Monday, 19 February 2024

The Devil's forge

The Devil’s Forge

The second landmark on the treasure map is the Devil’s Forge, which seems to be some sort of fortress or waterfall.  It is both.  It is a waterfall that ends the surface route of the river that drains the region and it is an impenetrable fortress that keeps the water flowing over the waterfall and cuts off the rest of the valley.  The entire river has been diverted into the mountain Empire of the dwarves.  However since the river is cut off, the players are looking for a river with no water.  There is a remaining river that flows into the Chasm Maze, but it is not the big that it could be.  There are several tributaries that flow into this small river that are seemingly likely sources, but they are all false.  The fastest way to get to the real Devil’s Forge is to ask for directions.  To do that, they will have to gain the trust of the clans nearby. 

People and Quests. 

Each clan or group will ask for assistance in exchange for telling them the fastest rout to the Devil’s Forge.  To be clear, they want the PCs to go to Devil’s Forge, but they want them to find the situation there untenable and they want the PCs to fight the Dwarves and help destroy the fortress of the Dwarves. 

The Dwarves are looking for allies and they are hoping that when they get to Devil’s Forge they will see the value of what they do and will help defend their fortress from an attack by the other races.

Three, quests, simple, medium and hard. 

The simple will be easy like collect a stray or orphan of their clan who was abroad during the last attack.

The Medium will also be easy, but it will involve contacting one of the other factions and possibly encountering a dwarven retrieval squad, retrieval of resources (dead, lumber, ores etc.) gaining their help and good will.

The Hard quest will be to get three of the factions to join with them to break the hold of the Dwarves on the Valley.  This will require completion of a medium quest by the other three factions and earn the group the designation of enemy of the Empire. 

Once the third quest is finished the PCs will be directed to the correct valley with the blessing of the clans they have allied with.  They will be asked if they will want to join in the assault of the Dwarven Fort at the head of that valley.  If they do, they will be pulled into a battle royale with each PC leading a major Unit and if they decide to stay out, they will have to find a way into and past the fortress. 

The battle objectives will be to sabotage the trebuchet on the wall, or draw fire from them until the wall can be breached.  Repel the repellers, as the attack commences, Dwarven Repelling Mountaineers drop from both sides to delay the attack.   Attack from behind, a dwarven Retrieval Squad approaches from behind and attacks with suicidal fury.  After four rounds Giant and Gnomish Sappers will destroy one section of the wall.  if more sections are destroyed, there is a greater chance the PCs will get through.  It should be clear that this battle is about causing significant damage to this fortress and not its total destruction, but if that should occur, then so much the better.   There is a dwarvish cannon that will fire every other round, whichever unit that it strikes that round will be obliterated.  There are four sections of the wall and there is a 1 in 4 chance that the powder supply will be in that section.  If that section is destroyed then each section of the wall next to it will also be destroyed. 

1.       Sabotage the Trebuchet/ pass disable or commandeer the trebuchet/fail they remain in operation and each remaining trebuchet causes half damage to one unit.

2.       Repel the repellers/ pass destroy both raiding repellers/fail reduce the time to destroy a section by 1 per unrepelled repeller.

3.       Protect the rear/pass destroy the enemy/fail the retrieval squad delays a wall section destruction by 2 rounds.

4.       Locate the powder supply/pass destroy 2 or 3 sections of wall instead of 1 and stop the cannons from firing/ fail only one wall is destroyed and every 2 rounds the cannons kill ¾ of a unit.

4 Trebuchet units fire every round anywhere on the battlefield, four cannons work in tandem to destroy one unit every 2 rounds.  If the battle lasts 8 rounds the dwarves will have won and if the flanking attacks and the rear attack both win out the wall should still be intact.  If the wall is breached, with 1-2 sections destroyed the allies have won a moral victory.  If ¾ to all the wall is destroyed the allies are victorious, until the dwarves rebuild, and they will.

(1)    The Stone Giants Quests

                Easy—Acquire the three ingredients that are missing for the permanence ritual for the stone of the Chasamfiend.  A Beryl from the ice cave up slope (yeti), and Ice Flower from the glacier near the summit(remoraz) and silver clay from the river waterfall (deathly Cold).

                Medium—Bring a letter to the Mountain Elves and a collection of bright gemstones as gift

                Hard—Bring the Mountain Giants into the alliance against the Dwarves

(2)    The Tinker Gnomes

a.       Easy—investigate the Old fortress for the tools that are needed to harden the Chasamfiend stone, the Forge acquire the ever burning coals (salamander), the Living waters bring back a gallon (elemental) from the deed grotto and lastly the iron dog, because you are there already, and my son misses him dearly.

b.       Medium—bring a satchel of wind-up flying arrows to the Aarakocra near by

c.       Hard—Organize an alliance of small folk (alpine halflings, free Kobolds and Gnomes)

(3)    The Aarakocra clans

a.       Easy—acquire a gear from the Gnomes

b.       Medium—Send an invitation to the Mountain Giants and a dozen fine feathers

c.       Hard—Bring the heads of the vermin that attacked Aarakocra youths (the Fortress at the head of the Dwarf Valley)

(4)    The Free Kobolds

a.       Easy—destroy the tribe of Ice Trolls that are feeding off them for the last few months

b.       Medium—escort the brave miners to the Giant Hold

c.       Hard—get the Gnomes and the Aarakocra together and acquire as many Dragon-wings as possible to make Gnomish Gliders and Aarakocra drops (four Dragons)

(5)    The Mountain Elves

a.       Easy—trade with the gnomes for the spice mixture used in their muffin mixtures

b.       Medium—bring the alpine Halflings leaders a basket of muffins to trade for a bottle of fizzing burbottle beer

c.       Hard—get the local valley to discuss the defence of the valley (kobolds, Halflings and elves)

(6)    The Alpine Halflings

a.       Easy—Clear the artificial ford at the base of their river, it is damming up the flow and preventing herds of elk from returning. (Dwarven Patrol)

b.       Medium—Clear the wintering grounds of a band of Cyclops that have been creating a nuisance for years

c.       Hard—Acquire a promise from the Aarakocra to stop raiding their village.

