 2 hours at a time (needing to be awake at least 1 hour between). Failing to get at least 8 hours of sleep results in the normal side effects.
Glossary: Rest wrote: Characters who do not get a full night’s sleep may suffer the effects of fatigue. If a PC does not get at least 6 hours of sleep, she must make a DC 15 Fortitude save or be fatigued and take a –1 penalty on all other checks and saving throws against sleep effects. A second night without sleep requires another DC 15 Fortitude save. A failed save results in the character becoming exhausted and the penalties increasing to –2. A third failed save on the next night increases the penalties to –3. With long term sleep deprivation resulting in maddness.
Glossary: Sleep Deprivation wrote: A character can stay awake for a number of additional hours beyond its normal waking hours (16 hours for most characters) equal to her Wisdom bonus without suffering any ill effects.
For each hour that a character remains awake beyond this amount, she must attempt a Wisdom check (DC 10, +1 for each previous check) or take 1 point of sanity damage (see the sanity rules). Characters who have taken sanity damage from sleep deprivation are drowsy (see below). The severity of this condition is based upon the total amount of sanity damage taken from sleep deprivation—she has minor drowsiness if she has any amount of sanity damage from sleep deprivation, moderate drowsiness if her sanity damage from sleep deprivation exceeds half her sanity edge, and severe drowsiness if her sanity damage from sleep deprivation exceeds her sanity edge. If a character’s sanity damage equals or exceeds her sanity score, she becomes comatose (as if she had a Wisdom score of 0) for 48 hours if at least one-quarter (25%) of that sanity damage is the result of sleep deprivation.
LordKailas wrote: heh, ok.
A mite tribe, a pair of Snallygasters and a Phase Spider
circumstance: In this area, the sun "never sets". The area remains brightly illuminated regardless of the time of day. This makes sleeping in anything but total darkness, so difficult that no creature can sleep for more than 2 hours at a time (needing to be awake at least 1 hour between). Failing to get at least 8 hours of sleep results in the normal side effects.
Glossary: Rest wrote: Characters who do not get a full night’s sleep may suffer the effects of fatigue. If a PC does not get at least 6 hours of sleep, she must make a DC 15 Fortitude save or be fatigued and take a –1 penalty on all other checks and saving throws against sleep effects. A second night without sleep requires another DC 15 Fortitude save. A failed save results in the character becoming exhausted and the penalties increasing to –2. A third failed save on the next night increases the penalties to –3. With long term sleep deprivation resulting in maddness.
Glossary: Sleep Deprivation wrote: A character can stay awake for a number of additional hours beyond its normal waking hours (16 hours for most characters) equal to her Wisdom bonus without suffering any ill effects.
For each hour that a character remains awake beyond this amount, she must attempt a Wisdom check (DC 10, +1 for each previous check) or take 1 point of sanity damage (see the sanity rules). Characters who have taken sanity damage from sleep deprivation are drowsy (see below). The severity of this condition is based upon the total amount of sanity damage taken from sleep deprivation—she has minor drowsiness if she has any amount of sanity damage from sleep deprivation, moderate drowsiness if her sanity damage from sleep
...
I ended up getting busy yesterday, but I'm back at it. Right now, I'm thinking some sort of bioluminesence and a colony of crazed mites, but I'm not sure how it's all tying in, yet.
Ok, I have the rudiments of it.
This huge cavern was the home of svirfneblin alchemist. He had a couple of captured snallygasters that had adapted to underground life (cave template) and was studying them. He was gone when the mites invaded, but he'd left a nasty trap - a powerfully bioluminescent fungus he'd enhanced was activated. The mites, being light sensitive, lost their minds quickly. They had foolishly set the snallygasters free, and they preyed on the mites, as did a phase spider who finds this hugely entertaining, and guards the exit.
The snallygasters and phase spider are just smart enough to ration them out, and the mites have grown so paranoid that they've become experts at hiding, so that a couple more generations have grown up in the bizarre situation (mites breed worse than rabbits - terrified mites, even more so).
