I finally got to read Champions Belt last night, and when I got to the part about what happens if the Ulgurstasta succeeds, I was a bit shocked. 1d4 negative levels to everyone in the arena. The adventure said something like: several thousand wights running around will create a a problem. More than a problem! That's a whole seperate campaign's worth of material.
The stands are packed for the last event of the competition- that's almost 20,000 people. I'd say it's safe to assume over 90% of them are 1st or 2nd level commoners. With an average of 2 negative levels to everyone, that's almost 20,000 wights! They will spill out into the city, and since it's supposed to be someplace like Greyhawk or Waterdeep or Sharn, and the fact that most people there are also 1st or 2nd level commoners, we're looking at several tens of thousands more wights spawning. That's a huge event, and could even escalate further once they get out of the city and start attacking little towns here, there, and everywhere.
I like this aspect of the adventure, don't get me wrong. I also realize that the party SHOULD be able to prevent this. But, uh, what are we, as DMs, to do if they fail (provided they make it out of the arena alive)? This could not only end the AoW (since trying to stop all the wights and still dealing with the impending return of Kyuss would be very difficult), it could majorly derail the campaign world, when one of its largest cities is over run by many thousands of undead. Just an observation. Thoughts?
As a DM, you'll have to ask yourself, "Do I want the campaign to stop here, or do I want the PCs to move forward." Once you know the answer to that question, the game will work itself out on its own. It's important that the DM give the group plenty of chances to use their skills and know-how (gathering info, diplomacy, survival for tracking, etc.) to figure out that there's a situation brewing in the Arena. Certainly, the PCs should register for the games SEEKING something beneath the surface, literally and figuratively. With all the NPCs in the mix (Allustan, Eligos, Ekaym), the PCs should know what to do. If they don't, NPCs should point them in the right direction.
If the game is set in the Forgottem Realms, say, Waterdeep, the destruction of 20,000 wights might make for a fun day (perhaps a week) of street-to-street, shop-to-shop, urban geurilla battles against a horde of wights. Could be your campaign's answer to Day of the Dead. I love that idea. It wouldn't spell the end of the world, but it would make quite an unforgettable mess.
Creative Director
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I'm really interested to see what everyone thinks of this aspect of "The Champion's Belt." It's in there for a very specific reason—the PCs are starting to become quite powerful, and this is an example of how bad things can go when they mess up.
If they DO fail to prevent the disaster, this won't actually prevent the PCs from continuing the adventure path. As planned out, there's no reason for the PCs to return to the Free City after "The Champion's Belt," and fleeing 20,000 wights is a great reason to leave town and return to Diamond Lake if anything is. It'll certainly change the nature and tone of the rest of the campaign... that's for sure.
We wanted the events of Age of Worms to be epic and potentially world-changing. Failing to prevent the tragedy at the end of "The Champion's Belt" is the first world-changing event that the PCs are going to have to face in this campaign, but it certainly won't be the last.
I would think that the gods would sense a "disturbance in the force" and step in in that case. 15,000 dead at once would defiantly cause a freeway jam into the afterlife. Since gods give spells to any one that prays for them (clerics) you would think they are somewhat in tune with whats going on.
In truth, it would probably be better if the PC's LET it happen. I mean when all the gods take notice, they will surely uncover the Kyuss plot and put an end to it. it would only be 15,000 dead after all, and if kyuss comes back and the age of worms happens I would expect more than that. Its all about the bottom line you know.....
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I like this aspect of the adventure, don't get me wrong. I also realize that the party SHOULD be able to prevent this. But, uh, what are we, as DMs, to do if they fail (provided they make it out of the arena alive)? This could not only end the AoW (since trying to stop all the wights and still dealing with the impending return of Kyuss would be very difficult), it could majorly derail the campaign world, when one of its largest cities is over run by many thousands of undead. Just an observation. Thoughts?
I think it's great that it couldbecome a cataclysmic event...this is what makes it a true adventure path. It's not just 'you don't kill the big baddie and get to punder his toybox'...thousands of lives hang in the PC's grasp. There are mages and warriors and clerics galore in Greyhawk who can be mobilized to deal with the threat if the PCs can't, but they get first crack at it.
