So I'm working on a Quest to finish up bridging my homebrew stuff to the Fifth part of Second Darkness, and I would like some critiques on how to up the fear and the inability to trust each other that I'm trying to cultivate here. For just some note on stuff, there is a reoccuring character I am cultivating, a retired Shinigami who runs an magical item shop (Who I still need a name for). He has people pay for things by giving up their time for him, sometimes quests, sometimes other things. Arwe's brother is the brother (duh) of one of the PCs, Arwe; he's the bigger bad, and his goal is basically to prove that even heroes can have their destiny foretold, even though you can't foretell anything about a PC. Kind of meta, but a bit more nuanced. He treats everything like a stage play and has shown up several times to taunt the heroes.
Quest to bridge gap to part 5
Location: Border between edge of Plane of Air and Plane of Water
Plot Hook:A large group of souls from one of the Plane of Air's many spheres has vanished, their lifeforce no longer exists, their fate is complete, but their souls strands of fate are also somehow gone, not cut, just missing. The Shinigami are worried about this, and they want you all to help look into the issue. This will take you to metal sphere B2Z953 to see what happened. The Djinn refuse to talk about the spheres, as do all other groups that are indigenous to the area.
Knowledge of the Sphere things
Arcana
DC 10: The Spheres are giant metal edifices that float lazily throughout the Plane of Air
DC 17: The Spheres are known to defy all magical attempts at scrying, and any exploration invariably gets lost in the interior. The writing on them is immune to magical attempts to decipher it
DC 23: The pattern of their movement makes out the elder sign (
Elder Sigil)
DC 29:Only one group has ever managed to thoroughly explore a sphere, and they all went mad soon after
Planes
DC 10: The Spheres are giant metal edifices that float lazily throughout the Plane of Air. There are some settlements of recent immigrants to the plane, but no long term resident will set foot on a Sphere
DC 17:The Spheres have a strange writing on them, not a language any group is known to be able to read, speak or write
DC 29:There is a hint of madness in the Spheres, evidence of something from the outer reaches of the material plane, gribbly horrors from beyond the mortal ken
Religion
DC 10: The Spheres are giant metal edifices that float lazily throughout the Plane of Air.
DC 17:Air Mephits worship the Spheres as symbols of whatever god that each small group worships, although they will never go to the Spheres
DC 23:There spheres cause the souls of those on their surface to quake, and divine magic is weakened on the spheres.
History
DC 10:The Spheres are giant metal edifices that float lazily throughout the Plane of Air. They have been there as long as recorded history
DC 17:Several groups have sought to map the interiors, but none have succeeded.
DC 23:Several expeditions have been led to map the spheres, and they found that the spheres have set paths they travel through the Plane of Air. The pattern makes out (
Elder Sigil)
DC 29:Only one group has ever managed to thoroughly explore a sphere, and they all went mad soon after
(Shinigami) shows up and gives the heroes the quest. He is wearing a suit this time, unlike the robes he wore last time, and has a cat lounging on his shoulders. He knows they have a planar travel map, and pokes it to activate it to home in on a location in the Plane of Ice.
Have to find a way to get transport from the Plane of Ice to the Plane of Air and the shifting Spheres
· Higher an Air ship is the best method
· Cost starts at 200 gp per person, can be brought down to 100 gp per person
· Crew is a
CR 9 captain, and quite a few
CR 5 Djinni crew. Ship looks like the one from Treasure Planet
While traveling, the map keeps trying to recalculate, as if it doesn't want to go to the Sphere. Within 100 km of the Sphere, the map goes silent. Right before this, at 123 km from the sphere, all clouds and flying lifeforms stop, none passing some kind of perceived barrier.
· Will Saves, increasing every 10 km, starting a 100km
· DC 5, DC 7, DC 9, DC 11, DC 13, DC 15, DC 17, DC 19, DC 21, DC 23
· 1d2 Wisdom damage
· This manifests as a burning desire to get to the Sphere quicker
· When Wisdom would reach zero, instead it stays at one more and an insanity is applied. They can no longer take Wisdom damage from the Sphere
If the Djinni do go crazy, they spin the boat around about 10 km from the surface of the sphere shaking the PCs off and hurling them into the air. The fall though is stopped by some kind of force, that gently lowers the PCs to the ground
If the Djinni stay sane, they give the PCs potions of feather fall 300 feet from the Sphere, it will last them 5 rounds
The Spheres are about the size of Pluto. The PCs land in a massive valley, and gravity seems oddly normal. All around them are
decrepit entrances to something, each bearing the likeness of a different being. They see and hear no people, none at all.
Although, if the Djinni went crazy, they do see the crashed wreckage of the ship, with the Djinni wandering aimlessly, chanting in a strange language that none of the PCs can understand (use Sith)
· 'Jen, Jen, Jen, Jen,…' – meaning dark
· 'Typhojem' – Left-Handed God, the being that is buried in this sphere
· 'Hadzuska koshûjontû' – Born in darkness
The Djinni, if crazy, will not attack the heroes, though; they seem content to start tracing Elder Signs into the ground. Lots of them.
