Author Topic: Doom Nightmare Mode in 3.5e  (Read 3137 times)

Offline PlzBreakMyCampaign

  • DnD Handbook Writer
  • ****
  • Posts: 1962
  • Immune to Critical Hits as a Fairness Elemental
    • View Profile
Doom Nightmare Mode in 3.5e
« on: February 25, 2012, 01:49:37 AM »
After finding the flameskull [LEoF172] and thinking that if it were red it would fit perfectly I wondered what would happen if DnD were to be purposely paired down into a Doom-like scenario: You and the party are alone and outnumbered against unintelligent evil minions that resurrect themselves soon after their death.

Its like the never ending dungeon but cranked up a notch. The usual things dungeon crawling nerfs like banning rope trick would apply but I'm mainly interested in the respawning mechanic.

... and of course if anyone can find all the other Doom monsters in the various source books.  :D

Offline Endarire

  • DnD Handbook Writer
  • ****
  • Posts: 1662
  • Smile! Jesus loves you!
    • View Profile
    • Greg Campbell's Portfolio
Re: Doom Nightmare Mode in 3.5e
« Reply #1 on: March 04, 2012, 01:55:51 AM »
Hell Baron/Hell Knight: Satyr or some demon or devil
Former Human Whatever: Zombie/Necropolitan
Cacodemon: Nerfed Beholder
Pinky Demon: Depends how potent you want.  A repainted Fleshraker is brutal while a boar (or any quadruped with a single attack) is probably less.
Invisible Pinkies: Greater invisibility or Natural Invisibility on Pinkies
Imps: Troglodytes or Trens (Serpent Kingdoms) with scorching ray at-will.
Spider Bots/Spider Mastermind: Intellect Devourer with grafted metal legs and a cannon.  The mastermind is just a bigger, badder version.
Cyberdemon: Maybe a larger version of the Hell Baron with disintegrate or fireball at will

Offline JohnnyMayHymn

  • Hero Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 762
  • Former Lord of the Kitchen Sink
    • View Profile
Re: Doom Nightmare Mode in 3.5e
« Reply #2 on: March 05, 2012, 01:57:21 PM »
For the respawn mechanic, they are all just thralls/believers of an unseen Thrallherd(s) who is abusing Planar Bubble or other time tricks to speed up the 24 hour replacement time.

Idk if there is a BBEG that fits that scenario...
The Emperor
Can you find the Wumpus?

Offline Karlton

  • Full Member
  • **
  • Posts: 107
  • I'm new!
    • View Profile
Re: Doom Nightmare Mode in 3.5e
« Reply #3 on: March 06, 2012, 02:07:23 AM »
Make a rod of many wands with two chambers, and have the rod look like a short break action side-by-side shotgun! Then proceed to litter the battlefield with wands of Magic Missile with a high CL to create the swarm effect, but with few charges so the PCs will have to reload often.

Offline Rejakor

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 341
  • I'm new!
    • View Profile
Re: Doom Nightmare Mode in 3.5e
« Reply #4 on: March 06, 2012, 06:48:13 AM »
There's a guy who's been running something like this for many years, now with lots of DMs and players.  It's a mountain, filled inside with a vast maze of chambers each of which is basically a self-resetting trap that spawns enemies or tries to kill you in some other way.  Works pretty well.

EDIT:  roving monsters makes it more of a survival horror feel.

Offline Kethrian

  • Legendary Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 2232
  • Night Owl
    • View Profile
Re: Doom Nightmare Mode in 3.5e
« Reply #5 on: March 06, 2012, 09:38:35 PM »
There's a guy who's been running something like this for many years, now with lots of DMs and players.  It's a mountain, filled inside with a vast maze of chambers each of which is basically a self-resetting trap that spawns enemies or tries to kill you in some other way.  Works pretty well.

EDIT:  roving monsters makes it more of a survival horror feel.

What you just described sounds like Undermountain.
What do I win?
An awesome-five for mentioning Penny Arcade's On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness.

Offline Rejakor

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 341
  • I'm new!
    • View Profile
Re: Doom Nightmare Mode in 3.5e
« Reply #6 on: March 06, 2012, 10:20:25 PM »
More structured, malevolent, less themed, and original, I think.  Some rooms are literally endless savannah, etc.  It's like one of those TV shows like sliders or quantum leap, each room is a puzzle as well as a fight, the puzzle being 'how do I leave'.  Some are just stone rooms but trap you in some way.  Others don't trap you, but if you interact with them in some way can screw you over.

EDIT:  It does have the teleportation/summoning restriction, though, but that's more of a necessary thing to make survival horror survivaley.