Challenging my high-lvl group (NPCs and monsters; my players shouldn't read this!)
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Kaodi
Legend
Hmmm...
Six thousand years ago, in one of the great forests of Spira, a planar rift opened that connected that world with a dark and sinister deadwood of the Abyss. Many fell demons stumbled across this portal and ventured through, and a war that lasted over ten years began between the demons and the protectors of the forest, the druids, their ranger companions and many of the forests denizens.
In time, the natives of Spira were able to drive back and slay the demons, though many of their number were slain. A young elven druidess who had taken the reins of leadership from the previous elder druid, slain in a climactic battle with a balor, managed to close the rift, but while her defenses were down, the last of the demons, a deadly, poisonous fiendish spider, injected its lethal venom into her system.
The closing ritual complete, the druidess slew the spider demon, but in order to save herself she had to the last of her spells to transform herself into a huge tree. For many years in this form, she remained sickly, but with the tender care of her comrades she eventually became well again.
Centuries past, and the elf tree grew and grew, surpassing all of the other trees in the forest in size and beauty, and though she could no longer move her limbs as she once did, the druidess' understanding of nature grew immensely as well. As her giant roots burrowed deep into the earth, she gained an awesome awareness of all that happened on and under the ground.
Fifteen hundred years ago, the elf tree wearied of the constant flow of knowledge from Spira, and her consciousness entered a deep slumber, so she no longer communicated telepathically with the creatures of the wood. However, it had been discovered many years ago that the fruit bourne by the elf tree granted a small and brief glimpse of the awareness the druidess knew, but to eat one the fruit could mean death for the foolish, as the venom of the demon spider lives on in the juices.
Six thousand years ago, in one of the great forests of Spira, a planar rift opened that connected that world with a dark and sinister deadwood of the Abyss. Many fell demons stumbled across this portal and ventured through, and a war that lasted over ten years began between the demons and the protectors of the forest, the druids, their ranger companions and many of the forests denizens.
In time, the natives of Spira were able to drive back and slay the demons, though many of their number were slain. A young elven druidess who had taken the reins of leadership from the previous elder druid, slain in a climactic battle with a balor, managed to close the rift, but while her defenses were down, the last of the demons, a deadly, poisonous fiendish spider, injected its lethal venom into her system.
The closing ritual complete, the druidess slew the spider demon, but in order to save herself she had to the last of her spells to transform herself into a huge tree. For many years in this form, she remained sickly, but with the tender care of her comrades she eventually became well again.
Centuries past, and the elf tree grew and grew, surpassing all of the other trees in the forest in size and beauty, and though she could no longer move her limbs as she once did, the druidess' understanding of nature grew immensely as well. As her giant roots burrowed deep into the earth, she gained an awesome awareness of all that happened on and under the ground.
Fifteen hundred years ago, the elf tree wearied of the constant flow of knowledge from Spira, and her consciousness entered a deep slumber, so she no longer communicated telepathically with the creatures of the wood. However, it had been discovered many years ago that the fruit bourne by the elf tree granted a small and brief glimpse of the awareness the druidess knew, but to eat one the fruit could mean death for the foolish, as the venom of the demon spider lives on in the juices.
Spatzimaus
First Post
Kaodi said:
...and each year, the tree grew only two fruit: a red fruit, that bestowed the knowledge, and a white fruit, full of the poison. The tree is located in the ruins of the druidic temple, now occupied by bugbears, goblins, kobolds, rats, and a small white dragon. The small town nearby negotiates for the fruits each year, but recently the supply stopped...
Seriously, how funny would it be to have the Defenders of Daybreak have to go through the Sunless Citadel? Keep the levels of the enemies the same. Sure, it won't take them more than ten minutes to beat, so it's basically a throwaway joke. But, if they kill helpless enemies, that'd be alignment violations for some of them, and they'd have to be very careful not to use what they know about the adventure.
Kaodi
Legend
Uh...
Not quite what I had in mind :\ . Putting the elf tree completely underground wouldn't work out, this thing is... awesome.
But to borrow from your post, perhaps only 1d4+6 fruit grow each year, and they are all poisonous, carrying a venom that can only be partially neutralized by spells like neutralize poison, as it is a powerful, cursed venom (spider demon was not your average, run of the mill bebelith or something like that). Only a few centuries after the elf tree fell asleep, the circle of druids and rangers that had protected it for so long was driven out by primitive gnoll shamans and their tribes. Only a lone defender remained, an elderly human male who used his powers of shapeshifting to hide from the invaders. When he died, his ghost remained to protect the elf tree from direct threats.
