#shatterspell

[somelonelywordmonger]

Scry-A-Day #344

June 13, 2024

Meet Fuchsia!

Shadow Starmap | Shadow Constellation | Fuchsia Stained | Primal Arcane Eyes

Accent is titled "Shatterspell Regalia" ID: #40333 by MythicalViper

[r4tio]

Finally finished the 40 badges for Arcane’s upcoming IFR, whew!

[missgdesigns]

⭐️Check out this event coming up in Portland! ⭐️Photo: @emackphoto Model: @jesdru Headdress: @missgdesigns ⭐️2020 calls upon us to step into our power. Let’s make an occasion of it shall we? The @mystic.ball.pdx invites you to Unleash your Magic✨ A glimmering realm of enchantment awaits your arrival... Inspired by the decadent masquerades of yore, with a twist of archaic whimsy ~ The Mystic Ball is an immersive, otherworldly extravaganza brimming with unlimited potential, where YOU are the crowning star and authentic expression reigns supreme. Join us on April 5th at the beloved @startheaterpdx 🌟 The 2020 Inaugural Mystic Ball weaves together a bewitching bouquet of live music, world-class performance art, whimsical decor, nostalgia driven - cutting edge DJ’s, Oracles, Interactive Altars, a photo booth and an arraignment of uniquely gifted vendors in our Grand Esoteric Bazaar. ⭐️Entertainment Lineup: @shatterspell by @subaqueousmusic with @valourian.theatre & live vocals by @maryastark 🌟 Featuring: @tiare.valouria @solaurapearl @novanovanaturista @hawkmoth_designs @syrah_rae @memorieoveden @funkadelikrelik @autumn_kalimah @aylahibiscus @sefanawilde & @theanastasiaeuthanasia ✨🔮✨ @strangeandthefamiliars @nightmerriment @dar_sernoff of @livingprism @johnny.nuriel as our Minister of Magic & DJ Dark Sparkle We are over the moon to dance with you and tickets are flying! www.startheaterportland.com Image graphics by Iokaos.net ⭐️#mysticball #startheaterpdx #portlandmystics #portlandoregon #portlandunderground #magic #livemusic #fantasycouture #liveyourlegend #portland2020 #portlandnightlife #cityofroses #pdx #pdxnow #pdxartist #shatterspell #valouriantheatre #subaqueous #nightmerriment #tiarevalouria #maryastark #startheater #mysticsofinstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/B8cwHaPF1pp/?igshid=p517yehf8hbx

[celticwaterwitch]

Still swirling from our performance today. I am so blessed to be able to take part in such an awesome piece with such amazing women! #dryad #tree #bellydance #fusion #witch #priestess #spells #witchesofig #witchesofinstagram #witchylife #ritual #ritualtheater #shatterspell #valouria #jamballahnw https://www.instagram.com/p/B0xDXoDnzMZ/?igshid=q3kv4i2wfmt7

[paperanddice]

Tears of the Crocodile God Part 4

Statues in Stasis

My alternate setup for area 6 is more standard to the immediate suspicion of the room, but means that more of the shields are likely to come into play, and that’s to simply have the statues animate and wield the shields themselves. Some of the shields would need some change to their effect to ensure that they always target the attacker instead of the wielder, but putting those on the monsters means that there’s a higher chance of them activating.

The next issue comes from making sure that the characters can’t just snipe the monsters from outside the room before they activate, and prevent them from just huddling in the doorway. A mechanism for that is to put the statues into a form of stasis until a creature spends a full minute in the room, at which point a number of them activate depending on how many creatures are present. Keeps the challenge properly in line with the number of players, and means that it’s highly unlikely that they’ll be able to easily huddle in a single doorway behind the highest AC members. While in stasis the monsters don’t take any damage from attacks, so shooting and fireballing them doesn’t do anything.

