A God's Challenge

[Draig]

So in the current campaign the party must convince a deity that they are worthy adventurers to gain his blessing. The Deity in this case is Olidamarra, god of rogues and mischief. To convince him of their worthyness they must undergo a trial but the problem in this case is that I don't know what would be a fitting challenge for the group from Olidamarra. The group is a Dervish, Hexblade, and Cleric (pelor) of 11th level, and a rogue of 14th level.

So my question to the playground is what are some challenges or trials that you believe either embody the ideals of Olidamarra or believe that the god would put someone through?

[NOhara24]

The Deity in this case is Olidamarra, god of rogues and mischief.

Steal something.

[fryplink]

Let them come up with it? Olidamarra asks them to impress him. Let them at it.

[Riverdance]

I second that. Steal something of great value under their own initiative. The trickier it is to steal the better. Perhaps an item of roguish legacy. Something that is massively beneficial to a thief. Maybe they even steal it from another powerful and legendary thief.

[Godskook]

A quick challenge might be that they must defeat a guardian. Make the guardian an otherwise weak construct that can:
-Cast a reflex save spell, such as fireball
-Has the ability to generate a shield, but that only protects 1 side of it at a time(flanking + readied actions)
-Has an upgraded Amulet of Tears(100 temp HP, infinite uses, for instance), effectively making it invincible to damage(Sleight of Hand, Disarm, or Sunder)

If the team recovers the Amulet, Olidamarra asks for it back. If they return it, she gives them all versions of the Amulet that are more 'balanced', while if they attempt to keep it, they only get the one uber Amulet, but being disconnected from the guardian reverts it back to 3/day.

[gkathellar]

I'm having trouble thinking of anything concrete, but conceptually: I'd say they'll need to prove they're adaptable and flexible — in their skills and their tactics, but also in the way they approach their goals and values. Olidamarra is a chaotic-neutral god of rogues, so while he undoubtedly values wit, cunning, and subterfuge, he probably also expects lateral thinking, unpredictable solutions or ideas, and a willingness to bend or even to change the rules of the game while not giving up on an objective.

In other words, trick questions, seemingly binary decisions that actually possess third options, fights that force the players to use unusual tactics or compete with their own tactics, etc.

[Seharvepernfan]

Let them come up with it? Olidamarra asks them to impress him. Let them at it.

I was thinking this before I read it.

I think he would be most impressed if they could impress him on their own initiative with their own ideas. That's seems most in line with his dogma.

[TravelLog]

I agree with the "do something of their own initiative" plan. That or successfully prank another god.

[jmelesky]

Steal something.

How about "steal something, last known to be in the possession of X", but it turns out that Olidamarra has already acquired the item. So now they need to steal it from a temple full of clerics familiar with rogueish tactics (or from the god himself).

[legomaster00156]

I agree with the "do something of their own initiative" plan. That or successfully prank another god.
If anything can impress a trickster god, it's tricking another god. Just remember that this will be all but impossible, given that gods often (if not always) have some form of foresight.

[gkathellar]

If anything can impress a trickster god, it's tricking another god. Just remember that this will be all but impossible, given that gods often (if not always) have some form of foresight.

Or trick Olidamarra himself? If he sets out a challenge like "do X to a god," "prank Y god and Z way," or "steal a god's W," then he might be most impressed by the player's turning the challenge on him. Of course, he'd probably be expecting it, which would make it doable because he'd explicitly allow it — the correct answer to a trick question is, of course, to figure out the trick.

[D@rK-SePHiRoTH-]

So in the current campaign the party must convince a deity that they are worthy adventurers to gain his blessing. The Deity in this case is Olidamarra
As the god of tricks and being chaotic neutral, I would expect from him to be not honest about the real purpose or circumnstances of the trial.
There has to be an hidden one that he won't explain, but that is in fact, the one that he will be evaluating.
The hidden trial will be related to the use of social skills (bluff in primis, diplomacy etc), and being clever and able tyo face the unexpected rather than perfectly prepared for a single task.
For example, he may want the party to steal a certain object, but he won't tell that said object is guarded by a dragon. Success or failure depends on how they handle the situation.

[fryplink]

Have them steal and/or prank Olidamarra? (the lack of the word "from" was intentional)

[Draig]

I do like the Idea of having them figure something out for themselves, but I was also toying around with the idea of Olidamarra's funhouse. Where it is a dungeon, manor, etc. Full of trials, traps, and challenges that scream mischief and chaos

[Czin]

A sufficiently difficult task would be stealing the Acererak decoy in the Tomb of Horrors; this would prove that you are both a master thief; and peeve off Vecna if Acererak does indeed still serve him. Of course; peeving off the D&D equivalent of Doctor Doom is of debatable safety.

[Morithias]

Have the rogue repent all of his stealing. Effectively stealing his soul from the god of rogues himself.

