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Let's say you have just crash landed your boat on the shore of an uncivilized continent. Your objective is a city of the Undead. However, there is also a civilization of Orcs that may or may not be friendly - in any case, the Orcs are not too hard to find, but the common orcs do not know where the Undead city is. Both civilizations share the same road system, and a few roads lead to the beach, but it is unclear which road leads to which civilization.
The party is level 10, and consists of:
An Alchemist
A Ranger
A Paladin
A Ninja
An Inquisitor
How would you go about finding the Undead City?
How do they share the same road system, yet the common folk know nothing of the Undead City. Also, is it just a city or is the whole continent some kind of joint empire. The OP seems to indicate both.
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Sorry, I didn't want to overload you with details.
Orc civilization has been around a couple thousand years, with an extensive road system. Undead took over a fringe city about a thousand years ago and stayed put. Orcs tried to uproot them, but the power disparity was clear. For the past thousand years, the Undead have happily stayed isolated.
The common peasant Orcs are aware that they shouldn't go south, and roads in that direction have broken down anyway. But the common people live and die in the same village, rarely traveling, and the Undead are little more than a wive's tale to them. Mayors and higher ranking people do know generally where it is.
Orc civilization is a dozen cities, nearly continent wide. Undead are just the southern most city.
Fly (The alchemist should have it as a formula) up over the jungle, look for the big ominous evil city, then scan the paths to figure out which ones to take.
Fly (The alchemist should have it as a formula) up over the jungle, look for the big ominous evil city, then scan the paths to figure out which ones to take.
Or the more fun route of choosing a path at random and seeing which one goes where. From there, it shouldn't be too hard to find the superstition shrouded areas of the island.
Ask around for a map, ask if there are any areas where people tend to stay away, and then ask you ranger to track around the area. If it gets "too quite", then you are probly on the right path... Bambi doesn't play well with zombies. The inquisitor and paladin should be able to assist in tracking, especially with specific knowledge of undead.
Also, the spell augry.
Fly (The alchemist should have it as a formula) up over the jungle, look for the big ominous evil city, then scan the paths to figure out which ones to take.Or the more fun route of choosing a path at random and seeing which one goes where. From there, it shouldn't be too hard to find the superstition shrouded areas of the island.
I think that was probably the first thing he thought of.
I doubt he posted on this forum to be told "pick a random road, one of 'em's gotta be the right one!"
I second Flying up and taking a look, or using Divination type magic. But maybe you could convince your GM to allow the Ranger to use Survival to pick the mostly likely road because...leftover bone dust on the tracks or something. Give the mostly-mundanes a chance to shine.
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Additionally, just out of curiosity, how would this be easier with a level 10 wizard?
To the flying idea - good idea, but this is a good sized continent (perhaps the size of Australia). The party is perhaps 500 miles from the city at crash land. You can only see so far flying. I think more concrete information is needed.
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Check and compare the old and newer maps from all the orc cities that detail roads and trade wrought and create ur own map of the southern area using that information. Have the Alchemist use an extract of fly to scout the skies and the rangers pet along with the ninja can scout the land. Have the Paladin and Inquisitor follow the rivers and streams that head south as well since most civilizations form around bodies of drinkable water and though the undead dont need to drink the orcs that built it did. Scouting those areas using a map created from the info of older and newer maps will give u a great estimate of were the location is in the south. If there is multiple locations then its all bout cherry picking 1 at a tie before u get to were u need to go.
If I was DMing that, I would have a troop of lvl 1 zombies with wands of magic missiles to act as an anti- air party defense system. It's one way to let fliers know they are close... If they survive the barrage/ fall.
If I was DMing that, I would have a troop of lvl 1 zombies with wands of magic missiles to act as an anti- air party defense system. It's one way to let fliers know they are close... If they survive the barrage/ fall.
I'd think the level 1 zombies would soon find out what happens when you shoot BB Guns at a carpet Bomber.
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If I was DMing that, I would have a troop of lvl 1 zombies with wands of magic missiles to act as an anti- air party defense system. It's one way to let fliers know they are close... If they survive the barrage/ fall.I'd think the level 1 zombies would soon find out what happens when you shoot BB Guns at a carpet Bomber.
I prefer the term Nuke Lobber.
Additionally, just out of curiosity, how would this be easier with a level 10 wizard?
Holy crap so much easier.
Teleport makes it all easy. Fly up as high as you can to get as distant a view as possible--teleport the party to the farthest point you can see. Repeat as often as needed.
If I was DMing that, I would have a troop of lvl 1 zombies with wands of magic missiles to act as an anti- air party defense system. It's one way to let fliers know they are close... If they survive the barrage/ fall.
How are those Zombies getting 20s on their UMD checks?
Also, fly 111+ feet up in the air, and Magic Missile can't reach.
Ok, if I were DMing, I would have more time to think about it... But you wouldn't be able to see this place from too far, and if you were close enough to see it then there would be a response force ready. Nothing should be like, "oh I have that spell! I gives me a +25 auto-win bonus to my shenanigans check!"
You can't be TOO far away (-1 penalty per 10 feet from the target object) but IMO something as large as a CITY (assuming it's not underground...you may wanna think about that) should probably have a circumstance bonus to being found if there are clear sight lines to it.
And it's not really "shenanigans", by level 10 Fly has been a thing for like 3 levels already, it should have been factored into the GM's plans by then.
Lol, can't I have my rant?
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Nope.
One of my hobbies is foiling people's rants. ;)
You may say "Curses! Foiled again!" if you so desire.
Nothing should be like, "oh I have that spell! I gives me a +25 auto-win bonus to my shenanigans check!"
