Lots of good advice here, I appreciate it. I think what I've decide I'm going to do is this. My plan has been that when they activate this defensive weapon that was built to protect the town it's going to cause all of the gargoyle statues that are placed around town to come to life and chase away the bandits who have taken over. The idea I've been working with is that this town built up a long time ago around a wizards tower and he liked the people that lived there and offered protection. Part of that protection was erecting all these "statues" that he could awaken when needed. All of this has been long forgotten and there's just rumors of this weapon among some historians.
When the players activate the weapon they are going to do it in the "wrong" order. Doing so will render them unconcious. When they awake they will be in the same place and nothing will appear different. When they exit the underground tower they are currently in they will notice that it is no longer winter and the forest they have been traveling through is now burned down. I'm going to steal the carriage idea that was presented above. When they exit the carriage they will be just outside the town they were originally trying to save but it will be a destroyed future version that is overrun by undead. This is supposed to be a glimpse of what will happen if they fail to stop the necromancer that they gave the magical artifact to in the very first session. As they explore the town they will be presented with a way to assist the town, clearing out some local catacombs that the villagers/militia would like to use as a fortification. When the players successfully do this, if they choose to do this, they will be returned to the "real" timeline as they have proven their intentions are good and they do want to save the town.
The idea here being that this alternate timeline thing is actually an illusion created by the owner of the tower to stop those who would seek to use his weapon to harm the village rather than help it. This way it's a nice little diversion from the main timeline without going to crazy. Mostly I'm just looking to do a good undead theme for a week or two
Sound reasonable?
When the players activate the weapon they are going to do it in the "wrong" order. Doing so will render them unconcious. When they awake they will be in the same place and nothing will appear different. When they exit the underground tower they are currently in they will notice that it is no longer winter and the forest they have been traveling through is now burned down. I'm going to steal the carriage idea that was presented above. When they exit the carriage they will be just outside the town they were originally trying to save but it will be a destroyed future version that is overrun by undead. This is supposed to be a glimpse of what will happen if they fail to stop the necromancer that they gave the magical artifact to in the very first session. As they explore the town they will be presented with a way to assist the town, clearing out some local catacombs that the villagers/militia would like to use as a fortification. When the players successfully do this, if they choose to do this, they will be returned to the "real" timeline as they have proven their intentions are good and they do want to save the town.
The idea here being that this alternate timeline thing is actually an illusion created by the owner of the tower to stop those who would seek to use his weapon to harm the village rather than help it. This way it's a nice little diversion from the main timeline without going to crazy. Mostly I'm just looking to do a good undead theme for a week or two
Sound reasonable?
