Saving the King (level 16 party)
Overview: The king has been poisoned by arcane means. A piece of the Rod of Seven Parts was corrupted and injected into the king. The creature is now wrapped about the base of the King’s brain stem and slowly injecting him with poison that is killing him.
The players have been shrunk to microscopic size and injected into the king to stop it. They only have an hour to accomplish this before the ritual that shrank them wears off. As such there is no time for an extended rest.
Time management is something that the DM will have to monitor (or not if he doesn’t feel like it, though at the very least, no extended rest will be allowed).
These encounters were designed for six players. To adjust to your own campaign, remove creatures to adjust to the overall xp budget for the encounter level.
For example: a level 18 encounter rewards each player with 2000 xp. For six players, that gives me 12,000 xp to work with. For five players you’d only have 10,000 xp. For four players you’d have 8,000 xp. Remove creatures or add creatures to meet this math.
Experience Breakdown:
Level 18 encounter (2000 xp per)
Level 16 encounter (1,400 xp per)
Level 19 encounter (2,400 xp per)
Save the King – 500 xp per
Recover the piece of the Rod of Seven Parts – 500 xp per
Skill Challenge – Navigating through the Blood Cyclone (400 xp per)
Skill Challenge – Get corrupted Rod Creature off of King’s Spine (800 xp per)
Total Experience Possible: 8,000 xp (57% of level 16)
Encounter 1 (level 18) – Body Attacks
White Blood Cells x3
The characters encounter some of the body’s natural attack elements, three white blood cells. The White Blood cells are controllers whose attacks are designed to turn the characters against each other. The encounter was designed for six characters (12,000 xp budget) For five characters, either remove a blood cell or keep it and make it a harder encounter. For four characters, remove a cell, etc…
White Blood Cell – level 18 elite controller xp: 4000
HP: 291|146 AC: 30 F:32 R: 28 W:32 Speed: 5
Immune: Acid Resist: 10 poison
Saves: +2 Action Point: 1
Standard Action: Bash (+23 vs AC – 6D6 damage) (basic attack)
Standard Action: Double Bash
Standard Action: Explosive Pus (Burst 1) +22 ref – 2d10+10 damge
Encounter Power: Necrotic Ichor (Range 10 5 squares affected)
Necrotic Ichor – Level 18 obstacle
Area of Effect: 5 squares
Arcana Check: DC 25 to identify it
Trigger: Beginning a turn in an affected square
Effect: +22 vs WIL – Dominated. Must attack nearest creature. May use at-will powers. If creature cannot make it to a creature to attack, will not move. Save ends.
Counter Measures: Radiant Damage can harm it. AC 5 Fort 10 30 hp per square
Skill Challenge – Navigating the Blood Cyclone (400 xp per on success)
For this skill challenge I used the cyclone dust devil skill challenge in the first Dark Sun module (see page 10) and upped the DCs to match a 16th level party. Failure took time away from saving the king as they retry. Each attempt at the Blood Cyclone takes away five minutes of time. To get the xp for this challenge, the players must not fail it.
Encounter 2 – Corrupted Cells (level 16 Encounter)
The area leading up to the Rod Creature is immensely infected. The walls and tissue are streaked with black and the stench is overpowering. It is a mixture of rot and of ozone from the radiance of the rod. In the distance, the players can hear crackling like lightning, and they can see a metallic creature wrapped around the spinal shaft injecting it with dozens of needle like apertures.
The Rod Creature defends itself by employing Rod Spawn, a type of construct that is the size of a small puppy and shaped like a scorpion that scampers after a target and wraps around its face, employing a small nodule that is implanted in the creature’s throat (think Alien facehuggers) that puts the creature under control of the Rod, as well as corrupted white blood cells that are now black with infection.
The corrupted cells are identical to the cells listed above.
