Druid Circle Breeds Rust Monster Horde=Campaign Plot Device

[Basement Cat]

This is an idea I came up with largely to give Rust Monsters a reason to be heavily prevalent in a campaign. Both as a single adventure focus and to serve as an ongoing migraine for players throughout the campaign.

Basically it's what the label says: A circle of druids decides that one of the best ways to counter 'modern' society's onslaught against Nature is to breed Rust Monsters by the bushel and sow packs of them all around the region. Including dumping packs numbering in the dozens inside and throughout cities.

Not only would this provide a logical means to introduce such terrors into a campaign that doesn't feel contrived but it actually makes a great deal of in-world strategic sense from the druids' POV. Particularly if said critters, once released, continue to breed and rampage and pillage throughout a countryside.

Certainly a coordinated counter offense could be built up by local authority figures (something in keeping with X-Men III where the soldiers turn in all metal stuff for plastics before moving in to fight Magneto) but since the PC's themselves are typically the front line Spec-Op team to deal with general threats it means the players themselves will be facing the brunt of the Rust Monster horde's assault.

I'm curious if anyone ever came up with such a campaign idea. I also wonder how you might play it out--both in the short and long term campaign wise.

[Spore]

The idea is nice but you have to vary the MM rust monster in appearance and skill set to not make combat incredibly stale.

I tried DMing once but I felt it is not for me. the part of the homebrew setting was the sea faring nation whose king was backed up by a very good gang of assassins that removed the hostile foreign leaders from their position before they got to attack the country. Its navy is great but their land army is very poor. Paying the assassins however dries up the treasury so the country's merchants and workers have to pay incredible taxes. Soon a revolt would stir up, led by no other than the Fleet Admiral (a halfling because why not) to overthrow the evil king. The players would then decide which side to help. Have a revolution and let the country soon be attacked by its neighbors? Help the king and fall into a civil war?

I also wanted the players to have a quasi-undead status like in Dark Souls (they die on their first boating trip to a kraken monster but are brought back by a sea witch living on a remote island). I would give them revival tokens but remove the ability to be ressed by normal means, then crank up the difficulty of combat along with telegraphed AoE (instead of rolling if the character has quick enough reflexes) and very obvious things (do not engage the giant zombie in melee, do not let the vastly overpowering blaster witch cast spells and spread out, do stay together vs. a band of assassins).

And the third thing: I would introduce a linear guild because mirroring the adventurers is always fun. They would serve the Old Gods trying to drown the nation under the sea (because due to how Pathfinder portfolios work, everything below sea level is the kraken god's domain). The bosses the heroes fight would all be servants of the opposing deities (even if evil ones) that weaken the opposition of the kraken god. The witch that revived the group would serve the kraken as well.

And if all of that sounds like the story of World of Warcraft's newest expansion Battle for Azeroth, I have to disappoint because I DMed that thing in 2015.

[bc56]

The idea is nice but you have to vary the MM rust monster in appearance and skill set to not make combat incredibly stale.

I don't know what he's trying to say with the rest of his thing. Maybe don't make it too complicated.
I wouldn't vary the rust monsters, they're animals after all. If you did a campaign with bears, you wouldn't randomly have some bears be stealthier or smarter, they should be pretty much average bears. Same here.
I would vary the terrain, mainly in the use of metal. A rust monster is attracted to metal, and having things like metal objects to distract monsters or metal barriers the PCs can hide behind, or a bridge held up by metal supports would be fun.


This is an idea I came up with largely to give Rust Monsters a reason to be heavily prevalent in a campaign. Both as a single adventure focus and to serve as an ongoing migraine for players throughout the campaign.

Basically it's what the label says: A circle of druids decides that one of the best ways to counter 'modern' society's onslaught against Nature is to breed Rust Monsters by the bushel and sow packs of them all around the region. Including dumping packs numbering in the dozens inside and throughout cities.

Not only would this provide a logical means to introduce such terrors into a campaign that doesn't feel contrived but it actually makes a great deal of in-world strategic sense from the druids' POV. Particularly if said critters, once released, continue to breed and rampage and pillage throughout a countryside.

Certainly a coordinated counter offense could be built up by local authority figures (something in keeping with X-Men III where the soldiers turn in all metal stuff for plastics before moving in to fight Magneto) but since the PC's themselves are typically the front line Spec-Op team to deal with general threats it means the players themselves will be facing the brunt of the Rust Monster horde's assault.

I'm curious if anyone ever came up with such a campaign idea. I also wonder how you might play it out--both in the short and long term campaign wise.

It's a good idea. I would recommend this be the first in a series of adventures against this evil druid circle, then when the PCs defeat the plot, the druids switch to a new tactic, like diseases or poisoning.

[Basement Cat]

I don't know what he's trying to say with the rest of his thing. Maybe don't make it too complicated.
I wouldn't vary the rust monsters, they're animals after all. If you did a campaign with bears, you wouldn't randomly have some bears be stealthier or smarter, they should be pretty much average bears. Same here.

