I need an oracle smarter than me (Baldur's Gate campaign)

[Braininthejar2]

Situation: Baldur's Gate campaign, - the party about to enter Abazigal's lair.

The challenge: Abazigal's half-god power has manifested as an ability to enslave dragons - there is about a dozen of them, of different sizes, scattered around his lair, enslaved to his will (and with their levels of listen, they're bound to quickly converge on any source of trouble.) Obviously, the player won't want to fight them all - with an overgrown party of powerful NPCs, she could probably grind through them all eventually, but she doesn't want to, not because some of them are good, but because she finds the idea of enslaving dragons repugnant on principle.

Since some of the best moments of this campaign have come from her finding unusual ways to get around obstacles, I was hoping she'd come up with some plan to keep the dragons busy while she infiltrated the lair to get Abazigal. Instead, she's decided to look for a way to break or disrupt Abazigal's control, and went to an elemental oracle from one of the earlier sidequests for the solution, which basically bounces the problem back at me.

I've bought some time by having the oracle refer the party to her colleague - she was an oracle of earth, and an oracle of air would be better suited to tackling a problem of freedom.

Now, what should I suggest? I had already decided that with Abazigal's power being divine in nature, a dispel would only suppress it for a moment - probably too short for the party's needs.

What else could there be done? So far the ideas include:

* Disjunction: That would break the effect for good - as long as the dragons do not approach Abazigal again. It surely wouldn't get them all, but could be used on some key ones.
* Dragon orb: could contest control, but the party might not have the time to look for a legendary artifact at this time. Plus it comes with some problems of its own.
* ?

[Gildedragon]

Treat Abby's power as something akin to the orbs.
Suggest an artifact that nullifies the control...

[Braininthejar2]

Well, a dragon orb would be one such artifact. But looking for a legendary artifact sounds like an idea for a campaign rather than a side-quest, even a high level one.

Still... this is getting us somewhere. An artifact that grants freedom from all forms of enslavement, and then disappears, because it too is free, and you can't keep it for long.

Ideally it would now be in the higher planes because the party hasn't been there yet. Do you have any cool fluff ideas for what it would be, and what challenge to put before the party to find it?

Since the party is consulting an oracle of air, it would make a whole lot of sense to make it a relic of Akadi.

[Gildedragon]

I could see a couple of things:
1) a spell or suchlike that (temporarily) turns dragons into air elementals, hence freeing them from enslavement
2) a rod "the Wind Key", freedom of movement to the bearer, knock, open... and break enchantment on the target; once charges are spent it flies away. Intelligent object CG
Staff is winged

[Braininthejar2]

Underpowered compared to what the party can do with spells. I will have to make it stronger.

A winged rod seems to fit the bill. Or perhaps a musical instrument.

Now, where would the relic be right now? It must be highly sought after, and the theme begs for some moral dillema adventure.

[John Longarrow]

Rather than the McGuffin being an object, have it be a caster who's an Air elemental savant.

Party needs to go find and negotiate with epic bard who has a song that does what you (in game) want. Were it me, I'd have the song cause anyone who is under a compulsion to not only be free of it during its duration but also fully aware of who placed it upon them and where that individual is. Should mean a lot of pissed off dragons in the area who would either want to fight (sorta with the party) or flee from the range of control.

[The_Jette]

All of these McGuffins seem to be turning the battle into a cakewalk for the party. Have you considered simply giving them something that will prevent sound from leaving a particular area, whether it cover the entire room (for an easier time), or just a large area (increased difficulty by requiring the party to keep the enemy in one specific area covered by it)? That way, they still have to sneak their way through the cavern of dragons, find the guy, and get the drop on him, only this time he won't get immediately backed up by the entire flight of dragons he's controlling. You can even have a couple of the smaller ones in his specific area of the cave as "personal guards."

[John Longarrow]

All of these McGuffins seem to be turning the battle into a cakewalk for the party. Have you considered simply giving them something that will prevent sound from leaving a particular area, whether it cover the entire room (for an easier time), or just a large area (increased difficulty by requiring the party to keep the enemy in one specific area covered by it)? That way, they still have to sneak their way through the cavern of dragons, find the guy, and get the drop on him, only this time he won't get immediately backed up by the entire flight of dragons he's controlling. You can even have a couple of the smaller ones in his specific area of the cave as "personal guards."

You mean like casting silence upon yourself as the party?

I really figured its the high spot checks that would get them. Even invisibility has a DC 20 to spot that something invisible is there.

[The_Jette]

You mean like casting silence upon yourself as the party?

I really figured its the high spot checks that would get them. Even invisibility has a DC 20 to spot that something invisible is there.

The problem with casting silence on the party is that they can't communicate among themselves any more. If that doesn't matter, then an enlarged silence would be the best idea. I've never heard of a DC 20 spot check for seeing invisible creatures before. What's that from?

[Braininthejar2]

All of these McGuffins seem to be turning the battle into a cakewalk for the party.

One of my main concerns. This is why I made it so that dispell only supresses the effect.

A magic effect for sneaking would be good, but the player will ask the oracle specifically for a way to free the dragons (as mentioned - she has no problem killing a dragon, regardless of color, if he gets in her way out of his free will. But she detests the idea of one being enslaved with magic) - I want to give her a way to free some of them - so that getting through the caves will still require some tactical choices.

[The_Jette]

One of my main concerns. This is why I made it so that dispell only supresses the effect.

A magic effect for sneaking would be good, but the player will ask the oracle specifically for a way to free the dragons (as mentioned - she has no problem killing a dragon, regardless of color, if he gets in her way out of his free will. But she detests the idea of one being enslaved with magic) - I want to give her a way to free some of them - so that getting through the caves will still require some tactical choices.

Won't killing the big bad free them?

[Starbuck_II]

The problem with casting silence on the party is that they can't communicate among themselves any more. If that doesn't matter, then an enlarged silence would be the best idea. I've never heard of a DC 20 spot check for seeing invisible creatures before. What's that from?

Can't the party learn drow sign language or equivalent? Then they can now communicate while silenced.

[Braininthejar2]

Won't killing the big bad free them?

Of course it will - the whole problem is how to get to him without having to fight through his slaves.

[hewhosaysfish]

You mean like casting silence upon yourself as the party?

I really figured its the high spot checks that would get them. Even invisibility has a DC 20 to spot that something invisible is there.

Maybe a really high caster-level Hide From Dragons?

[The_Jette]

Of course it will - the whole problem is how to get to him without having to fight through his slaves.

That's why I suggested sneaking through, then putting up some spell, or area affect, that would prevent sound from getting out and alerting the dragons. That way, they don't kill any on the way in, they don't have to kill any during the battle with the guy, and they're free after he's dead. It's still a difficult battle, assuming the guy is powerful enough to challenge the party without calling in a flight of dragons to his defense.

[Gildedragon]

Idea:
Charm that lets them turn into air elementals for some amount of time?
A gateway into the Shadow plane that lets them move through shadow towards their goal

[BearonVonMu]

The problem with casting silence on the party is that they can't communicate among themselves any more. If that doesn't matter, then an enlarged silence would be the best idea. I've never heard of a DC 20 spot check for seeing invisible creatures before. What's that from?

If I recall, invisibility merely grants you a +40 to stealth (and cover to stealth in, I suppose). When you move at full speed, your stealth is halved. Most casters would not have ranks in stealth, thus giving the DC 20 (half of 40) if they move at full speed.
That's probably where that came from.
Of course, that's all from memory, so.....