In conjunction with previous encounters this expands on the concept of making monster encounters less vanilla. Like Phoba’s Bet this is another foray into granting class levels to a normally predictable monster.
The monster in question this time is the cyclops, classically seen as a dimwitted, superstitious and ill tempered brute who might fall victim to any assortment of late night infomercials. Whereas this preconception should bear some merit, and some elements may be contained in this encounter, leaving it as is defeats the purpose of delivering an encounter to challenge preconceptions.
This encounter is designed to take on the concept of a danger interjected with moments of humor. To accomplish this, we’ll give the cyclops three levels of warlock with an Otherworldly Patron: the Fiend, and a great little helper in the form of an imp for its Pact of the Chain familiar. The entire encounter is driven by this relationship. Though technically a servant, the imp familiar is actually the brains of the outfit.
This cart before the horse dichotomy should generate moments during the encounter where more than one character should raise an eyebrow and wonder who calls the shots. The hope is players walk away with both moments of laugh out loud ridiculousness and wincing when their characters are thumped by the cyclops.
This encounter also includes some sample dialogue for you to insert should you so choose to give the players the right mix of the ridiculous and the dangerous.
Encounter Type: Combat
Map: Camp encounter map
Lighting: None (flat battle map.)
System: 5E
Length: One shot
Installation Type: Addon
License: Roll20 End User License Agreement
(Personal Use Only, Do Not Distribute)