Need a third clue.

[JoshuaZ]

Gerarn campaign players, stay out!

Ok. So here's the situation:

The players in my 3.PF campaign are dealing with a a nasty set of secretive necromancers, the Telnathi, who use necrotic cysts (from Libris Mortis) to control people. They are on the verge of as what one player termed "an open shadow war" with the necromancers. On the players way to the capital city of the empire they are in, they encountered a silver dragon which attacked them.. They were able to figure out that it cysted right around when it hatched years before. They killed it and determined using the Blood Biography spell that the dragon's name was "Silver Number 12". (The look on their faces when they realized the Telnathi were breeding necromantically controlled attack dragons was priceless).

Here's the thing: they also know that a major set of NPCs (2 important NPCs and 2 minor NPCs) will be coming to the capital soon, who have also irritated the Telnathi. The Telnathi are going to send one of their dragons after that group also, and with no warning or intervention they are likely to be slaughtered. I'm a strong believer in the need to always provide at least three clues (http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/1118/roleplaying-games/three-clue-rule). By my count, most of the above, together with the fact that the players know that the major NPCs have annoyed the Telnathi is one clue worth. A second clue is going to be that a few days before, rumors in the capital are going to circulate that people have seen a red dragon buzzing caravans near the main south-eastern road into the capital (where the the NPCs are going to have to come through). I'm at loss at what a reasonable third clue would be in this context.



So, suggestions for a third clue?

[Aegis013]

A second clue is going to be that a few days before, rumors in the capital are going to circulate that people have seen a red dragon buzzing caravans near the main south-eastern road into the capital (where the the NPCs are going to have to come through). I'm at loss at what a reasonable third clue would be in this context.

The group that irritated the Telnathi are coming to the capital by the main south-eastern road. Their travel path is known by random gossips in town, so it should be easy to deduce that these shady necromancer guys have found out too.

You could also mention that the dragon has been spotted by scouts to have an unusual bulge somewhere on its body, as is typical for a creature with a necrotic cyst (Libris Mortis pg. 68). I'm not exactly sure how the cysts allow these guys to control anybody though.

[JoshuaZ]

The group that irritated the Telnathi are coming to the capital by the main south-eastern road. Their travel path is known by random gossips in town, so it should be easy to deduce that these shady necromancer guys have found out too.

You could also mention that the dragon has been spotted by scouts to have an unusual bulge somewhere on its body, as is typical for a creature with a necrotic cyst (Libris Mortis pg. 68). I'm not exactly sure how the cysts allow these guys to control anybody though.

Those are both excellent ideas, thank you. (The way the cysts can be used to control are through the Necrotic Tumor spell also in Libris Mortis).

[Aegis013]

Those are both excellent ideas, thank you. (The way the cysts can be used to control are through the Necrotic Tumor spell also in Libris Mortis).

I see, then the bulge would probably be on its head. Thanks for the insight.

[Shadowknight12]

I am fond of seers and divinations when it comes to clues.

Have a blind seer, mad prophet, tarot card reader, soothsayer or your favourite cliche approach them and utter the words "When the yellow chrysanthemum touches the ivory hand, the scarlet wing unfurls. Beware the azure winds!"

Have one of the NPCs wear a yellow chrysanthemum on their clothes/hair and be scheduled for a meeting in a white tower, which is when the red dragon will strike. That day, make frequent references to the weather: how bright and blue the sky is, and how windy it is.

[Waker]

Do the party members know when and from where these npcs are coming? Knowing either and especially both of these facts could be useful in piecing it together. They might also come across the bodies of slain travelers who had some feature, such as clothing style or insignia that is similar to the npcs, leading the party to believe that their deaths were the result of mistaken identity.

[JoshuaZ]

I am fond of seers and divinations when it comes to clues.

Have a blind seer, mad prophet, tarot card reader, soothsayer or your favourite cliche approach them and utter the words "When the yellow chrysanthemum touches the ivory hand, the scarlet wing unfurls. Beware the azure winds!"

Have one of the NPCs wear a yellow chrysanthemum on their clothes/hair and be scheduled for a meeting in a white tower, which is when the red dragon will strike. That day, make frequent references to the weather: how bright and blue the sky is, and how windy it is.

Hmm, I'm pretty heavy on prophecies right now, I don't want to add another (among other things there's a major prophecy that one of the PCs is fulfilling, another PC just found out that they are the champion of a goddess with no followers left, and other stuff). So this would work well apart from that.


Do the party members know when and from where these npcs are coming? Knowing either and especially both of these facts could be useful in piecing it together. They might also come across the bodies of slain travelers who had some feature, such as clothing style or insignia that is similar to the npcs, leading the party to believe that their deaths were the result of mistaken identity.

Hmm, the idea of having another attack on similar travelers sounds potentially good. I'll consider that also.

[Shadowknight12]

Hmm, I'm pretty heavy on prophecies right now, I don't want to add another (among other things there's a major prophecy that one of the PCs is fulfilling, another PC just found out that they are the champion of a goddess with no followers left, and other stuff). So this would work well apart from that.

Ah, fair point. If the city has aerial wards to impede the entrance of unauthorised flying creatures (the same function that stone walls provide for the landbound), you can have someone hire them the very same day the attack will take place to investigate someone tampering with the wards. After some investigation, they deduce that the wards were altered to allow red dragons to pass through.

That should be a big honking clue right there.

[JoshuaZ]

Ok. Followup: They actually put it together even before they got the other clues, which just reinforced things. They managed to meet up with the NPCs and took out the dragon but with some casualties to unnamed NPC servants and guards. Major NPCs made it out alive (although one of them was at -8 hp at the end of combat, and one of the PC probably would have died outright if the dragon hadn't rolled a natural 1 on its tail slap).