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Psychosis
2009-12-18, 08:08 PM
Now that winter break is finally upon me I plan to start a campaign of sorts. I *think* I know how I want the actual story (vaguely defined as it is) to progress, but I'm looking for stuff to happen in the interludes not directly related to solving the problem; these will likely dominate the campaign.

The concept was inspired by the A World Of Darkness campaign idea listed in RPG Archive, as seen here (http://www.rpgarchive.com/index.php?page=adv1&advid=650). The how and the solution have been changed though, if mostly to get past that Mythril Titan thing.

The campaign will basically begin on a somewhat standard note. The PCs are all mercenaries who are hired to investigate a series disappearances in a somewhat rural settlement. This plays out as one might expect, with a trail of breadcrumbs leading them to the local Baron, who has been kidnapping and sacrificing these country folk on an altar below his estate. The PCs catch him in the act of preparing a sacrifice, fight him and a few mooks, rescue the victim and save the day. Hurray!

The problem is that the Baron's actions were, while brutal, a sort of necessary evil. His sacrifices were to keep shut a massive quasi-rift to the Shadow Plane that, without his constant attention, brings it closer to the Material Plane than ever. While this plane is not malevolent on its own, the result is a total blackout of the sun. Until the problem can be fixed, the Material Plane will never see daylight again. This means that, in addition to the usual perils expected of an adventurer, the PCs must deal with the changes brought about by a land plunged into indefinite darkness.

EDIT: I should also maybe point out that they key to solving the whole "no light ever" issue lies in the Shadow Plane itself, in the form of the mythical Shining Citadel. When I feel that they are of high enough level to possibly succeed at finding such a thing I will point them toward an Eyrinyes Sybil, who will potentially give them more info on the subject of handled right. So if you have ideas for that too than, ****, go for it!

What I am mostly asking of you is:

-Encounters (and how "permanent" darkness would affect them)

-How the populace might (over)react

-The reaction of certain religious groups?

-Just anything to further flavor this concept

Also, since it probably matters:

-This game is 3.5

-PCs will start at 2nd level

-I've played with these guys for a while, so guessing how they will react to a particular situation is easy for me

-Obviously the PCs do not know about the setting twist, so as to avoid an all-Dwarf party.

Suggestions? Questions, even?

Carden
2009-12-18, 11:44 PM
Pelor would be definitely miffed. Something about one of his major symbols being plunged into eternal darkness just doesn't seem like he'd like it all that much. Heck, he may not be able to give his clerics spells, which would cause a rather large panic in the world.

Also, you would see a large rise on those types of monsters/races that live underground raiding towns and such due to the lack of light. Darkvision and possibly low-light vision would give them vast advantages over any civilized races without either. Remember to use the low-light rules for these encounters and keep track of who all in the party glows for whatever reason. I tend not to track torchlight, but in this situation, that micromanagement would be crucial. A real threat would be hit-and-run tactics from darkvision monsters that start outside of the sight range and end outside of the sight range.

I would also expect to see a very popular demand for spellcasters who could cast Continual Flame. Other than that, people would be extremely panicked. Most wouldn't go outside unless necessary. They would seek comfort in numbers, such as in a temple or a tavern, but they wouldn't walk from their farms to get there. They'd be especially suspicious of traveling strangers in such dark times, as who in their right mind would go out and travel around when the SUN had failed? Also note a rise in the acceptability of The-End-Is-Nigh cults and worshipers of evil things. Eternal darkness probably means evil won, so why not try to join the winning side?

My advice? Constantly torture the PCs with the horrors that may lay out in the darkness. Screams in the distance, small noises just outside their light sources, things that creep up behind them the first time they don't specify one character is turning around to keep watch for such stuff, those sorts of things. Also, when you want to give them an urgent sense to hurry them along, have them notice the stars are slowly blinking out. Have a sage or some such plot device tell the PCs that when the stars are all gone, the world will melt into the Shadow Plane forever or something equally apocalyptic. That'll get 'em moving. (Well, assuming the fact plants don't grow without sunlight hasn't gotten them in gear yet.)

mr.fizzypop
2009-12-18, 11:55 PM
Their would probably be massive riots from the peasant class, as now no plants can be grown. An alternative must be reached or else total chaos would emerge.

Also don't forget how cold it will get, without the sun it is likely to affect the climate.

Will there still be a moon? Because without it, the wilderness will be truly pitch-black.

