Looking for Help For End Game of Campaign with Evil PC's

[Kaveman26]

Scenario:

In a campaign world fairly similar to Forgotten Realms a massive underground structure is discovered. The lure of treasure and glory draws adventurers from across the world to plunder it’s depths. What makes this dungeon crawl unique is that for once hour each 30 days at noon the doors open. At the conclusion of one hour the doors shut and no method mystical, arcane, divine, or mundane is able to breach or stop this closure. So when the door shuts you are on your own for a month. This has been getting regular updates on and off for quite some time as a Campaign Log.

Important Notes:

*Item Crafting has been lost to antiquity. Brew Potion, and Scribe Scroll are the only remaining craftable skills. Recently the PC’s have unearthed the means through which Item Crafting is now available to them. But most importantly, at this time they are the only ones capable of item creation in the world. This knowledge is beginning to spread.

*Magic items are vastly overpriced based around normal expectations. Any wonderous item or magical arms/armor are heirlooms, rare and treasured.


*The Drow were shattered and spread out from the Underdark. They exist now as nomads and wanderers. Lloth is but a whisper to history though some do still cling to the old ways.

*Planar Travel is all but eliminated, and those scant few demons and devils that exist on the Material Plane are awesome in power and infamy.

*Dragons are scarce. Few are ever sighted, and fewer still ever engaged.

*The PC’s are evil. I mean downright sadistic and cruel. Backstabbing, in group murder, betrayal, and extortion are all accepted practices. By and large they have played nice with each other, but there is a understanding that this may not always be the case. Here is the important part for this: They are all on board. I am not worried about real life drama created from in game drama. We are all good friends and they are fine with these possibilities.

Game Mechanics:

*There is an extensive “Ban” list of spells and items. Some spells have been dramatically altered.


Ban List:
All Teleport Spells and items
All Flight spells and items
All Raise Dead/Reincarnate etc
Terrain Altering Spells, StoneShape, Soften Rock, Earth to Mud etc.
All Calling Spells


Altered List:
Summon Chains:All summoning spells now have a casting time of 1 hour, and the duration is 1 minute per level.

Create Food/Water: May only feed one creature per casting. May be used to alter food from one edible form to another. I.E. meat to fruit or fruit to meat.

Detect Secret Doors, Knock, and other trap locating, door opening, trap disabling spell now provides a bonus to a rogue or similiarly trained skill user.

Notable NPCs:

Russ: Werewolf/Dwarf hybrid commander. Has a pack of wolf-dwarves now mostly scattered and broken. Has been established as antagonist to the group and is likely to attempt killing them on sight. Has two captains Gup, and Rusk. A halfling rogue badly abused and discarded by the group, now also a hybrid and Rusk-a gnoll chieftain deposed from his tribe. All three likely to be aggressive and completely against diplomacy. All three are location unknown and have not been seen for several months.

Ri-An: A ghost Illithid Psion. A prison block jailor/warden. He is bound by a series of autmotated protocols and procedures but is able to be pulled from his pre-programmed actions and interacted with. Neutral to friendly with the group and has been of some assistance to them in the past. They got burned badly by the prison block and are leery of returning but he is a good source of potential intelligence.

Lau-Rain: A Nagaji Vampire Barbarian. Extremely high level and tactically experienced. The Illithid who created his prison cell basically made it into his own personal Matrix. Inside his prison cell he is Neo and he had been content to create war game scenarios for himself for the past six millenia. The PC’s tried to deceive or haggle being turned to vampires by him and they got him angry in the process. He killed a PC and swore he would escape to wreak havoc on those who wronged or slighted him. Still imprisoned but his escape is something that troubles the group daily. They have stationed a mook skeleton just outside the prison block in the hopes of it being an early detection indicator.

Jaze: Not a physical threat, but more of a Hannibal Lecter. The Illithid found him immune to their mind control and instead discovered his unnaturally powerful ability to read minds. He not only knows where the bodies are buried but he can tell you where the shovels are. He tricked the group to their detriment and tried to bribe them as a way of putting them off killing him. Very clever, very deceitful and very charming. Location: Prison Isolation. Much like the Joker it seems he is content to stay there as he a strong understanding of the complex rules and protocols that govern security within the complex.

Veritas: A red dragon who had one of his arms severed by the door closing at it’s one month marker. A large fiery bundle of fury and anger that wants nothing more than the PC’s roasted and destroyed. Proven very hard to kill at this point and still lurking somewhere within the dungeon.

Matron Domina: A drow matron and head of a small clan. Taken captive by the Illithid and held in stasis until recently she has proven a worthy adversary and constant source of strife. Her clan of drow are from an era long lost and she is far more formidable than any other dark elves previously encountered. Extremely calculating and cautious, not at all opposed to the long game and adverse to risks. Holds a section of territory that is well defended and hard to crack.

Hybrid Dragon Spiders: The PC’s killed a mutated white dragon/spider a few months earlier and in the process orphaed her bizarre diminutive spider/dragon hybrid children. Well the drow matron struck up an alliance with them and put them on the miracle grow all you can eat fast track and now they are the size of small horses. They have spell like abilities that grant Silence, Invisibility Sphere, they have frost damage causing barbed harpoons, and poisoned needles that cause dex damage. In quantity they are downright scary.

Elliana: An Illithid “Crone”, basically a mind flayer security guard that acted as upper management for the Illithid Vessel. With the security measures failing and several horrific developments on the horizon she has been activated and returned to active duty in the dungeon. She is an unknown type of construct with a full psion casting base. Not friendly, but not overtly hostile.

Volcanus: At this stage of the game he is the prospective Big Bad. Or at least the biggest threat. They are not entirely sure what he is (they are pretty confident he is a dragon) but they know he was modified and heavily augmented for the sole purpose of destroyed the world as they know it. He was their Extinction Protocol. He remains unseen with his location unknown

Enclave: The power behind the throne so to speak. A consortium of Illithid whose power dwarfs those on the Material Plane. They are responsible for removing all knowledge of item crafting, flight, ressurection etc. They reshaped the Material Plane to make it less of a future threat to themselves. Whether or not they still live is unkown.

Plot Summary to this point:

At this juncture the group has realized the dungeon is actually an Illithid Ark. Mind Flayers from a realm far beyond this world arrived in a massive ship and began researching and cataloguing everything they found. They tinkered with breeding and cross mutated stuff for the heck of it. Any creature they deemed a potential threat was quarantined within a prison block for future study and containment. At some point they created Volcanus as a means to end the world. Somewhere along the lines they got caught up into researching the strange Radiation of the Underdark and their plans got ruined. They put their ship on lockdown and held to stasis. Well the security is breaking down, the inmates are getting free and the restraints that prevented Volcanus from fulfilling his purpose are failing. The group is just as likely to HELP Volcanus as it is to stop him. They are on the track of locating and determining his nature and are trying to figure out what went wrong with the Underdark research. The top lairs of the dungeon complex are secured and wiped clean. The deeper they get the more contested territory becomes.

What They Don’t Know:

Spoilers if you are following the recap I am posting. This has some major plot details not yet revealed to the players or anyone that has been reading so far.

*Volcanus is a two headed dragon, cross bred from gold and red. His breath weapon is hotter than the sun and more potent than anything ever dreamed. He was meant to scorch the world to cinder. They augmented his creation by draining energy from the Underdark to make his breath weapon all the more potent. What they didn’t account for was the underlying source that drove the Underdark. It was a weak point holding a much greater evil at bay. Volcanus was imbued with a purpose that transcends destroying the world. He wants to free a presence that can destroy all realities and all Planes.

*The Enclave is still functionally alive. Their stasis is starting to erode and soon they will be able to interact with the ship at large. They are powerless to stop Volcanus and still in the dark themselves as to what he is truly after.

*There is a devil in the prison wing who does know what is corrupting the dragon and driving it towards enabling oblivion. It was his job to nudge the Enclave in that direction. He has been a willing prisoner strictly for that purpose. There are some hints as to this already in place but nothing that comes out and hits you in the face yet.

*The greater threat is intended to be Chuthulu. If we make it to level 20 or beyond I want that to be the final encounter. Win lose or draw I want them to face off against that beast. Otherwise it will the Enclave or Volcanus.

The Group:

Once again this may reveal some updates or developments that spoil certain things in central story being recapped

I will post fuller stat blocks later but here is the group as it stands right now:

Seraphim-Level 13 Witch (Gravewalker) Half-Elf Vampire. Big focus on controlling undead and using hexes to debuff. Has an array of Burning+Bloody Frost Giants and Dragons, along with a toolbox of thrall vampire drow.

Doctor Lovebones “Doc”-Barbarian1/Scarred Witch Doctor5/Eldritch Knight7-Giant Half Dragon (black) Orc. Doc is actually built for buffing, dispelling and smashing things to bits. Has some tension and hostility with Seraphim.

Ares-Level 13 AntiPaladin (Knight of the Sepulchre)-Nagaji Graveknight. Ruinous Rejunivation through Fire. Makes him cold, fire and electricity immune. Has a host of undead minions (mostly Bloody+Burning Giants) started out as a sword and shield front liner.

Azzie Azzborne Dirge Bard10/Agent of the Grave3-Shadow Lord Aasimer. Bit of an archer, bit of a thief, mostly a lunatic who thinks of himself as the Pathfinder version of Ozzie Osborne. His inspire courage affects undead though, and he has a pretty good utility spell list.

Hades-Level 13 Cleric (Undead Lord) Dhampir Lich.
Pluto-Level 13 Cleric (Undead Lord) Dhampir Lich. The clerics are twins. They channel a lot.

Notice a theme for this group? Barring Doc everyone has a substantial pool of undead minions. They have a freaking army at their beck and call. Skeletons aren’t exactly game breakers but when you have a few hundred HD of them and the ability to buff them and a pair of channel happy negative energy clerics in tow they become a swarm.

What I am Looking For:

Basically at this point I need some ideas on what to do with this mess. What challenges would you throw at them?

How would you incorporate the NPC’s in play?

What twists can I throw at this story?

I am sure there are half a dozen things I am forgetting from the onset. Throw me ideas for anything that pops up. If I can figure out a way to incorporate some creative challenges and keep the tension high I feel like the end game for this campaign can be fantastic.

The group has virtually no moral limitations. They are pragmatically evil and enjoy it. They intentionally tried to force an NPC to develop Stockholm Syndrome and celebrated when they succeeded. The witch used Blood Transcription to drain multiple NPC's and gain their spells...BEFORE she turned to a vampire.

They have regularly employed torture, bribery, blackmail, extortion and most importantly cannibalism. Everything they kill is looked at as a food source.

[Fable Wright]

Ideas:

How did the Cleric grow her spiders' size so quickly? It wasn't just miracleGro food. She'd found a way to tap into system the Illithids used to power Volcanus. The spiders grew, quickly. Dangerously. And then they began to hear the calls of the darkness bound. Fortunately(?), those calls were not as strong as they could be, due to the presence of one critical factor: Volcanus's mind was also roaring in the deep. By now, Icy's kids have nearly merged with Volcanus. He has begun to remember their thoughts as a swarm, and he in turn has begun to be able to direct them. Their desires have become his desires, and they have just now become his tools. He remembers the PCs, and he remembers the swarm's fond memories of Icy. He'd rather like to see the party dead. Worse still for the party is the fact that his direct connection with the spiders means he can use some of his abilities through them. Like spellcasting, or a weakened but still terrifying form of his breath, distributed across all of Icy's brood.

Veritas, understandably, is very, very angry at the party. To the point where he's willing to do the unthinkable for a dragon: Part with treasure. As it turns out, Jaze knows quite a bit about the party, and knows quite a bit about security programs. As such, he's able to enable guerrilla tactics like nobody's business. One has learned about and reached out to the other. Together, they're harrying the party. However, if they find out Jaze is behind it, he might be convinced to help the party out instead—he doesn't particularly want the world to end. He's quite comfy here. Veritas, unfortunately, would be rather hard to dissuade from his goal.

[Kaveman26]

How did the Cleric grow her spiders' size so quickly? It wasn't just miracleGro food. She'd found a way to tap into system the Illithids used to power Volcanus. The spiders grew, quickly. Dangerously. And then they began to hear the calls of the darkness bound. Fortunately(?), those calls were not as strong as they could be, due to the presence of one critical factor: Volcanus's mind was also roaring in the deep. By now, Icy's kids have nearly merged with Volcanus. He has begun to remember their thoughts as a swarm, and he in turn has begun to be able to direct them. Their desires have become his desires, and they have just now become his tools. He remembers the PCs, and he remembers the swarm's fond memories of Icy. He'd rather like to see the party dead. Worse still for the party is the fact that his direct connection with the spiders means he can use some of his abilities through them. Like spellcasting, or a weakened but still terrifying form of his breath, distributed across all of Icy's brood.

It would follow that the drow would try to once again "tap" into the source of the Underdark's radiation. So this would function as the matron trying to bring back the good old days and accidentally allowing Volcanus to bridge into the spiders who become drones to his will. I like the idea of having them acquire certain of his attributes. I am thinking of making it so that if one of the spiders is dying they turn fiery and launch a death throes style breath attack. This will also hopefully clue them into the radiation being important enough to track down the devil mentioned in their manuals reclaimed from the library.



Veritas, understandably, is very, very angry at the party. To the point where he's willing to do the unthinkable for a dragon: Part with treasure. As it turns out, Jaze knows quite a bit about the party, and knows quite a bit about security programs. As such, he's able to enable guerrilla tactics like nobody's business. One has learned about and reached out to the other. Together, they're harrying the party. However, if they find out Jaze is behind it, he might be convinced to help the party out instead—he doesn't particularly want the world to end. He's quite comfy here. Veritas, unfortunately, would be rather hard to dissuade from his goal.

A frustrated and wounded Veritas, after trying several times to end the PC's finally grows angry enough to look for another avenue and finds himself in mental communication with Jaze. The mind reader is well aware that his offering has not dissuaded the group from seeking his head, and decides to foster an additional road block to place in their way. Depending on how his orchestrated minion performs he either throws all in the dragon or turns on it and passes himself off as helping the PC's again. That I can definitely work with, and it fits his characterization pretty well.

[Jonagel]

1) Love the journal!

2) Ideas:

A) Remember they've been exposed to the radiation. Perhaps work that into how they learn about Volcanus? Maybe let them find another source of crystals, buff up, but start having visions of Armageddon etc.?

B) Big Twist? I would suspect Jaze is aware of everything, and at some point realize to ensure a cushy, safe, and happy lifestyle, he must stop everyone else -- or at least planeshift out of there. Maybe have him start puppetering the Enclave as they groggily wake up from stasis? He can still ally with Veritas, but maybe have an end goal of firing up the ship and taking over as the Captain to somewhere less terrifying? Inadvertently becoming a near final boss, fighting the security protocols as much as they fight him? Becomes a regular support for the team so he can ensure the other prisoners don't take him down and so the enclave doesn't beat him out in the end. Lots of potential to screw with the party via Jaze.

C) Veritas: He'll have regenerated his limb by time he confronts the team. Perhaps he even knows Volcanus, or at least knows of him. Given how few dragons there were in the world, knowing of legends may be quite common. This could actually lead to more temporary alliances

D) Perhaps the werewolf trio has been taking as many newcomers into their 'clan' as possible. This ends up including people from each camp (including Frost Giant Werewolves (oh god)).

E) How has each camp responded? Amassing an army? Sending an Elite Guard of the highest level people they can muster? Abandoning an entrance entirely (after the Veritas incident)?

F) In the research wing, you could have rooms dedicated to the affects of the planes. Pocket dimensions where they could experiment on life forms in Positive/negative energy planes, plane of fire, etc. Potential chaos to play with a negative or positive energy demi plane for sure.

G) A few challenges for them could by a Jyoti (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/additionalMonsters/jyoti.html) and Umbral Dragon (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/dragons/dragon/-primal-umbral). Perhaps the Jyoti is an experiment getting free from stasis in a positive energy experiment room, and the Umbral Dragon is the same from a Shadow Plane experiment room. Maybe a special creature in planar rooms?

H) Have Jaze give them the overrides for the Prison Block, enticing them to access this place with less concern. He even tells them how to beat the Prison Guards/more about the controls in the Prison Block (lying some I suspect), all so he can go from the prison block straight to the control center before the Illithid wake up?

I) What ever happened to the evil cleric who worshipped the chaos god (I presume cthullu)? Did he end up surviving? Finding something special? Consuming tons of radiation, or perhaps getting more of his cult in the dungeon?

[Fable Wright]

It would follow that the drow would try to once again "tap" into the source of the Underdark's radiation. So this would function as the matron trying to bring back the good old days and accidentally allowing Volcanus to bridge into the spiders who become drones to his will. I like the idea of having them acquire certain of his attributes. I am thinking of making it so that if one of the spiders is dying they turn fiery and launch a death throes style breath attack. This will also hopefully clue them into the radiation being important enough to track down the devil mentioned in their manuals reclaimed from the library.

The fiery suicide bombing is both a classic and effective at conveying the point. Just make sure that they can turn it off so they don't accidentally destroy their brethren if one of them in a pack gets sniped off.

Or say that they have red and gold scales beginning to grow on their legs, and slip in a bit of immunity to fire on them. That one, the party won't see coming.

Also, consider the potential that the swarm is helping power Volcanus in a direct way—say, whenever one spider turns fiery, the rest gain a damaging cold aura as they gather heat from the surrounding environment. The more spiders, the more space the cold aura takes up, and the more damage the fire breath can deal. Whenever Volcanus begins charging his breath weapon, the aura becomes massive and extremely damaging, but serves as an early warning system that Volcanus is about to do something big.

Further idea: Russ has teamed up with Domina. Gup, after his misadventures with the Undead Cavalry, has started to take after Seraphim, and has gained four levels in Gravewalker Witch under the direction and training of Domina. He's now capable of launching Sneak Attacks from unseen, fortified positions without even an arrow to give away his position with his Spell Poppet, and more critically, he's making (and probably succeeding in) an attempt to steal one of Seraphim's Vampire Spawn, and has fairly good odds between Bone Thrall and Command Undead. He gets the spawn to spill everything it knows about the Cavalry, before killing it to cover up their tracks. They launch a campaign to whittle down or steal all of the Undead Cavalry's horde that they can... but in actuality, this is just Domina's feint, meant to distract the party while she sends summons or other minions (or maybe Gup) to steal the Cavalry's books. She sees great value in being able to craft anti-Cavalry gear, after all, and she wouldn't particularly mind becoming a Shadow Lord, either. (Greater) Shadow Conjuration just means more summons in a day, after all, and being able to retreat off the material plane in a pinch seems very nice.

[Kaveman26]

I) What ever happened to the evil cleric who worshipped the chaos god (I presume cthullu)? Did he end up surviving? Finding something special? Consuming tons of radiation, or perhaps getting more of his cult in the dungeon?

micko the evil cleric

He lost the Minotaur tribe to the drow and eventually got himself captured by veritas who ended up killing him

[GungHo]

Let them "win". Give them everything they ever asked for, up to their own kingdom or even nascent godhood. And make sure the result ends up with them absolutely miserable... like King Conan, brooding on the throne, old and alone, unable to do anything but relay their adventures because with all that newfound power comes the hell of being a responsible adult.

[Ajmes]

I really like the idea of the outside camp sending in high level adventurers. Include a Cleric, Paladin, a Wizard, Sorcerer, Druid, 2 Rogues, a Warlock, and a Fighter or Barbarian. Have them be loosely organized and not necessarily a pre-established party so there are opportunities to dissent. The Rogues could attempt to assassinate one of the UC from the shadows making for a unique play, or they could get greedy and be sidetracked by the chance for treasure within. The Warlock gives another way for the UC to try to turn the tides socially on this group, possibly gaining a temporary ally in the process, as well as causing some interesting group dynamics with the Cleric and Paladin. Make all these adventurers 2-3 levels higher than the UC to account for their CR adjustment templates and the Undead Army. All these factors will give the UC plenty of fun scenarios to interact with, and options to deal with this group besides just straight up combat, like social deception and the-like as they have been doing often up until this point.

You could have a sort of Mini-Abyss deep in the underdark, with all sorts of warped demon creatures, maybe take some nasty demons and aberrant creatures and fuse them together for fun. Make a bunch of them, but instead of being an organized force, it would just create a kind of 'natural hazard' before getting to the source of the radiation. Lots of individually powerful creatures struggling to survive against each other, but also attacking anything that enters the area without any ability to be reasoned with.

