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The Cats
2019-01-13, 10:17 AM
Just looking for some input before I decide since I made myself a complex villain.

Background: The party returned to the material plane through a portal that happened to lead to the world's north pole. They discovered a series of shifting tunnels under the ice. Near the entrance to the tunnels they found a hidden room with a magic circle, within which was a swarm of captured souls. They just thought it was a bunch of ghosts and broke the circle then destroyed the swarm (to be fair the swarm had been trapped for ages and attacked them in its madness after the circle was broken).

The magic circle (a 'soul well') and the shifting tunnels were created by Mother Dismas, a powerful Bheur hag who had been living in tunnels going all over the arctic circle for at least 2000 years. She had been kicked out of the feywild and made a deal with Asmodeus: Deliver one million souls to him and he would give her power enough to rival the Eldest of the feywild and get her revenge.

She is very patient and tricky: She gets most of her souls willingly by posing as a guardian spirit for local villages, who, in exchange for protection from the harshness of life in the north, willingly surround their village with runes that cause the villagers' souls to be trapped in one of Mother Dismas's soul wells when they die. Of course they don't know this is what happens and the system has worked well so far.

So this soul well was a drop in the bucket. She has hundreds of these scattered in the tunnels under the north and each holds maybe a dozen souls waiting to be delivered to Asmodeus. She is a very pragmatic villain but would still be kind of annoyed by the loss, especially if it looks like the party are going to continue being a thorn in her side.

In the original plan, which their lucky rolls finding the soul well may have changed, Dismas was only supposed to be a peripheral villain. She was going to notice them wandering around the tunnel and try to make a deal: She would manipulate the tunnels to deliver them where they want to go in exchange for destroying a shrine to Droskar (the dwarfish boogeyman) in an ancient dwarfish ruin that was stealing the souls of any dwarf that dies in the north for Droskar (she doesn't like the competition). The party is morally ambiguous but they do have a very dwarfy dwarf who I think would jump at a chance to mess with Droskar.

Now I'm not sure if she would be wiling to deal with them. like I said she is pragmatic and this does look like a good opportunity, but she's also a pretty vindictive Fey and would want to get some sort of revenge on the mortals who messed with her plans, albeit not in any major way (yet).

Thanks for reading all that nonsense. Let me know what you think of the situation and what you think Mother Dismas's next move might be.

DeTess
2019-01-13, 03:22 PM
I'd have her act out he original plan. If she's as old and patient as you describe, she probably knows that tangling with these adventurers could potentially cost her a lot more than one soul-well, but by guiding them a bit she can get them out of her hair as soon as possible, and minimize the damage to her holdings they inflict.

However, being vindictive, she'd still want to have the last word. I'd have her give some kind of magic items as a reward to the players that includes a flaw that only she knows of and can exploit. An example would be a set of rings of energy resistance, but if the correct command word is spoken, they make the victims weaker to the element instead. That way, she could use her powers once the PC's are properly out of her hair to turn the items against them, either by remotely triggering the items, or by telling an opponent of theirs of the items and the command word.

Xuc Xac
2019-01-13, 05:11 PM
She is very patient and tricky: She gets most of her souls willingly by posing as a guardian spirit for local villages, who, in exchange for protection from the harshness of life in the north, willingly surround their village with runes that cause the villagers' souls to be trapped in one of Mother Dismas's soul wells when they die. Of course they don't know this is what happens and the system has worked well so far.


If they don't know, they aren't "willing". If I give you a glass of poison and tell you it's orange juice so you'll drink it, you didn't willingly commit suicide.

Lapak
2019-01-13, 05:25 PM
I agree with Randuir that she would mostly run with her original plan, but rather than booby-trapped magic items I'd have her give them fully functional, useful items as a reward... that also do exactly the same thing as the rune-circles around the villages. Rings of Protection that have the soul-catching worked in so that someone who dies wearing it goes to one of her circles, etc.

Covers many bases at once!

