My group (7 pcs level 15-16) have just recovered the Hand of Vecna from Darl on Last Resort and I'm pretty sure that they want to destroy the Artifact before continuing on with the AP. However, I've been having writer's block and am asking the boards for some good artifact destroying quest ideas.
Also as a side note, I own most Dungeon magazines from #66 ish onward, so if theres a good easily convertable adventure in one of them, let me know. Thank you in advance!
- It must be swallowed by the Tarrasque
- During a double lunar eclipse of Luna and Celeste, it must be cast into the sun. If the timing is not immaculate, it will reappear on either of the moons.
- A planetar must sacrifice himself by adding it to his armstump and then get destroyed by positive energy on the positive energy plane.
- It cannot be destroyed. It can only be hidden permanently from reality, which requires a ritual casting of dimensional lock, mind blank, imprisonment, permanency and wish by a deaf and mute atheistic caster in a place only he knows of and he was the only sentient beeing to ever see, and who subsequently commits suicide and willfully has his soul captured via soul bind.
Difficult side quest, it will be a full adventure, you can try bastion of broken soul a 3.0 adventure where you have to go to the positive energy plane to stop a red wyrm from eating soul (throw the hand in the fountain to destroy it?).
There was a quest in an old dungeon magazine (*17 Out of the ashes IIRC), carrying the eye of Vecna (false of course) to throw it in a volcano, we did it and never played the real adventure: entering a strange monolith near the furnace....
Under the pure light of the First Sun, the first star to grace the night sky, expose the Hand to a blow from the Mace of St. Cuthbert.
The 2ed Dungeon Master Guide also listed possible ways to destroy the hand though I do not remember what they were.
It wasn't the 2E DMG, but the Book of Artifacts, where the suggestions are:
- Vecna the demigod must be permanently and irrevocably destroyed
- It must be cast into the heart of Oerth's sun
- Every shade of Vecna's victims must be sent to a peaceful rest.
Perhaps a journey to the Tomb of Horrors to acquire the Sphere of Annihilation and use the Sphere to destroy the Hand (they should still have the Talisman of the Sphere from the Whispering Cairn unless you removed it from the adventure). The 3.5 conversion should still be a free download at Wizards.com. I think it is geared towards 12th level characters though.
Amazingly, the 3.5 revision of Tomb of Horrors is for 4-6 9th-level characters!
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The original Tomb of Horrors (AD&D version) was for levels 10-14, but came with a group of 20 pregenerated characters listed in the back. It recommended a party of 6-8, IIRC.
Most of the traps were either save or die, or did so much damage they may as well have been.
There were several traps that were Do The Wrong Thing and DIE (no save).
With 3.5, many of those traps were nerfed. They were still dangerous, but not the brutal party-killers that were in the original version.
Even 1st DMG had a list of possible ways to destroy artifacts ;)
Interesting I never got the 2E Book of Artifacts so perhaps the 2E DMG has a section on destroying artifacts.
The 2E DMG's section on artifacts is very short compared with the 1E DMG - maybe they were planning ahead for the Book of Artifacts? But it does contain a short list of suggested means for destroying artifacts in general. The "sample" artifacts in the 2E DMG are the Hand of Vecna, the Rod of Seven Parts, and Heward's Mystical Organ.
9th level is just crazy for that adventure no wonder why most parties die. :-)
Absolutely!
The original Tomb of Horrors (AD&D version) was for levels 10-14, but came with a group of 20 pregenerated characters listed in the back. It recommended a party of 6-8, IIRC.
It didn't have a suggested number of characters, but did list different ways of assigning the 20 pre-generated characters among groups of players numbered between 2 and 10, giving a party size of between 4 and 14!
Even 1st DMG had a list of possible ways to destroy artifacts ;)
Of course, which inspired all the subsequent suggestions!
Even 1st DMG had a list of possible ways to destroy artifacts ;)
Yes, I'm aware that 1e Dmg, 2e Dmg, and 3.5 DMG II has ways of destroying artifacts. Unfortunately, players in my group own those too, and anything that I would bring up, straight outta the book would only elicit groans.
