Pretty soon the players in the campaign will be facing a vampire, in the vampire's lair. There will be a couple of minions that they will fight beforehand, but I also want to set a tone of evil and get them sort of creeped out beforehand. This is probably the defining fight of their careers at this point and is the last battle in this campaign for them. We may choose to go on to other things (HotDQ) or this may end it.
What I was thinking of was them coming across a bunch of undead skeletons, all playing Tibetan singing bowls. All wearing what look like tattered monk's robes, filling the room with an ominous droning noise...A room full of them, sitting on all sides of a room lit by widely spaced flickering torches, with shadows dancing randomly. They will not attack, but the noise they make creates an antimagic field in the room. This field does not suppress natural abilities (so the vampire can still polymorph, the party's blood hunter can still assume hybrid form) but otherwise all effects of an antimagic spell are in effect. This is one place the vampire brings in those who might kill it with magic, or fights them if they get here.
Thoughts on this? I don't know if they will fight here, but I want them well and truly nervous...
I like it. Other ways to increase tension could be to trap the party somehow, so they don't know the way out and/or some sort of time limit or race. Maybe they must slay the vamp before dawn or an important NPC will die...and rise as a thrall....
My only concern is that you'd be completely shutting down a spellcaster in the party. An option is to require Con saves for concentration when a spell is cast instead of ruling out magic altogether.
My only concern is that you'd be completely shutting down a spellcaster in the party. An option is to require Con saves for concentration when a spell is cast instead of ruling out magic altogether.
Understood, but I don't want them to have any fights in here. it is really just meant to amp up the creepy factor and (hopefully) make the BBEG fight more epic. They can get through the room.
To throw it out there....rather than have a blanket anti-magic field have you thought about using the "skeletal chorus" in manner similar to a beholder? Have a direction anti-magic cone (so as not to completely nerf the spellcasters but give them the sense that the room is targeting them specifically) then have some additional effects based on the zombie beholder eye rays (Enervation, Disintergration, Fear, Paralyse). You can describe the sound changing when each power manifests.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
* Need a character idea? Search for "Rob76's Unused" in the Story and Lore section.
The skeletal choir could just give something akin to bardic inspiration for undead ie your vampire
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“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
To throw it out there....rather than have a blanket anti-magic field have you thought about using the "skeletal chorus" in manner similar to a beholder? Have a direction anti-magic cone (so as not to completely nerf the spellcasters but give them the sense that the room is targeting them specifically) then have some additional effects based on the zombie beholder eye rays (Enervation, Disintergration, Fear, Paralyse). You can describe the sound changing when each power manifests.
Not a bad idea, but I don't plan on any fights here, I just really want to ramp up the "oh crap" factor to maximize that the BBEG is powerful and make the final fight epic.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Pretty soon the players in the campaign will be facing a vampire, in the vampire's lair. There will be a couple of minions that they will fight beforehand, but I also want to set a tone of evil and get them sort of creeped out beforehand. This is probably the defining fight of their careers at this point and is the last battle in this campaign for them. We may choose to go on to other things (HotDQ) or this may end it.
What I was thinking of was them coming across a bunch of undead skeletons, all playing Tibetan singing bowls. All wearing what look like tattered monk's robes, filling the room with an ominous droning noise...A room full of them, sitting on all sides of a room lit by widely spaced flickering torches, with shadows dancing randomly. They will not attack, but the noise they make creates an antimagic field in the room. This field does not suppress natural abilities (so the vampire can still polymorph, the party's blood hunter can still assume hybrid form) but otherwise all effects of an antimagic spell are in effect. This is one place the vampire brings in those who might kill it with magic, or fights them if they get here.
Thoughts on this? I don't know if they will fight here, but I want them well and truly nervous...
I like it. Other ways to increase tension could be to trap the party somehow, so they don't know the way out and/or some sort of time limit or race. Maybe they must slay the vamp before dawn or an important NPC will die...and rise as a thrall....
Cool visual.
My only concern is that you'd be completely shutting down a spellcaster in the party. An option is to require Con saves for concentration when a spell is cast instead of ruling out magic altogether.
Understood, but I don't want them to have any fights in here. it is really just meant to amp up the creepy factor and (hopefully) make the BBEG fight more epic. They can get through the room.
Thank you. That is what i was hoping it would be.
To throw it out there....rather than have a blanket anti-magic field have you thought about using the "skeletal chorus" in manner similar to a beholder? Have a direction anti-magic cone (so as not to completely nerf the spellcasters but give them the sense that the room is targeting them specifically) then have some additional effects based on the zombie beholder eye rays (Enervation, Disintergration, Fear, Paralyse). You can describe the sound changing when each power manifests.
The skeletal choir could just give something akin to bardic inspiration for undead ie your vampire
“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
Not a bad idea, but I don't plan on any fights here, I just really want to ramp up the "oh crap" factor to maximize that the BBEG is powerful and make the final fight epic.