9 Rings of Hell (a MUST for dwarves)

[AkumaWolf]

(I don't know if something was done similar, sorry if it was)

Not something major, just a little mini-quest I'm fairly proud of. Some om my players even used it in their campaigns.

This mini-quest is called The Nine Rings of Hell

It starts with the party entering a tavern.

The inside is a constant ruckus as people gather around a particular drinking game. This game was created by the odd looking dwarven tavernkeep that runs that said tavern, who's not only a skilled brewer, but a skilled alchemist as well.
Somehow he was able to create a particular drink that has different layers of different beverages floating on top of each other. There are 9 layers on total and is aptly named the '9 Rings of Hell'.
Sitting in a large glass pitcher to show off it beautiful colors, this beast has about 2 pints of drinkables inside of it, and is potent as it is beautiful.
But it's hard to resist this monster though, since there's a good gold prize in stock for anyone who can finish it.


Rules

A PC must pay 100gp to attempt to take on the 9 Rings of Hell (the drink is carefully made from a list of very expensive liquors) which is then thrown into a gold pool that goes to anyone that succeeds in drinking it. (half of which goes to the dwarf)
The gold prize that can be won may vary from time to time (people here and there might actually win the thing) so to calculate the current prize, roll=
(%die X 50) X Avg Party Lv.

A PC may then attempt to drink the 9 Rings of Hell. For each layer he drinks, he must make an additional Fort save. If he fails any of the Fort saves before finishing the drink, he passes out and is disqualified.
Also, once the entire drink is finished, a PC must stand up from his chair, hold the pitcher up high for a few moments, then slam it down. This is final proof that the PC could handle the drink and is indeed still stable. To succeed this, he must make a final Fort save (DC 25 - all penalties included *see below*) after he's done drinking to stay stable.

The Fort save DC increases with each layer, since each layer is more potent than the last. Also, if the PC doesn't succeed his Fort save by 4 or more than the DC, he'll get a -1 penalty on the Fort save for drinking the next layer (penalties stack with each Fort save not 4 or higher than DC).



Description


1st Layer [Fort Save DC 15]
A opaque liquid that is fairly strong in scent but neutral in taste. Has a earthy taste to it.

2de Layer [Fort Save DC 16]
A hazy blue liquid that's not so strong in scent, but fairly dry and sweet in taste. Tastes somewhat of wine or grapes.

3de Layer [Fort Save DC 17]
A murky golden yellow liquid that's not so strong in scent, but mildly bitter in taste. Reminds you of normal ale.

4th Layer [Fort Save DC 18]
A dark red liquid that's fairly scented but very sweet in taste. The taste reminds you somewhat of strawberries, only sweeter.

5th Layer [Fort Save DC 19]
a clear darkish green liquid that surprisingly, has no smell or taste to it. Very suspicious indeed.
Half way there. If you've come this far, you deserve a pat on the back.

6th Layer [Fort Save DC 20]
A strong, yet sweet smelling and tasting liquid. Has a very nice fruity taste and smell to it. If you've come this far, you'll be getting some respect from some dwarves today.

7th Layer [Fort Save DC 21]
A dark purple liquid which isn't so much strong to the taste, but *very* strong in smell. The scent is enough to make you vomit. If you've come this far, the crowd must be going wild.

8th Layer [Fort Save DC 22]
A thick milky white liquid that rather bland in smell and taste but icy cold as it goes down your throat. If you've come this far, you must be a drinking champion!

9th Layer [Fort Save DC 23]
A thick and murky dark black liquid that burn like hell itself and feels like acid going down your throat. The sudden twist from icy cold drink to flaming hot drink can give you quite a shock. If you've come this far, there's no turning back. Bottoms up!

Final Stance [Fort Save DC 25]
Can you prove to everyone that you can stand your ground, then get up, hold your pitcher up high so that all can look at you in amazement, then slam it back down!
Then proceed to collect your gold.



Final Note


And there you have it. Thanx for reading

Tell me what you think and feel free to use in a campaign as a fun little mini-quest or side game, and laugh at your PC's as they have hangovers for days afterwards. :smallwink:

[Xefas]

It's interesting, certainly. Definitly good for a nice laugh between adventures.

It's pretty much flat out impossible for a human commoner/peasant to do, requiring 20s on the roll from the 6th layer and up. A dwarf commoner would get a +1 bonus from his constitution bonus, but it's still nearly impossible for him to do.

