Ideas for abandoned estate....please help! [Archive] - Wizards Community

Ideas for abandoned estate....please help! [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
DMSkippy099
09-10-04, 05:23 AM Hello all!

So in my Eberron game, my 6th lvl PCs have just learned that one of the PCs is the heir to an estate in the countryside north of Sharn.

Background:

Half Orc monk (Dank) grew up in the Shadow Marches because he was sent there shortly after his birth by his "image conscious" wealthy human merchant family. He never knew anything of them!
Twenty years later he was asked to come to Sharn by request from a high ranking House Denieth Rep. House Denieth was charged with bringing a BlackGuard who was once a respected Paladin back to the light. This Blackguard is Dank's half brother, that is why Denieth brought him back. The group helped Dank do some research on the family, and found they were all pretty horrible people by nature, except the Paladin bro. (Paladin bro did not want the family to send Dank away.)
The most evil member of the family was the sister who was in charge of the family's country manor. Right when the Paladin brother went bad,(15 years ago) he went to the estate and murdered his sister for unknown reasons. The estate has been empty since, and now belongs to Dank and his brother( who was saved from his evil state{possessed!})

Now my request for help:

My PCs are expecting the place to be haunted by dead sister's ghost, which is cool and I do want to incorporate, but this is Eberron, and I want there to be some kind of twist. Does anyone have any cool ideas for some other inhabitant/s of this estate that the PCs won't expect? I want there to be some exploration and fighting but I want it to be different.

Thanx in advance!

Skippy
Splendide
09-10-04, 06:09 AM Well the obvious twist would be that when he went bad, she came good. and then got killed by her evil brother for her troubles.

I dare say you'd go back have a somewhat negative view of things if that happened to you (well, assuming you lived beyond death).
the shaderaven
09-10-04, 06:51 AM Well, what if his sister was actually an Inspired. Maybe now, after her dead the manor is inahabited by agents of the Dreaming Dark, who are preparring a new empty vessel for the Quori that once inhabited the paladin's sister. If the agents of the dreaming dark are the first to become aware of the PCs resence they can easily understand with their detect thoughts power that the intruders are expecting an encounter with a ghost and use that to their advantage. Tasucora Quori (CR 7) and its empty vessel (CR 5) can make for a very good Final Encounter. Have them first fight separated, then retreat and merge together and when they slay the Inspired the Quori spirit shall arise for a final battle with the exhausted PCs, before being banished to Dal Quor. And of course if the sister was a spellcaster the mantor itself can be filled with all kinds of living spells. But than again - I am new to Eberron so maybe someone else can offer a better suggestion.
Lara Flynn
09-10-04, 07:23 AM To battle the quori itself, the PCs would have to go to Dal'Quor. Not that easy.

Anyway the idea that the sister is good and the brother evil has something of a twist. Reminds me of stone dogs idea of a LG Lobster.
Perhaps sis is a ghost right now and folks are trying to bring her to death eternally. But she just wants to warn the group that evil bro is about bringing back the devil who possessed him, because he actually loved to be possessed. But to do that he needs the help of the adventurers, as they shall serve as focus for his evil spell to create a gate - enabling the devil to return from wherever the PCs send him to.
And to do that bro prepares ambushes which seem to come from sis (maybe he seeks help from his allies [necromancer, maybe Emerald Claw pawns] and makes the backyard appear to be a place where zombies and skeletons now live, while the cellar seems to be the place where lil' sis lives together with her evil ghost minions. But of course the cellar just holds the evil machine which needs the PCs essence to create the gate and that's why bro killed his sis, because he needed her soul.

Will the PCs find out soon enough?
MarkB
09-10-04, 09:45 AM Have you seen the Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 2 episode I Only Have Eyes For You, featuring the ghost of a teacher and pupil haunting Sunnydale High School? You could do something along those lines.

