In short: In a 1-shot, I want the PCs to be chased by something too terrible for them to fight, so they must escape the dungeon, all the while being slowed by traps, hazzards, and the unwitting monsters of said dungeon. Once on the surface, the PCs can use an artifact to stop this terrible thing from reaching the surface. What could be this horrible thing that makes the 11th level PCs run like hell for their lives?
Full explanation:
1. I'm designing a 1-shot (for a friend's at-home 'con'). 3-4 hours of play, mix of experienced and inexperienced players, pre-gen characters at level 11 (not my choice, the host decided on it and posted this starting point).
2. Host of the con wants "a dungeon crawl-style adventure with traps and lots of combat."
3. My thoughts: simple, straightforward goal; not a lot of story necessary; an interesting trap/puzzle or two that challenges the players and their characters; 2-3 minor combat encounters with a battle royale to finish.
I've run 1-shots before, and I prefer this recipe:
Start with a big splash beginning (thrusts everyone into action by presenting a clear and exciting threat)
Present a challenging villain with a simple goal that the PCs are compelled to stop
A helpful NPC or two for info/aid/direction
Give the characters a chance to shine (the pre-gen characters are all core classes and races for simplicity)...traps, arcane runes, varied foes and obstacles.
Key location(s). In this case, the dungeon/tomb/prison
TENSION. Keep things moving. Hence, the chase and escape.
My idea is to have the party start deep in a dungeon (or tomb or prison). An NPC traveling with the party inadvertently unleashes some Horrible Thing (by miscalculation, tempted by ambition, or betrayal perhaps). The party must make their way out of the dungeon, avoiding traps and some speed-bump combats while they are being chased by the Horrible Thing.
Anytime they get hung up on a trap or combat, the Horrible Thing closes in on them, destroying everything in its path, sometimes even the party's foes (ie cocky fire giants make a stand against the Horrible Thing and get obliterated).
PCs must escape the dungeon and seal it shut to contain the Horrible Thing or defeat the Horrible Thing, perhaps with an artifact from the nearby town that is designed for that exact purpose.
Once I have the Horrible Thing (be it a demon, lesser god, mummy lord, a sentient blood storm, whatever), the rest will fall into place: how to stop it, what kind of traps are in the dungeon, etc.
One of my favorite monsters I've had to create was an amalgamation of different monsters:
Evil druid decided he could do better than nature and started to make his own creations combining various plants and creatures. I had a Troll/black pudding hybrid, a Roper/Needle Blight hybrid, and a Otygh/Shambling Mound hybrid.
The culmination of his experiments however was a Beholder/Displacer Beast/Ettin. The body of an Ettin, the torso held the main eye of the beholder, each of the ettin heads' eyes were where the rays would come from. It had the two tentacles from it's back like a displacer, and had the blur ability. Finally it was of two minds like an Ettin, but the mind was that of the Beholder, split into two consciousnesses. Unfortunately the party found a way to interrupt the druid's machinations so the creature never saw it's full potential...but it was a really neat concept to build.
Don't forget about non-creature threats, such as (poison) gas or rising/flooding water to put a sense of urgency into player movement. I've always been fond of a 'creeping fog' which causes <unsavory effects> upon contact with organic matter.
I know this isn't the topic, but just a word of advice. If you have a mix of experienced and inexperienced players, I wouldn't advise running a level 11 adventure. I've run games for a number of conventions and what I've found is that when I run an adventure much higher than level 5, it starts to overwhelm the less experienced players.
As for the horrible thing, I don't think it can be a monster. The reason I say this is because what if the characters defeat the monster? Then you've lost the tension motivating them to escape the dungeon.
I think Sedge is right. It should be something like a poison gas, lava, rising water, an expanding planar rift, or something like that which spells certain doom if the players encounter it.
There is a way to make the monster the big bad, it just requires some very strong understanding of how to make the monster "unbeatable".
First you set up the scene by placing the characters in front of a different monster, or group of monsters. These monsters easily defeat the players, not kill, basically you're setting the entire adventure's theme, mood, etc with this initial combat. You let the players know that there are monsters around that can, and will, defeat them with little effort. As the players recover from their loss, they'll be a lot more cautious about how they move forward. Prefacing this, during the introduction of the adventure and players, you let them know that this is going to be a grim and difficult dungeon crawl.
After they've moved deeper into the dungeon, only a few rooms, you place them in a spectator situation. Something holds the players back from joining in on the battle if they're crazy enough to try. In this battle they see the creature(s) that defeated them easily, and a new one. The creature(s) they fought unload their deadliest attacks, and this single creature takes each hit as though it were nothing. After the creature(s) finish their attack the new creature destroys them, not kills..destroys them. In a single action this new monster wipes the floor and doesn't even seem to do more than lift a single finger to do so. The creature then notices the party, makes a menacing roar, points a finger, or some gesture to show that they've been recognized as the next target. Then the creature runs off, vanishes, or otherwise leaves the stage.
This one-two combination will create a very powerful set up to provide initial tension. From here you have to play the monster with two minds. First mind is the omniscient and omnipresent mind, it knows all and is everywhere. No matter where the group is the monster knows and the monster knows what the party is doing. This allows for the second mind to act, the second mind is the creature itself and how it reacts when it is near the party, the active mind. The active mind only happens when there is a reason for the monster to show up, when the party does something that might attract it's attention. The party sets off a trap, they hear the roar of the monster from a near by room, the party gets into a fight, the monster is heard stomping toward them. The monster doesn't always enter the room they are in, if the players try to hide from it they can avoid the monster seeing them. If the players run to a different room they could avoid the monster all together. However, if the monster does enter the room with them, they need a way to escape. Whether it be using the stuff in the room for a distraction, a spell, or someone being bait, they need to be given a way to escape. If they choose to engage the monster..the first time ends with them being sent back to the beginning of the dungeon or something similar. If they make the mistake of engaging it without the artifact or whatever tool the DM has designed again, well, they were warned.
Personally, I've only seen unbeatable big bads in two games. The first one was in a game I ran. The second was a game I played in. In both cases, it upset the players. I wouldn't recommend it.
How about you don’t say what it is, nor exactly describe it, more than it just scares the snot out of them. Also, if I read you correctly you want a sense of urgency to it. It’s a one shot, you want them to basically keep running and get out of the dungeon they are stuck in.
With that in mind, how about an otherworldly Old Great One horror? Introduce Sanity. It’s a one shot, after all. Each character has quite a bit of it (level 11 after all), but any time the “horror” comes near them, they lose a ton. This way you can end fights early, as their opponents can go from max to zero sanity right away, clearing the way for an escape. If you want to that is.
Remember overall to limit the encounters so you can keep the high pace. I would also push other elements of stress. Perhaps a small hourglass or a timer (at 60 seconds) and any time you have the group at a tough decision, start the timer? Keep everything hectic. And the sanity, have that highly visible. All players should see that bar go down steadily.
Lastly, if it’s a one shot and you use a Cthulhu-like monster, allow PCs to die but make it count. Survival in a Lovecraft story is to end up in an asylum (basically). It’s D&D after all so that might be too much, but towards the end of the session, deaths and perhaps insane survivors could be an option.
A final option is to allow the ending of the one shot to affect future games. Failure to get out and seal the dungeon off - if so only by the last survivor - means having the horror let lose on the world. For your next session or regular campaign you could have that impact greatly.
One of the higher CR fiends, I'd say. Have it appear intermittently and don't worry if the characters try to fight it; just play out small combats. E.g. if the fiend suffers 50hp damage it retreats, only to harass them again soon after. Play up the fact it's toying with them, mocking them.
Good advice, thanks. I'll have a theatrical way to display how deadly a threat this Monster is, and it will be understood that this thing is not to be fought.
I understand the notion of using an environmental effect, like a death fog or flooding, but I think I want more terror, more malice. An actual thing trying to catch them gives a different kind of urgency.
An ooze or gelatinous cube that has eaten a Ring of Regeneration...
No no. Ring of Wishes and used the last Wish.
Have them fight a bad guy, then just before they can beat him he pulls out a Ring of Wishes... Then BAmF ooze falls, kills him and eats the ring. Now everything goes to hell in a handbasket and they gave to escape.
For less comedy, have them and the big bad both after it.
Now it's just expanding and expanding... Damage can't kill it, only slow it.
If you're set on a monster - as opposed to a natural or magical phenomenon such as rising water, poisonous gas etc - then why not consider a shambling horde of awoken undead?
Your dungeon could turn out to be the lost location of an ancient crypt, its mythical danger matched only by the promise of vast rewards, including the magical staff / crown / pendant / ring / treasure horde of the king at the centre of the darkest tomb on the deepest level.
Of course, snagging the most prized jewel from the pedestal in the centre of the room awakes the dead. And it turns out hundreds, if not thousands, were buried here. But uh-oh, the way you came in has been sealed - and the only way out is through a trap filled, puzzle covered series of passageways and tombs... and the dead aren't far behind.
With that in mind, how about an otherworldly Old Great One horror?
Like an insurance salesman! Dun-dun-DUNNNN! :-)
Haha, yeah, that ended up in the wrong order. I leave that unedited for the fun of it. 😬
But errors aside, generally speaking Cthulhu one offs are great fun, as one session games often mean you care a lot less if your PC does, as long as the scenario is entertaining.
A gelatinous cube (or any ooze, though the cube works better because the npc could be walking ahead and get stuck in it), that has been changed in some way to be faster than it usually is feels like a cool chase encounter. You could possibly even have a sort of “closing walls” trap where, instead of walls, it’s gelatinous cubes, and the party has to open a panel in the floor somehow to escape.
One thing I like about the super (gelatinous) cube. Is that if it Wished to be "bigger" or "more" or something...
If you have some giant mega dungeon. The cube could expand at 5' per n number of turns. Anything that gets Engulfed now takes damage, so it even starts creating a stampede effect as other creatures are trying to get out. Anything within 5' of any cube of the ooze could be targeted by a Pseudopod.
This makes the hypercube into an ever present threat that they can't rest from... every turn could matter. Possible give each 5' of cube a HP block (84 standard might be a little high). So the party can try to "push back" at it... but it ultimately can't be destroyed by them.
I feel like the Big Bad would be a good idea, but at the same time have an environmental effect.
For example, say you have a fiend or a demon of some kind. There is a black miasma surrounding it that slowly fills whatever room it goes into, and seeps into the rooms it is about to enter. This miasma in particular would depend on the type of fiend or demon. Say its a Succubus Queen. The miasma would have a pinkish tint to it, and anyone that spends 2 ronds in it would become corrupted, and turned into her slaves, or just drained of all energy. (so damage that can only be healed by a long rest, which still only recovers a bit of the damage.) if its a different type, such as a Balor, the miasma has a red tint, and causes the npc or player stuck in the miasma to burst int flames and become dust, with nothing being able to stop the burning. Or ot could be a generalized miasma that caused the character to become demonic, and under the control of the demon/fiend while getting a power boost.
It could be a creature that has such a powerful aura of magic that anything that spends too long in its presence could mutate and become a crazed beast, if the mutation doesn't just cause them to explode. (talk about memorable).
If its an undead, an aura of Necrotic Energy would be good, which causes all characters to slowly lose health and energy even when the creature is not in the room. (so, every turn, a small chunk of health gone, and every 5 rounds, a random stat loses 1 point in it). to deter the characters from fighting it, the health gets multiplied when in the same room, and the point drain happens every round.
Basically, the aura affects differently depending on your Big Bad. Just think, your players have to worry about the monster AND the effects it has, even when they aren't near it.
Just remember, you could use a normal monster, just SUPERCHARGE it. maybe make it a size category or 2 bigger. Give it an awe-inspiring visage (for this, look up a picture, and show it to the players to let them know what it looks like). Make it have a Lair Ability. This creature needs to be something to strike few into its friends and allies alike, give nightmares to children, and make people always look back over their shoulder for the boogeyman. You could treat it as Indiana Jones meets a Slasher Flick.
NPC: What's this do? *presses button labelled "Summon Shoggoth"*
I use the shoggoth as a specific example because the set up reminds me of the last leg of At the Mountains of Madness: the mad dash to escape the shoggoth as if charges after the pitiful mortals, destroying objects, structures, and crushing giant mutant penguins beneath it as it rushes forward.
In short: In a 1-shot, I want the PCs to be chased by something too terrible for them to fight, so they must escape the dungeon, all the while being slowed by traps, hazzards, and the unwitting monsters of said dungeon. Once on the surface, the PCs can use an artifact to stop this terrible thing from reaching the surface. What could be this horrible thing that makes the 11th level PCs run like hell for their lives?
Full explanation:
1. I'm designing a 1-shot (for a friend's at-home 'con'). 3-4 hours of play, mix of experienced and inexperienced players, pre-gen characters at level 11 (not my choice, the host decided on it and posted this starting point).
2. Host of the con wants "a dungeon crawl-style adventure with traps and lots of combat."
3. My thoughts: simple, straightforward goal; not a lot of story necessary; an interesting trap/puzzle or two that challenges the players and their characters; 2-3 minor combat encounters with a battle royale to finish.
I've run 1-shots before, and I prefer this recipe:
Start with a big splash beginning (thrusts everyone into action by presenting a clear and exciting threat)
Present a challenging villain with a simple goal that the PCs are compelled to stop
A helpful NPC or two for info/aid/direction
Give the characters a chance to shine (the pre-gen characters are all core classes and races for simplicity)...traps, arcane runes, varied foes and obstacles.
Key location(s). In this case, the dungeon/tomb/prison
TENSION. Keep things moving. Hence, the chase and escape.
My idea is to have the party start deep in a dungeon (or tomb or prison). An NPC traveling with the party inadvertently unleashes some Horrible Thing (by miscalculation, tempted by ambition, or betrayal perhaps). The party must make their way out of the dungeon, avoiding traps and some speed-bump combats while they are being chased by the Horrible Thing.
Anytime they get hung up on a trap or combat, the Horrible Thing closes in on them, destroying everything in its path, sometimes even the party's foes (ie cocky fire giants make a stand against the Horrible Thing and get obliterated).
PCs must escape the dungeon and seal it shut to contain the Horrible Thing or defeat the Horrible Thing, perhaps with an artifact from the nearby town that is designed for that exact purpose.
Once I have the Horrible Thing (be it a demon, lesser god, mummy lord, a sentient blood storm, whatever), the rest will fall into place: how to stop it, what kind of traps are in the dungeon, etc.
I appreciate any suggestions. Thanks!
One of my favorite monsters I've had to create was an amalgamation of different monsters:
Evil druid decided he could do better than nature and started to make his own creations combining various plants and creatures. I had a Troll/black pudding hybrid, a Roper/Needle Blight hybrid, and a Otygh/Shambling Mound hybrid.
The culmination of his experiments however was a Beholder/Displacer Beast/Ettin. The body of an Ettin, the torso held the main eye of the beholder, each of the ettin heads' eyes were where the rays would come from. It had the two tentacles from it's back like a displacer, and had the blur ability. Finally it was of two minds like an Ettin, but the mind was that of the Beholder, split into two consciousnesses. Unfortunately the party found a way to interrupt the druid's machinations so the creature never saw it's full potential...but it was a really neat concept to build.
Don't forget about non-creature threats, such as (poison) gas or rising/flooding water to put a sense of urgency into player movement. I've always been fond of a 'creeping fog' which causes <unsavory effects> upon contact with organic matter.
I know this isn't the topic, but just a word of advice. If you have a mix of experienced and inexperienced players, I wouldn't advise running a level 11 adventure. I've run games for a number of conventions and what I've found is that when I run an adventure much higher than level 5, it starts to overwhelm the less experienced players.
As for the horrible thing, I don't think it can be a monster. The reason I say this is because what if the characters defeat the monster? Then you've lost the tension motivating them to escape the dungeon.
I think Sedge is right. It should be something like a poison gas, lava, rising water, an expanding planar rift, or something like that which spells certain doom if the players encounter it.
There is a way to make the monster the big bad, it just requires some very strong understanding of how to make the monster "unbeatable".
First you set up the scene by placing the characters in front of a different monster, or group of monsters. These monsters easily defeat the players, not kill, basically you're setting the entire adventure's theme, mood, etc with this initial combat. You let the players know that there are monsters around that can, and will, defeat them with little effort. As the players recover from their loss, they'll be a lot more cautious about how they move forward. Prefacing this, during the introduction of the adventure and players, you let them know that this is going to be a grim and difficult dungeon crawl.
After they've moved deeper into the dungeon, only a few rooms, you place them in a spectator situation. Something holds the players back from joining in on the battle if they're crazy enough to try. In this battle they see the creature(s) that defeated them easily, and a new one. The creature(s) they fought unload their deadliest attacks, and this single creature takes each hit as though it were nothing. After the creature(s) finish their attack the new creature destroys them, not kills..destroys them. In a single action this new monster wipes the floor and doesn't even seem to do more than lift a single finger to do so. The creature then notices the party, makes a menacing roar, points a finger, or some gesture to show that they've been recognized as the next target. Then the creature runs off, vanishes, or otherwise leaves the stage.
This one-two combination will create a very powerful set up to provide initial tension. From here you have to play the monster with two minds. First mind is the omniscient and omnipresent mind, it knows all and is everywhere. No matter where the group is the monster knows and the monster knows what the party is doing. This allows for the second mind to act, the second mind is the creature itself and how it reacts when it is near the party, the active mind. The active mind only happens when there is a reason for the monster to show up, when the party does something that might attract it's attention. The party sets off a trap, they hear the roar of the monster from a near by room, the party gets into a fight, the monster is heard stomping toward them. The monster doesn't always enter the room they are in, if the players try to hide from it they can avoid the monster seeing them. If the players run to a different room they could avoid the monster all together. However, if the monster does enter the room with them, they need a way to escape. Whether it be using the stuff in the room for a distraction, a spell, or someone being bait, they need to be given a way to escape. If they choose to engage the monster..the first time ends with them being sent back to the beginning of the dungeon or something similar. If they make the mistake of engaging it without the artifact or whatever tool the DM has designed again, well, they were warned.
At least that's how I'd run it.
Personally, I've only seen unbeatable big bads in two games. The first one was in a game I ran. The second was a game I played in. In both cases, it upset the players. I wouldn't recommend it.
How about you don’t say what it is, nor exactly describe it, more than it just scares the snot out of them. Also, if I read you correctly you want a sense of urgency to it. It’s a one shot, you want them to basically keep running and get out of the dungeon they are stuck in.
With that in mind, how about an otherworldly Old Great One horror? Introduce Sanity. It’s a one shot, after all. Each character has quite a bit of it (level 11 after all), but any time the “horror” comes near them, they lose a ton. This way you can end fights early, as their opponents can go from max to zero sanity right away, clearing the way for an escape. If you want to that is.
Remember overall to limit the encounters so you can keep the high pace. I would also push other elements of stress. Perhaps a small hourglass or a timer (at 60 seconds) and any time you have the group at a tough decision, start the timer? Keep everything hectic. And the sanity, have that highly visible. All players should see that bar go down steadily.
Lastly, if it’s a one shot and you use a Cthulhu-like monster, allow PCs to die but make it count. Survival in a Lovecraft story is to end up in an asylum (basically). It’s D&D after all so that might be too much, but towards the end of the session, deaths and perhaps insane survivors could be an option.
A final option is to allow the ending of the one shot to affect future games. Failure to get out and seal the dungeon off - if so only by the last survivor - means having the horror let lose on the world. For your next session or regular campaign you could have that impact greatly.
Like an insurance salesman! Dun-dun-DUNNNN! :-)
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!
One of the higher CR fiends, I'd say. Have it appear intermittently and don't worry if the characters try to fight it; just play out small combats. E.g. if the fiend suffers 50hp damage it retreats, only to harass them again soon after. Play up the fact it's toying with them, mocking them.
Good advice, thanks. I'll have a theatrical way to display how deadly a threat this Monster is, and it will be understood that this thing is not to be fought.
I understand the notion of using an environmental effect, like a death fog or flooding, but I think I want more terror, more malice. An actual thing trying to catch them gives a different kind of urgency.
Ok. Take classic movies for inspiration.
The Blob!
An ooze or gelatinous cube that has eaten a Ring of Regeneration...
No no. Ring of Wishes and used the last Wish.
Have them fight a bad guy, then just before they can beat him he pulls out a Ring of Wishes... Then BAmF ooze falls, kills him and eats the ring. Now everything goes to hell in a handbasket and they gave to escape.
For less comedy, have them and the big bad both after it.
Now it's just expanding and expanding... Damage can't kill it, only slow it.
Great ideas here.
If you're set on a monster - as opposed to a natural or magical phenomenon such as rising water, poisonous gas etc - then why not consider a shambling horde of awoken undead?
