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Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

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Wed, 2012-07-11 15:00
#1
gonzoron_fos
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Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

Greetings Planescape-gurus,

I'm GonzoRon, from over at the fraternityofshadows.com Ravenloft fan site. In prepping for my next Ravenloft adventure, I hit a spot where my lack of knowledge about the denizens of the Planes became a problem, so I figured I'd go to the experts for help. Smiling I'm not sure which of your forums this fits best in, so if it needs to be moved, please feel free.

To make a really, really long story short, I've got an NPC who will be invoking a ritual to the Goddess known as Evening Glory to bring her thrice-dead lover back to life again. (Evening Glory appears in Libris Mortis, and if you don't have that book to look her up, she's basically a True Neutral goddess of Love and Undeath, promising eternal love to couples who embrace undeath)

I'd like to have part of the ritual involve summoning something extraplanar to serve as the "clergy" for the ritual. The trouble I'm having is picking an appropriate creature. I initially pictured some sort of demon or devil, but not of the ones in the MM seem to fit. (BTW, my campaign is 3e)

Evening Glory's writeup says she uses a female lich as a herald, and has fire elemental allies. There's no explanation of the fire elementals (I'm guessing something about the flames of passion?) but they seem at odds with the cold motif that she has otherwise. (the cold grip of death, etc.) In any case, Fire elementals would be too mindless to serve as "clergy".

There's the added issue that she's True Neutral. Aparently there's something called the Rilmani, who are true neutral outsiders, but I don't know much about them. In any case, they don't seem too scary to me. Maybe I need to drift NE, since this is Ravenloft, and undead are more drawn toward evil. I'd consider LE Devils, since they are more likely to honor a deal, are more "civilized," etc. But so many of them are just monstrous powerhouses.

I'm looking for something in the CR9-11 range, scary, but intelligent seeming, something that could pass for "clergy". I considered something fire-related, like an Efreeti, but their wish-granting is well known, and would seem to short-circuit the plot ("I she could summon an Efreeti, why didn't she just wish her lover alive and skip the Eternal Glory ritual?")

If need be, I could wimp out and use the half-fiend, fiendish, or fire element template on something more fitting, but it would be nice if there was an outsider that fit perfectly. (Also, it would be nice to have two options, as I'd like to include one "botched attempt" that got loose. And it would be nice if the one that got loose and the one that performs the ceremony aren't identical challenges for the PCs.)

So? any "cutters" got any ideas for this "clueless berk"? (did I use those right? Eye-wink )

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Wed, 2012-07-11 17:02
#2
Jem
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

From the SRD, night hags are CR9, and noble salamanders are CR10. Of course, I understand summonings into Ravenloft can be tricky. A night hag is very much in the flavor of Ravenloft, the hags are native to the Gray Waste, and the hag can look like any typical humanoid with her change shape ability. As for emotion -- well, I tend to think of the hags as surprisingly emotional for natives of the Waste. Lots of cackling. ^_^

To toot my own horn a little, she might know some incantations, such as "Entwine the Heart," "Obsession" and "Join the Dark Sisterhood" from my list of incantations, many of which are a hag's sort of lore. It'd mix her up a little from the SRD version.

The noble salamander might be the one that got loose. If he/she's stuck in Ravenloft and can't get back to the Plane of Fire, I could see him/her being pissed enough to be rampaging at any target you might need.

Wed, 2012-07-11 17:00
#3
Jem
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

Oh, and you used the slang fine. :^)

Wed, 2012-07-11 17:37
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Wicke
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

You can always reskin something to have the flavor you want. For instance, a pair or a quartet of ogre magi reskinned to have flames for hair and a decidely outsider'ish look could work. Just change their type from Giant to Outsider, their alignment to True Neutral and swap their Cone of Cold SLA for something more flame'y and you'd be right in the neighborhood of what you needed.

