Last Eberron campaign with my party end rather spectacularly. I've already decided what I am going to do, but I am curious to hear what you would have done. After a battle with a Legendary Marilith, the party was scouring the remains of the boat the demon arrived on. I handed the loot card to the Party's Necromancer. Amongst the loot was a bag of holding, and not wanting to share he tried to hide the bag of holding in his other bag of holding. Of course what he didn't realize is that placeing two objects of holding within each other causes a portal to open to the astrals sea, a one way portal.
Karma. I was going to write it off as a character death as the portal opened up and sucked him in, but the rest of the party was determined to rescue him. So I decided to let them try. I let the party's wizard try and hold the portal open, and the eldritch knight flew inside the portal trying to drag the necromancer out while the rest of the party was holding onto a rope tied to the fighter. I rolled a saving throw for the portal, 11 or higher it stays open. I even rolled with advantage since the party's wizard was rolling some insane arcana checks, coupled with some expended spells slots. I roll the saving throw and got not one, but two critical failures!
If you were in this position what would you do, all of the party near a portal that had critically failed to stay open? Maybe you wouldn't even allow the party to rescue the necromancer, it is a one way portal after all. I am interested to see what you would do. May I also add that the party was level 8, and was one their way to their kingdom to try and quell civil unrest in their capital.
If the necromancer player wants to roll a new character, let the necroancer disappear and have the party meet a new companion. If they don't want to find their old friend, then they just move on.
Or, if the necromancer player wants to roll a temporary character and if the party wants to rescue their friend, then they now have a new mission. The party meets a new companion and go to find their old one. Once they rescue him, the necromancer's player can give his temporary character a glorious death and start playing his old PC again.
Or, maybe the crit fails mean that the portal explodes and sucks the entire party through to the other side. Now they all need to get back.
Or, maybe the crit fails somehow mean that the necromancer gets shunted back out through the portal. Maybe into an unsafe place, not just back beside his friends.
Or, if you guys want to split things up, maybe the EK and the necromancer are stuck on one side and the rest of the party is on the other side. Now they have to figure out how to get back together.
Or, everybody dies. Eberron is destroyed. New game.
Or, maybe all of this messes up the very fabric of reality. Eberron becomes Athas and the party has to fix it.
Definitely use it as a plot devise. The whole party, including the boat should get sucked through and end up somewhere else. Maybe on the astral sea itself.
All really interesting ideas, for our group we had the party's goal change from get to the home town, to get to the home plane.
Reius wrote:
I would have the planar rupture engulf all the PCs and deposit them somewhere in the Astral Sea.
Maybe on some dead gods' abandoned home realm.
Be sure to bring the boat along, since a lo-o-o-ong journey has just become Job One.
Also be sure to create an opportunity for the necromancer to explain what he did, and why.
Watch the cartoon version of Beatles' Yellow Submarine, they have some goofball ideas you could steal.
Knights of The Dinner Table Bagworld, anyone?