Advice on a hastily planned session? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Advice on a hastily planned session? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Carmine_the_Wolf
08-15-07, 06:19 AM I'm running a session on Saturday night for two of my gaming group to satisfy their thirst for D&D whilst the rest of the group are out of town and unable to make the regular game. I've only had since yesterday to come up with something for them and while I have the basic idea for a scenario, I'd like to see what people think and if there's any advice they can offer me.

The scenario starts the characters at lvl 1 and drops them into a gaol in the middle of a very hazardous swamp/marshland. The gaol is a place where the local worthies deposit prisoners who are too valuable to keep anywhere more accesible and is very hard to escape from.

For about a week the gaol has been disturbed by tales of the guards on watch at night seeing strange lights sweeping the swamp and glimpsing large shapes moving beneath the water. Things came to a head when the regular boat carrying supplies and official orders to the gaol failed to arrive on time.

Rather than risk his own life chasing after whatever is out there, the head warden decides to send the PCs (either lowly guards or prisoners) out to locate the lost supply boat. He's not worried about them escaping as the swamp is a deadly maze.

In reality the creature seen in the darkness is an Apparatus of Kwalish, disguised with magic to resemble a huge chitinous monster and piloted by a magic-user searching the swamp for a hidden Spelljamming vessel.

Other details are sketchy at the moment beyond the idea that the magic-user has a base set up in a ruin on an island in the swamp and a band of Kobold lackeys encamped there.

I'm hoping that the scenario will wind up with the PCs gaining control of the Apparatus and then finding out that it was enchanted to return to the magic-user's real base of operations on "auto-pilot" and carry them off to wherever that may be.
Kouk
08-15-07, 07:47 AM That sounds pretty darn good. Swamps have a lot of mid-ish level monsters though.

And just before anyone asks: "gaol" is another way of writing "jail", as in, a prison.

Impenetrable swamps are all well and good, but you can't really use a boat to cross them because of the random water depths, quicksand, and solid earth and plants. If there was a well-known waterway to take a boat in on, then what would stop the PCs from following it out of the swamp?

Perhaps you could consider that the supplies are just air-dropped by an airship, or some domesticated flying creature, and it was shot down or just never arrived with the supplies. This way, the party doesn't really spend time on wondering about the possibility of escape.
Ryzak
08-15-07, 07:56 AM that's great for putting it together so quick. i agree w/ kouk watch out for the fact that swamps have generally mid-hi level creatures. unless it's just going to be killing orcs/goblins, etc.

if i have little to no time, i just grab a module that i've done before and run it.

good luck!
Carmine_the_Wolf
08-15-07, 09:29 AM Thanks for the advice.

The swamp is generally brackish water and deep enough to pole a flat-bottomed boat through. There are deeper sections and these are used by smugglers and the local authorities to hide vessels that are hoping to slip by customs duties or smuggle in cargos.

Safe routes through the swamps are not common knowledge and prisoners and low-ranking guards arrive blindfolded to keep the location of the gaol a secret and escape a dangerous process.
Empirate
08-15-07, 09:40 AM The spelljammer the wizard is looking for is probably broken into several bigger and smaller pieces, thus needing a long search. The wizard might be the youngest scion of a long line of artificers, and his granddaddy or whoever was the one to originally lose control of the spelljammer and crash it in the swamp. The family has been dedicated to putting it together again, and although his father was recently killed by [whatever], the young wizard is close to finally succeeding. He has a means of magically locating the wreckage (locate object maybe?).

The PCs can capture the Apparatus when the wizard has to leave it behind at a spot where a lot of vegetation hampers his progress. They can find out about the back story once they have defeated the Kobold guardians of the wizard's lair, by perusing his workshop library and sketches.
A great option for the PCs would be if they could ally with the wizard for some gold pieces or a way out of the swamp. Oh, and of course the final part of the spelljammer's central control board is located within (or under) the gaol!

EDIT: If you have the time, you can even prepare a blueprint of the spelljammer, or some design notes by the wizard. If the PCs are smart, they can figure out the missing part and recognize it: "Isn't that the strange thingy our courtyard statue has in her hands?" Also, they might consider getting this thingy without confronting the wizard first. It would make a fine bargaining chip later on!
Carmine_the_Wolf
08-15-07, 09:54 AM The spelljammer the wizard is looking for is probably broken into several bigger and smaller pieces, thus needing a long search. The wizard might be the youngest scion of a long line of artificers, and his granddaddy or whoever was the one to originally lose control of the spelljammer and crash it in the swamp. The family has been dedicated to putting it together again, and although his father was recently killed by [whatever], the young wizard is close to finally succeeding. He has a means of magically locating the wreckage (locate object maybe?).

The PCs can capture the Apparatus when the wizard has to leave it behind at a spot where a lot of vegetation hampers his progress. They can find out about the back story once they have defeated the Kobold guardians of the wizard's lair, by perusing his workshop library and sketches.
A great option for the PCs would be if they could ally with the wizard for some gold pieces or a way out of the swamp. Oh, and of course the final part of the spelljammer's central control board is located within (or under) the gaol!

EDIT: If you have the time, you can even prepare a blueprint of the spelljammer, or some design notes by the wizard. If the PCs are smart, they can figure out the missing part and recognize it: "Isn't that the strange thingy our courtyard statue has in her hands?" Also, they might consider getting this thingy without confronting the wizard first. It would make a fine bargaining chip later on!

Wow...that was a whole different angle on it!

I like the idea about the chap trying to put the thing back together. Perhaps he's been captured and held by the Kobolds who are using the apparatus they stole from him to look for the missing pieces of the ship.

