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View Full Version : DM Help How to go priest-hunting? (Now edited for simplicity!)



Brendanicus
2015-05-26, 06:15 PM
So for a questline my players will have to liberate a city being controlled by devils, led by a Bone Devil. The path that they will most likely take will involve performing a ritual on the Bone Devil which will reveal its Truename.

To perform this ritual, they will need three clerics, one of a good god, one of a neutral god, and one of an evil god.

I want their to be a mini-quest to hire each one of these figures. Note that my world's gods are similar to the Stick-verse in that deities come from real-world mythology. The clerics I was thinking of were of Loki (Evil), Ishtar (Neutral) and Ea (Good).

The problem is is that the surrounding country is in a state of anarchy, and the devil city has outlawed all religions that don't like devils. So, all three of these clerics aren't exactly hanging out in temples all day. What would be some good encounters/questlines be to garner all three of these clerics for a stealth mission into the Devil's castle?

1Forge
2015-05-26, 09:48 PM
For the good path: No it's not two contrived, but make them also need an artifact for the clerics to hold while casting the spell, then make demons fight them while they have to defend the objective till the ritual is complete (maybe it takes two minuets or something.)

For the Evil:They could found a cult many ways, have them start in wizarding schools (hundreds of powerful teenagers that are stuck reading old dusty tomes, they're bound to get bored and join a cult.) Also get them to get contacts with the thieves guild after they convince them it will be profitable the criminal master minds will help. Or last ditch effort make flyers and pass the out with a high enough CHA check it might work. :smallbiggrin:

For neutral: Give them some hope of completing this, maybe they have to find a bone flute that will weaken the demons so they can harm them, or maybe they ask for a lesser gods blessing and recieve buffs, or aid.

Just ideas let me know what you think of em'

Brendanicus
2015-05-26, 10:21 PM
For the good path: No it's not two contrived, but make them also need an artifact for the clerics to hold while casting the spell, then make demons fight them while they have to defend the objective till the ritual is complete (maybe it takes two minuets or something.)Good idea giving the ritual a focus. Also, I might bump it down to 3 clerics. They could die easily, plus I will bring up the suggestion of bringing spares along. Party could have to choose between high numbers for security or few numbers for stealth.


For the Evil:They could found a cult many ways, have them start in wizarding schools (hundreds of powerful teenagers that are stuck reading old dusty tomes, they're bound to get bored and join a cult.) Also get them to get contacts with the thieves guild after they convince them it will be profitable the criminal master minds will help. Or last ditch effort make flyers and pass the out with a high enough CHA check it might work. :smallbiggrin: Sounds good for me.


For neutral: Give them some hope of completing this, maybe they have to find a bone flute that will weaken the demons so they can harm them, or maybe they ask for a lesser gods blessing and receive buffs, or aid.Eh, I don't want to. I'll put as much efffort into this plotline as they do. If they take a sophisticated approach, as opposed to berserking an entire city, I'll make things more interesting.

1Forge
2015-05-26, 10:46 PM
Eh, I don't want to

Ha nice exactly what I'm like when my players ask super complicated things from me. But seriously I'm glad you like my ideas:smallsmile:

Celcey
2015-05-27, 10:34 AM
Question: What does your party composition look like? How many PCs are there and what level are they?

I think the quest in and of itself is fine, if a tad bit specific. They may not go about doing things as you had planned them to. Also, for the final part, the battle, there are definitely logistics to be worked out. For example, who or what are they going to be fighting? Obviously the bone devil isn't going to go down without a fight, so how are they subduing it before the ritual? At some point, he'll probably call for help; for that I recommend using the summoning rules in the MM, and have him summon 2d6 spined devils (or 1 bone devil, but I think spined devils make more sense- his loyal royal guards).

I'd say that once he reaches a certain point- say, below a third or fourth (or half, if you're feeling generous) of his hit points, the clerics can incapacitate him with their artifact and start the ritual. That's probably when he should call in the spined devils.

