The Nature GM

Far beyond the horizon lies the Smoldering Isles, a chain of islands so young that smoke still rises from the fires of their making. Many years ago the people of the Smoldering Isles were conquered and subjugated by a truly evil people of serpentine form. It was said they were once human and had chosen an unholy union with snakes that resulted in their corrupted blend of physical characteristics.

The serpentines were eventually overthrown, and life moved on. But, little did the islanders know that a small population had retreated underground, to tunnels only their kind knew. And there the serpentines waited, biding their time. Growing in strength.

An incautious wizard happened upon a relic of the serpentines, and foolishly ventured into what remained of their city, looking for answers. The wizard was captured, and the surviving serpentine population recognized this relic as a key to release one of their elder mages from his prison. And once Sismali Talash was released, he set out to finish what had been started so long ago…

To summon the serpent god into the world.

This post relates adventure notes from a campaign arc recently played out at my table, as well as the stat blocks used for the various serpentine foes.

Evil By Choice

Both I as the GM and all NPCs emphasized that the serpentines were unequivocally evil, not due to an inherited trait but rather by their conscious actions. It was important that the players not feel guilty for killing the serpentines, even though they were intelligent and had a form of civilization. This was a fantasy war game about killing monsters. It was not a stage upon which to play out modern values of justice and reform.

You may not agree with me on this approach, and that is fine; use the serpentines in a way that you would find enjoyable, or do not use them at all.

Adventure Hook

A gold panning town north of the capitol city had been inaccessible for many weeks due to an infestation of monstrous spiders blocking the road. When the road was finally cleared, the emperor’s soldiers were shocked to find the town all but abandoned. A lone survivor recounted a resurgence of the snake cult and an uprising in which the cultists and their serpentine masters captured the other townsfolk.

With a naval war at his front door, the emperor could not expend resources to investigate the validity of this horror story. Our heroes were hired to find out what they could (with an additional reward offered for returning missing chests of gold to the emperor).

The characters knew a little about the serpentines already due to an early quest that introduced them to a figurine of a serpent god. The figurine had been given to orphan children by a cloaked stranger, and the emperor’s historian confiscated it from them. When the serpentine elder Sismali Talash was freed, he used the figurine to possess the historian, thus giving a glimpse of the powers to come.

The Serpentines Return

Before the characters arrived on the scene:

• A townsperson named Iliki who was secretly a descendent of the serpentines had made contact with her kin and provided them with maps and information about the current world. She was welcomed into the nest under the new name Istli
• Sismali Talash was released from his prison and was plotting to bring the serpent god into the mortal world in an attempt at world (or at least island) domination
• Istli had established a snake worshipping cult in the gold panning town and persuaded the cultists to subdue the non-believers
• The willing cultists were transformed into serpentines, using dark rituals that involved the sacrifice of many innocent townsfolk
• The townsfolk who were not murdered were enslaved in the quarrying of stone and rebuilding of the ruined city

If the characters did nothing:

• Once the main temple was rebuilt, Sismali Talash planned to perform a complex ritual to summon the serpent god into the mortal realm
• Within a 10 mile radius of the spell, the serpent god would invade the consciousness of all intelligent creatures and create a waking nightmare
• Sismali Talash planned to establish snake worshipping cults in all towns and cities and repeat the process across the island

Character Investigation

Once the characters got involved:

• The characters first discovered the quarry where many townsfolk were enslaved. They were detected by serpentine guards and fled to return at a more strategic time
• Knowing they had been discovered, the serpentines retaliated that night by bringing in sacks of venomous snakes and burning a toxic plant (poison sumac) to suffocate the characters and imperial soldiers (serpentines are immune to poison)
• The characters discovered an old temple of the previous snake cult, in which they learned the rules of serpentine traps and trapdoors, and gained a magical artifact
• The characters concluded that there must not be very many serpentines, and they decided to skip the quarry (and the cool battle with the two-headed snake monster that disobedient townsfolk were fed to) and try to kill the leader of the serpentines
• The characters found the ruins of the serpentine city and freed the townsfolk who were forced to rebuild its toppled walls
• A serpentine was guarding a staircase that leads deep underground, and the characters decided to descend into the depths

Into the Serpents’ Nest

Below the ruins of the serpentine city was a three-level dungeon. The two maps of the dungeon presented below were never shown to the players and were only used for GM reference.

