[3.5] Adventures in the Waste

[Thurbane]

So, my current group are currently in a small home-brewed adventure tracking down a vampire, 2 days outside of Dyvers. Adventure should be wrapped up in 2-3 sessions.

When that's done, the Human Warmage 6 wants to visit the City of the Dead, and he wants to PrC into Sandshaper.

The rest of the party are:
Human Ranger 7 (loves animals, archery style)
Aasimar Paladin 6 (self-styled "lord")
Human Favored Soul of Lendor 7 (NPC, just does with the flow)
...the party currently owe a favour to the Church of St Cuthbert in Dyvers for some spellcasting services rendered.

Anyone have suggestions for a quest the church could give them that will take them into the desert and the vicinity of the City of the Dead?

Cheers - T

[Pleh]

It's a church of St Cuthbert. Could easily have a bounty out on a fugitive from justice. Fugitive ran off into the desert where they could get lost.

[Thurbane]

It's a church of St Cuthbert. Could easily have a bounty out on a fugitive from justice. Fugitive ran off into the desert where they could get lost.

I like that. Maybe the fugitive stole a minor artifact (not the magical kind) like the tabard of a founding member of the chapter that was son public display, or a fingerbone from a saint. Maybe he was hired by a rival church?

[Pleh]

If there is an enemy church to St Cuthbert, it would probably be Olidammara. They have that PrC for temple raiders. Could be some nice flavor.

[Thurbane]

If there is an enemy church to St Cuthbert, it would probably be Olidammara. They have that PrC for temple raiders. Could be some nice flavor.

Brilliant! I working on a NPC for this now!

[WhamBamSam]

Brilliant! I working on a NPC for this now!There was an Iron Chef round (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?239786-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-XXXII) for Temple Raider of Olidammara, if you're interested. The BAB +5 prereq and assumed level of the thief might limit how much you can actually do with the PrC though.

[Thurbane]

I missed the BAB of +5 at first glance. Ouch.

[Tiri]

I missed the BAB of +5 at first glance. Ouch.

You could easily use an under-CRed monster as the base. For example, a 10 HD choker would only be CR 3, with BAB +7 and plenty of room for levels of the PrC.

Not that you have to use a choker, of course. It's just an example.

[Thurbane]

I was kind of hoping to finally use a Skulk.

[Ashtagon]

Hunt down a dry lich. Seems suitably thematic. The initial quest would focus on its minions of course. Maybe the quest giver doesn't even know why the minions are attacking, but the PCs will discover clues as they get into the minions' lair.

[Zanos]

Hunt down a dry lich. Seems suitably thematic. The initial quest would focus on its minions of course. Maybe the quest giver doesn't even know why the minions are attacking, but the PCs will discover clues as they get into the minions' lair.
A dry lich probably had 12+ class levels in addition to the quite powerful template, so probably wouldn't be appropriate unless the adventure is planned to be quite long and the party wants to stay in the desert for some time.

You could make a dry lich that teaches others sandshaping to spread more desert, though.

[Ashtagon]

A dry lich probably had 12+ class levels in addition to the quite powerful template, so probably wouldn't be appropriate unless the adventure is planned to be quite long and the party wants to stay in the desert for some time.

You could make a dry lich that teaches others sandshaping to spread more desert, though.

Well, yeah. The idea is that the dry lich should be the ultimate puppet master in the shadows. Kind of like how the old GDQ adventure started as a giant hunt, went on to drow, and only at the very end was it revealed that the party would be hunting a demon queen.

[Pleh]

I missed the BAB of +5 at first glance. Ouch.

I missed it, too, but Temple Raider just adds on some cleric spells to the normal Rogue progression.

The notion to use an under CR'd monster to get in sooner means more spells, which is always good, but how optimized is your party?

D20srd encounter calculator says that a straight CR 8, 9, or 10 encounter is Very Difficult for two level 6s and two level 7s and only gets overwhelming at CR 11+.

You could make a straight human rogue 7/TRoO 3 and not be out of line. He'd basically be a 10th level rogue that traded their special ability for two 1st level and one 2nd level cleric spells.

Skulk is great flavor, but looking at the race description, I dunno if it help you get into TRoO any faster. 2 humanoid HD with the same BAB as the same levels in Rogue... plus LA +1. If you're going skulk, maybe keep the Temple Raider as fluff.

[Tiri]

Skulk is great flavor, but looking at the race description, I dunno if it help you get into TRoO any faster. 2 humanoid HD with the same BAB as the same levels in Rogue... plus LA +1. If you're going skulk, maybe keep the Temple Raider as fluff.

Not that LA matters, since NPCs use CR. A skulk is CR 2 at 2 HD, so it's not as bad as you think, although it isn't amazing by any means.