Speaking of Beholders, lore wise in dnd they have been considered rivals to Illithid in many ways, but less organized and supremely arrogant. Perhaps the radiation in the underdark has enhanced them psionically and made them even larger than normal(perhaps a giant template and psionic powers?), have them be a small'ish elite force that is working together to wrest control of the ark from the illithid, but naturally they won't willingly work with other creatures other than their own kind, as all beings are beneath them. It is mentioned that all beholders think they are the epitome of creation, and the best among beholder kind, perhaps their psionic connection has given them a hive mind, and so they all regard one another as themselves, and that is why they are actually willing to work together so well.

Regarding the Illithid, what happened to their elder brain? It sounds like for the enclave to have become as powerful as they have, they must not have been under the rule of an elder brain. What happened to it? They are supposedly god-like in power, perhaps that could make for some awesome ninja-turtles'esque 'Krang' type threat like a giant brain in a huge mechanical contruct, walking around dominating creatures and seeking to bring the illithid back under its control so it can continue to consume their brains over the ages and continue its own advancement? Or perhaps it is drawn to the psionic energy in the crystals and wishes to incorporate them into its golem-suit to augment its psionic powers?

What about Alhoon? Surely some of the Illithid have been born with the ability to use magic, and once outcast saw all these sources of power at its disposal(psionic crystals, underdark 'radiation', etc.) That would surely prove to be an interesting dynamic in this war. Would they hate the Illithid so much they would seek allies to turn on them for their banishment, or would they still harbor some kind of sentiment towards their kin enough that while they may hate them, they wouldn't actively seek their destruction? Perhaps they would try to help their kin from the shadows while knowing they still could never return to them. Or maybe they are just detached from them entirely and purely seek their own glory and power like most liches seem to do.

The PCs are evil, so what about divine intervention? When they get high enough level, what about a pair of Devas, or a Solar, sent from the astral plane to combat the dark energy in this realm. Surely powerful good-aligned entities notice the terrible forces at work here in some form, what with planar energy leaking and strange 'radiation', etc. It seems your concept of Cthulu as a 'big bad' is very similar to the concept of Tharazdun, whom all the other Gods locked away early in the dawn of creation. They must be aware that those seals are leaking. It only seems sensible that some kind of angelic scouting party or 'navy-seals team of heaven' would be sent to do something, or at least appraise the situation.

Aboleth are awesome higher level creatures, and are definitely organized. Perhaps they are the servants of Cthulu, seeking to pave the way for his release into the world? Could have a lower cavern that is extremely large to the point of being the size of a small city(underwater oceans and aquifers are known in the real world even), with thin'ish stone paths randomly streaking through the area. This presents an interesting tactical encounter, since it is a large environment that can't be quickly traversed, there are deep pools of water filled with powerful mind-controlling creatures all around, and the paths are too thin to easily march a giant army of undead through except single or double file. Perhaps this is the last area before the place where Cthulu is sealed away? Or if he is not sealed in this reality, perhaps there is some kind of magical anchor there that serves as his extra-planar prison? This could also be the end to the previously mentioned 'mini-abyss' above, where it is a demonic no-man's-land. You could also have small water filled tubes throughout several places where an aboleth could pop in and make a dominate creature attempt on something, or one of the UC even, to extend their reach and influence. In the stone pathways and such you could include Ropers which are always fun too. Even if they don't directly kill anything, they could grapple a powerful undead servant or vampiric thrall and temporarily remove them from the fight. Plus they're appropriately Cthulu'ish as well, just like the Aboleth.

What if the Illithid foresaw the possibility of losing control of their security system, and had a backup plan? Perhaps 1 or more(depending on size) Adamantine Golems. With their insanely high DR and Magic Resist, they present a great challenge even to swarms of undead, they can't be controlled, and they don't make the UC stronger after being destroyed because they can't be raised. It also makes sense thematically for the most part with the whole illithid ark security aspect.

You already included Frost Giants as a force from the world above. What about Fomorians, they would make for a very interesting new race to add into the mix, and they're native to the underdark. Certainly in numbers they would pose a challenge much like the Frost Giants, but with some cool abilities to mix it up(evil eye, etc.).

You have the Dwarf-Lupines, what about Orogs? They're also common to the underdark. Perhaps not the coolest of ideas compared to the other stuff, but it adds some variety. Gives an option for a force like the Drow battle, which IMO was the most interesting so far because it provided a mix of strong and weak enemies, with different forms of attacks, which made that battle tactically very interesting, and definitely enjoyable to read about(and presumably fun for the PCs).

As someone already had mentioned above I think(shadow dragons), what about Deep Dragons? Really cool creature that doesn't often get a chance to be used in dnd campaigns. Plus, the coolest thing here would be that its major weakness(sunlight), is also the same weakness as Seraphim, so that would provide an interesting dilemma perhaps? Since you seem to be applying templates to lots of things, or combining various races(like the Ice/Spider Dragon), what about a Shadow/Deep Dragon? Perhaps make them a mated pair to provide more unity and less susceptibility to trickery and infighting? Besides, psychotropic breath weapon sounds like a TON of fun. Dazed or Dominated(depending on age) + Psychic Damage? No resistances to that! And/Or you could for fun make it actually hallucinatory mechanically(illusions?) or just flavor wise, to make those struck be like they're stuck in an acid trip, which considering the nature of Azzie's character, would be a TON of fun, and probably result in a lot of laughs. Hell, if this killed Azzie I could even see him/player say 'it's the way he always hoped/imagined he'd go'. lol

What about some empowered ancient creations of Juiblex, like before he took away the sentience of Oozes. They can't be turned, and are very different than other creatures thus far mentioned. Plus again, the many methods of creatures becoming more powerful such as latent psionic energy and 'underdark radiation' provide ways for you to create some large, powerful, and sentient oozes. You could increase the HD of them to a respectable point in terms of challenge for the UC, and then do something fun like combine every Ooze special ability you can think of(black pudding split!), and perhaps some other goodies like psionics? Sounds reaaaally fun IMO.

