ondonaflash
2009-10-04, 06:36 PM
So I'm actually fishing around for adventure hooks, but I thought I might make use of the juicy think-tank that is GitP Forums for ideas. (Any resemblance to a popular Dungeon Crawling PC Game is strictly intentional)
Spoilered 'cause its a full length adventure description.
So the opening adventure has the party exploring an Ancient Library, which originally served as a repository for magical knowledge.
About 100 years ago the Mages up and abandoned the place, very suddenly, and since then it has remained curiously uninhabited. recently the people of the nearest township spotted two necromancers entering the library and since then skeletons have been seen roaming the forest. The party has been asked to displace the necromancers, but have been given free license as far as methods.
Of course, there's a catch. The Mages didn't build the Library, they found it and made it theirs. Originally the Library belonged to a Monastic Order who used it to store the vast knowledge they gathered over the years and to inter their dead in the catacombs beneath. Eventually the Order faded into obscurity and their Library was left abandoned.
The Mages were attracted to the valuable and ancient lore that the Monks had left behind, and began to add their own knowledge. Eventually their arcane fiddlings attracted the attention of a malevolent entity, (The titular devil) who, well not fully on this plane, managed to raise a loyal minion from the corpses of the ancient monks. A mighty and terrifying Skeleton, called the Skeleton King. The Skeleton King was eight feet tall, and wielded a sword that hissed with unlife, and commanded 20 skeletal archers. The wizards fled before him, and abandoned the Library, this was about 80 years ago.
Fortunately there were limits to both his and his master's power, and the Skeleton King could not leave the Library, nor could he raise any further minions. He fell into stasis, from which he has recently been awakened.
He was still trapped in the Catacombs of the Ancient Library until two necromancers appeared on his doorstep, drawn in by the promise of forbidden knowledge. He set his skeletons on them, and forced them to serve him, raising more skeletal minions for him to lead into battle, and forcing them to find some way to break the magic binding him to the Library.
When the party arrives they find the Necromancers near death, having been pushed to the point of exhaustion by the skeletons, who force them to constantly research a method of breaking their bindings, and summon more skeletons, draining them of magic power. When the party fights the Skeleton King he references his Master's presence as being the source of his awakening.
When the party returns to the village to collect their reward it is on fire, filled with all manner of lesser devils and other kinds of hellspawn. The conclusion the party should be led to is that while they were dealing with the Minion, the Big Bad sacked the town and left it in ruins. (I also intend to strongly hint that the Devil was disguised as a townsperson, and is traveling incognito)
The Devil is powerful, the lesser hellspawn were not actively created by him, but were a side effect of his presence, he leaves a trail of catastrophe in his wake, just by his very presence, and thus should not be too difficult for a party aware of his presence to pursue.
Even so, he is not so strong that he dares to travel openly. He fears to attract the attention of the powerful religions, mighty paladins, or planar powers, and besides which, a devil's best work is done through subversion.
A few facts: He has a goal, he is not aware of the party's existance, and his facade is starting to slip, simply because he is having difficulty restraining his power, and its cracking the form he's taken. Also, he is currently for all intents and purposes a human with bizarre supernatural powers, and is not fully realized on this plane.
The setting is 4e, Points of Light. No, its not Orcus (**** Orcus).
What I'd like you guys to do is answer the opening question, as well as a few others. "What is his immediate Goal?", "What is his name? (Something more Biblical, or Talmudic please)", "How was he able to fully manifest on the Prime Material Plane without being summoned, and why could he not do so before?", "Why is he apparently Human?"
You have full creative license. If I like your ideas, I may use them.
Spoilered 'cause its a full length adventure description.
So the opening adventure has the party exploring an Ancient Library, which originally served as a repository for magical knowledge.
About 100 years ago the Mages up and abandoned the place, very suddenly, and since then it has remained curiously uninhabited. recently the people of the nearest township spotted two necromancers entering the library and since then skeletons have been seen roaming the forest. The party has been asked to displace the necromancers, but have been given free license as far as methods.
Of course, there's a catch. The Mages didn't build the Library, they found it and made it theirs. Originally the Library belonged to a Monastic Order who used it to store the vast knowledge they gathered over the years and to inter their dead in the catacombs beneath. Eventually the Order faded into obscurity and their Library was left abandoned.
The Mages were attracted to the valuable and ancient lore that the Monks had left behind, and began to add their own knowledge. Eventually their arcane fiddlings attracted the attention of a malevolent entity, (The titular devil) who, well not fully on this plane, managed to raise a loyal minion from the corpses of the ancient monks. A mighty and terrifying Skeleton, called the Skeleton King. The Skeleton King was eight feet tall, and wielded a sword that hissed with unlife, and commanded 20 skeletal archers. The wizards fled before him, and abandoned the Library, this was about 80 years ago.
Fortunately there were limits to both his and his master's power, and the Skeleton King could not leave the Library, nor could he raise any further minions. He fell into stasis, from which he has recently been awakened.
He was still trapped in the Catacombs of the Ancient Library until two necromancers appeared on his doorstep, drawn in by the promise of forbidden knowledge. He set his skeletons on them, and forced them to serve him, raising more skeletal minions for him to lead into battle, and forcing them to find some way to break the magic binding him to the Library.
When the party arrives they find the Necromancers near death, having been pushed to the point of exhaustion by the skeletons, who force them to constantly research a method of breaking their bindings, and summon more skeletons, draining them of magic power. When the party fights the Skeleton King he references his Master's presence as being the source of his awakening.
When the party returns to the village to collect their reward it is on fire, filled with all manner of lesser devils and other kinds of hellspawn. The conclusion the party should be led to is that while they were dealing with the Minion, the Big Bad sacked the town and left it in ruins. (I also intend to strongly hint that the Devil was disguised as a townsperson, and is traveling incognito)
The Devil is powerful, the lesser hellspawn were not actively created by him, but were a side effect of his presence, he leaves a trail of catastrophe in his wake, just by his very presence, and thus should not be too difficult for a party aware of his presence to pursue.
Even so, he is not so strong that he dares to travel openly. He fears to attract the attention of the powerful religions, mighty paladins, or planar powers, and besides which, a devil's best work is done through subversion.
A few facts: He has a goal, he is not aware of the party's existance, and his facade is starting to slip, simply because he is having difficulty restraining his power, and its cracking the form he's taken. Also, he is currently for all intents and purposes a human with bizarre supernatural powers, and is not fully realized on this plane.
The setting is 4e, Points of Light. No, its not Orcus (**** Orcus).
What I'd like you guys to do is answer the opening question, as well as a few others. "What is his immediate Goal?", "What is his name? (Something more Biblical, or Talmudic please)", "How was he able to fully manifest on the Prime Material Plane without being summoned, and why could he not do so before?", "Why is he apparently Human?"
You have full creative license. If I like your ideas, I may use them.