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hemming
2014-02-10, 12:53 PM
Any cool ideas for an evil urban religious adventure?

I'm GMing a 3.5 game in which one of my players is a devout follower of Hextor. It is a predominantly urban setting (we use satellite maps of Venice and about 80% of the game takes place in the city) and there is a temple of Hextor in the "home territory/neighborhood" of the players. The players have interacted with the temple and a few NPCs there multiple times.

I have just finished a big undersea temple dungeon crawl that took up several sessions. The adventure was quite combat heavy and the story relied on a feuding god theme.

The player now wants to take Fist of Hextor and I would like to give him a special mission/adventure as part of his initiation. However, I don't want to rely on the Hextor brotherly feud as plot hook or make it a straight combat adventure. My players get bored if I don't mix it up and are big on style and character development.

Dawgmoah
2014-02-10, 01:29 PM
Seduce that pretty cleric of <Insert good diety here>.

Plot to steal a relic or item from one of the other temples or organizations such as the Kingmakers (Tome of Magic).

Disrupt another temples' ceremonial festivities.

Have the food orders for the wedding at the Temple of Pelor swapped with a wedding at the Temple of Wee Jas...

Take a look at the plot hooks in the Races of Destiny book...

Red Fel
2014-02-10, 01:45 PM
First, let's consider what Hextor is all about. The Church of Hextor is one of the few Evil churches that operates openly, because it's not completely monstrous. Hextor teaches, in essence, that Might Makes Right. Those who are strong necessarily rule over the weak, because the weak lack the strength to rule themselves and the strong have the tools to enforce proper order.

So, ask the question every follower of the Champion of Evil asks: WWHD? (What Would Hextor Do?)

As an aside, stealing your parent's divine armory of weapons isn't the answer to the question.

I see several options.

1. There is a city where Hextor's church is the dominant religion, thanks to the ruler of the place, a devout follower of Hextor. Unfortunately, there is the small matter of a series of riots, protests, and rebellions going on in that city, in an attempt to disrupt order, depose the ruler, and be rid of the church. Teach the rebels the error of their ways. (Bonus points if the PC "reminds" the ruler that if he cannot control his own populace, he is not suited to rule, and can be replaced.)

2. There is a city where chaos is the order of the day. Crime and anarchy run wild in the streets. Yet this city is also a major hub of trade between several Hextorian temples. Go to the city, and help to impose order at the point of a sword. (Bonus points if the PC is able to convert the strongest, most bloodthirsty criminal to the Hextorian faith, creating an LE tyrant to oversee the city.)

3. There is a small fiefdom that will soon be engaged in glorious combat. One of our flock is helping to command the forces, which will soon be clashing with the enemy; unfortunately, despite his "best efforts," the troops remain undisciplined and will likely be slaughtered. While we respect that the weak and unprepared should die in battle, we are loathe to lose one of our own commanders so needlessly. Go to this fiefdom and prepare the soldiers, give them training and arms, and help lead them to victory. (Bonus points if the PC "disciplines" the commander for his inability to lead.)

4. There is a blasphemer who is wandering the countryside, engaging in feats of - ugh - heroism and valiance, earning the praises of the people. We wouldn't mind such things, but he is rousing the populace against Hextor, urging them to "throw off the shackles of tyranny" and such rubbish. Thanks to his numerous conquests, the people see him as some sort of nigh-immortal, unstoppable champion of light and goodness and other absurd notions. You must crush him, openly, publicly, and completely, in single combat. Show them that their champion is nothing, weak, and worthless, break the spirit of rebellion before it arises. Destroy him completely in the glorious name of Hextor. Failure is not an option.

hemming
2014-02-11, 05:57 AM
Thanks for the ideas - I really like the WWHD perspective reminder

My players have already had some adventures pretty darn close to 3 out of 4 of Red Fel suggestions.

The 'mess with the other temples" type ideas are good, but somehow not quite evil enough for these guys.