The biggest treasure here is the lab, alchemical goods, and research the gnome left behind. He may still be alive somewhere!
A little more elaboration - the mites think of the alchemical things as holy, and have hidden them scattered throughout the cave, and set traps in many places as well. Other encounters in here include the menagerie of vermin the mites keep - leaning heavily to centipedes. If cornered, not only will the mites beg for their lives, they promise untold treasures to anyone who will kill their tormentors.
A town is infested with Giant Ants. The townsfolk don't realize it, but the ants are forming an ecological cap for a black pudding that has permeated extensively under the town, under control of the ants' pheromones, it has been content to flourish on a diet of sewage. A local Druid probably has a pretty good idea why this town is so much less stinky than most, but she has been busy selling addictive drugs that she has been extracting from the surrounding wilderness using her magic. And she is under pressure, facing a hostile takeover by local, organized crime.
Scott Wilhelm wrote: A town is infested with Giant Ants. The townsfolk don't realize it, but the ants are forming an ecological cap for a black pudding that has permeated extensively under the town, under control of the ants' pheromones, it has been content to flourish on a diet of sewage. A local Druid probably has a pretty good idea why this town is so much less stinky than most, but she has been busy selling addictive drugs that she has been extracting from the surrounding wilderness using her magic. And she is under pressure, facing a hostile takeover by local, organized crime. I'm not sure if I get the gist of this post...
EldonGuyre wrote: I'm not sure if I get the gist of this post... Well, it's 3 odd, (seemingly) unrelated creatures: Giant Ants, a Black Pudding, a criminal organization, and an NPC Druid in a circumstance, setting, and scenario.
EldonGuyre wrote: I'n going to need a lot of varied (island/aquatic themed, mostly) adventures for my upcoming campaign.
I'd like for anybody to suggest three or four odd, unrelated creatures and a circumstance or setting, and I'll see what I can come up with as a workable scenario. I'd prefer mostly lower level stuff, maybe up to CR six or eight.
So, in real life, some kinds of ants exploit other animals. Some ants conquer and enslave other ant colonies. Some ants raise aphids for food and cultivate plants and fungi to feed them. My ants have learned how to control a Black Pudding. As the party makes headway in exterminating the Ants, the 'Pudding starts to attack. The party may or may not make the connection. There is a potentially helpful NPC who might help them if the party helps her. The moral of the story is ecology and interconnectedness.
Zombies, raptors, and orcs are harassing the monastery and nearby town.
I'll keep my ideas how they all got there to myself.
Scott Wilhelm wrote: EldonGuyre wrote: I'm not sure if I get the gist of this post... Well, it's 3 odd, (seemingly) unrelated creatures: Giant Ants, a Black Pudding, a criminal organization, and an NPC Druid in a circumstance, setting, and scenario.
EldonGuyre wrote: I'n going to need a lot of varied (island/aquatic themed, mostly) adventures for my upcoming campaign.
I'd like for anybody to suggest three or four odd, unrelated creatures and a circumstance or setting, and I'll see what I can come up with as a workable scenario. I'd prefer mostly lower level stuff, maybe up to CR six or eight.
So, in real life, some kinds of ants exploit other animals. Some ants conquer and enslave other ant colonies. Some ants raise aphids for food and cultivate plants and fungi to feed them. My ants have learned how to control a Black Pudding. As the party makes headway in exterminating the Ants, the 'Pudding starts to attack. The party may or may not make the connection. There is a potentially helpful NPC who might help them if the party helps her. The moral of the story is ecology and interconnectedness. It's all good, I was just looking for the basics so I could challenge myself to come up with a scenario.
Goth Guru wrote: Zombies, raptors, and orcs are harassing the monastery and nearby town.
I'll keep my ideas how they all got there to myself.
I think I'm going to work in a real twist for this, to keep it from being too straightforward.