Wed, 2012-07-11 17:51
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gonzoron_fos
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

Cool, thanks for the suggestions! The salamander goes on the "possible" list (I'm still not really getting the connection between Evening Glory and fire elementals, but it's there in canon.) Unfortunately, I used a Night Hag recently, so I don't want to use another one so soon.

I should note that the CR range is just a guide. I'm fine with something smaller, I can always advance it. (or even something bigger if it fits well.) Also, I'm open to things not in the SRD.

Wed, 2012-07-11 18:15
#6
gonzoron_fos
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

Yeah, reskinning is an option, but like the templates I mentioned above, I'd view that as a last resort, preferring to find that "perfect" existing critter, if one exists. Eye-wink

Thu, 2012-07-12 00:51
#7
Jem
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

There's the erinyes, which is a CR8 devil, and their standard form is that of an attractive humanoid (their advanced form is the pleasure devil, which is a much stronger foe).

It's notable that gods are occasionally able to pull devils out of the Baatorian hierarchy and alter their alignment -- Wee Jas' writeup in Dragon has an advanced erinyes herald that has become neutral. The same could be applied to a succubus (CR8, but give her a couple of sorcerer levels, perhaps, or just advance her racially). A good backstory could come with such a representative. They probably would lose their ability to summon other devils or demons, and gain some replacement ability more suited to Evening Glory.

Thu, 2012-07-12 09:46
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gonzoron_fos
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

Interesting, that gives me a bit more freedom in terms of Alignment.

I'd considered Succubi, but a) Succubi are more about lust than love. b) I've been picturing a male aspect, and more clearly "demonic" (or devilish, etc..) As for Erinyes, they are more like unholy warrior babes, right? fallen angels?

I'd think about an Incubus, but while there are very few canon fiends in Ravenloft, the most MAJOR one in the lore is an Incubus, and I don't want to step on his toes.

Forgetting about love for a moment (since I doubt there are many love-related evil outsiders), here are the aspects I'd be looking for:

- willing to be bound into service to higher powers
- religious trappings or history of worshipping deities
- willing to make deals with mortals
- Relationship to undead/undeath
- schemers/infiltrators as opposed to brutes
- relationship to magic/ritual
- aspect of fire/heat and/or ice/cold
- creepy looking, but not over-the-top-monstrous

If I can hit at least 2 or 3 of those with an existing outsider race, I'll be happy.

(BTW, thanks everyone for humoring me on this)

Another tactic to take: What sorts of creatures serve the other, more established Death/Undeath gods?(Nerull, Orcus, Raven Queen, etc...)

Thu, 2012-07-12 12:20
#9
Mask
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

Maybe you could use the Erodeamon (CR 11) from Pathfinders Horsemen of the Apocalypse?

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/outsiders/daemons/erod...

"When a mortal dies of heartbreak and grief, the Erodaemon feats upon the tortured soul" - this might collide with Evening Glorys teachings, but on the other hand it could be a reason why the first summoning went wrong.

Anyway: Especially in Ravenloft there is no reason at all the NPC knows about the different point of view between his goddess and the creature he uses as his "clergy". He will learn soon enough.

Thu, 2012-07-12 12:32
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Jem
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

Erinyes have less combat capability than some of the other devils (no really devastating combat spell-likes, no flame-hurling, etc. They have an entangling rope). They're meant to be temptresses, as are succubi. The succubus being more about lust is quite true, but perhaps one reason this particular succubus serves Evening Glory is that she learned something about love and became CN from CE.

Here's a suggestion from real-world mythology... kind of. It hits a lot of your bases, at least I think.

Take the SRD nymph. Now give her a couple levels of cleric with the domains of Death and Fire. The backstory is that she's a nymph of a very particular planar river: the Phlegethos, the river of fire in the Greek Underworld. This is a real plane in Planescape, the third Gloom of the Gray Waste, also called Pluton -- however, Phlegethos is a layer not of the Gray Waste, but of Baator! Perhaps this river shifted planar positions long ago, as pieces of planes sometimes do. A river of fiery emotions might have found the Waste too oppressive.

