Out of the Box D&D Encounters, Series 2, #10 – “Fish Bowl”
July 28, 2017
Introduction
Terrain is everything to an fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons encounter. It determines the intent and feel. It determines what monsters can be used or what spells might work. It sets the stage.
But what if the terrain were to change…say almost instantly? What if the player characters weren’t ready for a change in terrain and were placed into a setting they may not be ready for? This is the basis for the fish bowl encounter.
Imagine, if you will, the exploration of a setting like a wizard’s tower, dungeon, or other interior setting. The setting might be so mundane as to allay any suspicions…until one or more player characters do something – seemingly innocent, to change the course of the entire moment. Then, out of nowhere, there might be one or more player characters fighting to survive while the rest scramble for solutions to the problem at hand.
That’s Fish Bowl. A mad and unexpected scramble to solve a problem. It’s part trap, part encounter, and entirely unexpected.
Environment
Dungeon and Aquatic
Level
5+
Description
The party will enter into what should be a typical example for it’s type. It may be a study, library, laboratory or other type of room where items of all kinds can be available. One item will be what looks like a simple fish bowl, perhaps 8 in. in diameter and, at first glance, normal.
Should any PC cast detect magic in the vicinity of this bowl, it will glow with an aura of transmutation. Unless touched, this fish bowl filled with water will remain quiet and otherwise uninteresting (aside from the aura of transmutation magic, of course)
However, should one or more PC touch this fish bowl (perhaps during the course of an Investigation check), they will be immediately affected by it’s magic. They will have to succeed on a DC 15 Charisma saving throw or be teleported and shrunk to 2 in. tall and captured within the fish bowl.
The water in the fish bowl is not water, but a water elemental which has also been captured. It will then attack the shrunken and captive PCs. What happens next depends on what happens inside and outside the fish bowl.
Inside the fish bowl, in addition to fighting the water elemental on it’s own terms, the trapped PCs will have to start dealing with the rules on drowning (see Suffocation, Players Handbook, page 183). Furthermore, the trapped PCs will also have to deal with the rules for underwater combat (Players Handbook, page 198) on top of the restrictions provided by the water elemental itself (Monster Manual, page 125). Defeating the water elemental ends the magic of the fish bowl and releases them.
Outside the fish bowl, other PCs have a few options.
Should a PC cast dispel magic upon the fish bowl, the dispel magic will have to beat a DC 15 using the spellcasting ability. (For example, a wizard will need an Intelligence check of 15+, whereas a cleric would need a wisdom check against the 15. Dispel magic must be cast by the person making the check as per the spell description – Players Handbook, page 234.)
Should that spell and check be successful, both the elemental and the PCs will be released from the fish bowl at normal size. Combat may then continue outside the fish bowl as normal. They will appear beside the fish bowl or in the nearest unoccupied space within 5 ft. of the bowl – whichever is closer.
Should a PC choose to break the fish bowl, that will be relatively easy as well. The fish bowl is made of glass and is small in size. That gives it an AC 13 and 5 hit points. Damage to the fish bowl does not transfer to the creatures trapped inside if it’s broken by a weapon strike or other mundane means (like dropping it or smashing it against a wall.)
However, should anyone attack the fish bowl with an attack that deals lightning damage, the damage taken by the fish bowl will transfer to the creatures within the bowl, with any pertinent saving throws being allowed by those contained within the fish bowl, whether or not the fish bowl is destroyed in the process.
As above, should the bowl be destroyed, any surviving creatures can act normally at their normal sizes as above. (Appearing normal size beside the wreckage of the fish bowl, or the nearest unoccupied space within 5ft. of where the fish bowl would have been.)
Should conditions exist where no unoccupied space exists where the water elemental and the PCs can safely appear, all former occupants will take 4d6 force damage and then appear in the nearest occupied space next to each other.
Monsters
Water elemental (1) – as per Monster Manual, page 125
Treasure
None
Complications
There are a few. Dying in the fish bowl to a water elemental because a PC has no one around who knows they’re trapped in the fish bowl is a real possibility. Drowning is a real threat. Being surprised by lightning damage from outside the fish bowl while being “rescued” by one’s fellows is certainly a reality.
The rare chance of some cruel fellow party member burying the bowl (or other method of preventing no safe space around the bowl) is also a possibility.
This is both a magical trap and a monster encounter in an unexpected environment. Players who might panic in such cases should not be subjected to this sort of encounter. However, should a DM feel confident that their party might be able to handle such an oddball encounter, then they should feel free to use this encounter.
A prospective DM should note the level of the encounter. Note the “5+.” If a DM wants to use this encounter for higher level encounters, feel free to scale up the monster trapped within. If the DM wants a dragon turtle hiding in a tiny cave in the fish bowl, then there’s no reason why it should look any different from a very small snapping turtle to the casual observer…until it’s too late.
I have to admit…the thought of a gargantuan dragon turtle spilling into a dungeon room, crushing the occupants and then breathing steam as a response…is hilarious to the “evil DM” within me.
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