Rituals for Opening an ancient Vault

[RealMarkP]

I'm looking for some ideas to help me craft a vault entryway. This is a fantasy setting, so the vault will most likely be a portal to some pocket dimension with a magical archway that needs to be activated. Whoever made this vault obviously didn't make it so that you could walk in easily. What I'd like to do is have this spawn up some side quests for the party, where they need to fetch items. Ideally, the party would have to dungeon delve, steal, and RP their way to getting these items.

What I'm struggling with is what these items will be and (less so) who has them. Using ominous Orbs as the 'keys' is very cliche, which has been done to death. I'm thinking of making it a ritual, something that requires items of notoriety (not just eye-of-newt) to be combined in some sort of fashion.

Any thoughts?

[Mikeavelli]

The way it's opened should be keyed to the purpose of the vault. Was it meant to never be opened? Was it meant to be accessed regularly? Is it holding vast riches? Imprisoning something dangerous? All of the above?

Basically, what will the players be encountering on the other side of the Vault? If possible, the various quests and delving they do in the process of getting it opened should give them hints about that encounter. Foreshadowing is lovely stuff.

[Gildedragon]

an Incantation might be good
starts off with caller at the gate... builds up from that

[Kol Korran]

I do think that knowing a bit more about the circumstances that the vault was built for (Who built it? Why they built it? What's inside? Anyone who tried getting into it in the past and so on). Might go a long wy into giving connection and inspiration for us to help you with. I would suggest though not to get specific items, butrather have the players perform/ arrange specific deeds.

A good example I remember (vaguely) in the Dragonlance Twin series: A certain place/ plot point could only be opened by a dark cloaked mage (evil), and a priestess of Paladin (Good). That was supposed to be a way to prevent that ever happening. But love (and manipulation) can overcome all obstacles.

[supermonkeyjoe]

You could always go down the route of "they key has been shattered into many pieces"

Alternatively if the vault was for an individual then opening it may be keyed to their personal effects, a signet ring, a medallion and a dagger for example that when used together form a key, one is in the creators tomb, one is with their descendant, the last is in the horde of a dragon, or something like that.

For bonus points make it so the portal needs his bloodline present, cue tracking down a descendent and convincing them to come along.

[Spore]

I'd go for a more personal route. What where the architect's most important personal traits? What has been important for the old owners of this place. Maybe they just have to perform some acts of
- modesty
- greed
- hate
- sacrifice
- faith

for the door to recognize they're worthy.

[Oneris]

You could always go down the route of "they key has been shattered into many pieces"

Alternatively if the vault was for an individual then opening it may be keyed to their personal effects, a signet ring, a medallion and a dagger for example that when used together form a key, one is in the creators tomb, one is with their descendant, the last is in the horde of a dragon, or something like that.

For bonus points make it so the portal needs his bloodline present, cue tracking down a descendent and convincing them to come along.

You could instead have the vault entry arch itself be shattered into many pieces, and each stone is placed in a location of significance, like enshrined in the altar of a temple, or embedded into the city gate.

Edit: And to really throw them for a loop, have a few pieces be in utterly mundane places, like the 4th brick from the right behind the kitchen table of the local Inn, and maybe a few no longer existent, so they have to be fashioned from a new block of stone by a stonecutter, for whom they have to bring the blueprints, and the right chunk of stone.

[With a box]

Play tic-tac-toe (or something else) in front of door
Door openes and loser vaporized by the door

[Eanow]

Something I did for my home game:

My players found an ancient vault with a sealed room inside, and three corridors going off from the antechamber before the sealed room. In the antechamber there was a control panel with colored gems in slots and a set of panels with different textures on them. A couple dungeoneering, engineering, perception, etc checks indicated that it was some kind of control panel, likely a locking mechanism for the door which they couldn't open. Attempts to disable device were unsuccessful and they were allowed to push the buttons and rearrange the gems without ill effects, although I rolled some d20s and pretended to check a reference table behind my screen each time to make it feel a little dangerous.

Each of the three corridors ended in a room with a different monster in them. One was a sound elemental (refluffed air elemental, with a half power shout spell as an at-will) One was a Orrery made of colored glass (animated object, with a color spray at-will spell) and the last was a pile of shapeshifting sand that changed its attack weapon each round using a d4 roll and was aberrant type. Each was weak in a way that made sense (Silence would kill the sound elemental instantly, Darkness would kill the color elemental and it took double damage from sonic or similar effects that break brittle stuff). None of my players thought to try any of this, but they are new to the game so that's understandable. One player was convinced that they couldn't hurt the sound elemental and wanted to run to a second corridor and see if there was some kind of thing that would cancel each other out, which would have likely resulted in a TPK if they had tried it.

