Campaign Logjam - Help Wanted

[Raithnor]

Recently our D&D cammaign grinded to a halt and I'm looking for suggestions on how to get it started again.

First a little backstory:

Our group was a party of 10-12th level characters. (Currently it's more like 11-13th level.) One night the main GM wasn't available so one of the other players decided to run a "one-shot" adventure. Basically it was "Kill the 18HD Baalor who's running amok on the countryside. " (The temp GM wanted to give us the maximum challenge that we could handle.) Things did not go well mostly due to some bad ideas on the PCs part and the fact that we really did not have enough magic items to go up against the monster. (The maxium magic bonus allowed was +3 total enchantment to either weapons or armor.) What ended up happening was that we avoided the encounter through a limited wish spell.

When the main GM came back he felt that he needed to tie up this loose end. So the idea given was to go after the wizard who summoned the demon. (Which worked out to be a 17th level wizard.) What ended up happening was that before we managed to drive off the wizard (He escaped via Contingency and teleport) the wizard was able to cast Mordikanen's Disjunction on the entire part. Which had the result of destroying about 90% of our magical items. Currently most of the party has the equipment consistant with a 4th level character. (One or two magic items per person with nothing above a +1 or +2 enchantment bonus.)

The GM wanted to run a low magic campaign, mostly to curb the rampant stupidity that lots of magic items tends to breed. However even he is beginning to realize that the PCs do not have enough equipment to handle encounters of the type he was planning on.

The GM is very much of the school of thought that "You characters should be more than their equipment." and the idea "A wizard with an 19 intelligence is not going to either hold back against the PC or act stupidly."

Here's the question: How do we re-equip the party to DMG specs in a realistic way? (i.e. without Monty Hauling it.) I'm looking more for some creative ideas that possiblily the players could put into practice. Preferably idea that could be done from point A to point B in our campaign, rather than start an extended side track.

Thanks in advance for your ideas.

 

[Crothian]

Take a few months off and start making items. Either that or earn them by doing services for people who have them.

 

[mmadsen]

The GM wanted to run a low magic campaign, mostly to curb the rampant stupidity that lots of magic items tends to breed. However even he is beginning to realize that the PCs do not have enough equipment to handle encounters of the type he was planning on.

What kind of encounters was he planning on? If they're low-magic encounters, then he can simply scale their numbers to your new power level. If they're high-magic encounters, the kind you can't take on without lots of magical gear, what was he thinking?

Really, I think he should give the low-magic campaign a try for awhile, pitting your party against hordes of Orcs, Ogres, Giants, etc. Or Humans.

How do we re-equip the party to DMG specs in a realistic way? (i.e. without Monty Hauling it.)

Any one Evil Overlord could have enough magical equipment for a reasonable power-up.

 

[Cloudgatherer]

Sounds like quest material to me!

Seriously, if you (or the DM) are going to be "low magic" then this is a pretty good opportunity to re-equip the party. My idea of low magic is X number of levels behind on the wealth table (I use 2 levels behind, can vary based on DM).

The party, having been defeated by the demon and the wizard that summoned him, must realize they need "pointier swords" to get the job done. As the party looks into the matter of re-equiping themselves, they can run across legends, rumors, or tales that tell of the powerful uber item weilded by such and such good for (insert party member class here). Perhaps have a few of these tales so the party can go about re-equiping themselves while stopping the "bad person" who currently has it (or maybe it is just sitting in a grave somewhere, perhaps the party must fight "Good" grave guardians, oh my!).

 

[shurai]

I guess one option would be to have your party run through a bunch of slightly lower-level encounters, say EL 9 or so for awhile, to get your magic gear up to where it ought to be without too much risk.

Honestly though, what are you lacking besides magic weapons to take out enemies with DR? There's always ways around that sort of thing. Your party's wizards and clerics still have mighty spells, and your fighter is still tough as nails, right?

Your party is definitely weakened quite a bit, for sure, but they're still capable of a lot, wouldn't you say?

 

[Quickbeam]

1) mmadsen's suggestion of using hordes of orcs, gnolls, hobgoblins, evil barbaric humans is good. The motives for such battles/wars are extremely numerous, and could include the party being hired to participate in such events.
2) Cloudgatherer beat me to the punch, but questing is definitely in order for you party...and a perfect solution to the problem.
3) Run the party through a trap-laden gauntlet reputed to have a vast store of powerful magic items within its walls. Basically, take an adventure like Gorgoldand's Gauntlet or Tomb of Horrors and modify it to suit your needs. I'd have very few physical encounters with "monsters", and make the focus prevailing by wit and guile. The final chamber could hold one magical item of reasonable power for each surviving party member. This may be a Monty Haul scenario with massive railroading and handpicked treasure, but it has the likely advantage of being different than typical adventures...and it will test the mettle of your characters without relying on muscle.

 

[Pyske]

Have the PCs stumble across a famous dungeon that is wholly inside an antimagic field. No-one has looted it, because the location of the dungeon and all the items inside are (of course) undetectable by divinations.

Just to make the dungeon more interesting to the spellcasters, perhaps spells "freeze up" when in the field, instead of being suppressed. Instant effects (i.e. healing) must be cast outside. Effects with a duration are permanent as long as they are in the field, but expire normally as soon as they leave. Effects requiring magical control cannot be changed inside, so if you fly in, expect to keep flying straight ahead until you smack a wall and the other PCs wrestle you back outside. Effects that don't require magical control (i.e. summoned creatures as long as you speak their language... without magic!) work normally.

Eh, just a wacky speculation. Feel free to ignore it if it doesn't sound like fun.

. . . . . . . -- Eric