5th Edition

For a 5e version, my two runs used slightly different monster setups. The first was a small number of helmed horrors, the second a large number of slightly boosted animated armor. I feel like a better version would be a combination of the two, using the animated armors to hem in characters while a smaller number of elite helmed horrors use flight to get to vulnerable targets. Both may be a little low leveled compared to the party, but the effects of the shields will help change the tides of the fight a bit, as every missed attack against them has the potential for serious consequences. Give the animated armor +2 AC as long as they keep their shield, and reflavor the helmed horrors’ attacks as a slam instead of a longsword, and there isn’t even a visible difference between them until some start flying and are revealed to have resistances and better hp. Or be fairer and have some kind of distinction the players can recognize once they activate, like the horrors glowing or something. That’s really the better option unless you’re very close with your players and they trust you when you pull some tricks like that, but letting them waste a powerful and limited ability on an animated armor they think has helmed horror stats could be quite frustrating.

13th Age

I don’t know of any really conveniently leveled statues I could really easily slot in to this encounter, and adding some of the spellshatter shield effects to a monster built to function without them could bump up the difficulty a bit more than intended, so I’ll have to customize a few for it.

Child Statue 4th level troop [construct] Initiative +4 Heavy punch +9 vs. AC - 13 damage [special trigger] Spellshatter shield - Make ONE spellshatter shield attack. The statue’s shield disintegrates and it takes a -2 penalty to AC and PD. Limited use: 1/battle, as a free action when an enemy misses the statue with a melee attack and rolls a natural odd attack roll. Collect shield: As a quick action, the statue can equip an unused shield, recharging its spellshatter shield attack and gaining a +2 bonus to AC and PD. AC 21 PD 19 MD 14 HP 55

Empowered Child Statue 5th level blocker [construct] Initiative: +5 Shockingly heavy punch +10 vs. AC - 10 damage plus 5 lightning damage [special trigger] Shatterspell shield - Make ONE shatterspell shield attack. The statue’s shield disintegrates and it takes a -2 penalty to AC and PD. Limited use: 1/battle, as a free action when an enemy misses the statue with a melee attack and rolls a natural odd attack roll or when the statue uses intercept strike. Intercept strike: If a creature engaged with the statue hits another creature with a melee attack, the statue can negate all damage and effects of that attack and immediately make a shatterspell shield attack against the attacking creature as a free action. Collect shield: As a quick action, the statue can equip an unused shield, recharging its spellshatter shield attack and gaining a +2 bonus to AC and PD. AC 22 PD 20 MD 15 HP 75

Teenager Statue 7th level leader [construct] Initiative: +7 Shatterspell punch +12 vs. AC - 25 damage and all nearby statues have +2 to spellshatter shield attacks until the end of the statue’s next turn. Natural 16+: One nearby child statue’s shield reforms if it has been used. The statue recharges its spellshatter shield attack and gains +2 AC and PD. [Special trigger] Spellshatter shield - Make ONE spellshatter shield attack. The statue’s shield disintegrates and it takes a -2 penalty to AC and PD. Limited use: 1/battle, as a free action when an enemy misses the statue with a melee attack and rolls a natural odd attack roll. Collect shield: As a quick action, the statue can equip an unused shield, recharging its spellshatter shield attack and gaining a +2 bonus to AC and PD. AC 24 PD 22 MD 17 HP 110

Hag’s Lair

Statting up Old Beshebra and her sons shouldn’t be too significant of an issue in either system. Beshebra is a modification of one of the standard hag stat blocks, just designed to be a bit filthier and to tie her to her sons a bit more, and the sons themselves are a bunch of big brutes.

5th Edition

None of the released hags in the Monster Manual or Volo’s Guide fit perfectly with Beshebra, but given her shapeshifting and focus on claws the green hag is a good starting point. I used a night hag in my runs just to save time, but that really meant her primary action in both combats was to magic missile from a mud pit rather than actually engage the party, so I’ll level up a green hag, add some gross effects and the son related powers, and we’ve got our filth hag.

