Aella shuddered as she emerged from the "Brain Jellies". She was in the armory. The warforged sentinel she had recently met was standing before her, coldly inquiring about her status.
She replied that she didn't know. The last thing she remembered was going into a room piled with carcasses. She led Alot down the hall and to the left to that room. There they found a large owlbear matron guarding two mutated owlbear chublets as they fed on the remains of a recently dismembered otyugh. Bloody footprints covered the floor and led out the exit on the far wall.
The matron was more concerned about protecting her young than attacking so they cautiously made their way around the room without provoking her. They entered a room covered with excavation debris from two tunnels - apparently created by the owlbears. There was also a section of false wall removed to reveal a hidden room to the left. After a brief exploration of the tunnels the pair entered the hidden room and discovered a secret ladder concealed within an iron maiden-style torture implement.
They descended the stairs and found a strange room filled with a vaporous liquid that caused their eyes to sting. Seeing no way around the liquid, Aella climbed onto the warforged back and was carried across the room. Alot's legs were burned by acid but he was able to make it across without difficulty.
They followed the corridor down a winding path to a long room with four keys. They took a left and entered a long corridor filled with open pit traps in the floor. Aella was able to deftly leap to the other side. Alot, who was more clumsy, used a rope. Aella held the other end while Alot swung across to the other side. They discovered that there were six pits that needed to be traversed. On a few of them, Alot and Aella misjudged the swing and Alot fell into the spikes.
They eventually made their way into a room with rounded corners. An open iron chest was in the center of the room. There they encountered the other members of the A-Team. They were in a hallway past the room preparing to open a marble door with an iron key.
CHAPTER 10
"THE MYSTERIOUS LABORATORY"
The A-Team:- Avastana "Aella" Kádár - Neutral, Half-Elf Outlander and Sorceress from Ket.
- Annor Whalerson - Neutral Good, Human Marine and Fighter from Saltmarsh.
- Marlin Whalerson - Neutral Good, Human Seeker and Rogue.
- Auric Ravenson - Neutral Good, Aasimar Shipwright and Cleric of the Raven King.
- "Amnesia" - Human (?) Amnesiac Rogue.
- Alot Aname - Warforged Fighter.
The Mysterious Rust Monsters of the Infinite Corridor
With the A-Team reunited, Annor decided to open the marble door.
The door opened to reveal another eighty foot long corridor. Before them were three creatures that resembled strange arthropods or crustaceans with strange two-lobed tails and two long feelers covered in fine hairs.
Marlin cried out, "Rust monsters!"
To their further confusion, behind the rust monsters were six humanoids - duplicates of themselves in every way. When Annor moved, the duplicate Annor moved.
Annor turned around and looked behind them. Three rust monsters, identical in every way to the ones before them, had mysteriously appeared in the hall behind them! What's more- the doorway behind them that once led to the room with the trapped iron chest was replaced with another section of hallway with exact duplicates of themselves!
They were in an infinitely repeating corridor!
With the A-Team reunited, Annor decided to open the marble door.
The door opened to reveal another eighty foot long corridor. Before them were three creatures that resembled strange arthropods or crustaceans with strange two-lobed tails and two long feelers covered in fine hairs.
Marlin cried out, "Rust monsters!"
To their further confusion, behind the rust monsters were six humanoids - duplicates of themselves in every way. When Annor moved, the duplicate Annor moved.
Annor turned around and looked behind them. Three rust monsters, identical in every way to the ones before them, had mysteriously appeared in the hall behind them! What's more- the doorway behind them that once led to the room with the trapped iron chest was replaced with another section of hallway with exact duplicates of themselves!
They were in an infinitely repeating corridor!
Knowing the rust monsters' reputation for turning weapons and armor to dust, Annor looked at his ridiculously long sword and winced. He put it back into its scabbard and borrowed Aella's wooden staff. He also moved to the center of the group to protect his expensive plate mail armor.
Alot Aname was an artificial being, a construct made to guard and protect important objects. He was made of ceramic plates with magical rubber muscles but he also had metal joints and a metallic skeleton. He wasn't sure what kind of effect the rust monsters would have on his body. Despite his uncertainty, he bravely charged the rust monsters behind him but was unable to injure it.
Amnesia took out the magical wooden sword found earlier that day in the crypt of Glorian. She rushed the strange insect-like creatures and stabbed it to death.
Aella and Auric did their best to support the others at range with magic spells and holy prayers while Marlin loosed several arrows. Annor eventually ran up and whacked at some rust monsters with Aella's staff.
