So as a reward for saving his skin from being sacrificed by some freak cult during a masquerade party a few weeks away, the Lord Mayor offered the party invitations to the exclusive masquerade ball (along with the gold the AP mentions he offers).
It's to be held on the 23rd of Neth (November), about a week and a half away in game time, and is part upscale party/ part introduction to the faith of Sivanah for Magnimar where she has very few followers.
I'm planning on having several RP encounters with a variety of npcs the party has already met and some they have yet to meet, skill challenge dancing contests, and costume contests. I'm looking for a few more ideas to pad out a fancy ball into a whole or at least half of one session and don't want a huge focus on combat.
The small amount of combat I plan on including involves the return of Xanesha (who survived the Clocktower using feather fall and invisibility while cursed and at 8 HP). She will, along with a few allied faceless stalkers, enter the masquerade disguised as npcs they have killed/ disabled and hidden and attempt to lure the Lord Mayor away before marking him with the sihedron and killing him.
If anyone's interested, here's the invitation I made up.
So my players are running through Rise of the Runelords right now and are about 1 session away from ending The Skinsaw Murders and I thought it might be interesting for the Lord Mayor to offer them tickets to the exclusive masquerade ball being hosted in a few weeks (along with the gold he offers them).
It would be held on the 23rd of Neth (November) and part upscale party/ part introduction to the faith of Sivanah for Magnimar where she has very few followers.
I'm planning on having RP encounters with several npcs they know and some they don't know yet, skill challenge dancing contests, and costume contests. I'm looking for a few more ideas to pad out a fancy ball into a whole or at least half of one session and don't want a huge focus on combat.
Anyone have any additional suggestions?
If anyone's interested, here's the invitation I made up.
So my players spared Nualia and Tsuto in Burnt Offerings and sent them to trial at Magnimar where Ironbriar promptly freed them and put them to work at Foxglove townhouse and the sawmill. They also spared Zadendi from the Rise of the Scarlet Sun module.
One of my players (an oracle of bones that loves Pharasma despite his heretical necormancic tendencies) has been trying to redeem her ever since reading her journal. He belives that he and Nualia come from the same background but where Nualia only found unkindness and unacceptance, he found love and support and as such he's trying to provide the same for her. Fittingly enough, his character is actually true neutral leaning ever closer to good (he has the most virtue points of anyone in the party) and it might be interesting to see them simutaniously step further into the light of goodness.
So to give him (and myself) some concrete ways to go about this, I'm using the Redemtion rules from Wrath of the Righteous. Nualia needs 22 penances to shift from CE to CN then 22 more to get to CG and Zadendi only needs 12 penances for each shift. The penances listed are good but I was wondering if anyone had any others they'd used. Maybe some tied to the 7 virtues?
So during Burnt Offerings, one of my PCs (CN elf bard) contacted the Sczarni to obtain some semi-legal gear (skeleton key, glass cutter, other obviously burglary-related items) because she couldn't get it at the general shop. In the downtime between Book 1 and 2, I had a Sczarni member contact her and say that they would give her a certain amount of the goods she wanted if she would do a favor for them and chase a handful of non-Sczarni con artists out of town WITHOUT killing them. Unfortunately for her, these con artists turned out to be the late Mr Mortwell, Hask, and Tabe- the first of the Skinsaw Murders. Needless to say, the Sczarni are NOT HAPPY.
The party hasn't really been in Sandpoint long enough (that is without massive crowds of witnesses) for any of the Sczarni to ambush her PC, so I was thinking of a different tactic. My player created and befriended two leshys (long story) between Book 1 and 2 and left them in the safety of Sandpoint where they could wander around at their leisure and explore. So I'm thinking that not long after she gets back to Sandpoint she finds a sealed envelope in her room containing a single leaf and a note demanding the goods they gave her back as well as x amount of gold as ransom.
TL;DR: My PC ticked off the Sczarni and kidnap her plant creature friends for ransom in retaliation.
I'm almost completely finished reading the anniversary edition cover to cover again and I'm trying to determine when exactly I should start having my PCs roll wisdom saves to block Karzoug's scrying spells. I know some DMs might roll these in secret but I kind of the like idea of ramping up my players' paranoia even more.
I think the earliest he could possibly have any clue is if the lamias Xanesha or Lucrecia manage to get away and send him a message somehow. That said, he might not bother wasting his time scrying on them rather than "more dangerous/ important" individuals until after they kill Mokmurian.
