Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Lord Kellnor 01-14-04, 11:06 AM	Hi everybody. Iīm making an adventure for two characters from our party, who want to do a bit of duo-adventuring. The two characters consist of a 23. level priestess of Helm and a 23. level ranger/barbarin of Mielikki. The priestess would eventually like to adopt a revised version of the half-celestial class, so if knowledge of some sort of ritual could be incorporated in the adventure or the final reward it would be great. Any ideas? It should be mentioned, that both characters are very well equiped and packs a lot of punch! - Lord Kellnor
Dorlomin 01-14-04, 02:22 PM	Whereabouts in the realms are they/do you want to use?
Lord Kellnor 01-14-04, 04:35 PM	They are presently in Daeloon, Sembia. They do not have extended means of teleportation available. So any rapid deployment would probably be difficult. I donīt have any particular region in mind, allthough Cormyr, Sembia, The Dalelands, Aglarond and Thay isnīt so good. Any other region would in theory suffice. Iīm open to suggestions (NOT THE SPELL!! :-) -Lord Kellnor
J. Grenemyer 01-14-04, 04:58 PM	Have them go north to the Dalelands and Cormanthor to do battle with the Drow . The Helmite can serve his faith by defending the people of the dales while the Ranger/Barbarian can work to cleanse the woodlands of Drow interlopers. ;)
Bazcasta 01-14-04, 05:40 PM	have them fight a 18Evo/3Acm Fey'ri and his minions which include a 17Nec Vampire
Lord Kellnor 01-15-04, 02:15 AM	Hereīs a specific idea that requires some work - or thoughts from you guys (and girls) out there: What if a fiendish pyroclastic great wyrm dragon had organized the kidnapping of a "baby"/young celestial in order to use him/it in a ritual to become a half fiend? The little celestial would of course be well connected, so the mighty brother/father celestial would of course need some mighty adventurers to go and rescue him. This would fit in nicely with the clerics plan/wish about learning of a way to become a half celestial. If they were to defeat the dragon the cleric might gain knowledge of its ritual to becoming a half fiend and then research a way to alter it!? Got any ideas on how to lead the heroes onto this quest/plot? -Lord Kellnor
Bromabaz Silvertwister 01-15-04, 02:38 AM	Originally posted by Lord Kellnor Hereīs a specific idea that requires some work - or thoughts from you guys (and girls) out there: What if a fiendish pyroclastic great wyrm dragon had organized the kidnapping of a "baby"/young celestial in order to use him/it in a ritual to become a half fiend? The little celestial would of course be well connected, so the mighty brother/father celestial would of course need some mighty adventurers to go and rescue him. This would fit in nicely with the clerics plan/wish about learning of a way to become a half celestial. If they were to defeat the dragon the cleric might gain knowledge of its ritual to becoming a half fiend and then research a way to alter it!? Got any ideas on how to lead the heroes onto this quest/plot? -Lord Kellnor Well, if you switch out the baby for a willing Evil cleric trying to gain half fiend, it makes it easier for your cleric to adapt the spell. Have the Rite take place in a different plane, probably the Abyss or a lower plane of Hell to give it a bit more of a challange for them. And having the rite involve a higher celestial sacrafice, a sacrafice that the players can save, wouldn't hurt either. Or have the Rite cause gates to the Abyss to suddenly form on the material plane. And they try to find out where all these demons are coming from. Maybe the smallish town they were resting in was swallowed up by one of these gates and they wake up in the Abyss.
Lord Kellnor 01-15-04, 07:45 AM	Thanx for the replys guys, keep īem coming, the more the better. Bromabaz Silvertwister....thatīs just plain wicked....and oh how I like it :smirk: I really like the idea of challenging them on another plane, because it requires them to attempt to cope and survive in a very hostile environment. And it also allows for some interesting and challenging encounters. I also like the idea about the gate to the devilish plane, thats certainly a good way to get their attention. But how do I prevent them from planeshifting out when itīs too tough and planeshifting in again, right where they wish!? Cause that kindda ruins the great idea of having them travel across an infernal plane! Ideas, anybody? On the above or something entirely new? -Lord Kellnor
MadBall 01-15-04, 11:29 AM	But how do I prevent them from planeshifting out when itīs too tough and planeshifting in again, right where they wish!? Cause that kindda ruins the great idea of having them travel across an infernal plane! Some gates can cause a bit of damage to the ones who use them. This can be explained due to the shock caused by transfering from on plane to another, e.g. from a normal temperature plane to a much more cold or hot one... Also this can be menat for purpose as especially evil beeings could have created a gate which cause tremendous pain to all good beeings to prevent entering them the gate or at least suffer some damage... This can be a good and decent way to prevent something like the 'Look, I found a town Portal...' effect...
