One of my players has the end goal of transforming into a demigod and I have decided he needs the Talisman of Pure Good. Problem however is, where would you find this Talisman, I was thinking of a temple or dungeon but then another question arises. What would guard this item and what would they find in this temple/dungeon?
You can put it wherever you want that makes sense for your campaign.
Examples:
1) Lost temple at the bottom of the sea.
2) Being guarded by demons in the abyss to prevent it being used against them.
3) In a lich's phylactery vault.
4) Gifted by a god of your realm.
Or ...
5) At the village curio shop (someone cast nystul's magical aura on it so it just looks like something mundane)
6) In the pommel of the mace wielded by the recently deceased leader of the church of Lathandar ... no one remembers that it was anything special and the retired cleric forgot to mention it.
7) In the toe of the boot of a Paladin of Tyr who retired to the country and didn't know what to do with it since he didn't need it anymore but didn't want to give it up in case he needed to use it again.
The ideas are endless ...
Just remember that it has charges and they can all be expended so it could be that circumstances force your player to choose between their selfish desire to elevate themselves and the need to use the charges to fight evil in the world at large ... so maybe they need to find another? :)
The banally obvious answer is in a legendary location behind a legendary guardian, but what that means in the context of your world has a lot to do with your world building... Who or what are the Chthonic powers of your world? Who was there before humans? Who will be there after humans have passed into memory? For me it's giants and aberrations, so I'd put that sort of thing in a vault guarded by a mummified giant, past traps and underground lakes full of tentacular horrors... or in the city called Heaven...
How about this, regardless of lore or what came before what. Based off the topic at the top, what would you populate a dungeon with if the main treasure is the Talisman of Pure Good?
a dungeon that's actively maintained and guarded by, say, an order of paladins who have become suspicious of outsiders and zealously defensive of their charge? or maybe a tower that's encircled by a maze of knifegrass itself surrounded and suffused by a tallgrass prairie hiding packs of carnivorous horses and the vicious unicorns who coordinate their defense of the order of maiden oracles at the center. or has the dungeon been forgotten by time entirely? maybe it has been overtaken by jungle and appropriated by a hive of insects grown mysteriously to giant size over the centuries, their queen's luminescent abdomen wrapped glisteningly around the object of power? or perhaps it was an unfinished temple which collapsed (spectacularly!) during construction into the natural gas caverns below which had historically been tapped to power the ancient city's famous gas street lamps but which now fuels the unquenchable flames which chew at the sides of the pit and having long ago surrendered to the inglorious repurposing as a landill and natural garbage incinerator?
is it that last one? i really want it to be that last one.
I imagine a dungeon full of Trials for that player to overcome. As far as creatures guarding it since it is a Talisman of Pure Good how about creatures vulnerable to good alignment characters. Or even a resistance to non-good alignment characters.
These are some good ideas, I have settled on a broken temple with demons trying to destroy the Talisman but can't figure out how without touching it.
hammers, fire, and magics failed to leave a scratch. the scientistest among these demons decided dimensional layering would crack this nut. they would put the talisman inside a bag of holding which would then be dropped into another slightly larger bag of holding which would drop into another... you get it. the layering and folding of pocket dimensions would squash it flat and whatever leaked out would be collected in a specially prepared ceramic jar. you, with your outsider's knowledge, likely think you know what that would result in... but you're wrong.
this history may or may not be clear from what the players find upon reaching the room as the shadows of those standing nearby were preserved as a 2D imprint upon the very air. what's left is a totem pole of ashy black forms each holding up some object, one jar holder at the bottom, and one confidently posing overseer, all laid flat on a floor that is no longer there. during the event there was a moment when all matter including workers, bystanders, guards, furniture, equipment, stone walls, floor, and support pillars were summarily dismissed from reality in a 20ft radius sphere. in the center the talisman hangs at what would be floor level, the shadow path affixed in time and space leading right to it.
if you knew what the talisman looked like before you might be surprised to find that it now includes an additional black stone. like a marble with a curious glint that makes it appear as if it's not so much opaquely black but instead transparent and perhaps simply magnifying some lightless mote, some infinite spec.
