Need some help with this [3.5]

[Amechra]

In my upcoming game, where all the players are peasants that start to develop bloodline abilities, I have a religion that has recently popped up.

The religion is going to venerate the PCs as "Chosen Followers of He Who Fell From Grace." The religion's name is "The Path of Broken Glass"

They follow the before named deity, who is basically someone who fell just short of Godhood. This resulted in his death; unfortunately, he had just achieved immortality before this.

So he is, in essence, locked eternally in a cycle of dying.

Now, most of the religions in my world are structured as basically worshiping a concept under the lead of a "High Priest", who is accounted as semi-divine.

The Path of Broken Glass used to be a small cult that worshiped the concept of suffering and pity until the current cult leader discovered He Who Fell From Grace.

He then warped the Path of Broken Glass to be focused more along the lines of "we have found someone who can take your suffering from you."

The cult leader (now High Priest of Broken Glass) is currently using the fact that prayer passes the devout's thoughts to the one they are praying to to warp and increase this failed deity into complete madness, so that he can strip the pseudo-deityhood from He Who Fell From Grace, thus leapfrogging into being a true deity, an act that will cause the world to reform itself around him.

The thing is that the PCs are gifted by He Who Fell From Grace, gifted in the sense that they are some of the few people that currently exist that can use ANY form of magic.

Of course, due to the fact that a deific being is going crazy, they also are getting followed by weird stuff.

So, here is what I need; I need ideas, and hopefully some homebrew creatures and events that are just plain creepy; He Who Fell From Grace was going to become a god of the downtrodden (i.e., the beggars and poor of the world), so they should be themed around that.

Please, I beg all of you, I need something that will drive home how crazy this guy has become...

[nonsi]

This could go to any direction.
The "Dradons of Winter Nights" novel has a few chapters detailing a twisted forest, with dead looking deformed trees and sickly looking animals with extra body parts of other animals.
The OD&D gazetteer "The Principalities of Glantri" describes a thieves' guild that requires its candidates to be beaten into deformity before they're accepted.

[Pyromancer999]

This could go to any direction.
The "Dradons of Winter Nights" novel has a few chapters detailing a twisted forest, with dead looking deformed trees and sickly looking animals with extra body parts of other animals.
The OD&D gazetteer "The Principalities of Glantri" describes a thieves' guild that requires its candidates to be beaten into deformity before they're accepted.

These are good, but don't forget the other side of madness: Comic madness, like the Joker. So, perhaps a character unwraps his package of preserved meat for a meal only to find out the meat has turned into pudding and spells out "HELP ME". Also, don't be afraid to give the deity some odd servants(like Zombie Dinosaurs, or Fred the Fallen Chipmunk Assassin from Hell(Fiendish Awakened Squirrel Rogue X) and if the PCs know or come to know of the pseudodeity, let any statements result in an odd misunderstanding/mishearing(ex. The PCs have to go through a trial of faith for whatever reason. One character says idly, "I wish this fallen diety would send us something minor"....resulting in a minotaur being their next opponent. You can add to the fun if they get to communicate with the fallen deity, having it say,"You can't spell minotaur without minor!" or some other madcap statement.") Also, consider aberrations and other creatures from the Far Realm as manifestations of the deity's madness. A last suggestion would be having the deity's personality split into pieces, to the point where there's one side trying to get the PCs to rescue the deity, while another side works to prevent this and/or destroy itself to end the suffering.

[Volthawk]

Well, Aberration feats from Lord of Madness might be nice to add a bit of freakishness to your humanoid enemies, maybe as mutation-type things. More things along those lines are Aberration Blood Expanded (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=155474) (more Aberrant feats), Ozodrin (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=153536) (freakish monstrosity in class form) and Xenotheurgy (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122103) (I guess just with less Far Realms in the fluff, but also very odd. If anything, Incursions can give ideas for effects that could occur because of the PCs).

[Amechra]

I'm really liking the split-goals idea.

I'll also be employing Xenotheurgy; damn, I love that system.

You know, the suggestion of the meat spelling out "help me" reminds me of that old, 113 page thread of creepy events on the Wizard's Board.

I might just have to check that...

Along with that suggestion of beatings for initiation; it sounds loverly.

I just read through my description of He Who Fell From Grace, and I found that I had based him a little bit off of He Is from Digger; I had not done so intentionally.

Hmm, that reminds me of the good old "Black Mother, turn away your face, we are not here, we are not here!"

[Halna LeGavilk]

It all depends: do you want hilarious insanity or creepy insanity?

[Amechra]

Creepy would be preferable; though some ideas for comedic insanity could be thrown in, just to confuse the players...

After all, what could be creepier than the fact that your ?enemy? just stopped taking you seriously?

[Owrtho]

Well, if you're going for creepy, you might try looking for a manga called Fuan no Tane. Consists of a number of unrelated unsettling to creepy stories that are generally not particularly harmful to those involved (though none the less disturbing). Might make for some good inspiration.

Owrtho

[Halna LeGavilk]

Try this thread. (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19785742/1001_Mournland_Horrors) Very good stuff in here. Some of it's Eberron specific, though.

[B!shop]

You could add (as a side effect at first) a specific vermin attraction for every of your players' bloodline, ie. one of your player attracts flyes, another one worms.

Maybe you can tailor around the bloodline powers what kind of vermin is attracted.

At least at the start of the campaign it would be creepy for your players to go anywhere and found that it's full of vermins.

[Amechra]

I'll look into all of that, thanks.

My players I used to our other DM's more joking style, so...

:smallamused: