I’m suppose to run my first oneshot on a day my DM doesn’t feel up to running the main campaign. The part I’m still not sure about is when the characters are meant to explore the woods where the enemy beast supposedly is, as well as looking for a weapon once the embedded into or taken by the beast. The only real stipulation here is I don’t want there to be any combat except with the beast as the BBEG. Other than that, I am open for ideas/suggestions.
So far all I have is them making survival checks for prints/sign and when they move from area to area to see how long it takes and then perception checks when they are looking/investigation checks when they are feeling around. Does that sound right?
to make the forest a bit interesting, you can give players little hints about what they're coming against as they get closer. a clawed up skeleton here, a snapped tree there, just little somethings. if players fail to many survival checks, I'd recommend imparting levels of exhaustion or having them come up against natural hazards like quicksand, or carnivorous flora like giant flytraps or manchineel trees. it'd spice up the exploration for sure.
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Having fun? I would hope so. Lets see how much fun you're having after the lich starts dipping into it's 1/day spell slots.
I can say, as a player, my first thought would be to use locate object to try and find the weapon.
How much time do you have for the session? That can help dictate how much other stuff to throw in. And realize the the more you describe something, the more the players will think that means there’s something important there. You can use this to throw them off. Describe the waterfall and beautiful pool of crystal clear water it flows into, full of fish, with some birds in the shallows trying to eat said fish. The players will go nuts looking for the hidden cave behind the waterfall, or examining the fish to see which one is a magical fish spirit. But it’s nothing more than a pretty lake — unless you want there to be a mystical fish spirit who will help the party for a favor.
Beyond that, I’d try and throw in a social encounter. They find a family in the woods having a picnic (most parties will become instantly suspicious, and start wanting to make insight checks). Maybe they are really just a family, and they don’t know anything about it, but a good persuasion check could help remind them they did see something suspicious over that way. This will not be the monster. It might be something the monster recently fought. It might be a weird looking tree stump. Which, depending on the time, could be simply a weird looking tree stump, or if they get a good roll as they check it out, it could be a back door into the lair. Or the family is secretly a hag coven with a grudge against the monster, and they’re happy to send some patsy to do their dirty work.
Overall, I like to try and put in a good mix of some mundane stuff that’s just the world, vs. everything being some kind of trick. It helps keep the players on their toes if they don’t know what they’re encountering.
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I’m suppose to run my first oneshot on a day my DM doesn’t feel up to running the main campaign. The part I’m still not sure about is when the characters are meant to explore the woods where the enemy beast supposedly is, as well as looking for a weapon once the embedded into or taken by the beast. The only real stipulation here is I don’t want there to be any combat except with the beast as the BBEG. Other than that, I am open for ideas/suggestions.
So far all I have is them making survival checks for prints/sign and when they move from area to area to see how long it takes and then perception checks when they are looking/investigation checks when they are feeling around. Does that sound right?
How would you all run such a scene?
to make the forest a bit interesting, you can give players little hints about what they're coming against as they get closer. a clawed up skeleton here, a snapped tree there, just little somethings. if players fail to many survival checks, I'd recommend imparting levels of exhaustion or having them come up against natural hazards like quicksand, or carnivorous flora like giant flytraps or manchineel trees. it'd spice up the exploration for sure.
Having fun? I would hope so. Lets see how much fun you're having after the lich starts dipping into it's 1/day spell slots.
I can say, as a player, my first thought would be to use locate object to try and find the weapon.
How much time do you have for the session? That can help dictate how much other stuff to throw in. And realize the the more you describe something, the more the players will think that means there’s something important there. You can use this to throw them off. Describe the waterfall and beautiful pool of crystal clear water it flows into, full of fish, with some birds in the shallows trying to eat said fish. The players will go nuts looking for the hidden cave behind the waterfall, or examining the fish to see which one is a magical fish spirit. But it’s nothing more than a pretty lake — unless you want there to be a mystical fish spirit who will help the party for a favor.
Beyond that, I’d try and throw in a social encounter. They find a family in the woods having a picnic (most parties will become instantly suspicious, and start wanting to make insight checks). Maybe they are really just a family, and they don’t know anything about it, but a good persuasion check could help remind them they did see something suspicious over that way. This will not be the monster. It might be something the monster recently fought. It might be a weird looking tree stump. Which, depending on the time, could be simply a weird looking tree stump, or if they get a good roll as they check it out, it could be a back door into the lair.
Or the family is secretly a hag coven with a grudge against the monster, and they’re happy to send some patsy to do their dirty work.
Overall, I like to try and put in a good mix of some mundane stuff that’s just the world, vs. everything being some kind of trick. It helps keep the players on their toes if they don’t know what they’re encountering.