after that, you might find that the demons went back to good old fire, this time applied in a long term fashion. four statues are situated to stand in the smooth stone bowl below as if breathing an unending stream of dragon's fire, each a different color. you might be able to get a glimpse from the room above, perhaps through an iron grate that had to be installed due to the annihilation having eaten into the halls and rooms above. it's probably like an oven in there judging by how much the room above feels like the inside of a chimney! besides the heat, be careful that you do not rush in assuming you are alone. at the very least, those statues might not be the immobile stone fonts that you assume them to be...
These are some good ideas, I have settled on a broken temple with demons trying to destroy the Talisman but can't figure out how without touching it.
This still works with the idea I had. The fiends charged with destroying the talisman can't perform such a feat... but someone good aligned can. They would need to act as a patron, offering the promise of godhood, giving a guiding hand to the character who wants to achieve it. If the fiends have made it to the material plane, they probably have access to illusory magics or agents doing their bidding, insisting only that character is worthy of holding the talisman (which is technically true). If they promise this information they can take the talisman and use it to defeat the enemies of the cultists pilgrims, such as rival fiends.
The trials leading to the talisman can only be accomplished by one who has great intent, as whoever forged the talisman or created the trials cannot know what the future holds with that intent. And while the would-be demigod's intent is pure and good, their newfound benefactors do not have such intentions and thus have an innate ability to pass the trials.
The fiends should have sufficient motivation to be trusted, or at the very least worked with. The adventuring party with them should also offer boons: join us, and we'll point you to other relics of great power, and they too can get whatever they wish. It doesn't need to be an obvious Faustian deal: perhaps these devils and demons are way in over their heads, perhaps too successful in finding a willing fool. And maybe the players/characters know they're BSing but will use them to their own ends. It's killing two birds with one stone to them if they figure it out.
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Zero is the most important number in D&D: Session Zero sets the boundaries and the tone; Rule Zero dictates the Dungeon Master (DM) is the final arbiter; and Zero D&D is better than Bad D&D.
"Let us speak plainly now, and in earnest, for words mean little without the weight of conviction."
Interesting thought, I might have a devil who is trying to corrupt the Talisman into a Talisman of Ultimate Evil but they are in competition with a small horde of demons that simply seek to destroy it. The devil is offering power if they can use the would-be-demigod to get through the trials and the demons popping up around the temple after squirming through cracks in the temples magic.
It could be frozen in ice at the heart of a glacier within the Frostfell.
even better, the swamp of oblivion. place's full of magic items that were chucked in there to remove them from the multiverse
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Pronouns: Any/All
About Me: Godless monster in human form bent on extending their natural life to unnatural extremes /general of the goose horde /Moderator of Vinstreb School for the Gifted /holder of the evil storyteller badge of no honor /king of madness /The FBI/ The Archmage of I CAST...!
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Fun Fact: i gain more power the more you post on my forum threads. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
addition. its in the mind vault of a deamon lord(zariel maybe)?) located in the astral plane. as for protectors, the mind of a deamon, and a fallen angel no less cant be a very plesent place
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Pronouns: Any/All
About Me: Godless monster in human form bent on extending their natural life to unnatural extremes /general of the goose horde /Moderator of Vinstreb School for the Gifted /holder of the evil storyteller badge of no honor /king of madness /The FBI/ The Archmage of I CAST...!
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Fun Fact: i gain more power the more you post on my forum threads. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
The talisman of pure good is likely guarded by creatures like celestials, good aligned dragons, spirits, humanoids and constructs. Some fun monsters include
Conceivably a powerful talisman could be used to seal some great evil in which case you would have something like the amber temple. In which case it will likely be guarded by a mix of good an evil creatures. Though something sealed by a talisman that can grant god hood would need to be a god level threat. I would probably make it some kind of nameless shadow and it would have something like [Tooltip Not Found] as its minion
Another interesting notion is putting the talisman with the talisman of ultimate evil in some kind of temple of balance.
