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View Full Version : DM Help The Players Are Dropped Into A Plane... Help On How They Can Leave?



DrownsInCancer
2019-01-22, 03:57 PM
Note: My players haven't even started our campaign, I know this could get derailed, but I need some ideas.

The essential idea, is that the BBEG is found out to be evil and when confronted, he opens up a portal that sucks the players to a completely different reality. Clerics are just simply priests and cannot cast spells as either gods don't exist, or the reality is protected by some sort of bubble in which gods cannot interfere. I'm not sure on that, so which would be better? The PCs are stripped of their equipment, and magic users regain half spell points. The area is about 60 acres of grassy plains and in the middle is a small, wild western town called Tribulation. They cannot leave this place too. All citizens in the town look exactly like NPCs the players have particularly liked and had many dealings with. And now they need a way out, but I'm not exactly sure how to go about doing this. They absolutely need to leave because while they are in there, the BBEG is able to do his... evil things... you get the idea.

I'll gladly bounce off from ideas, I want an arc (about 3 -5 sessions) involving Tribulation. I just need ideas on how exactly they can leave, as I am pretty stumped.

Pauly
2019-01-22, 07:30 PM
Are there any NPCs that are useful?
Any high level clerics who can provide information?
Does arcane magic work?
Is there a mechanical device that can be repaired and allow planar travel?

There’s no need to explain why clerical magic doesn’t work. The GM says clerical magic is cut off. The only reason to explore it further is if the players plan on using clerical magic to return to their original plane.

Considering you are calling it “tribulation” perhaps there can be a series of trials they have to perform to be worthy. That way they can have “trials and tribulations”.

Slipperychicken
2019-01-23, 12:56 AM
I feel like an important question to ask is, why and how is the villain doing this instead of just killing them or dropping them into an ocean? Also what purpose the place serves. That'll inform a lot of how they might get out get out.

If he wants the PCs to learn something, then they could have some kind of test to pass before returning; perhaps finding the portal-code hidden in a hard-to-reach location like the sheriff's locket or inside the bank's vault (or an emotionally difficult one, that would require betraying a copy of a loved-one to access). Obviously this presupposes that the portal appears from either some incantation or a physical object which must be somehow calibrated or unlocked to have the desired result.

The villain could have hidden his own emergency-return-devices around that place, just in case he accidentally fell into the portal himself or traveled there willingly.

If they're in magic-westworld, there could be some kind of exit code or maintenance hatch cleverly hidden someplace, which would allow escape if accessed.

Particle_Man
2019-01-23, 12:57 AM
The fields are a series of squares. They can travel either the normal way to adjacent squares or can use special "ladders" to go up to higher squares (closer to the final square which has a way out, but only via ladder). But they have to be careful or they will trip over one of the "snakes" that sends them to a lower square and they have to start over.

The 2nd best part of this is the look on the players' faces when they realize what game you are basing this on.

The best part of this is when one of the players realizes that his character can legitimately quote Samuel L. Jackson's character and say "Enough is ENOUGH! I have had it with these m*****f***in' snakes on this m*****f***in' plane!" :smallcool:

DrownsInCancer
2019-01-23, 11:26 AM
The fields are a series of squares. They can travel either the normal way to adjacent squares or can use special "ladders" to go up to higher squares (closer to the final square which has a way out, but only via ladder). But they have to be careful or they will trip over one of the "snakes" that sends them to a lower square and they have to start over.

The 2nd best part of this is the look on the players' faces when they realize what game you are basing this on.

The best part of this is when one of the players' realizes that his character can legitimately quote Samuel L. Jackson's character and say "Enough is ENOUGH! I have had it with these m*****f***in' snakes on this m*****f***in' plane!" :smallcool:

That is probably the best thing I've ever read, definitely snatching this for a trial!

Max_Killjoy
2019-01-23, 11:45 AM
I suggest the emergency exits.

Mordar
2019-01-23, 11:52 AM
I suggest the emergency exits.

I had totally planned on saying parachutes. So...parachutes.

On topic: I'm afraid the situation might be perceived to be unfairly "nerfing" certain characters, particularly depending on level. "Rogue, ranger, barbarian and bard...you guys are perfectly fine, all skills/feats/abilities in place. Wizard, you're half potency, but still have access to your full range of spells. Cleric...you're a guy in armor with a club. Have fun!"

Instead, perhaps consider limiting all magic to certain spell levels, or strip away things like spontaneous casting. Hit all the casters equally, and treat the bubble as a dampener rather than a total barrier. Heck, several campaign settings have gods of magic, and arguably "arcane" magic is still powered by those gods, so it might even fit thematically.

- M

DavidSh
2019-01-23, 12:39 PM
If you hide an exit portal (in a well, under a bed, in a wardrobe, ...) you have the risk of the players either finding it immediately, or not finding it at all. I like the idea of a portal that depends on the weather. There's a magic pool, that, when filled by rainwater, gives off a glow, shows the image of someplace the players recognize, and works as a portal. Maybe it works as a portal when dry also, but you'd never notice it.

