The Nine Gates!

[Zonugal]

Hey!

So I am constructing a gauntlet challenge designed specifically for single, sixth-level characters in E6 themed around the nine layers of Baator. The idea is the character is teleported to a starting point, introduced to the rules by a Harvester Devil and than sent on their way. Right now I have been cataloging interesting & thematic traps, environmental hazards and monsters but could use your help.

Here is a quick description of what each level of the challenge should be like:

1. The first layer, Avernus, is a vast charred wasteland of rubble over which the iron towers of the Dukes of Hell stand. Legions of devils march across the plains in continual readiness for the next battle of the Blood War. A red light suffuses the sky and huge fireballs fly across the layer, randomly exploding wherever they hit. Beneath the blood-red sky balls of fire burst unpredictably. They are said to be embodiments of the rage of the imprisoned Lord of the First, Zariel.

2. The second layer, Dis, is both a layer and a burning city of iron known as the Iron City of Dis. The walls of the buildings of the city radiate extreme heat, as do the stones of the streets; more than brief skin contact results in severe burns. The Archduke Dispater rules this layer from the Iron Tower, an impregnable fortress that reaches far into the sky and can be seen everywhere on Dis (literally; by looking to any direction in the skyline one can see the Iron Tower).

3. The third layer of Minauros is an endless bog of vile pollution. The weather on Minauros consists of acidic rain, flesh-slicing hail, and harsh winds. Most of the layer is a vast dismal marsh of foul rotting soil, littered with carrion and pools of water. Through murky fog, one often encounters numerous carcasses soaking up the filthy rain.
   
4. Phlegethos is a fiery wasteland filled with active volcanoes, hills of ash, gouting fires, streams of magma, pits of smoking excrement, and burning sand beneath a screaming rain of magical fire flakes. Lady Fierna and Archduke Belial are the lords of this layer. Few can exist here for long without suitable protection from the extreme heat.

5. Stygia, the fifth layer is a freezing layer of cold and ice dominated by a murky ocean fed directly by the River Styx. The surface of the ice is covered with chilly marshes. The dark sky is constantly filled with lightning storms, and the ice may be lit by weird cold flames.

6. Malbolge was originally an endless rocky slope where rockslides and avalanches of boulders were common. Numerous copper fortresses provided some refuge from the avalanches. As "The Crushing Lands", Malbolge was a place of craggy, black stone and ash filled with stinking vapors, smoke, fire pits, and huge caves and caverns in which ancient Baatorians lurked. The air was hot and choking, and the whole layer existed at a steep tilt so that no flat terrain exists. Falling was a constant danger there, as were rockslides and avalanches.

7. Maladomini is a hell of ruins, the seventh layer of Baator. Everything natural on the layer has been defaced, destroyed, or stripped away, replaced with strip mines, quarries, poorly maintained roads and bridges, rivers of molten lava, slag heaps, wasted cities, and polluted canals, filled with stinking vapors, earth tremors, fire pits, and mines.

8. Cania (or Caina), the Eighth Hell, is an unimaginably cold wasteland, where few living things can survive more than a few moments in an unsheltered area. Huge fast moving glaciers crash around the layer sending snow and ice up in the sky. It is dominated by intense, freezing cold, and is extremely hostile toward those who are unwelcome on the layer, which includes nearly every being that enters.

9. Nessus is the ninth and deepest layer of Baator. It is a place of pits and ravines of virtually endless depths. The great citadel of Malsheem lies immediately below the portal between Cania and Nessus and is the largest fortress in all of the Outer Planes. Here, Asmodeus rules over the entire plane, and thus the entire race of devils.

Right now I have the idea of level two having some DreadGuards (CR 2; MM2) and a Spell Turret as the obstacle, and for level three a Yellow Musk Creeper surrounded by a group of Yellow Musk Zombies.

