We're on the sixth session of a Legend of Zelda-themed campaign, and it's been going great! All my players have gotten really tight with their characters and the story is beginning to really heat up. They're fighting their first boss next session, but after that, I don't really know where to take it. So far they've only been in the forest, so I was considering moving them into different terrain. I thought I'd just make a post on here to see if anybody had any ideas for some fun encounters, puzzles, combat, etc. that would work well within a Zelda setting?
I always really liked the Dodongos from the early games. Heavily armored, you had to drop bombs in their path which they would eat and then take damage when the bomb exploded. I think you could also shoot arrows into their mouths.
If you're not familiar with the original game or A Link to the Past, those were full of puzzles your party might not recognize.
I think it would be a good idea to think of the next elemental dungeon you want to direct your players toward, since that's kind of a staple of the Zelda series. I like Scatterbraind's suggestion of the Dodongo... it's a great puzzle enemy for the party to have to wrestle with. I'd probably stat it as a Giant Lizard with a breath attack and resistance to all damage unless the players consciously choose to hold their action and attack when the Dodongo is preparing its breath attack, representing them choosing to attack inside its unprotected mouth.
Anyway, Dodongos have appeared in a few different environments in the Zelda games, but they're best known form OOT where they were found in the Fire Temple in Mount Doom. They also would work well in a desert-themed sand temple of some kind, in case you want to save a classic volcano delve for later in your campaign. A sand temple also gives you the opportunity to bring in Peahats, which are usually half-buried in sand before they erupt out and start flying around causing trouble.
Abyssal Chicken = a Cucco that's been pushed to the edge
Aside from forests, Zelda games often have Death Mountain and/or Turtle Rock, various elemental dungeons (fire, water, earth, etc.), an undead crypt or graveyard, some villages and Hyrule castle. You could also do a dark/light world thing if you wanted. For fun, you could have the players race horses, have an archery contest, or go bombchu bowling. As for puzzles, you could adapt some for the games or take some from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything or get a copy of the Book of Challenges from 3E or try the Puzzles, Predicaments, and Perplexities books on DMs Guild.
Abyssal Chicken = a Cucco that's been pushed to the edge
Aside from forests, Zelda games often have Death Mountain and/or Turtle Rock, various elemental dungeons (fire, water, earth, etc.), an undead crypt or graveyard, some villages and Hyrule castle. You could also do a dark/light world thing if you wanted. For fun, you could have the players race horses, have an archery contest, or go bombchu bowling. As for puzzles, you could adapt some for the games or take some from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything or get a copy of the Book of Challenges from 3E or try the Puzzles, Predicaments, and Perplexities books on DMs Guild.
Also, maybe impose elemental weaknesses on the elemental enemies, like giving fire Wizzrobes extreme vulnerability to cold damage. Apply lightning weakness to the zora (sahuagin) also.
Here are just some immediate things that come to mind for me:
1) Homebrew versions of most Zelda monsters exist, just google them and you'll find a wealth.
2) That crazy bird that steals things from you in MM. Have it do a flyby while they're fighting something else and then they can track it down to the seedy underbelly of your world. Maybe could be a convenient way to set up a "Curiosity Shop" where they can trade for valuable magic items.
3) Twilight Princess style Poe's. They won't be visible in their full form unless your characters use some type of special vision (maybe generic "See Invisibility" won't work). They aren't totally invisible, your players can see the lantern, but they can only approximate where vital points would be.
4) Twilit Monsters. Relatively weak, but your players need to drop the last two before the later one acts or it will bring the others back up. Specifically, the last one up will use it's action to revive the others, so your players can coordinate reactions like "I don't strike until i see the other one drop." I am SURE I've seen homebrew stats for this somewhere.
5) Musical Instruments. Give the party an instrument (ocarina, harp, flute, etc.) that anyone with proficiency can play. It has a certain number of charges per day, and over time you can give them more melodies to play.
-Sun's Song: Casts Daylight (freezes Re-deads) -Song of Healing: Casts Gentle Repose -Song of Storms: Casts Control Weather to always summon a storm. -Elegy of Emptiness: Creates a horrifying, soulless statue to scare eight year-olds in 1997. -Zelda's Lullaby: Generic plothole fixer, plus if they ever think to play it backwards they get the Goddess's Ballad. -Epona's Song: Casts Find Steed.
6) The Sky. If they ever find a way into the sky, they can find the ruins of Skyloft, that city from TP, the cloud city from Minish Cap.
I've run some dungeons that players have described as Zelda-like: mazes where you have to interact at different points to open up pathways in the maze.
- a water control system where the the flow of water enables, disables, or moves elevators and platforms
- a series of lava tubes where raising or lowering the lava level can determine if a passage is impassable because the tube is completely full or passable by riding a floating platform on the lava
One thing to be careful of is that, unlike Zelda (for the most part), it's hard to predict what capabilities D&D characters might have to bypass your intended pathways in the maze. For example, flying characters can particularly be a challenge. And higher-level magic users can do things like shaping walls and building bridges out of stone. It's hard for a DM writing an adventure to anticipate all the numerous capabilities in the PHB, and really you shouldn't. Beating the dungeon with creative solutions is part of the game. Just don't be upset if players bypass the clever logic puzzle you spent so much time creating.