Old Beshebra Medium fey, neutral evil Armor Class 18 (natural armor) Hit Points 110 (13d8 + 52) Speed 30 ft. Str 24 (+7) Dex 20 (+5) Con 19 (+4) Int 15 (+2) Wis 13 (+1) Cha 17 (+3) Skills Deception +6, Stealth +8 Senses passive Perception 11 Languages Common, Draconic, Sylvan Challenge 6 (2300 XP) Devour Offspring. As a bonus action, Old Beshebra deals 15 damage to one of her sons within 25 feet of her. She regains 10 hit points. Earth Walk. Difficult terrain composed of rock, mud or similar surfaces doesn't cost Old Beshebra extra movement. Stench. Any creature that starts its turn within 5 feet of Old Beshebra must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned until the start of its next turn. On a successful saving throw, the creature is immune to Old Beshebra's Stench for 24 hours. Actions Filthy Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (2d8+7) slashing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or contract a disease. Until the disease is cured, the target can't regain hit points except by magical means, and the target's hit point maximum decreases by 10 (3d6) every 24 hours. If the target's hit point maximum drops to 0 as a result of this disease, the target dies. Change Shape. Old Beshebra magically polymorphs into a Small or Medium female humanoid, or back into her true form. Any equipment she is wearing or carrying isn't transformed. She reverts to her true form if she dies. Goad Son. Old Beshebra targets one filth hag son she can see within 30 feet of her. If the target can see or hear her, the target can use its reaction to make one melee attack roll with advantage.

As for the sons, a slightly modified shambling mound was the quick and effective solution. Just describe them as including crocodile and human bones and parts within them and you’ve got a filth hag son. Give the hag son the following additional abilities.

The son can understand Old Beshebra but can’t speak. New ability: Son’s Ire. If Old Beshebra is below 55 hit points, and the son can see or hear her within 100 feet, the son has advantage on all attack rolls. New reaction: Silent Fury (Recharge 5-6). If a hostile creature within 20 feet of the son hits Old Beshebra with an attack, the son can move up to its speed and make a slam attack against the triggering creature.

13th Age

The Bestiary has hags in it, and by great fortune they’re at just the right level for our adventure. The main thing is just to pick out the appropriate hag abilities and death curse to inflict upon the party. It may be a bit more work, but I’m actually inclined to give Beshebra a slightly different loadout of abilities depending on how the party encounters her. As a default, weakening touch seems appropriate. Disease, filth, and a deadly touch. If they’re slow and Syere falls victim to the hag, then the Annis skin ability is entirely appropriate, but otherwise she’s not going to be luring them in at all. In that case something like foul-touched may be a good second choice, reflecting what living in a literal pit of toxic mud does to a person. It’s not good. As for the death curse, how about something like, “You came to me and spilled my blood, your boots will always fill with mud.” Frustrating, weird, but not necessarily damaging. Seems to fit the bill.

As an extra skill, the hag could get the following ability: Devour offspring: As a quick action, Old Beshebra deals 20 damage to a nearby filth hag son and regains 15 hit points.

This keeps Beshebra in the fight a little bit longer, but doesn’t extend the length of the entire fight, since the total damage dealt goes up. Of course the hag would be fine with sacrificing her minions.

The sons are best done with a fully customized monster, as nothing in the SRD I’ve found fits for what I’d want. There’s no immediately obvious shambling mound analogue, and most of the monsters around the same level don’t quite fit. The Flowers of Unlife from 13 True Ways were an idea I had, but I don’t think they quite fit.

