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

The refugees are dwarves that have been changed by their extra-planar time on the plane of earth; they're now mithral dwarves, with silvery eyes and "blood" that is actually liquid mithral.* Interestingly enough, they've never had to drink before, because there are no liquids on their former plane. When a wave of disease sweeps through them a few hours after their arrival, it's going to be simple thirstiness. We'll see if any PCs recognize the symptoms.

The only way a teleport circle will be mentioned is if the PCs mention it. I'm just as happy with having a huge force of armed and paranoid dwarves marching across my campaign world, seeking out the empty dwarven strongholds and displacing lord knows what dwarves/gnomes/monsters on the way.

* Yup, you bet I know what this will mean when word gets out. Don't think that isn't intentional.
 

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thatdarncat said:
I don't have my books with me, but are you sure? Is there anything that he can summon that can cast teleportation circle itself?

For that matter, is there anything that Velendo can gate in?

I can't think of anything that could do it, offhand. Part of the problem is simple: if it were possible to summon something that could cast 9th-level spells with a single 9th-level spell, there'd be a huge balance problem. So, I'm pretty confident nothing on the list can do it. Also, a prepared caster brought in wouldn't have that spell memorized. And what Sorcerer takes Teleport Circle? So, that leaves spell-like abilities, and none of the ones on the Summon lists have that spell; a few have teleportation (usually self-only) or Plane Shift, but that defeats the purpose of casting the spell in the first place.

Finally, Summon Monster spells only last 1 round per level, and Teleport Circle takes 10 minutes to cast. At caster level 18 or 19, Agar's still at just under 2 minutes. Without a Feat that extends the summon duration, this wouldn't be long enough to cast the spell. Agar has Extend Spell and Persistent Spell, but these would take extra levels, so you'd need a Summon Monster 1-5 that somehow can cast a 9th-level spell. You could use a Gate to bring in a creature (assuming you can find one that knows the spell), but that costs 1000 XP per use AND a task that takes longer than 1round/level requires extra payment.

Piratecat:
EVIL!!! Heh, I love it. Of course, referring to them as "refugees" seems awfully misleading; they're not really running from anything, are they? And they're definitely not poor and helpless people needing protection.

But it still begs the question of what they thought they were going to eat when they chose to start this migration, which they KNEW wouldn't be very fast. Presumably they've brought along some food with them. In fact, I'd expect this to be like an old wagon train; they fit everything they own into large covered wagons, and laager up every night to eat, socialize, etc. If they're as armed and paranoid as you're implying, in fact, I'd assume this'd be the way they'd PREFER to do it, avoiding most cities wherever possible. Maybe they just send a small detachment to negotiate for food from each town they come near. (In fact, if any of them have magical ability, they might send teams all over the planet to buy food.) Of course, what a dwarven wagon train would look like, especially considering the kind of pack beasts you'd find on that plane, is something to think about.

But again, how did 200,000 dwarves get from the Elemental Plane of Earth to Spira in the first place? If they had any control over it, why didn't they get deposited a bit closer to their destination? Is it just that the dwarves that went to find them left from Corsai? And is there a reason they're all coming through at once?
 

Graywolf-ELM said:
At a certain point, the leaders of the city, have to say. Shut the gate, we can not sacrifice the survival of our people for the refugees. Then either the city is closed and a semi-siege takes place, where caravans bound for the city are waylaid and the city begins to lose food and resources from the outside, or some form of system of entry is granted, with the enty a pass is given, and the person must leave by a certain time, or risk not getting a pass again. The grounds around the city(if it is walled) become an open camp with the possibility of the spread of disease and more, unless some order is maintained for waste disposal and such.

A form of martial law gets instituted with a curfew to keep outsiders off of the streets and crime down. passes are checked, profiling happens, gods forbid you leave your house without your resident pass, you could be thrown out of the city.

This is also (mostly) what I see (no passes, though)! I do not, however, foresee the City Leaders as incompetent, stupid, lazy, nor re-active. I see them as pro-active, therefore declaring Martial Law as soon as the problem becomes apparent (and they have time to discuss the options).

The City Gates would be closed at nightfall, with a curfew of Sundown. Anyone found out after dark would have to be able to answer where they "live", or "are staying", and would be told to reach there, quickly. An hour or so after dark, anyone caught out would be subject to questioning and/or arrest.

Those arriving at the city by night would have to rouse the guards, inside, who would tell them "No entry after nightfall!" Now the DoD, with their connections, could get some message sent, or rouse someone to get the gates opened, but most commoners would have to wait until morning.

