PCs trapped in governor's mansion in (they are told is) last man standing scenario.

[Minty88]

I have a four fourth level PCs drugged and trapped in a large three story house. I have a fifth PC a second lvl Paladin (who will be much better geared) coming to the town to investigate reports of necromancy being use to work the fields in this farming town (it is).

The necromancer is the owner of the house, the governor of the town (of about 6 months), and is a 15th lvl LE wizard who WILL not kill the PCs directly.

Next session they are going to wake up in separate guest bedrooms with a breakfast prepared and a note that instructs them of their peril. It will read something to the effect of:

"You are now cursed. Any attempt to leave the grounds will result in a most painful death. If you have any hope of survival it will begin with the death of your companions, at your hands."

My question is. What should I expect? There is alot of stuff to explore in the house and some small opportunities to get separated. Also, how do I make good on the curse? I.E. how do I keep the PCs in the house in the house while still allowing the Paladin in?

[jiriku]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding your question. If the PCs cannot leave without dying unless they kill each other then either:

a) They will leave and die. Game over.
b) They will never leave. Game over.
c) They'll pvp each other until only one is left. Game over.

You should expect that your game is over. Were you intending this to be a one-shot campaign?

[Minty88]

There is another way out. They have a high level NPC to protect them from some things (they do not know this). They are also all either CN, CG, or LG.

I guess the real question is how quickly do they need to get a clue that they have other options? (the house is a killable construct)

All they know as of now is that they were tricked and now they are the Governor's 'play things'. How would you suggest I keep them from simply walking out the front door or just breaking a window and leaving?

And if they aren't made to think that they must do something horrible to survive, how to I keep them afraid for their character's lives while in the house.

[Shining Wrath]

The way to keep them from leaving the front door of a necromancer's house is a largish zombie with a big club standing next to the door, or perhaps two.

The way to keep them from going through a window is an illusion outside that window of lots of largish zombies with big clubs standing next to the window. People outside the house don't see the illusion, it's effective only when looking through a window.

The way to keep them from PvPing each other may rely on a servant (Eye-gore) who prepares and serves the meals and will occasionally let a clue drop that perhaps Master is not entirely truthful.

[Nibbens]

There is another way out. They have a high level NPC to protect them from some things (they do not know this). They are also all either CN, CG, or LG.

I guess the real question is how quickly do they need to get a clue that they have other options? (the house is a killable construct)

All they know as of now is that they were tricked and now they are the Governor's 'play things'. How would you suggest I keep them from simply walking out the front door or just breaking a window and leaving?

And if they aren't made to think that they must do something horrible to survive, how to I keep them afraid for their character's lives while in the house.

Sounds like something straight out of saw. Lol.
While we're on the subject of them not leaving -
1) The pc's aren't the only ones in the house. Maybe 5 other townsfolk - men, women, children (no discrimination)
2) They are instructed with something akin to this: "If one of you leaves, some other innocent trapped in here with you will die horribly, at random, with a big gorey explosion etc etc." (you could exemplify this with a Male townsfolk running out and a random woman NPC blowing up behind him - shower the PC's in gooey entrails and you've set their boundaries.)
3) Have someone or something urge them that there is another way and the only way is working together to figure it out. Tensions will run high regardless, and you can emphasize this with more NPC's fighting each other/bickering/actually trying to kill each other. (if you use this method, don't have the NPC's attack the PC's because where's the fun in that?)

[Segev]

I suppose the question is: what parts of the necromancer's claims are a lie? If they won't really die if they leave, it boils down to whether one of them will risk it or if they'll all take it at face value.

The curse doesn't stop the Paladin from entering; it's an open question whether he's cursed as well or not. If not (or if the curse is a lie), expect him to be an agent of the party on the "outside."

With the alignments you mention, only the CN guy is even remotely likely to murder his companions. On the other hand, expect them to treat it like a puzzle.

What do you have planned in the mansion to make it interesting? What is the necromancer's purpose in trapping them there (or making them think they are)?

If it's a lie, the jig is up the moment any of them try leaving. I wouldn't put it past the CN guy to shove an ally out the door; if it kills him, he's one step closer to "winning" by the rules established, and if it doesn't, he's proven it's all a lie.

[Minty88]

I'm a fairly new DM.

Won't they die if they try to engage the large undead at the front door?

Won't PC's sorcerer be able to dispel the illusion? What would the DC have to be?

And yes, the helper is the ghost of his daughter. Since she is a ghost she can't really confront a necromancer directly (or at least that is what i'm ruling). I'm also giving her one of those sort of ham-fisted 'can only help indirectly' clauses.

EDIT: to answer more questions. The hook is that its a game to the necromancer. He has this cozy position in the town. He has power, and all he has to do is keep food surplus in route to the capitol. Unfortunately this includes him raising the dead to harvest crops during the night hours.

