Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 tkxmuse Oct 12, 2009 7:33:16	I had an idea for a skill challenge and I'm not sure how to make it, it's supposed to be part combat part skill challenge taking place in a temple of wild magic. In the temple, magic is unstable so all spells have a chance of malfunctioning and most of the temple is covered in hidden tiles that warp a character to another part of the room. My idea is this: In the ritual chamber of the temple, several wild mages try to drain the magic of the area, if they succeed, their power will be enough to wipe out the nearby town. The players will need to kill them before time runs out (20 rounds maybe?). And, the wild mages are warded by strong magic, to get to the wild mages, the players will need to complete a skill challenge to disable the wards (using a ritual). So they have to hold off against the wild mages' attacks while doing the skill challenge and everywhere they step, there is a possiblity of warping to another part of the room. It will be a chaotic battle, so what do you guys think about it?
#2 cascadianone Oct 12, 2009 7:40:43	Is this for paragon or epic characters? I take it this will be a mostly ranged combat, with the Evil Wild Mages acting as Artillery Monsters?  And the skill challenge will be Arcana-based?   Can they teleport tiles be sensed with Arcana as well? It sounds interesting, challenging and hard to run.  The devil's in the details here.  I take it there is a physical and teleportation barrier preventing the PCs from getting to the EWM?
#3 tkxmuse Oct 12, 2009 8:05:52	It's just an idea that will be for Paragon level characters. Yes, it will be mostly ranged combat with some melee (I'm thinking of adding some minions of the wild mages into the encounter). The teleport tiles are random, I'll be getting players to roll a d10 before they do get their turn, if they roll 1-3, they will teleport, other rolls get different effects. It will mostly be an arcane skill challenge with players that have knowledge and arcane skills doing the challenge while others warp around the room trying to fend off enemies.
#4 cascadianone Oct 12, 2009 17:15:24	I'm thinking through it like a player now- If my character had a pack full of caltrops, could he toss these ahead of himself to see if they disappear?  Or do the squares randomly change?  Or are they only set off by a living being?   I guess I'm asking for more details about how these things will work and how the PCs can get around them...
#5 tkxmuse Oct 12, 2009 20:38:15	The tiles activate randomly, so throwing anything ahead wouldn't be useful. There is a sorcerer in my group so using his skills and spells, he can turn the tiles into a weapon (such as using a power on a tile that will warp, causing the spell's effect to be warped to another part of the room).
#6 inferiae Oct 14, 2009 14:58:01	Just try and be sure that all the players have ways to be effective in this encounter.  Fighters and other primarily melee types will not be able to attack the casters behind the shield, and might not have any skills to help disable the shield. With the random teleporters, I would anticipate them being ignored entirely once people realize they are random.  In a tactical battle, the effects of randomness are more likely to screw up a player's game plan than to help it. Sure, the sorcerer could fire a spell into one of them, but if he doesn't know where it would actually strike, why would he (or she)? I would consider having the mages inside the shield be too involved in their ritual to do anything else, and have the fight be between a waves of the mages' minions and the PCs as they race do undo the shield.  The minions could be a mix of guard types and apprentice-type spellcasters.  This gives you some brutes / skirmishers and artillery off the bat.  Hope that some of this helps.
#7 tomcardin Oct 14, 2009 15:29:27	what happens if the party ropes themselves together and walks into the room? what is on the cieling and walls? Can they use rope and grapnel to suspend themselves above the floor? with this time limit what keeps the players from setting fire to the whole area...those mages will burn or at least suffocate if they sit there long enough to complete the ritual. A whole town being destroyed means its time for desperate measures. If the mages do ranged attacks does that cancel their ritual? Or are there seperate mages who are there just to defend the ritual casters? how big is the room?...how far away from the mages do the players start out at? Does the barrier protecting the mages protect agains all ranged attack types?
#8 tkxmuse Oct 15, 2009 2:40:31	what happens if the party ropes themselves together and walks into the room? what is on the cieling and walls? Can they use rope and grapnel to suspend themselves above the floor? with this time limit what keeps the players from setting fire to the whole area...those mages will burn or at least suffocate if they sit there long enough to complete the ritual. A whole town being destroyed means its time for desperate measures. If the mages do ranged attacks does that cancel their ritual? Or are there seperate mages who are there just to defend the ritual casters? how big is the room?...how far away from the mages do the players start out at? Does the barrier protecting the mages protect agains all ranged attack types? It all depends on the party's creaticity, what will they do when the room is in such chaos? They might think of anything, like trying to get a way for the tiles to work in their favor. Doing so, they might just be able to cast a spell on the tile and make it hit the wild mages directly. Anything's possible. I'm thinking prismatic wall for the barrier. To destroy each part of the wall, each character will be given a certain gem/wand that can shoot some kind of elemental or spell at the wall.