Out of The Box D&D Encounters, Series 2, #14 – “Frog Princess”
August 25, 2017
Out of the Box introduction
If I hear any refrain commonly online and with other Dungeon Masters, it’s “but my players are X level. How do I challenge them?”
Truth be told, challenging players of any level isn’t hard. It only requires you address the players behind the characters and not the sheets those players use as references. Setting up the encounter ahead of time properly will really set up any encounter correctly. The setting may add to any deception or misdirection as needed.
Some DMs forget their player characters may be optimized for certain aspects, considering others to be either unimportant or “unfair.” I’ve seen tables where the Old School brigade of D&D players tank their Charisma scores for physical or spellcasting characteristics (unless they need them to do so). I’ve seen others completely take the minimum on Strength or Intelligence scores, and argue they lack any importance to the game outside of specific circumstances.
This is an opportunity a DM needs to take advantage of, especially if this remains the case at any PC 8th level or above. By this time they’ve had a minimum of two chances to shore up deficiencies, and should know better.
Combining these two aspects (player bias and min-maxed characters), a DM has a lot of opportunities to hook into the PCs’ soft spots and take them either willingly or unwillingly along the primrose path to their potential doom.
It’s also to pay attention to the outlook of monsters. Look at their alignment and check their descriptions. Study the fine print. Understand the motivation, if any, such a creature has.
I’ve said it before. I’ll say it again. Yes, I’m THAT kind of DM. I’m paying attention.
Slaad di da di it’s causing chaos for everybody
In this regard, we’re going to use a green slaad. The green slaad is an elementally chaotic creature hailing from Limbo. It’s motivations are clear. Chaos. It’s also an intelligent, cunning and shapechanging creature.
So we’re going to set the stage by allowing the slaad to use this shapechanger ability. The shape in question will be that of a young girl. It’s important to note this could be a more than just a human girl. It could be dwarven, elven, or any other race. The choice of race for this encounter should fit the DM’s needs at the time, as well as the environment in question. In this case, to make it simple for the purposes of this encounter, we’ll make it a human girl.
To further challenge the PCs, the specific setting for this event will be in a crowded market. Creating an environs filled with unknowing mundane civilians means the PCs will have more than a simple monster to deal with. They’ll need to manage things like collateral casualties, panic, and the chaos that comes with that. It also removes the tactic of reducing the main monster to low hit points and then casting sleep, as that spell would always likely target the civilians present. It has the added aspect of reducing the chance of fireballs and lightning bolts being thrown about like candy. Knowing PCs, it won’t remove that chance…but it may reduce it.
To maximize the chaos element, we’ll give the green slaad a level-appropriate magic item for sewing the seeds of chaos – a Bag of Beans. Nothing says random like a random table of d100 goodness.
Environment
Urban/Marketplace
Level
8
Description
The smells and sounds of a crowded marketplace greet the party. Spices, foods, and livestock dominate the smells. Fabrics of all kinds, metalwork, trade goods and people are everywhere. The barks and cries of merchants, offers of bartering patrons, laughter and arguments resonate all around. Despite the best efforts of the group, people always bump up against you, making the most wary always check their pouches in an effort to reduce thievery. Despite this chaos, everything is as one would expect.
Until a young human girl, dressed in rags, runs in front of the party, perhaps 10 ft. away from them. She bursts from the crowd and markets on the right, and runs into the path of the adventurers. She smiles widely, but in a manner that’s unsettling, and withdraws a tiny item from her rags, perhaps a pebble, a bean, nut or large seed. She sticks it into her mouth, then withdraws the goopy item…and rams it into the soft earth with her finger. She then runs.
The most adept among the party might perceive the item drawn from her pouch was indeed some sort of seed or dried bean with success on a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check. It is conceivable to allow an Intelligence (Nature) check of the same DC, or an Intelligence check should a particular player come from an agricultural background.
To understand what will immediately occur, it’s important to understand the setting. A marketplace such as this would likely be at least 150 ft. square. It would have people everywhere. For these people, feel free to use the Commoner entry in the Monster Manual (page 345). Given the bustling business, tents, tables, carts, kiosks and other expected items, this entire area should be considered “difficult terrain” for movement purposes.
For any area effects, unless there is some means to remove or reduce collateral damage, any area effects will take in at least 1d10 Commoners along with a suspected or intended target. (Unless effects that remove potential collateral targets like a fear spell or similar choices are used preemptively – DM’s discretion, as always.)
The little girl is actually a green slaad (Monster Manual, page 277) that has shapeshifted itself into the form of a human girl. This elementally chaotic being possesses a Bag of Beans (Dungeon Master’s Guide, pages 152-153), and is planting these beans in a crowded marketplace to sow as much chaos and carnage as possible in the shortest amount of time.
The slaad will use its own chaotic saliva to activate the beans faster. This means that, instead of the typical 1 minute gestation period required for a bean to activate, a bean planted by the slaad in this manner will require half the gestation time (5 rounds). The slaad has 7 beans. It will plant the first bean in the round the PCs see “her,” then Dash into the crowd to the left of the party. It will Dash for a turn in a random direction, then use an action to plan, then repeat the cycle until the beans are gone.
To determine the direction of the slaad through this crowd, feel free to roll a 1d8 to determine the direction. (1: north, 2: northeast, 3: east, 4: southeast, 5: south, 6: southwest, 7: west, 8: northwest.) The effects of this bean will be determined randomly on the chart found on page 153 of the DMG.
Please note the slaad is an intelligent being and will also act in it’s own best interest. Should the result of the bean be a treant (good or evil), a hungry bulette, or a pyramid with a mummy lord, they will cast invisibility and try to escape. Otherwise, it will plant beans and try to evade if it can. If pressed or cornered, it will use it’s spellcasting (like fear and fireball) without regard for any civilian casualties. If pressed into melee without a chance to use invisibility, it will certainly revert to slaad form to make best use of it’s natural weapons and spell-like attacks. It may even choose to use it’s innate “Hurl Flame” ability to ignite nearby tents and other flammable good, forcing the PCs into fire-fighting activities to save Commoner lives (or not…we all know how PCs may well behave).
Monsters
“Bulmalluu” green slaad (1) – As per Monster Manual page 277
Treasure
(Potential) Bag of Beans (page 152-153 of the DMG), as well as a an engraved gold bracelet (100gp), a turquoise pendant on a gold chain (150 gp), and a silver belly ring with a tiny ruby (200 gp).
Complications
This entire Out of the Box D&D encounter is one long, rolling series of complications. There could be any number of events or magical effects caused by the green slaad that create or magnify Commoner casualties. There are any number of random rolls on the Bag of Beans table (page 153, DMG) that could either end or create a new encounter. The very concept of a mummy lord pyramid erupting in the middle of a marketplace is what I secretly hope for…wait…I should probably have just thought that and not typed it…
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