The J Pizzel
2014-07-01, 03:16 PM
I've compiled my 5E play-tests that I've done throughout the year. Some were one-shots, where as the Blindingstone game was an actual mini campaign that leasted several months. Anyway, I thought I'd post the re-caps and summaries here for you guys to read and enjoy.
One shot from the very first play-test packet:
PLAYTEST CAMPAIGN: I was DMing
On the road again – 6 human thugs (2 regular, 1 berserker, 1 Sneak attack, 2 archers)
Give them some different weapons. Give one of them SA.
“We don’t want no trouble. Just give us ye horse and gear and ye can go on ye way.”
“You don’t want no part of Farahorn. That place be cursed it is. People be disappearing in the night, turning up missing limbs and such. Found one poor boy short a heart. So, we six decided we had enough.” Make sure you name the berserker Dugan and explain him as a big dude.
(Role-play notes: We didn’t have the cleric of Pelor for this fight. The party had a small camp site just off the road in a light forest. It started with the rogue up a tree, the two dwarves by the fire and the elf up against a rock sleeping. The rogue smoked his stealth and his perception so he saw them all approaching but couldn’t wake the others up in time. They baddies surrounded the camp and they spoke with the players for a minute before the rogue got fed up and ONE-SHOTed the berserker. The others were easily dispatched. The SA baddie was a pain because he was hiding in a small pond. The wizard wanted to shocking grasp the whole pond, which would’ve been awesome, but someone finally killed the SA guy before he got there. Play test notes: Combat goes much faster and the rogue can already put up some DPS when he’s hidden. No OA’s or flanking made things very interesting. I noticed the guys were immediately using hit and run tactics. The cleric of Moradin player felt a little bored right off the bat. The fighter didn’t like his squishy-ness, but loved putting up the big numbers. He usually plays insanely high AC characters, so this was his rude awakening.)
All around the world the same song – exploring the town.
Make stuff up as you go. The most eligible people of the town have moved on. A village elder, Jacobi, is trying to hold it together. Even the Lord Mayor has left. There’s mainly just poor and stubborn still here. Jacobi’s oldest grandson, Jaken, is trying desperately to convince the people to stay in the temple of Pelor at night. Some refuse and if they do then they’re on their own. He’s given some crappy weapons to the oldest kids and most eligible men, but they’re still crap. One old man, Hibben, might’ve seen something, but he lost his boy in an attack and has gone somewhat crazy. If they can get it out of him, he points them to the docks. If not they follow him. Throw in some hints about the ancient castle that once stood on this shore. It belonged to the mighty Ducaine Family.
(Role-play and play test notes: The group had a great time role-playing all this out. The ability check system worked great and they were finding great ways to use their specific +3’s to their ability checks. Sometimes they convinced me, sometimes they didn’t; but the group liked it as a whole. It definitely puts more responsibility on the DM which my group just happens to like. I used the DC charts in the play test notes once or twice, but I mostly just winged it. As for plot, the group liked old Jacobi (they said he reminded them of Maester Luwin) and respected Jaken for what he was trying to accomplish. They found Hibben in an old tower that was falling apart at the port area of town. The dwarves got to use some Stonecunning to realize that this is an old part of the town; maybe as old as the original Ducaine Family’s keep. They found some odd healing potions in an old crate buried in the keep. It becomes interesting later. The role-playing was great and everyone loves the simplicity of the checks. IMHO, it has nothing to do with the system though. I use very simple checks to solve things which can be done with any system. I think what my players found interesting was that there wasn’t any tables telling me what I had to set the DC at, so they enjoyed the time saving and the thrill of not knowing what they had to roll to succeed. I would just say, “OK, but it’ll be hard one” and I think they liked that.)
Under the Boardwalk – 10 kobolds, 2 dire rats.
They seem to be waiting on someone to return. They’re posted up in very sneaky places. Eventually they see 3 kobolds return. They’re carrying sacks, two dripping blood and one squirming. If they free him, they realize he is the blacksmith’s son. The blacksmith deserted him and left this morning. His last name was Dugan. He’s the berserker’s son. Make sure one dives for the water and begins working on the grate to show the guys where to go next. Let them camp for the night if they need it.
(Role-play notes: the group loved this encounter. Hibben pointed to the water that comes up near the port so the group all hid in the same dilapidated tower that they’d found him in. The rogue hid on a nearby rooftop. They saw the ten kobolds come scurrying out of the water and post up all along the board walk, some of them in some really good hiding spots. 3 of the kobolds took off into town. The two dire rats wandered around the port looking for prey. The group decided to take out all the kobolds still here and lay an ambush for the others when they return. After dispatching the waiting kobolds, they used their own spears to prop them up and put them back in their original hiding places. The 3 came back with dripping bags and one squirming. As soon as the first was killed (SA from the rogue) the others ran for the water. The fighter actually rolled a natural 20 and sniped one in the head. But regrettably the bag flew into the water with a squirming child in it. The fighter dove into the water to rescue the bag. While under water, he saw the remaining kobold dive in and begin working on a grate. Play test notes: This was a great fight. The group pretty much one-shotted all the kobolds. The dire rats were a little better fight, but was still one sided. One did climb the roof where the rogue was. Instead of fighting the dire rat, the Halfling wanted to just push him back over. A simple strength vs. constitution check and it was done. He succeeded. It was glorious.
Into the tunnels – 2 gray oozes.
They wait for the PC’s to walk over them and then beat the **** out of them. (skip this is needed)
We skipped this due to time restraints.
I think they came from that way – 1 gelatinous cube,1 snakes, 2 spiders, 2 kobold dragon shields.
Two kobolds are sitting next to an arch with several crates blocking the path through. There are a couple of pools of sewer nearby. When either of them sees a bad guy, they immediately pull a string that releases the critters from the crates. Behind the arch is a blank stone wall with absolutely nothing on it. Why were they guarding it? PUT A TRAP SOMEWHERE.
(Role-play notes: Not much here. Play test notes: This encounter resulted in a near TPK. The only survivor was the wizard. The snake and spiders were simply re-flavored fire beetles. I put an insane fire trap in the corridor that one of the players forgot about and ran right back through it. The main problem was the cube. He would just move into their square, they’d fail their saves, and that was it. They would just keep taking damage each round. They really bombed their saves in this encounter. I’m pretty sure the dice had it in for them. Two of them died in the cube, so each round they suffered another 1d6. At level 1 that’s pretty bad. The DC’s to dodge and break free weren’t that hard, they just bombed their roles. Eventually they whittled down and killed the critters and the kobolds, but the cube killed them all. The wizzie Ray of Frosted it and headed back into town. I will say that once again, not having fancy powers and maneuvers does seem to encourage the guys to come up with some nifty stuff. At one point the fighter asked what he had to do to slam the cube so hard he could assist the trapped people escaping. It was kind of fun to hear them come up with stuff like that. This was end of the session that night.
Don’t open that door! – 1 ogre, 2 dire rats.
The ogre is munching on a dead dire rat. It’s a grand lobby with a large tomb in the center of a long dead king. Halls lead off into 3 directions. 2 are crumbled an accessible. One is dimly lit by weakening torches.
