Forgotten in the Wastes...

[Long Shadow]

This is an inspired idea since I'm running a game using the Baalgor wastelands environment in my own world.

One idea I have is to use the sandstorm to strand them there instead of sealing them in. The mesa is sheer and you could use the sand storm to help them lose their pack animals and their bearings. With the sun, sandstorms, and a loss of water and food, the fortress would be the only place they can stay until they get their bearings. Make sure that this place is a long, long way from any watering hole and they won't leave until they find supplies to make the trek and get their bearings. Strengthen this with maybe plantlife on top the mesa or maybe an ancient arbor carved in the centre of the fortress, with a skylight and centuries worth of fruit-trees.

Another idea is one I used being a living city or in your case a living fortress. Enchantments woven in the fortress could have been set to help those who lived there. The ones I used were an aversion field that effected the view of the city from far away or a labryinth enchantment that saw anyone not invited finding themselves going in circles. What I see with this fortress is controlling the weather about the mesa, and sandstorms could be the fortress' defense to those it didn't to approach. Another defense was a Heart of the City, a golem defender (aka PU2 Immortal Golem) that would defense the city against intruders (problem was he could see the ghosts of those citizens that died and belived they lived). Something like that stalking about the innards of a dark and massive fortress could bring some horror.

The last thing I what happened to the original occupiers? And have they left, died or in statis below the floors of the fortress just waiting for some fool to waken them up

Just a few ideas...

[Soldier of Od]

Good start. I think the question I always ask in these situations is 'why?'. Why is the shifter there? Why is the Baalrog there? What is the reason for creating these undead minions; just protection or something more? Is the Baalrog under the shifter's control? Are they working together? Enemies? Did the shifter summon the baalrog, lose control of it, and is now a tortured play-thing for the demon? Is the shifter from Rifts earth? If not, how did he learn shifting? From the time of a thousand magics? Is he that old? A remnant from the Elf-Dwarf present at the time of the destruction of the Baalgor rainforest, or someone who has fled to the desert for some reason? Isn't Baalrog an anagram of Baalgor - Coincidence?

Also, will the fortress turn out to have some connection with the job they have been hired to do, or is this just an unconnected side adventure?

How about a Quorian - isolated himself from others since the end of the war in study, to find a way for his race to get back home - discovered 'shifting' (perhaps making contact with an alien being during a chant of dreaming), despite his race's distrust of summoning type magic (that's why he keeps to himself). it is 'said' that ancient quorians knew the art of 'rifting'. How will his fellow quorians react to the news of a possible way home - one that is provided to them by a man who deals with demons and dark gods? Will they trust him? how will the gosai and quorian react to each other in the fort? The shifter, isolated from the world may view the gosai as an enemy and have him killed immediately, leaving the players without a guide and effectively trapped, as wandering into the desert unguided is certain death. Other ideas: Perhaps the shifter has already been to quoria. Perhaps rather than wanting to lead his people home, he wants to bring more quorians to Palladium; to kill the gosai and elves and 'win' the war. Or is he frightened to go - he needs a group of desperate desert travellers (!) to go to quoria for him for a reccy - see how much his old homeland has changed in thousand of years. If the ancient quorians did know rifting, how has this affected their planet and way of life?

Too many questions! Quorians rule - i am eagerly anticipating the quorian-based Rifter article in #55!

One thing i did do once to a player goup whilst they were trapped in a sandstorm in the Baalgor wastelands was this:

Spoiler:

one of them, separated from his companions, was taken over by a thin one. The group didn't even find out until weeks later, by which time they had travelled to the other side of mount Nimro! Would it be possible for you to add that into whatever you had planned?!

Or there's the old standby: the fort is located on top of an Earthshaker. That's always good for some excitment!

Sorry - i just realised your post said it was a one to three night adventure - I may have suggested some ideas that might be a bit too much for one night!

[The Dark Elf]

How old is the fortress? Could it have survived the elemental power circles blast? How? Does it still house remnants of a lush rainforest? Maybe the sapling of a Millennium tree survives in its centre?!

Is the fortress inhabited by a (now insane) warlock who used transferred essence (and some GM liberties) to control the very walls? - and keep the rainforest above nourished. Was it he (or she) that created the sandstorm in the first place?

Does the fortress house the circle of complete elemental power?! The destructive maelstrom appears miles away from the actual circle (not checked how far) and the circles are usually immune to their own destructive power...

Is the fortress shrouded in an unatural darkness and it plays safe haven to the undead who cannot travel long enough during the night to reach another populace. do they lie in their coffins starved of blood until an unsuspecting group spend the night. Was this fortress once the home of Baron Valedon before his encounter with the VI, Tegor? Have the NPC gosai go missing one night...

[Gulzhad]

If you skip the idea of the sandstorm being that big a threat, then how about some other travelers who have used the fortress as a shelter and aren't too keen on interlopers, or perhaps guardians from a local tribe who see the place as sacred who do not appreciate intruders, whatever the reason.

You could instead have them find a tomb, and the door slowly closes upon the party. Then they are in pitch black and well, the door is impossible to open. That means that they need to find a way out.

Of course there's a catch! The catch would be mummies and skeletons running rampart. That way you have fights. The party could possibly then run into a god. Who is pretty mad about being woken up from his slumber. That would be fun