Building a Dam encounter

[SMac8988]

For an upcoming game my group is heading into an abandon under ground dam. The biggest purpose of this is to give them the end decision to open the dam to make their next boss fight easier but drown the small city that gave them a sanctuary from mister attack or not and have the fight be rather hard and under water. (They have items for water breather)

My thing I was wondering is what all other traps or events I could throw in. Our normal sessions are 6 to 8 hours and would like this to take then the whole session including the final fight. (Ablolith with several deformed mosters, shark/octopus stuff) I have already showed then that the frog and fish people, away from books and don't remember their names live in the area, so could do like clan wars or something. But idk looking for advice.

[tieren]

Purposefully flooding an innocent town should not be a real option unless you are running an evil party.

[GWJ_DanyBoy]

"I am your dam guide, Arnie. Now I'm about to take you through a fully funtional power plant, so please, no one wander off the dam tour and please take all the dam pictures you want. Now are there any dam questions?"

[RickAllison]

Purposefully flooding an innocent town should not be a real option unless you are running an evil party.

That is not necessarily true. If flooding the village would also eliminate a dangerous army and would save more people in the long-run, it is most definitely an option on the table. It is certainly not a good nor a Good option, but it can be better than the alternative.

It also sets up dramatic tension with the slippery-slope and other related issues. Maybe one person makes the hard choice, either releasing the waters or ensuring they cannot be unleashed, setting up intra-party conflict. Maybe the agreed upon method haunts a PC or two as they see either the flooded wreckage or the burned carcass of a town that would have been stopped.

Avatar: The Last Airbender example, Jet. Devoted to fighting an invading army, he tried to eliminate Fire Nation forces by flooding a village they occupied. Main protagonists manage to save the villagers (and the enemy forces), and it became an eye-opening experience for Jet. Ashamed of how far he had fallen, he disbanded his militia.

Angel example, Wesley. He summed it up fairly well, "You try not to get anyone killed, you wind up getting everybody killed." This realization made him an extremely efficient and effective demon hunting leader, but also prompted the start of his slippery slope that left him isolated from his former friends.

To contribute to the actual topic, I would use sluice gateways with heavy water flow (Str saves to not get pushed downstream, Athletics to get out) combined with high-Athletics enemies to divide the party. Tentacles creatures in the water could reach out and drag PCs under as well.

[GWJ_DanyBoy]

You could add cloudy water to a water encounter to obscure vision, along with a grapple-happy underwater creature who can kidnap/drown party members.

Edit to ask: Is this a power generating dam of some type as part of a complex, or just a simple water retaining dam like an engineered sand wall?

[MrStabby]

So you could have a fun encounter at the dam. The slower they release the water the less damage it does. The longer it takes the longer they have to hold vs the creatures in the reservoir trying to drive them off. All the time knowing they will need reserves of resources for the boss.

[SMac8988]

You could add cloudy water to a water encounter to obscure vision, along with a grapple-happy underwater creature who can kidnap/drown party members.

Edit to ask: Is this a power generating dam of some type as part of a complex, or just a simple water retaining dam like an engineered sand wall?

Water retention, the abolith will have had it built to give it a home close to the city. It will also have a drowned city under water the group will have to pass through to continue deeper into the underdark. I was thinking of have some flooded areas maybe with a water beast, big fight to burn some spells and stuff, to pull then in.

I placed this on the team as a conflict of interest. They are in here trying to save a druid they became friends with who protects the area they are in, and is captured in an evil plot. So they are in a time constant to get her back quickly. Makin the decision harder for them to make the process take longer, open it and find a way down faster and have an easier fight.

The good evil thing isn't huge at my table and would rather characters be played how they are designed by my players. If they begin to do dark ****, I enjoy temping them more than have them meet a holy paladin or something to bring them back to good. Or give them a friend to avenge and make them see the light. Hell, one of my players characters is only down there with the goal of ****ing the druid cause he was told it will grant him immortality. And he is "good", so ya...

Thanks so much for the help so far, keep it coming!

[Crgaston]

Maybe there's a way for someone to warn the town so the people can get to safety? Which might delay that character's participation in the rescue attempt? See, here's where Voice of the Chain Master is worth its weight in gold.

[SMac8988]

That could be a thing. Or have other gates around the city, like on the outskirts, but require direct individual opening, rather than like a master switch? Give them 5 pseudo chalenging boss fights, and one slightly harder, than 1 epic fight.

[RickAllison]

That could be a thing. Or have other gates around the city, like on the outskirts, but require direct individual opening, rather than like a master switch? Give them 5 pseudo chalenging boss fights, and one slightly harder, than 1 epic fight.

How about a Kraken? Start with one tentacle and some mooks, then two and finally three, all with different allies. The fourth encounter can be with a lieutenant (a Merrow, perhaps) who has an amulet that neutralizes the Lightning ability of the kraken. The final encounter could be with the kraken in the reservoir, with sluice gates that can be closed upon the beast's four remaining tentacles.

I may have ripped some of that off the first God of War and its hydra level...

[SMac8988]

How about a Kraken? Start with one tentacle and some mooks, then two and finally three, all with different allies. The fourth encounter can be with a lieutenant (a Merrow, perhaps) who has an amulet that neutralizes the Lightning ability of the kraken. The final encounter could be with the kraken in the reservoir, with sluice gates that can be closed upon the beast's four remaining tentacles.

I may have ripped some of that off the first God of War and its hydra level...

That would work, cept they are level 5. And that would kill them...

[RickAllison]

That would work, cept they are level 5. And that would kill them...

Well that is why you weaken it :p. Reduce the damage on the tentacles, the lieutenant's amulet will protect them from the Lightning, and the damage done to the tentacles will be transmitted back to the kraken so he will be well-damaged before the fight begins.

Essentially, the final result of the kraken will have reduced damage, health, and ability to escape.

[SMac8988]

Well that is why you weaken it :p. Reduce the damage on the tentacles, the lieutenant's amulet will protect them from the Lightning, and the damage done to the tentacles will be transmitted back to the kraken so he will be well-damaged before the fight begins.

Essentially, the final result of the kraken will have reduced damage, health, and ability to escape.

Ah that makes sense. Lol, was half asleep when I responded. I was planning to build the mob along side the abolith for the final fiht. This could work very easily.

[Killer Angel]

Why do you say "dam", and I think "Werebeavers"? :smalltongue:

[RickAllison]

Why do you say "dam", and I think "Werebeavers"? :smalltongue:

Because that sounds like an amazing concept! Hmmm....