Im DMing a D&D 3.5 campaign, and planning to send the characters through the X4 and X modules(with adaptions to fit into WotI). Now I´ve read over the module again and come over the Malakaz and I really like the flair that comes from it. But I really dont like the only way to beat him(dispel evil), because it is not very innovative from the players to do that. Besides the characters wont have access to Dispel Evil anyway, because there is no cleric but only a Favored Soul in the group.
So has anyone come up with an idea how the characters can free themselves from the Malakaz using their brains instead?
thxs
lonewolf
I'd keep Dispel Evil (and maybe a couple of similar spells of even greater power, such as Forbiddance or Holy Word) as the only way of destroying the Malakaz outright. Other types of victory might be possible, however, if the characters plan well. Suggestions include:
- Some forms of divination magic (Detect Undead or Locate Creature might reveal the Malakaz, allowing it to be attacked as an incorporeal creature. Hit point damage would then be sufficient to take it down. As a statted monster, the Malakaz would probably have 50-60 hit points minimum and a DR of 10/good or so. It'd also be inclined to escape into ethereal space at the first sign of danger; a dimensional anchor or similar effect would negate this.
- A Dismissal effect can force the Malakaz to flee, preventing its attack for at least one night. The problem, of course, is knowing when to cut loose.
- Spells that ward PCs against the Malakaz (Hide from Undead, Sanctuary, Magic Circle Against Evil) would likely prevent, or at least delay, an attack. Since these spells have their durations measured in 10 minutes/level, a single spell isn't going to protect the characters for an entire night, though.
- Divinations such as Find the Path, Contact Outer Plane or Truesight could allow characters to escape the swamp without confronting the Malakaz.
- Restoration heals a damaged character of lost Intelligence. If the characters have escaped the swamp already, this allows PCs to recover; if the characters are still trapped inside, this at least extends the 'clock' one more day.
You could always play out the sleep/mind-draining as "dreamscape" type battles, where the players have to fight off nightmarish manifestations of the Malakaz in their sleep (instead of a "save or die" roll). Creative players could come up with ways to battle in their dreams- find ways of manifesting their weapons and armor in their dreams to help them out; combine their dreams so that they can assist one another (a la, "Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Master"), or otherwise gain control of the dreamscape in order to turn the tables on the Malakaz.
Another option (or one to be utilized in conjunction with the above) is to play out the mental battles using Psionics rules- whether psionics exist in your Mystara or not, those rules might provide a good grounding for the sort of mental struggle that takes place between the Malakaz and its victims.
A third idea that comes to mind is to somehow take control of the landscape that the Malakaz exists in (through magic or other means), or destroy it as a way of threatening the Malakaz. It seems to have some sort of magical control over its relatively small place of existence, and it preys on sleeping people, so in any case those would be the two areas in which to try and hit it back. If the players can threaten either of its two areas of control, it would probably let them go, or be able to be destroyed, as you prefer.
hum... sorry Andrew, my memory is feeble .. what's the Malakaz? I am sure I played through X4 and X5 and don't seem to recall having used this creature..
Hi again everybody!
hum... sorry Andrew, my memory is feeble .. what's the Malakaz? I am sure I played through X4 and X5 and don't seem to recall having used this creature..
It's the evil force that traps the PC near the beginning of X4, when they cross the swamps.
It's the evil force that traps the PC near the beginning of X4, when they cross the swamps.
Yeah, that guy annoyed me aswell. I ran the campaign using the MasterBook rules. Can't remember how I handled it eventually. How about creating some sort of object within the swamp that the Pcs can discover and destroy, thus killing Malakaz?
By the way, what is Malakaz, beyond whats written in the module? Is he some sort of OB servitor? And why is he guarding the swamp?
Håvard
uhm... IIRC they had hired a guide (a ferryman) to take them across the swamp... either the guide avoided the Malakaz, or he guided them right into its trap... but I can't remember how they escaped! damn!...
Yeah, that guy annoyed me aswell. I ran the campaign using the MasterBook rules. Can't remember how I handled it eventually. How about creating some sort of object within the swamp that the Pcs can discover and destroy, thus killing Malakaz?
Could be possible. However, you should make it subtle enough -- the Malakaz is not a combat encounter. It could be also possible to devise a procedure to "exorcise" it -- using some kind of magical power (recasting the sacrifice of a magic item suggested in X4).
By the way, what is Malakaz, beyond whats written in the module? Is he some sort of OB servitor? And why is he guarding the swamp?
``It is not a monster, but an evil force. The hut was once the home of a particularly evil female wizard. When she died, the hut and the area around it became filled with the essence of all her evil.'' (X4)
Basically, it's a "Haunted House" type of encounter, only swamp-sized.
