Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Kensan_Oni 08-30-07, 01:41 AM	In my Pirate game, my players have decided that the next piece of the staff of storms they're going after is going to be a peice located on the westernmost isle off the coast of Farlnen. The peice itself is located somewhere inside an abandonded city. It's an elven city, that was one of the strongholds of the House of the Mark of Death. The city was invaded, and whoever didn't get out was killed, down to the last man woman and child. The city is pratically is deserted, except by the insane, the necromancers of the blood of vol, and the undead that can not get warm, even if they sit in the middle of a fire. Now, I got an idea on where the artifact piece is, and I got some basic encounters, but I would like suggestions for encounters. The party will consist of about 6-8 players depending on the day, built up as so... 3rd level Dwarven Fighter (Favored in House Kundarack) 3rd level Bard 3rd level Human Warlock 3rd level Halfling Rogue 2/1st level Changling Cleric/Wizard 2/1st level Elven Ranger/Wizard 2/1st level Human Cleric/Swashbuckler 2/1st level Swashbuckeler/Rogue They won't be staying that level for long. They are right on the edge of 4th level. In anycase, the city is in near-arctic conditions, and encounter ideas that involve lone abandonded survivors from the War of the Mark should be elven. So, in anycase, any ideas would be cool. Thank you.
DrunkMonk 08-30-07, 02:18 AM	Perhaps the characters can work their way through the wandering undead and evil critters to a building where they gain access to a section of a building that has been undisturbed for a very long time. Give them a chance to step backwards to before the House of Vol was destroyed. Give them images of elven heroes standing shoulder to shoulder with the other historical elven heroes. Fighting the descending hordes of villainous dragons, Vol wizards and heroes with the Mark of Death fighting to protect their race from extinction. Maybe even give them hints about what powers may have been part of the mark of death, showing dragons suffering those effects. Vol house leaders portrayed as noble and heroic might be a nice change of pace. Anyway, as to encounters for your guys – they are not high enough to face a lot of powerful undead or NPC spellcasters, so maybe a more peaceful contact? Have them find an elf in stasis. Make him a young elven bard that placed himself in long term freeze to avoid being destroyed with the rest of his house. He was a member of the House of Vol that survived the purge this entire time. Make him a plot hook to get the piece of the staff. Maybe he knows the city layout really well and could be a guide (granted an out of date one). I will think more on this, right now I have to go DM
OctaviusIII 08-30-07, 04:02 AM	Oooo, I like the idea of the guide, mostly because you can mess with him later. Let's say he guides you through the ruins, then finds out how far his sister Vol, Erandis, has fallen from nobility. Meanwhile, he has a Siberys Mark of Death (or something), and Erandis wants it. Fun times. Anyway, enough of that. Put the city on top of a Mabar manifest zone and give the party a scare with a Nightstalker, which either a) doesn't notice them, or b) is defeated somehow by the guide. Anyway, they mostly should stumble upon traps and old skeletons. One item they find should do what DrunkMonk suggested: give them a picture of the fall of the stronghold.
Vharuck 08-30-07, 11:04 AM	Do you have Libris Mortis? It might help, but if I remember correctly most of the new undead are aimed at mid to high level PCs. Also, think of traps. I'd say that, for an island used by elf necromancers, it would have a decent amount of magic traps. Some may be hidden, but keep these weak so that the rogue can detect them and maybe disable them (at least bypass them). An example could be a plot of earth that, when stepped on by a sufficiently heavy character, reveals itself to have a buried zombie who grabs the characters around the ankles (grapple and trip checks, maybe) while it clambers out of the soil over a few rounds. However, you can make others more powerful but less TPK-inducing by making them more obvious. A spiked gauntlet suspended from the ceiling by a chain could activate once any living character who does not speak the password comes within striking distance. Each round, it attacks the closest target and deals damage like a normal spiked gauntlet but also hits the target with a chill touch (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/chillTouch.htm). Actually, that wouldn't even be powerful if it were a hidden trap. It just popped in my head and I thought it would be neat. I guess a conspicuous magic trap that's more powerful could be a narrow hallway lined on both sides with statues of rearing dragons whose maws are open wide. The section of wall directly opposite each statue is scorched black, making it obvious that these aren't decorative statues. The hallway then becomes a planned encounter to somehow get by the statues unharmed.
Vharuck 08-30-07, 11:08 AM	Oooo, I like the idea of the guide, mostly because you can mess with him later. Let's say he guides you through the ruins, then finds out how far his sister Vol, Erandis, has fallen from nobility. Meanwhile, he has a Siberys Mark of Death (or something), and Erandis wants it. Fun times. Anyway, enough of that. Put the city on top of a Mabar manifest zone and give the party a scare with a Nightstalker, which either a) doesn't notice them, or b) is defeated somehow by the guide. Anyway, they mostly should stumble upon traps and old skeletons. One item they find should do what DrunkMonk suggested: give them a picture of the fall of the stronghold. I'd avoid having the guide defeat it. It's Deus ex Machina, and will inspire dissapointment in the players more than awe. Simply having it walk by and not even care to look at them would work. Just make sure the players keep thinking they're the tough guys on their side.