New OOTS products from CafePress
New OOTS t-shirts, ornaments, mugs, bags, and more
Results 1 to 3 of 3
  1. - Top - End - #1
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    PaladinGuy

    Join Date
    Feb 2011

    Default Need help for a temple of a dark dwarven deity

    Hello all,

    I'm looking to source some ideas for my next adventure in a long running pathfinder adventure. I'll give a bit of context, and then what I'm looking for. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

    The Party
    A pretty standard Level 4 party
    C - A Paladin of Iomedae not Lawful Stupid, and happy to bend his code of conduct if necessary
    S - A Cleric of Desna and archer, the most sensible member of the party
    J - An exceptionally hard headed barbarian always looking for a fight
    G - An evocation based Dragon heritage sorcerer, just wants to set things on fire.

    The Plot
    The plot so far involves an ancient evil dwarf god who has been sealed away by the rest of the dwarven pantheon in exchange for their ability to influence the world. The god has been sealed with seven chains, and a cabal of necromancers are doing all they can to break the chains and free their master. The first chain has already been broken.
    Upon entering the capital of the dwarven empire (the location of the second chain), the party are accosted by a necromancer preaching about the dark god, who then unleashes several skeletons on the unsuspecting public.
    In the ensuing panic, he gets away, but leaves behind an invitation to all those willing to serve the dark god to meet him at the ossuary the next day.

    The adventure
    The above is about as far as I've got. I'm not sure if the PCs will go in all guns blazing, or if they'll try and sneak in as potential converts, so am really looking for encounters that would work for both.

    The ossuary has six rooms, all of which should have an encounter (not necessarily a combat encounter, I'm perfectly happy with riddles, moral quandaries etc.) and the final room will probably end in a boss fight with the necromancer.

    What I'm looking for is some suggestions for these encounters, as I've hit a creative wall. Thanks in advance!
    WINNER! Villainous Competition XXXII: Selene, Bride of Ruin
    Silver Medallist Villainous Competition XXVI: Faras Alnahr, Dark Scion of the Hippo God


  2. - Top - End - #2
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Spore's Avatar

    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Germany
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Need help for a temple of a dark dwarven deity

    For Dwarves I love LE non-devil outsiders. Combine this with loads of undead and a moral question onto why necromancy should be evil altogether? All those zombie dwarves pledged their life and undeath to the dark deity worshipped here. Who are you to break this covenant?

    My ideas:

    1) A mortuary in the firstmost rooms of the cathedral. There the dwarves bring their deceased, along with a bit of onyx as a donation to the church. They get assured that their family member will be put to good use for the dwarven race. Hostile NPCs will include a few guards (maybe even a Dwarven defender whose role it is to postpone the heroes in order to give the clergy time to prepare).
    2) A torture room. Entering the circle and leaving your dead is NOT optional. Those who disagree on the terms set upon their arrival will get special attention in order to change their mind. A few friendly Kytons will assist our heroes in finding this place despicable. I suggest using a higher CR one with instructions to further postpone the heroes as well as heal them (whip their frontline senseless, then heal them with cure serious wounds, they love to toy with them) then vanish as they see that the melee characters probably won't even flinch.
    3) Main hall: Further in the chapel gets darker and more undead focussed. They can have zombies with an juju zombie cleric as their commander. The area is descecrated.
    4) Prison: Guards and dwarven worshippers: Non-evil worshippers and prisoners will throw themselves at the heroes, with a few guards in the back killing the one's unwilling to attack the heroes. Create a moral dilemma but do not let the paladin fall instantly. It'll create some conversation amidst the group.
    5) Altar room: Have this be the arcane necromancer (5th level) who brags about having control over the whole facility. He will also be guarded by smarter undead and ghouls and will possibly make his exit as early as possible. Have the casters make checks after the fight that he couldn't possibly have made this himself, have the paladin sense an extremely evil aura.
    6) Secret altar: I am trying to bring a lich and phylactery into the play but I don't know really how. My main idea is for the imprisoned lich to be an arch enemy of the church of "evil dwarf god". In a struggle of power over the undead the lich almost always looses heaps of undead minions to equally powered clerics and he hates that. Grant him freedom and the power of the remaining undead in the citadel and you have yourself a trustworthy (and incredibly evil) ally. What will they do? (Make it clear to your Paladin that he won't fall for allying with the evil guy as long as he doesn't directly do quests for him).

  3. - Top - End - #3
    Spamalot in the Playground
     
    Psyren's Avatar

    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Need help for a temple of a dark dwarven deity

    Quote Originally Posted by Lionheart View Post
    The adventure
    The above is about as far as I've got. I'm not sure if the PCs will go in all guns blazing, or if they'll try and sneak in as potential converts, so am really looking for encounters that would work for both.

    The ossuary has six rooms, all of which should have an encounter (not necessarily a combat encounter, I'm perfectly happy with riddles, moral quandaries etc.) and the final room will probably end in a boss fight with the necromancer.

    What I'm looking for is some suggestions for these encounters, as I've hit a creative wall. Thanks in advance!
    I'd say do both - give them the puzzle encounter, and if they fail or take too long (or Cut The Knot), the combat encounter happens. Just make sure that if one or more of your players likes puzzles that they get to solve at least a couple; it can be frustrating walking into an obvious puzzle room only to have the barbarian smash everything in sight just to make the swords part happen sooner.
    Quote Originally Posted by The Giant View Post
    But really, the important lesson here is this: Rather than making assumptions that don't fit with the text and then complaining about the text being wrong, why not just choose different assumptions that DO fit with the text?
    Plague Doctor by Crimmy
    Ext. Sig (Handbooks/Creations)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •