[Game Thread] Round 1 - Room Two (Games 5 thru 8)

[savoylen]

Round 1 - Room 2

Originally Posted by The Honorable Chairman

You find yourself on a great plain that extends in all directions. There are match boards scattered about as a man, The Invigilator, has his back to you. There are others here, each looking as bewildered and confused as you.

In the far distance are banks of clouds and high above those are what appear to be spectators on some kind of cosmic scale.

The chairman turns to face those who have gathered here. What strikes you in his appearance are his all-knowing eyes. "Welcome to the arena. These are the proving grounds on which the mettle of your GM resolve and skill will be tested. Here you will battle on great and mystic boards and tables, under the watchful eyes of your hosts, honorable judges and special guests."

The Invigilator directs you and your opponent to your table.

Board Numbers and Judges/Mentors

Gesturing to the tables with his staff as each pair of challengers faces off, one against the other according to the Great Pairings Wall set by the Chairman, The Invigilator proclaims: "As it has happened many times before, and must happen again, you will now face off against each other! By using the following two ingredients, you shall display your strengths and quirks as a masterful GM."

A fatal overload
A bitter aye-aye


"And taking these two ingredients, you are to craft an encounter room featuring a wondrous item! Your efforts will be weighed and measured, now as in the future rounds..."

Once all the pairings have moved to their tables, The Invigilator proclaims, ""Let the Game Mastering... BEGIN!!""

Rules You are to write an encounter held in a single room featuring a wondrous item and using the 2 ingredients listed above. All rules found here are to be followed. The guidelines for the Judges' scoring can be found here. An "encounter" is specifically referencing a single battle, confrontation, or other situation for a group of PCs to come up against, and (hopefully) overcome. It should be something that can be a special, unique, focal point of a campaign. The entry is to be no longer than 500 words, which includes *everything* you put into the post. Judges are instructed to stop reading at that time, or to deduct points if you go over. The use of a spell check and word counter is highly recommended. Please make a simple post in this thread when you first read it, to let the judges know you have seen it, and that you are on board. It doesn't have to be anything more than "read!", or something like that, though roleplaying it is also perfectly acceptable! Do not edit this post after making it; when it comes time to post your entry, do that in a second, separate post. You have a limited time from the time this post is made to complete and submit your entry (in a new post; so don't edit your first post!). It is not expected that you use all this time - the extra time has been given to ensure that, no matter what your timezone, your schedule, your sleep habits, your work or student life, or emergencies that could crop up, you should have ample time to complete your entry. Posting when you are done, and not waiting until the end, is also recommended. You should post your entry into this thread within the generous time frame, and ensure it is secreted (to the above judges) and spoilerbuttoned. If your post is not made within the time limit, you will be automatically disqualified for this round. If you have issues, be sure to PM Savoylen *before* your round is closed. You may edit your entry up to closing. At deadline, the thread will be closed and you will be unable to adjust your entry.

[savoylen]

Room 2 Pairings 5. Humble Athena v O2cxt3 6. Jbear v Strangemund 7. Qiksilv v Azathool 8. Boss Nadar v Briar 9. Squirmonkey v Forfeit F

Are Judged By... Fillyjonk Birched AnotherDragoon Silent Rain PlaidPeregrine Ysolde

[Strangemund]

Your friendly neighborhood cryptid is here, ready to go, sir! *salutes*

[squirmonkey]

I'm here as well.

I know we're not to discuss the ingredients, but to what degree are we allowed to ask clarifying questions about the prompt, and (if non-zero) what is an appropriate avenue for those questions?

[Azathool]

Read & Accepted Azathool peeks into the room, frozen with a literary form of stage fright ... [fieldset="..."] [/fieldset] 7 days...

[Boss Nadar]

I am here, and ready!

[briar]

Mmhmm.

[O2CXt3]

I’m here! Looking around at the endless sea of match boards, the challenger scratches his chin in bewilderment. Wasn’t I just here? No…. It’s like a dream - the same, yet different. Noticing the spectators surrounding him, the challenger waves a sheepish hello. Then after listening to the Invigilator, he makes his way to his table and nods to Hi @Humble Athena. Good luck!his opponent.

[Humble Athena]

Present

[Qiksilv]

Yo

[briar]

 

𝔒𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔐𝔢𝔫𝔲

---

Dinner becomes dangerous when the PCs are subjected to the whims of a cursed artifact that turns them into cooking ingredients!
And to make matters worse, their adorably malevolent chef is about to make them her next cuisine!

---

𝕊𝕔𝕖𝕟𝕖 Gwretchen's kitchen is somewhat cramped and incredibly messy, consisting of a large, overfilled table and a boiling cauldron encircled by creaky wooden countertops, a basin, and an oven. Scattered about the room are dishes, strange cooking implements, ingredients, and foodstuffs of various kinds and…quality. 𝕄𝕔𝔾𝕦𝕗𝕗𝕚𝕟 The cursed artifact that transformed the party is an unassuming black ladle that Gwretchen says she inherited from her ‘great granny’. Unbeknownst to everyone(?), when used to cook, it turns all intended recipients of the meal (save the wielder) into food for a short period. The PCs can decide what they are when this spell activates.

