Chapter 5: An Ocean Swell: Difference between revisions

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Nathan Heard

Bureaucrats, Interface administrators, Administrators

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 === Encounters ===
-A few skill challenge/non-combat encounters for players exploring the water park.
--Maybe a couple of carnival game type options?
--help a kid find their younger sibling that they’re supposed to be looking after
--somebody’s pet sea snake has escaped in the water park and they need help catching it
--a very large fish (ocean sunfish, maybe?) has gotten stuck in the underwater river and the party volunteers to help move it outside
 {| class="wikitable"
 |'''d6'''
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 The heroes might be able to convince Milden to work with Gilgalon by promising Milden ongoing payments of amber.
+== '''The Trap''' ==
+After the heroes have had some time to experience the city-state and meet individually with one or more Triumvirs, they are summoned to hold an audience with Triumvirate.
+While this seems encouraging at first, after the heroes enter the audience hall, they see the Triumvirs sitting in their thrones, as is custom, and a great many witnesses gathered on either side of the hall.
+A DC 20 INT/History or INT/Politics of Nausa check will allow a hero to realize that there are far more individuals in attendance than is typical.
+The heroes are offered a chance to make their case before the Triumvirate, then use the following read-aloud text.
+'''''Read Aloud:''''' ''Your pleas seem to fall on deaf ears and stony faces. The Triumvirs’ eyes and mouths tighten as a door bursts open from the side of their thrones and a tall, strong [[human]] marches onto the platform alongside them.''
+''He holds himself in a proud, self-assured countenance that reminds you of Mangondulon, but this man is taller and narrower at the waist and shoulder. His gold-braided goatee elegantly frames a derisive sneer. A gold-and-ruby crown akin to a helmet rests above his brow, and his dark eyes sparkle like a snake’s. He wears a broad golden collar that fans out to cover his shoulders. Dinosaur-headed clasps hold a bright red cape in place. He is otherwise bare-chested, and he wears a matching leather-and-gold war skirt over his thighs.''
+''The three Triumvirs bow. “Godking Assurgazzar, you honor us with your presence,” they intone.''
+''Assurgazzar’s sneer deepens, creasing the skin around his mouth and eyes. “You see,” he says to the heroes, “There will be no arrangement between Gilgalon and Nausa. Your efforts are [[noble]], I grant you, yet futile. Gilgalon will fall, and you will not even be around to see it. Arrest these scum.”''
+''The dozens of courtiers in attendance throw off their traditional Nausan robes, revealing that each one is fully armed and armored underneath. They are all wearing the colors of Assurgazzar: crimson and gold.''
+If the heroes resist, then they must fight Assurgazzar and sixty Champions. All of the Champions are also equipped with manacles. If a [[Champion]] is grappling a hero, they may make another Grappling attack to apply manacles on a success. If the heroes continue to fight, Assurgazzar orders them knocked unconscious rather than killed.
+== '''Trial by Teeth''' ==
+If the heroes are aware of Nausa’s custom to allow a Trial by Teeth, they may choose to invoke this right. If they are unaware, then an NPC whom they befriended might visit them in prison and inform them of this, or one of the triumvirs with whom they had a good connection might publicly ask them if they wish to invoke the right.
+However the right gets invoked, this will allow the heroes a chance to survive, and perhaps to even turn the Nausans against Godking Assurgazzar.
+'''''Read Aloud:''''' ''[one of the Triumvirs] stands, their face [[grim]], and nods. “The ambassadors of Gilgalon have invoked Trial by Teeth, as is their right. The trial will be held on the morrow. Ready the Maw, and spread the word!”''
+''On the following day, you are escorted onto a heavily guarded personal sailboat. Rolling drums mark your approach to the Maw, a large aquatic arena where criminals are given the chance to redeem themselves in blood and glory. A series of rafts, logs, and other flotsam bob and dip in the ocean waves. You are bade to disembark from your boat onto a large raft in the center of the arena, and your bindings are removed. This raft contains all of your combat [[gear]], as well as an assortment of any nonmagical weapons you could want.''
+''Throughout the arena, you see a variety of larger weapons on other rafts as well: a couple ballistae fitted to fire javelins, a spiked ball suspended by ropes and scaffolding from a pair of rafts, and buckets of oil on one raft that might be set ablaze by the torches on another.''
+''Then the sailors quickly maneuver their boat away from you, back to the perimeter of the arena. The perimeter is marked by enormous barges containing rows of risers, which are full of spectators eager to see the splendor of battle.''
+''The largest barge contains a gilded box where the Triumvirs, Godking Assurgazzar, and their personal guards overlook the arena.''