Kuo-Toa also live in the Underdark, same with Duergar(although they're more boring because you already have dwarves). Fish men could be another fun race to play with though. You could even buff them up some and have them act as servants of Cthulu also since Aboleths can't walk around freely. It fits the Cthulu mythos as well, since he was served by the Deep Ones, which were essentially giant fish-men from the deep oceans. The aquatic theme also gives you some other options to play with too, like giant mutant crab beasts, and such. Also, if you haven't seen the movie 'Deep Rising', I suggest you look up some info on it, or watch it if you have time, because that could prove to be a really fun addition, or even give you ideas for the manifestation of Cthulu. See below.
*Movie Spoilers*Throughout the movie, the inhabitants of massive derelict cruise ship(ala Titanic), are attacked by these horrific serpent creatures that are the size of titano boas, with mouths like 'the predator' snaking through vents and passageways on the ship, at one point they 'kill' one and a previously eaten guy drops out being digested with acid, his skin all melting off and crawling slowly towards people in shock before dying. (Swallow Whole ability- ala purple worm?) These things are EXTREMELY fast, and there seem to be tons of them. Turns out at the end of the movie, there is a thing that looks like a collossal octopus beast the size of a football field with a toothy maw and TONS of tentacles(which are the serpent creatures) in the middle of a giant central hall in the middle of the ship(a space as big as like 3 or 4 football fields), with regenerating tentacles. So if you decide to have a physical representation of Cthulu, once he gets released, as they get closer you could have them get attacked with hit and run tactics of those horrible serpents eating their undead. If anyone gets swallowed they'd have to cut one open within a certain amount of time or lose a member to the beast.
As an addendum to the Cthulu concept. Consider not making Cthulu be an actual boss to fight. I read an article recently saying that much of the fear, fun, and flavor is lost when this is done, since part of the allure and horror of Cthulu is lost when it is depicted as something that can be killed. Perhaps make it into some sort of skill challenge type thing, where the goal is to banish cthulu, or put him back to sleep for a few more eons, or harness some cosmic weapon that destroys him, rather than a bunch of mortals. Another added benefit to this is that all the OP'ness of the UC isn't going to help them too much, since it's not a fight you can throw an army at, but more of something that requires them to think, and then use their might to accomplish SOME of the tasks involved, such as heavily guarded goals and such. Perhaps the ark itself is a giant weapon that can de-power gods themselves and use their power against them, or weaken them to the point where they are actually able to be killed.

Pretty sure I'm tapped out of ideas now, at least for the time being. Surely some or all of this would be fun, appropriate, challenging, and not too difficult to implement. Let me know what you think, I can help with development of any of these ideas if you like them. I personally love the 'Deep Rising' creature concept, I'm going to include that in my own campaign, since I first thought of it as a possibility with 4E DnD's Dark Sun setting had a massive beast with regenerating tentacle arms in the 'Great Silt Sea'. I love the idea of monsters with separate pieces to kill, it just seems really fun to me, and is definitely a whole new kind of encounter. The addition of Swallow Whole is just icing on the cake. =D

PS: Just wanted to mention that this campaign is extremely interesting and fun to read about. I always find myself looking forward to your posts. Not only are your players clever and mature, but your DM'ing seems spot on, and manages to incorporate things that are a bit zany and unique without seeming cheap, trashy, or too random. Too often do you read about amateur DMs online who just throw 20 concepts together for everything and it just seems like a little kid glueing as much together as they can. (Like Icey Fire Dragon Elves! XD). Your concepts are well thought out and have a lot of depth, and your continuity is well crafted. I like your style of DM'ing too, I myself always struggled as a player with DMs who were overly strict and confining. I always preferred to be able to become powerful but to have the challenge of the game rise to meet it, enjoying the depth of flavor that comes with it. Never was a power gamer, and often handicapped myself intentionally(since I'm good at optimization and clever), and hitting additional walls always angered me. Mainly because, if I want to play a fun concept the way I want to, I was typically not allowed, yet something I didn't want to do, that I knew how to do, and was being allowed by the DM, I could have broken the game with easily(but didn't do). So it seemed kind of petty to handicap my wishes, yet if I was petty and spiteful could have easily done something FAR worse. Anyway, eventually I settled on trying to DM instead, and am currently making my own pnp rpg for fun(and hopefully profit), and would love to collaborate with you or others sometime to help each other with ideas such as you're doing here(which I think was a great idea on your part).


PPS: What about something with a horror feel to it, with high DR and SR and ability to grapple, that could grab one of the UC and attempt to drag them away to feed, similar to the way the Bebilith was acting against the goblins in the fight against the drow?

Also, what about the Daelkyr as Cthulu servants too? I know they're Eberron specific, but something similar to them is another option as well.

[Kaveman26]

I really like the idea of the outside camp sending in high level adventurers. Include a Cleric, Paladin, a Wizard, Sorcerer, Druid, 2 Rogues, a Warlock, and a Fighter or Barbarian. Have them be loosely organized and not necessarily a pre-established party so there are opportunities to dissent. The Rogues could attempt to assassinate one of the UC from the shadows making for a unique play, or they could get greedy and be sidetracked by the chance for treasure within. The Warlock gives another way for the UC to try to turn the tides socially on this group, possibly gaining a temporary ally in the process, as well as causing some interesting group dynamics with the Cleric and Paladin. Make all these adventurers 2-3 levels higher than the UC to account for their CR adjustment templates and the Undead Army. All these factors will give the UC plenty of fun scenarios to interact with, and options to deal with this group besides just straight up combat, like social deception and the-like as they have been doing often up until this point.

I had sketched out a higher level party from one of the other entrances coming into the mega-dungeon. More of a Thay inspired group, higher level casters and assassins that caught wind of the group's ability to create items.


You could have a sort of Mini-Abyss deep in the underdark, with all sorts of warped demon creatures, maybe take some nasty demons and aberrant creatures and fuse them together for fun. Make a bunch of them, but instead of being an organized force, it would just create a kind of 'natural hazard' before getting to the source of the radiation. Lots of individually powerful creatures struggling to survive against each other, but also attacking anything that enters the area without any ability to be reasoned with.

I could slot this into a section between that runs between the central control room and the entrance to where the engines for the ship are housed. Make it a sort of natural hazard as you said. Would have added benefit of making trips in and out of the control room much more of an investment.


Speaking of Beholders, lore wise in dnd they have been considered rivals to Illithid in many ways, but less organized and supremely arrogant. Perhaps the radiation in the underdark has enhanced them psionically and made them even larger than normal(perhaps a giant template and psionic powers?), have them be a small'ish elite force that is working together to wrest control of the ark from the illithid, but naturally they won't willingly work with other creatures other than their own kind, as all beings are beneath them. It is mentioned that all beholders think they are the epitome of creation, and the best among beholder kind, perhaps their psionic connection has given them a hive mind, and so they all regard one another as themselves, and that is why they are actually willing to work together so well.

I am definitely going to work this in. Love the idea of hive mind beholders. I also like adding giant template. I have a single half-dragon Frankenstein's monster type beholder that is acting as a natural hazard or sudden trap right now. It basically acts as a street sweeper and security drone. Could have the hive mind of elites be the alpha's it was created from and have them with added resentment of being experimented on.


Regarding the Illithid, what happened to their elder brain? It sounds like for the enclave to have become as powerful as they have, they must not have been under the rule of an elder brain. What happened to it? They are supposedly god-like in power, perhaps that could make for some awesome ninja-turtles'esque 'Krang' type threat like a giant brain in a huge mechanical contruct, walking around dominating creatures and seeking to bring the illithid back under its control so it can continue to consume their brains over the ages and continue its own advancement? Or perhaps it is drawn to the psionic energy in the crystals and wishes to incorporate them into its golem-suit to augment its psionic powers?

These were acting under their own accord.



