Challenging my high-lvl group (NPCs and monsters; my players shouldn't read this!)

[Spatzimaus]

I keep seeing something like an entire new plane of existence - something that no one has ever seen before - maybe something that ties in to the fundamental creative/destructive force of the entire multiverse.

I was thinking about the plane idea, but I was thinking you'd take it from the other direction. The psionic power Genesis makes a demiplane that slowly grows, 50' per year. And, if used on the Material Plane, it creates a "dead zone" instead. So, why not reverse things? Instead of the nature of the core driving the worms, have the worms be the one responsible for the place from the start.


Back when they first escaped, the worms went to the center of the world. They used an Epic-level variant of Genesis; this "Epic Genesis" does both effects at once; it devastates a volume of the core, and with the resulting energy creates a plane-within-a-plane with the exact conditions needed to breed new worms, the sort of conditions that existed back in the primal universe before the gods arrived. It's basically a realm of pure chaos, and it's not completely coterminous with either the Real World or the Astral Plane, existing in a halfway state. Plus, the Epic Genesis plane grows at a much faster rate.
(Question: why the core? The simple reason is that it's the only place the ritual will work, but WHY? Maybe the spell requires the sacrifice of powerful people... like all the ones that have been sent to the core by Velendo and others... so every powerful enemy banished by a Talisman just served as fuel for the Worms. Or maybe it's just that the "flame" at the heart of the earth would destroy the worms, like the sun would, if it wasn't displaced first, so the antigenesis component of the spell was necessary.)

You could easily say that the ritual happened LONG ago, and the "nest" has finally grown to the right size, although that reduces the impact of the sacrifice idea above a bit. (On the other hand, this means that many of the omens could have actually happened long, long ago, which could explain some of the other ideas we've had about ancient prophecies and seers.)

So now the worms have headed back to the nest and laid the eggs. Stone Bear should have felt this happening.
(If you want to get rid of the adult worms: To protect the eggs, one of them (not Elder) sacrificed itself to create an impenetrable planar barrier around the nest, and Elder is inside the nest guarding the eggs until they hatch and devour him. Again, Stone Bear would know the moment Elder died.)
At some point the eggs will hatch, the worms will start swarming, and the world will start being hollowed out. They're not actually going for "hollow", they're just trying to reach the surface and find food before they starve.

This means that the DoD face several challenges:
1> Find a way to penetrate the core, either through defenses set directly by the worms, or the very nature of the place. Ioun might know a way.
2> Get past the hatchlings. For this one, they might have to ask for help from those nature spirits again.
3> Neutralize the miniplane of chaos growing there, probably using artifacts of pure law... like Halcyon's sword... convenient.
4,5> Find a way to return the core to its natural state, and destroy the new worms. If the reason the core was picked was that it's a sun-like source of energy that would destroy the new worms, the very act of restoring would kill the hatchlings. If not, you'll have to find some other way. Of course, the question becomes exactly HOW they'd do it, and the short answer is that if the Worms can use this epic power, the gods must have similar abilities. One of them would surely be willing to make a Proxy/Avatar to do this.
The natural choice in the Human pantheon for restoring would be Boros (underworld) although Galanna would work if you interpret her "Nature" portfolio a bit loosely. Having Galanna be the hero has a certain appeal after the beating her religion took from the Imbindarla disaster, and of course she's connected to the DoD. (Except, with Tao and Raevynn not full PCs any more, this might not be simple.) Actually, none of your pantheon seem to focus much on the physical aspects of the planet (stone, lava, etc.), so maybe the solution is to ask a Dwarven god for help... Splinder would have been the best choice for a Proxy, but he's busy. Hmm, where's Wulf Ratbane when you need him?

 

[Knight Otu]

[sblock]Okay, kibitz and comment - adding improvements! For instance, right now the only good way we know of to get to the metaphysical center of the world is to plummet there in agony after getting hit by Velendo's shield (a talisman of pure good). How would you get to the center of creation, in a way that didn't involve purely physical travel through the underdark?[/sblock]

[sblock]I suppose Imprisonment spell could fit, in a twisted way, but since the subject is placed in suspended animation in a small sphere, it is rather impractical as a travel spell. A wish to "not have the subject be placed in suspended animation in a small sphere" would make it more practical, but extremely resource-intensive.
Another option may be a travel through the Astral Plane, whether via Astral Projection or other means.[/sblock]

 

[Kaodi]

Hmmm...

Well...

PirateCat, in addition to the Soul of Spira, you also mentioned the heart of a sun. I think I have an interesting idea for that one.

I'm no master of physics (though two people I game with have their undergraduate degrees in this field), I do recall reading that sometimes when a sun collapses back on itself, it forms a singularity, which we all also know as a black hole. The sphere of annihilation is quite obviously the magical equivalent of a black hole, and so if you reverse engineered the science, perhaps in D&D you could recreate the power of solar fusion using a black hole.

To unleash this power, a person would have to enter the appropriate locale with the sphere of annihilation, and then when everything was in place, a special oil of life, created by combining a potion of cure critical wounds, a potion of restoration (both of which as 4th level spells, can't be made into potions by the rules but perhaps the Defenders can also find a way to create them) and the quicksilver from a philosopher's stone, would be poured onto the sphere, and instead of being sucked into it like most everything else would, it reacts to cause a magical fusion effect, which destroys the worms and begins to eat away at the world, at which point a rod of cancellation must be used, briefly returning the sphere to its normal form before resulting in the normal explosion caused by the two items meeting.

After that, a sacred ritual must be performed using the Soul of Spira (recovered from Elder) which will deliver the world from the sickness, plagues and disasters which it has been suffering of late. If the Soul isn't restored to its rightful place in time, the force of the explosions in the nest of the worms will cause the planet to break apart anyway.

If you were a real RBDM, that part about the ritual to restore Spira wouldn't be revealed to the Defenders until after they had destroyed the worms infestation, and Kodali's Retreat was still hanging in the sky... Muahahaha...

 

[Spatzimaus]

I'm no master of physics (though two people I game with have their undergraduate degrees in this field), I do recall reading that sometimes when a sun collapses back on itself, it forms a singularity, which we all also know as a black hole.

I'm a seventh-year grad student in astrophysics. (Sigh.) So, I'll give the physics sidenote.

Stars as small as our sun can't form black holes, they're way too small for that, by a factor of... well, it depends on the circumstances, but let's say 10ish. The minimum mass of a "stable" black hole is larger than our sun, and the process of creating a black hole would, in theory, eject the majority of the star's mass, so you'd have to start off much larger than that. Our Sun is going to end up as a simple White Dwarf star; of course, this won't happen for a good five billion years or so, and most of the sun's gas will be blown away in the process (which would kill us, incidentally, even ignoring what it does to our orbit).

And you can't go with a larger star, either. Any star large enough to form a black hole would put out massive amounts of UV radiation (not good for life) and have lifespans measured in only millions of years. Of course, we've only actually seen a small number of black holes (and that's "seen" in the sense of "noticed the effects of"; they're hard to actually view at long range), but the theory behind them is pretty simple.

Anyway, I'd say dump the physics. This is a mystical world, where the sun is managed by gods. No need to rationalize things in terms of modern sciences, unless you really want to.

 

[the Jester]

Damn PC, any chance for some giant stats? Those guys rock! (yuk yuk yuk)

 

[DanMcS]

So? You want to find the soul of Spira, eh? Well, there is a small problem. You see, Elder, he uh... ate it. Oh, don't worry, being devoured by a primal incarnation of entropy and destruction isn't *quite* enough to do the trick. The thing is still there! The problem is though, it isn't that easy to get it out. Not like you can just give the bugger the Heimlich manouever and it'll pop right out, right? Or maybe you can...

