ksbsnowowl
2016-07-30, 02:05 PM
I'm running a homebrew setting where the PC's are currently ECL 3. I had one of those DM "ah-ha!" moments where a backstory/driving force idea blossomed in my mind for what was originally a mundane and reason-less mini adventure idea.
My PC's are en route somewhere, and were approached by some Forest Gnomes who needed their help with an approaching mob of gibberlings (Monsters of Faerun) that was headed toward their village. That was the initial quest idea. Something barely sketched out that they could deal with for a few days as they trekked toward another place.
Then the idea blossomed and solidified. What is driving/corralling this horde of gibberlings directly toward this gnome village? An imp is doing it. He spends most of his time invisible, but will visibly act as a "carrot" when needed to keep the gibberlings on course.
But what motivates the imp?... What if the imp was a caster's Improved Familiar? And the caster is somehow imprisoned, and the imp has been working for centuries toward freeing his master? The McGuffin the imp is after has to do with the Forest Gnomes somehow. Thus, his latest attempt to free his master led him to antagonizing a horde of gibberlings, leading them out of the underdark, and pointing them toward the gnomes.
Seems like a decent little plot, that has possibilities for future plot spin-offs if the PC's deal with the gibberlings, but not the imp (face the imp in the future when he is attempting his next master-freeing plot, or hunt down the caster's imprisoned location, etc). The only problem, is I can't figure out the details of how the imp's master might be imprisoned, and what the McGuffin for his release might be (object? activity?)
For the sake of argument, assume the imprisoned caster is a Kobold Adept 9 (thus it only has a CR of 6; still a decent threat the PC's will have to deal with if they fail to stop the imp's goals, but something they could still deal with if need be). It could certainly be a more powerful caster of some sort (a dragon with an added level(s) of sorcerer, and the Improved Familiar feat), but the Kobold Adept 9 is the lowest CR I could come up with that could have an Imp as a familiar.
The only idea I've come up with so far includes using the "dying curse" rules from page 28 of the BoVD to duplicate a Wish, to in turn duplicate a Binding (Minimus Containment), and somehow the curse was phrased in a way that it would end upon the "death of the bloodline" of some forest gnome adventurer or something. But a wish-enducing Dying Curse is only available to a creature of 17 or more HD... the probability of a 17 HD creature cursing a CR 6 creature into an imprisoned state, rather than just killing him, seems a little whacky.
Any and every idea you guys might have for a trap would be appreciated. The imprisoned caster could even be a Necropolitan Kobold Adept if the trap idea required the imprisoned foe to not need to breathe or eat. Can any of you think of some trapping spell specific to undead, or some other specific creature type? Anything, as long as there's some reasonable expectation that the caster's freedom would take a long time for his Imp familiar to devise (his weekly Commune SLA would have helped him along the way). A simple Magic Circle trap on an outsider wouldn't work; the imp could have ended that without much difficulty.
My PC's are en route somewhere, and were approached by some Forest Gnomes who needed their help with an approaching mob of gibberlings (Monsters of Faerun) that was headed toward their village. That was the initial quest idea. Something barely sketched out that they could deal with for a few days as they trekked toward another place.
Then the idea blossomed and solidified. What is driving/corralling this horde of gibberlings directly toward this gnome village? An imp is doing it. He spends most of his time invisible, but will visibly act as a "carrot" when needed to keep the gibberlings on course.
But what motivates the imp?... What if the imp was a caster's Improved Familiar? And the caster is somehow imprisoned, and the imp has been working for centuries toward freeing his master? The McGuffin the imp is after has to do with the Forest Gnomes somehow. Thus, his latest attempt to free his master led him to antagonizing a horde of gibberlings, leading them out of the underdark, and pointing them toward the gnomes.
Seems like a decent little plot, that has possibilities for future plot spin-offs if the PC's deal with the gibberlings, but not the imp (face the imp in the future when he is attempting his next master-freeing plot, or hunt down the caster's imprisoned location, etc). The only problem, is I can't figure out the details of how the imp's master might be imprisoned, and what the McGuffin for his release might be (object? activity?)
For the sake of argument, assume the imprisoned caster is a Kobold Adept 9 (thus it only has a CR of 6; still a decent threat the PC's will have to deal with if they fail to stop the imp's goals, but something they could still deal with if need be). It could certainly be a more powerful caster of some sort (a dragon with an added level(s) of sorcerer, and the Improved Familiar feat), but the Kobold Adept 9 is the lowest CR I could come up with that could have an Imp as a familiar.
The only idea I've come up with so far includes using the "dying curse" rules from page 28 of the BoVD to duplicate a Wish, to in turn duplicate a Binding (Minimus Containment), and somehow the curse was phrased in a way that it would end upon the "death of the bloodline" of some forest gnome adventurer or something. But a wish-enducing Dying Curse is only available to a creature of 17 or more HD... the probability of a 17 HD creature cursing a CR 6 creature into an imprisoned state, rather than just killing him, seems a little whacky.
Any and every idea you guys might have for a trap would be appreciated. The imprisoned caster could even be a Necropolitan Kobold Adept if the trap idea required the imprisoned foe to not need to breathe or eat. Can any of you think of some trapping spell specific to undead, or some other specific creature type? Anything, as long as there's some reasonable expectation that the caster's freedom would take a long time for his Imp familiar to devise (his weekly Commune SLA would have helped him along the way). A simple Magic Circle trap on an outsider wouldn't work; the imp could have ended that without much difficulty.