Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Arithian 01-04-08, 01:17 PM	Hey everyone, I really need you all's help. I have to run 2 solo adventures this weekend. They are both a part of my overall campaign. Each of the players in my group are getting the opportunity to each have a series of solo adventures that further develops their characters in line with their visions for their characters. Anyway I have to do 2 this weekend. These are the last 2 before the group comes back together. I already have one of them pretty much done but I need help with this one. Trials of the Gatekeeper: One of the PC's is a Gatekeeper Druid: Aspirant Level. They are about to be promoted to Initiate Level; You know learning the deeper mysteries of the Gatekeeper Tradition - Learning how to use the Observatory's....etc...etc. This particular PC is currently in Sharn with an old Gatekeeper in the Gatehouse located in Skysedge, having been sent there to continue her training. The journey to Sharn was with the whole group, and they split up for their solo adventures from there. What I need help with is some ideas on Gatekeeper Trials. How would each of you run an adventure like this and what things would you do as trials and rites of passage?
naturax 01-04-08, 01:29 PM	I'd force the player to make a really hard choice, something along the lines of sacrificing someone innocent in order to prevent corruption from aberrations. The Gatekeepers have a sacred duty to keep the Daelkyr at bay, or else it will literally be the end of the world, so I think they would trust their secrets only to the most dedicated aspirants.
Jabberwocky888 01-04-08, 02:53 PM	Hmm, I'd say that a part of Naturax's trial should be showing compassion and mourning for the sacrificed victim, too. If the candidate makes this decision too eagerly without feeling the burden of such a choice, he/she would be too prone to corruption. A Gatekeeper has to act quickly, often harshly and without hesitation but he/she must be still very human inside and know the terrible price.
naturax 01-04-08, 04:00 PM	Hmm, I'd say that a part of Naturax's trial should be showing compassion and mourning for the sacrificed victim, too. If the candidate makes this decision too eagerly without feeling the burden of such a choice, he/she would be too prone to corruption. A Gatekeeper has to act quickly, often harshly and without hesitation but he/she must be still very human inside and know the terrible price. That's excellent! They are, after all, protecting the world out of compassion.
Arithian 01-04-08, 08:42 PM	How would each of you go about accomplishing this. How can one have an innocent victim that is responsible for releasing abberations. Also why would the Gatekeeper have to kill this person as opposed to merely immobilizing them? I like the concept of "moral dilemma" but I need some further clarification. Please elaborate.
Arithian 01-05-08, 10:07 AM	I could still use some help. Where is everybody? :confused: I am like literally the only one on this forum right now. Wsup? These forums have never been this thin. Did I miss something?
Qmark 01-05-08, 10:09 AM	http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=853440
pmurray@bigpond.com 01-06-08, 12:53 AM	May be a little late, but how about this: An innocent gets posessed by some sort of minor baddie from Xoriat (major baddies cannot get through the wards). I think BoVD has posession rules. This baddie is bad - she (yes, of course a she!) has woken up in the morning with her hands covered in blood from killing animals in her sleep (a little "Ginne Weasley", but what are you going to do). She comes to the gatekeepers for help. They determine that she must undergo a procedure to be freed ... but this procedure kills most people who undergo it (if that bothers you - maybe it's her fault for getting posessed in the first place. Maybe she fooled around with a Ouija board at a sleepover at a friend's place). The PC must transport the captive from A to B and hand her over to be treated - probably fatally. Chick does not want to be treated, begs for release "I'll run away and never be a threat to anyone". There are some encounters along the way. No big dungeons, because the captive is chained to her horse. In one of them, the PC discovers an item that will suppress the effects of these types of posessions for as long as it is worn - potentially forever. (It's a very minor item, as the baddie is a very minor baddie). Captive swears that she will wear it forever and wants to be let go. What does the PC do? Releasing the captive is a FAIL. A gatekeeper will not allow Xoriat baddies to wander about, even if supressed by some magic item Whose to say that the item really does work as advertised? How can the PC be sure that she will aways wear it? If she wears it for the rest of her life and dies of old age ... what then? More importantly, the PC will have failed a very specific (and simple) mission it is not the PC's decision to make Cut scene: "So you decided to release her rather than bring her here for us to examine. Why? Because you feared we might wrong her? Well, If you doubt our wisdom or our compassion so gravely, why do you wish to be one of us?" (the magic item, lets say, is simply a periapt of wisdom +2. The people who left it behind thought it cured cuzin Bubba's madness, when in fact all it did was boost his saving throw enough to make a difference.) You need a back-up plan, should the player make a wrong choice. Or maybe the PC can become a gatekeeper *in fact*, without having the title to go with it. After running into gatekeepers at every turn and participating in defeating aberrations, maybe they finally will relent and accept the PC as one of their own. A few levels on, of course.