Outside the walls, the shanty-town, tent-city, beggar-town, ghetto/barrio would spring up, but the city council (or whatever they call themselves) would have patrols of guards, to help stop the gangs problem from developing. The patrols would continue, after dark.

Sanitation would be required, with latrines being dug, lime brought in, and these cess-pits occassionally being dug out, and used a fertilizer. Dumping waste into the water would be made a crime, and Potions of Sweetwater become more important.

Due to all of this, many merchants and craftsmen would see a relative boom! Builders, stonemasons, brick-layers/-makers, carpenters, tent-makers, tanners, shepherds, ranchers, farmers, herbalists, etc. Even the lowly charcoal-burners and torch-makers would have a relative business boom! Cooks and shopkeeps would also see their business on a rise, for as long as they had stuff to sell!... And when they didn't? Why, then they'd have a pocket full of money, all ready to spend on new tools & materials to make more stuff to sell!

Hence, "Rush Fees" for those who need their stuff "right away"! Otherwise, you'd have to wait in line to get your work done (along with everybody else)!

The crime waves would generally be confined to the tent-cit(y/ies). Minor squabbles would be common, but the guards would stop all the major ones. Non-City Thieves in Corsai would probably be persecuted by the local Thieves' Guild, as much as the guards, if there is a guild... Crime within the city would be lower than normal, due to increased patrols.

Guards, fighting men, patrols, sherriffs, etc., would be needed. Fighters of good repute (including those past their prime) would be pressed into service. New adventurers of good repute would also be given "lower-level" commissions... In later years, many young adventurers may recall this period as where they got their start in adventuring! Law Enforcemnt will need a lot of new people, as well as Arcane & Divine backup!

The churches, temples, etc., will also be looking for "lay members" to help administer to the poor & needy. Those who do a good job may eventually be inducted as non-lay priest(esse)s.

With the sudden influx of money, many craftsmen and skilled trades will be looking to take on new apprentices. Unskilled labor will also be needed. When the gates are opened, at daylight, a steady stream of folks will flow from the shanty-town barrios to the city square, where anyone needed unskilled laborers will go, looking for "a few good men" for any heavy lifting that needs to be done. Others will stream in from the tent-city ghettos looking to buy food, barter for goods, beg (which will quickly be outlawed), borrow, or steal what they need.

After a short time, prices will go up. Food will be at least 150% of the usual prices, for most anything but the dried rations that everyone tired of eating on the way here... That will be left to the poor! The temple soup kitchens will be crowded, and "he who will not work; neither shall he eat" will become a common phrase for weeding out the non-disabled, lazy poor shirkers.

All in all, with foresight and enough guards/militia, Corsai will be safe, happy enough, and even the poor refugees will be well enough off. They will leave with light purses, and (perhaps) a lower opinion of the place, but in good enough health.

The guardsmen/militia, in general, will have Chain Maille Hauberks with Dastanna & Bucklers, Pikes, Shortswords, and a pair of Sap. Pikes are used to "herd" mobs, but dropped in favor of saps, when a real riot breaks out. Mobs will generally be armed with sticks, stones, knives, and tools, doing 1D6, at worst. The guards' shortswords will be saved for real threats, like cornered thieves. Some bowmen with Sleep Arrows, and a Bard/Sorcerer/Wizard & Cleric/Druid (or at least a Paladin/Ranger) per unit will do wonders. All less than seventh level, of course! That should handle the riff-raff.

Messengers with Boots of Speed, or more exotic methods, will zip about, carrying missives to and from the council. Violence within the town or camps will be dealt with quickly, and summarily. The attitude that it will NOT be tolerated will soon become clear to all.

Life within the city will get busier, during the day, but better. Food & drink will go up, but money will flow, and more than compensate. Life in the camps will be harder, but an industrious, ingenious person will be able to make a fortune...

A refugee Herbalist will be able to gather local healing cacti and other plants, and make herbal remidies for sale to the others, or sell the plants in town. Either way, he makes money. He can also barter with the poorer refugees for their stuff, then take it into town to sell, trade, ro use as raw materials, at the increased prices.

A muleskinner can quickly parley his skill into becoming a tanner's apprentice, or somesuch, moving out of the camps and into his master's shed. He will now get trained, and paid better, for using his old skills. To make a little extra, he could sell his old tent, and any carrying gear (backpack, etc) that he no longer needed, perhaps getting back more than he paid for them!

