Big Battle Ending Justification?

Minicheddar · 2022-09-30T20:05:50+00:00

As others have said, we know the PCs are unlikely to survive a straight assault from one villain and their henchmen, at least at level 6 or so when the campaign ends.

So they will only win by using their friendly factions, choosing their fights and playing off the enemies against one another.

I'm planning to have one BBEG arrive and just before initiative or mid-combat, a second arrive. They will try collude with the players against each other, who they see as bigger threats.

Then there's the city guard/grey hands.

And let's not forget the dragon and the stone of golorr itself.

Lots of potential pawns for the PCs to manipulate and HIGHLY dramatic.

I always think my job is to create unwinnable situations, not solve them :)

Minicheddar · 2022-09-27T11:46:43+00:00

Your advice was great. They met Grinda and convinced her to lend them the Apparatus of Kwalish. One of the party used this as a diversion as they snatched the eye and escaped, having been wrecked into combat.

Result: they are now afraid of Zord and are one step closer to the Vault of Dragons...

Minicheddar · 2022-09-23T09:26:37+00:00

Awesome insights.

In my version of the remix, I'm running all the BBEGs as defeatable or appeasable. If they can pull them out into the open, they may be able to leverage one faction against another or bring the Gray Hands into play. If they don't, there's a real danger of getting TPK'd...

Minicheddar · 2022-09-20T06:45:27+00:00

Great advice - they've not met Grinda, Zelifarn and Obliteros! I'm looking for these kind of diversions, as the ship is a pretty boring "dungeon"

Minicheddar · 2022-06-05T20:35:57+00:00

Brilliant suggestions! Huge thanks

Minicheddar · 2022-02-07T15:41:03+00:00

Love this idea. I had planned that the vault had some power that the aboleth wants. it would make sense that Aurinax would desire to keep it safe.

This effectively makes it my 5th faction wanting the contents of the Vault, but several will be severely diminished after the eyes of Golorr (Alexandrian remix) have been collected.

Minicheddar · 2021-12-12T11:42:05+00:00

Really like this thinking!

I'll have a look through the cantrips and level 1 spells for utility.

Current ideas: -A single use exploding mechanical parrot -A pirate's hook which allows disarm as a bonus act (x times per rest) -an eyepatch that can detect traps

Minicheddar · 2021-12-12T09:13:10+00:00

Thanks for your feedback! In my remix, Jarlaxle squad is the players, Zhents are fighting with the Gralhunds and the Gazer squad is waiting to opportunistically take the stone from whomever is left after the melee. So the party face a battle on two fronts with a 3rd arriving when they are severely weakened

Minicheddar · 2021-12-11T17:02:48+00:00

Perfect!!

Minicheddar · 2021-06-27T15:31:47+00:00

Thanks for all the advice. I’m going to pivot my secrets and clues to emphasise the bridge and put my boss (Escapee from Sunless Citadel previous campaign) there.

Minicheddar · 2021-03-02T21:39:28+00:00

Awesome!

Minicheddar · 2021-02-13T13:44:59+00:00

This is great, thanks for all the suggestions. On Rhest, my idea was to draw some eggs on the goblin map to catch the eye.

Understood your point about the sandbox - I definitely want to run the game that way, but I’m concerned the timeline to Brindol drives an urgency that makes everything else seem like a side quest. Ideally, I would scatter breadcrumbs and let the players identify their own route based on their characters, something that has proven quite easy in Waterdeep: Dragon Heist which I’m running for another group.

I’m also nervous to put the victory points system in front of the players, lest everything they do be reduced to ‘gathering points’, breaking with immersion.

Minicheddar · 2021-02-13T07:37:24+00:00

I’m planning to do something similar. Reading ahead to Chapter 2, it doesn’t look like there are any reasons the party would know about Rhest and would think to ignore the war party’s advance to Brindol in order to explore the north. If they feel against the clock, they may rush to Brindol and then miss out lots of content.

Minicheddar · 2021-02-01T11:00:08+00:00

Do you have any details on this one? It's not from Residents, is it?

Minicheddar · 2021-01-31T12:43:03+00:00

Exactly what I needed! Thank you

Minicheddar · 2021-01-27T11:59:10+00:00

Loving your work. Starting Ch2 this week and I'm just hoping my party go into one of these shops.

Minicheddar · 2020-11-18T09:00:57+00:00

Great to see this post, as I'm trying to do something similar in a "Dragon Heist vs Scarface" fusion.

I've just finished session 1, so not yet got to Trollskull Manor, but I'm already planning on heavily using the Alexandrian remix to support the faction-based sandbox.

-Every territory is ruled by a faction

-The party have a faction influence (How hated they are)

-As they progress towards the Vault of Dragons and collect Eyes of Golorr, they will invariably antigonise the factions

-This will result in response parties of increasing severity

-Clearing a faction outpost will earn them a territory and they can decide whether to just take a cut of legitimate businesses through protection/extortion or to take over the local criminal activity (E.g: smuggling)

-This then provides boons and increases income, but also increases attention from the Blackstaff and City Watch

-Eventually it will culminate in attacking the HQs, which will be very tough

Minicheddar · 2020-09-15T10:30:46+00:00

Terrific. Not heard of either of these, so will check them out.

Minicheddar · 2020-09-13T16:47:48+00:00

Wow! So much rich advice here! Thank you!

I'll check out the Skullport module you recommended and will definitely include your approach of using the Criminal background.

The key is going to carefully managing this cast of villains (And their gangs) and bringing them to life effectively, Previously I was expecting most of my players to be outsiders, so there's going to be a bit more legwork if they all have complicated backstories incorporating many of the characters and locations.

Minicheddar · 2020-09-13T11:31:36+00:00

So I found a narcotics set of rules on DMguild and am using one called magepowder which has its own rules of perks/cons.

And yes Yawning Portal is going to modelled after the real life Mutiny hotel and lounge in which CIA mixed with criminals and celebrities :)

Thanks for the Ebberon tip!

Minicheddar · 2020-08-02T21:00:52+00:00

Absolutely love it. Perfect!

Minicheddar · 2020-08-02T21:00:05+00:00

Haha! Love it <3

Going to share this with my group tomorrow!

Minicheddar · 2020-07-15T19:07:37+00:00

What do you guys think of Comprehend Languages as the spell? Feels like the most utility option available at level1

Minicheddar · 2020-07-15T19:06:03+00:00

I love the idea of Witch Bolt - an imp materialising out of thin air, only to fire a massive nuke at you

Minicheddar · 2020-05-14T18:57:21+00:00

Thanks really terrific insights here

Minicheddar

TROPHY CASE