Wooly Rupert 01-15-04, 12:32 PM	Originally posted by Lord Kellnor I also like the idea about the gate to the devilish plane, thats certainly a good way to get their attention. But how do I prevent them from planeshifting out when itīs too tough and planeshifting in again, right where they wish!? Cause that kindda ruins the great idea of having them travel across an infernal plane! Ideas, anybody? On the above or something entirely new? -Lord Kellnor The aforementioned gate could have the odd side-effect of "locking" the characters into that plane for a certain length of time...
Everach 01-15-04, 01:34 PM	Originally posted by Lord Kellnor The two characters consist of a 23. level priestess of Helm and a 23. level ranger/barbarin of Mielikki. 2 Characters at 23rd each; I'll aim for an EL of 20/21. They are presently in Daeloon, Sembia...Cormyr, Sembia, The Dalelands, Aglarond and Thay isnīt so good. 1) A priest of cyric has learned of a gigantic egg-shaped artifact in the Underdark near Waterdeep called the Tumulus. It is, in fact, the prison of a demon lord. The priest intends to unleash this creature in hopes that it will destroy Waterdeep and bring chaos to the region. Of course, the PCs arrive too late, try to fight the demon, and retreat. They learn of a time-traveling portal in the Sea of Stars that will transport them back prior to the demon's release, where they get a second chance to stop the priest. 2) Anything with a dracolich :) The priestess would eventually like to adopt a revised version of the half-celestial class, so if knowledge of some sort of ritual could be incorporated in the adventure or the final reward it would be great. By defeating the demon in #1, perhaps Helm would be so kind as to transport the PCs back to the present and present the half celestial template as a token. If you've giving out this kind of reward, I recomend that demon be fantastically nasty. Like Orcus or something from the BoVD or a Balor with a Fiend Folio prestige class. Any ideas? It should be mentioned, that both characters are very well equiped and packs a lot of punch! At this level, its all about demons and dragons my friend. Especially in the realms, humans just don't get this high in level often enough to pose a challenge. Planar adventuring might be a good choice.
Sylvos 01-15-04, 03:15 PM	A rather long and involved idea would be to use one of the adventure hooks from the Unapproachable East book. You can pit the PC's against the legions of the Rotting Man and assist the Nentyarch of the Forest of Lethyr. The Rotting Man detailed in the book is a NE Male half-fiend/human druid 12/Talontar Blightlord 10, Chosen of Talona. This would be an outstanding enemy to go up against. You could have him corrupt the entire forest, make it to where the forest's very magic disallows divination or teleportation magics to function properly. Make healing checks at a -4 as well as the haze of corruption causes vision to be hampered except up close. You could have blight-template creatures everywhere, including Voldoni rangers/druids/nentyar hunters, blight-touched dryads, summoned fiends, as well as the Rotting Man could have an elder green blight-touched dragon as his mount as well as a coven of green hags that have a few character levels. Example Coven: Green hag 1 is a 15th level sorcerer Green hag 2 is a Druid10/Talontar BLightlord 9 Green hag 3 is a Ranger6/Blackguard 13 Each with a guard of 3 Troll Hunters (Ranger 10 each) also blight-touched. There could be a fake "Druid circle" with an illusion of a white oak i the center. Which is actually a circle of Blight-touched Elder Treants who will attack the PC's when they enter the grove. That would alarm the hags who can send a messanger to the Rotting Man to help accelerate the main conflict between the Rotting man and the PC's. There's a lot of opportunities just using that ideology, not to mention what NPC's you could add in to aid them from the Nentyarch. Perhaps some ancient Nar Demonbinders side up to gain more power or something =) Just a thought. Carry on.
Lord Kellnor 01-15-04, 04:33 PM	Thanks for the everyones replys, theyīve given me some good input - just keep posting, the more the merrier :) I would like to clarify the point about the priests half-celestial template class. It is custom designed, but incorporates the same basic elements and features as the one presented in MM. BUt since it is designed as a class, it functions kinda like a 5-level prestige class, where each level brings new abilities -but during advancement, the priestess does not gain any other class features, skill points, feats, HD and so on. So it would not constitute an instant reward, AND the player playing the priestess would prefer to wait a few levels before starting with the 5-level template class. Thus, the reward/information gained could neatly be surrounding a ritual of some sort. I might also add, that the adventure is designed to be played over two, maximum three days in real time, since the whole group is involved in a rather epic quest - so no month long absence is alloved/practical. That being said, I still appreciate all ideas you might have. Any idea is as good as my own :angel: -Lord Kellnor
Bromabaz Silvertwister 01-15-04, 11:05 PM	Originally posted by Lord Kellnor Bromabaz Silvertwister....thatīs just plain wicked....and oh how I like it :smirk: But how do I prevent them from planeshifting out when itīs too tough and planeshifting in again, right where they wish!? Cause that kindda ruins the great idea of having them travel across an infernal plane! -Lord Kellnor Ah, I see. Let me add a bit more to the idea and I’ll get to that problem. First, have the gates go one way, and a small town filled with innocents was gated in with them by mistake. And a hoard of Pit Fiends (much more then they can deal with) come to collect said villagers for the ceremony (they need more then the celestial to sacrafice for the rite, and the villagers fill the bill nicely.) this can also add a nice timing factor if they’re LG or fond of helping villagers. And since demons like talking to each other, they can also be your plot device to tell the PC's about the ur priest's rite. Anyway, they can't just create a gate from Hell to the material plane. Since, if it was easy to do, all the demons would do it. :smirk: Only a very powerful demon lord would be able to make a gate while on the plane itself, and only for a very short time and with help from the inside. But let them try, and even if they manage to get one going, they draw a HUGE amount of lower level demons to the site. This might be a good way to save the villagers, they go through the gate right before the demons show up, and the PC’s have to keep the demons away from the gate, and wind up being trapped when the spell ends. So, gates don't work, or work poorly, and they can't just leave or they'd be abandoning all the people trapped with them. And they can't just gate to the ur priest, since they don't know where he is. So they have to track the demons hauling the people, find the priest and stop the rites from being performed. And if it looks like they're having an easy time, have it so that the cleric can't get through to his/her god for his/her spells, or is hindered and can only get lower level ones.
Everach 01-15-04, 11:39 PM	Recap time. 1. Aim for EL21 2. 2 players, barbarian/ranger and cleric 3. 2 sessions in length 4. Cormyr-ish area 5. potential tie-in to half-celetial priestige class/template OK. Background: An NPC, preferably a prominent noble or merchant, has been trading with a nearby drow settlement for some time. When the drow turn up a black gem emblazoned with an unknown symbol, the NPC tries to broker a deal with a local wizard. The NPC gets greedy, and hires the cleric of Helm to steal it from the infidel drow. She is captured after delivering the gem to the NPC, interrogated and let go after her memory has been wiped out. The drow hope to follow her back to the NPC for a little tough love. Problem is, the clerics memory got a little too wiped out. She doesn't remember the NPC. After a few days, the drow get impatient and decide to kill the cleric. Session 1: The cleric and ranger/barbarian are attacked by an assassin hit squad of drow while in a city. Have the drow attack jog the cleric's memory. He/she suddenly feels the need to find the NPC. The PCs track down the NPC residence only to find its been ransacked with no sign of the NPC.(this is the wizard's doing, not the drow) The PCs track down the NPC to the common room of a nearby inn. As they sit down to ask what's going on, a Mindflayer Assassin (hired by the drow) walks into full view of the table and mind blasts the PCs and NPC. Session 2: The PCs have to stall the mind flayer and get the NPC to safety. The NPC explains his deal with the drow for the black gem. That's when the wizard appears, fireballs blazing. Once again, the PCs need to retreat. The NPC explains where he hid the black gem. The mind flayer reappears, offering amnesty in return for the gem. The PCs recover the gem - what they do with it is up to them. The gem was once a holy relic of helm (or even tyr, considered to be the father of helm and torm), but was corrupted to darkness by dark rites eons past. If properly dedicated to Helm(or Tyr) in the right ceremony, it holds the key to a certain custom half celestial prestige class. K. How was that?
Lord Kellnor 01-16-04, 02:16 AM	Wow, thats some hefty plot ideas guys, thanks. Bromabaz Silvertwister, I like your idea very much - but I donīt own Manual of the Planes. Can I get by without (perhaps using som 2nd ed. material) or is this book a must? Everach, thanks for the input. I have a couple of questions though. 1. how on earth does the priestess get captured - sheīs a walking armageddon!! :) 2. I like your thoughts on the encounters, for example the drow hit squad and the mind flayer assasin, but remember that itīs two very powerful characters we are talking about. Weīre talking mininum bab of +39 for the rangers primary attack, no saves under +20 for both, 250 hp+ for both! So you see, it really needs to be a tough squad - and they practicaly eat mind flayers for breakfast, unless of course itīs a paragon :D Lastly, these pcīs donīt have a habit of running away when things go hard (altough they might be seriously tempted to lay low on an infernal plane). So the trick is to present them with challengeing encounters that would enable your plot to continue. Please keep the input coming guys - itīs all appreciated :D - Lord Kellnor
Lord Kellnor 01-16-04, 02:20 AM	Just to clarify a point. I might have created the impression in my last post, that they are superman and superwoman. This isnīt the case, they have their weaknessess as well. But both characters know their weaknessess and have tried to amend these. But they are tough! Therefore such things as poison, mindblast attacks and the like are not that effective, unless we are talking very high DCīs. -Lord Kellnor
Bromabaz Silvertwister 01-16-04, 02:53 AM	Originally posted by Lord Kellnor Wow, thats some hefty plot ideas guys, thanks. Bromabaz Silvertwister, I like your idea very much - but I donīt own Manual of the Planes. Can I get by without (perhaps using som 2nd ed. material) or is this book a must? - Lord Kellnor You don't need the Planes book to go to Hell, it barely even talks about the evil planes, so don't worry about that. All you would need are the stats for the demons and maybe the Book of Vile Darkness, since it's chuck full of demony goodness. or like someone said, the Fiend Foilo is the better buy if you want more actual demons then demon places. But in all honesty, you don't need any of them, all they do is save you a bit of work crunching numbers and building NPC's. You can get by with the monster manual if you don't have any other book with demons in it. The epic level handbook might have some demons in it too, but I haven't looked through it for a while... I mean, Hell is well... hell. Use your imagination. :devil: :devil: :devil: And you can call me Bromabaz or Brom. :mage: Edit: Sylvos, I have to use that idea....
Everach 01-16-04, 08:55 AM	Originally posted by Lord Kellnor 1. how on earth does the priestess get captured - sheīs a walking armageddon!! 1) don't play it out. If you do, the player will have enough knowledge about the story that it becomes really boring. The whole point is intrigue and discovery. 2) I'd rather not give specifics because you're going to respond with "that wouldn't work because blah blah blah." I dislike epic level characters and I have a dim opinion of epic campaigns. Because they sound a lot like juvenile ******* matches to me. That having been said, I'll pony up some details. But remember its your game. Take my suggestions, modify them however you will and carry on. 3) The number three is having a sit-in based on the author's previous ascenine comments. He will resume his participation in the forum with the next posting. 4) if you're looking for an explain it later situation, 4 drow fighters cornered the cleric in an ally where a glyph of greater dispel magic was waiting for her. She was then hit with a wand of dimensional anchor (from a drow rogue) and a forcecage (from a drow wizard). She lost consciousness from the lack of air (or whatever). The drow took her to their lair in a dead magic area and worked her over. The wizard altered her memory (there's a few spells for this, but I'll let you figure out the mechanics). But again, don't play this out. Just say it happened. And if the PC says "wait! that could have never happened!" respond "well it did. Oh, I almost forgot. Hand over your character sheet. The drow rogue took a few things." :) 2. I like your thoughts on the encounters, for example the drow hit squad and the mind flayer assasin, but remember that itīs two very powerful characters we are talking about. 5) Let's try a drow Wiz26/Archmage2, and Rogue 26 as masterminds. They do not engage the PCs directly. They send 4 F18s against the party in the initial attack and they keep 4 more in reserve. The intiial squad is meant to get the PCs attention and really shouldn't be too challenging. 6) Unlike the drow, the mindflayer should be impossible. Paragon mindflayer might work. Considering your PCs, a Mindflayer/Sor8/Monk12 might be the ticket. Allow him a mind blast (DC ~29) as a surprise round. Then roll intiaitive. 7) The human wizard should be in the CR28 range. Either a Wizard26/Archmage3 or a lich of about the same level. Something nasty anyhow. Wouldn't hurt if the PCs knew this wizard or lich works for someone higher up, like zass Tam, Larloch or Fezoul. Weīre talking mininum bab of +39 for the rangers primary attack, no saves under +20 for both, 250 hp+ for both! So you see, it really needs to be a tough squad - and they practicaly eat mind flayers for breakfast, unless of course itīs a paragon :D :uh-huh:Hold the phone. A barbarian/ranger with a will of +20? A cleric 23 with 250+ hit points? Let's back up. How does a barbarian/ranger 23 get a +20 will save? A barbarian20/ranger20 with a wisdom 20 has a +17. Please explain, I'd love to hear this. And a cleric 23 with 250 hp. Last I heard, cleric were d8 for hit points. So, a cleric 23 at MAX hit points is 184. A con 20 brings us up to 299 hit points. Are you telling me your cleric has averaged 6 out of 8 hit points for every level AND has a con 20? I will regret asking, but I might be better able to provide specific encounters for your PCs if you could provide a quick summary of each PC. Stats, saves, magic items, etc. I won't promise not to nitpick, prod, poke fun, etc. But I CAN promise to provide some good encounters. Lastly, these pcīs donīt have a habit of running away when things go hard (altough they might be seriously tempted to lay low on an infernal plane). So the trick is to present them with challengeing encounters that would enable your plot to continue. This will further infuriate number 3 during his sit-out, but your players SHOULD be used to running away. If they defeat EVERYTHING you send them, then they're either overbalanced/munchkin/etc or you're not playing your adversaries intelligently. If your PCs are balanced and built using core rules, using standard wealth progression, published feats, etc, they should be SEVERELY challenged by a CR25 creature and unable to defeat anything higher without assistance. Defeating a CR22-25 creature is possible, but the players need time to prepare and should probaly choose their own battleground. A CR25 mind flayer is doable, but not when he pops out of nowhere unexpectedly. But, like I said, if you want to provide specifics for the PCs, I'm more than willing to help design the drow/illithid/wizard encounters I described, and make them each appropriately challenging.
Lord Kellnor 01-17-04, 10:47 AM	Hi Everach Iīm out of town this weekend, so I wonīt be able to post stats for the characters before sunday evening at the earliest. But thanks for your lengthy reply. I would really appreciate some assistance in fleshing out the encounters. So thanks for the offer However, I can explain a bit about our party from my present location (at the parents casa9. We are 5 players who each takes turns at being the DM. So normaly Iīm a player, and not in control of the characters development. I know the preliminary stats I gave you sounded wild, but both characters are pretty boosted, as we run a generally liberal campaign with minimum DM control of what items we by (100.000gp limit) - this is both good and bad. Good because it allows you to flesh out your PCīs weak holes, and bad because it allows for munchkin characters. Both of the PCīs on this little adventure are power players. The priestess was generated as a 20. level character but the ranger/barbarian initially started as level 1 and worked his way up. But as said above, Iīll post some stats for you by sunday. -Lord Kellnor :) :)
Nimzz 01-17-04, 09:36 PM	Perhaps you could have your epic charecters become nobles of the realms or the preistess could become the head of the church and run a political adventure...were the players have to put up with all the DM's scemes to manipulate the charecters to do what they want...lots of fun
Saverok 01-17-04, 11:57 PM	How about some guys stores away his heart in some ritual, giving him resistances to most things like Fire, or some mostly relied on divine spell, and he gets immortality unless his heart is heart is destroyed (like he can get knocked out but regenerates soo fast he can't die). Then, have him summon a large army together to march on some place like cormyr and the PC's have to not only stop the army but also must get to his heart (which is in some secret location), retrieve the heart from some eterally burning fire, and then destroy the heart through ritual, which removes his resistances (and the ritual involved could open the divine class the cleric wanted), and then the PC's have to acutally take on the guy with his X ammount of lackys who are not as strong as him but very challenging. And who knows, just for intrest you could throw this guys heart into a block of ice in a mountain in the silvermarches, and give him some Ice creature template or something like that. Just an idea. maybe a seacreature template, and it is inside a dragon turtle belly, which is also where his fortress resides, etc. You get the picture I guess, just an idea.
Lord Kellnor 01-19-04, 04:07 AM	Hi guys Ok, Iīm back again from a nice weekend up north. Thanks for your replies, please keep posting. Everach, you wanted stats for the Ranger and Priestess, so here goes (the scores are modified for items): Torxx NG hm Ran20/Ftr2/Bbn1 of Mielikki Str 26, dex 18, con 24, int 17, wis 17, cha 16 AC 29, move 70 ft., ini +8, hp 297 (343 when raging). Fortitude +28, reflex +25, will +18 Feats: Blindfight, Close-quarter fighting, Dire charge, , Endurance, Epic prowess Extended lifespan, Improved initiative, Iron will, Lightning reflexes, Power attack, Power lunge, Track, Weapon focus: longsword and shortsword Class features: All armor profs, Simple and martial weapon prof, shield prof, 2 fighter bonus feats, Greater two-weapon fighting as virtual feat when lightly armored, Track, Divine spells, Fast movement, Babarian rage , Favored enemies: Giantkin +6, Undead +6, Shapechangers +2, Goblinoids: +2, Elementals +2, Wild empathy, Woodland stride, Animal companion (10 HD), Swift tracker, Evasion, Camoflage, Hide in plain sight Divine spells: 4x1st level, 4x2nd level, 4X3rd level, 3X4th level Racial traits: Extra feat at 1st level, +4 skillpoints at 1st level, +1 skillpoint/level, Favored multiclass: any Languages: Common, Elven, Orc, Dwarven, Giant Keen Longsword +5 Keen shortsword +5 Att: +37/+32/+27/+22 Att: +37/+32/+27/+22 Dam: 1d8+2d6+13 Dam: 1d6+9 Threat range: 17-20(x2) Threat range: 17-20(x2) (I donīt have all his magic items - sorry) ------------------------------- Gabriella LN hm Clr20/Epic3 of Helm Str 15, dex 16, con 20, int 14, wis 32, cha 10 AC 38, move 20 ft., ini +11, hp 228 Fortitude +25, reflex +21, will +31 Feats: alertness, empower spell, epic reflexes, extend spell, improved initiative, improved spell capacity, iron will, maximize spell, quicken spell, scribe scroll, spell casting prodigy Items: +2 Lawful surestriking warning bastard sword Cloak of resistance +5 Mithral full plate +5 Gloves of dexterity +4 Periapt of wisdom +6 Greater vestment of power Ring of protection +5 Bag of holding Pale green ioun stone Pink ioun stone Green ioun stone Rod of spell enhancing Stone of good luck Mithral shield +5 of animating arrow deflection Then the usual powerful allotment of spells for a character of her level. Well, thatīs sort of it. Hope itīs usefull and sorry for any mistakes I might have made in earlier references to them. -Lord Kellnor
