Did they drink the Kool-Aid?

[begooler]

Last time I came here for ideas I got some great ones, so let's see...

After two sessions of researching in a magical library, my players are making a stop in a small settlement that they read about. The settlement is commune established by the creator of an incantation that they found in the library that they want to use to protect another town from possession by demons. (The incantation essentially produces a cheaper, larger, but weaker version of a hallowed area with protection from evil. It's a really good solution to their problems, but the guy who invented is a quack.)

Here's the fluff text for the incantation that caught their interest.

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Group Therapy. This incantation was devised by alchemist and therapist Isaac Fernstone, a half elf known for his research of and contribution to a variety of apocryphal psychological theories and invention of several psychotropic drugs. Fernstone insisted that many commonly encountered mundane and magical items possessed 'mind control powers' and he dedicated his life to creating a "more free and open society where all people can rest knowing that their bedsheets and nightstands are not conspiring against them." He eventually established a small commune in the mountains.

There's two basic options I can think of for this encounter.

A. They arrive at the commune. Awkward social encounters ensue. Perhaps, for the sake of having combat the community members ask them to help fight some big bad thing just over the hill. Maybe the community members don't want them to leave.

B. Something's gone wrong. The village is abandoned, crops are overgrown, wild dogs are encountered. Left behind is some kind of abomination created by a failed experiment. Isaac Fernstone can be found hiding in a cave behind some magical traps he's set up.

So, what makes for a more interesting session? I do have a requirement that there be some gratuitous combat as the last two sessions were research and roleplaying heavy with some combat encounters weakly tacked on.

[Greensleeves]

It's too bad that you have to resort to combat. A creepy session where the players investigate the strangeness of the village can work very well, if slightly stereotypical.

If you want to play up the creepiness and make things a bit more interesting, play up the Jonestown feel of the community. Use nothing supernatural, just regular, human superstition and gullibility, combined with drugs. Then have Fernstone try to manipulate the village into ritual suicide or even unwitting suicide for some macabre, evil purpose. Half-elves are supposedly good at social interactions, after all.

If you need some combat, have Fernstone try to channel the life-energy of the village into creating some large monstrosity that the players have to fight.

Really, this is such a perfect set-up for a horror interlude in the campaign, it'd be a shame not to take advantage of it.

[Textor44]

You could also do a scenario where they arrive at the village, and all the people are acting very oddly... they seem overly calm about everything, nothing seems to get an arousal out of them (you accidentally killed my favorite pig? Meh.), local monsters are lulling around, not really doing their normal "raiding" schtick against the village.

As they investigate, the players start to feel the same sort of apathy setting in. Their quest doesn't seem all that important anymore, and wouldn't it just be easier to sit in the tavern than doing all that "adventuring" work?

They could have to make periodic will saves to guard against the apathy effects, but the longer they stay, the harder it is to resist. Baically: there's something here that is very, very wrong, and they either need to leave and find a new solution or fix it before they decide it's not really worth the effort to do anything anymore.

[navar100]

You could also do a scenario where they arrive at the village, and all the people are acting very oddly... they seem overly calm about everything, nothing seems to get an arousal out of them (you accidentally killed my favorite pig? Meh.), local monsters are lulling around, not really doing their normal "raiding" schtick against the village.

As they investigate, the players start to feel the same sort of apathy setting in. Their quest doesn't seem all that important anymore, and wouldn't it just be easier to sit in the tavern than doing all that "adventuring" work?

They could have to make periodic will saves to guard against the apathy effects, but the longer they stay, the harder it is to resist. Baically: there's something here that is very, very wrong, and they either need to leave and find a new solution or fix it before they decide it's not really worth the effort to do anything anymore.

A Zombie-Apocalypse but not with zombies. The Lost template from Magic Incarnum can work here. An experiment produced a flowing energy of Apathy emotion.

