The Three Pillars of Immersion
In the sunken ruins of Immersion, the city of the ancient all-male race of giant sages known as the Grognards, rests the MacGuffin Generica. This relic of all the previous iterations of Next World is the key to the Great Dissociation, the impending doom that will fall upon the world if the lingering Four Evils can see their nefarious plot to fruition: the creation of a mind-controlling grid to imprison the world, causing all of its inhabitants to cease any meaningful interaction and battle each other to the death. Unwitting agents of the Four Evils seek out this artifact, but so do agents of good - adventuring heroes that may be the world's only hope to avoid a horrible fate.
Immersion rests at the bottom of the Bog Standard, an oozing swamp and hunting grounds of the black dragon, Redscale, with only its tallest buildings still reaching above the still waters like the hand of a drowning man. Somewhere in these misty ruins lay the Vault of the MacGuffin, guarded by the deadly Grimtooth Gauntlet, an impossibly dangerous complex of traps and wards said to be impassable without knowledge of the password known only to King Neckbeard himself. By acquiring the password to the gauntlet, the key to the vault, and knowledge of where the vault is hidden, the MacGuffin Generica may be recovered.
At the entrance to the ruins, a runic map and the last rhyme of the Grognards offers a clue:
Pity we wise Grognards -
Our Immersion is Lost.
One path we demanded,
But at a terrible cost.
Will the world be righted?
Just the MacGuffin can say.
Three stout pillars remain,
To guide the next heroes' way.
Quest: Recover the MacGuffin Generica. The three pillars of Immersion - The Pillar of Interaction, The Pillar of Exploration, and The Pillar of Combat are noted on the runic map. Find them to acquire the password to the Grimtooth Gauntlet, the path to the prize, and the key to the vault.
The Pillar of Interaction
Scene Framing
The runic map has led you to a vast and once-glorious throne room now empty and ruined. Bog water drips from cracks in the ceiling and pools here and there. Rats scurry away and hide as you approach, squeaking plaintively. Before you sits the skeleton of the last regent of the Grognards, King Neckbeard the Wise, cobwebbed to his throne. Among many broken pillars stands just one and it begins to glow with a violet hue. "Hello?" a disembodied voice says. "Is somebody there?"
Before he died, the spirit of King Neckbeard the Wise possessed a pillar in his once-great throne room so that he could wait for worthy heroes to come to claim the MacGuffin Generica. With some effort (below) he vaguely recalls the password ("1-2-3-4-5") that shuts down the Grimtooth Gauntlet, but forgets where the gauntlet and vault are located and can't remember where he left the key before he died. Talking to King Neckbeard should be like talking to a lonely, forgetful old man who wants to make the conversation last as long as possible. He changes subjects frequently and forgets his points and spends a lot of time on irrelevancies.
In this interaction scene, the characters must complete each of these tasks below by whatever means they think is appropriate. Each attempt, success or fail, takes about 10 minutes because of how King Neckbeard interacts. If the PCs succeed at the four tasks, King Beckbeard gives them the password to the Grimtooth Gaunlet. In one hour, however, a wandering war band of a half-dozen orcs turns up spoiling for a fight. You will want to have telegraphed the orc's presence in the dungeon at some point during their travels and if the PCs begin to approach the 60 minute mark, they should know about the trouble that is soon to come their way. See "Lost Mine of Phandelver" for the orcs' statistics.
If the PCs prevail in the exciting battle that ensues, King Neckbeard is suitably entertained and believes the PCs to be the heroes he's been waiting for and shares the password to the Grimtooth Gauntlet. If the PCs fail to get the password before the orcs arrive and fail to defeat the orcs, they can still convince King Neckbeard of their worthiness by taking on and completing a minor quest to find his lost crown somewhere else in the ruins.
Task: Overcome King Neckbeard's Depression Caused by His Eternal Boredom (DC 10)
Task: Placate King Neckbeard's Concern About This Thing on His Back (DC 10)
Task: Indulge King Neckbeard's Passion for Out-of-Date Sports Trivia (DC 15)
Task: Help King Neckbeard Remember Facts Now Long Forgotten (DC 20)
How to Frame the Challenges:
"In talking to the disembodied voice of King Neckbeard, it is impossible not to detect a great deal of loneliness and depression in his voice, caused by his eternal boredom. He has been here trapped in this pillar with little to occupy his mind since a time beyond living memory and it shows. His indifference is hindering progress. How do you overcome his depression and boredom?"
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Two more Pillars of Immersion will be posted as I approach my 10,000th post on the forums! These are three scenes that I've created for use in a large dungeon complex (of an abstract design). They are appropriate for 4 or 5 1st-level PCs. In this scene, there is a countdown hovering over the PCs. Can they keep King Neckbeard focused and get the password before the orc warband shows up?
How might you frame the other challenges? How could you telegraph the threat of the orcs in an interesting way? What else would you add to this scene?
The Pillar of Exploration
In a section of Immersion known as the Gray Depths, the Grognard architect known as The Pixelbitch created a mazelike area to hide the Pillar of Exploration. This pillar is hidden among many others in the maze, but only one of them is the true pillar. Each of them is inscribed with runes that make them look like the Pillar of Exploration and it is only with close inspection that its authenticity can be determined.
