DM Request: Ideas for Tonight's Raid on Candyfell!

[tuesdayscoming]

I have a last-minute request for the playground: please help me come up with some interesting things for my players to do in game tonight!

The party is a level 1 druid and a level 1 swordsage, relatively low-op. We will be joined tonight by a new player, though I have no idea what the player will be rolling up.

The adventure as it stands so far: My two players are currently at the beginning of a dungeon that is basically an incredibly twisted reimagining of Willy Wonka's factory, after it has been left abandoned for some odd 75 years. The party has reason to believe that a young wizard has taken up residence here, and that she is in possession of a holy relic stolen from the party druid's tribe. This relic is an idol of one of three nature deities: this one the aspect of decay. They do not know what she wants with the relic, nor why she has taken up residence in the old factory.

The factory is still occupied by a relatively large number of dwarf-like creatures: descendants of the Oompa-Loompa analogs whose slave-labor built and maintained this place. These creatures ("Oompas") have bored out a series of small tunnels throughout the factory, which they use to get around quickly. The Oompas have been trapped here for a long time, and are dismantling machinery in the hopes of building a device which will allow them to finally break out.

The party has not engaged the Oompas, but are aware of their existence in the dungeon, and scared two of them away from a machine that they had been dismantling.

The party has gone through the first several rooms of the dungeon, solving a few puzzles here and there to advance. At the end of the last adventure, they got onto a small wooden boat, attached to tracks, that leads them deeper into the dungeon – and, hopefully, towards the wizard in possession of the idol they seek. This boat parallels the scene from the original Willy Wonka movie where they are riding the chocolate river.

The problem: I really have no idea what to throw at the party tonight. They seem to really enjoy puzzle solving, but I didn't give them any combat last session, and I know that they would like to flex their muscles a bit.

If anyone would be so kind, I would really appreciate a couple of ideas as to possible encounters, as well as possible ways to introduce the new player into the dungeon.

If more information would help the Playground come up with suggestions, please let me know!

Thanks so much, guys. I appreciate any help you can give.

[aeauseth]

The obvious suggestion is to have them fight some dwarf-like creatures. :smallsmile:

Other ideas would be some animated constructs. I seem to recall blueberries, bubbles, steamrollers, etc.

Weren't there squirrles in one of the movies? Heck just watch one (or both) of the movies for inspiration. Take notes!

[tuesdayscoming]

Thanks for the reply, aeauseth!

Fighting dwarfeys is definitely on the agenda at some point.

A few ideas I've had since first posting this thread, and which I think might be fun to develop on:

• The Willy Wonka equivalent has been dead for decades, and as such the Oompas have been free from a thrallherd-type mind control that Wonka exerted over their people, although they were still trapped in the factory.
• The wizard that the party is looking for has very recently activated some sort of 'brain in a jar' type device that stores Wonka's personality. As a result, a great number of the Oompas have fallen under the control of his mind-control once more. These Oompas will be hostile to the party, and will try to repel them wherever possible. Their main goal will be to assemble a device that amplifies the power of Wonka's mind control, extending it out to the nearby village.
• Some Oompas, however, managed to resist the mind control. These ones are a separate faction that may or may not be willing to help the party. This group's main goal is to assemble a device that will either free them from the factory or destroy the machine that is reanimating Wonka's mind-control abilities.

Do these ideas sound absolutely ridiculous? I mean, it's a mildly comedic campaign, but I'm not quite sure as to whether this might just be a bit too farfetched.

[Kornaki]

When the party entered the factory did they not open a way for the oompah loompahs to get out? Why are they still trying to escape and not just doing it?

Enemies could use the candy to get an advantage in combat. Levitating archers? I don't remember all the other candies (bonus points for using the everlasting gobstopper). There could be something living in the chocolate river

[aeauseth]

Their main goal will be to assemble a device that amplifies the power of Wonka's mind control, extending it out to the nearby village.

I'm thinking borg (not sure why)...

They party runs across 1d4+1 dwarfy guys assembling some machine. They mostly ignore the party, but defend themselves. If the party interfears a few of the dwarfy guys attack, the rest continue assembling the machine. You can have as many (or few) of the dwarfy guys attack at a time to tweak the challange rating of the encounter.

If the machine is assembled, something bad happens to the party. Perhaps a 1d6 electrical shield protecting the device. The device is blocking the path forward.

[tuesdayscoming]

When the party entered the factory did they not open a way for the oompah loompahs to get out? Why are they still trying to escape and not just doing it?

Magical ward of some sort, put there to ensure that the Oompas can't escape? A merciless, dictatorial factory owner has to protect his property, after all.

Conveniently enough, something I set up in the last adventure might be used to address this problem rather nicely: On the way in, the party passed through a room with a large cube-like statue covered in largely incomprehensible writing. The only text that the party could read was in grand, hyper-stylized writing that read, on one face, "The Master Welcomes Us In," and on the other, "The Master Welcomes Our Return." The latter text could only be read if you were facing towards the entrance from within the factory, and the party wondered for a while why those words would be displayed to someone trying to leave the factory.

edit:

aeauseth, really liking that idea. It's a nice opportunity for a combat that shows off the dwarves' tech proficiency, and might even begin to clue the party in to the difference b/t these 'bad Oompas' and the ones they met before (as these ones will either ignore or fight the party, whereas the others actively fled)

[haplessvictim]

The party has gone through the first several rooms of the dungeon, solving a few puzzles here and there to advance. At the end of the last adventure, they got onto a small wooden boat, attached to tracks, that leads them deeper into the dungeon – and, hopefully, towards the wizard in possession of the idol they seek. This boat parallels the scene from the original Willy Wonka movie where they are riding the chocolate river.

The boat slowly travels down the tunnel, into the darkness. Emphasize the smell of decay, the stagnant water, the plants and molds that are growing along the walls and in the water. Maybe some unusual motion in the canal like fish, or frogs or snakes beneath the surface of scum and weed. Midway through the tunnel, the boat grinds to a halt with the sound of grinding metal and crunching wood. The boat slowly (over the course of several minutes) begins to sink.

Now, in real-time, ask the players what they'll do. Think quick! After five minutes (for example) the boat has sunk to the bottom of the canal and they are chest-deep in stagnant, murky water, with nothing but their torches for light sources.

Whether the party continues forward or retreats they have the same questions to consider: how fast do they move? How do they keep their light source dry and lit? They should be moving at half speed maximum (chest-deep in water, remember) and probably with the occasional DC 10 balance check thrown in to see if they slip and fall (DC 5 if they move at quarter speed). And.. here come the water snakes. Or maybe a (wounded and sick) giant toad that can menace them from a hidden ledge.

Since they're first level and low-optimization, don't be too cruel. Maybe the snakes are non-poisonous, or the frog retreats as soon as it's hit. But you can give your players a good hour or so of scares and the feeling of fighting for their lives in this tunnel. Don't forget that dropped torches will go out and be unable to be re-lit. Lanterns will sink to the bottom and become stuck in the mud. Dropped weapons may float away or sink, too.