Land of the Dead: Scenarios

[Tybalt]

So in my campaign now that it has gone to higher levels (10+) the lich BBEG's  plans have come to fruition, and powerful death spells have caused the living dead to walk the land. What I need some help with is coming up with general scenarios to fit this in a region my players are in. What I have so far is:

- a town almost overrun; a few groups are defending against hordes of zombies, skeletons, ghouls and ghasts for the most part with some more powerful undead directing things.

- a town that IS overrun; only scattered looters and refugees trying to flee remain free. The undead are slowly but surely establishing control.

- A town where humanoids who have agreed to cooperate are doing commerce with the undead while most of the living are slaves or food. It is possible to say sneak into this area.

What I'd like are some more scenarios that are unusual or could flesh out (no pun intended) the idea of a country overrun by undead.

[the_taken]

Mutiny
Can the lich really controll all that undead directly? Or is there some deals he's making to supplement his own dark power. Uncontrolled intelligent undead have motivations and goals. And while ghouls and the like are simply motivated to kill the living, other undead such as mummies and vampire have other interests.

Perhaps a mighty vampire has had his heart's desire slain when the lich had a certain town sacked. And while not as powerful as the lich himself, the vamp only needs a little more to be convinced to turn on the lich. At least enough to cause the undead invasion to slow down.


A little more:

[blockquote=Frank & K]Triumph of the Necromancers: Endless Night
Life sucks when the ravening horde of Wights and Shadows overruns your kingdom. In fact, life probably doesn't even exist. Those that survive will normally have done so by taking shelter in small hallowed areas that the undead will not enter. But here's the exciting part: once all life is gone in the region, the Wights can't replace themselves. Sure, if you start with one Wight and then every day every Wight makes another Wight you'll have an army one million strong in 3 weeks '" but that's already happened. They won, and now the Undead are on the down slop of the Spawn cycle. It's really ugly, but you can retake the world. In fact, you're probably going to. Necropoly isn't really a government that lasts all that long in most D&D settings.

So here's how it works: you spend your time in the hallowed grounds biding your time. Then, you come out and kill a couple of undead beasties. Then, the various Necromantic Intelligences that have sprung up will direct undead soldiers to go get you, so you'll retreat back to the protected zone. Then you rinse and repeat. It's like a high fantasy post-apocalypse world. As long as you remember that you're small and furry and have to stay out of the way of the dinosaur zombies, you're capable of chipping away at the onyx gauntlet that grips your kingdom.

Defeat of the Necromancers: Resource Rush!
OK, what does a necromantic army do to the land it passes through? Well, for staters it kills everything. Everything. That means that it leaves only the inanimate stuff behind. The soil, the houses, the gold, that sort of thing. In short, if you come in there with some seeds and some dreams after the necromantic army has been destroyed (and remember, many necromantic armies fight to the last), there is a bunch of livable land with no occupants and no monsters.

That is comedy gold right there, and every group of humanoids in the area is going to send all their second sons off to go try to colonize. That means that you have extremely mixed race settlements in the newly opened region. Gnolls live right next to Gnomes for reasons other than alphabetical assignment. But other than getting to live in the newly opened Oklahoma Territory with a bunch of radically different sapient species who don't speak the same language or get along, remember that the monsters are coming back as well. This is empty land, so the monsters going in are doing so at a rate literally infinitely faster than the rate of monsters going out. Sure, it may be a trickle, but it's completely asymmetric. When a displacer beast comes in to the region, it won't have any of its normal food sources or enemies available '" so it's just going to go straight for the villages.

So while the monster presence in the area is almost insanely low by D&D standards, all of the monsters are going to immediately attack humanoid settlements as soon as they show up. That really makes it easy to DM, let me tell you.[/blockquote]

[LordVreeg]

Similar to what The_Taken was going towards, I'd first establish a chain of command.  I have some experience with this undead plague :D right now...

