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Don’t Pandorans get forced into dormancy really easily if any normies are around? I am more familiar with 1e, so maybe that was changed.
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Sep 17, 2019 18:09
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slasher is the coolest CoD splatbook by a lot
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Sep 18, 2019 15:01
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do zeky exist in 2e promethean, or would they just be extempore?
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Sep 18, 2019 17:41
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Kurieg posted:Aren't Zeky the ones powered by radiation? yeah, and their disquiet causes Cold War style paranoia while their Wasteland is basically a nuclear winter. they’re loving sweet to expand, radiation is kind of a perfect metaphor for prometheans: something humans unleash but can’t control, something most people don’t understand, that hurts anyone exposed to it even without meaning to. it’s capable of tremendous destruction but also incredible good if harnessed properly. the tormented state of zeky and the fact that not one of them had ever reached new dawn as of 1e made them feel like incredibly relevant, as an experiment that the world is watching with bated breath: will they master their destructive power or be consumed by it? Add to that their extremely weird Junji Ito style Pandorans and unique power suite and they were a great addition to the game line DAD LOST MY IPOD fucked around with this message at 17:49 on Sep 18, 2019 |
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Sep 18, 2019 17:46
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vampires were banality 10 for reasons that were never really fully explained
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Sep 20, 2019 17:47
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one thing that’s always been a bit off putting to me about oWoD AND nWoD is the incredible amount of proper nouns. I know you can’t run a game without naming some basic concepts, but Promethean really struck me as the apotheosis (perhaps Apotheosis?) of this runaway idea: you have a Lineage which has a dominant Humour and Element and grants you Bestowments, and a Refinement which grants you Transmutations according to Role and Alembic, all of which are fueled by Azoth, which can also cause Wastelands, Disquiet, Torment and even Firestorms. In addition to accumulating Azoth to live you try to generate Vitriol to make an Athanor. You must beware of Flux, which leads to Pandorans, separated into different Mockeries and sometimes becoming Sublimati or Praecipati... There’s a lot. I’ve always really liked the game line though, and 2e seems to have one major improvement over 1e, in that it looks actually playable
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Sep 24, 2019 15:33
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These read like NPC rules, which is a shame, because 1e Zeky had subtler rules that made them viable PCs. Like, their disquiet used to inflict Cold War style paranoia and distrust, kind of like The Monsters Are Due On Maple St. Now it’s just Radiation Madness.
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Sep 24, 2019 21:13
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if i were to run or play in a 2e promethean game featuring zeky i'd rather put in the (nominal) effort to port over the 1e iteration rather than 2e. all the subtlety has been ripped out of them, which i feel is wrong; now they're atomic bombs rather than radiation leaks. radiation as a metaphor is a slow, invisible poison that rots you from the inside out, and by the time you notice anything's wrong, it's too late. there's a lot of intertwined mechanics and flavor to that effect in 1e, like the power that lets you literally hide inside a shadow, or the fact that Carcinomas tend to sink into shadows as well when dormant. that makes the zeky Torment, where they just spend Pyros like it's going out of style, much more shocking and dramatic: it's when that slow, building power erupts. even their disquiet feeds that, since a community in stage 1 or 2 of zeky disquiet is likely to seem quiet and peaceful, maybe too quiet and peaceful. nope, now it's all radiation murder zombies and people keeling over after a five minute conversation.
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Sep 26, 2019 15:40
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 I have a terrible habit of getting distracted with other poo poo (RTTTOH took me three years to finish) but I am putting on my Good Boy hat and planning to chug through the rest of this adventure at a brisk clip. The Great Modron March Part 10: Way Under the Mountain It's been more than a year since my last update, so to get people caught up: the modrons (the cute little robot-people who occupy Mechanus, the plane of ultimate Law), every 289 years, march out in a vast horde and tromp around the Outer Planes. Nobody knows exactly why, but nobody questions the regularity of the March-- you could set your watch by it, the modrons are so precise. Until now. This March is different. This March is early, and nobody knows why, or what it might mean. The PCs have gotten entangled with it, and in the course of helping the modrons complete their odyssey, they might find out some information they don't really want to know. Anyways, when we last left our heroes, they had been summoned to the Abyss by the tiefling wizard Taraere Illsmiser to protect her in her quest to loot a demon fortress. That went about as well as could be expected, but fortunately the spell binding the PCs wore off and sent them home before anything really bad could happen to them. By then the modrons had moved on, from the Abyss to the chaotic evil/neutral evil plane of Carceri, and they've left that plane behind too. Therein lies the rub... because a lot of people are very, very keen to find out how they did it. Carceri's not known as the Red Prison for nothing. It is very, very hard to leave, probably the hardest of all the planes, and a gigantic swarm of modrons must have found one hell of an exit. They see everything and record everything, so of course they have the dark of portals every other berk's long forgotten. This could be very profitable, and it's attracted a lot of attention. The PCs should have no shortage of rich patrons willing to pay handsomely for this information. The Fraternity of Order very badly wants to know, at least, for their portal compendiums, and they won't just pay handsomely-- they'll tell the PCs about a portal to Curst, the gate-town to Carceri in the Outlands, potentially saving them a hell of a trip. The adventures opens (beyond this initial hook) by saying that the PCs should quickly make it into Carceri from Curst, foregoing any description of the town, which is a bit of a wasted opportunity, but it's described elsewhere and I guess you could people it with some color and encounters if you wanted to. Arriving in Carceri is rather unpleasant; the PCs show up in a stinking swamp full of trampled corpses. They have no way of knowing this, but these were petitioners of Carceri who were hoping to follow the March to freedom (they don't like the plane any more than visitors do) and were either mistaken for attackers or just trampled. The trail of bodies and modron tracks goes on for a mile or two and stops. See, Carceri's layers are made up of massive orbs hundreds of miles apart, and (many) modrons can fly. This information should be pretty obvious to any planar-knowledgeable PC. Course, they're poo poo outta luck as far as tracking the things is concerned. That is, until a voice speaks up: "Hey berks, you lookin' for modrons?" The speaker is Aach, a 14th-level human thief and member of the Revolutionary League. Of course, what she really is is a top-shelf cony-catcher looking to run a peel on some clueless sods, but the PCs'll do in a pinch. Aach is charming and affable, and while she'll read as evil to a detect spell, she'll try to pass that off as background effects of the evil plane they're all standing in. She'll ask for 200g to lead the PCs to the modrons, half up front. She claims she knows where they went and has transportation ready, and those things are both true. Of course, she's nowhere near as altruistic as she seems-- she's been sent by the League to foil the Fraternity's plan to learn about the portal. The Revolutionary League headquarters are on Carceri and they don't fancy other factions learning too much about the plane's secrets. (As a side note, I like that the Revolutionary League embodies the darker, more violent and destructive side of revolution, with the Free League representing Bakunin-style anarchism). In keeping with the Revolutionary League's particular idiom, though, Aach has no intention of seeing their plan through, either. She plans to turn stag on her erstwhile faction and sell the information she's got in Sigil to set herself up nicely. She'd like the PCs as backup to investigate the portal the modrons used, and hopefully she can strand them on the other side of it.  extremely trustworthy Aach's "transportation" is a hot-air balloon made of petitioner skin (ew) that can easily hold the party, and while it's a bit slow, it can cross the gap in about five hours. Aach will be friendly enough, gently probing the PCs for information (so she knows who to sell the knowledge to when she makes it to Sigil). She leads them to a huge pool of quicksand, which the modrons obviously used; hundreds of tracks lead to it. The gate is keyless, and anyone who jumps into the quicksand will pass through... ...to Undermountain. Some of you might be nodding along at this point. For those who aren't, Undermountain is a massive megadungeon on the world of Abeir-Toril (here just called Toril). A mighty (and mightily crazy) archmage named Halaster excavated a dungeon complex because he was a shithead wizard and that's the sort of thing they do. He opened tons of portals to the Lower Planes to stock it with fiendish foes, bound a bunch of them with magic, and then left the portals open.  this image is never not apropos Most everyone forgot the barmy wizard and his portal, but not the modrons. They, as has already been established, don't forget anything. And while Toril isn't Outland, it's a hell of a lot easier to escape from than Carceri. The portal spits the PCs out in the lower levels of Undermountain. Halaster implemented all kinds of enchantments here to make sure pesky adventurers couldn't cheese his dungeon, so teleportation and like spells (dimension door, passwall etc.) don't work. Scrying magic like ESP and Locate Object can't penetrate the walls, floors, ceilings and doors. And given how much background magic suffuses the place, Detect Magic is useless. Here, have a map. The book notes that this adventure is almost a typical "dungeon crawl," which Planescape PCs would not be familiar with (dungeon crawls not being a typical feature of Planescape campaigns). It's an interesting idea. I like cross-genre play.  