ThoughtBubble
First Post
(contact) said:
While we're at it, Anon's has HAD to have been causing trouble, right? Right? How long has he been off camera?
Poor dead subplots.
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The Liberation of Tenh Plot Thread
- Thread starter (contact)
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While we're at it, Anon's has HAD to have been causing trouble, right? Right? How long has he been off camera?
Poor dead subplots.
(contact)
Explorer
Anon is not the cause trouble type. He hero worships Tritherion's Liberator, and would never dare step in. Of course, Pris assured him that she wasn't involved with Heydricus when she . . . became undesireable to unicorns.
Now, inserting Anon isn't really any good until H and Pris confirm that they've finally . . . become even less likely candidates for sacrifice, and they have both been super cagey so far.
Now, inserting Anon isn't really any good until H and Pris confirm that they've finally . . . become even less likely candidates for sacrifice, and they have both been super cagey so far.
Hey (contact), I know you are asking for Boneheart members to be stated up, but is there any need for some of the other "things" lurking in their dungeons to be created? Like say an advanced half-fiendish Nightmare Beast pet of one of the Boneheart? Or maybe it could serve as a mount to some undead champion to Iuz, since the undead wouldn't be bothered by it's nightmare ability.
(contact)
Explorer
Absolutely. Breeng it awn.
Keep in mind that the Liberators are a big band of characters ranging from 16-20th level. They should level one to three times in this dungeon, unless they absolutely hate it. So a CR 16 anything is going to be sword-fodder. A really tough fight for them should probably be CR 21-23.
I also really appreciate the "set-up" ideas, like the Bodak room, or some of the other fiendish death traps that lie in wait within Iuz' home because . . . uh . . . because . . . THEY CAN!
Keep in mind that the Liberators are a big band of characters ranging from 16-20th level. They should level one to three times in this dungeon, unless they absolutely hate it. So a CR 16 anything is going to be sword-fodder. A really tough fight for them should probably be CR 21-23.
I also really appreciate the "set-up" ideas, like the Bodak room, or some of the other fiendish death traps that lie in wait within Iuz' home because . . . uh . . . because . . . THEY CAN!
Capellan
Explorer
Have you considered a cloaker monk? Or a gnomish necromancer? One can never have enough gnomish necromancers. Plus, there are a very satisfying number of 'no saving throw' spells in that particular school 
Also, I think you need to include a century worm, if only for the poetic justice of Heydricus being attacked by creature that looks like an enormous male organ.
CR16 is sword-fodder? Methinks poor old Marynnek and Jumper won't last too long, then ...
Also, I think you need to include a century worm, if only for the poetic justice of Heydricus being attacked by creature that looks like an enormous male organ.
CR16 is sword-fodder? Methinks poor old Marynnek and Jumper won't last too long, then ...
Elder-Basilisk
First Post
Here's another thought for a situation:
A locked etherstone (stone fully present on both the material and ethereal plane and thus not susceptible to blink, etc) chest in a treasure room. It is, of course, trapped. (DC 34 search/Disable Mordenkeinen's Disjunction trap). Inside is a very attractive looking widget. Perhaps something that looks like a robe of the archmagi or a +5 subtle dagger of venom--something very tempting. Of course, the inside is also trapped (again DC 34 search/disable trap; this time, however, it's a Meteor Swarm/Power Word (up to four targets in all of whom must be in the room kill trap. The meteor swarm goes off first, of course).
Alternatively, you could have the liberators stumble into a breeding ground for Iuz's undead minions. The Liberators open a door. Inside, it is dark and there are nothing but bodies covering the floor in various states of decay. They all look like they died a horrible death. Stepping in (because dead bodies often hold loot), the liberators discover that this is where Iuz pitches prisoners he has no more use for. They are slain by some kind of (preferably high HD incorporeal stat or level draining) undead creature that creates spawn. Whenever Iuz's priests need a few undead minions for a scheme, they cast Death Ward, go in there, command a few of the undead and leave. Whenever the stock runs low, they toss in a few prisoners or failed minions.