(Play test notes: From this point on we actually had both clerics. I let them just pick up and as if they hadn’t died. They blasted the dire rats very easily. The rogue hid in the shadows and smoked the ogre right off the bat. At one point the ogre just threw the dead rat at the guys for 1d2+STR damage and they loved that. After that it was just a standard boss beat down. It was nothing fancy. Afterward they found the secret entrance into the tombs of the mighty Ducaine Family
NEXT LEVEL!
The Hall of skeletal and zombified death – 4 skeletons, 5 zombies.
This is the first room of tombs. There’s nothing special here.
(Role-play notes: Role-play wise we got a little more in-character chit chat because now we’re dealing with religion and we had two clerics. So a couple jokes and were made. Play test notes: Of course, I had to put some undead in there to turn. It worked alright. In the description it says “may turn weaker ones to ash” but there’s nothing that explains how, since it doesn’t seem to do any damage. By the time a skeleton or zombie’s turn came up they had already been attacked, so the turn became irrelevant. Channel Radiance became real popular right off the bat as well. All in all, it was a nice little skirmish to test out the clerics against some undead.
The Hall of flying death – 8 stirges.
This room is covered in little piles of bones, ****, and dried up rat and beetle carcasses. Occasionally there’s a cat or dog or even bird. The stirges come flying in the moment there’s light in the chamber. There hiding in every little crack and nook they can find. (skip this if needed)
We skipped this.
Hall of the dead king – 2 wights, 4 zombies, 4 skeletons
This is the place where the first king of Farahorn was buried. His tomb is practically unrecognizable. When they investigate the tomb, a LARGE TRAP GOES OFF and signal the wights and skeletons to attack. They come out of tombs in the walls. In one of the random tombs on the wall is a hollowed out vertical tunnel with a make shift rope ladder.
Role-play notes: Again nothing major here. Play-test notes: The combat here was more exciting though. No one moved near the large tomb so at first they were just fighting the zombies. I put a 10x10 spider web in the center of the room just in case someone got stupid. I had one of the zombies move into it (let’s face it, they’re stupid) and our rogue asked if his character would know that webs burn hot. I said absolutely. He spent his action throwing a torch in the web and lit the zombie on fire. I gave it a good 1d10 initial blast but then 1d6 damage for 1d4 rounds (4). So everyone began throwing zombies in the fire. Eventually the wizard moved next to the tomb which set off a 3d6 fire trap and signaled the wights and skeletons to attack. The Pelorian got nervous and blasted one of the wights with Searing Light for 42 damage. I gave him the one-shot on that. Everyone cheered the might of Pelor, lol. The other wight landed a few blows but they finished it out pretty easily. Between strength vs. constitution checks into the fire and magic missiles, they cleaned house pretty quickly. The found a few magic items in the tombs and the rope ladder in the hollowed out tomb and decided to camp for the night. The rogue built at basic crossbow-tripwire trap on the ladder chute and the wizard cast alarm on both entrances. Right at the 8 hour mark they heard the alarm go off, a twang, a grunt (a couple of hidden dice rolls) and several splats. The rogue was very pleased with himself.
NEXT LEVEL!
Guards! Guards! – 3 kobold dragon shields.
3 Kobolds are just standing guard. Use the dart trap from Skyrim. Lever is on the side near the Guards. They deactivate it for friends. When the players enter, if it’s not deactivated they take 4d4 at the top of the round. There’s a huge hole in the middle of the floor. (Skip this if needed)
(Role-play notes: this ended up being really fun as well. The kobolds that were climbing the stairs and set off the trap were these 3. The first one got shot in the chest and fell, knocking the other two off the ladder. I rolled dexterity saves for them to catch the ladder, but they both failed. The fighter got to the bottom of the ladder first and held it steady for the rest of the party. When they got to the bottom, before they even entered the entrance chamber, the fighter threw one of dead kobolds into the pit to see how deep it was. It was pure luck that he did that because they noticed as soon as he crossed the threshold he was peppered with darts. The players all patted the fighter on the back for having pure luck and the wizzie used mage hand to switch the lever to off. Easy peasy.)
We’re going to need a bigger sword – 10 kobolds, 2 shields, 1 boss man.
The meeting hall has beds, tables, fire holes, piss holes, a weapons rack, and lots of other stuff. It’s where the kobolds hang out when not on a job. Have an acolyte be talking to the boss man. She runs when **** gets real. They need to keep a kobold alive, or they need to pass an Int. (Arcane Lore) check.
(Role-play notes: this encounter incidentally led to some hilarious dialogue between the rogue and the wizzie. It went something like this:
Rogue: Seriously…just fireball the whole damn room. It’ll be wondrous.
Wizzie: I don’t have fireball.
Rogue: Huh?
Wizzie: I. Don’t. Have. Fireball.
Rogue: Yeah I heard you the first time. What do you mean you don’t have fireball? What kind of wizard doesn’t have fireball?
Wizzie: Maybe next level?
Rogue: What does that even mean?
DM: Screw it. Just say you have it.
Wizzie: No. Seriously. It’s not in the play test.
Whole group: WHAT?!?
At which point we all stared blankly at the spell sheet and wondered how that didn’t make the cut. Cure Light Wounds. Turn/Rebuke Undead. Magic Missile. Shocking Grasp. NO FIREBALL!!!!!!!
Play test notes: this fight ended up being a breeze. The wizzie sleep spelled one entire side of the room. The next round he cast Hold Person on the boss man. After that they just cleaned house. They’re level 3 abilities were really starting to shine here.)
She’s a WITCH! – 6 acolytes, 2 adepts
This is a mix between a laboratory, library, alter, and torture chamber. There are books everywhere, work tables, a small alter in the center, a rack, and many other things. A pile of bones sits near a bookshelf. A small boy is being tortured on the rack. Several dead, mutilated bodies appear near the rack. Several priests meander about. Freak them out by the half snake things. Don’t forget to use command, unholy smite. On a work table are ancient documents chronicling the fall of the Ducaine family and the locations that family went into hiding.
(Play test notes: I made this a difficult encounter by using some insane terrain and stuff in the room. There was a large pit in the floor, several piles of broken stones and cave walls and other stuff. I landed every hit with unholy smite, which I gave some nifty cinematic value to and really had the players freaked out. The two adepts were represented by yuant-ti miniatures and I had them pretty grossed out by the whole half-snake priestess thing. The wizzie stood on one side of the pit and cast Command on one of the acolytes (failed save) which made her walk right over the pit. I gave her a quick last minute save to avoid falling in, but alas, she was void of luck. It ended up being a harder fight than I thought due to the terrain and the smites/spells of the adepts. The group liked it nonetheless.
Oh. My. God. – 1 Medusa, 1 big frigging snake, 1 dark priest.
The snake attacks immediately. The dark priest tries to stay near the summoning pool to use writhing darkness. Medusa is working at a desk. Her body is hidden by robes so they don’t realize they can’t look at her till she begins moving and gets close to them. In the center is a summoning pool where she was trying to summon Slytherin, the Demon Snake Lord. There’s rubble and a few pits scattered throughout the room. After the fight they realize from her work desk that she needed royal blood to complete the summoning and she had traced the lineage of the Ducaine family. Through the ages the name was changed and bastardized to Dugan. It is revealed that the blacksmith (now dead) and his son (rescued by the players) is actually the last surviving descendant of the mighty Ducaine family.
