Plot for session 58
The PCs observed the ritual the previous day, and from their learnings, they did a number of things to increase their chances to defeat the ritual and Woordaa: convincing the tadpoles to cross, removing the poison, and talking with the storyteller to rally the people away from the town.
As the hour of the ritual approaches, what are your PCs thinking about?
CE persistent haunt (Pond and environs to a radius of 30 feet)
Caster Level 15th
Notice Perception DC 25 (to hear the sound of the ritual being performed)
hp 67; Trigger timed; Reset none
This persistent haunt adheres to the following round-by-round schedule. Note that until the haunt begins to act in force on the fifth round, it cannot be dismissed or damaged. These first four rounds are, in effect, an extended warning of what’s about to occur.
Rounds 1–3: Allow the PCs to each make a DC 25 Perception check. Anyone who succeeds hears a faint echo of a ritual being performed by the lake. PCs outside of a house need only succeed at a DC 10 Perception check to hear the ritual. The beginning of the ritual continues for 3 rounds, during which time PCs might head down into the pond to see whom it might be. Attempts to see the ground outside the cabin are fruitless due to the whirling raining storm, unless the PCs are within 5 feet, and then they still see nothing present that could have caused the noises.
Round 4: The strange chanting grows silent for 1 round.
Round 5: A loud crack followed by a series of screeching wooden noises boom through the village. On each turn that a PC remains in the haunt’s area, he must make a DC 15 Con save; failure indicates he cannot move for that round, while failure by 5 or more indicates he falls prone as the sounds hammer into their brains.
Round 6: The hammering continues, but now the faint images of grippli ghosts can be glimpsed out of the corner of the eye. Each character suddenly experiences painful hunger pangs and must succeed at a DC 15 Fortitude save to resist taking 4d6 points of nonlethal damage and 1d4 points of Constitution damage from the horrific hunger.
Round 7: Voices can now be heard, in most cases wordless cries of pain, but now and then snatches of sentences like "please work”, "i will endure it all if it works", and "I just want to laugh with them again". The hammering continues, but now the starving ghosts seem to notice the PCs for the first time. Each PC must make a DC 18 Will save— failure indicates that the haunt possesses him as the ghosts themselves seem to flow into the PC’s body. Possession inflicts 1d6 points of Wisdom drain, and has additional implications in rounds 8–10.
Round 8–10: For the last 3 rounds of this complex haunt, the chanting and hammering continues. Characters possessed by the haunt do not need to make Constitution saves to move and take whatever actions they can to render non-possessed characters unconscious or helpless, using whatever tools they have at their disposal. If a possessed character is adjacent to a helpless, non-possessed character and is not threatened by any other non-possessed character, he attempts a coup de grace action against the helpless character with the best weapon option he has. If a possessed character is adjacent to a dead character, he lays by them, peacefully.
Round 11: With a sudden lurch, the hammering stops. A shriek can be heard "Who is disturbing the ritual!?" Possessed characters immediately regain control of their faculties. Any character who successfully damaged on an ally must make a DC 20 Will save upon realizing what he’s done—failure results in an additional 2d4 points of Wisdom drain from the supernaturally fueled revelation. As the storyteller and his one ally arrive, it is time for the PCs to act.Fair Bargain can aid the storyteller by drowning out the ritual.
Mogo can help with his repel evil chant.
Dai can destroy the balls of arcane energy being built across realms.
Wronged Ritual
Ancient words start reverberating from the lake, indicating that the PCs are no longer alone. These sounds rapidly grow in power, until it seems as if an entire grippli village was chanting the same words over and over, the sounds now coming from almost all the houses. The ghosts decline to speak with anyone, repeating the words obligingly. This persistent haunt plays out over 11 rounds, following a scripted series of actions. Allow the PCs to take their own actions as they wish each round; the haunt’s actions always occur on initiative count 10. Haunting Ritual XP 51,200 CR 15 HP 67CE persistent haunt (Pond and environs to a radius of 30 feet)
Caster Level 15th
Notice Perception DC 25 (to hear the sound of the ritual being performed)
hp 67; Trigger timed; Reset none
This persistent haunt adheres to the following round-by-round schedule. Note that until the haunt begins to act in force on the fifth round, it cannot be dismissed or damaged. These first four rounds are, in effect, an extended warning of what’s about to occur.
Rounds 1–3: Allow the PCs to each make a DC 25 Perception check. Anyone who succeeds hears a faint echo of a ritual being performed by the lake. PCs outside of a house need only succeed at a DC 10 Perception check to hear the ritual. The beginning of the ritual continues for 3 rounds, during which time PCs might head down into the pond to see whom it might be. Attempts to see the ground outside the cabin are fruitless due to the whirling raining storm, unless the PCs are within 5 feet, and then they still see nothing present that could have caused the noises.
Round 4: The strange chanting grows silent for 1 round.
Round 5: A loud crack followed by a series of screeching wooden noises boom through the village. On each turn that a PC remains in the haunt’s area, he must make a DC 15 Con save; failure indicates he cannot move for that round, while failure by 5 or more indicates he falls prone as the sounds hammer into their brains.
Round 6: The hammering continues, but now the faint images of grippli ghosts can be glimpsed out of the corner of the eye. Each character suddenly experiences painful hunger pangs and must succeed at a DC 15 Fortitude save to resist taking 4d6 points of nonlethal damage and 1d4 points of Constitution damage from the horrific hunger.
Round 7: Voices can now be heard, in most cases wordless cries of pain, but now and then snatches of sentences like "please work”, "i will endure it all if it works", and "I just want to laugh with them again". The hammering continues, but now the starving ghosts seem to notice the PCs for the first time. Each PC must make a DC 18 Will save— failure indicates that the haunt possesses him as the ghosts themselves seem to flow into the PC’s body. Possession inflicts 1d6 points of Wisdom drain, and has additional implications in rounds 8–10.
Round 8–10: For the last 3 rounds of this complex haunt, the chanting and hammering continues. Characters possessed by the haunt do not need to make Constitution saves to move and take whatever actions they can to render non-possessed characters unconscious or helpless, using whatever tools they have at their disposal. If a possessed character is adjacent to a helpless, non-possessed character and is not threatened by any other non-possessed character, he attempts a coup de grace action against the helpless character with the best weapon option he has. If a possessed character is adjacent to a dead character, he lays by them, peacefully.
Round 11: With a sudden lurch, the hammering stops. A shriek can be heard "Who is disturbing the ritual!?" Possessed characters immediately regain control of their faculties. Any character who successfully damaged on an ally must make a DC 20 Will save upon realizing what he’s done—failure results in an additional 2d4 points of Wisdom drain from the supernaturally fueled revelation. As the storyteller and his one ally arrive, it is time for the PCs to act.
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