4e Ritual Help

[DiscipleofBob]

So, the players in my game are looking for help with rituals, which admittedly I don't know much about to recommend for them. Here's the situation:

The level 8 party members, including a Bard, a Warlock, and a Druid who can cast have found a house-sized smoldering ruby which contains a primordial that the BBEG wants to find and release. The ruby is currently in the guest house of the rich noble Rogue's estate, and is far too large to move out by normal means.

The party needs ritual(s) to do the following:

Shield the sealed primordial from scrying and possibly other invading forces who would try to take it or release it for their own gain.

Ward the area from possible invading forces.

Possibly find another area to hide said sealed primordial from the BBEG.

Scry to find the next one of these sealed primordials next in the world.

Find out the general state of the rest of the gameworld and see if anyone's under siege or anything.

Possibly more.

EDIT: I should also mention they have some Eladrin NPC's who can cast some higher level rituals, to a certain degree.

[Arbitrarity]

First thing I can think of is Forbiddance, but that's level 20, eats healing surges each day, and costs 20000 gp. Consider reducing the cost by making each participant expend a surge each day instead :smallbiggrin: Blocks all scrying and teleportation, as long as the caster is higher level than the scryer/teleporter.

Guards and Wards (level 18) helps with defense, layering fog, illusory items, and locking every door in the area. Similar surge effect, costs 5000 gp.

Consider calling these effects as requiring "life force", and so surges from everyone, or human sacrifices or something :smallwink:

Least useful pointer ever, but Hand of Fate can give you directions :D

Consult Mystic Sages, at level 10, can give you general data, like a scrying sensor, but is really expensive (400 gp), like all such advice. Consult Oracle, at level 16, for 3600 gp, gives better questions and answers, and requires a bit more planning.

Magic Map is level 9, and gives you the location of a creature that you have an object related to. Arguably you could let the crystal find a similar crystal.

These are all annoyingly way above party level. Consider lowering the level and costs, in return for taking more "life force" (read: Surges) from the party each day (not cumulative, they still get recovered). Alternatively, maybe let them sacrifice things to power the ritual during a day :smallwink:

[Telok]

Eye of Alarm L2 - Use the focus to make this permanent.
Object Reading L5 - Ask the ruby about itself.
Magic Circle L5 - Cast this seven times, barring everything on the outside and the others on the inside.
Excavation L6 - Bury it.
Shrink L6 - Make it small enough to carry.
Mordenkainen's Joining L7 - Meld it to the ceiling of the local temple.
Aria of Revelation L10(bard) - Boost skill checks.
Arcane Barrier L12 - Magic walls of force!
Whispers of the Edifice L14 - Ask the building about the ruby.
Sentinel Eye L14 - Seriously improved Eye of Alarm.
View Location L14 - Expensive, slow, weak. 4e does not reward scrying, but it might be useful.

What I would do (given unlimited time and money) is drop Object Reading a couple of times to get information then...
Shrink it, shrink a boulder a bit larget than the ruby. Take them to the local lord's castle and bury it in the courtyard. Before you cover it up un-shrink it and the boulder and use Joining on them, the boulder should be on top, and drop Eye's of Alarm and Magic Circle on it.

Now anyone who wants it will have to get into the castle, dig up the courtyard, break the magic circle, and destroy the boulder. Without anyone in the castle hearing the Eye screaming about the intruders digging up a giant ruby with a demon trapped in it. It won't be impossible for the bad guys to get to it. But it will be a nuisance.

[DiscipleofBob]

The only thing we've managed to establish as a result of rituals already is that Shrink, at maximum effectiveness (10% of original size) will make the ruby small enough to roll through the door or Tenser's Floating Disc it out.

Also, said ruby is constantly smoldering with primordial heat that even the Tiefling can't touch without getting burned, so carrying it through traditional means is out. Fortunately, the Tenser's Floating Disc has already solved the problem of transporting it.