To make a long story short: character A is an intriguemaking bastard who's using character B to murder people by means of what can best be described as a cursed drawing. Anyone looking at the drawing will, after a couple of days, find themselves under attack by creatures from another plane of existance...
Character A has given the drawing to character B and made sure that character B is entirely unaware that it was character A who gave it to him. This means that there is potential risk for character A himself to actually be shown the drawing as well by character B. In addition to this, there is some potential that the PCs get their filthy hands on it too, and show it to him... He is aware of these potential risks, so...
... He needs a way to either know that someone is about to show him the drawing, he needs some way to avoid the drawing entirely, or he needs to be able to look at the drawing without being affected... The latter is difficult to do because the nature of the curse is that it is basically non magical... It is enough to SEE what is depicted to be affected, so I'm trying to think of some way for him to be able to look at the picture without seeing what is depicted.
I'm thinking it would be possible to avoid this if he had blindsight but there seems to be no object out there granting blind sight. Time to get an unofficial splatbook?
person A could pretend to have a migrane and need to stay in darkness. Or claim they hurt their eyes and need to wear bandages. If you need a perception roll to make out the details that activate the magis then smoked goggles give a - to that skill. Put out their eyes?
They could leave the city/area until a argury reveals the drawing has activated.
If they can only be effected by one deawing at a time they could arrange to be under a mild form of the curse until the dangerous drawing activates.
person A could pretend to have a migrane and need to stay in darkness. Or claim they hurt their eyes and need to wear bandages. If you need a perception roll to make out the details that activate the magis then smoked goggles give a - to that skill. Put out their eyes?
They could leave the city/area until a argury reveals the drawing has activated.
If they can only be effected by one deawing at a time they could arrange to be under a mild form of the curse until the dangerous drawing activates.
Hmmm... I'll think about that first one, actually.
He's taken a precaution already by living outside of the village where the murders take place. He's in a low risk area, and anyone wanting to see him would have to go through his own guards.
Edit: There is only one drawing, and the monster depicted on that drawing will seek out anyone who has seen it and kill them in 1d6 days. The only way to escape the "curse" is by killing the monster.
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... He needs a way to either know that someone is about to show him the drawing, he needs some way to avoid the drawing entirely, or he needs to be able to look at the drawing without being affected...
You haven't made it clear what sort of resources Character A has available. Here are some thoughts requiring various resources.
- A wizard casts a contingency spell that will do something like teleport (or some other effect) Character A away if the drawing comes within 10 feet of him.
- Character A has a magical ring that provides a continuous Locate Object effect. By the book, this would cost 24,000 (2 lvl * 3 CL * 2000 * 2 for duration in min/lvl), but it doesn't seem like that powerful of an effect. It would be almost worthless to anyone else if it were restricted to only locating the drawing. With this item, character A would always know where the drawing was whenever it was within 520 feet.
- Maybe there is a way to beat the drawing that only character A knows about. For example, perhaps if you are under the effects of a Protection from Evil spell when you view the drawing you are unaffected or even something mundane like a glass barrier between you and the drawing (character A always wears spectacles).
... He needs a way to either know that someone is about to show him the drawing, he needs some way to avoid the drawing entirely, or he needs to be able to look at the drawing without being affected...You haven't made it clear what sort of resources Character A has available. Here are some thoughts requiring various resources.
- A wizard casts a contingency spell that will do something like teleport (or some other effect) Character A away if the drawing comes within 10 feet of him.
- Character A has a magical ring that provides a continuous Locate Object effect. By the book, this would cost 24,000 (2 lvl * 3 CL * 2000 * 2 for duration in min/lvl), but it doesn't seem like that powerful of an effect. It would be almost worthless to anyone else if it were restricted to only locating the drawing. With this item, character A would always know where the drawing was whenever it was within 520 feet.
- Maybe there is a way to beat the drawing that only character A knows about. For example, perhaps if you are under the effects of a Protection from Evil spell when you view the drawing you are unaffected or even something mundane like a glass barrier between you and the drawing (character A always wears spectacles).
That ring idea! Why didn't I think of it!?
I was planning on having him blinged out, but it makes perfect sense to have a magical ring too.