(Role-play notes: There wasn’t much role-playing here. It was late and we wanted to finish up and they knew this was the boss fight. Play test notes: Amazing fight. It was everything a boss fight should be. I have a large dark naga mini that was just a re-flavored Owlbear. Instead of his Hug special ability I simply made it a Constrict. The snake squared off against the two dwarves for most of the fight. The priestess used the summoning pool to initiate Writhing Darkness, which literally changed the whole fight. At the beginning of each players turn they roll a Dexterity Save of 13 or take 1d6 damage and lose 10 ft of movement. The nearly always failed it. When medusa got close and took off her robes the players and characters were pretty freaked out. They had no idea I was going with medusa in the final fight. They didn’t even know medusa was in the play test. Everyone started averting their eyes. The rogue pretty much started working on medusa from stealth so the advantage and disadvantage would cancel out. Medusa loved moving to someone so they started their turn adjacent to her and had to roll a save or get bit by her snaky hair. A couple of people went down but were cured by spells or potions. It was a damn good fight. Eventually they took out the priestess, which killed the Writhing Darkness, which made the fight easier. Then they took out the snake, which then lead to one of the coolest moments in my 16 years of DMing. The fighter, down to 2 hp, had perched himself near one of the pits where Moradin, and the rogue had gone to. The fighter started taunting the medusa wildly, which pissed her off and made her attack him. On his turn, he said (and the whole group knew he was planning this except me):
Fighter: I bear hug her, look her in the in the eyes smiling, and just before I turn to stone, I leap into the pit.
Me: That sounds awesome. Strength vs. constitution contest to see….
Fighter: NATRUAL 20!!!!!!
Player next to fighter at table: HOLY **** HE DID!!!
Me: As you latch onto the abomination with your thick dwarven arms, you look into her snake-like eyes and smile. You feel your legs and arms become heavy, just as you begin lean into the pit and let yourself go. Right before you lose your sight, you see her squirming futilely under your weight. You don’t feel a thing as you shatter into a thousand pieces when you hit the ground hundreds of feet below, you…but she did.
That’s right, we ended the play test on an actual natural 20. This concludes our play-test this evening. Please tip your DM.
Second to last play-test. I called it the 5E Creature Feature because the gang asked for upper levels and crazy monsters (they were level 12 I think). This is regrettably, more of my DM notes than an actual summary. Sorry..
The 5E Creature Feature!
Widows Watch: Huge White Dragon / Manticore Slave
All players begin on cliff face known as Widows Watch. If any player uses detect magic they find that one of the stones is magical. If a player uses his Stonecunning they find that some of the stones are not natural to the terrain. Knowledge Arcana reveals that the stone is under a Silence and Illusion spell. After the Silence spell is dismissed they hear whining and moaning. After the Illusion spell is dismissed they discover a chained up baby white dragon. Just as this happens, they begin hearing the beating of wings and up from the clouds flied a Huge White Dragon with a Manticore in tow. It lands and moans at the infant before gazing menacing at the players. Shortly after that it lets out its breath weapon and the fight begins.
Afterward, if the infant survives, a large blast of flame appears from nowhere and incinerates the beast. When they turn around they see Pook and an unknown person talking. Pook seems nervous. Eventually he person disappears and Pook congratulates them on passing the test. It’s at this point he explains the adventure. To travel to an unknown island and recover a long lost relic of the ancient gods. The ones that have passed long into legend and aren’t worshipped anymore. That’s all he can tell them right now.
After that another stone is shown to be a fake and they begin the long descent into the tunnels beneath the cliff. Explain that periodically they run into a beast known as s carrion crawler, a wormish creature with several eyes and tentacles that can paralyze you. Most scuttle away, y’all easily dispatch any that attempt to fight or block your path.
Eventually the walls begin shifting. First player rolls a dice, on an even, the wall splits and he must pass a DC 16 Dexterity test or be cut off. After the first one, Pook mentions he heard something about this but completely forgot. It has something to do with an old pirate lore that it was meant to discourage travelers from coming down here, but that they all still came out to the cove at the bottom. He suggests they continue on (Folklore DC 13 Remembers hearing it too). Each player has two chances to become separated. As soon as they pass it twice, they’re fine. We continue on until everyone has passed two of them, or until they are all divided.
The first person to become separated emerges in the tunnel first. He will roll 1d8 to decide which one he comes out of. He’ll see two basilisks and at least 10 crawlers. He’ll emerge next to a crawler no matter what and combat should begin shortly. Have each player immediately roll 1d4, they’ll emerge on that round of combat and roll a d8 to see which tunnel they emerge from. They can act on that turn.
Eventually, a longboat with 5 sailors using crossbows emerges. They’ll act at the end of the initiative order and all target the same creature. If they target a crawler, it dies. If they target a Basilisk, he takes 2d10 damage. After that, they ride the boat back to the ship anchored in the water. END ACT ONE!
The Titan’s Gift – Knowledge Folklore (13) or Forbidden Lore (16) reveals that this is a very famous ship. If was supposedly gifted to the father of the most beautiful girl in all of Atlantis by an ancient sea god. He couldn’t bring himself to allow her to die in the felling of the city, so he gave to the ship to her father to keep her safe. It is said to have immense power residing in it, but no one has ever been able to unlock its power or nature. The current captain claimed it by “Right of Conquest” from its previous owner during a raid. A Detect Magic spells reveals it’s loaded with magical energy.
NPC’s aboard the ship:
Captain Sol “Scarface”. He is a middle-aged, well built man with a close trimmed beard and goatee (Ewen McGregor from Episode 3) looking. He carries a boarding axe, a cutlass, and a gold inlaid crossbow across his back. Generally a very pleasant person but hates fire and wizards, in general. Not afraid and has a very cool, calm demeanor during a fight. Ironically, he doesn’t have a scar on his face.
First Mate Reed. Reed is a stocky, sea-weathered dwarf. He has a dark sun burnt complexion and is somewhat grumpy in the traditional dwarven nature. At night he drinks heavily and plays a wood harp and sings of a long lost love. At first it sounds like a woman, but eventually it turns out it’s the mountains.
Cook and Cleaner Lorena. Lorena is the 15 year old daughter of Sol. She cooks, cleans, and is very well loved by all crew. She is a little sister to all of them and they are all extremely protective of her. She occasionally plays the wood flute for the crew to help them sleep. She loves to sing and dance, but obviously sucks at singing. The crew still applauds her anyway and tell her she’s amazing.
Navigator, healer, all around skill-monkey Fitzgig. Fitzgig is a small Halfling, even by Halflings standards. He claims his mother was visited by a sea sprite and they made love in the ocean and that’s how he came to be. He’s got a great sense of humor and loves to agitate Reed, but Reed is fiercely protective of him. Several members of the crew tend to give him a hard time and treat him like a common deck hand, but he’s clearly very smart.
8 Deck Hands. The deck hands aboard the Titans Gift are surprisingly nice and well-mannered. There is very little hostility among them and all work together for the common good. They are adequate fighters, but not amazing. Most carry boarding axes or small swords and crossbows. Names: Aldo, Carson, Titus, Darrick, Delmar, Stumpy, Marlin, Roscoe.