The house has a basement with a dungeon where they will find the body of the daughter, a backyard garden hedge maze with zombies and a minotaur, several encounters including a piano construct (modeled after giant octopus from MM). They will also be able to discover the peices of a journal that will explain how the governor came to power and where the missing people from the town are (which is part of the reason zombies are harvesting crops.)

My original thought was to put a magical barrier that does damage per 5 ft of movement outside of the grounds of the house. This would mean death wouldn't be instant if a character got pushed outside, but at their level it would make it impossible to leave.

[Segev]

The point of the big zombies is to keep the PCs from leaving. The question is whether that's your intent. What do you intend this scenario to achieve?

No 4th level caster has Dispel Magic, so no, they can't do a thing to an illusion that way.

I'm not sure what you want the ghost NPC to do to help, or how.

I suggest thinking thsi through from the motivations of the NPCs: what do each of them WANT, and how are they going to act towards it given their powers in-game?

[Minty88]

Well they don't know the alignment of the wizard. They only know that he is VERY powerful and that he has tricked them. He just wants his power and he wants it undisturbed. Playing this game with the PCs is just kind of a side bit of fun for him.

Does that make him CE rather than LE?

And his daughter, the ghost, just wants the house destroyed and him dead so she had rest.

Edit: What I'm trying to achieve is to make my PCs realize they can't save this town, at least not right now. They need to either escape, destroy the house (which is doable for them), or find some other way out that I haven't thought of.

[Atanvarno]

Rather than killing them, the curse could knock them out, and then they wake up in their respective initial rooms.

That should keep them trapped without exploding anyone's character when they inevitably probe their prison's defenses.

If you want the threat of death hanging over them, you could claim that the curse will also kill them after a certain time limit has passed.

[Minty88]

Rather than killing them, the curse could knock them out, and then they wake up in their respective initial rooms.

That should keep them trapped without exploding anyone's character when they inevitably probe their prison's defenses.

If you want the threat of death hanging over them, you could claim that the curse will also kill them after a certain time limit has passed.

I like that. Is there an existing spell like that? Or as DM am I expected to just make that kind of stuff up? I mean is it fair for me to just say (not necessarily to my PC's) that the necromancer sets of a barrier around the grounds of the house that renders anyone that leaves it indefinitely unconscious?

Also I like your second point. If I give them a week (in game) that keeps them from immediately turning on each other but also leaves the threat of death.

[Atanvarno]

I like that. Is there an existing spell like that? Or as DM am I expected to just make that kind of stuff up? I mean is it fair for me to just say (not necessarily to my PC's) that the necromancer sets of a barrier around the grounds of the house that renders anyone that leaves it indefinitely unconscious?

Also I like your second point. If I give them a week (in game) that keeps them from immediately turning on each other but also leaves the threat of death.

The effect would be a bit more powerful than a Bestow Curse or Mark of Justice, but well within what I would consider reasonable to use for a plot device. You could instead use something like Geas, but that might be a bit overkill.

[icefractal]

A spell that would do that - is it a curse applied to each victim, or a barrier that affects anyone inside (in which case it would affect the Paladin also, once he enters)?

For the former, if the mayor has the cash a Crafted Contingent Merciful Scorching Ray would likely do it (average 42 damage, should be enough for 4th level characters). That would knock them out when they get too far from the house, then a zombie minion collects their unconscious body, brings it back to the necromancer for re-contingency if necessary, and then they're brought back inside the house (via secret passages, perhaps).

For the latter, use nested rings of Forbiddance (keyed to allow evil). Make it Merciful, so that the necromancer can bring victims in without killing them, and undead can walk through without issue. Each ring they walk through, they take 6d6 or 12d6 damage, and there can be more than one ring. Expensive to set up, but it lasts forever, so not out of reason for an established mayor.

[With a box]

for transported back..



Binding(Sor/Wiz 8)
Enchantment (Compulsion) [Mind-Affecting]
Hedged Prison

The subject is transported to or otherwise brought within a confined area from which it cannot wander by any means. The effect is permanent. Reduce the save DC by 3.

but if the wizard to four 8th Enchantment spells as a necromancer 15th
But why he uses highest level spells to held low level mook(5th vs 15th) with burn his 10000gp?

[Minty88]

A spell that would do that - is it a curse applied to each victim, or a barrier that affects anyone inside (in which case it would affect the Paladin also, once he enters)?

For the former, if the mayor has the cash a Crafted Contingent Merciful Scorching Ray would likely do it (average 42 damage, should be enough for 4th level characters). That would knock them out when they get too far from the house, then a zombie minion collects their unconscious body, brings it back to the necromancer for re-contingency if necessary, and then they're brought back inside the house (via secret passages, perhaps).

