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Ideas for an evil force trapped in rock
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<blockquote data-quote="Mephistopheles" data-source="post: 6478142" data-attributes="member: 4460"><p>These would all probably involve a bit of a twist on your original idea, but you might be able to use something from them.</p><p></p><p>This first idea would be about on par as a challenge for your group and would be an open and shut plot.</p><p></p><p><strong>Haunted depths</strong></p><p></p><p>A ghost has a wrong to right in an underground site. It came across an evil necromancer (divine and/or arcane) somewhere not too far from the site and attempted to possess this person. It failed, but found an assistant of the necromancer to be easier prey. Using the possessed assistant as a proxy the ghost has been directing the necromancer to dig towards the underground site, and the necromancer is going along with the plan to see what benefit might be gained. If the PCs try to stop it, they might find a surprise when a ghost joins the necromancer in resisting their efforts. Alternatively, the PCs might be able to assist the ghost in resolving the matter that keeps it from the afterlife.</p><p></p><p>These others are on a higher level and would result in a possible plot arc if some buried evil or force is unleashed, or the PCs guarding a secret or if they manage to keep it contained.</p><p></p><p><strong>Faith runs deep</strong></p><p></p><p>A buried monolith that is host to the essence of an evil or elder god. Perhaps:</p><p> * the god itself is directing the undead in an attempt to free itself,</p><p> * a servant of the god is directing the undead to free the god,</p><p> * a servant of the god is directing the undead to free the god, but it's just a legend and nothing (or something else) is down there.</p><p></p><p>Success: the monolith remains buried, and the powers of the god remain dimmed. The PCs learn a secret that will need to be guarded.</p><p>Failure: the monolith is released and the power of the god will begin to grow. The PCs can't destroy the monolith yet, so they must flee and set about imprisoning the god again or find a means of destroying it.</p><p></p><p><strong>It'll be just like old times</strong></p><p></p><p>A former servant of the lich had thought its master dead, but encountered a demilich it recognised as its master. Since then the servant has sought its master's phylactery with the intent of feeding a soul to it to restore its master to lich form.</p><p></p><p>Success: the servant does not secure the phylactery, and the PCs likely learn the location of the phylactery of a powerful lich.</p><p>Failure: the servant secures the phylactery and will go on to feed a soul to it to restore its master. If they cannot stop this from occurring an ancient lich will return to the world, and the PCs probably have a new enemy.</p><p></p><p><strong>Runs in the family</strong></p><p></p><p>Long ago a company of paladins that fell from grace brought a reign of terror to a region. They were eventually defeated, only to arise as death knights and continue their campaign of evil. Even then, they were defeated but could not be destroyed, so they were imprisoned in a warded underground tomb. A descendent of one of these knights learns the location of this tomb and seeks to restore his or her ancestor, hoping to obtain power in the process.</p><p></p><p>Success: the plan is thwarted and the death knights remain imprisoned. The PCs learn of secret that will need to be guarded.</p><p>Failure: the death knights are awakened and the PCs must escape before they are fully revived. An old and powerful force of evil has been unleashed.</p><p></p><p><strong>Bottomless pit</strong></p><p></p><p>Not evil as such, but a contained portal to the plane of Negative Energy. Perhaps:</p><p> * the undead are simply drawn to the pull of the portal and seek to unearth it,</p><p> * someone is actively directing the undead in their task with the intention of unleashing the portal for some purpose,</p><p> * the portal will expand once its containment is removed.</p><p></p><p>Success: the portal is contained, but the PCs learn a secret that will need to be guarded.</p><p>Failure: the portal is unearthed and will slowly expand. The task switches to learning how the growth of the portal can be stopped or reversed to close it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mephistopheles, post: 6478142, member: 4460"] These would all probably involve a bit of a twist on your original idea, but you might be able to use something from them. This first idea would be about on par as a challenge for your group and would be an open and shut plot. [b]Haunted depths[/b] A ghost has a wrong to right in an underground site. It came across an evil necromancer (divine and/or arcane) somewhere not too far from the site and attempted to possess this person. It failed, but found an assistant of the necromancer to be easier prey. Using the possessed assistant as a proxy the ghost has been directing the necromancer to dig towards the underground site, and the necromancer is going along with the plan to see what benefit might be gained. If the PCs try to stop it, they might find a surprise when a ghost joins the necromancer in resisting their efforts. Alternatively, the PCs might be able to assist the ghost in resolving the matter that keeps it from the afterlife. These others are on a higher level and would result in a possible plot arc if some buried evil or force is unleashed, or the PCs guarding a secret or if they manage to keep it contained. [b]Faith runs deep[/b] A buried monolith that is host to the essence of an evil or elder god. Perhaps: * the god itself is directing the undead in an attempt to free itself, * a servant of the god is directing the undead to free the god, * a servant of the god is directing the undead to free the god, but it's just a legend and nothing (or something else) is down there. Success: the monolith remains buried, and the powers of the god remain dimmed. The PCs learn a secret that will need to be guarded. Failure: the monolith is released and the power of the god will begin to grow. The PCs can't destroy the monolith yet, so they must flee and set about imprisoning the god again or find a means of destroying it. [b]It'll be just like old times[/b] A former servant of the lich had thought its master dead, but encountered a demilich it recognised as its master. Since then the servant has sought its master's phylactery with the intent of feeding a soul to it to restore its master to lich form. Success: the servant does not secure the phylactery, and the PCs likely learn the location of the phylactery of a powerful lich. Failure: the servant secures the phylactery and will go on to feed a soul to it to restore its master. If they cannot stop this from occurring an ancient lich will return to the world, and the PCs probably have a new enemy. [b]Runs in the family[/b] Long ago a company of paladins that fell from grace brought a reign of terror to a region. They were eventually defeated, only to arise as death knights and continue their campaign of evil. Even then, they were defeated but could not be destroyed, so they were imprisoned in a warded underground tomb. A descendent of one of these knights learns the location of this tomb and seeks to restore his or her ancestor, hoping to obtain power in the process. Success: the plan is thwarted and the death knights remain imprisoned. The PCs learn of secret that will need to be guarded. Failure: the death knights are awakened and the PCs must escape before they are fully revived. An old and powerful force of evil has been unleashed. [b]Bottomless pit[/b] Not evil as such, but a contained portal to the plane of Negative Energy. Perhaps: * the undead are simply drawn to the pull of the portal and seek to unearth it, * someone is actively directing the undead in their task with the intention of unleashing the portal for some purpose, * the portal will expand once its containment is removed. Success: the portal is contained, but the PCs learn a secret that will need to be guarded. Failure: the portal is unearthed and will slowly expand. The task switches to learning how the growth of the portal can be stopped or reversed to close it. [/QUOTE]
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