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Unfortunately, the gods can't get sucked into it, you'd have to trick them into it. Given that this is Krynn I'd say that means the good gods should be a fairly easy get, but the neutral and evil gods might be slightly more difficult. Vulkaran has only used the power of the orb once and that was only to have the Crystal King raise a giant crystal palace for him. Other than that one time he doesn't actually use the orb's power directly and instead he just harvests some of its ambient magical energy to power his luxury palace. He's a boring antagonist over all because and he's sort of a generic version of what you'd expect a late antiquity Roman emperor to be, but his empire is a bit more interesting. Unfortunately, the module doesn't really require you to explore anything- there's like four different real events in the whole thing so when I said the author expects you to write your own stuff I wasn't kidding it's very bare bones and you go from 'first contact with Vodoni' to 'war council to storm the Vodoni home sphere' in the span of like five pages. However, the end of the adventure has a short description of each of the twelve spheres and I think all of them are useful and have stuff worth exploring for the PCs if they want to fight Vulkaran. Let's just say that his ownership of the twelve is far less complete than you would expect and there are potential allies everywhere. The least useful part of the module is, ironically, the most detailed part about Vulkaran and his personal palace, the main dungeon of the module.
Ithle01 fucked around with this message at 06:22 on Sep 1, 2020 |
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Sep 1, 2020 06:18
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Dallbun posted:271: Snake Underfoot This feels less like an actual trap and more like you've wandered into a pit trap showroom. I'd imagine once they're charmed, the Naga will start their sales pitch, and by the time it wears off, the PCs will find they've agreed to purchase half a dozen top-of-the-line pit traps.
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Sep 1, 2020 06:38
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Angry Salami posted:This feels less like an actual trap and more like you've wandered into a pit trap showroom. I'd imagine once they're charmed, the Naga will start their sales pitch, and by the time it wears off, the PCs will find they've agreed to purchase half a dozen top-of-the-line pit traps. Well it would have been silly to only buy 5 when you get a discount on 6 or more.
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Sep 1, 2020 06:45
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I mean, I don't use the pit trap all the time, why not only pay for the time when Im actually using it?
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Sep 1, 2020 08:16
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I suppose you could time share it if it's portable, like a bag of holding. Now I need to write up a whole set of collapsible dungeon traps for the Dungeon Keeper on the go.
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Sep 1, 2020 08:45
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Nessus posted:If you drink the Black Blood of the Earth three times, do you become a Gaian fomor?
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Sep 1, 2020 09:31
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NGDBSS posted:No you just become really wired because you drank too much coffee concentrate. (Yes I know it's a reference; Phil Broughton himself notes this.) That is a wonderful bit of storytelling.
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Sep 1, 2020 10:09
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By popular demand posted:I suppose you could time share it if it's portable, like a bag of holding. <black and white footage of lich dropping parts of pit traps, crusher walls, and animated statues> There has got to be a better way!
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Sep 1, 2020 11:00
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The new Rolly Bouldr(TM)! On command it shrinks in size and mass allowing for an easy trap reset or travel, the second command instantly returns it to the full TPK size!  I have never seen a better rolling trap, and cleaning is a breeze!
By popular demand fucked around with this message at 11:50 on Sep 1, 2020 |
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Sep 1, 2020 11:47
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Barudak posted:<completely monotone read off a notecard> Oh Fixed that for you.
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Sep 1, 2020 13:16
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Everyone posted:Fixed that for you. Mate... they know. That is why it is on a que card and being read in a monotone voice. Like "no. stop. come back." from Charlie and the chocolate factory.
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Sep 1, 2020 13:57
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Nessus posted:I never watched the whole Robotech SaGa but if there is a direct Mythos mood in the original show, it is from the perspective of the Zentraedi, who (from a Zentraedi persective) lose their minds and are subsumed by the arcane power of micronian pop music and kissing. Pages back but I like this a lot. The brave Zentradi warriors going in to battle to eradicate the tiny people and then one of them starts making a weird noise and they all lose their poo poo. They become obsessed with the weird noise and get into fist fights with each other about it. Before the sound they were unshakeable battle brothers, after the sound they are shadows of their former selves.
