Giving hints to a player

I have a touchy situation coming up in my campaign I'd like some ideas on. Here's the scoop.

I have an Evil cleric of Talos who is on a mission for his God. However, he doesn't know what it is, he's just getting pushed in the right direction from time to time.

Not too long ago, a crazed and near-death prophet found him in the desert, and told him he would be going "under the earth" and that he would find the "tower of purple" where he needs to seek a certain amulet.

Unfortunately, the player hasn't done any research to attempt to discover what this tower or amulet could be.

This is a BONUS quest for the character. He doesn't HAVE to complete it. Let me say that first of all. I want him to work for it.

The party is going to be storming an ancient wizard's tower in the Underdark. It's long been abandoned by the wizard who originally made his home there, and the party is going there to fight the new residents, a cell of the Cult of the Dragon.

HOWEVER... the amulet the Cleric seeks resides in the tower. It's with some other treasure that has long gone undisturbed, because the ancient wizard who originally lived there hid it on the etherial plane... thus it is all invisible.

NOW... here's the question. HOW to I give some hints to the Cleric about where to look or how to look for the amulet? I want to nudge him in the right direction without totally giving away the nature by which the amulet is hidden. His god is testing him... so no more direct divine intervention is possible. He's not going to get any more prophets or signs pointing him in the right direction. If he fails this quest, Talos may start doubting his use as a disciple.

Ideas? I appreciate any input/suggestions you folks might have!

This bit....

Murrdox said:

This is a BONUS quest for the character. He doesn't HAVE to complete it.

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... would seem to be incompatible with this bit:

If he fails this quest, Talos may start doubting his use as a disciple.

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I think you need to make up your mind on whether this really is or isn't a compulsory quest for the character.

Hong has a point. If it's really just a bonus, a side thing, then there shouldn't be repercussions for failure to complete it.

I note that for these things, wording is very important. Did you tell him "You will go into the earth and find this tower and amulet" or If you phrased it as "Your boss wants you to go into the earth..." ?

If it's a "you will do this", then it soudns like prophecy. One doesn't have to research destiny, it's gonna happen whether you like it or not. If it's a "you are being sent to do this", then failing to follow up is a dereliction of duty.

So, in the first case, you'd probably want to clarify that it isn't being handed to him on a silver platter. In the second case, it'd be his own problem. If he doesn't want to do the job the boss gave him, that's his decision, with attendant repercussions...

I drop info to players in a bunch of ways, but if they are being lazy about the whole thing perhaps there is no interest in doing it.

You could hand everything right to him: Have some guys try to steal something from the PC that he didn't know he had, like a map in a vault of his temple. It gives the PC some things to do pretty easily - find out what the map is to, and who was trying to steal it, and why.

Or since the PC is evil, try sending some paladins after him, and let him 'capture' one (have him just surrender once his buddies have been mercilessly killed) and let the guy spew all sorts of information.

Umbran said:

Hong has a point. If it's really just a bonus, a side thing, then there shouldn't be repercussions for failure to complete it.

I note that for these things, wording is very important. Did you tell him "You will go into the earth and find this tower and amulet" or If you phrased it as "Your boss wants you to go into the earth..." ?

If it's a "you will do this", then it soudns like prophecy. One doesn't have to research destiny, it's gonna happen whether you like it or not. If it's a "you are being sent to do this", then failing to follow up is a dereliction of duty.

Click to expand...

Sorry for the lack of clarification.

He's being tasked with the quest to find the amulet, because Talos knows that his journey will take him to the tower where it resides.

In that sense, it's a bit of destiny... in that he's GOING to end up in the tower as long as he continues on his current path. However, once he gets there, finding the amulet is up to him.

There are not going to be any DIRE consequences for the character if he fails this quest... just a lack of a reward, and the ending of this particular side quest. If he retrieves the amulet, he will receive a task having to do with it. If he doesn't, Talos will simply stop paying special attention to him, and find some other disciple to retrieve the artifact in order to achieve his ends.

I'd recommend using NPCs to show him the consequences of failure, or to mentor him by giving him advice about how to handle messages from his god:

NPC Encounter 1 - You could have him sought out by another priest of Talos who was given guidance to seek him out. The other priest might offer suggestions: "You know, when I was on a quest for Talos, I was tested three times, but I didn't know they were tests at first. In fact, one of them I didn't even know about until I had passed it. Its very important to review the tenets of our faith and ensure that we are walking the Path of Talos."

NPC Encounter 2 - You might set up an encounter with an ex-priest of Talos. Maybe he challenges the PC verbally in a bar before backing down and grumbling in his drink. A bystander remarks: "Don't mind him, he's just bitter about his own failure. Y'see, he was given a quest by his god, Talos was it? yeah. Had to find a crown or something. I guess he failed to find it, and he ended up faithless and old, drinking ale here in our tavern. I guess those gods don't take too kindly to failure..."

Casual encounters with NPCs can be good ways to show the players potential consequences of actions, and to show them what you expect in terms of behavior for certain characters. I have always thought that its better to have an NPC paladin say "This is how its done" than it is to have the DM say "A paladin wouldn't do that." It immerses the players in the game world, and doesn't have the DM's level of authority attached to it. (NPCs could always be wrong...)

Ozmar the NPC Wrangler

Hey, I appreciate all the ideas on how to keep the Cleric focused on his quest! Very great suggestions, and I intend on using some of them... finding another Cleric of Talos who FAILED at the same quest would be interesting...

However, I was specifically looking for a way to hint to the player that the Amulet is etherial and hidden in the tower, without giving it away.

You could have him find a diary. "My magical divinations indicate that the item I seek is 'plainly both in the tower and not in the tower at the same time.' I find this infuriating. Three weeks of dismantling walls have revealed nothing but a hidden safe - empty - and my detection spells show not a thing. I am coming to believe that the divinations were wrong - 'plainly,' indeed - no matter what they indicated. If it resides in this building, I can't find it, and neither can my spells."

Hopefully, the misinterpreted "Planely" and "plainly" isn't too much of a hint.

I myself prefer to test clerics with moral or ethical tests based on their religions. Give them a difficult choice to make, that is personally difficult but with clear guidance in the religious tenets, then watch what they do.

I like Ozmar's NPC encounter suggestions. I'll add one of my own, along the same lines:

Have the PC approached by the priest who failed his quest. Have him moan and wail about all of the things that have befallen him since. But now, after all of this time, Talos now has entrusted him with another task - to seek out the PC and impart the importance of the task...maybe even have him suggest where he can begin looking for information.

Lead up to this encounter with some spot checks to notice that they are being followed by this person in tattered clothes and unkempt hair. Have him even evade the characters if they actively pursue him (he wants to make certain that the PC is who he is seeking, and does not wish to fail this quest).

Later, if they stay at an inn, have the inn keeper slip them information that a haggard fellow had been inquiring into how long they'd be staying...

Have fun with it, and mislead the PCs...nothing frustrates them more than not knowing why they are being followed.

Dreams are always good. How about this for a very obvious one:

Your slightly dense cleric of Talos finds himself trapped in a maze, desperately looking for something. Every once in a while he comes across a window looking out over the top of the clouds. After getting more and more frantic, not finding what he's looking for (but not knowing what he is looking for), he finally sees the amulet, semi-transparent and suspended in mid-air. He rushes towards it, passes right through the amulet, out the window and plunges to his death. Then he wakes up in cold sweat...

Sounds good? Dreams can be a great tool for a god to pass along clues. They can be a bit of a sledgehammer though (like the one above). Works quite well for Paladins who've mispleased their god as well...