If it's a TPK, then they can always roll up new characters who were in the crown and have to help their fellow citizens. It would could just start up from the point where the last PC fell (or close to, anyway). Then they can find out what these noble but failed heros were trying to accomplish, and a new stream feeds into the flow of the adventure.
I'm really interested to see what everyone thinks of this aspect of "The Champion's Belt." It's in there for a very specific reason—the PCs are starting to become quite powerful, and this is an example of how bad things can go when they mess up.
I like it as it's written. But the end result of failure, though, might not be really clear to the players until near the last minute (even though it's clear to the DM).
Perhaps the party might run into the mad prophet again, and he says things that gives them prophetic hints about the incredibly horrible things that might happen?
Or perhaps a party cleric (or psionicist, depending) might get a little dream-inspired or psychic warning of the upcoming doom?
The good news is that the cleric should still have all of his turning attempts left.
When the party reaches this point, I hope they have defeated the Ulgerstasa. It will be hard to rin a campaign in a world filled with wights. As for the gods stepping in... It depends on how active the gods are in your world.
As for going back to Diamond Lake, that will be great. Fleeing thousands of wights to run into a black dragon.
I sure hope they kill it first...
As for the gods stepping in... It depends on how active the gods are in your world.The gods didn't stop a cataclysm like the Rain of Colorless Fire that blasted the Suel Empire into fine grit...why should they care about one city?
I agree... I wouldn't have the gods intervene, particularly in Greyhawk. Very dark!
I'll be running it in Forgotten Realms, though... and I'd have a hard time doing that to Waterdeep (seems also like the powerful NPCs there would also step up).
Might be a good way to use Heroes of Battle, as well. Certainly it would take more than a single group of adventurers to take out the undead.
While the divine beings might not take action, think about the groups like the Striders of Fharlanghn or some druidic order that don't want to see such a shift in the natural order of things.
Certainly the high-level NPCs in the city have contacts that can arrive near immediately via magic. I could imagine the reaction of the Circle of Eight in the City of Greyhawk, or the combined resources of House Cannith and House Medani in Sharn.
Sorry for no Forgotten Realms reference... I really don't know much about the Realms, but someone could add to the thought later.
I like it as it's written. But the end result of failure, though, might not be really clear to the players until near the last minute (even though it's clear to the DM).
I don't know what the HD of the aspect is since my issue has yet to arrive but a knowledge religion check on the aspect can reveal it's abilities.
IIRC, the people killed by the energy drain would not rise immediately as wights. In the mean time, the party (or its successors if a TPK occurred) could use Knowledge (arcana) or possiblt Heal checks to determine the cause of death. Then the group would have to lead a massive effort to cremate the bodies before they rise.
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If the PCs fail, it's pretty clear a large population base will be exposed to rapidly spreading "disease" such as undeath. If the Adventure Path is to continue, the PCs need to get out of the Free City along with any significant NPCs necessary for later portions of the Path.
What to do with the Free City? Escaping to Diamond Lake isn't a solution as the Free City's "domain" has a larger population than the city itself.
As the PCs fight their way out of the City, the sky becomes overcast and dark. The PCs see an incredible plague of undeath spreading out from the Arena. Take a cue from your favourite zombie movie and paint the scene that way. For some reason, the action of 28 Days is how I see the escape transpiring. All the while, the overcast sky seems to get lower. The streets become shrouded in mists...the PCs suddenly feel that time is of the essence. Somehow, someway, they escape beyond the walls of the Free City, leaving the city behind swamped in a fog bank that fills the Selintin River basin. Enough wights have escaped as well to make things interesting for the PCs as they return to Diamond Lake, perhaps with the important NPCs.
In subsequent days the remnants of the Free City's military is drawn to the Free City from surrounding areas. Strangely, the Free City is still swamped in fog. The commander from Hardby sends some troops in. They never come back. Clerics, psions, and wizards attempt to scry into the City. At a culmination of tension, the mists swirl above the the City forming the vague symbol of Hextor, Erythinul, and finally Vecna. As murmurs of dread spread through the viewers, Vecna's hand and eye transform into a huge skull with writhing worms of mist falling from it. The prophetic madman is conveniently on hand and lucently decrees the Age of Worms is at hand.
Then from the mists a single figure walks out from the City. Quickly surrounded, the figure is a Rhenee matron who seems very dazed. When addressed as a Rhenee, she looks at the speaker curiously and simply states with a thick gypsy accent, "I know not what became of the Rhenee Clan, but I am Vistani..."
At that point the DM pulls the Ravenloft Campaign Setting book from his bag/shelf and looks at the players meaningfully.
"More than one world's fate hangs in the Balance. How far will the Age of Worms spread?!" the mad prophet rants.
That's how this DM intends to run with it if the PCs fail...
Here's a little thing I whipped up for Rain Barrel Man, to intensify the atmosphere:
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In a frenzy, Rain Barrel Man spasmodically lurches forward to one of the PCs as they pass by.
“YOU!” he bellows, with spittle flying in several directions. Still clearly mad, but now terrified beyond measure, tears run uncontrollably down his face.
With manic strength, the mad prophet grabs the PCs’ shirt roughly. In a hushed tone, he quickly rattles “I’ve seen you… it must be stopped! You must succeed or the unholy beast will consume ALL life within the great ring!”
Blinking, he focuses distantly for a moment and weakens his grasp, then clearly looks the PC in the eyes. “By all the gods… everyone will be consumed… a bloodless orgy of death! Stop it, STOP HIM, for if they succeed the consumed dead will rise in scores to kill thousands upon thousands more! It must be YOU!”
He collapses to his knees as the PCs move back. “I HAVE SEEN IT!” he sobs. “I have SEEN it… the city’s doom comes near!”
If the PCs fail, it's pretty clear a large population base will be exposed to rapidly spreading "disease" such as undeath. If the Adventure Path is to continue, the PCs need to get out of the Free City along with any significant NPCs necessary for later portions of the Path.
What to do with the Free City? Escaping to Diamond Lake isn't a solution as the Free City's "domain" has a larger population than the city itself.
As the PCs fight their way out of the City, the sky becomes overcast and dark. The PCs see an incredible plague of undeath spreading out from the Arena. Take a cue from your favourite zombie movie and paint the scene that way. For some reason, the action of 28 Days is how I see the escape transpiring. All the while, the overcast sky seems to get lower. The streets become shrouded in mists...the PCs suddenly feel that time is of the essence. Somehow, someway, they escape beyond the walls of the Free City, leaving the city behind swamped in a fog bank that fills the Selintin River basin. Enough wights have escaped as well to make things interesting for the PCs as they return to Diamond Lake, perhaps with the important NPCs.
In subsequent days the remnants of the Free City's military is drawn to the Free City from surrounding areas. Strangely, the Free City is still swamped in fog. The commander from Hardby sends some troops in. They never come back. Clerics, psions, and wizards attempt to scry into the City. At a culmination of tension, the mists swirl above the the City forming the vague symbol of Hextor, Erythinul, and finally Vecna. As murmurs of dread spread through the viewers, Vecna's hand and eye transform into a huge skull with writhing worms of mist falling from it. The prophetic madman is conveniently on hand and lucently decrees the Age of Worms is at hand.
Then from the mists a single figure walks out from the City. Quickly surrounded, the figure is a Rhenee matron who seems very dazed. When addressed as a Rhenee, she looks at the speaker curiously...
Nice!!!!
Seriously, this is some great stuff here! I can't wait to get 128 in the mail!WaterdhavianFlapjack
Personally, I like the idea. Turning Greyhawk or Waterdeep into a undead-filled post-apocalyptic cityscape like you'd see in a George Romero movie really emphasizes to the players that they'd better make damn sure not to mess up next time, because the concequences will be even more dire then.
Powerful stuff. Don't be afraid to get your campaign world a little dirty in pursuit of an epic adventure. That's what it's for, after all. It's not supposed to remain in pristine, mint condition under glass as you play.
