Hey everyone, I'm preparing a Halloween one-shot for a special game session with my group. We do this each year -- last year I did the opening scene from Strange Aeons volume 1, "In Search of Sanity." A few years ago I did an impromptu Trip-to-the-9-Hells.
This year I'm doing a super-condensed Beyond the Mountains of Madness from 'Call of Cthulhu.' Yeah, turning a 400 page campaign into a 4-hour one-shot. Heeheehee.
Here's the basic premise, followed by a shout-out for any advice, help, ideas, or suggestions -- because it is a very tricky climax!
Needless to say, that is NOT something PCs usually do. Not something PCs usually even *think about* doing. You know, this ain't a Call of Cthulhu group. Only one of the players has ever even played Call of Cthulhu. The rest are used to building up PCs from 1st to 20th, killing goblins, then minotaurs, then giants, then dragons, then Demon Lords of The Abyss at 20th!
But for a Halloween one-shot I really think this can be lots of fun!
Has anyone ever run Beyond the Mountains of Madness and how did you get your PCs to, um, 'solve' the climactic problem? Any ideas on what I can do in a one-shot?
Specifically, the Lovecraftian horror here will be something like The Malgoth. In D&D history The Malgoth is an Evil, metaphysical tree that almost took control of the entire Abyss, Layer after Layer, as its roots and trunk and branches (and pollen) spread throughout The Abyss. Many, Many Lords of The Abyss were destroyed. You know, before dozens of Abyssal Lords joined to destroy The Malgoth.
My ideas so far:
Greyhawk deity Istus has the portfolio of Fate. She may appear in an encounter with a gift or something but say flat-out, "Maybe you are on a 'Railroad' and your Fate has already been written." Giving the Players a little heads-Up.
PCs see the Taint in themselves with few Confusion or Dominate or Charm effects (especially if a PC is suppose to be Immune to such!) and the Cleric/healing magic don't eliminate it. Maybe I tell the PCs that when their characters relieve themselves their stools are full of seed-pods. Alien seed-pods. With fertilizer.
PCs see the boat that brought them to The Land of Black Ice starting to morph into something with traits of The Malgoth.
PCs see in the crashed Spelljammer roots already going into the earth. They discover (how?) that these roots will eventually reach the Prison of Tharizdun, and break apart the prison -- releasing Tharizdun. Um. Tharizdun is the original Rovagug. Most of us Grognards consider Rovagug a cheap ripoff, much weaker version (like a little child of) Tharizdun.
Anyway, I'd love to hear a few ideas of how to get the PCs to come to their own decision of, you know, the ONLY way to solve the problem in Beyond the Mountain of Madness.
Beyond The Mountains of Madness is the 'Call of Cthulhu' adventure based on 'At The Mountains of Madness.'
ahh well... not much help here
I can have The Malgoth be a seedpod of THE Azathoth!
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Oh wow -- I love the Eggs idea and especially the expendable NPCs idea. I mean, they gotta have a crew that sails the ship across the frosty, northern ocean and PCs ain't especially keen on wasting Skill Ranks in Profession (in my group!). And dropping NPCs helps me create the mood without turtling or frustrating the PCs.
And I think that while I had been doing seed pods, roots, pollen and such, making it so Alien that the seed pods or what-have-you is more like eggs, that can be pretty creepy.
New idea: Fire and Electricity seem to heal or support the Lovecraftian Horrors during combat. Acid does nothing. But Cold does double damage. .... A nice thing to learn in combat that will help lead them to the horrifying conclusion.
At its heart Mountains of Madness is a dungeon crawl. The horror comes from discovering that the world is just an outpost for some elder things. To do a one-shot all you need are some cthuhloid critters and some tech items. Stuff like mi-go with forcefields and laser pistols. Add in some traps and haunts.
Or you could use the module Doom Comes to Dustpawn. That has some 'things man was not meant to know' on a returned spaceship and has a significant cthuhlu feel to it.
At its heart Mountains of Madness is a dungeon crawl. .... Or you could use the module Doom Comes to Dustpawn.
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Yeah, the easy part is picking a few encounter locations to reveal from the 'Alien Spelljammer', step by step, a little bit more of the 'What is This that Should Not Be.' A little trickier has been coming up with the various bits of discovery that the PCs find at each location -- a few wonderful ideas have been added to what I already kinda thought of.
I have used quite a bit of Doom Comes to Dustpawn in another campaign with this group, so they'd recognize it. But yeah, it is a good suggestion. (I wish I had more than 4-5 hours for this one-shot. I *always* wish that.)
