Beauty and the Beast Castle Battle

[sayaijin]

For a one shot I have coming up, I plan to essentially reenact the scene from Beauty and the Beast where the castle fights back. My players are going to be the invaders, and I plan to pit them against mimics and animated objects.

Any other monsters I should consider?

[werescythe]

Maybe a Lycan for the beast.

[firelistener]

Flying Swords would probably be good along with Animated Armor.

[Maan]

Stone Golems as the statues and gargoyles?

[nickl_2000]

You definitely need Wolves and Dire Wolves as a "random" encounter leading up to the castle.

The beast could also be a Leonine Monk or Fighter, an Owlbear, a Guardian Wolf.

Crawling Claw could be a walking glove.

A roper may be possible

[Unoriginal]

Are the PCs getting help from the townsfolks?

[sayaijin]

Are the PCs getting help from the townsfolks?

The townsfolk will most likely be killed off at a distance so the party doesn't see how they die. (Gaston plans to use them as fodder) That way they might not expect mimics.

They don't know this is a BatB one-shot, and I don't want them to know right away. All I plan to tell them for the hook is that their old war buddy claims his fiance and her father were cursed by a monster and he needs their help to take the castle and break the curse. (Gaston's perspective)

Eventually Gaston, Belle, and Beast will have their interaction outside, and if they haven't already figured it out then that's the part where it's obvious what story it is.

It will be interesting to see if they metagame after they figure out what the story is, or if they keep helping Gaston. All NPC names will be changed.

[Falconcry]

In the first episode of the third campaign of Critical Role there is a fight similar to this if you want to see how it runs in action.

[Corpus]

Tiny Servants from the 3rd level spell in Xanathar's.

[werescythe]

One thing you could do for Gaston (in case you don't already have things planned to throw the players off the BatB trail) is have Gaston be an elf (maybe a high elf) and change the name slightly. Like Ghastel or Nostagel.

Could also be interesting if maybe the best is an Orc Noble (Maybe a Wild Magic Barbarian, whose wild magic us responsible for the creation of the mimics/living furniture) and the only reason that the mimics are being hostile, is because they believe their master is being threatened and is trying to protect both Beauty and the Beast.

Just a thought. :)

[Chronos]

Not exactly Beauty and the Beast, but one good add-on to fights like this is a few Programmed Illusions sprinkled in amongst the real monsters. Which of those suits of armor actually came alive and are attacking the party?

[sayaijin]

One thing you could do for Gaston (in case you don't already have things planned to throw the players off the BatB trail) is have Gaston be an elf (maybe a high elf) and change the name slightly. Like Ghastel or Nostagel.

Could also be interesting if maybe the best is an Orc Noble (Maybe a Wild Magic Barbarian, whose wild magic us responsible for the creation of the mimics/living furniture) and the only reason that the mimics are being hostile, is because they believe their master is being threatened and is trying to protect both Beauty and the Beast.

Just a thought. :)

So a bit more description [don't want to go too much into the homebrew aspect of a one-shot for fear of this post getting moved].

I've decided to set this in a feudal Japan inspired setting to really throw them off. Gaston is Notsagu (Gaston backwards plus a U) and he says that the beast is a powerful Oni, but he's really just a prince - just like the story. The floating rose will actually be a lotus and Notsagu will be a samurai who wasn't very ethical in the war they fought alongside him in.

I want to have the main plot be as close to the story as possible so they have to choose between helping their morally questionable "friend" or doing what's right when they figure out what's happening.

And of course, if they do switch sides and see the curse broken, then the mimics, stone golems, and animated armor that they destroyed will turn into corpses of the castle's residents who were transformed along with the prince.

[KorvinStarmast]

And of course, if they do switch sides and see the curse broken, then the mimics, stone golems, and animated armor that they destroyed will turn into corpses of the castle's residents who were transformed along with the prince. Nothing says "gotcha" DMing like the old favorite" Hey, look, you killed all of the innocents! LOL" :smalltongue:
Please handle that reveal with some care if that is how it unfolds.

[sayaijin]

Nothing says "gotcha" DMing like the old favorite" Hey, look, you killed all of the innocents! LOL" :smalltongue:
Please handle that reveal with some care if that is how it unfolds.

So in the original story, the transformed people (like Lumiere and Clocksworth) were able to talk and seemed to keep their original intelligence and personality. I'll probably have some of the "monsters" try to communicate with the PC's like, "Why are you attacking our home?" or "What did we ever do to you?" And if the PC's feel like not being murder hobos then they can avoid combat and figure things out using the social pillar. After they do, they might fight the other invaders or jump straight to the Gaston/Belle/Beast interaction.

[werescythe]

So a bit more description [don't want to go too much into the homebrew aspect of a one-shot for fear of this post getting moved].

I've decided to set this in a feudal Japan inspired setting to really throw them off. Gaston is Notsagu (Gaston backwards plus a U) and he says that the beast is a powerful Oni, but he's really just a prince - just like the story. The floating rose will actually be a lotus and Notsagu will be a samurai who wasn't very ethical in the war they fought alongside him in.

I want to have the main plot be as close to the story as possible so they have to choose between helping their morally questionable "friend" or doing what's right when they figure out what's happening.

And of course, if they do switch sides and see the curse broken, then the mimics, stone golems, and animated armor that they destroyed will turn into corpses of the castle's residents who were transformed along with the prince.

Sounds pretty cool to me. :smallsmile: