Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 kintaro21 Jun 19, 2015 10:59:11	Heyo, friends!   So, I am throwing together a little adventure for two players that will be joioning my main game soon. I figured I would give them a private session first to introduce them to the world, and lead them to the current party.   So essentially, the two players (one rogue & one bard at the 3rd level) are part of a small mercenary company. The company has been hired by a minor noble lord in a romanesque city. The noble's son has managed to piss off a member of the senate and due to both expenses and the heavy monitoring of teleportation spell, the only feasable thing to do is actually sneak him out manually. The city has ancient catacombs underneath it that still see use today, but they are so vast and old that it is virtually impossible to keep up with more than a fraction of it.   I didn't want to do another classic dungeon crawl where I draw some rooms on to a map, and have them go through a series of passages until the reach the end. Instead, I was thinking they would roll on one of two random charts (the chart they used depends on what part of the catacomb they are in) and an encounter of some form would happen based on the roll. I would also offer a few optional things they could do that would occur after enough checks, and a few mandatory things to move the story along. They would make survival checks as they went through the tunnels (they have some background npcs with them, not dmpcs as most them are liable to die, or vanish after the session) to navigate the crumbling catacombs. A failure wouldn't mean they couldn't do it, but rather would suffer a negative modifier on the chart. I wouldn't mention that, but the lower results on the die would be more dangerous encounters. It could also result in different optional encounters for whatever reasons.   Is this idea feasible? What are some cool catacomb based encounters? Would love some ideas!
#2 Nevvur Jun 19, 2015 12:14:48	Oozes are a dungeon classic, and there are few dungeon baddies more classic than a gelatinous cube. It's about the right CR for a couple level 3's and some disposable NPCs, but be gentle with its engulf ability against the PCs. They're also easy to foreshadow before running into them (often literally, being transparent), as the halls they patrol are often acid-washed and super clean compared to neighborning environs. Whether its appropriate for your setting is another matter, of course.   Ghouls are another fun catacombs baddie. You can send in a small pack, and have some of them drag off NPCs to be devoured, leaving only as many to stay and fight as the PCS/remaining NPCs can handle.    Traps! Trip wires rigged to set off some cheap crossbows lodged into niches, nooks and crannies, set up by thieves who use the catacombs as an underground highway. Maybe they'll bump into the thieves themselves. A lowly necromancer might have a secret lair in the catacombs where he can practice his art in secrecy. He places some magical glyphs in the vicinity that cause magical damage when triggered.   Natural hazards might abound. Stairs that crumble underfoot, walls that collapse inward, a pocket of toxic gas.   On a more generic level, try to find an excuse to use a variety of skills in which they have proficiency, and design combats that give them an opportunity to use their key features (i.e. rogue should have plenty of chances to sneak attack, bard should have enemies susceptible to his spell selection)
#3 kintaro21 Jun 19, 2015 18:17:10	Sweet! Thanks for the reply, Nevvur. I'll definitely have to include slimes. Would make for a great encounter and a potentially nasty end for an unfortunate npc. Ghouls were definitely something I wanted to include. They go hand and hand with catacombs. I love the idea about a swarm of them coming in and dragging some of the mercenaries off. I'm trying to go a little lighter on the traps. I've realized that I am kind of a trap **** (I don't need my pcs to point that out), as I sometimes use them in places they don't really need to be. I'm attempting to reflect on and change that aspect. I'll certainly include a few simple ones to highlight the rogues ability to diffuse the situation though.   I've always had trouble narrating natural hazards. How do you make a collapsed stairwell, or a fallen bridge, or a pocket of gas interesting? What would the ingame mechanics even look like?   I'm trying to think of the Bard's spell list. I know he took suggestion, heat metal, faerie fire, and thunderwave. I can't remember the other two.
#4 OGRE1984 Jun 21, 2015 14:07:03	natural hazards often work the same as traps or stationary monsters. give players with relevant ability a chance to notice/thwart.  i would use them for skills, tools, and gear the players have.    also seems to work wellt with random encounter mechanic. i use milestone xp so random encounters are just hassles to overcome, use sparingly.   use them as part of an encounter. fighting an enemy in forest around grasping plants, DC10 strength or restrained.    a daunting cliff face require climbing gear and the chance of falling, if party takes too long too reach the top the roll for an encounter.   many hazards would impose conditions instead of damage.  collapsing floor, same as pit trap,  beehive DC13 con or be poisoned long rest removes. [nature/survival] skunk DC10 Dexterity disadvantage on stealth, all social roles, and ruined equipment gas pocket depends on type of gas. but pair that with undead and it makes mundane encounter more lively
#5 Imaculata Jun 22, 2015 10:04:17	With hazards, it is especially good to pay attention to the details, and to foreshadow them correctly. For example, if the floor is weak, then a succesful perception check should allow someone to notice the cracks in the floor. Next you can ask for how much weight a player is carrying, to determine if the floor gives way or not. Such a hazard then counts as a simple pit trap, and deals falling damage. Often hazards are far more suspenseful than a battle with a couple of monsters.   I'd also throw in a bit of lore, and flavor encounters. Maybe the players stumble upon some ancient writing that describes some of the history of the catacombs. Who built it? Who are buried there? Or maybe the players stumble upon the remains of someone who couldn't find his way out.
#6 kintaro21 Jun 22, 2015 8:29:03	Thanks for the replies!   I love the cracked floor idea, and the ingenious way that players might avoid triggering it. I've always been a little leary of them because I was having issues making them more fun than - "I'll just roll acrobatics and dive over it". I definitely plan on adding more than just combat encounters. Finding the corpse of a lost adventurer or a member of the underground thieves guild is bound to happen. Maybe they'll come across an ancient and luxurious tomb that tells them a little bit about the catacombs? The catacombs are from a time before the city was known by its current name, so a lot of the records might have been lost or dangerous. Especially considering the city has been conquered twice and freed twice within the last 1,000 years.   One idea I had for a non-combat encounter is that the players will come across a lone skeleton who is missing his head. The skeleton is digging through mounds of bones in search of its head. If the players can decipher what he is doing and help him find it, they can earn a simple reward, or the skeleton might show up later and help them in a time of need. I figured that would be a fun and light hearted encounter that could break up some of the more dreary and intense ones.
#7 Imaculata Jun 22, 2015 15:52:18	That sounds like a great npc. I'd go even further, and have him team up with the players as a guide. You have have some fun with the fact that he is a skeleton, and thus doesn't smell anything, nor is he bothered by things that would bother the players.   You can have different layers to the catacombs too, where one part was built a long long time ago, and another part was added later. Then there could be a part that was closed off during a siege of the city, and a part where a lot of members of a religious sect fled when an army set fire to their temple, and started killing the priests. Maybe some corner stones of the passages have markings, that were left there by the refugees. The skeleton npc may be able to tell the players more about the history of this place, and how they can use the markings to find their way. Some parts of the catacombs might be warded with spells, and prevent the skeleton npc (and any other undead) from tresspassing.   The skeleton might not be the only undead that is walking around in the catacombs. Imagine a section of the catacombs where the whole floor is covered in crawling corpses, and the players have to walk across.
(Reply to #7) kintaro21	Imaculata wrote: