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hymer
2018-05-30, 11:28 AM
Dear playgrounders, my creative gland seems rather exhausted just now. Please lend me your ideas!

An evil priest has called down an evil spirit on a personal enemy, and the spirit spread a terrible plague, killing the target and many more. The town and its immediate environs were abandoned by almost everyone, and then winter set in. Now in mid spring, heroic adventurers must discover the cause of the plague, find the evil spirit or bring it to them, and then fight it. And they'd probably like to kill the priest while they're at it, and should they fail we have a recurring villain. But they should at least get a chance first.

So here's where I get in trouble: What does it take to get the evil spirit to show itself? And especially, how do the PCs find out about these things that only the villains have reason to know?

All thoughts, ideas, comments, etc. are appreciated.

Edit: It's a Forgotten Realms toned down to about E8 in 3.5, in case any of this should be relevant. The PCs are level 8, the priest worships Shar, and the town is Scardale.

Amazon
2018-05-30, 12:18 PM
Maybe you could have the spirit not be evil just missguided, he thinks that plagues are good things. Gifts that make humans stronger.

Kaptin Keen
2018-05-30, 12:32 PM
So here's where I get in trouble: What does it take to get the evil spirit to show itself?

For this precise situation, I'd recommend a social skill test. Whatever - diplomacy, bluff, anything you can think of, maybe gather information or bardic knowledge to know what might trigger the spirit. Allow the non-magic users to shine for once.

Blymurkla
2018-05-30, 12:55 PM
And especially, how do the PCs find out about these things that only the villains have reason to know? There should be precedent - the priest is hardly the first to call an evil spirit. Some hints at what happened could be given with a simple Knowledge (Arcana) check. Further, perhaps not everyone died instantly. Someone might have survived long enough to conduct some research into what happened and left notes that the party stumbles upon. The refugees who left the town might also have some suspicions about what befell them.

I believe the enemy of the priest is a key to this adventure. To learn about the motives of the priest, which is interesting since you're setting things up for a recurring villain, the PCs would be helped by knowing about this enemy of the priest and why they where in conflict. Perhaps the enemy was the researcher who left notes, or maybe they survived and is hiding under cover among the refugees, afraid the priest might try again.

hymer
2018-05-30, 02:43 PM
@ Amazon: That's an interesting idea, thanks!

@ Kaptin Keen: The best diplomancers in the group have spells as well, but I take your point!

@ Blymurkla: The apocalyptic log makes a lot of sense in that way. Thank you!

Beleriphon
2018-05-30, 02:51 PM
If you're looking for ways to handle the event I'd take some inspiration from The Witcher 2 and The Witcher 3 (3 in particular is good for this). A significant portion of the event with spirits and monsters in the games is getting it to show up so it can be banished. The mechanics of the game tend to involve banishing things by whacking them with a sword until they fall over, but the idea behind getting a spirit to appear by having something of value to it is really the interesting part.

For example the first ghost in The Witcher 3 (a noonwraith) only appears at noon and will only appear if you find the remains of the ghost's body, as well as some meaningful objects. Bury/cremate them and then fight the ghost.

Fable Wright
2018-05-30, 07:17 PM
Hmm. Going off the idea of research and letting the mundane party members shine, do any of the low magic party members belong to an organization/know a unique fighting style/whathaveyou? If so, tie that into the spirit's backstory and motivation. Perhaps he was a member of a knightly order who could never refuse a challenge from an acknowledged knight of X group(s).

You've got apocalyptic logs hinting at the identity, a bit of research the party can do to figure out the spirit's personal issues, and a climactic challenge that the spirit is honor bound to accept.

Blymurkla
2018-05-31, 12:05 AM
Hmm. Going off the idea of research and letting the mundane party members shine, do any of the low magic party members belong to an organization/know a unique fighting style/whathaveyou? If so, tie that into the spirit's backstory and motivation. Perhaps he was a member of a knightly order who could never refuse a challenge from an acknowledged knight of X group(s). Since the evil spirit struck the town with a plauge, perhaps they where a noble knight who sadly died of disease rather than honorably on the battlefield. So a duel between knights is what it takes to put the spirit to rest.

WindStruck
2018-05-31, 02:37 AM
So the priest worships Shar. Is the spirit related to Shar in any way?

I'm going to go out on a limb and say yes. So the spirit would also like to lurk in the shadows, yes?

Maybe there is a way to "trap" it. It probably travels all through shadows. But what if it got lured into a place where suddenly there was bright light everywhere and no shadows? Now the spirit is exposed and vulnerable. KILL IT WITH FIRE!

Sounds easy, right? It probably would be. But the hard part is getting that rampaging, contagious spirit exactly where you want it first.

hymer
2018-05-31, 05:02 AM
@ Beleriphon: I haven’t played any of those games, but it sounds sensible. Thanks!

@ Fable Wright: This is the sort of thing I’m thinking, too. There’s a scout Harper (though his connections could be getting a little overused), who should ideally be integral to this.

@ Blymurkla: I like that, though I’m thinking I’ll make that knight a LE version of that. Less tragic, but will tie in better to some other stuff. The party paladin is going to be the least worried about facing this spirit in direct battle, so that fits too.

@ WindStruck: It seems a strong and sound limb to trust your weight to. :smallsmile: I’m basing the spirit’s stats off a Dread Wraith (dex damage instead of con drain, and an ability to spread this Shaking Plague), so it is going to avoid the light of day, which makes it quite powerless.