(7)    The Mountain Giants

a.       Easy—Bring back a box of salted plum tarts, for the matron who loves them so much

b.       Medium—send a note with a bag of gold to the Free Kobolds asking for them to return and finish the work they were doing. (Escort Mission past ice trolls and Dwarf patrols

c.       Hard—Acquire the Blood Price of four dozen Dwarf beards and give them to the Elves as forgiveness for past strife

(8)    The Empire Dwarves

a.       Easy—build fords or bridges across the major water routes so that trade can flow more easily up to the Forge

b.       Medium—Raid any one of the local group’s fortresses, they have the necessary components to preserve your Chasamfiend stones

c.       Hard—Disrupt or delay the enemies that are building to attack the fortress of the Forge.  See battle

 

St Giant

Gnome

M Elf

Aarakocra

M Giant

Halfling

Kobold

1

Q

Q

Gnome

Gnomes

Halfling

Q

Q

2

M Elf

Aarakocra

Halfling

M Giant

kobolds

Q

M Giant

3

Q

Q

Q

Q

Q

Aarakocra

Q

 

 

 

Dragons: Mist, Ice, Stone, River, Alpine, Forest

The area is a constant war zone.  The forces of the Dwarven Empire are stripping the region of resources and the peoples who live here are fighting to keep the resources and their livelihoods.  Forests have been pulled out of the ground roots and all and the animal life that live there, butchered and taken away, even the grass has been cut or torn right out.  The dead from the battles have been stripped of goods and stolen upending burial rights of the fallen. 

 

The Tale with two points of view

Dwarves would tell it that the peaceful peoples of these valleys have turned a away from their plight and have refused to trade with The Empire and have taken up arms against them.  Thwarting the survival of the Empire, they have forced the hand of the Emperor and conflict has happened.  The battles have left dead on both sides that the dwarves have been adding to the fungus caves.  Better that the dead feed the people in their dire need than have the dead rot in the open.  The spirits are all happy to be serving the greater good.

 

The others say differently.

Target to gain 2 levels in this section:  players will rise from 11 to 13th

11 Quests

1)      Gather components for the ritual Yeti, Rhemoraz, agonizing cold

2)      Gather tools for the ritual, Salamanders, water elemental, Dwarves and undead

3)      Clear the Ford, Dwarven patrols

4)      Destroy the Ice Trolls, find them and destroy the altar of anti fire first.

5)      Destroy the Cyclops band

6)      Complete The Mountain Giant Quest Line and escort their Leaders to the Ording

7)      Complete the Halfling, and Kobold Quest lines and escort them to council

8)      Bring tribute to the Elves and to ensure they will support them in the future

9)      Forge and alliance of the second valley, and best the dwarven warriors sent against it

10)   Fight the Dwarven Fortress

11)   Acquire the skins of four Dragons

12)   Fight the Devil’s Forge

 

1)      There is a cave at near the top of the mountain, where the path goes.  In the rear of the cave is a Beryl bring a chip off it.  There are wild animals on the mountain path and there is a grave with unquiet undead stone Giants (3)  in the cave there are a clan of Yeti following an indominable snowperson.  The path that leads to the cave splits off and heads down between the mountains and on to a massive alpine glacier.  This is where the Ice Begonia blooms.  The field where it grows is treacherous as there is an Ice Worm that burrows to and fro there. The tunnels are perfect for a rhemoraz that lurks there.  It is the heat of the remoraz that allows the flower to bloom.  The water from the glacier continues down between the mountain through a gorge and it is there that the clay must be gathered, under the waterfall where the water comes off the icesheet.

2)      The Gnome citadel must be breached and searched.  There is a garrison of 50 dwarves in there and they must be persuaded to leave or fought.  At most half the garrison will leave.  They are all fighters with 36hp and AC 18.  Every group of five has a sergeant hp 50, there are two lieutenants hp 75 AC 20 and one leader hp 110  AC21.  The salamanders heat the everburning coals and there is a Fire elemental there two.  The water is guarded by an enormous water elemental. The robot dog is in the throne room with the captain.

3)      Clear the ford of the rocks that were used to create the path, there is a fortress being built on one side with two squads of ten dwarves with their squad leaders and one captain.  When the fort is completed it will have the same number of troops and include siege equipment and a 7th level War Mage.  The river was originally 40 feet wide but the addition of the rocks have caused a lake to form and it is now 120 feet wide, the lake covers that farms of the Haflings.

4)      Ice Trolls and the Altar of Anti-Fire.  The kobolds have been plagued by bad neighbours.  The ice trolls were always bad but they have filled the cavern next to the main kobold lair and have set up an altar to their cold gods that is cooling down the hatchery and threatening the next generations.  Ice trolls are weaker than normal trolls so will be encountered in groups.  They live in a melting glacier, with a waterfall over the entrance.  There are six ice trolls at the entrance.  If the party uses fire they will retreat in terror into the cavern.  Once past the entrance, all fire spells emit cold damage instead of fire or heat and the trolls are immune to cold.  There are four rooms and each room contains 6 ice trolls, except for the last which has twice this number and the altar that must be hit with radiant damage to be destroyed, after which fire works normally.  There is a river running through each room.

5)      Up above the halfling village there is a plateau where the halflings travel in the Summer.  Last Summer a band of cyclops arrived and set up in that plateau and feasted upon the halflings.  The halflings like their Summer homes and the plague of Cyclops is a problem for them.  There are ten located in 5 caves within 120 feet.