Not smarter than the average bear? I see what you did with that.:smallwink:

https://ih1.redbubble.net/image.52499988.7446/mp,550x550,gloss,ffffff,t.3u2.jpg





It's a good idea. I would recommend this be the first in a series of adventures against this evil druid circle, then when the PCs defeat the plot, the druids switch to a new tactic, like diseases or poisoning.

Well, the circle isn't necessarily "Evil".

More to the point the party isn't supposed to be able to wipe the Rust Monsters all out. Not by a long shot.

Picture the following scenario: The party camps out for the night. They know that the forest/countryside has hostile animal life.

Which possible encounter do you think would worry them more?

A) An attack by trolls in the middle of the night.

B) A pack of ravenous Rust Monsters showing up in the middle of the night.

[bc56]

Not smarter than the average bear? I see what you did with that.:smallwink:

https://ih1.redbubble.net/image.52499988.7446/mp,550x550,gloss,ffffff,t.3u2.jpg





Well, the circle isn't necessarily "Evil".

More to the point the party isn't supposed to be able to wipe the Rust Monsters all out. Not by a long shot.

Picture the following scenario: The party camps out for the night. They know that the forest/countryside has hostile animal life.

Which possible encounter do you think would worry them more?

A) An attack by trolls in the middle of the night.

B) A pack of ravenous Rust Monsters showing up in the middle of the night.

Wow. The Yogi Bear thing was totally unintentional.

If you run your campaign right, it should be B.
But my campaign would be A, since they fought trolls as part of the campaign.

[KorvinStarmast]

Basically it's what the label says: A circle of druids decides that one of the best ways to counter 'modern' society's onslaught against Nature is to breed Rust Monsters by the bushel and sow packs of them all around the region Hire an entire monastery full of monks to take them out. Problem solved. Quarterstaves and open hands for the wind.

[rbstr]

I think it makes sense as a sort of terror campaign by a Druid group.

But do make a consideration for how lots of rust monster combat is going to absolutely screw martial characters, particularly med/heavy armor people.
They'll have to buy and carry a ton of weapons and have extra armor or they are going to get nerfed into oblivion by the monsters.
Or they're have to make do with wooden weapons and light armor which will still really hurt their effectiveness if they aren't built for it.

[Spore]

I don't know what he's trying to say with the rest of his thing. Maybe don't make it too complicated.
I wouldn't vary the rust monsters, they're animals after all. If you did a campaign with bears, you wouldn't randomly have some bears be stealthier or smarter, they should be pretty much average bears. Same here.


I could not disagree more. Remember why you started fantasy pen and paper. Not to reiterate the same monsters and tropes every week for several years but to bring in something new and fresh. Come on, when even MMORPGs can vary their "bear" mobs, you can too.

Undead bear. Harpy cursed bear. Fire, Ice, Earth, Wind Bear. Dire Bear. Displacer Bear. Void tainted Bear. Sir Bearington. Werebear. Bearwere. Bear Cavalry. Bear Shaman. Bears riding Bears (Bear² Cavalry). Shadow Bear. Celestial Bear. Fiendish Bear. Grizzly Bear. Brown Bear. Panda Bear. Beargasus (Bear with wings). Homunculus (bear shaped golem).

And that all is just variation (some more silly than others). You have not delved into the protoreligious cults of Barbarian tribes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_worship

What makes you think a thing like a rust monster has LESS bio diversity than an apex predator? They are physically unimposing but so are cockroaches. And they feed on the leftovers of society (they might scavenge battlefields or live in iron mines or at natural iron ore veins).

[Dalinale]

What makes you think a thing like a rust monster has LESS bio diversity than an apex predator? They are physically unimposing but so are cockroaches. And they feed on the leftovers of society (they might scavenge battlefields or live in iron mines or at natural iron ore veins).

Hell yeah, this. The druid's ultimate goal could be to instigate the creation/summoning of some kind of advanced rust monster; the normal ones could be the equivalent of a cicada nymph, and the 'adults' might normally automatically plane shift to some obscure demiplane after living for a few decades and rarely emerge, but the druids figured out that they could attract a gigantic swarm of flying rust monster adults, each with individually large rusting auras, into the world if enough adolescent rust monsters die. Hence, dumping them in populated, urban areas is just a way to speed up the process.

[Temperjoke]

Something to consider, what is the druid Circle's overall plan? The rust monster horde is a start, but it's not really a complete plan. For example, what would the druids do if the rust monsters ate all the metal? The monsters are eventually going to run out of food and die out (assuming nothing kills them), what's going to prevent the survivors from importing new metal weapons/equipment? What is the next step in the plan, after unleashing the horde?

There are several things that could be next. One, the druids eliminate the rust monsters themselves at a price for the society, essentially putting themselves in charge to develop society how they want. Another idea is that the druids have a wave plan. The first wave was the rust monsters, the next wave could be fungus monsters or needle blights, for example. The idea is that they're trying to push people out and return the region back to nature at an accelerated pace.

