need some help with an adventure

[punkorange]

I basically have a map I was wondering if you guys could give me some ideas. It's a cave by the sea (map of the week) http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/mapofweek/Coastal_1_150ppi_gf93.jpg. The group is avg lvl 8. What should I fill the cave with, any ideas on plot hooks or storyoline.

I know im not normally this lazy, but the boards are a great place for inspiration, thought maybe you guys could help me out in a bind,.

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

what have the characters done so far?
what's around this cave?
what's the party composition?

AR

 

[punkorange]

elven cleric 8
elven fighter 8
elven fighter(9)/sorcerer(1)
elven rogue(6)/sorcerer(1)/fighter(1)/half dragon(2 levels of class template)
elven wizard 8
human swashbuckler 8

the wizard and swashbucklers are new additions to the group, but the other four have been through quiet a bit.
they have rescued a girl from her evil father and his cult, recovered an ancient tome that was stolen from the library, killed a would-be invisable stalker assassin, attempted to assassinate the girl's father when her head was delivered to the group in a box, only to find that he had already been killed by an outsider. They held off a small army of goblins and orcs while the occupants of a temple fled back to a large city and then helped stop an army of orcs, killed a somewhat young dragon, found out they have red dragon blood in them, and are soon to be heading into the underdark.

I am wanting to tie this into the cult of vecna (going back to the girl's father and his failed attempts at demon summoning). There is a man (who will more thanlikely end up being a BBEG) who wears a black mask. They have heard of him once, and it was when the girl's head was delivered. They assumed it was her father.

The cave is beside a large river.


(note on the evil dad. Everyone in town loved the guy, he was a heavy donator to the city and an upstanding citizen. He actually hired the party to rescue his daughter from a group of thugs. Turns out the thugs were her lover and his brother, and they were trying to help her get away)

 

[der_kluge]

Wow, I love that central room with the secret door that goes nowhere.

That's just cruel, and unusual.

PCs: "We take 20; search the room."
DM: "Ok, you find against the far wall."
PCs: "Excellent, we open it, what do we see?"
DM: "A unadorned stone wall."
PCs: "No way! I disbelieve."
DM: "A stone wall."
PCs: "Wow, this is impressive. I attack it with my axe."
DM: "Your axe breaks."
PCs: "Damnit!"
PCs: "Break out the pick-axe boys, this is gonna take a while."
DM: *sigh*


There was a "treasure map" that TSR put out several years ago on a cliffside, and the interesting thing about it was that it made use of the tides. So, the particular dungeon was only accessible in low-tide. So, you could give them access to the place, and then raise the tide, sealing the exit. That room with the pool would be an excellent place to put an Aboleth. Your players wil hate you forever for that one.

The ToH also has aquatic mummies, which are quite nasty. And there's a variety of eel in that book which also incurs mummy rot on successful bites. Basically, you can F-up your party REALLY quickly with some of those nasties.

Maybe, the entranceway is accessible, and then while they're in it, the room with the pool in it floods as the tide rises (the pool is actually connected via an underground tunnel to the ocean).

Basically, as they explore, have the dungeon fill up (give them plenty of clues, the rooms reak of saltwater, the stone is really badly corroded and wet, etc.). If it fills up quickly enough, you can trap them and drown them all if you really want to. The room in the bottom left has a shaft which leads up. Too bad it's the home of a Beholder....

 

[punkorange]

I like some of your ideas. Why would the group be motivated to go to the cave in the first place though?