Particle_Man
2019-01-23, 01:16 PM
Can clerics still turn/rebuke undead?

Can clerics use their spells slots for other purposes than casting spells?

Do clerics still have the spells they had access to one second before entering the plane (the uncast ones prepared earlier)? Or are those spells vacuumed from their minds?

denthor
2019-01-24, 10:08 AM
Drop plane shift scrolls from a couple of different encounters. With the BBEGALS underlings. This will clue the party in that plane shift is a thing. Minimum level takes 3 back per casting.

Make sure they have triple or even four more needed to move the party. Just in case they accidentally blow the roll. If the scrolls are identified properly it reveals the tuning fork used is for the plane they are on. Which at first glance is crazy since it is useless if read on that plane.

Furthermore it has an additional property of a specific location to get around the random 1 to 100 mile radius bit. Custom spell.

Bonus to the scroll it is the secret "key" needed to show the pass points to get to him. Have the gaurd at the checkpoint even "slip up nobody get in with a magic scroll." " Show me all your scrolls for inspection " If they have one person they are allowed to pass.

Vogie
2019-01-24, 04:01 PM
Some ideas:

The plane is a Westworld-esque simulator the BBEG created for an unrelated or abandoned scheme that the BBEG actually forgot was in there, and sent the party there by accident. The inhabitants are largely transplanted or artificial in nature. The exit is created by completing whatever the original scheme was, likely some sort of ritual or puzzle.
The Plane is actually an ongoing scheme that is imprisoning others that the BBEG doesn't want to die, nor wants to be free. It could be a locked-in location on an existing plane (a la Under the Dome, The Prisoner, or Persons Unknown) or a tiny demiplane they've set up for that purpose. While there are things to do in the location, the main method of escape is largely figuring out when the minions show up to drop off supplies to the prison world.
The plane is a sort of empty world that allows the BBEG to plan schemes and create things really easily, similar to an empty Minecraft world set on creative mode. The town was kind of thrown together in the BBEG's free time. The PCs have to explore the partially finished locations and traps, and eventually find an interplanar portal, or some sort of Spelljammer-esque skyship plane-hopper. If you don't want them to keep it, make the craft get effectively destroyed when they shift out - it partially shifts into a mountain, or shifts planes then immediately runs into something, et cetera.
They figure out quickly that the whole plane was originally a part of the BBEG's Rod of Security that malfunctioned, which they realize gives them a countdown before they're shunted into the aether. It involves finding the rod of security that got sucked in and hid inside itself, and "setting it off", returning them to where they were. Extra points if they figure out how to fix the thing while they're inside.
Tribulation is actually a purgatory-esque in-between or "medium place" (from The Good Place or Supernatural) that is tacked on the side of the Nine Hells, while not being part of any of the hells. Because it too was meant to be an eternal, they find that the longer they stay there, their memory is starting to fade. The party has to sift through denizens to find someone (or something) who has the ability to plane shift them out, and figure out how to convince them to assist, before the party starts forgetting where they're going, or why they'd ever want to leave.

Man_Over_Game
2019-01-24, 04:41 PM
All the NPCs are people that the players have actually known?

Hmm....

So the plane is actually a self-sustaining prison. Rather, it is generated based on the people inside of it, utilizing the prisoner's memories and powers to be inverted against their escape. The NPCs are generated directly from the prisoner's minds with all of their capabilities, but with their goals swapped to protect the prison or to pacify the prisoners.

The trick to escape isn't about the players trying to regain control over their powers; the trick is realizing that all of the NPCs have their original powers and memories, and are just programmed to not help the prisoners. If they can appeal to the NPCs, find out which one has powers over planar travel, and convince the NPC to get them out of the plane, they're golden.

That's the easy route.

The backup plan is to have a "core" in the center of town that nobody is allowed to go near that's a lot more obvious but the NPCs will use lethal force to protect.

This way, there are two solutions to your interactive puzzle: One obvious solution, and one easy solution.

Mordaedil
2019-01-28, 02:52 AM
For my game where planar travel is a thing available from early on, there are portals constructed that have a slot for a special kind of gem that is basically a crystalized astral pool. They put it into the recepticle, and the portal activates and allows them to travel through to a connected portal corresponding to either the portal or the pool, depending on which is more convenient. Using this from any outer or inner plane for instance, would drop them into where the pool corresponds to, but on say the ethereal plane or plane of shadow, it simply takes them to the same portal on the plane they are cotermonious with at present or a pool if it doesn't match the plane.

I also opted for the portals to respond to certain spells, but that hasn't really come into play yet.

BreaktheStatue
2019-01-28, 08:18 AM
This thread made me think of the Nirvana song, "On a Plain." Haven't thought of it in years. Not terribly germane, but thanks for that.