Need a tad of help for my next session! (My players, shooo!)

[Decamber]

Hello!

I don't know if this is supposed to be in the rules forum, but since it's not really rules questions I post it here.

I'd need some comments on an area I've planned for the next session. It's for two 10th-level PCs, and I'm neither sure of whether it's balanced or good FR-wise.

A church of a good god (I haven't decided which yet) in a town has been turned into something strange, and obviously it's some kind of evil cult that lies behind it (FYI, it's a cult of Bane). Inside the church it's a gloomy atmosphere which gives the feeling of "evil" in a more or less abstract way. It's partly the darkened lighting; partly the church organ being out of tune and thus tending to play tritonus intervals; but more concretely it's the holy water that has become unholy and causes corroding (think Moe in that Simpsons episode whichever it was) and it gives darkpurple ulcers.

Moving on, the presence in the church gives unpleasant thoughts of hurting others. The longer you stay the graver these thoughts gets. I was thinking of letting the alignment move more to being evil the longer you stay inside. After perhaps half an hour it moves down one level until it gets to Lawful Evil which is Bane's alignment. Perhaps the wisdom score should decrease as well, making it more difficult to resist the alignment change. How should I do all this technically?

A question related to Forgotten Realms: Is Bane a good choice of the bad god? Which god should be the good one?

Thanks, and sorry for the bad english. A combination of bad sleep, badly made coffee and a little hurry isn't good for a swede trying to speak another language...

 

[kengar]

Rather than alignment shift, maybe you could have the place Unhallow (as per spell) and have something like a Suggestion to act evil going on inside the place, gradually upping the Will DC to resist.

Bane is -AFAIK- one of the better FR choices of a nasty god.

 

[green slime]

Hejsan Decamber!

Är det kämpigt med engelskan, tar vi det på svenska om du vill! Förresten så tyckte jag ju att det var inget större fel på det du skrev! Det finns de som skriver långt mycket värre engelska, så du behöver nog inte be om ursäkt!

Dina idéer låter jätte roliga!

Själva "Alignment-skiftet" bli som ett "cursed item" av typen "Helm of Opposite Alignment".

Använd då ett altare/dopfont som focus för denna effekt, och kombinera med Unhallow. Kanske ett räddningslag för att undvika varje skift, föreslagsvis Will, DC beroende på hur svårt du vill at det ska vara. Efter en halv timme av suggestiva antydningar.

Kom ihåg att det inte är så roligt som karaktär att få sin alignment tilldelad sig, utan att kunna göra något. Så var säker på att det finns ett sätt att återskapa ursprungs "alignment" utan allt för mycket besvär för spelarna. (En karaktär VILL ju inte byte sin moraliska synpunkt/levnadsvärderingar).

Jag hade inte påverkat Wisdom, det bli liksom förmycket straff för många karaktärer, förenat med alignment skifte.

Som god gudom hade jag valt Lathander, en personlig favorit. Det samma gäller Bane.

Rules-wise är det enkelt, men det är svårare att göra så att spelarna uppleva det som ett kul äventyr!

 

[diaglo]

Bane is a nice god of choice for this.

but others to consider may include:

Cyric

Mask

or dead gods like Xvim, Bhaal, or Moander

 

[Aulayan]

Moving on, the presence in the church gives unpleasant thoughts of hurting others. The longer you stay the graver these thoughts gets.

Bane is a good choice, as is Cyric. However, for some reason, this is causing Loviatar to be called out to me.

Horrendously underused Goddess, mainly because ones such as Bane and Cyric and even Mask and Talos overshadow her. Using her would definitely surprise your players. Hell, one may be so surprised as to ask 'Who in the nine hells is Loviatar?'

 

[Decamber]

Thanks for all the tips! The Unhollow spell sounds lika an excellent idea. And I think you've convinced me with the alignment shift, so that is now a closed chapter.

As for my fellow Swedish mate... [Decamber changes back to original shape]

Hejsan green slime! För att vara ärlig så lider jag inte direkt av min ofullständiga kunskap i det engelska språket, men jag brukar alltid åstadkomma förnedrande bagateller såsom förvrängningar av ord till en komisk innebörd. Ibland händer det att en hel tråd förvandlas till en "titta - en utlänning"-tråd.
Förresten så är det alltid roligt att hitta andra svenskar på forumen man besöker!