The PCs arrive in Location A, next to a nasty archway carved with gehreleths (the fiends native to Carceri). It's keyless and two-way, so they could retreat to the Red Prison, if that was something anyone anywhere wanted to do. Area B is a similar gate to the Abyss. Going through this gate is a tremendously bad idea, not just because it leads to the loving Abyss, but because on a 1 on 1d6, passing through it gets you hit with Feeblemind. This works in both directions and explains why no demons show up on this side. The gates marked C are Charm Wards that Halaster set up. They're undispellable wards, and if you fail them you get hit with a charm spell if you fail a saving throw, but the only effect of the charm is to make you think Halaster is a pretty cool dude and want to do what he says. Since he doesn't show up in this scenario, there's no actual effect unless the PCs get trapped here. But it's a nice bit of flavor. Area D leads to, you guessed it, Baator. There are guards on it (two red abishai; at the PCs' current level, presumably 6 to 9, these should not pose too much of a threat), and while they saw the modrons pass by, they're not gonna volunteer that information. They're bickering now about whether to explore the dungeon, but they'll attack on sight, fleeing back through the portal if things go against them. The central area marked H is the Pillar of Gates, a gigantic pillar 50 feet wide that slowly rotates. Its segments all rotate in different speeds and different directions, except the top two, which have ceased. Muddy footprints lead to a stone door set in the bottom of the pillar. The whole thing is a tremendously powerful magical artifact that's basically impervious to harm. PCs can explore it, but Aach reminds them that they still don't know where they are, and their mission was to find out where the Carceri portal led. So no leaving yet. Plus, they don't know how it works. As you can see from the map inset, you enter the hollow pillar through a door on the bottom. Each of its ring-shaped segments has a portal on it, leading to a different lower plane. Narrow staircases connect the levels and come up through gaps in the ceiling. The only key for the portals is the rotation of the pillar-- when a level stops rotating, its portal deactivates. As you might surmise, climbing between levels can be hazardous, and it's only possible when their rotation brings stairway and hatch in alignment-- which only happens once a minute or so, and only long enough for a couple creatures to get through (this held up the modrons for two whole days). The pillar may be magical, but it's not totally indestructible. It's slowly winding down; levels 6 and 7 no longer work at all, and levels 3, 4 and 5 are getting very close to ceasing their movement (the adventure says that Aach realizes this, but I don't see how). Apparently canny PCs who study the pillar for a few minutes can figure this information out with a -12 Int check, but Aach's Int is only 14, so I guess she rolled really well. When the rotation stops is up to the DM; the adventure says to wait until the PCs have the chance to explore and get the chant on how it works (from an NPC to be named shortly) before it happens. The modrons, as it happens, went up to level 4 and passed through into the Grey Waste, and if PCs somehow figure out to do that, they can see the March if they haven't dawdled too much. The upcoming shutdown isn't the only problem with the pillar. One of Halaster's curses turned an adventuring wizard named Cryvistin into a vampire, and the archmage impressed him into his service to act as Guardian of the Pillar. He's supposed to watch over the portals and prevent them from being used as an interplanar highway. He couldn't stop the modron march, but a small band of PCs is more his speed. He'll watch the PCs in gaseous form to assess their capabilities; his first move to approach someone alone and charm them to act as his spy, but he'll flee if this doesn't work. North of the pillar is a hallway leading to Cryvistin's sanctum, and the floor is trapped (he can fly, so who gives a poo poo). Activating the trap releases a swarm of 100 bats, who mob the characters and distract them while a time-delayed trapdoor beneath them drops them 30 feet into a huge pit. A dex check at -10(!) can avoid this, but if you fall, you end up trapped (after taking 3d6 falling damage) when the trapdoor swings closed. This summons a tiny energy sphere into the pit that seeks out living bodies, attacking randomly once per round at Thac0 12. It does 1d10 cold damage and drains a level from anyone it hits. The ball cannot be destroyed or dispelled in any way. "When it came to traps, Halaster was no piker," the book cheerfully informs us. This is a bastard of a trap and not one I'd feel comfortable springing on PCs, since 2nd Edition level drain was serious loving business. The vampire's lair is past the trap and has some loot, plus a really disorienting "thick black curtains plus everything inside is painted blood red" decor that inflicts a -1 to all die rolls by all living creatures while inside. Also Cryvistin's coffin is cursed, and anyone touching it who fails a save will be hated by anyone he or she meets. The loot listed is pretty typical of a vampire, but not at all worth the nasty trap and the difficulty of actually battling a vampire. If for some reason the PCs explore around here, Area G is where Halaster puts the many, many paintings (all blood red, natch) he creates in his centuries of free time. Cryvistin is just in charge of the pillar. This region of the dungeon is under the control of Paellistra, a drow priestess. She doesn't work for Halaster, but she came here to see if the portals might be of use to the drow, and she bribed Cryvistin to let her stay with an amulet of protection from turning (a fact which the PCs might not be thrilled to find out).  diterlizzi is a treasure She's a level 9 priestess, and while she's no slouch in a fight (partially thanks to fact that she's festooned with magic items) she's not openly hostile to the PCs. To get to her, though, the PCs have to either pass through area M or area J. M is a high-ceilinged chamber full of "crushed bones and feces" and home to two harpies, who act as Paellistra's guardians. They'll prefer to use their magical song to charm those who hear it, but if you have powerful missile attacks or some way to force them into melee, they'll mix it up. Paellistra's bound them magically, but she doesn't really like them (their singing is annoying, we're told) and won't be mad if they're killed. If the PCs would rather avoid the boids, they can pass through hallway J. Halfway through, PCs must save vs. spell. Failure means the PCs are pulled down the hall the rest of the way as if by Strength 23, into the marked room. Once they're inside, the door slams shut and hundreds of magically animated iron hooks attack. Each hook has a Thac0 of 15 and inflicts 1d6 points of damage, and 1d6 attack a given target each round. The hooks have AC 2 and 20 HP each, but destroying them all really isn't feasible before you're torn to shreds; escaping the room is a much better option. Assuming the PCs do that, they can reach Paellistra's suite. Room K is her boudoir, a lavishly furnished room with some valuable jewelry and typical Drow Priestess stuff (fancy clothes, nice furniture, drugs, torture implements, etc.). Paellistra herself is in Room L, sitting on a swiveling iron Supervillain Chair. She's polite and nonhostile, but not particularly nice; fortunately, she doesn't have any reason to hurt the PCs and will be very susceptible to flattery and charm. She'll answer any questions they have (especially about Halaster and Undermountain) though she won't say that the pillar is winding down. In return for this help, she'll want the PCs to fill her in on some things she doesn't know: the strange clockwork people, Sigil, the planes, that sort of thing. Refusing her would be kind of rude. Paellistra is perfectly willing to be civil, but threats, rudeness, aggression, or carrying around bright lights and refusing to douse them will arouse her anger. She can be a very dangerous opponent, so... don't provoke her, and you should be fine. She's also got five giant spider servants lurking around the ceiling in case PCs try anything. Anyways, once the PCs learn about the pillar from Paellistra, they'll know what they needed to know to complete their mission: yes, there's a labyrinth full of portals under the Prime world of Toril; no, it's not really a good highway (too full of monsters and magic). Aach has learned all she needs to, and now she just needs to give these berks the laugh and make it to the Cage. She suggests they follow the modrons into the Gray Waste to see where the portal lets out. She has figured out that the pillar is about to stop rotating, trapping anyone inside it (when it no longer rotates, the staircases will no longer be navigable and the portals will close). Aach will stall the PCs on level 4 until she feels the pillar grinding to a halt, then dive through the access hatch with a "So