Luster - Luring PCs to your Encounters
Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at 08:07AM Let's talk about temptation. Specifically, the appeal of shiny objects.
Months ago my PCs had reached the end of the current dungeon, defeated the puzzles, met and killed the boss, and had gotten their treasure. Despite
some minor wounds, it was a total success, and I was quite proud of this
particular jungle temple because the players seemed to enjoy themselves
during their stay.
But I wasn't done with it yet. In one room there was a narrow, physics-defying causeway carved out of the stone, winding its way through the open air 40 feet from the floor, snaking from the entrance to the exit (or vice versa). This room had been used as a daytime roost for a colony of a million bats for centuries, and their excrement had filled the lower part of the chamber to a depth of about 10 feet, where a billion scavenging insects, and a single advanced otyugh, feasted on the nutrient-rich guano.
As a side-note, I designed this room after watching a nature show that
described how quickly the digestive system of certain bats 'cycle', and so
the nutritional value of their guano is surprisingly high.
Previously, with some careful rolling, some spider climb spells, and some
patience while the bat swarm thinned out after being disturbed, the PCs
passed through and beyond this room without any problems. All it took for
me to salvage my "wasted" encounter as they left the temple was to mention
that one of the PCs noticed something shiny atop the guano 30 feet below
the causeway.
I didn't elaborate; I didn't have to. My PCs were already making plans to
retrieve the shiny object. And they did, after two of them nearly became a
meal for my otugh in what I hope was an enjoyable encounter for everyone
involved (one of the PCs slipped on guano-slicked causeway and plummeted
head first into the mess, so at least I had some fun).
I used a similar tactic a session or two earlier where the PCs were
returning to camp by rowboat after clearing out the previous dungeon. The
shiny object that time was the golden hilt of a magic sword embedded in the
sand 20 feet below the water's surface. All they knew before diving down to
it, however, was that something was glinting on the seabed. They retrieved
it, too, and reforged it, but not before the monk was nearly drowned by
several territorial squid.
I'm glad I have inquisitive, or greedy, PCs, but the tip for you DMs that
is barely uncovered in the guano pit of my rambling is that you shouldn't
write off an encounter simply because it's been passed over before. A
little bit of luster goes a long way.
Reader Comments (2)
Yeah, I loved it when Kovach botched his balance check and tumbled into the ancient, insect covered guano.
The horror... the horror... <rocks back and forth>
Can't stop for treasure... monsters will eat me!
That was great. In retrospect, I should've been harder on you--letting you "jump/swim" to the surface for precious, precious air was pretty nice of me. I must be stronger in the future. :)