Alot managed to stab one of the creatures with his short sword but the weapon dissolved to flakes of rust in his hand!
Eventually all of the rust monsters were defeated with only the loss of a single short sword.
DM Note-
We had a short debate about whether a rust monster's attack would lower the AC of the armor plating of the warforged. I argued that his AC would be decremented just like any other character's worn armor. The player argued that his plating wasn't necessarily metal and was therefore unaffected.
Luckily he was never actually hit so the point became moot. But I did some research later and for future reference, in lieu of AC reduction, a rust monster will do 2d6 damage to a warforged.
Having defeated their foes, the party was still faced with an infinitely repeating hallway. They tried walking one way to see if it ended. It didn't. They reversed their direction but encountered no end. They split up and met themselves in the middle. They tried pulling and pushing the lever that deactivated and reactivated the force field protecting the tower. Nothing worked.
Amnesia eventually suggested closing the iron door behind them, then closing the marble door before them. They did so. Amnesia then opened the marble door while the iron door was still closed.
The marble door opened into an empty round room, smooth as marble and soft white. The room was magically lit from an unseen source. A wide set of stairs rose in the center of the room and disappeared into the ceiling.
There was cheering.
The Mysterious Living Room
The doorway in which they entered was located in the middle of a round room. There was nothing but empty space behind the doorway. The stairs appeared to ascend towards outside edge of a circular tower. However, when they climbed the stairs they discovered that they were pointing towards the center of the next level. Either the second level was off-set from the lower level or the stairs magically changed direction.
The second level was more warmly decorated than the soft featureless white marble of the entrance.
The doorway in which they entered was located in the middle of a round room. There was nothing but empty space behind the doorway. The stairs appeared to ascend towards outside edge of a circular tower. However, when they climbed the stairs they discovered that they were pointing towards the center of the next level. Either the second level was off-set from the lower level or the stairs magically changed direction.
The second level was more warmly decorated than the soft featureless white marble of the entrance.
There were rugs, a bed, an armchair, a desk, a well stocked library, and a standing wardrobe. Four magical globes drifted through the air. Each globe glowed with soft daylight and illuminated the room.
A desiccated corpse, naked safe for a threadbare pointed cap, lay slumped in a chair near the desk. A manuscript lay open on the desk, an old stylus was worn to a nub. The manuscript was filled with writing, legible and orderly at first, but degenerating to mad scribbles and doodles over time.
Marlin jumped at the chance to read the manuscript aloud!
DM Note-
Marlin's player read my printed manuscript out loud. He did an amazing job reading in the voice of the desperate wizard. He did such a good job that I told him to level up right then and there!
Afterwards, Marlin investigated the rest of the room. The bookshelf spoke to him as he approached, "What boom would you like?" It was a magical library that produced books as requested, sending them flying to the air to gently land on the desk open to the requested information.
The wardrobe had a dial like a timer set in its centerpiece. The interior was empty save for a few hangers. Marlin put his dirty bloody boots into the wardrobe and set the dial to the beginning. It began counting down seconds. After ten minutes it counted down to zero and went "ding!". Marlin opened the door to a gentle waft of steam and his boots were clean and like new. Everyone took turns cleaning their dirty clothes.
Another set of stairs led to the next level.
A desiccated corpse, naked safe for a threadbare pointed cap, lay slumped in a chair near the desk. A manuscript lay open on the desk, an old stylus was worn to a nub. The manuscript was filled with writing, legible and orderly at first, but degenerating to mad scribbles and doodles over time.
Marlin jumped at the chance to read the manuscript aloud!
I am a wizard. Nowhere in these notes have I written my name for I am confident you know who I am.
I am infatuated with force magic and residuum and most of my writings is on these subjects.
I had a plan to summon pure residuum from the astral plane but doing so would be dangerous. So I built my tower far from civilized lands in the Hool Marsh.
It was an old ruined keep that was unoccupied for at least three generations and it was built upon the ruins of an even older civilization.
I chose to build my tower here
My tower was made of gleaming white marble and stood out in stark contrast to the ruins around it at that time. The ruins were fairly recent, having resulted from a minor war some sixty years prior that swept the area of civilized occupants.
I was aware that wandering monsters and wandering adventurers would always remain a threat so I made the entrance to my tower quite difficult.
I explored the ruins thoroughly. I hid the entrance to my tower deep underground behind a secret door that itself in a secret room built by the long gone owners of the ruins.
Past that I installed a series of traps that I could bypass with the correct command word, which I obviously won't write down for some fool to find, but were otherwise quite deadly
I also installed a backup procedure by leaving behind a set of spare keys should I ever need them. But they were hidden and protected by skeletons in an ancient tomb that the keep's builders had inadvertently excavated.
I told no one about these keys except this journal so no one would think to look for them.
All in all the tower was extremely well protected. The simple fact that there were no ground level entrances deterred most wandering monsters.
I was aware of the few adventures and marauding orcs that tried to get in because I would find their rotting bodies impaled on my spiked traps or dissolved in my acid pits whenever I left for a few months to get supplies but no one ever made it to the tower itself.
My next step was to create a summoning stone, my masterpiece.
The summoning stone would draw residuum from the depths of space like a powerful magical magnet . The residuum would fall from the sky crashing to earth. I had no way of catching the residuum so I decided to protect my tower and my magical magnet behind a powerful magical wall of force.
The wall of force would be impenetrable. No physical force, no energy, no ethereal being could penetrate the wall. It would be my masterpiece
I would be completely defended from any astronomical impact.
Researching and devising such a spell was a great joy for me. For almost a decade I labored in my tower studying ways to modify and embower a basic wall of force spell.
I needed a permanent version large enough to encase the entire tower and also block the falling stones from the sky.
I also needed a way to control it, turning it on and off
Eventually I devised a spell that would do the trick. I also spent a fortune building a wondrous item to control the spell - a magically enchanted lever.
That lever was placed at the entrance to my tower and I could use it to turn the force wall on and lock myself in the tower
When I wanted to leave I would simply pull the lever and drop the wall of force and secure the traps during my short absence to make sure no one else locked themselves in while I was gone.
I prepared all my materials and readied the lever and began the enchantment process on top of my tower. Over the many days I labored and enchanted until the final words were spoken and my hair stood on end as I felt the massive force wall surge into place.
My tower was completely encased.
I activated my powerful residuum attractor. Now all I had to do was wait for the residuum to fall from the sky.
Triumphantly I went downstairs to test my lever and there I discovered my fatal error.
The lever which was on the wall of the corridor leading into the tower was outside the force wall!
I had made the force wall just a few inches too small!
There was no way for me to turn off the force wall! It was permanent and invulnerable and blocked teleportation and all other spells including mage hand!
I couldn't get to the lever that would turn off my force field!
I'd trapped myself for eternity!
So I will live on trapped in my prison. Eventually I will go made die of old age or commit suicide, we shall see.
Maybe I will find a way out.
(at this point the manuscript degenerates from desperate calculations and theories into unhinged fragments as the wizard slowly goes insane over time)
Marlin's player read my printed manuscript out loud. He did an amazing job reading in the voice of the desperate wizard. He did such a good job that I told him to level up right then and there!
Afterwards, Marlin investigated the rest of the room. The bookshelf spoke to him as he approached, "What boom would you like?" It was a magical library that produced books as requested, sending them flying to the air to gently land on the desk open to the requested information.
The wardrobe had a dial like a timer set in its centerpiece. The interior was empty save for a few hangers. Marlin put his dirty bloody boots into the wardrobe and set the dial to the beginning. It began counting down seconds. After ten minutes it counted down to zero and went "ding!". Marlin opened the door to a gentle waft of steam and his boots were clean and like new. Everyone took turns cleaning their dirty clothes.
Another set of stairs led to the next level.
The Mysterious Twins
The third level was an experimental laboratory of some kind. There were three large force cages and a control box with three levers. The force cage on the left side of the room contained a female human with long brown hair. She had the desperate look of a prisoner longing for freedom. The force cage contained her exact twin. The third force cage completely enclosed the set of stairs that led to the next higher level.
The third level was an experimental laboratory of some kind. There were three large force cages and a control box with three levers. The force cage on the left side of the room contained a female human with long brown hair. She had the desperate look of a prisoner longing for freedom. The force cage contained her exact twin. The third force cage completely enclosed the set of stairs that led to the next higher level.
“Oh, thank goodness you’ve come! Please free me! My name is Farrah! I'm a dryad. I’ve been trapped here for centuries!”
“Don’t listen to her! She’s evil! My name is Mona! Free me and I’ll tell you how to escape!”
Farrah continued, “Please save me! You don’t know what it’s been like in this tower with this – this – this fiend for all these years!”
Mona interrupted, “She’s lying! She’ll lead you to a trap! Let me free!”
Farrah pointed at the control panel with the three levers, “See the control panel? Push the far left
button. It will free me. I will reward you if you free me!”
Mona became agitated “NO! Don’t listen to her! She’ll trap you! Push the middle button. All the others are traps!”
Farrah scolded Mona, “No, they’re not traps! The right button lifts the cage on the stairs, and the left button frees me. You can pass up the stairs if you’d like. But please, free me first!”
Mona desperately begged the party, “Don’t fall for it! She’s evil! Only the middle button isn’t a trap"
After some additional interrogation, Farrah told them that she was a dryad and that Mona was a quasit, a type of demon, who had shape changed into her duplicate to trick them. Mona called Farrah a liar and claimed that she was the dryad and that Farrah was the quasit.
Auric rolled his eyes, "This is one of those 'One can tell only the truth, the other can only lie' situations."
Annor stepped in between the two cells. He looked over his shoulders towards the others, "I got it. Watch this." He turned back towards the cells and whispered, "(quasit say what?)"
Both Mona and Farrah looked confused, "I'm sorry, could you say that again? Did you say 'quasit say what?"
"Yeah, I couldn't quite hear that. What were you whispering?"
Alot Aname approached Farrah and asked her politely, "Farrah, which one of you is more beautiful?"
Farrah replied, "Well, we're identical now, so neither. But when she returns to her true form, she's a hideous demon."
"Mona, same question."
Mona became agitated, "Don't listen to that hag! I'm obviously more beautiful! I'll do whatever you want. I mean it. ANYTHING! Please set me free!"
Alot walked over and pulled the lever on the far left, freeing Farrah, then pulled the lever on the right, releasing the stairs. Mona remained incarcerated in her magical cell.
"What? Seriously!" Mona became angry and released her human guise, once more looking like a twisted demon with horns, claws, and a long thick tail. "This is an outrage! Set me free now! Set me free or I will roast you alive! I will eat you and your entire family!"
Farrah thanked the party and told them that she would return to this spot at dawn the next day with a reward. She then disappeared into thin air!
Mona's angry insults and threats faded as they ascended to the fourth level.
“Don’t listen to her! She’s evil! My name is Mona! Free me and I’ll tell you how to escape!”
Farrah continued, “Please save me! You don’t know what it’s been like in this tower with this – this – this fiend for all these years!”
Mona interrupted, “She’s lying! She’ll lead you to a trap! Let me free!”
Farrah pointed at the control panel with the three levers, “See the control panel? Push the far left
button. It will free me. I will reward you if you free me!”
Mona became agitated “NO! Don’t listen to her! She’ll trap you! Push the middle button. All the others are traps!”
Farrah scolded Mona, “No, they’re not traps! The right button lifts the cage on the stairs, and the left button frees me. You can pass up the stairs if you’d like. But please, free me first!”
Mona desperately begged the party, “Don’t fall for it! She’s evil! Only the middle button isn’t a trap"
After some additional interrogation, Farrah told them that she was a dryad and that Mona was a quasit, a type of demon, who had shape changed into her duplicate to trick them. Mona called Farrah a liar and claimed that she was the dryad and that Farrah was the quasit.
Auric rolled his eyes, "This is one of those 'One can tell only the truth, the other can only lie' situations."
Annor stepped in between the two cells. He looked over his shoulders towards the others, "I got it. Watch this." He turned back towards the cells and whispered, "(quasit say what?)"
Both Mona and Farrah looked confused, "I'm sorry, could you say that again? Did you say 'quasit say what?"
"Yeah, I couldn't quite hear that. What were you whispering?"
Alot Aname approached Farrah and asked her politely, "Farrah, which one of you is more beautiful?"
Farrah replied, "Well, we're identical now, so neither. But when she returns to her true form, she's a hideous demon."
"Mona, same question."
Mona became agitated, "Don't listen to that hag! I'm obviously more beautiful! I'll do whatever you want. I mean it. ANYTHING! Please set me free!"
Alot walked over and pulled the lever on the far left, freeing Farrah, then pulled the lever on the right, releasing the stairs. Mona remained incarcerated in her magical cell.
"What? Seriously!" Mona became angry and released her human guise, once more looking like a twisted demon with horns, claws, and a long thick tail. "This is an outrage! Set me free now! Set me free or I will roast you alive! I will eat you and your entire family!"
Farrah thanked the party and told them that she would return to this spot at dawn the next day with a reward. She then disappeared into thin air!
Mona's angry insults and threats faded as they ascended to the fourth level.
