The end story for the Masks of Destiny I gave are only possible ones. There are several ways a DM can handle the climax to conclude the campaign, leave the campaign in a mystery, or continue it in another form. Here are some other endings that are possible.
1. Make Baron Ganth impossible to kill while he holds all/most of the masks. Because of this Xoth’s power over him is too great and the magic of the masks too powerful. Charilus will realize this and advise the PCs. The only chance the PCs have is right after the ritual is complete and Xoth becomes whole. The masks will become non-magical and drop all spells on the Baron’s body. Xoth will become whole taking over the Baron’s body and consume the magic of the masks giving him some spell abilities. Xoth will be vulnerable to attack. Still play Xoth intelligently and his goal now is to escape. How many spells he has memorized is up to the DM. I suggest using a modest amount of spells memorized, enough to put up a fight and escape.
2. The PCs fail to arrive before the binding ritual is complete and Xoth is whole. Xoth has not had enough time to fully rest and has only up to 6th level spells. Enhance the chamber with bone reapers for a good final combat. If the PCs are unaware of the Mask of Alteration’s phylactery gem then when Xoth is defeated his soul will retreat into the gem, treat as a magic jar. Xoth will then later take over the body of the prisoner in area 7 and leave on his own quietly.
3. The PCs defeat the Baron and collect the masks. Charilus was wrong in that a binding spell was needed to release Xoth. Only all the masks present in one person’s hands would release his life force into the world of the living. The masks will become non-magical overnight. Xoth would then attempt to take over the weakest mind until he could safely get away, the prisoner in area 7. This control will take several hours and during a time of rest.
4. With the masks all in the same room, Xoth is able to use the mask’s power and form his life force into the phylactery gem of the Mask of Alteration in the middle of combat with the Baron. He will then take over a being later, such as the prisoner in area 7. Treat the phylactery gem as magic jar.
5. Let the Baron complete the binding ritual and Xoth gets away in a good final combat. This will open up the door for a high level campaign later down the road.
I hope you enjoyed the Mask Campaign as much as Steve and myself have enjoyed writing it. It was very difficult to come up with an ending for this campaign so we decided to show all the endings we thought of. This way the DM has flexability in what happens. This allows for the possibility of the PCs failing and a not so happy ending. Most likely the battle with the Baron will be the standard ending for the campaign. Of the alternative endings I mentioned above I feel #2 is my personal favorite. It allows the good final fight and Xoth to get away for a 2nd high level campaign. If you can manage to do that ending I would suggest it. It will be gratifying to the PCs to win, after such a long struggle, and yet shocking when they discover the truth… that Xoth got away.
We are not sure if we will be doing more campaigns as a lot of thought and time went into this one. I will soon convert this to a PDF format for download. Any questions or errors please email me.
The End
