Many thanks for your help in advance! Tonight I am running our session for three L2 players, and we are transitioning from our small home brew campaign into the new Icewind Dale adventure. My characters will be taking the Icebreaker ship from Daggerford to the Ten Towns. To be honest, I haven’t truly had the time to develop the initial Icewind Dale details like I would like to (we’re big into NPC flavoring and dialogue).
However, I had an interesting thought for an encounter at sea. Initially I was thinking that they would be beset upon by something massive like a Kraken, with the tentacles flailing about the ship, picking off sailors while our party fends off smaller parasites in battle that drop from the Kraken (think Cloverfield). The encounter would end with the Captain directing the party to use the mounted harpoons and either succeed/fail in landing a few shots that would fend off the beast. Upon success, the ship would continue safely to Ten Towns. Upon failure, the ship would be irreparably damaged, sink, and all would fade to black for our heroes. They would awaken on an unknown island (with it’s own encounter with a mad mage who can help them get to Ten Towns).
What are your thoughts on something like this? With our heroes at L2, I wanted to use the Kraken or whatever giant sea encounter as more of a set piece, vs actually able to kill off our party. They would be going hand to hand with the parasites and any tentacles that laid over the surface of the ship. A puzzle element to the encounter would be neat as well.
Is this feasible or am I crazy? What are your thoughts or opinions? I’m open to anything really.
Firstly, I think it's certainly feasible, and can definitely be done. I recommend checking out Dael Kingsmill's videos on YouTube. She's got one specifically on Kraken, but her video on Giants would be helpful too, as in that video she describes some rules for fighting enormous creatures.
Secondly, my advice, I think this CAN be amazing, if it's a preview or a foreshadowing of something important in your campaign later on. Like, why is the Kraken involved. Why is it awake? Or near Icewind Dale, or what's it for? And who's the mad mage? Is that someone that will play into the story later on as well?
If, on the other hand, you're just looking for something exciting to happen while seafaring, I'd go with something related to the adventure you have planned. There's even a pre-made encounter that might work for you without much tweaking (https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/847-encounter-of-the-week-evil-on-the-icy-sea)
I agree that a kraken and a possible sinking ship are a little much for L2 characters and sets too much of an epic odyssey feel in a setting of creepy isolation. Maybe the captain has been replaced with a doppelganger mid-voyage. And his body can be found below decks. The only clues they get is that the “captain” has suddenly changed the ship’s port of destination to somewhere much less convenient for everyone. I can sketch out a quick story for what the doppelganger was doing on the ship and why he wants to go elsewhere if the scenario appeals to you, but this type of interaction is much more on theme for the RotF vibe.
Firstly, I think it's certainly feasible, and can definitely be done. I recommend checking out Dael Kingsmill's videos on YouTube. She's got one specifically on Kraken, but her video on Giants would be helpful too, as in that video she describes some rules for fighting enormous creatures.
Secondly, my advice, I think this CAN be amazing, if it's a preview or a foreshadowing of something important in your campaign later on. Like, why is the Kraken involved. Why is it awake? Or near Icewind Dale, or what's it for? And who's the mad mage? Is that someone that will play into the story later on as well?
If, on the other hand, you're just looking for something exciting to happen while seafaring, I'd go with something related to the adventure you have planned. There's even a pre-made encounter that might work for you without much tweaking (https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/847-encounter-of-the-week-evil-on-the-icy-sea)
Thank you!! Appreciate the feedback, I definitely do want to tie in the story elements to the greater narrative. I really like the bone shark encounter you linked, it’s narratively similar to my kraken encounter but maybe toned down a bit to be more “realistically” paced. Thank you.
I agree that a kraken and a possible sinking ship are a little much for L2 characters and sets too much of an epic odyssey feel in a setting of creepy isolation. Maybe the captain has been replaced with a doppelganger mid-voyage. And his body can be found below decks. The only clues they get is that the “captain” has suddenly changed the ship’s port of destination to somewhere much less convenient for everyone. I can sketch out a quick story for what the doppelganger was doing on the ship and why he wants to go elsewhere if the scenario appeals to you, but this type of interaction is much more on theme for the RotF vibe.