As for finding the clerics, if they're going to a big city to get the artifact/the way to incapacitate the devil, they should be able to find some clerics at a temple. If the clerics are coming, though, I make sure you account for that. If they're a bunch of level 1 clerics, the players will need to protect them. (I recommend at least level two or three, because when the players are fighting the (CR 2) spine devils is when the clerics are most vulnerable, and you don't want them to go through all that work for nothing).

For extra fun, maybe have the clerics be pacifists, who won't help it battle, only seal the monster (in which case they should probably be lawful good). Or they'll help with buffs and heals and such, but not with actual fighting. I would let them help with minor heals if the average level for the group is 9- remember, they're going to be fighting a bone devil and then a whole gang of spined devils. If it's less than 9, make the clerics at least 4th or 5th level and have them help out a little from a distance, because a bone devil plus the spined devils will otherwise be too much.

As for the evil cleric, I'd go with lawful or neutral evil. Maybe the characters are paying them, or maybe their god isn't Asmodeus's biggest fan. Maybe they were busy being evil and now these devils are cramping their style. Maybe a combination of those three. Either way, make sure the evil cleric has a solid reason to be helping out. Maybe the clerics (good or evil) need some kind of holy artifact retrieved, or a donation must be made.

For the good clerics though, I wouldn't make the characters do the sidequest first, I would make them have to subject themselves to a geas spell to do the quest as soon as the devils were cleared out. (And who knows? Maybe the cleric who put the spell on them is secretly evil themselves. Maybe they're even working for the Big Bad.) The evil cleric I would have do it first, if you decide to do a sidequest, though.

Also, there could be social conflict. The good clerics may not want to work with an evil cleric (or vice versa), and the PCs will have to deal with that. Maybe the good clerics go hates the evil clerics good and/or vice versa. It'd be pretty hard to get Elf clerics of Corellon Larethian to work with an Orc cleric of Gruumish, or a Kobold cleric of Kurtulmak to work with gnome clerics of Garl Glittergold, It would also be a good conflict for the players to work out.

Another thing: for the ritual, maybe it's a ritual that reveals the devil's true name. That could certainly be handy, if the PCs are careful with their wording, having a spy in the nine hells who has no choice but to obey you.


For the evil I think you've got covered. There are crazy people out there who will do and join crazy things. I'd hope they're not dumb enough to actually recruit in a wizard school though. That sounds like something that'd come back and bite them in the butt.

I wouldn't shut this path down so quickly. There are a lot of good options here that don't involve just running in and killing mobs of devils. I'd say make it clear to the players that that tactic could never work. If it's a big city, maybe have a devil "city watch" made of a hundred or so spined devils and a few chain devil "commanders." They wouldn't be able to actually beat them in a fair fight. Maybe they'd use stealth, taking out small groups of spined devils at a time. But eventually, someone would take notice, so they'd have to be quick.

Or maybe they'll recruit people from the city watch, who are disgruntled and angry about their city (and their jobs) being taken over. Maybe they'll have to team up with a thieves guild, who can't operate when the people running the town are bigger crooks than they are. Maybe they'll have to work with both, and work through the animosity and distrust those two sides have for each other.

The point is, there are plenty of ways to go kill the devils that aren't just storming the palace. Don't punish them for choosing this route, because you never know what they might do with it.

Brendanicus
2015-05-27, 12:19 PM
Question: What does your party composition look like? How many PCs are there and what level are they?I don't know yet. The campaign hasn't begun yet. I just want the first two "chapters" of my campaign planned out.

They will start at level 5, and will likely be level 6 when they get to the devil-city. If a Bone Devil proves too much, I will downgrade him to Chain Devil. It's a big party of 6 people.

I like the Truename idea, as it simplifies things quite nicely.