Psychosis
2009-12-19, 12:12 AM
Pelor would be definitely miffed. Something about one of his major symbols being plunged into eternal darkness just doesn't seem like he'd like it all that much. Heck, he may not be able to give his clerics spells, which would cause a rather large panic in the world.
Yeah, I have at least planned for the clergy of Pelor to do something. Never considered spell loss though, so that's something new to toy with.


Also, you would see a large rise on those types of monsters/races that live underground raiding towns and such due to the lack of light. Darkvision and possibly low-light vision would give them vast advantages over any civilized races without either. Remember to use the low-light rules for these encounters and keep track of who all in the party glows for whatever reason. I tend not to track torchlight, but in this situation, that micromanagement would be crucial. A real threat would be hit-and-run tactics from darkvision monsters that start outside of the sight range and end outside of the sight range.
I've been playing with this as well. I've already decided on troubles concerning Grimlocks and Drow, the latter no longer fearing what the sun will do to their well-crafted crap. I'm also looking into fun nocturnal threats, such as Yeth Hounds, which would no longer be impeded by that silly orange ball.


I would also expect to see a very popular demand for spellcasters who could cast Continual Flame. Other than that, people would be extremely panicked. Most wouldn't go outside unless necessary. They would seek comfort in numbers, such as in a temple or a tavern, but they wouldn't walk from their farms to get there. They'd be especially suspicious of traveling strangers in such dark times, as who in their right mind would go out and travel around when the SUN had failed? Also note a rise in the acceptability of The-End-Is-Nigh cults and worshipers of evil things. Eternal darkness probably means evil won, so why not try to join the winning side?
Oddly enough I never considered doomsday cults, but that is certainly more than doable and practically expected. Suspicion would indeed be high though, and I hope to foster a sense of horror in the PCs from the paranoia of the townsfolk. More than one adventure will involve the total anarchy that comes with panic.

I also agree that sources of light would become a HIGHLY valuable commodity. I hope to find a way to limit how far PCs can get on that, seeing as such spells can be refreshed daily......


Their would probably be massive riots from the peasant class, as now no plants can be grown. An alternative must be reached or else total chaos would emerge.

Also don't forget how cold it will get, without the sun it is likely to affect the climate.

Will there still be a moon? Because without it, the wilderness will be truly pitch-black.
I've already planned for mass crop failure, but this idea for an "alternative" to such a large form of produce can certainly be interesting. Especially in smaller, out-of-the-way settlements. Donner Party anyone?

Also, the moon! Thanks for bringing that up. Without a sun the moon wouldn't really have a glow either, so that's completely toast. How would that affect lycanthropes though? Are they directly affected by the moon or just on what phase SHOULD be active? Or is that stated at all? Either way Moonrats are history at least.

PlzBreakMyCmpAn
2009-12-19, 12:31 AM
If you are not having the undead apocalypse chose eternal darkness as its starting point, there is no point in having your players play :smallbiggrin:

If so, I'd love to play a rebuking cleric in your campaign. :smallcool:

Psychosis
2009-12-19, 12:50 AM
If you are not having the undead apocalypse chose eternal darkness as its starting point, there is no point in having your players play :smallbiggrin:

If so, I'd love to play a rebuking cleric in your campaign. :smallcool:My good man, undead in SPADES! Zombies! Ghouls! Mohrgs! And lets not forget the long-time rivals of the sun we call Vampires! One adventure will involve a well-known tomb in which the dead rise when the sun sets. Problem is.....

Still, if you have any particularly clever ways to utilize them I'm all ears.

EDIT: Also, of course, are Shadows. These guys are gonna be LETHAL in this setting. Same goes for Shades and other scatter inhabitants of the Shadow Plane that leak through over time.

Thames
2009-12-19, 12:59 AM
Ummm, which setting are you basing this in? Generic or Greyhawk or some other place with Pelor. As not all setting haves the reason why the moon glows so scientifically linked to the sun.
I say this because if I were doing the game I wouldn't want to give up on Lycanthropes who are linked to the moon not just what phase it is meant to be in.

Although having Lycanthropes wanting to get their shapeshifting abilities back makes for interesting allies as do lycanthropes NOT wanting their curse back make for interesting antagonists.
Think of how this will affect the Goddess of the Moon (it is always a Goddess).

If this was in FR it would be a major blow to selune and boon to shar that the rather minor measure preventing the whole thing becomes suspicious and thus straining willing suspension of disbelief. Thus I would have it only affect the sun and benefit mask as opposed to being a whole thing with shar and selune (would be interesting how that would affect the populace - sun gone but the moon still shines).