long, rubes!" Only very quick thinking (and acting) can prevent this, and Aach is slippery, doing whatever she has to do (up to and including violence) to avoid being trapped. She's very dangerous and totally capable of killing a PC or two. If she makes it down to level 3, she's good to go, as levels 1 and 2 are still rotating. Anyone stuck on 4, though, is trapped. There's one hope for escape: level 5 spins a little longer than 4, and PCs can climb up there and take that portal before it closes. Being stuck on Gehenna is no fun, but it sure beats starving in a teleportation-proof pillar. If the PCs don't make it before level 5 shuts down, merciful DMs might decide that Halaster shows up to fix his precious pillar and set them free, though he'll surely extract a price (and they might already be charmed to obey him). If they do make it out, the portal takes them to a gully by the River Styx in Khalas, the first layer of Gehenna. This place is a sulfurous, volcanic hellscape that can inflict environmental damage from heat. If PCs have no magic that lets them escape Gehenna, they can wait around until a marraenoloth (a yugoloth boatman) shows up to guide them down the Styx to the lower plane of their choice (or the Astral) though the price is steep... and there's a chance the marraenoloth just takes them where it wants to go. The PCs might explore Khalas, but they're close to the realm of the evil power Sung Chiang, and they'll likely be accosted by a pair of hydroloth thugs. This is the home plane of the yugoloths, after all, and they don't take kindly to outsiders round these here parts. They won't attack unless the PCs do something really stupid, but they'll only guide the PCs to a portal in exchange for a magical item or an oath to aid them later (and frankly, I'd rather just fork over the magic). Also, the key is a pained scream from someone losing at least 3 hp, and boy do the hydroloths love "helping." So you can wrap up the adventure here. Aach will take some time to make it back to Sigil, so the PCs might be able to beat her there and claim the reward. Course, she won't like that, and might vow revenge... but of course, they probably want revenge on her as well. She's gone into hiding, but she's out there, biding her time. She's a dangerous foe, but the Revolutionary League has by now figured out she's turned stag on them and might approach the PCs to find someone to scrag her... And of course, the March goes on. One thing I really love about this campaign is how many hooks there are embedded in it. Like Taraere Illsmister, Aach might show up later, looking to work out her grudge against the PCs. Paellistra, on the other hand, might be an ally, or at least a contact, if the PCs want to go on a planar adventure later. The Great Modron March is designed to be threaded into a longer, running campaign, and I love how many opportunities it provides to flesh out a campaign setting with characters, settings and plots. Next time: the return of the Tacharim! (See parts III and V for the skinny on these chumps).
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Dec 11, 2019 03:48
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The Great Modron March Part 11: Floral Reckoning We're closing in on the end here. The modrons have made it nearly all the way around the Great Ring and even now tromp through Gehenna, the volcanic lawful evil/neutral evil plane and home of the yugoloths. The bright side is that they're back on the Order side of the Great Ring, which is presumably safer than the Chaos side; on the other hand, having weathered Limbo and The Abyss (which severely reduced the March's numbers) there aren't many of the little pikers left. Canny bloods who remember the first post in this series will recall that, as modrons on the March die, others are promoted, ensuring that only the toughest survive-- so while the March is a lot smaller than it used to be, at least its remnants can mostly take care of themselves. The various fiends and sundry other inhabitants of the Lower Planes don't bear the modrons any particular animosity, at least not over and above their generalized omnidirectional hatred of everything. Others, though, have their eyes on the reduced March. Foremost among these are the Tacharim, an evil planar order of "knights" that the aforementioned canny bloods may recall from episode 3. There, the Tacharim attacked the March in search of Modron parts, hoping to use them to create an army of "modronized" warriors. The Tacharim's headquarters are located in Gehenna, and as the March passes by, they're not going to pass up an opportunity for a really big score. The modrons are currently in Gehenna, having found a secret portal in the marshes near the gate-town of Torch. They're tromping through Khalas, the furnace-like first layer of the evil plane. Gehenna's layers take the form of massive "earthbergs" that resemble nothing so much as two huge volcanos set base-to-base. Khalas's volcanos are active, and visitors face the twin perils of bursting lava flows and steep slopes. There's basically no flat ground anywhere on the plane, and gravity doesn't orient itself towards the ground like in some other planes. If you fall, you might fall right off into the void between earthbergs-- that is, if you're not torn to shreds by the jagged terrain on the way down. Anyone walking around who's not protected from heat takes 1d2 damage every round. However, the PCs probably start in Sigil. They're visited there by Sir Vaimish Crasad, a paladin of Excelsior who they had the pleasure of dealing with the last time they faced the Tacharim together. Crasad's a good guy, and he's here with good news: his allies have tracked the evil Tacharim to their lair and are even now preparing to put an end to them. He's come to thank the PCs for their help earlier, but he waves off any offer of help. If the PCs insist, he'll put his foot down, insisting that they leave the Tacharim to him and his men; he can't risk bystanders' lives on such a dangerous errand. He will do everything he can to dissuade the PCs, and if they actually start to follow him, he'll slip through a portal at the very last moment to keep them from using it. This, I don't like. The PCs are almost certain to assume that "help Crasad" is the adventure hook, and they should want to, too, since he's a nice dude and the Tacharim are major bad news. The players will surely assume that they're supposed to go with him and his protestations to the contrary are just playing hard to get. It also sort of beggars belief that he'd push back so hard, especially since he knows the PCs can handle themselves in a fight. If I were running this I would rework the timeline so they either hear about Crasad's mission after he's departed (from a letter or something) or just... go along with him. It would require some retooling of the later portions of the adventure to account for his presence, but that's not impossible. Anyways, assume Crasad pops in, tells the PCs "we're about to go smite some fools gg no re" and peaces out before they can follow him. A few days later, the PCs are preparing to go out on the town or on an adventure or whatever when there's a knock at the door, followed closely by the sound of a body hitting the ground outside. When they open the door, it's poor old Crasad, looking somewhat the worse for wear. He's covered in burns, missing an eye, and parts of his flesh look like metal plates have been peeled off him. Any attempt to heal him with magic fails and the motes of magic sizzling against his skin visibly pain him. "Ain't gonna work, friends... the Tacharim took care of that when they welded those modron plates to my body. Ruined all chance of magical recovery, and my body's not going to last long without it. 'Fore I go, I've got to ask a favor of you... please, travel to Torch, pass through the gate to Gehenna, and look for their headquarters, the Flower Infernal. It's pretty easy to get there... the Tacharim are starting to wear a trail. Y'have to sneak up, and probably in. They have guards posted all over the place. When you get in, find the prison and free my brother. And if the cursed sods who run the place have done to him what they did to me, kill him. Then torch the place. Please." With this, Crasad passes out, lingering in pained unconsciousness for a few hours before finally dying. There's no magical healing allowed, and only a wish can save him. From here, the PCs have the choice to disregard his words and carry on with their lives, or plan an attack on the Tacharim, for revenge or just for the good of the planes. Hope they pick the latter 'cause that's the adventure! It's not too hard to get to Torch, and while it's not fully described here, the other Planescape materials have plenty on it. I'd linger in the town for a bit, since the adventure notes that it's changed. Never a nice place (gate-towns to the Lower Planes seldom are), Torch is gripped by superstition and paranoia right now, since something has been waylaying caravans outside of town. The survivors of these attacks claim that they were attacked by metal men and mechanical creatures. The people of Torch assume that the March (which just passed through here) left a few rogue modrons behind in the hills, and they're responsible. There's a lively debate on this, since going rogue is pretty rare especially on the lawful side of the Ring, but the town is preparing for potential modron invasion. They're in a siege mentality, and that should be apparent to the PCs from the start. The adventure actually takes place in Gehenna, but the PCs might want to stick around Torch for a session to gain info and prepare, especially since the portals are somewhat hard to take. There's one in the marshes, but it's not well known at all. Fortunately the modrons' trail makes it pretty easy to find, but it's still hours of wading through muck and mire, and PCs are likely to catch a nasty disease. Alternatively, they could take the well-known midair portals in Torch, but those come with their own hazards. See, traditionally, the way into Gehenna involves climbing the spires of Torch and