Fairy
2022-10-10, 09:46 AM
Hey all, I was browsing one-shot ideas and someone somewhere mentioned the notion of using 'sky-blocks' as a one-shot. I thought I'd try develop it, so I'm posting here both to share the idea and to get some feedback and/or ideas on what might be fun or cool! Maybe someone's run something like this before.
So the players begin the session with waking up on a small and immensely high floating island (or any kind of 'block'). Looking around, they can see sporadically distributed islands of some varying shapes and sizes. The party will have to navigate their ways downwards by hopping onto lower and lower platforms/islands.
The first island is a gimme, in that it's simply a 5ft jump and a 10ft fall, so they simply take 1d6 damage to reach the next island. But as they get further, new islands grow further apart, or have more difficult terrain. Yet, they shall also find useful gear left behind by other parties. A worn 15 ft rope that has a 1 in 20 chance of snapping (with some safety mechanism to avoid insta-kills); a net which they might craft into a more reliable rope, or if they also find some springs maybe they can create a trampoline of sorts to extend their jump range; an immovable rod suspended high in the air that's difficult to get. I figure they might also find ways to use objects on each island, like by felling a tree to create a bridge or even crafting wooden boards.
There will also be other parties navigating their way down, and some of them might not be so friendly. One group has effectively given up and are building a home for themselves on an island. Some parties have valuable items that the players might be tempted to steal. Deciding to rest on an island also runs the risk of being invaded by an adversarial party of NPCs.
And some miscellaneous points:
- The setting could easily be themed as a race against the other parties, incentivising them to perhaps even hunt down whoever's in first place.
- Flying would almost certainly have to be banned in this one-shot; as would levitate and other such abilities.
- Terrain on island fights would be critical, and shoving off stronger enemies would be a very valid tactic.
- I figure it would be a lot of fun to limit the players' inventory when they start off, having them carry nothing but their standard armours and weapons. Ammunition for ranged characters would also become a scarce and valuable resource; and if ranged battles take place then scavenging those javelins and arrows that miss could become very relevant mid-combat.
& finally
- I'm not certain what level to run the scenario as. I run one shots as lvl 5 as a matter-of-course, but this might make the ban-list of flying-related spells and abilities a bit too extensive.
So, I'd be delighted to hear some ideas of how others would run this? I'm a somewhat inexperienced DM so hearing some brainstorming would be a big help to me. I also hope I can inspire some others using what I think would be a fun one-shot :D
So the players begin the session with waking up on a small and immensely high floating island (or any kind of 'block'). Looking around, they can see sporadically distributed islands of some varying shapes and sizes. The party will have to navigate their ways downwards by hopping onto lower and lower platforms/islands.
The first island is a gimme, in that it's simply a 5ft jump and a 10ft fall, so they simply take 1d6 damage to reach the next island. But as they get further, new islands grow further apart, or have more difficult terrain. Yet, they shall also find useful gear left behind by other parties. A worn 15 ft rope that has a 1 in 20 chance of snapping (with some safety mechanism to avoid insta-kills); a net which they might craft into a more reliable rope, or if they also find some springs maybe they can create a trampoline of sorts to extend their jump range; an immovable rod suspended high in the air that's difficult to get. I figure they might also find ways to use objects on each island, like by felling a tree to create a bridge or even crafting wooden boards.
There will also be other parties navigating their way down, and some of them might not be so friendly. One group has effectively given up and are building a home for themselves on an island. Some parties have valuable items that the players might be tempted to steal. Deciding to rest on an island also runs the risk of being invaded by an adversarial party of NPCs.
And some miscellaneous points:
- The setting could easily be themed as a race against the other parties, incentivising them to perhaps even hunt down whoever's in first place.
- Flying would almost certainly have to be banned in this one-shot; as would levitate and other such abilities.
- Terrain on island fights would be critical, and shoving off stronger enemies would be a very valid tactic.
- I figure it would be a lot of fun to limit the players' inventory when they start off, having them carry nothing but their standard armours and weapons. Ammunition for ranged characters would also become a scarce and valuable resource; and if ranged battles take place then scavenging those javelins and arrows that miss could become very relevant mid-combat.
& finally
- I'm not certain what level to run the scenario as. I run one shots as lvl 5 as a matter-of-course, but this might make the ban-list of flying-related spells and abilities a bit too extensive.
So, I'd be delighted to hear some ideas of how others would run this? I'm a somewhat inexperienced DM so hearing some brainstorming would be a big help to me. I also hope I can inspire some others using what I think would be a fun one-shot :D