Eventually as the sun is setting an orange moon starts to rise. Fitz starts reciting old sea tales of the evils of an orange moon. Reed even starts playing a dark cant on his harp. Most of the crew seems to be uneasy about it but they distract themselves with duties and dicing. Sol writes if off as a superstition saying he’s lived through plenty of orange moons.
Eventually the waves start picking up a little bit and begin tossing the ship (give an indicator that it’s becoming hard to find your footing, especially for the dwarves). Allow some roles to begin getting adjusted to the tossing of the ship. Eventually Fitz goes to the helm to meet Reed and says something very interesting. The waves are high, but there’s not an ounce of wind. About this time the ship comes to a sudden halt and throws anyone 15ft in the direction the boat was heading. Everyone must make a DC 13 Con test to stay standing. Anyone next to a solid wall gets adv on this test. Anyone that would be thrown off the boat gets a DC 11 Dex or Str test to hang on to something and not fall off. After everyone gets their bearings two snakes appear on the bow and begin fighting. After they kill about 4 of them, the giants Sea Beasts appear on each side of the boat. Several snakes fall off the giant ones and land on the boat.
Combat on Boat: at the beginning of your round you must roll a DC 9 Dexterity test. If you pass this test, you may act normally. If you fail this test you have disadv on all tests until the beginning of your next turn. If you use an action to steady yourself, you do not have to roll this test on your turn. Dwarves have disadv on the initial test.
Snakes: If a snake constricts you, they may roll a Str vs. Str/Con test to move you one square. If they succeed on a bite attack, give them a free grab. If a player is grabbed when snakes turn comes up, free contstrict!
There is no battle for almost a full week, but it’s obvious we’re going north. As the week progresses, they feel the air getting thinner and much, much colder. Winter clothing is passed out to fight off the chill. Explain that they are having a hard time keeping their fingers from going numb. Eventually, torches are lit along the boat rail and two small fire pits are constructed in the center of the main deck. It’s guarded closely by the Sol or Reed. Eventually they start seeing small glaciers and rock formations. Most are way too small to affect the ship although some are actually big enough to cause a problem. They’re easily large enough to avoid, and the ship is going slow enough that it doesn’t cause any damage. By this point, a player not within 15ft of a fire takes a -1 on attack rolls; unless they have some other method of regulating their body temperature (winter clothing is not enough). After another two days of this they awaken to find a thick fog covering the ship. They faintly hear the sounds of wings beating, but it could just be a large bird or something. “ Sol reminds them all that this is virtually uncharted territory and there’s no telling what kind of evil lurks here and to be on your guard.” A DC 13 Knowledge Nature or Sciences reveals that the atmosphere and weather are not suitable to produce this fog, while a DC 16 Knowledge Arcana reveals that this is magical and not done very well cast. As they pass out of the fog is proven even more bizarre in that it’s a clear line of fog.
Around lunch that day Lorena begins brining their lunch on deck one by one to the sailors. After they’re all served she begins singing a beautiful melody. It has no words, but it’s still beautiful. After a couple of seconds of singing several sailors put down their food and begin walking towards her. She sounds absolutely amazing. A couple of them comment that she sounds way better than normal. They start “oogling” at her eventually all get right up on her. Require each player to roll their DC 9 Wisdom Save now. As this happens, allow a Wisdom check to notice Lorena standing in the door way staring strangely. Right as this happens Lorena walks onto the deck and all non captivated look at her like “what the ****?”
The fake Lorena quickly morphs into a naked woman with large bat-shaped wings. She has demonic features and grotesque piercings all over her body. She hisses monstrously and immediately throws down two blue crystal balls type things which erupt in blue smoke and eventually manifest as ice hounds. A second harpy erupts from the water and flies up to the other side of the boat and begins summoning the first water elemental. On the original harpy’s turn she summons a second elemental. Remember to keep the harpy’s away from combat as much as you can and use flyby tactics. When a creature is dominated, they do their kiss and then send them over the railing. If the fight starts ending way too soon, attempt to summon 1d6 Vrocks or use the fire pits to summon a Fire Elemental. Off the boat: 1d10 cold damage/round. If you’re in the water after Con Modifier rounds you must make a DC 13 Constitution Saving Throw. If you fail, you begin freezing. You freeze after failing two additional saving throws (you’re still taking damage this whole time). If a player throws you a rope (DC 5 Dex test) you may begin climbing on your turn. If you are in the freezing phase, you have disadvantage on your climb check. If another player holds the rope, you have advantage. The boat is 20 ft high and the Climb DC is 14. The Swim DC is 14. There are four ropes hanging off the boat, two each side in front and back.
Roll 1d8 and divide by half to see how many deck hands die in the fight. Just as you all are re-couping from the fight, star allowing very difficult Wisdom checks to hear the faint sound of rushing water. Make it so no one hears anything. Eventually Fitzgig and Sol both stop moving at the exact second and look terrified. One nods to the other and Fitzgig walks to the side of the ship and stares down for a moment. “Don’t you feel it?...WE’RE GAINING SPEED!!!!!!! END OF ACT 2
As the men run all around trying to turn the ship, start making up random saving throws to avoid falling and grabbing onto things. Allow a DC 18 Wisdom to hear the sound of the ships wood breaking to form the wings and back fin. As the boat flies off the water, it turns downward, allow a DC 13 Dex or Str save to grab something. Eventually the ship reorients itself and begins flowing with wind. This is the magic of the Titans Gift.
After a day or two of the boat flying in the same direction, a sudden storm appears on the horizon. It’s filled with lightning and covers the whole sky. Eventually a massive axe starts pounding down on the bow of the ship; wreathed in electrical energy. At this point the storm giant finally manifests, on the cloud giants turn, it will manifest out of a nearby cloud and immediately create two Pegasus. Don’t forget to roll a d6 for free lightning bolt.
The ship continues to go with the wind, but it’s clearly moving much, much slower. It takes about 2 more days to seeing some simple fires burning faintly off in the distance. Set against a beautiful ful moon and a sky full of stars, you see a floating temple. It has a very Greek temple feel to it. The walls are barren off white marble.
“Are you a God?” (if yes then roll DC 18 Con save. Failure takes 4d8 damage and thrown to wall. Pass takes half and still thrown) If no then…
“Speak the realm which whence you hail.” (earth) EEEEAAAARRRRTHHHHH…….(there’s a slow build up of sound, battle, magic, warhorns, it piles up and piles up until it’s bang against the ear drums, then it goes deathly silent.)
“Behold, the legends of earth!”
After they say earth, images appear all over the place with lots of images of elementals, dragons, gods, demons and devils.
One is a huge man in tunnel with a half bull half man beast. One is a small man with a sling slaying a giant while two armies watch. One is a medusa fighting a group of men, one with its shield backwards. One is a round table with knights everywhere and a golden chalice in the center. One is of an ancient green dragon with rotting skin and two guards flanking it. One is a long haired warrior carrying a mighty hammer in a chariot pulled by two goats. One is a grey-robed wizard standing on a ledge with a staff between his hands standing against a mighty demon. One is a white robed woman standing in a room holding a serpent to her breast. One is a walled city with a man on the outside blowing a horn and the horn eventually starts crumbling to the ground. The middle of the room is a barren dirt pit with nothing in it. Begin the conversation…
“Speak what you seek…”
“We are the guardians of the ancient world; before recorded time and the squabbles of the mortal ones. Speak what you seek or search forever more.”