[Tyndmyr]

They arrive at the commune. Everything appears peaceful, and is functioning normally. An eager host takes them on a tour of his people. Describe busy people at a distance, but never close up. Describe an overtly, suspiciously happy tour in detail until one of them splits from the party.

Have him run into a dead-eyed commoner who keeps trying to walk through him like an automaton.

Then, ya'll get to explore the great fun that is a society based on dominate.

[Radar]

They arrive at the commune. Everything appears peaceful, and is functioning normally. An eager host takes them on a tour of his people. Describe busy people at a distance, but never close up. Describe an overtly, suspiciously happy tour in detail until one of them splits from the party.

Have him run into a dead-eyed commoner who keeps trying to walk through him like an automaton.

Then, ya'll get to explore the great fun that is a society based on dominate.

Maybe something a bit different: what if he did invent a ritual to cleans people from mind-affecting effects, but it wipes parts of their memories as well (as an unintended side effect)? Essentially it could be like playing with the eye-flashing thing from MiB. If you play your cards right, the players might even think, they are in a time-loop.

[Textor44]

You could also do a scenario where they arrive at the village, and all the people are acting very oddly... they seem overly calm about everything, nothing seems to get an arousal out of them (you accidentally killed my favorite pig? Meh.), local monsters are lulling around, not really doing their normal "raiding" schtick against the village.

As they investigate, the players start to feel the same sort of apathy setting in. Their quest doesn't seem all that important anymore, and wouldn't it just be easier to sit in the tavern than doing all that "adventuring" work?

They could have to make periodic will saves to guard against the apathy effects, but the longer they stay, the harder it is to resist. Baically: there's something here that is very, very wrong, and they either need to leave and find a new solution or fix it before they decide it's not really worth the effort to do anything anymore.

As an addition to this, since you wish to have a combat encounter, you could make the source of the problem something they would have to fight in order to "fix" the village. Or, if they fix the village, the monsters that were there suddenly remember, "Oh, right, I should be killing things" and have the players defend the villagers against the monsters that are now rampaging around the village.

[NothingButCake]

Maybe something a bit different: what if he did invent a ritual to cleans people from mind-affecting effects, but it wipes parts of their memories as well (as an unintended side effect)? Essentially it could be like playing with the eye-flashing thing from MiB. If you play your cards right, the players might even think, they are in a time-loop.

That's also The Giver.

[Rorrik]

As an addition to this, since you wish to have a combat encounter, you could make the source of the problem something they would have to fight in order to "fix" the village. Or, if they fix the village, the monsters that were there suddenly remember, "Oh, right, I should be killing things" and have the players defend the villagers against the monsters that are now rampaging around the village.

This could really make for an interesting encounter, unwary civilians in the midst of the enemy monsters. I know my group would likely rush in too fast and end up in a tough spot.

If you're dead set on one of your first two suggestions, the second is definitely more appealing.

[begooler]

Thanks for the ideas so far! There's a lot that I like. (Particularly the apathetic villagers.) In the end, it will make a difference whether I can think of a way to adapt the idea to fun combat mechanics.

Point of order, the half elf alchemist/therapist isn't evil, he's just kind of misguided. However, in the world that the players are in, he's possibly less misguided than some other leaders.
The town is protected from compulsion effects that cause people to lose control of their actions, (for example by dominate.) This is why the PC's are interested: they want to create a similar charm on large city.

My goal is to create just enough apprehension about using this guy's work (or even his aid) to create some tension and suspense, but not so much that the PC's get completely scared away from working with him.

[Mnemnosyne]

There was an episode of Sliders where the group found themselves in this town where everyone is happy, but all the bad feelings of the town get funneled into one person, who then seemingly commits suicide - turns out they were actually getting stored in stasis or something, as permanent receptacles of the 'bad feelings'.

It seems like adapting this in some way might be interesting, although I'm not entirely sure where to take it. Still, the idea that a price might have to be paid for this protection could be an interesting direction in which to go.