We have been playing DnD as a group for about 5 years now, and we have some experience. Our new DM (a friend of mine who hasn't been playing with us before) has a great style, which everybody enjoys. We have been playing his Eberron campaign for about 3 months now, and we are all level 6/7. The plot keeps on getting more complicated though, and we are not sure how to solve our problems. That's were you come in. Please help us solve this. I'll start with a short character summary, followed by what has happened.
5-Strike is:
- Hank, party leader, a half-elf pirate who uses the rules for monk/rogue. Charismatic, fast, nimble, not too bright. LN
- Bimble, illusionist, a gnome wizard/master illusionist. Smart, crafty, playful, not very good at other things than casting spells. CG
- Aury, tactical advisor, a great wyrm dragonwrought kobold fighter/flying prestige class. Has 14+ on all but charisma, good manouvrebility, speaks many languages, not too much of a speaker. NG
- Frank, druid/healer, a half-orc savage druid (UA). Very strong, fine other stats, very flexible, hates all abberations. LN
- William, a warforged sorceror. Excellent spokesman, awesome damage output, not very flexible. NG
Cohort (Sort of):
- Tak, the Orcish toddler. Hank and bimble killed his parents on a adventure and the party has sort of adopted him... He can't do much except for being cute. In humans years he would be about 3/4 years of age. N?
The Story:
It's long and complicated. We've started near Perenol (Breland border), where we were supposed to clear a strange tower, filled with evil spirits of ugly old ladies, in crow shapes. This we did. A box we were supposed to find in there, and deliver it to the noble that had hired us. She seemed to be impersonated by a body double the day we found her, and so we refused to hand her the box. Next night we found her dead in her home. We got in trouble with the guard and they were forved to let us go. The box contained a strange schema, part of a mighty artifact long forgotten. We had found clues that another part of it could be in the glass tower, so we went to Sharn next... But first Vathirond to restock and but new gear. There we found a trustworthy house Cannith official (Simon) who told us that the artifact could be used for great good.. Or evil.
On the way to Sharn we were chased by strange rogues, which we could hardly fight off. We ended up in the tower, fighting our way through French gourmet ghouls and zombified khyber abombinations. We met a strange mindflayer ghost, we call him Slurpy, (which Hank and William trusted instantly) who told us that he could deliver the schema to us... If we were willing to arrange a re-build of the tower. We first got down lower into the fallen tower and got lost in khyber. The mind flayer's minions we're with many (and the party was only at 3 man that night :P) and Aury got captured. Hank and Bimble accepted the ghost's offer in his absence, and they were released, escaping to the surface (with Tak, the orcling).
Simon appeared out of nowhere, demanding we'd give him the first schema, so he could study it. We sensed something was amiss, and attacked him. We found out that (s)he was a body double, the same one who got our first questgiver killed! When we got his body to the guard we were arrested and our gear was taken from us, including the schema. The changeling escaped and stole it from our bags. Bimble got the head police man fired. Meanwhile we didn't know who to trust or what to do.
So we arranged for the tower to be rebuild (great diplomacy check on Hank's part with the city counsil) and found the schema in our hotel room the next morning. We were still scared for impersonators though, and highly doubted that the schema would be save in our hands again, so we had to bring it somewhere safe. Aury advised that the party should be save enough with his tribesmen in King's Forest (his son leads them) who a body double couldn't possibly fool. Meanwhile they could hope Thrurirl (The tribes' bronze dragon patron, and close friend and guardian of Aury: Thurirl believes Aury to be special, and that's why he has helped him develop his dragon powers,) could help them.
The mighty guardian indeed showed up after a week or two, while the party was sort-of enjoying a holiday in tropical paradise. He revealed to them that the schema was fake! And for such a precise copy Slurpy has had to have seen the real schema. Looking at copies Aury had made with charcoal and paper, the dragon agreed with Simon that the party should do their best to find the item and restore it.
This is were the story has stranded. The dragon has flew us back to Sharn and we don't know how to go on. We were planning to keep the fake schema, in hope of attracting the body double again and stealing our schema back. Meanwhile we are planning to head back into khyber and give Slurpy a knuckle sandwich, hopefully retrieving the item.
We are pretty smart guys, anb Bimble and Aury are smart as well. But we don't know how to solve this. How do we find our schema back? How can we maximise our chances of surviving khyber again (we have been there before, but with level 3 gear , a 3-person party and level 5/6 characters)?
Please, give us your advice and help us!
Thanks in advance, 5-Strike.
You said the changeling stole the schema and then for some reason placed a fake in your hotel room? Why is this related to the ghost mind flayer?
You should get some means of being able to see through disguises, and if you are certain that none of your party members are already being impersonated make up a system of passwords so that you can tell each other apart just in case. Be really careful not be spied upon. Also, establish a secret meeting place for if you get separated from each other.
I don't understand why you are underequipped really. If it is hard to deal with Khyber as you currently are, perhaps you can poke around in town some more and track down the changeling -- at least learn who he is and who he may be affiliated with. Keeping the fake is fine, in case other people come looking for it from you guys.
You may have to take some "normal" quests to level up and get better gear before you can continue with the main storyline though.
P.S. I would lose/kill the orc kid. No matter how you look at him, it is a liability for him to exist. He could easily be a spy, or a target of a Scrying spell, or just a potential hostage if you get attached to him.
P.P.S. If it is "too late" to get rid of the child (even having someone else take care of him leaves the chance he will be a hostage) then take precautions when discussing anything of importance when he is around, and don't let him be alone with any of your belongings. He might not be a bad guy himself, but he could still be controlled in some way. If you are discussing your plans, make sure he is in another room at least 10 feet away, and can't hear you.
I would also drop a Dispel Magic or similar on the kid a couple of times ASAP, just in case. Even if he doesn't read as magical with Detect Magic doesn't mean he doesn't have some kind of Nystul's Magic Aura on him.
- The first time we were underequipped.. Now we have plenty of cash, so that isn't a problem anymore. So we do have some options there.
- We hadn't thought of Slurpie and the chapechanger being a team yet. Good idea. We thought that the ghost had placed the second schema into our room because he was keeping his word.
- We will get the kid checked, good idea. We also have someone who could take care of him, that's no problem. Also, since our party leader is LN he won't cave in when we get into a hostage situation. And the rest of us is loyal to him. I think.
But how do you catch a changeling, hiding in Sharn?
We actually have studied his equipment when he was down, he has lots of different clothes and false ideas with him though.
Any suggestions on how to catch him?
But how do you catch a changeling, hiding in Sharn?
We actually have studied his equipment when he was down, he has lots of different clothes and false ideas with him though.
Any suggestions on how to catch him?
First you should find out "who" he really is and who he works for. If he works for somebody, then you can go see that somebody and it won't really matter if you don't know who the changeling is except if he comes back for revenge later.
The only surefire way of "catching" him would probably be to get some kind of magical True Seeing or similar effect. If you knock a shapechanger unconscious, does he revert to his true form? You may want to make sure any prisoners you take are unconscious.
If he does show himself, then keep him with you. After you are done interrogating him (you need the original schema) and you retrieve the item, then kill him. He seems like he can escape from prison, so don't let him have the chance. If you would prefer to not kill him, go for some kind of "storage" device of your own devising. Maybe save up for a Trap the Soul spell and keep the gem inside a magical pouch or box made of adamantine :P.
I don't think the changeling is on the same side as "Slurpy", more likely you are looking at multiple interested parties, as evidenced by the rogues who attacked you when you first were headed to town. Perhaps even House Cannith members who learned about it from Simon.
Anyway, the ghost said he would give you the second one if you did him a favor. All you can do for that aspect is wait (maybe visit him again once construction begins). If he reneges (or is lying and doesn't really have it), then you can "kill" him without feeling too bad.
Don't trust anyone, that is the way the campaign is looking :P
Do you know what happened to the real Simon? Were there any other clues left at your original patron's death (and possibly with Simon)?
Is there anyone in Sharn who might know anything, that you can trust? Especially since Aury is still in Khyber... try anyone who lives in the lower levels (Merrix's hidden Creation Forge might be a nice hook here).
-Drake-
- We think that the ghost (or a minion) has put the second schema in our room that day. Already having found out about it minutes after, or during the meeting.
- Aury was captured but he was released later with the others, "Slurpy's order" according to the dolgaunt guard.
- We know that the real Simon is still alive. When we were in jail they refused to release us before they got word from Simon, which he send in just a few hours.
- We are actually pretty scarce on contacts in Sharn. Apart from the kobold tribe and the bronze dragon most party members lack trustworthy friends and associates.