As soon as anyone touches anything the green rotting dragon and guard burst from the painting and attack. It is a Green Dracolich and two Dread Gaurds.
One shot from the very first play-test packet:
PLAYTEST CAMPAIGN: I was DMing
On the road again – 6 human thugs (2 regular, 1 berserker, 1 Sneak attack, 2 archers)
Give them some different weapons. Give one of them SA.
“We don’t want no trouble. Just give us ye horse and gear and ye can go on ye way.”
“You don’t want no part of Farahorn. That place be cursed it is. People be disappearing in the night, turning up missing limbs and such. Found one poor boy short a heart. So, we six decided we had enough.” Make sure you name the berserker Dugan and explain him as a big dude.
(Role-play notes: We didn’t have the cleric of Pelor for this fight. The party had a small camp site just off the road in a light forest. It started with the rogue up a tree, the two dwarves by the fire and the elf up against a rock sleeping. The rogue smoked his stealth and his perception so he saw them all approaching but couldn’t wake the others up in time. They baddies surrounded the camp and they spoke with the players for a minute before the rogue got fed up and ONE-SHOTed the berserker. The others were easily dispatched. The SA baddie was a pain because he was hiding in a small pond. The wizard wanted to shocking grasp the whole pond, which would’ve been awesome, but someone finally killed the SA guy before he got there. Play test notes: Combat goes much faster and the rogue can already put up some DPS when he’s hidden. No OA’s or flanking made things very interesting. I noticed the guys were immediately using hit and run tactics. The cleric of Moradin player felt a little bored right off the bat. The fighter didn’t like his squishy-ness, but loved putting up the big numbers. He usually plays insanely high AC characters, so this was his rude awakening.)
All around the world the same song – exploring the town.
Make stuff up as you go. The most eligible people of the town have moved on. A village elder, Jacobi, is trying to hold it together. Even the Lord Mayor has left. There’s mainly just poor and stubborn still here. Jacobi’s oldest grandson, Jaken, is trying desperately to convince the people to stay in the temple of Pelor at night. Some refuse and if they do then they’re on their own. He’s given some crappy weapons to the oldest kids and most eligible men, but they’re still crap. One old man, Hibben, might’ve seen something, but he lost his boy in an attack and has gone somewhat crazy. If they can get it out of him, he points them to the docks. If not they follow him. Throw in some hints about the ancient castle that once stood on this shore. It belonged to the mighty Ducaine Family.
(Role-play and play test notes: The group had a great time role-playing all this out. The ability check system worked great and they were finding great ways to use their specific +3’s to their ability checks. Sometimes they convinced me, sometimes they didn’t; but the group liked it as a whole. It definitely puts more responsibility on the DM which my group just happens to like. I used the DC charts in the play test notes once or twice, but I mostly just winged it. As for plot, the group liked old Jacobi (they said he reminded them of Maester Luwin) and respected Jaken for what he was trying to accomplish. They found Hibben in an old tower that was falling apart at the port area of town. The dwarves got to use some Stonecunning to realize that this is an old part of the town; maybe as old as the original Ducaine Family’s keep. They found some odd healing potions in an old crate buried in the keep. It becomes interesting later. The role-playing was great and everyone loves the simplicity of the checks. IMHO, it has nothing to do with the system though. I use very simple checks to solve things which can be done with any system. I think what my players found interesting was that there wasn’t any tables telling me what I had to set the DC at, so they enjoyed the time saving and the thrill of not knowing what they had to roll to succeed. I would just say, “OK, but it’ll be hard one” and I think they liked that.)
Under the Boardwalk – 10 kobolds, 2 dire rats.
They seem to be waiting on someone to return. They’re posted up in very sneaky places. Eventually they see 3 kobolds return. They’re carrying sacks, two dripping blood and one squirming. If they free him, they realize he is the blacksmith’s son. The blacksmith deserted him and left this morning. His last name was Dugan. He’s the berserker’s son. Make sure one dives for the water and begins working on the grate to show the guys where to go next. Let them camp for the night if they need it.
(Role-play notes: the group loved this encounter. Hibben pointed to the water that comes up near the port so the group all hid in the same dilapidated tower that they’d found him in. The rogue hid on a nearby rooftop. They saw the ten kobolds come scurrying out of the water and post up all along the board walk, some of them in some really good hiding spots. 3 of the kobolds took off into town. The two dire rats wandered around the port looking for prey. The group decided to take out all the kobolds still here and lay an ambush for the others when they return. After dispatching the waiting kobolds, they used their own spears to prop them up and put them back in their original hiding places. The 3 came back with dripping bags and one squirming. As soon as the first was killed (SA from the rogue) the others ran for the water. The fighter actually rolled a natural 20 and sniped one in the head. But regrettably the bag flew into the water with a squirming child in it. The fighter dove into the water to rescue the bag. While under water, he saw the remaining kobold dive in and begin working on a grate. Play test notes: This was a great fight. The group pretty much one-shotted all the kobolds. The dire rats were a little better fight, but was still one sided. One did climb the roof where the rogue was. Instead of fighting the dire rat, the Halfling wanted to just push him back over. A simple strength vs. constitution check and it was done. He succeeded. It was glorious.
Into the tunnels – 2 gray oozes.
They wait for the PC’s to walk over them and then beat the **** out of them. (skip this is needed)
We skipped this due to time restraints.
I think they came from that way – 1 gelatinous cube,1 snakes, 2 spiders, 2 kobold dragon shields.
Two kobolds are sitting next to an arch with several crates blocking the path through. There are a couple of pools of sewer nearby. When either of them sees a bad guy, they immediately pull a string that releases the critters from the crates. Behind the arch is a blank stone wall with absolutely nothing on it. Why were they guarding it? PUT A TRAP SOMEWHERE.
(Role-play notes: Not much here. Play test notes: This encounter resulted in a near TPK. The only survivor was the wizard. The snake and spiders were simply re-flavored fire beetles. I put an insane fire trap in the corridor that one of the players forgot about and ran right back through it. The main problem was the cube. He would just move into their square, they’d fail their saves, and that was it. They would just keep taking damage each round. They really bombed their saves in this encounter. I’m pretty sure the dice had it in for them. Two of them died in the cube, so each round they suffered another 1d6. At level 1 that’s pretty bad. The DC’s to dodge and break free weren’t that hard, they just bombed their roles. Eventually they whittled down and killed the critters and the kobolds, but the cube killed them all. The wizzie Ray of Frosted it and headed back into town. I will say that once again, not having fancy powers and maneuvers does seem to encourage the guys to come up with some nifty stuff. At one point the fighter asked what he had to do to slam the cube so hard he could assist the trapped people escaping. It was kind of fun to hear them come up with stuff like that. This was end of the session that night.
Don’t open that door! – 1 ogre, 2 dire rats.
The ogre is munching on a dead dire rat. It’s a grand lobby with a large tomb in the center of a long dead king. Halls lead off into 3 directions. 2 are crumbled an accessible. One is dimly lit by weakening torches.
(Play test notes: From this point on we actually had both clerics. I let them just pick up and as if they hadn’t died. They blasted the dire rats very easily. The rogue hid in the shadows and smoked the ogre right off the bat. At one point the ogre just threw the dead rat at the guys for 1d2+STR damage and they loved that. After that it was just a standard boss beat down. It was nothing fancy. Afterward they found the secret entrance into the tombs of the mighty Ducaine Family
NEXT LEVEL!