I'll even venture to say that the AP will be a lot more exciting and memorable for a given group if at least one of these big catastrophes are allowed to happen.
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Powerful stuff. Don't be afraid to get your campaign world a little dirty in pursuit of an epic adventure. That's what it's for, after all. It's not supposed to remain in pristine, mint condition under glass as you play.
Exactly. I think most DMs may feel apprehension at altering an iconic part of their preferred campaign setting. Yet, this is the power of the consequences of failure here. Failure in a dungeon or some out-of-the-way town is easily hidden from the larger campaign world. Turning Waterdeep/Sharn/Greyhawk into Wightopolis is, as Yamo put, "powerful stuff". Make it clear to the PCs that their power is growing and though they failed here, there are still plenty of opportunities to rectify the Balance and avenge the innocent still to come.
Just don't do it again. ::wink::
My idea of having the Free City slip into the Domain of Dread is to make the scope of their failure very clear. Also, I don't want the PCs feeling obligated to sticking around the Free City and mopping up. Being reactive to the failure will not solve the issue. They must be proactive and to do that they must continue down the Path we are calling the Age of Worms.
The Free City of Greyhawk vanishing into the Mists is also a lovely way of keeping the iconic NPCs of the setting busy. The Circle of Eight will want to ascertain what happened. That'll keep them busy and allow for Tenser's involvement with the PCs to seem more logical.
The coolest thing to come of of the PCs' failure, IMO, is that they'll eventually get to face down a death knight.
Very good idea concerning Ravenloft. I ran something similar when my DL group finished Soth's Dargaard Keep (Magic of Krynn 2E module) back in '97. When they plunged the completed rod into the vortex near Soth's throne, the castle and everyone inside was immediately transported Ravenloft, which was (in my campaign) the birth of Sithicus, which is Soth's realm now, I believe.
That's a great idea! Raknian as a death knight is also a sweet idea. I would LOVE to run a Day of the Dead/28 Days Later hook in Waterdeep. That would be just awesome.
Just checking to see if we were supposed to roll with this or somehow abort the full catastrophe. I kind of like the whoel city turning undead, too. THAT will impress the party!
Although, if there's a high enough level mage or two, or high level clerics, who hears of the disaster fast enough and teleports in, that could still stop the disaster- a few meteor swarms or other high level, large area spells would put a huge dent in the number of wights.
Luckily, in my homebrew, the free city's equivalent is only a few hundred miles from the center of Heironeous' powerbase, another metropolis just crawling with clerics and paladins. It would make a fun follow up campaign to try and restore the city, or at least deal with all the undead.
Also in my homrbrew, large amounts of evil or negative energy actually exerts a physical change on the land, explaining why every evil region looks really evil. This plays into the mist idea very nicely.
20,000 wights. "Good gods, so how many are there?" "20,000" "WHAT?!" "You heard me... get to smiting"
I don't mind the potential world-changing events but I wish there had been a little more urgency supplied in the basic plot. My AoW campaign is a ways away from playing this specific module but I'm already scheming on ways to prompt the character to act *quickly*. Otherwise I fear they may just get caught up in the excitement of fighting in the arena games and have a little more lackadaisical attitude about exploring these hidden corridors and fully investigate their surroundings. Like I said, I don't mind consequences (even far-reaching consequences) if the characters are aware of the time restrictions and the urgency of the entire plot; but I know I'd be mad if cataclysm happens while my character just stood there because he had no clue of the potential danger nor any understanding of the gravity of the events at hand.
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Eligos relating the nature of the Apostolic Scrolls to the PCs, their realization that Loris Raknian has acquired them, and then Eligos' murder should be enough to light the fire under the PCs collective arses. The PCs should know that if they don't get to the bottom of Raknian's plot that something "big" is going to happen, and it wont be good. If the proverbial feces hits the gust of wind, it will only be that much more dramatic for the PCs and hammer home the scope of the adversary(ies) they're dealing with.
I've been thinking about this again, particularly about the terms of the final condition: swallowing a character with at least one level in fighter.