Thankfully, my players are still in the beginning of Skinsaw Murders so I've got plenty of time to choose, but I'd love some advice!
So I've been keeping track of each of my players sins (perhaps a bit more so than the AP suggests but I intend to have them play a bigger role in the AP, giving bonuses/ penalties to will saves of the associated schools) and one of my players was debating with me just how many lust points he should have.
This player took Shayliss up on her offer back in Burnt Offerings and then proceeded to have secret nightly dalliances with her as well. He's from Magnimar and jokes about having a House of Welcome "favored customer" card. So just recently, he managed to acquire ownership of the House of Welcome (after an impressive line of trade-offs and deals) and plans to set up several benefits for the employees including hiring tutors, setting up savings accounts (Fantasy 401Ks!) with the temple of Abadar for each of them as well as arranging to construct a shrine to Arshea and hire a full time cleric (he did get a generosity point for this).
Said character is a devout worshiper of Arshea (Empyreal lord of freedom, beauty, and sexuality) and to a lesser degree Lymnieris (empyreal lord of prostitution, rites of passage, and virginity) and argues that because his religion does not see sex as a sinful act but rather an act of love that he should have very few or no Lust points but rather several Love points.
I'm having trouble deciding how to assign his points and any advice would be appreciated!
So this is my 2nd time through Runelords, but my first as DM and this time I want to make sure my players know more about the plot and history and characters in the AP than I did (granted we didn't have a wizard or anyone who could read Thessolonian or even anyone with ranks in Knowledge History).
To this end, I've made handouts a BIG part of the AP, finding and printing out journals for Nualia, Lyrie, additional pages for Tsuto's journal and am putting a big focus on the mysterious Late Unpleasantness (in the words of one of my player's PC sleuth: So Nualia lost her baby, fell into a coma, Ameiko's mom died AND a mass murderer all happened around the same time??? That CAN'T just be coincidence).
Said sleuth PC is an oracle of bones with a backstory involving a vision of "a dark dangerous cloud over Sandpoint's Cathedral" he believes was granted to him by Pharasma and the party bard is a worshiper of Desna and so I've been considering giving the party dreams/ nightmares that hide symbolic clues and details about current and future events (especially now that the oracle's made a point of destroying several holy objects of Lamashtu, goddess of nightmares)
I've already mentioned to the bard (object of Skinsaw Man's obsession) that several of her things have been going missing (she even paid a wizard in Sandpoint to cast Locate Object for her but by then Aldern had fled town) and I'm considering having her wake up in a cold sweat every few nights before I start Skinsaw Murders, convinced someone's watching her.
So what I'm looking for is inspiration for dreams and nightmares hinting at later plots and clues in the AP, particularly creepy nightmare-fuel ones and I'd love your suggestions!
So one of my players had lunch at Risa's Place with Chask Haladan of the Curious Goblin, trying to butter him up enough to ask Sabyl Sorn of the House of Blue Stones to let him use her library.
While RPing Chask off-handedly mentioned that he'd love a book full of Risa Magravi's famous tales of legends and myths but that so far her son's been too busy to finish it. The PC then approached Risa and paid her for an "advanced copy" with just a few to sate his appetite. So because I'm a huge nerd and because I thought it'd be more immersive (and possibly hint toward some later campaign details), I wrote down a few of these stories and figured I'd share.
