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<blockquote data-quote="WizarDru" data-source="post: 5380370" data-attributes="member: 151">Glad to be of help!My thinking is that there are several ways you can do it.&nbsp; Given that the brother has knowledge of life after death, perhaps he has contracted with the undead...more specifically, GHOSTS.&nbsp; Not violent or angry or dangerous ghosts, but ghosts nonetheless.&nbsp; They must be reasoned with, tricked, negotiated with or bluffed into the players goal.&nbsp; Perhaps the message can be switched.&nbsp; Perhaps the necromancer hasn't told them the truth in order to get their help (&quot;this message is for your 'queen'&nbsp; The orcs are coming and you must deliver it or the castle is lost!&quot;).Perhaps the messengers are magic butterflies or pixies;&nbsp; they are harmless.&nbsp; Killing them would be a terrible act.&nbsp; Perhaps they are friends or guards who have been enchanted.&nbsp; There are plenty of ways to present the players with challenges to use things like rituals, powers and skills (not to mention good old fashioned role-playing) to defeat these messengers.This one can depend on what you want to do to the characters.&nbsp; It could be a secret that places the party in danger OR it could be a secret that harms someone the players like or puts an innocent at risk.&nbsp; You can make this a test of courage or morals, depending on the secret.&nbsp; For example, perhaps the terrible evil is a shield that rests on display on a wall in the south tower.&nbsp; The shield is actually possessed by a demon or perhaps and if not cleansed, may manage to escape or possess someone.&nbsp; But in doing this, the shield is examined by the lord of the castle, who sees it bears a dedication to his wife as a lover...from a knight AFTER she was wed.&nbsp; This revelation would ruin her reputation and possibly cause her marriage to be annulled or her to be executed.&nbsp; How does the party handle it?&nbsp; Perhaps it's a statue that is, in fact, a gargoyle or some other monster, trapped by someone in the castle who was afraid to admit how it happened.&nbsp; If the necromancer is working on this prophecy, perhaps this could even be a way he's dragging the party into being beholden to him while pretending that they themselves are indebting themselves to his service.&nbsp; &quot;I did warn you...and you chose to act, regardless.&quot;&nbsp; It's often very rewarding to give players choices...even if those choices are, in fact, false ones.&nbsp; The idea that they decide to act, rather than being forced, makes a big difference.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="WizarDru, post: 5380370, member: 151"] Glad to be of help! My thinking is that there are several ways you can do it. Given that the brother has knowledge of life after death, perhaps he has contracted with the undead...more specifically, GHOSTS. Not violent or angry or dangerous ghosts, but ghosts nonetheless. They must be reasoned with, tricked, negotiated with or bluffed into the players goal. Perhaps the message can be switched. Perhaps the necromancer hasn't told them the truth in order to get their help ("[i]this message is for your 'queen' The orcs are coming and you must deliver it or the castle is lost![/i]"). Perhaps the messengers are magic butterflies or pixies; they are harmless. Killing them would be a terrible act. Perhaps they are friends or guards who have been enchanted. There are plenty of ways to present the players with challenges to use things like rituals, powers and skills (not to mention good old fashioned role-playing) to defeat these messengers. This one can depend on what you want to do to the characters. It could be a secret that places the party in danger OR it could be a secret that harms someone the players like or puts an innocent at risk. You can make this a test of courage or morals, depending on the secret. For example, perhaps the terrible evil is a shield that rests on display on a wall in the south tower. The shield is actually possessed by a demon or perhaps and if not cleansed, may manage to escape or possess someone. But in doing this, the shield is examined by the lord of the castle, who sees it bears a dedication to his wife as a lover...from a knight AFTER she was wed. This revelation would ruin her reputation and possibly cause her marriage to be annulled or her to be executed. How does the party handle it? Perhaps it's a statue that is, in fact, a gargoyle or some other monster, trapped by someone in the castle who was afraid to admit how it happened. If the necromancer is working on this prophecy, perhaps this could even be a way he's dragging the party into being beholden to him while pretending that they themselves are indebting themselves to his service. "[i]I did warn you...and you chose to act, regardless."[/i] It's often very rewarding to give players choices...even if those choices are, in fact, false ones. The idea that they decide to act, rather than being forced, makes a big difference. [/QUOTE]

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