How would a Demon Queen defend her palace?

[coyote6]

Have the fortress (or at least the inner keep) be carved from a poisonous abyssal stone. The very substance of the rock is toxic, and acts like some poison. Pick your favorite.

Me, I'd go with something that does relatively little damage (say, 1d2-1d4, or even 1d3-1), possibly not so tough* (say, Fort save DC 14 -- not so hard for 20th level characters), affects either Wis or Cha (or both, randomly -- roll each time the character takes damage), and maybe has some kind of other effect (e.g., madness of some sort, and/or loss of self-volition when the stat reach 0).

The thing is, the PCs will be continuously exposed. Every minute they're there will call for a save (or two -- one for this minute's exposure, one for last minute's). Those who aren't out-and-out immune will slowly succumb to madness, losing their will and/or their self-image. (At two saves a minute, failing one in 20, taking 1 pt of damage per failure, an hour of exposure will cost 6 pts of ability damage. Ouch.)

If they aren't careful, the reach the demon queen just in time to throw themselves at her feet, and worship her as their Dread Mistress.

Otherwise, they'll probably be burning through neutralize poison, heal, and the various restoration spells like crazy, which will chew up resources & spell slots.

*This assumes you use the rule that a 1 on a save is automatically a failure; if not, beef up the save DC.

 

[Moe Ronalds]

If it's the demon lady of lust you could use the above suggestion with the hands but erm... modified...

How about souls being bathed in large vats of negative energy. Within them, the souls are all doomed to whither away with oozing pustules breaking up everywhere on their skin until they burst into a large, gooey puddle. Then, the goo all reforms ala the alien in Men In Black, into the form of the tortured soul, and they die the same horrific death again.

Another thing that's always fun: melting babies.

 

[Kilmore]

I would think that if the Demon Queen knows that there are 20th level characters storming her keep and her thing is corrupting people, she would be more apt to trying to corrupt them and getting them to work for her, or her masters... probably without their knowledge. She could set up a typical vile, evil lair for the characters to conquer and finally she falls under the party's swords and spells.

Then she really gets to work.

She'll give them the lair to conquer. She may even give them her death. That's what the party wants to have. That is their desire. That is how she'll plant her seed in the characters.

Um, that's all I got so far. Time to pass the gold piece...

 

[Lordnightshade]

Kilmore, that’s quite a compelling idea which I think demands greater contemplation. I think that the mind of an eternal creature such as this Queen of Lust needs to work that way, she can see a much bigger picture than even a 20th level PC and so she should perhaps give them the victory, without being obvious about it. At the same time, she should make them pay for that victory with their souls, so that in the long run she will have won, and they will only THINK they have achieved victory.

Before the PCs stormed her palace this particular Queen of lust had almost attained true divinity and in fact if the party doesn’t stop her in time she still will for she has captured the Goddess of Love and plans to take her powers through a fell ceremony.

I’m wondering how this whole thing should climax.

1. The party will face off with the Queen of Lust (who they managed, with some help to activate a device that stripped her of some of her powers, knocking her down to 24HD from 35HD.

2. Perhaps to defeat the Queen of Lust she somehow sets it up so that if she is defeated the Goddess of Love is stripped of her powers anyway? Perhaps that’s the final part of her ceremony required to strip the Goddess of her power, perhaps she can trick the PCs into helping her, and they won’t know it for quite some time afterwords.

Hmmmm any more thoughts on all this?

Thank you for that little spark there Kilmore!

 

[GreyShadow]

Demonqueen of Lust?

All the shadows touch and cling. Not the undead ones, just normal shadows. The darker the shadow the more it feels like your being is violated.

Play bad love songs in the background too.

 

[Iron Sheep]

Building on the idea of Kilmore's that the Demon Queen should give the PCs the victory that they lust after, you should ask yourself what else the characters (or players) lust after.

Perhaps the PCs come across powerful, perhaps even epic-level, treasure (and make them work for it, so they don't get suspicious about its provenance), but have it planted by the demons and tainted in some subtle way. For example, perhaps the group fights a Balor and discovers that it is using a magical weapon far superior to the main fighter's weapon, and appears otherwise normal. However, when the final confrontation comes with the demon queen, the fighter finds that it cannot harm her, or even that it harms the fighter whenever he attacks the queen. Or maybe this weapon only makes it appear that the queen is killed, allowing you to use the idea of the false victory. If you were really evil, you could make it that this tainted weapon was the fighter's current primary weapon, carefully planted by the demon Queen several adventures ago.

There's also great potential in items which multiple characters may want, and which could cause interparty rivalry. The easiest way to bring down an enemy is to sow dissention in their ranks.

Finally there are the less tangible lusts that characters may have, and which you'd have to tailor for your party. Perhaps the wizard who loves books comes across a vast library; perhaps a character who lusts for power finds that demons surrender, stroking the character's ego and saying that they want to be on the winning side, only to turn on the party at a later point; perhaps there is some object of romantic desire that could lead a character astray. This sort of thing could give great roleplaying opportunities, particularly if the players know what the characters are doing will hurt them, but play it through anyway.

