I was looking at Curse of Strahd with some ideas on adding stuff. One encounter I considered is this:
Lover's Leap
This encounter occurs on the bridge over Tser Falls. It has the following sequence:
Any PCs with a passive perception of at least 11 (likely unless the party is moving fast) will notice two misty figures out on the bridge, 60' away (these are two [Tooltip Not Found] in the border ethereal, so they are invisible past that distance). If they stop to watch, the two will hug, kiss, then hold hands and leap off the bridge, becoming lost from sight (as they go out of range).
If the ghosts notice the PCs (PCs moving slowly can attempt stealth vs their passive perception 11, otherwise they are noticed) after diving they will fly up (they have only stealth +1, but have advantage because they can hide under the bridge and are ethereal for most of way), and as the PCs pass over, phase up through the bridge and attempt to possess two of them, ideally matching the genders of the ghosts.
If both attempts fail, the ghosts will go ethereal and leave the PCs alone, at least until the next time they try to cross the bridge.
If one or both attempts succeed, the ghosts will attempt to repeat their leap, only using their newly acquired bodies. They only fight if PCs try to stop them, and will leave if they have no possessed bodies. They will also not willingly move more than 60' from the bridge, so dragging possessed PCs away is a viable option for freeing them.
I can give an extra round or so by having the ghosts repeat their entire routine (so it isn't 'possess and instantly jump'), which will give the other PCs time to grapple or otherwise use clever tactics, but there's a decent chance that they take someone out. I'm not bothered by a chance of someone dying, but I want a feeling of dramatic horror, not just simple malice. Thoughts?
Outside of just skipping the encounter to avoid sudden and senseless death? Maybe the goal can be changed so that the party engages the ghosts to Somehow persuade them they finished their business and need to move on.
maybe the lovers don’t jump while possessing the bodies. Maybe they’re more malicious and possess them until they’ve moved them to the edge, then push them off together. That way if they go over, they at least have their reactions available.
Maybe there’s several ghost couples all loop-jumping, along the length of the bridge, and the farther the PCs get out onto the bridge, the more they feel drawn to join the lovers, so that it may only be a narration at first, then a DC5 WIS save to resist. And the fall might be survivable that far back from the middle of the bridge. By that time, the party should be taking measures to mitigate involuntary jumping. By the time you get to the center of the bridge, the possessing lovers can be played at full strength because either the party will have tied off to each other, or the cleric will have cast Protection from Good and Evil, or something.
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I was looking at Curse of Strahd with some ideas on adding stuff. One encounter I considered is this:
Lover's Leap
This encounter occurs on the bridge over Tser Falls. It has the following sequence:
I can give an extra round or so by having the ghosts repeat their entire routine (so it isn't 'possess and instantly jump'), which will give the other PCs time to grapple or otherwise use clever tactics, but there's a decent chance that they take someone out. I'm not bothered by a chance of someone dying, but I want a feeling of dramatic horror, not just simple malice. Thoughts?
Outside of just skipping the encounter to avoid sudden and senseless death? Maybe the goal can be changed so that the party engages the ghosts to Somehow persuade them they finished their business and need to move on.
maybe the lovers don’t jump while possessing the bodies. Maybe they’re more malicious and possess them until they’ve moved them to the edge, then push them off together. That way if they go over, they at least have their reactions available.
Maybe there’s several ghost couples all loop-jumping, along the length of the bridge, and the farther the PCs get out onto the bridge, the more they feel drawn to join the lovers, so that it may only be a narration at first, then a DC5 WIS save to resist. And the fall might be survivable that far back from the middle of the bridge. By that time, the party should be taking measures to mitigate involuntary jumping. By the time you get to the center of the bridge, the possessing lovers can be played at full strength because either the party will have tied off to each other, or the cleric will have cast Protection from Good and Evil, or something.