Need a McGuffin

[Seatbelt]

My players completed the new Ravenloft module over the summer. I had actually implimented a lot of the rules and such from the actual Ravenloft setting, and to float them back to the Forgotten Realms, after they killed Strahd I uprooted the castle and left the players, and castle Ravenloft, adrift on the astral plane. I was going to wrap up some kind of Githyanki/Gethzeri/Illithid storyline by having the players have to battle around Ravenloft as it plumets the 2 miles to the surface of Toril.

The problem is that I recently bought the actual sourcebooks for the 3.5 Ravenloft setting, so I want my players to end up back in Barovia before I send them into a new Domain. I still want to do some kind of Astral Plane adventure, but I'm not sure how to handle it.

I was thinking that generic BBEG X had discovered/created some kind of artifact to pull the Dread Realms from its pocket dimension on the etheral plane into the Astral/Material plane, and unleash its hellish prisoners on an unsuspecting populace (and abotched use of the artifact explains Ravenloft's appearance on the Astral). But I also need to justify why the destruction of the artifact sends them back to Barovia (maybe the device anchors objects from the Dread Realm, and when it is destroyed, *everything* summoned is unsummoned). I'm just looking for some feedback or suggestions. What I need is:


A race, group, or entity powerful enough to do something like this, and evil enough to want to.
A motivation for that group.
What the artifact/device is, exactly, and
How to destroy it.
Suggestions for encounters are nice but arent needed.


The party is level 12.

[Talic]

A race, group, or entity powerful enough to do something like this, and evil enough to want to.
A motivation for that group.
What the artifact/device is, exactly, and
How to destroy it.
Suggestions for encounters are nice but arent needed.


The party is level 12.


A Wizard. Name him, stat him, pref a teleportation/force specialist.
The unsuspecting populace has something there he needs, and a direct attempt without sowing chaos first will fail.
A key. Fits any lock, and using it in a doorway/chest/etc, and then opening the device opens a gate to another location. Too many in one location actually temporarily supplants the very nature of the plane, drawing the destination there. The key may only have 10 gates open at once, as it fuels the gate's existence.
Method for destruction: It must be used on a lock that has never been opened, to a cell used only once, to imprison an innocent man.
None at this time.

[tsuyoshikentsu]

A race, group, or entity powerful enough to do something like this, and evil enough to want to.

Demons. Any of them, really.


A motivation for that group.

If causing chaos and evil on a practically unheard-of scale isn't enough, say they want to steal some evil McGuffins from the Ravenlofters while they're busy enjoying their new freedom.


What the artifact/device is, exactly

A conduit that allows access to the Dread Realms from outside and vice-versa.


How to destroy it.

Pick a method from your favorite video game. Destroy the five supporting gems, unleash a huge explosion inside it, dispel it, hit the Big Red Button (TM), it really doesn't matter.


I also need to justify why the destruction of the artifact sends them back to Barovia

It's like putting a bag of holding in a portable hole: it tears a rift to Ravenloft that drags everyone in the area into it before closing.


Suggestions for encounters are nice but arent needed.

CR-appropriate demons.

[CASTLEMIKE]

The Head of Vecna adventure over at Wizard's and having one of the effects transport them to Ravenloft.

[DrummingDM]

I don't know how much of a help this will be, but I've always liked the idea that since Strahd was the first Domain Lord, and Barovia the first domain, that Strahd serves as a linch-pin for the entirety of Ravenloft. As long as Strahd reigns, Ravenloft exists in it's entirety. Should Strahd fall, the Demiplane would begin to unravel (or, at the very least become incredibly unstable).

Now, who wants out of Ravenloft even more than unwitting PCs? Azalin, that's who. And the man's (lich's) got resources. The Kargat, centuries of research into the nature of the Demiplane, and magical powers (17th level wizard, if I remember correctly). So...Azalin realizes Strahd has fallen (via his Kargat information network), checks into things, and realizes that the right amount pressure applied to JUST the right places in the fabric of the Demiplane just might send him home, and so what if the morass of evil that's been trapped in Ravenloft gets released unto the multiverse at the same time? That's hardly Azalin's concern.

One problem - because part of Azalin's curse demands that he can learn no new magic, he botches the ritual to unravel the Demiplane. Things Go Wrong. Instead of going home, parts of Ravenloft begin getting shunted off into neighboring planes - Barovia into the Astral plane, as an example. It's up to the PCs to set things right, and imprison Ravenloft's evil back into it's little pocket of space once again.

[Seatbelt]

Stuff

That's brilliant. I love it. :D

[DrummingDM]

That's brilliant. I love it. :D>_>

<_<

*takes the liberty of taking a quick little bow*

[Triaxx]

A race, group, or entity powerful enough to do something like this, and evil enough to want to.

Demons are sort of... meh. Now, the last remains of the cult formed by one of the 'denizens' of Ravenloft.


A motivation for that group.

Freeing the master.


What the artifact/device is, exactly, and

A carefully attuned object, set off in Barovia, possibly using pieces of a ruined SpellJammer helm. Why? Because the difference in theory, between Spell Jammer and Planescape. The two aren't completely compatible, so the effect is not what's expected.


How to destroy it.

Reactivate it. Someone has to go boom with it, so either a dying NPC volunteers, or a PC stays. Personally, I'd DI them out of the impact zone, but that's up to you.


Suggestions for encounters are nice but arent needed.

Perhaps have an aberration controlling/guarding the object. The party has to defeat it to gain control.