So, .... it seems that one big hurdle is leading the PC's to the understanding and willingness to sacrifice themselves to contain the evil and save the world.
A few things to this point.
*Exactly*
My dread is that they'll be like, 'Ah, after we sail out of The Land of Black Ice we'll just go to Veluna for Healing from Rao -- and go to the Free City of Greyhawk and get Mordenkainen to kick its butt.'
I mean, this group is not as foolhardy or bloodthirsty as many I've played with over the decades -- even still -- deciding to let your PC freeze to death in Antarctica instead of fighting for your life to avoid a TPK is, well, it's a 'Call of Cthulhu' thing rather than a D&D/Pathfinder thing.
I especially appreciate your 2nd suggestion. If they can find something that seems like it will keep The Malgoth 'plantlings' in hibernation, That can feel like a victory even if the PCs accept a TPK fate.
You could try the Resident Evil opening. Ship is already landed and the PCs are missing a chunk of memory. Searching around will give them clues as to who they are and what they are doing. And the discovery that an important pieces of the ship is missing. And so is Fred, and there is a trail leading to an opening in the Mountains of Madness.
Thanks guys!
You know, I never ran the original adventure: It always felt a little overdone (400+ pages for Antarctica), like it could have been a standard 34 page module. .... But putting this together, picking six location/encounters and the adjoining six bits of information (with NPCs along the way), I can easily see why it's such a famous Call of Cthulhu adventure, worthy and deserving of months of gaming rather than the one shot. I am, though, very pleased with what you and I have developed here and am feverishly excited about running this one-shot, Sunday 2 November at the end of Halloween!
Sure.
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The Boards will be down for a couple days but when they're back up I will post here a recap of the session. It went very well! (maybe not as terrifying as I'd have liked -- but we are all looooong-time gamers so you know, it can be hard to terrify over-the-table). Still, good game. Some of the players in the group said they'd pop in to post, too. Again, after Paizo is back up-and-running.
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A Spelljammer of alien design from deep in The Dark Tapestry has just crashed in The Land of Black Ice. A few groups have gone to investigate/pillage -- notably Iuz as his empire is so close to the Antarctic-like wastes. None have been heard from in the past few days. Goodly Divinations to Istus, Rao, Pelor, Mayaheine and Trithereon indicate the Spelljammer is terribly dangerous to all of The Flanaess and Oerik.
Each of the players had some reason to be both in Veluna and be included in the group Veluna sends to The Land of Black Ice. A scholar/wizard from Keoland, a Wolf Nomad barbarian who has traveled south to get civilization's response regarding the Spelljammer, a goodly hero of Veluna/Furyondy with his trusted bow, an eccentric occultist and healer whose laughing and lightheartedness at the most terryfyingly ineffable moments provides relief against the most Lovecraftian encounters, even a dancing courtesan in Veluna has volunteered to help investigate -- unbeknownst to the others she investigates because she is really a Secret Agent/martial-art-combatant of The Scarlet Brotherhood and must be able to give a full report to her Suel superiors.
They are Teleported to the northern coast of the Thillonrian Peninsula where a ship of Vikings have agreed to help Veluna by sailing the freezing sea north to The Land of Black Ice. The Vatun-worshipping Vikings are goodly Frost Giants and as agreed, sail the PCs through treacherous waves bobbing with iceburgs and hurricane winds.
Upon landing on the ice-shelf of The Land of Black Ice the Viking Giants immediately bring the ship a hundred feet up on the ice lest the turbulent sea shmash her to bits. For their parts, the PCs of Veluna see in the distance a tower of jet-black smoke piercing the sky only miles away in the mountains of pure black ice.
They make a bee-line to that column of unnatural smoke, taking the Frost Giant captain with them (the first mate and crew remain behind).
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A giant, white Spider with red-back markings, an alien-altered Frost Worm, and a pale-white Mushroom Creature, along with a few twisted Plant Creatures, somehow exist in the altogether lifeless wasteland, too cold and too empty for anything to grow -- no soil, no minerals, no fuel, no water, no food, no respite from freezing winds and temperatures far colder than freezing.
*To the PCs' chagrin and surprise, they learn Fire actually HEALs these creatures, especially the Plants, and allows them more speed and manuverability. It is COLD damage that really hurts them. .... Also, a few PCs are polluted with Mushroom spores and Plant -sap or -thorns
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A cadre of dead monster corpses of Iuz (Trolls, a Green Hag, Minotaur, Vrock, Hezrou) are being treated by their killers for 'something' as the PCs approach. More Plant Creatures -- but considerably alien in nature, seemingly as much Aberration as Plant.
