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HI guys i come for your expert help, I have a problem in my second darkness game we are currently up to endless night and i will start from the beginning,
for starters it all worked out fine the group went through the gate met up with gadak and such now the hard bit Tempest an elf wizard had looted shindiira's signet ring a hosue misraria signet ring and gadak noticed, so he didn't get three of the group to join vonnarc only one Isaac a human assassin, he talked to gadak and said he wanted to join so he went off to join why the other made there way off into the city Isaac joined Vonnarc and refused to be a pathetic guard or anything so he told them he was a proffesional assassin after a lot of questions i decieded to set him a task Which was to Capture (on hind sight i probably shouldnt have assigned an assassin a capture mission) a Spy from one of the other houses, Meanwhile the others decieded Radaslav Aka Axeman the human warblade should join vonnarc too.
So isaac decieded he'd introduce Axeman just after he helped him assassinate the guy so they killed him (Forgetting it was a capture mission) and returned to the Vonnarc palace, I figured the matron would probably atleast flog them but she also though that axeman was jsut a thicko fighter hired by him so she actually recruited himm into vonnarc but took Isaac off to be flogged, Isaac decieded to escape not wanting a floging so he escaped with invisibility (and he has an extreme hide skill elven cloak and all) but had heard the 2nd daughter mentioned and decieded to go either leave a few surprises or attempt to sleep with her i'm really not sure, and ended up stealing her best whip so then he escaped the building. And the group decied they want to do a direct assault on house azinrae (even though i have emphisized heavily that the building is surrounded by powerful enchantments and filled with guards and demons) and axeman is going to loot hosue vonarc.. So i ahve absolutely no idea what to do whatsoever what do you guys think
Thank you thank you thank you!
Wow... That's a lot to take in. (More punctuation would help make your post more lucid). My thought is that you have some extremely unreliable PC's there, and in any normal game they would get themselves killed off with remarkable speed in the drow city. Still, you probably don't like the idea of a TPK, and I don't really blame you.
I myself am not up to DMing Endless Night just yet, but I have a couple of suggestions.
First off, don't forget the storyline intends that the PC's attract the attention of the 1st Daughter of Vonarc (I forget her name) who then does some work into discovering the true nature of the PC's. In this way, your players have done you a favour. They have attracted some major attention.
My first idea: If you want the PC's to fail their attack on house Azrinae without a TPK, consider having the 1st Daughter of house Vonarc teleport in (with some undead devourers), save the PC's from an unbeatable encounter against demons, and then get them back to her chamber in house Vonarc via teleport. It's a bit 'Deus ex Machina' I know.
Then proceed with her 'I know what you really are' speech and watch them squirm. She now identifies the PCs as highly skilled (if unpredictable) tools for her use. With demonic creatures from house Azrinae hunting the city for the PC's blood (a good random encounter later) she's willing to hide the PC's in exchange for their services to house Vonarc, until her eventual betrayal of course. I'm sure you can ad lib the rest.
My second idea is to allow the PC's to storm house Azrinae. Make it hard. REAL hard! You may need to design a floorplan for the structure so this requires DM planning. At the end, the PC's find little remaining evidence (most of it has been destroyed or removed) but some of the older records mentions that house Azrinae is in alliance with house Vonarc. You can fill in the details but basically the PC's need to go back to house Vonarc to find out more info. The 1st Daughter will be more than happy to accept them back in, for the reasons mentioned previously.
Of course, a combination of the two ideas might work well too. Maybe the assault fails, the PC's run, and the 1st daughter makes them the offer they can't refuse.
Just my 2 cents. I think there's a thread about this somewhere on the forum.
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sorry to bump it but does anyone ahve any idea's of how to still include some of the missions vonnarc gets you to do? the drider hunt and the thing with teh cave geckos
Being as I just went through the portal to escape that accursed drow city, I can look back and give some ideas that might help.
First, there is no doubt that the pc's did not take to the meaning of this being a covert operation. Trying to blend in does not imply planning a frontal assault on the Vonnarc's enemies. However, instead of trying to figure out your players, allow me to give you the adventure we experienced at this point in the AP.
First off, our group is a human Monk (me), a strange 1/2 monkey 1/2 human rogue/master thrower, a gnome sorcerer abberation bloodline, and a human favored soul of Cayden.