Your last point has been considered, but the very idea behind the drawing is that anyone who sees what is depicted will be killed, because what is depicted does not want to be seen. Alas it can't destroy the drawing because part of its own soul is within it so it is stuck killing whatever sees the drawing until the drawing is destroyed or the monster itself is killed...
Person A goes on Vacation. He leaves the city state region or country he is in. Comes back after a 6 month sabbatical after using scrying magic to make sure it is safe to return.
While that option is the one that makes most sense it is also sadly out of the question. The adventure right now requires that guy to be near the village.
Besides, the drawing never does stop working, so if he's waiting for the murders to stop, he might have to wait a very long time :P
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Your last point has been considered, but the very idea behind the drawing is that anyone who sees what is depicted will be killed, because what is depicted does not want to be seen. Alas it can't destroy the drawing because part of its own soul is within it so it is stuck killing whatever sees the drawing until the drawing is destroyed or the monster itself is killed...
*Yoink*
Person A is blind. I'm assuming it is probably too late to work this in.
The bigger problem is that he's a fighter... Being a blind fighter would be quite problematic.
Your last point has been considered, but the very idea behind the drawing is that anyone who sees what is depicted will be killed, because what is depicted does not want to be seen. Alas it can't destroy the drawing because part of its own soul is within it so it is stuck killing whatever sees the drawing until the drawing is destroyed or the monster itself is killed...*Yoink*
Was that a yoink of approval? :O
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Person A is blind. I'm assuming it is probably too late to work this in.The bigger problem is that he's a fighter... Being a blind fighter would be quite problematic.
Really I have seen many Iconic movies that would beg to differ. Damn there needs to be a way to do this in this game.
maybe an Oracle that switches to fighter?
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Was that a yoink of approval? :OYour last point has been considered, but the very idea behind the drawing is that anyone who sees what is depicted will be killed, because what is depicted does not want to be seen. Alas it can't destroy the drawing because part of its own soul is within it so it is stuck killing whatever sees the drawing until the drawing is destroyed or the monster itself is killed...*Yoink*
That was the sound of me stealing your idea.
That was the sound of me stealing your idea.Was that a yoink of approval? :OYour last point has been considered, but the very idea behind the drawing is that anyone who sees what is depicted will be killed, because what is depicted does not want to be seen. Alas it can't destroy the drawing because part of its own soul is within it so it is stuck killing whatever sees the drawing until the drawing is destroyed or the monster itself is killed...*Yoink*
Ah. I'll just give you the rest of it if you're interested.
A is a guy named Antonin Ordal who owns lots of land in a druid forest up north somewhere. Part of his land houses a "manifest zone" for a plane of darkness. The druids own the land housing the other half of it.
Antonin wants to sell his land to a guild that wants to research the manifestation. The problem is a faction of the druids are reluctant to the sale, and they want to stop the sale occuring by behaving threateningly. The guild still wants to negotiate.
Of course, now if a wild beast were to kill people in an area controlled by druids, and the druids were entirely unable to stop it, that would be an indication that maybe the druids themselves are involved, yes?
Antonin thus plans to disrupt all negotiations between the guild and the druids which will cause other druid factions to get involved too. In short it will become a great mess. The result will be that the druids will likely refuse entirely to let go of their land and thus the only other person willing to sell it will be Antonin.
He will have a monopoly.
As for the beast...
Owner - Johnny Scott Comics and Games
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Alas it can't destroy the drawing because part of its own soul is within it so it is stuck killing whatever sees the drawing until the drawing is destroyed or the monster itself is killed...
Why not have character A put a mark on the back of the drawing that only he can see? Maybe he can use "invisible ink" and wear a pair of spectacles that allow him to see it? This way, no magic is involved, and he will be able to clearly see the drawing before it is presented to him.
Worse case scenario, if he DOES see the drawing, he can simply destroy it (based on the bolded text in your post above) before the monster materializes.
... - Character A has a magical ring that provides a continuous Locate Object effect. By the book, this would cost 24,000 (2 lvl * 3 CL * 2000 * 2 for duration in min/lvl), but it doesn't seem like that powerful of an effect. It would be almost worthless to anyone else if it were restricted to only locating the drawing. With this item, character A would always know where the drawing was whenever it was within 520 feet...
