Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="werecorpse" data-source="post: 6999531" data-attributes="member: 55491">I don't have much in the way of forum posting cutting & pasting skills so excuse my ill set out response.1. Yes I get that necromancer is deliberately old school - but my players have been at this d&d lark for 30+ years and have got used to a better reason for adventure than "because it's there". I know my adventure is losing its allure when too many of them start asking "why are we here?". 2. I didn't really address your Asgaroth idea in my initial post, I was just commenting on my experiences, sorry. I think the ring of Rajick is a good lure to get them through the ward. I think if they have had some foreshadowing that Asgaroth is trying to free "the darkness beneath Barakhus" then that gives them another reason and foreshadows the bad guy. The adventure itself requires a room by room to find the three keys & the three flames. If you assume that Asgaroth has already got the three keys then you have to think what damage would he have done to the dungeon in getting them? This begins to get complicated. You could just say that Asgaroth has some ancient text with other Intel & believes (rightly or wrongly-doesn't matter he will be interrupted) he can get around the door without the keys so has just gone straight there - hence the ritual. Of course in doing the ritual he is exposing himself to the stone of madness but his ego presumably tells him he can resist that.3. I know the imposter is undead but he is pretending to the PC's to be an elf trapped down here for 3 years. The players are going to ask how he survived. Maybe if the lich has the Book of Korbus he will give it to the imposter and it could also give him access to create food and water? (Or the imposter could lie and say that it grants him sustenance? Or something else does, like the ring from 3.5e?). He'll need to come up with some reason he just dewing walk out while the ward is intact. Good PC's can. (Remember they don't know he's undead). Maybe say now that he killed Devron he can't leave until the ward is down - it's a tough lie and as I say I would almost guarantee my players will see through it and be even more on guard than a more simple plan. Truthfully once the players find out they can leave with the warding still up they are gonna likely just say that Devron's still alive anyway. Why drop the ward? 4. I will change the lich to update him to 5e (including hiding his phylactery) but I won't give him those charm suggestion spells. - tbh if you did it would be an easy win for the lich. Just hide and every round charm person until everyone fails then ask someone to tell the ward he is destroyed & he leaves. He doesn't have a particular axe to grind with the PC's (apart from the usual hatred of the living of course) so can wait until his prison is broken and he is miles away before plotting the destruction of the mortals who had witnessed him being embarrassed.5. He didn't create the stone of madness he summoned it forth. It's a thing even lich's don't usually mess with. It was an act of desperation to destroy Barakhus and cost Devron a bunch of levels (although he could have resisted that if he had still had his magic hat). It worked. I would have it be from the far realm maybe. In my world you aren't immune to the blasphemous things you summon forth to destroy your enemies. In my world (in which I am also mashing in Shackled City) it's associated with Adimarchus the demon prince of madness. In my world Devron is mad.6. As for running charm person - well in 5e it just makes the person regard the caster as a friendly acquaintance   So that's not great for the bad guys but at least it gets one player on side. With my group I would pass them a note or take them outside and tell them they are charmed and they regard this guy as a friendly acquaintance. I would also say that they remember him from their past. He was an adventurer they looked up to as a kid, he lived near their village, he came and told them stories of adventure, was friends with their uncle etc. He is an old friend. He disappeared a few years ago and they never knew what happened with him - the player should be told to back up his story etcWith suggestion it's easier I would just pass them a note which says "you must now to the best of your ability do only the following " go back through the ward head home, and tell anyone you meet or thing that asks that Devron is dead and destroyed" once you have done this task you may then act normally again. " This should mean on the players next turn they just move as best they can toward the ward - if not stopped they will be asked the question, give the answer & the ward will be dropped. They will then continue to head home. Devron IMO will as soon as he sees the ward drop command a minion to run through as a test - then flee as fast as he can.6. Running the geas I would assume it's the spell from the PHB cast as a 9th level spell (or at least 7th). I would give the players a fair bit of latitude on being able to rest etc. I always worry that these sort of spells take away player agency which IMO is crucial. But as long as they are trying to get into the warded room they are complying with their mystical obligations. If you need to give them a searing headache to remind them it's not optional, so be it.edit: in answer to my own question as to why haven't the keys been taken I'm going to have them magically teleport back to their safekeeping boxes on the islands on level 1 if removed from Barakhus for more than 1 week.</blockquote>

Verification