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Retune the Node Before the Warm Current Fails - AI-generated fantasy Encounter

Retune the Node Before the Warm Current Fails

Encounters
Protect · Moderate · 6 players, level 18

Retune the Node Before the Warm Current Fails

The diverted heat feeds the node instead of the surrounding vents.

Run the fight

Round
1
6–8 rounds
Creatures
5
Moderate

This round

The ley-surge fires as described under terrain levers. Creatures in range make the save before any other round-start movement.

Win The party earns three cumulative retuning successes and drives off or defeats the guards

Lose All characters are incapacitated

Party 6 players, level 18

System D&D 2024

Cheat sheet

Protect

Retune the warm-crystal node with three cumulative DC 22 Arcana or relevant tool-check successes, while preventing the guards from keeping the diverted heat flowing.

Win

The party earns three cumulative retuning successes and drives off or defeats the guards.

Lose

All characters are incapacitated, or the party abandons the ring before retuning the node; the diverted heat continues feeding the unstable core.

If it goes badly: The guards hold the ring rather than pursue beyond the trench; the ley-surge continues until the party regroups or retunes the node.

Forces

  • 3 × Vent-Glass ColossusAC 18 · HP 207 · CR 12
  • 2 × Hearth-QuencherAC 17 · HP 230 · CR 12

Rounds

  • 1+The ley-surge fires as described under terrain levers.

Read aloud

Say this

Drive your boots into the basalt as the warm crystal flashes, and the seabed drags at your legs. Three glass-skinned giants turn from the vent posts; behind them, a frost-crusted giant raises its club, blue light hammering behind its ribs. The current pulls toward the core, and the crystal begins to scream through your teeth.

Forces

2

  • Vent-Glass Colossus

    Bruiser

    3 of them
    AC
    18
    HP each
    207
    CR
    12

    Pressure-Adapted · Refracting Facets · Shatter on Death

    Opens
    Advance on the nearest creature attempting to reach the core and slam it away from the center.
    Targets
    A creature touching the core or making a retuning check.
    Flees
    Fights until destroyed or the node is retuned; it cannot be frightened into retreat.
    Open the monster

  • Hearth-Quencher

    Bruiser

    2 of them
    AC
    17
    HP each
    230
    CR
    12

    Heat Drain Aura · Cryo-Explosion

    Opens
    Close on the core and attack the creature most likely to interfere with the diverted heat.
    Targets
    A creature attempting to retune the node; otherwise, the nearest wounded creature.
    Flees
    Fights until destroyed or the node is retuned; it retreats only if no other guard remains and it is below 25% hit points.
    Open the monster

What happens

6–8 rounds
  1. 1+

    Initiative count 20 each roundThis round

    The ley-surge fires as described under terrain levers. Creatures in range make the save before any other round-start movement.

  2. ·

    First time a creature scores a retuning success

    The crystal flashes white; the next check to retune the node before the end of the next round has advantage, but the next ley-surge deals an additional force damage.

  3. ·

    First time a Vent-Glass Colossus is reduced below half its hit points

    A cracked vent-post sheds shards in a 10-foot radius around it. Creatures in that area make a Dexterity save or take slashing damage.

The battlefield

Zones

  1. 1

    Basalt Ring40 across

    A 40-foot-wide basalt ring rests on the seabed. Warm crystal pulses at its center, and the current tugs toward it.

  2. 2

    Vent-Glass Posts25

    Three glassy stone pillars jut from the seabed around the ring. They offer half cover and catch the crystal's glow.

  3. 3

    Seabed Trench25

    A narrow trench cuts across the ring's edge. A surge pulls creatures toward the core, but a post or trench lip can be grabbed to resist movement at the DM's discretion.

What the party can use

At initiative count 20, the ley-surge affects creatures within 30 feet of the core: DC 21 Constitution save or take 6d8 force damage and be pulled 10 feet toward it; half damage on a success.
A creature touching the core can use an action to make a DC 22 Intelligence (Arcana) check. On a success, the surge is calmed for 2 rounds.
A creature at the core can use an action to make a DC 22 Arcana or relevant tool check. Three cumulative successes retune the node.

Scaling

XP budget42,000 of 85,200 XP
Weaker

Moderate

One fewer Vent-Glass Colossus

Remove one Vent-Glass Colossus and one Hearth-Quencher.
As written

Moderate

Stronger

Moderate

One more Vent-Glass Colossus

Add one stone golem reskinned as a Vent-Glass Colossus, entering from the trench at the end of round 2.

Treasure

When the node settles, award the Astrolabe of the Ley-Singer, a fragment of the Greatsword, Ascendancy Standing 5, and Cinder Two: the Chart-Cinder, which drops from the Ember.

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