#dnd suggestions

Guess who got to the day before Dming once again with absolutely no preparation whatsoever? Okay so heres the deal I’m not even worrying about stats and shit yet im just trying to make a cool story. 

A new player is being added this time so i’m trying to make this one as stunning and descriptive as possible. The gang is looking for revenege against a dwarf who robbed and cheated them. This dwarf has lied and cheated his way to the top of the bandit colony. I already have it set up so that the new player being introduced is an old enemy of this bandit dwarf from childhood, and that the PC has noticed his old foes name getting tossed around a lot. Noting it as odd that he would put himself in a position to lead others when that is out of character, the PC is suspicious of his motivations for doing so and knows he must be plotting something. 

The gang is on their way to intercept this dwarf at a meeting (which they learned about from interrogating a bandit in jail) where they will discover that he is meeting with powerful magic users, mercenaries, and other bandit colonies to convince them to join his cause. 

What does he want to do?

He has encountered a Kitsune living in the material plane, run out from the Feywild for some reason (i have very little knowledge about other realms im just making this up as I go so forgive me if that typically doesnt happen). He barely escaped with his life and was in awe of her incredible beauty and power. He has learned as much as he could about Kitsunes and plans to mount an attack to steal her soul (which for people who don’t know kitsune lore is embodied by a physical pearl like object which can be taken from them). This dwarf promises that if they join him and succeed that they will be unstoppable with her power. (shes a fuckin god basically shes so insanely strong, this is less about her and more about the dwarf, hes the one they want revenge on). 

So heres what im asking. How can i make this as cool as possible? As soon as they said they wanted to hunt down the bandit I was dismayed at the idea of a boring ass bandit camp fight where they just mow down guys because its five level 6 players and even super beefed up bandits are going to be boring. So i’m trying to add some intrigue. What I would love to happen is for my players to help the Kitsune and get into the good graces of an incredibly powerful ally. It would also be visually super dope and impressive because i have a GREAT plan for her. I would like to keep them away from the dwarf somehow until the attack is getting mounted, maybe even have them arrive too late for the meeting and have to track him down and find his forces already heading into her territory. 

What are some cool illusions and Kitsune type things I could have in her territory? I want her to attack and defend herself from the bandits not my players, could there be some way for them to enter as friends? a test to see their intentions? or would they have to avoid traps and charms like the bandits will be forced to. Obviously they can fight some bandits themselves if they want to, maybe even some charmed bandits that turn on their comrades? 

maybe the bad dwarf actually succeeds somehow? traps her and is in the process of trying to bend her to his will when our heroes arrive? If so how do I make him an actual threat to 5 PC characters? the kitsune is way to strong she would kill them, so I need something properly challenging (the last few boss fights have been too easy and im struggling to get the fights to last longer). 

((one of my players is kind of selfish, so im worried that they might try to take the soul stone for themselves. They are way too weak to control a entity like that and it would eventually one way or another turn way bad for the party. It would also be too unbalanced for them to have control over a creature like that. I want to introduce something cool and overpowered to force them to be wary about challenges they cant beat, while finding a way to make sure they dont try and take it themselves.))

so TLDR:

-How do i make a dwarf a big threat to five level 6 PCs?

-What are some cool Kitsune themed traps and enchatments and obstacles i can dot through her territory?

-What are some dope visual inspirations for a Kitsune’s forest? maybe not a forest maybe rocky crags and still lakes? What tickles your imagination with this concept?

- any ideas or inspiration at all? Fae trickster traps and spooky songs and stuff maybe?

- for context, the kitsune in this scenario will look different than traditional kitsunes. Its a massive 15ft tall fox with pure white fur and nine tails. Where its face would be is a hollow space, like a porcelian figurine with the head carefully removed, revealing the inside to be hollow in a way or at least appear to be. Floating over the empty space and suspended would be a porcelain mask shaped like the long face of a fox. It’s mouth would be hinged so it could silently open and close and it would have glowing gold lights in the eye sockets. It’s gorgeous and terrifying 

loosely inspired by the spirits and sages from Twilight princess

I thought I would inspire any homebrewers to make some items that carries a curse in return for grand power. So I came up with some names for items that clearly not cursed... probably... maybe...

