Silus
2015-01-14, 03:21 AM
So me and some guys are gearing up (slowly) for a Friday game down the road and as DM I've some questions of a not-really-tied-together-at-all nature that I wanted to bounce off the more experienced DMs here.
Also, for those that are involved in the Barrier World campaign planning thing, I'd appreciate it if you stayed out 'cause spoilers.
Okay so one of the guys in the group is kinda a stickler for the rules. Not like Rules Lawyer, but defiantly adheres pretty harshly to the rules. Now in general I don't have any issues with him minus some butting of heads now and then on the whole story vs rules argument, but that's where this problem lies.
As DM, I want some magic items, in this case Elixir of Sex Shift, to be uncraftable. The reason for this is because 1) I don't see the players opting to make said Elixir on their own anyway, and 2) because I've an adventure hook in mind that involves finding some. However the aforementioned player insists up and down that, regardless of the DM saying "No you can't craft them because <various reasons including lost recipe>", they can be crafted as you only need a feat, the money and a Polymorph spell. That issue eventually got resolved (by me having to spill the beans just so he understood why) but I'd like to handle any future such incidents in such a way where I don't have to reveal any plot secrets.
Essentially, how do you make a Rule 0 ruling stick without giving away explicitly the "why"?
Okay so this one is kinda a two-part question.
I've got this section of world planned out that is essentially a "dead" continent. No life as far as anyone can tell, the cities are still pristine but the streets are scary empty. Long story short, the people didn't vanish, they were turned into undead that only show up in the light (Like the ghosts in the Metro games) and can only be killed/banished by bright light like sunlight (and as the continent is perma-overcast, it's BYO-Sunlight). Single digit HP and are one-shot by a Daylight spell (if within ~10ft of the origin of the spell), but there is an absurd number and they all hit like Shadows.
So the questions are:
1) How do you keep the encounter/exploration appropriately tense? Ideally (as in never going to happen but it would be nice if things worked out) the players will have ~10 "Dayrods" which are like Sunrods but can shave an hour off for a burst of Daylight (so ~60 uses for the entire party) and have to use them strategically to both spot and kill hordes of these undead. However once the players realize that it's undead and sunlight hurts them, I imagine all sorts of subversive shenanigans like "Well I cast Daylight on my shield" or "I channel positive and kill everything in 30ft" or "I rebuke undead and now I control the horde".
2) Should the players learn of the whole "The light lets you see, but it also lets them see you" bit, and all somehow have access to Darkvision, how as the DM can I keep them from going full dark and avoiding all light while keeping the creatures acting as written?
Short and sweet, how can I impress upon the players that certain NPCs, if challenged/attacked, will mop the floor with them? Like "Guys, I know you're pretty anti-establishment, but it's probably NOT a good idea to pick a fight with the shotgun-wielding cybernetic Centaur sheriff".
Okay so ties into question #2, specifically with the location.
Got an idea for the hook to actually get the PCs over there (as nobody ever actually goes over to the dead continent for ability-draining-undead-type-reasons) and it's based off a song, though I'm not 100% on how to work the actual lyrics into the whole "how do we resolve this". Actually on second thought it's less of a proper hook and more a leading up to a proper hook.
Anyway, the song is Beauty of Dawn from the Elder Scrolls Online (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3i-sps1I24):
A serpent lights the ancient sky
A threat of tainted stars
Evil stirs and in its wake
The souls of mortals sway
Sorrow reigns
Over fields of red
Spirits pace
Through the shadows cast by their graves
These are days and nights of venom and blood
Heroes will rise as the anchors fall
Brave the strife, reclaim every soul
That belongs to the Beauty of Dawn
Darkness strikes to blind the strong
But Faith will guide our swords
Loyal hearts we'll stand as one
And fight with shields of Hope
Pride fuels the deadly fire
That devours our tower of gold
The drums of war will rage and roar
‘Til the sun burns bright once more
These are days and nights of venom and blood
Heroes will rise as the anchors fall
Brave the strife, reclaim every soul
That belongs to the Beauty of Dawn.
Anyway the short history of the area is that pre-apocalypse it was a magical national superpower in comparison to their northern neighbors who favored tech. Stuff happened, war broke out, and the magical nation, in a "I'm taking you with me" unleashed a sort of Wight-pocalypse that backfired. In a single night, everyone vanished and those that went to investigate never returned. Turns out that the four leaders of the nation, now Liches/Ghosts/Lich-Ghosts had inadvertently turned everyone into incorporeal undead and are keeping their souls hostage as a sort of "screw you we won the war and now we'll rule forever" (Undeath makes you cray cray apparently). Anyway, so this faction comprised of the few remaining Psychopomps (see: Grim reaper type creatures) and their mortal "worshippers" have an issue with this, as their main job is to ensure that all souls pass onto the hearafter. However, their supply lines have been cut and they don't have the numbers (or the reinforcements) to slay the undead sorcerer kings/queens themselves. And as the sorcerer kings/queens are pretty up there in CR, fighting them all isn't really in the cards (possible, but expect HEAVY losses). That's where the prophecy comes in as a work-around.
Ideally fulfilling the prophecy/doing what the song says will either sever the ties of the undead to the sorcerer kings/queens and weaken them, or simply directly weaken them and killing them will bring down the whole...undead...controlling...thing.
