My players are traversing a Devil's lair in the depths of Hell itself to recover a princess that he kidnapped.
What are some interesting challenges they may face on the way other than "demons attack?" I'm at a bit of a loss.
>>47265939
There's always the idea of encountering interesting people from the past who went to Hell when they died. That could be something obvious, like running into the setting's Hitler equivalent, or it could be shocking, like finding that your own father is in Hell.
>>47266044
That's pretty good. Or finding people that the PCs killed or allowed to be killed. I even considered having the PCs find dead versions of themselves. It doesn't make much sense but it's pretty spooky.
>>47266058
>I even considered having the PCs find dead versions of themselves. It doesn't make much sense but it's pretty spooky.
If Hell exists outside of space and time, everyone that is going to go there is already there.
Think about temptation, what would get the PCs to abandoned their quest? What form might that take in hell? If they gave in strayed from the righteous path what would the consequences be?
>>47266058
It's pretty easy to do spooky mindfuckstuff in Hell. Its Hell, its built to fuck with you.
As for challenges I'd include some Gordian Knot style puzzles where the only way to solve it is to cheat. For example a maze where the only way out is to climb over the walls.
>>47265939
The demons pet.
>>47266058
Ell' doesn't have to make sense! Have them run into literal shadow versions of themselves! If a PC damages the shadow version of himself, he takes the same damage, and vice-versa, meaning the PC have to fight "eachother"
a tavern in hell full of all the most pleasurable sins.
Get them to abandon their quests in favour of a succubus orgy instead.
>>47265939
They find the 'princess' and rescue her. Do any of then realize it's an imposter before they get all the way back out?
Do they ever figure out they left the princess in Hell?
>>47266228
Nobody ever realizes it. Even the royal court doesn't figure it out. Everyone ascribes her personality changes to PTSD from having been in Hell for a while.
>>47265939
You could geographical features like the rivers of the Greek Underworld:
Acheron, the river of pain. Sure sounds pleasant, maybe it's acid or something.
Cocytus was the river of woe. Your PCs are incredibly sad and don't want to move on. Also might be poisonous.
Lethe, the river of forgetfulness. There's a lot of shit your players don't want to forget, like why they're in hell in the first place.
Phlegethon, the river of fire. Simple, that's going to burn your ass.
Styx, the river of hate. Getting water on you will suck, and may send you into a berserker rage.
If your demons tempt rather than punish, your players might see things to entice and damn then - lost treasures, an army awaiting a commander, libraries of arcane lore, or more esoteric and personal things, like lost loves, childhood memories and dead relatives
There could be training camps and mock battlefields where demon armies train for the battle when Hell breaks open, the pits or enclosures of the large monsters that might be unleashed against the world reside
>>47265939
Have them meet damned that don't seem to deserve their punishments. People that were pickpockets as kids, cheated on a test or two in school, or even who were definitely dicks but are still facing far worse than punishment than they deserve.
>>47265939
>What are some interesting challenges they may face on the way other than "demons attack?" I'm at a bit of a loss.
Mechanisms literally powered by suffering block their path
>>47265939
Once they reach the end, the devil declares that it was all a ruse and they have to do it all over again.
>>47266228
>>47266258
I feel like that would be really unsatisfying and unpreventably anticlimactic?
>>47266300
This is really fucking funny to me.
I'm probably going to also include some sort of temptation for each PC that may lead them astray. For example one of the PCs has a delusion where he thinks he is a king, even though he has no lands or titles or money or nobility, and in Hell he will probably be tempted with armies and lands in Hell. Shit if I'm lucky the PCs may just convert to Hellism and we can play an evil campaign.
There's a dumb alt-history series over on Star destroyer.net where, at the beginning of the Iraq war (the present one), Hell invades. Demons are 8' tall with barrel chests and black claws, they fly and shoot lightning and all that shit. And there's a mind boggling number of them.
Except their best weapons are bronze tridents, and their best armor is leather.
They die like flies against modern weapons, and can't put a dent in our "iron chariots" (tanks, etc.)
So, eventually, earth invades hell. Shoots Satan with an ICBM, and claims it as their own.
Hell there is really well fleshed out.
1. Perpetual sandstorm, with gravel-sized chunks of pumice blowing around. Humans without respirators eventually die of sediment buildup in their lungs.
2. The dead humans are functionally immortal, in that they heal up from any wound, eventually. The process is traumatic and removes a lot of their immediate memories, but memory of Earth remains crystal clear, so even after being tortured for 40 years, a dead salesman can recite his pitch perfectly, albiet through a haze of pain. After being dead 200 years, a sailor still remembers his home port perfectly, that sort of thing. But they don't get to harden themselves to the cruelty of being tortured.
3. Geometry is FUBAR across long distances: having a tank drive in a straight line will cause it to veer off in a wide curve. Sniping and artillery are difficult because of the spatial irregularities (thankfully, computers still work, we just had to simulate new laws of physics).
>>47265939
Have them fight Dante.