Have multiple ghosts appear in the manor at night, but at first they're completely oblivious of the party, simply retracing their actions on the fateful night when the paladin killed the sister. The longer the party remain in the mansion, and the more closely they watch the intermittently-visible ghosts, the more they learn of what really happened that night - but also, the more aware the ghosts become of living beings intruding upon them, and they start to retaliate both directly and through indirect poltergeist activity.

If the party attack them directly, they find that each time they inflict damage on a ghost, the entire manor shudders and groans - there's a spiritual link between the ghosts and the building they haunt, and destroying them directly will literally bring the house down.

There are two main ways to remove the ghosts while leaving the estate intact. Either the party can learn, through observation and/or by finding some way to communicate with the ghosts, just what really happened, and figure out from there what can be done to let the ghosts rest, or else they can perform a complex and dangerous exorcism procedure which will force the ghosts to move on (or perhaps only sever their connection to the house, allowing them to be safely destroyed).

Make the truth behind the events something that affects Dank through his connection to the family, so that if they take the quicker path of exorcisim instead of investigating the matter and laying the ghosts to rest properly, then Dank loses out on getting advance warning of something that'll come back to bite him some time in the future.
LuciafSlayer
09-10-04, 10:33 AM I like the idea of the ghosts re-enacting the night they were murdered by the Paladin brother. This could lead to not only the sister's ghost appearing, but another ghost, whom the pc's must figure out the identity of. I would have it be a priest of a Dragon below cult. That night they were going to summon a powerful "demon" up into Eberron, but the brother arrived, and tried to stop his sister. The demon took posession of the brother, and murdered the two.

As the PC's explore the lower levels of the house they could find a passage way into Khyber. Further in could be a cabal of dasterdly monsters that were trapped there by the sister and the priest. And as the pc's discover more, it becomes apparent that after the murders these monsters brought the corpses into a chamber and performed dark rituals to keep their ghosts trapped to the house to suffer for eternity. So the pc's will decide if it's worth sending the spirits of this evil sister and priest to Dolurrh, so they can finally rest. Or let them suffer, doomed to be murdered every night. Moral decisions can be an interesting twist, especially for the two brothers.
Hanuman47
09-10-04, 11:06 AM Well, there's always the old “Scooby Doo” approach - the old homestead isn't really haunted, but someone's trying awfully hard (perhaps with unusual pets, strange devices, or illusory and other magical effects, or all of the above) to make it seem to be. Some possible culprits:
* Treasure hunters following up stories that a well-known mcguffin, er, artifact, was a family heirloom have cooked up the "haunting" to allow them to search in peace. The PCs can try to join them, fight them off, or turn their schemes against them.
* Agents of the Trust are using the place as a safe house. If the PCs find out the truth, they may be offered the choice of working for the Trust or waking up with a severe case of the deads.
* A bumbling necromancer wannabe has heard the stories of haunting, and has always wanted a ghost of his very own. Perhaps his attempts to summon and bind it have called up something far worse...
* Sister is still very much alive and has a very warm welcome prepared for her estranged brothers.

Other possibilities:

Combine any or all of the above.
Sister really is a ghost, plus any or all of the above.
Saurenda
09-10-04, 11:12 AM Make the ghost of the sister a level 5 sorceror 3 levels of ghost template. Have her fight the PCs on the first night. If they do not put her soul to rest afterwards she'll let more information go each night till after three nights she finally devuldges what happened. She may ask her brother for revenge and that where things can become more interesting.

Have Dank make a will save versus possession if he refuses. Now you have a level 4 sorceress in a level 6 monk body. Have Dank if he fails the roll immediately go after the brother not eating or sleeping until he kill the blackguard, who happens to not be a blackguard at all. The brother could have merely constructed the disguise to justifiy the killing in his mind. Much like in "To kill a mocking bird" that man who hung out with the african americans and was completely white put a brown paper bag over his coca cola to make it seem like he was a drunk, and didn't know any better rather than letting people know it was his own decision. Sometimes people need ot have a reason.

