I'm getting ready to play the last two installments in the Age of Worm campaign. The penultimate adventure suggests Kyuss' monolith has just been stolen from Dragotha's Writhing Sanctum, so that now there is only a gaping wound on top of the ziggurat in the dracolich's lair.
I'm toying around with the idea of having the monolith still be present when the PCs invade the place. (I know the adventure states that the presence of the monolith would have been their undoing, but as the DM I can easily overrule that. Instead the negative energy that fills the place could originate from the monolith itself.)
Only when the PCs slay the dracolich, Lashonna can actually intervene and steal her prize. Upon Dragotha's dying breath, a black interdimensional hole opens up above the monolith and sucks up the stone. This way the PCs realize even better that they have enabled the theft of Kyuss' prison.
Would this be a good idea or am I overlooking anything that could mess up the grand finale of this wonderful AP?
Creative Director
|
Tricky part with that is that you're toying with a TPK or railroading. Depending on your group, this could be a problem or not.
The reason we set it up so that the monolith's already gone when the PCs get there is so that they don't have a chance to confront Lashonna right away and don't have to mess with what's IN the monolith. This lets Dragotha remain the climax of the adventure, as he should be, and also lets the PCs catch their breath and sift through the treasure at their leisure.
If you have Lashonna pop in and take the monolith when the PCs are watching, you run the risk of implying that the PCs have to rush to finish the adventure and don't have time to gather treasure or recover from the battle. In a worst case scenario, they'll attack Lashona, and after being depleted from the battle with Dragotha (and without all the spiritual help they probably had with Dragotha), they'll be likely to get squashed by her. Or if they DO defeat her, then suddenly you don't get to run the last adventure. At the other hand, if you hand-wave and let Lashonna just escape with the monolith without letting the PCs roll dice to try to stop her, that erodes the GM-Player trust and makes your players resent you for railroading them.
One way you can have your cake and eat it too, I suppose, is to have Lashonna take the monolith away before the PCs, but the thing's so potent and powerful that it leaves behind a semi-real shadow illusion of itself for the PCs to examine and interact with.
Must admit that I was thinking of doing something similar: Firstly, elongate Dragotha's chamber so it is deeper, with the Monolith towards the back of it as well as the treasure (harder for the PCs and Dragotha to get to it when the below occurs).
Have Lashonna contact the PCs before they assualt Dragotha to let them know that she is scrying them so that when they commence battle she may be able to aid them in someway against their foe.
During the battle see how things go: If the party are keeping up with Dragotha then have the monolith emit even more negative energy to slow them down.
A round or 2 in Lashonna, under whatever guise, illusion or method of invisibility you wish to use, arrives and uses the *perfect* distraction that the PCs are providing to set up a teleportation circle around the monolith and then apparate it away. If the party are having a hard time then this could give you a reason to weaken Dragotha a touch and make it look like Lashonna's done them a favour (for now), or negate any increases in negative energy/damage that you might have added in due to the monolith's presence. Of course Dragotha should be enraged at this point and have more reasons to make more mistakes and/or become far more potent/deadly in his attacks and strategy.
Wait until the battle's done, the treasure is won and the party has healed and is relaxing before Manzorian contacts them with the news about Alhaster. Perhaps allow them to think the adventure's over, that they've saved the day and give them some time in game to wrap up any other loose ends before dropping the last adventure on them.
Only when the PCs slay the dracolich, Lashonna can actually intervene and steal her prize. Upon Dragotha's dying breath, a black interdimensional hole opens up above the monolith and sucks up the stone. This way the PCs realize even better that they have enabled the theft of Kyuss' prison.
The one concern I have about this idea is that it might be confusing to the players what just happened. A black, interdimensional hole could be generated by anything, or anyone. The reason the PCs know that Lashonna is the one behind its theft is because Dragotha tells them as much. That doesn't mean that your plan isn't a good idea. However, you need to think carefully about how you're going to reveal the fact that Lashonna is the one behind the theft.
Incidentally, I agree with James Jacobs about why you shouldn't have Lashonna storm in directly. However, while he primarily emphasized the fear that Lashonna could kill the PCs, I would emphasize the fear that the PCs could kill Lashonna.
Personally, I can't tell you how many times my players have killed major plot characters as they tried to escape, or circumvented the plot in some other, unexpected way. My personal advice: If your plot ever hinges on the major plot character escaping with some item within the PC's reach, you seriously need to re-think your plot. It never works out the way you think it will. Ever.
Well, the idea was never to have Lashonna appear and snatch up the stone, just a black hole that sucks up the monolith.
The PCs will then learn from Manzorian that the stone is in Redhand and Lashonna will tell them 'thanks' when she meets them in 'Dawn of a new age'.
So I was planning some sort of 'cut scene' in which the PCs can't interfere. I understand that James, as a game designer, is opposed to putting something like that in an adventure, and rightly so, but I'm sure my players won't mind. I've played with them for 10+ years and I know them pretty well by now. They usually appreciate anything that adds to the story.