My group has just finished with There is No Honor, and I wanted to work Fiend's Embrace (from Dungeon 121) in as a sidequest before we start The Bullywug Gambit.
Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions for this?
It's set originally in a cold swamp region, but there's plenty of warm swamps near Sasserine. I'd put it in there, and run it after the second adventure--or perhaps between the Kraken's Cove and Saving Lavinia phases of module 2.
The eponymous cloak would make an awesome gift to get on Iggwilv's good side.
It's set originally in a cold swamp region, but there's plenty of warm swamps near Sasserine. I'd put it in there, and run it after the second adventure--or perhaps between the Kraken's Cove and Saving Lavinia phases of module 2.
The eponymous cloak would make an awesome gift to get on Iggwilv's good side.
Heh. I started last night, so it is going to be set right after No Honor, before Vanthus is scheduled to be at Kraken's Cove.
Out of curiosity, how would you justify searching a keep for treasure knowing that Lavinia is under attack?
I was definitely thinking the cloak would be perfect for Iggwilv during diplomacy. I was also thinking that the Church of the Whirling Fury wouldn't mind seeing it destroyed, as a demonic artifact. (Granted, it isn't a real artifact). But players wanting to win points with them might go that route.
I was also trying to see if I could work it into a Weapon of Legacy, if someone wanted to keep it as a long term magic item.
I totally misunderstood the subject of this thread. I thought you were informing us that working fiends were running an active campaign of embracing people into Savage Tide. Like some sort of recruitment drive or something. Which made me think, "It's good that fiends are able to find work in such difficult economic times." Then it got me wondering if ST had become some sort of fiendish cult like Scientology or something.
I got it now, though. Sorry. I think I'm just a bit knackered.
Please check out the thread I started ages ago "Fiend's Embrace (Spoilers)"; it's now archived, so you'll have to search for it. It had some ideas I had about the cloak, but not the adventure itself, into the STAP.
That's a great thread, Eric, it has quite a few ideas...it seems like you guys thought the same thing. (I'm also going to try to work the Lost temple of Demogorgon into Savage Tide as well)
Yeah, I guess when I say 'legacy item' I really mean 'legacy item without making PCs lose attack bonuses and skill points'
A long time ago on other boards, I wanted someone to write out a legacy progression for it.
A pit fiend named Drokarrn was captured by demons during the Blood War and brought before Graz'zt. He skinned the pit fiend alive and had the hide turned into a magical cloak named Fiend's Embrace. He then offered it to Iggwilv as a gift. When their relationship soured (as it tends to do so occasionally) she gave it to one of her other boyfriends on the Prime. Eventually it was forgotten.
The cloak longs to return to Iggwilv and that is what it tries to do if it wins a personality conflict.
As for priority, you can pretty much decide. The original stats should form the first abilities unlocked though.
+1 resistance bonus on saves. +4 enhancement to Int. Resistance to fire 10. Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 13, Ego 7. Empathy, 60 ft. vision and hearing. Chaotic Evil aligned.
Ideally, the final cloak will have a +5 resistance bonus on saves, +6 enhancement to Int, Wis, Cha, immunity to fire, Int 26, Wis 26, Cha 26, Ego ?, telepathy 100 ft., darkvision and hearing. Chaotic (or Lawful?) Evil aligned.
Possibly allow the wearer to see in darkness, greater teleport or otherwise use pit fiend SLAs.
Of course, the player I've got in the group right now is a total goody goody (despite his N alignment), so it will probably not ever get to be an awesome epic cloak of Iggwilv's favor.
In answer to your question about working it in while Lavinia is under attack, obviously you'd have to modify the story-line a bit. One way to do this is as follows:
Party goes to Kraken's Cove, rescues Javell Harliss, finds out about the Pearl, finds the Sea Wyvern and sails it back to Sasserine (or gets back by some other means). Drevoraz, another pirate not under Harliss's command, has previously escaped the mayhem, leaving signs and foreshadowing, but no definite evidence that he plans a reprisal against the Vanderborens.
In Sasserine, Lavinia needs something for her planned expedition to Farshore. She sends the party to a half-ruined keep in the marshes where this something is reputed to be. (If you can figure out why the cloak ought to be this something, great, if not, maybe it's an item that makes navigation easier, or some sort of book or chart that has crucial info, or whatnot. The cloak can then be included in the treasure, incidentally. Who knows, maybe the Queen of Succubi placed it there as part of her plot.) Their mission accomplished, the party encounters bullywugs in the marsh, and finds out from them that Drevoraz has recruited some of them for a raid on the Vanderboren manor.
The party then races back to Sasserine, arriving right at the Wormfall festival, and you continue with that part of the module as written.
It's set originally in a cold swamp region, but there's plenty of warm swamps near Sasserine. I'd put it in there, and run it after the second adventure--or perhaps between the Kraken's Cove and Saving Lavinia phases of module 2.
The eponymous cloak would make an awesome gift to get on Iggwilv's good side.
Heh. I started last night, so it is going to be set right after No Honor, before Vanthus is scheduled to be at Kraken's Cove.
Out of curiosity, how would you justify searching a keep for treasure knowing that Lavinia is under attack?
I was definitely thinking the cloak would be perfect for Iggwilv during diplomacy. I was also thinking that the Church of the Whirling Fury wouldn't mind seeing it destroyed, as a demonic artifact. (Granted, it isn't a real artifact). But players wanting to win points with them might go that route.
I was also trying to see if I could work it into a Weapon of Legacy, if someone wanted to keep it as a long term magic item.
On the gradually improving magic item vein: I like these things, but don't use Weapons of Legacy rules. I have two ways of doing them, to avoid imbalance.
One involves elaborate sacrifices that cost time and gold--essentially make the cost for upgrading the item equal to the additional cost that would be required to upgrade the item by adding powers to it. You could lower the cost by imposing an XP cost or requiring quests to find the ritual knowledge necessary (or as a prerequisite for the ritual. "Find the holy grail and bathe the sword in the true blood of the deity poured therefrom" or some such. This method has the advantage of keeping the PC's "wealth per level" in balance.
A second method is that the item has some powers that haven't been activated and cannot be discovered through an identify spell. The PC (or an associate) must make a series of increasingly difficult knowledge checks to discover and activate its powers. With this method, you have to scale back on other treasure given out, as the item gains in effective value over time.
I have examples of both types of items, and would be happy to e-mail them to you. E-mail me at abatai at yahoo dot com if you're interested.