Has anyone had the Faceless One succeed in summoning/conjuring the Ebon Aspect?
After a thwarted assault on the Hextorite temple, the PCs in my campaign took on the grimlocks and barely managed to defeat them, expending considerable resources in the process. They decided the best plan was to return to the surface and inform Valkus Dunn of everything they discovered, leaving Theldrick and the Faceless to One to lick their wounds and plot their next moves, knowing that they've been discovered by some capable enemies.
I'm toying with the idea of having the Faceless One complete the ritual to raise the Ebon Aspect. But what's he going to do with it? He's smart enough (and informed enough) to know that Valkus and Allustan pose serious threats to any direct assault upon the town. And why would he want to assault the town anyway? So, I'm wondering, what would you do if you were an evil genius wizard of Vecna who'd just succeeded in summoning something nasty but not necessarily uber-powerful?
BYW, given Grallak's death, I've decided that the Ebon Aspect doesn't arise fully empowered, but that it would arise somewhat more powerful than the "weakened" version presented in TFoE.
Id probably have Valkas explain that getting the garrison to act on it would take time (and paperwork), assuming the party had some form of physical evidence to back up their claims that a danger to Diamond lake does indeed exist. It would be harder to request garrison aid based on word alone.
That said, your group is likely too low level to fight the aspect as it's written in the module, as they only cleared the Grimlock caverns (your party size might factor in here). If you do decide to complete the ritual and release the aspect, I would have Valkas send Melinde (Pal 3) with them to assist (he can spare one person at least based on word). Of course you should raise Melinde to level 4 or 5.
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Same problem here, except my players killed my avatar... ehm, I mean Theldrick.
Then they retreated to heal and re-equip, but they lost momentum in various roleplaying errands, confiding in the "official" forces coming to aid them.
I had The Faceless One raise the fully empowered Ebon Aspect, that started to raid the road between DL and the Free City (Greyhawk), in a terror-spreading campaign. Aided by the surviving forces of Vecna and Erythnul the Aspect ambushed the militia reliefs coming from the Free City, and only a couple of surviving platoons and a few wounded officers made it to DL.
The PCs had the opportunity to track the Aspect and a few Ebon Triad cultist along the militia squads and fight the baddies using a very small skirmish battle (inspired by the rules of Heroes of Battle).
Then they went back to the dungeons and cleared them out, encountering bolstered defences (barricades, improvised defensive outposts, but also traps, traps, and more traps!).
Quite funny, and very fitting to the campaign plot.
I made each Major Encounter an element to the Aspect release...
After each BBEG from each of the 3 areas, there sounded a knell which reverberated throughout the underground. It was a sign that the seals keeping the Aspect at bay were weakening and breaking.
He fully broke free with the death of the Faceless One.
I even loved the battle withthe Aspect so much that I threw in another one a little later on.
When the party returned from cleansing the Vecna depths, they were honoured within Diamond Lake with a huge party. During the party a vortex appeared over the town and a dark shrouded face and voice boomed over the terrified townsfolk. The apparition declared the party's impending demise and 'you wont be able to defeat my plans' etc... And then threw another Aspect down to disrupt the party. He also branded the party so that they could be monitored...Big Brother is always watching
That said, your group is likely too low level to fight the aspect as it's written in the module, as they only cleared the Grimlock caverns (your party size might factor in here). If you do decide to complete the ritual and release the aspect, I would have Valkas send Melinde (Pal 3) with them to assist (he can spare one person at least based on word). Of course you should raise Melinde to level 4 or 5.
I'm almost wondering if I'm playing the NPCs too cleverly or if the party is simply having terrible luck. It's also possible, the group isn't balanced for statistical efficiency, but I rarely pay much heed to that, given our group's preference for quasi-realism over game mechanics.
The group consists of:
Cleric 1/Incarnate 4
Rogue 4
Sorcerer 4/Fighter 1
Monk 1/Soulknife 4
Cleric 4 (added only recently toward the end of grimlock caverns)
I've sketched a couple of scenarios depending on the players' choices. One involves them returning to the temple in the midst of the final ceremony to raise the Ebon Aspect; another involves the cult organizing an assault on the town, using the Ebon Aspect and their own forces, to punish them and seek revenge on the PCs.
Part of my motivation for waking the Aspect is to infuse the game with a little more "horror". Now that the PCs have made some friends and acquiantances in Diamond Lake, I want to kill some of them in a big way to enhance the impression of how dark the times are becoming.
You have a party of 6 with decent healing (assuming the incarnate is a healer) which is great but I dont see a dedicated tank. You should be ok though. BTW, theres nothing wrong with playing NPC's cleverly, it makes the campaign more memorable.
I dont think the Aspect is all that major as far as "things to come" this early in the campaign storyline. Once the party sees how bad the worms are, you will likely be able to bring better "grim tidings of things to come" in the next adventure anyway.
If you still want to kill off an NPC to drive some terror home as to the potential lethality of the campaign, drag an NPC with the party anyway, and have the Ebon Aspect get the jump on him/her possibly killing him/her in the surprise round.
Golem101 did some great things for an expanded Ebon Aspect storyline (kudos Golem101). While fun, it seems that your group is high enough already to not need all that Ebon Aspect goodness. Most of your players are already at 5th level.