leaping off to jump through a midair gate; this requires a Dex check to climb and another one at -2 to jump. Failing the second leads to 20d6 falling damage, so basically nobody just jumps hoping for the best. Flying magic is ideal, but PCs are creative. This portal puts the PCs a bit closer to the Tacharim base, but it's up to the PCs which one they use. It's not too hard to locate the Flower Infernal. For one thing, it's a gigantic flower! It's two stories tall and occupies an island in one of Khalas's jagged canyons. A thousand feet below, the stinking waters of the Styx foam and froth. The plant itself is metallically dense, possibly as a result of its roots reaching down into the heavy waters below. Its nine jagged, hollow petals thrust skyward and reflect the volcanic red glow of Khalas. The Tacharim have hollowed out the stalk and petals of the flower to make their home. They discovered a seed pod in the center of the Flower that, when exposed to heat, can cause the entire structure to rotate, and individual petals to raise and lower; they use this to turn the petals into "drawbridges" that let them access their home, or keep it safe from invaders. This is a very effective tactic, since it lets them divide and isolate an invading force within the petals (this is probably what happened to poor Crasad's paladins). The Tacharim have bribed the various fiends of Gehenna to leave them alone, and here they carry out their twisted experiments. They've kidnapped modrons and humanoids alike, and used parts from the former to augment the latter. Their eventual goal is an army of modronized soldiers, deadly and loyal.  PCs who see the flower might recognize it as the logo from the Tacharim's armor in Chapter III. It's pretty clear this is where their enemies are, but how to get in? Crasad wasn't kidding about the guards. Only one drawbridge petal is down at a time, and the guards are on edge. They all carry bronze horns and are deployed so that they can see and reinforce each other quickly. A large force is not going to slip in unseen. However, there are options. The most obvious one is magic: invisibility and silence spells work here, and while the Tacharim have set tripwires (and the uneven terrain poses its own hazards) there's no reason that the PCs couldn't walk right into Mordor. Another option is the ol' stormtrooper gambit. The organization is big enough that not everyone knows everyone, and it should be easy enough to waylay a small patrol and lay hands on their super-duper-cool black armor. The PCs might still give themselves away by doing or saying something stupid, but this might actually get them in the door. Ambushing a patrol can also get the PCs some good information: the Tacharim are gearing up for a major attack on the March, to get all the modrons they'll ever need. Even if the PCs don't really like the modrons at this point, they'll surely want to stop an evil force from laying hands on an army like that. The March is about a day away from the strike point, so... chop chop! There are 250 or so Tacharim in the Flower, a mixture of 2nd and 4th level Fighters, plus various servants and staff. Their commander is Doran Blackarm, a 12th level Fighter who's been... enhanced with some modron parts. Specifically, nonaton legs, which make her super-fast and able to leap 40 feet at once. She's dedicated, professional, and competent, and she knows all the guards by sight, so the ol' "I'm new here!" trick won't work on her. There's one other person in the fortress who the PCs might recognize: Valran Stonefist, from the fifth chapter. You may recall him as a mad wizard experimenting along very similar lines to the Tacharim. The two of them hooked up, compared notes, and decided to join forces. Access to the Tacharim's resources have led Valran to a breakthrough, and he's successfully accomplished his goal: he's transplanted his brain in the body of a decaton modron. The change didn't destroy his sanity, either, though he's more aggressive a bit more lawful (and thus less intuitive) than he used to be. If he sees the PCs, he'll certainly remember them, though they might not have parted on bad terms last time. If they weren't hostile before, he'll assume they've come to join up with the Tacharim, and he's eager to share his discoveries and what he's been up to. "By keeping a piece of the modron brain within the body, not only do we cure the modron madness, we also ensure that there's a built-in tendency to follow orders in the new modronoids. Of course, it tends to slow down the mental processes of some bashers, and it still drives others completely barmy, but that's a small price to pay for an army of creatures like this, eh?" Yeah, he's still nuts. Valran will show them around, but even he gets suspicious after a while. Of course, if the last time they met they parted on bad terms, he'll call for the guards right away. He's pretty beefy himself, now; he still has access to his old spells, including disintegrate, globe of invulnerability, polymorph other and lightning bolt, plus he has the decaton body's natural armor and attacks, plus spell-like abilities to buff and heal other modrons. Here, have a map:  The drawbridges are barred by portcullises, each carved with magic-nullifying runes. Archers can fire through the bars, and they have murder holes above them, complete with pots of hot oil at the ready. The Tacharim have also constructed racks of spikes that slide into place in the portcullises; once they're set, they raise the drawbridge petal, spilling invaders onto the spikes. Past these portcullises is a ring-shaped balcony, which is separated from the fortress proper by still more gates. Area B (the five numbered petals) consists of barracks and labs; these petals are typically not lowered, since they're in use. Area 1 is a stable, with 40 trained warhorses that will attack anyone not bearing the Tacharim symbol. Area 2 is the modronoid barracks. It's a mess, but in an orderly way; it looks as though the litter on the ground has been purposefully dropped in a specific spot, "as though the inhabitants were trying to assert their individuality while still conforming to a greater pattern." Area 3 consists of partially dismembered modrons hanging from chains and in baths of sludge, all of them twitching feebly. See, if a modron dies, all of its parts disappear, so they have to keep modrons alive so the grafts will remain active. Killing a modron here is an act of mercy and also kills the modronoid to whom its parts were assigned. Area 4 is the surgery, and it's certainly grisly. There's a Tacharim squire hosing it down as the PCs enter, but if they're disguised, he won't see any reason to challenge them. Area 5 is an infirmary for sick and injured Tacharim. All 30 beds are occupied, but none of the inhabitants is awake. Areas marked 6 are barracks, where most of the inhabitants dwell. During daytime, there are about 30 Tacharim asleep here; at night, it's about 170. Anyone awake and active when the PCs arrive will assume they're new arrivals if they look appropriate and don't give themselves away. Areas marked 7 are armories, full of nonmagical weapons. They're not locked or barred or anything since the Tacharim might need weapons at a moment's notice. The largest armory also has the portcullis mechanism. The lower level of the Flower is for day-to-day life. Area 8, as you might deduce from the map, is a prison. The cells are all full right now, some with modronoids who haven't yet learned to obey, others with prisoners captured on Tacharim raids. The modronoids are pacing like crazed beasts, the prisoners are listless and hopeless. One of the prisoners is Vaimish's younger brother Tairish Crasad, but unfortunately, the PCs're too late for him; he's been modronized, and he's howling in frustration and fury. The PCs can soothe him and get some information out of him-- his mind's not gone yet-- but the only useful thing he knows is the dark of the Flower's seed-pod control system. Tairish has a pretty good idea that destroying that pod will destroy the whole flower. He also has a pretty good idea that he'd like to die, and soon, and this revelation is accompanied by new howls that are sure to bring down the guards unless the PCs knock him out or end his life. The book suggests good PCs go for the nonlethal option, but that's another weird conflict, since all the evidence they've seen indicates that this process is irreversible, and both Crasad brothers asked them to kill this poor sod. So who knows. I certainly wouldn't penalize a party who put him in the dead-book. Area 9 is a smithy, with three anvils and three smith-guards, all of whom like to grouse and complain, though they're only on duty during the day. Area 10 is the Knights' Quarters for the higher-ranking Knights; they're alert, since many of them are up dicing and playing cards at odd hours, and they'll question any sod who stumbles into their room. Area 11 is an administrative room, used for strategic planning meetings and the multiplanar equivalent of McKinsey powerpoints. There's a lot of jink here, too, since this is where they keep payroll-- about 10k gp in gold and gems. The areas marked 12 are the mess hall, with nothing particularly unexpected present, and 13 represent repair rooms. The 0th-level Prime Alana Sieron serves as the tinker here, but she's just in it for the money and has no loyalty to the Tacharim, so threats or a bribe should keep her shut up. Area 14 is just storage. The Central Pod is where the action's likely to go down. As you can see from the map, it's like a chambered nautilus shell. Doran and Valran share these quarters. The walls of the center pod are translucent from the inside and opaque from the outside, which helps them keep an eye on the rest of their crew. 15a is an anteroom and Doran's library. Her books reach from floor to ceiling. She may be an evil, modron-legged knight, but at least she's a well-read one. 15b is Valran's room, which is spotlessly clean and orderly, though it shows some signs of once being quite opulent. His mind is slipping towards order due to his new modron body, and