Look into the movie Legend. Illusions, bargains, and temptations for both the party and the princess. They may come to find the princess acting like a dark mistress of the devil, clad in sheer black fabrics, and adorned in bloodstone jewellery, all gifts by her dark suitor.
Shifting geography. Hell's not a normal place, and as the heroes try to escape they find the landscape itself is a sort of maze that doubles back on itself. Perhaps it's just the nature of the place, or perhaps the demons are actively trying to slow them down by manipulating the environs, but either way there's some sort of secret to punching through the distortions and getting to their destination. They just have to figure out what it is.
This will be more effective if you come up with some interesting locations for the heroes to have to fight/navigate through, as well as a clear end-point destination. Decide on what is the "real" order they need to pass through these locations to reach their destination, then jumble it up, maybe make a table and determine where they end up with random dice rolls. They leave one location only to find themselves re-entering that location. Or they find a new location, but after they leave that one they're back at the previous one.
At that point it's just a question of what the secret to discovering the real path is.
>>47265939
The soul of a party member's dead relative (Who that carefor) telling them that if they return the princess that they will be set free.
>>47268460
>(Who that carefor)
That they care for*
>>47266044
but Hitler did nothing wrong
>>47266098
Lutharian pls go
>>47265939
Go steal stuff from hellboy.
>>47268547
You obviously haven't seen his paintings.
>>47266258
And the sad thing is that she is a far better daughter and administrator, she is more pious and dutiful and has agreed to marry a man she previously hated to end a long running feud.
Should they go back and rescue the real self centred hyper bitch princess?
>>47265939
Simulated cities, identical to cities in the Prime Material Plane, full of skeletons and souls 're-enacting' life in those cities -- along with devils training for infiltration, practicing tactics and invasion plans, and experimenting with new offers and gimmicks. You could even suggest the PCs infiltrate the cities in question, as either "souls" or "devils", so they can bypass the area without fighting the hordes within.
Thousands of lesser devils, mining chunks out of the corpse of a millenia-dead "superdevil", kilometers in length.
Angels, either as part of a small sorty sent out by the powers above, or trapped in warm, wet crystal that is instantly painful to the touch.
Serious termite infestations.
Devilish road workers, slapping down tiles of road carved from frozen door-to-door salesmen, while thousands of hooting and honking devils line up behind them and complain about the delays.
>Temptation
>Without preamble or anything, casually meantion some loot, a sword, few coins, nothing too serious but enough to whet their appetitite. If they take it, lower their stats without telling them.
>Wrathful
>The obvious trope of having often typical aggressive enemies remain passive unless provoked, if they walk past they are given more exp/reward than if they had of fought them.
>>47268724
Monthly reminder
Along the way they find fabulous treasure and powerful artefacts to help them on their way.
Unfortunately these trinkets were made with shoddy, hellish craftsmanship. Despite being incredibly powerful they are plagued with horrible side effects and turn out to be as much of a liability as a boon.
Simple. You have them suffer. It's Hell. It's a place of penance and punishment for sins. Your players might not have died to go there, but they're there. All the suggestions of temptation are good, but the opposite could be just as good or better.
Have them enter scenes of sins from their lives. People they failed to save. Murders, times they've hurt others, traumatic memories. You could do it separately and try to keep the party emotionally isolated from each other as they deal with individual torments that only affect them...Or you could have them forcibly live out EACH OTHER'S traumas as a way to turn them on each other.
You don't want just "lol demons attack" ? Make it a journey through pure mental pain.
>>47266228
>Do any of then realize it's an imposter before they get all the way back out?
Of course they won't. If they so much as look back at her she turns to dust.
>>47266810
I remember reading that, it was funny for me since they open the portal to hell above the Arts Tower in Sheffield, which then gets flooded with lava.
I was having lectures in that building the same week!
>>47270640
Underrated post
>>47265939
Ever heard of Dante Aligheri?
Let you inspire by him, I guess..
You know I always wanted to do a segment where players are going through hell or the abyss or something but it never made sense to me because I always thought as soon as the devils detected there were living creatures that didn't belong there they would just endlessly swarm them until their souls were extracted and bartered with/ripped to pieces
>>47265939
Go read Dante's Inferno. Each level holds multiple new punishments and trials.
>>47272184
Obviously not.
As they keep traveling, have them roll perception. If they pass it, they realize that the land they're walking on is slowly getting softer as they progress. After a while, or if the ground is damaged, reveal that they have been walking on flesh.Bonus points if you reveal that they were walking inside the maw of some great hell beast.
>>47265939
They find the Paladin's mother.
She works there.
>>47268781
>>47266402
Probably should go back becasue this new ''better'' princess is an imposter demon that has been grooming the kingdom to whatever demons do. either has arranged for aritual to sink the city or whatever.
Point is, everyone's happy with the 'princess' to question shit, actually, they seem a bit 'too happy'...