Arithian 01-06-08, 01:26 AM	May be a little late, but how about this: An innocent gets posessed by some sort of minor baddie from Xoriat (major baddies cannot get through the wards). I think BoVD has posession rules. This baddie is bad - she (yes, of course a she!) has woken up in the morning with her hands covered in blood from killing animals in her sleep (a little "Ginne Weasley", but what are you going to do). She comes to the gatekeepers for help. They determine that she must undergo a procedure to be freed ... but this procedure kills most people who undergo it (if that bothers you - maybe it's her fault for getting posessed in the first place. Maybe she fooled around with a Ouija board at a sleepover at a friend's place). The PC must transport the captive from A to B and hand her over to be treated - probably fatally. Chick does not want to be treated, begs for release "I'll run away and never be a threat to anyone". There are some encounters along the way. No big dungeons, because the captive is chained to her horse. In one of them, the PC discovers an item that will suppress the effects of these types of posessions for as long as it is worn - potentially forever. (It's a very minor item, as the baddie is a very minor baddie). Captive swears that she will wear it forever and wants to be let go. What does the PC do? Releasing the captive is a FAIL. A gatekeeper will not allow Xoriat baddies to wander about, even if supressed by some magic item Whose to say that the item really does work as advertised? How can the PC be sure that she will aways wear it? If she wears it for the rest of her life and dies of old age ... what then? More importantly, the PC will have failed a very specific (and simple) mission it is not the PC's decision to make Cut scene: "So you decided to release her rather than bring her here for us to examine. Why? Because you feared we might wrong her? Well, If you doubt our wisdom or our compassion so gravely, why do you wish to be one of us?" You need a back-up plan, should the player make a wrong choice. Or maybe the PC can become a gatekeeper *in fact*, without having the title to go with it. After running into gatekeepers at every turn and participating in defeating aberrations, maybe they finally will relent and accept the PC as one of their own. A few levels on, of course. Hmm... Tasty...:) I like this idea. I actually came up with a very similar idea; neccessity is the mother of invention. :) When I didnt get any further responses I had to come up with something and as I was driving from the first game to the next it all kind of came together for me. But it just so happens you are not too late afterall because I actually resceduled this particular session. We are going to do it on either Monday or Tuesday which gives me a few more days to work on it.
pmurray@bigpond.com 01-06-08, 02:05 AM	But it just so happens you are not too late afterall because I actually resceduled this particular session. We are going to do it on either Monday or Tuesday which gives me a few more days to work on it. let me know how it went. I'm watching subscribed to this thread. The magic item (I edited the other post and suggested that it simply be a periapt of wisdom +2) needs to be in a dungeon of some sort - even if it's just an abandoned farmhouse. How to get the PC in there? Prisoner kidnapped by a couple of goblins dring the night? After dealing with the goblins (and the small monstrous spiders :) ) the pc can find the periapt in the old farmhouse accompanied by a letter describing how it cured someone's madness. The point being that it isnt really a "cure madness" item, it simply boosted someone's will save a little. If the player does release the prisoner, you can bring her back as a recurring villian. Perhaps she becomes a cleric (or Favoured Soul) of the Dragon Below, with domains Madness and Death. "Thankyou for releasing me, now prepare to die!"