RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16
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Greetings!
My players just had their first encounter with Bishop Zev Ravenka in Scarwall. Fortunately for them, they realized that he was Bad News; after the Paladin made one save against Trap the Soul (and *still* gained three negative levels), they bugged out and ran as fast as they could out of the castle and teleported away to rest and plan.
However, that means that the demilich is now awakened. I'm wondering what I should do with him now that he knows the PCs are about. Can/will he leave the donjon? What sorts of preparations will he make for when the PCs return?
Any ideas?
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Unless the party managed to drop the forbiddance spells (which are a tough nut to crack) and not just bypass them with a L/E character then the Bishop is going nowhere. That doesn't mean he isn't up to something however. Here are some questions you have to ask yourself.
Do you value this party? No really do you? If this guy is fully wakened and allowed to do everything he probably would do, um the party is in for at minimum a world of hurt if they return. (That part I will leave for some of the more devious folks to elaborate on)
Does the party still need to tangle with him? Did they hit him with a Dispel Evil, Dispel Law, Miracle or Wish spell? If so then they have freed him from the chained spirits binding. Only problem, they have to smack the chained spirit before 24 hours or he'll just reclaim the Bishop.
Does the party know that all it takes to release him from the binding is a Dispel Evil or one of those other spells mentioned? If so they could pop in, hit him and try to get out before he does something truly icky to them.
Here is my favorite question. Do they realize that there is nothing to be gained by fighting him? If they realize that this path does not lead to the sword they could just move on and look for the sword elsewhere.
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RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16
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Brutesquad, you have some very good points. The Forbiddance effects were merely bypassed, rather than shut down (though it seems like the Bishop could make his save without too much trouble). Still, it's easy enough to just say that he's trapped, which would keep him from being able to ambush the Party.
The Party has not figured out how to dispel the binding. I'm still giving the Paladin grief for allowing the Cleric to kill Belasham after he surrendered ;) But at the moment they're planning to tread carefully and explore the rest of the castle (and gain some more XP) before going back there, so there's a good chance that they will find the sword without having to face him again.
And no euphemism was intended, Vic. Sometimes a thread title is just a thread title. :)
All I have to say is that "awakening the bishop" sounds like a euphemism for... well, I'm not sure. Something.
I "woke the bishop" this morning.
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Brutesquad, you have some very good points. The Forbiddance effects were merely bypassed, rather than shut down (though it seems like the Bishop could make his save without too much trouble). Still, it's easy enough to just say that he's trapped, which would keep him from being able to ambush the Party.
The Party has not figured out how to dispel the binding. I'm still giving the Paladin grief for allowing the Cleric to kill Belasham after he surrendered ;) But at the moment they're planning to tread carefully and explore the rest of the castle (and gain some more XP) before going back there, so there's a good chance that they will find the sword without having to face him again.
And no euphemism was intended, Vic. Sometimes a thread title is just a thread title. :)
I wouldn't beat your Paladin player up to badly over the dragon. He may have been sympathetic, but he was still a very evil dragon. In fact, the binding only bothered the dragon because he couldn't go get more gold and do evil dragon things.
As for the party exploring, that is a great idea. Hopefuly they will figure out that they really don't have to deal with the Bishop unless they really want to smash the Chained Spirit. My first party wants to put him down in the worst possible way which is fine with me. The second party is just starting Escape from Old Korvosa so they have no idea there is such an evil undead place as Scarwall...they will learn ;)
And, don't forget the best friend a DM can have like this is a motivated player who has time and a couple of books. See what they come up with. But remember that Zev Ravenka isn't completely in the hear and now, he is half way between this world and the next. While he will be preparing something nasty for the party I don't know how awefully hard he will work to destroy the party.
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RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16
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I deffinitely wouldn't let the party know that the bishop is trapped btw...
Oh, I'm not planning on that. >:-} My players haven't quite figured out the deal with the Chained Spirit yet, but they're on their way in that direction, so they should get the gist of it soon. And they'll be throwing up a lot of Death Wards before heading back to the castle, in any case.
And the Paladin is fine; I'm just teasing him mercilessly about the whole affair. Small enough price to pay for what will happen when he figures out that his Smite Evil will get through DR 20/Vorpal.