Naxtaroth
The Raven
So, I've been thinking about doing sort of a trial of the gods/Hunger Games style D&D campaign. It would be a a one on one adventure where your character would be pitted against a bunch of other NPCs in a battle to the death.
The idea would be that 16 heroes would be chosen by the gods (one god and goddess per domain, 2 gods per alignment, excluding neutral) to participate in a trial, known as the Trial of the Obelisks. This trial would be located on a demiplane created by the gods, called The Crucible of the Divines.
The player and all NPCs starts at level 4, with no equipment except for a set of traveler's clothes. The way it will work is you will be the chosen hero of whatever deity you want. You do not have to be a religious class. For instance, a champion of Malar, God of the Hunt, might be a Ranger. If you choose a deity that has multiple domains, choose which domain you'd like your character to fall under. I have 16 characters made up that will cycle out depending on which you choose. For instance, if you choose to be the champion of the Tempest goddess, then my NPC champion of the Tempest goddess will not be present in your game.
Your alignment doesn't have to match your deity's alignment, but be reasonable. No Lawful Good characters chosen as the champion of Gruumsh or anything like that. If you plan on playing an evil character, I will say that you are required to choose a deity with an evil alignment. I will make case by case exceptions depending on what deity you chose. For instance, though Malar is an evil deity, his status as a god of the hunt means I would allow a non-evil character to be his chosen champion. There are no race or class limits. You may use any sources, be they Unearthed Arcana, Volo's Guide, stuff from the DMsGuild (with my approval), etc.
The way the trial would work is that all 16 heroes would be transported by the divines into the center of The Crucible. This will be a large, circular, arena-like structure with a 100 foot radius (on a 5 foot square grid this means the distance from one end to the other will be 40 squares), with a large assortment of chests and other goodies in the middle. Don't worry, there will be other equipment and goodies scattered throughout The Crucible. If you would rather make a mad dash away from the imminent bloodbath, I'm not going to penalize you for that. The game would start with you and the NPCs rolling initiative, and we'll continue with this initiative order until you are out of combat (I'll then do my own little mini combat with the NPCs to figure out who lives)
Now, your main goal will be to be the last man standing. This is where the trial aspect of things comes into play. There will be 8 large archways leading out of the central arena. These 8 archways will each lead to a unique labyrinth correlating with the 8 domains. Within each labyrinth will be 2 obelisks. These obelisks will lead to the trials of each deity, though the labyrinths themselves will have plenty of challenges of their own. These trials will be how you level up. Completing a trial will grant you a level. Failing a trial, however, will result in immediate death. Technically, the entire thing is doable without completing any trials, but I will be rolling to see whether NPCs complete trials or not. When one reaches an obelisk, I'll roll an ability check depending on which trial it is. DC 20 for a solo NPC, with the DC decreasing by 5 for any groups that may form, minimum of 5 DC.
Just like with the Hunger Games, you may choose to ride it solo, or you may choose to try and form shaky alliances. While riding solo ensures you won't get stabbed in the back in your sleep, it also means that trials will be a lot more difficult. I will, for the most part, be scaling encounters to your player's level, and taking into account whether they are solo or not when determining encounter difficulty. I will, however, occasionally throw a random labyrinth combat encounter your direction that is going to be a deadly challenge. It's up to you to know when to run and when to fight. You've been warned.
So, if this seems like something you'd be interested in, PM me for more details about character creation specifics. Also, to note, is that I use plenty of homebrew mechanics, such as potions only taking a bonus action to administer to yourself (though they still take an action to administer to someone else). Rather than bog you down with them all, I'll just let you know that the rule of cool trumps the RAW, in my book. This means that yes, I allow things like way of shadow monks shadow stepping with an opponent (though there will be saving throws made to see if they break the grapple) for sick 90 feet in the air Rock Lee moves. If it makes for an epic scene, I say "why not", though within reason. Not gonna let you shoot lasers out of your eyes at an arbitrary range for arbitrary damage just because "technically the rules don't explicitly say that I can't" lol.
Multiclassing will be allowed, however, I will require that you start with 3 out of your 4 levels in a single class to start out, that way you can choose an archetype. It's up to you whether you want to spend your 4th level to get an ability score/feat or whether you want to dip 1 level into another class.
Anywho, if you're interested, shoot me a PM!
