I've been wanting to send my player to Larloch's/Warlock's crypt for some time now. I already have a few loose ideas, but I think it could be very good with some fleshing out by powerful minds out there. Very undead-heavy, much larger than you'd expect and even maybe the home of one or more liches.
Any ideas out there? Vibes, encounters, special terrain, interesting features, even VTT battlemaps (probably of a bunch of sub-locations, since the entire place is too big to fit on a single map).
I've read most of what I could find online (lore-wise), so I want to get more specific.
For monsters, any undeads , some fiends, and even Netheril construct or living spells.
For traps, mechanical traps with the capacity to recharge by itself as well as magical traps, glyph of warding, animated siege equipment such as ballista,
For hazards, pocket of poison gas, or disease infected areas, madness , fear and horror inducing effect, alien technilogy
For map, any city's building or plaza, ruined and preserved.
Ok, let’s keep in mind just how strong Larloch is trying to hear for a solid rundown https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Larloch pretty much sending anyone short of an epic PC and a strong one in against him is really a TPK
Ok, let’s keep in mind just how strong Larloch is trying to hear for a solid rundown https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Larloch pretty much sending anyone short of an epic PC and a strong one in against him is really a TPK
Oh no, I have absolutely no intention of the PCs actually or actively engaging with Larloch (I even think he might be a thing of the past in our world), but the place is still super dangerous. They should be going in looking for an artifact, so a hit-and-run think might be doable. I'm basically just looking for fun undead-themed encounters, weird events or somesuch nonsense.
One of my favourite undead encounters that I came up with is: Drowned Dead River - basically a river with a strong current that the party has to cross and there is a nice handy boat and paddles / poles available. But the twist is every turn where they or the paddles/poles touch the water a Ghoul or a Ghast wakes up (you'll probably need to HB more powerful version of them or us a green hag or some other statblock) from where they are resting on the bottom of the river and attacks them. The Ghoul/Ghast might just try to deal damage or might try to grab hold of the boat to tip them over / slow them down. Plus you can add currents and rocks they need to paddle around or else be swept into them by the current and have the boat get damaged (or even the threat of a waterfall if they get swept along too far.)
Another good one I had was: Room of Swarming Shadows The idea here is based on the lore that a creature killed by a Shadow becomes another Shadow, so this is a room with a special warding around it that prevent shadows from leaving it, but any creature that enters the room is immediately consumed by the shadows and becomes another shadow thus making the room completely full of shadows to the point that it is impossible to see anything in the room because so many Shadows are in the way. You then add in somewhere in the dungeon a special lantern that repels low-CR undead within a certain radius that allows the party to see and safely cross the room if they stay within the radius of it, then simply add a few hazards / puzzles they need to avoid / solve inside the room and wait for one of them to make a mistake and get within reach of the shadows and have 3-5 shadows immediately attack them.
Or
Hall of Bones. Here you need to HB some more powerful variants of a Skeleton - maybe a Bone Dragon, or use a Skeletal Naga, or something like that. Then you have a room with a puzzle door and floor covered in bones, and various keys/pieces required to open the puzzle door are hidden in the eye sockets or mouths of the skulls of your HB skeletons, however, disturbing the skulls causes the bones of that creature to magically animate and assemble themselves from those bones on the floor, and the PCs have to fight the monster.
Ok, let’s keep in mind just how strong Larloch is trying to hear for a solid rundown https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Larloch pretty much sending anyone short of an epic PC and a strong one in against him is really a TPK
Oh no, I have absolutely no intention of the PCs actually or actively engaging with Larloch (I even think he might be a thing of the past in our world), but the place is still super dangerous. They should be going in looking for an artifact, so a hit-and-run think might be doable. I'm basically just looking for fun undead-themed encounters, weird events or somesuch nonsense.
best I can sort out he is very much still "alive". While the Simbul, Elminster, the Shrinshee et all stopped him from becoming a new god of magic they didn't destroy his phylactery even if they did briefly destroy him. assuming that is true then he is back in his crypt doing his thing and trying to get into his crypt except under very special circumstances is basically a death sentence. At best you're looking at being captured and compelled to do his bidding - then, if you survive, he might free you and maybe even reward you. the only other reason I can think of is that he wants some item out of his "lockers" and back in circulation for one of his schemes. In that case I can see him possibly allowing a team or special solo mission to enter and leave with the item (and maybe a few others far less powerful) as well as the story of having gotten in and out successfully as a ploy to bring others in. getting an artifact you (the party/person) can't ( or wont for whatever reason) use and having it go up for bidding in a place like Waterdeep/Neverwinter/Baldur's Gate (or even Calimshan) might be his main plot. the PCs are just the means of doing it but it has to be nasty enough that they don't realize they've been duped.