Additional background: This is a gleefully evil party of 9th level PCs. Without any prompt or suggestion from me, they have:

-Taken an enemy ship at sea and decided to sell the surrendering survivors into slavery

-Caught a thief stealing from one of the stores paying them "protection" money...and decided to use him as a human sacrifice

Brendanicus
2014-02-11, 01:29 PM
There is a mole in Hextors church. Find out who shr is, kill her publicly and brutality. Hunt down her family as they afterwords flee the city. Bonus points if the family is wealthy, and can afford mercenary/Hextor-defector protection. Finally, brings the heads of everyone killed to the high priest as trophies.

Red Fel
2014-02-11, 01:53 PM
See, that's the bottom line. Hextor isn't a deity of subtlety, cunning, or complex plans. He's a war deity. They tend to be straightforward at best, and stupid and brutish at worst. As LE, he's more likely to at least have a sense of military tactics, rather than ignorant bloodlust, but at the end of the day, Hextor cares about (1) order, and (2) power. And having both in abundance.

So any plot that originates from the Church of Hextor will be something along those lines. It will likely involve:
1. Find a traitor or rebel. Execute him publicly and with prejudice.
2. Impose order in a disorderly place. Execute dissidents publicly and with prejudice.
3. Reinforce a ruler's strength. If he cannot maintain it, replace him publicly and with prejudice.
4. VENGEANCE! Publicly and with prejudice.
5. There is someone speaking out or acting out against the Church. Guess what you do and how you do it?

And so forth. The Church isn't like Vecna's followers, a network of secrets and spies, or Nerull's followers, maddened cultists inflicting death everywhere, or Gruumsh's cultists, a bunch of Orc supremacists; followers of Hextor are organized, clean-cut, and have very concrete goals. Their needs are not complicated - rule the city/country/world with iron discipline and brutal order; root out and crush opposition; smite Good where it is found; and dangit Heironeous get back here so I can punch you more. They don't need to kick puppies on a regular basis; they just want to create perfect order in the world, and kill every last ignorant misbegotten fool who dares interfere. Publicly and with prejudice.

Not complicated.

So missions from the Church are going to be similarly uncomplicated, until and unless your players reach a level of power where they can actually act more directly on a deity's instructions. At that point, they can join in intra-pantheon political games. For example:


Awaken, pathetic mortal, booms a voice. You rise, looking around. On the wall across from your bed glows a symbol, a black gauntlet holding arrows.

(Dad-gum right you prostrate yourself in front of it.)

Rise, insect, intones the voice, your Champion has a job for you. As you know, the rapacious beast that is Erythnul has resented my power as God of War since I wrested it from him. Long have I been aware of his conspiracies against me, and his attempts to take back that power have all availed him naught.

The symbol blazes brilliant red. But now, the voice roars, the beast has stolen from me! From my priesthood, from my profane armory, he has taken my Hammer of Rage! While I am far from powerless without it, this indignity, this insufferable outrage will not stand!

The voice quiets, and the symbol's glow lessens. You, mortal, shall retrieve my Hammer. You will make the worshipers of the Many pay for their insolence. Succeed, and be recognized as one of my chosen. Fail, and whatever punishments my enemies inflict will seem a dream compared to what I have in store for you.

With that, the symbol vanishes.
Yes, it's another "avenge us publicly and with prejudice" quest, but this one has divine politics as a backdrop, raising it above the usual stakes of "The High Priest wants you to do some stuff."

There are some deities who will ask true atrocities of their followers. Nerull might give his followers the tools to spread a horrific plague throughout the countryside. Vecna might ask one of his to cut out the tongues of those who know too much, as a warning to others. Gruumsh might have elaborate eye-gouging ceremonies. Hextor isn't into that kinky stuff. He just wants order, war, strength and victory.

Publicly and with prejudice.

It's part of what allows his churches to operate in the open. People know exactly what they're getting when the Church of Hextor comes to town.

An efficient system of government and a capable military.

Ravens_cry
2014-02-11, 02:00 PM
Someone has being writing slogans telling Hextor's faithful to leave on the temple walls . . . in very bad grammar. Correct his grammar and make him right it out 100 times by dawn or you'll cut his balls off. Hail Hextor!

