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View Full Version : (3.X) What extraplanar attention should I send after a party of 4 evil NPCs



Rising Phoenix
2009-01-05, 11:37 PM
Hello all,

Just a bit dry for future extraplanar encounters to send after my party which is composed of:

A CE male half-elf 3rd lv Fighter (Archer)/1st lv Cleric (kills anything that annoys him, cool and inteligent, so far the only character with common sense. The 'leader' of the party)
A LE 'largely' female human lv 4 Hexblade (behaves like a prostitute and is 15 years old, 18 STR and 17 Cha, but 7 Wis XD)
A CE female human lv 4 Sorceres (Insane and crazy, licks her toad familiar that can perform sharades (sp?))
A CN female human lv 3 Factotum (Personality yet to be determined, but so far has largely behaved as a con artist)

The campaign in taking place in a homebrew world in which the PCs have managed to do the following evil acts:

i) Bully a naive 14 yo boy making him eat zombie eyes and guts, then they shoved him dowm a lutrine before using him as a club to bash open a chest. When they took the boy back to his father (who's the local leader of the Trail Seekers, an organisation of rangers and druids) they bluffed the entire group into thinking that they actually saved the boy
ii) They dumped a member of the said trail seekers in the lutrine and left him there to die... (he was rescued by NPCs later on so the Trail Seekers know what the PCs did now)
iii) They formed an alliance with a female necromancer and defiled the local swamp by weakening its guardian spirit. This has angered the spirits who now treat them as 'traitors to all things living'. Birds, Felines and Wolves don't like them now. (The forests are inhabited by 'Forest Gods' similar to those found in the anime movie Princess Mononoke)
iv) They found the daughter of a wealthy merchant imprisoned in the swamp. They tortured her, forced her to kill her servant and then cut of her hands and tongue so that she couldn't tell her father what they did to her. They then bluffed (Sorceress and Hex Blade have insane bluff modifiers) the father into thinking that a demon did this to his daughter. He sent them after the said 'demon'. The PCs killed a random demon and returned with its head to reap the reward.
v) They burnt down the local thieve's guild hideaway. The thieve's guild's after them now...
vi) Are on a mission with the Necromancer to recruit allies and find bodies for the necros plan. They've done this with poor results.

(Thus I have pleanty of 'material plane' hooks, but few extraplanar ones)

-Some notes on the campaign world:

Only humans populate it (The Half-Elf is the only exception to this, his treated like a human).

Heaven is one layer as is Hell and the demons and angels populating each layer were formely humans that took their beliefs to extreemes resulting in their transformation. 'Ordinary' souls are generarly 'recycled' into other lifeforms after spending some time in the afterlife. Inevitables and guardinals currently don't exist in my concept as I don't like them.

-And finally some notes on my future grand scale plans for the world

Currently a god has been born on the material plane to mortal parents. The child has yet to realise this, but he is aware of his ability to command spirits to his bidding. Thus his travelling to an area near the PCs in order to find a mentor. Now many a powerful mortal, angels, demons and all the gods have taken note of the four new stars in the sky signaling the divine birth and many (obviously) want that power for themselves (inlcuding the NPC necro with which the PCs are working with). This will trigger a cascade of major events that will change the world.
I plan to have the necro send the PCs (them not knowing that the target has the potential to become a god) after this godling (and his mortal and not so mortal friends) soon (3 sessions?).

-----------

I have though of having an Erinyess or something similar appear and offer then non LE PCs a contract for their souls, but I would like something a bit more different. They will be definately encountering furious Angels (and Paladins) in the future. Of course if the PCs don't repent for their actions they are defo going to 'Hell'.

Thanks for reading and thanks for your ideas as well! :smallsmile:

R.P.

MammonAzrael
2009-01-06, 12:09 AM
Depends on how challenging you want the encounter to be, if the extraplanar creature should be recuring, kick-ass, or mook level, and if you want them to encounter it right away.

Sticking with the SRD (I'm afb):

Hound Archons (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/archon.htm#houndArchon) are a CR 4 creature and could work well. A group of them should prove quite a challenge.
Bralani (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/bralani.htm) could work at CR 6, so even 1 would pose a decent threat.
Celestial Template (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/celestialCreature.htm) or Half-Celestial Template (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/halfCelestial.htm) could be tacked onto something for an extraplanar feel/encounter.
Lillend (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/lillend.htm) could be getting deadly at CR 7. Though it might be markedly strange.


I hope those help!

