Source
r/Tombofannihilation•
NaJes

Help: Awakening the King of Feathers

Here is the spell text for reference. After, I will explain the situation.

Awaken:

Casting time: 8 Hours

Range: Touch

Components: V, S, M (an agate worth at least 1,000 gp, which the spell consumes)

Duration: Instantaneous

After spending the casting time tracing magical pathways within a precious gemstone, you touch a huge or smaller beast or plant. The target must have either no Intelligence score or an Intelligence of 3 or less. The target gains an Intelligence of 10. The target also gains the ability to speak one language you know. If the target is a plant, it gains the ability to move its limbs, roots, vinces, creepers, and so forth, and it gains senses similar to a huamn’s. Your DM chooses statistics appropriate for the awakened plant, such as the statistics for the awakened shrub or the awakened tree.

The awakened beast or plant is charmed by you for 30 days or until you and your companions do anything harmful to it. When the charmed condition ends, the awakened creature chooses whether to remain friendly to you, based on how you treated it while it was charmed.

So one of my PCs died, and re-rolled a College of Creation bard. Unbeknownst to me, he apparently chose this class so that he could cast Awaken on the King of Feathers. Reading through the spell, it looks like he can spend 8 hours casting the spell into a gemstone, then run out and touch the KoF to cast the spell. The KoF has an Int score of 3, so he is susceptible to the spell. Now, the issues:

  1. He doesn't have a 1,000 gp agate. We've never tracked spell components, but no one has ever cast an expensive spell in any of my games (revify, etc). It was always my plan that should this ever occur, the player/party would have to go on a mini-quest to find said component. However, when I asked if he had the gem, he got pretty upset, and as it was the end of the session, we left it until next time to sort out.
  2. I don't think the party wants to befriend the KoF, since they're a pretty bloodthirsty lot, and I've been foreshadowing this fight for most of their time in Omu (maybe 8-10 sessions, we're pretty slow).
  3. Size: KoF is classified as Huge, meaning height or lenghth of 16-32 feet, and takes up 15 feet of space. Meanwhile, the party has cleared everything but the Fane of the Night Serpent, and the Tomb itself. The corridors in the Thane are 10 feet high, and 5-10 feet wide. The Tomb has ceilings of 8-12 feet high, and 5-10 feet wide. So it doesn't seem like the KoF will be able to accompany the party, and I imagine this will upset the player who wants to awaken him.

Any suggestions on how to resolve this situation in a way that fun for the PCs, and isn't unfair to the player who came up with this plan?

Posted Aug 11, 2021, 8:34 PM UTC

712
ivanovisk•

King of Feathers is a monstrosity.

13
micksandals•

You beat me to it!

7
NaJesOP•

Thank you, this is a big relief.

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DocHolliday2119•

Ok, so first off I'd decide how you want to handle spell components with a cost going forward and communicate that to your players so that issue doesn't come up again. I also don't track spell components beyond taxing casters a few gp any time they gain new spells and go to buy components for said spells, but every session 0 I make sure to mention that any components with a listed cost MUST be specifically sought out and that in the case of rare components(which is what I would consider a 1,000gp value agate) it's not guaranteed to be in stock at the next alchemy shop they stop by, and may need to be obtained via a mini-quest.

If you end up deciding you're ok with giving this plan a chance to succeed, I'd cut the Bard a one time break. Tell the player that since you weren't clear about how components with a listed cost are handled, you're going to allow them to "buy" the gem at a discount. Either by paying 500/250gp out of the gold they started with after re-rolling, (whichever amount is more appropriate based off what they started with, you're not trying to clean them out) or they can swap out an appropriate amount of any magic items you allowed them to start with when they made this character. I feel like that's a fair compromise. If for whatever reason they can't or won't give up coin/gearbox the gem, apologize againnfor not being clear about this from the start, but explain how casters automatically having any rare or valuable spell components they need as they gain new spells really isn't fair to all the non-casting classes, and potentially warps party wealth depending on what spells they choose. After all, the Bard can choose to try and sell the gem if they ever need coin more than the ability to cast whatever spell the component is for. As much as this is on you as the DM, I wouldn't set the precedent that rare, hight value components like gemstones, rare metals, diamond dust, ect, comes standard with every 5gp(?) component pouch.

As far as deciding if you want to let an Awakened KoF become a thing. I'd start by pointing out that nowhere in the rules does it say you can move while casting a spell, or "hold" said spell long enough to leave a hiding spot and attempt to touch the KoF. Even putting that aside, the Bard has to spend 8 uninterrupted hours chanting and tracing the patterns into the gemstone, then make it all the way up to KoF without dropping concentration, which will likely include an AOO as they move through the creatures reach. EVEN THEN (lol) I'd be very clear that once the spell wears off, KoF will at the very least be hostile towards the Bard, even if it was treated well while it was charmed, and that because of its size the party won't be able to take it inside most buildings. (specifically the Tomb itself)

Of course, as another commenter already pointed out, this only matters if you rule that KoF can potentially be effected by Awaken despite it being a Monstrosity and not a Beast. It's up to you whether you want to tell the player this ahead of time, considering that the Bard is likely to get turned into a puddle by KoF after running up with it and hitting it with a spell that won't have any effect on it. Comes down to how upset you think the player will be should that outcome come to pass, especially since they're already upset about being questioned about having the requisit component. Telling them it won't work regardless of how much you're willing to bend RAW of how spellcasting works, and what targets Awaken can effect, is probably the easiest way to avoid the Bard player feeling like you're being antagonistic towards them because of their plan, and the component "issue."

