I wondered if Sidith-Yeus actually can possess someone at this level. Did this happen in any of your campaigns? If so, how did this play out? How long before the PCs discovered what happened?
I was thinking of replacing him with a stronger demon, sent by one of the other demon princes. He could ride along in the body of a PC and then suddenly take over the body when Demogorgon has been defeated and claim the throne for his master. I will be using the possession rules from Fiendish Codex I in this case.
I will probably make this a succubus with class levels, or a marilith, with the possession ability as per Fiendish Codex I.
I will use the demon of possession prestige class from the Fiend Folio.
Sidith-Yeus is a nuisance distraction. He's not meant to be more than a diversion - a bump in the road.
On the other hand...if it jumps from NPC to NPC and uses its incorporeality to keep its distance it can be fun to annoy your party with him.
Actually I wonder he is even that. Even the fighter in the group has a will save high enough to resist him (except in case of a very unlucky dice roll). So I wanted to make him more interesting. Otherwise I might as well leave him out of the adventure alltogether.
DC 27 seems a reasonably high DC for a CR 13 critter. What's giving the fighter his high Will save? Plus, if anyone gets shaken from its aura they take a -2 on saves.
Notice that this adventure is for 4 18th level characters. A CR 13 monster really is like an annoying mosquito.
Also, keep in mind that whether you keep it as is or go with that Fiend of Possession, a simple 1st level Protection from Evil pretty much nerfs its mojo.
I'm just advising one thing really: don't spend a lot of time on something that doesn't really promote the adventure. Unless you want to because you think its really that fun and so will your players.
Also, Shadowfire's Will save is only a +7. He'd need a natural 20 to make the save.
Just saying...
You are right, but it seems to me this adventure has too many just annoying encounters. Perhaps I should skip the encounter altogether.
Do you have the 3E modual Bastion of Broken Souls? Both the Cathezar and Nurn from that module are great NPCs to spice up an adventure at this level. Moreover, their backstories in that mod already tie them into this storyline.
It's now available on pdf at dndclassics.com.
Yes, I actually have that module. I will check these NPCs out.
There's another thread somewhere around here that talks about integrating them into the storyline.
Thanks for the link Orth..uh..Nur..no...whatsyername.
I had already found it, but thanks anyway.
Let us know how it goes, whatever you end up going with.
At the moment I am sort of rewriting this adventure, with a lot of stuff from my own campaign world added. I used 2 demonic characters from 2 earlier campaigns, whom the players know (but the characters don't). I also introduced Athux, Graz'zt's son, and gave him a half-brother with whom he is at war, in order to make the plotline with Graz'zt somewhat more interesting.
Cool. Keep us posted - it sounds awesome.
Im my campaign world I have introduced a storyline that some deities are legal deities and some are illegal. There is an inquisition that relentlessly persecutes the followers of illegal deities. The head inquisitor has actually been corrupted by a lilitu demon, who was sent by the demon Alvarez the Purging Duke (from the appendix of Fiendish Codex I). In my campaign Alvarez is the son of Graz'zt and Shami-Amourae, one more reason for Demogorgon to be angry with Shami.
Alvarez is the only one who knows where his mother is locked up. He was actually present when Demogorgon locked her up, and was subsequently banished himself. However, the strong presence of the inquisition on my campaign world has brought him back (with the aid of a very bloody ritual). Now he is trying to get his layer on the abyss back, which is in the possession of Athux (who is a drow half-demon by the way). Athux has locked himself in the fortres previously owned by Alvarez, which happens to have an entrance to the Infinite Staircase in the cellar.
I have introduced all this because the PCs have a NPC friend who is a high priest of a highly illegal faith. The PCs also have had a confrontation with the head inquisitor (two of the PCs have illegal faiths). This confrontation went all wrong, and the PCs barely managed to escape with their lives. One of their cohorts even died, but has been ressurrected by them.
Now their heretic friend (the NPC high priest) has challenged the high inquisitor to a duel, which is to take place on the Infinite Staircase. The inquisitor has asked the lilitu as his second, and the heretic priest will ask one of the PCs. However, Alvarez will only tell them where Shami is if they betray their friend (and attack him) during this duel.
The players have played their characters as pretty ruthless so far - they do everything in order to achieve their goals, namely prevent the Savage Tide. Now I want to see how ruthless they actually are, especially because the PC who will be asked as second at the duel, sort of has a relationship with the heretic high priest, and some of the others are his close friends. He has helped them out several times in the campaign. This will therefore be a nice moral dilemma for them.
To make matters worse, the illegal god worshiped by the heretic high priest is one of the five would-be allies from Enemies of My Enemy (a version of Gwynharwyf adapted to my campaign world).
As I have already described above, I am thoroughly rewriting WOD. Now I have discovered another mistake I have not yet read about on this forum: (remember, spoilers!)
Shami-Amourae is immune to mind-affecting effects. How on earth (or how in the Abyss) is it possible for Molypente to dominate her? This should be a mind-affecting effect if it is anything like the dominate spell. If not, then what is it? How does it work? I know that Molypente works like an intelligent item with an ego, but this still means that it is mind-affecting, doesn't it? if a battle between egos is not mind-affecting, then what is? This should be more than a mere intimidate duel, don't you think?
I am at a loss how to solve this. Perhaps I am going to get rid of Molypente altogether. Or I only let him use the choke effect and make it a lot more serious (or I just let it look a lot more serious to the players).
Then again: demons do not need to breathe, do they? After all, they can survive anywhere, even in the black goo in the Wells of darkness. Then how can they be choked to death?
I think it is bye bye Molypente!
I have decided to replace the bar-lguras on retrievers (bar-lguras again? Retrievers again?) with augmented armanites. After all, they can air walk above the Styx water, and they can transport victims to the Abyss as well. Unconscious. On their backs.
It is also nice to make them really fanatic and give them a nice Demogorgon banner to defend.
Yes, that is probably the only possibility. It would be the only thing Molypente can do against her anyway. His poison theoretically works against her, but he has to bite her first, and that is nearly impossible with her AC (he has to roll a natural 20). And then she will always save against the poison. Choking does not work either, as I have already mentioned.
I was also thinking about instead maybe adding a trap that activates once Shami is freed. E.g. a symbol written on Shami, triggered by her release. Or perhaps Molypente can slither around to take on the form of a symbol.
Or the snake could have death throes like a balor. That might do as well.
I have adapted Molypente as follows:
- The dominance effect is not a dominate/mind-affecting effect, but a sort of mind meld, where there is a struggle between two personalities (so his influence is not from the outside, but from the inside).
- The chokehold is replaced by an energy draining effect to which the host is especially vulnerable.
- The chokesnake gets death throes as ability, so when he dies, he explodes, which deals damage to the bystanders and to Shami as well.
I like it =)
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Well, there is some danger now. Which makes Demogorgon somewhat more convincing.