Warlock of Firetop Mountain - Encounter Analysis 6

This section covers some pretty in-depth encounters, all far more interesting and with many more options than the simple goblins in the start of the dungeon. I guess what I'm trying to say is prepare for lots and lots of words. I as originally planning to finish the encounters in this post, but when I got to writing they were just so much bigger than I expected, so I've split off the Maze of Zagor and the final boss into a separate post.

Encounters

The Werewolf

Summary: At the end of the north-west passage from the beach beside the underground river, there is a wooden doorway. Through this, there is a small and rickety room, sparsely decorated with furniture which appears to be crafted from parts of old boats, and within another door in the opposite wall. In the room, there is an old man asleep on a bench, created from half a rowboat tipped on its side, and beside this man is a large, fierce dog, with red eyes and black teeth, who is awakened by the player's entry to the room and appears to be watching them, on guard. On a hook on the wall, there is a bundle of keys, but there appears to be nothing else of particular value in the room. At this point, the player can exit quietly through the door they entered without causing any particular disturbance, returning to the beach. The player can also choose to awaken the man with a couple of bangs on the door. At this, the man awakens quickly, and immediately attempts to grab the oar beside him as a means to defend himself. The player then tells the man that they mean no harm, though he is still wary and on guard. At this point, the player notices that his boots are undone, and has the option to mention this to him, to which he sheepishly responds, thanking the player and retying his boots, and appears to calm down a little. He will tell the player some information regarding this area of the dungeon. He says that this area is the only passageway into the inner chambers of the mountain, and that some years ago the river swelled after a severe spring thaw, cutting off supplies from the outside world, and many of the inhabitants of the area starved to death. The Warlock realised that he was losing much of the protection he had accumulated, and to prevent losing more he put a curse on the remaining inhabitants, transforming them into undead servants. If at any point the player tells the man of their quest, he quickly becomes angry and asks the player to leave, claiming he wants nothing to do with fortune-seekers. If the players persist in attempting to reason with him, or at any time in the conversation the player attacks him, attempts to grab the keys on the wall, or attempts to go through the other door in the room, the man's dog attacks the player, shooting a blast of fire at the player as it does so. After the dog is defeated, the player can attempt to escape, but will not have time to take anything if they do so. If they stay, the man becomes furious, standing up to confront the player. As he does so, his eyes burn white and his stature begins to change, eventually completing a full transformation into a Werewolf, rushing at the player and attacking. After the Werewolf is defeated, the player can grab the keys from the wall, noting that one is marked 'Boat House'. The player and also progress through the door in the opposite wall, revealing a small larder. Much of the food seems spoiled, but there is a large jar of pickled eggs that is still preserved, and provides enough food for two meals.

A nice bit of social encounter here, although I would have liked to see a peaceful way to get the Boathouse key. As for the combat, in the book the dog is called a Hell-Hound (MM page 182, CR 3), which would probably too much for a lower-level party to deal with at the same time as a Werewolf (MM page 211, CR 3), so I'd run it as an adjusted Wolf (MM page 341, CR 1/4) with a weakened version of the Hell-Hound's fire breath. I'm also not quite sure whether or not to count the Werewolf  and the dog as a single combat encounter or two in my notes, as they are fought within a short space of time but not simultaneously. This would adjust the calculated challenge of the dungeon, as rather than having a Deadly encounter worth 1,125 XP, you'd get one Hard and one Easy encounter altogether worth 750 XP. I think I will probably count them separately, as the logic behind the XP rating increase with multiple creatures is that they can attack simultaneously and divide the players forces up, surely?

