I am planning a dungeon story arc for my level 7 party of players, the premise is the next adventure will be them to find an ancient dwarven city that was abandoned (need to think of reason for it) and lost to time in the mountains, to find a forge within that was strongly enchanted with that it could destroy even the most powerful of cursed objects.
The party's barbarian has a cursed item that needs breaking and so they will go on a quest to find this city along with three npc dwarven brothers looking to find the ancient city, find the mystery why their people left it and find their great ancestors house and home.
I plan to have the flow of the story arc to go like this
*Cave environment (wild beasts/monsters and environmental hazards) > *Ancient city (artificial hazards like crumbling architecture, traps and minions or denizens that have made this their home with clues about the boss monster lingering here) > *Forge (reveal and battle of the boss monster, after which the players can use the forge to break the cursed item and maybe make some loot out of some of the left over material or even bits of the boss monster)
The problem is for the denizens/minions and boss I am stuck what to pick.
(Not planning to use fiends because I have used them in previous story arc)
I have a couple of ideas such as:
*Beholder and Nothics in the city (maybe the search for knowledge went wrong and many mages turned into Nothics hence the abandonment of the city with which the beholder came in later and took over, or the beholder was the cause)(Other option is Beholder with mind controlled servants or spectators)
*Necromancer/Lich (many undead servants and using the forge to create a phalactery or other items)
*Fake Necromancer (idea I had, someone wanting the city to themselves and it's secrets, enchanting the bones of the people who failed to escape the city's destruction to make servants and constructs out of bones)
*Rogue Construct (skynet situation with a Construct turning against its creators and making more servants, unable to leave the city due to built in failsafe but looking for a way to break the failsafe and expand the construct empire)
*Illithids (classic and easy to do with easy mindless servants but my players have played a lot of baldurs gate so I feel it's a little over done)
*Behir (this would more likely be a forced servant to a greater enemy, however it could be the new ruler of the lair)
*Nagpa (their lore about wizards cursed for meddling in a ritual to help the gods, cursed to be unable to learn any lore except from ruined civilisations, seems good for the city's ruin as it orchestrated it to gain it's lore, only issue is to figure out what minions or other methods it has to not be overwhelmed by the party)(plus it reminds me of the skeksis from The Dark Crystal)
If anyone has ideas for what to put in Iwould really appreciate it
(I will not be doing dragons, for story purposes they are meant to be more mythical like figures and won't show up till later)
- Gargoyles could work really well in the ruined city
- You seem to have a running them of necromancy/evil magic, so Flesh Golems. Also goes with your construct idea
- You can do mimics in several areas. For the city you could have them be fallen parts of ruined buildings, or for the forge you can have them appear as anvils, work tables etc.
- For NPCs, how about derros? Dwarves have that innate connection to mines and forges, and their aesthetic is a bit darker like your campaign appears to be.
-The word "forge" is immediately linked to heat and fire in my mind. I stumbled across firenewts, and what's interesting is that some people interpret them as a humanoid race of warriors, and others make them steeds for the enemies to ride on.
- Flameskulls. You can use them to slowly introduce your necromancy concepts. Give your players an encounter or two with them, and they may just think it's a normal enemy with no story significance. Then start to give them undead enemies with more "anatomy" like zombies or skeletons.
- Lava children are really creepy. You could have the players stumble upon a group of them in the forge, and they seem inviting yet sinister at first, then attacking the players.
As for bosses:
- I found the Fire Giant Of Evil Fire stat block from Glory of the Giants and thought this was perfect for you. "A fire giant of Evil Fire forges a set of armor and weapons in flames blessed by Imix. The giant can then call on these magical flames to strike the foes of the Eternal Flame."
- Fire Elemental. You think you've finally found the way to break the cursed item, but then the fire elemental rises from the forge
- Efreeti. You could have a new NPC guide the players through the forge, then reveal themselves as the efreeti.
City was a great fortress of the dwarves run by a holy order of priests (pick your favourite dwarven god for them to follow), they worked with a great smith to build a forge capable of destroying cursed magical items as part of their holy quest to eliminate the sources of corruption / curses in the world. However, they got arrogant and over confident and sought out a horrendously cursed item to bring it back and destroy it, however this cursed item was unlike anything they had seen before and infected the priests/paladins sent to retrieve it and then spread its curse throughout the city when they brought it back to the city, slowing corrupting the leaders of the city and causing the master of the great forge to instead collect and create duplicates of cursed items rather than destroy them. As darkness fell over the city the civilians fled, sealing the heart of the city to prevent the curse from spreading. However overtime this seal has weakened and the curse leaks out.
Now you have 3 "levels" of the dungeon - wildbeasts / natural hazards that may be slightly twisted by the curse, outskirts of the city inhabited by evil creatures attracted by the curse, and heart of the city filled with the cursed beings who are minions of the BBEG (corrupted smith making the cursed items), and the BBEG itself at the forge.
But anyway for monsters:
A cursed Fire Giant, a nerfed Horned Devil, a Chain Devil or a Glabrezu would work well as a cursed forge-master BBEG. Some Helmed Horrors or a Shield Guardian would make good companions to the BBEG. Lamias, Succubi, Fomorians, Wights + Zombies, or a Vampire could all be used for former inhabitants transformed by the curse. Gargoyles, Animated Armour, and Shambling Mounds work as "terrain made hostile from the curse magic". Other random villainous inhabitants could be merrow, driders, hill giants/ettins, higher CR gnolls.
I love Illithids and would highly recommend them as enemies and allies for your characters. My current party has a 400+ Mind Flayer as an ally and are kinda beasts on the battlefield. To mix it up, you could also homebrew up some custom versions or even a brand new type of Illithid to make it a little different. (also baldur's gate has mind flayers!? I've never played so I might play just for that)
In the words of the great philosopher, Unicorse, "Aaaannnnd why should I care??"
Best quote from a book ever: "If you love with your eyes, death is forever. If you love with your heart, there is no such thing as parting."- Jonah Cook, Ascendant, Songs of Chaos by Michael R. Miller. Highly recommend
I'd personally go for something along the lines of
The forge is guarded by a eidolon. They might be convinced to let them use the forge but may need help getting it running again and will not co-operate if they sense evil intent.
The city is stalked by a cursed creature that was once some one seeking the forge to end their curse. I like the Lonely Sorrowsworn but it can be anything really
Some where there is a cursed item that houses a fiend. They want the cursed item destroyed so they are freed and offer to help fight the Eidolon
I'd put some wild life around like spiders or something else that lives in caves
I'd also maybe put some ghosts or shadows.
Lastly I'd put elementals at the source of power for the forge.
Let me start by saying that IMHO you have a solid campaign already. Your party is a good level to start to feel like they can handle more than trash mobs and yet not so high that demi-gods become common enemies. Well done. As for the rest, you sound like you've also got a good framework for the next arc. My suggestions (choose one or all):
1) If you haven't done a lot of misdirection scenes with your party, the fake necromancer idea is a good one. Imagine an aging Wizard or Cleric who sees death looking soon and they're terrified. They want to learn Necromancy on the way to prolonging their own life. The find some scrap of text that explains that the Dwarven city is abandoned because a powerful Necromancer or Lich drove them out ages ago. The new antagonist wants to search the city for spells books and powerful artifacts but it's a big place and they need time. They set up a bunch of magical and mundane parlor tricks to keep curious explorers away, and the farther in the party goes the more deadly things become.
2) The three Dwarven brothers have a hidden agenda. Hidden beneath the throne in the great hall is a seal, a signet ring, and a crown from the last Dwarven king to rule the city before 'something bad happened (tm)'. The three are secretly descendants of the last king and they want to reclaim the artifacts to regain their birthright.