- still get meddling adventurers to mess with a rival
- replace lost souls with new ones, because they are adventurers and will get theirs sooner or later
- not getting into a fight that could cost everything
- if she's really lucky, they all die and someone else loots the magic item(s): bonus souls!

Rynjin
2019-01-13, 05:39 PM
She's pragmatic, as you say. So instead of helping the players for free, have her help come with a price: replacement souls. The ones Droskar has trapped should do.

This doesn't take them too far out of their way, but adds an extra wrinkle to their plan. How do they get her the souls? Maybe she even asks for them to convert the Droskar shrine to one that automatically funnels those souls to her (or, at least, she can figure out how to do that once the PCs are gone).

Neknoh
2019-01-13, 05:40 PM
There is a reason she has not been able to destroy the shrine.

It's very much a win-win for her.

If they die trying to best the guardian or overcome whatever has kept her out, she gets her revenge.

If they succeed, they have destroyed the shrine for her and she can then sniff out other quests for them, she can essentially become that quest giver that keeps sending you into increasingly dangerous stuff that makes you wonder if she actually wants you dead, and along the way, they can start to uncover that she is the one responsible for the soul wells around the villages, not Droskar (which she might well tell them)

The Cats
2019-01-13, 05:43 PM
If they don't know, they aren't "willing". If I give you a glass of poison and tell you it's orange juice so you'll drink it, you didn't willingly commit suicide.

Hey, thanks! This is a very helpful contribution: I would have never realized exactly how hard I was capable of rolling my eyes without it!

Thanks Lapak and Randuir for your combined suggestions; I've never actually thrown cursed items at my players before (I've just never thought to) so I think this will work like a charm (he says, knowing full well every plan he has ever had for his players has flown off the rails at the earliest possible opportunity).

I think I will make them full-on cursed items (tacking-on Lapak's suggested effect) though, maybe just making it so the benefit makes the curse worth it. I don't want to deal with accusations of blind-siding when a player dies and can't be resurrected because their cherished X that has never given them problems before turns out to be a secret soul monger. If it does SOMETHING nasty I can just be like "well it turned your skin green man. Obviously evil."

edit: @Rynjin: that's a cool idea but I have at least one player who loves roleplaying his low wisdom as "recklessly attacking things that annoy him given any excuse" so if they're fuly aware she's straight up evil it would likely turn in to an immediate boss battle showdown I'd like to avoid

@Neknoh also cool, and she'll definitely be coming back later in this/other campaigns (assuming she survives the party) but this whole thing right now is just a random distraction they're having to deal with on the way to the next bit of the main quest.

Neknoh
2019-01-13, 06:01 PM
Hey, thanks! This is a very helpful contribution: I would have never realized exactly how hard I was capable of rolling my eyes without it!

Thanks Lapak and Randuir for your combined suggestions; I've never actually thrown cursed items at my players before (I've just never thought to) so I think this will work like a charm (he says, knowing full well every plan he has ever had for his players has flown off the rails at the earliest possible opportunity).

I think I will make them full-on cursed items (tacking-on Lapak's suggested effect) though, maybe just making it so the benefit makes the curse worth it. I don't want to deal with accusations of blind-siding when a player dies and can't be resurrected because their cherished X that has never given them problems before turns out to be a secret soul monger. If it does SOMETHING nasty I can just be like "well it turned your skin green man. Obviously evil."

edit: @Rynjin: that's a cool idea but I have at least one player who loves roleplaying his low wisdom as "recklessly attacking things that annoy him given any excuse" so if they're fuly aware she's straight up evil it would likely turn in to an immediate boss battle showdown I'd like to avoid

@Neknoh also cool, and she'll definitely be coming back later in this/other campaigns (assuming she survives the party) but this whole thing right now is just a random distraction they're having to deal with on the way to the next bit of the main quest.