She once served Hades, who is known to occasionally attempt to seduce nymphs. This time, instead of turning her into a tree, Persephone "encouraged" the nymph to take a long term of service elsewhere, and Evening Glory made her an invitation. She found the service palatable and has chosen to remain permanently.

Fri, 2012-07-13 11:45
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VikingLegion
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

This is a huge shot in the dark here (I'm at work while reading this and no access to any of my old materials obviously), but does anyone know the name of those female creatures that, when viewed from behind, have emptied out heads? I can't remember what they're called, what they do, or even what plane they hail from for that matter. All I can picture is that original DiTerlizzi illustration in my mind. I believe their MO was absorbing feelings/essences from other sentient creatures, like some sort of emotion vampire, to fill that aching spiritual void - which is so obviously represented by the their hollowed out skulls.

I can see a creature like this allying with Evening Glory in order to research the concept of Love, and if it is powerful enough to cure (or at least temporarily sate) whatever pain or emptiness they go through. It might even make some kind of allegorical sense in that some say being in love can make one foolish and empty-headed.

Again, I know this is a longshot and this creature might be wildly innapropriate for the OP's purposes, I'm just trying to dredge up some details on these things, since my memory is so vague. I'm sure one of you cutters can help me out here, maybe even post the pic I'm talking about.

Fri, 2012-07-13 15:59
#12
Jem
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

Parai? They reproduce by turning other creatures in to parai. They have strong ideas on perfection and are very lawful, but a "rogue" parai might find undeath and mate-bonding to be interesting concepts.

The only place I've seen them is 2e, though, so OP would need to update them.

Fri, 2012-07-13 16:20
#13
gonzoron_fos
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

A bit of googling says Parai became "Visilights" in MMIII for 3e. I'll take a look at them. The picture I saw online is certainly creepy enough.

Mon, 2012-07-16 16:50
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Wicke
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

I'm still a fan of reskinning. Eye-wink

Mon, 2012-07-16 18:03
#15
Palomides
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

This is a little difficult because we don't really know what role this being is going to fill in your adventure.

Personally based on the little information we have, I kind of like the erinye also. Here are the pros and cons as I see them:
1) takes the form of an imposing woman - seems like a plus, allows for a summoner to easily mistake her for the goddess (or her avatar)
2) erinyes are creatures of vengeance - seems like a plus as I could see the theme of love being twisted into vengeance easily ("Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned"). This seems easier to fit into the Ravenloft themes than lust would
3) LE alignment - this is a miss; a NE would be a better fit
4) might be too weak - this seems easily remedied. Outsiders summoned into Ravenloft create a "reality wrinkle" so you could easily grant her additional powers using this as a (WotC-approved) solution.
[While I'm mentioning it, what would make some good "wrinkles" that might fit in with the portfolio of the goddess being petitioned - as the Dark Powers are known to cruelly deceive the residents?]
Also once this outsider arrives in Ravenloft, she is bound to organize a group of people around her to serve her needs (and you could play up the angst of having to fight people who are just desperately fighting to be reunited with their lost loves)

Whatever you decide, I'll be interested in the final product, so keep us updated

Mon, 2012-07-16 21:26
#16
gonzoron_fos
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

Well, I've been deliberately brief since I have a tendency to bore people with details. Smiling But if you want all the gory details, I posted some more in this thread back "home"
http://fraternityofshadows.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=8259&start=0