3) The Dwarves were killed by a plague released by 'some evil subterranean faction' in order to take over the city. The plan worked but since they weren't all infected right away, the last few Dwarves managed to activate a series of traps as area denial on the attackers. The other faction waited a week for the plague to work and dissipate, then tried to move in. Unfortunately, they encountered traps so deadly that they decided the city wasn't worth it.
Good luck.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I am planning a dungeon story arc for my level 7 party of players, the premise is the next adventure will be them to find an ancient dwarven city that was abandoned (need to think of reason for it) and lost to time in the mountains, to find a forge within that was strongly enchanted with that it could destroy even the most powerful of cursed objects.
The party's barbarian has a cursed item that needs breaking and so they will go on a quest to find this city along with three npc dwarven brothers looking to find the ancient city, find the mystery why their people left it and find their great ancestors house and home.
I plan to have the flow of the story arc to go like this
*Cave environment (wild beasts/monsters and environmental hazards) > *Ancient city (artificial hazards like crumbling architecture, traps and minions or denizens that have made this their home with clues about the boss monster lingering here) > *Forge (reveal and battle of the boss monster, after which the players can use the forge to break the cursed item and maybe make some loot out of some of the left over material or even bits of the boss monster)
The problem is for the denizens/minions and boss I am stuck what to pick.
(Not planning to use fiends because I have used them in previous story arc)
I have a couple of ideas such as:
*Beholder and Nothics in the city (maybe the search for knowledge went wrong and many mages turned into Nothics hence the abandonment of the city with which the beholder came in later and took over, or the beholder was the cause)(Other option is Beholder with mind controlled servants or spectators)
*Necromancer/Lich (many undead servants and using the forge to create a phalactery or other items)
*Fake Necromancer (idea I had, someone wanting the city to themselves and it's secrets, enchanting the bones of the people who failed to escape the city's destruction to make servants and constructs out of bones)
*Rogue Construct (skynet situation with a Construct turning against its creators and making more servants, unable to leave the city due to built in failsafe but looking for a way to break the failsafe and expand the construct empire)
*Illithids (classic and easy to do with easy mindless servants but my players have played a lot of baldurs gate so I feel it's a little over done)
*Behir (this would more likely be a forced servant to a greater enemy, however it could be the new ruler of the lair)
*Nagpa (their lore about wizards cursed for meddling in a ritual to help the gods, cursed to be unable to learn any lore except from ruined civilisations, seems good for the city's ruin as it orchestrated it to gain it's lore, only issue is to figure out what minions or other methods it has to not be overwhelmed by the party)(plus it reminds me of the skeksis from The Dark Crystal)
If anyone has ideas for what to put in Iwould really appreciate it
(I will not be doing dragons, for story purposes they are meant to be more mythical like figures and won't show up till later)
- Gargoyles could work really well in the ruined city
- You seem to have a running them of necromancy/evil magic, so Flesh Golems. Also goes with your construct idea
- You can do mimics in several areas. For the city you could have them be fallen parts of ruined buildings, or for the forge you can have them appear as anvils, work tables etc.
- For NPCs, how about derros? Dwarves have that innate connection to mines and forges, and their aesthetic is a bit darker like your campaign appears to be.
-The word "forge" is immediately linked to heat and fire in my mind. I stumbled across firenewts, and what's interesting is that some people interpret them as a humanoid race of warriors, and others make them steeds for the enemies to ride on.
- Flameskulls. You can use them to slowly introduce your necromancy concepts. Give your players an encounter or two with them, and they may just think it's a normal enemy with no story significance. Then start to give them undead enemies with more "anatomy" like zombies or skeletons.
- Lava children are really creepy. You could have the players stumble upon a group of them in the forge, and they seem inviting yet sinister at first, then attacking the players.
As for bosses:
- I found the Fire Giant Of Evil Fire stat block from Glory of the Giants and thought this was perfect for you. "A fire giant of Evil Fire forges a set of armor and weapons in flames blessed by Imix. The giant can then call on these magical flames to strike the foes of the Eternal Flame."
