I will be starting Carrion Crown's "The Haunting of Harrowstone" this Sunday, and I had an idea about the character of Adivion Adrissant, but I guess it's spoiler-ish? So here...
I want to make Adivion Adrissant more prevalent in the campaign from the beginning, but I have a problem as one of my players already knows (from previous DM experience) who he is and the role he plays in the Adventure Path. Now I know he'll act surprised and all and not let it known to the other players, but I want to surprise him. Here's where my research didn't help.
I looked through the forums and through the different magic books and the Core and the AP Guide, but this is still brand new to me and I couldn't find anything.
I was wondering if it would be possible to have Adivion Adrissant be three different people. Like say three men show up at the funeral (along with the PCs), but they're all actually Adivion Adrissant. One of them actually is the physical embodiment of him, the others are merely plants to thwart suspicions by the players.
If it was possible I'd have all three show up throughout the books so they seem all right, but then at the very end have them all show up and kind of "merge" into the real Adivion.
Is there any way this can be done? Or something similar to it? Any help would be amazing and thank you so much for being patient with me.
They're very cool with it. They actually do stuff like that in their free time.
That's a very good idea, though. I'll have to see if I can think up something like that.
Thank you very much!
Just change the name, and your player will be surprise. You can't know a name you never heard before.
One thread poster discussed actually making Kendra the BBEG, so maybe that little nugget will get your brain juices flowing. Just use his stats at the end.
Or maybe the resurrected professor himself? A little name change...a surprise appearance at the end? Simple and fun.
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Is there any way this can be done? Or something similar to it? Any help would be amazing and thank you so much for being patient with me.
LOVE IT!
...actually making Kendra the BBEG...
...Or maybe the resurrected professor himself?
Love both of these ideas too!
What if you combined the three ideas? Split his spirit three ways and have one land in his regular body, one in the professor, and one in Kendra. Don't have a great reason for that off the top of my head but...
OOH, ooh, ooh!
Okay, lets say Kendra and Adivion are about the same age. They're young, they're in love, their in Ustalav, and genius Adivion belives that he has unlocked the magic and mystery behind this whole "soul transference" thing (lets say it's a thing, like a walk-in - but less magically, because magic jar does essentially this). He's got this great trick, where spirits on the same frequency can swap or bodies, and this has all sort of exciting existential ramifications. But he doesn't want to run off half cocked, so he heads down to Ravengro to demonstrate and get some advice from his lover's father, the esteemed Professor. He and Kendra set up in the receptive professor's study and perform their trick. But something goes wrong. Adivion's spirit doesn't swap with Kendra's, as they've done time and time again, but with the professor. The shock on his old body is too much and it kills him on the spot, with Adivion's spirit inside.
Now you've got a panicked Professor Lorrimor in Adivion's body, a horrified Kendra with her father in her lover's body but her lover's real mind dead in her fathers corpse (!!!), and Adivion dead in an old man. With the Professor's resources they're quick to high tail it to the Church of Pharasma for a raise dead but it doesn't take: you can't bring a soul that's still alive into it's own dead body. So they're distraught.
That's about when the Whispering Way steps in. Adivion had a few contacts with them as he was refining his soul transference process, and as they get wind that it both works and has caused this unique state, they get interested. In fact, they might even claim to know how to fix it, or, even better, who can - their boss, the Whispering Tyrant. Problem is, he's locked up in Gallowspire. But, if a soul was brought into harmony with him - a soul like one of his own descendants properly prepared (aka, with a potion of lichdom) - they could swap, the Whispering Tyrant would be out, and with all his insane and ancient insight into this sort of thing, bringing this happy family back together all in their correct states would be no problem.
So highjinks ensue.
The AP would require a fair bit of tinkering up front to make that work, but then things are probably mostly on track till the end.
There's a bit of a jump in scale there between Kendra and Lorrimor being like, "Lets raise dead!" and "Lets ally with a cult to bring back the Whispering Tyrant!" but there could be a few other failed steps, an increasingly evilly seductive character like Vrood, and Kendra's increasing desperation that motivates this final step.
Phew! That was a bit of a tangent, but there might be something there.
In any case, lots of neat options here and you're totally doing it right keeping an eye on your campaign's end game right at the beginning. Good luck and be sure to let us know what you end up doing!
First of all, I made Adivion into a Bladebound Magus. They own intelligent black swords with agendas; it's a class ability. In my game the evil plot that made up the whole AP was the sword's idea, the sword's plan, executed to the sword's exacting standards while Adivion couldn't stop himself from petting it, talking to it, bleeding for it...
Why not use something like that? The true Adivion Adrissant is an intelligent item, a crown or a periapt, a sword or a suit of armor, a brooch or a pendant. Then he could be passed from hand to hand as his puppets die. He overpowers each subsequent owner and replaces their mind with his own goals, his own wants, his own desires, his own evil plans. Perhaps he was once an item owned by the Whispering Tyrant himself. His greatest desire might therefore be to return to the hands of his True Master even if he has to recreate that master from the broken bones and clotted blood of Ustalav itself.
Just an idea. A wacky one, I admit, but one that would leave your DM player scratching his head.
Wow! Thank you everyone for your suggestions and input. I am very appreciative of it all.
I'm tied between two ideas, but since I have a good amount of time, I can mull it over in my head as I try and get better at learning the system.
I am thinking about tweaking the magic jar spell and creating a new magic item based off of that, like one that splits the soul per Mr. Schneider's idea.
The second idea is the wacky one just posted by ANebulousMistress. I really, really like that idea too.
I'd of course love any and more ideas as to how my original idea could pan out, but I just wanted to express again my extreme appreciation for your help.