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Sep 1, 2020 16:36
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If you bug the Lady of Pain, she’ll likely send you to the The Deck of Encounters Set Two Part 55: The Deck of Nightmares, Ogres, and Orc Babies 275: Steed for a Wizard Wizard tower in the mountains, y’all! The evil wizard’s evil apprentice was trying to kill his master, like you do, but summoned a nightmare and couldn’t control it. It killed the apprentice, and now… attacks the PCs! No particular reason, just because they’re in the general area! And if they check out the tower that it came from, “every magical item is tinged with evil and unusable by good or neutral characters.” DM: “You find a [roll roll] ring of evil animal friendship and a potion of evil healing.” You can loot the spell components and spell books with a bunch of level 1-7 spells, though. The wizard is out, but could come back. Pass, needs less forced combat and more gameable detail. 276: Grazing A chilly, ominous night, outside, around midnight. There’s an evil fighter, Balir Stormtongue, riding a nightmare and spying on the party from above, using a new magic item! Hey, the Deck of Encounters is breaking out of its core book straightjacket for a second time! So what’s this imaginative new magic item? A lens of infravision, which grants infravision up to 120 feet. [pats the deck] You just keep on trying there, buddy. Anyway, when Balir “spots someone he thinks is a fighter or paladin,” he screams out a challenge to face him in one-on-one combat. “If they agree, he and his steed swoop to attack.” What if they refuse, though? The dude fights to the death but the nightmare “fights until reduced to 10 hit points or less, then flies away. This is not her battle. She may return later to harass the PCs, provided she was not badly hurt in the first combat.” But uh, she was badly hurt in the first combat - she was reduced to 10 or less HP out of 50, remember? And I thought this wasn’t her battle? Not big into random pointless fights. Pass. 277: Caretaker The PCs are staying in an inn “on a main road,” but they’re the only ones there besides the innkeeper and his wife, so… not that main, I guess. A child approaches and asks for their help: his father was captured by two trolls. The kid followed the trolls until they met up with a guy with a staff, presumably an evil wizard. Then the kid fled for help. He’ll insist on coming with them, of course, wielding a spear too big for them. He’ll lead them to a set of big footprints that could be a troll’s, but there’s only one set. Then he’ll get behind them when they approach the copse that is their destination, and cone of cold them as an opening ambush attack. He is actually an [url=]http://www.mojobob.com/roleplay/monstrousmanual/o/ogre.htmlogre mage[/url]. He’ll try to flee invisibly if endangered. There are a lot of holes in his story, which I guess is a plus because the PCs can catch on that he’s suspicious and then feel proud of themselves? But it's not my favorite kind of thing. Both because it makes the PCs mistrust NPCs more, and also because... like, why is this ogre mage even trying to fight these adventurers? Where's the profit? Pass unless I can work this guy in as some kind of assassin on behalf of the PCs' enemies, or otherwise tie it in to some larger campaign stuff. 278: Help My Mom The PCs are in another inn on a main road, but this one is buzzing. Lots of conversation about the PCs, because they’re heavily-armed weirdos. Anyway, eight year-old Billy rushes in looking for the sheriff, because bad men are attacking his house, hurt his dad, and his mom is holding them off with a crossbow. It quickly comes out that the bad men are ogres, about ten of them. The sheriff has trouble rustling up a militia (everyone claims they need to rush home to defend their own families), so it’s up to the PCs, especially when Billy trains his moppet eyes upon them and pleads. It’s... okay. I like town defense scenarios, but the details here are a bit fuzzy. (Why are the ogres besieging one house instead of raiding the spots of least resistance?) I do expect some player to make an inspiring speech to rustle up that militia after all, and that could be a good scene. Keep 279: Baby Monster (DOO doo, DOO DOO doo DOO) At a lake town. There’s a commotion because some fishermen caught a baby monster: specifically a baby merrow, about 3 feet tall. An “orc babies” debate ensues over whether to kill it or find a good-aligned underwater monster to raise it. A “priest of mercy” leads up the other side, and if the PCs weigh in on their side, will encourage the group to seek out the storm giant who lives in the lake. “The PCs must then convince the giant. It should be difficult, but not impossible.” Seems fine. This kind of thing is much more bearable when the PCs aren’t directly responsible for the murder of the child’s family, but instead have a chance to be meddlesome do-gooders. Keep. Could use slightly more detail, though - what are the giant’s qualms and what sort of things might convince them? That’s where the engagement is.