I'd think even the greatest in an average dwarven community would be something like a 5th level fighter, elite array, 18 in constitution (15 base +2 racial +1 for his 4th level bonus). That'd give him a +8 bonus, I believe. That'd mean he'd still need a 17 on his last roll, assuming he always beat his previous rolls by 4 or more.

Which, I think is about the right amount of balance. Noone would be able to down the thing consistently, which is what it's about, right?

[Paragon Badger]

Not what I was expecting, but an awesome little subquest, I'd say!

I believe Neverwinter had a system where everytime you enbibed alcohol, there was a chance your mental ability scores would all decrease until they had the equivalent of a night's rest.

I'd like to see a Dwarf after the end of the 9th ring with 3 intelligence, 4 wisdom, and 1 charisma. :smallwink:

I did a search on the SRD and don't think I found any alcohol 'rules'. :smalltongue:

[Ashtar]

So, the elite dwarf fighter 5 has 0.00014175% chance to win without taking a -1 penalty (i.e. by beating DC+4 at each save). It's harder to calculate the chance with the penalty...

But even if there was no cumulative penalty, there is only 0.02837835% chance the dwarf will make it.

Well, unless there is an dwarven barbarian, level 12, elite array base with a 20 Con (3 points for levels), Great fortitude and we allow the +2 racial against poison to work against alcohol, I wouldn't be worried for the brewer's bottom line. Even without the penalties being factored in, this dwarf (+17 fort save) has only 23.0857542703125% chance of winning the prize.

[Paragon Badger]

I woulden't be too worried about it being winnable by anything other than a fairly high level character.

I mean, these kind of tavern games are all cons, no? :smallwink: The Bartender certainly doesn't want to lose any money, so he'll stack the odds against you as horrendously unfair as he can. And funny thing is, that people will still take the challenge up.

The level 12 barbarian dwarf could get anywhere from 600 to 60,000 gp from one game- with 30,000 being the average.

[Triaxx]

Don't forget that certain spells like Bear's endurance, cast before hand would up the con and the chance of success. I'd make them submit to a dispel magic before drinking.

[Xefas]

Don't forget that certain spells like Bear's endurance, cast before hand would up the con and the chance of success. I'd make them submit to a dispel magic before drinking.

Haha, yeah, it isn't fair with extra magic, right? I can just see it now...

"Alright, strip down, dismiss your Ioun Stones- HEY, that could be 'Knickers of Endurance +6', we can't take any chances. Now, prepare yourself...the hoses filled with Mordenkainen's Dysjunctive Water might be a little cold. And after that...we start the cavity search..."

[jindra34]

I think this probably should give 500*d100 gold as that seems to be the point when PCs can successfully attempt it.

[F.H. Zebedee]

Most excellent! I'd say that this thing would also be fun to post on a char-op board, just to make all the munchkins light up their Fort saves.

Also a small question... Why not make one of those saves a Will just to screw with people, eh? Now that would be funny. A barbarian slugging his way through the beverage until he got to the DC 10 Will Save and then dropping like a fly. That could be a fun twist to screw with your players.

That thing is a 10 of 10 sidequest, most assuredly. Short, sweet, and leaves the players with a story to last for years.

[de-trick]

only thing that I'd say no elfs why they could just snap out of the wooziness off being drunk

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Elves have much stronger metabolisms. Comes from being half camel, ya see?

[Triaxx]

The last save would be perfect to replace. Nine consecutive Fort Saves, step up to wave the pitcher:

"See, I told you I cou..." *thud*

[AkumaWolf]

Thanx for all the great replies, guys!

Yeah... the dwarf cleric in the party tried this one at lv.1 *snicker*
:smallbiggrin:

Funny enough, through sheer amount of luck, he came till the 4th level and passed out.
The player of the dwarf was a dwarf freak, he loves playing dwarves, so even though he passed out, he actually stood up to came shake my hand! :smallconfused:
He had this grin the rest of the campaign, as if he just passed some dwarven ritual by taking on the drink. :smalltongue:

But the fun thing is not *telling* the players the fort save DC... they keep thinking it's possible at 1st level and keep going at it. :smallbiggrin:

The reason I actually made it so hard was to still keep it entertaining at higher levels. There nothing more satisfying than seeing a lv.17 Dwarf going "Watch this, laddie!" then botching and passing out on the 2de level of the drink. :smalltongue:
Also, I don't want to make players turn it into a get-rich-quick scheme, so as a DM I'd probably have to lower the gold prize to next to nothing if they attempt it the next day (pools gotta build up).

