Hi fellow DMs, (If you play D&D in Dybbøl - dont read this thread)
Iam running the one-shot "Attack on Avernus - Wrath of Tiamat" for my group this weekend. (Dmsguild) Its a high level adventure for chars lvl 17 to 20. (Its a group of 5 lvl 17)
They need to travel downwards thru a series of rooms - but I am unsure how they can get past the first obstacle described. Maybe I am just stupid or I am missing something. Please see below short description of the "obstacle"
The first floor of the Adamant Hourglass is 120 feet in diameter. Floating 15 feet above its surface are a number of 10-by-10-by-5 foot translucent rectangular force prisms. These prisms glow with a red nimbus of light that surrounds a white hot globe at their centre. These prisms are capable of exploding into flames if landed upon (see below). There are two magical hemispheres in effect on this floor. The first is a hemisphere of invulnerability. Its diameter is 120 feet, and its height is 45 feet from the floor. Other than its hemispherical dimensions, this spell behaves identically to the globe of invulnerability spell. This dome blocks spells of level 8 or lower. The second is a hemisphere of force with a diameter of 120 feet, located directly below the hemisphere of invulnerability. It is 45 feet in height. Other than its hemispherical dimensions, this spell behaves identically to the wall of force spell.
How do they break thru the wall of force if they are in an area affected by "globe of invulnerability"? Wall of force can only be penetrated/destroyed by a Disintegrate spell, and in this case ony by one cast at lvl 9. Is this the only way for the party to get pass this? Or do you see/have any other ideas I can "suggest" if they fail?
See attached picture - maybe that helps :) Thanks in advance!!
Hemisphere is an odd term to use for these. The top one is kind of a hemisphere but the bottom one is clearly a cylinder. Anyway...
Do the crystals have anything to do with it? And is there any reason the party has to start at the top rather than breaking in through the side, or teleporting past the first area?
Thanks for replying - maybe I left out some important information :)
They cant enter from the sides as this hourglass "construct" is occupying the entire diameter of a kind of "wormhole" situated in some other plane. Imagine a looooong (24 miles) corridor in space that leads from the Material plane to Avernus. In the middle the guardians of this this "corridor" have build this hourglass with 9 floors (1 for each level of hell I imagine) and they can only go thru by completing each floor. However it seems to me from the description in the adventure that the first obstacle really is tough - if your only way is to disintegrate the cylinder of force. I could just leave that wall of force out, but I am looking for ideas on how my party could manage it.
I don't think disintegrate at 9th level would work, since the globe of invulnerability blocks spells lower than its own level "even if the spell is cast using a higher level spell slot". And from the description you provided the dome blocks spell of level 8 or lower.
You need to use dispel magic on the globe of invulnerability first, then you can disintegrate the wall of force at 6th level.
That's assuming you have spellcasters with those spells...
I see. Well, it seems like Globe of Invulnerability lets you cast *out* of it, just not *into* it. So it's there to prevent characters from cheesing things by flying outside and shooting spells in, I guess?
The Wall of Force is a real problem though. Assuming nobody has Disintegrate on tap, I think the only way past it is teleportation. Maybe there's a mechanism to disable it further down? They might find out by using Clairvoyance or something? Divination? Lol.
If a party is at a level where Disintegrate is a possibility, I like to hand them these kinds of baffling problems because they actually can solve them. This one looks pretty low-stakes. Like, they're not being harassed by monsters while they're staring at this situation, right?
If a party is at a level where Disintegrate is a possibility, I like to hand them these kinds of baffling problems because they actually can solve them. This one looks pretty low-stakes. Like, they're not being harassed by monsters while they're staring at this situation, right?
We have a Sorcerer, Warlock, Cleric, Paladin and Rogue lvl 17 in the group, I believe that they would have either disintegrate or teleportation available. There will be monsters on the other side of the wall of force, they will be hiding under those trapped boxes as described. I am not sure if the intention of the adventure is to have a massive wall of force blocking the entire room, but I do think its a fun challenge, at least if they have means to break/pass it. Else I can let the creatures somehow disable it. They are on a very tight timeline as they need to get down to the bottom and disrupt an ongoing ritual being performed by a very powerful devil. If they are late it will be almost impossible to defeat the devil :)
I don't think disintegrate at 9th level would work, since the globe of invulnerability blocks spells lower than its own level "even if the spell is cast using a higher level spell slot". And from the description you provided the dome blocks spell of level 8 or lower.
You need to use dispel magic on the globe of invulnerability first, then you can disintegrate the wall of force at 6th level.
That's assuming you have spellcasters with those spells...
Thanks for this input - ouch, I guess they need to cast Dispel Magic at lvl 9 then for them to dispel the globe of invul? This surely will make them use a lot of spellslots so the fights further down will be harder - this might be good :) I do expect that this adventure has a 50/50 chance of TPK :)
They could always just roll the check to dispel the Invulnerability with a base level Dispel Magic. I think the DC would be 19? If they've got the Guidance spell, the Magical Guidance feature, and/or Enhance Ability or something, their odds are pretty great. Third level spell slots are fairly cheap at that level, anyway.