Thank you for the offer! I would definitely be interested in seeing what you come up with, and if not used for this encounter I would seek to incorporate it later.
I haven't read Icewind Dale yet, but if what kcbcollier is saying is true about the focus being more on creepy isolation, something that plays into that sounds better. It is pretty convenient that D&D Beyond already has a similar encounter written for almost exactly what you're describing, as Beneficence linked to, but I actually would be more interested in the mystery that kcb came up with. But maybe that's just me...
Dopplegangers are fun for sure. AND it's a thing that's possible related to the story in RotF (see the backgrounds in the appendix).
One fun thing I've done with dopplegangers to spice up the tension is I gave out a note to each player saying, "You're NOT the doppleganger." But they ALL said that. So it was fun to watch the suspicion as it continued.
However, given the backgrounds for RotF, one of them COULD be the doppleganger and still continue the entire campaign. It might even be fun to use both: That is, they find the Captain's body, or a body they can't identify, that looks like one of the crew but all of the crew is accounted for; and just as they're about to investigate, they're interrupted by the bone shark.
Dopplegangers are fun for sure. AND it's a thing that's possible related to the story in RotF (see the backgrounds in the appendix).
One fun thing I've done with dopplegangers to spice up the tension is I gave out a note to each player saying, "You're NOT the doppleganger." But they ALL said that. So it was fun to watch the suspicion as it continued.
However, given the backgrounds for RotF, one of them COULD be the doppleganger and still continue the entire campaign. It might even be fun to use both: That is, they find the Captain's body, or a body they can't identify, that looks like one of the crew but all of the crew is accounted for; and just as they're about to investigate, they're interrupted by the bone shark.
This is good feedback, I like the idea of incorporating both scenarios. I think my only concern is that I just don't have enough time or know-how to make the Doppleganger bit work.
The encounter would end with the Captain directing the party to use the mounted harpoons and either succeed/fail in landing a few shots that would fend off the beast. Upon success, the ship would continue safely to Ten Towns. Upon failure, the ship would be irreparably damaged, sink, and all would fade to black for our heroes. They would awaken on an unknown island (with it’s own encounter with a mad mage who can help them get to Ten Towns).
Firstly, I want to make sure I'm not reading too much into this. At first, it seems that this is going to be the only way for the PCs to "win" the encounter. It's great to have as a back-up plan to bail them out, but make sure that if they think of something creative to let them win that way, too.
Besides that, if a kraken is too much (and at CR 23, it is too much), consider Sahuagin. They're CR 1/2, (and you can have them riding sharks!). They could be trying to sink the ship, and they are going to be more level appropriate for L2 PCs. And you likely wouldn't have to resort to the deus ex machina of the harpoons -- but by all means if one of them thinks to hop on the harpoon, let them have at it.
Instead of a kraken have it be the tentacles of a malfunctioning Nautaloid ship that eventually flies off out of the water and crashes somewhere in Icewind Dale. The ship collected space parasites that made the ship malfunction (think mynocks from Star Wars) and they were using the icy water to get the parasites off the Nautaloid hull when the PC’s showed up. The parasites can be carrion crawler. You can have a bunch fall off the ship but at their level only have the PC’s deal with one or possibly two while the rest of the crew handles the rest. To account for the gnome-flayers efforts at extract them off the hull you can have the crawlers at 4 levels of exhaustion. If you do this the players could probably handle 3 carrion crawlers.
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Well, since there seems to be interest in what I come up with. Here's a sketch of what a doppelganger on a boat headed toward Icewind Dale encounter could look like. I'll generally leave check DCs, and room descriptions and exact locations up to the DM.
The doppelganger got on the ship at the same port as the party, and stowed away until the opportune moment. He's wanting to go to Fireshear. He's already killed the adventurer that killed his doppelganger sister, but now he's out to also kill their friends and family. The adventurer was identified primarily by a tattoo of the emblem of the town of Fireshear. When he gets there, he intends to assume the adventurer's shape and kill any who appear to be close to him.
