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View Full Version : Help me iron out "The Pink Cloud"



Silus
2013-09-29, 03:04 PM
Ok, this is actually for Pathfinder but I feel general advice is appreciated regarding balancing this.

The cloud is a necrotic, enthropic, Exterminatus-tier Bio-chem super weapon based off the Pink Cloud from the Fallout: Equestria canon.

Wiki bit about the Cloud

Pink Cloud
Pink Cloud is an entropic, necromantic, pink-hued gas that was originally released by bombs deployed by the zebra empire induring the Great War to strike Canterlot and eliminate the two Princesses, Celestia and Luna. It has a deadly effect on living beings, seeping into flesh and lungs, rotting it and melting it, and potentially liquefying bodies into heaps of organic matter. Even slight exposure can lead to severe complications, including organ failure and the permanent fusing of skin to objects in close contact, including clothes, PipBucks, jewelry, and even the ground or a chair if a victim remains still for an extended duration of exposure. It is almost always lethal, though in rare instances a victim can be turned into a particular variant of ghoul known as a Canterlot Ghoul.

Protections
The Pink Cloud cannot be filtered by re-breathers or any kind of air filter, much like Taint, and thus gas masks are useless against this threat. Damage from Pink Cloud poisoning can be healed by way of normal healing potions. Water absorbs the gas extremely well, and as such, rain is able to purify the air of a short period of time, while creating deadly pools of poisonous water. Pink Cloud does not diffuse into water normally, but instead will form rivulets or ribbons of the substance that are pink in color.

Environmental Effects
The Pink Cloud has been slowly absorbed by inorganic matter--buildings, furniture, the earth itself--and is being slowly released into the air, causing Canterlot and several nearby cities (such as Zebratown) to still be severely hazardous despite the length of time since the gas release. Stables that have endured long-term exposure to the pink cloud were eventually breached due to corrosion. Pink Cloud also tends to concentrate in closed spaces where it does not get dispersed by the natural environment; such pockets are much more deadly than the open air due to density, making the cloud even more lethal than usual.

Current build has it deal 1d6/round in light concentrations and 2d12/round + 1d6 bleed for heavy concentrations in addition to bypassing DR, fast healing and creature type (Some undead and Constructs are immune to these effects). Heavy concentrations, after 1d4+3 rounds of constant exposure, have a cumulative 10% chance to bond metal items to the wielder (75%) or corrode it (25%), with the inverse for organic (flesh, wood, etc) or cloth items. Holding one's breath will negate bleed damage, but not the straight up damage.

Cloud is self-perpetuating (In that it has not dissipated in ~1000 years, likely due to lack of environmental effects) but will not spread farther than~2-3 miles from deployment point. Current dispersal method is water (Concentrates and dilutes it, but it can reform into a cloud with time), but to eliminate it totally, a seperate compound must be used to nullify the cloud.

So yeah, apparently my players think this is a horribly unfair hazard to encounter (when used in a city full of incoporeal undead)(And the three to raise issue with it are the Werewolf, Vampire and Quickling). What do ya'll think, and is ther anything I can do to make this less "unfair"? Players were lvl 9 + templates when they dealt with the cloud the first time. Second time they'll be ~12 + Mythic.

The Glyphstone
2013-09-29, 03:08 PM
It's pretty comparable to a persistent Acid Fog spell (6th level, 2d6/round to all characters and items in the cloud) that deals untyped damage. If they're having entire adventures in the 'cloud zone', then you should give them some way to shield themselves or negate the effects, particularly the item-destroying side effects.

How does something 'bypass Fast Healing', anyways? Does it shut down their FH for a certain time? Reudce their maximum HP so the FH can't repair the damage, but can repair the damage caused by other sources?

Silus
2013-09-29, 03:16 PM
It's pretty comparable to a persistent Acid Fog spell (6th level, 2d6/round to all characters and items in the cloud) that deals untyped damage. If they're having entire adventures in the 'cloud zone', then you should give them some way to shield themselves or negate the effects, particularly the item-destroying side effects.

How does something 'bypass Fast Healing', anyways? Does it shut down their FH for a certain time? Reudce their maximum HP so the FH can't repair the damage, but can repair the damage caused by other sources?

Well the Cloud, at the moment, is currently only "active" in a lost city in the "Underdark" area*. Leaking spacecraft imbedded in the cavern ceiling kinda thing. During their excursion there, I let them use Gust of Wind to move the cloud out of the way so they could pass fairly easily. Anything that restricts the movement of air would also work, but they'd be subject to suffocation rules after a point.

Honestly, the "bypass Fast Healing" was mostly due to there being a Vampire in the party and they'd just be able to tank the damage. I wanted the whole party to have it in their head that they could very well get killed in the city. As for the reason, I suppose the magic/corrosive power of the cloud temporarily overpowers the healing factor. Like "There's so much damage going on all over and so quickly, that you're gonna have to give me a minute to get my stuff in order".

*Edit: It'll come back into play during Act 2 of the campaign during the "End of the World" scenario where the race that used the Cloud as a weapon come back to "help". And by "help", I mean gas cities that are deemed "infected" and "beyond help".