Risa’s stories
As told by Sorceress Risa Magravi of Sandpoint
Compiled and annotated by her grandson, Lel Magravi
The Seven Spire Stones:
This one’s an old Varisian tale that my mother told to me and her mother to her. Long ago, when Varisia was open, wild and free of Chelaxian control, we wandered the land freely, without a reason or a goal, simply to see the world as was granted to us. We worshiped Desna and she looked down on us kindly as we scuttled over the land, lost and aimless. The Starsong took pity on us and upon looking from us, back to her home, the glittering otherworldly palace and its 7 soaring spires. Desna smiled down upon us and reached into the sky plucking out seven stones from among the stars before dropping them here, and setting a table in the center, to mark a place so her followers would not become lost and would have a place to rest when they tired. (note from Lel: Father Zantus says the stones represent Empyreal Lords, like Ashava, Soralyon, and Ylimancha but Mr. Quint says they stand for the seven virtues of rule: rest, abundance, wealth… and I can’t remember the rest)
Insp: Sandpoint Cathedral write up in rotr anniversary edition
The Forever Fiddler:
A long time ago, a handsome Varisian bard now known only as the Forever Fiddler, traveled the land, singing and dancing with his caravan as they went. One day, coming across and ancient fallen monument they settled down to camp and accidentally released a foul beast from the depths under their campfire. A great, terrible bat-winged, black-scaled demon arose from the flames licking his lips and hungrily eyeing the children around the fire. Quickly, the Forever Fiddler snatched up his violin and stepped between the beast and the child, sawing out a quick tune. He used his magic and his skill to keep the beast entranced. For the rest of the night and the next day he succeeded until finally, as the sun disappeared behind the horizon, the demon persevered. The bard increased his tempo faster and faster still, until he discovered that he was enspelling innocent onlookers into joining the performance. The demon smiled at him before consuming each member of his caravan, leaving his youngest sister for last. Finally, when the bard could play no more, dropping to his knees to cradle his young sister’s corpse, the demon ripped a hole in the earth and absconded this plane taking both the Forever Fiddler and all the remaining dancers. But to his disgust, the demon had not managed to snatch away the soul of the Forever Fiddler, who even now remains, playing a slow and sad tune that turns manic at sunrise, ensnaring all around, trapping them in the diabolical claws of the demon he could not defeat. (note from Lel: I once saw the Fiddle while mama and I were traveling back from Magnimar! It was like a tree grew right up around it- I wanted to touch it but ma said I was just seeing things and made me leave before I saw him.)
Insp: Night Fiddler haunt in Wayfinder 7
Hag's Progeny:
While few admit it, most in Sandpoint know of the Tickwood Hag. A fearsome creature with green skin, mildewed hair and twisted fingernails, only the truly desperate seek her out. Having lost her coven sisters years before to the hands of men, the hag grew desperately lonely and despite her best efforts could not manage to steal away a child from the local tribes and settlements. In her desperation, she called upon a devil and begged him to grant her the power to give birth to a child. “Why ever can’t you steal one, Hag?” The fiend asked. “I’ve lost a great deal of power after the death of my sisters, your terribleness, and can’t face the swords of men as such. If only you’d grant me two children, I’d raise one to be powerful and loyal to you, while the other joins my coven when they come of age. I’ll have company again and you’ll have a powerful new servant.” The devil thought for a time before agreeing.
Nine months later, the devil came to see his newest herald but could not find the hag anywhere. Bellowing angrily, the devil searched and searched before he found the hag, hiding in a honeycomb of caves, with both twin babies nestled together sleeping in her empty cauldron. She begged him to forgive her but he refused, and pointing to the sleeping infants he cursed them. The first babe, the one promised to him sprouted wings the size of its whole body before flying lazily out of the cauldron. The hag watched in horror as the infant’s brow hardened and protruded, stretching into pointed horns while its pink skin turned bright red, its ears long, and fingernails growing into claws. Beckoning the child, the newly made imp obediently approached his master, perching on his shoulder.
Then the other babe lifted out of its iron cradle on newly formed bat wings and the hag watched in horror as the child’s hands and feet shifted and blackened into hooves and it’s face into a long snarling snout as it’s small tuft of hair grew and migrated halfway down his back. The hag cried out in anguish as the creature alighted on the devil’s other shoulder. “Don’t you know, Hag? Never break a deal with a devil.” And with that the hooved babe belched a gout of flame, burning the hag’s face and boiling away her tears. To this day, wherever the Sandpoint Devil is, not far behind you can hear the agonized sobs of its hag mother.
Insp: mashup of the Sandpoint Devil write up in the Inner Sea World Guide and Melissa the Tickwood Hag of Wayfinder 7.
Vyush'baro, The Cunning Wolf:
In the time before this Golden Age, we were slaves, servants to fearsome devils who reigned in the northern lands. Trapped by an ancient covenant, our people served the devils for thousands of years before a hero arose to free us. No one remembers his name, but we refer to him as Vyush’baro, the Cunning Wolf. He beseeched the devils to provide us with a new covenant, and tricked them into signing a document so full of masterful speech and loops of logic that, when the signing was complete, our people were free.
In a rage, the devils pursued us through the twilight years, destroying the land wherever they stepped. But Vyush’baro led us into barrows and through tunnels, under the mountains and over the plains until the devils vanished in howls of frustration and left us to claim our true destiny.
Some say Vyush’baro was an angel, a servant of Desna and that one day he will return in our darkest hour. Then, once again, we will follow him through black despair and live forever in joy in our promised land.