My monk is the only evil (lawful) in the group. So, fitting in was not a problem, but my ability to take pain without crying out brought my toughness to the attention of the second son (I cant remember his name). In our campaign, he is a super fast finesse fighter that wants to teach me a lesson by wiping the floor with me. Since I was only a lowly slave, he had nothing to worry about did he...
Well, my DM set up our first encounter by utilizing the "maid" service that you roll for, every day, while in house vonnarc. I found his after hour weapons that he uses to torture his victems while I was performing maid service and cleaning his room. I was told to never mention it to anyone by the other maid. Knowing this guy had some issues, and being placed as a cook or a maid every day, instead of on patrol, or on lookout, or something else that my skills would support. My DM had my character frustrated. So, when I was yanked from my bed and brought to the arena to have a one-on-one with this guy, I went all out on him. If I were R.A. Salvatore, I could do the fight justice, but since I cant, lets just say that I have not had a fight like that ever in my playing history. I absolutely made the 2nd son look like a fool.
With many of the drow house watching, I was the talk of the house. Of course I was whipped and flogged, but my character had an internal smile. But, that was not the end of the second son. He was actually used to introduce the cave geckos fight.
Here is how:
We were called in again, (because of our usefulness), to escort the lover of this second son to her own house without being detected by anyone in house vonnarc. The escort and the second son had killed their sex toys (drow slaves), and the slave matron wanted to cover this all up.
So we were given the geckos to escort her to her house and deliver her alive. While traveling upside down on the cavern ceiling, we were attacked. I can not count how many drow and geckos went splat on the streets of city below us, but it was at least 5 of each. Plus, I had the slippers of spider climb from the Devils Elbow. So getting off the gecko and running across the ceiling dislodging all those geckos was quite fun.
That is how it happened to us. My dm did not use the drider hunt as we fought (2) driders on the surface and he was tired of the same combatants over and over.
I hope this helps. I think what it really does is show how much thought my DM put into this, and how he finally made me so frustrated that I acted like a stupid pc that can not control his emotions, and it paid off. I feel like I was played by my own DM.
I will be glad to put up some other things we did if that will help. Let me know.
sorry to bump it but does anyone ahve any idea's of how to still include some of the missions vonnarc gets you to do? the drider hunt and the thing with teh cave geckos
Well, it does depend on which path the PC's take. I will assume that you get them back on track using the first idea I mentioned (they attack the Azrinae citadel and Alicavniss Vonnarc arrives to 'save the day')
Actually, I don't think it would be that hard to drop the party into those two encounters. But first, remember that the city proper would be pretty much off limits to the PC's after their botched assault on the Azrinae citadel. Chances are Azrinae first son (Kardinnyr, see page 49) would have operatives seeking out info on the PC's in the city. The 1st daughter of Vonnarc (Alicavniss) can keep them hidden and undetected as long as they play her game, but until the heat dies down they'd best keep their heads down.
I would recommed Alicavniss puts them on basic duties as outlined on page 25. I'd recommend you make them start from Tier 1 especially if you want Alicvaniss to humiliate the PC's. But starting from Tier 2 might be better idea if you think the PC's might go rebellious, you did mention that they chafed at the idea of being lowly guards.
The drider hunt occurs when they reach Tier 2. Alicavniss would give the PC's the mission personally. She would tell the PC's that she has leaked some false information to the Azrinae hunters, so the PC's are safe... For now. (N.B. This could be a lie if you wish) Provided the PC's avoid the city itself, they will be safe from retribution. She then informs them of the runaway driders and that this a chance for them to 'earn their keep'. They should be safe from agents of Azrinae since the driders are hidden in the caverns outside the city limits. Offer a gold reward if you feel it will help seal the deal.
As for the task of escorting Safan and the encounter with the cave gheckos. (By now the PC's should be at Tier 3 (pg 25) and the heat from house Azrinae has dies down). This is a trickier encounter to set up, but my advice is that Alicavniss gives the PC's the mission instead of Undamesta. My idea is that Undamesta, frustated and annoyed, sends a message to Alicavniss complaining about Tiryin's violent excesses. In turn, the PC's are asked to deal with the problem by Alicvaniss... Except (and here is the changes in the plot) they have to kill Safan once they reach her home. Obviously, Triyin is unaware of this order from his older sister, so he makes his own attempt to kill Safan (and the PC's since they now know too much about his 'personal life').
Safan's looted body is reward enough.
From there, just continue the adventure as normal.