Basically, the passcode for the vault was three parts: a password, an arrangement of the colored gems, and pushing a particular pair of the textured buttons. Each enemy was protecting one of the parts, and when the players defeated each enemy they experienced a sense memory corresponding to the password, colored pattern, or texture they should use. After the second enemy they had it figured out and rushed to get the third.

I figure you could do something similar, maybe move the memory keepers around or increase the number to expand the necessary work involved. Mine was intended to be finished in a single session.

[weckar]

Silly thought, if orbs is cliché, how about using actual keys?

[John Longarrow]

I'm looking for some ideas to help me craft a vault entryway. This is a fantasy setting, so the vault will most likely be a portal to some pocket dimension with a magical archway that needs to be activated. Whoever made this vault obviously didn't make it so that you could walk in easily. What I'd like to do is have this spawn up some side quests for the party, where they need to fetch items. Ideally, the party would have to dungeon delve, steal, and RP their way to getting these items.

What I'm struggling with is what these items will be and (less so) who has them. Using ominous Orbs as the 'keys' is very cliche, which has been done to death. I'm thinking of making it a ritual, something that requires items of notoriety (not just eye-of-newt) to be combined in some sort of fashion.

Any thoughts?

<- puts on rat bastard hat..
Make it a vault door. In the strong room for a money lender. It goes into his strong room. The one he's got guarded, trapped, and warded.

Fun part is if you break in and use a mcguffin you can open the door and get to the OTHER vault. Mcguffing is something either very intuitive or something a moneylender would/wouldn't (as needed) have access to.
Have it be "You must be accompanied by a greedy and beautiful woman with golden blonde hair and emerald green eyes."

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

an Incantation might be good
starts off with caller at the gate... builds up from that

I would definitely use a custom Incantation (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/incantations.htm) for this, though it would be almost impossible to track down or discover the incantation itself if he researched it himself and didn't write it down or share it. Maybe he based his on an older one used for another purpose, or perhaps there's a 'source code' for an extraplanar vault incantation and they must research or discover the various 'keys' used to open this particular one.

[Gildedragon]

I would definitely use a custom Incantation (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/incantations.htm) for this, though it would be almost impossible to track down or discover the incantation itself if he researched it himself and didn't write it down or share it. Maybe he based his on an older one used for another purpose, or perhaps there's a 'source code' for an extraplanar vault incantation and they must research or discover the various 'keys' used to open this particular one.

Call upon the lurker to get info where the proper ritual (it might need him to be present, so they have to get his bones and the thianum ring he always wore (evil wizard, would rather be trapped in a ring/inescapable demiplane of his choosing, rather than face the hells))

[infomatic]

This assumes that it's going to be a vault that's easily accessible by the owner.

Give it a guardian with some weird sort of attack — dessication damage, positive energy damage, etc. That form of damage is necessary to unlock the vault.

Players encounter the guardian and kill it — because that's what players do — thus depriving themselves of the key. They then have to go find a monster that does the same type of damage, capture it and get it back to the vault before the first dead monster is discovered.

Thwarted by:

• The talk-first-shoot-later party, fronted by a diplomancer

• Shapechange or Metamorphic Transfer types who just change into the monster once it's dead.

[RealMarkP]

Oops, I fell asleep. Apparently the world doesn't stop while I'm unconscious.

Anyway, let me answer some questions:

The vault holds the riches of an ancient empire that once controlled these lands. They were the items of the empire's heroes, now long forgotten.
Once the empire fell, the vault was constructed as as a joint venture between the woodland elves, the dwarves, the highland Orcs, and the nomadic human tribes of the time. The items were deemed too powerful for anyone one culture to own.
Each item will be taken from the Weapons of Legacy book and each chamber will be fashioned as a shrine to the hero that once used said item.
The vault is extra-dimensional.


The vault was once guarded by a contingent of soldiers and, eventually, was built like a fortress. But, due to the ever-changing political climate between the various factions of the land, the fortress was a contentious issue once war was common. It was under siege, destroyed, and rebuilt many times. As a final deterrant against endless war, the leaders of the many factions shattered the 'key' and split it among themselves. Each ruler would keep the location of the key fragment a secret and die without uttering of its whereabouts. Ages would pass and the fortress became less strategic, and the lore behind it slipped into legend and fairy tale.