I was kind of hoping to finally use a Skulk.

There's also an easy way to get an under-CRed-for-its-HD Skulk. Although Skulks normally advance by character class, you can apply the Beast of Xvim template to one, which allows it to gain RHD by eating slain opponents. Humanoid HD being the same as Aberration HD with regards to CR calculation, you can easily use the same RHD tricks I demonstrated earlier with the advanced choker.

True, a Skulk of Xvim has to be CR 4 in order to reach the +5 BAB requirement through HD, but compared to a non-templated Skulk, which will be at least CR 6 before it can qualify for Temple Raider of Olidammara, it comes out as palpably superior, with higher skill caps, hit points, all those lovely ability boosts, immunities, Smite Good, Frightful Presence, HD-dependent benefits from the template (remember, 10 HD at CR 4), and the potential for two whole more levels of TRoO. An extra die of Sneak Attack, Uncanny Dodge and second-level spells, assuming you want to have your Skulk at CR 7.

The only thing that might be a bit troublesome is the potential flavour conflict between Xvim and Olidammara, but remember that Beasts of Xvim aren't, character-wise, necessarily connected to Xvim at all.

[Thurbane]

Good suggestions all around.

Let me think on it.

In regards to the NPC being overpowered for the party - a lone NPC is always at a disadvantage with action economy, especially if it isn't a primary spell caster.



OK, maybe Skulk Were-dire hawk? Get's me to +4 BAB for CR 5. 2 levels of Rogue gets to BAB +2 for CR 7. 2 levels of TRoO brings it to 9.

He sneaks into temples using Dark Stalker and his natural stealth, slips out, and flies back to a base in the desert to drop off stolen goodies.

...just to check, where are we getting a base CR of 2 for the skulk? Most 2RHD humanoids sit around CR 1?

[Tiri]

Good suggestions all around.

Let me think on it.

In regards to the NPC being overpowered for the party - a lone NPC is always at a disadvantage with action economy, especially if it isn't a primary spell caster.



OK, maybe Skulk Were-dire hawk? Get's me to +4 BAB for CR 5. 2 levels of Rogue gets to BAB +2 for CR 7. 2 levels of TRoO brings it to 9.

He sneaks into temples using Dark Stalker and his natural stealth, slips out, and flies back to a base in the desert to drop off stolen goodies.

...just to check, where are we getting a base CR of 2 for the skulk? Most 2RHD humanoids sit around CR 1?

Skulks being CR 2 is stated in their monster class.

Were-dire hawk doesn't really help you with the BAB issue or making the NPC particularly powerful, as it'd be the same if you'd taken levels in a full-BAB class. Also, animal HD.

The only real benefit is flight, which can be gained through other means with less compromise.

[Thurbane]

I think I might just dump TRoO and have a straight Skulk Humanoid 2/Rogue X

[Pleh]

I think I might just dump TRoO and have a straight Skulk Humanoid 2/Rogue X

Yeah, it's gonna be hard to squeeze in both Skulk and TRoO without going rather heftily over-CR (although it may still end up being somewhat under-CR for its actual abilities and difficulties; Rogue isn't the highest Tier anyway).

But we can keep the Temple Raider flavor. TRoO has a Special Requirement:


The character must worship Olidammara and be invited to join the ranks of the temple raiders by at least three current members of that prestige class.

It seems perfectly fitting to me that perhaps the Skulk Rogue worships Olidammara and wishes to become a TRoO, but to gain the approval of some other current members, they've tasked him with raiding an active church of St Cuthbert and retrieving something to prove his worth and dedication.

Another fun plot twist could be that the Skulk is a compulsive thief and while what he has stolen this time may not have been magical, perhaps he still suffers the curse of the last magical item he stole (I'm thinking a Pirates of the Caribbean style curse that is unpleasant to him, but will also make him more difficult for the PCs to capture).

[Thurbane]

Yeah, it's gonna be hard to squeeze in both Skulk and TRoO without going rather heftily over-CR (although it may still end up being somewhat under-CR for its actual abilities and difficulties; Rogue isn't the highest Tier anyway).

But we can keep the Temple Raider flavor. TRoO has a Special Requirement:

...

It seems perfectly fitting to me that perhaps the Skulk Rogue worships Olidammara and wishes to become a TRoO, but to gain the approval of some other current members, they've tasked him with raiding an active church of St Cuthbert and retrieving something to prove his worth and dedication.

Another fun plot twist could be that the Skulk is a compulsive thief and while what he has stolen this time may not have been magical, perhaps he still suffers the curse of the last magical item he stole (I'm thinking a Pirates of the Caribbean style curse that is unpleasant to him, but will also make him more difficult for the PCs to capture).

I like all of that, good stuff! :smallsmile: