Evocative right?
For my players: IF YOU PLAY DARKER DAYS THEN F@@~ OFF
(but just in case I'm going to put everything in spoilers, muhahaha)
The Fledgling order of the Shrouded Star have just finished a long quest and have recently arrived back in the capitol to their base of operations, but all is not well.
A terrifyingly cold and long winter has taken hold of the city and if it doesn't end soon then the city, nay; the country could be dying.
At the heart of this is an Eldren spirit, cloaked in the body of a ritual vessel, stalking the streets and using it's magics to bring the city to it's knees.
All to get at the heart of the country: the Consul, ruler and protector of the land, whom figts his own war in the shadows against more than one force of destruction.
All of this is unknown to the poor freezing inhabitants of the once great city of Tuchan, all they know is that this winter should be ending, but it's not.
So if it isn't obvious, I don't know what I'm doing here.
They finished the quest in the south waaaay ahead of my planned schedule and they decided to ditch or delay a pile of sidequests I had waiting in that region because they "wanted to go home" I guess.
Players can be fickle things, and I guess we're all human, but G'DAMN - I had some stuff ready for that region!
So anyways, I described the journey home, through villages they had helped on the way the first time they passed through - giving some nods and hints at how they had influenced the region while at the same time my brain was scrambling through old ideas and half-formed thoughts and concept of what I wanted to have waiting when the got to the city.
So here is what I came up with:
A while back they fought a cult that was trying to summon a dark god and they foiled those plans (because that's what adventurers do: foil stuff .. sometimes they just soil stuff.)
But unknown to them (the players got some havy foreshadowing, but their characters know nothing) something managed to get through (what?!): the spirit of a deceased elf that wants to bring down the country that killed it's kin. (oooooh!)
This entity is in a borrowed body and weak, it's goal is to remove a magical effect that is preventing alomst all dimensional travel in the land, this is unknown to the population by the way ("dimensunhnal wuht?") an effect maintained by the Consul (benevolent tyrant/ruler) who is something else that he appears.
If the barrier breaks then the exiled Eldren (that's my fancy word for elves btw) will return in their dimenional ships and start a new war of genocide (elves are demons in my setting, they are wholly evil, full stop, no doubt) against the humans that defeated them the first time.
1. it's cold
2. there is a "possessed thingy" loose
3. it wants to kill the ruler/destroy some mcguffin in the palace
4. if it does there will be crazy dimensional-hopping large sizes elves appearing all over the place to eat your babies and burn your cow
-My first thought for the stats of the possessed is simply an elf sorcerer/dragon disciple with a ice-theme.
- Ice golems/elementals?
-Those cold riders . seem to be perfectly fitting for some city skirmishes
-I was thinking of throwing a Linnorm at them, for the lulz - maybe some crazy summoning scene outside the city ...
-Having the "possesed" use magic to masquerade as some innocent looking npc seems like a cool idea, the thought of bringing their cohorts and followers outside to investigate something and the having one of their redshirts throw of it's cape and cackle manicly while twirling their mustache and summoning a linnorm might be cool ..
-... I dunno ...
I know this, I don't know how to make a good caster without help/research - and I want something easy to use since small nifty abilities are something I forget in the heat of battle.
She is going to need alot of hp/defence/saves because my group is lvl 10 and the rocket tag has started.
Magus, Alchemist, Rogue/Barbarian and BufferBard equals a lot of explosions and deathrattles in very few rounds - my villians are monologuing a lot more these days just to at least let the group know the whys and hows of the situations they foil and soil (and blow to kingdom come).
-Stats for my "Returned Elf", for inspiration think of a young Flemeth from the Dragon Age games or that IceTits (what's her name again?)sidekick in Bound by Flame.
-Ideas for a vague sequence of events/ how it all fits together
-suggestions on how to make a biting cold winter a cool opponent in itself.
-Some help with what it is exactly the Consul is doing to "Lock down" the whole country from other planes, and how it can be destroyed.
-Possible start (at least the warning shots) of the return of the demonelves(tm) in case the players f#$# up
(it's no fun threatening to blow up the world if you never connect the red button to the explosives - also I don't mind if this plot starts, the group is past lvl 10: the gloves are of and All. Bets. Are. Off. :) )
And thank you for reading all that, I know I ramble, you wil just have to forgive me ... I've had sugar today.
Nothing? nobody? ... really?
Ok, I'll bump this and add what I've thought up during the weekend.
feel free to add suggestions or ideas.
So I'm thinking a lvl 12 (ish) Elven trickery and ice domain cleric as an antagonist.
I have no ide how to run a high level priest in combat, but I'm guessing I'll prebuff her if posiible, use quickened spell and rely heavy on summons and self-healing.
As an agenda she will perform 3 rituals in and around the city, the first one is done already when the heroes arrive back and that area has rumors of disturbances and weird sightings.
As a plot hook this area will have random ice elementals or something (ice trolls?) appearing as a sign that the "fabric of reality itself is weakening!!1".
The second site is outside the city to the east(near the cemetery) and she will possible clash with the group there - I really want her to get away from this encounter, but have a cult of loyal followers ready to "finish her work!!!1" if she doesn't, or maybe a doppleganger or something from the "antagonist-getaway-bag"; like a ring of teleport. Frozen undead seems like a must here.
the third site will be outside the city to the south and I want the group to travel there looking for her, clues left at the 2 other sites and some hints and manipulations from her as she meets and tries to convert the other elvenblooded protagonist to her cause, should all point to this site as the final place.
I'm planning on having her infiltrate their loyal band of followers and to use them to get to the site which is guarded by ...
I dunno, something ...
maybe some really pissy conservative dwarfs? (It's a dwarven region)
or just a lot of random monsters? ..
maybe a band of feral hobgoblins (hobgoblins are a pc race, but there are different types: City Hobs and Crazy Evil Hobs pretty much) come this far west to pillage and burn the weakened dwarves and humans? (the ice has forced both to barricade themselves in their warm homes )
if the rituals goes off she will summon a Linnorm (or something appropiately big) in the middle of the town, giving the group the question of wheter to pursue her or to race home to save the town.
No ide for the details there or the fallout of failure.'
..noticing that a lot of my plan hinges on her not getting smacked down and into a bloody pulp the first time they see her ... not good design.
Yeah that's all I got so far, any thoughts on priest tactics or a better buildup of the quests?
a lot of my plan hinges on her not getting smacked down and into a bloody pulp the first time they see her
Okay, you got that and a lot of ice... so how 'bout using some Simulacra of the main villain?
** spoiler omitted **
That's ... Brilliant!
A bit "Naruto-esque" and I can already imagine my players crying Foul if it happens more than once, -but it's a good twist if I need it.*scuttles to read up on simulacrum*