6)      Escort the Kobold miners to the Mountain Giant Hold.  The mountain giants are installing plumbing in their cave systems and they need the smallest creatures to build these tunnels.  They have contracted the Kobolds but since the kobolds live in another mountain valley, they need someone to get them to them.  A band of Ice Trolls will set upon them first, twelve will attack after the kobolds have left the safety of the valley.  Next there will be a large patrol of Dwarves that are just leaving the newly built Fortress, 20 dwarves with two Sergeants and one Captain.  The dwarves will fire crossbows at the kobolds because they are under orders to stop interspecies co-operation at all costs.  The second patrol will charge out of the Fortress that fills the second last valley entrance.  The fortress has a small cannon that will fire small grenades that explode above the valley.  The dwarves are trying to break an ice shelf and cause an avalanche and kill the kobolds and the pass in general.  The cannon will fire five times before it is successful breaking the iceshelf, unless it rolls a 20 to hit, or a 1.  A 1 and the cannon explodes and the powder explosion will set off the avalanche anyways.  The avalanche will pick up speed the first minute and reach maximum speed then it will have a speed of 1500 and the characters will have 2 minutes to get shelter.  If they survive, the avalanche will attract an enraged Ice Dragon

7)      The Giants will tell them they wish to present the Elves a tribute of peace in this troubled time, 4 dozen Dwarf Beards and they will ask the party to acquire them for the Giants.  The only Dwarf Beards are currently owned by the dwarves in the fortress, they will need to acquire them without using fire.

8)      Bring down a total of four Dragons and gather the wings and bring them to the Aarakocra and gnomes to build flyers for kobold pilots

9)      Take the combined hosts against the Devil’s Forge and bring down the fortress to allow the party to pass.

 

 

 

6) In detail—The troupe 50 kobolds must be escorted from the Kobold Warren to the next valley to meet the terms of their arrangement.  They have been commissioned to excavate new tunnels and new rooms for the Mountain Giant Hall.  They are a pragmatic group and they know that there are many creatures that are bigger and more dangerous than a kobold, well basically all of them.  All week the area has been getting rain but higher up the slopes heavy wet snow has been falling.

First encounter, a group of Ice Trolls see the group and decide to attack, as soon as a third of the group dies they will run off, as soon as fire is used they will run off, but they will hang back and follow waiting for a chance.  If they drop by half they will run away. 

A patrol of 20 dwarves approaches the group from the opposite direction.  They see the group as larger than them and they decide to fire their crossbows at maximum range to whittle the group down. If the Ice Trolls are still lurking, they will attack now.  The only way to stop the dwarves is to charge with and double move up to them to stop them from killing the kobolds.  The kobolds move 30 and the dwarves move 25.  They will start attacking at 200’ and their range is 240’.

An hour or so later they will come to the end of the central valley where one arm splits off towards the Mountain Giant Hold and the other heads to the Devil’s Forge; the path to the Forge has been walled off and fortified.  The weather at this point clears and the sun comes out and warms the entire group.  The mountain to their right is covered with deep snows and far up the slope there is a drift extending over a cliff (Perception 15).  A sortie of dwarves heads out to disrupt the group while in the fortress tower there is a gunner firing mortars at the group.  They mostly miss, but every time it fires and every time the grenade explodes there is an echoing boom. on a 20 or on a 1 (when the cannon explodes)  avalanche is started.

The Avalanche!  3 minutes.  30 turns.  The avalanche will be over quickly, but will the players and the Kobolds be alive too.  double move will allow the kobolds 1800’ in 3 minutes.  The area that will be affected by the avalanche will be 2000’ on either side where it starts.  The avalanche will have a speed of 600’/turn at the bottom of the valley and it will slow by 100’/turn until it stops: 600+500+400+300+200+100.  If the characters can move at 60’ per turn and away from the avalanche, they will literally be a foot from where it stops finally, or where it stops being dangerous.  It they are unsheltered at the bottom of the valley they will take 6d20 damage con save for half DC20, the next increment 5d12 DC18, 4d10 DC15, 3d8 DC13, 2d6 DC10 and finally d4 DC8 for none.  The fortress will bar its gate, but the fortress will be destroyed in the end. 

After the avalanche, the dragon that lived in the ice and snow in the mountain is very put out and will fly down to investigate and seek revenge.  CR10 Ice Dragon AC17 Hp 266  +8 to hit, +8 saves and skill checks.  Multi attack(5) bite 2d10+4 (15), Claw/Claw 2d8+4/2d8+4 (13/13), Tail lash d6+4 (7), Wing Buffet d4 (2) or Breath Weapon 80’cone 16d6 (56) Con 16 for half. Spells as Sor9 5; 4,3,3,3,1.  Chill touch, Gust, Mind Sliver, Ray of Frost, Ice bolt; 1st Fog Cloud, Ice Knife, Magic Missile, Shield; 2nd Gust of Wind, Rime’s Binding Ice, Snowballs; 3rd Sleet Storm, Enemies Abound, Counter Spell; 4th Ice Storm, Greater Invisibility, Polymorph; 5th Summon Draconic Spirit, Cone of Cold, Dominate Person

CR10   

4

4

2d10

2d8

2d8

d6

d4

54

16d6

28HD

L

10

154

266

17

16

8

9

L

10

154

266hp

17

16

8

9 Sorc

 

 

Mist Dragon lives in great waterfalls and there are many in this region, their breath weapon has two forms, the first creates a massive cloud of fog that persists for 10 rounds.  The second is a cone of cold breath that does half as much damage as a dragon its size, but if it breaths inside a fog cloud the fog will coalesce as hoar frost and slow the target for one round disadvantage on that save normal save after.  CR10 Mist Dragon AC17 Hp 266  +8 to hit, +8 saves and skill checks.  Multi attack(5) bite 2d10+4 (15), Claw/Claw 2d8+4/2d8+4 (13/13), Tail lash d6+4 (7), Wing Buffet d4 (2) or Breath Weapon 80’cone 8d6 (28) Con 16 for half disadvantage in fog.  Alternate breath weapon Fog Cloud 80’ cloud radius. Spells as Sor9 5; 4,3,3,3,1.  1st Shield, Silvery Barbs, Magic Missiles 2nd Misty Step, Mirror Image, Rime’s Binding Ice, Snowball Swarm 3rd Blink, Enemies Abound, Sleet Storm 4th Polymorph, Ice Storm, Confusion 5th Cloud Kill

Alpine Forest Dragon are very similar to Green Dragons, they are a deeper colour.  This one has been without its forest for a while and it is very agitated.  It can be bargained with and perhaps convinced to fight against the dwarves on the players side.  CR10 Alpine Forest Dragon AC17 Hp 266  +8 to hit, +8 saves and skill checks.  Multi attack(5) bite 2d10+4 (15), Claw/Claw 2d8+4/2d8+4 (13/13), Tail lash d6+4 (7), Wing Buffet d4 (2) or Breath Weapon 80’cone 16d6 (56) Con 16 for half. Spells as Sor9 5; 4,3,3,3,1.   1st Shield, Silvery Barbs, Magic Missile, 2nd Mirror Image, Vortex Warp, Shatter, 3rd Blink, Stinking Cloud, Gaseous Form, 4th Blight, Polymorph, Banishment, 5th Cloud Kill, Hold Monster

Mountain Dragon is a stone dragon.  This dragon has been pulled to the area by the number of Dragon bodies, three dragons of this size will allow it to Evolve to the next level.  CR14 Mountain Dragon AC18 Hp 414  +10 to hit, +10 saves and skill checks.  Multi attack(5) bite 3d12+5 (24), Claw/Claw 2d10+5/2d10+5 (16/16), Tail lash 2d6+5 (12), Wing Buffet 2d4 (5) or Breath Weapon 100’cone 22d6 (77) Con 18 for half. Spells as Sor13 6;4,3,3,3,2,1,1  Dragon Fright.  Earthbolt, Mage Hand, Minor Illusion, Mold Earth, 1st Absorb Elements, Catapult, Earth Tremor, 2nd Dust Devil, Earthbind, Maximillian’s Earthly Grasp, Hold Person, 3rd Erupting Earth, Slow, Mirror Image, Blink 4th  Banishment, Polymorph, Stoneskin, 5th Hold Monster 6th Eyebite, Scatter, 7th Prismatic Spray

 

CR14   

5

5

3d12

2d10

2d10

2d6

2d4

78

22d6

36HD

H

12

234

414hp

18

18

10

13Sorc

 

+10 skilled, +5 unskilled

 

Once the third quest is finished the PCs will be directed to the correct valley with the blessing of the clans they have allied with.  They will be asked if they will want to join in the assault of the Dwarven Fort at the head of that valley.  If they do, they will be pulled into a battle royale with each PC leading a major Unit and if they decide to stay out, they will have to find a way into and past the fortress. 

Units of the Coalition:

 Unit 1

 Unit 2

Die representative/AC/skill

Tinker Gnomes

2 steam badgers

5 steam catapults

 D10/18/6

Stone Giants

5 boulder throwers

5 boulder throwers

D10/13/16

Aarakocra

25 aerial infantry

25 aerial Infantry

D6/12/10

Mountain Giants

3 boulder throwers

3 boulder throwers

D12/14/20

Alpine Halflings

25 slingers

25 slingers

D6/14/14

Mountain Elves

25 archers

25 archers

D8/13/15

Free Kobolds

50 suicide squad

50 suicide squad

D8/10/6

Free Kobold Aerial

6 suicide

6 suicide

D4/10/8

Steam Badgers move 2 spaces round, or 1 space and attack, or dig under wall for 2 damage to wall

Steam Catapults move 2 spaces round, or 1 space and attack, or attack wall for one damage range 3 spaces

Giant throwers can move one and attack or one and throw boulders vs walls  Stone giants have a range of 2 spaces , Mountain Giants have a range of 3 spaces.  Vs walls they both do one damage

Slingers have a range of 2, Archers have a range of 3

Kobold Suicide Squads lose a die to take away a die

 

Units From The Empire

Number/die rep/AC/skill

 

Number/die rep/AC/skill

Retrieval Squad

2/D6/16/12

Heavy Infantry

1/D10/20/10

Trebuchet Squad

4/D8/13/10

Medium Infantry

2/D8/16/10

Repeller’s Squad

5/D8/15/12

Heavy Cavalry

1/D10/16/12

Dwarven Archery

4/D6/16/12

Light Insertion

4/D4/13/12

Dwarven Archers are on the Wall and they have a range of 4, walls subtract 1 from range for those below and add 1 for those above.

Repeller’s are light units that jump into a square next to the wall/mountain and attack the same round.

Light insertions are catapulted into service from behind the wall, up to 3 spaces from the wall

Trebuchet can target any unit on the ground in the battle.

Every two rounds, the cannons target one unit within 2-4 spaces of the wall and obliterate it. one Cannon down ¾, 2 cannons down ½ etc. 

 

Mechanics: each unit has a AC and hit skill.  To attack one rolls the die on the unit and adds it to the hit skill, if the result exceeds the AC, the unit loses a die level.  If the Die level drops to 0 the unit is dead. The Die levels are thus: D12, D10, D8, D6, D4, D2.  So the Die counts as Hp and power.  The damage the unit does is another number but is typically between 1 and 3.  Another number represents the Range of the unit.  This means how far the unit can attack another unit and will range from 0-3 typically.  A 0 means it must be touching the space of another unit.  1 means that it can attack a unit in the next square, but before it can attack it, if it has a 0 range.  Sometimes a unit has a special ability that will affect the battlefield.

 

There are a few objectives for the characters: they need to bring down at least two sections attached sections of wall to be able to elude the Dwarven patrols and get past the Devil’s Forge.  To do this they will need to focus on one section of the wall and then another.  It looks pretty easy until the second round when the Dwarven cannons fire their first round and obliterate one of the Giant Units.  The firing arc of the Trebuchet will also give them some pause. 

In the first round, the players will have missions that can be completed in the space of time of a long round.  A long round is 10 minutes, or 100 combat rounds.  The players can move 3000’ in that long round so that is the size of the mission they can undertake.  Finding the powder dump is something they can do.  When they find it the siege engines can concentrate on that section.  They have 200 rounds to find the powder before the next salvo, but at that point the trebuchet and the cannons could have destroyed most of the siege weapons.  The allies can at most hit the walls for 7 damage/round, the dwarves will try to attack the wall damaging units to remove them. Each section needs 10 points of damage to wreck a wall section. 

Certain actions will happen on different rounds of the battle to distract or stop the siege weapons

1.       Repeller Attack: 5 units of Repeller units leap from the walls and the mountain sections to effect, they feather fall at the last possible moment and attack any unit in that square.  They will try to destroy wall damaging units

2.       Retrieval Squad come to the battle late, from behind and attacks units in the rear, if the PCs are on a mission they attack with surprise.

3.       Insertion teams catapult into battle with Feather fall breaking.  They will attack wall damaging units within 3 spaces of the wall.

If the PCs co-ordinate they can take out a unit every round with spells

4 Trebuchet units fire every round anywhere on the battlefield, four cannons work in tandem to destroy one unit every 2 rounds.  If the battle lasts 8 rounds the dwarves will have won and if the flanking attacks and the rear attack both win out the wall should still be intact.  If the wall is breached, with 1-2 sections destroyed the allies have won a moral victory.  If ¾ to all the wall is destroyed the allies are victorious, until the dwarves rebuild, and they will.

Alpine Forest Dragon are very similar to Green Dragons, they are a deeper colour.  This one has been without its forest for a while, and it is very agitated.  It can be bargained with and perhaps convinced to fight against the dwarves on the player’s side.  CR14 Alpine Forest Dragon AC18 Hp 414  +10 to hit, +10 saves and skill checks.  Multi attack(5) bite 3d12+5 (24), Claw/Claw 2d10+5/2d10+5 (16/16), Tail lash 2d6+5 (12), Wing Buffet 2d4 (5) or Breath Weapon 100’cone 22d6 (77) Con 18 for half. Spells as Sor13 6;4,3,3,3,2,1,1: 1st Shield, Silvery Barbs, Magic Missile, 2nd Mirror Image, Vortex Warp, Shatter, 3rd Blink, Stinking Cloud, Gaseous Form, 4th Blight, Polymorph, Banishment, 5th Cloud Kill, Hold Monster 6th Investiture of Wind, Mass Suggestion, 7th Whirlwind. 

As a unit the dragon can do two things a long round, breath and cast a spell, only one spell choose wisely.  The dragon has a AC 18, a skill of 20 and HP d12  It has two special abilities, breath weapon, which will cover one unit and wipe it out, or reduce two adjacent units by half.  The other ability is Draw Fire, everyone will attempt to kill it if it is in range, assume all archery units are in range.  The dragon will flee if it drops down to a d6.  The dragon can be used as a PC out of combat before it flees.

 

 

Mist, Ice, Stone, River, Alpine, Forest

The Next Stage: find the Valley of the Balancing Stone

1)      Complete the ritual of finding.  Otherwise, the valley will remain magically hidden.

a.       Find the stone at the bottom of the lake, defeat the Lake Dragon

b.       Match the stone runes with the correct runes at the summit

c.       Cast the ritual

2)      Find the Old Stone Giant Shaman, or the old Mountain Elf Geomancer for the folklore of the region.

a.       The Geomancer wants the stone recovered for study

b.       The Shaman wants the death forest cleansed and the death Dragon destroyed

3)      Finding the Shaman is a rumour and the lost tribe of the elves is also a rumour, talking with each of the earlier Stone Giant and Mountain Elf clans will confirm this. 

a.       The Shaman’s Clan is at the extreme of the valley system

b.       The Elf city can only be found by traversing the dungeon behind the falls, guarded by a Great Mist Dragon

4)      Once the Ritual is cast the mountain that the rock used to reside will shift to reveal the entrance of a hidden valley locked away in time for over a thousand years.  Includes many represented races including older Empire Dwarves, and three great dragons: a Storm Dragon, A Red Dragon and a Stone Dragon

5)      Players will rise two levels from 14th to 15th level

 

The Hidden Valley

They don’t have to fight the Stone or the Red Dragon, but the Storm Dragon will interfere with them when they try to summit the split mountain, unless they can distract him with the bodies of the others.  If they do this the Storm Dragon will rest and evolve and let the players solve the riddle.  When they emerge Triumphant, they will see that the Storm Dragon is gargantuan and is creating havoc everywhere, but that an even bigger dragon falls from the sky and smites the Storm Dragon down and flies away with its kill. 

 

Chasms

Devil’s Forge

Valley of the Balancing Stone

-          Solve the mystery of the missing balancing stone

-          Restore the balancing stone and repair it

o   The missing valley is covered with mist and a wall of storms, when ever someone tries to penetrate it they find themselves on the other side of the storm, in the same valley. 

o   Flying over the range reveals nothing.

o   The mountains are taller than anywhere else you have seen.  Close to 35,000 feet elevation. 

o   When the balancing stone is restored, the mountain shimmers and splits to reveal that valley is between two mountains of this size and the mountains in the hidden valley are even larger.

The Hidden Valley

-          The inhabitants of this valley were locked away in time.

-          They include empire dwarves and all the other races of the area.

-          The monsters are fierce and deadly

-          The split mountain is the biggest mountain that anyone has ever seen over 40,000 feet tall. 

-          The split is far above the rest of the valley and is guarded by a massive Storm Dragon that keeps the summit of the mountain perpetually shrouded. 

-          The opposite side of the valley are the Cliffs of Doom

-          The Cliffs of Doom are a series of cracks that form foot paths up and around hundreds of cave entrances.  Many of these entrances change as landfalls and avalanches cover and uncover them. 

o   The laser does not point to one of them, but bores a hole into the rock revealing a new hole

o   Many creatures see the hole open up and investigate the new cave before the characters can get there.

The Cliffs of Doom and the Last Treasure of Relic

-          Beholders.  Dragons.  Mindflayers.  Demons.  Devils.  Liches.  And many other deadly creatures reside here.

-          Relic’s traps murder the best of them.  The players come across severed beholder eystalks and eventually a staked beholder.  Vampires and undead.  Trapped Balor demons waiting to be released.  Rooms with sharp bladed traps

-          Contains a diary of Relic, set up with a remote inscriber.  Details the later days of his life and the earlier life he lived.  Talks about his birthplace in the Sultanate of Breeze and his banishment. And the Lost City of (smudge)

-          Research into the First Ones who created the Great Dragon Slaying weapons to fight in their war against the Dragons, tens of millennia ago.

-          Talks about the Great Sages of the lost city, who would tell the future to anyone who HAD a future worth talking about.

