OverdrivePrime
2007-10-19, 01:51 PM
My friends and I have recently started a campaign based on gladiator type combatants, warriors we've put together to fight against one another. It makes for a really fun kind of pick-up game of D&D, since few of us have any time for a regular once-a-week 6 or 7 hour game like we used to back before we were out of college or married and such.
Anyway, we've been having a ton of fun with this - just three people necessary, and you can get in a match under an hour. Everyone's True Rezzed and healed after the fights and we keep track of each charcter's record and experience. Recently, we started to test adding a mission every once in a while for multiple characters, and that's quite a success! Just a quick one-shot mission that can be finished in under three hours.
The really interesting part about this kind of scenario so far is how different these gladiators work in an encounter that has multiple enemies. Since we've all made our characters for dueling against one other character at a time, almost no one has any area-of-effect spells, no one has cleave, and all defenses are prepped against someone who thinks like another PC. As such, a couple of our 7th level characters nearly got TPKed in an encounter with an ogre, a 7th level shaman and about forty orc warriors. It was pretty hilarious, just by the amount of natural 20s that were getting through our defenses, while we had to take each foe down one at a time.
Aaaaanyway, I told you that story to tell you this one. It's my turn to run a mission event, so I thought I'd pick Kobolds for my Monster du Jour. I don't really want to force a TPK, so I'm not going for a Tucker's Kobolds type scenario. Instead, I want a sold challenge, where the 3-5 7-8th level PCs will feel like they might perish or be forced to flee if they don't play smart and make use of very solid tactics.
Here's the hook:
Celebrating your most recent gladiatorial battles, you are sought out by a black-clad ranger with strange, reflective goggles. He is from the near-by city of White Hovel, and brings a desperate request for aid. Mayor Ronnie Raysling has been kidnapped... by kobolds!
White Hovel needs help, and is willing to pay dearly for your services. It seems that the Dragon Clan kobolds in the hills near White Hovel demand a ransom of 4000 gold and the release of a number of kobold prisoners from the city. While easily affordable to White Hovel, the city council absolutely refuses to bow to the Dragon Kobolds' demands. "We will never negotiate with kobolds," says the grim ranger, "to do so would only encourage similar actions from other monsters in the area. What's next? Hobgoblins demanding ransom for our daughters? Ogres making off with our cattle? No! The line must be drawn, and it must be drawn here!"
The agent wants you to seek out the Dragon Clan kobolds (he provides a map), rescue Mayor Ronie (alive), and destroy the Dragon Clan.
In return for rescuing the mayor, White Hovel will reward your group with 4,000 gold. In addition, they offer 10 gold for each kobold skull, and a thousand gold for the head of the leader of the Dragon Kobolds, a dragon-witch named Pinta.
Certain older and/or cultured members of the audience may recognize a horribly blatant reference to a certain Data East video game from the late 80's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Dudes). Cookies for you! I'm hoping to turn this one into something like that classic side-scroller, complete with healing potions in round metal cans, and health-ups from eating turkey legs.
For the leader of the kobolds, I plan on using a Dragon Shaman of high level (10th, I'm thinking, just to make it a challenge), supported by a pair of kobold 6th level Knights mounted on dire weasels. The rest of the kobold clan combatants will be either level 1 warriors and experts (about 10 of each), level 3 Ninjas (10) and level 3 sorcerers (5). All others will be non-combatants back in the caves tending to eggs and young.
I plan on forcing the character to travel through an area of rocky hills and scrub trees, before they hit the kobold warren, comprised of 3 major caverns, with a few smaller ones branching out to the sides.
The entrace to the cave should be trapped, as should some areas of the first and second caverns.
Now... any suggestions on feats for the Dragon Shaman, and traps that are scary but not instant death?
How can I make this more entertaining and memorable?
Anyway, we've been having a ton of fun with this - just three people necessary, and you can get in a match under an hour. Everyone's True Rezzed and healed after the fights and we keep track of each charcter's record and experience. Recently, we started to test adding a mission every once in a while for multiple characters, and that's quite a success! Just a quick one-shot mission that can be finished in under three hours.
The really interesting part about this kind of scenario so far is how different these gladiators work in an encounter that has multiple enemies. Since we've all made our characters for dueling against one other character at a time, almost no one has any area-of-effect spells, no one has cleave, and all defenses are prepped against someone who thinks like another PC. As such, a couple of our 7th level characters nearly got TPKed in an encounter with an ogre, a 7th level shaman and about forty orc warriors. It was pretty hilarious, just by the amount of natural 20s that were getting through our defenses, while we had to take each foe down one at a time.
Aaaaanyway, I told you that story to tell you this one. It's my turn to run a mission event, so I thought I'd pick Kobolds for my Monster du Jour. I don't really want to force a TPK, so I'm not going for a Tucker's Kobolds type scenario. Instead, I want a sold challenge, where the 3-5 7-8th level PCs will feel like they might perish or be forced to flee if they don't play smart and make use of very solid tactics.
Here's the hook:
Celebrating your most recent gladiatorial battles, you are sought out by a black-clad ranger with strange, reflective goggles. He is from the near-by city of White Hovel, and brings a desperate request for aid. Mayor Ronnie Raysling has been kidnapped... by kobolds!
White Hovel needs help, and is willing to pay dearly for your services. It seems that the Dragon Clan kobolds in the hills near White Hovel demand a ransom of 4000 gold and the release of a number of kobold prisoners from the city. While easily affordable to White Hovel, the city council absolutely refuses to bow to the Dragon Kobolds' demands. "We will never negotiate with kobolds," says the grim ranger, "to do so would only encourage similar actions from other monsters in the area. What's next? Hobgoblins demanding ransom for our daughters? Ogres making off with our cattle? No! The line must be drawn, and it must be drawn here!"
The agent wants you to seek out the Dragon Clan kobolds (he provides a map), rescue Mayor Ronie (alive), and destroy the Dragon Clan.
In return for rescuing the mayor, White Hovel will reward your group with 4,000 gold. In addition, they offer 10 gold for each kobold skull, and a thousand gold for the head of the leader of the Dragon Kobolds, a dragon-witch named Pinta.
Certain older and/or cultured members of the audience may recognize a horribly blatant reference to a certain Data East video game from the late 80's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Dudes). Cookies for you! I'm hoping to turn this one into something like that classic side-scroller, complete with healing potions in round metal cans, and health-ups from eating turkey legs.
For the leader of the kobolds, I plan on using a Dragon Shaman of high level (10th, I'm thinking, just to make it a challenge), supported by a pair of kobold 6th level Knights mounted on dire weasels. The rest of the kobold clan combatants will be either level 1 warriors and experts (about 10 of each), level 3 Ninjas (10) and level 3 sorcerers (5). All others will be non-combatants back in the caves tending to eggs and young.
I plan on forcing the character to travel through an area of rocky hills and scrub trees, before they hit the kobold warren, comprised of 3 major caverns, with a few smaller ones branching out to the sides.
The entrace to the cave should be trapped, as should some areas of the first and second caverns.
Now... any suggestions on feats for the Dragon Shaman, and traps that are scary but not instant death?
How can I make this more entertaining and memorable?