Looking for Ideas

[LostSoul]

Sure. He's the God of Lies, right? So this can't be true:

"You have an air of destiny about you, and I will let you return to life, but if I do so, you will owe me. A time will come when I will require a service of you. Until that service is performed, your souls will be mine."

That's his betrayal. He has no power over them. Whatever they do, it's their own choice and responsibility to own up for. I'd have NPCs echo this, too. "The Gods are the Gods. What do they care for us?"

So maybe he'll have them do something that needs them to lie and betray other people. If they do this, then their souls will be his. 'Cause he's the God of Lies.

I'm not sure how well this would work out in a game, though. It smacks of DM trickery. Not sure how to get around that without telling the players.

 

[Lord Zardoz]

It would smack of DM trickery of the 'air of destiny' thing was completely untrue. I figure, they are the players, they will impact / change things that NPC's would not do. Hell, they are the heroes of the story, so it will be true.

The whole thing was basically a mechanism with which I could handle TPK's, and add in a game hook that the players could not ignore when I need them to 'do something'. The only things I am wondering is what I should have them actually do.

Now, todays game went well, and the other PC who did not bite it last time did bite it this time, and was then brought before Hiddukel. He owes two services. One for returning him to life, and another for a needed assist in a fight that was going badly. The fight was a very, very close thing (Had it balanced for 4 players, and only 3 showed again).

The long term goal is to have the players cause that they later get to fix. I am just fishing for ideas on what sorts of things I could have them do.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[Nightfall]

Lord Z,

You are bad, bad man for making them work with Hidduedul. I like it!

 

[LostSoul]

It would smack of DM trickery of the 'air of destiny' thing was completely untrue. I figure, they are the players, they will impact / change things that NPC's would not do. Hell, they are the heroes of the story, so it will be true.

Cool. I was looking at it from a different perspective.

If you want to have stuff for them to do, why not ask the players? They'll probably know what they want more than us EN Worlders.

 

[Lord Zardoz]

True enough.

But if I ask my players 'SO what sort of nefarious thing do you want the god of lies to have you do for him which you will have to fix later?', it kind of spoils the surprise of "Wow, we caused THAT to happen by doing that task for Hiddukel?".

Basically, the tasks that the players carry out should seem harmless for them in the short term, but come back to bite them later in ways they might not expect.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[KrazyHades]

Alright, how about this proposal:
HIddukel asks them to take what seems to be a small, useless necklace from the apartments of a man's room as he sleeps (they don't know his identity) and place it in a wardrobe in the neighboring room. It turns out that the necklace was the only thing the owner, an old retired NG wizard, had left from his wife, who had been killed years ago by an unidentified man. The wizard uses a spell to find the necklace, and confronts his neighbor about it. The neighbor, of course, knows nothing of it, but the wizard KNOWS the necklace is in his room. The wizard kills the man in a fit of rage, and then kills another man who saw the murder. When more people come to investigate, he kills them all, becoming NE as his mind becomes twisted with Hiddukel's power. The man goes on to destroy the building and flee. Afterwards, he joins an association of evil assassins, monks, and wizards and rises through the ranks to become second in command. He becomes feared across the land for his cruelty, and is known for his manic laughter when he kills (as a remnant of his guilty conscience and his love for his wife) . He is somewhat insane, but clever and intelligent, and somehow thinks that if he kills enough people his wife will return to him. He has failed in resurrecting her because she sees what he has become and refuses to return to life, but he thinks that it is because he has not proved himself worthy by killing enough people yet. The fanatical wizard goes on a campaign of slaughter as the second in command of the organization. The PCs are finally recruited to confront him, and realize that he is the man who's necklace they stole, and finally the truth comes crashing down upon them.

How's THAT for Hiddukel?

 

[Lord Zardoz]

That is the sort if idea I am fishing for, KrazyHades.

Keep em coming.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[KrazyHades]

That is the sort if idea I am fishing for, KrazyHades.

Keep em coming.

END COMMUNICATION

I do my best. And my major talents lie in the direction of plot creation .

 

[LostSoul]

True enough.

But if I ask my players 'SO what sort of nefarious thing do you want the god of lies to have you do for him which you will have to fix later?', it kind of spoils the surprise of "Wow, we caused THAT to happen by doing that task for Hiddukel?".

Basically, the tasks that the players carry out should seem harmless for them in the short term, but come back to bite them later in ways they might not expect.

END COMMUNICATION

I was thinking, "So what kind of things do you guys want to do?" They could look at in character - "Sir Killzalot wants to wipe out that stupid orc tribe" - or out of character - "I'd like a game full of undead."

Then you come up to EN World and take their innocent little suggestion and make it come back to bite them.

 

[Wystan]

Hiddukel informs them that the high-muckity of the town that they are in is a follower of his and is about to start a grand battle. He does not want this as he is much more subtle about his ends. So he has the party stop/kill the leader of the town.

Now up till this point it was all good and true, however what Hiddukel did not inform the party about was the fact that the next in line is a high ranking cleric of Hiddukel and he is going to start a new recruitment drive.

He will use the town as a base of operations and even go so far as to give the players a small base on the far outskirts of the town. He will start an assassins guild to help people get the vengeance that they crave, and will be scheming to become the ruler of a neighboring kingdom.

What he will then do is go on to become a lich that holds that nation tightly under his thumb. None of this possible without taking out the man that preceeded him and looking good in the bargain.