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Tabletop God
Pie
(11/11/02 3:47:09 pm)
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What happens when a Temple gets destroyed?
My players have destroyed the ziggurat, thus demolishing the Earth temple. They discovered this was an option by interrogating someone who was shocked that they had the Sword of Earth, having heard that as long as the sword was whole, the Earth Temple would rise, and the stuff went forward from there.
So my question is, what next? Wouldn't this draw the attention fo the doomdreamers? Or would they view this defeat as a sign of evolution and wait for someone else to rise?
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Trithereon
Pie
(11/11/02 6:05:10 pm)
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Re: What happens when a Temple gets destroyed?
The default script goes: "The priests of the Outer Fane do not immediately respond to any intrusions in the mines. Figuring that either the PCs will find defeat at the hands of the CRM creatures or that the PCs represent outside forces seduced by one of the elemental temples to aid it in its struggles against the others, the leaders of the Outer Fane will pay them little regard. Once the Pcs have defeated the forces of two of the elemental temples and recovered the necessary components to construct a master key, the Outer Fane likely responds in force."
I don't see any reason to stray from this. The CRM have served the doomdreamers, their evil schemes secret and protected over the long years. So, I'd say if your PCs have only destroyed one temple and do not have the means to create a master key then the Outer Fane does nothing.
Did any eye witnesses escape the destruction of the Earth Temple? If they manage to get to the Outer Fane then Hedrack will have second-hand knowledge of the PCs, enough for a scry attempt. However, he'll not even do that until the fall of a second temple. Until then, Hedrack likely assumes that the PCs are mercenaries hired to destroy the Earth Temple. According to the module, prior to your PCs destroying it the Earth temple suffered a crippling defeat at the hands of the Fire Temple and the doomdreamers recruited the troglodytes to restock the temple.
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Siobharek 
Orc
(11/12/02 12:37:32 am)
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Re: What happens when a Temple gets destroyed?
Another thing to consider about the temples is this little gem from allenw01234.
But of course, the minute the players begin to question why the Doomdreamers let them go on, you might want to leave some clues that their rampaging serves a purpose - just not the PCs'!
Siobharek
...it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing. |
Tabletop God
Pie
(11/12/02 6:11:55 am)
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Re: What happens when a Temple gets destroyed?
Quote:
I don't see any reason to stray from this.
Thanks for the reminder. Is there a proscribed method of what their response would be? If not, what are your suggestions? I'm concerned about jacking up XP rewards in the CRM (especially since my 6 member party is 1-3 EL above what they're facing in there already).
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and do not have the means to create a master key
But all that requires is putting 2 like lesser keys together, right? And if you defeat a temple, you're pretty much guaranteed to have 2 lesser keys.
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Did any eye witnesses escape the destruction of the Earth Temple?
Yeah, they had captured the troglodyte rogue (who spilled the beans on a lot of this stuff), and she fled when they got surprise-attacked by the green dragon.
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Siobharek
Orc
(11/12/02 6:22:28 am)
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Re: What happens when a Temple gets destroyed?
The one I've seen done a couple of times is send off a squad involving one or both of the assassins, one or both of the nagas, the stalkers, and/or Ukemil and the Lions.
But the first thing Hedrack will do is gather as much info as possible on the party. Once he knows all there is to know through scrying, he'll count his assets to find out what could be done.
Some questions:
Is Tal Chammish still in business?
Could you use the Spider Eater riders?
Where does the party live?
You might even want to begin the whole thing by having Hedrack give the party a note saying, "This is your only chance. Leave now or die." If the party's really stupid, they won't ditch the note: Scrying material.
Personally, I'd make one strong attack. Assemble a force that'll put the hurt on the PCs without offing them all. Once they've dealt with that, fortify the Fanes and prepare for the group's assault. Depending on your whim, you might want to introduce Verachan at this point.
Siobharek
...it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing. |
Tabletop God
Pie
(11/12/02 6:37:13 am)
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Re: What happens when a Temple gets destroyed?
Quote:
Is Tal Chammish still in business?
No, they shut him down. But in doing so, I had there erupt a civil war in the town (Chammish was in jail), which resulted in the goodies winning, but only with aid of the orcs. Rastor is now free of Tal Chammish, but it's co-opted by the orc tribe. I was pretty proud of that :).
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Where does the party live?
A different kingdom entirely. I've had their patron watching them with scrying and sending in reinforcements. Unfortunately that's had the party start to act like a video game and not care if they die. I'm going to have the powers that be have figured this out and struck at them, then start scrying back.
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Siobharek
Orc
(11/12/02 6:42:59 am)
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Re: What happens when a Temple gets destroyed?
With that kind of backup, it might be a good time to ferment so much trouble that the PCs' patron is forced to shut his share of the operation down. However, that depends so much on your campaign world that it's a little tricky giving advice there. I would do something about your players' video game mentality, though.
Siobharek
...it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing. |
Andorax
Orc
(11/12/02 7:59:59 am)
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Re: What happens when a Temple gets destroyed?
Ok...first order of business...get rid of that patron. Video game mentality is VERY bad for RttToEE. You'll need to wait until Hedrack is in "take action" mode before doing this, but when the time comes....
I would recommend a Planar Ally whips up a demon who can readily teleport without error. Use whatever communes/divinations/offstage excuses that the PCs don't need to know about, capture the patron, slay him, and decorate the walls of the Earth Temple (or any other spot Hedrack expects the PCs to pass anytime soon) with a fascinating display of his internal organs, and make it clear the PCs have just "ran out of quarters".
As for the response, the script is fairly clear. Wait until two full temples are down. Then, send (in this order), one Assassin, then Ukemil and his Lions, then the two Invisible Stalkers. I would recommend giving it anywhere from 2 days to a week from when the second temple falls before you begin doing this (depending on whether anyone escapes the PC's assaults, and if they would be the sort to run and notify Hedrack).
I would also schedule any and all attacks to take place just past midnight. AFAIK, Tharizdun priests do their prayer/memorization right after midnight, so that's when Hedrack can memorize his Scrying/Locate Object/Locate Person type spells. After he decides to take action, one a night for three nights is not too harsh by any stretch, but impose a chance of the baddies NOT finding the PCs, and the PCs detecting the scrying.
Important notes on Hedrack trying to locate PCs to send his assassination squads after:
At Hedrack's level, he can just barely cover the entire CRM with a Locate Object or Locate Creature spell by wandering throughout the Outer Fane.
The DC to detect a scry attempt against you is 20 on a Scry (or flat Int) check. This will reveal the location of the sensor nearby you.
"Whadda ya mean, Orcs get levels too?!?" |
Abelard
Orc
(11/12/02 12:02:56 pm)
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keys
"But all that requires is putting 2 like lesser keys together, right? And if you defeat a temple, you're pretty much guaranteed to have 2 lesser keys."
2 lesser keys make a greater key, not a master key. It requires two greater keys (so 4 lesser keys total) to make a master key. That's why defeating two temples is likely to give the party access to a master key.
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