One of my players has the end goal of transforming into a demigod and I have decided he needs the Talisman of Pure Good. Problem however is, where would you find this Talisman, I was thinking of a temple or dungeon but then another question arises. What would guard this item and what would they find in this temple/dungeon?
You can put it wherever you want that makes sense for your campaign.
Examples:
1) Lost temple at the bottom of the sea.
2) Being guarded by demons in the abyss to prevent it being used against them.
3) In a lich's phylactery vault.
4) Gifted by a god of your realm.
Or ...
5) At the village curio shop (someone cast nystul's magical aura on it so it just looks like something mundane)
6) In the pommel of the mace wielded by the recently deceased leader of the church of Lathandar ... no one remembers that it was anything special and the retired cleric forgot to mention it.
7) In the toe of the boot of a Paladin of Tyr who retired to the country and didn't know what to do with it since he didn't need it anymore but didn't want to give it up in case he needed to use it again.
The ideas are endless ...
Just remember that it has charges and they can all be expended so it could be that circumstances force your player to choose between their selfish desire to elevate themselves and the need to use the charges to fight evil in the world at large ... so maybe they need to find another? :)
The banally obvious answer is in a legendary location behind a legendary guardian, but what that means in the context of your world has a lot to do with your world building... Who or what are the Chthonic powers of your world? Who was there before humans? Who will be there after humans have passed into memory? For me it's giants and aberrations, so I'd put that sort of thing in a vault guarded by a mummified giant, past traps and underground lakes full of tentacular horrors... or in the city called Heaven...
How about this, regardless of lore or what came before what. Based off the topic at the top, what would you populate a dungeon with if the main treasure is the Talisman of Pure Good?
a dungeon that's actively maintained and guarded by, say, an order of paladins who have become suspicious of outsiders and zealously defensive of their charge? or maybe a tower that's encircled by a maze of knifegrass itself surrounded and suffused by a tallgrass prairie hiding packs of carnivorous horses and the vicious unicorns who coordinate their defense of the order of maiden oracles at the center. or has the dungeon been forgotten by time entirely? maybe it has been overtaken by jungle and appropriated by a hive of insects grown mysteriously to giant size over the centuries, their queen's luminescent abdomen wrapped glisteningly around the object of power? or perhaps it was an unfinished temple which collapsed (spectacularly!) during construction into the natural gas caverns below which had historically been tapped to power the ancient city's famous gas street lamps but which now fuels the unquenchable flames which chew at the sides of the pit and having long ago surrendered to the inglorious repurposing as a landill and natural garbage incinerator?
is it that last one? i really want it to be that last one.
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
It could be frozen in ice at the heart of a glacier within the Frostfell.
I imagine a dungeon full of Trials for that player to overcome. As far as creatures guarding it since it is a Talisman of Pure Good how about creatures vulnerable to good alignment characters. Or even a resistance to non-good alignment characters.
These are some good ideas, I have settled on a broken temple with demons trying to destroy the Talisman but can't figure out how without touching it.
hammers, fire, and magics failed to leave a scratch. the scientistest among these demons decided dimensional layering would crack this nut. they would put the talisman inside a bag of holding which would then be dropped into another slightly larger bag of holding which would drop into another... you get it. the layering and folding of pocket dimensions would squash it flat and whatever leaked out would be collected in a specially prepared ceramic jar. you, with your outsider's knowledge, likely think you know what that would result in... but you're wrong.
this history may or may not be clear from what the players find upon reaching the room as the shadows of those standing nearby were preserved as a 2D imprint upon the very air. what's left is a totem pole of ashy black forms each holding up some object, one jar holder at the bottom, and one confidently posing overseer, all laid flat on a floor that is no longer there. during the event there was a moment when all matter including workers, bystanders, guards, furniture, equipment, stone walls, floor, and support pillars were summarily dismissed from reality in a 20ft radius sphere. in the center the talisman hangs at what would be floor level, the shadow path affixed in time and space leading right to it.