Read Dante's Inferno
Baboob like demons with grappling hooks wooping and hollering over pits of tar
Never ending battles where the osers all regenerate to die again
Endless storms where the lustful scream and fly about each other, just out of reach
Vast cities of iron full of burning coffins
An anarchic ever changing landscape where the only rule is the rule of the local demon warlord, and the only law is NO HOPE
The players are constantly plagued and hunted by the damned hoping to suck out their creamy delicious hope
>>47269638
>Lower their stats without telling them
>How to be an awful DM, the handy guide
>>47265939
Angels continually try to rescue your party regardless of whether or not you want to be rescued. Players have to alternate between using the hell scape and it's denizens to distract or banish the angels and fighting of the denizens themselves.
>>47265939
Maybe have a traveling bit about going across Styx? They could barter with Kharon the ferryman of the river of souls to get a ride or find a more creative solution? Surfing dex check sequence?
>>47265939
Also google "fiendish codex i: hordes of the abyss" PDF from 3.5 has a ton of great info. Codex 2 is out there 2 with devil info.
Also check out footage from EA's Dante's inferno for monster types or unique encounters! Hell is rad.
>>47265939
>Hell Itself
that princess is fucking dead anon, dont make your players slog through that
Have them think they left hell protip they never left hell but it looks like it BUT THEN TENTACLE RAPE
>>47265939
The water in hell causes you to gestate horrible monsters inside your muscles that then burrow out, like that thing from alien.
They don't actually grow into Aliens or other threats, and you can survive them easily enough with magical healing (although getting them out before they're ready to climb out is hard, since they're technically a living creature that can burrow through your body rather than a disease or a poison). They're just there as a reminder of the nature of hell - a form of life whose entire lifecycle is devoted to hurting others, to the point of lacking any ability to do anything beyond "get squished by horrified adventurers" once they hatch.
>>47278371
>>47265939
This. The Princess is almost certainly now corrupted into some hideous succubuss broodmother who has already birthed scores of hellspawn and wholly devoted to her new master.
That's an idea then, have them encounter demons that look similar to the princess, only for them to realise they have been slaying her progney.
>>47276814
Or it's a damned but repentant soul looking to make amends for the sins of a previous life.
The princess on the other hand if left to go on the way she was going on would inherit a kingdom, ruin it, declare war on every neighbour and cause the deaths of tens of thousands at the very least and the suffering of many more as resentment lingers for many centuries.
The imposter, when cornered, makes no efforts to resist in a way that could cause harm although she can run very fast if only because she knows exactly what she is running from.
Doom Guy like entity
>>47281037
And than the city is zombies
Point is, dont trust fucking demon imposters. You probably think succubi can be "redeemed" as well. Newsflash, thats how they steal away young, nubile paladins and make them into their sexy black knight harems
>>47281037
>Or it's a damned but repentant soul looking to make amends for the sins of a previous life.
Damned but repentant soul is a woman
Damned but repenant soul is a succubus
Damnedbut repentant succubus falls in love with Paladin
>>47266810
Isn't that the same story that had Bill Clinton see through a sucubis glimmer because his wife is worse
>>47281939
He then proceeded to blow her apart with a AA-12 out of the back of the secret service vehical. He gets one of the first confirmed deamon kills and shows that succubuss glamor dosent hide from security cameras because it's a mental trick.
Do your pc's have fleshed out back stories? If so, then use them. Now is the perfect time to make the fluff they didn't put too much thought into before playing be brought to the fore front.
>edgelord orphan backstory
Meet the parents. Have them be all loving and shit. Try to sweet talk character to escaping with them now. Throw verbal torture at player if they keep questing.
>last of ______ order.
Time to meet all of the people who came before you. Surprise you let them down and now they're beating the shit out of you. (Bonus points if you point out any time they went against philosophy/test them)
Random other shit:
Non-euclidian landscape. Nowhere goes there but everywhere. Reach the end of a hallway to be back at the start. Etc
Make it so the holiest character or most lawful good looks like he's allied with demons. Do it subtly and convincingly and the rest of the table might question his allegiance. Strengthened if you pull the player out of the room a couple times to look like you're scheming. Keyward here is subtle though. Let the players make the connections.
Various horrible shit, like have npcs strung up across paths and they have to kill them to progress. All while they beg to go live. Go to an area where all the aborted fetuses are. If you have a player that did shitty things, craft an area that implies he'll be going to this particular circle of hell later. If they haven't been shitty, make it whoever killed the human door. Imply thats his fate. Give it a time as well.
>3 days after leaving the gates with the princess, you will meet your demise and take your place as a passage of flesh.
Everyone here wants succubi. Throw em in. But make it shit. Describe beautiful big tittied bitches and wait til they're tied up in the rooms to mention their long hard feminine penises. Roll for damage.
You can do litteraly anything man. No rules.
Doom death knights
>>47265939
Demonsdefend
An oni
>>47269929
Or even better, use it as a teaching exercise. Put them in the shoes of someone they murdered, assuming your party is full of murderhobos.
>>47267957
>>47279996
They manage to rescue the princess. She was released deliberately so she could be unknowingly used to smuggle something into the mortal world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xJ4Z5iVIgc