ℕℙℂ𝕤 𝕲𝖜𝖗𝖊𝖙𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖓 A cheerful and quirky, albeit slightly demented young goblin with an almost single-minded love of eating. She takes pride in her cooking, though sometimes the ingredients that she uses are…questionable. Nevertheless, somehow the end result is always delicious! She likes the PCs, buuuut... 𝕭𝖆𝖘𝖙 A balding, cantankerous aye-aye that happens to be stuck as Gwretchen’s current spellbeast--an arrangement he isn’t pleased about considering she cooked and ate her last one.

---

The object of the encounter is for the PCs to survive dinner prep until the spell has worn off, but that won't be easy. They can move, speak, cast, and fight, but since they're bite-sized, their capabilities are measurably diminished. Moreover, Gwretchen seems unaware that her friends have been turned into delicacies, and since it's pretty normal(?) for her ingredients to squirm, scurry around and protest, she doesn’t notice the PCs’ struggles or pleas.

Every round, all of the PCs each have a 10% chance to be picked by Gwretchen as the next ingredient for her stew. If chosen, she’ll immediately look for it, which will force PCs to come up with ways to avoid or distract her. Success means she’ll give up and use something else instead. Failure means they go in the pot, and lose a chunk of HP per round they remain there.

If that weren’t enough, any time one of them moves, there is a chance that Bast will try to hunt them down and eat them! Unlike Gwretchen, Bast doesn’t give up easily and the party will need to work together to divide his attention.

Psst! Weakness!: Gwretchen’s stew is suspiciously volatile, and prone to ‘exploding’ if the wrong ingredients or amounts go into it. If this happens, she spends a round concentrating on fixing the error. As she’s cooking, Gwretchen will regularly mumble clues as to which ingredients she shouldn’t add.

Finally, after ten rounds have passed, the spell breaks, allowing the PCs to return to normal.

---

𝕊𝕖𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕤

Both NPCs secretly know the truth, but Gwretchen r-e-a-l-l-y wants to know what the PCs taste like, and Bast just thinks its hilarious.

Gwretchen’s mysterious "Great Granny" is actually Baba Yaga!

[jbear]

*puts the ingredients into my cooking satchel and slinks away*

[Boss Nadar]

 

The Skyterror, a PF2e Encounter Introduction You push open the iron doors, revealing the airship’s inner sanctum. Steel plated squares form a checkered pattern on the floor, and innumerable pipes line the walls. The ceiling has been opened to reveal the night sky above. On the far wall is your foe, the lich Blackash, garbed in flowing black robes and sitting in her brass throne. A loud hum guides your eyes to the center of the room, where a sparkling orb floats ominously, surrounded by an indestructible force cage. You recognize the Lightning Orb immediately, the power source of the ship, and Blackash’s phylactery. “We could’ve been allies,” she sighs, climbing to her feet. “but instead you chose the side of the country that branded you heretics. Well, no matter. It seems I’m in need of a new undead crew anyways.” Encounter Captain Blackash is a level 13 wizard lich. She prioritizes damaging area denial spells, like shadow raid and cloudkill, seeking a win through attrition. Her last action each turn will be to command her aye-aye familiar, Cracker, who is hidden in a small room beneath the floor, to activate one of several preplanned traps as per the following: If below half health: “I’m injured, you dim-witted rodent, heal me!”-Cracker pulls a lever that pulses negative energy into the room, healing all undead for 4d6 damage and dealing the same damage to all living creatures (DC 24 basic fortitude). If two or more PCs are against the wall: “Steam ’em, Cracker!” -Cracker pulls a lever that causes the vents to release hot steam, dealing 6d6 fire damage and blinding anyone adjacent to the wall (DC 24 basic reflex, no blind on success). Otherwise: “Light ‘em up, my powder-monkey!” -Cracker pulls a lever that fires a lightning bolt from the Lighting Orb, dealing 4d12 damage to all in a 100ft line (DC 24 basic reflex). However, the aye-aye is tired of being mistreated, and the second time Blackash calls for healing, Cracker will instead overload the Lighting Orb, increasing the damage of future lightning bolts by a stacking 1d12 damage, before firing a bolt at Blackash, doing so again each round. If the bolt reaches 8d12 damage, the orb explodes instead, dealing its damage to everyone in the room and destroying the orb. More pertinently, the airship begins to fall, and crashes in 6 rounds. Anyone on the ship when this happens takes 375 falling damage plus 20d6 bludgeoning damage as the ship collapses around them. Conclusion If the lich is defeated without crashing the ship, Cracker climbs out of its hiding place, and removes a tile. This exposes a hidden control panel, from which Cracker hits a button disabling the force cage. Cracker then tries to pantomime the party destroying the orb, which destroys Blackash forever. However, doing so also results in the airship crashing, something Cracker has not taken into consideration. If the players also fail to recognize this, the ship begins to crash as above!