Prepare yourself for the trials ahead of you, chosen hero. Emerge a champion and honor your deity, or die as a disgrace to their name.
The idea would be that 16 heroes would be chosen by the gods (one god and goddess per domain, 2 gods per alignment, excluding neutral) to participate in a trial, known as the Trial of the Obelisks. This trial would be located on a demiplane created by the gods, called The Crucible of the Divines.
The player and all NPCs starts at level 4, with no equipment except for a set of traveler's clothes. The way it will work is you will be the chosen hero of whatever deity you want. You do not have to be a religious class. For instance, a champion of Malar, God of the Hunt, might be a Ranger. If you choose a deity that has multiple domains, choose which domain you'd like your character to fall under. I have 16 characters made up that will cycle out depending on which you choose. For instance, if you choose to be the champion of the Tempest goddess, then my NPC champion of the Tempest goddess will not be present in your game.
Your alignment doesn't have to match your deity's alignment, but be reasonable. No Lawful Good characters chosen as the champion of Gruumsh or anything like that. If you plan on playing an evil character, I will say that you are required to choose a deity with an evil alignment. I will make case by case exceptions depending on what deity you chose. For instance, though Malar is an evil deity, his status as a god of the hunt means I would allow a non-evil character to be his chosen champion. There are no race or class limits. You may use any sources, be they Unearthed Arcana, Volo's Guide, stuff from the DMsGuild (with my approval), etc.
The way the trial would work is that all 16 heroes would be transported by the divines into the center of The Crucible. This will be a large, circular, arena-like structure with a 100 foot radius (on a 5 foot square grid this means the distance from one end to the other will be 40 squares), with a large assortment of chests and other goodies in the middle. Don't worry, there will be other equipment and goodies scattered throughout The Crucible. If you would rather make a mad dash away from the imminent bloodbath, I'm not going to penalize you for that. The game would start with you and the NPCs rolling initiative, and we'll continue with this initiative order until you are out of combat (I'll then do my own little mini combat with the NPCs to figure out who lives)
Now, your main goal will be to be the last man standing. This is where the trial aspect of things comes into play. There will be 8 large archways leading out of the central arena. These 8 archways will each lead to a unique labyrinth correlating with the 8 domains. Within each labyrinth will be 2 obelisks. These obelisks will lead to the trials of each deity, though the labyrinths themselves will have plenty of challenges of their own. These trials will be how you level up. Completing a trial will grant you a level. Failing a trial, however, will result in immediate death. Technically, the entire thing is doable without completing any trials, but I will be rolling to see whether NPCs complete trials or not. When one reaches an obelisk, I'll roll an ability check depending on which trial it is. DC 20 for a solo NPC, with the DC decreasing by 5 for any groups that may form, minimum of 5 DC.
Just like with the Hunger Games, you may choose to ride it solo, or you may choose to try and form shaky alliances. While riding solo ensures you won't get stabbed in the back in your sleep, it also means that trials will be a lot more difficult. I will, for the most part, be scaling encounters to your player's level, and taking into account whether they are solo or not when determining encounter difficulty. I will, however, occasionally throw a random labyrinth combat encounter your direction that is going to be a deadly challenge. It's up to you to know when to run and when to fight. You've been warned.
So, if this seems like something you'd be interested in, PM me for more details about character creation specifics. Also, to note, is that I use plenty of homebrew mechanics, such as potions only taking a bonus action to administer to yourself (though they still take an action to administer to someone else). Rather than bog you down with them all, I'll just let you know that the rule of cool trumps the RAW, in my book. This means that yes, I allow things like way of shadow monks shadow stepping with an opponent (though there will be saving throws made to see if they break the grapple) for sick 90 feet in the air Rock Lee moves. If it makes for an epic scene, I say "why not", though within reason. Not gonna let you shoot lasers out of your eyes at an arbitrary range for arbitrary damage just because "technically the rules don't explicitly say that I can't" lol.
Multiclassing will be allowed, however, I will require that you start with 3 out of your 4 levels in a single class to start out, that way you can choose an archetype. It's up to you whether you want to spend your 4th level to get an ability score/feat or whether you want to dip 1 level into another class.
Anywho, if you're interested, shoot me a PM!
Prepare yourself for the trials ahead of you, chosen hero. Emerge a champion and honor your deity, or die as a disgrace to their name.
Last edited:
