THE COVEN
When the characters approach a clearing in the forest, they will see 4 ogres who are guarding, and preventing from escape, 4 human males, and 3 human females. The ogres will see the party and leap to attack. The females will scream "OUR SAVIORS!!" and run screaming straight across the currently forming battlefield, in between ogres and party members, to hide behind the rearmost party members. They will be safe there. The males will try to skirt the battle to the north side to join the women.
To the south, giants will be hiding in the thick underbrush until the party has engaged the ogres and then attack the most opportune target EXCEPT the ones that the females are next to.
It should be noted that the female commoners are not female commoners at all, nor are the male commoners actually male commoners. The female commoners are the hags, who have polymorphed themselves as the commoners in their stewpot to escape detection. The males skirting the battle are actually MORE ogres, the hags were in the process of polymorphing ALL the ogres into regular humans for ambush purposes. The REAL commoners are already dead, having found their way into the coven's cauldron for dinner.
The hags (the women) will position themselves near to any spellcasters in the rear first, and then near anyone else in the back of the fight. The ogres (the men) will wait until the hags shift form, and then attack first the rear folks, then shift into the melee.
It is possible that the characters, as they approach the ogres, will notice the giants in the bush, and be able to warn the others of the ambush.
GAME NOTES: If you sell the screaming women correctly, they will not even be suspected until it is too late. Therein lay the problem. This encounter is ESPECIALLY deadly to the rear eschelon of the party. It is entirely possible that the hags will finish off half the party before they even realize they have been duped. Caution is required if the game master wishes to avoid a TPK(total party kill).
By: Monument |
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November 29, 2005, 21:50
November 30, 2005, 11:21
June 15, 2006, 5:26
June 15, 2006, 5:27
July 16, 2006, 13:29
So let me explain. It is little quirky elements like that that help a place or species alive in the players' minds. They don't take much work (once you have the basic idea) and it can add much to your game.
Think about some of the good fantasy novels you have read. Didn't they have quirky details (like knights being called Ser, Clerics using musical metaphors and being called Dancers, and Little Folk measuring time in "meals", fighters measuring time in beats (which could be heart beats...)? These are the things that caught your interest in the novel, even though you might not of been aware of them originally. They add depth and color to the setting, enriching the story. Eventually they "click" in your head and you realize that they are interesting and important.
Now you don't have to put the total depth of background that an author puts into a novel into your game. No, you need more. Unlike the author who only needs to work on areas important to their story, you have minimal control over your story... thus need to be prepared for all the odd zigging and zagging of the characters. So yes, you will concentrate on things that are important to your PCs (and your projected storyline), but some other details "on tap" might be handy.
That is what this site is for. So you can have someone else do the "little bits of chrome" for you... and you can grab what you need.
July 17, 2006, 14:07
July 30, 2006, 12:12
July 28, 2006, 22:08
Me: "My house is a fair way down 100. On the right, you can't miss it"
Other Person: "O.o How far did you say again?"
July 28, 2006, 22:30
October 15, 2006, 19:05
I cook like this.
"How much salt?"
"Enough."
"How long to cook?"
"Till it's done."
etc.
:)