So I am going into my 6th, 6-8 hour session with my players in about 3 weeks.
The players just had their first major encounter with an Eastern power (1940's Germany/1900's Catholic church in North America: Hyper religious zealots who are trying to create eternal peace by murdering all orcs, tieflings and other barbaric races) PC's and orc friends were sieged in their city by one of the Eastern Power's lieutenants and his sizable forces. It was an amazing, however, long and complex battle. Many PC's fell only to be saved by their allies, many allies died but non of the PC's did. In the end the Eastern Power's lieutenant was felled by a well times crossbow bolt between the eyes. Which then caused his suddenly limp form to fall from the walls of the city into the desert sand below. One of the players allies that died during this fight was a Lamassu that guarded the city. He originally granted the players entrance to the city once he determined their intent and asked a small donation for the poor. (Lamassu Usually guard holy places/temples) The player's are unaware of a temple that lies just under the city. A winding dungeon filled with terrible dangers and terrible beasts the likes of which the players have never seen. This temple is one of 3 I plan to reveal to the players during this campaign: The Temple of Time, the Temple of Entropy, and the Temple of Death. These temples will play key rolls in the players learning more about the BBEG Prince who was exiled and his rise to dark power. The BBEG prince has already been to the temple of time, the knowledge of the universe he learned here is the source of much of his power and is also unfortunately, the source of his madness. The player's will likel`y confront the Prince when they reach the end of the 2nd temple (The Temple of Entropy) The PC's will try to stop a ritual involving the an altar within the temple and sacrifices of innocents to give the Prince the power he needs to defeat the Eastern Powers.
I am looking for help with some design ideas for the three temples, any ideas for traps, monsters, fun rooms or temple design would be absolutely awesome. I want each of these temples to feel as part of a whole, but with their own unique puzzles, themes, and dangers. (TIME, ENTROPY, DEATH) (->Tharizdun themes)
I'm not too sure which temple they would go in, but kobold are great for crushing players egos. Most can be one hit killed, but what makes them fun is the traps you can have them prepare. Jars of honey dumped on players and then fire ants dumped on them. Pit traps with sharped sticks in the bottom that may or may not have fecal matter on it. Piles of scrapes of metal to be placed behind doors as an alarm. You could have players get hot tar poured on them and then chicken feathers dumped on them. Bridges and other structures that only hold kobold weight (no damage like falling damage). moats filled with oil or pitch that kobolds light on fire as they flee. And tiny tunnels everywhere, players get close and they flee to a different room. Just lots of tricky traps that might be more embarrassing than hurtful, you could probably even rp a kobold to mock them the whole time sort of like GLaDOS in Portal.
There are also winged kobold and several other variants in Volo's Guide to Monsters.
Hello again fellow Dungeon Masters!
So I am going into my 6th, 6-8 hour session with my players in about 3 weeks.
The players just had their first major encounter with an Eastern power (1940's Germany/1900's Catholic church in North America: Hyper religious zealots who are trying to create eternal peace by murdering all orcs, tieflings and other barbaric races) PC's and orc friends were sieged in their city by one of the Eastern Power's lieutenants and his sizable forces. It was an amazing, however, long and complex battle. Many PC's fell only to be saved by their allies, many allies died but non of the PC's did. In the end the Eastern Power's lieutenant was felled by a well times crossbow bolt between the eyes. Which then caused his suddenly limp form to fall from the walls of the city into the desert sand below. One of the players allies that died during this fight was a Lamassu that guarded the city. He originally granted the players entrance to the city once he determined their intent and asked a small donation for the poor. (Lamassu Usually guard holy places/temples) The player's are unaware of a temple that lies just under the city. A winding dungeon filled with terrible dangers and terrible beasts the likes of which the players have never seen. This temple is one of 3 I plan to reveal to the players during this campaign: The Temple of Time, the Temple of Entropy, and the Temple of Death. These temples will play key rolls in the players learning more about the BBEG Prince who was exiled and his rise to dark power. The BBEG prince has already been to the temple of time, the knowledge of the universe he learned here is the source of much of his power and is also unfortunately, the source of his madness. The player's will likel`y confront the Prince when they reach the end of the 2nd temple (The Temple of Entropy) The PC's will try to stop a ritual involving the an altar within the temple and sacrifices of innocents to give the Prince the power he needs to defeat the Eastern Powers.
I am looking for help with some design ideas for the three temples, any ideas for traps, monsters, fun rooms or temple design would be absolutely awesome. I want each of these temples to feel as part of a whole, but with their own unique puzzles, themes, and dangers. (TIME, ENTROPY, DEATH) (->Tharizdun themes)
If you want more information about the story before this there is a thread with more information: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/dungeons-dragons-discussion/dungeon-masters-only/27857-help-me-out-of-this-potential-jam
I want them to be reasonably large and last approximately (6-8 hours) each. (DEPENDING ON COMBAT ETC)
Your friend,
Mitch
I'm not too sure which temple they would go in, but kobold are great for crushing players egos. Most can be one hit killed, but what makes them fun is the traps you can have them prepare. Jars of honey dumped on players and then fire ants dumped on them. Pit traps with sharped sticks in the bottom that may or may not have fecal matter on it. Piles of scrapes of metal to be placed behind doors as an alarm. You could have players get hot tar poured on them and then chicken feathers dumped on them. Bridges and other structures that only hold kobold weight (no damage like falling damage). moats filled with oil or pitch that kobolds light on fire as they flee. And tiny tunnels everywhere, players get close and they flee to a different room. Just lots of tricky traps that might be more embarrassing than hurtful, you could probably even rp a kobold to mock them the whole time sort of like GLaDOS in Portal.
There are also winged kobold and several other variants in Volo's Guide to Monsters.