For the latter, use nested rings of Forbiddance (keyed to allow evil). Make it Merciful, so that the necromancer can bring victims in without killing them, and undead can walk through without issue. Each ring they walk through, they take 6d6 or 12d6 damage, and there can be more than one ring. Expensive to set up, but it lasts forever, so not out of reason for an established mayor.

I guess it should be anyone inside the house. It solves the problem of "wait here while I go get a paladin army". What book are the rings of forbiddance in? I've just been working with core books, but an not limiting myself to them. Also what does it mean to make the spell merciful? It's a new term to me. I'm assuming it just converts lethal to non-lethal damage.

[Minty88]

Sounds like something straight out of saw. Lol.
While we're on the subject of them not leaving -
1) The pc's aren't the only ones in the house. Maybe 5 other townsfolk - men, women, children (no discrimination)
2) They are instructed with something akin to this: "If one of you leaves, some other innocent trapped in here with you will die horribly, at random, with a big gorey explosion etc etc." (you could exemplify this with a Male townsfolk running out and a random woman NPC blowing up behind him - shower the PC's in gooey entrails and you've set their boundaries.)
3) Have someone or something urge them that there is another way and the only way is working together to figure it out. Tensions will run high regardless, and you can emphasize this with more NPC's fighting each other/bickering/actually trying to kill each other. (if you use this method, don't have the NPC's attack the PC's because where's the fun in that?)

Yeah, its somewhat of a 'horror' kind of thing. Sorry I missed this earlier. I'm kind of affraid that if I put many NPCs in the house aside from the ghost and the governor its going to bog things down. I'm new to this, so do you have some other suggestions for what initial actions a group of 2-3 NPCs that have also found themselves inside the house (willfully or not)?

[WesleyVos]

This sounds a lot like Ted Dekker's House. I love that book.

I'd suggest making it one PC death, that must be at the hands of another PC. That makes a bit more intrigue, with the PCs forming alliances against each other and such. They have to work together to get out of the house, but the easy way out is for one of them to just off another. Really can cause some trust issues. Fun stuff.

[icefractal]

I guess it should be anyone inside the house. It solves the problem of "wait here while I go get a paladin army". What book are the rings of forbiddance in? I've just been working with core books, but an not limiting myself to them. Also what does it mean to make the spell merciful? It's a new term to me. I'm assuming it just converts lethal to non-lethal damage.Forbiddance is in the PHB. Also here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/forbiddance.htm). It can be shaped however you want (within limits) so you could make it a donut shape that encircles the mansion - this might take more than one casting.

And yeah, Merciful is a +0 metamagic that makes the damage nonlethal. From one of the Complete books, I think.

[Lord of Shadows]

I guess the real question is how quickly do they need to get a clue that they have other options? (the house is a killable construct)

No one has really picked up on this little detail yet. Some ideas:

The "house" has been through this before, and has injuries that have healed. These could be described as cracks that don't look quite right, or as some areas that look "newer," etc etc

Or...

The "house" is intelligent, and this can go lots of ways. Perhaps it is as much a prisoner as the party, and will try to help in little ways. Perhaps it is a willing part of the game, and will try to mess up the party's efforts. Use your imagination.

Or...

The "house" is a super-intelligent being and is playing a game with the mayor at the same time he is playing his little game with the party.


The sky (or in this case, the house) is the limit here.

Enjoy..
.

[Sudain]

In tango, they teach us to lead is such a way that the lady's next step is what you want. Or, to lead her footfalls in such a way that it would be completely un-natural to not step where you want. In dnd I don't know what this would be called, but it's relevant.

If you were in their position - what would you do? What would you want to do?

[Minty88]

No one has really picked up on this little detail yet. Some ideas:

The "house" has been through this before, and has injuries that have healed. These could be described as cracks that don't look quite right, or as some areas that look "newer," etc etc

Or...

The "house" is intelligent, and this can go lots of ways. Perhaps it is as much a prisoner as the party, and will try to help in little ways. Perhaps it is a willing part of the game, and will try to mess up the party's efforts. Use your imagination.

Or...

The "house" is a super-intelligent being and is playing a game with the mayor at the same time he is playing his little game with the party.


The sky (or in this case, the house) is the limit here.

Enjoy..
.

I want the house be a willing participant, but not super intelligent. The point of the house being destructible is to leave evidence, the last thing that the governor wants.

I thought about narrating such that any natural 1s will be misses that hit the house or a column at which point it will describe a faith growl and a rumble under the PCs feet (in different wants and with different words of course.)


In tango, they teach us to lead is such a way that the lady's next step is what you want. Or, to lead her footfalls in such a way that it would be completely un-natural to not step where you want. In dnd I don't know what this would be called, but it's relevant.

If you were in their position - what would you do? What would you want to do?

This isn't very specific but I appreciate it as I find it to be a fantastic tip for a new DM like myself