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9 months ago ::
Oct 03, 2012 - 5:08AM
#1
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Date Joined:
Jun 25, 2011
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 First question: Are Lizardmen Coldblooded or Warmblooded? Discuss. Second question: How can the players gain the respect of the Lizardmen Tribe?The PC's are seeking information about a necromancer in the area. The clues will lead them into the swamp, where I will have them encounter a tribe of lizardmen. The players will need to ask the tribe for information and more clues, but the tribe will refuse to give out any information until the PCs "prove themselves". What sort of ways could the party prove themselves worthy and gain the respect of the Lizardmen? I was thinking they would have to beat one of the lizardmen champions in a duel, but what about other non-combat ideas? Something like a Trial of Fortitude or a Trial of Wisdom. Thoughts? Note: as of now, I have the Lizardmen neutral and NOT involved in the Necromancer's activities. However, I'm open to interesting plot twists. I'd like the responses to be edition-neutral, but I am tentatively running this as a D&D-Next playtest adventure. Thanks!
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9 months ago ::
Oct 03, 2012 - 6:09AM
#2
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Date Joined:
Aug 23, 2012
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The blood of a Lizardman could be either warm or cold blooded, I think it's really the world builder's call on this. I think cold blooded might make for some more interesting situations with surprising them and how society is shapped by it, but can't go wrong either way.
For something like fortitude you could have them swim/run through some long streneous perilious trial. You could have them decipher an ancient text, that perhaps even their elders don't know. You could see if the players could figure out another way to impress the Lizardmen. Perhaps they've never seen much magic before so a wizard demonstrating spells might impress them. Perhaps the cleric heals the wounded of the village and that impresses them.
I guess what I'm trying to get at is perhaps the Lizardmen demand the players prove themselves, and offer a few suggestions as to what might impress them, but ultimately just let the players figure out how they will convince these folk that they are worthy.
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9 months ago ::
Oct 03, 2012 - 6:21AM
#3
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Strength Skill and Wisdom are three good fallback trial ideas. A trial of strength could be your average combat encounter with the goal to reduce all enemies to half HP before the same happens to the PCs. A trial of skill could allow PCs to use some of their skills to win instead of pure combat ability. A trial of wisdom might be more akin to a riddle or puzzle that the PCs need to solve for success. All in all, the common fallbacks work well here, so there's not much of a need to get to flashy. The relevance of the trials, and the information that the Lizardmen may actually have are more important than the complexity of the trials themselves. Why do the Lizardmen want the PCs to do these things when they could just give them something and send them on their way without any trouble? What need do they have to make the PCs prove themselves? For that matter, do the Lizardmen even know anything about the Necromancer the PCs are hunting? I'd make only a single member of the tribe involved with the Necromancer. He could undermine the trials in an attempt to keep information from the PCs hands. Such as setting up a trap during a fight, sabotaging whatever the PCs need to do with their skills, and mixing up the puzzle somehow for the wisdom trial. It might also be how the PCs would get information on the Necromancer if he gets caught. As for the issue of warm or cold blooded, I wouldn't think it too pertinent. Creatures can take a variety of shapes, so it's not a far fetched idea that there could be some lizardmen who dwell in colder regions without issue, and some that live in hotter regions. Unless there's an interesting story element in this factor, I'd say pick what works best for the adventure and use that. Happy Gaming 
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9 months ago ::
Oct 03, 2012 - 6:31AM
#4
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Date Joined:
Sep 25, 2011
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I'd go with cold-blooded just for variety; there are few cold-blooded humanoid races, comparatively speaking, so why not take advantage of one of the few that could feasibly be cold-blooded and make 'em ectotherms?
I was wondering about some suggestions for lizardfolk language. I do not like the idea that they get shoved into the Draconic ghetto just because they're reptiles (and anyway, in my game Draconic has a very specific role in the world) and would rather assign them an existing language that's realistic. Perhaps Giant?
