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sonofzeal
2008-05-06, 10:45 PM
So.... I'm DMing an episodic campaign with each episode being 1-3 sessions, the players have been racing through (they beat the last three episodes in a total of four sessions), and I need to get my buffer back. Now, being a half-decent DM I have some ideas and could wing the rest, but I thought I'd throw open the doors to commentary and suggestions. The party is lvl4, and consists of a Human Knight, a Human Generalist Wizard (specializing in knowledge skills and utility spells), a Halfling Bard/Rogue, and an Elven Ranger/Scout.

The next episode.... I want something soundly magical. All the obstacles and fights so far have been very physical based, against goblinoids and owlbears and Vine Horrors. Hardly a single saving throw has been rolled all campaign, and I can't think of a single magical attack that has been used. Part of that's because it's low level and part is because I tend to gravitate towards physical mooks (and PCs when I play). So, I want something profoundly magical. Thoughts so far - some sort of magical up-pouring relatively near that they are hired to deal with (they have good relationships with three local lords, so there's no shortage of employment chances), which will involve a fair number of fey or abberations, depending on my mood. On the way, they might have to deal with a pair of Satyrs with flutes who attempt to Charm party members but flee if damaged, some Grigs after the shinier of their gear, etc. I'm also looking for suggestions for the actual main location (possibly Mindshredders from MM3 for some ability damage variety, although they're still a bit too melee). Any ideas on how to work this into a cohesive whole as opposed to a gauntlet of vaguely magical challenges would be good.

The episode after that....they're itching to go after the Hobgoblins, who've been haunting their steps for the past episode or two. They're convinced the Hobbies are planning war (they aren't, really, as much as they ever aren't), but the recurring villan is stirring them up and the PCs have killed a LOT of goblinoids so far and the Hobbies are putting political pressure on the local lords for their heads. Anywho, I was thinking of a small Hobby bunker in contested land that needs to be shut down. They'll be lvl 5 btw, which gives me more than enough rope to hang them with via cunning use of CR 5 encounters (I play Hobbies as hyper-disciplined strategists), but any ideas to help would be appreciated too.

The Sandman
2008-05-06, 11:04 PM
Planar breaches are always fun. For extra magical hijinks, have the cause of the breaches be a lich wannabe who tried to turn himself undead by creating an area where the Positive Energy Plane, the Negative Energy Plane, and the Far Realm intersected. It worked, at least until the Lovecraftian horrors ate him. Now the players have to contend with hordes of magic users coming in to try to use, seal, travel through, or otherwise mess with the set of planar breaches created when the would-be lich died and thus ceased to control his spells.

If you want to really **** with the players, have one of the breaches lead to Sigil. Can you imagine how many people would be trying to escape Sigil through that breach?

sonofzeal
2008-05-06, 11:15 PM
Planar breaches are always fun. For extra magical hijinks, have the cause of the breaches be a lich wannabe who tried to turn himself undead by creating an area where the Positive Energy Plane, the Negative Energy Plane, and the Far Realm intersected. It worked, at least until the Lovecraftian horrors ate him. Now the players have to contend with hordes of magic users coming in to try to use, seal, travel through, or otherwise mess with the set of planar breaches created when the would-be lich died and thus ceased to control his spells.
That's.... well, brilliant, but a bit TOO epic for this stage in the campaign, and quite a bit too dark for this group; they're a pretty lighthearted gaming group, and Lovecraftian horrors are likely to be met by Holy Grail references (specifically, "run awaaaaay" followed by "brave brave brave brave Sir Robin"). I'll file that away for later though, as an expansion on one of the later metaplot episodes I have planned once they're around ECL 15.


If you want to really **** with the players, have one of the breaches lead to Sigil. Can you imagine how many people would be trying to escape Sigil through that breach?
I'm... not really familiar with Sigil at all. Every gaming group I've been in has used homebrew settings (except once when I ran an Eberron game), and none thus far has involved interplanar travel. I know the name, and I'm pretty sure it's a city, but that's about it.

The Sandman
2008-05-06, 11:44 PM
That's.... well, brilliant, but a bit TOO epic for this stage in the campaign, and quite a bit too dark for this group; they're a pretty lighthearted gaming group, and Lovecraftian horrors are likely to be met by Holy Grail references (specifically, "run awaaaaay" followed by "brave brave brave brave Sir Robin"). I'll file that away for later though, as an expansion on one of the later metaplot episodes I have planned once they're around ECL 15.

Well, the only appearance of the Lovecraftian horror is eating the would-be lich. Then it goes home. Figure that the closing of the Far Realm breach once its creator dies is the reason why the other breaches appear; a pulse of raw chaos screwing with the bits of the spell that didn't just dissipate. And to mess with the players, just do something limited and level-appropriate with one or two of the breaches now, with high-level NPCs in your campaign world apparently dealing with the big containment issues. After that, the breaches just fade into the background as an occasional mention of exotic goods from other planes, feuding githyanki and githzerai who just came through a breach into Limbo and hit a tavern to deal with interplanar jet lag, and other bits of fluff.

Then, once the PCs hit those higher levels, have the containment fail, or one of the NPCs bring them in on whatever scheme they're using to deal with the breach they control, or some other way of bringing them back as a major element in the plot.


I'm... not really familiar with Sigil at all. Every gaming group I've been in has used homebrew settings (except once when I ran an Eberron game), and none thus far has involved interplanar travel. I know the name, and I'm pretty sure it's a city, but that's about it.

Look up Planescape. Also, I think there's a decent sized chunk in the latest version of the Manual of the Planes. Basically, it has portals to everywhere in the D&D cosmology, is ruled by possibly the single most powerful entity in published D&D material, and is supposed to impossible to get to or leave by any method other than an existing portal. It's also built into the inside of a ring-shaped structure that sits on top of an infinitely tall spire at the center of the Outlands.

sonofzeal
2008-05-07, 12:21 AM
Well, the only appearance of the Lovecraftian horror is eating the would-be lich. Then it goes home. Figure that the closing of the Far Realm breach once its creator dies is the reason why the other breaches appear; a pulse of raw chaos screwing with the bits of the spell that didn't just dissipate. And to mess with the players, just do something limited and level-appropriate with one or two of the breaches now, with high-level NPCs in your campaign world apparently dealing with the big containment issues. After that, the breaches just fade into the background as an occasional mention of exotic goods from other planes, feuding githyanki and githzerai who just came through a breach into Limbo and hit a tavern to deal with interplanar jet lag, and other bits of fluff.

Then, once the PCs hit those higher levels, have the containment fail, or one of the NPCs bring them in on whatever scheme they're using to deal with the breach they control, or some other way of bringing them back as a major element in the plot.
Sounds good, but that's still a metaplot for a campaign, and I already have one of those. After these two sessions, the metaplot will pick back up as the villian (who's been grooming the PCs as glorified cattle) will begin testing them for worthiness. These two episodes, as well as the two before them, are more lighthearted "filler" to help the PCs level, get some good gear, feel important in the gameworld, and test out their skills in different contexts in between major metaplot points. Your idea is great, but not what I'm looking for at this point.



Look up Planescape.
Will do. And I think I've actually read a webcomic or two that involved Sigil, now that you mention it. But is it just me, or was the idea stolen from CS Lewis's "Magician's Nephew", with pools instead of portals?

Tangent: Lady of Pain vs Pun-pun - who wins?

sonofzeal
2008-05-07, 10:13 PM
Anyone else? I'm looking for a monster line, preferably one that comes in multiple breeds within the CR 1-4 range, that is decidedly "magical", and comes with a nice mini plot hook that could be resolved in a session or two. Mindshredders work, but they're not quite as magical as I might like.

Roog
2008-05-08, 03:39 AM
Anyone else? I'm looking for a monster line, preferably one that comes in multiple breeds within the CR 1-4 range, that is decidedly "magical", and comes with a nice mini plot hook that could be resolved in a session or two.

A Tsochar infestation of forest fey (e.g. Pixies, Nixies, Dryads, Satyrs,...) forest animals, and magical animals.

sonofzeal
2008-05-08, 01:31 PM
A Tsochar infestation of forest fey (e.g. Pixies, Nixies, Dryads, Satyrs,...) forest animals, and magical animals.
I was thinking of those guys, actually. The reason I passed on them is primarily because a Tsochar by itself could probably slaughter the whole party. Those guys are nucking futs for their CR! I'm convinced that Tsochar, more than any other monster, were never intended to be used solo at their CR level - instead, they're for lvl 7+ parties to fight in combination with good powerful hosts. I've used them before in a lvl5-6 game (the Eberron one, actually), and they pretty much caused a rout every time.

They are wicked awesome though.:smallcool:

Inyssius Tor
2008-05-08, 02:27 PM
Will do. And I think I've actually read a webcomic or two that involved Sigil, now that you mention it. But is it just me, or was the idea stolen from CS Lewis's "Magician's Nephew", with pools instead of portals?

Mmm, I don't see it at all. Yes, there are a lot of portals, but Sigil is like New York meets epic-level Sharn with slightly fewer tall buildings. Lewis's in-between place reminds me a lot more of the Ethereal Plane (or the Astral Plane? The one with mist and Githyanki pirates and magic pools everywhere that lead to alternate planes, anyway.)

Wait, what was the Astral Plane?

sonofzeal
2008-05-09, 06:05 PM
Mmm, I don't see it at all. Yes, there are a lot of portals, but Sigil is like New York meets epic-level Sharn with slightly fewer tall buildings. Lewis's in-between place reminds me a lot more of the Ethereal Plane (or the Astral Plane? The one with mist and Githyanki pirates and magic pools everywhere that lead to alternate planes, anyway.)

Wait, what was the Astral Plane?
I just meant as an entire pocket dimension type thing whose primary purpose is to contain links to other dimensions. It's been a popular concept in the past thirty years, but I can't think of it ever comming up in popular fiction before Lewis. I could well be wrong though.

Anyway, does anyone else have any other ideas?