Then, if she's not recurring, a cursed item as a reward would be great. Maybe something soul-trapping that makes it impossible to resurrect them without breaking the item in question? It's a simple puzzle but also so simple that the players may go full convoluted "storm hell to get the soul back." level questing.

Drogorn
2019-01-13, 06:11 PM
How about an item that funnels the souls of whatever they kill to her? Adventurers kill a lot of creatures, so they'd be her unwitting pawns.

The Cats
2019-01-14, 12:26 PM
How about an item that funnels the souls of whatever they kill to her? Adventurers kill a lot of creatures, so they'd be her unwitting pawns.

I love this idea. Half the party will probably think it's no big deal when they find out but I know two players who will be horrified. Anyone have ideas for 'tells?' Just minor curse effects that won't be enough to dissuade the use of the item, but will show the players there might be something nasty going on with it.

Lapak
2019-01-14, 03:21 PM
I love this idea. Half the party will probably think it's no big deal when they find out but I know two players who will be horrified. Anyone have ideas for 'tells?' Just minor curse effects that won't be enough to dissuade the use of the item, but will show the players there might be something nasty going on with it.
If the players are the type to kill first and ask questions later via Speak with Dead it will be obvious, but for effects:

When creatures are killed by an item-bearer their eyes, mouth, and nostrils flare for an instant as the soul is redirected. This effect is subtle enough that it requires a Spot check to notice, difficult to start with but with the following modifiers adjusting their passive Spot:
- much more difficult in brightly lit conditions (full daylight) +10
- much more difficult if there are other enemies still on the field of combat +10 DC
- easier if there was only one opponent (-5 DC)
- easier if the opponent is big ( -3 DC / size category bigger than Medium)
- much easier in full darkness (-10 DC)
- much easier if you are specifically looking for it (-10 DC)

MintyNinja
2019-01-14, 03:27 PM
I love this idea. Half the party will probably think it's no big deal when they find out but I know two players who will be horrified. Anyone have ideas for 'tells?' Just minor curse effects that won't be enough to dissuade the use of the item, but will show the players there might be something nasty going on with it.


The wielder of the weapon gains -1 HP when being healed by Divine Magic. It's not enough to dissuade use of a good weapon, but it's a decent hint that things aren't on the level.
When the weapon kills a humanoid it gets very cold, very fast and then snaps back to normal temperature.
Every so often, or when the weapon has collected a certain amount of souls, the wielder suffers from the Nightmare aspect of the dream spell.

Drogorn
2019-01-14, 08:21 PM
I love this idea. Half the party will probably think it's no big deal when they find out but I know two players who will be horrified. Anyone have ideas for 'tells?' Just minor curse effects that won't be enough to dissuade the use of the item, but will show the players there might be something nasty going on with it.

It's a cold hag, so how about this for an item: A brilliant sapphire amulet, with visible runes inside. If an intelligent creature(a creature with a soul) dies within line of sight, the amulet becomes bitterly cold to the touch over 1d4 hours. Once the amulet is painfully cold to touch barehanded, they can cast Cone of Cold, Wall of Ice, or Solid Fog without using a spell slot. The amulet will then start to warm up naturally. This works any number of times a day, subject to the 1d4 hour charge time.

The tell: Overnight, if the amulet is discharged, the characters will awaken to find all nearby liquids frozen solid, and all surfaces coated with a thick layer of frost. This includes canteens, alcohol, potions, and nearby streams. This effect is caused by the amulet drawing power from the environment instead of souls, recharging the amulet in the process. Ideally, this will confuse the players and make them wonder why it only does it on some days.

As for the actual curse: The item is cursed to return. If the party leaves it somewhere, it hides itself in a character's pack at midnight, and all liquids may be frozen solid as normal.

Creatures other than the party that die within line of sight get their souls sucked out. Dismas set it up that way to maintain the con, excluding herself, of course. She can change it to target anyone if she so desires.

I suggest letting them puzzle out how the item works for themselves, and rolling the 1d4 hour charge time in secret.