+''The Triumvirs stand, causing the roll of drums and the murmur of anticipation to die down to [[silence]]. “People of Nausa!” they declare. “The ambassadors of Gilgalon have chosen the path of heroes! By invoking Trial by Teeth, they declare that they believe themselves favored by the gods. Should they survive, they will be honored as mighty champions, their sentence repealed, their rivals banished from our fair state, and their requests reconsidered. Should they perish, then our guest, Godking Assurgazzar, shall become our permanent ally. Ambassadors, have you any words?”''
+After the heroes are given a chance to address the crowd, the Triumvirs, or Assurgazzar, then proceed to the following read aloud text.
+'''''Read Aloud:''''' ''“Let the trial begin!” the Triumvirs declare. The drummers take up another beat, this one a slow and ominous march. Other servants tug on ropes around the arena, tilting large barrels over and pouring large quantities of scarlet liquid into the water. The blood immediately causes the arena to take on a coppery smell.''
+''Moments later, a dorsal fin the size of a small sailboat parts the waves. The Trial by Teeth has begun.''
+The heroes must fight a '''Megalodon.''' This is beyond a deadly encounter and is likely to [[kill]] one or more heroes. A TPK (total party kill) is not out of the question in this encounter.
+However, the heroes can use bold strategies and clever tactics to deal tremendous damage to the Megalodon. The Megalodon is not smart and will readily stumble into each trap if properly baited. Each of the oversized weapons can be used to devastating effect as detailed below.
+==== Ballistae ====
+A creature may spend 1 AP to place ammunition into a ballista, and 2 AP to crank the ballista so that it is ready to fire. Ballista bolts can be used independently as javelins, and there are piles of 10 ballista bolts throughout the arena.
+Firing the ballista costs 3 AP, and deals 4d10 sharp damage on a hit.
+The ballista has 12 AR, 7 REF, and 12 FORT. It has 30 HP and DT of 12. After the Megalodon is hit by 2 or more ballista bolts from a single ballista, it will prioritize destroying that ballista.
+==== Oil and Fire ====
+Heroes may drop the oil in the water and then light it, or light it and then kick it into the water. Either way, the oil is flammable even while in the water and spreads in a 15 ft radius from its point of entry into the water. Lighting the oil on fire costs 1 AP if the heroes have a lit torch.
+There are 14 barrels of oil.
+Creatures or objects that start their turn in the fire or pass through it during their turn are subject to the following attack:
++4 vs FORT. '''Hit:''' 4d6 fire and Burning 1d6 until submerged in non-burning water. '''Miss:''' ½ damage and no Burning condition.
+==== Spiked Ball ====
+The spiked ball is suspended above the water between two rafts. These rafts are weighed down on their far sides, allowing them to float flat while holding the heavy ball between them. Both of the rafts are slightly submerged due to the weight, so a hero standing on either of these rafts is at least ankle-deep in water. The ball is suspended by two ropes that crisscross underneath the ball, forming an X. Cutting a rope takes 2 AP. Cutting only one rope results in the ball tipping over and smashing through one of the rafts holding it up. If two heroes cut two ropes at the same time (using the Reactive Strikes option to do so), then they may drop the ball directly into the water. If the Megalodon is underneath the ball when this happens, it takes 6d10 sharp damage and 6d10 blunt damage, and it is Stunned on its next turn.
+==== Reactive Strikes ====
+Each hero also gains a special ability for the extent of this combat, allowing them a chance to strike at the Megalodon as it swims past them.
+'''Duel:''' By spending 1 AP, a hero may “prepare” a specific action, such as a weapon attack. When they prepare an action, they must pick a specific trigger, such as the Megalodon being within 5 ft of them.
+If the effect triggers, then the hero may take their action by spending Reactive AP equal to the action’s normal AP cost minus 1 (since they already spent 1 AP preparing the action). However, if the effect does not trigger, then at the start of their next turn, the heroes do not get to carry over any Reactive AP, as they were prepared to utilize that AP for a specific action.
+==== Rafts and Flotsam ====
+Each raft and floating structure has the following stats. For the purposes of any environmental effects, rafts and other structures have [[Initiative]] 0.
+AR 11     REF 8     FORT 11
+'''HP''' 10 per 5 ft square (max 100)
+'''DT''' 10/fire
+=== The Trial’s Resolution ===
+The trial will either end with one or more heroes victorious over the Megalodon, or with all of the heroes dead.
+If one or more heroes is victorious, then the Triumvirate proclaims the ambassadors of Gilgalon the right and just heroes of the sea. Assurgazzar and his troops are exiled from Nausa, and the Triumvirate enters a formal alliance with Gilgalon.
+{| class="wikitable"
+|
+==== '''Party Advancement''' ====
+Each hero levels up from level 9 to level 10.
+Each hero gains +1 Fame.
+|}
+Alternatively, if all of the heroes were killed in this encounter, then allow the players to make new heroes that serve Mangondulon’s war effort in some other way. They might be soldiers, diplomats, or anyone affiliated with Gilgalon or Lachonhet.
+If the players make new heroes, they should be Level 10 and have 2 Fame each. Proceed to Part Three with these new heroes. Assurgazzar achieves total control of the sea. This causes problems for the heroes in Part Three of this campaign, as detailed in the “Brazodir’s Sea Dominance” sidebars in Chapters 6 and 7.