Oddly enough, I have no fighters in my group (currently comprised of a rogue, rogue/psion, rogue/shadow dancer, druid, and bard) so the ulgurstasta will have to eat Auric to complete the conditions set in the ritual.
But what I've been thinking about is the term "swallowing." I'm going to take it to mean "swallowing and killing" a fighter. I would like to imagine Raknian's reaction after the ulgurstasta swallows Auric, only to have him burst out of the creature's gut one or two rounds later.
the pcs i have r clueless so i have to hold there hand for everything.
im not playing aow but im playing forgotten realms and i tend to think khelben,elminster and the 7 sisters would intervene in a situation of tens of thousand of wights and spawn running amuk...sounds great though
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Oddly enough, I have no fighters in my group (currently comprised of a rogue, rogue/psion, rogue/shadow dancer, druid, and bard) so the ulgurstasta will have to eat Auric to complete the conditions set in the ritual.
Same problem, though the PCs are still early in the overall Adventure Path. The PCs have begun to bond somewhat with Auric and Tirra (Khellek is not liked at all) and I hope to use that in the big fight, hoping they'll cheer/whoop when Auric whoops some Apostle worminess.
As for "big" NPCs coming in and saving the day, I think you've touched upon the fundamental difference between Forgotten Realms and other game settings. Sure, Greyhawk has the Circle of Eight with members living in the Free City...so they could help but I'd hope most DMs would hold off playing the Epic-Hero-to-the-Rescue-Card unless it's imperative to save the city for your campaign. The power of this Adventure Path is that iconic elements to your campaign setting could be laid low. Those are some huge stakes and should make for great game.
Just checking to see if we were supposed to roll with this or somehow abort the full catastrophe. I kind of like the whoel city turning undead, too. THAT will impress the party!
Although, if there's a high enough level mage or two, or high level clerics, who hears of the disaster fast enough and teleports in, that could still stop the disaster- a few meteor swarms or other high level, large area spells would put a huge dent in the number of wights.
Luckily, in my homebrew, the free city's equivalent is only a few hundred miles from the center of Heironeous' powerbase, another metropolis just crawling with clerics and paladins. It would make a fun follow up campaign to try and restore the city, or at least deal with all the undead.
Also in my homrbrew, large amounts of evil or negative energy actually exerts a physical change on the land, explaining why every evil region looks really evil. This plays into the mist idea very nicely.
20,000 wights. "Good gods, so how many are there?" "20,000" "WHAT?!" "You heard me... get to smiting"
But even with the level loss, if the PCs kill that many wights, they'll be too high level for the later adventures.
There's one somewhat major thing that it seems like everyone is missing- or, at least, overlooking. Sure, it's possible that should they fail, and should 15,000 people be turned into Wights, the PCs (with the help of many, many NPCs) could destroy them all.
...But then what?
The main problem, in my opinion, isn't just that there's "suddenly 15,000 monsters to fight". Those monsters- that is, those Wights- are PEOPLE. Law-abiding citizens of the Free City. Sure, they could destroy them all, but that's just the problem- they're killing 15,000 citizens. I mean, don't get me wrong, they'd have to do it- if they're left alive (undead?), they'll destroy the world- but nobody seems to be considering the fact that once all of those Wights are dead, that's 15,000 citizens that have no hope of ever coming back. It's not like the PCs are just gonna be like, "Well, we killed all of the monsters. See you all later." What about the Baker's family? What about little Timmy, the stable boy? What about all of those people with children at home or parents in the hospital or actual lives aside from their NPC stats? The true cataclysmic event isn't, in my opinion, that the PCs are gonna have to fight 15,000 Wights- it's that, if they fail to stop the Ulgurstasta from eating Auric (or Loris Raknian himself, as suggested in the AoW Overload), 15,000 citizens of the Free City are going to be killed.