A local beggar-child might join the Thieves' Guild, initially staying in-camp, and reporting on the going-on in return for food. Later, he could enter town, move up, and apprentice. In tine, he could become a first-level Rogue.

The Herbalist could become known to the local temple, and he could have his daily takes of healing plants quickly bought out, and also be invited to come and work for them. He moves from the camp to the temple, and goes out, every day, to look for plants. With the remaining half-days, he is put to work doing stuff aroubd the temple, taking care of the refugees. His Healing skills get used, and the Clerics soon begin asking if he'd like to learn the True healing!...

And so it goes. Local toghs can become militia/guards. Local Rogues can watch out for non-guild rogues practicing their crafts within the city. Caravan guards are needed. Low-level Druids must police the natural resources outside the town. Those with magical powers can make money any number of ways. Corsai will remember these days as "The Good Old Days", before long, wishing they hadn't passed quite so fast!
 

Well, well...

Piratecat said:
The refugees are dwarves that have been changed by their extra-planar time on the plane of earth; they're now mithral dwarves, with silvery eyes and "blood" that is actually liquid mithral.* Interestingly enough, they've never had to drink before, because there are no liquids on their former plane. When a wave of disease sweeps through them a few hours after their arrival, it's going to be simple thirstiness. We'll see if any PCs recognize the symptoms.

The only way a teleport circle will be mentioned is if the PCs mention it. I'm just as happy with having a huge force of armed and paranoid dwarves marching across my campaign world, seeking out the empty dwarven strongholds and displacing lord knows what dwarves/gnomes/monsters on the way.

* Yup, you bet I know what this will mean when word gets out. Don't think that isn't intentional.

This just gave me an interesting notion for a special item that many such dwarven families or clans might possess.

Bloodweapon: The most treasured family heirloom of any mithral dwarf is a weapon, often a battle axe or warhammer, that has been forged from the blood of every dwarf to wield it, and reforged every time it passes from one generation to the next. While not super powerful, the worth of one of these weapons to its proper family or clan is beyond measure. With the exception of very young weapons, all bloodweapons have a +1 enhancement bonus, and older ones usually have another low level property, such as keen, thundering, ghost touch, etc. The greatest honour that can be bestowed by a mithral dwarf family or clan is for the blood of an outsider to be added to their bloodweapon, and the greatest shame is for a members blood to be withheld from the forging. Supposedely there is even a ritual for withdrawing the blood of a dishonoured dwarf from a bloodweapon, but tradition and law dictate that it can only be performed by the highest ranking priest or priestess of their deity available, and thus usually only the most dire betrayals are met with this punishment.
 
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Piratecat said:
The refugees are dwarves that have been changed by their extra-planar time on the plane of earth; they're now mithral dwarves, with silvery eyes and "blood" that is actually liquid mithral.* Interestingly enough, they've never had to drink before, because there are no liquids on their former plane. When a wave of disease sweeps through them a few hours after their arrival, it's going to be simple thirstiness. We'll see if any PCs recognize the symptoms.

The only way a teleport circle will be mentioned is if the PCs mention it. I'm just as happy with having a huge force of armed and paranoid dwarves marching across my campaign world, seeking out the empty dwarven strongholds and displacing lord knows what dwarves/gnomes/monsters on the way.

* Yup, you bet I know what this will mean when word gets out. Don't think that isn't intentional.

Okay... so no crime sprees (Dwarves are Lawful)! :p

I really don't see the problem, though! They come, buy supplies, get "sick"/thirsty, get "cured", get their supplies, and leave... Shouldn't be there long enough to cause problems...

What troubles their "paranoia" will bring, who can say? :lol:
 

Long ago, when the rules of existance were young and Magic-Users were no mere wizards, Immortals walked the earth. The wisest among them walked gently, because they knew the the true nature of the earth upon which they walked. The world was no random ball of dust and snow, tumbling through the cosmos. It was a creature, asleep beyond memory, covered in the dust of eons. Should it ever wake, it would shake off the dust of sleep from its million eyes and begin its day anew, and with that, all the works of men and gods would be undone, without it ever noticing.