So as the boat travels, a commotion happens on the poop deck as the senior crew and the captain can be heard arguing near the tiller wheel. "Respectfully, captain, we're not provisioned to go beyond Luskan. And we have scheduled deliveries. The boys want paying something fierce." "I tell you, I'm the captain! If I say our real business is in Fireshear, then it's in Fireshear!" "But what business? Our deliveries go to Luskan!" "We can make deliveries anywhere. I'd have thought better of my crew than this! This is mutiny if ever I've seen it!" "No, sir. Not mutiny. But we need assurance we're going to be fed and paid." "I assure you I am the captain and what I say goes! Now back to work!"
Talking to the crew members in the argument you learn that the captain has never behaved so irrationally. There's nothing in Fireshear that anyone would buy their cargo, and failure to deliver will hurt relations with merchants in Luskan. The crew has a bad feeling about this.
Talking to the captain reveals that he wants to get to Fireshear as quick as possible. Never mind that the party booked passage to Luskan specifically. He refuses to say more about it than he's confident the crew underestimates the market there. Successful insight check reveals he was acting very different than when you booked passage. Only a very high persuasion check will get him to say he has personal business there as well.
Searching the ship: A generalized search of the ship for "anything weird" might find in the cargo hold, tucked behind some large boxes, the captain's body. Searching the Captain's quarters requires a stealth check to sneak into the cabin. 15+ and they are undiscovered. 10+ and they get in without anyone seeming to notice, but will be walked in on soon by the doppelganger. Lower than 10 and the crew tries to stop them from going in. In the cabin they can find a drawing somewhere of the Fireshear Emblem, and a letter from his sister to him. It talks about how hard it was adjusting to life as a hunted shapeshifter after puberty revealed their true natures, but that she was glad they at least had each other to ease the transition. She was finding the best work in big cities where you can get lost in a crowd and find rich marks to make a living from. She urges him to come meet her in [whatever city the party boarded the ship from] and they could work a job together. There was a traveler from the north that looked like a good, challenging mark. Signed, [His Twin Sister] and dated about 3 months ago. And wrapped in a bundle under the bed, the offending adventurer's clothes and weapons. The shirt has a lot of blood stains around the collar running down the chest that didn't quite come out in the wash.
If the stealth check was between 10 and 15, the "first mate" comes into the cabin after they've found the evidence, closes the door behind them and asks what they're doing. He seeks to assure them the captain is well within his rights to decide where the ship puts in. Insight check to reveal this change in mind isn't likely and he must be lying. He will try to remind them that no one wants to be caught snooping in here and invites them to meet below decks in 10 minutes to hear his more candid thoughts. He will not attack in here unless accused directly. If they try to present evidence that the captain might be (or have been if the body was found already) a shapeshifter, the mate will help them search the ship. During the search, he will try to separate from the party and kill the most convenient crew member to assume an unsuspected form, because the first mate was still still alive when he made the split second decision to follow the party into the cabin. Perception, or Insight checks or Investigation checks to search the ship for anyone acting suspicious or for further evidence of foul play. A perception check higher than 15 would hear a crew member dying or falling into the sea if the doppelganger is allowed to separate from everyone. The Investigation check would also find the body of the captain if not already found.
Whatever crewman the doppelganger is currently posing as will offer that maybe someone discovered him and got to him already. But of course, a simple check or logical thought will determine that the body was not that of a shapeshifter and should lead the party to believe it's still on board, but could be anyone. If the doppelganger changes bodies, the first mate is now as surprised as everyone else by the body and of course has no memory of their meeting in the captain's quarters. If he is forced to attend the scene of the body as the First Mate, the real First Mate arrives, and the fake immediately accuses the real of being the imposter and leaps at them. The real turns to run for his life and if they get above decks before the party, you have the "I'm the Real First Mate!" standoff.