Yes, there would be 15,000 dead. Actually, there'd probably be a lot more, since it's not likely that the party could kill all of them before they started a nasty chain reaction. Most likely, the entire city would be, at least temporarily, destroyed. Everyone would hav eto evacuate. Wars and power struggle emerge. Strife, plague, famine, all kinds of nasty things. And probably upwards of 30,000 people killed by the end of it all, just from the initial riots and plague of undeath. No telling how many more would be killed in the ensuing struggles. I think a lot of that has already been touched on, at least for the world of Greyhawk. What bout if it was Waterdeep, or Sharn? Any details on what would happen there? Of course, in FR, there seems to be enough big wizard types to just pop in and start lobbing Meteor Swarms and Fireballs around and roast most of the undead very quickly. Still....
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Well there is always the Miracle spell. If I recall correctly, that spell can ressurect a whole bunch of minor people in a single casting.
Ah, but that means there's someone *around to cast miracle. Which there really isn't in... say... Eberron.
I thought out what would happen if the Day of Death does happen in Sharn. While it wouldn't mean the end of the city (10,000+ wights vs. city of 1 million+), it would mean a pretty big deal, considering there aren't many mid-to-high level characters around to deal with it, and plenty of Commoners and Experts ready to get undead-ified.
The solution? Send in the warforged.
In the days following the end of the tournament, the wights spread from The Hollow Tower to engulf the Hareth's Folly district, and start to spread ever further. Warforged from the Cogs volunteer in droves to assist the Sharn Watch contain the threat (finally, something they're programmed to deal with; invaders!).
The living constructs help push back the hoard of undead, but Hareth's Folly is a total loss; it becomes a haunted, feral place that the Watch seals off, a blight on the City of Towers. Meanwhile, public approval of warforged soars to an all-time high, as people become gratful for their city's saviors. Conversely, the Lord of Blades also sees a boost in recruitment, as many 'forged see this event as a sign of the fleshies' weakness.
Over the course of a year, attendance is up at churches and recruitment for holy warriors (paladins, clerics and monks) also spikes. The Silver Flame becomes much more active in Sharn, and by extension Breland, almost overshadowing the Sovereign Host completely.
Meanwhile, the PCs see a drop in the popularity; some chronicles paint the surviving party members as "victims and witnesses to the tragedy", but some label them "incompetent, unable to prevent the horrors that were right in front of them." As such, most people react unfavorably to their presence, and they likely lose several contacts because of this.
Of course, the chance for players to redeem themselves and reclaim Hareth's Folly exists. Miracle could possibly reverse the effects of the Tournament's finale; Miracle followed by Wish would definitely do it, even cleansing the entire district and repairing all the property damage likely done. Such high-level magic and actions would make the heroes legends in Khorvaire for a very, very long time.
EDIT: I didn't have the living construct stats in front of me when I wrote this and plan to revise it accordingly, but if memory serves the theory is sound.
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Thinking of this happening in Sharn...
This could be enough to disassociate the city with the elemental plane of air (Syrania), and cause it to be associated with the plane of death (Dolurrh) instead.
Magics that relied on the strength of that association will strain and break. Towers will topple. It could be a fun scene trying to get into an airship or a train to flee the crashing doom.
As the PCs fight their way out of the City, the sky becomes overcast and dark. The PCs see an incredible plague of undeath spreading out from the Arena. Take a cue from your favourite zombie movie and paint the scene that way. For some reason, the action of 28 Days is how I see the escape transpiring. All the while, the overcast sky seems to get lower. The streets become shrouded in mists...the PCs suddenly feel that time is of the essence. Somehow, someway, they escape beyond the walls of the Free City, leaving the city behind swamped in a fog bank that fills the Selintin River basin. Enough wights have escaped as well to make things interesting for the PCs as they return to Diamond Lake, perhaps with the important NPCs.
Well...if they fail....the the world will be in ruins...Most of the important npc's will be dead, killed by Kiuss and his minions and the party's destiny will be doomed. If they survive the "final confrontation" against Kius but fail to destroy him make another campaign, with the pc's trying to hide from Kyuss's fury. Make them go to some isolated region or to seek the help from some old sage.The chances are that the armies of Kyuss will follow them no matter they go. Their lives will be miserable, they would wish that they had never been born. But you could create some campaign where they have to search a powerfull but forgotten artifact to kill him again, who knows...maybe even the rod of 7 parts.. But if they get killed by Kyuss on the "final battle" then it's a different story.................