Mask of the Blue Oni

The Searing Dagger

Harpoon and Chain of the Sunken

Jaded Harp of Horrors 

Alluring Cloak

Boots of the Gambler

Fool’s Coin

Versin’s Spellbook of Arcane Disease

Breastplate of Judgement

Flute of the Lycan

Helmstriker (Sword)

Belt of the Parasite

Jug of the Nercomaner

Bomb belt of Cloudkill

Cockatrice Whip

Aberrant Boots

The Pulsing Heart Gem

Broken Hammer of the Artificer

Orb of Whispers

Eye of the Dreadnought

Mage Bane (Wand)

Chain of the Headhunter

Versin’s Encrusted nacklace of the Rattus

Labnotes on the Homonculus

Journal of the Executioner

Pidlwick’s Stiching Sickle

Black rose of the Dryads

Crossbow of the Assassin

Burnt Branch of the World Tree

Goggles of Truly Seeing

To start with, without their good lives to compare to, all of the Dark And Angsty character's backstories wouldn't hit half as hard. If everyone's life is shit, you stop really taking in just how shit that is. It just becomes the norm. Characters with actual normal lives help make sure others' messed up backstories land twice as harshly by setting the norm and showing them what they've missed out on/what could have been and they're so fucking valid bc of that

Besides that though, happy characters also tend to actually be the saddest in their own right because like?? Their issues tend to get swept under the rug when it comes to comparing them with the Angst™ characters. Oh, what's that, sometimes you feel like a terrible person because your parents were always there to support you and you feel that by going out and adventuring instead of staying home and supporting them in their old age you're being selfish, even though they insist that it's fine? Well SHARON at least you HAVE parents, MINE were BRUTALLY MURDERED when I was STILL IN THE WOMB. Opening up about the flaws in their relatively good lives to characters whose lives were literal hell could make the happy characters feel like their problems are trivial and even lead to them bottling things up-- which if played right can be even more angsty than anything the dark character's players could dream of conjuring up

At the end of the day, characters with pretty good lives have so much potential, and in my eyes are such essential parts of DnD campaigns (not to say angsty characters aren't, of course!). And always remember that technically your backstory doesn't even have to define shit. Your character could have the best family on the planet, have little to no complaints about anything in their past, and still be the most interesting when pitted against the other Doom N Gloom character because of how you play them. Backstories don't have to define a character-- how you play them does.

Ah you have a player who doesnt do encounters? well, theres a couple ways you can handle it, probably by weaving in a story element or character trait that explains why they take a backseat. A character with brittle bone disease who chooses not to fight but engage in social encounters instead perhaps, although do be mindful about how you or your players portray real world diseases. A fantasy alternative may be more appropriate.

A character whose bloodline is cursed with a type of lycanthropy where if their heart-rate raises above a certain point they start to turn into a monster, so its on them to constantly monitor that and proposes an interesting challenge to your players, like  ‘be careful on this hike, lighten their load a little bit they are starting to sweat, how you doing pal? ‘. Maybe once or twice on a constitution saving throw when the you think “I dunno you were getting pretty upset, roll for it” they actually DO turn into a monster, and your other players have to subdue them without hurting them, or the monster goes on a rampage that the DM controls. 

A character whose hyper sensitive to the sounds of clashing metal and has to keep a distance but provides valuable support in other ways. 

A character with a curse that states if they ever drawn blood in another the same wound will appear on their own body, this curse cannot be broken within their lifetime, but perhaps they quest to free their children from it. This could come up in an interesting way if the character had a role like a surgeon, where they are forced to make these heart-pounding choices. Make the cut and feel it too, or we lose this guy. It would be an interesting consequence to natural 1′s for this player, if their mistakes lead to them accidentally hurting a party member, and they immediately start bleeding in the same place and revealing their circumstance to everyone else when it was previously a secret. 

The worst case of face-blindness anyone has ever had to deal with, and in the heat of the moment the player notoriously cannot sort out friend from foe and keeps taking swings at the wrong guys, so they’ve been permanently benched by their companions for safety reasons. 

Building this character, you would obviously want the lowest charisma possible which breaks the bard’s typical role of being the face of the party. This would allow other charisma based classes to synergize well with the “Anti-bard”. The anti-bard would be able to be built for many different niches or as an all rounder (Tank bard? Bardcher?). You could also multiclass much easier with things like Barbarians, fighters, and wizards. Give your Barbarian an AOE attack to hit things at range. Give your wizard another option BESIDES FUCKING FIREBALL!

Spells exclusive to the “Anti-bard” would mostly be stuff like dreadful performance where it can apply fear to a target or group of targets in a certain area, and the ability to throw your voice to make it sound like it’s coming from somewhere else. There would of course be general bard spells like inspire and vicious mockery. Maybe actually make this a dps/debuffer subclass for a supportive class. It focuses almost only on damage and cc/debuffs potentially at the cost of an inspiration die.