Filth Hag Son 6th level blocker [plant] Initiative: +5 Putrid Slam +10 vs. AC - 10 damage and 10 poison damage Natural 16+: The target is stuck and hampered (save ends both). [Special trigger] C: Furious tackle +10 vs. PD (one nearby enemy) - The target pops free of any creatures it is engaged with, is engaged with the son, and is stuck and hampered (save ends both). Limited use: 1/round, as an interrupt action when a nearby enemy hits Old Beshebra with an attack. The son can either make a disengage check to try to move to attack the enemy, or move to attack the enemy and only take half damage from opportunity attacks. AC 23 PD 21 MD 14 HP 90

That’s it for the monster discussion for these encounters. Next time I’ll discuss the Mold King’s Crown, the Chained Hydra, and the Mimic’s Parlor. One of those will be relatively easy, the other two much less so. Mold King’s Crown will be one of the most work intensive encounters in the adventure, with the number of hazards and mechanics around the monsters within it. Fortunately, half of that will come in a different post so I can focus on one part at a time.

[vaerinis]

Out

“As written in the Arcanum Vitae by Shatterspell the Elder, ca. -8723, one can see that the obvious proof of this lies in...” The candle’s flame wavered, distracting him from the page yet again.

“You’ve read that line five times now, sir.” The magical cat hummed softly into the mage’s mind as she passed by, fluffing her tail under his nose. The object, of course, was to get cat hairs in the mage’s nose and mouth. It worked.

“Damnit, cat, stop that!”

“Then cease being so distracted that you cannot read. Or go outside. Find something to eat, that’s not in here.” Spark now sat on his book directly, making herself slightly heavier as time went on.

“I don’t feel like leaving the apartment, Spark. I just... don’t see a point to it any more.”

“Go. Get out of this apartment and shop, or I shall go downstairs and shred your bolts of  High Elven silk.”  The cat turned her head, cleaning a spotless spot on her shoulder for a moment. “I might even turn my attentions to those pretty, color-changing magical bolts that took you so many long hours to create...” She stared him down pointedly, not even blinking as he stared at his cat in astonishment.

“Fine.” He flung the book to its place on the shelf, and snuffed the hovering candle before moving into the bedroom area to change. He selected clothing that was nice, but well-worn, the colors fading slightly. He even let his disguise fall off for now. That, in itself, was a good disguise, though if someone looked closely, they’d see Vaerinis in his natural high-elf shape.

“I’ll keep watch here.” The cat, Spark, sat on top of his bookshelf, watching to make sure he left.

“Bye, cat. Remind me to dump a bucket of water on you when I get back.” He left the apartment and shop, locking his wards behind him, and looked out over the city. He took a deep breath, and headed out to wander the city’s streets for a bit. Something he hadn’t done in ages. As he’d closed the door behind him, he felt lighter, as if the weight of the last few years was lightening bit by tiny bit. He almost felt like smiling.

[aehdnclfr]

One of our badges for the upcoming Arcane v. Shadow conquest battle! It’s Arcane’s 3rd House Cup! Come support the house of your choice and earn a badge like this! Keep an eye out for badges for gasp, Shadow too from me!

Wind House Badges:

Shatterspell | Starseeker | Runesworn | Dreamstrider

[kayawagner]

War of the Burning Sky 5E Player's Guide

Publisher: EN Publishing

Download the War of the Burning Sky Player's Guide for 5th Edition now! In War of the Burning Sky, you will have the chance to fight in a war of mythic proportions, and determine the fate of many nations in its aftermath. Ever-escalating conflicts, powered by mighty magic and fervent faith, threaten your freedom and lives, and even the world itself. Prepare for war with the mini-gazetteer and rules material in the War of the Burning Sky Player's Guide. War is coming: are you ready?

An introduction to the city of Gate Pass.

An overview of of the campaign world.

Rules for the Burning Sky, and special Gate Pass Connections features.

Bard college of Cirquelistes, Commander martial archetype, Way of the East Wind and Way of the West Wind monastic traditions.

New weapons and adventuring gear including dragonbombs, shatterspell compound, and more.

Feats including Shining Warrior, Spellduelist, Vex the Inquisitor, and Vow of Healing.

New spells including duelist's etiquette, Gabal's superior missile, telekinetic thrust, and more.

New magic items.

Find The Scouring of Gate Pass, the first adventure in this epic adventure path, here.

