So my crew of level 7 adventurers were clear across the world from where their patron need them to be. So I wanted to not just give them a teleport in aid and took the seemingly longer , more theatric approach of their patron sending a druid friend to them to cast Windwalk and give them scrolls to finish the journey. I got to showcase the lands they passed over and had a setpiece encounter dealing with the lycanthropy curse on one of the players manifest on the night of the full moon. Cool stuff. They get to the end location with about 4 hours of the windwalk spell left.
My vision:
They would ask questions, find out about the threat. PLan defense for the attack that is reported to some that night (the town had been hit the last three nights too).
Defend attack and track the fleeing attackers back to their lair
Attack the fortified base through a small army to reach the BBEG. Numerous encounters etc.
What happened:
Ranger rolls a 28 to track the attackers the moment he get to town. Uses windwalk to find base and return. Everyone rushes with him to the base.
They brazenly sneak in down a hole (remember they are flying) into the cavern below which is the inside base. They stealth as wispy clouds along the ceiling to the space off of where the BBEG is and transform back to normal (1 minute).
They then proceed to barricade and web the only visible entrance into the room using spells and ingenuity. Defeat BBEG, and his two minions then find the secret exit of the BBEG and escape up. I even made rolls for the minions to try and break in every 6 seconds as they transformed back into wispy clouds to escape up the ladder to the secret exit from the lair. Highest roll I threw was a 12 on a 15 dc.
I was planning at least two sessions out of this, likely 3. I was impressed. And all cause I did not just wave my hand and have them teleport to the place they were needed.
Big Grin that's quite the Alpha Strike! lol! I do hear a lot that giving your players flight can be a total DM nightmare, am glad that you could enjoy your players laying waste to your best laid BBEG plans... I think that's a real sign of a great DM'ing flexibility being able to just let go and roll with it, incorporating the path your players choose to take and rather importantly enjoying it!
thx for the post Grebeir wishing you all the best, may your players characters learn to walk again ;)
“It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt, It lies behind stars and under hills, And empty holes it fills, It comes first and follows after, Ends life, kills laughter.” J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
I had planned an attack on a monastery the players had reached. They had gone there to warn the monastery that an army was coming.
Surprise! The army arrives on airships, invalidating the defender's walls...
What I had planned
There were 4 battle zones, which could be attended in any order (Phases 1-4). Each time they go to one, the other three zones move on in time and the things there are different.
The walls, where the anti-aircraft magic cannons were located, which was attacked by 3 stone giants that were dropped off by an airship. Lose all 4 cannons and you can't stop the airships.
The civilian district, where a gunship rains fire down on panicking civilian mobs. Special rules for mobs running around in panic. Each phase, more civilians perish.
The steps to the Hall of Swords, a dungeon the BBEG is trying to gain access to. Assaulted in phase 1, 2, and in 4 if BBEG has been to the temple in phase 2 or 3, then he'll show up, .
The temple, where a blind seer resides. From phase 2 onwards, an encounter with BBEG will happen here.
The PCs would only be able to go to 3 of the 4 locations, so would have to choose, and their actions would impact whatever happened in each.
What actually happened
Seeing the BBEG on the flaship, the 5 x Level 8 PCs use various means to fly up to the airship immediately and attacked it head on. They kicked the CR15 BBEG's butt easily, and before they were overwhelmed by all the minions (7 x CR4, 4 x CR5), they forced the BBEG to Dimension Door away into his cabin, dropped a keg of gunpowder they'd been carting around in a portable hole since level 3 and blew the front of the airship off, causing it to crash into the walls.
So my crew of level 7 adventurers were clear across the world from where their patron need them to be. So I wanted to not just give them a teleport in aid and took the seemingly longer , more theatric approach of their patron sending a druid friend to them to cast Windwalk and give them scrolls to finish the journey. I got to showcase the lands they passed over and had a setpiece encounter dealing with the lycanthropy curse on one of the players manifest on the night of the full moon. Cool stuff. They get to the end location with about 4 hours of the windwalk spell left.
My vision:
What happened:
I was planning at least two sessions out of this, likely 3. I was impressed. And all cause I did not just wave my hand and have them teleport to the place they were needed.
I loved it and they did too.
Big Grin that's quite the Alpha Strike! lol!
I do hear a lot that giving your players flight can be a total DM nightmare, am glad that you could enjoy your players laying waste to your best laid BBEG plans... I think that's a real sign of a great DM'ing flexibility being able to just let go and roll with it, incorporating the path your players choose to take and rather importantly enjoying it!
thx for the post Grebeir wishing you all the best, may your players characters learn to walk again ;)
“It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt, It lies behind stars and under hills, And empty holes it fills, It comes first and follows after, Ends life, kills laughter.” J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
I had planned an attack on a monastery the players had reached. They had gone there to warn the monastery that an army was coming.
Surprise! The army arrives on airships, invalidating the defender's walls...
What I had planned
There were 4 battle zones, which could be attended in any order (Phases 1-4). Each time they go to one, the other three zones move on in time and the things there are different.
The PCs would only be able to go to 3 of the 4 locations, so would have to choose, and their actions would impact whatever happened in each.
What actually happened
Seeing the BBEG on the flaship, the 5 x Level 8 PCs use various means to fly up to the airship immediately and attacked it head on. They kicked the CR15 BBEG's butt easily, and before they were overwhelmed by all the minions (7 x CR4, 4 x CR5), they forced the BBEG to Dimension Door away into his cabin, dropped a keg of gunpowder they'd been carting around in a portable hole since level 3 and blew the front of the airship off, causing it to crash into the walls.
So am I. Excellent thinking on the part of the players!
Also excellent on the GM allowing the players to follow through their clever tactic, rather than stonewalling it.