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View Full Version : DM Help How should Tiamat affect the region/setting?



Pinjata
2016-03-03, 11:58 AM
Say we have Tiamat slowly piercing the veil between her realm and Standard D&D setting. What would be fluff "side effects" of this?

One idea I have is like chromatics getting more testosterone. Becoming ever more ballsy, having perhaps a bit improved stats and behaving ever more expansionist and careless. Metallics could become ever more careful, their principle actually being supressed due to Tiamat's power.

How do I reflect her arrival in the world?

thanks

CovertCobalt
2016-03-03, 12:46 PM
The first thing that pops to mind for me would be increased activity in the Church/Cult/Whatever of Tiamat. I imagine that her followers, humanoid and otherwise, would flock to the area, using their considerable (She's sometimes the goddess of greed, after all) wealth to build temples, shrines, and other religiously relevant constructs. Maybe rival factions who have different opinions about how the region should be prepared for her arrival will fight over especially valuable pieces of land or artifacts, and regular people will be caught in the middle.

Since her influence in the world is clearly becoming more prominent, you might see greater amounts of conversions among "normal" folk. Nobles, merchants, and commoners alike would likely be much more willing to start worshiping Tiamat if her deific power is being demonstrated so overtly. The legitimization of the worship of Tiamat may have more widespread social effects as well, given the values she tends to encourage. Maybe fighting arenas start popping up in smaller villages, encouraged by Clerics of Tiamat as a means of espousing the ideals of Supremacy and Power?

Of course, you might also want to consider what kind of reprisal all this change may lead to. The Church of Bahamut will NOT be happy about these developments, and would almost certainly respond in a militaristic fashion. More powerful servants of the gods of good and neutrality may be summoned/sent in order to intervene and assist with some of the worst changes brought about by Tiamat's entrance, but her power may be sufficient to prevent Celestial interference, leaving things in the hands of your adventurers and other mortal do-gooders to save the day.

Finally, although this complicates things somewhat, it could be interesting to show how another "evil" faction responds to this sudden shift in power dynamics. Do the Orc-hordes, previously sworn to Gruumsh, suddenly change allegiances and pledge themselves to the Dragon-Goddess? Does a Cult of Vecna use this opportunity to infiltrate the Church of Tiamat, or do they use the ensuing chaos to abscond with a powerful artifact desired by both Bahamut and Tiamat? Maybe a rival nation invades the distracted nation's borders and adds war to the already-impressive list of problems. The possibilities are endless!

Pinjata
2016-03-03, 02:22 PM
Love it, CovertCobalt. This is going straight to my campaign.

Coidzor
2016-03-03, 02:55 PM
The Red Hand of Doom starts playing out in several places simultaneously, but with more spawn of tiamat involved.

EvilestWeevil
2016-03-04, 01:43 AM
The Red Hand of Doom is one of my favorite adventures with its alliance points and sandbox feel. Good, good fun.

Pinjata
2016-03-04, 07:20 AM
@Coidzor @EvilestWeevil

Anything interesting regarding fluff in RhoD?

Coidzor
2016-03-05, 12:29 AM
@Coidzor @EvilestWeevil

Anything interesting regarding fluff in RhoD?

Servitors of Tiamat and a number of dragons gather together a horde, primarily from the local horde-making humanoids, and are given some rituals for making/breeding several spawn of Tiamat.

They set out to conquer an area for Tiamat's glory and as the set up for a ritual to let in Tiamat, or an aspect of her, along with a sizeable army of devil's and other extraplanar servants of big T.

Mostly, though, it's that the ordinary lesser rasces of evil/antagonism are largely suborned from their usual masters to Tiamat's cause.

You could definitely have it where the more territory they gain, the faster she breaks through and the more evil and pragmatic groups and individuals throw in with her.

I'd have Bahamut being dragged along too, but he's trying to stop it because devastating the world and possibly dying isn't his cup of tea while she's trying to stack the odds in favor of her winning and getting whatever is left after that godly battle.

goto124
2016-03-05, 04:33 AM
It took me too long to realize Tiamat is a she.

Machinekng
2016-03-05, 01:48 PM
One thing that could happen is that newborns begin to have Draconic features or even the Draconic template. At first, it's just livestock and other small animals, but as Tiamant gets closer, then even humanoid births are affected. Even plant life could be affected, with new plants growing scale-like bark and claw-like thorns. This would cause significant panic, of course.

Elemental magic could also become more intense, both stronger and harder to control, due to Tiamant's relation with elemental energy.

You could see alliances being made between the servants of other gods, including between the servants of good and evil deities, in order to stop this event.