[Strangemund]

 

Cypher System As Ester leans in to look into the fake tree’s knotted hole, a thin, black finger jabs her in the eye. "Didn’t your father ever teach you not to put your nose where it doesn’t belong?" laughs an all-too familiar voice. A creature no bigger than a house cat jerks its way into the open. Bulging, glassy eyes take in the candlelit parlor where you’ve all gathered. And although it cannot blink due to the stitching that’s kept its face still, you feel its embittered, hateful gaze fall on each of you as the Crossroad Devil speaks through the taxidermied aye-aye. "My oh my, the whole Darrow clan in one place. And what’s thiiiisss?" Something snaps inside it when it tilts it head. Try as you might to cover your tracks, Kip, it notices the nail puller in your hand… and the witch’s corpse whose heart still beats with untold magic, protected by a withered hand nailed over her open chest. It sneers, splitting the threads binding its muzzle shut. "The Witch’s Heart? Really, Daniel?" Your father protectively steps forward but unseen forces knock him down. The locket around his neck suddenly burning red hot. "You break your word and now you steal from me? Tsk. Seems like you and your kin need to be taught a lesson on manners." The lights flicker. And all at once, the taxidermied animals on the walls scream a terrible cacophonous noise. It hurts your ears. But it is your father’s cries of pain that leave you breathless. As the locket that kept him from Changing, breaks. "Go on, little morsels, take my heart," taunts the devil, hopping onto the shoulder of a stuffed grizzly bear that growls to life. OOC Bad news, children! The Taxidermy Horror: You now have a fearsome grizzly bear towering over you. It’s Level 4 (DC 12) and is within melee distance, which will drop the difficulty level to 3 (DC 9) for Elijah who is Trained in Close Combat and to difficulty level 2 (DC 6) for Ester who is Specialized in Dark Magic. The Witch’s Heart: After Kip removed the first nail from the witch’s hand, the others burrow deeper. The difficulty level for removing nails has increased to Level 5 (DC 15). Your Father: With the locket overloaded with infernal magic, the Change will overwhelm your father. You have 10 rounds to acquire the Witch’s Heart or be forced to deal with the fatal and devastating situation of fighting your transformed father. Keep Him Grounded: You may spend an action to remind your father of his humanity, stalling the Transformation Counter for a round. The task will start at Level 3 (9) and increase in difficulty each time you succeed. The Family Scrapbook may be applied as an Asset, decreasing the difficulty down by one step, which would make it Level 2 (6) on this turn. What Wakes Mode: Any rolls that land between 1-5 will decrease the rounds it’ll take for your father to Change.

[O2CXt3]

 

━─━────༺༻────━─━

An Explosive Situation

A D&D 5e Encounter for 4-5 Level 3 Players

The Setting This encounter can take place on any ship that is powered by steam and needs to go faster.

The Boiler Room When the characters enter the boiler room of the ship, read the following to them: The Situation You find yourself in a dimly lit room filled with the rhythmic whirring of gears. At its center is an immense, brass-clad boiler, belching steam. A massive flywheel spins above the boiler, propelling the ship forward. Perched on a grubby chair amidst the clatter and steam is a muscular, grease-smeared woman with goggles on her forehead. A copper amulet with tiny interlocking gears hangs around her neck. On either side of the room are two brawny men, clad in leather aprons and gloves. Across the room, opposite from where you entered, is another doorway. As you step into the room, the door on the other side of the room flies open. A man steps through the door and shouts, "Brynn! Give it more wood!" Brynn looks up from the boiler's gauges and replies, "It's as fast as she'll go, sir!" "More wood, I said! That’s an order!" "Sir, she can’t… " Brynn begins, but the man has already turned to leave. "Aye, aye," she adds bitterly as the door closes. "She's gonna blow…" Brynn mutters to herself.

The Encounter Feature Description The Room 20’x30’, rectangular Doors on bow and stern walls. Wood piles on the port and starboard walls. The Boiler Centered in the room; circular; 10’ diameter AC 19, 20 HP Will explode if 10 loads of wood are added. The flywheel spins faster and whirs louder as wood is added. After the explosion: All NPCs in the room are killed. Characters take 4d10 damage or half damage on a DC15 Dexterity save. The ship will begin to sink/crash. Clockwork Amulet Xanathar's Guide to Everything, pg. 137 AC 15, 10 HP Character Description All NPCs Use stats for Pirate Bosun (Ghosts of Saltmarsh, pg. 247). Will not attack the characters unless they or the boiler-system is attacked. Being restrained will not trigger them to attack, but they will try to escape. Brynn Adds 1 load of wood per round. DC5 Insight check to see that Brynn doesn't really want to put more wood in the boiler. DC15 Persuasion check to convince her to stop. Has a Clockwork Amulet that is magically linked to the boiler. Destroying the amulet will release the pressure on the boiler. Brynn will quickly explain this if persuaded to stop. Brynn's Two Helpers Each adds 1 load of wood per round. Cannot be persuaded to stop, even by Brynn. Will try to protect or grab the amulet if they see it being attacked.

The Aftermath If the characters prevent the boiler from exploding, award the party 500 XP.

Ingredient	Use
A fatal overload	The overloaded boiler is fatal to the NPCs
A bitter aye-aye	Brynn's reply
A wondrous item	Clockwork Amulet