Retrieving their stuff. If there was no confrontation at the discovery of the captain's body, the first chance it gets, the doppelganger will go and collect the letter and bundle of clothes from the captain's quarters or wherever the PCs moved it. If caught, the doppelganger attacks until subdued. If not caught, the next target for death is the first mate. Because it wants his private room and authority to order to continue to Fireshear. The doppelganger will attack only in private. If confronted on the deck anywhere, it will attempt to rush below deck where it will assume the shape of a poor crewman who is in the room already. This leads to the classic "I'm the real crewman!" scene as the party arrives to find two of the same crewman in the room.
The doppelganger can be caught and questioned, where he will spill the beans about his twin sister being killed by the adventurer with the Fireshear emblem tattoo, how he killed the adventurer himself, but now he's going to Fireshear to exact vengeance on his loved ones as well. Once the doppelganger is caught or killed, the rest of the voyage to Luskan goes smoothly.
So that's it. That's the adventure. Could take a whole session, or clever parties could solve the mystery in an hour or so.
Hello all!
Many thanks for your help in advance! Tonight I am running our session for three L2 players, and we are transitioning from our small home brew campaign into the new Icewind Dale adventure. My characters will be taking the Icebreaker ship from Daggerford to the Ten Towns. To be honest, I haven’t truly had the time to develop the initial Icewind Dale details like I would like to (we’re big into NPC flavoring and dialogue).
However, I had an interesting thought for an encounter at sea. Initially I was thinking that they would be beset upon by something massive like a Kraken, with the tentacles flailing about the ship, picking off sailors while our party fends off smaller parasites in battle that drop from the Kraken (think Cloverfield). The encounter would end with the Captain directing the party to use the mounted harpoons and either succeed/fail in landing a few shots that would fend off the beast. Upon success, the ship would continue safely to Ten Towns. Upon failure, the ship would be irreparably damaged, sink, and all would fade to black for our heroes. They would awaken on an unknown island (with it’s own encounter with a mad mage who can help them get to Ten Towns).
What are your thoughts on something like this? With our heroes at L2, I wanted to use the Kraken or whatever giant sea encounter as more of a set piece, vs actually able to kill off our party. They would be going hand to hand with the parasites and any tentacles that laid over the surface of the ship. A puzzle element to the encounter would be neat as well.
Is this feasible or am I crazy? What are your thoughts or opinions? I’m open to anything really.
Thanks as always!!!
Little much. Possibly somebody falls overboard, sharks attack?
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I think it depends on a few things.
Firstly, I think it's certainly feasible, and can definitely be done. I recommend checking out Dael Kingsmill's videos on YouTube. She's got one specifically on Kraken, but her video on Giants would be helpful too, as in that video she describes some rules for fighting enormous creatures.
Secondly, my advice, I think this CAN be amazing, if it's a preview or a foreshadowing of something important in your campaign later on. Like, why is the Kraken involved. Why is it awake? Or near Icewind Dale, or what's it for? And who's the mad mage? Is that someone that will play into the story later on as well?
If, on the other hand, you're just looking for something exciting to happen while seafaring, I'd go with something related to the adventure you have planned. There's even a pre-made encounter that might work for you without much tweaking (https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/847-encounter-of-the-week-evil-on-the-icy-sea)
**By the Light of the Sun, you will burn!**
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I agree that a kraken and a possible sinking ship are a little much for L2 characters and sets too much of an epic odyssey feel in a setting of creepy isolation. Maybe the captain has been replaced with a doppelganger mid-voyage. And his body can be found below decks. The only clues they get is that the “captain” has suddenly changed the ship’s port of destination to somewhere much less convenient for everyone. I can sketch out a quick story for what the doppelganger was doing on the ship and why he wants to go elsewhere if the scenario appeals to you, but this type of interaction is much more on theme for the RotF vibe.
Thank you!! Appreciate the feedback, I definitely do want to tie in the story elements to the greater narrative. I really like the bone shark encounter you linked, it’s narratively similar to my kraken encounter but maybe toned down a bit to be more “realistically” paced. Thank you.
Thank you for the offer! I would definitely be interested in seeing what you come up with, and if not used for this encounter I would seek to incorporate it later.
I haven't read Icewind Dale yet, but if what kcbcollier is saying is true about the focus being more on creepy isolation, something that plays into that sounds better. It is pretty convenient that D&D Beyond already has a similar encounter written for almost exactly what you're describing, as Beneficence linked to, but I actually would be more interested in the mystery that kcb came up with. But maybe that's just me...
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Dopplegangers are fun for sure. AND it's a thing that's possible related to the story in RotF (see the backgrounds in the appendix).
One fun thing I've done with dopplegangers to spice up the tension is I gave out a note to each player saying, "You're NOT the doppleganger." But they ALL said that. So it was fun to watch the suspicion as it continued.
However, given the backgrounds for RotF, one of them COULD be the doppleganger and still continue the entire campaign. It might even be fun to use both: That is, they find the Captain's body, or a body they can't identify, that looks like one of the crew but all of the crew is accounted for; and just as they're about to investigate, they're interrupted by the bone shark.
**By the Light of the Sun, you will burn!**
Previously BENEFICENCE
DM: Storm Lord's Wrath || Syr Valor Dayne: Sleeping Gods || tooltips | guides | dice |
This is good feedback, I like the idea of incorporating both scenarios. I think my only concern is that I just don't have enough time or know-how to make the Doppleganger bit work.
Firstly, I want to make sure I'm not reading too much into this. At first, it seems that this is going to be the only way for the PCs to "win" the encounter. It's great to have as a back-up plan to bail them out, but make sure that if they think of something creative to let them win that way, too.
Besides that, if a kraken is too much (and at CR 23, it is too much), consider Sahuagin. They're CR 1/2, (and you can have them riding sharks!). They could be trying to sink the ship, and they are going to be more level appropriate for L2 PCs. And you likely wouldn't have to resort to the deus ex machina of the harpoons -- but by all means if one of them thinks to hop on the harpoon, let them have at it.
Instead of a kraken have it be the tentacles of a malfunctioning Nautaloid ship that eventually flies off out of the water and crashes somewhere in Icewind Dale. The ship collected space parasites that made the ship malfunction (think mynocks from Star Wars) and they were using the icy water to get the parasites off the Nautaloid hull when the PC’s showed up.
The parasites can be carrion crawler. You can have a bunch fall off the ship but at their level only have the PC’s deal with one or possibly two while the rest of the crew handles the rest. To account for the gnome-flayers efforts at extract them off the hull you can have the crawlers at 4 levels of exhaustion. If you do this the players could probably handle 3 carrion crawlers.
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Well, since there seems to be interest in what I come up with. Here's a sketch of what a doppelganger on a boat headed toward Icewind Dale encounter could look like. I'll generally leave check DCs, and room descriptions and exact locations up to the DM.
The doppelganger got on the ship at the same port as the party, and stowed away until the opportune moment. He's wanting to go to Fireshear. He's already killed the adventurer that killed his doppelganger sister, but now he's out to also kill their friends and family. The adventurer was identified primarily by a tattoo of the emblem of the town of Fireshear. When he gets there, he intends to assume the adventurer's shape and kill any who appear to be close to him.
So as the boat travels, a commotion happens on the poop deck as the senior crew and the captain can be heard arguing near the tiller wheel. "Respectfully, captain, we're not provisioned to go beyond Luskan. And we have scheduled deliveries. The boys want paying something fierce."
"I tell you, I'm the captain! If I say our real business is in Fireshear, then it's in Fireshear!"
"But what business? Our deliveries go to Luskan!"
"We can make deliveries anywhere. I'd have thought better of my crew than this! This is mutiny if ever I've seen it!"
"No, sir. Not mutiny. But we need assurance we're going to be fed and paid."
"I assure you I am the captain and what I say goes! Now back to work!"
Talking to the crew members in the argument you learn that the captain has never behaved so irrationally. There's nothing in Fireshear that anyone would buy their cargo, and failure to deliver will hurt relations with merchants in Luskan. The crew has a bad feeling about this.
Talking to the captain reveals that he wants to get to Fireshear as quick as possible. Never mind that the party booked passage to Luskan specifically. He refuses to say more about it than he's confident the crew underestimates the market there. Successful insight check reveals he was acting very different than when you booked passage. Only a very high persuasion check will get him to say he has personal business there as well.
Searching the ship: A generalized search of the ship for "anything weird" might find in the cargo hold, tucked behind some large boxes, the captain's body. Searching the Captain's quarters requires a stealth check to sneak into the cabin. 15+ and they are undiscovered. 10+ and they get in without anyone seeming to notice, but will be walked in on soon by the doppelganger. Lower than 10 and the crew tries to stop them from going in.
In the cabin they can find a drawing somewhere of the Fireshear Emblem, and a letter from his sister to him. It talks about how hard it was adjusting to life as a hunted shapeshifter after puberty revealed their true natures, but that she was glad they at least had each other to ease the transition. She was finding the best work in big cities where you can get lost in a crowd and find rich marks to make a living from. She urges him to come meet her in [whatever city the party boarded the ship from] and they could work a job together. There was a traveler from the north that looked like a good, challenging mark. Signed, [His Twin Sister] and dated about 3 months ago.
And wrapped in a bundle under the bed, the offending adventurer's clothes and weapons. The shirt has a lot of blood stains around the collar running down the chest that didn't quite come out in the wash.
If the stealth check was between 10 and 15, the "first mate" comes into the cabin after they've found the evidence, closes the door behind them and asks what they're doing. He seeks to assure them the captain is well within his rights to decide where the ship puts in. Insight check to reveal this change in mind isn't likely and he must be lying. He will try to remind them that no one wants to be caught snooping in here and invites them to meet below decks in 10 minutes to hear his more candid thoughts. He will not attack in here unless accused directly. If they try to present evidence that the captain might be (or have been if the body was found already) a shapeshifter, the mate will help them search the ship. During the search, he will try to separate from the party and kill the most convenient crew member to assume an unsuspected form, because the first mate was still still alive when he made the split second decision to follow the party into the cabin. Perception, or Insight checks or Investigation checks to search the ship for anyone acting suspicious or for further evidence of foul play. A perception check higher than 15 would hear a crew member dying or falling into the sea if the doppelganger is allowed to separate from everyone. The Investigation check would also find the body of the captain if not already found.
Whatever crewman the doppelganger is currently posing as will offer that maybe someone discovered him and got to him already. But of course, a simple check or logical thought will determine that the body was not that of a shapeshifter and should lead the party to believe it's still on board, but could be anyone. If the doppelganger changes bodies, the first mate is now as surprised as everyone else by the body and of course has no memory of their meeting in the captain's quarters. If he is forced to attend the scene of the body as the First Mate, the real First Mate arrives, and the fake immediately accuses the real of being the imposter and leaps at them. The real turns to run for his life and if they get above decks before the party, you have the "I'm the Real First Mate!" standoff.
Retrieving their stuff. If there was no confrontation at the discovery of the captain's body, the first chance it gets, the doppelganger will go and collect the letter and bundle of clothes from the captain's quarters or wherever the PCs moved it. If caught, the doppelganger attacks until subdued. If not caught, the next target for death is the first mate. Because it wants his private room and authority to order to continue to Fireshear. The doppelganger will attack only in private. If confronted on the deck anywhere, it will attempt to rush below deck where it will assume the shape of a poor crewman who is in the room already. This leads to the classic "I'm the real crewman!" scene as the party arrives to find two of the same crewman in the room.
The doppelganger can be caught and questioned, where he will spill the beans about his twin sister being killed by the adventurer with the Fireshear emblem tattoo, how he killed the adventurer himself, but now he's going to Fireshear to exact vengeance on his loved ones as well. Once the doppelganger is caught or killed, the rest of the voyage to Luskan goes smoothly.
So that's it. That's the adventure. Could take a whole session, or clever parties could solve the mystery in an hour or so.