Good toys for Bad guys

[Dr.Dan]

DANGER! Spoilers ahead.
Easthampton Gaming Group – you know who you are – Stop reading this post.



Ok, not that the warning is out of the way . . .



I’m running a campaign wherein the PC’s are currently fighting undead yuan-ti. In particular, there are several ghosts (along with other baddies) that the characters are going to have to deal with. These ghosts were created in order to guard some really nifty/dangerous/important stuff, and they were equipped by their creators with cool toys that will help them with their task.

I know what a couple of these ‘toys’ are going to be, but I’ve scoured the books for other items that would be appropriate for a ghost to have and use and I’m not coming up with much. I’m not necessarily looking for especially powerful items (the encounters are going to be challenging enough), but rather some cool items that make sense for a guardian-ghost to have. It’s very possible that the PC’s will find their bodies and be able to take this loot for themselves, so it’d be doubly good if these items were of use to the living as well.

If you were an uber-high cleric making ghostly guardians, what would you equip them with?

 

[arwink]

I'd equip them with archaic arms and armor, as well as out of date regalia related to the god that they follow. On a surface level, in terms of things that are immediately useful, this doesn't mean much but it's a definate case of one man's trash is another treasure. The holy symbols and robes may well be preserved in pristine condition in the crypt, making them valuable to scholars of religion, and the archaic armor may well be worth money to a collector or museum is such is appropriate to their world.

I'd create some enchanted holy symbols that bond with the owners, symbols that enhance the clerics turning ability (and hence the bolstering ability of the evil ghost clerics), as well as some minor spells.

I'd take ordinary items, +1 swords and such, that are twisted and perverted by the undead nature of their weilders, giving negative energy damage on top of the ordinary.

Given the Yuan-ti theme, I'd include a lot of spectral serpent effects to the weapons. An arrow or crossbow bolt that is surrounded by a ghostly serpent when its fired, possibly delivering an ethereal bite that slowly turns the weilder into a translucent whisp of his former self if the poison takes hold.

 

[Dr.Dan]

Thank you much, arwink. I especially like the spectral serpent effects idea. It has a nice feel that will certainly creep my players out.