Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer Creatures
Frozen Sick
D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Basic Rules (2014)
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Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer CreaturesFrozen SickD&D Beyond Basic RulesBasic Rules (2014)Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
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"I'm already on it. Everyone else don't drop your guard!" Randy hisses as he scooches a little closer to get a better analysis before heading towards he bomb.
Action: "Who needs to stay hidden?" Randy asks the group as he suddenly vanishes to cancel out his horrible stealthing; If anyone else wants to turn invisible , then Randy will target them too.
Stealth: 17
Perception: 16
Wildland Shifters Pt 2 (Pt 1 with PyromaniIsDeadThankGod)
Celci (The Lamb) - Non-Binary Changeling Sorcerer (Shadow Magic)
Maya Kurosaki - Female Kitsune Cleric (Twilight Domain); Currently in Lancea
Randy Wolftree - Male Human Artificer (Armourer); Currently in Crimson Sands of Time
Shijiro Otsune - Male Kitsune Blood Hunter (Order Of The Lycan)
Trojan Dseyller - Male Tortle Barbarian (Path of the Ancestral Guardian)
Xenia Ironhide - Female Kobold Rogue (Soulknife)
Good point. A panic might cause a crowd surge (human stampede).
Despite his efforts at subtlety, several of as Gafna's agents notice the conspicuously nonchalant gentleman making a Nee line for the bomb wagon and seek to intercede, lest their plans fail to bear fruit.
Or .. invisibility. Also good.
Ethan and Randy manage to extinguish the fuse, but there stands a man in the crowd, more a boy, in truth, likely noy yet a teen, who observes the extinguished flame with dismay, one of the seven noted insurgents. He sneers as he considers the setback and determines a course of action to remedy the issue. All of Gafna's agents have proven apt espionage experts, and he is no exception, despite his age. A very insightful person might recognize his deliberate intention as he trips and falls to the ground, soiling his tunic in the process. He looks at his clothes, disheartened, then casts presitidigitation, once with no apparent effect, perhaps having failed in the attempt, then casts it again, leaving his clothes clean and fresh.
Unnoticed by the most, the first casting was not the failure of a novice, but a subtle effect to light the fuse once again, sitting almost out of sight, protruding from the wagon ten feet away.
The fuse is again lit
Trisk will cast Major Image and create the illusion of a barrel of water hovering in the air with the barrel upturned so that a fountain/waterfall of water is pouring out all over the fuse. Then he will use his bonus action to activate Illusory Reality and make the water real for 1 minute. (Hopefully it soaks the fuse and buys us some time?)
The crowd disperses from the immediate vicinity of the wagon, leaving ten feet of space around it. Thus does not escape tje notice of the guards, and the mounted knight scans the crowd for evidence of someone casting a spell. A noble on the steps of the temple casts dispel magic on the effect, but too late, the water us tewal and doesn't go anywhere. The barrel, meanwhile falls and crashes into the wagon, upsetting rhe apple cart and spilling its contents on the ground.
Bits of scrap iron clatter about, their sound dulled by the now soggy hay, a foot-thick bed of which concealed the iron implements which seem to comprise mostly of rusty garden bedding-marker stakes connected by rotting old lengths of rough hempen twine: these stakes being foot-long steel needles sharpened at both ends.
The mobile is in there somewhere, but the fuse is out of sight. Given the water, it's probably not lit.
The knight is stillscanning the crowd looking for the caster who manifested this barrel
But the casting has bit gone without notice by everyone. A nearby old thayan woman scolds you "this is no time for such childish pranks." She yells. "This isn't Daerath, young man."
While this is happening, one of the conspirators sbeals behind Trisk and stabs hom in the back 28 for 32 piercing, 24 for 25.
Crit damage 10
<Sorry, that was 2d6 for crit, it was supposed to he 6d6, so add another 12 >
I'm not trying to track initiative, here, just do stuff until a bomb goes off or it cant.
<for reasons not yet obvious, the bomb is decidedly waterproof, as it happens. Not so the fuse, I think - so it's still a bomb, just not a lit bomb.
<I was wondering if wet hay can even catch fire, and it turns out, emphatically yes.
https://news.okstate.edu/articles/agriculture/2020/stotts_braums-fire.html>
(sorry- back now). Tetrevess has aeemed decidedlly befuddled i. recent minutes. His memories sometimes interfere wirh his perceptipn of the present, and his exleriences on the outer planes still linger in his soul. But he finally awakes from this stupor when Trisk is stabbed.
question for DM- is there a way tetrevess can use wall of force to prevent deaths to “innocents” while doing the most damage to Szass Tam and his agents? I dont have a good mental image of the scene. he can cast wall of force, or something else.
H
Nobody is within about ten feet of the cart's remnants, except maybe Randy and/or Ethan, who defused the bomb by hand, I believe. Also one of them is invisible. So, it would work, but probably would blow up one or both of them.
Also, Szazz Tam is nowhere near here and the most disruptive thing to him on a political level would be if the bomb does go off and kill a lot of people. You're actually sort of helping him by diaabling the bomb, or at least that's what this group of insurgents believes, hence all the stabbing and explosions.
I don't really want to draw a map for this, it's a big crowd, there's just the one objective and there aren't too many possible outcomes. Plus at any point you've got the 'parachute' the old woman slipped to you.
So, did you want to try the force wall?