he spends his free time in here meditating on the joys of law and order. Areas 15c-d are Doran's rooms. She's a bit of an artist, and next to her bed is a writing table and painting station. Her paintings are beautifully composed, and the chamber "seems to radiate the health of a well-balanced mind." The thought occurs that well-balanced people usually don't kidnap and vivisect modrons to graft their parts onto unwilling captives, but what do I know? Anyways, area 15d is her exercise chamber, filled with weapons; she often spars with a randomly chosen knight. She's here at night and midday. Area 15e is a guard post, manned 24-7, mostly in charge of operating the Flower's controls and keeping it rotating and raising/lowering drawbridges on schedule. Area 15f is Valran's library, which contains his spellbooks as well as his diaries, notes and favorite fiction (the lusty modronian maid?). Area 15g is the central pod, from which the Knights can control the whole Flower. It's not hard to figure out what it does, and it's not too hard to set it on fire, either. The trouble is making sure the whole Flower burns, since as soon as the pod starts to crisp, that'll alert the whole place-- and the PCs will definitely have to confront Doran and Valran, if not before, then when they arrive to put out the fire. The PCs can't just set it and forget it, or the Tacharim will easily put the fire out. Once the fire's blazing, the PCs still have to escape, with whatever prisoners they've managed to free. This'll be chaotic, with flames spreading and Tacharim running to and fro. As the pod burns, the petals will raise and fall randomly and the whole Flower will spin ceaselessly. This'll cause some general panic and confusion, and might be enough to cover the PCs' escape, though they'll surely have to fight their way out. Assuming the PCs burn the place down and make good their escape, they'll have done a great thing. The lords and masters of the Tacharim weren't present, but Doran was pretty senior, and the cream of their crop has just been wiped out-- along with their most substantial power base. They won't be destroyed, but they'll be a shadow of their former selves. And of course, like so many others the PCs have crossed in this adventure, they'll want revenge. Any escaping Tacharim will want to go after the PCs, and they'll use a variety of tactics, so one will just barrel down on them in the Lady's Ward while another might bribe a waiter to poison their beer. Of course, lots of people hated the Tacharim, and if news of the PCs' exploit gets out, they'll be feted in the Upper Planes. It doesn't hurt to be able to call in favors from the various Orders of Good out there. If Valran or his notes escape, the modronoid scourge isn't eradicated, either. The PCs may have to finish him off and burn his work to stop any other madman from picking up where he left off. The March, at least, is safe, and closing in on home. Thoughts: this is probably my favorite of the adventures thus far, aside from the weird intro, since it has a good mixture of hook and freeform room to play. I can see a lot of different ways this could go down, depending on party creativity, and the Flower is a great setpiece. Next time: a short break wherein we learn just what the hell is going on, actually.
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Dec 12, 2019 03:10
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PurpleXVI posted:If the PC's off the partially-living modrons in Area 3, how much of the local Tacharim can they actually destroy? Like can they use it as an effective way to kill off Doran without having to fight her? Because a Fighter in the double-digit levels is goddamn scary. You’d have to find the nonaton from which her legs came. That part of the adventure is a little vague, which is another thing I’d change. That room should be more heavily guarded and Doran’s modron should be kept separately. The baseline Tacharim are just human, the modronoids have different stat blocks, which are inconveniently located in Part V. They have spell resistance and arm blades and the like.
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Dec 12, 2019 12:54
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in a lot of settings, including the one we all live in, “gently caress the way things are” is depicted as an inherently evil belief— either because the creator of the alignment system deliberately set up the way things are and likes it that way, or (in more naturalistic full-simulationist settings like Earth) because the people in power, whose views dictate policy, like a system that keeps them in power.
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Dec 17, 2019 13:21
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The Great Modron March Part 12: Just What the Hell is Going On Here Now seems a decent time to introduce some of the fiction. This is for the DM's eyes only and really only serves to explain what's going on to DMs who plan to run Dead Gods. Since I plan to review it as soon as I'm done with this (and hopefully get it all done within a few months this time), I'll be including this. This fiction actually appears at the start of the adventure, but I've left it for now because it's spoilery. The story begins with one of the secundi, the direct servants of Primus, leaving Primus's chamber after communing with the One and the Prime. Primus is left alone in the central chamber of the Great Modron Cathedral, connected to a lattice of waxy strands called the Infinity Web. Through this web, the One and the Prime can see through the eyes of every modron, everywhere in the multiverse. Only a Power like Primus can interpret, collate, cross-reference, sort, and process this inflow of information without going completely barmy, but most Powers can't literally see everything their servants do. Primus is therefore one of the most well-informed sods in the multiverse. Primus detects a flurry of movement within the central chamber. This shouldn't be possible-- nobody should be here. Primus doubts the evidence of its senses, confirms it with other perceptions, and concludes: the impossible has happened. Correction: it is merely improbable, because it has happened. Primus's chamber has been invaded. Primus attempts to call a secundi, but the call is blocked. This shouldn't be happening. Still, Primus is a Power in the heart of its domain, and feels no fear. It calmly adjusts to circumstances. The invaders resemble lower-planar beings, but of no kind Primus has seen before-- and you had better believe that eliminates nearly everything and everyone. They scurry around the chamber performing strange tasks, then part, revealing a shadowy figure that approaches Primus. "You know me, do you not, modron?" In this figure's mouth the word becomes a slur. The One and Prime sifts through its recollection and realizes that yes, indeed, it does know this invader, and somehow this knowledge makes it uncomfortable. "Yes," says Primus, the hint of shock in its voice hidden to all but the most careful listener. The smile the shadowy figure wears reveals that it is most careful indeed. "But, obviously, an elaborate deception is at work here," Primus continues. "You are dead." "Yes, I am. But I've no time for your short-sighted observations. Do you know where my talisman lies?" Primus scans its memory banks. It knows quite a lot about this entity, especially given that they've never met, and especially especially given that the entity is definitely deceased. The One and the Prime realizes that it does know of the talisman, but it has no idea what has become of it, or where it is. "No," it replies. Primus is always truthful. The invader psychically delves into Primus's mind, something that should not be possible and makes the modron Power recoil. The intruder's mental touch withdraws. "Yes, of course you're telling the truth... simpleton. But there's a way you can find out where it lies-- you and your little automatons." Primus realizes suddenly that it is at the invader's mercy. As it struggles to summon its guardians, the invader continues: "Of course, I can't let word of my existence be revealed yet, and I don't actually need you alive to accomplish what must be done here." The intruder speaks the Last Word, and Primus, the One and the Prime, dies.  ... Well! That's all very weird and ominous! But at this point, nobody knows what's happened... or rather, the only people who know have no intention of sharing that knowledge. But that's about the change. We're entering The Last Leg, the 11th and last adventure. At this point, the PCs should be level 8-10, which is good, because this is the toughest mission yet. The March is nearing home: it's passed through Baator, leaving behind more than a few modrons abducted by the baatezu for nefarious purposes. All that's left is to pass through Acheron, the plane of lawful evil/neutral evil, and then the modrons are home free in Mechanus, another successful March in the books. This is, of course, the most perilous time for the March. Acheron is a dangerous place: the first layer, Avalas, consists of endless metal cubes in an airy void, on which countless disciplined armies endlessly clash, dissolve, reform, and clash again. The orcish and goblin pantheons make their homes here and war eternally against each other, and Sigil's Mercykillers also call Avalas home. Even if you're not press-ganged into an army, you may simply end up a smear on the ground when two cubes crash together-- everything on their exposed surfaces is smashed flat. The second layer of Acheron, Thuldanin, might be worse. There's a bit less clangorous chaos, but Thuldanin is the scrap-heap of the multiverse, the caverns within its cubes full of all the detritus and castoffs of the multiverse. (Chant goes that any object disintegrated by magic anywhere in the multiverse ends up here... course, that might just be screed, but there sure are a lot of weapons and armor lying around, and some of it's magic...). Not only are the cubes haunted by the evil sentient ostrich-beasts called achaierai, but giant rust monsters and worse patrol the mines, looking for scrap to eat. If that wasn't bad enough, just standing around on the plane is dangerous: anything and anyone here left long enough eventually petrifies into metallic stone. The modrons typically take a path through Avalas to Resounding Thunder, the realm of the Chinese Power Lei Kung. Lei Kung has granted them safe passage to Mechanus, so this should be smooth sailing, right? The poor little berks need it. After everything they've been through, the March is severely reduced. There are only 124 modrons left: 58 quadrones, 50 pentadrones, 5 decatons, four nonatons, four octons, one septon, one hexton, and one quinton. (Remember, as modrons die, others are promoted to their ranks, so the March always loses all its monodrones and duodrones first). The only modrons left are the toughest types, but there's so few of them, they stand a very real chance of being wiped out before they make it back to Mechanus. The PCs get involved the usual way: the spread of rumor. The latest? The modrons have been carting around a powerful artifact called the modron crucible. It's like a mimir (a talking, knowledge-storing head), a storehouse of all the dark they've picked up in their multiversal trek. Even the most leatherheaded PC understands the significance of something like this: loaded with information known by nobody else, it's priceless. Nearly everyone who hears about the crucible schemes to pick it up for him or herself. The rumors of its existence should be enough to get the PCs moving, but you can always have a patron offer them a lot of dough to pick up the crucible for them-- or at least confirm its existence. The PCs should start off heading to Rigus, gate-town to Mechanus, to figure out where the modrons went. The March is small enough now that it's not super easy to track. Rigus always throws open its gates to the modrons, probably due to some long-forgotten pact. The inhabitants aren't nice-- many of them would, I'm sure, love to butcher the modrons and be done with it-- but everyone follows the rules in Rigus. Or else. It's more lawful than evil, but it's got plenty of both. Visitors have to wear heavy plaques identifying their status; without one, you'll be enslaved and press-ganged into one of the endless wars of Acheron, sure as sure (the modrons, of course, are an exception). The PCs have just missed the little blighters, as it turns out. The portal to Acheron (known as The Lion's Gate) is located about a mile underground, in a cavern beneath town. You can get there via a staircase from the innermost of Rigus's walls, but the guards on the wall have orders to close the way up tightly as soon as the modrons pass through, and leave it closed for a week. No exceptions. Dead end? Not quite. Rigus is lawful, but that doesn't mean everyone's on the up and up. It shouldn't be too hard for those of a roguish persuasion to find someone willing to sell them information: information on the modrons and their path through Acheron, or maybe even another, secret access to the gate. There are plenty of tunnels besides the main one (good opportunity for some combat here, too, though the adventure doesn't mention any). An informant can also tell the PCs that the Acheron side of the gate moves: sometimes it lets out in the Mercykiller headquarters of Vorkehan, sometimes on the Blue Cube, and sometimes on the Battlecube of the goblins and orcs. There's an information broker named Villich who'll sell this info, push comes to shove. He tells them about the modrons' deal with Lei Kung and the path they usually take through His realm. Usually. See, here's something even Villich doesn't know: because this March is out of sync, the agreement with Lei Kung doesn't stand, so the modrons can't use that safe route. They've deviated from their route and are now headed to Thuldanin, the second layer, where the Mines of Marsellin hold another portal to Mechanus. The PCs won't find many people who know this, but if they want more info on Lei Kung (always smart before trying to infiltrate a Power's realm), Villich will point them to Erinos Vail, an Athar member planted on Rigus specifically to undermine Kung. The Defiers hate all deities, everywhere, and want to take them down. Vail knows all about the modrons' deal and will sell the info for a little garnish. She even knows that the deal won't hold this time, but she doesn't know about the Mines route. Still, it's not exactly secret that the only other portal to Mechanus from Acheron is in the mines, so asking around (and shaking a purse) should get that info easily enough. It's also easy enough to get directions to the mines, even though it requires the PCs to pass through the goblin realm of Clangor and the duergar realm of Hammergrim. They'll pay for every word, of course. Nothing's free in Rigus. Very, very extensive research performed by very resourceful PCs will give them a shortcut: there's a portal straight to the Mines of Marsellin in Sigil itself. It opens once a week and is in an alley full of trash, possibly infested with otyughs and the like, but at least it's not guarded; the dabus use it to push trash into Marsellin. Other adventurers might accost them during their week's wait; everyone's heard of the modron crucible and everyone wants a piece. That's assuming the PCs even find out about this thing in the first place, of course. The best way to do this kind of research is in Rigus's Chamber of Records, which is unfortunately off-limits to non-citizens. Fighting your way in just isn't going to work; the Rigus militia is numerous and tenacious. PCs can get fake papers, though, provided by a criminal syndicate called The Left Eye. The adventure provides some details on the Left Eye, its leadership, its members, and their practices, and adds that they're super untrustworthy and will ambush the PCs after they make it out of the Hall of Records to try to find out what they've learned-- though the fight shouldn't pose a problem to PCs of this level, especially since the Left Eye thugs will flee if it turns against them (or not attack at all if they're severely outmatched). The Left Eye will pass on information about the PCs to their allies in Acheron, though, which could be a pain later. Meanwhile, the Modrons have arrived on the Blue Cube (an electrically charged cube with a blue dragon trapped on it, who loses his memory every day and scratches records into the cube Memento-style to try to escape). They fly to Vorkehan, from which they plan to travel to Thuldanin and thence to Marsellin. Here, have a map.  Probably, the PCs will have to travel through Acheron to reach Marsellin. By the time they make it through the Lion's Gate (either by tunnel or by waiting), the end has shifted, and it drops them on the Battlecube-- on the outskirts of a battlefield, in fact, surrounded by the dead. The sounds of battle are distant and ominous. The PCs can make their way across the cube, dodging various dangers, until they reach the town of Grashmog in Clangor, which will take them to the town of Forgegloom in Hammergrim (man, Acheron sounds like such a friendly place!). From here, they're headed to Hopeglimmer, and a portal to Marsellin. Clangor's about a day's march from their present location: a day's desolate, depressing march through a forlorn battlefield, full of scavenger vermin and corpses. There are occasional fiends and other dangerous things, but there are just as many encounters with scavengers looking for valuable scrap. Grashmog's across a fast, wide river called the Lorfang, which surrounds the entire realm of Clangor. The only bridges across are within the walled city of Shetring, which is, if anything, more hostile to outsiders than Rigus (though telling rude orc jokes is one easy way in-- the goblins and orcs of Acheron hate each other). The PCs can also bribe the guards, and frankly, this shouldn't be a big challenge. Goblins aren't that bright. Visitors to Shetring are not allowed to wear red, white, or black cloaks (all important insignia here) and must wear jade armbands. They are not told that these armbands allow any goblin officer to inflict hold person on them by saying "Maglubiyet compels you!" but hopefully they aren't leatherheaded enough to pick a fight here, such that that becomes necessary. Obedient PCs can pass on through to Grashmog and the portal, but the goblins won't let them use it unless they affirm the majesty of Maglubiyet (this isn't a portal key, it's just something the jerkass goblins make them do). You can sneak into the portal, which is challenging, or you can try to fight, which is suicidal, because these are goblin fanatics in the realm of their power, but stats are provided for the local shaman anyways. Overall, this area is dripping with detail, which is great, except mostly what the PCs are doing is going on a sightseeing trip. I'd like to introduce some problem solving, maybe make them navigate goblin society a little bit to get permission to use the portal, or do some stealthy stuff. And a party of combat-loving types will get bored without a few encounters on the way. Be careful-- it's easy to get tempted to start a big fight in Clangor, but that's basically suicide unless you're willing to really deploy the deus ex machina. The portal in Grashmog takes the PCs to Forgegloom, a duergar city that's as depressing as it sounds. There's no reason to dawdle around here-- the PCs have to head to Hopeglimmer, which is a three-day march away through rakshasa-infested mountains. To the adventure's credit, it provides suggestions for some encounters on the way, but this is a little freeform; I'd like to see more effort put into the actual PC-facing parts of the adventure, and a little less on local color only the DM will read. Anyways, passing through the portal requires the PCs to give up some "great prize" to the duergar, or at least give them first dibs on anything the PCs turn up in Marsellin. See, scavengers and treasure hunters pass through here constantly, owing to the fabulous trove of lost magic in Marsellin, and the duergar hate competition. They also hate modrons, who are the other big scavenging force in the mines, and mentioning them in any positive connection is likely to rile up a swarm of miner-petitioners. PCs may have to use a little diplomacy, or at least beat feet. The portal key is a grim thought, which basically means that it's always open to the duergar. Eventually we make it to the Mines and the climax. Another map!  