I haven't read far enough ahead yet in the SCHC but has Karauphon's position been improved? The one thing that really stood out as no making sense in the original dungeon adventures was he seem to come out of nowhere. The party had no reason to trust him at all.
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Actually, my group just met Karauphon, and I'm suprised they trusted him - they were going to detect evil, and he admitted to being a half fiend.
However, the fact he fireballed the demons attacking them, and the fact he's handed over 2 scrolls of plane shift (causing the resident wizard to drool) seems to have mollified everyone.
One thing I found is that Karauphon in the SCHC hands over a LOT of information all at once. It seems to have the PCs reeling. Cagewrights? Extraplanar realm? Smoking Eye? A lot to digest all at once.
So an improvement then?
yes, definitely an improvement.
although getting the PC's to trust him can still be pretty tricky. It sort of hinges on whether the PC's have ever met an honest fiend, and whether you've ever tricked them with the [i]I'm reformed, no I'm not[i/] bit. If you have, chances are they'll never trust a fiendish creature again.
yes, definitely an improvement.
although getting the PC's to trust him can still be pretty tricky. It sort of hinges on whether the PC's have ever met an honest fiend, and whether you've ever tricked them with the [i]I'm reformed, no I'm not[i/] bit. If you have, chances are they'll never trust a fiendish creature again.
Here's an idea I've toyed with: Make Kauraphon good, or at least honestly-intentioned. Say he needs someone to gain the smoking eye template to release him from a curse. This will make the end scene of the adventure a moral quandary and not a fight. If Kauraphon attacks, there's really no decision: Kauraphon becomes the ally you push into the pillar of light. If he doesn't attack, the end becomes much more murky because someone will have sacrifice him- or herself so someone can finish the trial.
I think it's going to be very hard for me to have my group trust Kauraphon -- they're a suspicious lot. Giving magic items and providing some help won't alleviate their fears, I'm afraid, and when Kauraphon turns against them, they'll just turn to each other with knowing looks. "See, I told you so."
In my scenario, Kauraphon isn't self-sacrificing, so having him enter the pillar won't happen unless the party forces him. He wants to be released from his curse, but he's not willing to die for it.
It is possible that none of the PCs will volunteer and I think it's that situation the author wanted to avoid when he wrote the adventure. Then you can have a) a PC getting pushed in against their will or b) no one going in the pillar of light. a) is bad for party unity and b) means the fight at the end of the campaign is a lot more difficult.
A couple options around this are having the angel strongly hint that self-sacrifice is rewarded or having another NPC (maybe even Kauraphon, despite what I said above) volunteer. The latter option takes the thunder away from the PCs, so I'm going to avoid that if at all possible.
Another option is to introduce Kauraphon earlier, so that the party has a real basis to trust him. Maybe he's rescued in Life's Bazaar or helps out in "Flood Season". Then the party has a real reason to trust him and maybe he hints about the test of the smoking eye.
Here's an idea I've toyed with: Make Kauraphon good, or at least honestly-intentioned. Say he needs someone to gain the smoking eye template to release him from a curse. This will make the end scene of the adventure a moral quandary and not a fight.
That's a good idea. In my campaign I've made Kaurophon into an unique creature, based on the half-fiend template, but with some celestial traits. The background is that he was a half-fiend in the beginning, and was at Occipitus when part of Celestia landed there. Due to this he absorbed some celestial essence and does therefore have the ability to become both more celestial and more fiendish. My original plan was to follow the scenario, but now I'm thinking that it might be better to NOT have Kaurophon betray the party. When a party member gains the Smoking Eye template he will instead ascend to a half-celestial.
If Kauraphon attacks, there's really no decision: Kauraphon becomes the ally you push into the pillar of light.
Actually, it's still a bit of a problem for a good-aligned party, since sacrificing someone else is an evil act.
Actually, it's still a bit of a problem for a good-aligned party, since sacrificing someone else is an evil act.
I guess the way I look at it is that if the party is going to fight Kaurophon, they're probably not going to be nice about it (i.e., use nonlethal damage). More likely, they're going to use lethal force and not worry if Kaurophon dies -- he betrayed them, after all. That being the case, killing him with a sword or killing him via the pillar of light is pretty much the same thing. After Kaurophon attacks, I see it less as a sacrifice and more as just another way to win the fight.
Who knows, my players might surprise me. They've been known to do that, from time to time. :-) (I still think I'm going to use the "Kaurophon is honestly-intentioned" approach, though.)