Enter the players. They have come to own some information about the old empire, and the riches it once embodied. They will learn of the history of this fortress, now a ruin in the hands of squabbling Orcish tribes. The players will eventually piece the locations of the key fragments and go on a series of adventures to fetch and reconstruct it.

So there are two parts to my wall-o-text:
- What the key is (and how it can be combined)?
- And how does it activate the vault portal?

To answer some questions:


And to really throw them for a loop, have a few pieces be in utterly mundane places, like the 4th brick from the right behind the kitchen table of the local Inn, and maybe a few no longer existent, so they have to be fashioned from a new block of stone by a stonecutter, for whom they have to bring the blueprints, and the right chunk of stone.

I really like this idea. But I can see my players saying "ah screw it, too complex... lets kill Orcs".


Mcguffing is something either very intuitive or something a moneylender would/wouldn't (as needed) have access to.
Have it be "You must be accompanied by a greedy and beautiful woman with golden blonde hair and emerald green eyes."

This can become ridiculous. I like it. Since my party has questionable morals, I can throw some "required: blood of virgin" into the mix and see where it takes them. If you guys have some fun ideas for this concept (that might be evil in nature), by all means make a list.

[Gildedragon]

with the empire fluff: it needs a number of different races/classes present for the ritual. UMD can help bluff the portal.

[John Longarrow]

This can become ridiculous. I like it. Since my party has questionable morals, I can throw some "required: blood of virgin" into the mix and see where it takes them. If you guys have some fun ideas for this concept (that might be evil in nature), by all means make a list.

Easiest way to do this, it requires the blood from each race. So either your party has an Elf, a Dwarf, an Orc, and a Human, or you just make sure one mongrelfolk is part of the party...

[RealMarkP]

Easiest way to do this, it requires the blood from each race. So either your party has an Elf, a Dwarf, an Orc, and a Human, or you just make sure one mongrelfolk is part of the party...

The party is: Elf, Half-Orc, Human, Dwarf, Elf.

Not to mention that the vault is under the ruins of this once great fortress, which is now inhabited by Orcs. So, blood is easy to find.

[Ferronach]

As the vault was sealed up by/belonged to a previous adventuring party, it could be keyed to parts of their items.

The scabbard to the fighter's sword which has been passed down the generations at a fighting academy. The party must defeat the master swordsman in order to keep the scabbard until someone defeats the bearer.

The Cleric's holy symbol - found on an altar in the catacombs of a long abandoned (and ruined) temple - party can be given it by the Cleric's shade after clearing out the temple of unwanted squatters (undead etc.)

An amulet from a monk - in a grotto at the top of a mountain

A wizard's quill- in a heavily warded tomb/tower - the wizard may be alive (or undead) and willing to lend the item to the party

A rogue's tools (+5 bonus to Open Lock /Disable Device) - in the heavily trapped under-cellar of a wealthy merchant family's villa

A paladin's shield boss - a trophy in the halls of a Blackguard's fortress

A bard's lyre/lute - over the bar in a tavern - challenge the tavern owner to a drinking contest?

A barbarian's loincloth (jkjk)

A barbarian's axe head - deep in the caves of the dwarven/orc/half orc etc. people to which he belonged - diplo challenge (or intimidate)

Have the items be something that each member of your party will find useful upon acquiring the full item. The pieces of the items (aka the key fragments) are useless on their own but when brought together show an image of where the real key is hidden) and are useful once re-united with the other pieces of gear found within the vault. Have the items be in a location/situation where certain party members will be more/less useful.

[Eanow]

Possibly a slight tangent, but if you want to go with the multiple parties worked together to seal it method, you might want to take a page from the idea of secret sharing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_sharing) which is a really cool way of splitting information into pieces, where any N of M pieces (decided at creation time) can recover the original information.

You could have a magic/mechanical/other analog of this, where there are say 8 key fragments or ritual components, originally entrusted one to each group, and any 6 would open the vault. This gives your players some additional agency and choice as they can choose which 6 to collect, and you can make things interesting by allowing some of the keys to have been lost or destroyed or the process to get them can be failed without ruining the story.

[nolongerchaos]

Something, also cliche perhaps, I've been wanting to do for a little while is give the party a ceremonial sword with the name "Beauty" etched along the blade, only for the party to discover it is in fact a key, the keyhole for which would eventually be found in a statue, particularly the center pupil of a certain non-OGL abberation.

