Help me flesh out an adventure

[PhoenixPhyre]

I have this idea for a short, level 3-ish adventure, but need help figuring out what goes where.

Setup
An outlying village (name?) has sent word that they dug up a strange artifact. The party (working as Sanctioned Adventurers) has been asked by the local Society for Historical Preservation (the sages) to go recover the item, and if possible, investigate where it came from. It's about a day and a half travel from where they are, through peaceful lands. There are no threats in the area--this should be a milk run.

Situation (unknown to the characters)
The item is connected somehow with the Demon Prince of Random Chaos and Insanity. A total for-the-lulz type, gets his jollies by messing with people. As a result of its influence, everyone (including the animals) have gone totally insane. Each one believes that they're really someone (or something) else. Almost soul-switching, but not entirely. More like overlaying one person's personality, memories, etc. onto another person. So you get flashes of the core person, but acting like the other person. Sheep believing they're wolves. Hawks believing they're pigeons. Etc. Parameters are yet uncertain.

Set-pieces/things I want to include
* The first day goes completely peacefully until they've set up camp. Just after dusk, a traveling merchant stumbles into their camp, raving about how everyone in <village> has gone mad and warning the party to "not listen. Whatever you do, remember who you are!" He collapses into exhausted unconsciousness soon after, and when he awakens he doesn't remember much details.

* Total chaos in <village>. Combination of brawl, festival, etc.

* Attacks by normally non-aggressive animals.

* Some kind of creepy entity pulling the strings.

* Somewhere around 2 or 3, 3-hour sessions.

* The original site was an ancient battlefield where many unnatural entities were buried.

Not sure about
What would make good encounters for this creepy "all is not as it seems" vibe? I'm open to reskinning as needed and mild homebrew. What about a main villain? How should I include the battlefield?

Help me spitball ideas here.

[DMThac0]

Brinthall is plagued by the strange Demon Prince's influence, the artifact is a piece of the demon.

The beauty of this is that you can pick an choose how to skin these creatures and just slide things around:

House cat = boar, have it use the attacks of a boar. When it goes to gore, instead have it deal 1 point of damage and immediately disengage running away as the blow makes it remember it's a cat for a moment.

Child thinks he's a gnoll, have him grab the wooden sword and toy bow and arrow and start hunting the towns folk.

---

Many of the attacks and combats will have various creatures entering and leaving the fray. Surprise rounds inside combat as a new entity starts charging in from a random direction. People begging for mercy after taking enough damage, only to start fighting with earnest the next round due to the influence. The amount of influence grows stronger as you get to the source. You can break people/creatures of their stupor when you're on the other side of town, but those nearest the artifact are completely lost to the chaos.

Create an area effect that on init 20 will cause a will save or be over come by the artifact's influence. Have auditory and visual changes for each person, and a table of what they might believe they've become.

---

It's a demonic artifact, have some of those demons really show up, mephits, quasits, and the likes. Show them possessing people, really make the players wonder if the creatures/people are crazy or possessed.

Main villain will simply be an extension of the demon, his power physically manifested and possessing something/someone. The players will have to choose to destroy the creature/person, dispose of the artifact, or find a different solution.

---

Those are my spit ball ideas, I'm sure I can come up with more but I am only on lunch break :smallbiggrin:

[Tawmis]

Not sure about
What would make good encounters for this creepy "all is not as it seems" vibe? I'm open to reskinning as needed and mild homebrew. What about a main villain? How should I include the battlefield?
Help me spitball ideas here.

It's going to depend on where this unnamed village is centered and what resources (books) you have access to, to pull from.

You could have the one who warns the party about the chaos actually be a Deva (Angel), who was sent down to try and recover the artifact, but fell under it's insanity influence. But since the Deva won't remember much, he's simply going to return to the heavens. But the fact that a Celestial was a bit raving mad, would be a good indication that something serious is up. And that sometime gained the attention of a Celestial.

Part of the chaos could be magic going wild also (not just people) - so various items become animated (such as an Animated Armor).

The chaos could also cause nearby spirits at a graveyard to feel unrest, so that Ghosts rise up from their graves; and potentially give clues to the party who investigates why the undead seem uneasy.

Even the very woods themselves could turn against the party, if you throw some Blights into the mix. It's also caused the vegetation to grow wildly, so that Shriekers develop out of regular mushrooms.

Regular statues in the village have turned into gargoyles and flying around tormenting/attacking people.

Trash around the city begins to turn into various oozes (grey ooze, green slime, etc).

Shadows (the monster) are suddenly coming to life and attacking people.

They party may encounter a Couatl, who is near by - and can provide the party with something to resist the madness.

What could have been unlocked from the relic, rather than a Demon Prince (because how does a 3rd level party beat a Demon Prince) - but a minor demon (maybe base the stats around a Shadow Demon, which has a DC of 4?) which was set free when someone attempted to use said device (maybe a magical helmet that someone put on that allowed the demon to seize control of their victim). As the party gets closer to this demon - I'd put things like Imps and such for the party to encounter, as more and more clues, of some form of demonology taking place.

And when it's all said and done, the party discovers a clue, that a Hag had led the person who wore the helmet (or whatever) to unleash the demon. Maybe the party goes after the hag next?

[smcmike]

Nice. This sounds kind of like walking into a game of One Night Ultimate Werewolf. It’s a little hard to figure out exactly how this would play out though.

Are the villagers aware enough to understand what seems to have happened, or are they in a state of charmed confusion? Maybe some of each? It would be nice to have some bad actors who are taking advantage of the swap to do bad things - maybe a notorious gang of bandits was recently captured and set to be hanged, but now their chief is the mayor, and the village tough has the personality of the chief’s dog, and slavishly obeys the mayor/chief. He would naturally deny that anything odd has happened at all.

Maybe there is a powerful wizard or witch in town, but they have the personality of a toddler and are now quite dangerous to be around.

The reverse, too - a potentially ally’s personality should be in an unlikely place.

The parameters for reversing it are important, and what happens when someone dies.

[Nidgit]

For villains, this strikes me as a great opportunity for two villains to be involved: one who acts particularly violent while the artifact's influence is present, and another who regains his memory once the artifact is removed and begins to scheme. My suggestion for these would be the one who discovered the artifact for the former and either the financial backer of the dig or some third-party agent looking to steal it as the latter. It's also a great opportunity to play with which characters are sympathetic at different points in the story.

As for other encounters, having a herd of sheep or cows tearing at a carcass of one of their own would be a fantastic mood-setter. Be sure to include a killer bunny at some point or you're legally a bad person.

Consider including humanoids swapped with animals or even plants, leaving them in a literal vegetative state. Perhaps have the crew that unearthed the artifact be particularly afflicted and switch rapidly between even more personalities or even brief demonic possession.

[PhoenixPhyre]

It's going to depend on where this unnamed village is centered and what resources (books) you have access to, to pull from.

You could have the one who warns the party about the chaos actually be a Deva (Angel), who was sent down to try and recover the artifact, but fell under it's insanity influence. But since the Deva won't remember much, he's simply going to return to the heavens. But the fact that a Celestial was a bit raving mad, would be a good indication that something serious is up. And that sometime gained the attention of a Celestial.

Part of the chaos could be magic going wild also (not just people) - so various items become animated (such as an Animated Armor).

The chaos could also cause nearby spirits at a graveyard to feel unrest, so that Ghosts rise up from their graves; and potentially give clues to the party who investigates why the undead seem uneasy.

Even the very woods themselves could turn against the party, if you throw some Blights into the mix. It's also caused the vegetation to grow wildly, so that Shriekers develop out of regular mushrooms.

Regular statues in the village have turned into gargoyles and flying around tormenting/attacking people.

Trash around the city begins to turn into various oozes (grey ooze, green slime, etc).

Shadows (the monster) are suddenly coming to life and attacking people.

They party may encounter a Couatl, who is near by - and can provide the party with something to resist the madness.

What could have been unlocked from the relic, rather than a Demon Prince (because how does a 3rd level party beat a Demon Prince) - but a minor demon (maybe base the stats around a Shadow Demon, which has a DC of 4?) which was set free when someone attempted to use said device (maybe a magical helmet that someone put on that allowed the demon to seize control of their victim). As the party gets closer to this demon - I'd put things like Imps and such for the party to encounter, as more and more clues, of some form of demonology taking place.

And when it's all said and done, the party discovers a clue, that a Hag had led the person who wore the helmet (or whatever) to unleash the demon. Maybe the party goes after the hag next?

I like these, especially about the chaotic magic making things go crazy. It fits with my view of everything having a spirit. The magic would even affect those, so the trees think that they're flowers, or the trash coming to life.

It would be associated with a Demon Prince, but not the Demon Prince himself. Possibly one of his minor servants has come to claim it, or his influence leaks from it, something like that.

[Unoriginal]

For who the Demon Prince is, that kind of things seems to be 100% a Fraz-Urb'luu Farce. He would LOVE that kind of things.

For the "all not what it seems", I think you should start with small, odd things and then rank up the creepy factor.

Start with something like the sages told the PCs to meet with Captain Lorr, head of the local guards, and are introduced to Captain Lorr... who's a 16-year-old teen in an armor clearly too big, but behaving professionally. Later they're introduced to Cadet Lorr, who recently joined to "help out his old man"... and they're shown a 50 year old dude with some serious battle scars, yet act like a green recruit.

Then they see a tiny old lady guarding something important, a child scolding a grown up who's throwing a tantrum, an old man naked living in a pond, etc. Make it as if everyone accept this as normal.

Then you can go more sinister, like a naked person on all four being lead from the pigs' pen to the butcher's shop.

[PhoenixPhyre]

For who the Demon Prince is, that kind of things seems to be 100% a Fraz-Urb'luu Farce. He would LOVE that kind of things.

For the "all not what it seems", I think you should start with small, odd things and then rank up the creepy factor.

Start with something like the sages told the PCs to meet with Captain Lorr, head of the local guards, and are introduced to Captain Lorr... who's a 16-year-old teen in an armor clearly too big, but behaving professionally. Later they're introduced to Cadet Lorr, who recently joined to "help out his old man"... and they're shown a 50 year old dude with some serious battle scars, yet act like a green recruit.

Then they see a tiny old lady guarding something important, a child scolding a grown up who's throwing a tantrum, an old man naked living in a pond, etc. Make it as if everyone accept this as normal.

Then you can go more sinister, like a naked person on all four being lead from the pigs' pen to the butcher's shop.

I should have mentioned that it's a custom setting--I know exactly who the relevant Demon Prince is. He makes Slaanesh (of WH40K) look sane and single-threaded.

I do like the suggestions. It's less of an "outright chaos" vibe than I had been thinking of, but I think it works.

I'll probably place minor demons/devils (my setting lets me blend the two sets of stat blocks) on their shoulders (invisible to them) that urge them on to more and more chaotic acts, preparing them to become food (demons eat souls). Plus a few transformed/illusion ones posing as villagers.

Possibly a pandora's box scenario? The ancient battlefield had two things buried in close proximity: a relic of chaos and an ordering icon. The idiot villagers dug up the chaos one and left the order one in the ground. If the chaos icon is smashed, the people are left in the mixed-up state (as it just initiated the effect). So for the golden ending they have to recover the order icon, then smash the chaos one.

Why couldn't it have been smashed before? Because it wasn't vulnerable then. In the intervening centuries there's been a reconfiguration of how magic works (cataclysmically so), and the protections that it had have worn away.

The Demon Prince basically used the icon (sending one of his agents to trigger the mind-switch field) to set up a feeding ground for him and his followers.

[Unoriginal]

I should have mentioned that it's a custom setting--I know exactly who the relevant Demon Prince is. He makes Slaanesh (of WH40K) look sane and single-threaded.

I do like the suggestions. It's less of an "outright chaos" vibe than I had been thinking of, but I think it works.

I'll probably place minor demons/devils (my setting lets me blend the two sets of stat blocks) on their shoulders (invisible to them) that urge them on to more and more chaotic acts, preparing them to become food (demons eat souls). Plus a few transformed/illusion ones posing as villagers.

Possibly a pandora's box scenario? The ancient battlefield had two things buried in close proximity: a relic of chaos and an ordering icon. The idiot villagers dug up the chaos one and left the order one in the ground. If the chaos icon is smashed, the people are left in the mixed-up state (as it just initiated the effect). So for the golden ending they have to recover the order icon, then smash the chaos one.

Why couldn't it have been smashed before? Because it wasn't vulnerable then. In the intervening centuries there's been a reconfiguration of how magic works (cataclysmically so), and the protections that it had have worn away.

The Demon Prince basically used the icon (sending one of his agents to trigger the mind-switch field) to set up a feeding ground for him and his followers.

Or you could flip it around: the villagers dug up an order artifact... which has the side effect of making the demonic influence more stable than pure bouts of randomness that while inconvenient, wouldn't last long enough to be an issue.

Basically the order is the "anchor" to the chaos field, otherwise Demon Prince McCrazypants wouldn't be able to concentrate like that.

As a side effect, rather than just unleashing random chaos effects making purple girafes rain or birds fly upside down, the demons can only "switch" things around (aka making people believe that X is Y, and Y is Z, etc).

[PhoenixPhyre]

Or you could flip it around: the villagers dug up an order artifact... which has the side effect of making the demonic influence more stable than pure bouts of randomness that while inconvenient, wouldn't last long enough to be an issue.

Basically the order is the "anchor" to the chaos field, otherwise Demon Prince McCrazypants wouldn't be able to concentrate like that.

Oooh. That also puts a twist on it--if they smash the artifact in the village, they've just doomed everybody.

[Unoriginal]

Make sure they get informed what the artifact is early on, though. By the sages you mentioned, for example.

Twists need setups. Knowing there is an order artifact in play, the PCs will probably think the demons are trying to get to it, rather than using it for their own ends.

PS: edited my previous post.

[PhoenixPhyre]

Make sure they get informed what the artifact is early on, though. By the sages you mentioned, for example.

Twists need setups. Knowing there is an order artifact in play, the PCs will probably think the demons are trying to get to it, rather than using it for their own ends.

PS: edited my previous post.

True enough. Knowlege, especially partial knowlege, is critical.

I wasn't planning to go much beyond mind switching anyway.

Thanks for the help. It's made it much clearer.

[Tawmis]

I like these, especially about the chaotic magic making things go crazy. It fits with my view of everything having a spirit. The magic would even affect those, so the trees think that they're flowers, or the trash coming to life.

It would be associated with a Demon Prince, but not the Demon Prince himself. Possibly one of his minor servants has come to claim it, or his influence leaks from it, something like that.

Glad to help. My brain is a maelstrom of ideas all the time. So if you ever want to bounce ideas, let me know!