Red Fel
2014-02-11, 02:08 PM
Someone has being writing slogans telling Hextor's faithful to leave on the temple walls . . . in very bad grammar. Correct his grammar and make him right it out 100 times by dawn or you'll cut his balls off. Hail Hextor!

Someone has been teaching the children of the faithful naughty and suggestive songs about the High Priest. Beat the music out of the children, brutalize their parents for permitting such insolence, find the guilty party, and give him an improvised tracheotomy. Hail Hextor!

Brendanicus
2014-02-11, 03:26 PM
Some pathetic mortal jaywalked in front of Hextor's temple! Disembowel them, kill the city planner for not making crosswalks more desirable, and kill everyone in the temple for allowing this to happen! Hextor be praised!

2nd_Fiddle
2014-02-11, 03:47 PM
A good initiation quest proves competence and loyalty.

It also has minimal potential loss for the organization.

I recommend single combat to the death against a traitor or captive.

hemming
2014-02-11, 04:37 PM
Awesome, stealing bits from these suggestions and I think I'm going with something like:

Hextor demands proof of worthiness from any mortal who thinks they have what it takes to be in his elite corp.

1) To begin initiation, the supplicant must first offer up a blood sacrifice. The will of Hextor will only be revealed to those with the strength and fortitude to cull the weak. Here the players will have their pick of who to kidnap and sacrifice and how but I'll leave a gaggle of lawful good clerics (from another temple we've already established in-game) nearby to give them an easy option.

Bring sacrifice to temple - sacrificial table bleeds out into a divination bowl.

2) A few options here, haven't decided between:

Hextor appears in the blood and orders that the PC must prove his worth by carrying out a task.

-A powerful chaotic evil creature dwelling in the district disrupts order and offends hextor. Although admirable in battle, this creature weakens the whole and must be hunted down and slain (vampire city councilor possibly)

(or)

-A foolish merchant filled half of the sacks of grain he sold to the temple with straw. Hextor curses the clerics for allowing this and holds one responsible (this guy is slain by the others on the spot). PCs must now track down this merchant (probably include 2-3 clues/interrogations to find) and publicly kill him and his mercenary guard.

3) Return to the temple - PC becoming fist of Hextor is taken into basement, tied up and whipped with a barbed chain for the night. Those that ask for mercy or die are not worthy. In the morning he is a fist of hextor and has the scars to prove it

sktarq
2014-02-11, 05:34 PM
If you want to play with ideas within the Church of Hextor one would be to have the PC be part of a "purge" within the church. The church hates both anything that weakens it and anything secret from its own secret police. Thus someone (say an influential lay follower) doing things that screw over the Church (shoddy goods (like incense being cut, embezzlement, local records being tampered with, court (either legal or royal) officials being tampered with without Temple say so, etc)would drive them nuts. Setting the PC's against this kind of target gives you a rich vein of THEME-o-Hexor to exploit. Perhaps the offender is unknown (or partially unknown is a group) and investigation is called for first (which would explain why it hasn't been taken care of already) which gives other PC's a good in. Perhaps it is within the Temples version of the inquisition or secret police and who watches the watcher themes can be pulled in, The embezzler (or embarrassment or whatnot) may have good reason (from high up the chain of command than the commanding priest and the communication to him either got lost or was interrupted by an internal rival to the plan the PC's have been set to go after), The embezzler or whatever could be also just be a agent for a larger underground group that since the orders are to get those behind the violation of church integrity would be on the target list-everything from Magical groups to combat slogs depending on what works for the rest of the party to keep them interested and involved.

hemming
2014-02-11, 07:10 PM
Including some kind of larger conspiracy would be nice - this PC is tough to tease personal goals/interests out of, but has shown an interest in the church of Hextor a few times and has become more devout.