Laeknir has it right, I think -- if my PCs fail this part of the mission I will conduct the encounter in the arena as one that starts to get so big (the worm thrashing through the city) that it's clear the PCs should just duck, cover, and get out of town to continue their quest. Or, perhaps worm puts off some kind of undead force/cloud/whatever that basically gives the PCs a hint: don't mess with this, move on. Then, next time they have a chance to come to the city they find the 20,000 wight problem (or hear about it). Depending on how much they want to be involved with this later, I can have them meet up with "experts" and "community leaders" who are staged outside the city and help them find a solution to the problem, or perhaps they have to journey into the city (now an undead hellscape) through tunnels or sewers and see if they can find/use some artifact that could help. In any case, failure at the Champions Belt just allows another world-event to take place that you can deal with at your leisure.
Incorporeal undead with the ability to create spawn can easily get out of hand. A single wraith can, if I'm reading this right, create limitless amounts of spawn and kill a family of commoners in a minute. In other words, excepting for their fear of daylight, ten thousand wraiths is not just ten thousand deaths, but ten thousand murderers, each of whom might have created a hundred more by sunrise. A little motivation, and in a month's time every city on the continent looks empty like a neutron bomb hit it.
Have you ever faced a cityful of wraiths? I have. A level 20 fighter with Whirlwind Attack, killed because a single wraith decided he'd create some spawn. Incorporeal touch is some nasty stuff.
This is only problematic if one's campaign faithfully follows every rule whether everyone is looking or not. If no one is there to see it, "Do 10k wraiths murder a continent?" If you have this situation happen throw in some reason why the undead seem to be congregating in the Free City instead of breaking out and destroying the known world as your PCs know it. Perhaps something with the ritual went wrong. It's keeping them clustered... with a few on the fringes able to break free once in a while (providing the impetus to acutally solve the problem rather than erect a grandstand and charge a gold piece to, "See the city of the dead!"). Of couse the same reason that's keeping them clustered is also keeping them alive... and that's what your PCs must go in and take care of... if you want your campaign to go there.
If the apocalypse of wraiths hits the Free City, maybe the Age of Worms arrives there instead of Alhaster. Those citizens who can escape flee Greyhawk for their lives, heading for Dyvers, Hardby, Urnst, anywhere to get away. The undead of the Central Flannaess, on the other hand, seem to be attracted to this huge source of negative energy, gravitating toward the Free City just as the living are repelled outward from it. When it is time for the prophecies to be fulfilled, perhaps Lashonna's plans come to naught, and Kyuss whispers to Dragotha to take the Obelisk in which Kyuss is housed to this great new source of power. Dragotha sets the obelisk atop the pyramidal University of Arcane Arts (my recollection of the name may be wrong, but there is a tetrahedral building in Greyhawk that would fill the bill for a ziggurat), and Kyuss basks in the negative energy and emerges from his long slumber . . .
Of course, if the PCs can find out more about the Apostle of Kyuss and the fell demigod who created it, perhaps they can still stop the worst from happening . . . (i.e. most of the adventures can be run as written with minimal modifications, just a greater sense of urgency--just the last two will need significant modification.)
Or, perhaps the success of the Apostle somehow lays the groundwork for the Ebon Triad to realize its delusional dream, and the real Overgod appears in the Free City and must be defeated before, or after, the PCs take on Kyuss.
Umm, it's not wraiths -- it's *wights* that the ulgurstasta creates. They're not incorporeal and not as nasty as wraiths, but still a huge problem.
IIRC, the people killed by the energy drain would not rise immediately as wights. In the mean time, the party (or its successors if a TPK occurred) could use Knowledge (arcana) or possiblt Heal checks to determine the cause of death. Then the group would have to lead a massive effort to cremate the bodies before they rise.