As for the role I'd like here, it's to fill multiple functions:
- The main reason to use an outsider at all is that the summoning preparations leave behind clues for the PCs to follow to find the NPC behind it all.
- Then, the first botched attempt leaves behind an angry outsider that is a pure combat challenge to add some excitement to an otherwise investigation-based adventure. (but also rewards the victorious PCs with more clues to find the NPC they are hunting)
- Also, the presence of outsiders allows an NPC mentor who's also around (Dr. Van Richten) to fill in the PCs on methods for defeating outsiders (who are tougher than normal to defeat in Ravenloft, since they have a phylactery and a reality wrinkle, and angrier than normal since they can't go home.) This is important because they recently found out a seemingly human enemy of theirs is a Gelugon in disguise, and have no clue how to defeat him. The Gelegon won't be involved in this adventure, but the knowledge Van Richten imparts to fight these 2 outsiders will be applicable next time they face the gelugon.
- The outisder "clergy" is to add a bit of creepy spice to this ritual the NPC is performing, and to add to the combat challenge of stopping the climactic ritual.
- Depending on how things go, one or both of the outsiders could be recurring foes, but I'm not too attached to them. If they are just one-offs, that's fine too.

As for the Erinyes, it is tempting, but I'll let you know the real reason I'm discounting them: One of my players is obsessed with them. Eye-wink He played a "risen" Erinyes in an anything-goes-Savage-Species campaign we played once, He had an Erinyes as his big bad when he DMed last, and in our PF "Council of Thieves" campaign, we found an Erinyes head in a box, and he used his Craft Construct feat to build her a body in return for serving him like a cohort, so he's got an Erinyes-cyborg sidekick. So I've kind of had enough of them Sticking out tongue

So my latest contender is an Ice Elemental Weird (from Frostburn). Aside from the seemingly erroneous line in Libris Mortis about Evening Glory being served by fire elementals, she seems to have a "cold of the grave" theme going, so I'm going to use an underground ice house as the scene for the ritual. I'm going to bend the rules a little and let the stacked piles of ice serve as her "pool". I'll also have to find a way to nerf it a bit. CR15 is a bit much for my level 10 party. The standard personality of an ice weird isn't really a great fit, but the cold theme works, the alignment matches, it's got some divine spells, and it looks creepy, and similar to what Evening Glory might look like.

It's not 100%, but it's in the lead for now.

I was really originally picturing something male, though. Kind of something like The Gentlemen from Buffy, or Pinhead from Hellraiser, or the Utapauns from Revenge of the Sith. Sort of sinister, but clearly intelligent and not a monster. The sort of thing one might sell a soul to. So I'm still reluctant to go female and beautiful.

Tue, 2012-07-17 10:32
#17
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

Hi! I love the idea of this ritual, and this Evening Glory figure. I'm at work, so I don't have access to any of my books, but after reading over this thread I'd like to mirror the suggestion of taking a reasonably close outsider and saying their alignment/etc changed somewhat to fit this deity whose service they've entered.

As you want to use the outsider to be a creepy ritual element, however, I'd like to suggest using a good outsider rather than an evil one. This is a neutral deity, albeit one of undeath, but still - an evil outsider being neutral is just as much of a 'stretch' as it is for a good outsider.

I'm going to toot Jem's horn a minute here and mention a creature called the Fidele - Jem made them to be a lawful good love-related outsider, and maybe I just love dem fideles too much, but they were the first thing to come to mind for me.

The flavour behind the fideles is they are the spirits of true lovers who are now together forever, even in the afterlife as outsiders.

Fideles are mated pairs, and are eternally bound together. However, it's possible that, if someone managed to kill one of the fideles and not the other (very difficult but not impossible, and almost certainly done intentionally) the remaining fidele might have lost it a bit and ... well, fallen. Sort of.

The fidele was supposed to be together with their lover forever, through eternity in the afterlife. But their eternal bond was broken, that which was meant to be forever has been ripped away. If not even the bond of the fideles can last forever, perhaps undeath truly is the key to everlasting love...? It's too late for the fidele, but serving the Evening Glory, they can help mortal lovers to stay together.

I will link the Fidele information when I get home, unless someone feels like beating me to it. Let me know if this is something you like, or if you're still looking, and I'll come up with a new idea : )

Tue, 2012-07-17 11:12
#18
gonzoron_fos
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

Now we're talking!

Google turned up these links:
http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/olderProducts/pathf...

/forum/fideles-lg-response-lillends-succubi-an...

Is that all there is on them, or did you write more, Jem?

Man, now I'm torn... I was really digging the Ice Weird idea, but the backstory on these guys, particularly the idea of a "fallen" widowed one, is pretty perfect. :/

The ice weird only really makes sense at the ice-house climax, not roaming the city wreaking havoc as the failed attempt, because it needs a pool of ice to live in. But the fidele makes more sense for the ceremony, which is about undying love, not law or chaos (the interests of an ice weird). Hmm... something to think about...

Tue, 2012-07-17 11:33
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Anetra
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

Perhaps it doesn't need to roam the city to wreck havoc upon it. Is this city near any bodies of water? Does it have a river, or any parks with ponds and the like?

If the ice weird is brought in as a mistake, it could bind itself to any nearby pool that is big enough to house it - maybe even a fountain in a public square.

I can't look up that creature atm, but what type of range can it get? If it's bound to a fountain or a river in the middle of town, can it travel short distances from there?

Perhaps, the day after the ritual, the pc's notice or hear that it is snowing (is this uncharacteristic for the season or region) or otherwise chillier than normal. They next hear that some building was destroyed and everyone inside was killed. Such reports continue to filter in, and it is soon revealed that the strange weather and destruction are all centered around a particular site.

Tue, 2012-07-17 11:42
#20
Jem
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

Anetra: Thanks, I didn't want to do that myself. :^)

gonzoron: They are in fact now published in 3.5e form in the latest supplement from Kobold Quarterly, Dark Roads & Golden Hells, although -- other than a little tweaking of the powers -- there's little more on fideles there than there is here on planewalker, so I wouldn't spend $19.99 just for a canon version. (There's plenty of other stuff, of course!)

A fidele without their mate will definitely go kind of crazy, and no wonder. Very dark, and very appropriate for Ravenloft.

You'll note that many of the fidele's powers make no sense without a mate to use them on, which depowers them a lot. The process by which some evil widowed might have left them marked with some dark ability -- perhaps they can choose someone in their line of sight to keep track of? Force a link to someone for them to share damage and saves? You have a bit of leeway in "re"powering them if you want to keep the new entity the same CR. I hope you find them useful, and if you do go that route, I'd be interested in a play report!

Tue, 2012-07-17 13:18
#21
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

I just read the Thread at FoS. As I have no account over there, I'll add an idea here:

Having one month from arrival to the ritual is a good timeframe for letting all pieces fall into place. You might consider adding a short adventure given from VR after the party meets him. You could include step 7 of your timeline into this adventure.

Chose an adventure which does not allow the party to keep low profile all the time, so they will come to the attention of the vampire (and the father of the PC), giving them a reason to contact the party.

Tue, 2012-07-17 15:55
#22
gonzoron_fos
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

Mask wrote:
I just read the Thread at FoS. As I have no account over there, I'll add an idea here
Feel free to go ahead and join up. Smiling

Quote:
Having one month from arrival to the ritual is a good timeframe for letting all pieces fall into place. You might consider adding a short adventure given from VR after the party meets him. You could include step 7 of your timeline into this adventure.
Hmm.... I'd consider it, but a month is a lot of game time, especially when they have business elsewhere. I'd be concerned that they'd leave and miss the big day. I might have to play it by ear and see if they seem eager to leave town or not. I could speed things up or slow them down as needed. But as you and others who read the FoS thread know, it's either now or in 1 month, nothing in between (because the timing of the ritual is tied to the new moon.) Risky.

Quote:
Chose an adventure which does not allow the party to keep low profile all the time, so they will come to the attention of the vampire (and the father of the PC), giving them a reason to contact the party.
Yeah, that might be helpful to get around the "insta-find" problem, but only if they don't leave. :/

Tue, 2012-07-17 16:05
#23
gonzoron_fos
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

Anetra wrote:
Perhaps it doesn't need to roam the city to wreck havoc upon it. Is this city near any bodies of water? Does it have a river, or any parks with ponds and the like?
Hmm... good point. This city is a major metropolis of the campaign world. There's plenty of room for the ice weird to latch onto a pool of water and freeze it. and the ice itself could be a clue pointing to the ice-house.