We're on the sixth session of a Legend of Zelda-themed campaign, and it's been going great! All my players have gotten really tight with their characters and the story is beginning to really heat up. They're fighting their first boss next session, but after that, I don't really know where to take it. So far they've only been in the forest, so I was considering moving them into different terrain. I thought I'd just make a post on here to see if anybody had any ideas for some fun encounters, puzzles, combat, etc. that would work well within a Zelda setting?
What game in the series is it based off of? If it's BOTW then I could help give ideas. I haven't really played any of the other games though.
What level is the party?
Come participate in the Competition of the Finest Brews, Edition XXVIII?
My homebrew stuff:
Spells, Monsters, Magic Items, Feats, Subclasses.
I am an Archfey, but nobody seems to notice.
Extended Signature
yeah, same.
I am an average mathematics enjoyer.
>Extended Signature<
I always really liked the Dodongos from the early games. Heavily armored, you had to drop bombs in their path which they would eat and then take damage when the bomb exploded. I think you could also shoot arrows into their mouths.
If you're not familiar with the original game or A Link to the Past, those were full of puzzles your party might not recognize.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
I think it would be a good idea to think of the next elemental dungeon you want to direct your players toward, since that's kind of a staple of the Zelda series. I like Scatterbraind's suggestion of the Dodongo... it's a great puzzle enemy for the party to have to wrestle with. I'd probably stat it as a Giant Lizard with a breath attack and resistance to all damage unless the players consciously choose to hold their action and attack when the Dodongo is preparing its breath attack, representing them choosing to attack inside its unprotected mouth.
Anyway, Dodongos have appeared in a few different environments in the Zelda games, but they're best known form OOT where they were found in the Fire Temple in Mount Doom. They also would work well in a desert-themed sand temple of some kind, in case you want to save a classic volcano delve for later in your campaign. A sand temple also gives you the opportunity to bring in Peahats, which are usually half-buried in sand before they erupt out and start flying around causing trouble.
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Yeah these are all great! It takes place post Ocarina of Time and right now they’re traveling through the Lost Woods!
I would think that with some tweaks...
Aside from forests, Zelda games often have Death Mountain and/or Turtle Rock, various elemental dungeons (fire, water, earth, etc.), an undead crypt or graveyard, some villages and Hyrule castle. You could also do a dark/light world thing if you wanted. For fun, you could have the players race horses, have an archery contest, or go bombchu bowling. As for puzzles, you could adapt some for the games or take some from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything or get a copy of the Book of Challenges from 3E or try the Puzzles, Predicaments, and Perplexities books on DMs Guild.
Also, maybe impose elemental weaknesses on the elemental enemies, like giving fire Wizzrobes extreme vulnerability to cold damage. Apply lightning weakness to the zora (sahuagin) also.
Here are my additions to this list:
Come participate in the Competition of the Finest Brews, Edition XXVIII?
My homebrew stuff:
Spells, Monsters, Magic Items, Feats, Subclasses.
I am an Archfey, but nobody seems to notice.
Extended Signature
Here are just some immediate things that come to mind for me:
1) Homebrew versions of most Zelda monsters exist, just google them and you'll find a wealth.
2) That crazy bird that steals things from you in MM. Have it do a flyby while they're fighting something else and then they can track it down to the seedy underbelly of your world. Maybe could be a convenient way to set up a "Curiosity Shop" where they can trade for valuable magic items.
3) Twilight Princess style Poe's. They won't be visible in their full form unless your characters use some type of special vision (maybe generic "See Invisibility" won't work). They aren't totally invisible, your players can see the lantern, but they can only approximate where vital points would be.
4) Twilit Monsters. Relatively weak, but your players need to drop the last two before the later one acts or it will bring the others back up. Specifically, the last one up will use it's action to revive the others, so your players can coordinate reactions like "I don't strike until i see the other one drop." I am SURE I've seen homebrew stats for this somewhere.
5) Musical Instruments. Give the party an instrument (ocarina, harp, flute, etc.) that anyone with proficiency can play. It has a certain number of charges per day, and over time you can give them more melodies to play.
-Sun's Song: Casts Daylight (freezes Re-deads)
-Song of Healing: Casts Gentle Repose
-Song of Storms: Casts Control Weather to always summon a storm.
-Elegy of Emptiness: Creates a horrifying, soulless statue to scare eight year-olds in 1997.
-Zelda's Lullaby: Generic plothole fixer, plus if they ever think to play it backwards they get the Goddess's Ballad.
-Epona's Song: Casts Find Steed.
6) The Sky. If they ever find a way into the sky, they can find the ruins of Skyloft, that city from TP, the cloud city from Minish Cap.
I've run some dungeons that players have described as Zelda-like: mazes where you have to interact at different points to open up pathways in the maze.
- a water control system where the the flow of water enables, disables, or moves elevators and platforms
- a series of lava tubes where raising or lowering the lava level can determine if a passage is impassable because the tube is completely full or passable by riding a floating platform on the lava
One thing to be careful of is that, unlike Zelda (for the most part), it's hard to predict what capabilities D&D characters might have to bypass your intended pathways in the maze. For example, flying characters can particularly be a challenge. And higher-level magic users can do things like shaping walls and building bridges out of stone. It's hard for a DM writing an adventure to anticipate all the numerous capabilities in the PHB, and really you shouldn't. Beating the dungeon with creative solutions is part of the game. Just don't be upset if players bypass the clever logic puzzle you spent so much time creating.
You could have helpful NPC guides like Impa! (I love BotW sooo much!)