Zonugal
2011-11-24, 01:48 AM
Hey!
So I am constructing a gauntlet challenge designed specifically for single, sixth-level characters in E6 themed around the nine layers of Baator. The idea is the character is teleported to a starting point, introduced to the rules by a Harvester Devil and than sent on their way. Right now I have been cataloging interesting & thematic traps, environmental hazards and monsters but could use your help.
Here is a quick description of what each level of the challenge should be like:
1. The first layer, Avernus, is a vast charred wasteland of rubble over which the iron towers of the Dukes of Hell stand. Legions of devils march across the plains in continual readiness for the next battle of the Blood War. A red light suffuses the sky and huge fireballs fly across the layer, randomly exploding wherever they hit. Beneath the blood-red sky balls of fire burst unpredictably. They are said to be embodiments of the rage of the imprisoned Lord of the First, Zariel.
2. The second layer, Dis, is both a layer and a burning city of iron known as the Iron City of Dis. The walls of the buildings of the city radiate extreme heat, as do the stones of the streets; more than brief skin contact results in severe burns. The Archduke Dispater rules this layer from the Iron Tower, an impregnable fortress that reaches far into the sky and can be seen everywhere on Dis (literally; by looking to any direction in the skyline one can see the Iron Tower).
3. The third layer of Minauros is an endless bog of vile pollution. The weather on Minauros consists of acidic rain, flesh-slicing hail, and harsh winds. Most of the layer is a vast dismal marsh of foul rotting soil, littered with carrion and pools of water. Through murky fog, one often encounters numerous carcasses soaking up the filthy rain.
4. Phlegethos is a fiery wasteland filled with active volcanoes, hills of ash, gouting fires, streams of magma, pits of smoking excrement, and burning sand beneath a screaming rain of magical fire flakes. Lady Fierna and Archduke Belial are the lords of this layer. Few can exist here for long without suitable protection from the extreme heat.
5. Stygia, the fifth layer is a freezing layer of cold and ice dominated by a murky ocean fed directly by the River Styx. The surface of the ice is covered with chilly marshes. The dark sky is constantly filled with lightning storms, and the ice may be lit by weird cold flames.
6. Malbolge was originally an endless rocky slope where rockslides and avalanches of boulders were common. Numerous copper fortresses provided some refuge from the avalanches. As "The Crushing Lands", Malbolge was a place of craggy, black stone and ash filled with stinking vapors, smoke, fire pits, and huge caves and caverns in which ancient Baatorians lurked. The air was hot and choking, and the whole layer existed at a steep tilt so that no flat terrain exists. Falling was a constant danger there, as were rockslides and avalanches.
7. Maladomini is a hell of ruins, the seventh layer of Baator. Everything natural on the layer has been defaced, destroyed, or stripped away, replaced with strip mines, quarries, poorly maintained roads and bridges, rivers of molten lava, slag heaps, wasted cities, and polluted canals, filled with stinking vapors, earth tremors, fire pits, and mines.
8. Cania (or Caina), the Eighth Hell, is an unimaginably cold wasteland, where few living things can survive more than a few moments in an unsheltered area. Huge fast moving glaciers crash around the layer sending snow and ice up in the sky. It is dominated by intense, freezing cold, and is extremely hostile toward those who are unwelcome on the layer, which includes nearly every being that enters.
9. Nessus is the ninth and deepest layer of Baator. It is a place of pits and ravines of virtually endless depths. The great citadel of Malsheem lies immediately below the portal between Cania and Nessus and is the largest fortress in all of the Outer Planes. Here, Asmodeus rules over the entire plane, and thus the entire race of devils.
Right now I have the idea of level two having some DreadGuards (CR 2; MM2) and a Spell Turret as the obstacle, and for level three a Yellow Musk Creeper surrounded by a group of Yellow Musk Zombies.
The story I have going right now is this is sort of like an evil game show put on by both Devils & Demons. Whenever they hear a mortal soul cry out for a wish they answer by plucking them into their arena. If they make it through all nine levels their wish is granted. I have also been wanting to develop this as a psuedo-same game test type of scenario in which to run different E6 builds through.
But my biggest question, beyond any helpful recommendations, is what is a solid encounter level I should try to go for with only a single, 6th-level character (in E6 rules) advancing through the event?
