Gauntlet of monsters, looking for one

[Omegaxicor]

I have a weird scenario, I don't know how to approach it...

History

Wraith Demons have been released, they lack a physical body and so the ability to affect the world around them but can possess weak willed or unfortunate individuals (they haven't identified the common point of the "bodies") and amp them up (new powers and odd mutations, when necessary).

and the last part is the issue, when they party encounter a demon s/he/it is hiding among normal creatures of it's kind. Among Humans they're just looking for odd-acting individuals.

Situation

They have discovered the location of another Wraith but it is hiding in an area that is filled with Ooze monsters, now obviously killing all the oozes and finding it that way is acceptable but hardly productive if there are thousands of oozes

I am wondering what you think a good method of finding the "evil" ooze and not the thousands of neutral "ooze" (and I doubt Detect Evil would help, it would narrow it down to an area but the exact position is blurred, besides the party won't have it prepared/available...they are stupid like that ), anything you can come up with I can prepare for my party coming up with...

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

What is the group composition (class/level)?

Could they hire a paladin to come with them and Detect Evil at will?

AR

 

[aglondier]

Suggest they petition a LG temple for aid in locating the possession demon, few temples that support a paladin order would refuse to aid in the destruction of a demon. They may not even have to pay for the paladin, just offer him a share of the treasure as a 'tithe' to the temple.

 

[Omegaxicor]

both are great ideas but the party won't come up with that...if they made any attempt to find a Paladin I would quite happily allow one of their own groups to have a Paladin with some grievance against demons to help them for free.

 

[Grogg of the North]

I'm not sure how wraith demons work, but I know for most possessions the demon/devil/ghost/whatever is allowed a check to hide while inside the host. This allows it to fool spells like Detect Evil.

If you destroy the host body, will the demon just jump to a new one?

A spirit shaman or a sacred exorcist can force the demon out of its host.

 

[Omegaxicor]

ok, well that's interesting because that makes Detect Evil less useful...

If the host body is destroyed the Wraith is revealed and vulnerable until its gathered Lifeforce has dissipated then it becomes a Wraith again and can possess another victim.

and to address an earlier question that I somehow missed the party is the typical Fighter/Cleric/Wizard/Rogue/Ranger that will be level 3 when they begin this quest, the oozes are mindless and fairly weak but a swarm of anything is dangerous...

 

[aglondier]

Hmmm...perhaps a Druid would be a better choice. It would seem that the area is either natural habitat for oozes, or that their population is out of balance and needs culling for the good of the habitat. In either case, a Druid could commune with the oozes and soon locate the 'unnatural' one.

 

[Omegaxicor]

Can you do that? which Druid spell lets them commune with Mindless creatures? (I don't know that many spells by heart I'm afraid)

I guess it is a mixture of the two, it is an acceptable habitat for the Oozes.

 

[Grogg of the North]

Commune with Nature, Stone Tell, or Speak with Plants (mushrooms?) might work better. Though they probably won't understand the concept of a wraith demon and you'll have to word your questions wisely.

 

[Omegaxicor]

Anything that can talk through those spells cannot distinguish the power of the Oozes from the powerful Demon in Ooze form...maybe you could find that the demon was definitely there but that is hardly helpful in defeating it.

I haven't designed the whole environment yet but either it will be a cave, a sewer system or a ruined city depending on the scale of the challenge (I am leaning towards Ruined City) so commune with nature is limited, Stone Tell would be helpful but I can't imagine how you would get useful information (which may be a flaw on my part) and speak with plants would be useful but hardly definitive in it's information...

Thanks for those though, I hadn't thought of them. (but again I doubt my players will think of them unfortunately)

EDIT: I have just reread Commune with Nature and there is an example "presence of powerful unnatural creatures" would the Oozes fall into that category or just the Demon, it doesn't naturally radiate power but "Nature" would know it isn't natural and might indicate "There's a lot of unnatural creatures about and the Alpha is over there" (Alpha wolves being pack leaders are normally the strongest of the pack and it is a common theme in nature that the strongest creature is the leader). Commune with Nature might work, though it probably wouldn't identify exactly which Ooze the demon was in but it might narrow it down to say 7-10 creatures that the party could kill and find the host that way.

my party still won't think of it