The Malakaz is also in contact with the Master.
I like the idea that the somehow have to put the soul of the Malakaz to rest to leave the area.
Now we have to find out what could be the reason why its still hauting the area and how the players could solve the problem.
Any ideas?
Or again, maybe she was killed in a vicious way by somebody (another witch? a secret lover? a greedy adept?) and her spirit lingered in the area, burning with vengeance.
Another possibility is that she was sent there by the Master to guard some dangerous site or artifact that nobody should discover and that could threaten the Master, or to guard the entrance to a secret underground tunnel through which the Master has staged the invasion of Sind...
Plenty of opportunities arises here... ;)
Now, maybe but just maybe, I think my group didn't sleep in that part of the swamp... or they did and the party's cleric saved their asses (more likely, since she was already 11th level)
Maybe her body got consumed during a specific ritual and her soul became entrapped in the same hut where she dwelled, so if you destroy the hut you destroy her, basically.
Not that easy: the hut regenerates!
Another possibility: she died during the summoning of some outer-planar (or outer-being) entity (e.g., an Utukku). This entity is now trapped half-way between the prime material and its own dimension/plane. In order to free themselves, the characters may use the dispel evil spell (this just breaks the barriers that prevent them from escaping, but does not affect Malakaz) or divine help (sacrificing a magic item, as in the original X4) or they can send Malakaz back from where it came ([banishment) or they can complete the summoning ritual (and then face the now freed entity!).
Or again, maybe she was killed in a vicious way by somebody (another witch? a secret lover? a greedy adept?) and her spirit lingered in the area, burning with vengeance.
I think I will use this idea and modify the Malakaz as follows:
The Malakaz(male evil sorcerer) was in love with a young sindhi girl(lets name her Leila), but she despised him. He caught and imprisoned her in this hut, placing the same magical wards there that are still active today.
But he overestimated his magical power and his charms over Leila werent as strong as he thought. As he tried to force himself on her, she was able to kill him with a wand of lightning bolt she was able to draw out of his robe(with UMD). But the wards kept her and his spirit in this area in some kind of time bubble(that destroys the link to the master, but I guess thats not really important).
When the group arrives, they see Leila standing over the mages corpse, just as if she had just killed him, additionally to the hut. She acts fearfully in front of the group, thinking they are companions of the Malakaz. If they leave the area, Leila will disappear and they will find her in the hut again, but she has no memory of anything after she killed the Malakaz.
If they kill her(which shouldnt be difficult), she also regenerates just as the hut.
To solve the puzzle the group has to snap the wand in two. Divination can help them to find this solution. If they end the timebubble that way, Leila suddenly ages to her real age and dies unless she is protected by protection from evil.
Im not entirely happy with the snapped wand part, but I like it more than anything else I can think of at the moment. Any suggestions?
Malakaz on Enworld
http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=77746
The Temple of Death conversion document (ToD as in the other name for Greatrealm)
http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=79094
Also, I think you can find 3e conversions of the monsters from both X4 and X5 on the Enworld forums in a rtf document. They are on the Creature Catalog too (i think)
Creature Catalog
http://www.enworld.org/cc/converted/index.php
Also, if you are going to use the stats in the modules without conversion, be sure to beef the monsters up! IMC, the pcs just chopped up the critters if I didn't use the stats from the MM.
To make converting the NPC's easier, I used this NPC generator....
NPC Generator
http://www.aarg.net/~minam/npc2.cgi
I downloaded the Windows version instead of using the web-based version.
--Ray.
Languages Spoken: Abyssal, Common, Goblinoid, Hulean.
Skills: and feats: Concentration +16, Decipher Script +10, Hide +2, Knowledge (Arcana) +16, Knowledge (Local) +18, Knowledge (Nature) +13, Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty) +6, Knowledge (The Planes) +17, Listen +2, Move Silently +2, Spellcraft +18, Spot +2, Use Rope +4
Feats: Brew Potion, Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Craft Wondrous Item, Dodge, Improved Counterspell, Maximize Spell, [Scribe Scroll], Silent Spell.
Wizard Spells Known (5+4/4/4/3/2/1)
Spellbook:
First Level: Alarm, Cause Fear, Charm Person, Detect Magic, Floating Disk, Grease, Magic Missile, Magic Weapon, Mount, Unseen Servant.
Second Level: Blur, Bull's Strength, Cat's Grace, Ghoul Touch, Mirror Image, Rope Trick, Shatter.
Third Level: Fly, Hold Person, Invisibility Sphere, Sleet Storm, Tiny Hut, Vampiric Touch, Water Breathing.
