Need help with my BBEG fight

[Ilium]

So the PCs in my group will probably confront the BBEG in our next game session (tomorrow night). The confrontation will take place inside a cave, but the layout/details of the cave are completely unknown. I'd like to lay it out in such a way as to encourage lots of swashbuckly goodness (I finally went to see Pirates of the Caribbean 3 last night...).

A little background: In hoary RPG tradition, the bad guy is trying to free an evil god to bring darkness and tyranny to the world..yada yada. The cave in question gives access to the place where the god is imprisoned. The BBEG will have already done what he needs to do to free the god before the PCs get there. He just needs to hold them off long enough for the stars to come into alignment and free the god. The PCs can stop this by removing a set of (artifact) keys from the "lock" holding the god in place. Since this place (called the Way of Oblivion because it leads to this god's "oblivion") was created artificially, it can be as funky as I want.

So what I'm looking for is (preferably) a free or inexpensive download that has a really cool, fully-enclosed area map big enough to allow large or even huge creature(s), lots of places to swing/jump/climb/etc. for tactical advantage. Barring that, any suggestions on what I might include in a home-grown map are also welcome.

Thanks.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'd look for a map of a smuggler's cave or the like. You want crated up stuff that he needed to reawaken his god, complete with ropes dangling from lots of pullies. You want characters on different levels (particularly those with ranged attacks), you want characters swinging on ropes to snatch McGuffins from each other, and so on. Wet barrels laying on their sides (suitable for rolling) optional.

 

[Ilium]

Thanks, Whizbang. That's the kind of stuff I'm looking for. This particular cave wouldn't generally have lots of "stuff" in it (it's inaccessible to most people because the entrance is 100 feet up in a rock face) but the levels, ropes and pulleys would give the kind of movement opportunities I'm looking for. I'll have to come up with a good rationale for their presence.

Ah! Got it. The "lock" was previously buried in a partial cave-in. So our villain gated in a bunch of demonic flunkies to excavate it (this is within his abilities). They, in turn, created the all the equipment and scaffolds, etc. to hoist the rocks out of the cave. I'm picturing a hard resinous secretion like in the movie Aliens.

Actually this works out because it gives me two things I was a little worried about:

1) A way to delay the bad guy (since he is about a day ahead of the PCs)
2) A reason for there to be a bunch of demonic flunkies hanging out with him.

It would be great if such a map already existed, though. Any suggestions from anyone?

 

[Darklone]

I'd put the wreck of an old ship in there, mast broken and ropes hanging around the whole cave, then add some barrels of gunpowder, a few makeshift ways consisting of shaking planks of wood.

That way the bad guy has problems to ship his equipment into the cave and loses a lot of time having all his chests and sacrificial victims transported inside.

Don't forget the undead pirate zombies underwater. And add one of two ice demons.

Which level are we talking about?

 

[SteelDraco]

I'd make the place either a giant locking mechanism itself (some kind of large system of gears, magical assemblies, or other such stuff), or a giant planar orrery. If the planes have to line up just right, something like that would be interesting. What you want is stuff moving around, different levels, and a reason to keep everything active. Dodging moving parts, jumping from platform to platform, and dealing with minions all around is a good way to make a battle entertaining.

As to finding a map, I've generally found going through old issues of Dungeon to be the best way to find a good map.

 

[Ilium]

I'd put the wreck of an old ship in there, mast broken and ropes hanging around the whole cave, then add some barrels of gunpowder, a few makeshift ways consisting of shaking planks of wood.

That way the bad guy has problems to ship his equipment into the cave and loses a lot of time having all his chests and sacrificial victims transported inside.

Don't forget the undead pirate zombies underwater. And add one of two ice demons.

Which level are we talking about?

While I'm going for a swashbuckling style of combat, the game isn't actually nautical. And the cave is hundreds of miles from the sea.

I like the planking and Ice demons, though. And (if I understand your question correctly) the PCs are 11th level, but they are seriously un-optimized. Assume 9th-10th level abilities for most things.

SteelDraco: I really like the idea of the moving parts of a giant mechanism. I'm not sure how I would do that, though. I'll have to think on it. There will definitely be lots of flunkies running around, though. I'm picturing a large number of real mooks (that the PCs can take out in a single round each) plus some tougher opponents about equal to the PCs in number. All that is in addition to the BBEG, of course. The mooks can gang up on a single PC, try to Bull Rush him off a high place, or grapple him down, etc.

 

[exile]

Even if there is no nautical theme, you can place the locking mechanism/prison on a small island surrounded by an underground lake. Forget the undead pirates, but pack the place with the animated corpses of sacrifice victims whose bodies were discarded into the lake. I think that's pretty creepy.

A lake like that also gives you reason to have ropes, pulleys, etc. What with the excavation, one must have a way of moving the rock, dirt, and other debris away from the vault/prison/locking mechanism and over the water.

Chad

 

[darthkilmor]

What about having gravity act very odd in the cave. People can walk on the walls, with a good jump can move from floor to ceiling no problem, stuff like that. Esp if a god is about to get released, maybe other odd things start happening, say a AMF shows up suddenly and randomly moves around. Lighting bolts start arcing eveywhere. Maybe in one area time slows down dramatically, and speeds up in another, etc.

 

[Ilium]

Good stuff, all! Hmm. How about stepping stones or a thin causeway over the water? With the obligatory dangerous fish or other critters (or the afrementioned undead) in the water? I'm gettin' fired up!

 

[Quartz]

Stalagmites, stalactites, and pillars where the two have met.

Funky glowing rocks (actually plutonium equivalent). Zap one with a lightning bolt and you get a modest explosion and poison gas from a failed reaction; put a whole bunch ofrocks together and at least your PCs will go out with a bang.