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My party is playing through the Library of Last Resort.
They have accomplished three of the four goals (The Belt, The Doomshroud, and The Thornvale Nightmare). Filge (Darl Quenthos) has accomplished three as well (The Doomshroud, the Thornvale Nightmare, and the Living Feather (his group followed behind the PCs and raised the Doomshroud and Thornvale Nightmare, only to immediately kill them again)).
When the PCs went after Filge, his defense-in-depth forced them to retreat. They used Planeshift to flee back to Tilagos.
My question is, at this point Filge would approach the Druids and claim that the PCs had forfeited by leaving the Isle, but since they took the belt the fourth test would have to be changed or disregarded (the latter, preferably). The druids wouldn't be too keen on that, particularly the one (I can't remember his name) who doesn't like to share.
What do you think they would do? What should I do?
Well, I think I would have them rule that the belt is necessary. That if Filge (Darl) wants to win he is just going to have to get the belt, regardless of where it has gone. This will of course anger him, but he will have to hunt the PCs... and they him for the feather.
Sean Mahoney
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Well, I think I would have them rule that the belt is necessary. That if Filge (Darl) wants to win he is just going to have to get the belt, regardless of where it has gone. This will of course anger him, but he will have to hunt the PCs... and they him for the feather.
That's what I was thinking. He had original hoped to draw the PCs to him, but they fled. He's going to have to be more active, this time.
You could also have those meany mean Wild Watchers demand a showdown between the two groups. Just a big super-team battle on open ground. That might be vicious.
A showdown does have kind of a Marvel Secret War ring to it. :)
A "royal rumble" would hearken back to the Champion's Games. A wee bit chaotic, but it could be fun. Still, I think Krathanos was a great fight, so I'd try for that, too.
Or, maybe they could all fight Krathanos. He's a high EL, so it's not unreasonable. (I'm surprised Darl couldn't beat him, myself.) Either way, doing either should result in a fun fight that makes Darl and company more interesting, at least.
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My plan, right now, is for Filge to approach the Watchers about having the PCs disqualified. He'll fail that, so then he'll have Krekie (an artificer/arcanist IMC) set up an elaborate illusion: They'll pretend to be the Wild Watchers when the PCs come through. They'll tell the PCs they need to battle it out with Filge, but first have to turn over the belt (as Filge has handed over the feather), so they can ensure the ritual items are not destroyed. If the PCs do so, Filge with use Dismissal on them and attempt to take the belt + feather to the Wild Watchers. I don't plan on letting that work; I just want to give the players a reason to really hate him.
Needless to say, hilarity will then ensue.
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So, Filge (Darl Quenthos) part I:
The party proceeded to use Commune to ask a couple of questions, which warned them that Filge and his crew were near the portal and planning an ambush. When they got through, the Wild Watchers demanded the two sides fight it out, but that they turn the belt over to the WW, as Filge had done with the Feather. Suspecting a trap, they were unsurprised when one of the WW turned out to be Filge and the other Krekie (who is an artificer IMC). Everyone except the Cleric and the party's archer were Dismissed. The Cleric and archer managed to retrieve the belt before running back to the storm-wracked Tilagos. There, they applied some more buffs and prepared to go back through. Krekie, however, had Dimension Locked the portal. One Dispel Magic later, the party went through and battle was joined. That's when things went downhill.
During the battle, the party's barbarian rolled a 1 against Implosion (and was Revivified immediately, although his prodigious HP was now in the crapper). Next, the party's Warblade failed her save against Destruction. The Filge's Efreet failed his save against Radiant Assault, leaving him dazed. The party's rogue went to town, with Filge having to save the Efreet with Heal. Then, the Efreet came out of daze and full attacked the rogue, tearing him apart.
With one party member annihilated and another in multiple pieces, the party retreated.
In their defense, they killed the Cauchemar Nightmare, both Sinfire twins, and Krekie. The Sinfire twins and Krekie were brought back via wishes (that scared the party). They captured/bird-napped Krekie.
Lessons learned: Save or die spells suck when the players are unlucky. Three Wishes is pretty awesome. Greater Spell Immunity: Holy Word is a must. Don't have the silenced monk move into the center of the party when you're planning to use Blasphemy. Also, Blasphemy + Empowered Ray of Enfeeblement FTW.
The party retreated to Tilagos and then Teleported to a random town in Karrnath. They plan to go to Flamekeep (their presence was requested anyway) and ask the Voice of the Flame to True-Resurrect their slain Warblade.
What do you think Filge would do in the mean time? He's not yet retreated from Tilagos, and it's got to be pissing him off that he can't complete the tasks without the belt the party keeps running away with.
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My current thought on the chain of events is that Filge persuades the Wild Watchers that the Belt trial is inapplicable and they proceed from there. The one Watcher challenges Filge, and the party returns during that fight (shortly before Filge will defeat and then kill the Watcher). The PCs then have a limited amount of time to stop Filge from completing the fight - the Wild Watchers know that Filge will kill their brother, and would prefer that not to happen.
I've had other things in the campaign happen like this, when the PCs fled a battle or dungeon; when they returned, things had changed:
- During the first adventure, the party was repulsed by Filge, but destroyed several zombies. He created a number of skeletons (including a fresh owlbear one) to aid him next time.
- During a gathering of winds, several other groups showed up after the PCs left, looking for the Rod (and one faction was waiting for a PC).
It's seemed to work pretty well in those cases.
Well, the good thing for Filge is, that even if he can't get the knowledge of where the phylactery is (cause he can't finish the challenges), he does know that the PCs are after the same thing. If Filge wants the phylactery (and not some other deep dark grimy secret held in the Fountain), then I would suggest he just pull back and spy on the PCs from afar with his considerable divinatory power. Have him pop later as a monkey in the works to totally cock up the party's plan during Kings of the Rift, or even later in the path. Just a thought, dunno if it will work for you or not.
Honestly, I would write this off as a loss for the PCs and move on. Filge and crew have already beaten the party twice. Rather than just running the same scenario over and over again, I'd say let Filge win the challenge and go to the next chapter.
After the side-quest to get their team-mate resurrected, the party can return to the Library and find that Filge has already won, taking the information he wanted and destroying the Library. I'm assuming the players don't yet know that the library is held in the font, so the whole travel-back-in-time scenario (which is too awesome not to use) can be used anywhere. A surviving Waywatcher or any other contact can say "hey, what if I cast a spell to send you back in time?" and BAM, they get the same result.
I won't assume that Filge is working for the Kyuss cult (since he wasn't in 'Whispering Cairn') so there may have to be some explaining of how the baddies learned of the location of the phylactery, but I'm sure you can work that in easily.
All you really need then is a final show-down with Filge to let the players get their just revenge. It's not another fight against Filge that I'm recommending against, it's another fight against him in the same place under the same circumstances and with the same prize in the balance.
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All you really need then is a final show-down with Filge to let the players get their just revenge. It's not another fight against Filge that I'm recommending against, it's another fight against him in the same place under the same circumstances and with the same prize in the balance.
That seems like a good idea. I think I'll find a way to use the Fountain (perhaps through some residual magic within the Fountain?) to do the time travel thing.