Insp: taken almost word for word from People of the Road write up in Pathfinder #7, Edge of Anarchy
Amendra the Wise:
The way my mother told it to me, was that we once ruled a magnificent kingdom. We were kings and queens who lived in towers of gold and silver. We were so rich, vain, and powerful that we allowed a shadow to enter our hearts. We forgot our role as Desna’s chosen.
A wise woman, a fortuneteller named Amendra, saw our pride swell and sought to bring the word of Desna back to our people. Many cast away their fortunes to follow Amendra, while others chose to remain in their beautiful city. One morning, Amendra led the faithful away to find a new life as wanderers. That evening, a mysterious disaster struck the golden city, and all those who stayed behind died in the cataclysm.
Amendra taught our people that the quest for riches has led us astray. We forsake all property and settlement because we know it leads only to misery. Some think we wander aimlessly across Varisia, but we actually follow the path Amendra once took. My mother told me that, when we finally reach the end of the trail she left, Amendra herself will return and show us where our destiny lies.
Insp: taken almost word for word from People of the Road write up in Pathfinder #7, Edge of Anarchy
Shadow Dream:
Since I was a child, I’ve dreamt sometimes of a great darkness, of our people walking through chambers and hallways so vast that the walls become lost in the shadows. We carry candles that cannot penetrate the black and serve figures that stand always with their faces turned away. They appear human, in my dreams, but I sense they are so much more.
Then a great roar shatters the funeral peace, faces streaked with dust, hands bloody from climbing through the wreckage. Those faceless figures, our masters, shriek in anguish and call fire and ice from the skies to protect their castles. They care nothing for us. They do not follow. They bring their power to bear to protect their lands but all for naught. They fall beneath piles of rubble while my people march into the night.
In my dream, it seems we walk for years, both over the land and beneath it, always searching for something. We lose our brothers and sisters to wild animals, fierce creatures with red eyes, starvation, disease, and broken hearts. When it seems I cannot bear another moment of this miserable trek, the sun rises. A flight of butterflies lifts off from the grass, and my people spin in joy, arms raised to the light.
Now the sun begins its decent to the west, and I fear the coming dark. But as my dream splinters, I see a lunar-white moth flutter from the shadows to lead us on once more. (note from Lel: I know Nan likes to tell this story because it’s one of the last prophesy dreams she had, I don’t like it- I think it’s scary and not in a good way either)
Insp: taken almost word for word from People of the Road write up in Pathfinder #7, Edge of Anarchy. However, in our campaign the party oracle (the one asking for the stories) came to Sandpoint after a vision involving a dark shadow cloaking Sandpoint's Cathedral so I thought this would be of interest to him.
Zonzon the Brave:
All know of Shelyn’s beloved holiday Crystalhue as well as the tradition of creating the Zonzon Doll, a small doll made of scraps to represent Zon-Kuthon, the brother of the Eternal Maiden. As with all Zonzons, the doll was passed through the caravan, followed by its chosen “sibling”, a young boy named Hanzi. I remember like it was yesterday. The hunter Camlo set a crown of flowers on its head, my beautiful friend Miri whispered to it her favorite memory of her brother, and my mother told the doll how sorry she was for shouting at my father the week before.
That night, Hanzi tucked the doll into his own sleeping bag in the wagon and fell asleep cradling it. As we slept however, the bonfire we’d camped around rekindled itself somehow. To our horror, myself and the others woke only after Hanzi’s family wagon had been engulfed in flames. The few magic users we had with us did not have the means to quench the fire and when one of us tried to leap past the flames to find Hanzi and his family, we had to pull him out of the fire, half dead. We watched in horror for what felt like a lifetime before we spotted something incredible.
The Zonzon, clothed in tattered, burning scraps of cloth, still wearing a smoldering flower crown, walked out of the flames on its own, Hanzi bent over and holding its hand tightly. Behind him, Hanzi dragged his entire family, each holding hands with the other, out of the fire, completely unharmed. The next day, after a long feast, we set the singed Zonzon down the Turandarok River on a tiny raft, wearing a new flower crown and surrounded by gifts in thanks for saving one of our own. I never saw that doll again but ask Hanzi and he’ll swear up and down that he still sees his Zonzon every few years, watching over him, leading him from danger.
Insp: details regarding Crystalhue traditions taken from Wayfinder 2
The Grand Moot:
This is a tale told by my grandmother, as told to her by a brownie servant in the Inn of the Blue Pony, a tiny house in the fairy city of Nithveil.