Du hade många bra idéer som jag tänker integrera i morgondagens spelmöte. Det var bra det där med ett cursed item. Och du har nog rätt i att man ska passa sig för att sänka statsen.

(Translation: First some random rambling, which then followed by a thank you for the great idea of letting the alignment shift be temporarily and technically have the form of a cursed item).

 

[Decamber]

Another idea. If a person dies inside of the church, he instantly becomes an undead. And the church's cellar functions as a morgue. Wohoo - this unlocks a hack-n-slash adventure!

How should this technically be made? And should the undead's previous abilities decide his power? Any ideas?

Thanks!

Bane is a good choice, as is Cyric. However, for some reason, this is causing Loviatar to be called out to me.

Horrendously underused Goddess, mainly because ones such as Bane and Cyric and even Mask and Talos overshadow her. Using her would definitely surprise your players. Hell, one may be so surprised as to ask 'Who in the nine hells is Loviatar?'

Loviatar sounds interesting. I havn't heard of her, to be honest; unfortunately, however, I guess one of my players have. He's close to become a FR guru, that's why, hehe. Is there anywhere I can read about Loviatar, preferably on Internet?

 

[Decamber]

As a result of googling, I've found out that Loviatar, or Maiden of Pain as she's known as, is the goddess of hurt and agony. She is torture person... I mean, godified. And she opposes Ilmater. So if the good god in my campaign is Ilmater, then it's reasonable that Loviatar is the bad god.

However, in terms of eneviling... evilify... ehm, turning the good church into a dark and non-good place, an inner voice tells me that Bane is the one. Perhaps that's plain prejudice, or it's because of the description in FRCS on page 237:

/../He hopes to control all Faerûn and dominate or subsume all other dieties/.../

This could be an obvious fact applied to all evil gods, but since it's especially written on Bane's description, he might be distinctive in the dream of becoming the only one. Since my FR knowledge is lacking on various spots, perhaps someone more experienced could explain this to me.

Perhaps the church in this town is new, and there's a nearby church of Bane which makes it his territory. The cultists could try to take the new church and dedicate it to Bane, and thus make him more powerful. Hence it's the PCs' mission to stop them. What do you think?

 

[Voadam]

Another idea. If a person dies inside of the church, he instantly becomes an undead. And the church's cellar functions as a morgue. Wohoo - this unlocks a hack-n-slash adventure!

How should this technically be made? And should the undead's previous abilities decide his power? Any ideas?

Thanks!



Loviatar sounds interesting. I havn't heard of her, to be honest; unfortunately, however, I guess one of my players have. He's close to become a FR guru, that's why, hehe. Is there anywhere I can read about Loviatar, preferably on Internet?

Loviatar is the goddess of pain and suffering, her church is made up of sado masocists, I think Bane for tyranny (changing the alignment, even temporarily) or Cyric (evil god of illusions and lies) work better. Loviatar is actually an adaptation of the Finnish deity of the same name. I've never read the Kalavella (or whatever the great finnish epic is called) so I can't tell you if she is in there.

If you want the undead to be reflections of who they were before then use a template, if you want standard horrors then use a non template undead type. If you are short on time go with standard undead such as wights out of the MM. If you want nastier developed npc undead use something like the barrow wight template from the Penumbra Bestiary (I recommend the latter, I wrote that entry and have seen it in play effectively).

 

[Voadam]

As a result of googling, I've found out that Loviatar, or Maiden of Pain as she's known as, is the goddess of hurt and agony. She is torture person... I mean, godified. And she opposes Ilmater. So if the good god in my campaign is Ilmater, then it's reasonable that Loviatar is the bad god.

However, in terms of eneviling... evilify... ehm, turning the good church into a dark and non-good place, an inner voice tells me that Bane is the one. Perhaps that's plain prejudice, or it's because of the description in FRCS on page 237:



This could be an obvious fact applied to all evil gods, but since it's especially written on Bane's description, he might be distinctive in the dream of becoming the only one. Since my FR knowledge is lacking on various spots, perhaps someone more experienced could explain this to me.

Bane is the god of Tyranny and LE rulers. It is his specific niche and portfolio to want to rule and dominate everything.

Others want power and dominion as well (Talos, Shar, That plant god) but it is not necessarily their main aspect.