Problem is, I'm kinda tapped for ideas.
Also, for those that are involved in the Barrier World campaign planning thing, I'd appreciate it if you stayed out 'cause spoilers.
Okay so one of the guys in the group is kinda a stickler for the rules. Not like Rules Lawyer, but defiantly adheres pretty harshly to the rules. Now in general I don't have any issues with him minus some butting of heads now and then on the whole story vs rules argument, but that's where this problem lies.
As DM, I want some magic items, in this case Elixir of Sex Shift, to be uncraftable. The reason for this is because 1) I don't see the players opting to make said Elixir on their own anyway, and 2) because I've an adventure hook in mind that involves finding some. However the aforementioned player insists up and down that, regardless of the DM saying "No you can't craft them because <various reasons including lost recipe>", they can be crafted as you only need a feat, the money and a Polymorph spell. That issue eventually got resolved (by me having to spill the beans just so he understood why) but I'd like to handle any future such incidents in such a way where I don't have to reveal any plot secrets.
Essentially, how do you make a Rule 0 ruling stick without giving away explicitly the "why"?
Okay so this one is kinda a two-part question.
I've got this section of world planned out that is essentially a "dead" continent. No life as far as anyone can tell, the cities are still pristine but the streets are scary empty. Long story short, the people didn't vanish, they were turned into undead that only show up in the light (Like the ghosts in the Metro games) and can only be killed/banished by bright light like sunlight (and as the continent is perma-overcast, it's BYO-Sunlight). Single digit HP and are one-shot by a Daylight spell (if within ~10ft of the origin of the spell), but there is an absurd number and they all hit like Shadows.
So the questions are:
1) How do you keep the encounter/exploration appropriately tense? Ideally (as in never going to happen but it would be nice if things worked out) the players will have ~10 "Dayrods" which are like Sunrods but can shave an hour off for a burst of Daylight (so ~60 uses for the entire party) and have to use them strategically to both spot and kill hordes of these undead. However once the players realize that it's undead and sunlight hurts them, I imagine all sorts of subversive shenanigans like "Well I cast Daylight on my shield" or "I channel positive and kill everything in 30ft" or "I rebuke undead and now I control the horde".
2) Should the players learn of the whole "The light lets you see, but it also lets them see you" bit, and all somehow have access to Darkvision, how as the DM can I keep them from going full dark and avoiding all light while keeping the creatures acting as written?
Short and sweet, how can I impress upon the players that certain NPCs, if challenged/attacked, will mop the floor with them? Like "Guys, I know you're pretty anti-establishment, but it's probably NOT a good idea to pick a fight with the shotgun-wielding cybernetic Centaur sheriff".
Okay so ties into question #2, specifically with the location.
Got an idea for the hook to actually get the PCs over there (as nobody ever actually goes over to the dead continent for ability-draining-undead-type-reasons) and it's based off a song, though I'm not 100% on how to work the actual lyrics into the whole "how do we resolve this". Actually on second thought it's less of a proper hook and more a leading up to a proper hook.
Anyway, the song is Beauty of Dawn from the Elder Scrolls Online (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3i-sps1I24):
A serpent lights the ancient sky
A threat of tainted stars
Evil stirs and in its wake
The souls of mortals sway
Sorrow reigns
Over fields of red
Spirits pace
Through the shadows cast by their graves
These are days and nights of venom and blood
Heroes will rise as the anchors fall
Brave the strife, reclaim every soul
That belongs to the Beauty of Dawn
Darkness strikes to blind the strong
But Faith will guide our swords
Loyal hearts we'll stand as one
And fight with shields of Hope
Pride fuels the deadly fire
That devours our tower of gold
The drums of war will rage and roar
‘Til the sun burns bright once more
These are days and nights of venom and blood
Heroes will rise as the anchors fall
Brave the strife, reclaim every soul
That belongs to the Beauty of Dawn.
Anyway the short history of the area is that pre-apocalypse it was a magical national superpower in comparison to their northern neighbors who favored tech. Stuff happened, war broke out, and the magical nation, in a "I'm taking you with me" unleashed a sort of Wight-pocalypse that backfired. In a single night, everyone vanished and those that went to investigate never returned. Turns out that the four leaders of the nation, now Liches/Ghosts/Lich-Ghosts had inadvertently turned everyone into incorporeal undead and are keeping their souls hostage as a sort of "screw you we won the war and now we'll rule forever" (Undeath makes you cray cray apparently). Anyway, so this faction comprised of the few remaining Psychopomps (see: Grim reaper type creatures) and their mortal "worshippers" have an issue with this, as their main job is to ensure that all souls pass onto the hearafter. However, their supply lines have been cut and they don't have the numbers (or the reinforcements) to slay the undead sorcerer kings/queens themselves. And as the sorcerer kings/queens are pretty up there in CR, fighting them all isn't really in the cards (possible, but expect HEAVY losses). That's where the prophecy comes in as a work-around.
Ideally fulfilling the prophecy/doing what the song says will either sever the ties of the undead to the sorcerer kings/queens and weaken them, or simply directly weaken them and killing them will bring down the whole...undead...controlling...thing.
Problem is, I'm kinda tapped for ideas.