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Message: <blockquote data-quote="StreamOfTheSky" data-source="post: 4477810" data-attributes="member: 35909">First off, sorry if this is the wrong forum, wasn't sure if it should be in Plots and Places.I need help.  In real life, I'm not that uh...religious.  And now I'm running a group where half the party of four are divine casters or the same god, and a third PC is one of their converts, with the major plot based around their god.  I have no experience with religious ceremonies in game, either.Background:[sblock]Their god, according to his dogma, was the primary creator of the material plane out of shadow stuff (being the god of shadows).  However, the other gods then turned on him out of fear of his power and ambition, sealing him inside his fortress on the plane of shadow when they were unable to outright kill him.  The party's ultimate goal is to free him and help bring about the end of the world, so he can "start over."  Party has a cleric and favored soul devoted to him, one character was converted to the faith, and a fourth worships a god of murder and lies, who I'm making an ally of the others' god.  All evil party, if it wasn't clear.[/sblock]The first session involved waylaying a procession bringing a special holy symbol to a large temple of Pelor for an annual ceremony.  On the wish of their deity, the party succeeded in slaying the guards and taking the symbol, as well as capturing the priest transporting it alive. The next step involves using the situation to get an "invite" -- the two humans likely posing as survivors of the attack, devotedly finishing their mission to bring the symbol, one member posing as the one who found them near-death, and the other simply sneaking his way in.I don't know what exactly to have happen at this ceremony, or what its significance should be.  I know a few baselines to cover, though.  The major part of the ceremony must be closed to the public -- hence the need for playing this charade to get in.  The ceremony should have an important "official" function in addition to, unknown to almost everybody in the general populace which are ignorant of the "true" creation story, having a role in maintaining the seal.  I figure this will be part one of a many layered effort to peel away its power.  That said, stopping the ceremony can't be enough.  If it were, it'd be pretty easy to accomplish, just run away with the holy symbol.  No, in order to accomplish their mission, I want them to have to actually (and in subtle ways, to avoid being revealed for who they are and facing certain death) ruin every single portion of the ceremony, instead of just preventing it from happening.  My reasoning is that if it doesn't happen, the seal is only weakened, it'd take several missed ceremonies in a row to wear it away.  So instead, they really have to mess things up.So...any ideas?  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />It's ok if their true intentions are discovered towards the end, then I suppose they could have an escape plan set up.  But not before they finish the job.Party make-up, if it helps (gestalt game, level 4):[sblock]Whisper Gnome Cloistered Cleric / Ninja (homebrew, ToB stuff added) - Sneaky, good at scouting, spontaneous Illusion domain castingHuman Bard / Gladiator (homebrew beefed up Fighter, limited ToB maneuvers, light armor, fights better around allies) - party face, tactician, and has deadly charges.Human Rogue / Swordsage - good sneak, terrible senses, party's "striker"Half-Giant Favored Soul / "Martial" Hexblade (basically maneuvers instead of spells) - Some social skills, very good at tripping and setting sun throws w/ a whip[/sblock]</blockquote>

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