Find the War of the Burning Sky Campaign Guide, for GMs only, here.

Price: $1.00 War of the Burning Sky 5E Player's Guide published first on https://supergalaxyrom.tumblr.com

[kitapparently]

made a snowflake for space dad!

[r4tio]

From a few months ago. Making the badges for HC2020 Prelevel Competition was a blast!

[celticwaterwitch]

We came, we danced, we SHATTERED THE SPELL! ... @valourian.shrine performed a single piece called Shatter Spell from our larger multi set show, also called Shatter Spell today at @jamballah_nw #jamballahnw #shatterspell #valouria #sacreddance #ritualtheater #queenmab #faery #dryad #darkpriestess #witchesofinstagram #witch #instawitch #priestesspower #faeryqueen #bellydanceworld #bellydance #bellydancefusion https://www.instagram.com/p/B0xCSsmnaei/?igshid=10oa50opfgee1

[celticwaterwitch]

Ahhhh where to even start! Faerie Worlds was an otherworldly event. Many twists and turns but ultimately we wove magic on the stage through dance ritual. 🧚‍♀️ I feel so blessed to be able to take part in this amazing show. I want to thank @maryastark for her beautiful voice and creative talent. To be able to dance for my spirits and the people with an amazing and tapped in singer was a dream come true once again. 🧜‍♀️ I also want to thank @solaurapearl for lining this gig up for us, for writing many of the choreographs and for her motherly love in tending this sacred space. 🔮 I want to thank @tiare.valouria for her fierce passion and artistic eye and for also writing and directing several pieces in this show. 🌊 I want to thank my Siren Sisters @emakhet_ra and @skuldface for their hard work and adaptability in Inobscura. Big hugs and love to my tree sister and the growth we experienced together. 🌕 Much love to my other dance priestess @autumn_kalimah @funkadelikrelik @mircat_amirasereia @Trisha and finally my beautiful faery queen and camp buddy @zanno503 for a fun and magical weekend! I learned so much and look forward to dancing in ritual again! #valouria #maryastark #witchesofinstagram #waterpriestess #waterwitch #siren #dancepriestess #watermagic #dance #ritualtheater #shatterspell #sacreddance #faeryqueen #priestesspower #priestessofavalon #priestessofisis #waternymph #watermagick #watergoddess #waterbeing #annwynavalon #dancemagic https://www.instagram.com/p/B1wRQndHDNa/?igshid=t6wnyq5x1jb7

[celticwaterwitch]

This morning I'm meditating on the last 6 months. How fast they have flown by and how many amazing things I've accomplished. . I met so many beautiful people I was able to form deep lasting relationships with. . I am moving into darker quieter months and I'm looking forward to slowing down. . As we approach the fall equinox and the 2nd harvest what are you most thankful for? . . Image from Post Shatter Spell performance. Me and @skuldface . . #dryad #tree #bellydance #ritual #ritualtheater #shatterspell #sacreddance #ritualdance #dancepriestess #witchesofinstagram #bellydancefusion #witch #priestess #spells #witchesherbs #witchesofig #instawitch #priestesspower https://www.instagram.com/p/B2hCn0Lnk-G/?igshid=1dlvm12o3vx5c

[celticwaterwitch]

@solaurapearl and I dancing at the Shatter Spell show! I'm so blessed to have been part if this show. Dancing with such magical and powerful woman is a dream come true! This image depicts a small section of piece about Gnostic Magdalene and Priestess of the Goddess Isis. #sacredmother #goddesspower #goddess #dancepriestess #dancer #waterpriestess #waterwitch #ritualdance #shatterspell #bellydanceglobal #globaldance #wearepowerful #riseofthegoddess #divinefeminine #magdalena https://www.instagram.com/p/BxlKKDlnPeM/?igshid=gjygsj6wp1ox

[celticwaterwitch]