*The PCs see evidence that the Alien-Plant Creatures are putting eggs or seed pods or pollen inside the corpses of the monsters of Iuz. The carrion seem more fit as fertilizer as the Land of Black Ice is not very suitable. .... Also, the Cleric leader of the Iuz Cultists is found, fungi and molds growing 'Out' of his body from some kind of taint or corruption from the Plants the PCs have fought.
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Getting closer to the spire of smoke reaching into the sky.
An image the Ghostly figure of Istus Herself, goddess of Fate and Destiny appears before the PCs and pleads that they must succeed in stopping the threat this Spelljammer represents. She also sadly warns them that they may be on a path that has no turns.
*The PCs learn, starting with the Wolf Nomad barbarian who is more connected to mother nature and wilderness survival, notices eggs, or perhaps seed pods, in the stool from her bowel movement. On personal breaks, all the othr various PCs notice that both their urine and bowels have plant matter in them. Everyone is a carrier. Everyone is tainted.
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A Treeant of Lovecraftian proportions, as well as a Wolf Nomad Giant that has been completely corrupted -- thorns, spines and vines sprouting from her body -- are in a fight against several other Wolf Nomad Giants. With the PCs, the Treeant is destroyed with Ice. The Wolf Nomads are saved, but sick.
*Studying the area the PCs see that the roots of the Treeant and the plant matter itself is such that in can go deep, deep into The Prime Material Plane. Even the Huge Plants they've faced so far are just neophytes, very immature, and would grow to Plane-Penetrating proportions in the right conditions these roots could go so deep as to reach The Prison of Tharizdun itself at the center of the world.
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The PCs encounter a Gargantuan Silver Dragon, obviously here from the civilized south for the same reason as they. Tragically, the goodly Dragon is completely tainted, completely corrupted -- more Fungus and Vine than Dragon, more Alien than Draconic. Brilliantly, the PCs came up with some clever tactics that made this a much easier fight than what might have been.
*The PCs find a Book on the Dragon showing the history and nature of The Malgoth: A horror from The Far Realm nearly the dimensions of Azathoth or Yog Sothoth, more destructive than any Cthulhu, Hastur or Nyarlathotep. It details the story of how The Malgoth, ages ago, almost conquered the entire Abyss, Layer by Layer, destroying Abyssal Lords and Obyrith & Qlippoth Entities the way a Treeant could crush a Halfling child. Eventually a host of Abyssal Lords joined together to fight The Malgoth, and with Pyrrhic results, eventually defeated it.
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Approaching the torch burning into the sky the PCs see the remains of the effectively destroyed Spelljammer. It's Eldritch Reactor fueling a nuclear flame high in the atmosphere. All around the remains, feeding on the heat and light of the nuclear sustenance, dozens of Huge and Gargantuan Plants, Molds, Fungi and Vines grow big and hungry. Their roots penetrate deep into The Land of Black Ice.
Using powerful Dispelling and Abjuration magics, Conjuring Rust Monsters to eat the Spelljammer's Reactor, and other brutal means, the PCs began destroying the Fire-Breathing apparatus.
At some point I remember them trying for Divine Intervention from Istus and the PC actually rolled a nat 20 -- one of those fun moments -- also, the Wizard conjured a Wall of Fire to distract the Plants; they all followed the new source of Heat to give the PCs a way closer to the nuclear reactor. And of course they cast Fly and just flew above the area, just out of reach from the Plants.
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Knowing they were all completely tainted and knowing how dangerous The Malgoth seedlings/seedpods are, the PCs quite easily accepted that they were just going to have to die out in The Land of Black Ice and never go home. They actually were joking and frivoulous about who was going to eat whom first and such like that. The player I was concerned the most that would call shenanigans and not accept suicide (she played the Wolf Nomad Barbarian) was actually the first player to say out loud, 'Well I guess we have to just kill ourselves.' Though someone also suggested they cast Transmutations to turn into Ice Elementals for a Duration effectively killing all taint within their bodies. Of course, RAW, if one is Poisoned and one turns into a creature for a moment who is immune to the poison, once the duration ends one still has to deal with the Poison.
All in all, the group had fun but it was never a really 'scary' or 'disturbing' game. Mostly just jokes. I think the players all just assumed ahead of time it was going to be a TPK and were emotionally prepared (which BTW, I have never done a TPK on them in all of our years!). I even almost didn't include the Istus encounter because they seemed so comfortable with the unspoken thought that they were all going to die. Still, I'm glad I did because at the end, when they got Divine intervention from Istus by rolling that nat 20, it made it fun that she had appeared ealier.