Creatures:
1. Ceratioidi (for their Lure)
2. Boggard (for their Croak)
3. Pugwampi (for their Unluck Aura)
4. Quickling (they're invisible)
Situation:
The island is under a permanent Curse Terrain spell, the level of which is completely up to you, ensuring that the party is always facing some number of environmental challenges each presenting their own levels of danger.
Their mission is to find out why nobody wants to live/work/visit this island, and to accompany a team of surveyors/prospectors sent by some random resource companies.
Goth Guru wrote: Zombies, raptors, and orcs are harassing the monastery and nearby town.
I'll keep my ideas how they all got there to myself.
Ok, tell me what you think:
Long ago, a necromancer made his residence nearby. To control the local orc tribe, he constructed a tidepool dragon stone idol. He's long dead, but the idol still functions, and the orcs still worship it. Many of the orcs rise again as zombies, even to this day.
Not long ago, a druid discovered the orcs' home - the ruins and crypt of the necromancer. He slew some of the orcs, but the idol almost killed him. He was sorely injured, and knew his days were limited. His last act was to awaken his velociraptor companion.
That's when the hero showed up. When he "cleared out" the ruins, most of the orcs were away. He took the stone idol as a part of the treasure, and gave it to the monastery on the far side of town, never realizing it was sentient.
The orcs want their idol back - it calls to them. Of course, the orcs slain by the hero rose as zombies, and accompany the living orcs.
The raptor doesn't really understand the idol, but it knows it's trouble, and is out to destroy it. In the meantime, the raptor has found a pack, and become the alpha. While it doesn't try to kill humans, it only loosely controls its pack, and they can be pretty viscous.
Treasure will be on the light side, here, but there could be a hidden cache the hero missed,and the orcs should have a little something.
Edit: There's likely treasure on the druid's body,too,and an alliance with the raptor might give them an item that could help.
VoodistMonk wrote: Creatures:
1. Ceratioidi (for their Lure)
2. Boggard (for their Croak)
3. Pugwampi (for their Unluck Aura)
4. Quickling (they're invisible)
Situation:
The island is under a permanent Curse Terrain spell, the level of which is completely up to you, ensuring that the party is always facing some number of environmental challenges each presenting their own levels of danger.
Their mission is to find out why nobody wants to live/work/visit this island, and to accompany a team of surveyors/prospectors sent by some random resource companies.
LOL...yeah,I can see why people have avoided the place. I'll try and write up some sort of outline for it tomorrow.
A Froghemoth, an Aboleth, and a Succubus living around a Halfling village.
Sorry, I've gotten busy. It may be a few days before I get around to these, but thanks tons!
EldonGuyre wrote: Goth Guru wrote: Zombies, raptors, and orcs are harassing the monastery and nearby town.
I'll keep my ideas how they all got there to myself.
Ok, tell me what you think:
Long ago, a necromancer made his residence nearby. To control the local orc tribe, he constructed a tidepool dragon stone idol. He's long dead, but the idol still functions, and the orcs still worship it. Many of the orcs rise again as zombies, even to this day.
Not long ago, a druid discovered the orcs' home - the ruins and crypt of the necromancer. He slew some of the orcs, but the idol almost killed him. He was sorely injured, and knew his days were limited. His last act was to awaken his velociraptor companion.
That's when the hero showed up. When he "cleared out" the ruins, most of the orcs were away. He took the stone idol as a part of the treasure, and gave it to the monastery on the far side of town, never realizing it was sentient.
The orcs want their idol back - it calls to them. Of course, the orcs slain by the hero rose as zombies, and accompany the living orcs.
The raptor doesn't really understand the idol, but it knows it's trouble, and is out to destroy it. In the meantime, the raptor has found a pack, and become the alpha. While it doesn't try to kill humans, it only loosely controls its pack, and they can be pretty viscous.
Treasure will be on the light side, here, but there could be a hidden cache the hero missed,and the orcs should have a little something.
Edit: There's likely treasure on the druid's body,too,and an alliance with the raptor might give them an item that could help. This is great. If you want more treasure, orc pirates based on the island.
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