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scenario_c_frozen_arena

Frozen Arena

Level 3 Combat Scenario

Wanton aggression and a love for violence for its own sake led to the Fenodyr being outcast from the courts of the fae. The PCs encounter a small group of them, which is almost always guaranteed to end in battle. This could be a chance encounter, or the Fenodyr could be hired as mercenaries or guards. The setting is appropriate for very cold climates, a Faery pocket realm, or any place with powerful magics at work.

This scenario is a small, tight arena where PC movement is severely limited. Attacks with short range have greater utility (and if the PCs are loaded with them, would eliminate much of the difficulty).

As a result of the arena, this battle may be a fight to the death if the Fenodyr intend to kill. In this case, defeated PCs may spend 1 Karma at the start of their turns to recover 2d8 lost HP (and take their full turns).

Setup

An icy arena with slick walls surround all sides. The Fenodyr may have used magic to seal the entrance behind the PCs by sliding another slab of ice into place, or the PCs might have descended into the arena on their own. Regardless, escape is now difficult as the icy walls would take some time to scale, time not afforded within battle.

In the center of the arena is a raised wooden platform, Height 2 from the surrounding sections. A ladder on the north side provides normal access; otherwise climbing the icy wood requires Acrobatics vs. 1d8 to climb (a distance of 1 per Move).

The ground sections are all covered in ice; PCs must succeed on Acrobatics vs. 1d4 to Move; failure results in the Move being canceled. Only one check is needed even if the Move crosses multiple sections. Flight, phasing, and teleportation skip this requirement, and the Fenodyr may Move freely. Mounted PCs gain +1 to their Acrobatics dice levels for the purpose of moving; however, any natural speed increase from the Mount is canceled for this scenario.

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Adversary Rank Role HP Init
Fenodyr Mage Mini-boss Artillery 36 1d6
Fenodyr Grunt Regular Defender 20 1d8
Fenodyr Strongling Regular Brawler 19 1d6

Three Players

  • Fenodyr Mage
  • Fendoyr Grunt

Four Players

  • Fenodyr Mage
  • Fenodyr Grunt
  • Fenodyr Strongling

Five Players

  • Fenodyr Mage
  • Fenodyr Grunt
  • Fenodyr Strongling x2

Starting Positions

  • The PCs begin in any of the 3 southern ground sections (and may split up as desired)
  • The Fenodyr Mage begins atop the central platform
  • The Fenodyr Grunt begins in the NE section
  • The Fenodyr Strongling begins in the NW section; extra begins in the N section

Tactics

The Grunt will try to intercept any PCs racing for the ladder. The Mage will focus ranged attacks first on anyone climbing the platform, then on incanting PCs. Otherwise it uses Cold Snap to help the Grunt prevent advancing PCs from reaching the ladder and targets ranged PCs with Lance of Winter. If any PCs reach the top of the platform, the Mage will use Warp and Fae Step to teleport to a safe place on the ground, such as behind a Grunt or Strongling, then teleport back up if the PC leaves.

Any Stronglings present love to join any PC at the top of the platform, using Launch to throw them off and cause an entirely obscene amount of damage (2d4 + 2d6 falling). Their next preference is to interrupt PC formations to do things like limit a Warrior or Swashbuckler's guardian capabilities, prevent an Archer or Brute from gaining their bonuses, cancel benefits from the Healer's ability, or ruin Area Attack plans of a Shaman or Sorcerer. If such tactical options aren't really present, they'll simply toss the target straight up for extra damage.

Victory

The Fenodyr are bested. If they were fighting to the death, it's likely the PCs killed them and may loot some rewards from the bodies. Otherwise the Fenodyr surrender and might give up some information either about the surrounding area or who they're working for. If you want to end the scenario cleanly and move on to other things, you could have them flee by scaling the icy walls in a manner impossible for the PCs to catch them.

Defeat

If this is a battle to the death, the PCs are killed, ending the adventure. Otherwise, the PCs are captured by the Fenodyr. What happens next depends on your adventure structure; if they're working for someone, they bring the PCs in to face the villain. Otherwise they might gloat about their victory and leave the PCs bruised and battered but alive; each PC suffers an Injury or two, but the adventure continues on as normal.

Tweaks

If you prefer a larger number of Adversaries in the three player setup, you could exchange the Grunt for a Mistling and a Snow Hound. This is appropriate if you think your PCs might struggle with movement, eliminating the need for additional defenses. Of course you could make similar switches in the higher player count setups; this would make the tight battlefield that much more crowded, but if your party spellcasters haven't gotten much utility from their Area Attacks, that might be a good thing.

You may choose to make the arena open instead of sealed. Add exits on the north and south sides. In this case the arena is more like a fortification, which you might place at the entrance to an enemy lair or guarding a portal out of the pocket realm. Long-range PCs could benefit from moving way back, so you could use angles or deep slopes to make it difficult for PCs to simply leave the Mage's range and attack from safety. This is less of a worry with low PC counts, as the Mage might be more free to teleport down and get in range of such a crafty character.

More level 3 combat scenarios

scenario_c_frozen_arena.txt · Last modified: 2018/12/19 09:07 by triptycho