Everach 01-19-04, 11:25 PM	Let's recap the plot. 1. PC are attacked by Drow, attack triggers a surpressed memory in the ranger 2. Ranger tracks down fast eddie at a bar. Turns out the ranger snuck into a drow lair, stole a gem and got caught. But not before fast eddie ran away with the gem. 3. Mind Flayer assassin attacks the PCs in the bar, fast eddie is killed or PCs flee with fast eddie 4. PCs are attacked by lich who wants "his" gem 5. PCs are approached by mind flayer peacefully asking for a gem 6. PCs track down clues left by fast eddie (or fast eddie leads them) to the missing gem 7. PCs return gem either to the mind flayer or lich, or keep it for themselves. This is a desecrated holy relic of helm. Just needs a little polish. Here's an initial cast of characters. I'm not going to flesh these out 100%, but I'll get you started. 1. Drow wizard 28, mastermind - stays in the background He has the attune gem feat from Magic of Faerun. It allows you to create high level potions more or less. 2. A small gang of Drow Rogue 9's 6 rogues will ambush the PCs. They each possess a shortsword +1, studded leather +1, buckler +1, light corssbow +1, oil of greater magic weapon +5, gem attuned to tenser's transformation(28th level), 20 +1 bolts of wounding, each smeared with dragon bile poison. Drow Rogue 9, AC 31 (+5 dex, +4 natural, +8 cover, +4 armor), 59 hp, Fort +10, Ref +11, Wis +3. Full attack: light crossbow +36/36/31/26/21, damage is d6 plus 1 point of constituion damage (no save) plus dragon bile poison (Fort DC26, 3d6 strength initial, no secondary). Feats: PB Shot, Rapid shot, Rapid Reload, skill focus:hide; hide +22. CR11 apiece due to higher equipment than usual. The above attack numbers assume you are more than 30 feet away. The drow focus their surprise round attacking the ranger. The drow should be in buildings or similar heightened cover. The PCs need to beat a DC32 spot to find each rogue. If the PCs close to melee, the rogues flee. (The ranger can catch them, which is fine). Interrogated drow say their clan leader wanted the ranger killed. They don't know why. After the surprise round, the drow will split their attention between the PCs. 3. Mind Flayer Sor 18 I haven't fleshed out his stats yet, I'll work on it. Fearing his drow rogues might fail, the Drow wiz 28 sent a mind flayer to follow the PCs. He has been doing so, invisibily since the ambush. Once the Mind Flayer sees fast eddie, he walks outside. The Mind Flayer casts project image, symbol of stunning on the front of his duplicate, and invisibility (on his duplicate). He then casts alter self(to look like a nondisreipt human) and both enter the bar. The mind flayer sits down with a nice view as his projected image walks up to the PCs table and mind blasts them (will DC24). This makes him visible, revealing the symbol of stunning (will DC 29). The real mind flayer sits back in the bar and pretends to sleep while controlling his projected image. The mind flayer casts Maze on whichever PC is not stunned. If both are unstunned, he casts it on the ranger on round 1 and the cleric on round 2. Maze offers no saving throw. The PCs get an intelligence check against DC20 every round to escape. Once both PCs are disposed of, the mind flayer grapples fast eddie and eats his brain. He searches the body and leaves. If, for whatever reason, the PCs are not stunned and not affected by maze, the mind flayer switches to forcecage (the 10' cube version) on round 2. If none of this works, he uses disintegrate on fast eddie and ends the projected image spell. The mind flayer does not, under any circumstance, confront the PCs except through his projected image spell. 4. Human Lich Wiz 27 This guy is cool and collected. Asks the PCs for the gem in a public place, like an open market. If they refuse, he threatens to unleash a plague the likes of which Sembia has never seen. He holds out a glass vial, claiming that if it breaks (and it will if they attack him) that it will decimate the entire town. The vial contains Lungrot (Underdark source book). Lungrot is an inhaled dissease with a d4 hour incubation period, a save DC20 and d4con/d3 str loss. This save repeats every day until death occurs. This particular vial is designed (through Extrodinary properties) to generate a cloud in a 60' radius that expands an additional 60 feet every round for 10 rounds. There is no visibile cloud. If released, the PCs would have approximately 5 days to cast remove disease on over 1000 humans. Make sure they know this. I'll flesh out the mind flayer and lich some more. Unless you think this is enough. Oh, if fast eddie dies, he left clues for the PCs at his office and his house that leads to a black gem hidden in a barrel in a warehouse. The mind flayer and the lich both want it. Either way it goes to the lich - the drow was using fast eddie to sell it to the lich when fast eddie got greedy. Of course, if the PCs keep the gem (being that its a holy relic to Helm and all), the drow wizard and lich will send minion after minion to fetch it. The town will be a wasteland of dead bodies and the PCs will be plagued with pit fiends and worse. After the PCs complete the epic adventure with the rest of the party, have them bring the whole party down on the lich to get the gem back. How is this sounding?