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9 months ago ::
Oct 03, 2012 - 8:49AM
#5
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Date Joined:
Jul 21, 2004
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Don't establish whether they're warm or cold blooded until your players make it clear what they're expecting or relying on, and then go with that.
[N]o difference is less easily overcome than the difference of opinion about semi-abstract questions. - L. Tolstoy
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9 months ago ::
Oct 03, 2012 - 9:07AM
#6
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Don't establish whether they're warm or cold blooded until your players make it clear what they're expecting or relying on, and then go with that.
Right. I'm reminded of a recent adventure in which the PCs were racing across an island to beat a group of bullywugs to a location. So one of the ritual casters in the party said, "Are they cold-blooded? Because I have a ritual that can make it a bit chilly tonight. Maybe that'll put them into a torpor and allow us to get ahead of them." So of course they were cold-blooded because that was a cool plan. If I had established ahead of time what they were, I might have closed off that cool solution before it ever came up.
As far as earning their respect, I'd let the PCs roll a Nature check (or the like). If it's high enough, I'd let them tell me how the local lore says to get the lizardman to respect them, based on established (or new) fiction.
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9 months ago ::
Oct 03, 2012 - 9:09AM
#7
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Date Joined:
Jul 21, 2004
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Don't establish whether they're warm or cold blooded until your players make it clear what they're expecting or relying on, and then go with that.
Right. I'm reminded of a recent adventure in which the PCs were racing across an island to beat a group of bullywugs to a location. So one of the ritual casters in the party said, "Are they cold-blooded? Because I have a ritual that can make it a bit chilly tonight. Maybe that'll put them into a torpor and allow us to get ahead of them." So of course they were cold-blooded because that was a cool plan. If I had established ahead of time what they were, I might have closed off that cool solution before it ever came up.
Besides which, there's a good chance that even if you'd explicitly stated they were cold-blooded you'd either get incredulous push-back from your players, or they'd forget that detail anyway.
[N]o difference is less easily overcome than the difference of opinion about semi-abstract questions. - L. Tolstoy
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9 months ago ::
Oct 03, 2012 - 9:28AM
#8
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Date Joined:
Jun 25, 2009
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I like cold blooded lizard men myself, but go with whatever your gut says is right for the fiction.
Also, might I recommend a swamp temple containing the gamut of the lizard? Call it whatever you want, but here's the general idea:
This temple is half-submerged under water and is built to contain ancient trials set up by the lizard's ancestors. They have known for generations that the ancestors left something valuable inside (choose whatever you like, but I would try to make it not so valuable to the PCs, something like a lizardman disease cure which means the lizardmen are fighting off a plague right now), but no lizardman has ever managed to get to the center of the temple. All have died before reaching the final trial.
Then set the trials up in the temple to be based on what you want them to be. Perhaps 6 trials. One for each ability score. You can mess with the idea of each trial to encourage creative solutions around the ability. Like Strength, instead of straight strength, the trial could imply that the PCs need to find a way to multiply their strength to defeat the puzzle, like using a crane or pully system to gain leverage on a massive weight.
Edit: Also, great chance to include a swimming challenge for the PCs. See if they actually go out of their way to find a way to breathe under water or if they go with holding their breath.
My username should actually read: Lunar Savage (damn you WotC!)
*Tips top hat, adjusts monocle, and walks away with cane* and yes, that IS Mr. Peanut laying unconscious on the curb.
http://asylumjournals.tumblr.com/
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9 months ago ::
Oct 03, 2012 - 12:00PM
#9
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Date Joined:
Sep 17, 2012
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They are egg laying lizards, right? Is there any reason they SHOULD be warm-blooded?
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9 months ago ::
Oct 03, 2012 - 12:07PM
#10
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Is there any reason they SHOULD be warm-blooded?
Yes, in the event the PCs need them to be warm-blooded to get a cool plan off the ground. Since it shouldn't matter to the DM one whit whether they're warm or cold-blooded, it's a detail that can be decided on the spot as needed.
This is a very good example of why DMs should not get too caught up with reality in a fantasy game. Things are whatever you need them to be, whenever you need them to be that way.
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