Post/Author/DateTime	Post
LeeAlucard 04-02-08, 08:42 PM	I've adapted the "Environmental Impact" adventure so that it fits into my evil campaign. The PCs were given a job to travel to Sumpter to deliver food and other supplies. While in Sumpter, they found out about Sumpter's plight. They offered to help out... for a price. So, they've been fighting the plant monsters for a couple of days, but there's still a lot of 'em left. One player told me that he's considering betraying the villagers to Drylle. Unfortunately, his plan is doomed to failure, because the evil druid he intends on allying with is very, very dead. The player doesn't know this vital bit of information, which is exremely capable of throwing a monkey wrench into his plans. Now, I don't want to spoil the secret for him, but I don't him to blow everything on a plan that's doomed to failure. What do you guys suggest?
The_Black_Hand 04-02-08, 08:53 PM	Tell him to not make the plans till he has all of his allies to back him up.
LeeAlucard 04-02-08, 09:12 PM	Luckily, we won't be playing 'til Friday, so hopefully I'll be able to tell him before then...
Kuros81 04-02-08, 10:32 PM	Does the player have a god or patron diety? If so, have him experience cryptic dreams. Since its a druid, have a dream of the player trying to plant a field full of seeds (seeds of woe?), but the crops do not grow. Or something.
LeeAlucard 04-02-08, 11:12 PM	Does the player have a god or patron diety? 'Fraid not, sorry. I haven't used dreams in my games yet, so it might be suspicious if I start now...
LeeAlucard 04-03-08, 04:24 PM	By the way, a somewhat-related issue... How am I going to describe the Root of All Evil? I doubt many of my players even know what a parsnip is, and I'd hate to just Google one for the sake of my players knowing what I'm talking about. Plus, it's hard to imagine a parsnip in an intimidating manner, even if it's huge and extremely evil, and has a giant, gaping maw...
Demetri_Knighthawk 04-03-08, 04:37 PM	does it have to be a parsnip? cant you use some other well known root like vegitable. Attack of the killer potato? Hey, you could actualy use a MR. potato head to represent it on the table! :D
themocaw 04-03-08, 07:09 PM	Root of All Evil: 1. Go to the store. 2. Buy a parsnip (carrot if you can't find one). 3. Take an x-acto knife and carve evil eyes and a frowny mouth on it. 5. Attach white pipecleaner arms. 6. Attach it to a base (the feet from a Mr. Potato Head doll could work well). 7. Hide it in the refrigerator in an opaque container marked "Dog Food," or something like that. 8. When the fight begins, pull it out and stand it on the table. 9. Revel in the accolades of your peers as they will recount for years afterwards how the DM actually carved a parsnip into a monster and sent it against them at the gaming table.
Arrowhen 04-04-08, 01:24 AM	Celery roots are pretty freakin' scary looking, but then, if he doesn't know what a parsnip looks like, I'm guessing he won't know celery root either. I'm not familiar with the adventure in question, but can't you just describe it as a big scary plant-creature or something?
Space_Dragon 04-04-08, 01:29 AM	I've had nightmares about artichoke hearts for years, ever since I had them for dinner once in second grade.
LeeAlucard 04-04-08, 03:22 AM	The Mr. Potato Head-related ideas were simultaneously funny and creepy. Using an actual parsnip would make it amusing ("In Soviet Greyhawk, parsnip eats you!"). I've already made my own mini for it, though. Thanks! Anyway, I told my player a bit of "cryptic" advice... "Don't count your chickens before they hatch." Hopefully, that might get him to think about his plan a bit more.
kelvinaw273 04-04-08, 12:28 PM	It seems to be a failing in Evil campaigns that players hatch plots of fiendish evilness that tend to trip up on one basic assumption not being true ... and man do players get annoyed when it does! Not to mention that by the time they think to find out about it, they've already tipped their hand and cannot turn back ...
LeeAlucard 04-04-08, 01:27 PM	There's gotta be a reason for that... Evil plans on TV and in movies almost always fail for the same reasons.
LeeAlucard 04-06-08, 10:16 AM	Here's an update on what ended up happening. I added an encounter with a Briarvex (MMIV) to the adventure. The Briarvex had also been called into service by Drylle before Drylle died. The Dread Necromancer, who has been looking for the druid for quite some time (even resorting to shouting into the forest, causing many of the encounters to start before they normally would've), asks the vine ogre where Drylle is. The Briarvex, "Thorn," chuckles and explains what happened. The Dread Necro manages to strike a deal with Thorn, in which Thorn takes them to the Root of All Evil's lair. They then manage to eliminate the Root of All Evil with extreme prejudice. The Dread Necromancer then makes another deal with Thorn. After that, the party returns to Sumpter, waving the broken staff of Drylle about and are celebrated as the conquering heroes. The next day, the party leaves Sumpter, still being congratulated as they disappear into the sunset. That night, Thorn rallies the remaining plant monsters, and together they storm Sumpter. There are no survivors.