Abandoned Magic Guild [My Players Stay Out]

[EricNoah]

My 5th level AU party is going to have the chance to help establish a magic guild in the large town where they have taken up residence. I thought it might be cool if there were this big abandoned building from hundreds of years ago that is still in remarkably good shape, and in fact functioned as such a guild in its time.

The first idea I had was that I wanted there to be a lot of magical stuff still going on inside the building (and occasionally escaping into the surrounding streets) -- for example, summoned monsters or elementals occasionally appearing at random.

This led me to another angle, which is that I wanted there to be a "power source" that the PCs could hunt down and turn off -- this would deactivate a lot of the leftover traps and other effects scattered throughout the building. The power source I'm thinking of is a pair of energons (xag-yi and xeg-ya if I'm getting the spelling correct), trapped in some kind of sealed off cage, where they can see each other but can't reach each other. Their constant struggle to attack is somehow tapped and turned into magical energy. I'm imagining that disabling the power supply might involve releasing these creatures so that they destroy each other or something like that.

Yet another thought was to have an undead magister or mage blade (think wizard or fighter/sorcerer) hanging around, maybe directing things.

Another idea: magical constructs that are hanging around, still taking care of the place. Everything from permanent unseen servants to some of the new homonculi from the Eberron book (particularly the dedicated wright maybe keeping magical gizmos in good condition, and perhaps a furtive filcher to steal stuff from the PCs).

A final idea was to have some kind of fiend hanging around and possessing various objects (suits of armor, wheeled carts, rug on the floor) to attack the PCs.

The map I'm planning on using is one of Phineas Crow's from his Map thread: http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=73423&page=1

Either this one:

Or this one:

I welcome any other ideas, thoughts, etc. The idea is that I want a kind of weird magical wonderland that the PCs can wander through, explore, and slowly unravel the mysteries of why the magic still lingers here and what makes all of this weirdness happen. Plus eventually they need to clear it out and make it suitable for use for the new magic guild which they will help establish.

 

[dreaded_beast]

When you mentioned "wonderland", that reminded me of the downloadable 2nd ed. or 1st ed. adventure from WotC. The adventure is based on the "Alice in Wonderland" story and might have some interesting things in there that you can mine for ideas.

 

[EricNoah]

I have to say i'm liking that 2nd map a lot all of the sudden -- that central room could be where the power source is. The doors leading in might not be doors at all, but glassteel windows as tough as iron for peering in. The access might be through a secret tunnel underneath the room , with access in that little secret room off to the SE. And with a few strategically placed Lesser Sealed Door (or even Greater Sealed Door) spells, the rest of the area could turn into a kind of spiraling maze...

 

[Turanil]

I also think that the second map is better.

Concerning the place's contents: I think you should stay away from undead and specifically evil things from the lower planes. Such things are a staple of Evil Temples, are used so often, that it would bring a change of pace and different flavor that the contents of this place are essentially neutral aligned (even if lethal). Okay for elementals, but probably not for possessing fiends.

 

[Lord Foul]

A final idea was to have some kind of fiend hanging around and possessing various objects (suits of armor, wheeled carts, rug on the floor) to attack the PCs.

This idea is great! This would keep the PCs on their toes. They would have no idea when or where the next attack was coming from. I would make sure that this is all done with hit-and-run tactics.

Some things I would also try are: Having the fiend posses a curtain ,tapestry, or quilt and "grapple" a PC. While the PC is "covered" it tries to take something off the PC like a potion, small magical weapon, or even something mundane like rope or a candle (something the PCs might have to use soon). Then when they say "I take out my (whatever)", you say "I'm sorry but you cann't seem to locate that."

And this doesn't have to be a fiend, it could be a spirit of a former guild member. Once the pcs have found this out and earned its trust, the spirit could show them secret rooms and other secrets of the place.

 

[Lord Foul]

I also think that the 2nd map is better. You have 8 sides; one for each school of magic.

 

[Phineas Crow]

I’ve used an abandoned wizard’s guild as an adventure locale before, here is a short summary of it:

The Arcane Sanctum was once a very secret place, hidden deep within the slum quarter of the city, located near the docks.

The sanctum was divided into sections, each section focused on one of the schools of arcane magic. Each school would elect one of its members to be on the ruling council and the council would oversee all important guild matters.

Unfortunately the council broke down due to petty inner guild squabbles between the different schools of magic. This eventually led to all out war and those few that survived that night’s horrific magical battle fled never to return.

For centuries the guild has been left undisturbed, where its dark and rotting bulk squats hugely on the river’s edge between the dismal tenements of the slums. Whatever magic kept the massive complex hidden for so long has finally worn off, through few people dare cross into the walled courtyard with its glyph-covered wrought iron gate.

Strange lights and sounds have reportedly been witnessed coming from the building, not to mention all the disappearances in the area. Those that have entered the decaying Arcane Sanctum have never been seen again.



As you can tell, I was going for the creep factor. I focused mostly on the decay of time and the ravages of the magical battle. For instance the front section of rooms was totally overgrown, vines covered the walls and thick strands of moss dangled from the ceilings. Resting in a room‘s corner was a pile of books bulging with moisture and covered with sickly looking mushrooms. Mold covered bones littered the floor.

The PCs had to overcome not only the left over magical traps, but also the remnants of the magical battle that caused the guild to be abandoned. A stone floor that looks solid, but acts like quicksand. Walls swathed in magical flames. Rooms under various magical effects such as darkness, stinking cloud, silence, etc.

For monsters I used magical constructs and escaped experimental critters (which consisted of lots of templated monsters like fiendish winged spiders), with a few undead thrown in for good measure.


PS. Good choice on maps

 

[Jaws]

Since it is AU...

There are many magical effects from the Diamond Throne sourcebook:

Akahic Nodes
Black Streams
Power Cysts (this is my choice)
Travel Lines
Witching Sites

Which of these would be closest to what you are trying to do?


Peace and smiles

j.

 

[Stone Angel]

This is a cool idea. I had a funny thought of like a half air elemental elf, running on a treadmill powering the whole thing.

I am not very familiar with AU so I will disincline to make any addition. Let us know how it turns out.

The Seraph of Earth and Stone

 

[EricNoah]

Thanks for the ideas, everyone. Good stuff.

There are many magical effects from the Diamond Throne sourcebook:


Power Cysts (this is my choice)

Good point -- I'm using a black stream in the current adventure; a power cyst might be something fun to introduce to them.