Posting this here because this is a more active portion of the forum, but I'm running Shattered Star for my friends and they've recently acquired an item in Book 6 that I'm running a bit dry on the creative well trying to come up with good ideas for them to utilize.
Specifically, the item in question is a large Gem which is being used to house a high level Qlippoth, which if freed will perform one request for the players if they meet a condition that I will not post here as it is a spoiler. Now, I already know that with this specific party the first thing they will ask is "will you pal around with us and help us fight the rest of the things in this area?" to which I'll have to give them a hard no, as that would constitute way more than what one request would allow. Joining them on a single fight would work, but it would likely just follow them until they get into a fight, join them for that first fight, consider it's job done and then leave.
With that idea inevitably stricken down, I get the feeling that my players won't really have very many ideas for what to ask of such a creature, especially given that two of them are at least knowledgeable enough about Qlippoth that they'd be shocked that one would be willing to do a favor for the party in the first place. On the other side of the coin, I don't really know what the limits of such a creature's capabilities would be if they asked it to do something that it would think would help the party, putting the ball in my court. Like, Qlippoth have an incredibly alien mindset comparable to the Daleks from Doctor Who, and I just have a really hard time thinking of what a Dalek would do if it offered to do you a favor, you know?
Any help with this would be greatly appreciated, and the book does call out that the creature is both willing and able to use its ability to Plane Shift to help with its favor, which both helps and hurts since that opens up a whole range of options for it to give the party.
Honestly a qlippoth seems to me like it'd cheat on its deal instantly if it could. They're chaotic, evil and share absolutely no sympathies or outlook with humanoids.
If it had something to offer - might it have any information the PCs don't? Knowledge of their enemies or of the area or of hidden treasure. Possibly hidden treasure it might plane shift them to.
The thing that makes this all the more troubling is that if this were a normal Qlippoth of its kind those would likely be perfectly viable options, but this bad boy has been sitting in that gem since way before the fall of Thassilon, so any juicy knowledge it might have about the whereabouts of either relevant knowledge to give the party or the locations of sweet loot is likely literally millennia out of date.
I've also considered having it be a monkey's paw situation, but the book assumes that since the party has met the spoilerific requirements to attain the gem holding its soul and have it offer its services that it will do so without trying to dick over the person that it thinks it's trying to help, since the person it thinks it's trying to help is way stronger than it and could probably just shove it back in the gem instantly if it tried anything.
That's really the rub, I need something valuable enough that a CR 18 creature could attain within, say, a day's time with only moderate issue, but generic enough that doing so isn't a massive leap of logic for something that's been imprisoned for thousands of years.
CR 18? A quick check suggests that's a thulgaunt.
They rule horrific hives deep in the Abyss populated by all manner of hideous minions, many of which are bound into servitude via binding spells. These qlippoth are fond of decorating their lairs with petrified or enstasised victims of great power—the more powerful the victims, the greater the prestige held by the thulgant.
If some remnants of the lair still exist it might offer to release a 'victim of great power' to the PCs to serve them for longer than a single fight. Flesh to stone or temporal stasis are permanent.
Other than that it could bind an enemy for them (but the PCs probably don't need that) or kill someone for them (but the PCs can probably do their own killing) or plane shift them if they have some reason to want to do so. The City of Brass may have existed long enough, if they want to do some extraplanar shopping.
It's possible that the qlippoth might know of a unique demiplane that would have something of interest to the PCs.
Remember, planes are actually really hard to get to if you don't have a tuning fork. The create demiplane spell create a plane that based on the planar travel handbooks (IIRC) is essentially impossible to get to unless the creator brings you there.
There are plenty of things that could be hidden away in millennia old demiplane.
I think the best favor a CR 18 Qlippoth can give the party is 153,600 experience points... die, monster! The only good Qlippoth is a dead Qlippoth.
Free it just to kill it, you'd be doing it the favor. Or leave it trapped in the gem and use the gem as a urinal cake.
CR 18? A quick check suggests that's a thulgaunt.They rule horrific hives deep in the Abyss populated by all manner of hideous minions, many of which are bound into servitude via binding spells. These qlippoth are fond of decorating their lairs with petrified or enstasised victims of great power—the more powerful the victims, the greater the prestige held by the thulgant.If some remnants of the lair still exist it might offer to release a 'victim of great power' to the PCs to serve them for longer than a single fight. Flesh to stone or temporal stasis are permanent.
Other than that it could bind an enemy for them (but the PCs probably don't need that) or kill someone for them (but the PCs can probably do their own killing) or plane shift them if they have some reason to want to do so. The City of Brass may have existed long enough, if they want to do some extraplanar shopping.
It's possible that the qlippoth might know of a unique demiplane that would have something of interest to the PCs.
Remember, planes are actually really hard to get to if you don't have a tuning fork. The create demiplane spell create a plane that based on the planar travel handbooks (IIRC) is essentially impossible to get to unless the creator brings you there.
There are plenty of things that could be hidden away in millennia old demiplane.
I'm thinking one of its slaves from a demiplane it's had tucked away for a long time would be a good one, fitting not only for what kind of creature it is but also because it would provide the party with the fighting buddy that I'm sure they'd really want more than most anything else I could offer them.
With that said, now I just need to think of what would be better for it to offer the party if they do go that route. Do you all think it would be better to go with an Evil slave (probably a Demon), one where the party will never know if they will be betrayed, or a Good one (probably an Azata or Archon), where when the Qlippoth returns they might just try to slay it outright to save the servant?
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Good would be more interesting IMO. Possibly good and a bit crazy. Demon cannon fodder's sudden but entirely expected betrayal might be met with a "yeah, yeah".
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What about a neutral fallen celestial driven mad by the quipploth's torture? The party could try to help the celestial to find it's true nature back while it's travelling with them.
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^^Bonus points if the Qlippoth hands the party an Azata, but describes the Azata (with complete sincerity as far as anyone can tell) as a Demon? AND the Azata has been driven completely crazy from being enslaved and tortured in the Qlippoth's lair.
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What if we go a slightly different route, what is it's the scion of a god that has been destroyed in the last millennia?
There are gods that have died in 2000 years, in fact perhaps this being played an instrumental part (by not being present) in the events that lead to the deities death.
Perhaps, the spark of divine power within this being is enough that it could raise the deity from their destruction (although severely weakened until enough time has passed to restore itself).
But perhaps the time in captivity has caused this scion to go mad, and also corrupt the divine spark within it.
There are so many interesting options.
Plus this track can really help to facilitate high level play if you want to go that route.
I mean you could totally have a chosen of Aroden be on the demiplane. The qlippoth releases them, and the players find this being has a substantial portion of Aroden's divine essence still thriving inside them. It would be a monumental discovery! But as the party is attempting help this chosen, they occasionally have psychotic breaks from the torture and time trapped. The players go through all manner of ritual and preparation to use the divine spark to bring back Aroden. The chosen being sacrifices their own life (with the divine spark) to ensure Aroden's return...but the corruption of the mortal vessel corrupts the divine spark. Aroden returns...but it's not the Aroden that was known to Golarion.
So yeah, the reward is a story hook. They finish up the events of the campaign you're currently running while also helping the chosen. Post campaign they continue helping and then cause themselves even more trouble.