The Rod Creature also employs a radiant mist which seperates the tunnel between the rod creature and the characters (see below)
Encounter Contents (for six PCs 1,400 xp per)
1 corrupted cell – 4,000 xp
1 Golden Mist Hazard – 2,000 xp
7 Rod Spawn (2,450 xp)
Radiant Mist Hazard – level 18 Blaster (2000 xp)
Arcana DC 28 to identify it
Trigger: Touching the mist during movement
Area of Effect: Burst 1 from triggering creature
+19 vs WIL or Dominated (save ends) – 2nd failure the creature becomes Chaotic Evil until a remove affliction ritual is cast upon them.
Rod Spawn – level 16 minion (350 xp)
Size: Tiny
AC: 33 Fort: 25 Ref: 32 Wil: 25
Attack: Face Hug (+20 vs AC no damage)
Once attached, target can attempt to remove as a standard action (either CON vs FORT or DEX vs REF) Once Attached creature attempts to implant node, +19 vs WIL (no damage, creature dominated by Rod (save))
Upon implanting successfully, Rod Spawn dies. Dominated creatures can use at-will attacks. The rod directs spawn to attack the heavily armored players first in an attempt to remove defenders and have them attack casters or healers.
Encounter Three – The Rod Creature (level 19 encounter – 2,400 xp per character)
The Rod has been transformed into a construct that is injecting the king with poison. At this juncture of the game, the rod creature will accelerate its poisoning, giving the players 10 rounds (1 minute) to remove the rod creature from the king’s spinal column. Failure means the king dies, though the players can still defeat the rod and retrieve it.
The players can do this in one of two ways. First, they can whittle the rod creature down (the rod has three stages, each with 300 hit points. The players have to get it to stage 2, or inflict 300 points of damage)
The second way that the players can do this is to perform a skill challenge (worth 800 xp per player. The players get this xp if they remove it in time regardless of how they do it)
Remove the Rod Creature – 8 successes before 3 failures (800 xp per character)
Success: The rod creature is dropped from the King’s spinal column, thus saving the king if done before 10 rounds is up.
Failure: The rod creature doubles its attacks on the spine of the king, removing D6 rounds remaining until the king dies. No xp is rewarded for removing the rod though the skill challenge can be tried again.
Removing the Rod creature successfully automatically moves it to the second stage (as if it took 300 points of damage)
Major Skills Involved:
Arcana – DC 26 – The character sees a weak spot in the creature’s defenses and exploits it while it is helplessly wrapped around the spinal column. This can be used for one success.
Athletics – DC 28 – The character climbs up and begins prying the metallic appendages off of the spinal column. Up to three characters can assist with this.
Dungeoneering – DC 24 – The character’s knowledge of tunnels allows them insight on how the creature is wrapped up on the spinal column. This success gives a companion character a +2 bonus to a skill roll.
Perception – DC 26 – The same as Dungeoneering.
Thievery – DC 26 – The character masterfully manipulates the rod appendages off of the spinal column using deftness of hands and dexterity.
Owning any piece of the Rod of Seven Parts grants the player a +2 bonus to any of these skill checks
Encounter Contents
1 Rod Creature (level 18 solo 10,000 xp)
2x Necrotic Pudding (level 16 Lurker 2,800 xp)
4x Rod Spawn (level 16 minion 1,400 xp)
Necrotic Pudding – level 16 Lurker (1,400 xp)
Size: Large
HP: 110 | 55 AC: 28 Fort: 32 Ref: 26 Wil: 32
Movement: 5 (unaffected by difficult terrain)
+18 stealth (the creature begins by hiding above and dropping onto a character (the closest, puddings are not smart and do not employ tactics. Players who are not aware of the pudding who are attacked in this way grant Combat Advantage that turn)
Standard Action: Engulf (+21 AC 3d8+11 damage Ongoing 10 necromantic save ends)
Standard Action (Enc): Engulf (burst 1)
Vulnerable 10 radiant
Being killed by a pudding turns a player into one that starts out bloodied. Puddings must be destroyed before the player can be raised from the dead.
