Post by Vulash on Mar 2, 2016 16:37:37 GMT
I have a question for you guys.
My party has been tracking down a mysterious man that has been causing all kinds of political (and other things) havoc. They've tracked him deep into the wilds where he seems to be holed up at a ruined fort type of area. I need the party to sneak in and confront him. They seem to have stalled up a bit last session, and since we don't get to play for very long I don't want to overwork this. I also don't want to just pave the way.
Here are the details:
They've located these ruins just east of a mountain range - so the terrain is heavily forested and fairly mountainous (think Appalachians, but just beside a larger actual mountain range). The ruins themselves are built upon an old Pop-up structure (I'm a geologist), basically a small mountainous feature just east of the actual range. The southern part of the domed structure has been sheered completely flat vertically and horizontally. Imagine a dome shaped mountain with an L cut into it, and the buildings built on the bottom part of the L. Most of the buildings, including the walls and small keep are made of old stone, partially ruined. In the center is a black pyramid made of an unknown material (remnant of another age). I need the party to make it into the pyramid to confront the villain.
Here is what they know. There are no wagon trains coming or going - they're way out in the wilds with no roads, just animal trails and such. There are, however, a decent number of humans living in the ruins that appear to be following this man. They've also spied other small groups of 4-5 men and women, dressed as bandits, and wearing a strange symbol, that make their way into this area occasionally (they've been scouting a week). So it appears as though this man is recruiting and bringing in more people slowly, but steadily. There are also orc encampments around the area and in the mountains. The party can see their fires. They've seen mixed groups, and know that the humans are also working with the orcs, but the orcs aren't all in the ruins.
Most of this they encountered and scouted at the end of the last session, but they also seemed a little lost. They have a character that modeled himself after James Bond, and I thought he'd have some ideas about disguises or sneaking in, but he didn't proffer anything.
I don't always plan an exact way I expect my PCs to solve an issue. I tend to set up a situation - make sure I know at least one way to solve it, and then just run with their ideas. In my mind I see a few options: They could disguise themselves, attack one of these small caravans of bandits, and take their pendants for this purpose. Or they could try just to sneak in and take out the guards. Or they could try to climb up and over some of the rougher terrain and drop in.
The party has a sorcerer, 2 fighters, a monk, and a ranger/rogue. They're level 6.
The battle inside the pyramid is the culmination of a "chapter" so to speak. There are a lot of things inside there that should happen, and it should be a really great moment for the PCs (if they win). I think they're partially worried about confronting someone inside such a large mass of hostile creatures, and I understand that completely. This is the type of moment that plays out well in novels, but perhaps they worry that escape will be impossible (it's not - I can't go into details on the off chance someone reads this).
At this point I'm considering just laying out the options they have - not in the way I've phrased it here, but in the form of a recap of the notes they have on the area, and what they believe is possible and the draw backs. I'm not entirely satisfied with that, however, and was hoping that someone here might have a more clever solution, or a way to take this in a direction that will add even more tension and fun to what could be a big moment.
My party has been tracking down a mysterious man that has been causing all kinds of political (and other things) havoc. They've tracked him deep into the wilds where he seems to be holed up at a ruined fort type of area. I need the party to sneak in and confront him. They seem to have stalled up a bit last session, and since we don't get to play for very long I don't want to overwork this. I also don't want to just pave the way.
Here are the details:
They've located these ruins just east of a mountain range - so the terrain is heavily forested and fairly mountainous (think Appalachians, but just beside a larger actual mountain range). The ruins themselves are built upon an old Pop-up structure (I'm a geologist), basically a small mountainous feature just east of the actual range. The southern part of the domed structure has been sheered completely flat vertically and horizontally. Imagine a dome shaped mountain with an L cut into it, and the buildings built on the bottom part of the L. Most of the buildings, including the walls and small keep are made of old stone, partially ruined. In the center is a black pyramid made of an unknown material (remnant of another age). I need the party to make it into the pyramid to confront the villain.
Here is what they know. There are no wagon trains coming or going - they're way out in the wilds with no roads, just animal trails and such. There are, however, a decent number of humans living in the ruins that appear to be following this man. They've also spied other small groups of 4-5 men and women, dressed as bandits, and wearing a strange symbol, that make their way into this area occasionally (they've been scouting a week). So it appears as though this man is recruiting and bringing in more people slowly, but steadily. There are also orc encampments around the area and in the mountains. The party can see their fires. They've seen mixed groups, and know that the humans are also working with the orcs, but the orcs aren't all in the ruins.
Most of this they encountered and scouted at the end of the last session, but they also seemed a little lost. They have a character that modeled himself after James Bond, and I thought he'd have some ideas about disguises or sneaking in, but he didn't proffer anything.
I don't always plan an exact way I expect my PCs to solve an issue. I tend to set up a situation - make sure I know at least one way to solve it, and then just run with their ideas. In my mind I see a few options: They could disguise themselves, attack one of these small caravans of bandits, and take their pendants for this purpose. Or they could try just to sneak in and take out the guards. Or they could try to climb up and over some of the rougher terrain and drop in.
The party has a sorcerer, 2 fighters, a monk, and a ranger/rogue. They're level 6.
The battle inside the pyramid is the culmination of a "chapter" so to speak. There are a lot of things inside there that should happen, and it should be a really great moment for the PCs (if they win). I think they're partially worried about confronting someone inside such a large mass of hostile creatures, and I understand that completely. This is the type of moment that plays out well in novels, but perhaps they worry that escape will be impossible (it's not - I can't go into details on the off chance someone reads this).
At this point I'm considering just laying out the options they have - not in the way I've phrased it here, but in the form of a recap of the notes they have on the area, and what they believe is possible and the draw backs. I'm not entirely satisfied with that, however, and was hoping that someone here might have a more clever solution, or a way to take this in a direction that will add even more tension and fun to what could be a big moment.
