So the boss didn't die...

[Briton]

So in my campaign my PCs were in an old abandoned Power plant that used to convert souls into electricity. It is currently haunted by the soul of Talfus, a mass serial killer. His soul is inhabiting a suit of armor, causing him to appear as a Blood Knight (see link below). What made the situation more deadly is Talfus found where the other souls were kept in the plant and has established a weak form of control over them.

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/templates/blood-knight-cr-2/

When the Pcs fought Talfus and a few other undead minions, they did not act as smart as I thought they would and were quickly getting wiped out. In a last ditch effort, they were able to shove Talfus into a teleportation circle (The plant had several around built and made permanent due to the size of the plant and the fact that the owners of the plant wanted to have clerics on standby). This teleported him and another PC somewhere else within the building. I had to end the session there, with the Pcs still in the abandoned power plant, undead roaming the halls, and somewhere Talfus is still alive.

I'm not sure how the next session will go. The Pcs aren't sure if they want to rest up here and try to go and slay Talfus, try to escape, or try something else entirely. The Pcs like Talfus as a boss battle and I wouldn't mind using him more (serial killer from the grave certainly has a 'coolness' factor). What do you think I should do next with the adventure? Throw more baddies? Encourage the Pcs to run with a lot of baddies? Perhaps have Talfus escape the plant, believing thats what the Pcs would try to do?

What would you do as a Gm?

[Mr Adventurer]

Not all the souls are under his control and some, while trapped, are able to heal the PCs. Then Talfus releases all of the souls he controls - they become an environmental effect with a dramatic effect similar to the building being on fire!

Basically, ramp it up.

[Zordran]

Introduce a half-tin golem transmuter gish with the Short flaw.

[Garktz]

Souls used to make electricity
BBEG is actually a soul possesing a suit of armor
Have the pcs kill the BBEG but they just destroy the armor, soul then leaves armor and flees the place with the current
Because he didnt became electricity but instead just fussed with it in order to scape, he is really weak and some time has to pass until he.s able to come back for revenge

[Goaty14]

Have it leave the armor and inhibit the teleported PC

Now you have to kill the soul but not the PC.

[Briton]

Not all the souls are under his control and some, while trapped, are able to heal the PCs. Then Talfus releases all of the souls he controls - they become an environmental effect with a dramatic effect similar to the building being on fire!

Basically, ramp it up.

I may branch off of this idea. Releasing all the souls may happen, with no restraint to hold them back. I mean, the effects of a bunch of souls trying to inhabit a single dead body, or a wave of spirits in the shape of a solid fog spell or stinking cloud or a bunch of the most violet souls creating an effect similar to cloud kill. Electricity going haywire, the entire building taking on a whole darker side...

Ramp it up indeed :smallsmile:


Souls used to make electricity
BBEG is actually a soul possesing a suit of armor
Have the pcs kill the BBEG but they just destroy the armor, soul then leaves armor and flees the place with the current
Because he didnt became electricity but instead just fussed with it in order to scape, he is really weak and some time has to pass until he.s able to come back for revenge

I also like this idea. Will keep this in mind.


Have it leave the armor and inhibit the teleported PC

Now you have to kill the soul but not the PC.

Possible but I am a little hesitant about this. The Pcs had a hard enough time fighting Talfus when he just had the armor. I feel this may become too difficult a challenge if I followed this route.

[inuyasha]

Introduce a half-tin golem transmuter gish with the Short flaw.

I like the way you think.

[Hypersmith]

Possible but I am a little hesitant about this. The Pcs had a hard enough time fighting Talfus when he just had the armor. I feel this may become too difficult a challenge if I followed this route.

Maybe make it a long term problem for the PC? They can't find him anywhere, and when they "Kill" talfus he collapses and the PC was floating inside. In truth Talfus possessed the PC in his final moments, and later on the PC bleeds from the eyes and under his fingernails, getting perverse pleasure from killing.

[Briton]

So to update what happened.

PCs rested fully and I did follow Mr Adventurer's advice, in that Talfus did release all the souls he had. The effects, including:

1. Dead bodies had spirits invade them and temporarily come to life like zombies
2. The walls had faces of the dead appear on them in a red mist, with the moans and cries of the dead emitting from the walls (Players liked this detail)
3. Some dead bodies exploding from having too many dead spirits trying to control the same corpse
4. The appearance of two dead brothers who agreed to help the PCs defeat Talfus.


Pcs discovered a waste product from using Souls as electricity called Soul Sludge (Something I had thought about in the past and decided that it would stand to reason that some would be stored somewhere in the plant.) Basicly, Soul Sludge is semi-solid negative energy that tends to be highly flammable and explosive. PCs had a sample of Talfus' blood and tried mixing the two together. Going off the seat of my pants, i let it stand that Talfus' blood would mix and merge with the soul sludge. PCs then developed a plan that if they couldn't defeat Talfus in combat, they would throw a container of the Soul Sludge at Talfus, in hopes that it would merge with him, then light him on fire.

Pcs then fought Talfus and the dice must have hated the PCs because it ended up with another PC dying. The remaining PCs agreed that it was an all or nothing gamble, and the one with the Soul Sludge threw it, and succeeded in getting it to merge with Talfus. Another PC used the last of his necklace of fireball in attempt to light Talfus on fire.

Again, the dice must have hated the PCs, or loved Talfus, because Talfus made his saving throw against the fireball. I, making a very quick and still unsure if i made the right choice, ruled that Talfus avoided catching on fire.

PCs decided then to flee the area. Talfus on their heels, the PCs narrowly escaped by breaking through a window. The night ended with the PCs looking back at the plant, and seeing a green mist coming out of the power plant, and Talfus momentarily look through the window.

I just wanted to give everyone an update and would appreciate any thoughts about the situation. Players are being a real sport about the adventure, enjoying it fully and definitely want to try to kill Talfus (partially because Talfus has killed two of the PC's allies, and partially because it stands to reason that whoever kills Talfus will probably get paid a lot of money). The Pcs have gotten a good amount of treasure from the plant, including Talfus' own sword (the one time Talfus fumbled resulted in his losing his grip on his weapon) and the Greatsword of Arthur Hunts, one of the dead brothers who assisted the PCs by showing them where his sword was.