One of my PCs died in the fight against Nualia and wished to be raised from the dead for the following session. Unfortunately there was nobody in Sandpoint capable of doing so and the PCs themselves were only level 4. By the time the party would be able to make the trip to Magnimar to purchase a scroll of the needed spell (and spending a great deal of their total wealth) and return, too much time would have passed for a reincarnate or raise dead scroll to function. I came up with this sidequest to allow the player to continue playing his character (he took over Orik Vancaskerkin temporarily):
Wisher's Well, a 4-5th level adventure
by Ringtail
Conviniently, my PCs have hired Brodert Quink to investigate the ruins beneath the Sandpoint Glassworks, so after the funeral for the one which died, he approached the group with a glimmer of hope to return their ally to life.
Another decent hook would be to have Sheriff Hemlock or Shelelu ask the PCs to investigate sightings of strange, gray, hairless humanoids (morlocks) in the region, stealing livestock from farmers in the night.
In any case, the GM should allow the PCs a Knowledge [local] or Diplomacy check to gather whatever information is common about Wisher's Well in their game. For me, it was a DC 15 to learn that it is an ancient ruin or monument which most farmers avoid due to superstition and strange sounds and sightings in the dead of night.
With the damage to the structure a Climb check DC 15 is sufficent to scale both the exterior and interior of the shaft. The inside of the shaft descend 100' from its highest point into 10' of water. Falling in a PC will treat the fall as 20' less, and the first 20' only do 2D3 nonlethal damage, with an additional 1D6 per 10' fallen past that. After descending about 30' to 40', the morlocks that lair here climb out of the numerous warrens dug into the walls to defend their home and potentially even get dinner. The number of grimlocks should be be chose to equal an encounter whose CR is equal to the APL. This fight will become more difficult due to the PCs limited mobility, having only one hand free to fight, and losing their DEX to armor class while climbing (along with the danger of falling during combat).
Though the morlocks have no treasure on them, the occasional loot of their kills often falls into the waters below (see 'at the bottom of Wisher's Well').
Anyone in or within 5' of the water should make a DC 15 Fortitude save or be sickened by the smell for as long as they remain in or near the water and for 1D4 minutes afterward. Any character sickened whose gear becomes immersed in the water continues to be sickened until they change their clothes or are properly cleaned. Upon reaching the bottom, PCs should be entitled to a Perception check. Success indicates that they notice up to 3 things.
DC 10: A long dark tunnel extends from one wall under the water and curves out of sight.
DC 15: Beneath the disgusting water are several large, sharply hooked symbols carved in relief on the floor 10' below.
To any who can make a Linguistics DC 20, they appear to hold some sort of arcane significance. If viewed with Detect Magic or similiar divinations, they register with strong Transumation and Necromancy. After their magic has been expended, they no longer register as magic.
DC 20: Something glitters for just a moment under the water. Swatting away some floating muck to get a better view, you can see a handful of coins scattered about the edges of the floor, along with other bits of treasure.
I give out about 50 gold in various coins and about another 200 gold worth of precious stones for any wanting to retrieve them. I'd also suggest giving out a minor peice of magical treasure worth around 1000 GP, tailored to suit your party, or barring that, a masterwork suit of armor or a masterwork weapon that the party's main warrior favors. All of the treasure should be metal as to not decay in the filth.
A DC 20 Knowledge [nature] or DC 25 Survival is good enough to notice that the fungus in this chamber emits a highly flamable gas. This is a dangerous hazard. The PCs are unlikely to try to light their own torches or lanterns at this point, either due to them being completely soaked or having magical light already guiding their way. If they attempt to light and use the torches along the wall, a fiery explosion deals 6D6 points of fire damage to all in the room (DC 15 Reflex for half) and renders the air unbreathable for 2D4 minutes as the oxygen burns away. Much like with swimming through the tunnel, the GM should familiarize herself with with the suffocation and holding breath rules. This bad air can fatigue anyone breathing it if it doesn't ignite, making it still dangerous, especially with the penalties stacking onto sickened PCs. Every hour of breathing the bad air, characters must make a DC 15 Fortitude save or become fatigued. This DC increases by 1 per hour. This is a CR 4 hazard, and the bad air persists throughout the complex.
The room itself is about 20' by 60' with the door at the far end, opposite the stairs.
*Note: This assumes the PCs have a way of seeing in the dark, either via darkvision or a spell of somesort providing light. Torches and lanterns obviously shouldn't function underwater, and if not sealed in an airtight container of some sort, will be too soggy to light once the party has climbed out of water.
I need to stop now, unfortunately, but for those interested I can finish typing up the second part of this adventure in the next several days. I'd appreciate some feedback if anyone has any to give.
This sounds like a pretty cool idea for a way to bring back a playable character who the player really wishes to return.
Most DM's I've played with wouldn't allow for such things and just go with the "unless you have spells that can raise dead, breathe life back into a body or pay to have the character resurrected, the character is permanently dead and can never come back" rule.
It's pretty imaginative for a little quest and can also serve as a break from the main campaign objectives.
DM's can include this even if there is no dead character, just to show the party that there is a way to bring themselves back to the world of the living, as it's pretty obvious that this is what you're leading up to. :p
Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds
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What I read is very well written and well conceived. Your choice of combatant is a distinct break from the usual in RotRL, so very interesting. You made the choice, I think, due to the "well" feature of the front door (great terrain for their skills). You may want to point reasons like that out for your readers, though - some GMs will be unaware of tactical choices made with creatures.
I, for one, would like to see the rest of what you have, and hear how it worked out for your group. Keep it up.
One editing error:
@ Drogon: Yes, that was a mistake. It is supposed to say morlocks, not grimlocks. And it's too late to edit it now...balls. Oh well. I suppose when I do a final write up and print out I'll be a bit more detailed about the battle as well. I had been wanting to do the climbing and jumping battle for quite some time so it may be a lot clearer in my head than it would be for newer GMs. Getting a dead allie's body to the end of the dungeon in one piece is another chellenge I should point out. There is potentially a long fall, dragging it through murky waters, the threat of a fiery explosion, and all sorts of beasties that would be happy to make it dinner.
I'll see if I can finish getting it all typed up today.
The room is about 60' in diameter, and shaped similarly to the Sihedron Rune, and there are two other unblocked exits to the room other than the one that the PCs enter through. One with is a short, 10' wide and 20' long hallway leading to another. Which are unblocked, shouldn't really matter (I can't scan a map, so that can be left up to the GM). When the PC's enter the room to look around or continue in, read:
Rising out of the font of the fountian is a pale, rubbery mass. As it wriggles free of the narrow opening it expands and elongates to form another of the misshapen, red-eyed creatures that assaulted you at the entrance to the well. A second bulges through a narrow crack in the wall between two hallways. They hiss and gurgle in a strange language as they attack.
These two morlocks are actually faceless stalkers who found their way in from the nearby Brinestump Marsh. Having taken the form morlocks to live mong them, they've used the ugly creatures as servents to bring them food. When the PCs entered the well, they ordered the morlocks to attack them, retreating further inside and using their natural elasticity to hide.
Each statue has a gem encrusted ivory glaive. The glaives themselves are worth 400 GP and are treated as masterwork weapons. Each faceless stalker will break one free to use as a weapon if it gets near one. The faceless stalkers don't fight tenaciously and will battle to the death to protect their lair.
I'll get the two exits up at some point soon.