Need help wrapping up adventure

[Herzog]

For those who know it, this is about the original dungeons and dragons module B4: The Lost City.

For those planning on playing it: warning! spoiler!
Also, for my players, do not read any further......

Edit: almost forgot: I used a conversion of the module, since I'm playing a 3.5 game. (In case that matters for suggestions)





Ok, so my players have just about finished the module. They are planning on 'clearing out' some of the rooms they skipped over earlier, but the main bad guy, Zargon, has been defeated.


Or so they think.
Zargon has a specific ability that ensures it's very difficult to actually kill him: when reduced to 0 hp, his consiousness retreats into his horn, from which he slowly regenerates (IIRC, it's 100 years. away from books, but in any case long enough not to matter in game terms)

It's a neat feature, and the adventure expects this to result in either of these two outcomes:
1. The players find out about the regeneration, and determine that the only way to dispose of Zargon is throw his horn in a (conveniently nearby available) volcano)
2. The players do not find out about the regeneration, and if the campaign allows for large time scales, Zargon may appear again in a later period.

However, my players (of course) complicated things:
1. Disregarding all the hints I dropped about Zargon maybe being able to regenerate or return in some way, have not determined Zargon survived.
2. One of the players has picked up the horn and taken it with him, in an attempt to find out if he can use it for spell components or something like that.

Given that Zargon will not regenerate at a speed that will be noticable by the characters, how would you pick up this situation?

A few options I have come up with myself:
1. Ignore it. (boring!)
2. If the player uses the horn as the base for a magic item, it becomes intelligent (and posessed by the consiousness of Zargon)
3. If the player uses the horn for material components, make the spells he uses them for have some side effects. (suggestions welcome)
4. Introduce some way for the regeneration to speed up

Any suggestions? I'd like to really 'end' Zargon in some way, but I'm done giving the players hints.....

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

Given that Zargon will not regenerate at a speed that will be noticable by the characters, how would you pick up this situation?

A few options I have come up with myself:
1. Ignore it. (boring!)
2. If the player uses the horn as the base for a magic item, it becomes intelligent (and posessed by the consiousness of Zargon)
3. If the player uses the horn for material components, make the spells he uses them for have some side effects. (suggestions welcome)
4. Introduce some way for the regeneration to speed up

Any suggestions? I'd like to really 'end' Zargon in some way, but I'm done giving the players hints.....

Oh, I'd opt for a version of #2. Look into info on Ego scores and what happens to a PC that fails the Will save to oppose an item with an Ego score.

Or, use #3 to promote #4. The Horn, when exposed to a magical process, speeds up the regeneration.

 

[James the Newbie]

Wards against evil and detect evil spells act up as they go through a temple? I mean the soul is still alive, any life detecting spell should notice that?

 

[jcayer]

Followers of Zargon pursue the party looking to retrieve the horn.

 

[Radiating Gnome]

I like #2. One interesting wrinkle might involve, once you reach a certain point, working with the player who took the horn to feed him some secret influence by the horn. It's possible that in his experiments and investigations into the power locked into the horn, the wizard would create an opening for Zargon to influence his mind, etc.

Provide some short term benefits for the touch of Zargon -- an extra caster level's worth of power, maybe -- in exchange for RPing the strong desire to gather a few more components necessary to turn the horn into a powerful item -- when, really, the ritual will allow Zargon's personality to enter the wizard as he tries to take over the wizard's body.

Then, go watch All of Me for inspiration about two personalities trying to share one body.

 

[Shaghayegh]

Have anyone who spends too much time holding or carrying around the horn get affected by a mind seed that implants the personality and memories of Zargon in them so they eventually get replaced. He can then attach his horn to completely turn back to his old self, forever annihilating the possessed character...

 

[grodog]

A few options I have come up with myself:
1. Ignore it. (boring!)
2. If the player uses the horn as the base for a magic item, it becomes intelligent (and posessed by the consiousness of Zargon)
3. If the player uses the horn for material components, make the spells he uses them for have some side effects. (suggestions welcome)
4. Introduce some way for the regeneration to speed up

Any suggestions?

Hmmm. I like the idea of #2 for sure, but what if in the meanwhile, Zargon attempted to possess the PCs via a magic-jar-like ability (which isn't mentioned in the module, but his essence transferring into the horn is very reminiscent of a lich's phylactery). Some other ideas:


- omens and signs begin to appear, about teh destruction of Zargon, but that he may return again (and perhaps transform/evolve/power up/whatever): these will be detected by good guys, as well as bad guys (perhaps those among his cult and his ancient enemies---and they may both mobilize accordingly---as well as others who merely act upon this opportunity)
- the horn might require destruction in a more-specific volcano, and that detail was lost in time: if they PCs toss the horn into the nearby volcano, then they have to figure out how to retrieve it safely, and then research why it wasn't destroyed, and where/how to destroy it, etc.; if you treat the horn as an artifact/relic, it may offer you some fun additional avenues of exploration: see Canonfire! - Artifacts of Oerth Article: B-Sides and Errata for some other thoughts along these lines
- perhaps Zargon is merely one creature among a set of related creatures (Lovecraft Mythos, perhaps?), and his removal/hiatus is but one cog in a greater wheel, and that enables "the stars to be right"/"the conjunction of the million spheres to begin"/whatever, when all sorts of nasty things begin to happen (or may be about to begin to happen)

Regardless, it sounds like fun, so hopefully you and your players will come up with some good times as a result of this twist

 

[shadyizok]

Maybe the horn could funtion a an artefact similar to the hand and eye of vecna. A character has to drill a hole in its skull (or saw of a previous horn) to fit the horn of zargon which then bestows upon him certain powers. And utterly corrupts him.
Assuming your players will not want to use the power of the horn themselves but try to destroy it this could be an adventure on its own. Other powerfull createrus and npc's might have less scrupules about using its power though.

 

[James the Newbie]

The idea of a villians power being there abilities is shown a lot

Why not show the villian is important because they know certain secrets. Have a follower of boccob who knows about Zargon's power try to use magic jar to bind the soul, so that they may take information from him.

This could lead to good orders trying to destroy it, and evil orders trying to steal it away, causing plenty of havoc

You just need a good secret to give him, could make for something far more exciting (and less irritating) than a villain coming back.