How is this going to affect spells? Will the shadow planes planar traits have an affect and will spells with the light desciptor become harder to cast? Will Sunlight be even possible to cast? Will spells with the darkness desriptor become easier to cast? will they have greater effect? (if you cant see then why not make your enemies feel your pain and be blind too)

Last but not least is this a localised occurences or has the sun been blocked out for the whole world?

Psychosis
2009-12-19, 01:11 AM
Just to get this out of the way, the entirety of the Material Plane is blacked out by this event. No one location is spared. Also, as I'm not basing the physical setting on anything in particular, lets call it "generic". Sun makes the moon shine because I say so. :smalltongue:


How is this going to affect spells? Will the shadow planes planar traits have an affect and will spells with the light desciptor become harder to cast? Will Sunlight be even possible to cast? Will spells with the darkness desriptor become easier to cast? will they have greater effect?
Again, this is a great line of thinking. Following both this and the point brought up by Carden I will probably give the Material Plane similar, if not the same traits as the Shadow Plane when it comes to magic. I'll have to look up what exactly those are later....

You also make a good point about the lycanthropes. I could at least make their transformations wonkier than usual I guess. I just feel I should do SOMETHING to them.

DabblerWizard
2009-12-19, 03:08 PM
Maybe this is more technical than you're looking for, but if you're interested in realism, this might be a point worth considering.

I'm not a meteorologist or a biologist, but these points seem to be logically consistent. Anyone with a more professional understanding of these phenomena is more than welcome to intervene.

Without sunlight, the material plane itself (i.e. the planet) would undergo numerous changes: (1) The ambient temperature would slowly decrease over time... likely leading to a general freezing over; (2) Even before that takes place, most plant matter on the planet would die off. Without sunlight to lead the process of photosynthesis, plants wouldn't be able to creature sugar to sustain themselves, and would just die; (3) this would lead to a massive breakdown of the ecosystem: primary producers (plants) would die, followed by primary consumers, followed by secondary and tertiary consumers (including human beings)

This doesn't have to spell the end of your campaign. You might take this kind of idea, and use it to place a definite time restriction on your players. They'd have to somehow fix the lacking sunlight problem, say, within a few weeks, or they would eventually die from starvation, or have to learn to live in a completely barren ice world, given a few months of no sunlight. (My time frames are arbitrary estimations).

Psychosis
2009-12-19, 03:31 PM
Maybe this is more technical than you're looking for, but if you're interested in realism, this might be a point worth considering.

I'm not a meteorologist or a biologist, but these points seem to be logically consistent. Anyone with a more professional understanding of these phenomena is more than welcome to intervene.

Without sunlight, the material plane itself (i.e. the planet) would undergo numerous changes: (1) The ambient temperature would slowly decrease over time... likely leading to a general freezing over; (2) Even before that takes place, most plant matter on the planet would die off. Without sunlight to lead the process of photosynthesis, plants wouldn't be able to creature sugar to sustain themselves, and would just die; (3) this would lead to a massive breakdown of the ecosystem: primary producers (plants) would die, followed by primary consumers, followed by secondary and tertiary consumers (including human beings)

This doesn't have to spell the end of your campaign. You might take this kind of idea, and use it to place a definite time restriction on your players. They'd have to somehow fix the lacking sunlight problem, say, within a few weeks, or they would eventually die from starvation, or have to learn to live in a completely barren ice world, given a few months of no sunlight. (My time frames are arbitrary estimations).
There will always be a number of humanoids able to Create Food, but I see what you're saying. I honestly never considered an actual timeline, but now that you mention it things would get rather grim on an ecological scale. I had only planned for hazards involving the death of farmland, not what herbivores consume. Thanks for bringing this up!

DabblerWizard
2009-12-19, 04:40 PM
Thanks for bringing this up!

No problem. :smallcool:

Another potential plot point, along this line, might include staging a mass exodus from the material plane, where every living creature (or at least all the sentient ones) has to find a new home on another plane.

I'm not sure if that kind of thing has ever been tried before, but it seems as though it could be really fun.

Psychosis
2009-12-19, 05:00 PM
No problem. :smallcool:

Another potential plot point, along this line, might include staging a mass exodus from the material plane, where every living creature (or at least all the sentient ones) has to find a new home on another plane.

I'm not sure if that kind of thing has ever been tried before, but it seems as though it could be really fun.
Hey, you're good at this! I'd still prefer the Shining Citadel to fit into things, but I can't possibly refuse to use this somehow. A fast-catching movement, maybe. If the PCs want to join the movement and abandon the plane rather than hunt down some castle that's never been confirmed I'd have no reason to stop them.

tuberov
2009-12-19, 05:11 PM
I also agree that sources of light would become a HIGHLY valuable commodity. I hope to find a way to limit how far PCs can get on that, seeing as such spells can be refreshed daily......