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Sep 1, 2020 16:37
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Years later your adventurers are given a court summons by the Storm Giant suing for unpaid child support
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Sep 1, 2020 17:02
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I really like Grazing, because I like the idea of this guy who I imagine has pauldrons the size of airplane wings rolling up and screaming at people to fight him, and not even his horse is willing to put up with it.
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Sep 1, 2020 17:29
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Age of Sigmar Lore Chat: Gloomspite Gitz I Spy Arachnarok Spiders are some of the biggest, most dangerous animals in existence. There's no other predator like them, and they've been known to grow as big as a Kharadron Ironclad. They prefer to live in deep forests and old ruins, and they hunt anything - even gargants or Cygors. Their venom dissolves flesh, and they drink up the melty innards of their prey. They typically wrap their victims in webbing, which contains powerful contact poison that can reduce human flesh to protein jelly in hours. They have been known to web up and consume entire villages that settle too close to their nests, and they move in almost total silence. Their web strands are thicker than a muscular orruk's arm, and nearly impossible to break free of. The forest grots were long prey of the spiders and other monsters of the woods, but the ancestors of those that became the Spiderfang found that they could tame giant spider packs if they caught them young enough. Despite this, none could hope to do anything against the Arachnaroks themselves. It's unclear if worship of the Spider God predates or postdates their encounters with the Arachnaroks, but it soon became clear that they could avoid being eaten if they worshipped the Spider God and offered up other victims as sacrifices. By the time the Age of Chaos ended, they had gone from fearful worship to symbiotic coexistence. The grots even began to live in the lairs of the massive spiders, paying their rent with a steady stream of tasty victims. In return, the Arachnarok Spiders do not eat grots very often and aid them in battle, even allowing the greenskins to strap howdahs and platforms on their backs. Most of the Arachnaroks seen in battle are younger ones, aggressive and territorial. They are always hungry and easily angered, and that makes them relatively easy for the grots to lure off with drumming, offered victims and shamanic ritual. The spiders don't mind too much, and allow the grots to build platforms atop them. The grots then ride those, heading out to war with terrifying arachnid speed. They usually lead the charge, though the spiders have no real interest in listening to the plans of the shamans and strategists. They just surge forward and attack, using their bladed legs, acidic secretions and gigantic bulk as weapons. The Spiderfangs cling to them, cackling all the while, and fire poisoned arrows or flint spears whenever they get in range. They have no control over the spiders, of course - that'd be both blasphemous and rather pointless. Better to just enjoy the ride. Older Arachnaroks become more patient, though also more cruel. They tend to become duller and darker, with thicker skin and more desire for prey to be brought to them so they d on't have to hunt. When they are convinced to join the battle, their slower tempers and greater intellect means they're usually given more strategic weapons. These spiders often bear slinger platforms, variants on the howdah that mount a large catapult. The catapults are loaded with venom-coated silk wads threaded with bone shards. This not only slams into the enemy with massive force, then explode into clouds of sticky strands. The venom blinds them as the webs trap them, breaking up machinery and immobilizing foes. The elder spiders also possess the ability to commune with the grot Webspinner Shamans, sending them hallucinations through the venom infused in drugs. The most ancient and powerful of them may even agree to bear a grot into battle as a personal mount, taking both shaman and catchweb spidershrine to the field of battle. These shamans have massively enhanced magic thanks to the blessing of the Arachnarok, and they are generally seen as the truest vessels of the will of the Spider God. The honor of becoming one of these grots is immense, enough to kill over in some cases. The only spiders seen as more holy than the elders are the Skitterstrand Arachnaroks, who are able to follow the threads of mortality and create web-based portals. We've discussed them before, and they're the holiest and most important spiders around.  The Webspinner Shamans rule the Spiderfangs, serving as the mortal voice of the Spider God cult. The other grots dare not question them, which...can be a problem, as the shamans are usually drug-addled and prone to nutty rants. But hey, if the Spider God says paint yourself blue, drop half their treasure in a pit and so on, well...maybe it wants that and that's important. The shamans often encourage small venomous spiders to live on their bodies in various nooks and crannies, because the frequent bites cause a buildup of toxins that grant them hallucinogenic visions and make them "smell" right to the big spiders. It also influences their magic, allowing for the granting of arachnid haste, webbing shields or even summoning spider swarms. The shamans are extremely devoted to their god, seeking to please him by calling down the Everdank, allowing the hordes of spider children to emerge into the world and hunt forever in the shadows. This crusade and the constant need to capture prey for the Arachnaroks means the Webspinner Shamans tend to be quite warlike, ordering frequent raids to capture new sacrifices. The warriors that do best on these raids are raised to the ranks of Scuttleboss. A Scuttleboss is typically larger, nastier and more arrogant than other grots, and not without reason. They are unlike most grot leaders - they are chosen from the brave and bold, who lead from the front. Their cunning and tactical skill are also important...but it's the bravery that matters. Bravery, in fairness, which often is drawn from the large amounts of spider venom inside them. Scuttlebosses tend to be manic and prone to hallucinations, but their visions often give them ideas for brilliant strategems. Their maddened war cries embolden the grots around them. As the Scuttlebosses consume ever more dangerous venoms and get bit by more and more spiders, their bodiestend to mutate and warp. They grow quick reaction times and venomous blood, sprout spider mandibles or even grow eye clusters, leading some grots to believe them to be more than half spider. These are taken as blessings of the Spider God and likely are part of why the Arachnaroks allow themselves to be ridden by the Scuttlebosses - they feel right. Others ride smaller (but still potentially Dracoth-sized) giant spiders, raised from hatching by the shamans. These spiders are born around the size of a horse's head and grow very quickly. The Scuttlebosses that 'tame' these creatures often earn their mount by staring them down without being eaten. The Spider Riders make up the bulk of Spiderfang forces, and they ride into battle on the backs of the giant spiders (but not Arachnaroks). They typically decorate themselves with feathers in bright colors, often by piercing them directly into the skin. The colors of the feathers and the tribal glyphs they paint on vary by tribe, but they all prefer pigments made with spider secretions...or just burn them on with spider digestive acid. Glowing crystals and bugs are used as jewelry, as the riders try to appear as bizarre as their spider mounts. They use all kinds of spider breeds, such as the blistermere skulkback, the blue cliffleaper, the Chamon ironweb or the shrieking manglespitter, all of which are highly venomous and have very strong mandibles. The spiders often lack speed on level ground compared to other cavalry, but excel in difficult conditions, moving through treetops and along cliffsides as easily as their own webs. This and their almost total silence in movement make them very good at ambush, especially in the dense and rough terrain they favor. They are relatively lightly armored, relying on terrain for cover, and are typically armed with bows and long spears. They excel at using paralytic venoms to capture foes alive - the spiders prefer live prey, after all, and their main job is taking captives, sometimes aided by webbing lassos or nets. Next time: Troggs and Gargants
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Sep 1, 2020 17:35
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Mors Rattus posted:Age of Sigmar Lore Chat: Gloomspite Gitz The spider subfaction is one of my favorite things in the Gloomspite book. It really goes to show just how much character GW can milk out of three model kits when they're pushed to it. Based on my recollection they don't overlap with the rest of the Gloomspite army all that much, but have enough synergy with each other that they can still add up to a pretty potent force.
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Sep 1, 2020 18:41
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Is "Gloomspite Gitz" supposed to make the song "Ballroom Blitz" go through my head whenever I read it, or is that just coincidental?
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Sep 1, 2020 19:00
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I used to really like Warhammer goblins, but Age of Sigmar has made them so much better.
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Sep 1, 2020 19:01
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Epicurius posted:Is "Gloomspite Gitz" supposed to make the song "Ballroom Blitz" go through my head whenever I read it, or is that just coincidental? I mean now, yes.
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Sep 1, 2020 19:21
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Warhammer is at its best when it sidelines the grim, heretic-smiting armored superheroes whining about glory and focuses on the backstabbing doofuses building a catapult to blow up the sun.
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Sep 1, 2020 19:28
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megane posted:Warhammer is at its best when it sidelines the grim, heretic-smiting armored superheroes whining about glory and focuses on the backstabbing doofuses building a catapult to blow up the sun.  
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Sep 1, 2020 19:44
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TBF at least these big armoured folks are wondering about different things and aren't fasc breeding programme things. I do like the gobbos being "doom diver the sun". It makes the skaven look more demented because they aren't being crazy enough.
