So my players have just discovered the Temple of the Elk in Stolen Land and defeated the guardian. One now of course wants to go inside ... where I realize there is nothing.
Seems to me there'd still be some remains of the original priest's setup, considering he was still presumably living there when he was cursed. I figure at the very least I'll include some type of diary so they can get the backstory, but what else did people put inside the temple.
Also, I'm thinking of making the holy symbol of the cleric a minor magic item as treasure. Any thoughts on what would work? I was thinking possibly something that allows the wearer to effectively grow claws, giving him natural weapons (1d6), for 5 rounds a day or a reduced bear's endurance (+2 con instead of +4) 1/day...
Greetings, fellow traveller.
I cannot follow you there. Sure, it's your game so you just go ahead, but!
The former priest was cursed by Erastil a long time ago. Whatever has been in the temple would have been ruined by the bear's ravaging.
As I see it, the cursed bear-former priest would have tried to destroy everything having to do with the deity, too.
What you could do is, insert some little hidden compartment somewhere, where the priest kept some of his belongings and to which the bear couldn't get access.
Why would he have kept the holy symbol (or why would Erastil let the priest keep it)? He would have had it on his person, certainly, when Erastil visited him to bestow the curse on him.
Sounds not quite right to me, but again, it's your game.
Considering the balance of the magic holy symbol:
I'd go for 1d4 damage, something like the Bloodline Power for the Draconic Bloodline:
You can grow claws as a free action. These claws are treated as natural weapons, allowing you to make two claw attacks as a full attack action using your full base attack bonus. Each of these attacks deals 1d4 points of damage plus your Strength modifier ... You can use your claws for a number of rounds per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier. These rounds do not need to be consecutive.
Assuming medium creature here, emphasis mine. The reduced bear's endurance would work well as well - you just need to decide what caster level for the duration.
Ruyan.
they have a map of the temple of the elk on page 20, not much to it.
mostly its about the healing powers of the pool, more of a grotto with a big elk head carved into the rock above left from the glaciers.
Further thoughts:
If you want to award your PCs further than what is mentioned in the AP, let Jhod hand them the holy symbol you have in mind or something else, for that matter.
Ruyan.
Captain yesterday, I did see the map, but wanted to flesh out a bit what was inside. I'd assume if it was an operating shrine, there must've been something inside (where the caretaker stayed, if nothing else). I ended up deciding that most of it had been destroyed by the bear, though kept Ruyan's idea of a hidden compartment with an account by the caretakers of the temple, to give the PCs some idea of the back story (which I don't think they could otherwise learn about anywhere).
I like the idea of the draconic bloodline power for the holy symbol. I think so far the AP's been a little treasure light, so giving them something small (especially since we have a priest of Erastil, so I could see him keeping it for the duration of the game, possibly) felt right to me.
As to whether it would be enchanted or not, I'm not sure. Erastil's clearly been involved with this temple, so I could see him imparting some power to the holy symbol as a reminder to whatever follower carries it next to not lose faith. Not sure if that makes sense or not...