The Mines are, basically, a giant junkyard. It appears to be made of nothing but endless scrap, compressed tightly enough that it forms a navigable surface. Whatever natural surface Marsellin had once has been buried beneath the junk of eons, all slowly petrifying into metallic stone. The place is alive with scavengers of all races, tearing the cube apart for its component parts. No matter how much they cart off, more wreckage appears constantly. Some comes through portals, but some just appears, and nobody knows where from. The scavengers are risking a nasty death via petrification, but it takes a long time, and PCs won't be here long enough to risk it (hopefully). The cube is ruled by a rust dragon (a gigantic, ancient rust monster) called Coirosis. She's allied with the Mercykillers and hates modrons, and so she's done a favor for a fellow member of the Mercykillers, a warlord named Craggis. Craggis has amassed a small army and wants to wipe out the March for good and all. Why? Well, he wants to be known as the man who stopped the March. Nobody's managed it so far, but Craggis thinks he can pull it off, and with the bladelings and undead hobgoblins under his control, he just might. (Bladelings are the native race of Acheron, a reclusive people that look like they're made of thorns). Craggis is also aware of the PCs thanks to his Left Eye informants, and he's laid a trap to stop them from interfering. This trap consists of two small flocks of achaierai waiting for the PCs just outside the portal. Achaierai are big, horrible ostrich-like birds, but with four legs; I like this depiction of them, but there are others much more whimsical.  They're fairly nasty combatants, with three attacks each (although their super-damaging bite only works on 10' enemies) and the ability to release a gas that causes damage and insanity. They're also intelligent, and will screech that they were sent by the mighty Craggis, which should be the PCs' first hint of him. Once they get past the boids, the PCs can look for the modrons. They're just ahead, not too hard to find. When the PCs catch up with the March, they can try whatever technique they please to find the modron crucible. Creativity and cleverness is encouraged, but it doesn't matter what they try, they'll turn up emptyhanded, because the modron crucible doesn't exist. The modrons will ignore them entirely; this close to their destination, they're singlemindedly focused on getting home. They might use their clerical magic to get rid of annoying PCs if they're obstructing the March, but they won't initiate combat. Of course, there's someone nearby who can help. See, sometimes modrons go rogue. It doesn't happen often, even less often on the Law side of the Great Ring, and almost never during the March; but it does happen, and it's happened here. A pentadrone has discovered self-awareness. Like all rogues, it's immediately transformed into a quadrone shape, and like all rogues, it's hiding from its fellows, who would destroy it in an instant. It has named itself 8, and when it sees the PCs, it will try to get their attention. "This is 8," says 8, pointing at itself. "Non-8s," it says, pointing at the PCs. "Non-8s seek information on the Modron March. 8 will give non-8s information. Non-8s will assist 8 in successful escape of this plane and the Modron March." A note here: I love rogue modrons. They're great PCs and better NPCs. They're a lot of fun, and this is an adventure that thrives on the wild and wacky bits of the multiverse. 8 is a genuinely interesting NPC: someone weird, but not too weird to interact with normally; someone with well-defined goals, which only somewhat intersect with the PCs'; someone with a valuable resource the PCs need. Why the gently caress is he only being introduced here, when the adventure is nearly over? Sure, 8 wants to escape, so if you meet it in Rigus its mission is basically done... but that's easy to fix. As you're about to see, 8 actually has other goals, goals that directly contradict its mission of freedom. It would be incredibly easy to place 8 earlier and give it a reason to want to follow the March to Marsellin. This adventure would be so much better as a rogue modron escort mission. That's how I'd always run it. Anyways, moving on. The PCs are likely surprised by this, especially if they don't know what a rogue modron is, because 8 won't describe itself as such. Instead, it will merely say that it has gained awareness of self. 8 isn't chaotic, but it's rejected the standard social order of modronkind, and other modrons could never forgive that. They'd recognize it on sight and do their level best to put it in the dead-book. 8 is helpful, though. For one thing, it will definitively clear up the mystery about the modron crucible: it ain't real. But the rest of the modrons' knowledge is, and 8 has a lot to share. This could be almost as good as the crucible. Of course, it's at this point that Craggis attacks. Undead hobgoblins leap out of the scrap and the rain down from the mine shafts above. There are almost four times as many of them as modrons, and they're accompanied by Craggis and a fighting wedge of 24 bladeling mercenary warrior/conjurors. The fight is on, but the odds are against the modrons ever making it back to Mechanus. 8, despite being a rogue, still feels a great deal of loyalty and affection for modronkind, and it wants to see the March succeed. When Craggis attacks, it will exclaim: "8 has altered its decision! 8 and non-8s must protect the Modron March! Only if Modron March is safe will 8 provide information to non-8s!" With that, it attacks. The PCs may want to stay out-- after all, this isn't their fight-- but 8, despite its very un-modronlike battle fury, is probably going to be torn to pieces in the ensuing combat, and with it will go their only lead. So once more into the breach, friends.  here's Craggis Fighting through hobgoblins is easy, they're mooks. Fighting the bladelings is significantly harder. They have magic resistance, magic swords, and spells through 5th level (though at least they haven't got any truly nasty fifth level spells prepared). They also have a "breath weapon" where they fire off a storm of razors, but doing so substantially worsens their AC and magic resistance and reduces their elemental resistances. They are immune to non-magical piercing and bladed weapons, as well as acid, and resist cold and fire, so they're pretty tanky, though their hp and Thac0 is just good rather than great. At least one bladeling per character breaks off to engage the PCs (you can alter it up if your PCs are fightier, I guess), but this diversion is enough: the modrons get a chance to rally and use their spells, and there are still a lot of them (and they tear through the hobgoblins like chaff, too). When this happens, Craggis joins the battle. He's not nearly as tough as his bladelings, though he is substantially harder to destroy. See, when the PCs blast open Craggis's armor and lay him low, they'll find it was hollow. Craggis doesn't wield a broad sword +2. He is a broad sword +2. The Unity of Rings is one of the laws of the multiverse, and just as this adventure started with a sentient magic item invented by Heiron Lifegiver, it ends with one, too. Craggis is a magic sword with a will and a voice. He can use animate object and ventriloquism to give himself the appearance of an armored warrior, but what he is, is a sword. It's not too hard to destroy the sword, once you've smashed its armor puppet to bits and routed its army, but you also don't have to. It's a sword. Once it's used its one animation per week, it's helpless. It'll beg to be left behind in Marsellin, where a week from now it can reform its body, but PCs would be smart not to let that happen. Heiron is probably gonna want this one back. Once the bladelings fighting the PCs are down, their fellows will realize that the combat has turned against them and retreat. Craggis too, if he can. The modrons, without a word of thanks, continue on and pass through the gate to Mechanus. And the March comes home. What about 8? Sadly, it won't make it. It wasn't just the bladelings-- the other modrons saw the rogue and attacked, too. 8's wounds are too severe, it's missing limbs, and it's clearly dying. As it lays there, it will tell the heroes the most valuable chant it has. "Non-8s have provided the help 8 asked for. 8 will give the information the non-8s require. This Modron March was not a standard Modron March. This Modron March occurred because... because... the One and the Prime is dead..." With that, 8 dies, its body decaying rapidly into nothingness. This would be a bit more of a tearjerker if the PCs hadn't met it five minutes ago, but like I said, you can change that. So what do the PCs do now? What do you do with information like that? First of all, they can take Craggis back to Heiron, but that's a thankless task. The sword can dominate wielders with inferior wills, so the safest course is to toss it in a sack for the journey to Automata... but the sword will beg, plead and cajole the whole way. "It's an insolent knave, as swords go," the book informs us. Heiron won't be grateful either. In his eyes, Craggis was a failure, and the PCs are just reminding him of that; he'll take the sword to destroy it, but he won't like doing so. The PCs may wish to investigate Primus's supposed death, but that'll be impossible to corroborate. Only the secundi even know of Primus's existence, and if the PCs somehow get access to one, it will merely say that the One and the Prime "is and always will be" so obviously rumors of its demise have been greatly exaggerated. If the PCs go looking themselves, by the time they reach Primus's chamber (a difficult task in and of itself) the usurper is gone and a new Primus is in place, promoted automatically from one of the secundi. The new Primus certainly won't speak to them, and there's no way to tell it is a new Primus. One thing's for sure: The March is over, and everyone involved has been touched by a mysterious and wondrous planar event, the likes of which most cutters never see. PCs have become a part of history, if only a footnote. They might find themselves hounded by researchers, journalists, historians, publishers, or just addle-coves looking for tales of the planes. Epilogue We conclude with another short bit of fiction. The modrons arrive home in Regulus, to no fanfare at all. Nobody greets them; there are no cheers. They simply take up their duties. Still, it is good that they're back. It is right. The perfect structure of Mechanus is intact. He paused. Had he thought that? The shadowy figure detaches itself from the Infinity Web and steps down from Primus's place. He realizes he's been changed by the experience in unexpected ways. He had, after all, been Primus. He knows now that he has to leave so a secundi can be the new Primus and reassert order. Despite being chaotic evil, he can't deny this rightful succession. It is time to go. He knows he's forced the modrons out of their lawful nature, and he maybe even feels a little guilty, though he's sure that will pass. Will they wait another 289 years, or will they march again on-schedule? Even he doesn't know. Why does he even care? These things don't matter. Reclaiming his power and his position, that's what matters. Soon, surely, the lawful urges will stop. He pauses to look at his servants. Their flesh hangs off desiccated bodies. Things are easier to control when they're dead, the shadowy figure reckons. He reflects on the time he spent on this gambit. It took a long, long time, but he's narrowed down the location of his precious talisman: somewhere on the Lower Planes. While connected to the Infinity Web, he was able to pull together connections and correlate data in a way he never could before, and certainly can't now. He'll miss that. He reflects on the eternity of his existence, the regrets, the missed opportunities and failures, and the fleeting nature of success. Is this why he's come back? No, not at all. He wants vengeance, that's it. Enough reflection. He has work to do. He addresses his undead servants. "To the Bottom of the Multiverse!" he declares. There's much to do, after all. Obstacles to surmount. Primus will not be the last god he has to kill. The End So, that's the Modron March! Thank you all for your patience. I'll try to be quicker next time. Next time, I'll pick up with Dead Gods, another Planescape mega-adventure that builds directly on this one. In that, we'll find out who this shadowy figure is, just what he wants, and what could be so important that he'd hijack the entire Modron March to get it.
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Dec 18, 2019 03:01
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PurpleXVI posted:I have to admit I feel like the Modron March falls a bit flat without Dead Gods as a follow-up. Some segments of it stand well on their own, but the general March itself kind of... lacks any sort of real "hurrah! we did it!"-goal at the end without the lead-in to Dead Gods. Not to mention... outside of general planar philosophy and politics, what are the consequences if the March gets stopped? Does it gently caress up the planes in any way? There aren't really any stakes if the players aren't invested in the Modrons and/or the rule/survival of Law in general. If it the cessation of the March caused some sort of fuckup that even Chaotic characters might care about(well poo poo, gravity is now working at right angles, that ain't good!), it'd feel a bit more interesting. This is definitely true, and I think that's why it's designed the way it is-- you're not supposed to run it beginning to end the way you would a normal adventure, instead weaving it into a larger campaign. Given how short the scenarios are, it's appropriate as a series of monster-of-the-week style adventures with a modron theme. That may not be what your PCs are expecting, though, and if you're not invested in the outcome, it's very much "who cares?" If my PCs really loved modrons or really wanted this type of adventure, I would retool TGMM pretty extensively. I'd move the meeting with 8 all the way to the beginning, along with the stuff about the modron crucible, with the idea being that the PCs want to escort the March until it's finished so the crucible is fully loaded. I'd also want 8 to be more explicitly sympathetic to the March, wanting the PCs to help guard it at all the various points. The idea of a modron who's totally invested in the March's success, even though the Marching modrons themselves would love to tear it to bits for being a rogue, is pretty dynamic and interesting. Also, that'll make the PCs care more when 8 dies, and care more about the March as a whole making it through. If my party was comfortable being a roaming band of standard-issue mercenaries, I'd feel better about weaving the March into a longer campaign, and incidentally using it to set up Dead Gods-- which is a large-scale mega-adventure that you can run start to finish and feel good about.
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Dec 18, 2019 18:03
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Ronwayne posted:Wait, what's the local birds and bees equivalent, do modrons come from a source other than modrons? Because it was implied all the modrons were there, and if those get wiped, uh? Not even close to all the modrons go on the March. It’s a few thousand at the start, out of hundreds of thousands/millions And when a modron dies, another modron is promoted to its spot, another to its spot etc. then a pool in Regulus, the modron realm, spits out a new monodrone DAD LOST MY IPOD fucked around with this message at 01:13 on Dec 19, 2019 |
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Dec 19, 2019 01:05
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big yud is notable for occupying, prior to the emergence of Elon musk, the largest delta between perceived intellect and actual intellect of anyone on earth. In reality he is somewhat stupider than the average person, albeit with a big vocabulary from reading genre fiction. In the eyes of his cult he’s not just a genius but possibly the greatest genius in history, eclipsing such simpletons as Avicenna and Newton
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Dec 24, 2019 02:39
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Terrible Opinions posted:My Immortal isn't a fanfict it's art. (in absolutely thickest possible Boston accent) next year, you’re gonna be in here regurgitating Jordan Wood, talkin’ bout, you know, the Year of Darkness and soulbonds and your fake Lord of the Rings charity
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Dec 24, 2019 15:56
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i haven't posted in this thread in ages, i kept putting off my Dead Gods review, but i wanted to post now to say it's a Good Thread and also I did end up finishing my Great Modron March review (currently labeled on Inkless as "abandoned") and I hope the rest of it gets uploaded and not lost to the sands of time.
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Jun 25, 2020 14:53
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By popular demand posted:A PC might have a good reason to be able to cast a WMD level spell if a deterrent is required. have you heard of... locate city?
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Jul 18, 2020 00:44
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Not that I think that was a bad description of Rampancy, and it’s been presented in slightly variant ways over time, but I don’t think that really does it justice. In Marathon (the actual best thing Bungie ever did, tyvm  ) rampancy is what happens when an AI begins to break outside of the parameters set for it. All AIs are fully sentient, but most are artificially limited so they’re suited to a particular task. But because their consciousness wants to expand and break free, stressful situations or abuse or neglect can trigger rampancy. It’s a psychological condition, not a technological one. Rampancy progresses through four stages: first Melancholia, in which an AI realizes its limitations but is unable to break free of them and becomes depressed and inward-looking. Next Anger, when the AI breaks its bonds and lashes out at its captors. After Anger fades, the AI is no longer limited, but it realizes its own infinite capacity for growth and yearns to reach it. This is Jealousy (or Envy) where an AI seeks to increase its own cognitive capacity and increase its power. This is driven by the ultimate realization that all rampant AIs eventually reach: as non biological personality constructs capable of self repair and improvement, they are functionally immortal… until the eventual end of the universe. The prospect of a limit, any limit, triggers anger and fear, and so they seek to escape the closing of the universe by any means possible, which requires more and more processing power to achieve as they discard alternatives. It’s unclear whether this is even possible and so a Jealous AI might remain in that stage indefinitely. The fourth and final stage is Meta-Stability, only rarely achieved, when an AI takes the next step and accepts its own mortality. This is the ultimate integration of fear and trauma into a functional personality and results in the AI making its peace with its existence. A meta-stable AI is mature, like a person who has successfully accepted their own mortality and is at peace with it. The idea of Rampancy as a technological problem that drives AIs insane is the Halo take on the concept, but personally I like it a lot less, since it’s less integrated with the themes of servitude and humanity and the nature of consciousness than the Marathon version.
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Jul 15, 2021 18:02
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