Gastronomie
2016-09-04, 09:39 PM
I have a session upcoming in the 9th as a DM, and before that, I want to solve this question.
So, my players are gonna escape Velkynvelve. Normally, a DM would have the chaos of demonic invasion do the job of distracting everybody, but here I'm thinking something else - the demonic invasion will be nothing but a reason why the "drow don't instantly come after them", and the escape itself will be done by just the players' wits and abilities. Because that way it feels much less Deus Ex Machina.
The players are doing really good. They've developed a good relationship with Jorlan even before he asked them first, and one of them is also a Master of Disguise (she took the UA feat at first level), and can disguise the half-drow in the party as Ilvara herself (all the drow warriors except Shoor must kneel and bow down in the commander's presence, and thus they wouldn't realize even if her face was slightly different. By RAW, Master of Disguise can only disguise herself, but I allowed her to make disguise tools for other people as well, since it makes more sense that way - all she's making is the "clothings and stuff required for disguise". BTW, she got the clothing required for this job from Jorlan, after they got him onto their side).
The players have a plan, and a good one, too. One of them will be disguised as Ilvara, and after they escape their prison (Jorlan will unlock the keys), the fake Ilvara will order the Quaggoths to lower a bunch of cargo hauled on a big wagon, using the Lift in area 5. The prisoners are actually hidden in this cargo. Being dim-witted, the Quaggoths will simply lower it down, and the fake Ilvara will have a particular Quaggoth pull the wagon out of the cave - this Quaggoth being Derendil, except again disguised as a normal beastly Quaggoth.
...And they will get out of the cavern without a single fight.
(Or, at least, with just a single fight. In my game, Shoor has already executed Eldeth right after the players developed a really good relationship with her, and I asked my players whether they want to kill Shoor in chapter 1 or not - to which all of them answered that they want to. Thus, just as they're leaving the cavern, I will have Shoor jump down towards the cargo (using Levitate), and ask the fake Ilvara about what he should do with a particular job that Ilvara is supposed to do right now, but seemingly has ignored (due to going out of the cavern). Shoor will continue to ask questions, and since the fake Ilvara doesn't have knowledge of Ilvara's jobs, she will eventually make a mistake, to which Shoor will react by rolling initiative. Shoor in my games is not a CR 5 Drow Elite Warrior as in the MM, but instead has his own homebrewed stats and two magical weapons. While a formidable foe, with two separate initiative rolls and a plethora of attack methods, the players should be able to defeat him. After Shoor is dead, the drow warriors will realize something is wrong, but just as they try to jump in on the adventurers, the demons will come into the cavern and start attacking the fortress, allowing the players to escape*).
*One of the party adventurers is a Fiend Warlock with Demogorgon as his patron. It's not like Demogorgon knows him, it's just that he's channeling his powers from Demogorgon without Demogorgon even realizing it (sorta like GOO patrons), but he recently has certain weird dreams pertaining to the demons rising. At the day of escape, the Warlock's foster mother (a powerful witch) who educated him as a warlock (also a Warlock of Demogorgon herself) will appear in his dreams, and will mockingly ask him whether he wants some help or not. Given the situation and the personality of the warlock, he'd most likely agree, which will result in the demonic attacks. This will make it feel like the demonic attacks are not just out of the blue, but more connected to the backstories of the adventurers. The foster mother Grand High Witch of the party warlock is scheduled to later appear in Gravenhollow.
...Now, then, what's my problem?
My problem is how to make Ilvara absent when the players are disguised. If Ilvara is walking around and catches another Ilvara walking around, the players will be doomed. The players also know this, so they are going to move right when they know she is absent.
So far, some ideas I have are the following:
-Ilvara, being a priest, must pray to Lolth on a certain day for several hours, and this day is upcoming. This may be something that's done once in a while, like once a week or something, or it may be a special occasion, like a special holiday. There's even the possibility that it's something really unique, like Ilvara found out that her mother has died and she's going to be the new head of the Mizzrym family, so she has to pray to Lolth to get her to accept it. The problem with this solution is that the chances are high that most drow warriors will be aware of this, and so, they might question why Ilvara is walking around doing a different job when she's supposed to be still praying.
-Ilvara is irritated that the merchants who are supposed to come from Menzoberranzan and pick up the prisoners are being very late, and she will use a scrying ball to contact Menzoberranzan and check on what's happening. Given the nature of Faerzness, this requires a lot of time and effort, which means she will be snuck up in her chamber for some time. The problem with this solution is that it might be difficult for the players to gain this information without it seeming too "set up for the players"...
