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Post by joatmoniac on Jun 16, 2015 9:02:12 GMT
I know it's not quite Tuesday night, but after hearing the latest episode I thought it would be a fun idea (and surprisingly one we haven’t done yet) to build an underwater encounter together. Secondly, to make it more interesting and to add more to be completed I think it should be a boss battle. 1) Average Party Level = Level 5 to 9 range 2) Big Bad Guy = Isperixatl, also known by the honorifics, "Rider on the Plaguetide" and "King of the Rotting Depths" a. Race = Merrow with undead traits b. Class = Warlock. Patron is the demon who created the merrow. c. Unique Traits 3) Location (i.e. sunken city, kelp forest, etc) = The Rotting Depths a. Lair actions = Increase water pressure: causes the effect of a fireball spell but force damage not fire b. Regional effects = Little to no current, but moved at the will of Isperixatl c. Traps = Razor kelp. Undead Clams. 4) Lackeys, minions, meat shield, etc = Lacedons aka aquatic ghouls 5) Feel free to add anything you think could spice up the encounter Definitely be as system specific or agnostic as you want. Hopefully there is enough here to have everyone take a piece of the fun, but if not I’ll try coming up with some more topics, and definitely suggest some if you have them. I’ll take 1) to start us off, based off of the question posed by DM Mitch in another thread it seems like a general consensus is that the mid-range levels are the most fun to DM. So I think anything within the Level 5 to 9 range should be good for this encounter. Link to DM-Nastics Segment #14
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2015 17:13:37 GMT
2, 2a) Isperixatl, Merrow, also known by the honorifics, "Rider on the Plaguetide" and "King of the Rotting Depths" (uses custom stat block, not standard merrow)
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Post by umbralwalker on Jun 16, 2015 21:00:34 GMT
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Post by dm_mainprize on Jun 17, 2015 4:24:06 GMT
If he is the rider of plague tide and the king of the rotting depth i think his minions need to be some for of undead or infect forms of normal aquatic creatures, or perhaps the water around his domain is poisoned or corrupt so players take damage or exhaustion from being in it.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2015 5:19:59 GMT
Yeah, I kind of loaded my entry on purpose. I had this frame of a story kicking around in the back of my head. Merrow (per the 5e Monster Manual) were corrupted by Demogorgon, but I imagined Orcus taking an interest in them for the purpose of this DM-nastic. Turning it into a horror encounter is the only way to make an aquatic theme palatable for me. edit: <cough-lacedons-cough>
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Post by umbralwalker on Jun 17, 2015 15:27:25 GMT
Turning it into a horror encounter is the only way to make an aquatic theme palatable for me. edit: <cough-lacedons-cough> Whatever it takes, man. What...ever...it...takes... Also, horror is great as aquatic campaign fodder. In fact, I would argue that most aquatic-themed films/shows are horror (Jaws, Europa Report, any one-word-title SciFi Channel film, etc).
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Post by umbralwalker on Jun 17, 2015 15:30:18 GMT
If he is the rider of plague tide and the king of the rotting depth i think his minions need to be some for of undead or infect forms of normal aquatic creatures, or perhaps the water around his domain is poisoned or corrupt so players take damage or exhaustion from being in it. I mentioned the supplement "Blood Sea" from S&S in one of the pods. I love the idea of this titan bleeding out into the surrounding water while constantly regenerating, causing normal animals to become mutated. This sounds like an undead parallel.
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Post by umbralwalker on Jun 17, 2015 15:31:03 GMT
2, 2a) Isperixatl, Merrow, also known by the honorifics, "Rider on the Plaguetide" and "King of the Rotting Depths" (uses custom stat block, not standard merrow) I've added 2 new merrow types if we're talking 5th ed, the hunter-seeker, and the Hand of Demogorgon. I would love to see more and this sounds ideal.
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Post by frohtastic on Jun 20, 2015 1:20:43 GMT
If he is the rider of plague tide and the king of the rotting depth i think his minions need to be some for of undead or infect forms of normal aquatic creatures, or perhaps the water around his domain is poisoned or corrupt so players take damage or exhaustion from being in it. well, the water could have no current, since the ocean needs current to sustain itself kinda. so have areas of the place be thick with sludge and decaying bodies? maybe some aquatic goo's as well
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Post by joatmoniac on Jun 20, 2015 5:56:40 GMT
Added in the ideas so far to the original post. Awesome stuff!
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Post by frohtastic on Jun 21, 2015 1:46:33 GMT
Lair action could be that he summons a current ( I think actually theres something like that in the MM, leviathan? ) that drags the players a set amount of feet pr turn so they would have to make athletics swim checks to keep up with the current (also their move)
perhaps make it so that it goes round and around like a maelstorm, leading to a buildup of debris (ship parts?) in the field.
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Post by umbralwalker on Jun 24, 2015 15:25:11 GMT
If he is the rider of plague tide and the king of the rotting depth i think his minions need to be some for of undead or infect forms of normal aquatic creatures, or perhaps the water around his domain is poisoned or corrupt so players take damage or exhaustion from being in it. well, the water could have no current, since the ocean needs current to sustain itself kinda. so have areas of the place be thick with sludge and decaying bodies? maybe some aquatic goo's as well Whoa. This is brilliant. Yes, that would be quite terrifying to aquatic cultures. Currents that lead to upwellings at islands, coral reefs, etc, are critical to survival. If there is an area where those nutrients from the photic zone aren't being recycled, that can lead to long-term ecological disaster.
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Post by umbralwalker on Jun 24, 2015 15:26:33 GMT
Lair action could be that he summons a current ( I think actually theres something like that in the MM, leviathan? ) that drags the players a set amount of feet pr turn so they would have to make athletics swim checks to keep up with the current (also their move) perhaps make it so that it goes round and around like a maelstorm, leading to a buildup of debris (ship parts?) in the field. I like this, too. Again, almost a psychological attack on aquatic races. "All this potential life? I own it. I rule it. I keep it from you. And I will use it to kill you."
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Post by joatmoniac on Jun 25, 2015 7:18:45 GMT
I love the idea of having control over the currents around himself. Mainly keeping it still and dead and festering, but still having the ability to suck players into the dead zone, or push them around while in it. Think about seeing a mass of death headed your way and getting pulled into only to be pushed deeper in right into the waiting arms of lacedons. All while hearing the maniacal laughter of Isperixatl. Can't argue with that at all.
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Post by frohtastic on Jun 25, 2015 14:05:07 GMT
I love the idea of having control over the currents around himself. Mainly keeping it still and dead and festering, but still having the ability to suck players into the dead zone, or push them around while in it. Think about seeing a mass of death headed your way and getting pulled into only to be pushed deeper in right into the waiting arms of lacedons. All while hearing the maniacal laughter of Isperixatl. Can't argue with that at all. all the while the players see in the distance a mass set of tentacles writhing around. Whilst they hear the maniacal laughter in their minds coupled with the "You dare awaken me!"
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