Quote:
I can't look up that creature atm, but what type of range can it get? If it's bound to a fountain or a river in the middle of town, can it travel short distances from there?
Technically, no. It can only leave its pool to go back to it's native plane (and that's not allowed by the rules of Ravenloft).

Quote:
Perhaps, the day after the ritual, the pc's notice or hear that it is snowing (is this uncharacteristic for the season or region) or otherwise chillier than normal. ...
good stuff ... good stuff.... It'll be winter in a temperate area, so snow isn't unusual, but localized snow would be cool.

Tue, 2012-07-17 16:06
#24
gonzoron_fos
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

BTW, thanks guys for all the assistance... I'll be sure to keep you updated.

Tue, 2012-07-17 16:47
#25
Anetra
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

Make sure you do! Looking forward to hearing what you decide to use and how it turns out.

Thu, 2012-07-19 16:14
#26
Mask
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

gonzoron_fos wrote:
Mask wrote:
I just read the Thread at FoS. As I have no account over there, I'll add an idea here
Feel free to go ahead and join up. Smiling
Thanks, I wish I had more time for RPG and another forum. Smiling I like Ravenloft a lot, so maybe I will join you, too.

Quote:
Having one month from arrival to the ritual is a good timeframe for letting all pieces fall into place. You might consider adding a short adventure given from VR after the party meets him. You could include step 7 of your timeline into this adventure.
Hmm.... I'd consider it, but a month is a lot of game time, especially when they have business elsewhere. I'd be concerned that they'd leave and miss the big day.
Sealing the domain might be kind of railroading, but it's very effective. They won't go very far from PoL. Eye-wink

The second city within that Domain -> Look at VR Monster Hunter's Compendium III, P. 72 or the Dread Possibility in Gaz 3 - depending on the year your campaign is in.

Quote:
But as you and others who read the FoS thread know, it's either now or in 1 month, nothing in between (because the timing of the ritual is tied to the new moon.)
If you really have to speed things up, use a lunar eclipse - the ritual would happen at full moon, halving the time you have to keep them busy.

Quote:
Yeah, that might be helpful to get around the "insta-find" problem, but only if they don't leave. :/
Do you really think they would leave, if VR asks them to do something and while they are busy doing this (or shortly after), they notice that the father of a char is missing?

Fri, 2012-07-20 09:21
#27
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

Mask wrote:
Sealing the domain might be kind of railroading, but it's very effective. They won't go very far from PoL. Eye-wink
Yeah, it's railroading alright. Smiling Last resort, IMHO, and since Dominic (the darklord) isn't involved in this adventure, I'd rather not involve him.

Quote:
The second city within that Domain
Oh, I don't even have to leave town for adventure ideas. Port-a-Lucine is swarming with them, and I seeded a bunch the last time they were in town. (Andre DuCire, Angel Pajaro, Francois dePenible, etc...) It's just that this is a MAJOR climax to the campaign, involving multiple foes from the past 10 years of real-time. I've been building to it from the beginning, and as our game-time has slowed over the years due to kids, jobs, life, etc, I don't want to put it off any longer. Smiling

Quote:
If you really have to speed things up, use a lunar eclipse - the ritual would happen at full moon, halving the time you have to keep them busy.
For an ordinary ritual, I'd say sure, but I picked a solar eclipse specifically because this ritual involves a vampire coming back from the dead. It makes more thematic sense to be a solar eclipse because of vampires' sunlight weakness.

Quote:
Do you really think they would leave, if VR asks them to do something and while they are busy doing this (or shortly after), they notice that the father of a char is missing?
I think it might go a bit like this: "VR is a capable guy, he can find this summoner. There doesn't seem to be immediate danger here, and we have pressing business on the other side of the continent." (And by pressing business, I mean it's pretty darn pressing: There's a hole in the barrier between the real world and the dream world centered on one of the PCs, and they need to find the guy who can help seal it.) If I can get the PC-father-kidnapping hook in before they try to leave, yeah, they'd stay. But based on the relationship between the PC and his dad, I can't guarantee he'd even stop by to say "hi." And even if they do stay, a month is a lot of investigation time. I want them to burst in and stop the ritual as it's happening, just in the nick of time. It's anticlimactic if they solve everything in week 3 and put a stop to it days beforehand. Sticking out tongue

Sat, 2012-07-21 03:40
#28
Mask
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

Make the initial meeting with VR in another domain - somewhere away from the core. After they speak with him, he will promise help (perhaps even a clue for their dream world quest) and then guide them through a mistway to the core - in this case: PoL. They will arrive 3-5 days before new moon - enough time for them being spotted and contacted by vampire and father but short enough to keep them busy.

Sun, 2012-07-22 10:40
#29
gonzoron_fos
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

Mask wrote:
Make the initial meeting with VR in another domain - somewhere away from the core.
Not sure if you mean their initial meeting with him overall or for this adventure. They have met him before, and know him well. For this meeting, though, that would be a little problematic. They're currently trapped in a very small and very remote domain in the Mists. There's no reason for Van Richten to be there, and if he was, they probably would've seen him by now. I don't plan on any more stops on the way home to P-a-L. (again, limited game time)

Quote:
They will arrive 3-5 days before new moon - enough time for them being spotted and contacted by vampire and father but short enough to keep them busy.
Yeah, that would be nice to give them a few more days in town to be spotted, but there are competing time pressures at work. I really need them to arrive out of the Mists on the new moon. They have been too diligent about tying up and guarding the werebat PC during the 3 nights of her trigger. Thus far, the werebat has done no damage other than inconvenience. This is my chance to spring a "surprise" new moon on them, and let the werebat create some real havoc. The timing of the new moon is otherwise too predictable for them to let one get past them. (Yes, I could railroad them and just say the werebat escapes, and while this too is a railroad, it seems more organic and less obviously rule-fudging than to blatantly override their Use Rope check)

Sun, 2012-07-22 15:33
#30
Mask
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

Whether they stop on the way to PaL to meet VR or meet him there will not really do much in terms of game time.

Especially if they are in a remote domain, they might not be able to get to the core directly. They step into the mist, trying to get to the core and end up somewhere else at new moon. There the curse triggers, they meet VR etc. - and after that subplot VR shows them a mistway to PaL.

You might trick them in another way, if they are to busy to notice:
Get 'em to PaL 2 days before new moon. You have some time, and if you keep the weather overcast, they won't see the moon during this time.

If they do ask for new moon, leave the werebat-subplot for later, as it's not important for this storyline.

If the werebat is restrained during new moon, that player won't be included in the adventures' climax?

Sun, 2012-07-22 18:36
#31
gonzoron_fos
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

Mask wrote:
Especially if they are in a remote domain, they might not be able to get to the core directly. They step into the mist, trying to get to the core and end up somewhere else at new moon. There the curse triggers, they meet VR etc. - and after that subplot VR shows them a mistway to PaL.
Yeah, that's possible, though knowing my players they'd be intrigued by a new land and want to explore it a bit. Smiling

Quote:
You might trick them in another way, if they are to busy to notice: Get 'em to PaL 2 days before new moon. You have some time, and if you keep the weather overcast, they won't see the moon during this time.
a good idea, but risky... Thanks for the ideas, but I think I'll probably keep the timeline the same and find another way to solve the problem.

Quote:
If they do ask for new moon, leave the werebat-subplot for later, as it's not important for this storyline.
It might seem that way, but it's important for a few reasons: I'm not planning on any other Mist journeys for a while (Lots of stuff to do in the core), so it's now or "never". Also, VR is here, and it's convenient for him to pass on the info about a cure. And the Kargat vampiress is here and it's convenient for her to pass on the info about the progenitor. (In Ravenloft, you have to kill the True Lycanthrope that is source of the infection before a cure will work.)