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Sep 1, 2020 20:05
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Josef bugman posted:TBF at least these big armoured folks are wondering about different things and aren't fasc breeding programme things. ‘Not yet, but I have no doubt we will, soon enough. I want you ready to move, when it happens. Where are the others?’ Porthas swallowed a chunk of potato. ‘Waiting in the plaza beneath the Shimmergate.’ He looked around. ‘The city is on edge. I can feel it.’ He took another bite. ‘Good potato, though.’ Helios laughed. ‘It’s the simple things, eh, Porthas?’ ‘A potato is a potato, whatever the weather,’ the big Stormcast said.
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Sep 1, 2020 20:13
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Ithle01 posted:*Neogi: Spelljammer specific race. Spider-creatures. Decedent slavers. Have dedicated umber hulk bodyguards and sail either small raider vessels or giant slave-powered barges. Treacherous and debased monsters who feed on their slaves bodies and use their life force to power their helms. I think they have some kind of scent-based hypnotism. Basically, the bad guys of Spelljammer - that is until you meet Vulkaran's empire: You know how D&D takes mythic figures and turns them into generic monsters to kill for loot? Spelljammer does that to an absurd degree, with nod-and-wink references to Macross, Gamera, and scads of other Japanese pop culture sources. The elves even made Guyvers with the serials filed off. Neogi? They're skeksis and garthim from the Dark Crystal, but vastly more boring.
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Sep 2, 2020 01:00
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Bieeanshee posted:You know how D&D takes mythic figures and turns them into generic monsters to kill for loot? Spelljammer does that to an absurd degree, with nod-and-wink references to Macross, Gamera, and scads of other Japanese pop culture sources. The elves even made Guyvers with the serials filed off. I never really had a problem with neogi, they're generic bad-guy aliens who enslave and eat people which is fine in a space fantasy game. They're slightly more useful than the usual 'evil' races in D&D games as far as I'm concerned, but still basically boring.
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Sep 2, 2020 01:09
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Bieeanshee posted:
Thought the Nagpa were the Skeksis.
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Sep 2, 2020 01:11
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 Chapter 3: Geography (cont.)  The peak of 90s RPG art. This is just the Water Tower with a filter slapped on. The West Side is another predominantly working-class region, one the book presents as dominated by white ethnic groups as opposed to the more mixed makeup of the South Side.
 The North Side contains both some of the city’s wealthiest and poorest districts. The book specifies that, due to oWoD’s nature, the middle class here is far sparser than it is in real life; can’t ruin your awful nightmare world with class mobility..
 What the gently caress is this? In real life, people use the term “Chicagoland” to refer to the region culturally and economically dominated by Chicago; it stretches around the Lake from Kenosha out past Gary and at least a few counties into Illinois. Vampires call the area (as well as a few bits of neutral ground on the city outskirts) the Outlands and avoid them when they can. Too many potential witnesses and not enough crowds to melt back into, I guess.
 Anyway, with that we finish the city overview. Next up are specific areas and geographical concepts that define vampire life in Chicago.
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Sep 2, 2020 02:03
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for a paragraph or two sentences long, but that line of thought – that town quality is directly related to the wealth of its inhabitants – is what kills communities. gently caress you, book.
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I think the last image is suppose to be someone with long blonde hair dangling off a ledge. And yeah, White Wolf is... so white.
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Sep 2, 2020 02:12
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Falconier111 posted:
On the one hand this is a lovely opinion to have, on the other hand it seems perfectly in character for vampires to not really "get" humans and also be assholes. 
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Sep 2, 2020 02:14
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Falconier111 posted:
Not an expert, but I'm pretty sure it was already starting to be considered inappropriate in the 1970s.
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Sep 2, 2020 02:21
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Chernobyl Peace Prize posted:Ah, the Old World of Darkness, where you can squeeze some giggling about Doctor Who into the same chapter as "yes it's the antagonist from Big Trouble in Little China. Do not cross him!" Wouldn't be the only game that openly ripped off Big Trouble In Little China...  (Tim Bradstreet also got Geoffrey Lewis from Night Of The Comet in there, too!)
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Sep 2, 2020 02:30
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Josef bugman posted:Mate... they know. That is why it is on a que card and being read in a monotone voice. Like "no. stop. come back." from Charlie and the chocolate factory. I know they know. I was just piling on as well. Because the gods of Krynn are just awful. The Neutral ones are slightly less bad but the "Good" ones come of as bad or worse than the Evil ones.