As the PCs explore, have the following random events happen:
1-5
The Landscape seems to twist about them, and they find themselves in a different location, with no memory of the past 1d10 minutes
6-10
The Landscape twists around them, and they find themselves with some battle scars and damage, and some blood on their swords. 1d5 chooses one person to not be hurt at all.
11-15
Landscape changes slightly, 1d5 chooses which
PC is suddenly acting strange, if they failed the Will Save
16-20
1d6
Moon Wraiths, all appear to be a
single species
21-25
1d6
Ghosts, they are each a different species
26-30
Large creatures that seem to be made of dust and sand move towards the PCs, their attacks don't seem to do much (simply seem to inscribe runes onto people with a touch attack). Fortitude Save of DC 22 to shrug it off
31-35
1d10
Elder Things swarm up, shouting something about "Open the tomb!"
36-40
1d10
Elder Things swarm up, shouting something about "Open the tomb!"
41-45
Large creatures that seem to be made of dust and sand move towards the PCs, their attacks don't seem to do much (simply seem to inscribe runes onto people with a touch attack). Fortitude Save of DC 22 to shrug it off
46-50
1d10
Elder Things swarm up, shouting something about "Open the tomb!"
51-55
Landscape changes, they lose the last 1d10 minutes
56-60
A voice booms in each person's head "Even death may die"
61-65
2d20
Skeletons form out of the ground, rushing toward the PCs
66-70
Large creatures that seem to be made of dust and sand move towards the PCs, their attacks don't seem to do much (simply seem to inscribe runes onto people with a touch attack). Fortitude Save of DC 22 to shrug it off
71-75
1d10
Elder Things swarm up, shouting something about "Open the tomb!"
76-80
A voice whispers in the back of each PC's head, saying they should "stay, stay, stay,…" and then suddenly they are farther along walking than they were before
81-85
1d10
Elder Things swarm up, shouting something about "Open the tomb!"
86-90
Large creatures that seem to be made of dust and sand move towards the PCs, their attacks don't seem to do much (simply seem to inscribe runes onto people with a touch attack). Fortitude Save of DC 22 to shrug it off
91-100
Roll Twice, use both
After 1d6 hours of traveling, the heroes come upon an abandoned settlement. Or at least, partially abandoned. There are a few children left, and they don't appear to be crazy at all. Simply sad, tired, and wanting to find their parents. They repeat things about "a standing stones" and how their parents told them that the circle they stood in and chanted in was what was supposed to happen. DC 20 perception check to notice very light markings all over their bodies, similar to the runes that some of the PCs may have on them.
At the time of night fall, the children pester the PCs to take them to the standing stones, telling them that "we have to do the chant or else the darkness will escape." They become more and single minded, and if any PC has more than 5 tattoos a DC 25 will save or else they also become single minded about it, though in a way that sounds believable.
At the Menhir (DC 12 Arcana, History, or Religion), the kids begin to chant something incessantly. In the middle of their chanting, 5 forms rise from the gathering mist and charge toward the children. Two of them are
spawn of Yog-Sothoth, the other three of
Shub-Niggurath spawn
None of the Spawn can speak, but if a PC has been replaced with a Yithian, they will attempt to help the children finish the chanting, breaking their deception. After the fight, the Yithian will reveal that he is supposed to be protecting the tomb of this Old God from being opened by a group of insane, mad Elder Things. They have fallen under the power of a
Naga Royal Official, who sits waiting for the PCs somewhere on the planet. The Naga only to steal 2 more souls, and the PCs are probably who he will be looking for. The Yithian explains that he cannot help, his body is too far away to allow him to come, and he only has enough power to bring human sized lifeforms to or from his location. With the deception revealed, he will allow the PC to take back their body.
Any PC with 4 or more runes on their body will get a bonus on fighting the Naga and his ilk, +2 on all attacks and saves against anyone working with the Naga.
The PCs find a hole near the Menhir and descend, and that is where the find the Naga, surrounded by his allies, with the unconscious/dead bodies of 48 humans and other races strapped down to stone tables. In the centre of the room, by the Naga, is a large edifice that has 50 glowing eyes, each looking at a different stone table.
The fight is 10 Elder Things, Two Spawn of Yog-Sothoth, 2 Spawn of Shub Niggurath, and one Naga Royal as the leader.
Once the victory occurs, the edifice powers down, and the runes on any PCs with runes vanish. The (Shinigami) appears, thanking the PCs for freeing the souls. He offers to take the two children with him, he's been getting lonely and wonders what it would be like to run a family. Plus, they would be allowed to see their real family in the afterlife, while also getting to live a full life.
He fulfills his side of the deal and gives each PC their reward. (pre arranged stuff)
As he is preparing to take the PCs away, the PCs see a recently arrived Arwe's brother, who reminds them they are on a clock, they can't wait this long to do all this stuff, and he can't keep postponing the plot until the heroes catch up. He shows them a gateway to the Elves capital and tells them that they have little to no time before the final sanction is enacted. Then he teleports out.
Basically, what I'm wanting to know is does the random encounter table give enough spooky things to foster a creepy atmosphere? The PCs are already up for getting secret knowledge and not sharing it, especially if they get compromised.
But what do I know. I'm just a scaredy Pikachu