-          The Sultanate of Breeze the crown was the Cowl of the Red Dragon and only the Sages of the Lost city knew the location of last piece and they would never tell until the time was right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Devil’s Forge  Oldman’s Game

 

The treasure of the Heart of The Chasmfiend is at hand, but during the course of retrieving it you discover that the heartstone is organic and in a short period of time will degrade unless it is preserved and the process is only known to a few of the races in the area. 

 

Locally the lore goes like this: 

“The taking of a Chasmfiend is not the expedition of a village, but the trial of a nation.  To do this feat once required the local tribes to stop their disagreements and work together to recover the Heartstone.  Once they have gotten their prize they need to work together and retrieve the components to preserve the stone and in the end they will have a symbol that proves of the great accomplishments an alliance can bring”

 

The petals of the Ice Flower from the high peaks—the birdmen are the only ones that know where the flower grows, Rhemoraz and a white Dragon.

Silver clay, enough to make a casting form twice the size of the Heartstone—the Stone Giants have a secret grotto deep in the mountains where they mine the clay.  The grotto is remote, and they tell you that it has been overrun these past few decades, moreover the supply is small and must be taken from deep in the mine now.

Lightning Ore—which can only be found on the peak of a mountain known only to the Mountain Giants.  The peak is nearly impossible to scale, and the top is guarded by a wily Stone Dragon and a rogue Mountain Giant, together guard the mountain and the skies that approach the peak.

Frozen berry juice—which is a drink that the Alpine Halflings made from the Frozen berries that grow along their Summer pasture but unfortunately late last Autumn the pasture was overrun by a force of furry white cyclops.

A pitcher of Dawn Water—which the Mountain Elves know how to collect, they freely tell you it is the easiest thing to collect, simply condense the mist of a certain waterfall when the first rays of the dawn light strikes it, simple.  You just need a lot of it about and at most one elf can collect a thimbleful at a time.  The other problem is that there is a particularly long lived and crafty Mist dragon living in the cave behind the waterfall and the dragon is very protective of the region.

The Eternal Fire—it is in the ruined Gnome fortress.  They tell you that the Tinker Gnome ancestral fortress was engaged with a battle with the Empire Dwarves when the fortress was assaulted by an Earth Dragon and its allies.  The warriors were out engaging the Dwarves and the young, the old and the infirm had to flee before the attack.  The forge was taken and within there is an Everburning Ember, if the party can free the fortress, the gnomes will gladly give up the Ember.

Eternal Ice, which is the only substance know that can hold the Everburning Ember from igniting any flammable substance, like flesh or stone—it is currently located in a cave near to the Free Kobolds.

The Trust of a Dragon must be acquired.  This is by far the most difficult item to find and for years each race has pondered on this what this truly means.  Some suggest that you would need to charm a dragon but many point out that charming a dragon to get its trust is not, really gaining their trust.  Most wise men will point out that dragons can never be trusted and are incapable of anything good.  But if there is any knowledge of a trustworthy dragon it would be with the Mountain Elves, they are the longest lived and the most scholarly of this area.  Mountain Giants live longer, but they don’t really care about scholarly pursuits.

The last requirement is a skilled craftsman to forge the setting and polish the Heartstone.  There are no better-known craftsmen than the Empire Dwarves.  If a Mountain elf were to pursue crafting for their entire life and spend a century crafting a single perfect ring, a Dwarven master craftsman could outdo them in a single night of work.  The gem must be bathed in the frozen berry juice and washed clean with the Dawn Water by the hands of a trusted Dragon, the Lightning ore must be melted down with pure elemental fire and purified with the petals of the frozen flower, then cast into a ring—the cast made with Silver Clay, that will encompass the prepared stone, preventing the stone from ever being handled by mortal hands.

The Elven Lore states that dragons are the living embodiment of selfishness in nature.  It is said that even the lowliest creature can experience pity for the orphaned young of a prey species or respect a unenforceable truce around a watering hole in a drought, but not a dragon.  One elf though, visibly old and decrepit tells a tale of his youth about a human who came to this valley flying on the back of a dragon as golden as the sun, the light reflected off its scales.  People thought it was a great mechanical magical animal, but I talked to it and I knew the difference.  When the Valiant hero left the valley, he bade the dragon to a long life and set him free.  I knew where he lived and I visited him many times before he decided to the warmth of the climes of its youth, about 500 years ago.  It told me many things about its kind, but the most important thing he taught me was that trust is earned and that is difficult for dragons because the only thing a dragon is shown from its inception fear and hatred.  Mercy is the route of trust it said.”

The elf will help them as much as he can, but after a while he will claim that he is tired and needs his rest as he is over 2000 years old.  The next time they look for him, he will have died in his sleep.

Empire Dwarves get double Proficiency in the trade they studied.  A 20th level Empire dwarf would have a proficiency of +12 and with good stats another +5 and with magical tools +3, so an overall +20, add advantage with help, the best Empire Dwarven Smith can easily get a 35 on their proficiency check. 

Dragons are not Mortal races in the traditional sense, so the manipulation of the stone must be done by one of that race or else find a demon a devil or an angel. 

 

 

Frozen berry juice—which is a drink that the Alpine Halflings made from the Frozen berries that grow along their Summer pasture but unfortunately late last Autumn the pasture was overrun by a force of furry white cyclops. 

Huge, hp152, AC15, speed 40’ on ice, multi attack chilling roar and two attacks with its ice club, or throw rocks. 

Rock. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 120 ft., one target. Hit: 28 (4d10 + 6) bludgeoning damage.

Ice club. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (3d8 + 6) bludgeoning damage.

Chilling Roar. The yeti targets one creature it can see within 30 feet of it. If the target can see the yeti, the target must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw against this magic or take 13 (3d8) cold damage and then be paralyzed for 1 minute, unless it is immune to cold damage. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If the target’s saving throw is successful, or if the effect ends on it, the target is immune to the Chilling Gaze of all yetis 

A pitcher of Dawn Water—which the Mountain Elves know how to collect, they freely tell you it is the easiest thing to collect, simply condense the mist of a certain waterfall when the first rays of the dawn light strikes it, simple.  You just need a lot of it about and at most one elf can collect a thimbleful at a time.  The other problem is that there is a particularly long lived and crafty Mist dragon living in the cave behind the waterfall and the dragon is very protective of the region.

Mist Dragon lives in great waterfalls and there are many in this region, their breath weapon has two forms, the first creates a massive cloud of fog that persists for 10 rounds.  The second is a cone of cold breath that does half as much damage as a dragon its size, but if it breaths inside a fog cloud the fog will coalesce as hoar frost and slow the target for one round disadvantage on that save normal save after. 

CR10 Mist Dragon AC17 Hp 266  +8 to hit, +8 saves and skill checks.  Multi attack (5): bite 2d10+4 (15), Claw/Claw 2d8+4/2d8+4 (13/13), Tail lash d6+4 (7), Wing Buffet d4 (2) or Breath Weapon 80’cone 8d6 (28) Con 16 for half disadvantage in fog.  Alternate breath weapon Fog Cloud 80’ cloud radius. Spells as Sor9 5; 4,3,3,3,1.  1st Shield, Silvery Barbs, Magic Missiles 2nd Misty Step, Mirror Image, Rime’s Binding Ice(con), Snowball Swarm 3rd Blink, Enemies Abound (int), Sleet Storm 4th Polymorph (wis), Ice Storm, Confusion(wis) 5th Cloud Kill

The dragon will wait and cast spells as the party battles the Dragon’s allies

Lair action, on initiative 20, ice mephitis repopulate up to 5.  On 10 the lair ¼ fills with fog. When dragon is bloodied, their breath weapon recharges.

Ice mephitis (5)

 Death Burst. When the mephit dies, it explodes in a burst of jagged ice. Each creature within 5 feet of it must make a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw, taking 4 (1d8) slashing damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

Innate Spellcasting (1/Day). The mephit can innately cast fog cloud, requiring no material components. Its innate spellcasting ability is Charisma.

Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 3 (1d4 + 1) slashing damage plus 2 (1d4) cold damage.

Frost Breath (Recharge 6). The mephit exhales a 15- foot cone of cold air. Each creature in that area must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw, taking 5 (2d4) cold damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

Vile Fog

Huge elemental, chaotic evil

Armor Class 14

Hit Points 68 (8d8 + 32)

Speed 0 ft., fly 60 ft. (hover)

Abilities Str 13 (+1), Dex 18 (+4), Con 18 (+4), Int 5 (-3), Wis 10 (+0), Cha 5 (-3)

Damage Resistances lightning, thunder; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks

Damage Immunities poison

Condition Immunities exhaustion, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained, unconscious

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10

Languages understands Infernal but doesn’t speak

Dense Air Form. The vile fog can enter a hostile creature’s space and stop there. it can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing. The area inside the vile fog is heavily obscured.

False Appearance. While the vile fog remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from a normal cloud of fog.

Actions

SlamMelee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage.

Choke. The vile fog targets one creature in the same space as it. The target must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw. On a failed saving throw, the creature takes 9 (2d8) bludgeoning damage and is suffocating until the end of the vile fog’s next turn. On each subsequent turn, the vile fog can use its bonus action to continue to choke the creature so long as the creature remains in the same space as the target; the creature takes another 2d8 bludgeoning damage and continues to suffocate. On the creature’s turn, it can repeat its saving throw, ending the suffocating effect on itself with a success.

 

Abjuration Absorption. Whenever a creature within 30 feet of the vile fog casts an abjuration spell of 6th level or lower, the vile fog can disrupt the spell. When it does, the spell fails and the vile fog regains a number of hit points equal to 1d8 times the spell’s level.

 

Mist Walker[1]

Large FeyChaotic Neutral

Armor Class: 15 (natural armor)

Hit Points: 110 (12d10+44)

Speed: 30 ft.

STR

DEX

CON

INT

WIS

CHA

20 (+5)

14 (+2)

18 (+4)

12 (+1)

16 (+3)

12 (+1)

Saving Throws: Con +7

Skills: Perception +6, Stealth +5, Survival +6

Damage Vulnerabilities: damage from Cold Iron weapons.

Damage Resistances: bludgeoningpiercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks. that are not cold iron.

Condition Immunityblindedcharmeddeafenedfrightenedunconscious

Senses: blindsight 40 ft., darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 16

Languages: Sylvan

Challenge: 6 (2,300 xp)Proficiency Bonus (PB): +3

Features

Keen Hearing and Smell. The fey has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell.

Shrouded. The fey generates a magical mist cloud in a 60 ft. radius that moves with the fey. Creatures in the mist are 
heavily obscured. In addition, spells and magical effects that would detect the fey are made with disadvantage.

Minor Regeneration. The fey gains 1 
hit point per minute. While this does little in the course of a battle, the fey can repair all damage to it in under two hours. 

Actions

Multiattack. The fey makes three attacks.

Bite. 
Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d6+5) piercing damage.

Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d6+5) 
slashing damage.

Javelin. Melee Weapon Attack or 
Ranged Weapon Attack: +8 to hit in melee or +5 to hit if thrown, reach 5 ft. or range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d6+5) piercing damage.

 

 

 

The Ice Flowers

The Ice flowers are on a glacier that rests between three peaks of a mountain.  The Bird men know the right location to gather the flowers but the best time is to go when the weather is nice, and the weather has not been nice for a long time.  The Bird Men say that it is dangerous to fly here because the winds are so strong.  If the PCs fly they need to make a DC 16 strength save or be sent 100’ in a random direction. 

The ice sheet this time of year winds that are 100kmper hour and there are stronger gusts.  The wind churns up wind and the wind has air elementals, very large air elementals, they touch down regularly in the storm and travel one direction for up to 10 spaces before lifting off.  Select a random space, then select a direction (d6) and then select a distance (d10). PCs in the path take 3d10 damage and are flung 10’-40’ (d4x10’) in a random direction. Half on a save DC17 Str save.

Frost worms erupt in Seemingly random locations where the PCs are.  Every round one random space collapses for every frost worm had has made an appearance.  If two spaces connect, they join and a crack opens up in a line from the recent location to the old location pattern if a PC approaches a hole they must make a Dex DC12 save or slip into the hole and the crack is unstable and fall 10’-60’ (d6x10’) into the hole if it is within 60’ of a worm, it moves to attack and moves to that location.  Half damage for the fall.  If three Frost worms die no more will come. 

