So I ran the Dragon's Demand adventure module with my own twists along the way. Namely that the wizard Hunclay came back as a lich in service to Yog-sothoth (so cthulu flavor and not a standard lich.) The group defeated him and then the dragon, received their knighthoods and accolades from the town of Belhaim and set off to track down the lich's phylactery in the city of Yanmass to destroy him once and for all.
Problem is that Hunclay using a daywalker spell made alliances with the nobles and convinced them that the party had tricked the original town of Belhaim into believing him a lich, killed his cousin (who he had actually killed), that they attempted to kill him and stole his lands and property (which were granted to them as part of their knighting), oh and that they had conned the town into granting the knighthoods after slaying illusionary dragons and convincing them to deal with kobolds, orcs and shadow people. The last is partially true as the kobold tribe that had originally been serving the dragon did broker a peace and trading agreement with the town with the aid of the party and there was a benevolent orc witch from the swamp that aided them in defeating the dragon along with the shadow person that Hunclay had originally summoned and imprisoned and her daughter who is one of the PCs (a shadow-elf rogue archer).
So now they're wanted fugitives with a bounty on their heads and can't just stroll into his complex to destroy the phylactery. Before they realized they were fugitives they brutally destroyed a group of bounty hunters in a small village just a day's travel from Yanmass and the nobles that they had been escorting to Yanmass saw the wanted poster first and fled only for the party's wizard to chase after them using a necromantic version of the flight spell (he was confused as to why they were fleeing from him.)
The party is now headed back to Belhaim but will find that their wanted posters are notarized by the crown and spread throughout the kingdom. An inquisitor is on his way to Belhaim to verify the truth of the claims and two regiments of the army coming from opposite directions are headed to Belhaim to clear out any monsters found therein. Those should arrive within a week. The baroness can stand by them but likely be deposed for being complicit with their supposed schemes or can denounce them to save her own hide, thus making clearing their name all that much harder.
I'm not sure where to go from here which is making game prep infinitely difficult. I can always send more bounty hunters at them, the army, the inquisitor, but none of that moves the story forward, helps them clear their names or ultimately destroy the lich and his phylactery. I have ideas for other big bads down the line but I need to get over this rut to move the story forward. Any advice is more than welcome.
(Addendum: The party is currently 9th level and made up of an Elf wizard who is the Lich's arch nemesis, the Shadow-Elf rogue archer, a Human barbarian from Numeria, his partner a Human witch who wears a gown of vampiric touch and has a raven familiar, & a Forlorn-Elf witch/vitalist with his goat familiar) The last three are new allies but have shipped their lot as having aided the fugitives so bounties are out for them as well. Two of the original party members have left for other destinations and may encounter off screen tribulations (former players.)
Originally had thought the inquisitor to be a corrupt bureaucrat that would not take their side regardless of the truth, but making him an ally may make matters simpler.
Have them meet the inquisitor, have a short trial, get innocent.
Or do trial by combat.
|
Part of the trial would have to include the lich's presence, would it not? An accuser must be present. Why not have the inquisitor be prepared to use a disrupt undead spell upon the lich, to prove innocence or guilt. The lich could have a small horde fighting the armies that marched to Belhaim, while the PCs deal with their master, and protect the innocent inside the courthouse.
That's true, I was having a hard time thinking how they could expose the lich without him being foolish enough to be in front of the nobles and the party at the same time but a trial would give them reason to be in the same room. He does want the Secrets Of The Dreaming Dark book back from them (nevermind that they already destroyed it and scattered the remains) If he was cocky and sure of triumphing over the party he would show.
I think the root of the problem was that I created my own corner. I failed to think about the long term implications of the twist. It fit with the type of evil the lich would do and is more interesting than torture, murder, and hordes of monsters. It was also very rewarding in the moment and made for a great session. When the players realized that they had gone from being knighted and respected heroes of the realm to feared fugitives the reactions were priceless.