Of course, this is where the trick comes in. Whoever was in here last used an anti-magic shell causing all of the undead to wink out of existence. When the PCs enter the shell, it fails and all of the undead pop back into existence surrounding them. Alternatively, you could have a villain in here apparently waiting for the liberators to kill the S--- out of him in his anti-magic field. When the liberators close to melee with him, he dismisses the anti-magic field and all of his undead hordes pop into existence around the liberators. And, to add insult to injury, after dismissing the anti-magic field, he uses a quickened dimension door to escape. Bonus points if it's not even really him but just a projected image or simacrulum. Double bonus points if he cast mass resist energy on the undead before hiding them and is standing next to a brazier of fire. After dropping the anti-magic shell, he drops (free action) the entirely unused necklace of fireballs that he has in his hand into the brazier and dimension doors away before it lands and all of the beads detonate. For the triple bonus score, he could have developed a special heightened, energy admixed necklace of fireballs that does more damage and does damage in different energy types. And you hit the jackpot if he's used Imbue with Spell Ability to give his familiar the ability to cast Greater Dispelling and handed a metamagic rod of chain spell to his familiar.
So the whole sequence goes like this: Liberators move into the room to kill the villain. Villain dismisses the anti-magic field, the undead pop into view surrounding the liberators, then his familiar targets the liberators with a chained greater dispelling hitting each of the liberators AND each of their obviously magic items, then his familiar hits one of the Liberators (probably Heydricus) with a quickened ray of exhaustion, then he drops the necklace and quickened dimension door's away (sharing the spell with his familiar) then the necklace lands and all the fireballs explode.
Ouch!
A locked etherstone (stone fully present on both the material and ethereal plane and thus not susceptible to blink, etc) chest in a treasure room. It is, of course, trapped. (DC 34 search/Disable Mordenkeinen's Disjunction trap). Inside is a very attractive looking widget. Perhaps something that looks like a robe of the archmagi or a +5 subtle dagger of venom--something very tempting. Of course, the inside is also trapped (again DC 34 search/disable trap; this time, however, it's a Meteor Swarm/Power Word (up to four targets in all of whom must be in the room kill trap. The meteor swarm goes off first, of course).
Alternatively, you could have the liberators stumble into a breeding ground for Iuz's undead minions. The Liberators open a door. Inside, it is dark and there are nothing but bodies covering the floor in various states of decay. They all look like they died a horrible death. Stepping in (because dead bodies often hold loot), the liberators discover that this is where Iuz pitches prisoners he has no more use for. They are slain by some kind of (preferably high HD incorporeal stat or level draining) undead creature that creates spawn. Whenever Iuz's priests need a few undead minions for a scheme, they cast Death Ward, go in there, command a few of the undead and leave. Whenever the stock runs low, they toss in a few prisoners or failed minions.
Of course, this is where the trick comes in. Whoever was in here last used an anti-magic shell causing all of the undead to wink out of existence. When the PCs enter the shell, it fails and all of the undead pop back into existence surrounding them. Alternatively, you could have a villain in here apparently waiting for the liberators to kill the S--- out of him in his anti-magic field. When the liberators close to melee with him, he dismisses the anti-magic field and all of his undead hordes pop into existence around the liberators. And, to add insult to injury, after dismissing the anti-magic field, he uses a quickened dimension door to escape. Bonus points if it's not even really him but just a projected image or simacrulum. Double bonus points if he cast mass resist energy on the undead before hiding them and is standing next to a brazier of fire. After dropping the anti-magic shell, he drops (free action) the entirely unused necklace of fireballs that he has in his hand into the brazier and dimension doors away before it lands and all of the beads detonate. For the triple bonus score, he could have developed a special heightened, energy admixed necklace of fireballs that does more damage and does damage in different energy types. And you hit the jackpot if he's used Imbue with Spell Ability to give his familiar the ability to cast Greater Dispelling and handed a metamagic rod of chain spell to his familiar.
So the whole sequence goes like this: Liberators move into the room to kill the villain. Villain dismisses the anti-magic field, the undead pop into view surrounding the liberators, then his familiar targets the liberators with a chained greater dispelling hitting each of the liberators AND each of their obviously magic items, then his familiar hits one of the Liberators (probably Heydricus) with a quickened ray of exhaustion, then he drops the necklace and quickened dimension door's away (sharing the spell with his familiar) then the necklace lands and all the fireballs explode.