[Tetrasodium]

This is an idea I came up with largely to give Rust Monsters a reason to be heavily prevalent in a campaign. Both as a single adventure focus and to serve as an ongoing migraine for players throughout the campaign.

Basically it's what the label says: A circle of druids decides that one of the best ways to counter 'modern' society's onslaught against Nature is to breed Rust Monsters by the bushel and sow packs of them all around the region. Including dumping packs numbering in the dozens inside and throughout cities.

Not only would this provide a logical means to introduce such terrors into a campaign that doesn't feel contrived but it actually makes a great deal of in-world strategic sense from the druids' POV. Particularly if said critters, once released, continue to breed and rampage and pillage throughout a countryside.

Certainly a coordinated counter offense could be built up by local authority figures (something in keeping with X-Men III where the soldiers turn in all metal stuff for plastics before moving in to fight Magneto) but since the PC's themselves are typically the front line Spec-Op team to deal with general threats it means the players themselves will be facing the brunt of the Rust Monster horde's assault.

I'm curious if anyone ever came up with such a campaign idea. I also wonder how you might play it out--both in the short and long term campaign wise.

It's not unheard of, there are druid sects that are known for using terrorist attacks to further their goals... the sect is more fleshed out than being against "modern" civilization though, specifically the ashbound (http://eberron.wikia.com/wiki/Ashbound) view arcane & non-druidic divine magic to be terrible things. You won't find an organization headquarters/leader type of thing for them, their in setting origin is pretty much left unsaid & there have been indications that they were around as a fringe/ignored group of no particular note until the day of mourning (http://eberron.wikia.com/wiki/Day_of_Mourning) when a nation pretty much blew up into an irradiated wasteland of unexplained arcane fallout (to simplify it) & people started giving their ideas a little more credit. They are basically the ecoterrorist to constructive groups like the wardens of the wood (http://eberron.wikia.com/wiki/Wardens_of_the_Wood) & the gatekeepers1 (http://eberronunlimited.wikidot.com/the-gatekeepers)2 (http://keith-baker.com/dragonmarks-8-3-13-the-gatekeepers/).

[Legendairy]

I am afb right now but don’t magic weapons and armor hard counter rust monsters? Sooo if they ever get anything remotely magical these encounters suddenly become...blah, without terrain effects like chewing the bridge supports the pc’s are standing on while fight a Druid who can have a ton of methods to not fall with said bridge? Again, I could be wrong, so if I am disregard.

[Tetrasodium]

I am afb right now but don’t magic weapons and armor hard counter rust monsters? Sooo if they ever get anything remotely magical these encounters suddenly become...blah, without terrain effects like chewing the bridge supports the pc’s are standing on while fight a Druid who can have a ton of methods to not fall with said bridge? Again, I could be wrong, so if I am disregard.

the 5e MM cr1/2 one was neutered like you say, the 3.5 CR3 rust monster (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/rustMonster.htm) was quite a bit more dangerous however.

Rust (Ex)
A rust monster that makes a successful touch attack with its antennae causes the target metal to corrode, falling to pieces and becoming useless immediately. The touch can destroy up to a 10-foot cube of metal instantly. Magic armor and weapons, and other magic items made of metal, must succeed on a DC 17 Reflex save or be dissolved. The save DC is Constitution-based and includes a +4 racial bonus.

A metal weapon that deals damage to a rust monster corrodes immediately. Wooden, stone, and other nonmetallic weapons are unaffected.


Iron Scent. The rust monster can pinpoint, by scent, the location offerrous metal within 30 feet of it.
Rust Metal. Any non magical weapon made of metal that hits the rust monster corrodes. After dealing damage, the weapon
takes a permanent and cumulative -1 penalty to damage rolls. If its penalty drops to -5, the weapon is destroyed. Non magical ammunition made of metal that hits the rust monster is destroyed after dealing damage.

ACTIONS
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d8 + 1) piercing damage.
Antennae. The rust monster corrodes a nonmagical ferrous metal object it can see within 5 feet of it. If the object isn't being worn or carried, the touch destroys a 1-foot cube of it. If the object is being worn or carried by a creature, the creature can make a DC 11 Dexterity saving throw to avoid the rust monster's touch.
If the object touched is either metal armor or a metal shield being worn or carried, its takes a permanent and cumulative -1 penalty to the AC it offers. Armor reduced to an AC of 10 or a shield that drops to a +0 bonus is destroyed. If the object touched is a held metal weapon, it rusts as described in the Rust Metal trait.

adding the original ability to a higher CR creaturein place of one or more of the higher cr creature's abilities to keep it the same cr would not be unreasonable however. Mowing through the first few rust monsters with impunity on magic weapons & armor would make the higher powered ones all the more shocking too

[Legendairy]

Oh absolutely, you can bring back older ones like AD&D ones that decimate magic items too. Or you could just add the ability to the new ones, just know the stock out of the box 5e one gets really underwhelming really fast, that’s my only point really.