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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
 Posted - 22 Jan 2006 : 05:27:49
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Okay, this one is further off. As the players get higher level, I want them to run afoul of some plans of Dretchroyaster. My idea is that poor Dretch starts to feel neglected during the Year of Rogue Dragons, with the Cult pushing to make so many more Dracoliches. He recruits an ambitious younger mage in the Cult to help him with his side venture, which involves calling some creatures from the Gulfs of Night down to Faerun to help instruct him in how to better utilize his special prize. Eventually the PCs will find out about this, and find the Cult member in an old elven tower near Mistledale that has artifacts that can call celestial bodies to Faerun. The tower will have "space" themed spellbooks and magic items in it.
Eventually, the PCs will find out that the gnomes that they have befriended inherited a gnomish Whelk spelljammer from their deceaced adventurer uncle, and they will travel to space to do . . . something to keep whatever the cult memeber summons to Toril from striking down, since the PCs will find out in the tower that if it does, something similar to the disaster that created the clearing in Mistledale could occur again.
My problem is that I don't know what the "somthing" should be that keeps the celestial body from falling to Toril. Whatever it is, I want it to involve actually going into space, since the point is to introduce the fact that the gnomes have their uncles Whelk to travel with.
Does anyone have any ideas how to fill in those gaps, or anything I could add to this?
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36805 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jan 2006 : 07:09:59
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| How about spinning the idea a slightly different way... A highly ambitious Cult mage finds the tower, first. He decides to make the first-ever radiant dracolich... So the PCs have to follow him into space, to stop him from creating an insanely powerful dracolich. |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jan 2006 : 07:12:50
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| Oh . . . a radiant dracolich . . . interesting . . . then he might, if he survived, offer the secrets of the tower to Dretch . . . |
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Asgetrion
Master of Realmslore
Finland
1564 Posts |
Posted - 23 Jan 2006 : 22:07:35
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| Uh, pardon my ignorance, but what in the Blazing Baator is 'a radiant dracolich'? Is 'Radiant' a template, perhaps? |
"What am I doing today? Ask me tomorrow - I can be sure of giving you the right answer then."
-- Askarran of Selgaunt, Master Sage, speaking to a curious merchant, Year of the Helm |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 23 Jan 2006 : 22:09:21
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| Radiant Dragons were from Spelljammer . . . they were gigantic dragons that flew around in space and could open up portals themselves. They breath weapon was essentially a blast of magic missles. |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11830 Posts |
Posted - 23 Jan 2006 : 22:34:47
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| damn, but this sounds familiar to me (I stuck the Phylactery of Mellifleur in an asteroid in orbit and had Dragon Cultists pull it from orbit). Perhaps what's in orbit is an asteroid that's hollowed out to be a prison/dungeon. Within it is a phylactery for a very powerful dracolich who has decided that he doesn't need to listen to the cult anymore. Its got (forget what they're called, Halaster has them, they absorb spell energy to power other spells) that absorb the magic of the enslaved demons who are under a geas to continually cast spells. This magic then fuels the spells that keep the asteroid in orbit and proof from teleportation type magics. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36805 Posts |
Posted - 23 Jan 2006 : 23:15:16
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quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas
damn, but this sounds familiar to me (I stuck the Phylactery of Mellifleur in an asteroid in orbit and had Dragon Cultists pull it from orbit). Perhaps what's in orbit is an asteroid that's hollowed out to be a prison/dungeon. Within it is a phylactery for a very powerful dracolich who has decided that he doesn't need to listen to the cult anymore. Its got (forget what they're called, Halaster has them, they absorb spell energy to power other spells) that absorb the magic of the enslaved demons who are under a geas to continually cast spells. This magic then fuels the spells that keep the asteroid in orbit and proof from teleportation type magics.
If it's an asteroid, you likely won't need anything to keep it in orbit -- these things stay in orbit quite well on their own, assuming their velocity is high enough. And a powerful ward could protect against teleportation, without having to resort to continuous recharging. |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11830 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jan 2006 : 15:23:03
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>>>If it's an asteroid, you likely won't need anything to keep it in orbit -- these things >>>stay in orbit quite well on their own, assuming their velocity is high enough. And a >>>powerful ward could protect against teleportation, without having to resort to >>>continuous recharging.
Yeah, didn't want to go into the whole detail thing. I basically borrowed from some research I had done back in 2nd edition for protecting the circle spell and applied it here. Basically, you wouldn't want to depend on a single casting of a spell because it can be dispelled. If you really wanted to protect something, you would want it to be recast in a cyclical basis.... just in case. There were also anti-scrying magics that got recast. I want to say I did the orbiting thing through some anti-gravity spells that would rotate around the inside to make it continually roll in orbit. I remember outlining the shell with a paper thin layer of a gnomish metal that prevented any kind of phased/ethereal or shape-changed creature from passing through it (from the 2nd edition resource where Elminster layed out all the metal, gem, and wood properties of some magical wood)... I want to say it was Hizagkuur. This was then layered over with a thick section of lead, followed by a layer of mud that was then transmuted to rock. Within this layer of mud were some hidden spell engines to absorb any magic being cast to affect the outside the "asteroid". For all outward purposes, it looked like just another floating rock, but inside was a very powerful item. Getting through to the inside was no easy feat, and basically the storyline revolved around the dragon cultists having to go up there, destroy all the spell engines and then remove the magic keeping it afloat. It then crashed to Toril and busted open and they could get inside. Of course, the players didn't need to know any of this... all they knew was some big meteor came crashing to earth and smacked a town to oblivion and then there were dragon men raiding the meteor. Took the general idea from a dungeon module but then totally redid what was on the inside. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36805 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jan 2006 : 17:22:17
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quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas
I remember outlining the shell with a paper thin layer of a gnomish metal that prevented any kind of phased/ethereal or shape-changed creature from passing through it (from the 2nd edition resource where Elminster layed out all the metal, gem, and wood properties of some magical wood)... I want to say it was Hizagkuur.
Hizagkuur, indeed. It's actually a dwarvish metal. It is detailed in Volo's Guide to All Things Magical, which can be downloaded for free from the Wizards downloads page. |
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Campaign Brainstorming: Dretchroyaster's Plans
