Need storyline help for my campaign...

[Nefariis]

So I've reached one of those critical story points in the campaign where the story line can go any number of ways -- and I have writer's block.

The party is comprised of 4 level 6 characters and here's whats going on -

They were given a mission by their instructor to encase an undead artifact with a legendary ore located deep in an abandoned Dwarven fortress. Along the way, a cult of liche followers has been trying to steal the artifact from them. The cult themselves have been getting more active and more brazen in this particular area and have been collecting corpses from the surrounding city and towns. They have already had a few run ins with the cult but managed to beat / escape the cult each time, but the followers have scry and are steadily pursuing them.

They managed to get the ore, to which they decided to encase the legendary artifact with the legendary ore themselves without anyone having any smithing experience (it did not go well), they are confident the artifact that one of them is currently wearing as a necklace is completely encased (it isn't) - that person's magic and personality has been evolving every level because of it.

So now they have come across a subsection of the cult which is about to lay waste to another town - currently they are standing at the edge of a clearing overlooking a bunch of priests with peasants tied to stakes (the priests are going to turn the peasants into wraiths/specters).

I would like the story arch to end at level 8 or 9 with a fight against the toned down liche that is seeking the artifact.

So what I think I would like from this encounter, is for the players to lose the artifact to cult - I'm just not really sure how to do that.

The only thing I could really think of - I could make the encounter hard enough that they fall unconscious either with sleep or through force. Grabbing the artifact and teleporting doesn't seem to be a good option because that would imply they are 7th level casters which would make it a lopsided fight. Is there an easier way to take an artifact from someone (its currently on a rogue/warlock)?

If they do fall unconscious though, what reason would the cult have to keep them alive instead of just killing them outright?

One of them has a background that could be used for evil, or central to some ritual that the liche wants to pull off - but I'm not sure why the other three could be useful to keep alive for a liche.

I know this is a lot - but any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Chad.e.clark]

Will leave other questions to be answered by other posters as to how to snatch the Macguffin from the PC's, but a plot point for why the PC's were left alive if put in a situation they could have been dispatched easily could be this: it wasn't the right place, and it wasn't the right time.

The cult could possibly need the PC's to be killed as part of a ritual to infuse the Macguffin with enough power to have the BBEG assume his next tier of powers, and it just so happens the BBEG is staging the ultimate showdown where the ritual has to take place.

Or maybe BBEG has plans to turn the corpses of the PC's into mindless undead under his total control, but again, the ritual can onlu be performed at a certain place and time, and it only works with fresh corpses.

Of course, this is only a problem if the players bring it up and you feel like answering.

Q: "Why were we left alive when we could have been killed?"

A:"Sounds like you guys have some investigating to do."

[LurkytheDwarf]

If they do fall unconscious though, what reason would the cult have to keep them alive instead of just killing them outright?

One of them has a background that could be used for evil, or central to some ritual that the liche wants to pull off - but I'm not sure why the other three could be useful to keep alive for a liche.



Of course, this is only a problem if the players bring it up and you feel like answering.

Q: "Why were we left alive when we could have been killed?"

A:"Sounds like you guys have some investigating to do."

Honestly, if you go down this line then this is the best answer. For me, I would not go into any encounter with a predetermined outcome.

There are several questions to consider:

1.)Is the cult aware the PCs have the MacGuffin?
If this is the first time they spot the amulet on the rogue/warlock maybe just having one of them escape to tell their lich is enough (like have a minor druid/blighter who turns into a bird and flies away, or a wizard just casts expeditious retreat and runs off, etc.) Then later, they can set up something more elaborate while the party is resting/believes they are safe.

2.) Are the PCs truly heroic?
Maybe they won't surrender outright, but perhaps the wraith-making ritual they're interrupting is a trap. The victims have glyph of warding-style bombs around them and the cult will trade the passwords for the amulet. If they press on, the PCs can still win but at what cost?

3.) Why does the showdown with the lich need him to be the one in possession of the MacGuffin?
Perhaps, you already have the final encounter site built which can be a lot of work thrown out the window if the PCs never make it there. But I propose that maybe the lich coming to them would be a different conclusion (something like the siege of Azure City in OOTS). Maybe the party determines the lich is on a timeline, so he won't keep sending cultists forever, he'll eventually come himself. They gather the allies they've made during the campaign, find a suitable location (maybe a friendly NPC's castle or even one of the previous dungeons), set traps, and hunker down for one angry undead spellcaster. You'd be removing the lich's lair actions, so you're already on your way to depowering him. I think that'd be an interesting flip for a campaign climax.

And anyway, it's surprisingly easy to take down one PC long enough to steal something off them. So an encounter could be (and for the sake of the example I'll assume its nighttime and the cultists know the rogue/warlock has the MacGuffin) two cult fanatics (with hold person, blindness/deafness), seven cultists, one apprentice wizard (with fog cloud), and four shadows (hidden among the natural shadows of the cult members) which is a Hard encounter, which I would add enough situational XP to make Deadly due to the villager-hostages. The cultists all dress the same so it's difficult to determine who's a spellcaster until they actually start casting spells, and they are scattered among the villager sacrifices which means any area effect spells are going to kill innocents. When engaged, the cultists use their spells to hold or blind PCs and the apprentice wizard uses fog cloud to block their sight to the rogue/warlock, when that happens the shadows rush the character; I'm thinking their Strength isn't going to be too high. In 5e there's nothing prohibiting a shadow from scooping up the amulet from a incapacitated/dead PC and running off with it (each going in a separate direction to make it more difficult for the PCs to give immediate chase) to deliver to their master. Whether or not the rest of the cultists survive is immaterial.

That's a pretty surefire way to get the amulet (hopefully they have a revivify spell), but without being too handwavy, and hey the PCs could still win somehow and the cult could go back to the drawing board. You could still always end up with the lich-siege from question #3.

[Laserlight]

Concur that the cultists don't need to defeat them all. Cast a wall spell, leaving the guy with the McGuffin isolated. He gets the attention of a Hold Person, or a couple of grapplers, or a thief, whatever.

You can have one of the cultists start to coup de grace him and someone else (traditionally the BBEG's Beautiful Daughter but YMMV) order "Leave him! We have what we came for!"

[deljzc]

I'm not saying this will work, but not everything the PC's do has to be towards the main storyline.

If what they've done so far is your story, it might be fun for a "tangent" adventure. Plus it helps fill in your gap of not having a 6th/7th level progression plan.

You could have them wander (while traveling or something) into a I6 Ravenloft type adventure (get stuck in a town until the vampire is dead). Or have them help a town in need from a hag or some other trite adventure theme.

Something "completely different" might surprise them, change up your play group and after a few session have them excited to get back to the main storyline.

Just a thought.

[Mutazoia]

If the Mcguffin is not sealed, just have your PC roll a wisdom save at disadvantage against an insanely high DC. On a failure, they pull a Frodo and try to simply hand the Mcguffin over to the bad guys as the artifact flexes some magical muscle. It doesn't like being in quarantine.

You can set it up in any number of ways. Probably the simplest would be to have the cultist attack from the shadows (you KNOW they will be standing watch incase any heroes happen by) and that's when the artifact chooses to act.

[Keravath]

Keep in mind that players never like losing things. In addition, forcibly taking something from the party is going to feel railroaded unless it appears to evolve naturally which it will never do if you have already decided the outcome.

The players will constantly take actions to protect the artifact since that is the quest you gave them. Basically, the encounter has been constructed as a catch-22 where they lose whether they win or not - they either die or lose the artifact or both.

Options include:
1) The artifact isn't what they think it is. I don't know how much the players have been told about the artifact. Depending on how much information they have you can change up the villains the encounters and even the fundamental purpose of the NPCs and the cult.

Perhaps the artifact contains a bound demon/devil/powerful evil spellcaster or even a phylactery for a powerful lich. The ore is supposed to bind the creature forever but the flaw means that they are still accessible. The leader of the opposition wants to free the bound creature. Perhaps this happens when the artifact is brought within a ritual circle and could happen if the character walks into such a circle - could use a large circular room so that the character will be inside before they are aware of it.

2) The artifact isn't what they think it is. The artifact is just something with a magical aura. It does nothing except twist the mind of the wearer. The entire adventure was a plan (and the instructor at the beginning is in on it) to bring the character that is wearing it to the lich because they are the only living family member of the lich remaining and the lich can use their life force to extend their life time indefinitely if the character is properly sacrificed. (Or whatever interesting story you can think of ... perhaps have the lich start a ritual to absorb the character's life force when they enter the room but have the ritual interupted by the actions of the party - the lich flees with an object now linked to the character that is slowly draining their life force. They may not even be aware of it for some time ... hours/days/months ... whatever fits the storyline .. but it will eventually kill them). This gives you a plot hook for continued adventure at some point if that fits your storyline. 5e is actually quite good beyond level 8-9 so you may want to consider not ending the campaign at that point. One advantage with this is that the characters win, they defeat the cult and apparently, at least temporarily vanquish the lich. However, liches can't be killed unless you destroy their phylactery, so the lich will reform and will slowly be draining the life force of their long lost relative - and the players have no idea until you want to introduce the plot line later.

Anyway - there are tons of ideas - the key it to avoid getting tunnel vision on having to do ONE thing (get the artifact back) which results in a forced railroad or some other tactic that the players have no way to respond to ... if you paint yourself into a narrative corner, give careful thought to what exactly you've said, what the players know and execute a paradigm shift on the entire plot line if needed to fit the evolving situation.

[CapnWildefyr]

If the Mcguffin is not sealed, just have your PC roll a wisdom save at disadvantage against an insanely high DC. On a failure, they pull a Frodo and try to simply hand the Mcguffin over to the bad guys as the artifact flexes some magical muscle. It doesn't like being in quarantine.

You can set it up in any number of ways. Probably the simplest would be to have the cultist attack from the shadows (you KNOW they will be standing watch incase any heroes happen by) and that's when the artifact chooses to act.

I like something like this. The artifact is sealed improperly right? So as the PCs approach, one of the bad guys turns, looks right at the player with the McGuffin, outstretches his hand, cue the music, "ah you have brought me the McGuffin. Bring it to me!" Cue the insane disadvantage rolls. PC begins to chant "Imhotep" along with the other cultists. Party has to stop him and run away. This should make them realize they goofed somewhere, and have to re-encase the artifact properly. Or the adventure becomes a rescue--their friend is now creating undead, acting as a true cultist -- in OOTS terms, he's got swirly eyes, totally controlled.

[Nefariis]

If the Mcguffin is not sealed, just have your PC roll a wisdom save at disadvantage against an insanely high DC. On a failure, they pull a Frodo and try to simply hand the Mcguffin over to the bad guys as the artifact flexes some magical muscle. It doesn't like being in quarantine.

You can set it up in any number of ways. Probably the simplest would be to have the cultist attack from the shadows (you KNOW they will be standing watch incase any heroes happen by) and that's when the artifact chooses to act.

I like something like this. The artifact is sealed improperly right? So as the PCs approach, one of the bad guys turns, looks right at the player with the McGuffin, outstretches his hand, cue the music, "ah you have brought me the McGuffin. Bring it to me!" Cue the insane disadvantage rolls. PC begins to chant "Imhotep" along with the other cultists. Party has to stop him and run away. This should make them realize they goofed somewhere, and have to re-encase the artifact properly. Or the adventure becomes a rescue--their friend is now creating undead, acting as a true cultist -- in OOTS terms, he's got swirly eyes, totally controlled.

I do like this, it's a great way to bring in consequences from prior actions and, as a bonus, this gives me three different possible outcomes based on their decisions this session.

Thanks everyone, the session is tonight so I will update you on what happens tomorrow.

Also as a side note, the plan is to go beyond level 8-9, but I am only dm'ing to 8 or 9, so I am trying to wrap up my stories by then so the next dm can take over without inheriting a bunch of notes.