In any case, whatever is offered should appear genuine and not out of place, but yet have some subtle seed buried in it which will cause the party grief later on. Ideally you will have several of these things come to a head either shortly before the climax of the adventure, or as part of the climactic battle.

 

[Lordnightshade]

So I have been thinking about how to execute something like this? It’s truly mind boggling at this point.

What if the Queen of Lust somehow set it up so that every wound that was caused to her actually affects the goddess of love, and once the party kills the Goddess, then the Queen of Lust absorbs her powers. The Goddess of Love could have a power that says she can not be killed by those who are evil, but she is vulnerable to be killed by someone who is good.

That would also explain why there are so many fallen celestials in the Queen of Lust's palace. She focused on corrupting them to try and get them to kill the Goddess for her. It just worked out that this party of mostly good adventurers has come to help her.

This idea needs refinement… what do you guys think?

"I am the Rat Bastard King! I can do anything!"
-Jim Morrison (well sorta!)

 

[Kugar]

Demon Queen of Lust:

Perhaps it is as addicted to lust as it is its Mistress. She keeps captured mortals in her sanctum and possesses them routinely and commits terrible acts of carnal lust and rage in their body. The party could face her in a variety of these forms as she "burns" through her "possessions" in order to learn what the intruders want.

Maybe he has a willing dupe set up to sacrifice herself and hides in a piece of "treasure" left on the sacrificial offering to corrupt her victims later, slowly, safely.

Is there anyone who could be quickly tempted, and easy to separate? Teleport traps to separate and give them what they do best - with a twist. Fighters kill the corrupted good. Wizards ponder mysteries that the demoness hasn't figured out yet.

Most of the truly protected areas can only be accessed by teleportation and are protected with forbiddance.

Let the fortress feel like Castle Ravenloft to start, and when the party reaches a certain area, lock down the t-port magics and fill the entire area with lightning. Change the look and feel, now add the demons and funky alien/outsider mood.

For a good "thrall/deceptive end" monster pick up "Bastion of Broken Souls" and use the end fight.

Change the rules: The demoness might relish lightning and lets it affect her, while she has built up immunity to sonic damage.

Succubae with class levels make good assassins and their insane Bluff and Disguise will get around most parties divination/true seeing type magic. I have a stat block for succubae assassins if you want them.

Don't forget that the ambient evilness of the area might be powerful enough to stun even 20th level characters if they are foolish to use detect evil.

Moral ambiguity should be the rule. Give them a situation with two bad solutions and see if they think outside the box you've created. (I just got done Bastion and I had a demon negotiating using the unborn soul of a child conceived by a ex-party member)

If you have BoVD, the violate spell like ability is nasty.

A truly evil genius would never be caught alone. It is easy to justify plenty of half-demons here. Think advanced dire animals and gorillions

There is so much more you could do. I hope I gave you some ideas.

Kugar
(Who should not post before spell checking - ever)

 

[Lela]

I don't have time to read the whole thread (though I will be doing so later) so ignore any repeats.

• Hmmm, Demon Queen of tempting. . . Succubi. Advanced beyond their normal max HD. These would be the favored of the Succubi. Those with experience. Some may have tempted great Paladins others may have humiliated Devils. These "ladies" know their job and do it well. (Example below)
• Add Barbarian levels to random demons.
• I've always thought that Quicken Spell-like Ability mixed with Teleport w/o Error could be deadly when hooked onto a Balor. While it's normally a Dragon only feat (MM I believe) consider that no demons protecting a Queen are bound by the normal rules. Watch the players squirm as the Balor suddenly vanishes and apearsnext to the Wizard and attacks in the same round.
• Low level Paladin Thralls (PsiHB) or equivalent spell. It makes it better if they met the party already.
• Dire Bunnies. With big pointy teath!
• Spread the Vampires and Litches around. Same with the Half-Fiends.
• A Vampire Succubus.
• Illusion spells everywhere. If they don't have True Seeing they're in deep trouble.
• Most Demons are immune to Fire (or are in my world). Lava pits as pools. For lounging around, talking about the blasted mortals, and the demon equivalent of sunning themselves.
• Red Dragons as pets. Some small, others raised up (to Great Wyrm) in the care/service of the Queen. They are feircly loyal to her but otherwise are completely unpredictable.
• A few Deer. Just wondering around. The Queen is in an odd mood.
• I can't seem to find the Typo-Demon anywhere on the Creature Catolog Site. When I think about it, these guys would be quite useful in defending a Demon Queen. As long as they stay away from any library she might have that is. Being able to destroy the scrolls and spellbooks carried by attacking characters could be very useful against most 20th level parties.

Here, I have an example of a Succubi advanced to 20 HD. You should feel free to add magic items that fit your campaign world. Also, give her a cool bio with some great conquests that would fit into the history of your world. Maybe she started a war between two kingdoms of light or percipitated a great battle between Celestials and Devils.

Seeing as she/it is far above average, I rolled her stats (High Powered). The result was (in base form): 15, 11, 12, 13, 16, 18. I arranged them: Str: 13, Dex: 15, Con: 11, Int: 12, Wis: 16, and Cha: 18. And notice her focus on some skills rather than being as generalized as most succubi. She's a specialist; focused mostly on infiltration leading to suducing and manipulating.

Nairphem CR 9;Medium Outsider (Chaotic,Evil); HD 20d8+40 (Outsider); hp 110; Init +8; Spd 30, Fly, Average 50; AC 23; Atk +23 base melee, +24 base ranged; +23 (1d3+3, 2 Claws); SA: Energy drain (Su), Summon tanar'ri (Sp), Spell-like abilities; SQ: Alternate form (Su), Tongues (Su), Damage Reduction 20/+2 (Su), Spell Resistance: 12 (Ex), Acid Resistance: (Ex), Cold Resistance: (Ex), Fire Resistance: (Ex), Telepathy (Su), Electricity Immunity (Ex), Poison Immunity (Ex); AL CE; SV Fort +14, Ref +16, Will +17; STR 16, DEX 18, CON 14, INT 18, WIS 20, CHA 28.
Skills:
Bluff+34, Disguise+34, Escape Artist+27, Knowledge (religion)+27, Listen+36, Move Silently+27, Search+20, Spot+13.
Feats:
Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Endurance, Improved Initiative, Skill Focus: Bluff, Skill Focus: Disguise.


Feel free to correct my math and general info. I couldn't remember the resistance numbers for Acid, Fire, and Cold. Also, now that I think about it, I would likely Rule 0 her Int up a few points. Which would of course change her skills. . . Dangit.

Okay, I'm not sure this one came out right. . . but.

Nairphem CR 9;Medium Outsider (Chaotic,Evil); HD 20d8+40 (Outsider); hp 110; Init +8; Spd 30, Fly, Average 50; AC 23; Atk +23 base melee, +24 base ranged; +23 (1d3+3, 2 Claws); SA: Energy drain (Su), Summon tanar?ri (Sp), Spell-like abilities; SQ: Alternate form (Su), Tongues (Su), Damage reduction (Su), Resistance: Spell (Ex), Resistance: Acid (Ex), Resistance: Cold (Ex), Resistance: Fire (Ex), Telepathy (Su), Immunity: Electricity (Ex), Immunity: Poison (Ex); AL CE; SV Fort +14, Ref +16, Will +17; STR 16, DEX 18, CON 14, INT 24, WIS 20, CHA 28.
Skills:
Bluff+34, Disguise+34, Hide+27, Knowledge (religion)+30, Listen+36, Search+30, Spot+29.
Feats:
Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Endurance, Improved Initiative, Skill Focus: Bluff, Skill Focus: Disguise.


And yes, both CRs are wrong. I'm unsure of the conversion for the advanced HD.

Anyway, these gals are SMART and devious. They will not be taken by surprise. And there will be an entire herem full of them. Oh, Oh!! Make one disguised as one of the Thralled Paladins!!

Soon to be applying for the RBDM club,

 

[Lela]

So I have been thinking about how to execute something like this? It’s truly mind boggling at this point.

What if the Queen of Lust somehow set it up so that every wound that was caused to her actually affects the goddess of love, and once the party kills the Goddess, then the Queen of Lust absorbs her powers. The Goddess of Love could have a power that says she can not be killed by those who are evil, but she is vulnerable to be killed by someone who is good.

That would also explain why there are so many fallen celestials in the Queen of Lust's palace. She focused on corrupting them to try and get them to kill the Goddess for her. It just worked out that this party of mostly good adventurers has come to help her.

This idea needs refinement… what do you guys think?

Q: What's causing it? A globe or gem? How about a large gem in place of her heart? Or amulet?

A: It should be too heavy for any mortal to lift and would normally cause them to fall madly in love/lust (50/50 chance) with the first creature they see (Will Save DC 32). It lasts 10 min (lust) and 10 days (love). One is naturally longer than the other anyway.

Q: Why hasn't the goddess of love done something about this already? You'd think she would have found a way to prevent this situation from happening.

A: One, she doesn't know about it yet. Two, she doesn't know how the Demon Queen is doing it. Three, she's not very smart (not likely). Four, she agreed to it in return for one of her favored minions, cohorts, or consorts and needs a third party to fix it for her. Five, it is a natural phenominon (sp?). The Queen of Lust sprang from the body of the Goddess of Love during the creation or some great tragic event in pre-history.

If you were to do this then Celestials would start showing up and attacking the party. Though it might be difficult for them to get to the Abyess (depending on your world) at least one or two Solars would show up. Tell the PCs that it is obvious that the Solars are Good. The taint that seems to permiate the relm doesn't affect them. The difference between the two should be staggering. So much so that any player who thinks it's a trick should be slapped upside the head and told straight out (in DM cheating mode) that "No, they really are Solars. Lawful Good ones." Now, that's RBDMness. Have fun watching the players squirm. (I love watching that).

Bygons,