I'm going to run my first campaign, and I'm going to do one that I loved the first time I played, back in the old days. White Plume Mountain. As a one-shot (or most likely a 2-shot...)
I've got some of the background built up, but I'm wondering what would be the "reward" for going in there and retrieving the missing magic items? My plan is for the party to meet with an emissary from one of the item's owners (namely, the Raven Queen) who will give them some Deus Ex Machina to get them to the mountain, and maybe back. And, the promise of a reward. There seems to be a lot of gold & gems in there as treasure, so... is that enough? Since this is a "one shot," and not part of a campaign, I have no problem letting them just keep those legendary weapons, but, the Queen would only let Black Razor's champion keep it if he actually DESERVED to keep it...
It's a party of 3 10th level PCs, "coached" into building PCs that are able to attune to each item.
Depending on the character classes and the die rolls - WPM could be either easy or a TPK for three level 10 characters. (Always the case, but encounters are generally more swingy for small groups since any effect that takes out a character reduces the effectiveness by 33% or more).
1) The vampire is in magical darkness and has a charm effect. If the party has the ability to deal with these then the encounter is pretty easy. Without spells like Calm Emotions and either DIspel Magic, Devils sight or a light spell of level 3+ then it could be a challenge for 3 characters.
2) Crossing the lava room is easiest if the party has some way to fly. Trying to be acrobats is likely to end badly just due to the number of rolls required - especially for 3 characters crossing the room.
3) The huge giant crab is just a DPS fight but you need to watch whether the characters do anything that could pierce the protective shell. For example, if one of the characters is using a greatsword, I would be tempted to impose disadvantage on the attack rolls if the character takes care to not hit and slice the protection. Similarly, ranged weapon attacks that miss have a very good chance of piercing the shell - piercing the shell is a very high risk situation if the characters can't quickly get the weapon from the chest and get out.
4) Metal armor wearing characters will have trouble with the induction heating corridor. However, when they remove their armor they will become more vulnerable to the ghoul ambushers are the far end of the corridor.
5) With bad luck, the inability to cure disease - the Super-tetanus disease from the frictionless corridor trap is deadly. The effect does 2d10/turn or 20d10 damage every minute but repeated saves are only allowed each minute and not each round. This means that it is consecutive saves for 20d10 damage every minute which will quickly kill a character. No damage type is mentioned.
6) Sir Bluto's guard post gives the action economy to the NPCs with 9 opponents but the DM can always adjust the numbers.
7) The aquarium room has a lot of opponents but if the characters can come up with a way to break the glass then some of the monsters might kill each other.
8) Remember the wandering monsters if the characters choose to rest ...
The dungeon has quite a bit of treasure as well as some magic items without including the legendary weapons. Adventurers League has the following rewards for turning in the weapons at the end of the module if you wanted some ideas:
"1. First Weapon Returned. Max gold for their tier for each character in the party, and each character may choose five rare consumables (following normal rules for the number of pieces of magical ammunition). A character could, for example, choose 2 potions of superior healing, 2 spells scroll of greater restoration, and 5 +2 crossbow bolts. 2. Second Weapon Returned. Each character may choose one of the following items: arrow catching shield, bracers of defense, canaith mandolin, necklace of prayer beads (with six beads), staff of the woodlands, +2 wand of the war mage, or a +2 weapon. 3. Third Weapon Returned. Each character receives either a blessing of protection or a blessing of weapon enhancement (player choice) and when the character gains 17th level, can claim one of these legendary items for their own use subject to the MIL restrictions."
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Hello,
I'm going to run my first campaign, and I'm going to do one that I loved the first time I played, back in the old days. White Plume Mountain. As a one-shot (or most likely a 2-shot...)
I've got some of the background built up, but I'm wondering what would be the "reward" for going in there and retrieving the missing magic items? My plan is for the party to meet with an emissary from one of the item's owners (namely, the Raven Queen) who will give them some Deus Ex Machina to get them to the mountain, and maybe back. And, the promise of a reward. There seems to be a lot of gold & gems in there as treasure, so... is that enough? Since this is a "one shot," and not part of a campaign, I have no problem letting them just keep those legendary weapons, but, the Queen would only let Black Razor's champion keep it if he actually DESERVED to keep it...
It's a party of 3 10th level PCs, "coached" into building PCs that are able to attune to each item.
Is that logical? And, what's going to trip me up?
Depending on the character classes and the die rolls - WPM could be either easy or a TPK for three level 10 characters. (Always the case, but encounters are generally more swingy for small groups since any effect that takes out a character reduces the effectiveness by 33% or more).
1) The vampire is in magical darkness and has a charm effect. If the party has the ability to deal with these then the encounter is pretty easy. Without spells like Calm Emotions and either DIspel Magic, Devils sight or a light spell of level 3+ then it could be a challenge for 3 characters.
2) Crossing the lava room is easiest if the party has some way to fly. Trying to be acrobats is likely to end badly just due to the number of rolls required - especially for 3 characters crossing the room.
3) The huge giant crab is just a DPS fight but you need to watch whether the characters do anything that could pierce the protective shell. For example, if one of the characters is using a greatsword, I would be tempted to impose disadvantage on the attack rolls if the character takes care to not hit and slice the protection. Similarly, ranged weapon attacks that miss have a very good chance of piercing the shell - piercing the shell is a very high risk situation if the characters can't quickly get the weapon from the chest and get out.
4) Metal armor wearing characters will have trouble with the induction heating corridor. However, when they remove their armor they will become more vulnerable to the ghoul ambushers are the far end of the corridor.
5) With bad luck, the inability to cure disease - the Super-tetanus disease from the frictionless corridor trap is deadly. The effect does 2d10/turn or 20d10 damage every minute but repeated saves are only allowed each minute and not each round. This means that it is consecutive saves for 20d10 damage every minute which will quickly kill a character. No damage type is mentioned.
6) Sir Bluto's guard post gives the action economy to the NPCs with 9 opponents but the DM can always adjust the numbers.
7) The aquarium room has a lot of opponents but if the characters can come up with a way to break the glass then some of the monsters might kill each other.
8) Remember the wandering monsters if the characters choose to rest ...
The dungeon has quite a bit of treasure as well as some magic items without including the legendary weapons. Adventurers League has the following rewards for turning in the weapons at the end of the module if you wanted some ideas:
"1. First Weapon Returned. Max gold for their tier for each character in the party, and each character may choose five rare consumables (following normal rules for the number of pieces of magical ammunition). A character could, for example, choose 2 potions of superior healing, 2 spells scroll of greater restoration, and 5 +2 crossbow bolts.
2. Second Weapon Returned. Each character may choose one of the following items: arrow catching shield, bracers of defense, canaith mandolin, necklace of prayer beads (with six beads), staff of the woodlands, +2 wand of the war mage, or a +2 weapon.
3. Third Weapon Returned. Each character receives either a blessing of protection or a blessing of weapon enhancement (player choice) and when the character gains 17th level, can claim one of these legendary items for their own use subject to the MIL restrictions."