Maybe out of interest sake make a natural 20 an automatic success on a layer (or even 2 or 3 layers if your a sport) :smallbiggrin:

[Telonius]

Awesome, awesome idea.

One caveat - Warforged and Drunken Masters do not get to attempt this. (I'm having visions of a Warforged downing the whole thing in one gulp and then ordering another...)

[jindra34]

Awesome, awesome idea.

One caveat - Warforged and Drunken Masters do not get to attempt this. (I'm having visions of a Warforged downing the whole thing in one gulp and then ordering another...)

Drunken masters should have to do the whole thing as part of the right of passage...

[Telonius]

:smallbiggrin: That ... is an awesome idea. It's the last stop on the Bar Crawl described in the fluff!

Warforged caution stands, though. Any Warforged attempting it will be met with a stern, "We don't serve your kind here!"

[Triaxx]

Warforged just plain aren't eligible for the prize.

[puppyavenger]

I say a will save for the final stance as you have to force your thoughts to clear and maintain the will to get up.

[AkumaWolf]

I say a will save for the final stance as you have to force your thoughts to clear and maintain the will to get up.

Cool... I like that idea...

Let's say... mmm... DC 15 Will save?
Just to make the dwarves go 'wtf?' at the last roll :smallbiggrin:


Also... If people feel the overall Fort save DC's is too hard, they could always lower it.

Instead of starting at 15 it could always start at 10 or 12...

Even high level characters could possibly botch... I mean, c'mon it's 9 consecutive rolls... when last did you roll 9 times and didn't get one 5 or 2? :smalltongue:

[Goblin Music]

if a player gets trough that they must
A) be cheating
or
B) Have a lot of luck

DC20 Will, i mean come on it should be hell right?

[puppyavenger]

yep drinking this is now the cerimony to show that they are worthy for dwarf kings in my setting.

[jindra34]

if a player gets trough that they must
A) be cheating
or
B) Have a lot of luck

DC20 Will, i mean come on it should be hell right?

Thats the idea.

[Blue Paladin]

First of all, let me say that this is absolutely awesome. I cannot stress enough how... impressed I am with all the thought and care put into this! If you put this kind of effort into a sidequest, I am eager to learn what the actual campaign is like.

Just for kicks, I dug out my level 11 save monkey ninja to see how he'd do. He's got a base 17 Fort save and can't auto-fail on a 1 (Steadfast Determination). He wouldn't do half-bad on this :smallsmile: I like imagining the looks on all the dwarves' faces as this average looking elf (Con 8) knocks back the first four layers like it was nothing :smallcool:

edit: Apparently they've ninja'd in a Will save at the end. I've only got a base 14 on that. Curses!

[Paragon Badger]

Thats the idea.

Yep. Haley knows; the conman will make it seem like the game is winnable, but it really isn't. After all, why would the tavern owner want to risk losing money? :smallwink:

And this is a rather fantastic and brief piece of subquesty goodness. I'll definately have to use it sometime. :smallbiggrin:

[puppyavenger]

Is it explosive?

[Mordokai]

I like this. Sweet, short, big reward, it's got pretty much everything a player could ask for:smallsmile:

Good work. If you have any more of this stuff, do post it.

[Triaxx]

Even high level characters could possibly botch... I mean, c'mon it's 9 consecutive rolls... when last did you roll 9 times and didn't get one 5 or 2? :smalltongue:

Fighting through a horde of several hundred Goblins. I blew through all nine castings of Abi-Dalzim's. Then I cast Finger of Death to kill the Cleric raising the dead goblins. I rolled a one. Then the critical killed my Sorceror. That's nine consecutive concentration rolls.

[Umarth]

1st Layer [Fort Save DC 15]
A opaque liquid that is fairly strong in scent but neutral in taste. Has a earthy taste to it.


Fun little side quest. Only nitpick is that it's both neutral in taste and has an earthy taste to it.

[Triaxx]

That's the handful of dirt he tossed in before you start to drink it.

[Zeta Kai]

This is a very entertaining sidequest idea. I'm always on the lookout for things to throw at my players that don't just involve combat, & this is excellent. Very nicely done!

I must say, I avoided checking out this thread because the title seemed to suggest (to me, anyway) that it was a set of magical weapons, or a dwarven hell, or something else that just didn't interest me. I admit that I am pleasantly surprized to find that I cannot judge a book (or a thread) by its cover. Kudos.