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GuJiaXian
Sergeant
652 Posts
    
Roswell, GA
 | | 06/15/2007 7:50 AM |
| I have a specific situation that'd I'd like to get some feedback on as soon as possible. Note: this thread may contain Shackled City spoilers.
As indicated above, I'm running the Shackled City adventure path. The party has just met Crazy Jared (in the chapter Zenith Trajectory) and followed his directions to the Pit of Seven Jaws (an admittedly vague clue that went right over the party's heads). The party began the descent down the ramps into the Pit, and when they were 15 feet from the bottom (and largely clumped together), our friendly neighborhood seven-headed cryohydra unloaded with all seven breath weapons (DC 19 for half, 3d6 damage each) in a surprise round.
The party is 6th level, and certainly had both the hit points and saves to deal with this, even if it left them weakened. Unfortunately, they hadn't completely healed up after their last encounter (with the young red dragon at Crazy Jared's hut). The party's druid took 36 points of cold damage from the various breath weapons and was instantly reduced to -10 hit points, killing him.
Okay, character deaths are nothing new, nor are they anything worth worrying about. It's part of the game, and the player is fine with that. The problem is that the party is out in the middle of nowhere, two-days' hard ride from the nearest civilization, on a time-sensative mission (or so they think, but that's another story). Here's the issue: looking at how this party runs the various dungeons so far in the campaign, I estimate that they'll need three or four sessions before making it back to civilization. The cleric is sixth level, and therefore doesn't have access to raise dead. The wizard likewise isn't high enough for teleport. So, how do I pull this player back into the action?
I spoke with the player after the session and he's interested in playing this druid, not rerolling some other character that might turn up in the Underdark in some fashion. The druid was practically flash-frozen by the cryohydra, and the cleric cast gentle repose on him, so the body is safe. I thought about e-mailing the player with a "one-on-one" deal that describes some powerful evil force offering to ressurect him in exchange for some service (perhaps a gaes/quest spell), but my mind is drawing blanks on creative details.
So, I really don't want this player to have to sit out any more than absolutely necessary. On the other hand, this is only the campaign's second death, and I want it to mean something. Having the party loot a scroll of raise dead from their first combat next session is just too easy. Any ideas?
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"Clearly a case of too many hunchbacks and not enough mad scientists..." | |
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thekidxii
Sergeant
418 Posts
No Yack. I said.. we need a DM not BM!
| | 06/15/2007 8:02 AM |
| I like your deal w/ the devil idea... make sure he/she can not reveal (or perhaps remember) what happened...
could make for some interesting role playing!
-kid | |
Champion of the dire hippo.
Audi Vide Tace
"Nothing matters but the weekend, From a Tuesday point of view" -Diamond & Zero | |
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GuJiaXian
Sergeant
652 Posts
Roswell, GA
| | 06/15/2007 8:07 AM |
| Yeah, I'm just trying to figure out exactly what the deal would be, and who the demon/devil/BBEG in question might be. Adimarchus (the ultimate villain from the Shackled City campaign) kind of makes sense, though he's completely insane and probably not in the right mindset to be resurrecting people and giving them tasks.
Since this is a more-or-less generic Greyhawk campaign, perhaps it could be someone fun like Orcus. A chaotic good druid forced to work for Orcus...there's possibilities there... | |
"Clearly a case of too many hunchbacks and not enough mad scientists..." | |
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nyjastul69
Commander
2710 Posts
Rhode Island
| | 06/15/2007 9:59 AM |
| | You could have them come across a scroll of raise dead as treasure. | |
You know, I keep thinking that after the new design team gets done with D&D 4e, D&D won't stand for Dungeons and Dragons anymore, because well, that's just not fun. It's old and stuffy. - Originally Posted by BabWryter on Kenzerco.com | |
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GuJiaXian
Sergeant
652 Posts
Roswell, GA
| | 06/15/2007 10:01 AM |
| Posted By nyjastul69 on 06/15/2007 9:59 AM
You could have them come across a scroll of raise dead as treasure. I thought about that, but it just seems too easy/convenient.