I was going to post a pre-show selfie of @zanno503 and I tomorrow, but I just saw this amazing shot of us in mid performance of Shatter Spell. She is a Fey and I am a Dryad! Such an amazing and powerful performance #witchesofinstagram #instawitch #shatterspell #ritualtheater #bellydanceglobal #ritualdance #sacreddance #dancepriestess #dancer #dryad #fey #priestesspower #magic #witchy #witchdance #wearepowerful https://www.instagram.com/p/BxiuuN9HZF_/?igshid=xi29inpz5fda

[paperanddice]

Tears of the Crocodile God Part 11

Now we get to the brass tacks of the adventure conversion: building the encounters. This will be split into two parts, covering the encounters in 5e and 13th Age in different posts.

For this part, I’ll go through and provide my version of each encounter using 5e rules and stats, with some notes on each encounter once it’s been fully put together if necessary. After a lot of playing around with the math of encounter building and similar setups, I remembered how much I don’t like 5e’s encounter builder math and went back to doing things more by feel. Some encounters will be given one version to run with, while others will have a few variations provided depending on party size. In general larger parties will probably have a bit of an easier time than smaller ones, but the trade off there is the use of the crocodile fonts. Five charges per font goes farther with a smaller group. For smaller groups it would definitely be beneficial to grant the additional benefits from the fonts, letting their more limited resources stretch further. There’s also the factor of the sacrifices, who can participate and add extra damage to the enemies, helping battles go a bit more easily.

Drowning Vaults (Monsters, Hazard)

One manticore per party member creates a reasonable threat. This is one of the most straightforward conversions, there’s nothing more to discuss on this encounter once you combine the trap and monsters.

Howling Hunt (Monsters, Hazard)

If you’re going to convert this right as written in the adventure, a reasonable setup is two tanarukk riding howler dread mounts, and 4 howlers. For larger or particularly well optimized parties consider adding another 2-4 howlers to add to the chaos and pin down vulnerable characters. Keep the shatterspell shields arranged just like they are in the original adventure, with the same number of each type. The encounter does require entirely changing the established shield equipping rules to allow a character to remove their old shield and equip the new one as a single bonus action, because without that you’ll never get anyone making use of them.

If you’d prefer to use my alternate version of this room’s encounter, listed below as Statues in Stasis, the Howling Hunt can still be used as a different kind of encounter. If the characters take too long in the Labyrinth, such as attempting to bunker down and take a long rest, have the howling hunt released into the halls and they track the party down to attack them wherever they stop to rest. Have the tanarukk come in from different directions if possible, they’ll know where the party are if they have any sacrifices with them and can easily plan their path to corner the group. Split the howlers between the two tanarukk.

Statues in Stasis (Monsters, Hazard)

For this encounter, my method was to equip the constructs with some of the more deadly shields to them, and then have the additional shields remain and let the constructs equip them if they get a moment of freedom after the first one activates. My combined setup is 2 helmed horrors and 8 animated armors, each equipped with a spellshatter shield. Equip the helmed horrors with the Fool shield and one of the Dungeon Doors, while the animated armors have two each of the Black Dragon, Carrion Crawler, and Rust Monster shields, and one each of the Mind Flayer and Umber Hulk. For larger groups you can add 2-4 more animated armors, putting them in with some of the other shields scattered around the room. A construct that has its shield activated will attempt to claim another if it can do so without provoking opportunity attacks.

Hag’s Lair (Monsters, Hazard)

Old Beshebra herself attacks alongside her filth hag son. For groups of 6+ players, add another son in. Make sure the hag waits to act when the characters have gotten into the room and try to lure them into moving so that someone has a higher chance of falling into the mud pits.