To search for the flowers the PCs need to spend a turn to investigate(DC13) the hex, move the snow and search.  The flowers are more likely to be found near the Frost Worms 100%, and 10% otherwise.  The players need to fill a basket.  The flowers once picked are imperishable unless they are set on fire, then they melt.

 

 

Frost Worm

Gargantuan monstrosity · Unaligned Armor Class: 18 (natural armor)  hit Points: 264 (16d20 + 96)

Speed: 40ft. Saving Throws:  Con: +12, Wis: +3  Damage Vulnerabilities: fire  Damage Immunities: cold

Senses: blindsight 30 ft., tremorsense 60 ft., passive perception 7

Freezing Body. A creature that touches the worm or hits it with a melee attack while within 5 feet of it takes 10 (3d6) cold damage.

Death Burst. When the worm dies, it explodes in a burst of frigid energy. Each creature within 60 feet of it must make a DC20 Dexterity saving throw, taking 28 (8d6) cold damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Creatures inside the worm when it dies automatically fail this saving throw.

Tunneler. The worm can burrow through solid rock at half its burrowing speed and leaves a 10-foot-diameter tunnel in its wake.

Actions

Multiattack. The worm makes two bite attacks, or uses its Trill and makes a bite attack.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 22 (3d8 + 9) piercing damage plus 10 (3d6) cold damage. If the target is a Large or smaller creature, it must succeed on a DC: 20 Dexterity saving throw or be swallowed by the worm. A swallowed creature is blinded and restrained, has total cover against attacks and other effects outside the worm, and takes 10 (3d6) acid damage and 10 (3d6) cold damage at the start of each of the worm's turns.

Trill. The frost worm emits a haunting cry. Each creature within 60 feet of the worm that can hear it must succeed on a DC: 20 Wisdom saving throw or be stunned for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw each time it takes damage and at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. Once a creature successfully saves against this effect, or if this effect ends for it, that creature is immune to the Trill of all frost worms for the next 24 hours. Frost worms are immune to this effect.

 

 

The Gnomish Fortress

Duergar Armor Class 16 (scale mail, shield) Hit Points 26 (4d8 + 8) Speed 25 ft.

Damage Resistances Poison  Senses Darkvision 120 ft., Passive Perception 10 Languages Dwarvish, Undercommon  Challenge 1 (200 XP)  Proficiency Bonus +2

Duergar Resilience. The duergar has advantage on saving throws against poison, spells, and illusions, as well as to resist being charmed or paralyzed.

Sunlight Sensitivity. While in sunlight, the duergar has disadvantage on attack rolls, as well as on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.

Enlarge (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). For 1 minute, the duergar magically increases in size, along with anything it is wearing or carrying. While enlarged, the duergar is Large, doubles its damage dice on Strength-based weapon attacks (included in the attacks), and makes Strength checks and Strength saving throws with advantage. If the duergar lacks the room to become Large, it attains the maximum size possible in the space available.

War Pick. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) piercing damage, or 11 (2d8 + 2) piercing damage while enlarged.

Javelin. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage, or 9 (2d6 + 2) piercing damage while enlarged.

Invisibility (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). The duergar magically turns invisible until it attacks, casts a spell, or uses its Enlarge, or until its concentration is broken, up to 1 hour (as if concentrating on a spell). Any equipment the duergar wears or carries is invisible with

 

CR

Prof Bonus

AC

HP avg

Att bonus

Dam/rnd

Save DC

stat bonus

0   

2

13

3.5

3

1

13

1

 1/8

2

13

21

3

2

13

1

 1/4

2

13

45

3

4

13

1

 1/2

2

13

62

3

6

13

1

1   

2

13

77

3

12

13

1

2   

2

13

92

3

18

13

1

3   

2

13

107

4

24

13

2

4   

2

14

122

5

30

14

3

5   

3

15

137

6

36

15

3

6   

3

15

152

6

42

15

3

7   

3

15

167

6

48

15

3

8   

3

16

182

7

54

16

4

9   

4

16

197

7

60

16

3

10   

4

17

212

7

66

16

3

 

Durzagon AC16 40hp, 2d8+3 (3d8) x2 +8 to hit, beard attack +8 14damage poison Save DC14

Enlarge, invisibility, darkness.  See through magical darkness

Zombie gnomes mechanical enhancements AC 13, HP 30, +3 to hit, d8+2 damage Speed 30 climb 30

Dark Earth Dragon  AC 17, HP 304 Sorcery 11  +8 to hit, DC16 saves, 2d10+4 bite, 2d8+4 claw x2, d6+4 tail, d4+4 wing. 

Lair actions cast balls of darkness d4+4 5’ balls of darkness, lightning wave 5 feet of darkness balls d4 damage, spore rain fills the air but harmless lightning causes them to burst with colour flashes

Breath weapon fire lightning 10d6 fire 10d6 electricity  Spells 4,3,3,3,2,1

1st Magic Missile, Shield, 2nd Enlarge/Reduce C, Phantasmal Force C (INT), Detect Thoughts C, Invisibility, 3rd Hypnotic Pattern C, Slow C, Dark Fireball, 4th Polymorph, Wall of dark fire C, Blight, 5th Synaptic Static, Reverse Dawn C, 6th Globe of invulnerability C.

 

 

Misty  Matte grey

CR11 Mist Dragon AC17 Hp 285  +8 to hit, +8 saves and skill checks.  Multi attack (5): bite 2d10+4 (15), Claw/Claw 2d8+4/2d8+4 (13/13), Tail lash d6+4 (7), Wing Buffet d4 (2) or Breath Weapon 85’cone 9d6 (28) Con 16 for half disadvantage in fog.  Alternate breath weapon Fog Cloud 85’ cloud radius. Spells as Sor10 5; 4,3,3,3,1.  1st Shield, Silvery Barbs, Magic Missiles 2nd Misty Step, Mirror Image, Rime’s Binding Ice(con), Snowball Swarm 3rd Blink, Enemies Abound (int), Sleet Storm 4th Polymorph (wis), Ice Storm, Confusion(wis) 5th Cloud Kill

 


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