At any rate, this whole thread is a bit of a tempest in a teapot. Basterd has it right...anyone killed by energy drain rises as a spawn of the creature that killed them or, more generally, as a wight, *the following night*. Check your DMGs and MMs for "energy drain."
A quick thinking cleric (or someone with Knowledge (religion)) will realize that all the bodies must be burned *fast*. In Sharn, they would all be thrown into the lava pits beneath the city. No wight problem, but almost 10% of the population of the city is wiped out. That's still very bad.
Perhaps a warning such as, if you do not stop the Dicsiple, the City will be turned Wight...or something even more cryptic...
Rain barrel man: If The disciple is not stopped, the entire free city will be turned Wight!
PC (To DM): White? are people dark here? You didn't mention it.DM: Er... no. He's just being cryptic
..... Waterdeep was the place where Myrkul died, what a perfect spectal to bring the Lord of Bones back into the Realms. With the amount of destruction 10,000+ wights would cause, it would be the perfect catalyst to bring him back. I am just not sure exactly what portfolios to give give since Kelveor is the Lord of the Dead. Any suggestions?
Besides death and the dead, Myrkul's portfolios included corruption and old age. However, more fitting to the campaign would be undeath, and will probably be the portfolio I assign to him. After all, the goal of the FR Ebon Triad is the Returning to power Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul, and the uniting of the three dieties. One way to motivate the PC's would be to bring back another of the dreaded three. Of course, how would anyone know a dead god had returned? Enter Filge, recently reformed and now part of the clergy of Kelemvor, destroying what he once created. The Lord of Bones has a new priest, and Filge is well on his way to causing more trouble.
IMC, the PC's DID fail. This led to waves of undead, massive panic, riots, unstoppable fires and looting, price gouging, mob rule, and mass exodus. Now, months later, Free City is a crumpled, ravaged shell. Lawlessness reigns across the surrounding countryside.
Diamond Lake has been struck by Illthane. Local orc tribes are banding together to take advantage of the human's weakness. News of Free City's fall spreads panic.
The Age of Worms draws within striking distance.
At any rate, this whole thread is a bit of a tempest in a teapot. Basterd has it right...anyone killed by energy drain rises as a spawn of the creature that killed them or, more generally, as a wight, *the following night*. Check your DMGs and MMs for "energy drain."
I thought the module mentioned that those killed in the arena were rising as wights immediately (obviously an exception commensurate to this event). Am I wrong?
Bocklin
It seems to me that's how it was scripted. Don't have the mag here now. Regardless, that's exactly how I played it - very dramatic, lot'so fun!
Checking the adventure text...
First, regarding the requirement of swallowing the Champion to complete the ritual, the text says the Ulgurstasta must "swallow Auric (or any other character with at least one level in fighter) and transform him into a spawn of Kyuss." This means the character must be swallowed, and bathed in the necromantic acid in the critter's stomach (suffering 1d8 CON damage per round), and must die of this CON damage, at which point they animate as a spawn of Kyuss. My interpretation of the above is that the ritual is complete the moment that the swallowed fighter takes enough CON damage to die. "Undead created in this manner remain dormant until the ulgurstasta vomits them up." So the newly-healed ulgurstasta can use its breath weapon the moment the ritual is complete, but MUST NOT use the breath weapon until then, or it won't have enough necromantic acid in its stomach to convert the swallowed fighter into a spawn of Kyuss.
Okay, now for the question of how fast everything happens after that. In that moment:
"The spirits of the myriad dead that have died in the Free City Arena rise up, a wailing, writhing blanket of rage and necromantic ruin. All creatures still within the arena immediately suffer 1d4 negative levels before the spirits fade away. Creatures drained to zero levels by this burst of necromantic power die, only to rise as wights 1d4 rounds later."
Personally, I can imagine that a small number of people within the Arena might not be in the bowl of the arena itself at the moment the ritual completes. I can imagine that as the ulgurstasta first bursts forth, people in the stands start screaming and fleeing - those few who make it out of the main circle (plus some guards and maybe some concessions folks) might be shielded from the level drain, only to be set upon immediately by the wights that were closest to those same exits.