1st level Character to Shadow Shift : DM Challenge

[devilish]

Here the setup:
A 1st level mage wants to plane shift/shadow walk to the Plane of
Shadow (currently in ) to perform Find Familiar (24 hours duration
spell) to get a shadow familiar. (I'll let him figure out how he'll survive
24 hours in shadow....)

How would you do it, aside from Dee Em Machina ("oh look, a portal
magically appears to the Plane of Shadow..") ?

Would you make them pay xp and create a new spell/special abilities/one-time ability?
If so, how much? (I've been burning my brain against Buy the Numbers and
can't figure it out.)

Would you have him perform a ceremony/ritual? If so, from what
book and what stats?

Spend it it gold? For 2 plane shift scrolls? Or a modified Shadow Walk?

Would you rewrite Shadow Walk - and how?
(parameters changing to target:self, duration:24 hours, limitations:caster
can't move).

Looking for suggestions, ideas, numbers, algebraic-solutions, etc.

Thanks!

-D

PS : Yes, telling the player "Tough ----" is an option, but I'd rather
he not walk.

 

[Nifft]

Sounds like a quest for a portal to me. He may not be 1st level by the time he makes it there, but he will do so by his own power, and "legally".

-- N

 

[ElvishBard]

He just wants to go there for a familiar right? He could just get a high level wizard to teleport him there in exchange for doing some quests, or maybe become apprentice to the wizard.

 

[Nifft]

Ooo, another idea: he could sell his soul to a demon-princess in trade for access to Shadow, and then spend the rest of the campaign trying to get his soul back.

-- N, clearly evil

 

[the Jester]

Frankly, it sounds like he wants the bennies of Improved Familiar without the cost of a feat slot.

 

[devilish]

Later quests...hmm...that's a nice fit because I've been a bit low
on hooks.

I shouldn't be surprised that plane-travel is nigh impossible for low
level characters --- it's just that with all the planar enhancements,
you'd figure someone would've built a low-level plane/shadow shift
without the commitment : even in the form of a 2 hour ceremony
(I can see where a quick-cast spell is uber-powerful to yoink yourself
out of a desperate situation -- have used it m'self )

Frankly, it sounds like he wants the bennies of Improved Familiar without the cost of a feat slot.

Maybe -- but I think it's more that he can't wait to gain the
next extra feat slot and wait until the higher level (which could
be 3-5, so saith the DMG). If only he could "borrow" against
the feat he would gain later...

 

[Nifft]

IMC, I had certain Shadow-tainted areas, which were the sites of Epic [Shadow] spells or frequent Shadow Walk jaunts. The one that the PCs discovered was quite perilous.

Spending a week in one of those would be a challenge for any low-level PC. Even if he didn't have to remain exposed.

The area had shadow asps, dusk beasts, an umbral banyan, and of course some shadows.

-- N

 

[Dakkareth]

Have it require independant research and counselling with a few sages (quasi-quest) and then a custom Find Familiar ritual (custom spell creation rules?). The result: You get a shadow familiar, no planeshifting, etc needed. Negative consequences of the ritual are still up to you, but the wizard should get a chance to know about them - after all he researched the ritual.

This makes it more than just hand-waving (yeah, you get it that familiar you shouldn't, and yeah, you manage to survive even though you shouldn't), creates a few plot-hooks (sage X will see, what he can find out, if you do Y for him. Oh, there are a couple of others, that will be helping you ...) and gives you every opportunity to balance it out (Your first draft for the ritual will make you sensitive to bright light, but working out the 'bugs' means more time and more money spent. Do you proceed? Oh and by the way, you now feel really naughty word, whenever the cleric turns undead).