Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="LostSoul" data-source="post: 6154209" data-attributes="member: 386">I am running this game - I just finished a session tonight (though it was a side-quest - the PCs found themselves with some extra time on their hands).  Their method was to infiltrate the temple and turn everyone against each other.My set-up is a little different from the module:[sblock]I made a thread about it... let me find it.  <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?328058-Return-to-the-Temple-of-Elemental-Evil" target="_blank">Here it is.</a>  Basically I wanted to actually have a time-line instead of the NPC's plots advancing by trigger points in the module as a computer game would do it so that the players would have multiple options and their choices would matter.In this set-up the Temples in the CRM are there to provide sacrifices for the Triad who use it to create the Orb of Silver Death (I changed the Orb of Oblivion to the Bringer of Doom and placed it in the Dry Steppes; most of the Doomdreamers are out there looking for it).  With those artefacts, the Temple can call down another Invoked Devastation.Naquent visits each Temple at the end of the week to pick up their foul work - the Incense of Dreaming, which she takes to Hedrack, who drops it off with the Triad in the Black Spike.  She deals with the payroll, paying the temples, their mercenaries, and the slavers who are out roaming the countryside looking for victims (and dropping them off in Rastor).  The Slavers of Suderham (from A1-4) are also working for the Temple.They were getting their money from a Nalfeshnee that Hedrack would Bind every month and Wish for 25,000 GP.  (You can only Bind something if you know its "True Name" so things don't get crazy; Hedrack has it.  That was one option for the players - find its name, kill it, disrupt the Temple that way.)[/sblock]Anyway.  That's how it's different.  The players in my game decided to infiltrate the Temple; this is how it worked out:The PCs were able to gather information from Dunrat - they got him Dominated by enlisting the help of Burne in Hommlet - and they discovered the Temple's plans.  They knew about Naquent's role in the Temple, so their plan was to free some sacrificial victims from their captivity in Rastor and pin the blame on her.They were able to bluff their way into the various temples, who are all warring with each other (Chaotic Evil isn't very organized).  They ended up battling the Water Temple; Tessimon was able to Scry on them, and she contacted them for aid.  Together they took out the Water Temple.When the PCs told Tessimon about Naquent's "betrayal", Tessimon saw it as an opportunity to advance her position in the Temple's hierarchy.  Together they killed Naquent, and then the PCs turned on Tessimon, killing her.This drew the attention of Hedrack.  They successfully bluffed their way past him, but not before he split them up.  He forced one of the PCs to become his new apprentice (and she took one of the other PCs along as her "slave").  They passed their test with Satau, then killed Hedrack in an epic battle.  One of the PCs (Xoad, who became a PC) donned a hat of disguise and passed himself off as Hedrack.That's pretty much where we are right now, with only the Triad and the Doomdreamers left.  The PCs are between 9th and 11th level.  (Their next plan - after they finish some side-quests - is to grab the Talisman of Ultimate Good and use it to destroy Lareth the Beautiful.)One issue with this approach is that the PCs aren't going to gain much XP - they're better off killing everything in a massive room-to-room grind.  If you look at my thread you can see how I dealt with that - by giving the PCs bonus XP whenever they did something that would slow down the Temple's plans.</blockquote>

Verification