Vampric 01-22-04, 03:30 AM	I know this thread is already taking a cirtian direction, but i just thought i would provide some insite on what my party of evil PC's is doing. They are roughly 20th level, and there is a cleric of Veleshroon, An archmage, A fighter/blackguard, an assassin, and a dragon decipe. (A very well ballanced party) Anyways, they have just come into ownership of the claw of the revemancer, and both the cleric and the wizard are leading the party in search of the crown of thorns. The main goal of the Cleric is to resurect Myrkul, and overthrow Kelemvor. In the Process, they plan on destroying Cormyr, which is the center of all that is super good in Ferune still. Of course they would never be able to do it alone, but the Half dragon (dragon deciple) is now commander of a small zentarium force, and the wizard is his overseer and the personal underling of manshoon now. They are currently reaching the crown, but within a few sesions, they will most likely have retreaved it and using it to its fullest back in Cormyr. So with an army of undead fueled by the cleric alone can have a total of 200 hd of undead, and thats going to be something to be reconed with sense the claw of revemancers can create a revanant 3 times per day that are still under his control but dont count toward his controlled HD. In conclusion, the party of pure evil really needs stopping. I planned to use Harpers to meddle with their actions, and maybe throw in some super powers to come and defend cormyr (black staff perhaps or The Simbul) either way, the could always use more help, and introducing them to such powerful allies always has its benifits. A reward such as saving the Queen from assassination and leading her armies into victory would definetely be an epic adventure to say the least. Just a thought, tell me what u think or if u have any suggestions or comments, this is also still in rough draft for the most part.
Everach 01-22-04, 07:02 AM	Originally posted by Vampric In conclusion, the party of pure evil really needs stopping. Maybe your group and Lord Kellnor's group should meet! For a plan B, I recomend not introducing a powerful good adversary. Introduce an evil adversary. What if a large contingent of Drow suddenly pop up, steal the prize and disappear into the underdark? The PCs follow to discover the drow traded the crown of thorns to some arch demon/devil on another plane. Now the PCs are in hell with their undead and their Zhentarim followers. Won't take long before its just them and a legion of fiends that can't possibly hope to defeat. Wallah, they've been stopped.
Wooly Rupert 01-22-04, 11:44 AM	Originally posted by Everach Maybe your group and Lord Kellnor's group should meet! For a plan B, I recomend not introducing a powerful good adversary. Introduce an evil adversary. What if a large contingent of Drow suddenly pop up, steal the prize and disappear into the underdark? The PCs follow to discover the drow traded the crown of thorns to some arch demon/devil on another plane. Now the PCs are in hell with their undead and their Zhentarim followers. Won't take long before its just them and a legion of fiends that can't possibly hope to defeat. Wallah, they've been stopped. That is a pretty good idea! :D
Lord Kellnor 01-22-04, 01:45 PM	Hi guys. Sorry I haveīnt been posting for the last couple of days but Iīve just finished my exams for this semester. Thanx for the input, even though itīs been a while since I started the tread. Vampiric, itīs a nasty setup, but thereīs a few complications (arenīt there always :-) Our party already dealt with Myrkul, as he was resurrected by a former high priest. After an epic battle our party destroyed Myrkul, so no go on the Crown! About the Cormyr, Zhent thing, our party is involved in a major battle against Nevron, zulkir of thay, who has gone demilich-style and taken control over large parts of Sembia - and is allied with Fzoul and his croonies. So the adventure Iīm creating for Torxx and Gabriella (the ranger and the priestess) isnīt supposed to be a plot-starter in itself. But thank you for the idea, and I can assure you our party would love to meet up for a little discussion with your party Vamiric :smirk: - Lord Kellnor
Everach 01-22-04, 02:05 PM	How my thread looking so far, Kellnor? I'd like some feedback before investing any more time. Then again, I'm in the frosty north. I don't have much to do besides invest time.
