Jay R
2014-12-01, 07:53 PM
I'm about to introduce The Palace Under the Hill, as a famous legend. I want them to have mixed, mutually incompatible views about it. So my plan is when they get where they can recognize it, I tell then that they all know about The Palace Under the Hill, and give them each the legend on a sheet of paper.
The kicker is that the papers don't agree. They all agree that the Palace was owned by a great noble wizard, the greatest wizard of his age, who used epic magic arranged for a hill to appear over his palace and hide it when he died. He planned for it to re-appear when it was needed. But they all have a difference story for when it would reappear, and they all have a different name for the wizard, from many different legends - Archimago, Baba Yagi, Circe, Dallben, Grindelwald, Gwydion, Jadis, Medea, Merlin, Mordekainen, Olorin, Pallando, Prospero, Shazam, Sheelba, Stephen Strange, Thoth-Amon, ...
When they start going down the main hallway, they will see friezes extolling very clear and obvious moments of great heroes from many conflicting legends. About halfway down will be a frieze showing their own last adventure.
In fact, it's an accident that the palace is now uncovered, and it did not belong to any of the wizards mentioned above. In fact, if they reach the tomb at the center, it contains a body missing one eye and one hand.
So, I have two questions:
1. Will the multiple conflicting stories work to both provide cool flavor and confuse them early on (whether they compare notes or not), and
2. What kind of magic should be in Vecna's palace?
The game is 2E, so I don't have to worry about any WBL nonsense. The party is fourth level, and doesn't have much magic. This is intended to give them some really cool options, but neither overpowering power nor invulnerability.
The kicker is that the papers don't agree. They all agree that the Palace was owned by a great noble wizard, the greatest wizard of his age, who used epic magic arranged for a hill to appear over his palace and hide it when he died. He planned for it to re-appear when it was needed. But they all have a difference story for when it would reappear, and they all have a different name for the wizard, from many different legends - Archimago, Baba Yagi, Circe, Dallben, Grindelwald, Gwydion, Jadis, Medea, Merlin, Mordekainen, Olorin, Pallando, Prospero, Shazam, Sheelba, Stephen Strange, Thoth-Amon, ...
When they start going down the main hallway, they will see friezes extolling very clear and obvious moments of great heroes from many conflicting legends. About halfway down will be a frieze showing their own last adventure.
In fact, it's an accident that the palace is now uncovered, and it did not belong to any of the wizards mentioned above. In fact, if they reach the tomb at the center, it contains a body missing one eye and one hand.
So, I have two questions:
1. Will the multiple conflicting stories work to both provide cool flavor and confuse them early on (whether they compare notes or not), and
2. What kind of magic should be in Vecna's palace?
The game is 2E, so I don't have to worry about any WBL nonsense. The party is fourth level, and doesn't have much magic. This is intended to give them some really cool options, but neither overpowering power nor invulnerability.