Quote:
If the werebat is restrained during new moon, that player won't be included in the adventures' climax?
No, she's triggered by the night of the full moon. The solar eclipse takes place during the new moon time period, but during the day, so she'll be free, in control, and active.

Wed, 2012-08-01 21:15
#32
gonzoron_fos
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

Jem wrote:
gonzoron: They are in fact now published in 3.5e form in the latest supplement from Kobold Quarterly, Dark Roads & Golden Hells, although -- other than a little tweaking of the powers -- there's little more on fideles there than there is here on planewalker, so I wouldn't spend $19.99 just for a canon version. (There's plenty of other stuff, of course!)
There wouldn't happen to be a picture in there, would there? (I like to use pictures in game to help set the mood and convey the looks of NPCs) If so, it wouldn't be available anywhere online outside of the book, would it? Looks like Paizo.com is selling the pdf for $9.99, but that's still a bit pricey for me for just one monster. (I don't usually play with planes much, so I doubt the book would be directly useful to me other than as a good read.)

Thu, 2012-08-02 06:45
#33
Jem
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

They have a picture, but the one they used is indistinguishable from a picture of two random angels as far as I can see. Try searching for images of angels in love, or a glorified husband and wife, or something of that nature. Sorry.

Thu, 2012-08-02 07:08
#34
gonzoron_fos
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

Good to know... I whipped up something in photoshop last night, and I think it works for my purposes:
http://themistway.com/pics/fidele.jpg

Not your standard fidele, but my mad-with-grief widower fidele presiding over a dark magic ceremony.

(I took the invoker picture from the 4e PHB2:
http://www.robotviking.com/2009/03/23/phb2-class-review-invokers-are-a-s...
and removed the wings (turning part of one into a magic flare), added a real set of antelope horns, and darkened the eyes a bit.)

Fri, 2012-08-03 18:45
#35
Jem
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

I always like to see inspiration. :^)

You know, this site has a fanzine we publish. There are some threads about it further down the forums; I think your fallen fidele would make a very interesting planar character for a short feature there. We could plug the DR&GH fidele and you could show off your custom tweaks. I don't think you can use an altered version of a pic from the PHB2, but perhaps one of the art denizens around here could do up an impression of the idea you're running with here.

Fri, 2012-08-03 23:48
#36
gonzoron_fos
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

Yeah, the 'shop I linked to is just for my own use. I wouldn't publish it in a fanzine since it's based on copyrighted art.

I'm flattered by the invitation, but over at the FoS, we've got our own netzine to fill. Eye-wink If I'm going to be spending time writing netzine articles, it would probably be for Quoth the Raven, (no offense). In any case, as yet, I don't have enough on this guy to write more than a paragraph on him. He's a widowed fidele, he serves Evening Glory, and he's going to end up trapped in Ravenloft. That's about it. Oh, and I came up with a pretty badass name: Zorach the Widower.

Well, we play this weekend, but the more I look at things, the less likely it seems that we'll get far enough into this adventure to see Zorach the Widower this time. More likely he'll be saved for part 2 in a few months.

Thu, 2012-10-04 22:58
#37
gonzoron_fos
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Re: Outsider followers for Evening Glory?

Well, as expected, I didn't make it to Zorach the fidele, or even the ice weird, when we played back in August. But I planted the seeds, which will bear fruit next session (coming up in November). Just wanted to post here to thank y'all again, and to let you know that I just finished the campaign journal for that August session and posted it to my campaign website: www.TheMistway.com. (You can find this adventure, "An Untimely Frost," in Session 23, but of course, you're welcome to read as much or as little as you like.)

When I finally post the journal for next session (which usually take me a couple months to put together), I'll post here again to let you know.

Once again, thanks for the assistance on the extraplanar creatures, and if you ever need help with undead, werebeasts, constructs, or the any other horror-themed creatures, you know who to call. Smiling Long live the classic Campaign Settings!

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