So figuring out who the Lich has out there running stuff is where I'd start.

I'd probably place some powerfule undead that are being forced againt thei rwill to help, bound souls of past heroes that can not only be freed but that can provide clues if released instaed of destroyed.

I'd make sure there were some unusual, non-standard undead, like very intelligent wraiths and wights, or undead imbued/tinged with chaos power.

Creating a few magical items or spells that make turing less effective is a wonderfully intelligent thing that ancient, directed undead would do.  (I know my Vampyres have...)

I will do more later.

[Tybalt]

I like the idea of the deputies being one of the big deals. The pcs met one for example (a greater mummy while in Yasg) and I agree that they'd have their own motivations, even if they were fear and intimidation.

So what are some interesting possibilities for this?

I like the idea of the noble warrior raised to be say a skeletal warrior or something like that, controlled by a magical device. That's one.

I like the idea of a vampire who was really minding his/her own business, perhaps even a 'vampire family' that gets swept up unwillingly into the lich's plans. How would they see things? Probably they would be concerned about having enough prey, and I was thinking they might represent an interesting grey area in this conflict, in which they are willing to protect a certain number of people in say a grouping of free towns or cities in exchange for a tribute of slaves every now and then.

Any other thoughts? I was thinking of a standard Death Knight, perhaps one bent on destroying enemies and obtaining vengeance.

About the 'empty land' idea--it's very clever and I think in some places I may have just that happen. For example orcs and hobgoblins in my game are treated like savages (because they are) and might come down out of the rugged and awful places of the world to claim unusued lands for themselves.

Vrfeeg: Is the undead plague going on in your game right now?

[LordVreeg]

Tybalt, the Igbarian PC's awoke a Vampyre leutenant of the Dreadwing a while back.  The Dreadwing and some of his creatures were the last to hold the power of what was called in the Age of Legends 'Y'gorl's Curse', or later called the 'Anginarian Necromancy', which is a set of spells that allow a necomancer or creature from the House of Death to create and comtrol many more undead than is normally possible.  The PC's have found a few artifacts of this on some tougher undead minions (the Just defeated Wren the White, an UNdead bardic wraith who was once the master bard of the Garish Cloak bardic guild).

Oooh.  Hold on.  Has K. animated any of the PC's old enemies yet?  Anyone the group had a really tough time with that they hated and that might have a really nasty debt with the PC's?

[Tybalt]

Yes, I remember the Dreadwing thing...have they been convinced yet that this is connected to the number of undead they've encountered?

Yes, there's a Harlaw lord that Kallyn killed on the deck of his flagship; there's a poweful knight, the son of the Duke of Deva, who was slain by the group while fighting for Harbourtown. There's also an evil cleric who they killed during the siege of Fineberg.

However that's just foreign enemies. There's also a corrupt council police officer for example, who was a high level assassin who killed himself after being publically exposed for his crimes by Aevar. There's a black dragon as well, killed in the northern swamps.

[Xathan]

Just a random idea, the PCs could encounter a group of human zombies that have been Awakened via an Awaken Undead spell (If you don't have a book with that spell in it, just use awaken animal as a baseline.) It's always fun to watch the players try to figure out what they hell they are fighting, especially if you give them levels in an unusual class (Hexblade, Favored Soul, Warlock, Shadowcaster, Binder, etc.) In addition, the idea of some awakened zombies could create a fun subplot as the players try to find whoever is awakening the zombies and stop them from turning the shambling undead hordes into intelligent shambling undead hordes.

