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100GrandGlover
2019-04-11, 11:23 AM
So I need some ideas. My players keep throwing me for a loop. On a random chance, they became lords of the moderately sized city they began in. I just sent them through the tomb of horrors as part of the main quest line. In the Garden of Graves, they found an unlinked teleportation circle. Now my rogue, being a ****, made a massive use magic device check. So I randomly linked it to another close circle. Thing is, they are in the Feywild. So they ended up at one of the largest cities on that plane. Upon arrival, they almost killed the Wizard owning the new circle. Our wizard is a necromancer and has 2 undead giant minions. Our druid has put so many feats into her toger companion that it's basically a celestial dragon cat. And instead of going back to the main quest, they decided to go explore this Eladrin tree city. Im at a loss. Help

Man_Over_Game
2019-04-11, 11:31 AM
So I need some ideas. My players keep throwing me for a loop. On a random chance, they became lords of the moderately sized city they began in. I just sent them through the tomb of horrors as part of the main quest line. In the Garden of Graves, they found an unlinked teleportation circle. Now my rogue, being a ****, made a massive use magic device check. So I randomly linked it to another close circle. Thing is, they are in the Feywild. So they ended up at one of the largest cities on that plane. Upon arrival, they almost killed the Wizard owning the new circle. Our wizard is a necromancer and has 2 undead giant minions. Our druid has put so many feats into her toger companion that it's basically a celestial dragon cat. And instead of going back to the main quest, they decided to go explore this Eladrin tree city. Im at a loss. Help

You broke this important rule: When tools are available to players, always expect them to make use of them. When they get access to Plane Shift, the problem either needs to get done, or the problem needs to extend to other planes (so that Plane Shift is actually a valid tool rather than a derail gun). In this case, the Magic Circle needed to be part of the solution, not something you hoped they wouldn't use.

If you want to draw them back to the Tomb, consider implementing it so that the curse around the Tomb has impacted the Necromancer's magic, reflected in how his companions act. Maybe they become less controlled, more hostile, or they walk towards the Tomb whenever they're not given an order.

Make it something that follows them. Maybe an Eladrin Sage recognizes that they're actually spreading a curse like a plague, and puts the city on lockdown until you leave.

Honest Tiefling
2019-04-11, 12:57 PM
When in doubt, throw assassins or fire at the party.

The Wizard who owned the teleportation circle probably has plenty of political rivals in a massive tree city, right? Perhaps one of them was curious about this mess (I don't know if undead giants or a celestial dragon kitty would be the quietest form of diplomacy?) and has decided to reach out to the players. Or just send some thugs to take care of any survivors. This should stall the party long enough to get a general map of the area going.

Or perhaps this city has more to it than what is on the surface. There is nothing quite like an infestation of eldritch horrors, crazy cultists, yellow musk creeper, or rust monsters that will make the party decide that the tomb is a better place to be in.

After all, isn't there a lot of weirdness in the tomb of horrors? if the rogue could do it, what's to say that someone or something didn't follow?

Lord of Shadows
2019-04-11, 03:15 PM
So I randomly linked it to another close circle. Thing is, they are in the Feywild. So they ended up at one of the largest cities on that plane. Upon arrival, they almost killed the Wizard owning the new circle. Our wizard is a necromancer and has 2 undead giant minions. Our druid has put so many feats into her tiger companion that it's basically a celestial dragon cat. And instead of going back to the main quest, they decided to go explore this Eladrin tree city. I'm at a loss. Help

From the Feywild wiki ( https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Feywild ):



Inhabited by the fomorians, a fey echo of the titans, the Feydark (is) a cavernous world of maze-like tunnels and portals linking to Toril and other planes.

So a common location on Feywild for a portal to the Prime is in the Feydark, meaning the party could be in or near there. The most powerful Feydark realm is said to be "within a country-sized cavern lit by precious gems and stones...ruled by the fomorian king Bres." Almost killing a supposedly prominent Wizard is sure to draw attention, as Honest Tiefling posted:


The Wizard who owned the teleportation circle probably has plenty of political rivals in a massive tree city, right? Perhaps one of them was curious about this mess (I don't know if undead giants or a celestial dragon kitty would be the quietest form of diplomacy?) and has decided to reach out to the players. Or just send some thugs to take care of any survivors.

Undead Giants would certainly draw attention. The power-cat may be tempted (or forced by magic) to run away. To the cat, this is paradise. And the wiki describes the Feywild as "a place of unusually potent magic."


Or perhaps this city has more to it than what is on the surface. There is nothing quite like an infestation of eldritch horrors, crazy cultists, yellow musk creeper, or rust monsters that will make the party decide that the tomb is a better place to be in.

After all, isn't there a lot of weirdness in the tomb of horrors? if the rogue could do it, what's to say that someone or something didn't follow?

Something could have preceded - or followed - the party through the portal. Either event could affect how they are treated. Was there an encounter just after their portal jump in the Tomb that they avoided, but could result in something following them through?

Life on Feywild could easily be made unsafe enough to make the party want to leave. They better hope that the portal is two-way, or else have some other means of interplanar escape.

Honest Tiefling
2019-04-12, 10:55 AM
Life on Feywild could easily be made unsafe enough to make the party want to leave. They better hope that the portal is two-way, or else have some other means of interplanar escape.

Even if it isn't, a rival could have a way back to where they were. A short jaunt through what was once an idyllic feywild city with an awful secret brought to the surface by the violent introduction of a nasty from the Tomb of Horrors sounds like an excellent side-trip for our heroes.

MrZJunior
2019-04-12, 11:20 AM
You could always give the main quest up for dead and let them run off exploring.

The Kool
2019-04-12, 11:24 AM
You could always give the main quest up for dead and let them run off exploring.

While this sounds distasteful at first, think about it for a moment. Clearly, this is more interesting to the players than what they were doing before. And we're here to have fun, right? The players are chasing fun. I do like the idea of a constant pull back to the quest, but don't push it too hard. Just a nudge so when they get bored of this area after a bit they go "oh yeah, that's what we were doing".

Pippa the Pixie
2019-04-12, 07:10 PM
Im at a loss. Help

Your games sounds like a mess with the players in charge and you as a helpless watcher.

If this is the type of game you like and want, there is no help for you.

If you do want a more traditional game, then you will need to bring down the D20. As DM anything and everything in the game is under your control and nothing at all happens without your approval. So, for example, nothing in your post would have happened unless you, the DM, wanted it to happen.

If they are ''powerful", you only need to simply increase the ''power" of the game. This is right in the rules.

If the players ''do" something unexpected....just roll with it.

RazorChain
2019-04-15, 10:23 PM
I would rather chill in an Eladrin city rather than go back to the tomb of horrors, it's a silly place anyway.