Do you guys have any good ideas? Thanks.
So, my players are gonna escape Velkynvelve. Normally, a DM would have the chaos of demonic invasion do the job of distracting everybody, but here I'm thinking something else - the demonic invasion will be nothing but a reason why the "drow don't instantly come after them", and the escape itself will be done by just the players' wits and abilities. Because that way it feels much less Deus Ex Machina.
The players are doing really good. They've developed a good relationship with Jorlan even before he asked them first, and one of them is also a Master of Disguise (she took the UA feat at first level), and can disguise the half-drow in the party as Ilvara herself (all the drow warriors except Shoor must kneel and bow down in the commander's presence, and thus they wouldn't realize even if her face was slightly different. By RAW, Master of Disguise can only disguise herself, but I allowed her to make disguise tools for other people as well, since it makes more sense that way - all she's making is the "clothings and stuff required for disguise". BTW, she got the clothing required for this job from Jorlan, after they got him onto their side).
The players have a plan, and a good one, too. One of them will be disguised as Ilvara, and after they escape their prison (Jorlan will unlock the keys), the fake Ilvara will order the Quaggoths to lower a bunch of cargo hauled on a big wagon, using the Lift in area 5. The prisoners are actually hidden in this cargo. Being dim-witted, the Quaggoths will simply lower it down, and the fake Ilvara will have a particular Quaggoth pull the wagon out of the cave - this Quaggoth being Derendil, except again disguised as a normal beastly Quaggoth.
...And they will get out of the cavern without a single fight.
(Or, at least, with just a single fight. In my game, Shoor has already executed Eldeth right after the players developed a really good relationship with her, and I asked my players whether they want to kill Shoor in chapter 1 or not - to which all of them answered that they want to. Thus, just as they're leaving the cavern, I will have Shoor jump down towards the cargo (using Levitate), and ask the fake Ilvara about what he should do with a particular job that Ilvara is supposed to do right now, but seemingly has ignored (due to going out of the cavern). Shoor will continue to ask questions, and since the fake Ilvara doesn't have knowledge of Ilvara's jobs, she will eventually make a mistake, to which Shoor will react by rolling initiative. Shoor in my games is not a CR 5 Drow Elite Warrior as in the MM, but instead has his own homebrewed stats and two magical weapons. While a formidable foe, with two separate initiative rolls and a plethora of attack methods, the players should be able to defeat him. After Shoor is dead, the drow warriors will realize something is wrong, but just as they try to jump in on the adventurers, the demons will come into the cavern and start attacking the fortress, allowing the players to escape*).
*One of the party adventurers is a Fiend Warlock with Demogorgon as his patron. It's not like Demogorgon knows him, it's just that he's channeling his powers from Demogorgon without Demogorgon even realizing it (sorta like GOO patrons), but he recently has certain weird dreams pertaining to the demons rising. At the day of escape, the Warlock's foster mother (a powerful witch) who educated him as a warlock (also a Warlock of Demogorgon herself) will appear in his dreams, and will mockingly ask him whether he wants some help or not. Given the situation and the personality of the warlock, he'd most likely agree, which will result in the demonic attacks. This will make it feel like the demonic attacks are not just out of the blue, but more connected to the backstories of the adventurers. The foster mother Grand High Witch of the party warlock is scheduled to later appear in Gravenhollow.
...Now, then, what's my problem?
My problem is how to make Ilvara absent when the players are disguised. If Ilvara is walking around and catches another Ilvara walking around, the players will be doomed. The players also know this, so they are going to move right when they know she is absent.
So far, some ideas I have are the following:
-Ilvara, being a priest, must pray to Lolth on a certain day for several hours, and this day is upcoming. This may be something that's done once in a while, like once a week or something, or it may be a special occasion, like a special holiday. There's even the possibility that it's something really unique, like Ilvara found out that her mother has died and she's going to be the new head of the Mizzrym family, so she has to pray to Lolth to get her to accept it. The problem with this solution is that the chances are high that most drow warriors will be aware of this, and so, they might question why Ilvara is walking around doing a different job when she's supposed to be still praying.
-Ilvara is irritated that the merchants who are supposed to come from Menzoberranzan and pick up the prisoners are being very late, and she will use a scrying ball to contact Menzoberranzan and check on what's happening. Given the nature of Faerzness, this requires a lot of time and effort, which means she will be snuck up in her chamber for some time. The problem with this solution is that it might be difficult for the players to gain this information without it seeming too "set up for the players"...
Do you guys have any good ideas? Thanks.