So my group is very suspicious of the bbeg but they are too low level to take him on. He’s a warlock with a powerful patron who’s speciality is nightmares and dreams. so when they attack him I was thinking after his fully mops the floor with them instead of just dying they get sent to a dream dimension and they wake up as their normal selves, and must find each other, realize that real life is a dream and make their way back to their characters world. Perhaps learn how to banish the patron along the way. What do you think?
I also have a warlock BBEG using the Dream spell to torment the characters, and they have been in dream worlds induced by trippy hypnotic mushrooms where they had to fight their way out. It has been good fun, but be clear to the players that (a) this is a dream where appropriate, and (b) dying in the dream results in dying in the material plane.
Be careful of "Hahaha, I have defeated you, but now I will suspend you over a lazer shark tank and not watch what happens, oh damn you escaped."
The problem can be with separating them. If you do it as a group, all but one party member is sitting there worth nothing to do while you play with the one who is making their way to the rendezvous. You kind of need to do individual sessions to get them together, but then it can end up a bit of a railroad. If you figure, they’ll meet up at this spot, so I have to engineer something to get each of them there.
Thpugh I like the idea, and if you make it clear either the warlock or their patron feeds off pet in this dream state, it will be a good reason why BBEG doesn’t just kill them.
Go Freddy Krueger on them. The patron feeds on the fear of people in his nightmares. Get the players to write down some things that their PC's would be scared of and make sure they're game for some roleplay-heavy sessions.
Have the demiplane be a corrupted world which still has the original inhabitants, who can help to conspire against him. You could literally have the care-bears work with the players to take down Freddy, and that would be awesome.
If you have access to the Van Richten's sourcebook, read the description of the Dark Domain of I'Cath. It might give you some ideas
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Be careful of "Hahaha, I have defeated you, but now I will suspend you over a lazer shark tank and not watch what happens, oh damn you escaped."
That was my initial concern as well. It's just a matter of understanding why they ended up in the dream realm instead of being killed. Did someone or something intervene? Did the warlock send them and gain some material benefit? As a player, I wouldn't even need the answer to be that deep (though it would be preferred if it were something impactful), but it's a bit weird if we survived when the logical outcome was death.
It could depend on the warlock and/or their patron for how they consider the PCs. Maybe the patron has a malicious streak which would much rather see the PCs repeatedly placed through nightmares (if the patron was to gain power from nightmares, for instance).
Patrons don't always think like humans, so "kill them before they kill me" isn't always their first choice, sometimes it is torment, or just "for fun" (from the patron's view, not from the meta-game view).
Be careful of "Hahaha, I have defeated you, but now I will suspend you over a lazer shark tank and not watch what happens, oh damn you escaped."
That was my initial concern as well. It's just a matter of understanding why they ended up in the dream realm instead of being killed. Did someone or something intervene? Did the warlock send them and gain some material benefit? As a player, I wouldn't even need the answer to be that deep (though it would be preferred if it were something impactful), but it's a bit weird if we survived when the logical outcome was death.
It could depend on the warlock and/or their patron for how they consider the PCs. Maybe the patron has a malicious streak which would much rather see the PCs repeatedly placed through nightmares (if the patron was to gain power from nightmares, for instance).
Patrons don't always think like humans, so "kill them before they kill me" isn't always their first choice, sometimes it is torment, or just "for fun" (from the patron's view, not from the meta-game view).
It's not about 'kill them before they kill me'. Presumably, this warlock knows how their own magic works, so placing players in a position where they not only get stronger, but also learn the weaknesses of the warlock's patron...what is that? Gross incompetence or a death wish? Or some sort of bizarre warlock/ patron fetish? It's not about thinking like a human; it's about basic self-preservation and accounting for either why it isn't there, or why such a gross oversight could be made.
Don't forget that powerful beings can have serious oversights because they think that they are beneath them. For example, if the patron took over a dream plane to make their nightmare realm with a view to growing strong from peoples fear, they might have considered the previous inhabitants of the dream plane beneath contempt, and thought the nightmares would have dealt with them by now. Perhaps the heroes bring something through which makes them more powerful (magic mushrooms which only give good trips? Could be a psychadelic adventure!) allowing them to fight back against the nightmares. Just because everyone the villain has thrown in there has gone mad doesn't mean the party will.
Villains are notorious for underestimating the power of the locals or things they consider contemptible. Look at the ewoks from star wars!
It's not about 'kill them before they kill me'. Presumably, this warlock knows how their own magic works, so placing players in a position where they not only get stronger, but also learn the weaknesses of the warlock's patron...what is that? Gross incompetence or a death wish? Or some sort of bizarre warlock/ patron fetish? It's not about thinking like a human; it's about basic self-preservation and accounting for either why it isn't there, or why such a gross oversight could be made.
There's always the "warlock is looking for a way to get out of their pact/seize their patron's power for themselves directly" angle
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Be careful of "Hahaha, I have defeated you, but now I will suspend you over a lazer shark tank and not watch what happens, oh damn you escaped."
That was my initial concern as well. It's just a matter of understanding why they ended up in the dream realm instead of being killed. Did someone or something intervene? Did the warlock send them and gain some material benefit? As a player, I wouldn't even need the answer to be that deep (though it would be preferred if it were something impactful), but it's a bit weird if we survived when the logical outcome was death.
It could depend on the warlock and/or their patron for how they consider the PCs. Maybe the patron has a malicious streak which would much rather see the PCs repeatedly placed through nightmares (if the patron was to gain power from nightmares, for instance).
Patrons don't always think like humans, so "kill them before they kill me" isn't always their first choice, sometimes it is torment, or just "for fun" (from the patron's view, not from the meta-game view).
It's not about 'kill them before they kill me'. Presumably, this warlock knows how their own magic works, so placing players in a position where they not only get stronger, but also learn the weaknesses of the warlock's patron...what is that? Gross incompetence or a death wish? Or some sort of bizarre warlock/ patron fetish? It's not about thinking like a human; it's about basic self-preservation and accounting for either why it isn't there, or why such a gross oversight could be made.
Don't forget that powerful beings can have serious oversights because they think that they are beneath them. For example, if the patron took over a dream plane to make their nightmare realm with a view to growing strong from peoples fear, they might have considered the previous inhabitants of the dream plane beneath contempt, and thought the nightmares would have dealt with them by now. Perhaps the heroes bring something through which makes them more powerful (magic mushrooms which only give good trips? Could be a psychadelic adventure!) allowing them to fight back against the nightmares. Just because everyone the villain has thrown in there has gone mad doesn't mean the party will.
Villains are notorious for underestimating the power of the locals or things they consider contemptible. Look at the ewoks from star wars!
I would go with "When someone is killed in the dream realm, the warlock's patron feeds on their soul and absorbs them, which in turn strengthens the warlock." That's a good reason to put them into a dream (and let's say that nobody has ever survived it before - the warlock believes it's certain death) rather than killing them. The warlock must receive a benefit from this convoluted way of offing a defeated opponent.
Be careful of "Hahaha, I have defeated you, but now I will suspend you over a lazer shark tank and not watch what happens, oh damn you escaped."
That was my initial concern as well. It's just a matter of understanding why they ended up in the dream realm instead of being killed. Did someone or something intervene? Did the warlock send them and gain some material benefit? As a player, I wouldn't even need the answer to be that deep (though it would be preferred if it were something impactful), but it's a bit weird if we survived when the logical outcome was death.
It could depend on the warlock and/or their patron for how they consider the PCs. Maybe the patron has a malicious streak which would much rather see the PCs repeatedly placed through nightmares (if the patron was to gain power from nightmares, for instance).
Patrons don't always think like humans, so "kill them before they kill me" isn't always their first choice, sometimes it is torment, or just "for fun" (from the patron's view, not from the meta-game view).
It's not about 'kill them before they kill me'. Presumably, this warlock knows how their own magic works, so placing players in a position where they not only get stronger, but also learn the weaknesses of the warlock's patron...what is that? Gross incompetence or a death wish? Or some sort of bizarre warlock/ patron fetish? It's not about thinking like a human; it's about basic self-preservation and accounting for either why it isn't there, or why such a gross oversight could be made.