The Hall of skeletal and zombified death – 4 skeletons, 5 zombies.
This is the first room of tombs. There’s nothing special here.
(Role-play notes: Role-play wise we got a little more in-character chit chat because now we’re dealing with religion and we had two clerics. So a couple jokes and were made. Play test notes: Of course, I had to put some undead in there to turn. It worked alright. In the description it says “may turn weaker ones to ash” but there’s nothing that explains how, since it doesn’t seem to do any damage. By the time a skeleton or zombie’s turn came up they had already been attacked, so the turn became irrelevant. Channel Radiance became real popular right off the bat as well. All in all, it was a nice little skirmish to test out the clerics against some undead.
The Hall of flying death – 8 stirges.
This room is covered in little piles of bones, ****, and dried up rat and beetle carcasses. Occasionally there’s a cat or dog or even bird. The stirges come flying in the moment there’s light in the chamber. There hiding in every little crack and nook they can find. (skip this if needed)
We skipped this.
Hall of the dead king – 2 wights, 4 zombies, 4 skeletons
This is the place where the first king of Farahorn was buried. His tomb is practically unrecognizable. When they investigate the tomb, a LARGE TRAP GOES OFF and signal the wights and skeletons to attack. They come out of tombs in the walls. In one of the random tombs on the wall is a hollowed out vertical tunnel with a make shift rope ladder.
Role-play notes: Again nothing major here. Play-test notes: The combat here was more exciting though. No one moved near the large tomb so at first they were just fighting the zombies. I put a 10x10 spider web in the center of the room just in case someone got stupid. I had one of the zombies move into it (let’s face it, they’re stupid) and our rogue asked if his character would know that webs burn hot. I said absolutely. He spent his action throwing a torch in the web and lit the zombie on fire. I gave it a good 1d10 initial blast but then 1d6 damage for 1d4 rounds (4). So everyone began throwing zombies in the fire. Eventually the wizard moved next to the tomb which set off a 3d6 fire trap and signaled the wights and skeletons to attack. The Pelorian got nervous and blasted one of the wights with Searing Light for 42 damage. I gave him the one-shot on that. Everyone cheered the might of Pelor, lol. The other wight landed a few blows but they finished it out pretty easily. Between strength vs. constitution checks into the fire and magic missiles, they cleaned house pretty quickly. The found a few magic items in the tombs and the rope ladder in the hollowed out tomb and decided to camp for the night. The rogue built at basic crossbow-tripwire trap on the ladder chute and the wizard cast alarm on both entrances. Right at the 8 hour mark they heard the alarm go off, a twang, a grunt (a couple of hidden dice rolls) and several splats. The rogue was very pleased with himself.
NEXT LEVEL!
Guards! Guards! – 3 kobold dragon shields.
3 Kobolds are just standing guard. Use the dart trap from Skyrim. Lever is on the side near the Guards. They deactivate it for friends. When the players enter, if it’s not deactivated they take 4d4 at the top of the round. There’s a huge hole in the middle of the floor. (Skip this if needed)
(Role-play notes: this ended up being really fun as well. The kobolds that were climbing the stairs and set off the trap were these 3. The first one got shot in the chest and fell, knocking the other two off the ladder. I rolled dexterity saves for them to catch the ladder, but they both failed. The fighter got to the bottom of the ladder first and held it steady for the rest of the party. When they got to the bottom, before they even entered the entrance chamber, the fighter threw one of dead kobolds into the pit to see how deep it was. It was pure luck that he did that because they noticed as soon as he crossed the threshold he was peppered with darts. The players all patted the fighter on the back for having pure luck and the wizzie used mage hand to switch the lever to off. Easy peasy.)
We’re going to need a bigger sword – 10 kobolds, 2 shields, 1 boss man.
The meeting hall has beds, tables, fire holes, piss holes, a weapons rack, and lots of other stuff. It’s where the kobolds hang out when not on a job. Have an acolyte be talking to the boss man. She runs when **** gets real. They need to keep a kobold alive, or they need to pass an Int. (Arcane Lore) check.
(Role-play notes: this encounter incidentally led to some hilarious dialogue between the rogue and the wizzie. It went something like this:
Rogue: Seriously…just fireball the whole damn room. It’ll be wondrous.
Wizzie: I don’t have fireball.
Rogue: Huh?
Wizzie: I. Don’t. Have. Fireball.
Rogue: Yeah I heard you the first time. What do you mean you don’t have fireball? What kind of wizard doesn’t have fireball?
Wizzie: Maybe next level?
Rogue: What does that even mean?
DM: Screw it. Just say you have it.
Wizzie: No. Seriously. It’s not in the play test.
Whole group: WHAT?!?
At which point we all stared blankly at the spell sheet and wondered how that didn’t make the cut. Cure Light Wounds. Turn/Rebuke Undead. Magic Missile. Shocking Grasp. NO FIREBALL!!!!!!!
Play test notes: this fight ended up being a breeze. The wizzie sleep spelled one entire side of the room. The next round he cast Hold Person on the boss man. After that they just cleaned house. They’re level 3 abilities were really starting to shine here.)
She’s a WITCH! – 6 acolytes, 2 adepts
This is a mix between a laboratory, library, alter, and torture chamber. There are books everywhere, work tables, a small alter in the center, a rack, and many other things. A pile of bones sits near a bookshelf. A small boy is being tortured on the rack. Several dead, mutilated bodies appear near the rack. Several priests meander about. Freak them out by the half snake things. Don’t forget to use command, unholy smite. On a work table are ancient documents chronicling the fall of the Ducaine family and the locations that family went into hiding.
(Play test notes: I made this a difficult encounter by using some insane terrain and stuff in the room. There was a large pit in the floor, several piles of broken stones and cave walls and other stuff. I landed every hit with unholy smite, which I gave some nifty cinematic value to and really had the players freaked out. The two adepts were represented by yuant-ti miniatures and I had them pretty grossed out by the whole half-snake priestess thing. The wizzie stood on one side of the pit and cast Command on one of the acolytes (failed save) which made her walk right over the pit. I gave her a quick last minute save to avoid falling in, but alas, she was void of luck. It ended up being a harder fight than I thought due to the terrain and the smites/spells of the adepts. The group liked it nonetheless.
Oh. My. God. – 1 Medusa, 1 big frigging snake, 1 dark priest.
The snake attacks immediately. The dark priest tries to stay near the summoning pool to use writhing darkness. Medusa is working at a desk. Her body is hidden by robes so they don’t realize they can’t look at her till she begins moving and gets close to them. In the center is a summoning pool where she was trying to summon Slytherin, the Demon Snake Lord. There’s rubble and a few pits scattered throughout the room. After the fight they realize from her work desk that she needed royal blood to complete the summoning and she had traced the lineage of the Ducaine family. Through the ages the name was changed and bastardized to Dugan. It is revealed that the blacksmith (now dead) and his son (rescued by the players) is actually the last surviving descendant of the mighty Ducaine family.
