I've been DMing a 3 man party in ToA campaign for a few months. The party decided to clear firefinger on their way back to town. They are 1 room below the top and when they get there I have some plot elements from their backstory that will cause the tower to collapse into the jungle. I would LIKE to have this trigger the addon content from tales of the yawning portal called "Hidden shrine of Tamoachan" here for other plot purposes. (For those of you who don't know this is a mini dungeon crawl that starts with the party falling into the underground dungeon and being trapped in there by the rubble and cave in.
So I make the tower crumble, and they survive through DM wonder tricks and rest up. Here is the problem: They can all fly right now.
One is a tiefling warlock with wings, one is a druid, and one is a monk. However the druid and the monk currently have a little of the 3 day flying buff left on them from kir sabal.
I can clear the buff with an anti magic explosion from the trap that triggers the towers collapse (helps explain the collapse). but I can't just remove the warlocks wings. If the tower collapses she would immediately take flight. The druid could also shape shift and fly off with the monk who has slow fall anyway.
How do I get them to fall into a the dungeon, and even better, how do I keep them alive as they do? I mean knocking them out would work but then they'd fall 300ft to their deaths and be crushed under rubble...
Okay, so, funny story.....being unconscious and falling 300 feet among a collapsing tower and rubble into the sunken entrance to another dungeon area will not, in fact, kill your players if you, the DM, say that it doesn't. It's really about as easy as a "fade to black during the chaos of the fall" and then open the next scene with them in a collapsed room with no real idea of how they got there.
That being said, maybe one of the end-bosses at the top of the tower casts some sort of Grasping Vine spell that tangles the characters in plants to keep them from flying away.
It's being triggered by a trap left for them by an arch enemy but I can have the vines come from the trap just the same. I dig it. (get it? you know. cause they have to dig their way out?)
Do be careful during the adventure as, I think, there is a large room on the third(?) tier that technically has a way out for a party that can fly. It is meant to be a trap option as trying to climb out the small hole causes a slight cave-in, but flying characters will likely try to give it a go anyway, and probably argue that they can just stay aloft and get through safely.
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You could have everybody flying make Acrobatics or Athletics checks to avoid falling debris (make the checks really hard, it even makes sense: there would be a lot of debris from a collapsing tower). If they fail, they get hit and fall normally, possibly taking minor damage (although Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan is really hard on it's own, so you might want to let them keep as much health as possible). If they succeed against the odds, maybe a falling enemy (even if they killed them), grabs them on the way down as a final act of vengeance, but dies before they hit bottom.
This sounds like pretty clear railroading, and your players may object.
You could instead have the collapse just reveal a tunnel leading to Area 1 in the dungeon. Depending on how much your players (and their characters) are into exploration, they may decide to enter the temple on their own, or you could use some other incentive to entice them inside.
You mentioned the collapse is caused by an old arch enemy. Will the players be able to discover this in some way?
Perhaps the enemy (or a henchman) is present to make sure the collapse goes according to plan, and when it doesn't (with the characters flying away instead), this villain could escape into the temple. This could add an interesting character element to the Hidden Shrine adventure.
I'm always trying to be wary of railroading but they will see this as a continuation of the fire finger dungeon. Especially since they are a bit higher level than it is. Firefinger will feel like the intro to the real dungeon at this point. But very good points. I will stll allow them difficult saves on the vines I think and if they get out I like your suggestion of having it reveal the tunnel. will find out on sunday ;)
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I've been DMing a 3 man party in ToA campaign for a few months. The party decided to clear firefinger on their way back to town. They are 1 room below the top and when they get there I have some plot elements from their backstory that will cause the tower to collapse into the jungle. I would LIKE to have this trigger the addon content from tales of the yawning portal called "Hidden shrine of Tamoachan" here for other plot purposes. (For those of you who don't know this is a mini dungeon crawl that starts with the party falling into the underground dungeon and being trapped in there by the rubble and cave in.
So I make the tower crumble, and they survive through DM wonder tricks and rest up. Here is the problem: They can all fly right now.
One is a tiefling warlock with wings, one is a druid, and one is a monk. However the druid and the monk currently have a little of the 3 day flying buff left on them from kir sabal.
I can clear the buff with an anti magic explosion from the trap that triggers the towers collapse (helps explain the collapse). but I can't just remove the warlocks wings. If the tower collapses she would immediately take flight. The druid could also shape shift and fly off with the monk who has slow fall anyway.
How do I get them to fall into a the dungeon, and even better, how do I keep them alive as they do? I mean knocking them out would work but then they'd fall 300ft to their deaths and be crushed under rubble...
Okay, so, funny story.....being unconscious and falling 300 feet among a collapsing tower and rubble into the sunken entrance to another dungeon area will not, in fact, kill your players if you, the DM, say that it doesn't. It's really about as easy as a "fade to black during the chaos of the fall" and then open the next scene with them in a collapsed room with no real idea of how they got there.
That being said, maybe one of the end-bosses at the top of the tower casts some sort of Grasping Vine spell that tangles the characters in plants to keep them from flying away.
OOooOOOoooo.... I like it.
It's being triggered by a trap left for them by an arch enemy but I can have the vines come from the trap just the same. I dig it. (get it? you know. cause they have to dig their way out?)
Do be careful during the adventure as, I think, there is a large room on the third(?) tier that technically has a way out for a party that can fly. It is meant to be a trap option as trying to climb out the small hole causes a slight cave-in, but flying characters will likely try to give it a go anyway, and probably argue that they can just stay aloft and get through safely.
You could have everybody flying make Acrobatics or Athletics checks to avoid falling debris (make the checks really hard, it even makes sense: there would be a lot of debris from a collapsing tower). If they fail, they get hit and fall normally, possibly taking minor damage (although Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan is really hard on it's own, so you might want to let them keep as much health as possible). If they succeed against the odds, maybe a falling enemy (even if they killed them), grabs them on the way down as a final act of vengeance, but dies before they hit bottom.
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This sounds like pretty clear railroading, and your players may object.
You could instead have the collapse just reveal a tunnel leading to Area 1 in the dungeon. Depending on how much your players (and their characters) are into exploration, they may decide to enter the temple on their own, or you could use some other incentive to entice them inside.
You mentioned the collapse is caused by an old arch enemy. Will the players be able to discover this in some way?
Perhaps the enemy (or a henchman) is present to make sure the collapse goes according to plan, and when it doesn't (with the characters flying away instead), this villain could escape into the temple. This could add an interesting character element to the Hidden Shrine adventure.
I'm always trying to be wary of railroading but they will see this as a continuation of the fire finger dungeon. Especially since they are a bit higher level than it is. Firefinger will feel like the intro to the real dungeon at this point. But very good points. I will stll allow them difficult saves on the vines I think and if they get out I like your suggestion of having it reveal the tunnel. will find out on sunday ;)