Ok, let’s keep in mind just how strong Larloch is trying to hear for a solid rundown https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Larloch pretty much sending anyone short of an epic PC and a strong one in against him is really a TPK
Oh no, I have absolutely no intention of the PCs actually or actively engaging with Larloch (I even think he might be a thing of the past in our world), but the place is still super dangerous. They should be going in looking for an artifact, so a hit-and-run think might be doable. I'm basically just looking for fun undead-themed encounters, weird events or somesuch nonsense.
best I can sort out he is very much still "alive". While the Simbul, Elminster, the Shrinshee et all stopped him from becoming a new god of magic they didn't destroy his phylactery even if they did briefly destroy him. assuming that is true then he is back in his crypt doing his thing and trying to get into his crypt except under very special circumstances is basically a death sentence. At best you're looking at being captured and compelled to do his bidding - then, if you survive, he might free you and maybe even reward you. the only other reason I can think of is that he wants some item out of his "lockers" and back in circulation for one of his schemes. In that case I can see him possibly allowing a team or special solo mission to enter and leave with the item (and maybe a few others far less powerful) as well as the story of having gotten in and out successfully as a ploy to bring others in. getting an artifact you (the party/person) can't ( or wont for whatever reason) use and having it go up for bidding in a place like Waterdeep/Neverwinter/Baldur's Gate (or even Calimshan) might be his main plot. the PCs are just the means of doing it but it has to be nasty enough that they don't realize they've been duped.
Excellent idea. Thank you. I want to have the threat of utter annihilation hanging over the PCs at all times while they are down there, but ultimately want them to escape alive with the artifact (bringing back four artifacts releases a major threat upon the world, classic yada yada yada...), so actually kinda "letting them get away with it" could be a great explanation.
Also, AFAIK, the "crypt" is not a crypt per se, but more like the remains of a large city... I'm going for "Frodo into Mordor under the terrible eye of Sauron"-vibes. Thanks again.
One of my favourite undead encounters that I came up with is: Drowned Dead River - basically a river with a strong current that the party has to cross and there is a nice handy boat and paddles / poles available. But the twist is every turn where they or the paddles/poles touch the water a Ghoul or a Ghast wakes up (you'll probably need to HB more powerful version of them or us a green hag or some other statblock) from where they are resting on the bottom of the river and attacks them. The Ghoul/Ghast might just try to deal damage or might try to grab hold of the boat to tip them over / slow them down. Plus you can add currents and rocks they need to paddle around or else be swept into them by the current and have the boat get damaged (or even the threat of a waterfall if they get swept along too far.)
Another good one I had was: Room of Swarming Shadows The idea here is based on the lore that a creature killed by a Shadow becomes another Shadow, so this is a room with a special warding around it that prevent shadows from leaving it, but any creature that enters the room is immediately consumed by the shadows and becomes another shadow thus making the room completely full of shadows to the point that it is impossible to see anything in the room because so many Shadows are in the way. You then add in somewhere in the dungeon a special lantern that repels low-CR undead within a certain radius that allows the party to see and safely cross the room if they stay within the radius of it, then simply add a few hazards / puzzles they need to avoid / solve inside the room and wait for one of them to make a mistake and get within reach of the shadows and have 3-5 shadows immediately attack them.
Or
Hall of Bones. Here you need to HB some more powerful variants of a Skeleton - maybe a Bone Dragon, or use a Skeletal Naga, or something like that. Then you have a room with a puzzle door and floor covered in bones, and various keys/pieces required to open the puzzle door are hidden in the eye sockets or mouths of the skulls of your HB skeletons, however, disturbing the skulls causes the bones of that creature to magically animate and assemble themselves from those bones on the floor, and the PCs have to fight the monster.
Cool! Thanks for those neat ideas.
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Hello fellow DMs
I've been wanting to send my player to Larloch's/Warlock's crypt for some time now. I already have a few loose ideas, but I think it could be very good with some fleshing out by powerful minds out there. Very undead-heavy, much larger than you'd expect and even maybe the home of one or more liches.
Any ideas out there? Vibes, encounters, special terrain, interesting features, even VTT battlemaps (probably of a bunch of sub-locations, since the entire place is too big to fit on a single map).
