Attack the orphanage!

[Teneb]

I need some help fleshing out an encounter. Very evil people frequent here. It's a natural place to ask.

The PCs are in a city where some strange things have been happening. Unfortunately for them they can't narrow down who's doing these things because it appears multiple people are involved, but whenever they're caught they don't really recollect what had happened. The PCs suspect some kind of mind control, but in reality there's a Tsochar (Lords of Madness) that's taking people over and making them do bad things.

[Aside: I realize I'm not using the Tsochar verbatim from LoM. In my world they're more like the Gouauld from Stargate. This one happens to be a psion as well, just to make things fun.]

Anyway, Mr. Tsochar has decided to off the PCs once and for all, and will lure them to the local orphanage where he's taken over the headmistress' body. He's also dominated all the little 'uns. Unfortunately, psychotic 8-year olds aren't too scary on their own. I need ideas on how to make the encounter at the orphanage:
1) interesting
2) challenging
3) memorable

If you have ideas on how to address any of these (or better yet, all three), please enlighten me. The 5 PCs are all 9th level. Your help is much appreciated.

 

[der_kluge]

Just ask Piratecat - it's a good game if an Inn burns down, but it's even better if an orphanage burns down. (Sorry, if I'm mis-associating that recollection with PirateCat...)

I think having 1st level commoner children attack - especially if the party is good - they won't want to have any inclination to attack the kids. So, it will be all about suppressing them, not attacking them - or attacking non-lethally.

 

[Driddle]

Be sure to include a few innocent orc babies for the group's paladin to kill. That's a standard moral dilemma for a situation like this.

 

[Crothian]

the players get to the orphanage and see the headmistress escape to somewhere and a masds of crying and scared children come running to the PCs for help becasue they are scared and stuff. But in getting to the PCs they, like 50 of them or whatever, start to grapple the PCs. Now one grappleing child is no problem but 15 can take down a fighter. They can assist each other on the grapple checks and the like.

It works even better if the PCs are actually good and don't just hack apart the kids.

 

[Solarious]

Psychotic little kiddies may not be terribly intimidating, but killing them will be a serious moral delimma. They might be dominated, but they are children. As a lead up to the actual orphanage attack, the Tsochar might introduce the orphanage to them in advance, in order to take advantage of their hesitance to strike down little kiddies familiar to them. Make them particularly adorable too, to twist dagger in the heart. Less mischievious little devils, more well mannered girls and Oliver Twists. Put emphasis on their innocence.

To make them challenging, use the mob template from the DMGII. You could also induce some temporary Half Farspawn templates with a bit of Far Realms magic. I particularly enjoy the image of a few children growing new limbs of braided tentacles right out of their mouths. You can thank the picture from "And Madness Followed" from Dungeon issue 134 for that one. Then, dump the problem of protecting the little devils who attack suicidally onto their conceinces. While your friendly neighborhood Tsochar psion simply starts dumping AoE powers nilly-willy, because the children mean nothing to it.

And memorable? Tell me what is more memorable than having a wave of insane, psychotic children rush at you from the dark corners of the nighttime orphanage with tentacles for tounges and murder in their eyes. You'll need to make the place unnaturally quiet to start with though: calm before the storm and all that. After all, anyone who has children of their own know that children are never quiet, even asleep. Or at least, when they're supposed to be asleep.

In fact, you can even make the reversal of the templates a whole adventure of it's own. An excellent followup, I'm sure.

EDIT: Apparently, great minds think alike. But only geniuses think of turning children into monsters. (Joking, joking! Don't mob me please!) Also, 400'th post. Bweeee!!!!

 

[Roger]

The children attack the party with pillows and stuffed animals.

The pillows and stuffed animals are coated with a contact poison.


Cheers,
Roger

 

[Nyaricus]

The children attack the party with pillows and stuffed animals.

The pillows and stuffed animals are coated with a contact poison.


Cheers,
Roger

I just spent *literally* the last two minutes in tears over this remark. Oh man, oh man....



cheers,
--N

 

[Jesus_marley]

Think swarming..... two dozen 8 year olds or more.... they can cause some wicked damage.... especially if they hav makeshift weapons (brooms, buckets, mops, kitchen knives, etc.)

You could also have a few of them act as meatshields for the BBEG.... that would cause some moral quanderies for the PCs......

 

[QuaziquestGM]

Marbles, jacks, jump ropes, gnomish roller skates....

the halfling sized shadow that aimed the cross bow at you that you just killed with Magic Missile.....you notice that the paladin has a perfectly normal sucksion cup toy bolt sticking dead heart center on his breast plate....no, you _don't_ detect poision on it......

A handful of normal kids that need protecting from the pysco ones.....

flour and marmalade

the head mistrise's deamonic parrot with high SR mimic-ing back every spell the party uses on it...sometimes repeating it backward for reverse effect....

 

[Tinner]

Give all the little kiddies a molotov cocktail.
They don't even need to throw it. They can just have it strapped to their chests. When they run up to grapple the PC's the molotov should burst.
Be sure to describe the crackle and sizzle of baby flesh, and the horrid stench of roast orphan.
Even better, have the dominate effect drop when the orphan starts burning. That way the party has to suddenly think about how to save a slowly burning child that was trying to kill them just moments ago.
Don't forget the tortured screams of the dying!