The story I have going right now is this is sort of like an evil game show put on by both Devils & Demons. Whenever they hear a mortal soul cry out for a wish they answer by plucking them into their arena. If they make it through all nine levels their wish is granted. I have also been wanting to develop this as a psuedo-same game test type of scenario in which to run different E6 builds through.

But my biggest question, beyond any helpful recommendations, is what is a solid encounter level I should try to go for with only a single, 6th-level character (in E6 rules) advancing through the event?

[cjosephs1s]

Well my first suggestion is to get a copy of Fiendish Codex 2 if you don't already have one.  It has a few sample encounters for each level of hell  at the end of their respective descriptions and also what types of Devils each level contains usually. 

Second this sounds like an awesome idea so kudos for what looks like a cool "campaign" 

Next question is what level do you plan your PC(s) to be at each level?  Is this a level 6 thing all the way down?  And I apologize but I'm not famaliar with the term E6 so if I ask a bunch of dumb questions due to ignorance just fill me in. 

Where is this PC going to get new magic items or are they already provided?  Can they leave hell?

So they get a "wish" if they win?  Like the spell?  After all they just basically made a Faustian pact with a devil and usually that means they are going to lose their soul in the end for this.  Some devils would simply bypass the whole "game show" and just grant the wish and then somehow use it against the PC to kill them and take their soul.  Although this probably would be quite entertaining for them and odds are they wouldnt' have to grant as many wishes in the end.  Just keep in mind Devils are basically the masters of Law and know ins and outs of contracts and are well versed in this area having done it since before hell was formed.  (a contract between Asmodeus and the gods of Celestia is actually how Hell was formed and much to these "good" gods chagrin, Asmodeus was much smarter and better at contracts and law then even them and still continues to be winning almost every contract dispute between the two realms). 

As for your main question its hard to say.  Based on what I"ve read and heard about the "teir" system of character catagorization a Wizard or Cleric who is quite creative and well prepared may be able to handle CRs of his own level or even higher.  Other classes may due fine against CRs of their level or a little lower while some classes will be utterly slaughtered.  I'd say start low and you can always raise the CR of the encounter based on how well the character does and if you see you pushed too hard just nerf your rolls or the abilities of that encounter a little till you can adjust it accordingly on the next one.  For example most people consider a Gestalt campaign EL to be +2 or 3 higher than average party level appropriate.  Our party though can easily do this with no problem and for it to really be a challenge the EL typically needs to be almost imposible to overcome normally (+8 CR or higher than average party level) with one of our last big encounters being 16 levels higher than the party (we were 19 and the monster was CR 35).  So while its not a great answer maybe its helpful?

[Zonugal]

Well my first suggestion is to get a copy of Fiendish Codex 2 if you don't already have one.  It has a few sample encounters for each level of hell  at the end of their respective descriptions and also what types of Devils each level contains usually.

 

I'll check it out.

Second this sounds like an awesome idea so kudos for what looks like a cool "campaign"

 

Thanks but ideally this isn't for a campaign. I'm hoping for this to serve as a same-game-test. Either way thanks for the support.

Next question is what level do you plan your PC(s) to be at each level?  Is this a level 6 thing all the way down?  And I apologize but I'm not familiar with the term E6 so if I ask a bunch of dumb questions due to ignorance just fill me in.

So there will only be one PC and they'll always be sixth level. The way E6 works is a character stops leveling at sixth level and from that point on gains a feat every time they would level. So while you may have your character locked in at sixth level they can accumulate a huge amount of feats.

Where is this PC going to get new magic items or are they already provided?  Can they leave hell?

I'm thinking they will be teleported in without any equipment and before starting off into the arena they'll be supplied with a +1 morningstar, a +1 dagger, a Mithral breastplate and a heavy steel shield (thoughts?). As they progress through the arena they'll find potions of healing spells & such. And to be released they'll need to reach the planar portal which is at the end of the arena.