- Fire Elemental. You think you've finally found the way to break the cursed item, but then the fire elemental rises from the forge
- Efreeti. You could have a new NPC guide the players through the forge, then reveal themselves as the efreeti.
It sounds like a natural plot / lore would be:
City was a great fortress of the dwarves run by a holy order of priests (pick your favourite dwarven god for them to follow), they worked with a great smith to build a forge capable of destroying cursed magical items as part of their holy quest to eliminate the sources of corruption / curses in the world. However, they got arrogant and over confident and sought out a horrendously cursed item to bring it back and destroy it, however this cursed item was unlike anything they had seen before and infected the priests/paladins sent to retrieve it and then spread its curse throughout the city when they brought it back to the city, slowing corrupting the leaders of the city and causing the master of the great forge to instead collect and create duplicates of cursed items rather than destroy them. As darkness fell over the city the civilians fled, sealing the heart of the city to prevent the curse from spreading. However overtime this seal has weakened and the curse leaks out.
Now you have 3 "levels" of the dungeon - wildbeasts / natural hazards that may be slightly twisted by the curse, outskirts of the city inhabited by evil creatures attracted by the curse, and heart of the city filled with the cursed beings who are minions of the BBEG (corrupted smith making the cursed items), and the BBEG itself at the forge.
But anyway for monsters:
A cursed Fire Giant, a nerfed Horned Devil, a Chain Devil or a Glabrezu would work well as a cursed forge-master BBEG. Some Helmed Horrors or a Shield Guardian would make good companions to the BBEG. Lamias, Succubi, Fomorians, Wights + Zombies, or a Vampire could all be used for former inhabitants transformed by the curse. Gargoyles, Animated Armour, and Shambling Mounds work as "terrain made hostile from the curse magic". Other random villainous inhabitants could be merrow, driders, hill giants/ettins, higher CR gnolls.
I love Illithids and would highly recommend them as enemies and allies for your characters. My current party has a 400+ Mind Flayer as an ally and are kinda beasts on the battlefield. To mix it up, you could also homebrew up some custom versions or even a brand new type of Illithid to make it a little different. (also baldur's gate has mind flayers!? I've never played so I might play just for that)
In the words of the great philosopher, Unicorse, "Aaaannnnd why should I care??"
Best quote from a book ever: "If you love with your eyes, death is forever. If you love with your heart, there is no such thing as parting."- Jonah Cook, Ascendant, Songs of Chaos by Michael R. Miller. Highly recommend
I'd personally go for something along the lines of
Let me start by saying that IMHO you have a solid campaign already. Your party is a good level to start to feel like they can handle more than trash mobs and yet not so high that demi-gods become common enemies. Well done. As for the rest, you sound like you've also got a good framework for the next arc. My suggestions (choose one or all):
1) If you haven't done a lot of misdirection scenes with your party, the fake necromancer idea is a good one. Imagine an aging Wizard or Cleric who sees death looking soon and they're terrified. They want to learn Necromancy on the way to prolonging their own life. The find some scrap of text that explains that the Dwarven city is abandoned because a powerful Necromancer or Lich drove them out ages ago. The new antagonist wants to search the city for spells books and powerful artifacts but it's a big place and they need time. They set up a bunch of magical and mundane parlor tricks to keep curious explorers away, and the farther in the party goes the more deadly things become.
2) The three Dwarven brothers have a hidden agenda. Hidden beneath the throne in the great hall is a seal, a signet ring, and a crown from the last Dwarven king to rule the city before 'something bad happened (tm)'. The three are secretly descendants of the last king and they want to reclaim the artifacts to regain their birthright.
3) The Dwarves were killed by a plague released by 'some evil subterranean faction' in order to take over the city. The plan worked but since they weren't all infected right away, the last few Dwarves managed to activate a series of traps as area denial on the attackers. The other faction waited a week for the plague to work and dissipate, then tried to move in. Unfortunately, they encountered traps so deadly that they decided the city wasn't worth it.
Good luck.