So I've been keeping the location and/or NPCs as recurring in the game in a plot point related capacity every 3-5 sessions or so. He can spend his free time there but I haven't given him any external incentive to do it

Slipperychicken
2014-02-11, 09:09 PM
He could quest for the Unholy Grail.

Tragak
2014-02-14, 06:01 PM
Here's a thought: your character is a devout follower of LE Hextor, but is he himself LE? Hextor grants as much power to his LN and NE servants as to his LE - however begrudgingly - so maybe your character, despite having the same ultimate goal as the rest of the church, wants to go about it in a different way?

A NE might be interested in "persuading" CE cultists to call demons to ravage a town, which the Church of Hextor could then claim the credit for slaying, or a LN might be interested in making slavery a more common punishment than torture and/or execution.

***

Of course, if you're set on a LE character, then never mind :smallwink:

Fjolnir
2014-02-14, 08:39 PM
Why not a pilgrimage? "Hextor demands his champions travel to Religiously significant place players may have heard of but is prohibitively distant to visit without cause without the aid of magic. Here is your ceremonial garb (a suit of armor prominently displaying the various symbols of Hextor, a flail and a spiked gauntlet all very high quality but purely mundane in nature), along with this (he tosses you a bag with about 2 days worth of food and water in it) you should have everything you need. You must make the trip before the Blooding (A spring holiday, substitute appropriate holiday for your time of year) and bring an appropriate offering to our god (This is a prisoner of war to be sacrificed or an offering of ones own blood spilled on the altar) you may not bring any other gear with you personally, but you may have allies assist you as long as they do not magically aid you by speeding your travels.

GungHo
2014-02-17, 11:00 AM
There's a CG Robin Hood-type brigand in a nearby kingdom that is promoting anarchy and violating the social construct by rebelling against his rightful lord and redistributing his wealth and poaching unlawfully in a time of near-famine. Capture him, break him (you may have to go after his friends as well), and make him publicly renounce his ways. His options are to serve Hextor/the crown or be hanged, drawn, and quartered. One way or the other, he will be distributed to the temples of Hextor to be displayed as evdence of the retributive price of rebellion.

Segev
2014-02-17, 12:21 PM
A favored King who worships Hextor is busy conquering an alliance of Lawful Good city-states, and doing an admirable job. Sadly, it takes a lot of his resources. His weak and foolish regent of a younger brother is undermining his authority back home. While he is rightfully less popular for squandering the taxes he collects on sybaritic pursuits of his own, the only one opposing him is a Chaotic Good minor noble who believes in supporting the weak and is stealing the tax collections to return to them. Go there and aid the regent in restoring the integrity of his tax collections, and - out of respect for his brother's loyalty - determine if he can be taught proper respect and efficiency with the use of those funds. If he cannot, depose him and put somebody more suited in to hold this resource-base. The King cannot be distracted from his glorious mission to handle this irritation.

hemming
2014-02-17, 04:16 PM
More ideas welcome as I will undoubtedly need more evil inspiration:

The session ended up being more combat heavy than I was originally planning - but this is [I]Hextor[I]. The PCs did get to flex their creative muscles a little bit in kidnapping a live blood sacrifice (bluffed someone into the Temple) and tracking down the whereabouts of the enemy good guys. I also tried to provide some deeper RP opportunities each time the PCs were at the Temple of Hextor

As the primary task from Hextor (following the obtainment of a blood sacrifice) I had the PCs eliminate a 'terror cell' of LG clerics, paladins and archon allies.

We have a BBGG from the celestial plane that has sent minions to attack the home city district of the party before. A cleric of Hextor had died in one of these previous attacks, so it made sense to tie in the primary story a bit and have the BBGG turn out to be the force behind the terror cell.

The party had met one of the BBGGs lieutenants twice before. I didn't have a long term plan for this fella, so I made him the director of the terror cell and gave him no route of escape in the end.

Also had the terror cell housed in a series of secret rooms in one of the local shops - eliminated two NPCs that the party has known (in real time) for about six months. The party has had ample reason to suspect that these characters were good but not that they were actively trying to overthrow their evil masters.