Once every generation or so- more often when it happens more often, less when it happens less- all the gremlins of Golarion gather for a Grand Moot. The wicked jinkins and the unlucky pugwumpis, the crafty grimolochins and the unspeakable psammeads, the vexgits who unfix the runners of sleds and the nuglubs who smother babies then place them back in their sleeping mother’s arms, and many other gremlins beyond couting or countenancing, all gather together in the First World.
There, so the brownie told my grandmother, the gremlins swap stories of misery sown, of chaos caused, and of lives ruined, or, to use the gremlins’ own words, “made more interesting,” for it must be remembered that gremlins are fey, and while they do not care the slightest if anyone dies, they have little regard for a boring or inappropriate death. A nuglub who simply kills a victim earns no respect but one who murders a person in singularly novel or poetic fashion or in such a way that all the survivors believe that another has done it? That is high art and fine craft. Indeed, more than one nuglub has risen to King of the Gremlins for orchestrating a single murder and then laying false blame that leads to a blood feud or even a war between nations.
The brownie told her that many gremlins have been king or queen, sometimes for a season, sometimes for a century. The fey do not measure time as we do. Moreover, the gremlins choose not only their ruler, but also who is a gremlin. If other fey convince them of their novelty and ingenuity for mischief, of their talent for creating misery and consternation, then they may not be declared an honorary gremlin, but can win the gremlin’s highest acclaim, being given the wyrdstone scepter, and declared king or queen, at least for as long as they continue to amuse their subjects.
Indeed, as the brownie confided in my grandmother, it is said that a human maid once found her way to the Gremlin Moot and spun her own tale about mischief, how she had conspired to ruin her sisters’ marriage prospects, and so was elected Gremlin Queen herself.
Who this maid is or when this was the brownie did know or was perhaps too afraid to say, but the Gremlin Queen must be keeping her subjects amused because it has been a while since the last Grand moot… (note from Lel: I wish so much sometimes I’d known my great great grandma! She met a brownie! How cool is that!)
Insp: Taken almost word for word from Pathfinder Grand Lodge folktale in Wayfinder 6
Lamashtu's Trap:
In her earliest days as a goddess, Desna’s mentor was Curchanus, a now mostly forgotten god of beasts, travel, and endurance, and Desna spent many nights listening to stories of his travels. Curchanus’ enemy was Lamashtu, an equally ancient goddess of monsters, madness, and nightmares who longed for his control over beasts. Lamashtu set a trap for Curchanus, leading him on a strange wandering path into her realm, where she swarmed him with horrible monsters before finally attacking in the guise of a great deformed jackal, tearing his beast dominion from him. This wound was too great for the elder deity, and as his last act, he willed his power over travel to Desna. Since this theft, wild animals have treated mankind as an outsider and an enemy rather than part of nature, and Desna has searched far and wide to find a way to force Lamashtu to surrender Curchanus’ stolen power.
Insp: Pulled almost word for word from Desna write up in Pathfinder #2, The Skinsaw Murders
Oblivion Mothers:
One need only spend enough time to finish a mug of ale in any tavern on the water, be it Magnimar, Sandpoint, or even Turtleback Ferry, fishermen and sailors have told one another terrifying stories of the great monsters that lie beneath the now tranquil waters. One of the most famous of these tales tells of the Mother of Oblivion, a monstrous, undulating tangle of barbed tentacles crowned with glaring infernal eyes, with a maw of jagged black teeth that can drain the soul from a man just as quickly as his blood.
Those who have seen the beast can never speak of the tale- as soon as they try black blood wells up from their throats and into their mouths, choking their words (note from Lel: How do we know what it looks like then? OH WAIT, they did what I just did! They wrote about it instead!). Those who’ve sighted it –those that haven’t gone mad at least- claim that it summons terrible storms with it, to throw her meals into the ocean and below the surface into her hungry maw.
Some even say that the beast is older than many gods- that she’s a minor god herself and a sister of Lamashtu. They claim she was subjected by the Mother of Monsters, robbed of her divinity and cast down to Golarion to serve her sister. But Lamashtu, ever fond of horror and monstrosities, couldn’t bring herself to fully destroy the creature’s divine spark. Dark mages say that cutting the Oblivion Mother’s heart from her chest and bathing in its putrescent blood with grant one invulnerability –even from the gods!