You know what I just realized? When you were in the basement and wanted to use passwall to make a diagonal hole out of there, yoi could have put the passwall spell on a wall of force made at an angle and dig your way up that way. It would be 2x 5th level slots, but definitely possible. That actually sounds like a fun mechanic for a platformer, just launching through platforms you make anywhere, jt maybe make the walls permanent instead of concentrarion
Tetrevess reaches out telepathically to the group. “I believe I have means of escape. We have done what we can to stop the bomb from hurting innocents. Come to me wveryone, will try this teleportation scroll”
Trisk will move over and go toward Tetrevess after first using a Misty Step to aid in both getting away from the backstabber and getting closer to Tetrevess.
"Coming! Wait for me!"
<so glad that worked out. >
Tetrevess creates a magical wall of force around the pile of shrapnel and straw, boxing in Randy and Ethan along with a 40-liter firkin (a small cask) packed with the sulphur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate (saltpeter) from Gafna's office. As they contemplate their rather inadvertent but indisputably noble sacrifice of which no would-be victim will likely ever be aware, a firebolt leaps feom the young mage's hand ans sets rhe straw alight. Just before it detonates the explosive device, the spell scroll is activated and the brothers along with Triskellion Samogri and Tetrevess are transported to a chamber, quiet and lit by braziers, the stark contrast with the raucous scene disorients you for a moment and you see an unfamiliar woman in red standing before you, unsurprised by your arrival.
Back at the wedding, as you vanish from ybe crowd, the device explodes, sending a hail of flaming grass and molten metal a few feet from the blast origin. The sound of the explosion is muted somewhat by the spell, but loud enough to cause a panic. The crowd starts to disperse but the guards and knights on hand keep the evacuation reasonably orderly, preventing a crowd surge and avoiding any casualties. The knights do their best to stop all the people in the area from leaving without being detained for questioning. The wedding is postponed and security in the already obtrusively surveiled city will be heighten even further. Word of the attack quickly reaches Szazz Tam, you can be sure, and Tharchion Aumaund Halarkoun Survives. Of the seven conspirators, 3 are detained and Jigor manages to make his way out unnoticed.
<I know that was very last and loose with the rukes as written, but thus was never meant ri be a big tactical battle, just a choice ro foster character development with a combat-capable puzzle attached. A viable solution is 'kill all the bad guys'. I wrote a long explanation ,but the general point is the timing: if the wall is before teleport scroll, the brothers are stuck inside and don't get where they need to go, but the caster can't detonate it, so no boom, two party members get stuck in a box and surrounded by the whole FBI and that sounds tiresome. So I went with this instead. Stretches that coukd have allowed the conspirators to bypass the wall: 1. Contingency with dimension door (not a huge stretch, the assasinarion target had this prepared, I would just switch it to the caster. 2. A big magnifying glass, possibly manifested by some spell like make illusion real, etc. - nobody had anything close in this group, it's a major stretch *but, if a player said it, 100% it would work.
If anyone was curious about how much damage that bomb would have done:
Blast Damage. Upon detonation, every creature in a 50-foot-radius of the locus of the blast must attempt a Constitution saving throw (DC 20). A target falls unconscious and is reduced to 0 hp on a failed save.
A target that succeeds on this save takes 10d6 force damage + 4d4 fire damage. Further, all creatures within 120 feet are deafened for 1d10 rounds. Any creature within 250 feet of the blast feels the shock wave from the explosion but take no damage. At a distance of 1,000 feet creatures can barely hear the detonation.
Fragmentation Damage. Every creature in a 50-foot-radius of the locus of the blast must attempt a Dexterity ty saving throw (DC 18). A target takes 10d4 piercing damage for the flying bits of scrap iron on a failed save, half as damage on a successful one.
Aftermath and Collateral Damage
It is hard to express in game mechanics terms what the effects of a detonation like this would be in a crowded urban location. Many people would be down and unmoving. Smoke and haze would suffuse the entire area. People would be running in terror, some covered in blood, while others would be stunned from shock.
Following this immediate aftermath, Thayan Knights—either members of the city watch or those specifically detailed to police this procession—swarm the scene. Survivors in the immediate vicinity should expect to be taken into custody quickly. The entire area is subject to a brutally efficient lockdown.
Within the shadowy you syabd within one of a handful of glowing teleportation circles etched into the floor. Before you have time to consider your situation, the image of a female Red Wizard suddenly appears and speaks.
“I am Syranna,” she says. “It was I who brought you here." “Many Red Wizards chafe under the rule of Szass Tam. Once, Thay was a land of learning and power. Now, death scours Thay while the lich lord ignores all concerns other than his quest to become a god. If his mad plans are left to run their course, none will be left alive here to worship him.
“This is a magic gatehouse, from which I can send you to the Doomvault — the heart of the lich lord’s domain deep beneath the Thaymount. The Doomvault is a secret laboratory and containment structure, beneath which lies a hidden storehouse where the phylacteries of Szass Tam’s elite liches are held. There, the lich lord’s power can be broken … with your aid.
“I offer you an opportunity to take the fight to the lich lord. I offer you the chance to help me see to it that Szass Tam’s power is broken. The Phylactery Vault is where you can make that happen."
“What say you?”
Tetrevess seems relatively unfazed by this turn of events. “I hoped we would all get out with this scroll. It looked… errr Useful. Glad we saved a bunch of lives, who will have no idea what we did, I suppose. I don’t suppose we can expect payment by Szass Tam for our service to the nation… “. Addressing the Red Wizard, he says. “ Nice to meet you. I am Tetrevess, I expect you know us already. Well.. It may be suicide, but I think we are up for the attempt. Thanks for the teleport, by the way. So we need to destroy the phylactory, then destroy him, if my memory serves on the nature of Liches. Probably not as simple as all that. Can we rest some first? Any items or weapons the less than loyal Red Wizards have for us to borrow for this quest? Do you have a plan? I cant really speak for our group.. Ill let them say something..”. he mutters, a bir self consious