The Zombies

Summary: Through the door directly into the rock from the beach, the player enters to see a roughly square room. They don't get to investigate much further though, as suddenly they are struck on the head with a club and knocked out cold. When they awake, the player looks around. The room appears to be about 8 metres square, and they are currently lying in the south-west corner. There is a door in the north wall, and another in the south wall (which the player entered from). In the centre of the room, there are four zombies standing still, and staring vacantly into space. Each of them carries a different weapon - one a club, one with a scythe, one with an axe, and another with a pick. Around the room, there are several peasant-grade weapons and shields, with several barrels scattered near the walls. In the north-east corner of the room, there lies against the wall a corpse, wearing armour and bearing arms. As the player stirs, the zombies in the centre of the room turn towards the player. Whether they attempt to converse with them, attack them directly, or escape, they inevitably end up in combat with the creatures. After they are defeated, the player has the option to search the barrels, the weapons scattered about the room, or the corpse in the corner. The barrels contain surprisingly high-quality rum, which restores some of the players stamina when drunk. The weapons about the room are low-quality, and the player fails to find anything of use. If the player searches the corpse, it appears to be another adventurer, who seems to have died from a head wound some time ago. They are wearing a set of leather armour, and clutching a wooden shield in one hand, which are both unremarkable but usable. In its other hand, they hold a steel longsword, which is enchanted (more powerfully so than the sword obtainable from the creature in the river earlier). In its pockets there are coins totally 8 gold pieces, with an additional 2 gold pieces hidden in their sock. Finally, around their neck is a silver crucifix worth about 4 gp. The player is given the option to take two of these items. After the player has completed one of these searches, they hear a loud noise coming from behind the north door, which they then investigate (leading them to the crypt encounter).

This encounter falls apart a little bit with a party of players, as you can't exactly have them all hit on the head with a club as they enter. This doesn't matter much though, as you could just let a zombie give a surprise attack to the first player who enters, and all the possibilities in this encounter lead to combat anyway. Four Zombies (MM page 316, CR 1/4) shouldn't provide much of a challenge, and a little surprise attack might help add a touch more difficulty. As for the loot here, the total worth of everything on the corpse (leather armour, shield, gold, crucifix) totals 34 gp. As for the sword, in the book it is more powerful than the sword the player can receive at the beach, which would make it at least +2 in D&D. This loot would be too powerful to dispense at a low-level dungeon, but it can easily be remedied by just knocking it down to the same level as the river-sword. You can do this without much trouble, since there are multiple players so you'll still be giving out a boost. I would also probably switch the weapon from a sword to something else, just for a little more diversity.

The Crypt

Summary: A very large room, with an altar at the north wall and coffins strewn about the room. The player entered through a door in the south wall, and there is another door in the west wall, which the player can exit through quickly without any penalty. If the player chooses to stay and investigate, taking a closer look at the altar. As the player does so, they hear a creaking behind them, whirling around to see a tall humanoid male sitting up from one of the now-open coffins. When he spots the player, his expression quickly turns to a cold hatred, and hisses. He then beckons the player towards himself. At this point, the player can quickly run for the door in the west wall, leaving without further complication. The player can also attack the Vampire, either conventionally or using an item. The player can also approach the Vampire, in which case they are weakened by his powerful stare. There is a chance that if they try to simply attack after approaching the Vampire, they will completely lose their will before the Vampire's stare, until they are shrouded by the Vampire's cloak and bitten, causing an instant kill on the player. Oddly enough, this scenario will not play out if the player attempts to fight using an item, which is may be an oversight in the book's design. When attempting to use items, the only things useful here are the wooden stake picked up in the Barbarian encounter, and the silver crucifix found in the previous room. The crucifix gives the player a second chance to escape, but will not damage the Vampire. If the player attempts to escape mid-combat, there is a chance they will meet the same instant-death scenario as before. When attempting to stake the Vampire, the player stumbles as they advance, making a haphazard swing. If they are lucky, they pierce the Vampire's heart and it dies, but if they are unlucky they only deal a grazing strike, being subsequently flung across the room by the Vampire. At this point, they are able to escape through the west door, being thrown into the wall next to it. Alternatively, they can attack with the stake again, however if they are unlucky this time it causes the same instant-death scenario as before. After the Vampire is dead, either from conventional combat or a stake through the heart, he collapses to the floor, appearing to undergo an accelerated aging, becoming an old man and decomposing in a span of seconds. When it finally appears to be dead, a bat pushes itself from the corpse's chest and flies into the darkness. Now the player is free to search the chamber, although they do so quickly, all too aware of the two unopened coffins in the room. The player finds 30 gp, a book and a Y-shaped stick. They are also given the option of eating provisions at this point.

Fun not, due to the many page turnings in this encounter, I actually charted it out when summarising it to keep from losing track. The whole encounter takes up more than 10 entries in the book that are quite interconnected, so I hope my summary is does it justice. Possibly the most detailed combat encounter in the entire book, I am a big fan of some of the scripted events here. Of course, instant-death scenarios aren't exactly a good thing at a D&D table, but the instant-death scenario here can be easily avoided, since there are multiple players for the Vampire to fight. Of course, a Monster Manual Vampire (MM page 297, CR 15) is far too powerful for low-level players to fight, and even a single Vampire Spawn (MM page 298, CR 5) could probably result in a total party kill. Alas it seems I have another statblock to create, unless you just want to replace the Vampire with another undead creature here. Perhaps a Mummy (MM page 228, CR 3) or a couple of Specters (MM page 279, CR 1) could do the trick? Bear in mind though, that if you replace the monster here you will make the Stake found earlier useless, and should consider swapping out that item for something else that would be helpful here.

The Animated Tools

Summary: As the player follows a pathway, it bends to the left. Just before this bend there is a sign reading 'Under Construction'. Around the bend, there is the beginnings of a stairway leading downwards, though with only three completed steps so far. There are various tools working on the staircase of their own volition - picks, shovels and hammers - all digging and hammering into the rock with all the efficiency of a mind with a single purpose. As the player approaches, the sound of a humming chant grows louder, which the player recognises as the tune to Heigh-Ho. The player chuckles at the amusing scene, even managing to 'talk' to some of the tools. The player can rest and eat provisions here.

A nice flavourful encounter, providing some explanation as to how the dungeon has been constructed. It's good, and doesn't really need much adjustment to run in D&D. I am curious though what the player and the tools talk about in the book, as this is not explained at all - perhaps new construction techniques? The only thing I would worry about is the possibility for the players and the tools to somehow end up in combat, as there is always the possibility your players will assume they are supposed to fight. In this case, I would probably run the tools all as a single entity to fight rather than making a statblock for each of them (though this is always an option).

The Boathouse

Summary: After continuing eastwards up the beach for some distance, until they eventually come to a large, solid building. There is a door, above which a sign reads 'Boat House'. The only way to enter is if the player has already found the key to this door - attempts to break it down merely bruise the player's arm. The door does have a barred window, though, through which the player can see several skeletal figures working on a boat. If the player can enter, they find themselves in a large workshop full of boats in varying degrees of completion. Apart from the door the player entered through, there is another in the north wall, behind which there are various banging noises. As the player enters, the Skeletons stop working and look to the player. They pick up planks of wood and mallets and advance. The player can retreat back up the beach at this point without further complication. The player can fight the skeletons, or attempt to persuade them not to attack. The player can tell the skeletons that they are their new boss, ordering them back to work, or alternatively that they have come to buy a boat. Both have similar outcomes (though the Skeletons believe the buying a boat story more readily), where if they believe the player they will either go back to work or excitedly leave through the north door. This gives the player the opportunity to search the boathouse (though if the Skeletons are still working they must do so surreptitiously). Searching the tools reveals a hardwood mallet and chisel with a sharp solid silver chisel, which the player may take, and if the player searches the drawers they discover a copper-coloured key inscribed with the number 66. However, the player only has time to do one of these before investigating the sounds from the north door. If the Skeletons were not totally convinced by the player's lie, two of the Skeletons will leave through the north door, giving the player the option to retreat back onto the beach or fight the three remaining Skeletons quickly. After they are dead, the player gets the same opportunity to search the room as before. If they Skeletons do not believe the lie at all, or the player forgoes bluffing in favour of an immediate attack, they must fight all five of the skeletons in the room. Again, they can search the room when they are dead. After going through the door in the north wall, the player sees the source of the noise - four Skeletons, these ones armed. Fortunately, they have not yet noticed the player, and there is a recess in the wall next to the player which they can hide in. The Skeletons run into the Boat House, not noticing the player as they do so. After this, the player is free to progress.

Quite a cool encounter here, with the possibility for quite a large brawl. The Skeletons (MM page 272, CR 1/2) shouldn't tax your players too much, and I would replace their regular attacks (Shortsword and Shortbow) with Clubs, Maces, and maybe even a Maul for their shipyard equipment. You'll also want to make it clear to the players that they can get outta this situation with words, like having the Skeletons approach a short way and then stop for a minute to analyse them before attacking. Thanks to the Skeletons' 6 INT and 8 WIS, the players' won't exactly need any spectacular rolls to convince them of anything. My only real issue with this encounter is the Skeletons in the corridor - it seems pretty unlikely that they wouldn't notice the players here, and a small recess in the wall would definitely not be able to hide a party of adventurers. You'd probably want to add a bend in the corridor, so the players and Skeletons can't see each other, and expand the recess into a small room off the corridor. This could give the players the opportunity to play it safe and hide, or wait and see what is coming down the corridor, leading to combat.