I speak of course, of the living planet creature from the original D&D Boxed Set 5, Immortals Rules, last seen new when I was just a child. I know PC's a sucker for the D&D relics. ;-)

How's this - The world is alive, not as a spirit, but as a creature of flesh and blood, and the worms are parasites that infested it when it slumbered, feeding off its nightmares. The Traveller Gods themselves were created from its Dreams, to heal it, and the primordial terror they fled from was the stuff of nightmare itself, but this truth even the Gods themselves do not know. Now that the worms have returned, its nightmares have begun anew, and as they grow and multiply, they will begin to manifest from the Dream Planes into waking, for the worms create much through the channeling of nightmares, the last of which being their true and final spawn. Should the world awaken, the gods will fade as dreams at dawn. Should the worms breed, the world will thrash and die as it is devoured from within, and the worms will again spread across the blackness, looking for new hosts.

The earth must be saved, both in body and in mind, and the worms driven from its dreams and its heart, without it ever growing awake enough to know.

It would also be an excellent chance to shake up your pantheon if the world nearly woke, and went back to sleep. It's hard to pick up a dream right where you left off - it's always changed just a bit by whatever woke you.

[Yes, I did just read all of Sandman for the first time.]
 

You'd also have preexisting foreshadowing, because you could explain that the death of one of its Dream Guardians caused the world to briefly rouse, and magic and gods to cease to be for a brief moment.
 
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Kilroy said:
You'd also have preexisting foreshadowing, because you could explain that the death of one of its Dream Guardians caused the world to briefly rouse, and magic and gods to cease to be for a brief moment.
Or make a third of the world's surface turn over, destroying everything under the turned earth.
 

I was reading a short story the other day that got me thinking on the food supply issue. ("The Royal Road", part of the Interstellar Patrol series)

The Dwarves arrive in Corsai first. They have wealth, and a decent supply of food. They'll buy some essentials they didn't realize they needed (like water), but for the most part they won't do a huge amount of damage. Plus, they'll likely sell some of their things to the Aeosians, especially if they need to make room in their carts for the water supply. So, they've got a good amount of wealth to use along the way, and the town hasn't been substantially affected. If they use the Teleport Circle idea, then it's pretty much resolved at that point, so let's assume they don't.

If they stick together in one giant convoy, I don't think it's workable. No single area in this sort of civilization can possibly feed a mass of 200,000, and everyone knows it. (Historically, armies were almost never larger than a few tens of thousands, simply for this reason.) So, let's assume they split into a dozen or so smaller groups. Some are wagon trains going overland, some take the river, and so on. Ten thousand dwarves is still a sizeable convoy, but it's now within the realm of possibility.

Each group would still need to eat. For most, hunting/foraging simply wouldn't be worth the time; they're better off going as fast as possible, and buying as much food as they can find as they go.
Farmers aren't stupid. They'll keep enough food to feed their own families, selling whatever extra food they have. The townsfolk, on the other hand... while the average peasant might be smart about this, sooner or later you'll find a town run by a corrupt noble. He'll take the Dwarves' money, and give them needed food out of the community stores. It's not like he's the one that'd starve, after all.

Here's the catch: in a normal year in an agrarian society, there are always some areas with a surplus of food, and some with a shortage. Bad weather does that. Over time, it balances out, with the total food production matching closely to the local population levels (with a small buffer for safety). So, the areas that sell food to the Dwarves believe they can make up the difference if needed; they charge exorbitant prices to the Dwarves, then buy back the needed difference from their neighbors at a net profit. But the problem is that they don't know how many wagon trains there are. With dozens of them all taking different paths, this year there won't be ANY areas with a surplus. All those that had a surplus would have sold their excess, and some areas would have even sold food they needed. Money can't be eaten; the total food supply of the region is finite, and the normal "safety buffer" was overwhelmed by the sheer number of Dwarves added to the area.

So, what are you left with? A whole swath of towns near Corsai with plenty of wealth, but who haven't realized yet that they will starve in a month or two. Once they figure that out (which probably won't happen until they actually try to purchase food from their neighbors), some will blame the Mithral Dwarves, but by then they'll be long gone (and that's a key point). Many of those will then blame Dwarves in general. Some will blame Corsai (as the only town that wasn't affected). A few will blame the Defenders. Food prices will start skyrocketing well before starvation kicks in. Crime will go up, especially food raids on local farms.

So what happens? In a nonmagical society you'd see a lot of starvation and riots before grain-carrying transports could arrive. But here? Imagine the Ioun and the church of Aeos sending dozens of spellcasters to summon food for the peasants, many of which would have to stay in those towns through the winter. Magic items that create food would become extremely valuable. Towns who lost their food supply due to corrupt nobles would lynch them, and might want to switch allegiance. Depending on how they handle it, the end result of this could be a whole series of towns joining the Empire or wanting to be protectorates of Corsai.
 

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