So they get a "wish" if they win?  Like the spell?  After all they just basically made a Faustian pact with a devil and usually that means they are going to lose their soul in the end for this.  Some devils would simply bypass the whole "game show" and just grant the wish and then somehow use it against the PC to kill them and take their soul.  Although this probably would be quite entertaining for them and odds are they wouldnt' have to grant as many wishes in the end.  Just keep in mind Devils are basically the masters of Law and know ins and outs of contracts and are well versed in this area having done it since before hell was formed.  (a contract between Asmodeus and the gods of Celestia is actually how Hell was formed and much to these "good" gods chagrin, Asmodeus was much smarter and better at contracts and law then even them and still continues to be winning almost every contract dispute between the two realms).

So the basic thematical inspiration for this is basically the Running Man. The Devils and Demons are bored so they snatch mortals to entertain them in a twisted, deadly game. They offer up the wish as motivation but rarely if ever does anyone ever manage to get through the game.

As for your main question its hard to say.  Based on what I"ve read and heard about the "teir" system of character catagorization a Wizard or Cleric who is quite creative and well prepared may be able to handle CRs of his own level or even higher.  Other classes may due fine against CRs of their level or a little lower while some classes will be utterly slaughtered.  I'd say start low and you can always raise the CR of the encounter based on how well the character does and if you see you pushed too hard just nerf your rolls or the abilities of that encounter a little till you can adjust it accordingly on the next one.  For example most people consider a Gestalt campaign EL to be +2 or 3 higher than average party level appropriate.  Our party though can easily do this with no problem and for it to really be a challenge the EL typically needs to be almost imposible to overcome normally (+8 CR or higher than average party level) with one of our last big encounters being 16 levels higher than the party (we were 19 and the monster was CR 35).  So while its not a great answer maybe its helpful?

Thanks for the help! Right now because they are a lone 6th-level character I am thinking the encounter range is somewhere from 4-6. I like the idea of 6 because it makes it truly difficult but possess that much more of a challenge.

[cjosephs1s]

Ahhh..E6.now it makes sense.  thanks.  Just remember that feats while helpful don't increase survivability....HP, gear and class abilities do that for the most part. 

Gear:  Since they will be building their toons from scratch the way they want I'd let them choose their own gear otherwise that wizard is going to start off with basically nothing while the fighter will start off well armed.  So maybe add up the cost of that stuff and say you have X amount to spend from the following sources?  Or choose X, Y, Z and two other things from this list of gear?    And you may want to make drinking these potions a free action of somekind since its a solo.  Kind of hard to heal yourself and attack if both require a standard action.  This will make things a little more "balanced" if you're going to throw EL 6s at them.  That way the PC isn't stuck just drinking potion after potion, round after round if he gets low on HP only to die when he runs out of potions. 

[Zonugal]

Ahhh..E6.now it makes sense.  thanks.  Just remember that feats while helpful don't increase survivability....HP, gear and class abilities do that for the most part.

 

True, true. I am really a fan of E6 and have wanted to put together something like this to test the talents of characters in that system. I also think with them being at sixth level it presents that really sweet spot where ingenuity and creativity in problem solving is more important than sheer power.

Gear:  Since they will be building their toons from scratch the way they want I'd let them choose their own gear otherwise that wizard is going to start off with basically nothing while the fighter will start off well armed.  So maybe add up the cost of that stuff and say you have X amount to spend from the following sources?  Or choose X, Y, Z and two other things from this list of gear?    And you may want to make drinking these potions a free action of somekind since its a solo.  Kind of hard to heal yourself and attack if both require a standard action.  This will make things a little more "balanced" if you're going to throw EL 6s at them.  That way the PC isn't stuck just drinking potion after potion, round after round if he gets low on HP only to die when he runs out of potions.

What about this for an idea, the character is shown into a hall of weaponry & gear where they are allowed to select three items. That way I could have different weapons, armors, protective gear and other items but it would still be restrictive. I am hesitant to allow for the character to bring anything with them as I want it to be as 'closed' off as possible.

Regarding the potions I think I am going to keep them as a standard action to consume (as I want to stay within RAW for this project) but having different potions like the Vigor line instead of the Cure line may be an option.

[cjosephs1s]

Yep.  The hallway of gear is pretty much what I was thinking when I suggested them choosing from a list of stuff. 

Now you just have to find that poor soul to take the bait!  lol

[Zonugal]

I imagine it will be an adventurer who cries out for his fallen love to come back to life. That he'd sell his soul to bring them back and all of a sudden he is transported to a room to meet a Harvester Devil.

Oh! Do you have any ideas for the levels? Thematic monsters, traps or obstacles? I'm trying to put a non-combat and combat challenge in each level.

[Gavinfoxx]

Hmmm.  What sort of equipment would be basic and useful to everyone... hmmmm....

Lets see.  For basic competency across all classes you would need a VERY large variety of items to choose from.  Not necessarily powerful stuff, but to preserve equivalency.  Like a Druid set would be different than a Wizard set than a 2wf Rogue set than a Barbarian set...

You could put the sets together, after getting their character ideas and lists of 'what is most vital for your character to function'

Also don't remove the Wizard's spellbook...

[Zonugal]

Hmmm.  What sort of equipment would be basic and useful to everyone... hmmmm....

Lets see.  For basic competency across all classes you would need a VERY large variety of items to choose from.  Not necessarily powerful stuff, but to preserve equivalency.  Like a Druid set would be different than a Wizard set than a 2wf Rogue set than a Barbarian set...

You could put the sets together, after getting their character ideas and lists of 'what is most vital for your character to function'

Also don't remove the Wizard's spellbook...

I want to avoid customizing or tailoring anything to a specific class/race/type-of-character. But you bring up a solid point. I imagine the 'locker-room' would have something like:

+1 Silver Dagger ($2,322 gp)
+1 Silver Morningstar ($2,398 gp)
+1 Heavy Crossbow (with 40 silver bolts) ($2,354 gp)
+1 Silver Short Sword ($2,330 gp)
+1 Silver Longsword ($2,405 gp)
+1 Silver Glaive ($2,488 gp)
+1 Longbow (with 40 silver arrows) ($2,379 gp)
+2 Chain Shirt ($4,250 gp)
+2 Breastplate ($4,350 gp)
+2 Full-Plate with Armor Spikes ($5,250 gp)
+2 Heavy Steel Shield ($4,170 gp)
+2 Cloak of Resistance ($4,000 gp)

And they can choose any pairings of three. I want to include more items for spellcasters but there aren't too many that stay at a reasonable level (and have a CL of under 6 in their creation).

Also regarding a Wizard's spellbook, they would get to keep it...

[Halinn]

Suggestions:
Ring of Protection +2
Minor Cloak of Displacement
+1 Mithral Buckler
+1 Mithral Twilight (MIC) Chain Shirt
3x Wand of Cure Light Wounds
Healing Belt (MIC)
Ring of the Darkhidden (MIC)
Torc of the Titans (MIC)

To keep 2wf, sword/shield and 2h equal, I'd also allow a weapon set to as one choice, so you could either get two weapons, a weapon and shield, or a two-handed weapon.

[Zonugal]

Ring of Protection +2
MTo keep 2wf, sword/shield and 2h equal, I'd also allow a weapon set to as one choice, so you could either get two weapons, a weapon and shield, or a two-handed weapon.

Hmm... I like the idea.

[Zonugal]

So here is what progress I have made regarding thinking up some challenges for each level.

Avernus, level one: 12 Fiendish Orcs with phalanx training during a Flamestorm (SS pg. 22) and after that a Capstan Water Trap (BoC pg. 21).

Dis, level two: 3 Dreadguard (MM2 pg. 87) with a Spell Turret with the environment composed of Scalding Walls(1d4 fire damage per round of exposure/touching) with the Curse of Iron (BoC pg. 23) afterward.

Minauros, level three: Yellow Musk Creeper and 6 Yellow Musk Zombies in a deep bog with a Watery Grave challenge (BoC pg. 30)afterward.

Phlegethos, level four: I am thinking of a fight with a fire elemental or just 'fire-themed' opponent in a petrified forest. By three-four rounds into combat the forest will start to catch on fire and thus the battlefield will go from a petrified forest to a forest fire.

Stygia, level five: I have no ideas...

Malbolge, level six: A physical challenge of having to climb an intensely tall mountain side (suffering through altitude effects) with a Half-Fiend Minotaur awaiting at the top to face off against.

Maladomini, level seven: An Ochre Jelly hunts the character in a destroyed mining station. Eh?

Cania, level eight: A gladiator-inspired duel with a Chain Devil and afterward the Fire and Water challenge (BoC pg. 41).

Nessus, level nine: A non-nonsense fight on a stone bridge over a an abyssal pit between the adventurer and a mighty foe (???) with victory awaiting afterward.

Thoughts?

[Gavinfoxx]

What about armor for the Druid?

[Garryl]

Stygia, level five: I have no ideas...

An icy cliff over the river Styx. Skeletons of damned souls are climbing up it (and will arrive in a few rounds), while a tough brute of a devil attempts to push the players off it. Defeat the devil before being overwhelmed by the legions of the damned, or falling down to join them.

[Zonugal]

Stygia, level five: I have no ideas...

An icy cliff over the river Styx. Skeletons of damned souls are climbing up it (and will arrive in a few rounds), while a tough brute of a devil attempts to push the players off it. Defeat the devil before being overwhelmed by the legions of the damned, or falling down to join them.

Fuck yeah!

Although I'm hesitant to do another cliff based encounter. What about instead of a cliff we set the battle on a pirate ship? That way we can incorporate the balancing rules from Stormwrack?

Eh?

[Halinn]

Stygia, level five: I have no ideas...

An icy cliff over the river Styx. Skeletons of damned souls are climbing up it (and will arrive in a few rounds), while a tough brute of a devil attempts to push the players off it. Defeat the devil before being overwhelmed by the legions of the damned, or falling down to join them.

Fuck yeah!

Although I'm hesitant to do another cliff based encounter. What about instead of a cliff we set the battle on a pirate ship? That way we can incorporate the balancing rules from Stormwrack?

Eh?

Then maybe just have the damned souls be more passive dangers. Get too close to the edge of the ship, and one or more of them tries to grab you and pull you down?

[Zonugal]

Stygia, level five: I have no ideas...

An icy cliff over the river Styx. Skeletons of damned souls are climbing up it (and will arrive in a few rounds), while a tough brute of a devil attempts to push the players off it. Defeat the devil before being overwhelmed by the legions of the damned, or falling down to join them.

Fuck yeah!

Although I'm hesitant to do another cliff based encounter. What about instead of a cliff we set the battle on a pirate ship? That way we can incorporate the balancing rules from Stormwrack?

Eh?

Then maybe just have the damned souls be more passive dangers. Get too close to the edge of the ship, and one or more of them tries to grab you and pull you down?

I like it, I like it. I may even try to go with a Bearded Devil in the guise/theme of a bearded pirate captain.

[Zonugal]

Beyond that here are the things I am missing:

Phlegethos still needs a fiery foe to combat the adventurer in the forest fire as well as a challenge/puzzle/trap sequence.

Maladomini is still a little confusing. I think I may try to focus on some oozes but don't know how to make that work within an environment. I'm thinking possibly setting it in a maze with an ooze hunting the adventurer.

Cania is right now looking like I might throw some Ice Trolls (from Unapproachable East) or possibly something more regal/noble as to represent Mephistopheles.

And finally for Nessus I'm thinking of a simple bridge battle over a chasm with a Doa.

Thoughts?