Side note: if the player suddenly abandons this plan despite you giving them the gemstone they need to cast Awaken, it's very likely that they're metagaming by looking up monster stats, and I'd have a stern 1 on 1 talk about how uncool that is.

5
[deleted]•

[deleted]

2
DocHolliday2119•

"!delete"

1
NaJesOP•

This was a great write up, thank you! I based my strategy on your suggestions, but things ended up taking a a completely different course. The player's friend in the party agreed to give him 1000 worth of individual gems, and I ruled that the alchemist could combine them with a successful check. They can use the same method for spell components in the future, but with a materials cost worth more than the value of the desired component, and a suitable amount of time to combine them. I planned to allow everyone to roll arcana or nature to reveal that the KoF was a monstrosity, and so not susceptible to the spell.

In the end, however, things went very differently. I'm using a random encounter table for exploring the city built in part using "A guide to Tomb of Annihilation", in which one of the encounters has them find an old lodge of some kind, and to be ambushed by the KoF should they remove a certain rune-covered Yklwa. Through sheer randomness, they rolled that encounter at the start of our next session. Upon entering, one of the players made a bee line for the Yklwa, triggering the ambush, and leading to a pretty wild fight. I hadn't read through the encounters in months, and it never even occurred to me to just spring the KoF on them before the bard had a chance to prepare the spell.

Thanks again for your well thought out response!

2
WritingInfamous3355•

I'm pinching an idea I saw in this subreddit of making the King of Feathers be an Eladrin spy from Mezro in the court of Queen Nepaka who used a helm of telepathy to rise in the ranks. When his treachery was uncovered Napaka cursed him "all that your words turn to locusts" (hence the bug breath) Just for funnies, when Acererak conquered Omu he True Polymorphed the Eladrin into the King of Feathers.

I'm using the mythic monster idea from Theros so defeating the KOF reveals the Eladrin within, confused and hostile.

So... awakening the KOF - you could have him speak in Elvish and asking if they frightfully wouldn't mind getting a message to The Summer Queen. Got myself in a bit of a pickle don'tcherknow.

5
DocHolliday2119•

I like this wayyyyy more than just souping the the KoF's stat block to make it more of a challenge to the party. Having the party first find out of Acerrak's involvement in the game when they question the Eldarin once he comes to would be a pretty epic alternative to Ras Nsi being the one to reveal Acererak as the true big bad.

5
WritingInfamous3355•

To set it up in Mezro I am placing documents and references to ongoing tension with the wasp women Dynasty and in the Arch mages study reference to this Eladrin Spy if they look there.

2
NaJesOP•

This is interesting... I found some supplement on Mezro on DMsguild, and had considered incorporating the intrigue there into the story after we finish the tomb. The bard player is from the fey wild, so there's a connection there as well. It would be pretty wild for him to cast awaken only to find that not only was this formerly a sentient humanoid, but one from his world, perhaps even the same circles in the fey court.

In this encounter, I ended up having the KoF ambush them before they could prepare awaken, but he escaped (barely) before they could kill him off. I would love to have them encounter him again and bring in some of these ideas you've presented.

Could you elaborate more on the "mythic monster idea from Theros"? I'm not familiar with it.

3
WritingInfamous3355•

The mythic monster concept is for epic boss battles with multiple stages.

So say KOF starts with basic KOF stats as a I dunno, CR 9 creature.

So he has 260-ish hp and his abilities.

The mythic traits is revealed when he reaches 0hp the first time instead of dying his form changes, he regains his HP, and the battle starts over and now it is more powerful. Essentially turning a CR 9 into a CR 18.

Mythic reveals can be the of the order "the kaiju's carapace cracks open revealing a beating red crystal heart ❤ but that crystal now fires a devastating ray that needs to be dodged which does wicked damage if it connects but it is vulnerable to attacks that target the heart and it's AC is lowered.

The Theros campaign has some really solid material for DMs even if you never touch a Theros campaign. 1st is the mythic monster template with exemplar monsters (a spider queen, a medusa and a gigantic sea monster.) 2nd you get AN ENTIRE CHAPTER on God's and divinity with a how-to guide on how to run a game with portents, miracles visions, and side-quests for every flavour of divine archetype you can imagine which overhauls the paragraph you get in the DMG about renown which amounts may also work for piety) and delivers a clinic on what that can mean in practice. Like, this is material that should be in the DMG.

Worth the cost IMO for the inspiration alone.

2
WritingInfamous3355•

The link to the player sounds great- and you should definitely do that.

For Mezro, I expect my party to head there fairly early on so I an planting threads (no more) of tensions with the wasp women's armies to the south and a more explicit note in the arch mages's study of sending Haldari as a spy making use of the three clue rule:

https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/1118/roleplaying-games/three-clue-rule

2