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This is just for one encounter. It's in a side encounter in a castle the NPC's are crawling through.
The castle is occupied by hobgoblins, ogres, trolls, and an assortment of "middle management" bad-guys. There are some Cthulu-esque things going on in the plotline for context.
I need something with some pretty good flavor that isn't necessarily a combat encounter, but that presents a real hazard to the players.
Any ideas would be helpful,
So would a link to the same.
Thanks.
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Tentacle mold and other hazards, e.g. yellow mold? Difficult terrain so the PCs won't be able to use charge/spring attack? Maybe some traps or magic traps (Slow-effect would be esp. nasty) that the villains/monsters are aware of? Spider webs that entangle PCs?
Those would be terrain-related effects, and boring on their own; if you want to add in some combat, maybe a few weak "minions" or some kind, or a giant spider or two? Just some quick ideas here...
If it's a non-combat encounter, there are plenty of horrifying and challenging haunts that you could use. Maybe one that is related to the history/secrets of the castle, and/or the backstory of your campaign?
For example, you could have a tomb filled with mold-encrusted skeletons; maybe those are undead skeletons who will rise up as soon as the PCs enter the chamber, bursting forth yellow mold spores all over the chamber? Or maybe the skeletons are the remains of the castle's defenders who will target the PCs as a flavorful haunt?
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Well to put it more clearly, I'm working off a map I pulled off the internet. The temple room is a side-encounter that has a small prison complex off of it (for sacrifices one presumes), I just want to put something in that room that's not another combat.
I was thinking about a shadow demon bound in a gem on the alter - he could possess a party member?
Or some kind of magical effect that is harmless to the denizens of the dungeon, but hazardous to the party?
Something along those lines.
The unhallow spell offers all sorts of neat possibilities, either to aid the locals or hinder the heroes.
Perhaps the cleric of the temple is not entirely simpatico with the hobgoblins, and is willing to deal with the PCs, if an appropriate bargain can be arranged. A priestess of Lamashtu might be running a brothel and offer entertainment and strengthening -- and other things. A cleric of Abadar might be serving as the evil guys paymaster but isn't above striking a bargain with the PCs ifthey have the gold to pay. A cleric of Asmodeus might offer anything....
A 9th level cleric in its own temple if a formidable foe, especially if some bodyguards are in call (undead in particular are boosted by the desecrate aura, and unhallow is very handy to tag almost anything onto.). But this is an encounter the PCs are not required to fight to win or bypass, given proper roleplaying.
There might also be enslaved minions the PCs could free, and thereby gain allies. Bonus moral dilemma points if they're legitimately in the service of the evil cleric (paying off debts to an evil loansharking Abadarian, sold themselves into service to Asmodeus to feed their family, working for the cleric because she can protect them from the trolls...)
You could also have a low-level outsider around because of lesser planar ally, given an evil cleric. It might not be obvious in its presence, either. Is the temple dancer a human or a disguised succubus? Is the big cat a half-fiend tiger? The cute puppy a hellhound? An invisible babas or bearded devil clinging to the ceiling might be a fun surprise.
And don't forget glyphs of warding.... There's a reason why no one but the priest walks behind the altar.
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Maybe poisonous mushrooms or mold? But there is something shiny at the end. Creatures that usually walk around are already immune to it or might even have poisonous template themselves.
There might be some lost pixie or whatever tiny creature that's willing to assist PC's if they help it out (her tiny house collapsed!).
Temple: This was once a temple to Desna. Even though it was indoors, it brought the outdoors in through glassless windows overgrown with the castle's ivy. A few cells for the clergy were built in adjunct but rarely used since the faithful rarely stayed put, save to dream.
That all changed when the Moths came.
Voices whispered in the dark and corrupted the dreams of the faithful. The itinerant clergy were targeted and would carry their corruption out into the world. The head priestess knew what was happening; creatures from the other side of the Dark Tapestry were targeting her aids and she was powerless to stop them. So she committed one of the cardinal sins of the faith: she restrained them.
The cells became a prison. The creatures who were once the faithful succumbed and became aberrant horrors. A Mothman had come through their dreams, and the fate he brought with him would ultimately help speed the downfall of the entire castle.
Night and day she prayed but the priestess found her goddess becoming more and more distant; her counsel was replaced by the never ending whispers of the Old Ones. A madness came over her; could she but separate their mortal forms from the cancer that consumed their minds her charges would be free once more. And so it was that the priestess took up a starknife and went to each cell, where the infected clergy lay bound and restrained. By morning she'd murdered all four; their skulls and faces terribly mutilated by the piercing weapon.
So after that backstory, you could make a case for:
- a haunt in one of the cells re: restraints, starknife mutilation, madness
- 4 unique undead aberrations
- several other aberrations numbly playing out the roles of Desna's faithful and clergy
- signs of Desna's worship but twisted, perverted
- a mothman who hovers, just at the edge of all this, attempting to bring about whatever fate the GM has in store
Could be that the priestess' tortured ghost doesn't understand the party's presence and attempts to murder them too. However before she launches her attack have the party inspect the place. If they show any kind of pity, remorse or regret over what happened here, maybe it triggers some kind of last vestige of humanity in the ghost. She might instead use cryptic signs to help them and beg for redemption.
The whole, larger theme here might be then that the party is here to save the priestess and her fallen clergy from the curse they've lingered under for years. If they succeed they may be rewarded by blessings (and maybe loot) from Desna; failure might mean the wrath of a ghost scorned.
I definitely like the idea of haunt, particularly if you're going to play up the "for sacrifice" angle you mentioned in an earlier post. Perhaps the spirits of those sacrificed to dark deities of this place linger on and interact with the PCs in some way. You could make setting them to rest a cool side mission or something, especially if you've got a Pharasmin in the group.
Off the top of my head, I'd suggest the haunt manifesting with the screams of the tortured souls pounding around the PCs as they enter the room and then inflict everyone in the room with something like Inflict or Agony or some other thematically appropriate spell. After they defeat the haunt, I highly recommend using something like "Rapping Spirits" to be able to communicate, dimly, if the PCs are inclined, to give them some clues about a way to put the spirits to rest - maybe consecrate or purify the area?
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Yeah, IMO haunts work really well as flavorful non-combat encounters! Ermehtar's idea is sound; what if the souls of these sacrificed people try to force the PCs to grasp the gem, and be enslaved to the shadow demon? Or try to make them mad, e.g. via a confusion-like effect? And they can only be laid to rest if their bones are gathered and buried according to proper rites?
Again, just some quick ideas...
Haunts are fantastic, Illusions are fantastic, using Greater Shadow Conjuration with Wall of Stone makes for an interesting effect--after they go onto it you ask for a will save, if they fail they proceed as normal, if they pass then they start sinking through the illusion and falling through in two full rounds if you are nice or just instantly fall through if you are not. Since Wall of Stone is PERMANENT and the Shadow Conjurations use the duration of the spell they are mimicking this can make for some interesting scenarios.
Haunts that cast "Suggestion" or "Mass suggestion" are both fun.
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How about using Ermehtar's idea about sacrificed souls and inflict-spells? It could flavored to be so that if they approach the altar, PCs start bleeding and bloody demonic/religious runes appear on their flesh, almost as if carved with a sacrificial knife? That could be really disturbing and frightening...