They could always just roll the check to dispel the Invulnerability with a base level Dispel Magic. I think the DC would be 19? If they've got the Guidance spell, the Magical Guidance feature, and/or Enhance Ability or something, their odds are pretty great. Third level spell slots are fairly cheap at that level, anyway.
I hope they're aware of the timer!
Great - thanks - they will be aware of the time!! :)
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Hi fellow DMs, (If you play D&D in Dybbøl - dont read this thread)
Iam running the one-shot "Attack on Avernus - Wrath of Tiamat" for my group this weekend. (Dmsguild)
Its a high level adventure for chars lvl 17 to 20. (Its a group of 5 lvl 17)
They need to travel downwards thru a series of rooms - but I am unsure how they can get past the first obstacle described.
Maybe I am just stupid or I am missing something. Please see below short description of the "obstacle"
The first floor of the Adamant Hourglass is 120 feet in diameter.
Floating 15 feet above its surface are a number of 10-by-10-by-5
foot translucent rectangular force prisms. These prisms glow
with a red nimbus of light that surrounds a white hot globe at
their centre. These prisms are capable of exploding into flames if
landed upon (see below).
There are two magical hemispheres in effect on this floor.
The first is a hemisphere of invulnerability. Its diameter is
120 feet, and its height is 45 feet from the floor. Other than its
hemispherical dimensions, this spell behaves identically to the
globe of invulnerability spell. This dome blocks spells of level 8 or
lower.
The second is a hemisphere of force with a diameter of 120 feet,
located directly below the hemisphere of invulnerability. It is 45
feet in height. Other than its hemispherical dimensions, this spell
behaves identically to the wall of force spell.
How do they break thru the wall of force if they are in an area affected by "globe of invulnerability"?
Wall of force can only be penetrated/destroyed by a Disintegrate spell, and in this case ony by one cast at lvl 9.
Is this the only way for the party to get pass this? Or do you see/have any other ideas I can "suggest" if they fail?
See attached picture - maybe that helps :)
Thanks in advance!!
Hemisphere is an odd term to use for these. The top one is kind of a hemisphere but the bottom one is clearly a cylinder. Anyway...
Do the crystals have anything to do with it? And is there any reason the party has to start at the top rather than breaking in through the side, or teleporting past the first area?
Thanks for replying - maybe I left out some important information :)
They cant enter from the sides as this hourglass "construct" is occupying the entire diameter of a kind of "wormhole" situated in some other plane. Imagine a looooong (24 miles) corridor in space that leads from the Material plane to Avernus. In the middle the guardians of this this "corridor" have build this hourglass with 9 floors (1 for each level of hell I imagine) and they can only go thru by completing each floor. However it seems to me from the description in the adventure that the first obstacle really is tough - if your only way is to disintegrate the cylinder of force. I could just leave that wall of force out, but I am looking for ideas on how my party could manage it.
Hope this cleared it up a bit?
/Zayin
I don't think disintegrate at 9th level would work, since the globe of invulnerability blocks spells lower than its own level "even if the spell is cast using a higher level spell slot". And from the description you provided the dome blocks spell of level 8 or lower.
You need to use dispel magic on the globe of invulnerability first, then you can disintegrate the wall of force at 6th level.
That's assuming you have spellcasters with those spells...
I see. Well, it seems like Globe of Invulnerability lets you cast *out* of it, just not *into* it. So it's there to prevent characters from cheesing things by flying outside and shooting spells in, I guess?
The Wall of Force is a real problem though. Assuming nobody has Disintegrate on tap, I think the only way past it is teleportation. Maybe there's a mechanism to disable it further down? They might find out by using Clairvoyance or something? Divination? Lol.
If a party is at a level where Disintegrate is a possibility, I like to hand them these kinds of baffling problems because they actually can solve them. This one looks pretty low-stakes. Like, they're not being harassed by monsters while they're staring at this situation, right?
We have a Sorcerer, Warlock, Cleric, Paladin and Rogue lvl 17 in the group, I believe that they would have either disintegrate or teleportation available.
There will be monsters on the other side of the wall of force, they will be hiding under those trapped boxes as described. I am not sure if the intention of the adventure is to have a massive wall of force blocking the entire room, but I do think its a fun challenge, at least if they have means to break/pass it. Else I can let the creatures somehow disable it.
They are on a very tight timeline as they need to get down to the bottom and disrupt an ongoing ritual being performed by a very powerful devil. If they are late it will be almost impossible to defeat the devil :)
Thanks for this input - ouch, I guess they need to cast Dispel Magic at lvl 9 then for them to dispel the globe of invul?
This surely will make them use a lot of spellslots so the fights further down will be harder - this might be good :)
I do expect that this adventure has a 50/50 chance of TPK :)
They could always just roll the check to dispel the Invulnerability with a base level Dispel Magic. I think the DC would be 19? If they've got the Guidance spell, the Magical Guidance feature, and/or Enhance Ability or something, their odds are pretty great. Third level spell slots are fairly cheap at that level, anyway.
I hope they're aware of the timer!
Great - thanks - they will be aware of the time!! :)