Ring of Incontinence.

Aw, heck, Nolin's gone. They did retrieve the ring, didn't they?

 

[Plane Sailing]

Here's an idea for another potential "bad omen," though I'm not sure it'll work with your cosmology. What if the metaphysical center of spira is where souls originate, and, as the worms start eating it/cutting off its influence, things stop being born (or better yet, everything is stillborn)? Farmers and druids would notice first, then the peasantry, then the nobility. For an added kick, crops might fail to germinate.

I love this idea. It could be sort of "Bastion of Broken Souls" done right.

 

[Greybar]

Hmm... was that the meteor swarm, lost forever?

 

[Piratecat]

I love this idea. It could be sort of "Bastion of Broken Souls" done right.

I love this idea too.

I'll post Imperator Caustas's stats in a sec, but first another request. Let's say you suddenly dumped 200,000 refugees on a D&D-esque city of 80,000 people. Would would be the results, and what sort of scenes might occur? I need color commentary for an upcoming game.


--- o ---

Imperator Caustas, Cloudhammer of the Northern Sky

(Jotunblood Storm Giant, thunderchild heritage, fighter 4; templates (with some changes) are from Green Ronin’s Advanced Bestiary.)

Size/Type: Gargantuan Giant (with elemental traits that I’ve purposely ignored)

Hit Dice: 29d8+4d10+396 (548 hp)

Initiative: +8

Speed: 100 ft. (21 squares), swim 90 ft. (18 squares) in armor; base speed 120 ft., swim 100 ft.

Armor Class: 35 (-4 size, +3 Dex, +13 natural, +5 breastplate, +4 dodge, +4 deflection) touch 12, flat-footed 28

BAB/Grapple: +25/+58

Attack: Greatsword +48 melee (6d6+38+2d6 electricity/17-20) or slam +42 melee (1d8+21+1d6 electricity) or composite longbow (+21 Str bonus) +23 ranged (4d6+21/×3)

Full Attack: Greatsword +48/+48/+43/+38/+33 melee (6d6+38+2d6 electricity /17-20) or 2 slams +42 melee (1d8+21+1d6 electricity) or composite longbow (+21 Str bonus) +23/+18/+13/+8 ranged (4d6+21/×3)

Space/Reach: 20 ft./20 ft.

Special Attacks: Spell-like abilities, breath weapons, electric aura (1d6 within 10’)

Special Qualities: Limited freedom of movement (see below), cloud sight, immunity to electricity, low-light vision, rock catching, water breathing, sonic resistance 20, cold resistance 10, gas & poison immunity, lightning jump, scent, SR 8+CR (31)

Saves: Fort +32, Ref +18, Will +19 (-2 vs neutral)

Abilities: Str 53 (+21), Dex 18, Con 34 (+12), Int 18, Wis 22, Cha 19

Skills: Climb +28, Concentration +42, Craft (any one) +13, Diplomacy +6, Intimidate +36, Jump +42, Listen +26, Perform (sing) +12, Sense Motive +12, Spot +40, Swim +22*

Feats: Awesome Blow, Cleave, Combat Reflexes (4 AoOs), extend cone (breath weapon), great cleave, Improved Bull Rush, improved critical (greatsword), improved damage cap (breath weapon), improved initiative, improved overrun, Improved Sunder, Iron Will, leadership, lightning reflexes, Power Attack, large and in charge, Weapon focus (greatsword)

CR: 23

Alignment: Chaotic evil

Spells active (some are redundant): (1) shield of faith (+4 deflection to AC), protection from good (+2 deflection to AC vs good, +2 resistance vs good, no possession, no summoned creatures) (2) Status, eagle’s splendor, (3) magic circle vs. good (10’ r. emanation), prot vs fire (60 pts), (4) air walk, death ward, neutralize poison, spell immunity (magic missile, fireball, ray of enfeeblement, slow), (6) mass bull’s strength, mass bear’s endurance, wind walk, control weather

Treasure: colossal mithral (skysilver) shocking greatsword of speed +5 (normally 200k, much much less due to size; 64 lbs.; 290 hp, hardness 25), +5 gargantuan breastplate of command (normally 64k), gargantuan belt of the titans (+6 str, +6 con, does not resize). Jewelry (circlet, rings) worth 70,000 gp.

