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PhoenixPhyre
2018-11-01, 05:02 PM
Here's a place my players will be going soon as I have it written in my notes currently.


Maelek’s Tower is the tallest tower in Godsfall. This narrow spire reaches up to the very limit of the warding dome, its top lost in the ever-present clouds. Once home to the devotees of Maelek, Goddess of Redemption and Sacrifice, it is now home to an enigma. The Watching Eye [a friendly faction] says that they have seen a winged humanoid shape circle it occasionally. Any attempt to reach the base (across the open Weeping Plaza at its base) is foiled by one of the other factions, for all four factions [cultists, intelligent undead, other demons, and underground aberrations] claim it. Yet none of them approach within a dozen paces of its base.

Inside is a crazed angel, the fallen deva Innleysa. She vowed back before the Cataclysm [more than 200 years ago] to protect the high priestess of Maelek, whom she loved. But demon cultists worked foul magic to deceive Innleysa into killing her beloved priestess--she was convinced that she was the enemy. In her grief and guilt, she swore that the tower, site of this betrayal would never change. That the cultists, trapped inside with her, would suffer for eternity. In the chaos of the Cataclysm and the death of the gods, she called down an avatar of the goddess Maelek and trapped it inside, warping its power to lock those inside in an eternal cycle of rebirth and madness. She circles the tower by night and her cries of pain can be heard around the square. What she does not know (or maybe she does?) is that her beloved’s soul is also trapped inside, weeping at the pain of her guardian.


The party's instructions (from the aberration faction that they're doing a favor for) are "resolve the situation." They will know basically the first paragraph but nothing else.

The system is 5e D&D and the party is 7th level, but I'm looking for inspiration more than mechanical ideas. I can translate most things and I'm fully comfortable adding homebrew as needed.

For game reasons, I want to have about 3-4 floors (including a basement refuse pit) that actually have interesting things on them. I can narrate however many "empty" floors I need, but I need ideas as to what sorts of things would be interesting to have in here. Ideas? The weirder and more surreal/madness-themed the better. Even better if they allow for fun dilemmas and potential Gordian Knot solutions.

Consensus
2018-11-02, 03:13 PM
Sounds like what they need to start resolving the situation is the info in the second paragraph. They could try to listen to the deva's laments to piece together what happened they could try to spy on/infiltrate cult agents near the town.

It sounds like the situation has a sort of siege going on around it, since all four of those factions claim it and are trying to stop the others from reaching it. They could try to advantage one side to make a push and then use that to get near the tower. If they're aligned with the aberrations they could try to sabotage the other faction camps near by.

A resolution for this situation could be trying to convince the deva to renounce her oath that the tower will never change, which works better if she doesn't know about her priestess' soul. In order to resolve that they'd have to determine which soul in the tower is the priestess. You could have the cultist's ghosts try to impersonate the priestess which might be a neat scenario. Anyways, maybe once they find out the priestess' soul is trapped they can get the deva to renounce that oath. There could be some mcguffin to reverse a divine oath like that or something, that they'd quest for. Maybe another faction has it.

Just some ideas off the top of my head

DavidSh
2018-11-02, 05:25 PM
Pigeons.
Slightly overlarge pigeons that talk, and think they are human, even in the face of all evidence to the contrary.
Perhaps they are continuous reincarnations of the relatively innocent servants of the cultists.

J-H
2018-11-02, 08:20 PM
Floor of Fabric

It's hard to tell what this area once was, for this floor is now a great hallway of stone, spiraling from the outside (staircase down) to the middle (staircase up). Rich and ornate tapestries line each wall, and thick rugs on the floor deaden the sound of your footsteps. The mage-lights on the ceiling are bright enough to make out the details on the tapestries, but not so bright as to bleach them as they age.

The hallway curves sharply (especially near the middle), so you can only see a few tapestries at a time. This lets you introduce them to the party slowly, instead of all at once.

CONTENTS (randomly distributed):
19 tapestries (labeled) of the high priests and priestesses of Maelek, complete with the years they held that office. The last one, of the one that the deva is mourning, is weeping tears of holy water.
Two animated tapestries (depicting pastoral scenes) that attack as animated objects (don't know what 5e has).
One trap-rug that attempts to silently grapple and eat the last person in line.
A tapestry depicting the deva hugging the deceased priestess.
A tapestry depicting the deva's sword through the priestess.
A rug that is also a photorealistic map of the city the tower is in.
Two tapestries depicting the ward dome.
Three tapestries depicting the tower as viewed from below. One has chains wrapped around the tower.
Five tapestries with portraits of Maelak, all conforming to standard depictions.
Seven tapestries depicting natural scenes (5 daylight, 2 night-time). The pack of wolves in one will spring out of the tapestry and attack the party if someone comes close to it to examine it in detail.
One tapestry hangs a bit farther from the wall than the others. Moving it reveals some type of treasure (a shield, a few gemstones, a sack of scrolls , etc.).
Six tapestries contain portraits of the trapped cultists; three of doing bad things, and three of them wearing glowing manacles marked with the infinity symbol

PhoenixPhyre
2018-11-02, 08:39 PM
It's hard to tell what this area once was, for this floor is now a great hallway of stone, spiraling from the outside (staircase down) to the middle (staircase up). Rich and ornate tapestries line each wall, and thick rugs on the floor deaden the sound of your footsteps. The mage-lights on the ceiling are bright enough to make out the details on the tapestries, but not so bright as to bleach them as they age.

The hallway curves sharply (especially near the middle), so you can only see a few tapestries at a time. This lets you introduce them to the party slowly, instead of all at once.

CONTENTS (randomly distributed):
19 tapestries (labeled) of the high priests and priestesses of Maelek, complete with the years they held that office. The last one, of the one that the deva is mourning, is weeping tears of holy water.
Two animated tapestries (depicting pastoral scenes) that attack as animated objects (don't know what 5e has).
One trap-rug that attempts to silently grapple and eat the last person in line.
A tapestry depicting the deva hugging the deceased priestess.
A tapestry depicting the deva's sword through the priestess.
A rug that is also a photorealistic map of the city the tower is in.
Two tapestries depicting the ward dome.
Three tapestries depicting the tower as viewed from below. One has chains wrapped around the tower.
Five tapestries with portraits of Maelak, all conforming to standard depictions.
Seven tapestries depicting natural scenes (5 daylight, 2 night-time). The pack of wolves in one will spring out of the tapestry and attack the party if someone comes close to it to examine it in detail.
One tapestry hangs a bit farther from the wall than the others. Moving it reveals some type of treasure (a shield, a few gemstones, a sack of scrolls , etc.).
Six tapestries contain portraits of the trapped cultists; three of doing bad things, and three of them wearing glowing manacles marked with the infinity symbol

Ooh I like it. I may use this and put it near the entrance that they'll come in (which will be underground due to the ones they're probably working for, which avoids the stand-off at the surface or the circling angel (who will smite anyone who comes near her)).