When my PCs stole the Golden Barge from the Eldar during the Slumbering Ursine Dunes adventure Major Xhom got away and has been attempting to retrieve the Golden Barge – a piece of eldar science-wizardry artifact. I decided to do an Among Us style encounter using the Werewolf boardgame to play this out. I did investigate lots of options – a skill challenge, an actual monster hunt etc. I wasn’t happy with any of these ideas as I wanted it to be 1 session max. I have also done “bug hunts” before on a spelljammer in a previous campaign and I played this out blow-by-blow and though the party had fun I was unhappy with it. Using the Werewolf boardgame worked perfectly. When a character died I had the imposter banshee stuff them into the infinite bag of holding – which gives the party a cool magic item if they beat the imposter but also a cool dungeon to explore. Once the imposter was found a fight occurred. If the imposter/werewolf banshee wins the party lose the barge.
The setup:
Ares commissions a week of feasting to celebrate your victory over Typhon and saving his daughter Andromeda. As the celebration comes to a close, people shout and point to the sky. In the distant skies, you can make out three winged forms approaching you. The sun shimmers off their scales, and you realize that they are copper dragons. You have heard rumours of the dragons of Mytros, but these creatures are far more splendid than
you imagined. The dragons are ridden by red-cloaked knights: high ranking centurions from the city of Mytros. The dragons descend and touch down several dozen yards away.Three knights with shields and swords dismount and approach you. Their shields bear the Owl of Mytros. The determined look in their eyes suggests that they have been sent here with a mission, but they clearly mean you no harm. Their leader steps forward and introduces himself, “I am Tarchon. We have come on behalf of King Acastus to escort you to his palace. He wishes an audience with you.”
You set out the next day with the escort in tow, flying high above the Golden Barge. Soon a lightning storm sets in and gale force winds slow your progress and force the dragon-riders to take refuge on the barge itself. Tarchon explains that about a week ago Typhon attacked the city with storms, sinking many ships in port and preventing anyone from coming and going by sea. The storm is centred over Mytros itself.
As the storm intensifies the closer you get to Mytros even the magic of the Golden Barge struggles against the fury of Typhon.
That’s when the first murder occurs…
How it played out:
The imposter managed to win and take everyone out except for the wizard who, along with a dozen ghuls, faced the banshee in combat. The rest of the party were trapped in the infinite bag of holding. The wizard lost to the banshee but was healed – via a potion – by a ghul. By the time this had occurred the banshee had gotten to the helm of the ship and was actively trying to take control of the ship. The wizard decided “better to burn it then let the enemy get it” and used the barge’s own laser gun tower on the bridge – destroying both the banshee and the “brain” of the ship taking the barge out with it. Fun encounter worked well with the Werewolf card game.
Strange is the name of that ancient race, the Eldur. The tight-lipped followers of the Silent God are said to have coined the word, though its meaning, “where a God resides,” puzzles savants and sages throughout the Cantons to this day. Perhaps there is truth in the old folk tales of them as pitiless eaters of a long-forgotten deity, or perhaps it involves another of that race’s arcane cruel jokes.
THE IMPOSTER – ELD SCREAMING BANSHEE
AC 18 (silver mesh, force shield), HP 71; Speed 30 ft.
STR +1, DEX +4*, CON +2*, INT +0, WIS +1*, CHA +1; Skills Perception +4, Stealth +10
Senses Darkvision 120 ft.; Languages Elvish, Eld, Undercommon
Traits
- The eld banshee always acts first during the first round of combat and can never be surprised.
- Eld Vision. The eld banshee can see through the darkness created by herself and other eld. Even faerie fire will function for the eld in darkness.
- Fey Ancestry. The eld banshee has advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put the eld to sleep.
- Force Shield. The force shield that the eld banshee wears cancels a single force attack targeting her, the shield is then exhausted for 1 minute and the banshee’s AC is reduced by 2 to 16.
- Spells. CHA DC 12/+4:
- At will: dancing lights
- 1/day each: darkness, faerie fire, levitate (self only)
Attack (x=(0.5*PC#), +7)*
- Power Shortsword. 5 ft/one target. Hit: 1d6 + 4 force damage plus 3d6 force
- Thaumo-Conductor Shuriken Pistol.30/120 ft./one target. Hit: 1d6 + 4 piercing damage and the target must succeed on a CON saving throw or be poisoned for 1 hour. If the saving throw fails by 5 or more, the target is also unconscious while poisoned in this way. The target wakes up if it takes damage or if another creature takes an action to shake it awake. If the target is a spellcaster, at the eld banshee’s discretion, instead of using a standard shuriken attack, she launces a barbed bolt with metre-long hair-thin copper wire attached. 1 hp damage on hit, 2d6 to pull out. The wire does not impede movement but grounds all offensive magic within ten meters (20 feet) in your flesh, regardless of who casts it.
- Banshee Mask (1/Day). The banshee releases a sonic wail. A single creature within 90 feet of her that can hear her must make a CON saving throw. On a failure, a creature drops to 0 hit points. On a success, a creature takes 10 (3d6) psychic
- Cast a spell. The eld banshee may use an action to cast a spell she knows.
* The banshee has a number of attacks equal to half the number of PCs she is facing. This is calculated at the start of each round.
Defense
- The eld adds 3 to her AC against one melee attack that would hit her. To do so, the eld must see the attacker and be wielding a melee weapon.
Treasure
- Her personal equipment is her treasure and she also carries a “bag of infinite holding” – an original “beta” version of the bag of holding that had no “bag in a bag” restriction. This broken bag-within-a-bag leads to a dungeon and is where she will stash people she has kidnapped and impersonates. She also has a personal hardlight hologram generator that acts as the shapechange spell with the additional restriction that it only can be used to mimic creatures the same size and general shape of the user (i.e., Medium Humanoid for an eld).