D&D 5E Help with Divine Intervention ideas!

[randrak]

Hey there!

So we just finished the first session in the new campaign. The players are level 10 were on a ship heading to the "New World", however that ship sank and they (plus 30 other people) washed up on some shore. They ventured into the unknown jungles of this new place and after fighting some dinosaurs and per-historic creatures (with some of the people getting mauled), the cleric stepped aside from the group and used Divine Intervention....and rolled a 1.

I ended the session there (it was close to end time anyway), but now I need ideas on what to do with the DI.

The cleric is a Dwarven Life Cleric that worships a custom God of Light and Healing. When he used DI, he asked for "Aid on this perilous journey."

Any ideas are appreciated

 

[Leatherhead]

Sending down an angel is always appropriate.
Or if you want a less "hands-on" type of help a rare magic item like a staff of healing could work.

 

[ArchfiendBobbie]

An orc god, amused at the cleric unwittingly asking him for help, teleports a small orcish warband onto the island to act as aid.

Naturally, the warband isn't informed of this. Only the dwarf cleric is.

 

[randrak]

Sending down an angel is always appropriate.
Or if you want a less "hands-on" type of help a rare magic item like a staff of healing could work.

I honestly do not want to give them more healing, the life cleric is already a massive heal bot. The rare item idea is nice though.
An angel I fear would just end the whole plotline or make it way too easy.

An orc god, amused at the cleric unwittingly asking him for help, teleports a small orcish warband onto the island to act as aid.

Naturally, the warband isn't informed of this. Only the dwarf cleric is.

While hilarious... it kinda specifies that they ask their deity. Also, it would be kind of a d*ck move xD

 

[aco175]

Sorry, busy right now. Please leave a message and someone will get back to you. BEEEEEEP

Since you rolled a 1 and assuming the player knows what was rolled I would have another god answer the call. It could be a god from the new world or a variant on the character's god. This could be a way to expose the players to some aspects on the new place they find themselves.

Better yet, have another god intercept the call and send something to meet the PCs with a plea for help. Introduce your new plot line here.

 

[discosoc]

Keep in mind that DI probably should never be an easy-mode result where the player or group no longer has to worry about anything. Since your player requested a fairly vague bit of help from his god, I'd start by looking at the "Blessings" section of the DMG on page 228 or, if you're feeling generous, check out the "Epic Boons" section later on page 232. Maybe let the each player pick one of those to have active during the course of the immediate adventure, with the catch that they act within the guidelines of the god's alignment and/or virtues. That should be easy for the cleric, but other characters may or may not be willing or able to do that.

Alternatively, you stage a later encounter to inexplicably go in the group's favor. That's because DI also doesn't have to happen right away, and it certainly doesn't need a mechanical benefit as soon as the request is made. Something like a bolt of lighting striking the BBG elite champion dead just as the group attacks, or maybe the first time each character drops below half health during the session, they immediately heal back up to full.

Just some ideas.

 

[Ath-kethin]

I honestly do not want to give them more healing, the life cleric is already a massive heal bot. The rare item idea is nice though.
An angel I fear would just end the whole plotline or make it way too easy.


While hilarious... it kinda specifies that they ask their deity. Also, it would be kind of a d*ck move xD

Deities that actually exist and just kind of watch people ruining their lives and begging for help, while only occasionally deigning to intercede but demanding continuous worship, are pretty much by definition a continuous d*ck move.

A 1 doesn't fail on that check anyway, RAW.

The class ability days that duplicating the effect of a spell would be appropriate. Use create food and water. Now they have all the food they need for their extended stay, plus maybe some hungry dinosaurs to fend off.

 

[Harzel]

Personally, I would be trying to balance between the cleric’s request being (IMO) a bit lame (the description is really vague) and the fact that they did succeed on a 1-in-10 chance and I wouldn’t want to be a d*ck about it. A few thoughts…

Create food and water as suggested by someone else seems a little weak, but along those lines you could give them the ability to cast Heroes’ Feast once or twice for free. That’s pretty cleric-like.

Since the cleric’s request used the word journey, you could give them something travel related, such as
· a buff that increases everyone’s movement by 10 feet for a few days;
· the ability to cast Wind Walk once (or enough times to bring everyone along);
· if there are one or more locations that would be beneficial for them to get to, maybe a map and perhaps the ability to cast Find the Path one or more times.

Since the aid is coming from a God of Light, maybe the ability to use Channel Divinity: Radiance of the Dawn once per short rest in addition to their two regular uses of Channel Divinity for a few days.

Since the cleric’s request used the word perilous, ask the player what peril his PC was thinking of and invent something specifically responsive to that (although you might just get a blank look in which case have something else as backup). For instance, if he is worried about being attacked, maybe give the ability to cast an enlarged version (because he has a lot of friends it sounds like) of Leomund’s Tiny Hut a few times.

Good luck and let us know what you decide on and how it is received.

 

[Mouseferatu]

A 1 is good on a Divine Intervention check, which is rolled on d%. I think a lot of people responding to this thread missed or have forgotten this fact, and are thinking of the 1 as being on a D20, and being a critical fail.

 

[randrak]

I do like the blessing or boon idea for the duration of the journey. Something like, they get the benefits of a Heroes' Feast until they reach civilization... or each gets a buff?

I also like the idea of help during a future battle. At some point, if they end up taking a certain item from a ruin they will encounter, several golems awaken and try to stop them. A bolt of lightning could come down at destroy them?