The gnolls eventually discerned the secrets of the tree, and while their initial attempts to take the fruit were rebuffed, they eventually learned that they could appease the spirit of the old druid, allowing them to take one ripened fruit a year. They built a temple not far from the base of the tree, and the mightiest of their warriors and the wisest of their shamans were stationed here, to keep any others from the trees wealth.
Now, among the gnolls, their might be one high level adept, and a handful of mid level warriors, but the rest have only a few NPC class levels. They certainly wouldn't pose a substantial threat to the Defenders, even en masse. The ghost on the other hand, might take some convincing. Though it certainly isn't evil, it won't hesitate to fight should it feel the elf tree could be threatened in any manner.
Spatzimaus said:
Not quite what I had in mind :\ . Putting the elf tree completely underground wouldn't work out, this thing is... awesome.
But to borrow from your post, perhaps only 1d4+6 fruit grow each year, and they are all poisonous, carrying a venom that can only be partially neutralized by spells like neutralize poison, as it is a powerful, cursed venom (spider demon was not your average, run of the mill bebelith or something like that). Only a few centuries after the elf tree fell asleep, the circle of druids and rangers that had protected it for so long was driven out by primitive gnoll shamans and their tribes. Only a lone defender remained, an elderly human male who used his powers of shapeshifting to hide from the invaders. When he died, his ghost remained to protect the elf tree from direct threats.
The gnolls eventually discerned the secrets of the tree, and while their initial attempts to take the fruit were rebuffed, they eventually learned that they could appease the spirit of the old druid, allowing them to take one ripened fruit a year. They built a temple not far from the base of the tree, and the mightiest of their warriors and the wisest of their shamans were stationed here, to keep any others from the trees wealth.
Now, among the gnolls, their might be one high level adept, and a handful of mid level warriors, but the rest have only a few NPC class levels. They certainly wouldn't pose a substantial threat to the Defenders, even en masse. The ghost on the other hand, might take some convincing. Though it certainly isn't evil, it won't hesitate to fight should it feel the elf tree could be threatened in any manner.
Kaodi
Legend
Really Weird Idea
This is an idea that I just came up with while chatting in #dnd3e on Psionics, and I thought it might be terribly funny, and do-able, in light of the conversion of the Elder Brain.
A mindflayer paladin with the prestige class from Savage Species that lets you absorb the knowledge of your vict- err, doners.
A conversation between a companion and a mindflayer paladin that had just devoured the brain of a comrade might go something like this:
" You ate her brain! "
" The elf was going to die. My powers of healing were exhausted. "
" But - "
" Now, her knowledge, gained over hundreds of years, will help me defeat The Great Evil. "
" And what if I'm going to die? Will you eat my brain too? "
" ... Yes. "
Another chatter later proclaimed (in jest, I assume), that because I convinced him with the above conversation, from now on, ALL of his paladins are going to eat brains.
This is an idea that I just came up with while chatting in #dnd3e on Psionics, and I thought it might be terribly funny, and do-able, in light of the conversion of the Elder Brain.
A mindflayer paladin with the prestige class from Savage Species that lets you absorb the knowledge of your vict- err, doners.
A conversation between a companion and a mindflayer paladin that had just devoured the brain of a comrade might go something like this:
" You ate her brain! "
" The elf was going to die. My powers of healing were exhausted. "
" But - "
" Now, her knowledge, gained over hundreds of years, will help me defeat The Great Evil. "
" And what if I'm going to die? Will you eat my brain too? "
" ... Yes. "
Another chatter later proclaimed (in jest, I assume), that because I convinced him with the above conversation, from now on, ALL of his paladins are going to eat brains.
Plane Sailing
Astral Admin - Mwahahaha!
Although the time limit would prevent Eve going back more than, what, 1900 years, perhaps there could be amplifiers sought out which would enable Eve (or someone else) to reach back further in time to get visions of what actually happened... So there would be a combination of mcGuffin hunt, and getting to the right location, and protecting Eve (or whoever) for the length of time needed to Sense that far back - arguably 10mins per 100 years concentration, I don't know how far back it happened.
Might be an interesting opportunity for adventuring to get some information alongside the NPCs.
Cheers
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