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Sep 2, 2020 02:35
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Leraika posted:Not an expert, but I'm pretty sure it was already starting to be considered inappropriate in the 1970s. Yeah, the term itself is largely prejudicial because it just means "easterner" and includes everyone from the Middle East to the far Pacific. Edward Said's Orientalism (1978) seemed to have been the big tipping point in terms of retiring the term academically and I believe there had been campaigns in the 60's to do away with it. You can still call items from Asia as Oriental and that large swath as the Orient but it's such a broad area, it's hard to accurately describe anything other than, "Not Europe, Africa, and the Americas."
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Sep 2, 2020 03:39
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Leraika posted:Not an expert, but I'm pretty sure it was already starting to be considered inappropriate in the 1970s. Depends on where you were. I grew up in the south in the 80s and 90s and it was used the way the term “Asian” is used today in much of the US, though by the mid 90s it was starting to fall out of favor. Most of the Chinese restaurants in my county had the word “Oriental” somewhere in the advertising past the turn of the century. White Wolf was based farther south than I was so I imagine they had a similar environment while writing the first few editions of oWoD. The only place I still see it used today is in reference to rugs.
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Sep 2, 2020 06:19
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Under the Dark Fist, getting started The adventure module begins by noting that although this is a single module it is intended to be used as a lengthy series of adventures pitting the PCs against Vulkaran's empire as his forces attack the three spheres of Dragonlance, Greyhawk, and Forgotten Realms. The author gives a warning saying that novice DMs might find this overwhelming, but manages to do so using the pretentious nerd language of someone who takes this poo poo way too seriously. The adventure is broken down into six chapters, each one being roughly what I would consider to be one session's worth of material. The six chapters are more or less disconnected, but assume that the PCs will likely progress through the campaign in the following order: First contact with the Vodoni, decide how to proceed next (war or peace), scout the Vodoni empire, war council and first strike against the Vodoni, invade Vodoni space with a giant armada composed of the three spheres, and finally fight your way to Vulkaran. Chapter one, First contact One day the PCs are flying through space in their home sphere and they see a space battle between two ships. One ship is a mind flayer war ship signaling for help and the other is a vessel of unknown origin. The mysterious vessel is made entirely of black obsidian and looks like a mixture between a sailing vessel and a wolf with large flowing wings. Unbeknownst to the players this is a Vodoni scout ship and it's (sort of) retreating from the mind flayers after raiding a colony. While the PCs are watching, the illithids ram the wolf ship, but are immediately counter-attacked and massacred by the lupine ship's werewolf space marines who are far superior at hand-to-hand combat. This setup could be improved and would make more sense if the aggressors were reversed. Most races have a reason to hate mind flayers so the PCs might be more inclined to find the mind flayers signaling for help unusual. Also, the mind flayers ram a ship filled with what they know to be much better melee fighters instead of bombing it from afar. If the PCs display some quick decision making and help the unknown ship attack the mind flayers then the mind flayers don't actually fight back initially and instead will close to ramming distance (this will almost certainly be interpreted as hostile by the PCs), but then try to communicate that the real danger is the wolf ship when they're close enough to do so. There's no such thing as 'hailing frequencies' in Spelljammer. The illithids want the PCs on their side unless the PCs are really committed to being belligerent. While this is happening the Vodoni scout is turning around and getting ready to attack the mind flayers' ship. Once the Vodoni engage them the mind flayers are quickly slaughtered and the Vodoni move onto attacking the PCs. On the other hand, if the PCs attack the Vodoni ship first then the mind flayers help the PCs, but prefer to let their new friends do the bulk of the fighting because they'll be butchered if they get in too close to the werewolves. If the PCs appear too weak at the end of this fight or they attacked the mind flayers first then the illithids will probably turn on them after this is over (obviously). Otherwise, they're grateful and try to go on their merry way after collecting the corpses of some abducted mind flayers from the Vodoni ship (a reverse X-Com situation where the squids are the ones being abducted by aliens). However this goes down the PCs should win the battle, although it might be a little rough. The enemy force is composed of forty Vodoni enforcers and one Vodoni breeder. The wolf-men Enforcers are melee fighters with multiple melee attacks