You wouldn't necessarily have to limit the amount of light spells they get. If you think of it, that forces the spellcasters to choose what is more important. Is a magical form of seeing more important, or having offensive/healing prepared more vital? Mix it up and you limit yourself somewhat.

Also, there is what the populace of druids and their reaction. As defenders of nature, they would be quickest of all to realize the impact of no sunlight and the collapse of the ecosystem. How do they react to this series of events? Do they rashly take action, blaming the wrong organization or civilization as a whole? Do they start one of these near-apocalyptical cults?

Don't also rule out the attempt at a rise by evil PC races who benefit from darkvision (namely half-orcs). Once they realize what's going on, they may feel it's their time to assume their rightful place as the superior beings on the material plane. It could happen with dwarves as well, but it's more likely to happen with half-orcs.

Cool idea, though. It will defidently get the players thinking.

mr.fizzypop
2009-12-19, 06:02 PM
What would happen if people figured out the PCs were the cause of this? That might prove to be a complication for the PCs.

Psychosis
2009-12-19, 07:01 PM
What would happen if people figured out the PCs were the cause of this? That might prove to be a complication for the PCs.
I have no plans to let word get out, but if the PCs decide to be honest about it I imagine people will have words with them. Words and pitchforks. In all honesty they might not even realize that it is their fault, as the blackout does not occur until a good day or two after. In that case they'd have to either divine it or else ask the Sybil. "We accidentally did what!?"


Don't also rule out the attempt at a rise by evil PC races who benefit from darkvision (namely half-orcs). Once they realize what's going on, they may feel it's their time to assume their rightful place as the superior beings on the material plane. It could happen with dwarves as well, but it's more likely to happen with half-orcs.
An excellent idea! If they did join up with the exodus they would probably be required to gather material components or some such to form the portals required for such massive interplanar travel, which could receive some hindrance. I can also foresee a finale in which the PCs have to protect said gates from a last-minute assault by evil races. Thanks for that!

Carden
2009-12-20, 12:46 AM
(1) The ambient temperature would slowly decrease over time... likely leading to a general freezing over; (2) Even before that takes place, most plant matter on the planet would die off. Without sunlight to lead the process of photosynthesis, plants wouldn't be able to creature sugar to sustain themselves, and would just die; (3) this would lead to a massive breakdown of the ecosystem: primary producers (plants) would die, followed by primary consumers, followed by secondary and tertiary consumers (including human beings)

Just to help you clarify and to get physics in order should they be used, the Earth cools about 20 degrees from a high point of solar activity to a low point in half a day, assuming temperate conditions (41 to 25 where I live tomorrow). I assume this would be more of a drop without the heat being pressed on the planet's opposite side, so I could be wrong. In other words, the crops wouldn't have to worry about being starved to death, they'd be frozen solid before they got the chance. Also note wind stopping without the sun to heat air currents, a few days of all the clouds falling from the sky due to massively low temperatures, and a weird effect on compasses and other metals due to the magnetic field of the planet no longer being suppressed constantly.

Personally, I would enjoy toying with my players too much to impose the super-strict physics timeline on them and would DM fiat that all the things the sun used to do still occurs, it just doesn't show up anymore.

Thames
2009-12-20, 11:46 AM
As to the food problem the races who foodchain is not dependant would further not be hindered by this (read drow dwarves and pretty much everyone who lives in the underdark), i think their food chain is based on the chemical eating thingies - forget what its called. This could bring up interesting trade possibilities and funny intrigue - what morals will people be willing to betray to get food from the drow and duergar? (probably mostly the duegar being tradey already).

Also considering the shadow plane is stopping the light from the sun it and not canceling it out completely the heat from it may still be there, that could be an interesting reminder or a single prospect of hope.
If you do have the sun canceled out completely you are going to have to figure out "what is the sun?" if it is just a ball of gases no big deal (past the obvious lol) but in some setting the sun is a giant rift to the positive energy plane - it could explain all the undead if said rift lost influence.

Also since you are having stuff happen with the god of the sun and have declared the moon goes out too "what will happen to the moon goddess' clergy?" is another question, also "how do the sun and moon clergy get on during this?". Finally is there going to be any starlight cause if not you've got alot of cranky old astrologists jobless :P

P.S. Is there a god of entropy like Tharizun or darkness like Shar?

Also if there is going to be an extraplanar exodus of refugees you might want to bring in extraplanar slavers like genies, rakshasas, or whatever.