In my opinion Alakast is a bit too important to be "found and forgotten" by the 3 hag sisters. Surely Nabthatoron hates and fears the weapon and made some attemps to obtain it after Surabar death, or at least he will be sure that Alakast cannot be found easily and be used against him again. Also Nidrama will know a lot about Alakast.
So I expect that my PC have to search for Alakast, probably still in Surabar's tomb, deep inside a mountain (I like Surabar's transfiguration idea).
Any idea about how to develop this?
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I have decided to move Alakast for my own campaign as its discovery as written is rather tepid for such an important relic. When the time comes for the PCs to locate the staff I can see two different people being able to tell them where it is. The first is Kaurophon, who the party will soon be seeking out as I have name dropped him several times at important points in the AP. The second is Nidrama, who knows where it is but is unable to get it herself because "it was stolen by the hands of mortals and thus only mortals can retrieve it..."
As for where I located it...I had to decided upon a fearsome place that the PCs would already be afraid of at this point and would be hesitant to visit, but at the same time it had to be a place that made sense and also would not screw up the AP too much if they ransacked it. I ultimately settled on.....
Hookface's Lair.
The staff itself is not in Hookface's main hoarde, but rather is in a side chamber deep within his volcano home. He is still asleep at this point as is his mate. However, many of his younger offspring as well as the the elemental servants are still patrolling the parts of the lair. The map is the one included in the Draconomicon online supplement. I'm not sure where to hide Alakast on that map yet. I picture the PCs having to sneak in and try to avoid detection, both from the many young red dragons in the area as well as the big daddy and mommy who are asleep somewhere in the caverns. They'll likely have to search many different hoardes before they find the staff and will have to decide whether or not they want to risk taking some of the hoarde with them when they leave.
One of the things I love about reading these forums is that they act as a catalyst for great ideas. A fantasy novel I read when I was a teenager had the protagonists looking for a branch of the "Tree of Life", as the old tree had died, and a new one had to be "planted". Ultimately the branch was found to be the scepter of the rulers of the land, as it had been covered in the regal jewels to be unrecognizable.
What if Alakast was similarly used as a mark of office for the Mayor of Redgorge? No one in the town knows that is what the staff is other than the Foreman, as it is a secret passed down from generation to generation. I am already going to use Surabar's sword in the Demonskar (a sword in the stone type of setup), so having Alakast there too is a little overkill. Nidrama's message would be about the sword, not Alakast. If the PCs ask, I would have her give some generic answer (i.e. "It is near, and in good hands").
As part of the Siege of Redgorge, I could have the Mayor fall in battle, and the Foreman quickly order the PCs to retrieve the staff "no matter what the cost". Once Alakast is in the hands of a PC, it could let them know that it has chosen a new owner and does not wish to be the mark of office any longer, allowing them to take it with them.
Thank You Sean and section8
both area nice ideas,
I expect my PCs to raid Hookface's lair after his attack to Cauldron, but maybe a nice idea to have them explore the lair with the dragon sleeping. I will use a Map of Mistery from an old Dungeon Magazine, multileveled a bit more. I'm not sure I will popultate the lair with Hookface offspings and mate, I have reduced the dragon PCs encounter during SCAP to only Hookface and Vorkaire (adult howling dragon instead of black dragon) the mightier being on Occipitus.
But section8 idea also sonuds very good, and don't need an explain about how a powerful item like Alakast is lost somewhere.
Really I also wish to fleshout a bit Surabar death, his transfiguration is too much appealing to me
I'm making Alkhast a host of legacy items. I am placing a side trek in the middle of Demonskar Legacy where the party will be tested by Nidrama to retrieve Alkhast from the Haunted Village before they leave Redgorge for the Demonskar.
I was unhappy with the way it was written. Nidrama appears in the party's camp when they rest near the Demonskar but immediately leaves if she detects evil and never returns. Running a party with two evil PCs that doesn't work for me. Also finding, or quite possibly overlooking, Alkhast in a hidden side room was not fitting to the history of the weapon.
I changed Alkhast into a special item tailored to each of the party members so everyone would have a piece of it. Legacy made sense to make Alkhast grow with the party and replace the lack of higher level magic items in the campaign.
Hi Sean,
when do you expect your PC to raid Hookface's lair?
Before or after the Test of The Smoking Eye?
I'm guessing if PC need Alakast during the Test of The Smoking Eye and the Siege of Redgorge (that in my campaign I expect before the Test, Kaurophon teleports back PC to Cauldron and then they head for Redgorge). As Alakast was created expecially to defeat Nabthatoron it will be a shame if PC don't have it when they face him.
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I expect them to raid the lair at some point before Demonskar Legacy, but I'm only guessing at this point. I've been running a pretty free-form version of the AP. The party is going through each of the chapters, but only when they kind of stumble upon them. The exception to this was "Zenith Trajectory" because that adventure actually requires the DM to take action in order to get the PCs into the module.
Here is how I picture it occuring (but things never go completely to plan). They have just finished "Gallery of Evil" after saving Zenith. The party has an unknown amount of downtime (break for the summer) in which they can do whatever they want. I fully expect them to seek out Kaurophon during this time. In a previous thread I mentioned that I name-dropped Kaurophon all the time in previous modules so the party will seek him out, instead of the other way around. When they meet up with him they will likely want information which he will gladly give...up to a point. He knows a lot about the XIII, but not enough to ID any of them. Over the course of his interactions with him I will probably steer the conversation to the Demonskar and eventually he will mention that the Big K can't be killed without Alakast. He knows where it is, but belives it to be unreachable. Maybe it will spark the PC's interest...maybe not. We'll see.
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Thank You Sean and section8
both area nice ideas,
I expect my PCs to raid Hookface's lair after his attack to Cauldron, but maybe a nice idea to have them explore the lair with the dragon sleeping. I will use a Map of Mistery from an old Dungeon Magazine, multileveled a bit more.
I remember a good Map of Mystery in a fiery cavern perfect for a red-dragon and intended to use it for Hookface also.
If you happen to know the issue number I would appreciate you sharing that - so that i dont have to look through them all to find it.....
Thanks
Robert
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RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
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The party I'm running through now will have to find it on their own if at all, since one of the PCs recently decided to turn evil, and the party as a whole hasn't really raised an eyebrow about that. Therefore, last night when they encountered Nidrama, she sensed the evil in the group and plane shifted away, without ever speaking.
I think it will make things harder without the weapon, but they in general tend to min/max well enough to excel in combat situations so I don't foreseee a problem.
Has anyone moved Alakast into Surabar's tomb?
Any idea about this dungeon - maps, monsters, guardians?
Ciao
Mario