Combat Advantage: Puddings do an additional 3d6 points of damage if CA
Rod Creature Stage I (untyped)
Size: Gargantuan
HP: 300 (no bloody value) AC: 30 Fort: 28 Ref: 24 Wil: 30
Standard Action: barbed whip (+23 vs AC 3d8 +13 radiant damage and target weakened (save))
Radiant Damage heals it
No movement in this stage. No Action Point usage
Rod Creature Stage II (skirmisher)
Size: Large
HP: 300 (no bloody value) AC: 32 Fort: 28 Ref: 28 Wil: 30
Movement: 8 Action Point: 1
Standard Action: 3 barbed whips (+23 vs AC 3d8+13 radiant damage. If hit by one, target weakened (save). If hit by two, target dominated (save). If hit by all three target stunned (save) then weakened (save))
Standard Action (enc): Nova Burst – burst attack (2) +22 vs Fort. 3d8+13 radiant damage and those hit dazed (save)
Move action – shift 3 squares
Minor Action – Radiant Burst (burst 2) +22 vs fort – target dazed (save ends)
Radiant Damage heals it for that many points
Rod Creature Stage III (Bloodied Brute)
Size: Medium
HP: 300 (bloodied) AC 28 Fort: 26 Ref: 32 Wil: 30
Movement: 8 Action Point: 1
Standard Action: Barbed Whip Burst (burst 2) +21 vs AC 4d8+13 damage
Movement Action: Shift 3
Minor Action: Lashing Trip (+21 vs Ref) target falls prone
If combat Advantage do an additional +2d8 points of damage
Radiant damage heals it by that many points
Rod Creature Tactics
Stage I the creature is fairly docile, attacking the spinal column. It is focused on this. Once the players knock it to stage two, the creature breaks loose from its large metallic shell, shrinking in size to large. The creature then attempts to move within the characters to perform its nova burst, and then lashes out at the players.
By stage three, the players have removed the outer shell and what remains goes bezerk. The rod creature will quickly expend its action point, burst attacking as many players as it can and doing more damage than before as it tries to finish the players. The creature is not as accurate while in this mode but does more damage, especially to a creature it has tripped (gaining Combat Advantage over it)
The End
Defeating the Rod Creature transforms it back into a piece of the Rod of Seven Parts.
Play Testing
My group of six characters consist of (all level 16)
Human Paladin configured as a striker (+24 to hit AC 30 double handed sword)
Genasai Warlord leader (+20 to hit AC 29)
Deva Shaman leader (+18 to hit AC 27)
Dwarf Runepriest leader (+19 to hit AC 29)
Gnome warlock striker (+18 to hit NADs mostly AC 29)
Gith Monk striker (+19 to hit AC 32)
No controller in the group means that minions can and will hurt them.
The way the encounter is structured goes away from my norm. I normally start with at level, then progress harder. In this set of encounters I actually started at +2 level (18th) and then dropped to 16.
As the max encounter was +3 level, the odds of dropping a PC through death was roughly 15-20%. I find that +3 level is very challenging but the PCs can usually get through it without dying, though it taxes their resources (so long as you aren't using the old damage expressions, which were laughable at best)
The first encounter tore up the players a bit. They bunched up on the white cells and the paladin walked through the ichor and got stuck dominated, and wailed on his own party for a couple of turns.
The party ended up burning about 35% of their resources in this fight.
The second encounter was a breeze, being at-level.
The final encounter was a fun one. In the end, the warlock was knocked out, the warlord was knocked out, and I managed to get the paladin down to no healing surges left which is quite a feat considering he has 14 and about 140 hit points. He absorbed nearly 1,000 points of damage in this battle.
The dazed conditions kept the party moving around a little and neutralized some of the strikers, though the paladin again was the worst for wear, taking most of the hits from the puddings and attracting the ire of the rod beast.
All in all I feel this is a challenging set of encounters that will take your party to the limit, but they have a very strong (80% or so) of coming out on top, which is what I feel the game is designed for the most part.
Note On Terrain:
The battle was fought primarily in a 6 square wide tunnel that stretched about 40-50 squares long. I put alcoves here and there to break it up a little. This kind of hemmed in movement. |