[NNescio]

Have the rogue repent all of his stealing. Effectively stealing his soul from the god of rogues himself.

But you'll end up as a vestige. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FateWorseThanDeath)

[Hyudra]

A set of three tasks:

Deceit - Teach others to value their possessions by taking what they have. Dishonestly acquire valuables, coin, property and the like worth a total of (5x current WBL) gold.
Amusement - Joy is Olidammara's greatest gift. Evoke genuine laughter from an individual that has not laughed in twenty five waking years.
Cunning - Simple stealing has its place, but Olidammara values a sharp mind and a powerful personality in addition to quick hands. Acquire every last coin a wealthy man possesses, by having him willingly hand it over to you.

[Draig]

A set of three tasks:

Deceit - Teach others to value their possessions by taking what they have. Dishonestly acquire valuables, coin, property and the like worth a total of (5x current WBL) gold.
Amusement - Joy is Olidammara's greatest gift. Evoke genuine laughter from an individual that has not laughed in twenty five waking years.
Cunning - Simple stealing has its place, but Olidammara values a sharp mind and a powerful personality in addition to quick hands. Acquire every last coin a wealthy man possesses, by having him willingly hand it over to you.

Simply amazing. I like that line of thought

[Acanous]

Oldimarra is male?

Huh.

I never knew that. Never came up, really. Guess he really IS tricky.

[NNescio]

Oldimarra is male?

Huh.

I never knew that. Never came up, really. Guess he really IS tricky.

Well, he technically can NOT be male if he wants to. If she wants to. If it wants to. You know what I mean.

[Morithias]

Well, he technically can NOT be male if he wants to. If she wants to. If it wants to. You know what I mean.

Basically he/she/it is a god with the gender powers of a changeling then?

Edit: Big idea!

Go to Baator and either win a court case, or just flat out steal a soul from it. Or break into Mammon's fortress and steal something. Mammon is the patron of greed so the two should be pretty big rivals.

[Killer Angel]

Go to Baator and either win a court case, or just flat out steal a soul from it. Or break into Mammon's fortress and steal something. Mammon is the patron of greed so the two should be pretty big rivals.

I'd go with something on this line.
Olidammara is not only the god of rogues, but also music, arts, wine, humor and tricks.
Let say that in Carceri is imprisoned a half celestial bard, a sort of Casanova, guilty of some love affair with the daughter of some infernal being.
They must steal the dimensional key from the guardians, free the guy, let the blame falls upon Mammon or Hextor (something difficult to achieve, the group must use imagination), and even without letting the bard know it. Maybe while mocking also the First Guardian in charge of Carcery.
Basically, a quest that involves a lot of the things covered by Olidammara's portfolio, and with good motivations even for the cleric of Pelor.

[CapnVan]

Basically, a quest that involves a lot of the things covered by Olidammara's portfolio, and with good motivations even for the cleric of Pelor.

That last one's definitely going to be one of the more difficult aspects — Pelor's clerics are taught to avoid the neutral faiths, particularly when their teachings are contrary to their own. Thievery for its own sake definitely comes under that heading.

[gkathellar]

That last one's definitely going to be one of the more difficult aspects — Pelor's clerics are taught to avoid the neutral faiths, particularly when their teachings are contrary to their own. Thievery for its own sake definitely comes under that heading.

I'd say that Olidamarra wouldn't ask the cleric of Pelor to do anything too far from his god's teachings — that might be pushing it from a divine relations standpoint. What he might be interested in is teaching the cleric to look at his deity in a more chaotic light, to find an element of spontaneity, cunning and silliness in Pelor's teachings and embrace them. That way, he still gets to annoy Pelor while still doing him enough of a favor to avoid actually offending him.

[Tr011]

Steal something.

+1
Make some sort of mission impossible.
1. Detect where the artefact of desire is. Don't make this too simple. Protect it from some spells and stuff.
2. Get to the artefact. Don't make this too easy. If your party is ECL 12 don't make it like 4 groups of guards with CR 13 each. Any good barbarian group can do that. A master rogue can engage a fight and flee if his enemy is too powerful before the enemy knows what's happening. Make a wizard that uses up all his ressources to guarantee the safety of the artefact AND the whole place where it is (i.e. a building/palace/dungeon/tower).
3. Get away with the artefact. Once they got the artefact, they should be like in the middle of a non-teleportation palace. Full with bad guys. If someone can alert the guards the PCs will be dead.
4. As soon as the artefact's missing is spotted, everybody starts to search for the intruders. Via spells and search troups.

[Killer Angel]

That last one's definitely going to be one of the more difficult aspects — Pelor's clerics are taught to avoid the neutral faiths, particularly when their teachings are contrary to their own. Thievery for its own sake definitely comes under that heading.

Well, Pelor is good, so I doubt he will be upset by freeing a half-celestial prisoner from Carceri. He fights undead also, so if you substitute Hextor with Nerull, it should work fine.