Monastery Mayhem

[Aholibamah]

I have a party of 10th level characters who are currently besieged in an abandoned monastery by an army of ghouls and ghasts. An improved ghast necromancer leads them but they don't know that yet. The monastery was only 'abandoned' after ghouls got in and killed almost everyone but a priest who managed to activate a minor artifact which casts a hallow spell over the monastery. (this was his last dying act) It lasts in effect for one quarter of a day. (they also have a party of 24 npcs, people they led into the monastery from a caravan that was attacked by the same ghouls.)

I want the pcs to feel besieged and strapped for time as they try to investigate the monastery's secrets to learn about it and try to figure out why it was attacked (along with the town outside, now overrun with undead). So what I need is:

- tactics on the part of undead trying to get into a building that is sanctified against them.

- whether it seems reasonable that the ghast leader will simply send to HIS boss, the BBEG, for assistance or something. I know that adventures are often a little static in this way but it seems to me that if there is, say, a lich in the next county working on his evil plans and that a party of adventurers who seem capable of dealing with that are in the area, why wouldn't he be informed and then arrive with more powerful forces?

- if the above IS reasonable then I need to plan out how it might go; how I could have a lich arrive WITHOUT having things be too overpowering for the group, but nevertheless so challenging that it is a desperate fight.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

- tactics on the part of undead trying to get into a building that is sanctified against them.

I'm reminded of the Tim Burton Sleepy Hollow movie, where the headless horseman kills a man (IIRC) by throwing a fence post at him through a window. I could see the ghouls doing something similar; using ranged weapons, or an improvised ballista to attack the people within - firing a grapnel or something into a door, and ripping it off its hinges, lobbing dead bodies in with a makeshift catapult, etc. This kind of depends on how bright you like your ghouls. If the leader suspects the hallow might fall, they may just fall back and wait patiently (and creepily). If he doesn't he still may try to probe the place from time to time, failing each time. He may suspect that the altar is the focus of the spell, and may work to destroy that, or some other area that might seem to be a likely focus, hoping t disrupt the spell that way.

- whether it seems reasonable that the ghast leader will simply send to HIS boss, the BBEG, for assistance or something. I know that adventures are often a little static in this way but it seems to me that if there is, say, a lich in the next county working on his evil plans and that a party of adventurers who seem capable of dealing with that are in the area, why wouldn't he be informed and then arrive with more powerful forces?

This all depends on what you want; it seems reasonable to me. More thoughts below.

- if the above IS reasonable then I need to plan out how it might go; how I could have a lich arrive WITHOUT having things be too overpowering for the group, but nevertheless so challenging that it is a desperate fight.

First I'd foreshadow it if he is coming. Give the PC's reason to worry, and let the tension build. Give the PC's enough time and an escape route, and then have the Lich arrive. Accentuate the creepy. Make sure the Lich uses some identifiable spells that the players will understand are far beyond them (Meteor Swarm is always good for this - have him inundate the monastery with it, smashing things to bits, but not directly targetting the PC's or refugees). Give them reason to run, and if they don't, give the Lich the power to just take what he wants from them. If they ignore the signs, go ahead and defeat them. In my game, I'd have the Lich treat them as if they were beneath his notice.

 

[Aholibamah]

I like the idea of makeshift siege engines, cunning, and waiting, undermining the security of the monastery. Those ideas make a lot of sense to me. My ghouls and ghasts are going to be intelligent--they're definitely feral and chaotic evil but are say like the infected beings in "I am Legend"--capable for formulating plans and acting upon them. The ghasts on the other hand are smarter than the average person and capable of being very clever, is my understand from the MM and is in any case how I plan to run them. Plus I have a few of them with ranger levels and stuff like that.

What about the idea that it is not the lich that will arrive but a death knight or skeletal warrior as deputy, perhaps with an elite force of wights or other intelligent and resourceful undead? I'm toying with the idea that this is just the first wave of the main undead army's advance anyway...

But nevertheless I like the idea of the lich's arrival being more felt than blatant. The lich in question is the main BBEG in my campaign; the pcs are terrified of even trying to scry on him or spy on him.

 

[Pell-Mell]

In addition to the suggestions above, consider:

Using bells, gongs, and pots scavenged from the town below, the ghouls raise a hellish racket night and day. Ghouls have no need for sleep and don't have a Constitution score, so they can really keep the pressure on those inside monastery.

The ghouls fling or catapult pots filled with brown mold into the monastery. There is no danger to them in handling the fungi, but for those inside exposure could be disastrous. The ghouls follow-up the mold bombardment with flaming oil to get the fungi going.

All of these tactics are designed to provide cover for the improved ghast necromancer, who has used magic jar to take over a living creature. As the living body is no longer subject to the holy protections of the monastery, the ghast infiltrates the complex in an attempt to find a way to bring down the ward and allow its horde to overrun it.

 

[Three_Haligonians]

The next post is really good.. you should totally listen to that guy..

(ahem.. double post )

J from Three Haligonians

 

[Three_Haligonians]

I'm confused..

Do you want this BBEL to arrive and help harass the party? Or do you not want that but are having trouble justifying why the ghast minion wouldn't call for aid?

Not coming is easy to reason: just assume the ghast wants to "prove" himself to his boss by dealing with this himself, or maybe he secretly plots against the lich, has a plan involving the monastery and the PCs, and doesn't want to let on...

As for tactics, the undead should try and coax the people out of the building. They could do this by setting it on fire, poisoning/tainting the supplies, or even try to talk the people out; maybe some of the undead were once loved ones of those inside, or maybe the ghast just wants the PCs and offers to let free any who capture them and toss them out.

The undead can then keep or break their word as you see fit..

J from Three Haligonians

 

[Aholibamah]

I'd prefer to save the BBEG Lich till the climax of my adventure path if possible, I just wanted good reasons NOT to have him show up but if it seemed like the most likely thing then ways for him to be made use of, if that makes the slightest sense.

So yes, I'd prefer the ghast necromancer to have a good stab (no pun intended) at breaking into the monastery. I want this to be genuinely challenging for the players to deal with. Your brown mold idea is a good one--it's the kind of thing I guess a bunch of evil undead WOULD do.

Coaxing people out is a pretty good idea too, thank you for that one. I think it would be interesting if some of them were casualties from the caravan the pcs came in with--for example a low level sorceror that one of them had quite liked simply seemed to disappear into a wave of ghoul attackers. Another was a squire that yet another pc had liked.

 

[GammaPaladin]

Hey, just because the Ghast calls his boss for help doesn't mean the Liche actually comes.

Do the words, "If you can't take care of a little problem like this on your own, I will have no further need of you!" mean anything to you? Because I'm thinking that would be the response of a powerful liche whose underling bothered him with matters so far beneath his notice...

 

[Aholibamah]

True again...I appreciate the advice.

 

[Corvidae]

Just a thought but it could take care of two of your problems.

One, the monastary is under attack because the lich's phylactory is hidden there. The lich doesn't really care because it is well hidden and the monk's have no idea that it is there (for example, it is in the hilt of a holy sword, the aura of good and the aura of evil cancel eachother, but the sword is kept by the monks as being holy). The necromancer on the other hand was commanded to attack the town and found out about the phylactory. It wants to get the upper hand on the lich, and so is seeking the phylactory, but cannot call in its boss without giving away the plan.

Just my two cents

Corvidae