Skip to main content

Friday Night Pathfinder: The Temple of Lathander

And so the party gathered together to venture into the temple.  The cavalier was leading the way with the rogue close behind, casters near the back, and Kiva riding Chum in the last position.  The white temple stones gleemed in the sunlight as they climbed the long stairs to the top of the temple platform.  Melee guards clad in shining armor with the symbol of the Morninglord stared unyieldingly forward as the party passed.  3 platforms adorned the top of the pyrimidal temple, one with the entrance surrounded with archers, and two off to the side with battle priests ready to defend.



The party was surprised to find the temple in working order with gnomes and priests about.  The first level below was a speaking room, enchanced with magic to allow the large hall to be split into 4 podium areas with benches without having voices carry too far between the various areas.  AA search of the area turned up confessional rooms.  Don tried to entered but was shocked.  Apparently the follower of Chtulu will find no peace under the watchful eye of the Morninglord.

There were quarters about for the various deacons.  3 labs dotted the South wall -- one for making incense for the temple, one for scrivener duties of copying scrolls, and one for storing scrolls.  Various other storage areas were around to hold various items.  Eventually the party found the exit, but their way was blocked by battle priests which demanded a writ from the deacon.  After speaking briefly to the deacon, they got their pass, but with clear disdain.  The deacon refused even to speak to Don, and he had a silence spell cast upon him.



On the next level below, the party ran immediately into a guard room filled with experience fighters.  They continued exploring and searching finding many quarters, a kitchen, laundry, and various storage areas.  In a couple of areas they found scroll storage with various rare and common scrolls.  The whole area was a living quarters for various priests, staff, and servants of the temple.

Eventually the group found their way beyond the used portion of the level into an untouched hidden section.  A crazed man met them, ranting with extreme paranoia.  He has various collections of scrolls, scripts, and mining tools scattered about his decaying, cluttered, chaotic room.   The party moved on, finding a temple room.  Inside they found the Oathbow of Fire, a special magical bow that Corrail quickly grabbed up.

The found some hidden dining areas that appeared to be in use and connected to the rest of the complex.  They found an exit room with blocked stairs and hidden stash of wands.  Two wands were of particular interest:


  • The Wand of Horrible Deaths, as described here
  • The Wand of Skittles (which can shoot large numbers of skittles out of it per charge (enough to fill a room))
In another room the party found a pair of gynosphinxes.  Not surprisingly, they had a riddle for the party.  Behind them were three tiles.  Inserting one tile into the exit stairs would allow them to continue safely.  Inserting another tile will activate the stairs and cause them to annihilate anyone that follows them.  Another tile will randomly teleport the person from the stairs to wherever   The party was allowed to ask the sphines any yes or no question.  One would always lie; one would always tell the truth.  The party asked many questions until finally the bard asked the two sphinxes the same question:  are you both liars?  The left sphinx said no but the one on the right said yes.  Thus they questioned the one on the left to determine the symbol to use.

Continued search of this level uncovered a room of staues inscribed with ruins.  The summoner and ranger entered the room and quickly found out that the statues shot lightning bolts between them for non-good aligned characters dealing 4d6 damage.  Continual search of the level uncovered an entrance back into the priests living space.  No other significant finds were made.

The party activated the stairs and found that they lead to a slide.  There was much hemming and hawing before Kiva and Chum slid down to the next (3rd level) of the temple.  Below they found a tomb and the rest of the party joined them.  Entering a large room of alcoves presumable holding dead bodies, two iron statues came to life, looking to be some sort of construct that held an undead body inside.  The Sepuchral Guardians attacked the group.  Sandra summoned a greater fire elemental that attacked on of them.  Felix and Corrail attacked with bows.  The monk ran up to one and pounded on it.  Don played a fiery song to inspire the group (to a +4 attack, dmg, and saves).  Elliot, the elemental, and Miroku attacked with limited effect.  These guardians were obviously tough.  The party cleared the way while continuing to attack, making slow progress against the guardians.  Kiva flew out into the room and blasted one with lightning.  Chum pounded on the other.  With help from the entire party, the creatures were slain.  The rogue took a quick survey and search of the room and found a mere 65 gp.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

5E Starting Gold and Equipment for Higher Levels

The DMG has a rough recommendation for starting gold and equipment for higher levels, but with my groups running one-shots, we wanted to nail it down to level by level. Here's my DMG-inspired table. Generally I allow equipment to be traded in during character creation for half book value, where applicable. I also, as a GM, offer to make custom magic items for players who can't choose. A list of magical items by rarity can be found here  with stats available in the DMG. I also generally allow players to buy healing potions (2d4+2) for 50gp and greater healing potions for 250gp (4d4+4). PHB items are available at book cost at creation. I do not allow other equipment to be purchased except in game. This is generally based off the "high magic" campaign. Level Starting Gold Starting Equipment / Magic Items 1 - 160gp  OR Standard starting equipment 2 210gp Standard starting equipment 3 285gp Standard starting equipment 4 365gp Standard sta...

Rules for Flying Creatures in 5E

I'm not one for just throwing my players willy-nilly into something new without an idea of how it would work.  Flying races are on the horizon for one of my games, so here are my clarifications for flying creatures: A flying creatures requires a minimum space of at least 3 times their height in all directions in order to flight. For example, a 6 ft tall flying creature requires a room to be at least 18 ft in all dimensions before they can fly in it. A flying creature can attempt to grapple a creature.  If the the target or grappler are flying, grapple attempts are at disadvantage. If neither are flying, grapples are per RAW.  The state of flying or walking is determined by the last square you have moved.  To change between walking and/or flying, you must use at least 1 space of movement.  Movement rules per RAW apply (PHB pg 190 "Using Different Speeds") A successful grapple check by a flying creature can allow the flying creature to potentially carry th...

Exploiting Weakness in D&D 5e: A Guide for the Evil Plotting GM

I wrote a similar article to this on Pathfinder, and though this is a pretty evil topic, it has been of use to a lot of folks out there.  So, now, I think, is the time to start a similar article for D&D 5e.  This will be a living document to be updated with suggestions and more information as I find better methods. In general, 5e is a lot more challenging for a GM, because the classes are reasonably balanced and because the game mechanics don't have a lot of scale over the 20 levels. Here's a general list of things to increase the difficulty for the party: Increase the number of foes and the CR (ignore the book CR system if it isn't offering a challenge) Spells against the PCs low saves.  A high level sleep spell, for example, could take out a party with no elves. Drag out the opportunity for the long rest.  After 2 short rests, the 3rd battle of the day is tough. Hit the most vulnerable PC first. It almost always forces another teammate to take an acti...