Your dungeon could turn out to be the lost location of an ancient crypt, its mythical danger matched only by the promise of vast rewards, including the magical staff / crown / pendant / ring / treasure horde of the king at the centre of the darkest tomb on the deepest level.
Of course, snagging the most prized jewel from the pedestal in the centre of the room awakes the dead. And it turns out hundreds, if not thousands, were buried here. But uh-oh, the way you came in has been sealed - and the only way out is through a trap filled, puzzle covered series of passageways and tombs... and the dead aren't far behind.
Haha, yeah, that ended up in the wrong order. I leave that unedited for the fun of it. 😬
But errors aside, generally speaking Cthulhu one offs are great fun, as one session games often mean you care a lot less if your PC does, as long as the scenario is entertaining.
A gelatinous cube (or any ooze, though the cube works better because the npc could be walking ahead and get stuck in it), that has been changed in some way to be faster than it usually is feels like a cool chase encounter. You could possibly even have a sort of “closing walls” trap where, instead of walls, it’s gelatinous cubes, and the party has to open a panel in the floor somehow to escape.
One thing I like about the super (gelatinous) cube. Is that if it Wished to be "bigger" or "more" or something...
If you have some giant mega dungeon. The cube could expand at 5' per n number of turns.
Anything that gets Engulfed now takes damage, so it even starts creating a stampede effect as other creatures are trying to get out.
Anything within 5' of any cube of the ooze could be targeted by a Pseudopod.
This makes the hypercube into an ever present threat that they can't rest from... every turn could matter.
Possible give each 5' of cube a HP block (84 standard might be a little high). So the party can try to "push back" at it... but it ultimately can't be destroyed by them.
I feel like the Big Bad would be a good idea, but at the same time have an environmental effect.
For example, say you have a fiend or a demon of some kind. There is a black miasma surrounding it that slowly fills whatever room it goes into, and seeps into the rooms it is about to enter. This miasma in particular would depend on the type of fiend or demon. Say its a Succubus Queen. The miasma would have a pinkish tint to it, and anyone that spends 2 ronds in it would become corrupted, and turned into her slaves, or just drained of all energy. (so damage that can only be healed by a long rest, which still only recovers a bit of the damage.) if its a different type, such as a Balor, the miasma has a red tint, and causes the npc or player stuck in the miasma to burst int flames and become dust, with nothing being able to stop the burning. Or ot could be a generalized miasma that caused the character to become demonic, and under the control of the demon/fiend while getting a power boost.
It could be a creature that has such a powerful aura of magic that anything that spends too long in its presence could mutate and become a crazed beast, if the mutation doesn't just cause them to explode. (talk about memorable).
If its an undead, an aura of Necrotic Energy would be good, which causes all characters to slowly lose health and energy even when the creature is not in the room. (so, every turn, a small chunk of health gone, and every 5 rounds, a random stat loses 1 point in it). to deter the characters from fighting it, the health gets multiplied when in the same room, and the point drain happens every round.
Basically, the aura affects differently depending on your Big Bad. Just think, your players have to worry about the monster AND the effects it has, even when they aren't near it.
Just remember, you could use a normal monster, just SUPERCHARGE it. maybe make it a size category or 2 bigger. Give it an awe-inspiring visage (for this, look up a picture, and show it to the players to let them know what it looks like). Make it have a Lair Ability. This creature needs to be something to strike few into its friends and allies alike, give nightmares to children, and make people always look back over their shoulder for the boogeyman. You could treat it as Indiana Jones meets a Slasher Flick.
the dehaka from prince of Persia, at the very beginning have a super strong npc and just rip him apart and then start the chase
PCS: Nobody touch anything.
NPC: What's this do? *presses button labelled "Summon Shoggoth"*
I use the shoggoth as a specific example because the set up reminds me of the last leg of At the Mountains of Madness: the mad dash to escape the shoggoth as if charges after the pitiful mortals, destroying objects, structures, and crushing giant mutant penguins beneath it as it rushes forward.
Ongoing Projects: The Mimic Book of Mimics :: SHARK WEEK
Completed Projects: The Trick-or-Treat Table
My Homebrews: Races :: Classes :: Spells :: Items :: Monsters