per turn and a blood rage that boosts damage and to-hit chance, but they suck at avoiding spells and have no innate MR. The Vodoni breeder is the ship's helmsman and a multi-class fighter 7 / transmuter 16, a much more challenging foe. I'll talk more about both of these antagonists later because these the only two stock antagonists in the module - not a lot of space for diversity of antagonists in the adventure. All I have to say here is that despite their creepy sounding name Vodoni breeders are not (at least explicitly) into skeevy breeding programs, they make monsters through curses and magic. On board the ship the PCs find the hold packed with the Vodoni's loot: six corpses of several sentient races (human, dwarf, elf, mind flayer) and twelve cages with male and female animals from the sphere's major planet. All the animals are in well-kept conditions and have generous amenities. There is no other treasure besides the exotic animals - two of which are actually bugbears that the Vodoni believed to be of only animal intelligence and who are pretending to be regular animals to escape execution. The PCs can come up with several conclusions based on this. Maybe their new enemies are Dr. Moreau types who want to create new animal-human hybrids? Maybe they're smuggling exotic animals and dead bodies for medical dissection? Or maybe they're part of a larger force scouting the sphere to assess the native inhabitants and local wildlife prior to an invasion? After this encounter the players are probably going to assume that this new foe is actually only a one-off encounter and that the death of the powerful wizard who created them should end the menace they present. Or not. Our second encounter is designed to alert the players to the fact that this is part of a much larger and more organized force than mere space pirates or exotic bird smugglers. The PCs come across the scene of a recent battle, a gnomish ship is a smoking mess and caught in the maw-ram of a much large wolf ship. Neither ships shows signs of activity. This is because the Vodoni ship spotted the PCs from far away - all Vodoni breeders have super-vision- and are prepared to ambush the PCs as soon as the PCs come close enough to investigate. Once you move in to check the situation out and start poking around (or if you attack from afar) the Vodoni ship attacks. As a Butcher class warship it is far more dangerous than the previous encounter and has a larger crew and better weapons. The Vodoni enforcers prefer to fight hand-to-hand and will go to great lengths to either ram and board or to surprise the PCs in melee if they investigate the wreck. This is for two reasons. First, theVodoni want to take 'samples' because this is a scouting mission. Second, they are far more effective at melee combat than at ship-to-ship ranged combat conducted with catapults and ballista. Although this is a more difficult fight the PCs will be lucky enough to receive some help if they need it. There's an elven armada-class ship (that name's not confusing at all) that intervenes when it sees the gnomish ship and decides that this looks like space piracy. In the event that the PCs ignore the encounter rather then investigate they're later stopped by the elves on the suspicion that they might be accessories to the Vodoni. The gnomish ship's crew were massacred, but there are a clutch of children hiding in a secret compartment. When the elves arrive they'll be suspicious of everyone so the testimony the children can give will help the PCs. After things are settled the elves will forcefully request that the PCs follow them to the Rock of Bral, an asteroid outpost where chapter two takes place. Chapter two The PCs arrive at the Rock of Bral and find out that there's a large meeting underway. All of the races in the sphere are under attack by mysterious werewolf invaders and the sphere's inhabitants have convened a council to air their grievances, share information, and make a plan of action. The PCs are honorary attendees given that they've encountered the Vodono twice and lived to tell about it. If you refuse to attend the elven commander considers this a slight against his honor and he tries to duel you (oh, it's going to be that style of DMing huh?). We'll assume the PCs accept the invitation extended to them by Prince Andru, the elven ruler of the Rock of Bral. Everyone is present at this meeting, even the neogi and beholders have sent ambassadors, and there are eight tables of delegates. The PCs are sat at the table with Bral's Fireball Alliance (no idea what this is. Wizards probably?), but are free to move around and hob-nob or ask questions to the other delegates. Assuming you socialize a bit you can learn a talk to the other factions to see what they have to say. The mind flayers have sent a royal heir and are curious about the dead bodies in the cargo holds of the Vodoni ships. The Neogi immediately blame the victims and suggest that maybe the Vodoni are merely misunderstood (this is done so the PCs have a scummy heel who can fill the role of untrustworthy guy that ruins their mission later on. Think Maggott from the Dirty Dozen). The dwarves want to fight - preferably the Vodoni, but whoever is willing to throw down will do. The gnomes are useless. The human faction suggest gathering more information on the Vodoni intentions. The elves