Don't forget that powerful beings can have serious oversights because they think that they are beneath them. For example, if the patron took over a dream plane to make their nightmare realm with a view to growing strong from peoples fear, they might have considered the previous inhabitants of the dream plane beneath contempt, and thought the nightmares would have dealt with them by now. Perhaps the heroes bring something through which makes them more powerful (magic mushrooms which only give good trips? Could be a psychadelic adventure!) allowing them to fight back against the nightmares. Just because everyone the villain has thrown in there has gone mad doesn't mean the party will.
Villains are notorious for underestimating the power of the locals or things they consider contemptible. Look at the ewoks from star wars!
I would go with "When someone is killed in the dream realm, the warlock's patron feeds on their soul and absorbs them, which in turn strengthens the warlock." That's a good reason to put them into a dream (and let's say that nobody has ever survived it before - the warlock believes it's certain death) rather than killing them. The warlock must receive a benefit from this convoluted way of offing a defeated opponent.
That's a good one. It would also prompt the patron to send the warlock in after them to see why they aren't dead yet! Possibly offering a route out (artefact stolen from warlock).
So my group is very suspicious of the bbeg but they are too low level to take him on. He’s a warlock with a powerful patron who’s speciality is nightmares and dreams. so when they attack him I was thinking after his fully mops the floor with them instead of just dying they get sent to a dream dimension and they wake up as their normal selves, and must find each other, realize that real life is a dream and make their way back to their characters world. Perhaps learn how to banish the patron along the way. What do you think?
I also have a warlock BBEG using the Dream spell to torment the characters, and they have been in dream worlds induced by trippy hypnotic mushrooms where they had to fight their way out. It has been good fun, but be clear to the players that (a) this is a dream where appropriate, and (b) dying in the dream results in dying in the material plane.
Be careful of "Hahaha, I have defeated you, but now I will suspend you over a lazer shark tank and not watch what happens, oh damn you escaped."
The problem can be with separating them. If you do it as a group, all but one party member is sitting there worth nothing to do while you play with the one who is making their way to the rendezvous. You kind of need to do individual sessions to get them together, but then it can end up a bit of a railroad. If you figure, they’ll meet up at this spot, so I have to engineer something to get each of them there.
Thpugh I like the idea, and if you make it clear either the warlock or their patron feeds off pet in this dream state, it will be a good reason why BBEG doesn’t just kill them.
Go Freddy Krueger on them. The patron feeds on the fear of people in his nightmares. Get the players to write down some things that their PC's would be scared of and make sure they're game for some roleplay-heavy sessions.
Have the demiplane be a corrupted world which still has the original inhabitants, who can help to conspire against him. You could literally have the care-bears work with the players to take down Freddy, and that would be awesome.
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!
Thank you for the great ideas!
If you have access to the Van Richten's sourcebook, read the description of the Dark Domain of I'Cath. It might give you some ideas
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
It could depend on the warlock and/or their patron for how they consider the PCs. Maybe the patron has a malicious streak which would much rather see the PCs repeatedly placed through nightmares (if the patron was to gain power from nightmares, for instance).
Patrons don't always think like humans, so "kill them before they kill me" isn't always their first choice, sometimes it is torment, or just "for fun" (from the patron's view, not from the meta-game view).
Don't forget that powerful beings can have serious oversights because they think that they are beneath them. For example, if the patron took over a dream plane to make their nightmare realm with a view to growing strong from peoples fear, they might have considered the previous inhabitants of the dream plane beneath contempt, and thought the nightmares would have dealt with them by now. Perhaps the heroes bring something through which makes them more powerful (magic mushrooms which only give good trips? Could be a psychadelic adventure!) allowing them to fight back against the nightmares. Just because everyone the villain has thrown in there has gone mad doesn't mean the party will.
Villains are notorious for underestimating the power of the locals or things they consider contemptible. Look at the ewoks from star wars!
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!
There's always the "warlock is looking for a way to get out of their pact/seize their patron's power for themselves directly" angle
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
I would go with "When someone is killed in the dream realm, the warlock's patron feeds on their soul and absorbs them, which in turn strengthens the warlock." That's a good reason to put them into a dream (and let's say that nobody has ever survived it before - the warlock believes it's certain death) rather than killing them. The warlock must receive a benefit from this convoluted way of offing a defeated opponent.
That's a good one. It would also prompt the patron to send the warlock in after them to see why they aren't dead yet! Possibly offering a route out (artefact stolen from warlock).
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!