Depending on the possession or resistance, the brother maybe able, or if there is a cleric, to exercise the ghost from Dank.

Hope this helps a bit.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
DMSkippy099 09-10-04, 05:23 AM	Hello all! So in my Eberron game, my 6th lvl PCs have just learned that one of the PCs is the heir to an estate in the countryside north of Sharn. Background: Half Orc monk (Dank) grew up in the Shadow Marches because he was sent there shortly after his birth by his "image conscious" wealthy human merchant family. He never knew anything of them! Twenty years later he was asked to come to Sharn by request from a high ranking House Denieth Rep. House Denieth was charged with bringing a BlackGuard who was once a respected Paladin back to the light. This Blackguard is Dank's half brother, that is why Denieth brought him back. The group helped Dank do some research on the family, and found they were all pretty horrible people by nature, except the Paladin bro. (Paladin bro did not want the family to send Dank away.) The most evil member of the family was the sister who was in charge of the family's country manor. Right when the Paladin brother went bad,(15 years ago) he went to the estate and murdered his sister for unknown reasons. The estate has been empty since, and now belongs to Dank and his brother( who was saved from his evil state{possessed!}) Now my request for help: My PCs are expecting the place to be haunted by dead sister's ghost, which is cool and I do want to incorporate, but this is Eberron, and I want there to be some kind of twist. Does anyone have any cool ideas for some other inhabitant/s of this estate that the PCs won't expect? I want there to be some exploration and fighting but I want it to be different. Thanx in advance! Skippy
Splendide 09-10-04, 06:09 AM	Well the obvious twist would be that when he went bad, she came good. and then got killed by her evil brother for her troubles. I dare say you'd go back have a somewhat negative view of things if that happened to you (well, assuming you lived beyond death).
the shaderaven 09-10-04, 06:51 AM	Well, what if his sister was actually an Inspired. Maybe now, after her dead the manor is inahabited by agents of the Dreaming Dark, who are preparring a new empty vessel for the Quori that once inhabited the paladin's sister. If the agents of the dreaming dark are the first to become aware of the PCs resence they can easily understand with their detect thoughts power that the intruders are expecting an encounter with a ghost and use that to their advantage. Tasucora Quori (CR 7) and its empty vessel (CR 5) can make for a very good Final Encounter. Have them first fight separated, then retreat and merge together and when they slay the Inspired the Quori spirit shall arise for a final battle with the exhausted PCs, before being banished to Dal Quor. And of course if the sister was a spellcaster the mantor itself can be filled with all kinds of living spells. But than again - I am new to Eberron so maybe someone else can offer a better suggestion.
Lara Flynn 09-10-04, 07:23 AM	To battle the quori itself, the PCs would have to go to Dal'Quor. Not that easy. Anyway the idea that the sister is good and the brother evil has something of a twist. Reminds me of stone dogs idea of a LG Lobster. Perhaps sis is a ghost right now and folks are trying to bring her to death eternally. But she just wants to warn the group that evil bro is about bringing back the devil who possessed him, because he actually loved to be possessed. But to do that he needs the help of the adventurers, as they shall serve as focus for his evil spell to create a gate - enabling the devil to return from wherever the PCs send him to. And to do that bro prepares ambushes which seem to come from sis (maybe he seeks help from his allies [necromancer, maybe Emerald Claw pawns] and makes the backyard appear to be a place where zombies and skeletons now live, while the cellar seems to be the place where lil' sis lives together with her evil ghost minions. But of course the cellar just holds the evil machine which needs the PCs essence to create the gate and that's why bro killed his sis, because he needed her soul. Will the PCs find out soon enough?