Lord Kellnor 01-22-04, 02:25 PM	Hi Everach Your plot is going along just fine. Although I would prefer if the events where a little more free. Correct me if I misunderstand this, but I feel that the encounters and events are a little to fixed. Now this isnīt bad, but the way we normaly play, is more loose based events where the characters choises to some extent decide whatīs going to happen. Please donīt take this as bad critic from me. Iīm very glad for the effort youīve already put into my request, and I would very much like, if you where to continue your plot. But I feel as if the main villains are uber-power - to the extent of which the two characters arenīt capable of even putting up a decent fight. In my experience as both a player of two epic characters (hm pal20/ftr3 and dwarf male Clr15/Dis5/Ftr2) and on occasion as a DM it isnīt nice to know your characters really canīt break free of the DMīs/master villains evil plot and act on their own. I would prefer a l losser structured adventure where the focus isnīt on a few very powerful encounters but also on extensive roleplay. Do you understand the above, or should I explain further - or am I just confusing everybody? Keep cool! - Lord Kellnor
Everach 01-22-04, 03:25 PM	Originally posted by Lord Kellnor Do you understand the above, or should I explain further - or am I just confusing everybody? I understand. Not having first-hand experience with the party, its easier for me to put down a couple of encounters, describe a little glue and then let you adjust to the players. Allow me to reiterate the plot, thus far, with a little less railroading. Assume the previously stated levels are not set in stone for purposes of this recap. Background: Fast Eddie, a local merchant and reputed smuggler, has been dealing with drow on a merchantile basis for years. He recently begun brokering an expensive transaction between a powerful drow wizard and a thayan lich. Part-way through the transaction, he got greedy. Note - I'm using a lich so the PCs understand he won't just die. You could use a human with the stassis clone spell or something similar, just make sure they know up front that he'll be back. See the end of the recap for more detail. Hiring one of the PCs, he snuck into the Drow encampment, stole the gem and fled. The PC was captured and interrogated. Knowing nothing besides who fast eddie is and the terms of this particular assignment, the drow erase the PCs memory of the past day or so, sends them back to town, and follows them. Their plan is to follow the PC to fast eddie and have their revenge. Adventure: The adventure is broken down into 4 distinct encounters. Only the first and last encounters are necessary. The rest can be circumvented. Encounter 1 - the drow, growing impatient, attempt to kill the PC and any companions before searching for fast eddie on their own. The drow kill themselves before being captured. If the PCs gather info to learn of nearby drow settlements, they run across fast eddie's name (make sure they've met fast eddie before). Note - This ambush is meant to get the PCs attention, not kill them. The drow are less experienced than the PCs, and start to move and fire less shots after round 1. Another Note - I'm big on detective work. In my own campaign, I'd make the PCs scour the town looking for drow information. They find some informants, get jumped once or twice and are finally led to fast eddie, who they already know. Encounter 2 - When the PCs find fast eddie, a Mind Flayer assassin makes his presence known, attempts to disable the PCs and kill fast eddie. Preferably by eating his brain and gaining knowledge about the gem. Note - Later on, the mind flayer can act as an emmissary between the drow and PCs in gaining their assistance to find the gem. Another Note - The illithid is meant to be tough enough to diable the PCs and kill fast eddie. If the PCs track him down later and catch him unaware, he's an easy kill. His strength is stealth. Encounter 3 - The thayan lich, also growing impatient, has decided to approach the PCs and encourage them through either threats (the previous lung rot example) or greed to retrieve the gem from wherever fast eddie hid it. Note - The thayan lich isn't meant to be fought. He's a role-playing encounter. The PCs have to decide wether or not to help him. If they attack him right off, I'd say he's unprepared and he dies pretty easy. But he comes back later. With friends. Another Note - I noticed some reference to a Thayan villan in your last post, this lich could be the minion of the Thayan wizard the PCs are already familiar with. Which adds another twist, and a possible recurring pawn in your larger plot. Another Another Note - Don't bring in the thayan until the PCs have come to an end of the detective trail. They can't find the illithid or the drow, then its time to bring in the Thayan to direct them to searching Eddie's house and business looking for more clues. Encounter 4 - The PCs find the gem hand it over to the drow (via the illithid), the lich, the authorities, fast eddie, or themselves. Sorry if the NPCs are coming off as Uber. Feel free to scale them up or down. They're meant to be a proper challenge to the PCs. After the initial ambush, none of the NPCs need to be killed or fought. The drow wizard is not meant to be in the adventure at all except as a backdrop. But that doesn't mean the PCs can't decide from the get go to skip fast eddie and blaze a swath right to the drow's lair and demand an explanation. This would conceivably bypass the illithid encounter. That better?
Lord Kellnor 01-22-04, 04:31 PM	Hi Everach Thanx - that helped a lot! Thatīs jsut the kind of outline I need to run an interesting duo-single. But one question though - why should the pcīs be interested in stealing the gem from the drow? Of course, being drow is reason enough :D But whatīs to stop them from just blazing in both with full force and attacking the drow with all their might? īcause thatīs just the kind of responce I would suspect. And what could fast eddie offer them in order to entice either one (and only one) of them into stealing the gem? - Kellnor
Everach 01-22-04, 06:12 PM	Originally posted by Lord Kellnor I should point out the background part SHOULD NOT BE PLAYED OUT WHATSOEVER. If you do, the players will know what's going on. Just say it happened. why should the pcīs be interested in stealing the gem from the drow? Of course, being drow is reason enough Two options. either option, fat eddie says NOTHING about Drow until they get to the encampment/lair. 1. Fast Eddie convinced the PC it was some quick money for a single evening of work 2. Fast Eddie has some information the PCs need in order to complete your larger campaign But whatīs to stop them from just blazing in both with full force and attacking the drow with all their might? I hope we're not talking about the background again. Later on in the adventure? Sure, knock yourselves out. Now that you've killed the evil drow you have no reason to track down the gem that fast eddie hid before the Thayan wizard gets it. Did I mention the gem is a holy relic to Helm? īcause thatīs just the kind of responce I would suspect. Weren't you just telling me you wanted less uber opponents and more role playing? Maybe I misunderstood. Role playing isn't "kill them, they're evil" is it? And what could fast eddie offer them in order to entice either one (and only one) of them into stealing the gem? Information is the easy answer. Are the PCs in need of some vital clue for a larger campaign? Maybe a hint on how to proceed with the custom prestige class?