Ouch!
(contact)
Explorer
Vargo said:I just have to say that is possibly one of the most munchkin, disgusting, outright gross cases of rules abuse I have seen in some time on this board.
I LOVE IT!
It is truly a thing of dark and majestic beauty. My evil DM glands are salivating. This is going to be a lot of fun-- a classic "old school" dungeon.
But what is the lynchpin motivation?
A) Rescuing the celestial emotes
B) Preventing Iuz from reforming
B-a) Why has Iuz sundered?
B-b) How do they hope to put him together again?
Elder-Basilisk
First Post
Why not all of the above?
B-a: Iuz has sundered because one of his enemies cast some kind of a shattersoul epic spell on him. Maybe this foe died due to the backlash but had the foresight to create a clone. (Or maybe not--some foes could probably figure a way to absorb the backlash or use magic items to fuel the spell or something that would A. succeed and B. not kill them. However, cranking up the backlash to absorb all of the DC modifiers to make sure that the spell works on a deity and relying upon a clone to "survive" is probably the simplest way). What he does next will depend upon why he did it.
Perhaps he shattered Iuz so he could take his place. He figured, let the boneheart fight over the pieces of the Iuzian pie until they're sufficiently weakened then move in.
Perhaps he shattered Iuz because he has plans on ascending to deity and needs Iuz's divine essense to do it. Maybe he's sending his own minions to collect the pieces of Iuz. Or maybe his plan is more subtle. Perhaps, he has mixed his own mind with the essence of Iuz so that when Iuz is glued back together, it's really him. Or maybe, like evil villains often do, he can forsee everything that is going to happen and he knows that, when Iuz reforms, the liberators will just kill him. . . and that's his plan. He's sown enough chaos for the liberators to win and, when that happens, Iuz's essence will be sucked back into him, making him a god. (Or a bigger one than he is already if you decide Vecna is the one behind it--IIRC, he doesn't like Iuz much).
Anyway, such a villain might present a future foe for the campaign's continuation once the liberators kill the s--- out of Iuz.
But as for B-b, of course the Iuzian's plan to put Iuz back together through some horrid and vile ritual that involves sacrificing or perverting the celestial emotes.
That way, A-a and A-b are the same thing. Rescuing the emotes is preventing Iuz from being put back together and vise versa.
B-a: Iuz has sundered because one of his enemies cast some kind of a shattersoul epic spell on him. Maybe this foe died due to the backlash but had the foresight to create a clone. (Or maybe not--some foes could probably figure a way to absorb the backlash or use magic items to fuel the spell or something that would A. succeed and B. not kill them. However, cranking up the backlash to absorb all of the DC modifiers to make sure that the spell works on a deity and relying upon a clone to "survive" is probably the simplest way). What he does next will depend upon why he did it.
Perhaps he shattered Iuz so he could take his place. He figured, let the boneheart fight over the pieces of the Iuzian pie until they're sufficiently weakened then move in.
Perhaps he shattered Iuz because he has plans on ascending to deity and needs Iuz's divine essense to do it. Maybe he's sending his own minions to collect the pieces of Iuz. Or maybe his plan is more subtle. Perhaps, he has mixed his own mind with the essence of Iuz so that when Iuz is glued back together, it's really him. Or maybe, like evil villains often do, he can forsee everything that is going to happen and he knows that, when Iuz reforms, the liberators will just kill him. . . and that's his plan. He's sown enough chaos for the liberators to win and, when that happens, Iuz's essence will be sucked back into him, making him a god. (Or a bigger one than he is already if you decide Vecna is the one behind it--IIRC, he doesn't like Iuz much).
Anyway, such a villain might present a future foe for the campaign's continuation once the liberators kill the s--- out of Iuz.
But as for B-b, of course the Iuzian's plan to put Iuz back together through some horrid and vile ritual that involves sacrificing or perverting the celestial emotes.
That way, A-a and A-b are the same thing. Rescuing the emotes is preventing Iuz from being put back together and vise versa.
(contact) said:
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