Skip to content
CharGen Icon
CreatePricing
Keep the Cay Anchored - AI-generated fantasy Encounter

Keep the Cay Anchored

Encounters
Protect · Moderate · 6 players, level 7

Keep the Cay Anchored

If the stones fail, the cay loses its remaining support and everyone still on it is in immediate danger.

Run the fight

Round
1
4–6 rounds; repairs and the failing anchor clock make delay costly.
Creatures
12
Moderate

This round

The cay lurches. Each creature on the Hook Line must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or fall prone; the line's next use requires a Strength check to steady it.

Win The party holds the stones and completes the needed repairs

Lose The stones are destroyed or the party is driven from the worksite before restoring enough Integrity to hold…

Party 6 players, level 7

System D&D 2024

Cheat sheet

Protect

Protect the anchor stones long enough to restore Integrity; each successful DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check or smith's, mason's, or tinker's tools check restores 1 Integrity, while a dose of Star-Sand restores 1 Integrity without a check.

Win

The party holds the stones and completes the needed repairs, forcing the attackers to retreat or fall.

Lose

The stones are destroyed or the party is driven from the worksite before restoring enough Integrity to hold the cay.

If it goes badly: The captains withdraw to the cutter if the Hook Line remains usable; the fanatics cover their retreat while the Pebbles keep charging the nearest foe.

Forces

  • 3 × Cultist FanaticAC 13 · HP 44 · CR 2
  • 6 × Bandit CaptainAC 15 · HP 65 · CR 2
  • 3 × PebbleAC 16 · HP 68 · CR 4

Rounds

  • 1The cay lurches. Each creature on the Hook Line must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or fall prone; the line's next use requires a DC 13 Strength check to steady it.
  • 2A stone bucks in its socket.
  • 3The cutter's hook tears loose.

Read aloud

Say this

The anchor stones buck beneath your hands, grit rasping across metal as the cay tilts toward the gorge. Below, a raider cutter hangs from a hooked rope, its hired blades climbing toward the casket while hard drumbeats call stone shapes up through the mist. Find a way to steady the stones before the next lurch tears them free.

Forces

3

  • Cultist Fanatic

    Controller

    3 of them
    AC
    13
    HP each
    44
    CR
    2

    Dark Devotion · Spellcasting · Cure Wounds · Spiritual Weapon

    Open the monster

  • Bandit Captain

    Skirmisher

    6 of them
    AC
    15
    HP each
    65
    CR
    2

    Multiattack · Scimitar · Dagger · Parry

    Opens
    Rush the Hook Line, then use ranged attacks against anyone guarding the casket or rope.
    Targets
    The casket carrier, then anyone cutting or securing the rope.
    Flees
    Retreats across the Hook Line if the rope is cut or two captains fall.
    Open the monster

  • Pebble

    Bruiser

    3 of them
    AC
    16
    HP each
    68
    CR
    4

    False Appearance · Siege Monster

    Opens
    Climb onto the Gorge Shelf and charge the nearest character.
    Targets
    The nearest character, regardless of their task.
    Flees
    Fights until destroyed or the drumming stops and it loses sight of its prey.
    Open the monster

More tactics

Cult Fanatic

Opens
Advance on the nearest exposed anchor stone and use Spiritual Weapon to threaten anyone attempting repairs.
Targets
The character working at an anchor stone.
Flees
Flees if half the fanatics fall or the anchor stones are fully stabilized.

What happens

4–6 rounds; repairs and the failing anchor clock make delay costly.
  1. 1

    At the end of round 1.This round

    The cay lurches. Each creature on the Hook Line must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or fall prone; the line's next use requires a Strength check to steady it.

  2. 2

    At the end of round 2, unless Gudrun is present and drumming.

    A stone bucks in its socket. One character working at an anchor stone must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or lose their grip and stop working until they use a bonus action to regain footing.

  3. 3

    At the end of round 3, or immediately if the rope is cut.

    The cutter's hook tears loose. The Hook Line becomes impassable, and any creature on it must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or fall prone on the nearest safe surface.

The battlefield

Zones

  1. 1

    Anchor Stones25 ft

    The cracked anchor stones jut from the cay's underside, slick with cold grit and shaking under each impact.

  2. 2

    Hook Line25 ft

    A narrow rope bridge and its iron hook connect the worksite to the raider cutter below; the rope hums under strain.

  3. 3

    Gorge Shelf25 ft

    A shelf of broken rock overlooks the gorge, where drumming draws two stone-skinned shapes up from the depths.

What the party can use

A character adjacent to a stone can attempt its repair, only one worker per stone at a time.
A taut cutter-rope can be cut or released; doing so drops the cutter away from the cay and ends the attackers' route back aboard.
A drumming rhythm steadies the stones. If Gudrun Quakesong is present, she can use her action to drum, preventing the next triggered stone shift.

Scaling

XP budget7,350 of 10,200 XP
Weaker

Moderate

One fewer Cultist Fanatic

Remove one Bandit Captain and one Pebble; the cutter's crew retreats when the rope is threatened.
As written

Moderate

Stronger

High

One more Pebble

Add one Cult Fanatic, and have the cutter's crew focus fire on anyone attempting repairs.

Treasure

The cutter carries House payment records and a coil of sound climbing rope.

Media

0 images

No images yet.

Visual sheet

Turn Keep the Cay Anchored into a sheet

A high-res, share-ready sheet you can post or print.