Even cheaper version. Use a variation on the alert spell. Instead of needing to continually track its location. He just gets a waring when ever it comes within the alert distance.
Your dilemma made me think about an experiment in my physics' class a couple of years ago. This is basically similar to 3D viewing technology. Many materials are birefringent, which means they let light pass selectively regarding the polarization of the lightwave. If such a material was applied as a pellicule on the drawing (wikipedia cites sur materials as cellophane) and your player wore adapted glasses, he would in fact not see what's being. The picture could even be made such as only the creature would be invisible to him and his surroundings normally visible.
... - Character A has a magical ring that provides a continuous Locate Object effect. By the book, this would cost 24,000 (2 lvl * 3 CL * 2000 * 2 for duration in min/lvl), but it doesn't seem like that powerful of an effect. It would be almost worthless to anyone else if it were restricted to only locating the drawing. With this item, character A would always know where the drawing was whenever it was within 520 feet...Even cheaper version. Use a variation on the alert spell. Instead of needing to continually track its location. He just gets a waring when ever it comes within the alert distance.
This. Permanency on Alarm only costs 2500 GP and needs a 9th level wizard to cast it, so that's about what a "cause mental alarm if comes near me" thing would probably cost. Granted, this is magical and will detect as such. However, Magic Aura is only a 1st level wizard spell and can make it detect as non magical unless the detector makes a Will save. Surely a Permanent Magic Aura can be researched.
Dark vision works too but you need to get rid of normal vision. If I remember right you can't read with dark vision.
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This. Permanency on Alarm only costs 2500 GP and needs a 9th level wizard to cast it, so that's about what a "cause mental alarm if comes near me" thing would probably cost. Granted, this is magical and will detect as such. However, Magic Aura is only a 1st level wizard spell and can make it detect as non magical unless the detector makes a Will save. Surely a Permanent Magic Aura can be researched.
This is probably closer to the amount the object should cost. The problem with this plan is that, RAW, the Alarm spell is only triggered when a creature enters the area. Furthermore, it triggers for any creature (tiny or larger) that doesn't speak the password, so the spell would be going off all the time. Still, it is the right feel so while you are researching that Permanent Magic Aura you should be able to research a version of Alarm that is triggered only by a specific object and can still be made permanent on an object.
This is probably closer to the amount the object should cost. The problem with this plan is that, RAW, the Alarm spell is only triggered when a creature enters the area. Furthermore, it triggers for any creature (tiny or larger) that doesn't speak the password, so the spell would be going off all the time. Still, it is the right feel so while you are researching that Permanent Magic Aura you should be able to research a version of Alarm that is triggered only by a specific object and can still be made permanent on an object.
Actually, I thought I read (can't remember where at the moment) that you could set the alarm for a specfic creature. Use your own self for the specific creature and the inaudible alarm to you. Cast and permanent on the object. Then whenever you enter the alarm area (because it has come close to you) you will have warning to close your eyes.
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Actually, I thought I read (can't remember where at the moment) that you could set the alarm for a specfic creature. Use your own self for the specific creature and the inaudible alarm to you. Cast and permanent on the object. Then whenever you enter the alarm area (because it has come close to you) you will have warning to close your eyes.
This is pretty elegant and would be a great solution if there is in fact a clarification that Alarm can be set for a specific person. That is not included in the RAW spell description. Although again, it seems like a reasonable enough effect for a customized spell of low level.
In my case I think that a specialized Ring of Locate Object works well, though. Money is of no concern to this character (he's stinking rich) and if the players get their hands on it they can't sell it for much money... Because it's basically useless if the monster is killed or the drawing is destroyed.
And at some point he's going to want the drawing back in his own hands.
He should have some sort of cat as his constant companion. I would probably go with one of the large cats like a panther for a good thematic match with a fighter, but if you need something more plausable then a smaller, black housecat. Whenever the hound, or the soul-laden drawing of the hound, gets close, the cat senses the presence of the hound and does all the things scared cats do, like hiss, arch, fluff up, etc. A big fighter overly concerned with his cat could lead to all types of speculation, or he could play himself off as an animal lover to the druids.