My players have been taking their sweet time dealing with Thistletop, going and coming, often being turned away by tough fights. Most recently, they left after clearing out most of the dungeon, except for the bottom floor. They barred the door to the bottom floor (trapping Nualia in there, though they didn't know for sure that she was down there) and went back to Sandpoint to spend the night.
Now, Nualia is fairly strong cleric with a demonic hand, so breaking through the barricade they set up shouldn't be much of a problem. At this point, with all of her allies killed, I'm pretty sure she'd just take her Yeth Hound and bail. But I was wondering; what if, after all of this time, she managed to find Malfeshnekor? It's been nearly a week since the players first went to Thistletop following the Sandpoint attack; the adventure assumes that she hasn't found the secret door, but surely after this many days of studying/meditating, she'd have found him, yes?
What would the effect be? Would Malfeshnekor try to attack her? The adventure seems to imply that they would form an alliance, but with him being bound to that room, what can she do to free him? She isn't able to cast Anti-Magic Field or Mage's Disjunction, which are the only ways to overcome a Binding spell. From the wording of the spell, it doesn't seem like destroying the room would work either. Is there another way to free him? Should I just throw a half-fiend template on her (assuming that he is able to help her take the "next step" in her service to Lamashtu)?
The only thing that occurs to me is that if he allowed her to kill him, his body would return to his home plane. He could then be summoned back with a Planar Ally spell (which she can't cast yet, but perhaps with a scroll?) and they could be BFFs. Would this work?
Was it something I said? :)
I wouldn't expect a great deal of immediacy in the Adventure path forums. By definition you are limiting the number of participants.
As far as the answer to your question, you could make a case that they would ally, but Malfeshnekor has been in the room so long, he really is on the 'kill on site' mode.
Honestly, I would suggest you work with whatever is most expedient for your game. If you think the party fresh off a trip to sandpoint are too well prepared to make Nualia alone a significant enough challenge, have her set up a means of unleashing Malfeshnekor as a trap for the PCs, or just have them form an alliance.
If you think the party will be significantly challenged by just Nualia and the Yeth Hound... adding Malfeshnekor to that encounter is a recipe for a TPK.
Don't fall into the trap of just guessing what is most natural for the enemies... because if you do that, the smart bad guys end up ganging up to the point where all the CR calculations fly right out the window, and the encounters become untenable.
Ultimately, make your badguys do whatever you think is tactically sound, so long as it stays within an acceptable CR range, if not, make up a compelling reason for them to so something else.
I'm considering a couple of options:
1. Nualia just bails and goes to Magnimar, joining up with the Skinsaw cult as suggested in the book. Dicks the party out of some treasure and XP, but I'm fine with that. They left fully aware of the fact that she could escape while they were gone.
2. The intro for the Thistletop chapter describes Malfeshnekor as Nualia's chance to advance on her path to becoming a demon, while she is his path to escape, so having them actually do this makes story-line sense.
3. Nualia leaves, but also leaves the secret door to Malfeshnekor's lair unlocked, making it more likely that the PCs find it.
There's also a back way out. She could escape through the underwater tunnel where the giant hermit crab lives. If they didn't clear that out, then have her take all that treasure too. You can leave Mal alive and untouched that way but in essence let them know they should have finished that encounter.
In my campaign, Malfeshnekor eventually was released (the PCs couldn't kill him but left him trapped in the room when they finished clearing out Thistletop, but left the path to his room more obvious, and some other goblinoids eventually managed to let him loose - all dying in the process).
In chapter 4 (vs. the stone giants), the PCs encountered Mal again, and ended up allying with him, because he was hunting the giants.
I ended up with a new player to our group taking on Mal as his PC (mechanically statted up as a shifter druid, I believe).
That... has to be one of the most unique plot twists that I've seen here. ^^;;
The irony being the effect each Giant's death has. ;)
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To respond to the OP, even if Nualia is not able to free Malfeshnekor, she might still be able to ally with him. He has a few ranged abilities that might be useful in a confrontation, and Nualia might even be able to lure the PCs into his chamber. So just because he can't get out doesn't mean you can't work with that idea.
My primary concern for you would be that fighting Nualia *and* Malfeshnekor at the same time is a very tough encounter. Be prepared for the possibility of at least once PC death if you attempt this!
In my campaign, Malfeshnekor eventually was released (the PCs couldn't kill him but left him trapped in the room when they finished clearing out Thistletop, but left the path to his room more obvious, and some other goblinoids eventually managed to let him loose - all dying in the process).
In chapter 4 (vs. the stone giants), the PCs encountered Mal again, and ended up allying with him, because he was hunting the giants. ** spoiler omitted **
I ended up with a new player to our group taking on Mal as his PC (mechanically statted up as a shifter druid, I believe).
Interesting. How did the goblins do it? Or were you just kind of hand-waving it as some kind of ritual?
Mechanically speaking, would killing Mal and re-summoning him with a Planar Ally spell work?
EDIT: I just looked it up, and I must have been mis-remembering how Outsiders work. I can't find anything to suggest that the Barghest would re-form on his home plane, since it doesn't look like he is/was a summoned creature.
Hmm, thread necromancy! :)
It was either Alaznist or one of her followers who called (not summoned) Malfeshnekor. He was then captured by Karzoug's followers.
Other alternative: kill him so no one else can come along and free him later, as happened in one campaign in this very thread.