[LordVreeg]

[blockquote=TYBALT]Yes, I remember the Dreadwing thing...have they been convinced yet that this is connected to the number of undead they've encountered?[/blockquote]No.  I am too subtle for my own good.  The Igbraians are having fun and doing well in terms of basic playing, but they have managed to miss some of my overt points and more clever clues.  I have determined to pretty much tell them that since their last major fight the level of new undead created seems to be less, though still at plague levels never seen in any man or omwo~ lifespan.  
But they have no idea about the dreadwing behind the Antroo Clan Vampyre they awoke.
*sigh*

[blockquote=Tybalt]Yes, there's a Harlaw lord that Kallyn killed on the deck of his flagship; there's a poweful knight, the son of the Duke of Deva, who was slain by the group while fighting for Harbourtown. There's also an evil cleric who they killed during the siege of Fineberg.

However that's just foreign enemies. There's also a corrupt council police officer for example, who was a high level assassin who killed himself after being publically exposed for his crimes by Aevar. There's a black dragon as well, killed in the northern swamps.[/blockquote]
The Assassin ex-officer seems to be tailor made, in more ways than one.  I would actually have him slip back into town and have him move into a place of power in the underworld, creating chaos and difficulty for the whole resistance, but especially aimed towards the PC's but in subtle ways.  Poisoning allies of the PC's, sending mis-information, brutally and gruesomely murdering the friendly faces in the suposedly-safe haunts in the pc's, setting up rumours about the PC's...all aimed, of course, at him knowing they will eventually be tracked down, but leaving his lair a deathtrap...it could be a blast.


I've been thinking over your situation, and have come up with a few more ideas.

I know the most horrifying thing in Igbar is the continual presence of Undead in the walled town itself, which makes the PC's nuts.  There are blessings and even some necromantic spells (Beyond the Call) which are supposed to make animating or infusing an undead almost inmpossible, but the PC's are among other groups that literally have to patrol the graveyard areas becaaue even in blessed areas, the Mounds and tombs are found openned.
Horrifying the PC's is part of the fun of doing the undead thing. Many setings have scared ground as unassailable, but having undead going after convents and churches especially is great fun.  In a wierd way, I mean.

[Tybalt]

Xathan: the 'prevent the bad guys from upping the ante' seems to often be the weary work of pcs if you think about it, yet for some reason it's also really fun to play. I like your idea,and wouldn't have thought of it.

Vreeg:
You are a little too subtle--it's sort of a two sided coin for you. On the one hand it means you have a culture-rich game, on the other hand it's a little like real life--if there was a supernatural outbreak in our busy complex world would people really notice unless it bashed them collectively over the head? So don't worry about it--in a way it makes sense.

Your ideas about the assasin are wonderful--they also might tie in nicely with a nasty rumor going around about the pc Aevar (the Council Policeman in the party) who is said to have caused the Touchstone riots (surrounding the arrest of suspect traitors earlier in the war) by his callous and arrogant actions. This is not really true--he did kind of spark off the confrontation itself by disobeying orders to avoid action until given direct instruction--which he justified at his court martial subsequently before the Council of Guardians. (one of those awkward pc moments) However recently when talking to the ambassador the group are currently serving the ambassador in a heated moment made remarks about 'you caused the Touchstone riots through this kind of action!'

Colonel Kohath (the assassin) was kind of creepy anyway in life--he had a little group of private assassins he had recruited--and I think it might be neat if in these last few months he's been quietly recruiting more, creating a proper un-authorized assassins' guild in the republic.

Right now the pcs are trapped in a monastery with a bunch of Celts they were meeting with to discuss diplomacy. The Celts are part of the train of a young nobleman--the pcs are accompanying a New Edomite ambassador who is trying to get the people of the Fer Dhomlann to change sides. However their actions in kicking out the High King's envoy sparked a ferocious reprisal from Kalikazan...basically an army of undead have crossed the border into Fer Dhomlann country and are sweeping through in a vast circular movement--the pcs are at the epicenter.

