This room consists of a catwalk stretching over a stepped floor, the center being the deepest. Glass pillars filled with flaming lava reach to the ceiling. Basins filled with lava bubble at the top and bottom center of the room.

This delve is all about dealing maximum damage as quickly as possible. The fight consists of multiple phases, triggered by the first character to step into the center circle.

Each round, more and more columns shatter, releasing the demons trapped inside. If the players don't burn them down fast enough, they'll quickly become overwhelmed. When they become bloodied,Hearth Terrors close with as many enemies as possible, since when they reach 0 hit points, they explode, dealing area damage.

16 Hearth Terrors

Map

The party approaches a locked door (A), which resists attempts to break it down. Set an appropriately difficult challenge rating to get the door open only after a few rounds. You might accomplish this with a skill challenge consisting of brute force and attempts to pick the lock.

While the party attempts to get the door open, they hear a woman screaming, who is obviously in pain. This serves as a reason for them to hurry, which will likely result in them being less careful than they should be.

Once the door is opened, the party sees a room lit by glass pillars (E) with lava in the center and the reflected light of the lava basins (F).

With a passive perception roll of 25, a character will notice that there are fire demons inside the pillars (E).

In the center of the catwalk is a circular area (C), where a woman is tied to a stone altar. A trickle of blood runs down the side of the altar and she appears to be bleeding to death. Time is of the essence, encouraging the players to rush to her aid. The woman will die in 10 rounds if her wounds are not bound. You may want to work her into your story. Perhaps she has key information the party needs in order to continue their quest.

When any player reaches the circular area of the catwalk (C), a stone slab drops behind the entrance door, trapping them. The stairs (B) and catwalk connecting it to the circular area (C), drop away to the same levels of the terraced floor beneath them. When this happens, anyone standing on the stairs must save or take 2d6 damage from falling.

1. Entrance Door
2. Stairs to Catwalk
3. Circular Catwalk Center
4. Exit Door
5. Lava-Filled Glass Pillars
6. Lava Fonts
7. Stepped Floor

Hearth Terror
Initiative +12 Perception +10
HP: 90; Bloodied: 45
AC: 19; Fortitude 20, Reflex16, Will 17
Speed 6
Resist Fire: 10
Vulnerable to Cold: 5

This fight is a damage race. Each round, two glass columns will shatter, releasing another pair of Hearth Terrors, which will immediately attack. Damage must be focused or a party will quickly be overwhelmed.

The challenge is to deal as much damage to single targets as possible, while avoiding bunching up, since Hearth Terrors explode when they reach 0 hit points or lower.

Flowing Lava

If a character falls into the lava, begins thier turn in the lava, or ends their turn in the lava, they take 2d12 fire damage.

Staired Floor

The floor is terraced, such that it's deepest at the middle of the room and gets shallower as it nears the east and west walls. Lava fills one level before spilling over and filling the next level, limiting movement options and splitting up the room as the encounter progresses.

When no character is standing on any area other than the circular area (C) or the landing near the far door (B), the bottom tier of the floor swings open and the lava drains out of the room at the rate of one floor tier which has been filled with lava per round. For example, if the bottom three tiers of the floor have been filled with lava, it will take three rounds for the lava to drain completely from the room. The stone block behind the far door (B) will raise, such that one can get through the door.

Larger Groups

If your group is larger, you may want to either add more Hearth Terrors per pillar or you may want to increase their level, raising their hit points and other abilities. You could also increase the number of columns that shatter per round.

Quest Giver

The woman in the circular area (C) may provide clues, give an item to the party, or otherwise lead them towards the next step of a larger adventure.