They just defeated the grick in the room of iron spheres. And, like clockwork, Alastor Land appears to give the players a bit of a fright.
My ultra-paranoid Cleric of Pelor turns him before he can even speak - and destroys him. Then they find his body and realize their mistake.
Any suggestions for getting them into the next chamber now that Alastor is gone? I thought about using one of his relatives, but their souls should be long gone by the time their graves are desecrated by Kullen's gang.
They managed to figure out where the Land homestead is by calling in a favor with Allustan (and a speak with dead spell from the St. Cuthbert locals). . . but I feel like I should give them a second chance to get into Zosiel's chamber.
And from now on I think I'm gonna call the cleric 'twitch'
I look forward to any suggestions.
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Ooops.
The Priest of Pelor needs to be visited by Alastor Land's spirit during his next sleep cycle. Alastor can promise a lifetime of horrific nightmares unless the priest returns his physical remains to the Land Farm. If the Priest concencrates the grave(s) Alastor will even be so kind to open the door to the True Tomb.
The players don't need to know how the adventure was really supposed to work. Part of the art of being a DM is bluffing the players that everything that is happening is the way you wanted it to happen.
Good luck.
Ooops.
Oops indeed. It wouldn't be so bad if the entire party hadn't realized the bad idea as soon as the Cleric began turning.
I don't think I'll let the doors open until the entire Land family goes back into their proper graves, though. Complete restitution, you know.
If you don't mind my asking, how did the cleric get to be 4th level by this point?
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Alastor is a 2 HD undead with turn resistance +4 so he turns as a 6 HD undead. That's easy enough for 3rd level with improved turning but you need to turn as a 12th-level cleric to destroy Alastor unless you know something I don't. Oops!?
If it's not too late I would alter the behind the scenes action making Alastor go ethereal when he was turned and have him trail the party in ethereal state (allow him to move where his body goes)and attempt to take revenge on the cleric. Not killing him or anything so harsh but a horrific appearance followed by malevolence might be in order. From there the other party members can roleplay to discover that Alastor was not destroyed but merely hiding.
Otherwise I would make them find an alternate method for entering the true tomb, selling off magic items for a scroll of ethereal jaunt or a potion of gaseaos form if you're nice.
The answer to this question is actually right in the Monster Manual. Alastor is a ghost. Ghosts are not automatically destroyed because of their rejuvenation special quality, which reads:
Rejuvenation (Su): In most cases, it's difficult to destroy a ghost through simple combat: The "destroyed" spirit will often restore itself in 2d4 days. Even the most powerful spells are usually only temporary solutions. A ghost that would otherwise be destroyed returns to its old haunts with a successful level check (1d20 + ghost's HD) against DC 16. As a rule, the only way to get rid of a ghost for sure is to determine the reason for its existence and set right whatever prevents it from resting in peace. The exact means varies with each spirit and may require a good deal of research.
So... don't even make the roll, and say that Alastor made his level check and returns to the cairn, then makes his way to find the adventurers. I don't see anything in The Whispering Cairn that says the Alastor is bound to the cairn... he probably just figures that waiting for someone to show up would be his bet chance of finding someone capable and willing to help him.
If you role play Alastor with a vengence, the PCs might just try to kill him again, so you might want to have Alastor appear friendly and understanding: "Hey... I'd kill me too, if I were you. No blood, no foul, as they say."
Or if the players feel really bad about killing Alastor's ghost, then maybe you can work in a little non-leathal payback.
Yes, this Cleric of Pelor has the Sun domain and used her greater turning on poor Alastor.
Depending on how they deal with Filge and his use of the Land family Alastor will probably show up again in some form and offer to reward them.
His body has already been laid to rest of the farmstead by the PCs, and they are on their way back to town to sell the baby owlbear. Next on the agenda is a run-in with Kullen and his gang.
OR,
Did the rouge find the hidden catch that triggers the door on the iron orb side of the room? Its buried under the orbs about 3 feet or so near the far end of the plank.
OK, so there isn't really a catch switch on this side of the door, but their COULD have been one.