Help, I've written myself into a corner...

[big teej]

Greetings Playgrounders!!!!

to get straight to the point.

imagine for me, if you will...

a group of Intrepid (upstart) Adventurers (vermin) has broken into what is effectively your summer home, and stolen a powerful artifact that grants a single wish before disappearing, flinging itself somewhere amongst the great wheel.

YOU are an extremely High Level Evil Caster... you have not used the artifact because you have yet to discover a way of keeping it from disappearing.

now, leaving aside considerations of how these adventurers managed this feat in the first place.


why wouldn't you chase these people down and have them butchered/forced into slavery/corrupted into becoming your minions/etc. as punishment? or at least devoting a few lackeys to exacting vengeance?

:smalleek:

[Xeratos]

1. You don't know about it yet.

2. You're in the middle of a massive power struggle with another high level evil caster and don't have the resources to devote to it right now.

3. The adventurers are actually your minions, and they've shifted blame onto other people, so you don't know it was them that took it.

4. One of them very foolishly wished that you would never realize the artifact was gone, and thus would have no reason to track them down and punish them for the theft.

P.S. A ring of three wishes grants you (obviously) three wishes before it's useless, without you having to track it back down again between each one. Your "artifact" seems a bit underwhelming. Is there more to it than that?

[angry_bear]

You're a high level caster, and the artifact is good, but not super spectacular, must have it back at all costs good. So send a few of your low budget minions to retrieve it, and let things gradually escalate when the adventurers defeat them. It's not exactly the one ring or anything; so I don't see why you'd put a considerable amount of effort into finding it again. Especially when you've got, presumably, bigger threats to be on the lookout for as a high level villain. Why fight Spiderman when The Avengers are always at your door?

[snoopy13a]

If you don't want your players' to get killed, have the wizard hire NPCs to bring it back (who are, of course, ignorant of its true power). The NPCs can confront the PCs and extort the artifact from the players in return for not killing the players. This will make sense if the NPCs have a significant numerical edge but not quite large enough to win without any causalities.

As for the wizard hiring NPCs? The evil wizard can be a cautious sort and prefer to have the minions handle it. After all, the PCs have a n artifact that can grant a wish (including wishing for the demise of a certain wizard).

[ThirdEmperor]

If they've already used the wish and lost the artifact then the caster should put a geas on them to go find it for him. Including a clause to prevent them from wishing again, of course.

If not... Well, they've got a wish. They could cause all sorts of damage if you attack them now. Best to wait until they've thrown it away and then exact revenge in the above manner.

[big teej]

P.S. A ring of three wishes grants you (obviously) three wishes before it's useless, without you having to track it back down again between each one. Your "artifact" seems a bit underwhelming. Is there more to it than that?

well, at the risk of derailing discussion... it's grants one of those wishes that has, effectively, no limit on it's power, and is interpreted in the best possible manner.

the item in question is also one of the keys to bringing about the end of existence.

:smalltongue:

[Waker]

This one is somewhat dependent on the npc in question, but perhaps he was impressed by the audacity of the party? More so if they went through great challenges (your fortress) only to waste the wish on something silly.

[Coidzor]

You've got bigger fish to fry and it's a minor setback at best if it wasn't well-protected enough that low-levels couldn't steal it.

[valadil]

First thought. He assumes they used it already and don't have the item anymore. Vengeance is sweet and all but tracking it down is more important. For now.

Second thought. He has a weakness. It's defeatable by a wish. While the pcs don't know this yet, if he approaches they may figure out what's up and use it. He's biding his time while figuring out a more subtle approach.

[Roguenewb]

The Wishing Stone doesn't want to be found, so it has an added effect, anyone who wishes with it loses the ability to use Divination magic and total protection from divination magic.

Or less Dues Ex-y, the evil caster is actually a good dude, but he's just been forced to adopt less savory methods (or just the appearance of less savory methods). Chasing down the players would force him to reveal his true nature to the characters or the people he opposes. So he uses the minimum available force to chase the players.

[angry_bear]

The Wishing Stone doesn't want to be found, so it has an added effect, anyone who wishes with it loses the ability to use Divination magic and total protection from divination magic.

Or less Dues Ex-y, the evil caster is actually a good dude, but he's just been forced to adopt less savory methods (or just the appearance of less savory methods). Chasing down the players would force him to reveal his true nature to the characters or the people he opposes. So he uses the minimum available force to chase the players.

That's a pretty clever idea to be honest... If it prevents divination, then it definitely hamstrings the caster's attempts at tracking them down.

[Kazemi]

I'm going to start by assuming that the artifact is effectively immune to divination magic. Otherwise it'd be a piece of cake to find.

So they were resourceful enough to steal the artifact from him in the first place. He knows there is a ritual to fix this situation, which must be performed under an eclipse, on the solstice, etc, but his source (such as the walls of the temple where he found it or ancient scrolls or what have you) were worn down and incomplete. He's been trying for years to complete the ritual now without making any new headway, but fresh minds and fresh ideas might give him the inspiration he needs.

He decides to let them try to solve the mystery (after all, it requires extensive set-up, so he can swoop in and stop them before they can get all the information together. He sends some correct information on the ritual their way indirectly (visions, the guy they go to when getting the trinket examined, hiring them (indirectly) to explore the ruins where he found the artifact for a completely different reason, etc) and some incorrect information planted ahead of time. The PCs notice some things that the BBEG missed and start making headway into discovering all the parts of the ritual. Of course, eventually some of this is going to contradict with what they learned at the very beginning (when the BBEG fed them a few lies), so it'll be interesting to see what the PCs decide to do.

EDIT: As mentioned before, he may have other schemes going on as well, so this would free up some of his time (and give him something to watch on ScryTV when he's bored).

[big teej]

well.... as useful as this thread has been (as I have a host of great ideas to draw from in the future)

Real Life has made this a moot point...

in a few weeks I will be gainfully employed, and the campaign is going to be truncated to an extreme degree.

there simply won't be time for the BBEG to chase them down. :smalltongue:

[mcbobbo]

I was going to add that said BBEG wouldn't bother with such trifles until he's sent some minions first. Likely, whoever is closest to blame. "You are the one who recommended that guardian to me, Bleeg! Either you fox this, right now, or I will add your corpse to my horde of undead minions. Do not let me see you again until you have tracked them down and made them pay for YOUR incompetence! "

Or similar.