Fouth Level: Dimension Door, Fire Trap, Illusrory Wall, Polymorph, Scrying.
Fifth Level: Break Enchantment, Cone of Cold, Fabricate, Interposing Hand, Mage's Faithful Hound, Symbol of Pain.
Sixth Level: Acid Fog, Flesh to Stone.
Memorized:
First Level: Cause Fear, Charm Person, Detect Magic, Grease, Magic Missile (x2), Magic Weapon, Mount, Unseen Servant.
Second Level: Blur, Ghoul Touch, Mirror Image, Shatter.
Third Level: Fly, Hold Person, Invisibility Sphere, Sleet Storm.
Fouth Level: Dimension Door (x2), Polymorph.
Fifth Level: Break Enchantment, Cone of Cold.
Sixth Level: Flesh to Stone (Reversed).
Languages Spoken: Common, Hulean.
Skills: Appraise +6, Balance +3, Bluff +7, Climb +6, Concentration +4, Diplomacy +4, Disguise +4, Escape Artist +3, Gather Information +6, Heal +4, Hide +3, Intimidate +4, Jump +8, Knowledge (Religion) +5, Knowledge (Local) +6, Listen +4, Move Silently +3, Ride +8, Search +1, Sense Motive +4, Spellcraft +1, Spot +9, Survival +4, Swim +3, Use Rope +3
Feats: Extend Spell, Heighten Spell, Improved Turning, Leadership, Lightning Reflexes, Persuasive.
Cleric Spells Per Day: 5+4/5/4/4/4/3
First Level: bless, blight, cause fear, command, divine favor, light, darkness, protection from good, cause fear
Second Level: death knell, hold person, silence, sound burst, spiritual weapon
Third Level: animate dead, blindness, dispel magic, searing light
Fourth Level: air walk, death ward, giant vermin, spell immunity,
Fifth Level: command, greater, flame strike, insect plague, slay living
Sixth Level: animate objects, blade barrier, word of recall
But I was actually not only looking for a conversion, but also for a different way to solve this encounter, forcing the players to start thinking for a change of pace. => some sort of complicated riddle with a few hidden clues. And that is where I need help.
I use the modules only as a baseline anyway(at the moment the masters army is invading Sind and the party has to move through the swamp to bypass them; after a short trip through the desert I will send them through Graakhalia, ...) and I have to increase the difficulty of the monsters anyway because I have a group of 6 lvl 9-10 characters.
I think I will use this idea and modify the Malakaz as follows:
The Malakaz(male evil sorcerer) was in love with a young sindhi girl(lets name her Leila), but she despised him. He caught and imprisoned her in this hut, placing the same magical wards there that are still active today.
But he overestimated his magical power and his charms over Leila werent as strong as he thought. As he tried to force himself on her, she was able to kill him with a wand of lightning bolt she was able to draw out of his robe(with UMD). But the wards kept her and his spirit in this area in some kind of time bubble(that destroys the link to the master, but I guess thats not really important).
When the group arrives, they see Leila standing over the mages corpse, just as if she had just killed him, additionally to the hut. She acts fearfully in front of the group, thinking they are companions of the Malakaz. If they leave the area, Leila will disappear and they will find her in the hut again, but she has no memory of anything after she killed the Malakaz.
If they kill her(which shouldnt be difficult), she also regenerates just as the hut.
To solve the puzzle the group has to snap the wand in two. Divination can help them to find this solution. If they end the timebubble that way, Leila suddenly ages to her real age and dies unless she is protected by protection from evil.
Im not entirely happy with the snapped wand part, but I like it more than anything else I can think of at the moment. Any suggestions?
I know you weren't completely pleased with this idea, but it is pretty good. I might use it myself when my own players attempt this scenario. This would be the best idea I think that was made. Could get pretty tough for players who usually like to destroy first, ask questions later. Could be an interesting night of real roleplaying and less hack-n-slash. Not that Hack-n-Slash is so bad though. :D
I made the following changes: The hut was instead a wizards tower, with te usual problems(Arcane locks on the doors, magical traps, ...) and on the first floor they found the dead body of a female wizard(The Malakaz) and a night hag holding a wand in the hand over it. What they didnt knew was that this night hag was actually a human who was cursed by The Malakaz in the moment it was killed. They promptly killed the night hag looking man and searched the tower for clues.
They found a few and decided to leave the area to "reset" the whole tower into the original position(they already knew that this should work) entered the tower and managed to talk to the man and finally solved the puzzle that they had to break the wand with which the malakaz was killed.
This setup was IMHO way better than the original, but I am still not entirely satisfied with it. But for the players it was a nice change of pace.