(Role-play notes: There wasn’t much role-playing here. It was late and we wanted to finish up and they knew this was the boss fight. Play test notes: Amazing fight. It was everything a boss fight should be. I have a large dark naga mini that was just a re-flavored Owlbear. Instead of his Hug special ability I simply made it a Constrict. The snake squared off against the two dwarves for most of the fight. The priestess used the summoning pool to initiate Writhing Darkness, which literally changed the whole fight. At the beginning of each players turn they roll a Dexterity Save of 13 or take 1d6 damage and lose 10 ft of movement. The nearly always failed it. When medusa got close and took off her robes the players and characters were pretty freaked out. They had no idea I was going with medusa in the final fight. They didn’t even know medusa was in the play test. Everyone started averting their eyes. The rogue pretty much started working on medusa from stealth so the advantage and disadvantage would cancel out. Medusa loved moving to someone so they started their turn adjacent to her and had to roll a save or get bit by her snaky hair. A couple of people went down but were cured by spells or potions. It was a damn good fight. Eventually they took out the priestess, which killed the Writhing Darkness, which made the fight easier. Then they took out the snake, which then lead to one of the coolest moments in my 16 years of DMing. The fighter, down to 2 hp, had perched himself near one of the pits where Moradin, and the rogue had gone to. The fighter started taunting the medusa wildly, which pissed her off and made her attack him. On his turn, he said (and the whole group knew he was planning this except me):
Fighter: I bear hug her, look her in the in the eyes smiling, and just before I turn to stone, I leap into the pit.
Me: That sounds awesome. Strength vs. constitution contest to see….
Fighter: NATRUAL 20!!!!!!
Player next to fighter at table: HOLY **** HE DID!!!
Me: As you latch onto the abomination with your thick dwarven arms, you look into her snake-like eyes and smile. You feel your legs and arms become heavy, just as you begin lean into the pit and let yourself go. Right before you lose your sight, you see her squirming futilely under your weight. You don’t feel a thing as you shatter into a thousand pieces when you hit the ground hundreds of feet below, you…but she did.
That’s right, we ended the play test on an actual natural 20. This concludes our play-test this evening. Please tip your DM.
Second to last play-test. I called it the 5E Creature Feature because the gang asked for upper levels and crazy monsters (they were level 12 I think). This is regrettably, more of my DM notes than an actual summary. Sorry..
The 5E Creature Feature!
Widows Watch: Huge White Dragon / Manticore Slave
All players begin on cliff face known as Widows Watch. If any player uses detect magic they find that one of the stones is magical. If a player uses his Stonecunning they find that some of the stones are not natural to the terrain. Knowledge Arcana reveals that the stone is under a Silence and Illusion spell. After the Silence spell is dismissed they hear whining and moaning. After the Illusion spell is dismissed they discover a chained up baby white dragon. Just as this happens, they begin hearing the beating of wings and up from the clouds flied a Huge White Dragon with a Manticore in tow. It lands and moans at the infant before gazing menacing at the players. Shortly after that it lets out its breath weapon and the fight begins.
Afterward, if the infant survives, a large blast of flame appears from nowhere and incinerates the beast. When they turn around they see Pook and an unknown person talking. Pook seems nervous. Eventually he person disappears and Pook congratulates them on passing the test. It’s at this point he explains the adventure. To travel to an unknown island and recover a long lost relic of the ancient gods. The ones that have passed long into legend and aren’t worshipped anymore. That’s all he can tell them right now.
After that another stone is shown to be a fake and they begin the long descent into the tunnels beneath the cliff. Explain that periodically they run into a beast known as s carrion crawler, a wormish creature with several eyes and tentacles that can paralyze you. Most scuttle away, y’all easily dispatch any that attempt to fight or block your path.
Eventually the walls begin shifting. First player rolls a dice, on an even, the wall splits and he must pass a DC 16 Dexterity test or be cut off. After the first one, Pook mentions he heard something about this but completely forgot. It has something to do with an old pirate lore that it was meant to discourage travelers from coming down here, but that they all still came out to the cove at the bottom. He suggests they continue on (Folklore DC 13 Remembers hearing it too). Each player has two chances to become separated. As soon as they pass it twice, they’re fine. We continue on until everyone has passed two of them, or until they are all divided.
The first person to become separated emerges in the tunnel first. He will roll 1d8 to decide which one he comes out of. He’ll see two basilisks and at least 10 crawlers. He’ll emerge next to a crawler no matter what and combat should begin shortly. Have each player immediately roll 1d4, they’ll emerge on that round of combat and roll a d8 to see which tunnel they emerge from. They can act on that turn.
Eventually, a longboat with 5 sailors using crossbows emerges. They’ll act at the end of the initiative order and all target the same creature. If they target a crawler, it dies. If they target a Basilisk, he takes 2d10 damage. After that, they ride the boat back to the ship anchored in the water. END ACT ONE!
The Titan’s Gift – Knowledge Folklore (13) or Forbidden Lore (16) reveals that this is a very famous ship. If was supposedly gifted to the father of the most beautiful girl in all of Atlantis by an ancient sea god. He couldn’t bring himself to allow her to die in the felling of the city, so he gave to the ship to her father to keep her safe. It is said to have immense power residing in it, but no one has ever been able to unlock its power or nature. The current captain claimed it by “Right of Conquest” from its previous owner during a raid. A Detect Magic spells reveals it’s loaded with magical energy.
NPC’s aboard the ship:
Captain Sol “Scarface”. He is a middle-aged, well built man with a close trimmed beard and goatee (Ewen McGregor from Episode 3) looking. He carries a boarding axe, a cutlass, and a gold inlaid crossbow across his back. Generally a very pleasant person but hates fire and wizards, in general. Not afraid and has a very cool, calm demeanor during a fight. Ironically, he doesn’t have a scar on his face.
First Mate Reed. Reed is a stocky, sea-weathered dwarf. He has a dark sun burnt complexion and is somewhat grumpy in the traditional dwarven nature. At night he drinks heavily and plays a wood harp and sings of a long lost love. At first it sounds like a woman, but eventually it turns out it’s the mountains.
Cook and Cleaner Lorena. Lorena is the 15 year old daughter of Sol. She cooks, cleans, and is very well loved by all crew. She is a little sister to all of them and they are all extremely protective of her. She occasionally plays the wood flute for the crew to help them sleep. She loves to sing and dance, but obviously sucks at singing. The crew still applauds her anyway and tell her she’s amazing.
Navigator, healer, all around skill-monkey Fitzgig. Fitzgig is a small Halfling, even by Halflings standards. He claims his mother was visited by a sea sprite and they made love in the ocean and that’s how he came to be. He’s got a great sense of humor and loves to agitate Reed, but Reed is fiercely protective of him. Several members of the crew tend to give him a hard time and treat him like a common deck hand, but he’s clearly very smart.
8 Deck Hands. The deck hands aboard the Titans Gift are surprisingly nice and well-mannered. There is very little hostility among them and all work together for the common good. They are adequate fighters, but not amazing. Most carry boarding axes or small swords and crossbows. Names: Aldo, Carson, Titus, Darrick, Delmar, Stumpy, Marlin, Roscoe.
Eventually as the sun is setting an orange moon starts to rise. Fitz starts reciting old sea tales of the evils of an orange moon. Reed even starts playing a dark cant on his harp. Most of the crew seems to be uneasy about it but they distract themselves with duties and dicing. Sol writes if off as a superstition saying he’s lived through plenty of orange moons.