Insp: Black Magga/ Mother of Oblivion write up in Pathfinder #3, Hook Mountain Massacre and rotr anniversary edition
In my current homebrew campaign, the party [human abjurer, human fighter, h elven druid, and elven abyssal sorcerer, all currently lvl 8] will eventually be going up against a mythic vampire necromancer who was imbued with a small portion of his dead god’s divine power. The Vampire wants to bring his god back and they party must stop him.
Because the fighter has been maxing out his craft armor/ craft weapons skills, I thought it’d be cool to have a prophecy saying that to kill the vampire they need a specifically crafted mythic weapon. It would probably be a khopesh (the vampire is from a nearby desert and his god is Set- centuries ago, both Ra and Set died in a cataclysmic battle between them, causing the creation of that desert).
I want it to be really difficult, with the gathering of each component needed for the weapon being a quest all on its own. I’m thinking of this similarly to how AD&D’s High Level Campaigns addressed creating magical items, so they’d need really exotic ingredients like soil from his birthplace or the first light of sunrise on his birthday. Garlic, mirrors, holy symbols, and running water would be cool to include because of vampire’s weakness to them but seem too mundane.
To help them make it before his army becomes too powerful, I created an artifact forge for them that drastically reduces mundane crafting time. The history they know if it says that it was gifted to the Dwarven race by Torag himself and that its power is legendary.
But before they can use it, they must prove their worth by researching and completing 3 awesome tests. Because (according to Gods & Magic), Torag wants his children to grow up strong, determined and competent, the tests would be:
•The Test of Might (strength): kill an ancient enemy (possibilities include an Ash Giant, Great Cyclops or Chromatic Dragon)
•The Test of Loyalty (determination): protect something/ someone at all costs
•And the Test of Skill (competence): mundanely craft a unique or extremely valuable suit of armor or shield (and then maybe donate it to someone who needs the protection more?).
So my questions:
1)What super rare/ exotic components could the vamp-god killing sword contain?
2)What (or who) might they have to protect for the Test of Loyalty?
3)What should they have to craft for the Test of Skill?
So in my current campaign, the party [fighter 6, druid 6, Abyssal sorcerer 6, Abjurist Wizard 7] is chasing after a big-bad that is in the process of assembling an army of undead and demons. He gave one of his vampire minions an artifact to help it go more quickly.
It’s a rickety archway made of bones strung with a dozen decaying skulls. It radiates very strongly of conjuration and necromancy and so far has been used to Gate (as the spell) to the Negative Energy Plane (where the BBEG is hiding at the moment).
In the world I’ve made, creating and controlling undead are the ultimate crimes punishable by death and chances are the party’s gonna want to destroy it as soon as possible. I was thinking perhaps they need to deal 50 fire damage and 50 positive energy damage to it in 1 round to completely destroy it but that feels too easy a way to destroy even a minor artifact.
So, should it have any other uses other than Gate (to Neg. Energy Plane)?
So I’m a first time DM and I’m looking for an overarching campaign plot, preferably with a “We have to stop this or it will mean the end of the world!” feel.
Party so far includes 5th level Wizard, 3rd level Druid, 3rd level Sorcerer (Abyssal bloodline), and 2nd level Ranger.
Because of the strong ties between druids and fey, I really wanted to include them a lot in my campaign. I had the idea that there is some ancient evil “corruption” blighting the land and the fey alike, warping the minds of the fey and killing/ diseasing the forests. To be honest, a lot of the inspiration for this comes from Prince of Persia 2008.
I also really like the idea of them being able to fix/ cure the corruption perhaps with some ancient druidic ritual. I also want to include a very powerful Druidic Order, wherein the Grand Druid, (the most powerful druid on the planet) happens to be a 6 inch tall 20th level druid.
The idea I had for the Big Bad was an incredibly powerful demon that had been defeated and trapped a millennia ago, before the mortal races walked the earth. He was trapped within the First World by the Eldest- but he just escaped. Driven even madder by his millennia long imprisonment, he aims to destroy the universe. He plans to start with the fey, out of spite.
After reading about the Eldest however, I’m considering having the big bad be Count Ranalc or a servant of his. He is the CN fey deity of betrayal, exiles, and shadows and for reasons unknown, was exiled to the Plane of Shadow by his fellow Eldest.
Lower CR creatures that follow/ work for the Count could be an evil wizard based on Defilers from Dark Sun or a corrupted druid based on Blighters from 3.5.