My group (7 pcs level 15-16) have just recovered the Hand of Vecna from Darl on Last Resort and I'm pretty sure that they want to destroy the Artifact before continuing on with the AP. However, I've been having writer's block and am asking the boards for some good artifact destroying quest ideas.
Also as a side note, I own most Dungeon magazines from #66 ish onward, so if theres a good easily convertable adventure in one of them, let me know. Thank you in advance!
Maybe they could have to get a certain evil creature to destroy it, but the creature wants to send the party on a mission before he will agree to help. I would make the creature a devil so the party knows it will not break its promise, unless you just want to mess with them.
Even 1st DMG had a list of possible ways to destroy artifacts ;)Yes, I'm aware that 1e Dmg, 2e Dmg, and 3.5 DMG II has ways of destroying artifacts. Unfortunately, players in my group own those too, and anything that I would bring up, straight outta the book would only elicit groans.
If they groan, you should have Talos the triple iron golem drop by to step on their heads. ;-)
How about this: the Hand of Vecna must be grasped by the left and right hands of Primus, the master modron.
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Suggestions:
The Hand of Vecna will be destroyed if seven good-aligned clerics join hands around it, channel positive energy, and wholeheartedly confess their deepest, darkest secrets aloud. If even one participant holds back, the process will fail.
The Hand will be destroyed 7 days of continuous, uninterrupted exposure to natural daylight - teleporting and the like would be considered an interruption (meaning the party has to keep travelling (at a high rate of speed) with the sun, and getting very little rest).
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Suggestions:
The Hand of Vecna will be destroyed if seven good-aligned clerics join hands around it, channel positive energy, and wholeheartedly confess their deepest, darkest secrets aloud. If even one participant holds back, the process will fail.
The Hand will be destroyed 7 days of continuous, uninterrupted exposure to natural daylight - teleporting and the like would be considered an interruption (meaning the party has to keep travelling (at a high rate of speed) with the sun, and getting very little rest).
Aww, man! I love these, especially the one with the secrets! Vecna is so dangerous because practically no one is completely honest, not even with himself. The small, innocuous-seeming secrets that turn into dark points of corruption are how he maintains his hold. I like the idea of both of these methods in conjunction with one another, first the positive energy thing, then the sunlight. Epic ideas, worthy of such an epic item.
One option if you want to make a a good quest out of it, have the PC's go through the process of earning the history of Vecna. They will have to visit large cities with libraries, search a dungeon or old tower for an ancient tome, commune with the divine through spell or planar travel. Once they understand how the artifact came to be, they will also learn that there are only 2 ways to destroy it. 1St and hardest, kill Vecna. This should be beyond the PC's power and drive them to believe that option #2 is the only answer. One who is pure of heart and soul, must sacrifice their own hand and graft the hand of Vecna to their arm. The hand is evil and will attempt, when grafted to claim the soul and body of the PC that does this. Once the hand is grafted it turns to stone. The hand is unusable while stone. When the party next rests, the PC with the hand while undergo their battle to destroy the artifact and keep their soul. They will be awoken in a familiar town or city, but the party is not there. As they wander the city looking for their companions, they will find the city is under attack. The other PC's will be engaging various monsters in battle, trying to save a helpless victim, or prevent looting. The PC with the hand must not falter, they must stop the looters, not take any bribe, rush into a burning building to save a child, once they have done these, a powerful enemy will appear, and they must rush to engage it before it starts killing innocents. The PC should be made to feel that rushing into this fight will mean death but might give others enough time to live. If they can show unwavering faith and goodness, then as the powerful monster's attack touches the PC a golden light will erupt and they PC will awaken. The stone around the hand will crumble to dust and a new hand that grants some magical benefits (more if a divine caster or good alignment did this) If they fail in any challenges, The monster will slay them and they will awaken as if from a nightmare. They stone around the hand will crumble to dust and the hand of Vecna is still there. As time goes on, it will attempt to gain control of the PC and make them commit evil acts, eventually trying to take full control. The PC's will be forced to either slay their friend (new character needed) or cut the limb off and have a maimed PC.
Also look up the spell, Mage's disjunction. It has a section on destroying artifacts. Even though it is a 9th level spell, you could have a quest to find someone powerful enough to cast it, and have to convince them.