[LordVreeg]

[blockquote=Tybalt the Unquenchable]Colonel Kohath (the assassin) was kind of creepy anyway in life--he had a little group of private assassins he had recruited--and I think it might be neat if in these last few months he's been quietly recruiting more, creating a proper un-authorized assassins' guild in the republic. [/blockquote]
Hmm.  This is looking fun.  Perhaps a Greater Vampyre, with all his old Assassin skill sadded to the Vampyric ones?  Maybe raising his old assassins as haunts, charming s few old policemen into helping him...the sky is the limit.
Were I Kalikazan, I would have sent some gifts and some items.  Gifts for the Colonel to use on ranking New Edomites to make friends (complete with subtle long-term charms) and some items to place at the bottom of barrels that go into barracks, into food supplies, perhaps rage-wine to slip into a few bars, maybe some truly noxious totems of evil to have dropped off in the local boneyards (it works in Igabr...).

[Tybalt]

I quite like this, especially since I discovered last night that they're not going back home apart from to make a report. This makes sense--their actual fight is elsewhere, not at home. So plenty of time for Colonel Kohath to build things up.

[LordVreeg]

A few things I have done that have also added flavor.
I have a few necromantic spells that create undead vermin or create totems where all vermin within range of the totem sart raising intom mindless undead.  Not dangerous, but unusual unexpected spells like this affect PC's in the strngest ways...
[note]
Spell Name Undead Pet

Major Sphere Necromantic

Spell Source

Initiative 15

Range 1 mile

Duration perm

Save none

Save effect none

Spell Success 10

Area of effect 1 creature

Counter

Spirit cost 8

Earth cost 0

Water cost 0

Fire cost 0

Air cost 0

Life cost 0

Death cost 0

Law cost 1

Chaos cost 0

Restorative cost 0

Necromantic cost 5

Mentalist cost 0

Artificer cost 0

Animist cost 0

Total cost 14

Description

This spell marks the end of the apprenticeship of the necromancer.

It allows the caster to create a pet from the bones of an animal the size of a small

dog or smaller, and larger than a bird.

The creature can only follow very basic 2 word commands. It follows the caster

around like a pet.

A necromancer can only have one of these pets per 5 necromantic levels of the caster. [/note]

[Superfluous Crow]

Though this would probably require a less overt zombie threat, you could always have the recently deceased patients in the hospital revive as zombies. If the doctors don't know of zombies and undead, they would probably start thinking that some kind of weird new disease was spreading, where people turn into mindless predators (rabies-ish). Especially neat if they are revived just after they die so the hospital crew doesn't realize their patients have died. This also means they haven't begun to decompose yet, so you just have a bunch of ordinary-looking, shambling, predatory "terminally ill" ex-patients. Also, some of the doctors might try to find out what kind of disease they are dealing with, and might try to find a cure. Imagine their surprise when the PC's tell them what they are dealing with. The lack of breath and pulse might not be noticed, or possibly they just think the pulse is really weak. Or, they might start coming up with all the ideas that movies use for zombies (parasites and what have you).

Oh, and if you use D&D, don't forget to use the mob template from DMG2. Turning a bunch of useless zombies into a giant CR 8 limb-tearing killer machine isn't something you should miss out on.

[Hibou]

Have you considered having some undead that are actually allied to the PCs and want the madness to end? I remember all of those old 3.0 (and some of the 3.5) undead templates that involve people coming back from the dead to right some wrongs or complete one final task. What if these rebel undead are good aligned but need to help the PCs take out the undead masters in order to back to their eternal rest?

[LordVreeg]

Have you considered having some undead that are actually allied to the PCs and want the madness to end? I remember all of those old 3.0 (and some of the 3.5) undead templates that involve people coming back from the dead to right some wrongs or complete one final task. What if these rebel undead are good aligned but need to help the PCs take out the undead masters in order to back to their eternal rest?

I kind of like this idea.  A few undead with an idea of "I'm tired of these evil folk making everyone want to burn me alive...." types, spurred into action.
I also do have one good aligned Lich hermit that I totally forgot about until The Trollish one reminded me.  He's totally scared of being found, scared of other lichs and scared of people finding out about him.