Paul Farquhar
Legend
It really needs to be something with a "correct" Silver Flame answer that can be faked. The PCs are not Silver Flame - they are not even "good" people.
D&D General Eberron lore related question
Twiggly the Gnome
Legend
A notoriously wicked man has contracted a strain of lycanthropy that has shifted his personality to be more kindly. Do you do nothing and increase the good in the world, or cure the disease and restore the man's moral agency?
I understand. I don't have a firm enough grip on the Silver Flame to be able to help more specifically. It was fun to put myself in the monk's shoes for awhile though, thanks!
EscherEnigma
Adventurer
Going with the themes above...
A test of doctrine.
A test of morals.
A test of wild card.
Now, if this is a monastery that regularly has visitors coming and going, they probably can't get too worked-up for these tests. The test of doctrine should be simple, the test of morals a striaght-forward ethical dilemma (think Philosophy 101), and the "wild card" could just be "passport and visa, please".
If it's a more cloistered place where guests are infrequent, then the monks might make the tests way more complicated just 'cause it's the only kind of fun they get. The test of doctrine could be something really obscure (so not something they can research ahead of time), but it just so happens that Brother Drones-On-And-On is in the nearby village giving a sermon later today on that very topic. The PCs get there, and it turns out that Brother Drones-On-And-On is aptly named, and it's a challenge for the PCs to stay awake to get the answer they need.
The test of "morals" could be a scenario they put the PCs through. Perhaps while the PC is on their way back from listing to Brother Drones-On-And-On they run into a (fake) beggar requesting some kind of aid. The aid shouldn't be easy/quick, but something that would delay them from their task for at least a day or something. The "test" is to see if the PCs do the task or continue on their way. Bonus points if you make it so that the PCs have a fair chance of figuring out it's a test and not a person that's actually in trouble.
And the wild card... if the monks are having fun with this, then it should be some petty and tedious task... Go to the silver flame chapel in the nearby town, and carry back a torch lit from the sacred flame... oh, and did we mention it's a super rainy day?
If the monks are having fun, then it's also possible to "fail" all the tasks, but get in anyway. The "guard" is going on about how awful and terrible the PCs are for failing their trials, and then the head monk (or whatever you want to call the rank) shows up saying "what's going on? Are you harassing pilgrims again? For your own boredom, even?!" and so-on.
A test of doctrine.
A test of morals.
A test of wild card.
Now, if this is a monastery that regularly has visitors coming and going, they probably can't get too worked-up for these tests. The test of doctrine should be simple, the test of morals a striaght-forward ethical dilemma (think Philosophy 101), and the "wild card" could just be "passport and visa, please".
If it's a more cloistered place where guests are infrequent, then the monks might make the tests way more complicated just 'cause it's the only kind of fun they get. The test of doctrine could be something really obscure (so not something they can research ahead of time), but it just so happens that Brother Drones-On-And-On is in the nearby village giving a sermon later today on that very topic. The PCs get there, and it turns out that Brother Drones-On-And-On is aptly named, and it's a challenge for the PCs to stay awake to get the answer they need.
The test of "morals" could be a scenario they put the PCs through. Perhaps while the PC is on their way back from listing to Brother Drones-On-And-On they run into a (fake) beggar requesting some kind of aid. The aid shouldn't be easy/quick, but something that would delay them from their task for at least a day or something. The "test" is to see if the PCs do the task or continue on their way. Bonus points if you make it so that the PCs have a fair chance of figuring out it's a test and not a person that's actually in trouble.
And the wild card... if the monks are having fun with this, then it should be some petty and tedious task... Go to the silver flame chapel in the nearby town, and carry back a torch lit from the sacred flame... oh, and did we mention it's a super rainy day?
If the monks are having fun, then it's also possible to "fail" all the tasks, but get in anyway. The "guard" is going on about how awful and terrible the PCs are for failing their trials, and then the head monk (or whatever you want to call the rank) shows up saying "what's going on? Are you harassing pilgrims again? For your own boredom, even?!" and so-on.
Paul Farquhar
Legend
It can't be two elaborate or time consuming, this is basically a dungeon bash, I'm looking for an alternative to "kill the monk" which is more interesting than "roll a deception check".
OK. If it's a dungeon bash, I suppose the emphasis is on ressource management for the party. Therefore, I propose to include a test that they will pass anyhow but that could deplete ressource.
Ask three very basic questions of faith you are sure the players know or can even deduce from the environment and add a test of faith.
The monks present them with a brazier featuring a silver flame. Inside the brazier is a silver arrow tip. The monk say "only the faithful will be able to take the arrow from the flame, the other will lose their hand". Have a pilgrim try in front of the player (preferentially before they are told a test is in order to enter the monastery) and yell in extreme pain... It is probable the party will expand ressources to protect themselves from the elements, postulate it's radiant damage and add energy protection on top of that because they know they are not faithful.
Of course, the flame is just an illusion and the pilgrim the porter monk. A faithful wouldn't doubt an order from a minister, would he? Hesitation (or refusal to do it) means failure, though... It's probable players will understand it and try to shield themselves from damage instead of killing the monk.
Ask three very basic questions of faith you are sure the players know or can even deduce from the environment and add a test of faith.
The monks present them with a brazier featuring a silver flame. Inside the brazier is a silver arrow tip. The monk say "only the faithful will be able to take the arrow from the flame, the other will lose their hand". Have a pilgrim try in front of the player (preferentially before they are told a test is in order to enter the monastery) and yell in extreme pain... It is probable the party will expand ressources to protect themselves from the elements, postulate it's radiant damage and add energy protection on top of that because they know they are not faithful.
Of course, the flame is just an illusion and the pilgrim the porter monk. A faithful wouldn't doubt an order from a minister, would he? Hesitation (or refusal to do it) means failure, though... It's probable players will understand it and try to shield themselves from damage instead of killing the monk.
Paul Farquhar
Legend
Actually, I already have a trial similar to this further in the dungeon.
Paul Farquhar
Legend
Yeah, it's on a remote mountaintop, but it used to be pretty open. It has been mostly closed up for about a year, by someone in the Silver Flame hierarchy that the party want to have words with. Some of the folk inside are loyal to X, but others are regular Silver Flame folk.
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