The Wight

Summary: The player enters a fairly large room, with wooden debris strewn across the floor. There is another door in the opposite wall. In one corner, there is a desk with a chest on it, and in another there is a warty man-sized creature, either asleep or dead. If the player investigates the chest, or if they are unlucky when sneaking across to the other door, the creature awakes. Seeing the player, it slowly rises to its feet with heavy, rasping breaths, and begins to shuffle towards the player. The Wight attacks the player, and after landing their first blow upon it, the player realises that conventional weapons will not be useful here. After the first strike, the Wight barely seems to notice the hit. The book tells the player character that Wights are only vulnerable to silvered weapons, and if they do not have one of these they must escape. If the player has 'The Giver of Sleep', they can use it here, killing the Wight instantly on a successful hit. As the battle progresses, the player also notices that as the Wight wounds them, it also seems to be sapping their strength away. After the Wight is dead, the player is free to search the box, finding 18 gold pieces inside. The player is also given this opportunity to rest and eat provisions.

A fairly simple encounter for this area, the Wight (MM page 300, CR 3) should provide an ample enough challenge to your players, considering most of them will have reduced effectiveness. As far as silvered weapons go in this dungeon, the only option aside from the Giver of Sleep is the silver chisel the player can find in the Boathouse, which you'll probably probably want to run as an improvised piercing or bludgeoning weapon, depending on how the player's use it. You may also want to consider what to do if the players work to use the chisel alongside a mallet to increase its effectiveness. In this instance, I would probably rule that to do this, the player(s) would need to make two attack rolls, one for positioning the chisel and one for using the mallet, and dealing heavy damage if they are successful. As for the specifics of the Giver of Sleep here, I'd probably just run it as a weapon that deals double damage to undead enemies.

The Ghoul

Summary: At the bottom of a short, narrow staircase, a passageway leads into a large open chamber, with a horrific stench of rotten flesh hanging in the air. Three bodies lie in the chamber. The player can search any of these bodies, or sneak through the room, which the player can do so with ease. If the player sneaks through, they are given the opportunity to turn back and search the bodies, considering there seemed to be no real danger when the player passed through. Regardless, in searching the first body the player can find 5 gp in its pockets. In attempting to search the second body, the player accidentally nudges the third, causing it to claw wildly at the player's leg. A similar scenario occurs if the player chooses to search the third body first. This creature is a Ghoul, and displays no fear of the player. The Ghoul has the ability to paralyse the player if it wounds them enough, and if the Ghoul kills or paralyses the player, we get a nice bit of flavour text about the Ghoul cannibalising the player, for some reason explicitly starting with the ass. After defeating the Ghoul, the player can find two small earrings in its pocket, altogether worth about 1 gp. The player can move on at this point, or search the second body. The second body yields 8 gp, a bottle of liquid and an old piece of parchment. The parchment appears to be a worn map, with the title 'The Maze of Zagor'. Unfortunately, it is so worn the player can make little sense of it, though two rooms have partially legible notes. A room to the north is marked '. . . GER', while a room to the east is marked 'SM . . . P . . . LE'. The player is also given the option to test some of the liquid, drinking a small amount. The liquid turns out to be Holy Water, blessed by 'The Overpriest of Kaynlesh-Ma'. What a mouthful. In drinking the Holy Water, the player receives quite a strong restoration effect, healing them back to almost full strength and health.

A decent enough encounter, and possibly nightmare fuel if you wanna present it that way - the player, leaning over what they think is a corpse, searching its pockets, then suddenly WHAM! A Ghoul screeching in their face, clawing at their eyes! Spit flying and a horrific stench blasting them right away! Considering the amount of players you may have in this encounter, you may consider adding an additional Ghoul (MM page 148, CR 1) to the fight, or replacing the Ghoul with a Ghast (MM page 148, CR 2). As for the Holy Water, I would probably give it additional effects similar to the spell "Heroes' Feast" (PHB page 251), although toned down.

The Portcullis

Summary: At the top of the stairs leading on from the Ghoul encounter, the passageway bends sharply to the east. As the player pauses to collect their bearings, they hear a creaking behind them, turning around just in time to see a heavy portcullis fall into place, preventing them from turning back.

Not much of an encounter here, but I wanted to include it here to set the foundations for the next post, where I'll look at The Maze of Zagor in more depth.