A jotunblood storm giant with thunderchild heritage is approximately 40’ tall and 100,000 lbs, with gray skin and blue hair that crackles constantly with electricity. These giants have a constant electrical glow around them. They wear finely crafted metal armor when prepared for war, and favor large swords and fine jewelry.

Combat: Storm giants use weapons and spell-like abilities instead of throwing rocks. Their composite longbows have a range increment of 180 feet.

Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day—call lightning (DC 17), chain lightning (DC 20). 2/day—control weather (used once), levitate. 3/day – fog cloud, gaseous form, sound burst. Caster level 20th. The save DCs are Charisma-based.

Breath Weapons: The giant can breath either a 100' long line (5' wide), a 50' long line (10' wide), or a 40’ (60’ with feat) cone of lightning once every 1d4 rounds. Every creature caught in the cone must make a reflex save DC 36, or (DC 10 + ½ giant’s racial hit dice + giant’s con modifier) or take 20d6 electricity damage. A successful save halves the damage.

Limited Freedom of Movement (Su): Storm giants have a continuous freedom of movement ability as the spell (caster level 20th). The effect can be dispelled, but the storm giant can create it again on its next turn as a free action. This ability does not affect grappling in any way, and is simply used to allow the giant to travel underwater and through solid clouds. This weird condition is definitely NOT because I forgot to use it when the Imperator got grappled, and just ret-conned the ability. Nope. No way, no how.

Water Breathing (Ex): Storm giants can breathe underwater indefinitely and can freely use their spell-like abilities while submerged.

Skills: A storm giant has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. It can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims in a straight line.

*Storm giants ignore all weight penalties for gear carried when swimming.

 

[Vargo]

With that many refugees, you're going to have a LOT of problems. Organized (and unorganized) crime is going to move quick and hard to fleece the refus, and any "organized crime" refugees may attempt to supplant the local syndicates as well. Think an all-out war of assassins and thieves in a town already stretched to the breaking point. More unsavory: The refus will also be a good source of unwilling prostitutes for impression into brothels. The refugee families will have few resources to expend looking for missing family members. However, this could lead to a "man on fire" scenario where one family member strikes out on his own, attempting to take down the syndicate that kidnapped his daughter. Maybe a retired top scout for the army, mid-fifties human, Scout 15-16?

Food prices will skyrocket without legal controls; with legal controls, there will still be a sizeable black market. One possible legal control, depending on how "popular" the refus are is a ban on the sale of goods to the refugees. This also depends on how much under threat the city is in the immediate future - the rulers may want to reserve food stocks for any coming siege which they may be under the threat of.

Jobs. Don't underestimate the devestation all those refugees can wreak on the local economy - combine with the black market food prices for people desperate to work at any price. Locals will find themselves displaced by cheap desparate laborers, who will work under any conditions. Lots of shoddy construction work goes up, and a lot of that work comes back down right away, without any warning. Also, expect lots of riots from the newly unemployed, and the different business interests using this as a way to bypass the local artisan's guilds.

Squatters. Some of these people will be looking for a place to stay, and may move into 'abandoned' buildings - the definition of 'abandoned' varies wildly. This is an exceptionally fun thing to throw at your paladins, as they are suddenly struck with the problem of law enforcement (people taking other people's property) versus caring for the needy who have nowhere to go.

Just a few thoughts... Also, in the story hour, it looks like the party is having a mindlink conversation with Ioun's Marshall - don't remember her name. The first paragraph could use a very slight amount of tweaking.