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Set the Last Orders Before the Hidden Stair - AI-generated fantasy Encounter

Set the Last Orders Before the Hidden Stair

Encounters
Social negotiation and transition · Low · 6 players, level 14

Set the Last Orders Before the Hidden Stair

The party’s last choices above ground determine whether the siege effort remains coordinated and who is protected while the heroes descend.

Run the talk

Successes
0/3
Failures
0/3

Starts Neutral

Base DC 14

Success The representative confirms the final orders

Failure The representative refuses to endorse further orders without a specific purpose

Party 6 players, level 14

System D&D 2024

Cheat sheet

The party wants

Resolve leftover war-unit orders, hear what the siege has cost, and decide how to enter the hidden stair.

Success

The representative confirms the final orders, arranges a covered short rest if the siege allows, and helps expose the stair.

Failure

The representative refuses to endorse further orders without a specific purpose; the party can still descend, but must leave the remaining unit commands unresolved.
Clock
3 / 3
successes / failures
Base DC
14
Starts
Neutral

Read aloud

Say this

A distant impact shudders through the Citadel courtyard, and grit skates across the cracked flagstones. Officers trade low commands over a crowded map while the Coalition wounded cough beside the water casks. One representative steps forward with a blood-marked casualty tally, then points to the plaza as a seam opens around an iron ring.

Who says what

They wantKeep the retreat route open and ensure the wounded are not written off as an acceptable cost; get the party to make its final orders explicit.

LeverageThe party can honor the casualties by committing a unit to cover the wounded or the retreat route; a clear order matters more than a grand promise.

  • A specific, workable order earns a clipped nod and immediate cooperation.

  • A promise without a plan draws: “Then tell me who carries the stretchers.”

  • If pressed to conceal the casualty count, the representative goes quiet and asks whether the party wants truth or morale.

Maneuvers

DC 14Persuade : secure the representative’s support for one final war-unit order.
DC 14Insight : learn that the representative fears the wounded will be left behind more than they fear the stair.
DC 14A concrete plan for the wounded or retreat route grants advantage on one check in the clock.
A character may spend their personal beat to make a sincere promise; no check is needed, but the promise becomes known to the representative.

What the party can use

Resolve or cancel any unused war-unit orders before descent.
Offer the representative a concrete plan for the wounded and retreat route.
Take a short rest only if the party’s resources and siege pacing allow it.
Give each character one brief personal beat: a message, keepsake, apology, or promise before the descent.

What happens

10–20 minutes
  1. ·

    During the first exchange, or when the party begins to leave the courtyard.

    A runner arrives with a casualty tally and asks whether the party’s unused war-unit orders still stand.

  2. ·

    After the party agrees on its final orders, or after two failed checks.

    A low tremor shifts the central flagstones; the iron ring beneath them becomes visible.

The battlefield

Zones

  1. 1

    Map table25 ft

    Officers whisper over a map while distant impacts shake dust from the courtyard walls.

  2. 2

    Central plaza25 ft

    The central plaza is split by cracked flagstones and a narrow seam around a buried hatch.

  3. 3

    Aid station25 ft

    Coalition wounded wait beside stacked water casks; the air smells of blood, wet stone, and smoke.

What the party can use

Cracked flagstones conceal the stair’s iron ring; pulling it opens the way down.
A bell from the eastern wall marks a lull in the fighting, then the next push.
A map table holds unspent war-unit orders and smudged reports from the front.

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