So I am constructing a gauntlet challenge designed specifically for single, sixth-level characters in E6 themed around the nine layers of Baator. The idea is the character is teleported to a starting point, introduced to the rules by a Harvester Devil and than sent on their way. Right now I have been cataloging interesting & thematic traps, environmental hazards and monsters but could use your help.
Here is a quick description of what each level of the challenge should be like:
1. The first layer, Avernus, is a vast charred wasteland of rubble over which the iron towers of the Dukes of Hell stand. Legions of devils march across the plains in continual readiness for the next battle of the Blood War. A red light suffuses the sky and huge fireballs fly across the layer, randomly exploding wherever they hit. Beneath the blood-red sky balls of fire burst unpredictably. They are said to be embodiments of the rage of the imprisoned Lord of the First, Zariel.
2. The second layer, Dis, is both a layer and a burning city of iron known as the Iron City of Dis. The walls of the buildings of the city radiate extreme heat, as do the stones of the streets; more than brief skin contact results in severe burns. The Archduke Dispater rules this layer from the Iron Tower, an impregnable fortress that reaches far into the sky and can be seen everywhere on Dis (literally; by looking to any direction in the skyline one can see the Iron Tower).
3. The third layer of Minauros is an endless bog of vile pollution. The weather on Minauros consists of acidic rain, flesh-slicing hail, and harsh winds. Most of the layer is a vast dismal marsh of foul rotting soil, littered with carrion and pools of water. Through murky fog, one often encounters numerous carcasses soaking up the filthy rain.
4. Phlegethos is a fiery wasteland filled with active volcanoes, hills of ash, gouting fires, streams of magma, pits of smoking excrement, and burning sand beneath a screaming rain of magical fire flakes. Lady Fierna and Archduke Belial are the lords of this layer. Few can exist here for long without suitable protection from the extreme heat.
5. Stygia, the fifth layer is a freezing layer of cold and ice dominated by a murky ocean fed directly by the River Styx. The surface of the ice is covered with chilly marshes. The dark sky is constantly filled with lightning storms, and the ice may be lit by weird cold flames.
6. Malbolge was originally an endless rocky slope where rockslides and avalanches of boulders were common. Numerous copper fortresses provided some refuge from the avalanches. As "The Crushing Lands", Malbolge was a place of craggy, black stone and ash filled with stinking vapors, smoke, fire pits, and huge caves and caverns in which ancient Baatorians lurked. The air was hot and choking, and the whole layer existed at a steep tilt so that no flat terrain exists. Falling was a constant danger there, as were rockslides and avalanches.
7. Maladomini is a hell of ruins, the seventh layer of Baator. Everything natural on the layer has been defaced, destroyed, or stripped away, replaced with strip mines, quarries, poorly maintained roads and bridges, rivers of molten lava, slag heaps, wasted cities, and polluted canals, filled with stinking vapors, earth tremors, fire pits, and mines.
8. Cania (or Caina), the Eighth Hell, is an unimaginably cold wasteland, where few living things can survive more than a few moments in an unsheltered area. Huge fast moving glaciers crash around the layer sending snow and ice up in the sky. It is dominated by intense, freezing cold, and is extremely hostile toward those who are unwelcome on the layer, which includes nearly every being that enters.
9. Nessus is the ninth and deepest layer of Baator. It is a place of pits and ravines of virtually endless depths. The great citadel of Malsheem lies immediately below the portal between Cania and Nessus and is the largest fortress in all of the Outer Planes. Here, Asmodeus rules over the entire plane, and thus the entire race of devils.
Right now I have the idea of level two having some DreadGuards (CR 2; MM2) and a Spell Turret as the obstacle, and for level three a Yellow Musk Creeper surrounded by a group of Yellow Musk Zombies.
The story I have going right now is this is sort of like an evil game show put on by both Devils & Demons. Whenever they hear a mortal soul cry out for a wish they answer by plucking them into their arena. If they make it through all nine levels their wish is granted. I have also been wanting to develop this as a psuedo-same game test type of scenario in which to run different E6 builds through.
But my biggest question, beyond any helpful recommendations, is what is a solid encounter level I should try to go for with only a single, 6th-level character (in E6 rules) advancing through the event?