The Mysterious Workshop
The next level was a workshop of sorts. There was a table or workbench with old smashed magical apparatuses, books, measuring devices, etc. Most of them had been destroyed out of frustration. In the middle of the room were two boxes made of magical force. There was a doorway within each portal and a doorway nearby outside each portal. Additionally, there were three doors set in the curved wall of the room.
Aella looked around and mentally estimated the height of the ceiling, "If I'm not mistaken, this should be ground level."
Marlin set about carefully searching the wall opposite the doors for any hidden doors or closets. Meanwhile, Amnesia opened the door in front of a force cage. The doorway magically led to the interior of the force cage. Amnesia walked in and walked out again. Auric watched on while he rested, "What's the point of that?"
Marlin paused in his search and said, "His manuscript said he was doing experiments on dimensional doors inside force cages. He learned he could put a force cage around an existing dimension door but couldn't create a dimension door that would lead outside the force cage protecting this tower."
Aella opened the doors along the wall. The first door opened to an entry foyer like the one at the bottom of the tower. Amnesia volunteered to go through the door. She ran back upstairs, past Mona, and verified it led to the bottom of the tower.
The second door revealed a room full of large rocks. The rocks immediately came to life and began to push their way out of the door. Aella, with Auric's help, quickly shoved the door closed against the weight of the rocks.
"Let's keep that one closed." quipped Auric.
The third door led to an empty closet.
Once they were done, they party looked around the room and scratched their heads. Auric was a bit disappointed, "Is that it? Where's that magical engine thing? There's got to be something else?"
It had been an hour and Marlin had successfully searched half the round tower. He continued along the other half and soon found a concealed door, "A-ha!"
They readied themselves for battle and Annor opened the door.
Aella looked around and mentally estimated the height of the ceiling, "If I'm not mistaken, this should be ground level."
Marlin set about carefully searching the wall opposite the doors for any hidden doors or closets. Meanwhile, Amnesia opened the door in front of a force cage. The doorway magically led to the interior of the force cage. Amnesia walked in and walked out again. Auric watched on while he rested, "What's the point of that?"
Marlin paused in his search and said, "His manuscript said he was doing experiments on dimensional doors inside force cages. He learned he could put a force cage around an existing dimension door but couldn't create a dimension door that would lead outside the force cage protecting this tower."
Aella opened the doors along the wall. The first door opened to an entry foyer like the one at the bottom of the tower. Amnesia volunteered to go through the door. She ran back upstairs, past Mona, and verified it led to the bottom of the tower.
The second door revealed a room full of large rocks. The rocks immediately came to life and began to push their way out of the door. Aella, with Auric's help, quickly shoved the door closed against the weight of the rocks.
"Let's keep that one closed." quipped Auric.
The third door led to an empty closet.
Once they were done, they party looked around the room and scratched their heads. Auric was a bit disappointed, "Is that it? Where's that magical engine thing? There's got to be something else?"
It had been an hour and Marlin had successfully searched half the round tower. He continued along the other half and soon found a concealed door, "A-ha!"
They readied themselves for battle and Annor opened the door.
The Mysterious Genie
Beyond the concealed door was another round room, though this room had an eighty foot ceiling. Along the wall of the room was piled innumerable gold, silver, and platinum coins, gems, treasures, and artifacts. Hovering in mid-air about thirty feet up was a large mechanical device resembling an orrery. A globe of what appeared to be liquid lead was surrounded by multiple spinning wheels, each connected by armatures to smaller globes and smaller spinning wheels, each spinning slowly and all orbiting the larger globe.
Beneath the device, standing in the center of the room, was a short overweight man with pointed ears and jet black skin. He wore a white turban, a red vest, and white loose-fitting pants with a red sash tied around his waist. On his feet were silken slippers with pointed toes.
"Greetings! Welcome to the vault! My name is Mister Popo! How may I help you?"
DM Note-
Marlin's player said to me, "You just make all your genies Mister Popo because you like your Mister Popo mini and you like talking like him!"
I replied, "Lies and slander! I'll have none of it! But yes, obviously."
The party learned that Mister Popo was bound by oath to guard the treasure. He would prevent them from stealing even the tiniest coin. He was a pleasant fellow and said he'd regret doing so, because they seemed so nice and he hated to be rude, but if they tried to take anything from this room, he would end them horribly. He smiled.
The party spent the next half hour interrogating Mister Popo about the nature of the tower, the conditions of his imprisonment, and the extent of his capabilities. Mister Popo did his best to answer the questions. He even offered and provided complimentary treats, snacks, and later dinner, beer, wine, and tea. He never stopped smiling and never stopped being pleasant but he always reminded them of the threat he posed should they attempt to test him.