if you knew what the talisman looked like before you might be surprised to find that it now includes an additional black stone. like a marble with a curious glint that makes it appear as if it's not so much opaquely black but instead transparent and perhaps simply magnifying some lightless mote, some infinite spec.
after that, you might find that the demons went back to good old fire, this time applied in a long term fashion. four statues are situated to stand in the smooth stone bowl below as if breathing an unending stream of dragon's fire, each a different color. you might be able to get a glimpse from the room above, perhaps through an iron grate that had to be installed due to the annihilation having eaten into the halls and rooms above. it's probably like an oven in there judging by how much the room above feels like the inside of a chimney! besides the heat, be careful that you do not rush in assuming you are alone. at the very least, those statues might not be the immobile stone fonts that you assume them to be...
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
This still works with the idea I had. The fiends charged with destroying the talisman can't perform such a feat... but someone good aligned can. They would need to act as a patron, offering the promise of godhood, giving a guiding hand to the character who wants to achieve it. If the fiends have made it to the material plane, they probably have access to illusory magics or agents doing their bidding, insisting only that character is worthy of holding the talisman (which is technically true). If they promise this information they can take the talisman and use it to defeat the enemies of the
cultistspilgrims, such asrivalfiends.The trials leading to the talisman can only be accomplished by one who has great intent, as whoever forged the talisman or created the trials cannot know what the future holds with that intent. And while the would-be demigod's intent is pure and good, their newfound benefactors do not have such intentions and thus have an innate ability to pass the trials.
The fiends should have sufficient motivation to be trusted, or at the very least worked with. The adventuring party with them should also offer boons: join us, and we'll point you to other relics of great power, and they too can get whatever they wish. It doesn't need to be an obvious Faustian deal: perhaps these devils and demons are way in over their heads, perhaps too successful in finding a willing fool. And maybe the players/characters know they're BSing but will use them to their own ends. It's killing two birds with one stone to them if they figure it out.
Zero is the most important number in D&D: Session Zero sets the boundaries and the tone; Rule Zero dictates the Dungeon Master (DM) is the final arbiter; and Zero D&D is better than Bad D&D.
"Let us speak plainly now, and in earnest, for words mean little without the weight of conviction."
- The Assemblage of Houses, World of Warcraft
Interesting thought, I might have a devil who is trying to corrupt the Talisman into a Talisman of Ultimate Evil but they are in competition with a small horde of demons that simply seek to destroy it. The devil is offering power if they can use the would-be-demigod to get through the trials and the demons popping up around the temple after squirming through cracks in the temples magic.
even better, the swamp of oblivion. place's full of magic items that were chucked in there to remove them from the multiverse
Pronouns: Any/All
About Me: Godless monster in human form bent on extending their natural life to unnatural extremes /general of the goose horde /Moderator of Vinstreb School for the Gifted /holder of the evil storyteller badge of no honor /king of madness /The FBI/ The Archmage of I CAST...!
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Fun Fact: i gain more power the more you post on my forum threads. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
addition. its in the mind vault of a deamon lord(zariel maybe)?) located in the astral plane. as for protectors, the mind of a deamon, and a fallen angel no less cant be a very plesent place
Pronouns: Any/All
About Me: Godless monster in human form bent on extending their natural life to unnatural extremes /general of the goose horde /Moderator of Vinstreb School for the Gifted /holder of the evil storyteller badge of no honor /king of madness /The FBI/ The Archmage of I CAST...!
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Fun Fact: i gain more power the more you post on my forum threads. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
The talisman of pure good is likely guarded by creatures like celestials, good aligned dragons, spirits, humanoids and constructs. Some fun monsters include
Conceivably a powerful talisman could be used to seal some great evil in which case you would have something like the amber temple. In which case it will likely be guarded by a mix of good an evil creatures. Though something sealed by a talisman that can grant god hood would need to be a god level threat. I would probably make it some kind of nameless shadow and it would have something like [Tooltip Not Found] as its minion
Another interesting notion is putting the talisman with the talisman of ultimate evil in some kind of temple of balance.