The PCs are evil, so what about divine intervention? When they get high enough level, what about a pair of Devas, or a Solar, sent from the astral plane to combat the dark energy in this realm. Surely powerful good-aligned entities notice the terrible forces at work here in some form, what with planar energy leaking and strange 'radiation', etc. It seems your concept of Cthulu as a 'big bad' is very similar to the concept of Tharazdun, whom all the other Gods locked away early in the dawn of creation. They must be aware that those seals are leaking. It only seems sensible that some kind of angelic scouting party or 'navy-seals team of heaven' would be sent to do something, or at least appraise the situation.

I like this one a lot too. This would definitely a be a great "last chance" type encounter. I can picture them on the verge of unsealing the Chutulu prison, or on the verge of enabled Volcanus and have Solar Team Six arrive to try and veer them away.


Aboleth are awesome higher level creatures, and are definitely organized. Perhaps they are the servants of Cthulu, seeking to pave the way for his release into the world? Could have a lower cavern that is extremely large to the point of being the size of a small city(underwater oceans and aquifers are known in the real world even), with thin'ish stone paths randomly streaking through the area. This presents an interesting tactical encounter, since it is a large environment that can't be quickly traversed, there are deep pools of water filled with powerful mind-controlling creatures all around, and the paths are too thin to easily march a giant army of undead through except single or double file. Perhaps this is the last area before the place where Cthulu is sealed away? Or if he is not sealed in this reality, perhaps there is some kind of magical anchor there that serves as his extra-planar prison? This could also be the end to the previously mentioned 'mini-abyss' above, where it is a demonic no-man's-land. You could also have small water filled tubes throughout several places where an aboleth could pop in and make a dominate creature attempt on something, or one of the UC even, to extend their reach and influence. In the stone pathways and such you could include Ropers which are always fun too. Even if they don't directly kill anything, they could grapple a powerful undead servant or vampiric thrall and temporarily remove them from the fight. Plus they're appropriately Cthulu'ish as well, just like the Aboleth.

I had some Aboleth included at one point. I steered away from them only because we did a campaign where an Aboleth was a big bad and I didn't want to feel too repetitive in using the same tactics.



What if the Illithid foresaw the possibility of losing control of their security system, and had a backup plan? Perhaps 1 or more(depending on size) Adamantine Golems. With their insanely high DR and Magic Resist, they present a great challenge even to swarms of undead, they can't be controlled, and they don't make the UC stronger after being destroyed because they can't be raised. It also makes sense thematically for the most part with the whole illithid ark security aspect.

These I have planned for. Inside the control room is golem central. I also added the twist of including crystalline golems that have the same stats as Iron Golems but each is affected by a different aspect of prismatic spell array. the whole room will be crystal and a prismatic sphere will be mounted like a disco ball at the center. I am theming it as a means of providing full displacement effect based on the light reflecting in so many odd ways. Adamantine Golems were going to be the last bodyguard for the central control panel.





As someone already had mentioned above I think(shadow dragons), what about Deep Dragons? Really cool creature that doesn't often get a chance to be used in dnd campaigns. Plus, the coolest thing here would be that its major weakness(sunlight), is also the same weakness as Seraphim, so that would provide an interesting dilemma perhaps? Since you seem to be applying templates to lots of things, or combining various races(like the Ice/Spider Dragon), what about a Shadow/Deep Dragon? Perhaps make them a mated pair to provide more unity and less susceptibility to trickery and infighting? Besides, psychotropic breath weapon sounds like a TON of fun. Dazed or Dominated(depending on age) + Psychic Damage? No resistances to that! And/Or you could for fun make it actually hallucinatory mechanically(illusions?) or just flavor wise, to make those struck be like they're stuck in an acid trip, which considering the nature of Azzie's character, would be a TON of fun, and probably result in a lot of laughs. Hell, if this killed Azzie I could even see him/player say 'it's the way he always hoped/imagined he'd go'. lol

I will have to look more into these. I am all about crossing and adding templates.







As an addendum to the Cthulu concept. Consider not making Cthulu be an actual boss to fight. I read an article recently saying that much of the fear, fun, and flavor is lost when this is done, since part of the allure and horror of Cthulu is lost when it is depicted as something that can be killed. Perhaps make it into some sort of skill challenge type thing, where the goal is to banish cthulu, or put him back to sleep for a few more eons, or harness some cosmic weapon that destroys him, rather than a bunch of mortals. Another added benefit to this is that all the OP'ness of the UC isn't going to help them too much, since it's not a fight you can throw an army at, but more of something that requires them to think, and then use their might to accomplish SOME of the tasks involved, such as heavily guarded goals and such. Perhaps the ark itself is a giant weapon that can de-power gods themselves and use their power against them, or weaken them to the point where they are actually able to be killed.

I hear you here. If it has stats it can be killed. If you kill it, you take away some of the sheer horror of what it portrays.



PS: Just wanted to mention that this campaign is extremely interesting and fun to read about. I always find myself looking forward to your posts. Not only are your players clever and mature, but your DM'ing seems spot on, and manages to incorporate things that are a bit zany and unique without seeming cheap, trashy, or too random. Too often do you read about amateur DMs online who just throw 20 concepts together for everything and it just seems like a little kid glueing as much together as they can. (Like Icey Fire Dragon Elves! XD). Your concepts are well thought out and have a lot of depth, and your continuity is well crafted. I like your style of DM'ing too, I myself always struggled as a player with DMs who were overly strict and confining. I always preferred to be able to become powerful but to have the challenge of the game rise to meet it, enjoying the depth of flavor that comes with it. Never was a power gamer, and often handicapped myself intentionally(since I'm good at optimization and clever), and hitting additional walls always angered me. Mainly because, if I want to play a fun concept the way I want to, I was typically not allowed, yet something I didn't want to do, that I knew how to do, and was being allowed by the DM, I could have broken the game with easily(but didn't do). So it seemed kind of petty to handicap my wishes, yet if I was petty and spiteful could have easily done something FAR worse. Anyway, eventually I settled on trying to DM instead, and am currently making my own pnp rpg for fun(and hopefully profit), and would love to collaborate with you or others sometime to help each other with ideas such as you're doing here(which I think was a great idea on your part).

I love being able to throw my two cents in and get some ideas back. Have thought about assembling material to publish several times too.

[Radar]

This devil that manipulated Enclave can provide some interesting twists. It all depends on his own endgame. He either wants the world destroyed for some reason or just get rich with souls from endangering it a bit. If the former, then this pretty much calls for a last minute complication from him. If the latter, then he will obviously balance between bringing the world to an end and helping those trying to save it for a steep enough price. There might also be a plan to harness the semi-awakened greater evil for unlimited power (the way Xykon wants to use the gates).

One aspect You might want to think about is this: the devil most likely predates Enclave as he clearly knows much more then them and was able to manipulate them. This might imply he has access to at least some types of forbidden magic - teleportation, calling spells or maybe even Gate? The unlimited power could be perhaps used to create a permanent connection between Material Plane and the devil's home plane. Why bother tempting people, when you could forcefuly harvest them instead?

