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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6044780" data-attributes="member: 42582">I think about the scenes I might run in the session, or at least a few of them.I think about the books I might need to help me run those scenes - any modules, MMs, etc.I think about a few motivations for the NPCs I am using.The above is done mostly keeping in mind the backgrounds, past behaviours and thematic orientations of the PCs.I have to run a session on Sunday, and here is my current thinking:Starting Point The PCs are in the Underdark, hunting for Torog's Soul Abbatoir. They were pretty badly hurt in <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/d-d-pathfinder/330383-underdark-adventure-demons-beholders-elementals-hydra.html" target="_blank">a fight with a hydra and some elementals</a>, during which they recovered a fourth shard of the Sceptre of Law (= Rod of Seven Parts). A duergar helped them in the fight - she was hidden in a cleft in the ceiling of the cavern, and dropped down a regeneration potion. They agreed to repay the debt. <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/6039139-post73.html" target="_blank">She tried to take the shard of the Sceptre of Law as payment, but the PCs wouldn't agree to that</a>. But they did agree to travel with her to her stronghold. The last session ended with the arrival at the stronghold, and the PCs settling down for an extended rest. Obvious sources of conflict/pressure One PC is a dwarven fighter-cleric of Moradin. He and the duergar are ideologically opposed in some fundamental ways -worship, slavery, their conception of what is best in dwarven culture. One PC is a drow chaos sorcerer. He and the duergar are also opposed, though in different ways - they oppose chaos, he embraces it; they are dwarves, he is an elf. Also, he has a magic mask that means that, after he leaves someone's presence, they remember nothing of his appearance but the mask. This gives him some opportunity to move through the duergar stronghold without provoking hue and cry about a chaos drow. Two PCs get on well with the duergar. One is a tiefling paladin of the Raven Queen - there is a shared diabolic heritage there. The other is the invoker who wields the Sceptre of Law, and serves Erathis (among other gods). But there is conflict here too. First, the duergar want the Sceptre. Second, they already have a piece of it - and the invoker knows that, and the Sceptre knows that and wants to merge. But the Sceptre is also hostile to the Invoker just stealing from the duergar. Third, the invoker has a magic tome that houses an imp familiar, and that familiar serves Levistus and is hostile to Asmodeus, and part of its mission is to make sure the invoker PC doesn't inadvertantly or deliberately further Asmodeus's cause. Whereas the duergar worhsip Asmodeus. Current ideas for the session The duergar insist that the dwarf take a turn in the fighting pit with an arena-trained ogre. (This would be mostly a colour fight, but I think some other activity involving the other PCs could be built in around it.) The duergar offer better quarters to the two PCs they like, splitting the PCs. The two privileged PCs are invited to an audience with a duergar leader, in which niceties are stated and conflicts over the Sceptre tip-toed around, but which gives me a chance to download some background info, for the players to have their PCs influence the duergar, etc. The book imp can turn invisible, so maybe can do some scouting and searching for the duergar's component of the sceptre. There are conflicts among the duergar - some want to delay assembling the Sceptre because they think it is too early to trigger the final confrontation between chaos and law, whereas others want to hasten that day. Some of these conflicts could come out in the diplomatic scene, or in the betting on the dwarf fight, or in some other way (if the PCs end up in trouble, one faction or another could offer them aid/shelter). The drow sorcerer is, at present, permanently blinded from internalising too much chaos energy (although he can use a chaotic-powered blindsight instead of normal vision). A mysterious visitor (Pazuzu) will appear and offer him his vision back. In exchange all he has to do is open a particular door in the duergar stronghold. A nabassu demon will then try to establish a portal to the Abyss through this door - I'm not quite sure what will come through, but it gives an opportunity to download some backstory relating to Baphomet (the duergar stronghold was once a minotaur hold) and also the Queen of Chaos (about whom the sorcerer has heard but knows little). I am thinking maybe demons trying to destroy the Sceptre of Law, or to capture it for their own purposes, could come through. I'm keen to run a purple worm encounter in some fashion. That will require all the PCs to be present together, however. Possible destination for the session, given the above The idea is to maximise the various points of pressure on the PCs within the stronghold - law vs chaos, Levistus vs Asmodeus, two duergar factions plus the PCs all with different views about who should have the Sceptre of Law and what should be done with it. The purple worm could be a challenge the duergar set for the PCs, or a disruptive element to introduce at a key moment if some sort of complication or rescue or "look, over there!" distraction is required. The likely upshot is disruption of the stronghold, and conflict between at least some of the PCs and some of the duergar. The details will have to emerge in play. Resources needed I have the duergar and their orc and ogre slaves already statted up. I have maps for the stronghold, if needed, in H2 Thunderspire Labyrinth. I will need MMs and the Demonomicon for demon stats.</blockquote>

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