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View Full Version : Advice on plot involving tumbleweeds



begooler
2011-03-20, 01:00 AM
Yes, tumbleweeds. A tumbleweed really.
Oh, and if you played a session the other night that involved a tumbleweed- yes, this is your party, so go read another thread.

The party:
Voight: LG warforged crusader of Moradin
Harvey Fjiord: LN urban ranger swift hunter/cloistered cleric of Wee Jas, detective
Eliezae: NG? grey elf wizard focused on abjuration and expert on magic items
Sigvard: NG? forest gnome druid from the north, with his speedy fox, Ginger
Lloyd Asplin: LG spellsword, who belongs to a Boccob centered organization that defends the land from demons

The Immediate Plot:
The party is working for the government in a large city (which is ultimately run by a group of mortals from Mechanus that took control when they defended the land hundreds of years ago from a demon invasion.)
They are trying to crack down on the illegal trade of cursed magic items, an increased number of which have been turning up around town lately. They currently are searching abandoned warehouses to see if any might be a storehouse of such contraband.
Later, they will uncover the trade of Terran Brandy (BOVD,) which leads to a cult of Grazzt. Said cult also ties into illegal magic item trade in some way.


The Tumbleweed:
The dungeon for the past session was a furniture warehouse that was burnt down. PC's do not uncover hidden contraband, however, they find evidence related to the arson, that will end up with a short plot thread where they will learn more about the gangs in the city. The warehouse is infested with Splinterwaifs (MM3.)
Sigvard's knowledge check informs the party that these creatures are fond of turning children into tumbleweeds and eating them. I also place a stray tumbleweed in the dungeon as a prop. Upon finding this tumbleweed, the party deems it absolutely necessary to carry it around with them, in the event that they are able to somehow save this child. (Which can only be accomplished through wish, miracle or true ressurection.)

I didn't expect them to actually pay that much attention to the tumbleweed, and I'm really thrilled about potential plot threads it can open up.

Also of note, one of the centers of the cult of Grazzt is an orphanage located in the same area of town as this warehouse.

Ideas?

Serpentine
2011-03-20, 02:48 AM
Almost certainly not what you're looking for, but also in MM3 is the Plaguebrush, a giant man-eating tumbleweed that looks like this:

http://132.209.40.23/w4/campagne/images/WotC_Art_Galleries/Monster_Manual_III/Plague%20Brush%20by%20Frazer%20Irving.jpg

Maybe they're lugging around a baby one :smallbiggrin:

begooler
2011-03-20, 10:21 PM
Ha. I like the idea of their tumbleweed slowly evolving into a monster...

What I imagine they will try to do is go to a library (libraries are important parts of this campaign) to research something that could bring it back. I may eventually allow them to find an incantation that will allow them to resurrect it.

They may be sent on an additional quest to get permission to use the incantation.

Oh, PC's are level 8, and using 3.5

So, anymore tumbleweed adventures or tumbleweed related stories...?

Another_Poet
2011-03-20, 10:41 PM
I think you should give them a way to let it talk (with the voice of the child trapped inside).

Maybe at the library they find a way to restore speech to creatures that have been polymorphed, petrified or otherwise magically altered. If it is a reasonably cheap magical oil, they can get it much sooner than they can get the wish/miracle to save the kid.

My personal bent as a GM is to give the party unique allies, so I would let the tumbleweed fly into one enemy's face each combat and try to blind it. But that's just me :)

begooler
2011-03-21, 11:17 PM
I like them being able to talk to the tumbleweed. That's absurd enough to be funny, but can be engaging enough for their characters that they also take it seriously.

I could give them access to an incantation from the local library at the temple of Boccob that could be some sort of divination that lets it talk to the object. Maybe they also find out where the appropriate incantation to turn in back into a child later... perhaps in a place that I want to send them to as a new quest hub.
I'm thinking of also having the material component for the incantation be something very specific that they will have to gather information on, perhaps something related to the child in question. I'm not sure of what though.

Serpentine
2011-03-22, 06:28 AM
Maybe it wasn't a human(oid) child, but something else that's capable of telepathy. If they never question how this tumbleweed can talk to them, it could give the party a surprise when they reverse it...

Pyrite
2011-03-22, 08:56 AM
There could be a way to plant the seeds of the tumbleweed, growing a plant out of which a druid would be able to reincarnate the child.

Of course, the monsters should be after the snack they left behind, attacking the party not with the goal of killing them, but of getting the tumbleweed. Should make those combats more interesting.

begooler
2011-03-23, 12:11 PM
Maybe it wasn't a human(oid) child, but something else that's capable of telepathy. If they never question how this tumbleweed can talk to them, it could give the party a surprise when they reverse it...

Yeah, I like that. Perhaps a half-fiend child. My fiancé and his best friend would be really entertained by that as we played a campaign a while back in featuring a half-demon kid who was the heir of the fiefdom.
Alternatively, is there a type of demon that is a child?