I've read most of what I could find online (lore-wise), so I want to get more specific.
Thank in advance. <3
EDIT: 3 players (Bladesinger, Warlock and Rogue), lvl. 10 experienced players.
For monsters, any undeads , some fiends, and even Netheril construct or living spells.
For traps, mechanical traps with the capacity to recharge by itself as well as magical traps, glyph of warding, animated siege equipment such as ballista,
For hazards, pocket of poison gas, or disease infected areas, madness , fear and horror inducing effect, alien technilogy
For map, any city's building or plaza, ruined and preserved.
A lot of glyphs of eldritch blast.
Ok, let’s keep in mind just how strong Larloch is trying to hear for a solid rundown
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Larloch
pretty much sending anyone short of an epic PC and a strong one in against him is really a TPK
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
Oh no, I have absolutely no intention of the PCs actually or actively engaging with Larloch (I even think he might be a thing of the past in our world), but the place is still super dangerous. They should be going in looking for an artifact, so a hit-and-run think might be doable. I'm basically just looking for fun undead-themed encounters, weird events or somesuch nonsense.
One of my favourite undead encounters that I came up with is: Drowned Dead River - basically a river with a strong current that the party has to cross and there is a nice handy boat and paddles / poles available. But the twist is every turn where they or the paddles/poles touch the water a Ghoul or a Ghast wakes up (you'll probably need to HB more powerful version of them or us a green hag or some other statblock) from where they are resting on the bottom of the river and attacks them. The Ghoul/Ghast might just try to deal damage or might try to grab hold of the boat to tip them over / slow them down. Plus you can add currents and rocks they need to paddle around or else be swept into them by the current and have the boat get damaged (or even the threat of a waterfall if they get swept along too far.)
Another good one I had was: Room of Swarming Shadows The idea here is based on the lore that a creature killed by a Shadow becomes another Shadow, so this is a room with a special warding around it that prevent shadows from leaving it, but any creature that enters the room is immediately consumed by the shadows and becomes another shadow thus making the room completely full of shadows to the point that it is impossible to see anything in the room because so many Shadows are in the way. You then add in somewhere in the dungeon a special lantern that repels low-CR undead within a certain radius that allows the party to see and safely cross the room if they stay within the radius of it, then simply add a few hazards / puzzles they need to avoid / solve inside the room and wait for one of them to make a mistake and get within reach of the shadows and have 3-5 shadows immediately attack them.
Or
Hall of Bones. Here you need to HB some more powerful variants of a Skeleton - maybe a Bone Dragon, or use a Skeletal Naga, or something like that. Then you have a room with a puzzle door and floor covered in bones, and various keys/pieces required to open the puzzle door are hidden in the eye sockets or mouths of the skulls of your HB skeletons, however, disturbing the skulls causes the bones of that creature to magically animate and assemble themselves from those bones on the floor, and the PCs have to fight the monster.
best I can sort out he is very much still "alive". While the Simbul, Elminster, the Shrinshee et all stopped him from becoming a new god of magic they didn't destroy his phylactery even if they did briefly destroy him. assuming that is true then he is back in his crypt doing his thing and trying to get into his crypt except under very special circumstances is basically a death sentence. At best you're looking at being captured and compelled to do his bidding - then, if you survive, he might free you and maybe even reward you. the only other reason I can think of is that he wants some item out of his "lockers" and back in circulation for one of his schemes. In that case I can see him possibly allowing a team or special solo mission to enter and leave with the item (and maybe a few others far less powerful) as well as the story of having gotten in and out successfully as a ploy to bring others in. getting an artifact you (the party/person) can't ( or wont for whatever reason) use and having it go up for bidding in a place like Waterdeep/Neverwinter/Baldur's Gate (or even Calimshan) might be his main plot. the PCs are just the means of doing it but it has to be nasty enough that they don't realize they've been duped.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
Excellent idea. Thank you. I want to have the threat of utter annihilation hanging over the PCs at all times while they are down there, but ultimately want them to escape alive with the artifact (bringing back four artifacts releases a major threat upon the world, classic yada yada yada...), so actually kinda "letting them get away with it" could be a great explanation.
Also, AFAIK, the "crypt" is not a crypt per se, but more like the remains of a large city... I'm going for "Frodo into Mordor under the terrible eye of Sauron"-vibes. Thanks again.
Cool! Thanks for those neat ideas.