Eventually the waves start picking up a little bit and begin tossing the ship (give an indicator that it’s becoming hard to find your footing, especially for the dwarves). Allow some roles to begin getting adjusted to the tossing of the ship. Eventually Fitz goes to the helm to meet Reed and says something very interesting. The waves are high, but there’s not an ounce of wind. About this time the ship comes to a sudden halt and throws anyone 15ft in the direction the boat was heading. Everyone must make a DC 13 Con test to stay standing. Anyone next to a solid wall gets adv on this test. Anyone that would be thrown off the boat gets a DC 11 Dex or Str test to hang on to something and not fall off. After everyone gets their bearings two snakes appear on the bow and begin fighting. After they kill about 4 of them, the giants Sea Beasts appear on each side of the boat. Several snakes fall off the giant ones and land on the boat.
Combat on Boat: at the beginning of your round you must roll a DC 9 Dexterity test. If you pass this test, you may act normally. If you fail this test you have disadv on all tests until the beginning of your next turn. If you use an action to steady yourself, you do not have to roll this test on your turn. Dwarves have disadv on the initial test.
Snakes: If a snake constricts you, they may roll a Str vs. Str/Con test to move you one square. If they succeed on a bite attack, give them a free grab. If a player is grabbed when snakes turn comes up, free contstrict!
There is no battle for almost a full week, but it’s obvious we’re going north. As the week progresses, they feel the air getting thinner and much, much colder. Winter clothing is passed out to fight off the chill. Explain that they are having a hard time keeping their fingers from going numb. Eventually, torches are lit along the boat rail and two small fire pits are constructed in the center of the main deck. It’s guarded closely by the Sol or Reed. Eventually they start seeing small glaciers and rock formations. Most are way too small to affect the ship although some are actually big enough to cause a problem. They’re easily large enough to avoid, and the ship is going slow enough that it doesn’t cause any damage. By this point, a player not within 15ft of a fire takes a -1 on attack rolls; unless they have some other method of regulating their body temperature (winter clothing is not enough). After another two days of this they awaken to find a thick fog covering the ship. They faintly hear the sounds of wings beating, but it could just be a large bird or something. “ Sol reminds them all that this is virtually uncharted territory and there’s no telling what kind of evil lurks here and to be on your guard.” A DC 13 Knowledge Nature or Sciences reveals that the atmosphere and weather are not suitable to produce this fog, while a DC 16 Knowledge Arcana reveals that this is magical and not done very well cast. As they pass out of the fog is proven even more bizarre in that it’s a clear line of fog.
Around lunch that day Lorena begins brining their lunch on deck one by one to the sailors. After they’re all served she begins singing a beautiful melody. It has no words, but it’s still beautiful. After a couple of seconds of singing several sailors put down their food and begin walking towards her. She sounds absolutely amazing. A couple of them comment that she sounds way better than normal. They start “oogling” at her eventually all get right up on her. Require each player to roll their DC 9 Wisdom Save now. As this happens, allow a Wisdom check to notice Lorena standing in the door way staring strangely. Right as this happens Lorena walks onto the deck and all non captivated look at her like “what the ****?”
The fake Lorena quickly morphs into a naked woman with large bat-shaped wings. She has demonic features and grotesque piercings all over her body. She hisses monstrously and immediately throws down two blue crystal balls type things which erupt in blue smoke and eventually manifest as ice hounds. A second harpy erupts from the water and flies up to the other side of the boat and begins summoning the first water elemental. On the original harpy’s turn she summons a second elemental. Remember to keep the harpy’s away from combat as much as you can and use flyby tactics. When a creature is dominated, they do their kiss and then send them over the railing. If the fight starts ending way too soon, attempt to summon 1d6 Vrocks or use the fire pits to summon a Fire Elemental. Off the boat: 1d10 cold damage/round. If you’re in the water after Con Modifier rounds you must make a DC 13 Constitution Saving Throw. If you fail, you begin freezing. You freeze after failing two additional saving throws (you’re still taking damage this whole time). If a player throws you a rope (DC 5 Dex test) you may begin climbing on your turn. If you are in the freezing phase, you have disadvantage on your climb check. If another player holds the rope, you have advantage. The boat is 20 ft high and the Climb DC is 14. The Swim DC is 14. There are four ropes hanging off the boat, two each side in front and back.
Roll 1d8 and divide by half to see how many deck hands die in the fight. Just as you all are re-couping from the fight, star allowing very difficult Wisdom checks to hear the faint sound of rushing water. Make it so no one hears anything. Eventually Fitzgig and Sol both stop moving at the exact second and look terrified. One nods to the other and Fitzgig walks to the side of the ship and stares down for a moment. “Don’t you feel it?...WE’RE GAINING SPEED!!!!!!! END OF ACT 2
As the men run all around trying to turn the ship, start making up random saving throws to avoid falling and grabbing onto things. Allow a DC 18 Wisdom to hear the sound of the ships wood breaking to form the wings and back fin. As the boat flies off the water, it turns downward, allow a DC 13 Dex or Str save to grab something. Eventually the ship reorients itself and begins flowing with wind. This is the magic of the Titans Gift.
After a day or two of the boat flying in the same direction, a sudden storm appears on the horizon. It’s filled with lightning and covers the whole sky. Eventually a massive axe starts pounding down on the bow of the ship; wreathed in electrical energy. At this point the storm giant finally manifests, on the cloud giants turn, it will manifest out of a nearby cloud and immediately create two Pegasus. Don’t forget to roll a d6 for free lightning bolt.
The ship continues to go with the wind, but it’s clearly moving much, much slower. It takes about 2 more days to seeing some simple fires burning faintly off in the distance. Set against a beautiful ful moon and a sky full of stars, you see a floating temple. It has a very Greek temple feel to it. The walls are barren off white marble.
“Are you a God?” (if yes then roll DC 18 Con save. Failure takes 4d8 damage and thrown to wall. Pass takes half and still thrown) If no then…
“Speak the realm which whence you hail.” (earth) EEEEAAAARRRRTHHHHH…….(there’s a slow build up of sound, battle, magic, warhorns, it piles up and piles up until it’s bang against the ear drums, then it goes deathly silent.)
“Behold, the legends of earth!”
After they say earth, images appear all over the place with lots of images of elementals, dragons, gods, demons and devils.
One is a huge man in tunnel with a half bull half man beast. One is a small man with a sling slaying a giant while two armies watch. One is a medusa fighting a group of men, one with its shield backwards. One is a round table with knights everywhere and a golden chalice in the center. One is of an ancient green dragon with rotting skin and two guards flanking it. One is a long haired warrior carrying a mighty hammer in a chariot pulled by two goats. One is a grey-robed wizard standing on a ledge with a staff between his hands standing against a mighty demon. One is a white robed woman standing in a room holding a serpent to her breast. One is a walled city with a man on the outside blowing a horn and the horn eventually starts crumbling to the ground. The middle of the room is a barren dirt pit with nothing in it. Begin the conversation…
“Speak what you seek…”
“We are the guardians of the ancient world; before recorded time and the squabbles of the mortal ones. Speak what you seek or search forever more.”
As soon as anyone touches anything the green rotting dragon and guard burst from the painting and attack. It is a Green Dracolich and two Dread Gaurds.