By sidequests, I didn't mean "I, the Good Cleric, will help you, but only if you d XYZ", I meant that the sidequest should just be finding the clerics. None of them, except for the Evil one, should require much convincing.

EDIT: One person wants to be a Rogue, another one is a Paladin, and we have likely takers for Warlock, Ranger, and Eldritch Knight. The last player will either be a Cleric, Fighter, or Barbarian.

EDIT 2: I'm not very worried about logistics right now. I can fiddle with them as the scenarios approach.

PotatoGolem
2015-05-28, 05:04 PM
Just as a note: make sure you have a good in-world explanation for why it requires particular priests of particular gods. Many players will be very curious about that sort of incongruous thing and will try to seek out an explanation.

Also, allow for alternative ways of completion. Your players may think of a different way to go, and that should be welcomed. Don't get too married to the idea of the one solution you had in mind. It sounded from the initial post like they would be punished for picking any approach other than the "good" and "evil" ones you decided, which is pretty iffy.

Brendanicus
2015-05-28, 06:39 PM
Just as a note: make sure you have a good in-world explanation for why it requires particular priests of particular gods. Many players will be very curious about that sort of incongruous thing and will try to seek out an explanation.How does this explanation sound?

Nobody, not even gods, can figure out a Truename unless told or read. If they could, why wouldn't the gods just cavort around the Lower Planes, binding every fiend possible under their control? Even the good ones could use their new-found control to eradicate fiend-kind.

This is because Truenaming is deeper than magic, and is part of the very fabric of the multiverse. The only way to discern a Truename without help is to be completely and totally one with the multiverse. Gods, being relegated to their aspect of reality, are only one with part of the multiverse. Therefore, any one god can only discern part of a Truename on their own. What part of the Truename that is depends on that god's domain and outlook.

Therefore, three servants of very different gods are enough to find one complete Truename.

1Forge
2015-05-28, 07:00 PM
that's a good idea few opposing gods would work together under normal circumstances, but you should still make an artifact required to point out how hard it is to do under normal circumstances.

KorvinStarmast
2015-06-09, 07:25 AM
How does this explanation sound?

Nobody, not even gods, can figure out a Truename unless told or read. If they could, why wouldn't the gods just cavort around the Lower Planes, binding every fiend possible under their control? Even the good ones could use their new-found control to eradicate fiend-kind.

This is because Truenaming is deeper than magic, and is part of the very fabric of the multiverse. The only way to discern a Truename without help is to be completely and totally one with the multiverse. Gods, being relegated to their aspect of reality, are only one with part of the multiverse. Therefore, any one god can only discern part of a Truename on their own. What part of the Truename that is depends on that god's domain and outlook.

Therefore, three servants of very different gods are enough to find one complete Truename.
Like this.

As to finding three clerics, this reminds me of the Dragonlance books where they were on a quest to find true clerics since clerics had become nearly non existent.

Cleric finding ought to involve quite a bit of RP, lore, and a few false leads.

Steampunkette
2015-06-09, 07:40 AM
If you've watched Farscape this, to me, feels like a great chance to enact the Shadow Repository sequence.

The main characters gather enemies, allies, and other people they've worked with, before, to rob a big bank. But in the process they stir up the big bad's hornet's nest and have to fight through different challenges to achieve their goals.

If they've fought the cult of Loki, before, let them seek out the child of one of the cultists or priests they slew and beg for his aid. Bring back old debts and give them new meaning. Make them work for it.

And yes. Having them go in with more than they need is, by far, the best option. It will give you the most cinematic leeway in describing their entry. Set up some skill challenges, a few small fights that are 'really' parts of larger scale battles and skirmishes, and describe the unneeded priests getting killed trying to achieve their goal. Don't worry about statting them out, so much.

Let your players get to their objective with the minimum amount of surviving clerics +1 for every challenge they complete successfully on the way there. And then have the waves of bad guys target the extra clerics, first, during the big assault on the artifact.