Dungeon Help: Test of the goddess of death

[Weirdo]

I'm creating a dungeon that serves as a tomb for a mystic theurge necromancer who served my homebrew goddess of fate and death. It's supposed to test anyone who wants to claim his magical legacy. In addition to physical and magical tests, I want to add two or three moral tests. For example, if the players do not perform basic funeral rites on the remains of the undead they destroy, they'll have to fight angry ghosts.

I really want to have a test of their willingness to trust fate / accept death, but I'm not sure how to do it.

I was thinking of a magical poison whose effects can be avoided if you voluntarily fail your saving throw. But there also needs to be some sort of indication of what's being tested, because otherwise who would do such a thing?

Ideas appreciated for this test & others. Party is level 2.

[Driver 325 yards]

Maybe make the potion one that allows them to see thing in the dungeon as they really are (avoid illusions, see traps, etc...) or gives a great plus to those abiities. Of course, the downside (known or unknown) would be that they can now see themselves for what they truly are (thier immorality/morality).

For the duration of the potion, they would have to behave morally or suffer different consequences (sickened, fatigued, exhausted, etc...).

Those who don't take the potion don't see themselves for what they truly are, but unless their will save, perception, etc... are high, will have a tough time noticing the dungeon for what it truly is. The consequences for that can be varied.

[rogue-mage]

I think a better test of accepting death is how they gamer plays.
I remember one of my DMs would put us in situations that would test our resolve. If we as players handled it horribly he would get penalties to his rolls, if we handled the situation well he would get bonuses. I only found out about that years later while sharing a few beers with the DM.

So put your characters in a death situation, if they handle the news good without having a hissy-fit then they handled death well and completed your test.

Players need to trust their DMs that they are not going to build a scenario just to crap all over the gamers but deliver a genuinely unique story that is entertaining to the player. If they b&!!! and rule-lawyer the whole time then they have no faith in the DM to do his job. There is another test.

Anyways, I love what your trying to accomplish. Please let us know how it all turns out.

[Weirdo]

rogue-mage, I don't want to actually kill one of the PCs for the sake of the test. I'm testing the characters, not the players - I've played with this group before and the player-GM trust is solid. I think it would be a lot of fun, though, to send one or more of the characters into a death-like coma.

Driver 325 yards, interesting idea. It still requires that I present situations in which players would be required to act morally or immorally as defined by the goddess in question in order to trigger the potion's effects. Principles of the faith include:

• Accept your fate
  
• Do not fear death
  
• Euthanasia is encouraged
  
• Resurrections are not forbidden but you'd better meditate on the goddess's will first and be prepared to pay with something more precious than gold
  
• Create undead responsibly: only as many as you can control and lay them properly to rest when their purpose is ended.
  
• Destroy uncontrolled undead.
  

Given that this goddess is the one who arbitrates the ultimate fate of your soul, it could be an interesting effect to give the characters a glimpse of their final destination - but not much of a test. Also it's a little tricky to judge the souls of 2nd level characters because they haven't done a whole lot in play.

[Son of the Veterinarian]

This would only work if you have a player truly willing to roleplay, but how about one of the PC's who's backstory involves losing a loved one being offered a chance to bring said loved one back from the dead, even knowing they're at peace?

Or perhaps an obviously trapped room with no other treasure in it but one dose of the Sun Orchid Elixir?