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Hi,
I'm writing an adventure that will take place in Tian Xia. This is a continued adventure where the party will return an artifact to its owner. This artifact can be used to teleport hundreds of people across the world. It was to be collected by another faction to collect slaves
(1)The party will be employed by the owners of the artifact to find out why the rival faction wanted the artifact.
(2)The party will be sent on a cover-style mission through the Nagajor jungle. Where they will witness Vishkanyan war leaders in a meeting Denizens of Leng. The DoL wants a multitude slaves and were going to use the artifact to collect all the slaves
(3)I want the their black ship to fly and I want it to be programmed to take them to them to Yjae (the flying city)
I need to figure out a good reason for the slaves and a Big Bad Guy the DoL are working for.
The party will 7 characters 7th level and should be 9th level by the end of this chapter. Just looking for suggestion on plot hook.
Dot for later.
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No thoughts from anyone yet?
(4)I was thinking that maybe that the slaves souls would be drained to power a spell or some magic item to bring a Cthulhu demigod to the material plane.
(5)I was also thinking to have Yjae have an area to store these slaves.
(6)I was thinking to have the party travel to the mountain Menhu Leng and battle the monsters there and enter the Plateau of Leng
Ideas of the top of my head:
1) The BBEG is actually animating a huge army of terra-cotta warriors -- but a peasant soul is the primary component to make them skilled and powerful.
2) The BBEG is a high-level politician who is possessed by a shadow demon, the demon is an amalgam of dozens of cruel pretenders who wanted to one day become emperor but all failed. They now have possessed this politician because he has a distant claim to the throne, and with an ancient terra-cotta army likened to the emperors of old -- he might be able to pull it off.
3) The slaves are press-ganged into a slave navy to row, gun, and work tirelessly under intimidation and the lash. This Blockade fleet is going to be used for a surprise blockade on a settlement or city that can normally hold out indefinitely because of it's port access. With that city's navy distracted/diverted helping in a conflict far away, nobody expects a naval power to pop up under their noses. The BBEG is a powerful pirate with ambitions of getting a king's ransom, or lifting the blockade in exchange for a land and titles.
4) Deep in the jungle an ancient overgrown ruin has been discovered. The slaves are being kept to clear and excavate the ruin without word of it spreading before the site can be exploited. Sadly, the slaves disturb something awful in the ruins -- the DoL, knowingly or unknowingly, were working for some sleeping entity in the ruin that is now breaking free.
Like any of those?
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Yes, I like number...
... 4 - There was something I read in the Dragon Empires Gazetteer: Star Titan’s Grave. The DoL can be after ancient artifacts that they can use to power Yjae perpulsion. This is close to where I have the party in their covert mission to Nagajor - fits in nicely. The party is still not high enough level to go to Yjae or the mountain Menhu Leng, yet. So in need to build the story more and that sounds good! This chapter, I'm thinking, will end at Yjae or Menhu Leng(getting them to 9th level)
I keep putting these in spoiler because some of my players read the message boards and know my aliases.
Thanks for your input Vicon! Any other advice would be greatly appreciated.
Glad to give something back once in a while. If you keep asking questions, chances are me or somebody else is going to keep answering them. :D
Cheers!
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Dot for later.
Any thoughts?
I'm using this thread as a guide and am currently reading "At the Mountains of Madness" H.P. Lovecraft
Lovecraft Mythos in Pathfinder
7th to 9th level's going to be a bit difficult for Leng-based stuff. At most you're only going to be able to use one or two Denizens of Leng, and Leng Spiders are quite-simply going to be too strong for a party of that level.
A note on the BBEG: (which is a little bit of a runelords spoiler)
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7th to 9th level's going to be a bit difficult for Leng-based stuff. At most you're only going to be able to use one or two Denizens of Leng, and Leng Spiders are quite-simply going to be too strong for a party of that level.
I couldn't agree more. Depending on what the party does, they won't have to fight them right away (plus, don't forget it's a large party 7 characters @ 7th level).
In this chapter they will discover the "Leng connection" which they don't know about in current game play (new info for this second module). At the end they will be tasked to defeat the DoL(and I'm just quickly putting it together in my mind). In this chapter I should to take them to 9th level before taking them to Yjae or Menhu Leng. I'm thinking a quick dip into Yjae (rescue mission) then on to Menhu Leng. There will be a lot of jungle encounters on their way to investigate the Great Serpent Temple(which should be a spying/recon mission). That is where the plot thickens.
You see, prior to this they encountered Vishkanyan ninjas, that were essentially on the same mission as the party. So, they are in a race to collect an artifact (that can be used to teleport a large amount of people or objects at once). The Vishkanyan leaders in Nagajor made a bargain with the DoL to capture this artifact (for slave collection) in exchange for the power of Leng to make their own conquests in Tian Xia. The Vishkanya leaders at this point in the story should have failed and are now paying the consequences.