agree with the humans and pretend to have said their idea first, then they passive-aggressively talk down to you and start giving you orders. The three beholders present are too busy arguing with each other to notice you. After a discussion the factions all gather to vote on how to proceed. The mind flayers, dwarves, and gnomes all vote for war. The neogi insist that the Vodoni are misunderstood and that a peace embassy should be sent. For inexplicable reasons (they're not smart) the elves agree with the neogi and decide that the PCs should be sent as ambassadors. The humans vote to abstain i.e. the only True Neutral option. The elves take the human's vote and the current tally is three-to-three with only the beholders left to hear from. Although the PCs have a table they don't actually get to vote, of course. The beholders shout "Wildcard bitches!" and vote for war - against the other two beholders at the meeting. All three of them start shooting beams at each other. After the laser fight is over the elves begrudgingly give you the beholder's voting option and you get to decide if this will be an exploration/information gathering/peace embassy or a war-party scouting enemy territory. If you choose peace the neogi ambassador/rear end in a top hat Griktha joins the party. You also get a no-name ancient silver or gold dragon too. The presence of a near god-like entity in the party is never addressed again in the module. If the party chooses war then you are joined by the mind flayer Prince Villithandra and the dwarven King Druin. Both of these guys get a write-up in the back and serve as potent, but perhaps sinister, allies. Prince Villithandra is a bit unusual for a mind flayer because he's exceptionally passionate by mind flayer standards and thus other races can sometimes correctly interpret his emotional state. He's also a high level evoker and a dedicated arsonist so that emotional state is usually 'ecstatic joy' during his incendiary rampages. Kneel before your chortling squid-king or be burned alive you wretches! In either event, war or peace, the PCs have one 'good' ally and one 'bad' ally with them. You are sent on an official elven ship towards Vodoni space or you can take your own ship if you like. The PCs are also joined by the beholders (if they survive) and/or the dangerously explosive gnomish embassy just to make sure that their lives are a living hell. How do you get to Vodoni space? On one of the ships you encounter in chapter one (either one will do) there's a vague map in the helmsman's cabin that gives you an idea of where that ship was headed. Unfortunately for you, this map takes you right through a region of the phlogiston that is far from safe, The Weird. The Weird is an enormous negative energy nebula that exists between the Vodoni spheres and the PCs' native homes. This is why neither have ever heard of each other, because no explorers could navigate the dangerous negative energy void. Until now. Ordinarily, The Weird would get a much larger description. Instead it's a one-off encounter where you sail into a black void and encounter a ghost ship that looks very similar to the Vodoni designs, but crewed by winged-beast men. These are some escaped Zalani slaves that sailed into The Weird to escape the Vodoni, but didn't quite make it to safety. Who are the Zalani? A race of pacifist gargoyles who are exceptional ship wrights as long as they're working with stone or minerals. The Zalani were enslaved by the Vodoni and build all of their warships. How to use this encounter effectively is left up to the DM. Once you pass through The Weird you are now in Vodoni space.
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Sep 2, 2020 08:01
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Mage: The Ascension would, of course, go on to just wholesale rip off Big Trouble even more than Vampire does by putting Lo Pan in their Book of Chantries.
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Sep 2, 2020 11:48
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`An Ancient Gold/Silver Dragon joins your party. This impacts the adventure in no way whatsoever. I can only imagine every time the PC's ask it for help, it gives random Yoda phrases and afterwards says it totally helped you guys, you just missed it out back. Though I suppose at the end when the evil megalomaniac gets blown up in his Volcano fortress the Dragon can come rescue them or something. Maybe the Dragon just tweets out the adventure to it's followers.
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Sep 2, 2020 12:44
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I've had a party member have their ancient dragon mother hang around, mostly to dote on them and hug them goodbye when they go on their little adventures. Also works as a mechanism to have the party ransomed/resurrected in case things go very wrong, but it never came to that.
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Sep 2, 2020 13:04
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"I packed you all lunches, have a great adventure kids!" Says the several thousand year old silver dragon before finally having time in the cave to herself to curl up with her treasure and watch her stories.
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Sep 2, 2020 14:19
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