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Keep the pumps running - AI-generated fantasy Encounter

Keep the pumps running

Encounters
Hold · Moderate · 6 players, level 8

Keep the pumps running

If the party loses control of the gallery, the pumps fail while the crawlers keep the cold plates occupied.

Run the fight

Round
1
100 minutes
Creatures
8
Moderate

This round

The pump output drops again while any magma-crag crawlers remain on the cold siphon plates.

Win The party drives the crawlers off the cold siphon plates and defeats

Lose The party retreats or cannot keep the bellows working as the stale air worsens

Party 6 players, level 8

System D&D 2024

Cheat sheet

Hold

Keep the pumps working by driving crawlers off the cold siphon plates, repairing the bellows, or defeating the defenders before stale air worsens.

Win

The party drives the crawlers off the cold siphon plates and defeats, routs, or captures Ktagh's force, with the bellows still repairable.

Lose

The party retreats or cannot keep the bellows working as the stale air worsens.

If it goes badly: Fall back up the ladder to the Warm Crack or through the iron door to the Caravan Lock.

Forces

  • 1 × Ktagh, Tectonic Cult Fault-BreakerAC 15 · HP 90 · CR 7
  • 2 × Tectonic Cult FanaticAC 13 · HP 33 · CR 2
  • 1 × The Empty PatchAC 15 · HP 90 · CR 7
  • 4 × Magma-crag crawlerAC 11 · HP 22 · CR 1/2

Rounds

  • 1+The pump output drops again while any magma-crag crawlers remain on the cold siphon plates.
  • 3Stale air worsens one grade.

Read aloud

Say this

Warmth fogs your lenses as yellow haze slides from the open vent and curls between brass bellows. Ktagh sets his stone maul across the lane while magma-crag crawlers scrape over the cold plates, and the pump gives a strained, hollow knock. The ladder rattles behind you; the iron door shivers in its frame.

Forces

4

  • Ktagh, Tectonic Cult Fault-Breaker

    Bruiser

    1 of them
    AC
    15
    HP each
    90
    CR
    7

    Fault-Breaker Maul · Stone Armor · Siege Commander

    Opens
    Hold the narrow lane between Bellows Row and the siphon plates, using the maul to break a bellows only if the party presses the defenders.
    Targets
    The character repairing a bellows or driving crawlers from the plates.
    Flees
    Retreats if reduced to 20 hit points or fewer; captured alive, Ktagh reveals the Unsealers are moving toward the Vaults, Kjartan ordered the sabotage, and the written order is in Ktagh's sleeve.

  • Tectonic Cult Fanatic

    Controller

    2 of them
    AC
    13
    HP each
    33
    CR
    2

    Dark Devotion · Reaper · Spiritual Weapon · Hold Person

    Opens
    Use Hold Person on a character moving to the siphon plates; keep half cover from the bellows.
    Targets
    A character trying to repair the bellows.
    Flees
    Flees when Ktagh retreats or when reduced to 8 hit points or fewer.

  • The Empty Patch

    Skirmisher

    1 of them
    AC
    15
    HP each
    90
    CR
    7

    Root Snare · Mold-Cap Ambush · Sour Spores

    Opens
    Remain still among the vent-side growth until a creature approaches, then ambush from the yellow haze.
    Targets
    A character isolated near the vent or caught in the crowded lanes.
    Flees
    Withdraws into the vent haze when reduced to 20 hit points or fewer.

  • Magma-crag crawler

    Minion

    4 of them
    AC
    11
    HP each
    22
    CR
    1/2

    Fire Breath · Death Burst · Heated Body

    Opens
    Swarm the cold siphon plates and snap at anyone who approaches.
    Targets
    The nearest creature on the plates; otherwise cling to the plates and threaten the pump.
    Flees
    Flees rather than hunts; leaves the plates when lured away with cold water, a cold effect, or a Cantor's chant.

What happens

100 minutes
  1. 1+

    End of each roundThis round

    The pump output drops again while any magma-crag crawlers remain on the cold siphon plates.

  2. 3

    Round 3 after a bellows is damaged

    Stale air worsens one grade. This happens three rounds after a bellows is damaged, unless a character uses an action to repair it with a successful Strength (Athletics) or tinker's tools check.

The battlefield

Zones

  1. 1

    Bellows Row25 ft

    Crowded lanes between the brass bellows are difficult terrain; the bellows provide half cover.

  2. 2

    Siphon Plates25 ft

    Cold siphon plates fill the center. Crawlers swarm here, and each round they remain on the plates pump output drops.

  3. 3

    Open Vent25 ft

    Yellow haze obscures the open vent and its immediate area; the ladder to the Warm Crack stands nearby.

What the party can use

Three brass bellows: an action and DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check or tinker's tools check repairs a damaged bellows.
Cold siphon plates: lure crawlers off with cold water, a cold effect, or a Cantor's chant to stop the pump-output loss.
The ladder climbs to the Warm Crack; the iron door leads back to the Caravan Lock.

Scaling

XP budget7,100 of 12,600 XP
Weaker

Moderate

One fewer Magma-crag crawler

For three characters, remove one Tectonic Cult Fanatic and two magma-crag crawlers.
As written

Moderate

Stronger

Moderate

One more Ktagh, Tectonic Cult Fault-Breaker

For six characters, add one Tectonic Cult Fanatic. For a party struggling with the air, a successful group check to brace a bellows delays the next worsening by one additional round.

Treasure

Ktagh's sleeve holds Kjartan's written order; take it if Ktagh is captured or searched.

Media

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