The party's job is to find that information out and will probably be tasked to free the slaves - who's souls are being used to repair the flying engines of Yjae. At the end the Party will set off to stifle some Leng leaders from entering the prime material plane at Menchu Leng (or some other reason to go to there)
Eehh, what do you think for a quick synopsis?
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Plus don't forget about these creatures in short doses and being mindful of the CRs:
...
Bestiary 1 - Ghoul, Skum (Deep One)
Bestiary 2 - Denizen of Leng, Gug, Hound of Tindalos, Serpentfolk, Shantak
Bestiary 3 - Moon-Beast, Voonith, Yithian, Zoog
Plus there are some nice, nice things in the Bestiary 4
Morkant: I'm thinking, but I'm running into something of a block, unfortunately. Whenever I attempt to sit down and expand on this, my mind just kind of moves elsewhere.
If you want, though, I can give you the run-down of the one time I ran a dream-themed adventure. It'll be different because I ran it for one player, but many elements might be applicable.
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If you want, though, I can give you the run-down of the one time I ran a dream-themed adventure. It'll be different because I ran it for one player, but many elements might be applicable.
Yeah sounds interesting - It doesn't have to be terribly detailed, just an overview - Thanks!
Did you read my last synopsis(Current/Future happenings) - Sound like something you would be jazzed to play?
Yes I did, and yes I would.
As a suggestion about the slaves,
If the Nightmare effect can't be undone other than by, say, a Wish or Miracle, that effectively puts the PCs on the clock, and gives them the reason to drive forward and rescue them now just as much, if not more, than simple death. And if, even when the Eternal Nightmare effect is broken, and they're restored to consciousness, they're driven Insane... well, all the more reason to keep the PCs adventuring, if they failed to rescue (some or all of) the slaves.
Heck, granting the slaves the Dream Creature template (even though that's third party) might be perfect. Or even the PCs as a dubious "reward" since it's weakness is against sleep effects...
Also, an important creature to recall, is the
The Night Hags especially might be useful in a Coven.
There is also the Gem of Dreams and Dream Eater template.
One of the interesting things is that if you want to bring in more powerful creatures like Leng Spiders, the above creatures don't even have to be enemies. But they can still be evil, and extremely creepy.
While not all of those are super-Lovecraftian, they are Pathfindery, and fit in well with the themes you've got going on, I think.
And now, my own (most recent) epic experience GMing in the Dream:
Having entered into a mystic trance to do this, she found herself in the same place she just was, but abandoned and empty.
She consciously explored the place, but avoided the "weird edges" until she found nothing but their wagon, and then pushed at them until she nearly woke up.
She stopped, and instead entered the wagon... and walked into a dungeon she'd previously defeated, complete with creatures that were there before. But the monsters were creepy, off, and wrong, and quickly, she realized they were not goblins, but some worm-infested-ooze-faced thing (they were minions that died easily, I wasn't trying to challenge her, yet) that really creeped out both the character and the player.
After finding a "compass" that "led to the hag" in her "pack" (the player-hint; a Wayfinder would be perfect for this, if you have one, or better yet a Wayfinder with some sort of dream stone, maybe even a Night Hag's), she followed through the dungeon; she didn't find her brother there (like she did last time), but instead found a hole she'd not climbed through before (that the compass indicated), and did so only to find another familiar-yet-wrong place.
(She always had the option of "pushing the edges" to attempt to wake up, though she could fail that, meaning she was trapped until the next "dungeon".)
After a few more segues of that nature (increasing dramatically in difficulty), she eventually found herself dumped into a rose garden with enormous bleeding roses made of wails of pure terror - on close examination, they were people's faces in the flower blooms. Wandering around, carefully avoiding the roses in question, she ran into a hideous, but (extremely creepily) "matronly" old hag - the night hag. Vague hints, and eventually direct negotiations later, the Hag eventually struck a bargain: she would find the character's father in exchange for the character's worst nightmare.
It was a long, difficult negotiation, but eventually the PC agreed. I created a rather vaguely generic, but still-personalized "scary" experience for the player (I took special note that her faith in her goddess helped her make it through) in which she slowly became evil, but she refused to become evil, and I allowed her to "win" the nightmare (with some difficulty) while threatening her. Then she woke up. Turns out the ritual had failed and the Hag sent her away, unable to bargain with such powerful forces at work.
She slogged back towards reality, only to arrive when a Herald of her deity did, requesting her aid (the Herald and this potential quest hook was established significantly before as characters and an ongoing thing in the story.
Still thinking it might be a dream (I had carefully planted seeds of doubt at first), she took the quest, and a series of ever-escalating situations occurred in which the character lost her friends, her family, and, ultimately, her goddess.
The goals were successful, and actually destroyed Hell, Asmodeus, and all the Archdevils, and a few other things, but everything she'd cared for was destroyed, and, in the process, she became the evil goddess she hated and had fought against for so long. And, most importantly, had forgotten about the hag.