The very real danger in this, however, is that each fake pillar is really a gray ooze, held in stasis by magic and molded into the shape of pillars. This magic is dispelled if the pillar is disturbed in any way or if a character triggers the reaction the ooze can take. Oozes will chase the PCs as long as they are in this area, constantly pursuing and attacking the closest target possible on their turn.The authenticity of a pillar's inscription can be ascertained by examining it while adjacent and, as an action, succeeding on an Intelligence (History or Investigation) check or a Wisdom (Perception) check against DC 15. Failing this check reveals that the pillar is fake, but releases the gray ooze. Gathering all the pertinent information to the location of the Vault of the MacGuffin off the real pillar takes a full round of effort (start of a PC's turn till start of next turn or end of PC's turn till end of next turn).
Gray Ooze
Medium ooze, unaligned
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Armor Class 8
Hit Points 26 (4d8+8); see Traits below
Speed 10 ft.
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Str 12 (+1) Dex 6 (-2) Con 14 (+2)
Int 2 (-4) Wis 6 (-2) Cha 1 (-5)
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Damage Resistances acid, cold, fire
Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, frightened, prone
Senses blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 8
Languages —
Challenge ? (?? XP)
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Amorphous: The ooze can squeeze through gaps that are at least 1 inch wide.
Dissolve: Any nonmagical weapon that hits the ooze becomes damaged and takes a -1 penalty to subsequent damage rolls. This penalty is cumulative with multiple hits. If a damaged weapon's penalty drops to -5, the weapon is destroyed. A damaged weapon costs half the weapon's cost to repair; a destroyed weapon cannot be repaired. Nonmagical ammunition that hits the ooze is destroyed instantly.
Stealthy +5: The ooze gains a +5 bonus to Dexterity (Stealth) checks.
ACTIONS
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Pseudopod. Melee Weapons Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit 5 (1d6+2) bludgeoning damage plus 3 (1d6) acid damage.
REACTIONS
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Passive Threat: When a creature ends its turn next to the ooze and is unaware of it, the ooze makes a free slam attack against the triggering creature.
The Pillar of Combat
Found among many levels of the Grognard archmage Vance's tower, the Pillar of Combat draws to it living creatures with violence in their heart where, upon death, they rise again as undead to continue their battles. There are six skeletons and six zombies here. See "Lost Mine of Phandelver" for their statistics. Except as noted below, the undead do not attack unless attacked or disturbed in some fashion in which case they attack en masse. Any creature slain in this chamber rises as a zombie under the DM's control one round later and begins its silent eternal march around the Pillar of Combat.
The design goal in this scene is to encourage the players to talk about their characters' histories and to consider that victory and defeat aren't always a matter of life and death.
Scene Framing
In a middle level of the archmage's tower, the stink is almost unbearable and flies buzz about. Here you come upon a horrific scene: a dozen corpses in varying states of decay slowly walking in a circle around a dais at the center of which stands The Pillar of Combat. It glows with a crimson nimbus and runs from floor to ceiling and slowly rotates. The skeletons and zombies are of various races and some bear equipment suitable to adventurers. They take no notice of your presence. At regular intervals on the pillar are four leering gargoyle faces with heads knocked to the side and a hand cupped around a pointed ear with an obvious hole in it. Inscribed on the pillar are the words: "Tell a tale of victory. Tell a tale of defeat. But a tale without violence is no mean feat." A distant din of battle lingers at the edge of perception.
When Vance created this puzzle, his goal was to give the key to the vault only to those who could recognize that victory and defeat were more than just matters of life and death in combat. It would be heroes like these who he estimated would see the bigger picture and be worthy of the prize. The key is on the top of the pillar, recessed into the ceiling. If a PC's tale of victory or defeat involves violence of any kind, the gargoyle's head curses at him for his shortsightedness: "See then what your violence has earned you!" and its face recedes into the stone of the pillar. Said PC must make a DC 12 Wisdom save or be charmed and forced to attack the nearest creature (even a friend). This act of violence provokes the nearest four zombies or skeletons into attacking until destroyed. If a PC's tale of victory or defeat does not involve violence, the gargoyle says, "There is much wisdom in this tale..." and its face recedes into the stone. When four different tales of any stripe have been offered by four different heroes, the pillar lowers into the floor and becomes a pedestal upon which rests the bejeweled key that can open the Vault of the Macguffin.
While this is the way the puzzle is designed, clever PCs might decide to skip the tale-telling altogether and try to disable the pillar in some fashion. This is a perfectly viable tact and requires the completion of several tasks with the approach determined by the player:
Task: Deafen and Silence the Gargoyles (DC 10)
Task: Distract the Undead (DC 10)
Task: Stop the Pillar's Rotation (DC 15)
Task: Pull the Pillar Down Into the Floor (DC 20)
When any check is failed, the task is completed but the nearest three undead move to attack until destroyed. If the undead are already destroyed, some other suitable setback is in order.
How to Frame a Challenge:
"As you set about trying to disable this pillar to get at the key, the gargoyles begin hurling curses and epithets at you. While sticks and stones can break yourr bones and names can never hurt you, it is riling up the undead in this chamber who begin groaning and looking at you menacingly. If something isn't done to silence them, these corpses may attack. What do you do?"
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What tales of victory and defeat might your favorite PC tell? How would you add to this to improve the scene?
None of this makes any sense to me.
Just to be clear...
So "scene framing" is background information for DM?
"How to Frame the Challenges" is the default information for players?