[Jonagel]

Things the party could also find:

1) The power source to the ship
2) Storage units containing the psionic crystals
3) Personal living quarters of the illithids. Though not necessarily amazing, I am sure some may have journals on an assortment of topics, or personal magical/psionic items.
4) An intercom system? Or perhaps it's more of a projection system? Some way in which you could communicate throughout the ship not based on their individual psionic power. That said, certain rooms or sections which psionic communications don't work, or in which psionic power doesn't work at all -- kind of like walls made of certain material to kill cell phone reception.
5) An experimental room/item that was meant to remove the psionic prowess from a living creature. Terrifying to the illithid, but necessary in the eyes of those who saw the corruption from the crystals in Volanus.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

As an addendum to the Cthulu concept. Consider not making Cthulu be an actual boss to fight. I read an article recently saying that much of the fear, fun, and flavor is lost when this is done, since part of the allure and horror of Cthulu is lost when it is depicted as something that can be killed. Perhaps make it into some sort of skill challenge type thing, where the goal is to banish cthulu, or put him back to sleep for a few more eons, or harness some cosmic weapon that destroys him, rather than a bunch of mortals.

Normally I would agree, but... This is the final fight. These are evil level 20's or more (by that time) who back down for nothing and have sold their soul at every step of the way for more power. As Pacific Rim put it: There are things you can't fight, acts of God. You see a hurricane coming, you have to get out of the way. But when you're in a Jaeger/a team of epic characters, suddenly, you can fight the hurricane. And you can win.

As a big finish it can be really satisfying to beat something, and to beat something you never thought could be beaten. To effectively destroy the game world itself under the power of your heels.

What I don't know is if Cthulhu is the right choice for being this thing. No offense to the guy, but your game world seems almost too original to fall back on such a big name. Whichever way you go, do start giving hints soon. Find a way to let them find out something's wrong and there is a greater evil.

If you want to make sure they have this bossfight you might also want to start putting characters (existing ones preferably, you have plenty) on your reserve bank. If the players manage to corner Volcanus and it looks like they will kill him, maybe Russ the werewolf commander has been hired by him to help deal with the players. He'd gladly do it with the personal grudge he has. Or maybe someone else is looking to free Cthulhu, or looking to prevent him being free'd but going about it wrong. The hard thing is having backup plans without making it look like railroading. "O yeah, we stop the guy and now suddenly there's another person doing the same thing. Right..."

[DireSickFish]

I'd flip the script on Volcanus. Sure he's powerful enough to destroy the world, and is totally willing to do so. But make h/she doing it for the greater good. They aren't "destroying" the world so much as "purging" the world. The Illathids had very good reasons to equate the two, as there alien torture and experimentation made them the thing Volcanus needed to purge from the world.

The easiest way to give them the hint that the destroyer is really a destroyer of evil is to find a vault of Volcanus writing that is pre-Illithid of people that worshiped it. It's the divine purifier and they're glad to have him around because he's stopped the Dragons from ruling over the masses. Or he's the one who burned demons/devils from the world and they had to flee to another plane just to survive.

That being said you can have the weardwarves find this out as well and be trying to break Volcanus out to end this madness int he dungeon and world.

Perhaps Veritas is willing to take his chances fleeing from Volcanus has he has done successfully before(or his ancestor did and he knows the trick) and is willing to risk death knowing he can probably get out and the PC's will probably end up dead and gone.

[Ajmes]

Normally I would agree, but... This is the final fight. These are evil level 20's or more (by that time) who back down for nothing and have sold their soul at every step of the way for more power. As Pacific Rim put it: There are things you can't fight, acts of God. You see a hurricane coming, you have to get out of the way. But when you're in a Jaeger/a team of epic characters, suddenly, you can fight the hurricane. And you can win.

As a big finish it can be really satisfying to beat something, and to beat something you never thought could be beaten. To effectively destroy the game world itself under the power of your heels.

What I don't know is if Cthulhu is the right choice for being this thing. No offense to the guy, but your game world seems almost too original to fall back on such a big name. Whichever way you go, do start giving hints soon. Find a way to let them find out something's wrong and there is a greater evil.

If you want to make sure they have this bossfight you might also want to start putting characters (existing ones preferably, you have plenty) on your reserve bank. If the players manage to corner Volcanus and it looks like they will kill him, maybe Russ the werewolf commander has been hired by him to help deal with the players. He'd gladly do it with the personal grudge he has. Or maybe someone else is looking to free Cthulhu, or looking to prevent him being free'd but going about it wrong. The hard thing is having backup plans without making it look like railroading. "O yeah, we stop the guy and now suddenly there's another person doing the same thing. Right..."

That's the point though, beating something that you never thought could be beaten cheapens it. There is no sensible or fantastical reason why someone could kill a god, let alone a god so powerful that multiple ancient and powerful gods couldn't kill it, but could only banish it. Even if every member of the party was themselves a god, it still wouldn't make any sense. It would be really boring and lack any sense of accomplishment. This is one of those things where people think they want something, and then when they get it, they find themselves feeling nothing but apathy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DyRxlvM9VM (Watch to understand; Only 5 Minutes)

Think about the logistics of this. What would you use to hurt it? A bunch of mortals punching it(undead)do ants hurt you when they walk on you? Ok, so next. The powers of the elements, does a mountain get injured by a lightning bolt? Can a knife realistically cut through a skyscraper? These are the types of things you're describing happening. Let's even assume that each character is a combat-god-barbarian, with a relic greatsword, how are you going to injure something that is colossal in size with that? You'd have to stand on its head and bore down into its skull with it to even have a chance at doing any kind of meaningful damage, and even then, it would be like a tiny action-figure sized person trying to use a scalpel on your head while you refuse to rip them off with one hand and throw them 50 feet into a fall. And even that assumes normal physiology, to the point of a head injury actually being lethal, which also doesn't make sense since it's supposed to be an unfathomable monstrosity from beyond our reality. That's like saying an Ooze is subject to critical hits and sneak attack damage(which it isn't), because it has no real definable physiology. Unless you have a relic that instead of using its physical mass, can project an enormously powerful energy slice capable of cutting a mountain in half with 1 strike, while also damaging something's soul itself, and can affect not only incorporeal entities, but also acts as some kind of planar gateway affecting multiple realms at the same time in overlapping space, and counts as Divine Intervention and a Wish spell simultaneously.... but that's just stupid, and would essentially mean as soon as you swung it, it would kill anything instantly, and likely end the world or existence entirely. Besides, if such a weapon existed, why was it never used already? Why isn't the abomination destroyed already? Or more importantly even, humoring such a stupid concept, who made such a weapon? Technically in dnd terms you have to be so much higher level than you'd think to really make +5 Items, let alone relics, let alone a relic that combines that many obscenely powerful, stat-surpassing effects. Would have to be like 'level' 100. If such a thing exists, then it is likely to be The One true Overgod, in which case why doesn't it just rewrite existence to remove such a horror? Or rather, if it can't stop this thing, then why in the hell can players have any chance to do so if the very thing that made reality can't? This all sounds like the type of thing people who play video games with all the cheat codes on would claim to 'enjoy', what sense of accomplishment is really left after that? Telling ya, everyone is going to end up with 'post-orgasmic disgust' with the whole thing, or at least boredom. Not only that, but if you do such a thing, you'll likely ruin DnD for your players for future campaigns. If the most unimaginably powerful thing anyone can think of is 'beaten' then what is left for future campaigns? Everyone will always be thinking, 'well, there's no way we can top that'.