After some time of being Shar (but still herself) and having been forced to kill her own deity for "reasons" related to the plot (to destroy Hell and undo Shar's own power - power that her deity had stolen some of, so by annihilating all the power, she annihilated her own deity at her own deity's command), and she was left eternally and bitterly alone forever. I let the player play out a few minutes in real time of this (looking at herself in the mirror, discovering the "boons" of divinity, and believing this was all the weird direction this campaign had gone, and shedding a few tears), and then said,
"You wake up to the horrendous sound of a hag screeching in pain and agony."
The ritual had worked, everything she'd done before had been her worst nightmare. To a "T". The player was so freaked out she refused to play. Given that it was my wife, I was also in hot water.
... until we actually sat down, at my insistence, and "finish the scene". Her father (the dreambreath dracolich) was killing the hag who'd been "riding" the character to her father to fulfill the bargain, feasting on the Nightmare.
The hag died, and the campaign continued. The player was finally reunited with her father, and they completed a ritual to successfully bring him back to life against all odds. She also consumated her relationship with the Herald (who really did show up in person - remember, he was an established character). It was an amazing and powerful emotional high to counteract the incredible low that she'd been through.
And to this day, the player still talks about how great a triple-fake that was.
And that's what could work, if you go to the Dream and Nightmare realms:
They'll likely be extremely furious, so you'd better have a scene to finish the night with to bring them back on track, and make sure they know the difference between dreaming an not dreaming. This time.
Hope that helps!
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Writer's block my butt - slave idea is AWESOME and creature selection is spot-on. I was going to use the ones I posted as challenges and "sign posts" and I was looking at your selections as well. They're excellent fits.
I haven't finished reading your 4E but so far I like it!
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A note on monsters:
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Alignment: Any evil.
Type: If the base creature is an outsider, it gains the
evil subtype.
Senses: A nightmare creature gains darkvision 120 feet.
Defensive Abilities: A nightmare creature gains DR 5/
good or silver and the following defensive abilities.
Feign Death (Ex): Whenever a nightmare creature is
unconscious, it appears dead. A conscious nightmare
creature can also make itself appear dead as an immediate
action. Any creature that physically interacts with a
nightmare creature feigning death must succeed at a Heal
check or Will saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 the nightmare
creature’s Hit Dice + the nightmare creature’s Intelligence
or Charisma modifier, whichever is higher) to recognize it
is actually alive.
Illusion Resistance (Ex): A nightmare creature automatically
disbelieves illusions (no saving throw required) and has a
+4 bonus on saving throws to resist illusion effects.
Regeneration 5 (Ex): Good-aligned weapons, silver
weapons, and spells with the good descriptor cause anightmare creature’s regeneration to stop functioning
for 1 round.
Speed: Same as the base creature. If the base creature does
not have a f ly speed, the nightmare creature gains a f ly speed
of 10 (perfect maneuverability) as a supernatural ability.
Special Attacks: A nightmare creature gains several
special attacks. Save DCs are equal to 10 + 1/2 the
nightmare creature’s Hit Dice + its Charisma modifier
unless otherwise noted. The nightmare creature’s caster
level is equal to its total Hit Dice (or the caster level of the
base creature’s spell-like abilities, whichever is higher).
Fear Aura (Su): All creatures within a 60-foot radius that
see or hear a nightmare creature must succeed at a Will
save or be shaken for as long as they are within the aura.
Whether or not the save is successful, that creature cannot
be affected again by the same nightmare creature’s fear aura
for 24 hours. This is a mind-affecting fear affect.
Frightful Presence (Su): This ability activates
when the nightmare creature charges, attacks
during a surprise round, or succeeds at a DC
15 Intimidate or Perform check. Its frightful
presence has a range of 30 feet.
Night Terrors (Su): Once a nightmare
creature enters a target’s mind with its
dream or nightmare spell-like ability, it can
attempt to control the target’s dream. If the
target fails a Will saving throw, it remains
asleep and trapped in the dream world
with the nightmare creature. Thereafter,
the nightmare creature controls all aspects
of the dream. Each hour that passes, the
target can attempt another saving throw to
try to awaken (it automatically awakens after
8 hours or if the nightmare creature releases
it). The target takes 1d4 points of Charisma
damage each hour it is trapped in the dream;
if it takes any Charisma damage, it is fatigued
and unable to regain arcane spells for the next
24 hours. The target dies if this Charisma damage
equals or exceeds its actual Charisma score.
Spell-Like Abilities: A nightmare creature gains the
following spell-like abilities: Constant—protection
from good; 3/day—detect thoughts, dream, nightmare,
suggestion; 1/day—shadow walk.
Ability Scores: Dex +4, Int +2, Cha +4.
Skills: A nightmare creature gains a +4 racial
bonus on Intimidate and Stealth checks.
Hah! Glad you liked it! :)
That's a pretty vicious template...
So, a month later, I'd forgotten about this post of mine. Necro'ing to give the same links.
Hope those help as well.