[John Longarrow]

Each item will be taken from the Weapons of Legacy book and each chamber will be fashioned as a shrine to the hero that once used said item.

At what level should they be getting these items? IIRC, most of the items out of this book are ones I would never want as a player. That said, intelligent items could be very fun!

[RealMarkP]

At what level should they be getting these items? IIRC, most of the items out of this book are ones I would never want as a player. That said, intelligent items could be very fun!

The party is currently level 2, and the fetching of key pieces would bump them up to about level 4. Now, I've read many forums about the items in that book (how they are lackluster and the penalties make them horrible) and will be making adjustments as per the suggestions on said forums.

This vault/quest also opens up the ability for the players to create their own items, which I'm also open to.

TL;DR: DM's prerogative to change the items in the book for the better.

[XionUnborn01]

You could the key be a barred gate that the keepers broke up among themselves.

You could reveal the lore by bringing up things like the orc warrior always used a large spear or axe or whatever with an oversized haft. The human was always seen with two short maces, the hafts of which were an impossibly dark and heavy material.

Maybe one of the keepers melted down the gate turned into a breastplate or bracers or something and has to be reforged into the proper shape.

Another forged his bar into a spiked shield and must be also reforged.

This way you can have the party collect some items along the way with mythical properties and then they learn that the items they collected are they key, not the tablet pieces, matching rings, or other things that might be on the corpses or in the tombs.

[Kol Korran]

Hmmmm... Some ideas:
- The vault builders wish it only opened by someone who embodies the traits of the past races. The party must exemplify them somehow. A great idea would be to let the party find out exactly how to do that. Or you could give them some quests of some sort. The idea is to create deeds that qualify for the quest, not items. There might be a guardian (A dragon? An outsider?) That gives the party the basic jist of the matter. It can send the party with either an item that "records" their deeds, or perhaps with some accompanying NPC (pseudo dragon? Quasit? Something of the like?) That needs to judge and see if the party "fits the bill".

Some ideas:
Orcs: Emulate the famous orc courage and fierceness. The party may need to fight against quite great odds, ones that have a real chance of making them die. Or they need to take on a serious challenge to prove they are not cowards or such.

Humans: Craftiness and mutability. Perhaps negotiating something with a bunch of thieves guilds, or trick some fey, or maybe steal something that can't be bought or bargained for (Maybe a minor relic of some church? A noble's familiy jewels/ crest? His daughter?) OR such things.

Dwarves: Steadfastness and dependability. Hmmmm... Not sure here. The Accompanying NPC might put something up to test the PCs unknowingly, like having them mocked or ridiculed over and over again, when they need to keep face (For example due to some bet, or when attending some party, or perhaps when doing something they are mocked by others. Or perhaps they are tempted by various offers and riches while they are supposed to do another job, and the NPC tries to see if they will keep their word or such?

Elves: Not sure here, but perhaps Grace, long term planning and maybe magic mastery? Not sure how to test grace, perhaps just achieving something with a cool style, finesse and elegance instead of murdering anything in sight. Long term planning might be given to a complex operation, thinking things through and planning ahead, as well as thinking on long term re precautions. Magic mastery is the dull part, but perhaps solving some magical puzzle, maybe some strange local that has a magical phenomena that the PCs are required to figure out?

My suggestion is to give the PCs an opportunity to suggest worthy test on their own, depending on the campaign and system, and have the follower/ recording item figure if these are worthy enough. Could lead to all kinds of shenanigans. If you're going with some creature NPCs I suggest to make it a real character and have it interact with the PCs a lot. In whatever manner you find appropriate. Perhaps dealing with it is even one of the tests?

Oh! Oh! I just had an idea! In a pirate campaign the PCs found a cursed talkign head, who could not be destroyed or moved, and kept on haggering them and belittling them through out: "You call that courage? My nanny was more courageous! Why, in my days we fought a THOUSAND orcs! With a blindfold! One arm only! While treading hot coals!" The party both loved it and hated it, but he was a great NPC to have around. It kept on appearing even after being "lost/ misplaced", burned, crushed, thrown into holy water. ("You call this holy? I piss holier water than this!") It just kept on appearing (usually munching on the rations of the party)

I hope this proves more interesting than just "fetch the item" quests, and I think there are TONS of roleply opportunities here.