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Nerdarchy > Dungeons & Dragons  > Out of the Box D&D Encounters  > “Chickening Out”- Out of the Box D&D Encounters #1

“Chickening Out”- Out of the Box D&D Encounters #1

"A Friend in Need"- Out of The Box D&D Encounters #2
Cockatrices We’ve all had those moment. Writer’s Block. You’re out of ideas. Something unexpected happens and you’re not sure how to handle it. A player takes your story down an unintended path and the urban adventure you planned on is now on the road.
I’ve been there.
“Out of the Box” encounters are intended to be a resource for those who are looking for an event or encounter to either fill a gap in time or story to fill, or to provide a story hook that leads elsewhere. Most are wilderness encounters of one kind or another, by clever writing could take many and convert them into dungeon or urban encounters too.
  Now all the ideas that knock around inside my head can have a home.
  Some are dangerous. Some are just for colour. Some are merely descriptions of environments. Many come from small notes tucked away inside the Monster Manual, Dungeon Master’s Guide, or this random-thought-generator I call a brain.
Welcome to “Out of the Box”.

Chickening Out

Environment: Aquatic/ Ship bourne.

Suggested level: 3-4

 

While traveling at sea/large body of water, the watch aboard ship will spot an approaching vessel, which, encountersby all estimates, will pass by the players ship very closely.  Attempts to avoid a collision seems fruitless, as the approaching vessel seems to be weaving back and forth, almost as if anticipating the player’ s ship. The movements of the approaching ship will appear erratic and odd, as if the other vessel is not completely under control.

In the end, the approaching ship will veer at the last second and come alongside, grinding ship against ship in the process. Boarding grapnels will shoot forth from the deck of the “enemy ship”, and it will appear that the players’ ship is about to be boarded.

Once secured, the anticipated attack becomes a disorderly disembarking. The crew of the opposite ship will rush past any defenders, regardless of opportunity attacks. Their terror will be evident. The noise of panic mixed with squawking can be heard bellowing from below the decks of the other ship, with occasional loud thumps and a spray of feathers rising from the entrance to the hold below.

 

The ship is crewed by smugglers, hired to ship, among other things, a crate of live cockatrices. The cockatrices were in a magical stasis. What they did not know is that the crate had been weakened by mice who burrowed in search of food, who then mistakenly activated the monsters and were eaten by the cockatrices within. Awake, angry, and in full panic, these squawking monstrosities broke free of their confinement and took out their rage on the startled crew. Some of the crew have been petrified below decks.

Those that managed to escape have been desperate to escape their ship. When they saw the players vessel, they saw their chance to jump ship and escape a death by beak, claw, petrification or drowning. The crew have no interest in returning to their ship, and would rather hijack the players’ vessel and make their break for freedom.

 

Monsters:

 Smuggler pirates (6): Use “Guard” as per Monster Manual, but change armor to Studded Leather and out of the boxchange weapons to Scimitar and Dagger

Smuggler captain(1): Use “Bandit Captain” as per

Monster Manual.

Cockatrices (4): Standard as per Monster Manual. Use as many as needed to create panic. Three or four is fair. More if needed.

 

Complications:

The cockatrices have laid eggs that could hatch at any time. The attacking ship, if abandoned, might well become a floating “island sanctuary” for a whole flock of cockatrices. This might become it’s own wandering encounter if left alone. The monstrosities will survive on the rats aboard ship at first, then seagulls and other waterfowl when those run out.

 

If the cockatrices pursue the escaping crew aboard the player’s vessel, an egg or two might be laid there as well for future encounters.

If the players’ vessel has food stores that would attract a cockatrice, there’s a decent chance that one or more might stow away aboard the players’ ship as well.

So there you have an encounter wrapped up and ready to use in your game when you might be on the waves.

Until Next Time, Stay Nerdy!


 

 

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Mike Gould

I fell into gaming in the oddest of ways. Coming out of a bad divorce, my mom tried a lot of different things to keep my brother and I busy and out of trouble. It didn't always work. One thing that I didn't really want to do, but did because my mom asked, was enroll in Venturers. As an older Scout-type movement, I wasn't really really for the whole camping-out thing. Canoe trips and clean language were not my forte. Drag racing, BMX and foul language were. What surprised me though was one change of pace our Scout leader tried. He DMed a game of the original D&D that came out after Chainmail (and even preceedd the Red Box). All the weapons just did 1d6 damage, and the three main demi-humans (Elf, Dwarf and Halfling) were not only races, but classes. There were three alignments (Lawful, Neutral and Chaotic). It was very basic. I played all the way through high school and met a lot of new people through gaming. My expected awkwardness around the opposite sex disappeared when I had one game that was seven girls playing. They, too, never thought that they would do this, and it was a great experiement. But it got me hooked. I loved gaming, and my passion for it became infectious. Despite hanging with a very rough crowd who typically spent Fridays scoring drugs, getting into fights, and whatnot, I got them all equally hooked on my polyhedral addiction. I DMed guys around my table that had been involved in the fast-living/die young street culture of the 80s, yet they took to D&D like it was second nature. They still talk to me about those days, even when one wore a rival patch on his back to the one I was wearing. We just talked D&D. It was our language. Dungeons and Dragons opened up a whole new world too. I met lots off oddballs along with some great people. I played games like Star Frontiers, Gamma World, Car Wars, Battletech, lots of GURPS products, Cyberpunk, Shadowrun, Twilight 2000, Rolemaster, Champions, Marvel Superheroes, Earth Dawn...the list goes on. There was even a time while I was risiding with a patch on my back and I would show up for Mechwarrior (the clix kind) tournaments. I was the odd man out there. Gaming lead to me attending a D&D tournament at a local convention, which lead to being introduced to my paintball team, called Black Company (named after the book), which lead to meeting my wife. She was the sister of my 2iC (Second in Command), and I fell in love at first sight. Gaming lead to me meeting my best friend, who was my best man at my wedding and is the godfather of my youngest daughter. Life being what it is, there was some drama with my paintball team/D&D group, and we parted ways for a number of years. In that time I tried out two LARP systems, which taught me a lot about public speaking, improvisation, and confidence. There was a silver lining. I didn't play D&D again for a very long time, though. Then 5E came out. I discovered the Adventurer's League, and made a whole new group of friends. I discovered Acquisitions Incorporated, Dwarven Tavern, and Nerdarchy. I was hooked again. And now my daughter is playing. I introduced her to 5E and my style of DMing, and we talk in "gamer speak" a lot to each other (much to the shagrin of my wife/her mother...who still doesn't "get it"). It's my hope that one day she'll be behind the screen DMing her kids through an amazing adventure. Time will tell.

3 Comments

  • Garth Sketch
    May 7, 2016 at 12:35 am

    fantastic start to a wonderful resource. i've been looking for just such a treasure — a quick place to grab a few motives, a few hooks, an purpose and a twist that i can drop into my own games. really excited to see you leap aboard the Nerdarchy Airship in this swashbuckling fashion, Mike.

    i'm already looking forward to your next encounter.

    may adventure & inspiration be with you, man.

  • David Friant
    May 7, 2016 at 12:56 am

    We are super excited to have Mike helping us out. He's been invaluable rsource for the Nerdarchy YouTube community.

  • Landon
    August 29, 2017 at 11:09 am

    FIFY – “Cockatrices (4): Standard as per Monster Manual. Use as many as needed to create panic. Three or four is fair. More is FOWL.”

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