Grail
2009-01-06, 12:10 AM
The "evil" acts are a little puerile and smack of players not fully understanding how to be truly evil. As such, I couldn't see celestials coming after them, but good adventurers might - especially Paladins and Clerics.

MammonAzrael
2009-01-06, 12:15 AM
The "evil" acts are a little puerile and smack of players not fully understanding how to be truly evil. As such, I couldn't see celestials coming after them, but good adventurers might - especially Paladins and Clerics.

I thought of that too, but remember that the Celestials in his universe became celestials because they were humans that went extreme in their beliefs. So I figure some of those could be Paladins and Clerics that "evolved."

Unfortunately, they're far too low to start running into official angels (unless the were toned down)

Grail
2009-01-06, 12:20 AM
I thought of that too, but remember that the Celestials in his universe became celestials because they were humans that went extreme in their beliefs. So I figure some of those could be Paladins and Clerics that "evolved."

Unfortunately, they're far too low to start running into official angels (unless the were toned down)

True, except that i still think the acts are too lowbrow for even evolved human celestials to care about. Now, if the evil acts were consorting with fiends and helping out an evil cult instead of pushing people into toilets and cutting them up for ****s and giggles, then i could easily see celestials taking note of it.

Even if he would like celestials getting involved, i would still start with mortals first and then up the ante after the mortals fail.

Belteshazzar
2009-01-06, 12:50 AM
Try a pixie or lantern archon swarm. The pixie swarm is more embarrassing and the servants of fae are far more likely to exact terribly horrific retributions (like stealing teath, fingers, or eyes) than the methodical 'purge, burn, cleanse' methods of the archons.

chiasaur11
2009-01-06, 01:30 AM
Miko like Paladins.

They're petty, they get a guy who finds Mattress tag removal a big deal.

Rising Phoenix
2009-01-06, 02:02 AM
Thanks for all your replies so far. I especially like the Pixie idea...:smallamused: I suppose the AL of the pixies should be CN, no?

But I cannot believe that I forgot to mention that one of the x-party members helped release something akin to a demon prince by giving birth to it while the others accepted the blessing of the newly born prince. (I know that this may sound ridiculous at such a low level, but hey it was a fun session)

Also one of them has acquired a 'pet' baby imp...

Does that change the picture a bit?

Cheers!

R.P.

[Merged]


True, except that i still think the acts are too lowbrow for even evolved human celestials to care about. Now, if the evil acts were consorting with fiends and helping out an evil cult instead of pushing people into toilets and cutting them up for ****s and giggles, then i could easily see celestials taking note of it.

True,

It's a fact that I try to be serious while my players characters are anything, but that. See, however, my previous post.


Even if he would like celestials getting involved, i would still start with mortals first and then up the ante after the mortals fail.

That's the plan for now. :) Just thinking ahead :smallamused:

Thanks for your time,

R.P.

Grail
2009-01-06, 02:38 AM
Ok, if your celestials are merely evolved humans who have chosen that path, why not just give them the Saint template? Or the Celestial or half-celestial? Don't have generic celestial monsters, but make them appear to be mortals with a touch of divinity. It will be a bit more work on your behalf, but will probably be more rewarding in the end.

And at the same time, you can do a similar thing with the demons, giving them fiendish or half-fiend templates. This will give your heaven and hell a more unique flavour than just being a rehash of traditional dnd stuff.

Prometheus
2009-01-06, 01:35 PM
Have a devil come and start giving them orders, in addition to ridiculing their past actions as wasteful and childish. If they follow, put them on a collision course with celestials. If you turn against him (which they probably will), have them either employed by demons or hunted by devils.

Rising Phoenix
2009-01-07, 10:24 PM
Thanks for all the views and replies so far. You guys are great. :)

@Prometheus. I've recently acquired both Fiendish Codexes and what you suggest would work very well. Am already thinking of how to involve the fiend the released a while back. Thanks

@ Grail: That's what I did once and it worked great, but, as you said it takes time and that will be a problem in the near future. Those monsters suggested by Mammon should work on the fly, so thanks to both of you.

Cheers

R.P.

RebelRogue
2009-01-08, 12:37 AM
The "evil" acts are a little puerile and smack of players not fully understanding how to be truly evil. As such, I couldn't see celestials coming after them, but good adventurers might - especially Paladins and Clerics.
The actions are plenty evil. But it's pointless, stupid evil with no subtlety (sounds like a result of immature players). However, this is exactly the thing good NPCs would track down because, well... it's easy to track! So I guess my money is on paladin-type characters or bounty hunters.