Suggestions about bringing back the party (Spoilers)

[Mortavius]

Hey all,

So I've been running my group through Carrion Crown, and last night I wiped out almost the entire party during Shadows of Gallowspire.

It was during the Revenant encounter in Renchurch. I had the Revenants laying out on slabs, and when the PCs went in to investigate, they waited till the party got close, then leapt up and attacked.

Now, I may have fudged the rules slightly. I decided that the Revenants got their Reason to Hate bonuses against the entire party. I reasoned that the entire party was responsible for their murders, so their bonuses applied to the entire party. Also, frankly I didn't keep track of who did the killing blow on the boss enemies from previous modules, so I had no idea which specific PC actually landed the shots.

Anyways, long story short, using their Power Attack feat, the Revenants just murdered the party, except for the Paladin (who would have also fallen if not for his high AC and using Lay on Hands on himself every turn).

Due to some players not being able to be there, and possible unhappiness, we're talking about doing a rewind. Two of the PCs are worshippers of Pharasma, and due to their service, I'm considering having her resurrect the party. But I don't want this to be free; the Gods help those who help themselves.

Does anyone have an idea for what that penalty can be? Because it's a bigger group than normal, they're already lower level than they should be right now. I'm not sure about a mechanical penalty. Also, these PCs will not be in use after this module, so any penalty that lasts after the adventure is wasted.

Does anyone have any ideas?

[Rakshaka]

Gods really hate it when other Gods intervene in the mortal realm, so why not have the following happen if they are raised:

1)Urgathoa takes slight to the notions of Pharasma robbing her of some new prizes (cause if you die in Renchurch, you're probably going to end up undead), and so sends her Herald, Mother's Maw to destroy them. Pharasma can no longer interfere without rousing the ire of other gods, so they must face it alone.

2) Something happens with the resurrection, and Daemons, Groetus, or some other entity unfriendly towards Pharasma has corrupted the journey back. As a result, the PCs are haunted by Minor Reapers (from that book's bestiary) that only appear when a PC falls below 0 hp. That way, the other PCs have to protect the fallen while potentially having the fight escalate with additional reapers.

3) Luciamr decides he's had enough of this upstart Adivion and what he's about to do to WW. He decides to use Limited Wish to raise the PCs with the stipulation that they defeat the Black Friar and leave Renchurch for Lucimar to dwell in, after agreeing to deal with Adivion.

4)Their dying bodies are possessed by the Ghosts of crusaders from the war against The Whispering Tyrant, who agree to sustain them for the price of facing a proxy of their hated enemy one last time.

Hope some of that helps.

[GM Helaman]

I like 4

[Keep Calm and Carrion]

Rakshaka wrote:

3) Luciamr decides he's had enough of this upstart Adivion and what he's about to do to WW. He decides to use Limited Wish to raise the PCs with the stipulation that they defeat the Black Friar and leave Renchurch for Lucimar to dwell in, after agreeing to deal with Adivion.

This is pretty excellent. Presumably the Lich-Wolf would approach the lone survivor, the paladin, and make him or her an irresistable offer: agree to let Lucimar bring the dead party members back to life and swear to defeat the Gray Friar for him, or Lucimar kills the weakened paladin and brings them all back as undead.

You’ll also want to feature Lucimar’s inevitable betrayal: Immediately after they take out the Gray Friar, he starts to pick them off, planning to take Galdana to Gallowspire, suckerpunch Adrissant for the Carrion Crown formula and bring back the Whispering Tyrant himself.

[Zhangar]

Rakshaka's #s 3 or 4 would be my favorites. Pharasma's influence in Renchurch should be limited at best.

Though if you want Pharasma to bring the party back, perhaps it's done so at high cost - the loss of Raven's Head or its equivalent, burning out the artifact to allow a friendly deity to reach into Urgathoa's unholy grounds.

[Mortavius]

Those are great suggestions everyone, thank you for them! My mind is working all kinds of ideas, and thinks I hadn't considered before. :)

[Undead 0ctopus]

I love #1 personally!