need suggestions for a paladin-related side quest

[spongebob1138]

So, I'm running Hoard of the Dragon Queen, and the paladin in the party has as part of his backstory that he is a protege of the NPC Ontharr Frume, a paladin of Torm. Since the PC's are supposed to travel north to Elturel to see Ontharr, I thought it would be fitting and cool to have some sort of side adventure related to the paladin PC taking his final vows/oaths. It seemed like an interesting way to incorporate the paladin's leveling up into the fabric of the story.

One idea I had was related to the medieval practice of a would-be-knight performing an all-night prayer vigil in a church before being knighted. I thought that in order for the paladin to fully come into his oath powers, he would have to spend this evening in prayer without being interrupted, and his PC companions were in charge of standing watch outside the chapel to ensure he wouldn't be disturbed. The wrinkle would be that some evil force was sending something(s) to disrupt the vigil, thus messing up the taking of the paladin oaths by the pc (and maybe some other npc paladins also taking their oaths as part of the same vigil).

How does that concept sound? Stupid? Groovy? Any suggestions on the nature of the evil force? A necromancer sending some undead was my first thought.

Appreciate any suggestions. Not trying to be a lazy DM here, just kind of mentally tired and could use an assist.

 

[Herobizkit]

That's actually a pretty snazzy idea. I say run with it.

I don't know if Bane is still alive in your setting, but some good old-fashioned cultists might be called for. Perhaps a travelling caravan sets up camp nearby and only a handful of the people are actual cultists, forcing the PC's to split the party (someone has to watch the Paladin) and suss them out.

Depending on the vow he's going for, maybe a "Dark Druid" using animal skeletons would be a nice change from your standard fare.

Make sure the other PC's have to sweat. If the Paladin abandons his vigil to help his friends, would there be any repercussions?

Maybe some Fear-causing things... ooo how about baddies using some hallucinogenic poison?

 

[Quickleaf]

[MENTION=6795430]spongebob1138[/MENTION]
While narratively I love what you're going for, practically at the table that sounds like it would leave the paladin PC out of the fun. Unless your paladin player loves puzzles and you've got a killer puzzle prepared representing what they must do during the vigil, or something like that.

I've used moral dilemmas as paladin tests in past games. For Torm these could be things like...

Obedience/Loyalty vs. Taking the Initiative

Absolute Truth vs. Subjective Truth

Seemingly Conflicting Duties