It also served the story to force roleplaying as they are somewhat overpowered and have a tendency to destroy everything in their way. There will likely be ramifications for killing the good and neutral alligned adventuring band of bounty hunters, blowing up local heroes into icy chunks in the middle of a tavern should not be easily forgiven espicially if the Inquisitor does take their side.
It's clear they're going to need an ally with some clout outside of the village, not necessarily a fix it with the easy button, but some leverage. I have some ideas now and a potential direction, any other thoughts or suggestions are more than welcome.
How did the lich convince the nobles?
If just by rumormongering, then they and their ally inquisitor just need to get the real story to the right ears.
If by charms and dominations, they need to figure out ways to break or reveal those.
Maybe they can get that cousin resurrected to testify.
Or, they can decide the trick is to take out that lich at all costs.
Work with its lies, to reroute or delay the regiments. Plant a story that the party is massing an army of orcs and shadow people against the city, now that their plot has been discovered. Use that time to sneak back into town and take out that phylactery.
Maybe they can create a fake version of the book it wants, and threaten to destroy it to draw it out.
The lich under the guise of the daywalker spell used his status and wealth as a noble from when he had been alive to plead with the regional authority to aid and protect him from the adventurers, offering up substantial coin of his own for the reward and a little extra on the side. So rumor-mongering, political pull and a little bribery I guess?
In case any are interested here is the text from the wanted poster:
Wanted - Dead or Alive
Sir Selcar Tadriel
10,000 gold
Elven Wizard with pale skin and long white hair last seen in Belhaim.
Typically seen wearing dark robes and carrying a bow as well as a staff.
Wanted, dead or alive for crimes against the crown of Taldor.
Reward to be paid by Duke Cisco Fernand and the City of Yanmass.
2,000 gold reward offered for known associates:
Sir Delgar Grimgrog - Dwarven cleric of Sarenrae, wields a Warhammer
Dame Tindomerel - Shadow person and rogue, deadly with her bow
Dame Talulla Lane - Lizardperson and ranger, travels with a large wolf.
Any others found to be aiding the wizard shall also have a bounty of 1,000 gold each.
Crimes listed:
Treason, Defamation of Character, Slander, Larceny, Coercion, Manipulation, Murder, Attempted Murder, Assault, Consorting with enemies of the realm
Brief:
While in Belhaim, Selcar Tadriel and his associates coerced the local baroness to consort with the likes of kobolds, orcs, lizard people and creatures from the shadow plane. After murdering Lady Elvina Hunclay the Wizard Selcar proceeded to wage a campaign of defamation and slander against her cousin Lord Balthus Arin Hunclay, claiming him to be a Lich. He used these lies to ransack and pilfer Lord Hunclay's personal belongings, then coerced the baroness into granting him Lord Hunclay's holdings in the form of estate and lands. He and his associates proceeded to attempt to murder the venerable lord who has now fled to the safety of Yanmass where he grieves the loss of his cousin.
Further the traitor Selcar, using the illusionary threat of dragons and dracoliches attacking the town coerced the baroness of Belhaim to grant himself and his associates knighthoods. Needless to say, these knighthoods should not be honored and any harboring these fugitives from justice shall face steep fines and possible imprisonment. This false knight of the realm has left the once peaceful town of Belhaim crawling with kobolds and other monsters and is even now seeking to end the life of our esteemed Lord Hunclay. Take great caution as Selcar is known to be a powerful conjurer and travels with likewise capable allies.
Proof of slaying in the form of his head is required if taken dead; ensure silenced and bound if taken alive. Of all the possessions Selcar has stolen from Lord Hunclay the only item of note is a book titled Secrets of the Dreaming Dark. There is an additional 10,000 gold reward if this book can be recovered intact.