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"Clearly a case of too many hunchbacks and not enough mad scientists..." | |
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nyjastul69
Commander
2710 Posts
Rhode Island
| | 06/15/2007 10:04 AM |
| | Do you have Ghostwalk? | |
You know, I keep thinking that after the new design team gets done with D&D 4e, D&D won't stand for Dungeons and Dragons anymore, because well, that's just not fun. It's old and stuffy. - Originally Posted by BabWryter on Kenzerco.com | |
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GuJiaXian
Sergeant
652 Posts
Roswell, GA
| | 06/15/2007 10:25 AM |
| | I don't have Ghostwalk, unfortunately. I think I'm going to have him "resurrected" by Orcus, who will task him (via a gaes spell) to send other souls down to him in exchange for his own soul. That should make for some interesting roleplaying! | |
"Clearly a case of too many hunchbacks and not enough mad scientists..." | |
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dagonet
Sergeant
442 Posts
| | 06/15/2007 11:50 AM |
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Posted By GuJiaXian on 06/15/2007 8:07 AM
Yeah, I'm just trying to
figure out exactly what the deal would be, and who the demon/devil/BBEG
in question might be. Adimarchus (the ultimate villain from the
Shackled City campaign) kind of makes sense, though he's completely
insane and probably not in the right mindset to be resurrecting people
and giving them tasks.
Since this is a more-or-less generic
Greyhawk campaign, perhaps it could be someone fun like Orcus. A
chaotic good druid forced to work for Orcus...there's possibilities
there...
Heya GuJiaXian,
I very much like the Adimarchus angle, although I
agree that he's probably not in the best position to offer concrete
assistance to a dead character. How about this: one of
Adimarchus' few remaining lieutenants (unspecified fallen celestial)
revives the Druid, asking nothing in return. The Druid actually
acquires a Carcerian Brand (I don't think this is the right term), and
has to fend off intermittent Cagewright kidnapping attempts for the
rest of the campaign.
Cheers,
Dagonet
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"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people."
Champion of Kyuss and his Servants of Squishy Doom | |
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GuJiaXian
Sergeant
652 Posts
Roswell, GA
| | 06/15/2007 11:55 AM |
| Only one problem with that: one other character has already been "kidnapped" by Orbius/Vhalantru (the player had to move out-of-state, and this was a fun way to eliminate his character). Also, the party has witnessed two of the kidnappings, and both were performed by Vhalantru himself. I just can't see the druid managing to fight off a rather focused beholder at this point.
That said, I really like the idea. If the campaign had turned out slightly differently, I'd probably take your idea and run with it. | |
"Clearly a case of too many hunchbacks and not enough mad scientists..." | |
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gss_000
Commander
3204 Posts
Baltimore, MD
| | 06/17/2007 4:28 PM |
| | What about letting the charcter play a temporary PC until you get back to town, like a prisoner, a random encounter, etc? That way, the player can play but you don't have to fudge the encounter while away from civilization. When you get back, if the player wants to continue with the duid, the new PC can just go on his way in a non forced way. | |
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zenthrus
Commander
4913 Posts
SLC, UT
| | 06/17/2007 10:15 PM |
| | Whatever you do, don't let the player roll your monster dice for you. I had a PC roll the monster attacks/damage after his character died. The two orcs (Private Fu and Sergeant Wang) the party ran into next basically TPKed due to the player with the dead character rolling between 18 and 20 on every attack for two rounds straight (no spindown dice, either). | |
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GuJiaXian
Sergeant
652 Posts
Roswell, GA
| | 06/18/2007 8:46 AM |
| | Heh, no, the player accepted the "gaes from Orcus" idea. He is now officially alive, with a new mission in life to supply Orcus with tasty PC souls. Well, that's assuming he actually follows the gaes; otherwise, he gets to wither away until the other players catch on and do something about the situation. | |
"Clearly a case of too many hunchbacks and not enough mad scientists..." | |
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