Mold King’s Crown (Monsters, Hazards)

This encounter is one of the most difficult to frame up. With the constant addition of river crocodiles, the conversion of them to death mold crocodiles, the death mold clumps, it all adds up to a quite complex battle encounter. Parties that take advantage of the death mold zombies’ weaknesses can clear them out incredibly fast, clever tactics and movement can get them in and out much quicker, good use of spells can trivialize parts of the fight, or they could get bogged down in crocodile zombies and dragged to their deaths. The setup I used for it is apparently an exceptionally deadly encounter, but both groups that went through it for me won with only moderate damage, so it’s hard to say. If you want to be on the safer side, use 2 death mold zombies, if you think your players can handle quite the challenge go with 4. No matter how many players, keep the pattern of 4 river crocodiles per round, and any that die while poisoned by the death mold become death mold crocodiles. Just make sure that the living crocodiles throw themselves into the nearest creature, attacking the zombies often and getting caught in bursts of death mold spores.

Chained Hydra (Monster)

Simply use the modified hydra for this. No matter how many players there are, the bars, the more limited space, and the hydra’s ability to duck under water and give itself loads of cover will let the combat play out fine.

Mimic’s Parlor (Monster, the brand)

Another one with high variation. I used the impersonator mimic and 8 regular mimics against 4 characters, which is another very deadly encounter, but the lower level mimics break that expected math by a little bit. For a party of 6 or more, drop at least half of regular mimics a bit and put in a cloaker instead.

I do have another note for this encounter though. It provides a very useful item for the sacrifices to get their hands on, but as written it doesn’t have a way for them to actually get their hands on it. While a few of the encounters don’t have an easy way out (Old Beshebra really hits on that), this one doesn’t have any workaround options when it feels like it should. So for my own amusement, I put together an idea for this room’s purpose in the challenges. When someone enters, the mimic is more than happy to invite them to sit down to a game. The mimic will roll a 6 sided die and add the number of garlands that the sacrifice has on them. If the total of the roll is 7 or higher, the sacrifice gets the brand and can leave. Otherwise their life is forfeit. Of course, the chairs around the table are mimics, meaning that whoever sits down gets stuck and will be devoured the moment the dice don’t give the number they want. Each person plays the game independently, so if all four sacrifices go in its 4 different 1/6 chances, encouraging them to take the garlands from each other and give the remaining member the best odds possible. And of course, anyone who enters without a garland isn’t supposed to be allowed to leave, though the impersonator will absolutely do its best to lure the intruder into sitting down and talking before killing them.

Guardian’s Run (Monster)

Another simple encounter. No matter how many party members there are, there’s only one mummified cyclops running around.

Crocodile Tears (Monsters, Hazard)

If the players set off the trap, two mummified crocodiles crawl out to confront them. There’s an interesting idea for what to do if the players successfully solve the trap though. Theoretically the mummies are still present in the passage way once it opens up normally, which could be a really intimidating sight if nothing else. This leaves you a choice; for a group that’s doing incredibly well and has plenty of resources left, you could have the mummies attack any creature that lacks a garland of lotus flowers, while a group that’s struggling a bit may just get a scare before the mummified crocodiles take up a sort of honor guard position and just sit there.

Crocodile God’s Lair (Monster, Hazards)

As with a few other locations, this encounter is the same regardless of anything else. The Crocodile God. For a very small group maybe cut the Crocodile God’s lair actions.

Nephalot’s Quarters (Monster, Hazard)

Nephalot is meant to be a fight that either ends super quickly when the party successfully ambush and wipe out the cult leader, or a deadly, overwhelming fight as unending streams of reinforcements show up. Entering the room finds Nephalot on his own, but he calls for help right away. During the first round, the door bursts open for a crocodile priest and a tanarukk to join in and try to protect him, then every round after that adds four crocodile cult acolytes to swarm the battlefield. For larger groups, if the fight lasts that long bump it to eight acolytes per round, as the goal of the fight is to kill Nephalot and any group that lets themselves get distracted from that needs an alert that this is not a fight they’re here to slog through and defeat everyone. Kill Nephalot and get the hell back out.

And that’s my 5e conversion of Tears of the Crocodile God. This is an outline, so if you want to customize some of the encounters to fit your specific group a little better you definitely should. This setup with mostly these stat blocks functioned perfectly well in both my own runs through the adventure.