Sounds fun. I would definitely make the FIRST inquisitor sent after them alliable but it would take a great deal of effort on the party to do so. IE full surrender and questioning after 48 hours in holding under truth spell OR presentation of undeniable evidence after choosing to capture/knock-out rather than kill him. I cannot see a queen risking her position so openly as to stand by them. Instead I would have her pull strings in the dark. Probably sending the players a very brief message that arrives after the players first encounter with the inquisitor. As for evidence I would encourage the players to continue after the phylactory. Following that the pieces should fall into place for proving who actually committed those crimes. As for some sidequests I can see the lich very openly haranguing the PC's loved ones/allies/friends using state hired inquisitors and bounty hunters
|
Alot of it comes down to who the Inquisitor is in service to, if he's an inquisitor of a god of Law then it's a big stretch for him to also be corrupt. But his church on the other hand, well let me run an idea past you.
Assuming he isn't killed on site, the inquisitor rolls into town and finds out that the party is innocent. The Baroness stands with them and when the army arrives they find no evidence of wrong doing. There's a lot of room for roll playing here, have a trial, have in inquisitor cross examine them and bring them before a military tribunal, have the koblods and swamp witch testify ect. That's step one, after all they did murder the bounty hunters and even if they are innocent of most of the charges they still have to answer for that.
The lich, having anticipated that calmer heads would prevail pulls some strings and manages to get the commanding officer and inquisitor accused of treason. He claims that the army is in fact working with the party to usurp the kingdom, convincing the nobility to gather their men at arms (under his cautious guidance of course, he did see through their lies so only he can be trusted) to smash the rebels. The lich then pulls some strings with the high priests of the Inquisitor's faith, offering them immortality and riches to get them to declare the Inquisitor a heretic/apostate.
Seeing how deep the corruption goes the Inquisitor and the General of the Army now must work with the party to save their kingdom before the lich incites a civil war. The Inquisitor also finds himself at odds with his faith, but luckily he's an Inquisitor so when he's branded a heretic he get's to point the finger back and go NO U!! That's stage two.
Now through out all this feel free to play the Baroness up as being on the fence, waiting to see how the wind is blowing. Play her up as a very cunning political character, but have her ultimately come down on the parties side.
After this have a few pitched battles, assault a castle to two, make a daring rescue to save the king from the Lich's minions, free the kingdom and be crowned national hero's.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I wouldn't drag this out. It's just barely plausible that a Lich could pull the wool over the nobles eyes sufficiently to get a bounty put on the PCs and an Inquisitor sent. It's really stretching the bounds of plausibility (and will thus be frustrating and unpleasant for the players) if he somehow manages to do it again, this time to a highly respected Inquisitor, since everyonje would basically need to be complete idiots to believe a random noble accused of lichdom over an Inquisitor of, say, Abadar. Certainly not without checking the noble (and checking if someone is undead is actually super easy if you know who to check).
As others have suggested, have the Inquisitor show up and be honest (he doesn't need to be nice, just honest), and have him find the PCs summarily innocent (even killing the bounty hunters is almost certainly self-defense, since they certainly didn't know there was a bounty out and thus just knew people were attacking them). End the 'PCs wrongly accused' plot right there. The lich might also die there, or might get away, your call...but dragging this particular plot out is a seriously bad idea.
Why is it a bad idea? Both for reasons of verisimilitude as noted above, and because it's a plot that deprives the PCs of something they worked hard for (public acclaim in this case). Plots that undo what the PCs have accomplished have a real tendency to be frustrating and unpleasant for the players, and if overused lead to the impression they can never accomplish anything so why bother trying? They make the players feel helpless, and that's generally a really bad thing, and no fun at all.
This plot isn't in the latter category yet by any means, but it gets there pretty quick if they try to clear up the situation and are balked at every turn by things they don't even have the chance to do anything about.
Of course, all this assumes they cooperate with the Inquisitor. If they attack him like idiots, all bets are off and it's their own fault.
My advice would be to let the players find their own way out of the predicament. You may be surprised by the creativity and enjoy the direction they take the story. As the GM you need to be permissive and open to letting them take the lead - i.e. don't shut down their plans because it isn't something you thought of. Wing it and see where you end up.