The first level of the dungeon was a cave system used by the serpentines. It included:

• Prison cells, one of which contained the captured wizard (15)
• A sacrificial alter in which new serpentines were created, and a pile of discarded corpses from these ceremonies (15)
• Effigies of the serpent gods (11)
• Magical loot hidden by collapsed tunnels and guarded by monsters (2, 10)
• A magical fountain that granted a minor boon to anyone who drank from it (1)
• A nest of beetles that glowed dim red from their internal fires (9, 12, 14)
• A totally harmless stalactite above discarded bones and other remains that would come alive and use long tendrils to catch and eat the characters if they ventured too close (8)
• A snake statue that cast a disorienting spell causing a character to run in a random direction (6)
• A painted outline of a snake along a hallway that raised an alarm if touched (4)
• A couple of serpentine guards protecting the next staircase down (4)
• A long pit full of live snakes protecting a boulder with a magic potion (5)
• A colony of mushrooms toxic to the players but a tasty snake for the serpentines (13)
• An underwater lake and a monster lurking in its depths (16)

The second dungeon level was the living quarters of the serpentines. It included:

• A blade trap triggered by pressure plates under tiles colored red, yellow, and black
• A lounge area with burning braziers and chairs covered with tiger, leopard, and bear skins. A handful of serpentines were in this room when the characters arrived
• A pantry with food and wine
• Separate sleeping quarters for each of the three castes of serpentines
• A war room with maps stolen from an explorer
• An arms room with weapons and potions, and two chests of the emperor’s missing gold
• A spooky chamber that had previously been sealed, with a dark hole leading straight down. A metal pole in the center of the hole allowed those with snake bodies to easily ascend or descend through it (depicted in the below map as a staircase due to limited stamp options)

The third dungeon was the secret study of Sismali Talash, in which he had been imprisoned by rivals of his own kind. It included:

• A sarcophagus in which Sismali Talash had been magically preserved
• A study with copious notes written in serpentine
• A short doorway that someone without a snake body would have to crawl through. On the other side was a magical glow and the sounds of chanting
• A natural chamber with large pieces of quartz embedded in the wall, where a ritual was being performed by Sismali Talash and two snake lords

A Heroic Conclusion

The characters defeated Sismali Talash and prevented the summoning ritual from being completed. Worn out from the battle, they slept in the serpentine quarters to recover health.

In the night they were briefly disturbed by a loud crack, but, overcome with weariness, they fell back asleep.

When the characters awoke fully rested, they discovered an inch of water in the room. They went into the corridor and discovered even more water, pouring in from a crack in the ceiling under the lake in the level above. The summoning ritual had destabilized the cave system, and it was in danger of collapsing on top of them. The characters had to grab the chests of gold and retrace their steps through the dungeon, using a skill challenge to determine if they escaped with the gold and their lives.

In the end they made it out with one of the chests of gold, which naturally they stashed in a secret place rather than turn it in to the emperor. They returned to the quarry to find the townsfolk had been freed and the two-headed snake and serpentines were defeated by some high level NPCs they had met previously.

And thus our heroes saved the land from evil forces, earned regional notoriety, and came into possession of a small fortune hidden in the jungle.

Serpentine Stat Blocks

Included are the stat blocks that I used for the serpentine foes in this campaign arc. They have been lightly edited for public consumption.

There are three castes of serpentines:

• Snake Consorts – lowest caste; physically human but for subtle features such as patches of scales which can be easily concealed. The townsfolk who were transformed became snake consorts
• Snake Guards – middle caste; head of a snake on an otherwise human body with a scaled torso
• Snake Lords – highest caste; large, full bodied snakes with humanoid arms and a superior attitude

Snake Consorts

Snake Guards

Snake Lords

A note on Sismali Talash:

This boss fight felt epic and high stakes until the third villain action was taken. Making the combat area difficult terrain slowed down combat. Requiring a wisdom saving throw before each attack slowed down combat. There was never a question of the characters defeating Sismali Talash; it was only a matter of how many turns they would waste until they did. If I did it over, I would make the quartz instead shoot out refracted beams of magical force that could be avoided with a successful dexterity save; this would ratchet up the tension without slowing the action.

Final Thoughts

This campaign arc was dramatic, suspenseful, and enjoyable to run. The players bought into the imperative of defeating the serpentines and saving the captive townsfolk and wizard. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it.

And remember, in real life snakes are not actually evil.

Resources

• Maps were created using Inkarnate
• Stat blocks were created with The Homebrewery
• Definitions for skirmisher, controller, etc. were from Flee, Mortals!