The party discussed their options. They suspected they could never defeat Mister Popo and they would feel bad even if they did. He was just so nice.
On one hand, the tower would make a perfect base of operations or hideout. The downsides being:
However, if the tower WAS hit by a shard from space, it would destroy the vault and free Mister Popo and they could maybe recover some of the treasure. But there was no way of knowing when that would happen.
Ultimately, the party decided to leave Mister Popo alone and left the vault taking nothing. Everyone stood in the workshop looking at each other. There was no climactic battle. There was no enemy defeated and no glorious treasure won. All they got was a tower that was more trouble than it seemed to be worth.
Auric sighed heavily and shrugged.
Beyond the concealed door was another round room, though this room had an eighty foot ceiling. Along the wall of the room was piled innumerable gold, silver, and platinum coins, gems, treasures, and artifacts. Hovering in mid-air about thirty feet up was a large mechanical device resembling an orrery. A globe of what appeared to be liquid lead was surrounded by multiple spinning wheels, each connected by armatures to smaller globes and smaller spinning wheels, each spinning slowly and all orbiting the larger globe.
Beneath the device, standing in the center of the room, was a short overweight man with pointed ears and jet black skin. He wore a white turban, a red vest, and white loose-fitting pants with a red sash tied around his waist. On his feet were silken slippers with pointed toes.
"Greetings! Welcome to the vault! My name is Mister Popo! How may I help you?"
DM Note-
Marlin's player said to me, "You just make all your genies Mister Popo because you like your Mister Popo mini and you like talking like him!"
I replied, "Lies and slander! I'll have none of it! But yes, obviously."
The party learned that Mister Popo was bound by oath to guard the treasure. He would prevent them from stealing even the tiniest coin. He was a pleasant fellow and said he'd regret doing so, because they seemed so nice and he hated to be rude, but if they tried to take anything from this room, he would end them horribly. He smiled.
The party spent the next half hour interrogating Mister Popo about the nature of the tower, the conditions of his imprisonment, and the extent of his capabilities. Mister Popo did his best to answer the questions. He even offered and provided complimentary treats, snacks, and later dinner, beer, wine, and tea. He never stopped smiling and never stopped being pleasant but he always reminded them of the threat he posed should they attempt to test him.
The party discussed their options. They suspected they could never defeat Mister Popo and they would feel bad even if they did. He was just so nice.
On one hand, the tower would make a perfect base of operations or hideout. The downsides being:
- the tower was no longer hidden or protected by the force barrier. Treasure hunters would come knocking.
- the magical attraction engine was still working, drawing shards of mana from the astral plane. Eventually a shard would strike the tower and destroy it - exactly the scenario for which the wizard created the force barrier.
- sleeping in the tower while the engine was working would likely eventually cause them to develop magical mutations!
- Without knowing the secret phrase to disable all the traps, getting into and out of the tower would prove difficult. It really needed a ground-level entrance.
However, if the tower WAS hit by a shard from space, it would destroy the vault and free Mister Popo and they could maybe recover some of the treasure. But there was no way of knowing when that would happen.
Ultimately, the party decided to leave Mister Popo alone and left the vault taking nothing. Everyone stood in the workshop looking at each other. There was no climactic battle. There was no enemy defeated and no glorious treasure won. All they got was a tower that was more trouble than it seemed to be worth.
Auric sighed heavily and shrugged.
To Be Continued...
Next week - a smugglers' rendezvous in the swamp.
DM Note-
The genie guarding the treasure at the end of the Mysterious Tower is a CR 11 monster in 5e. Even in the original module it was not meant to be fought and defeated. Which leads to a very anti-climactic scene at the end of the module. You don't get to fight a boss, you don't get to take its stuff.
My players spent maybe 30-45 minutes questioning the genie hoping to find some loophole to free it so they could get the treasure. They wouldn't get the hint that there was no loophole. I eventually just had to tell them, "There is no loophole! Quit trying to find one! The only way to release him from this oath is to kill the genie! Your decision is to fight it or leave."
The players were very unsatisfied by this ending. I was very unsatisfied by their dissatisfaction. In retrospect, I should have replaced the genie with an actual guardian boss monster of appropriate CL and level appropriate treasure.
I have an idea how I might make it up to them next week and make this right.
Your painting of the rust monster is amazing Mr. Christian!
ReplyDeleteThank you sir! Your performance in the reading made me feel like I was listening to an audio book. You had just the right cadence!
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