Thanks for the ideas, I think I'll use that one in particular.
Lazigothi
08-15-07, 04:32 PM My twist on the spelljamming helm is that there may be rumor of a "black-box" like device that has recorded information the wizard needs to find another location that has something of value.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Carmine_the_Wolf 08-15-07, 06:19 AM	I'm running a session on Saturday night for two of my gaming group to satisfy their thirst for D&D whilst the rest of the group are out of town and unable to make the regular game. I've only had since yesterday to come up with something for them and while I have the basic idea for a scenario, I'd like to see what people think and if there's any advice they can offer me. The scenario starts the characters at lvl 1 and drops them into a gaol in the middle of a very hazardous swamp/marshland. The gaol is a place where the local worthies deposit prisoners who are too valuable to keep anywhere more accesible and is very hard to escape from. For about a week the gaol has been disturbed by tales of the guards on watch at night seeing strange lights sweeping the swamp and glimpsing large shapes moving beneath the water. Things came to a head when the regular boat carrying supplies and official orders to the gaol failed to arrive on time. Rather than risk his own life chasing after whatever is out there, the head warden decides to send the PCs (either lowly guards or prisoners) out to locate the lost supply boat. He's not worried about them escaping as the swamp is a deadly maze. In reality the creature seen in the darkness is an Apparatus of Kwalish, disguised with magic to resemble a huge chitinous monster and piloted by a magic-user searching the swamp for a hidden Spelljamming vessel. Other details are sketchy at the moment beyond the idea that the magic-user has a base set up in a ruin on an island in the swamp and a band of Kobold lackeys encamped there. I'm hoping that the scenario will wind up with the PCs gaining control of the Apparatus and then finding out that it was enchanted to return to the magic-user's real base of operations on "auto-pilot" and carry them off to wherever that may be.
Kouk 08-15-07, 07:47 AM	That sounds pretty darn good. Swamps have a lot of mid-ish level monsters though. And just before anyone asks: "gaol" is another way of writing "jail", as in, a prison. Impenetrable swamps are all well and good, but you can't really use a boat to cross them because of the random water depths, quicksand, and solid earth and plants. If there was a well-known waterway to take a boat in on, then what would stop the PCs from following it out of the swamp? Perhaps you could consider that the supplies are just air-dropped by an airship, or some domesticated flying creature, and it was shot down or just never arrived with the supplies. This way, the party doesn't really spend time on wondering about the possibility of escape.
Ryzak 08-15-07, 07:56 AM	that's great for putting it together so quick. i agree w/ kouk watch out for the fact that swamps have generally mid-hi level creatures. unless it's just going to be killing orcs/goblins, etc. if i have little to no time, i just grab a module that i've done before and run it. good luck!
Carmine_the_Wolf 08-15-07, 09:29 AM	Thanks for the advice. The swamp is generally brackish water and deep enough to pole a flat-bottomed boat through. There are deeper sections and these are used by smugglers and the local authorities to hide vessels that are hoping to slip by customs duties or smuggle in cargos. Safe routes through the swamps are not common knowledge and prisoners and low-ranking guards arrive blindfolded to keep the location of the gaol a secret and escape a dangerous process.
Empirate 08-15-07, 09:40 AM	The spelljammer the wizard is looking for is probably broken into several bigger and smaller pieces, thus needing a long search. The wizard might be the youngest scion of a long line of artificers, and his granddaddy or whoever was the one to originally lose control of the spelljammer and crash it in the swamp. The family has been dedicated to putting it together again, and although his father was recently killed by [whatever], the young wizard is close to finally succeeding. He has a means of magically locating the wreckage (locate object maybe?). The PCs can capture the Apparatus when the wizard has to leave it behind at a spot where a lot of vegetation hampers his progress. They can find out about the back story once they have defeated the Kobold guardians of the wizard's lair, by perusing his workshop library and sketches. A great option for the PCs would be if they could ally with the wizard for some gold pieces or a way out of the swamp. Oh, and of course the final part of the spelljammer's central control board is located within (or under) the gaol! EDIT: If you have the time, you can even prepare a blueprint of the spelljammer, or some design notes by the wizard. If the PCs are smart, they can figure out the missing part and recognize it: "Isn't that the strange thingy our courtyard statue has in her hands?" Also, they might consider getting this thingy without confronting the wizard first. It would make a fine bargaining chip later on!
Carmine_the_Wolf 08-15-07, 09:54 AM	The spelljammer the wizard is looking for is probably broken into several bigger and smaller pieces, thus needing a long search. The wizard might be the youngest scion of a long line of artificers, and his granddaddy or whoever was the one to originally lose control of the spelljammer and crash it in the swamp. The family has been dedicated to putting it together again, and although his father was recently killed by [whatever], the young wizard is close to finally succeeding. He has a means of magically locating the wreckage (locate object maybe?). The PCs can capture the Apparatus when the wizard has to leave it behind at a spot where a lot of vegetation hampers his progress. They can find out about the back story once they have defeated the Kobold guardians of the wizard's lair, by perusing his workshop library and sketches. A great option for the PCs would be if they could ally with the wizard for some gold pieces or a way out of the swamp. Oh, and of course the final part of the spelljammer's central control board is located within (or under) the gaol! EDIT: If you have the time, you can even prepare a blueprint of the spelljammer, or some design notes by the wizard. If the PCs are smart, they can figure out the missing part and recognize it: "Isn't that the strange thingy our courtyard statue has in her hands?" Also, they might consider getting this thingy without confronting the wizard first. It would make a fine bargaining chip later on! Wow...that was a whole different angle on it! I like the idea about the chap trying to put the thing back together. Perhaps he's been captured and held by the Kobolds who are using the apparatus they stole from him to look for the missing pieces of the ship. Thanks for the ideas, I think I'll use that one in particular.
Lazigothi 08-15-07, 04:32 PM	My twist on the spelljamming helm is that there may be rumor of a "black-box" like device that has recorded information the wizard needs to find another location that has something of value.