Oh, and apparently it was given stats.... I immensely dislike this concept though, because it loses all appeal.
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/aberrations/great-old-ones/great-old-one-cthulhu

He's weaker than an Elder Titan, extremely disappointing. Of course, you could make him stronger, but he's either going to be impossible to beat, or too wimpy to do him justice. Really though, giving him stats in the first place is just simply a mistake. Stopping him from being able to cross over into our world is still pretty cool though, and is a lot more fitting to the mythos.
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/monsters/titanElder.htm


Since the PCs are evil, perhaps a more realistic suggestion for an end might be for the PCs to challenge a Good deity, and if they succeed in killing it, they absorb its power and become their own versions of various evil gods with their own unique portfolios. This wouldn't ruin future concepts for games, and would enhance the enjoyment of your players by allowing them to retire surviving characters to be incorporated into future settings. Imagine playing a later campaign and worshiping a deity who was a former player character of yours, or a friend? Or villains in a later game to serve your former character? Something similar to this happened in The Forgotten Realms setting with Jergal and 'The Dead Three', who gave up his portfolios to Bhaal, Myrkul, and Cyric, who were mortal adventurers who then became gods, and later ended up pulling off all sorts of machinations to become more powerful.

[meschlum]

If you really want to do stuff to a planet, it's worth remembering that the plane of Positive Energy has been called the heart of a star. So instead of having a silly fire based breath weapon, why not a massive dose of Positive Energy? Or negative (or both), since there are opposites involved. At first blush, it's great. Lots of extra hit points (for living things), and then... Good against undead too, which appear to be a fair fraction of the problem 'species' observed at first.

One way to make this interesting would be to do it to a lesser degree, but in areas. A zone of positive energy, healing those inside and granting stacking temporary hit points, as well as damaging undead. A zone of negative energy, operating the reverse way. In either case, get too many temporary hit points, and boom. Add a burst of the relevant energy when you go, and chain reactions become possible - making minions a liability rather than an advantage.


I am rather fond of the Nightmare Creature template. Mix it in with something that can affect undead (metamagic, special abilities, whatever), and you're doing massive Charisma damage each time your foes try to rest, possibly even taking them over via Domination. And you're pretty hard to kill (regeneration bypassed by silver) and terrifying with illusion magic. Jaze might have fun with this.

Speaking of illusions, the ship should have sampling technology: grab someone from a group, seamlessly introduce a duplicate, and observe their interactions up close. With no flight and teleporting, you do it via illusions and trapdoors, making it seem that nothing has happened. And maybe it hasn't - all the infiltrator pods might not have survived stasis, after all. You seem to have players who would go along with being temporarily replaced (and then returned) and take to playing themselves in almost character. It's a bit too easy for endgame, but forcing them to keep truesight up all the time has its benefits. Including medusas hidden behind illusory walls.

[Ajmes]

If you really want to do stuff to a planet, it's worth remembering that the plane of Positive Energy has been called the heart of a star. So instead of having a silly fire based breath weapon, why not a massive dose of Positive Energy? Or negative (or both), since there are opposites involved. At first blush, it's great. Lots of extra hit points (for living things), and then... Good against undead too, which appear to be a fair fraction of the problem 'species' observed at first.

One way to make this interesting would be to do it to a lesser degree, but in areas. A zone of positive energy, healing those inside and granting stacking temporary hit points, as well as damaging undead. A zone of negative energy, operating the reverse way. In either case, get too many temporary hit points, and boom. Add a burst of the relevant energy when you go, and chain reactions become possible - making minions a liability rather than an advantage.


I am rather fond of the Nightmare Creature template. Mix it in with something that can affect undead (metamagic, special abilities, whatever), and you're doing massive Charisma damage each time your foes try to rest, possibly even taking them over via Domination. And you're pretty hard to kill (regeneration bypassed by silver) and terrifying with illusion magic. Jaze might have fun with this.

Speaking of illusions, the ship should have sampling technology: grab someone from a group, seamlessly introduce a duplicate, and observe their interactions up close. With no flight and teleporting, you do it via illusions and trapdoors, making it seem that nothing has happened. And maybe it hasn't - all the infiltrator pods might not have survived stasis, after all. You seem to have players who would go along with being temporarily replaced (and then returned) and take to playing themselves in almost character. It's a bit too easy for endgame, but forcing them to keep truesight up all the time has its benefits. Including medusas hidden behind illusory walls.

Cool Ideas. I plan on running a game with a similar concept to the (replaced with something else) theme. I love horror, so I've always wanted to include a creature like John Carpenter's 'The Thing' in a game. Doppelgangers are pretty cool too, and are not only also creepy, but make me laugh because I think of Sealab 2021. XD "Tell it to Queen Doppelpopolis Doppelganger!"

The positive energy temp hp exploding chain reaction concept is really neat. I'm aware of the part from the positive energy plane, but the exploding chain reaction part reminds me of the FallOut New Vegas Perk(forget the name) or Sand King's 'Toxic Finale' from Dota 2.

[meschlum]

Cool Ideas. I plan on running a game with a similar concept to the (replaced with something else) theme. I love horror, so I've always wanted to include a creature like John Carpenter's 'The Thing' in a game. Doppelgangers are pretty cool too, and are not only also creepy, but make me laugh because I think of Sealab 2021. XD "Tell it to Queen Doppelpopolis Doppelganger!"

The positive energy temp hp exploding chain reaction concept is really neat. I'm aware of the part from the positive energy plane, but the exploding chain reaction part reminds me of the FallOut New Vegas Perk(forget the name) or Sand King's 'Toxic Finale' from Dota 2.

You should probably go read Peter Watts' The Things (http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/watts_01_10/) (free on the web by author decision, buy his stuff anyway) if you haven't already.

Then come back and introduce the party to their evil(er) alternate: a group of Consuming Creatures (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/templates/consuming-creature-cr-varies) that have gone through the exhibits as well. Enough successful Bites (or Engulfs - fun with Gelatinous Cubes!) and they'll lose their ability to control undead - having it stolen by the creature instead! This would make a Very Fun upgrade for the dragon hybrids too... Spellcasting is never gained, but the party relies on a lot more than spellcasting to operate.

And if you feel especially evil, immunity to mind affecting spells and healing from negative energy are Universal abilities that can be stolen. Have fun.