MarkB 09-10-04, 09:45 AM	Have you seen the Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 2 episode I Only Have Eyes For You, featuring the ghost of a teacher and pupil haunting Sunnydale High School? You could do something along those lines. Have multiple ghosts appear in the manor at night, but at first they're completely oblivious of the party, simply retracing their actions on the fateful night when the paladin killed the sister. The longer the party remain in the mansion, and the more closely they watch the intermittently-visible ghosts, the more they learn of what really happened that night - but also, the more aware the ghosts become of living beings intruding upon them, and they start to retaliate both directly and through indirect poltergeist activity. If the party attack them directly, they find that each time they inflict damage on a ghost, the entire manor shudders and groans - there's a spiritual link between the ghosts and the building they haunt, and destroying them directly will literally bring the house down. There are two main ways to remove the ghosts while leaving the estate intact. Either the party can learn, through observation and/or by finding some way to communicate with the ghosts, just what really happened, and figure out from there what can be done to let the ghosts rest, or else they can perform a complex and dangerous exorcism procedure which will force the ghosts to move on (or perhaps only sever their connection to the house, allowing them to be safely destroyed). Make the truth behind the events something that affects Dank through his connection to the family, so that if they take the quicker path of exorcisim instead of investigating the matter and laying the ghosts to rest properly, then Dank loses out on getting advance warning of something that'll come back to bite him some time in the future.
LuciafSlayer 09-10-04, 10:33 AM	I like the idea of the ghosts re-enacting the night they were murdered by the Paladin brother. This could lead to not only the sister's ghost appearing, but another ghost, whom the pc's must figure out the identity of. I would have it be a priest of a Dragon below cult. That night they were going to summon a powerful "demon" up into Eberron, but the brother arrived, and tried to stop his sister. The demon took posession of the brother, and murdered the two. As the PC's explore the lower levels of the house they could find a passage way into Khyber. Further in could be a cabal of dasterdly monsters that were trapped there by the sister and the priest. And as the pc's discover more, it becomes apparent that after the murders these monsters brought the corpses into a chamber and performed dark rituals to keep their ghosts trapped to the house to suffer for eternity. So the pc's will decide if it's worth sending the spirits of this evil sister and priest to Dolurrh, so they can finally rest. Or let them suffer, doomed to be murdered every night. Moral decisions can be an interesting twist, especially for the two brothers.
Hanuman47 09-10-04, 11:06 AM	Well, there's always the old “Scooby Doo” approach - the old homestead isn't really haunted, but someone's trying awfully hard (perhaps with unusual pets, strange devices, or illusory and other magical effects, or all of the above) to make it seem to be. Some possible culprits: * Treasure hunters following up stories that a well-known mcguffin, er, artifact, was a family heirloom have cooked up the "haunting" to allow them to search in peace. The PCs can try to join them, fight them off, or turn their schemes against them. * Agents of the Trust are using the place as a safe house. If the PCs find out the truth, they may be offered the choice of working for the Trust or waking up with a severe case of the deads. * A bumbling necromancer wannabe has heard the stories of haunting, and has always wanted a ghost of his very own. Perhaps his attempts to summon and bind it have called up something far worse... * Sister is still very much alive and has a very warm welcome prepared for her estranged brothers. Other possibilities: Combine any or all of the above. Sister really is a ghost, plus any or all of the above.
Saurenda 09-10-04, 11:12 AM	Make the ghost of the sister a level 5 sorceror 3 levels of ghost template. Have her fight the PCs on the first night. If they do not put her soul to rest afterwards she'll let more information go each night till after three nights she finally devuldges what happened. She may ask her brother for revenge and that where things can become more interesting. Have Dank make a will save versus possession if he refuses. Now you have a level 4 sorceress in a level 6 monk body. Have Dank if he fails the roll immediately go after the brother not eating or sleeping until he kill the blackguard, who happens to not be a blackguard at all. The brother could have merely constructed the disguise to justifiy the killing in his mind. Much like in "To kill a mocking bird" that man who hung out with the african americans and was completely white put a brown paper bag over his coca cola to make it seem like he was a drunk, and didn't know any better rather than letting people know it was his own decision. Sometimes people need ot have a reason. Depending on the possession or resistance, the brother maybe able, or if there is a cleric, to exercise the ghost from Dank. Hope this helps a bit.