Right, except that's exactly what half of all spells level 4+ do (and it's one of my major problems with higher level 3rd edition D&D).
Well, a low lvl illusion would work to hide the place, you would have to be on top of it to interact to disbelieve... And then the zombie magic miss... Aw shucks!
"Curses! Foiled again!"
So I guess the Inquisitor doesn't know Divination? Just convince him to take it when you level up.
No scrolls are available, I presume?
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Using This logic:
DIstances You Can See
If a person flies up to 1,000 feet, he can see about 67 miles in perfect conditions. Helpful, but not great.
Let's say a person can fly to about 10,000 feet without getting sick (although in real life flying up there in a few minutes would be debilitating). Flying straight up at 60 feet per round, you can get up there in 16 minutes - very doable.
From this distance, you can see a radius of about 200 miles. If you know the general direction of the city, you can probably walk in the direction and get within 200 miles of it, then use fly to pinpoint it.
On a, beach players are walking about 100 miles a week. So, once they are within 2 week's travel, they can see it.
What else do we have besides fly?
Go to a major city and find a map maker or a library. Get historical maps of the island - specifically maps that show towns. The older maps should have the entire island mapped out. The newest maps should only have the areas the orcs live in. The area that orcs used to be in and are now not is the area where the undead are.
Edit: this is assuming that the city's historian won't have detailed accounts on the invasion of the undead with the names of the towns taken. If that's the case, then just look up the name of the town/city on the map and try to follow the old broken down over-grown roads to try to get to it. :)
Let's say our heroes don't want to interact with the Orcs in any way. What then?
You don't like the idea of using the Divination spell?
Augry gets you pointed in the right direction. Have the ranger track, with assistance from the inquisitor and paladin who should be subject matter experts on undead. When you get to the point where nature is looking kinda funky, you will know you are close. Detect evil when you are close enough to pick up a path... An entire city of the undead should emminate some sort of aura...
Well your Ranger should be able to cast Speak with Animals and Speak with Plants, but that only helps if the local flora and fauna has actually seen undead and know what direction they were coming from.
There's also the spell Detect Undead which can see lingering auras, so you could use that for tracking but it's only a 60 foot cone so it doesn't do you any good unless you find a fresh trail.
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Divination is great, but in this campaign world it tends to come out broken, or at least unreliable.
@ Evil Minion - Good thing they can cast it multiple times :)
Any way of turning to the animals and plants for help?
It's a city that was overrun with undead 1000 years ago. Unless these undead are great at urban maintenance the city is going to be almost totally reclaimed by nature. A city would have most likely been built next to a source of water - a river or lake - so there's probably bountiful vegitation, enough to obscure the city from any long distance perception checks. In short, your wizard is smart enough to fly, but probably failed her Knowledge: Nature and Knowledge: History checks ;)
That said, your best resource for finding the city is the remaining orc civilization. If roads existed, maps probably did too, or a maybe some record of the city's name. A name itself can sometimes provide a clue as to a city's location, "Ombrachacha means 'by river's big bend' in ancient Orc", or something like that.
If you'd rather find it without the orcs' help, it really depends on how thoughtful your DM is when considering the ecology of the undead. There are potentially a lot of tels: creek systems animals refuse to drink from, a high concentration of carrion animals.
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The Ranger could attempt to speak with animals. Most animals would probably avoid the undead city, but only far ranging animals, such as migratory birds, or carrion-eating birds, such as vultures, would be likely to know where it is.
Their directions, such as they are, might prove problematic, since they'll just fly over swamps or badlands or otherwise impassible terrain obstacles, with little difficulty.
*If* summon nature's ally summons critters who might know stuff about the local continent, the Ranger could also just summon mites, hoping for a mite from close enough to the undead city to have heard of it and know where to avoid.
The Inquisitor should have access to speak with dead and divination, which could be useful.
The Alchemist *might* have access to fly, beast shape I or II, air walk or elemental body, which could allow for aerial scouting.
Are there any sort of intelligent wild creatures, like centaurs or faeries? They might know where the city is.
Go with what Selk was suggesting, logic...
Instead of flying, walk to highest visible point, presume that a large city would be located at a readily available source or drinking water, or would've needed to be supported by large construction projects like aqueducts.
From your vantage point, have knowledgeable people look for remnants of construction, and try to spot any large rivers or lakes.
Decide which body of water appears most promising and walk to it...
... if you don't find your city, you'll likely find someone else's and they might know where to send you... queue the Paladin and his diplomacy checks (or whoever is the party face).
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I feel that the Lost City of Z book is a good source for this.
Leeches, flies laying eggs in open sours, giant anacondas, expeditions vanishing into thin air, and... hidden cities in the jungle.
Apparently, it's pretty hard to find these if the trees are thick enough.
A druid would probably be able to tell the difference between the overgrown roads and the undisturbed wilderness...
Have a Druid talk to the local wild life if the locals don't travel i know animals do, then have said animals lead you there.
I agree, talking to birds should work.
Fish wouldn't be able to see above water, and I don't think undead are much for bathing.
Do the Orcs on this continent keep slaves?
If so, and the PCs don't want to interact with the Orcs, then maybe they could questions some slaves or escaped slaves.
Have your wizard fly up and make a map of the whole island. Then draw grid squares on the map. Then start searching grid square by grid square until they are found.
Have your wizard fly up and make a map of the whole island. Then draw grid squares on the map. Then start searching grid square by grid square until they are found.
They don't have a wizard, otherwise the answer is Shadow Projection.
Well, someone should be able to fly at that level. :)