D&D General Fantasy Equivalent of the Nuke

[gamerprinter]

Ever wonder what happens when you pull a portable hole out of a bag of holding? You get a rip in the fabric of reality, which can be 'nuclear', if you let it go unstopped...

 

[Reynard]

The day of mourning in eberron is pretty much the result of a Hiroshima type thing nobody aimed responsibility for in eberron

I think it is more of a Manhattan Project type thing gone all kinds of wrong. That's a bit different.

Importantly, though, if it's not reproducible it doesn't fill the niche.

 

[Reynard]

A ring of wishes would do the job quite nicely, to be honest, especially in a world where very high-level magic is scarce. Make it a variant that can only grant destructive wishes, but will grant them sincerely and without twisting, if you like.

That's interesting. What's the mechanism for making rings of wishes such that the information can be stolen?

EDIT: What's extra interesting about this is if the wishes aren't restricted to being destructive. A cold war of people trying to stop their rivals from creating a better/perfect world is a neat idea.

 

[Unwise]

Why not just use a nuke? A spell that can split an atom, destroy a cornerstone of existence and make a huge explosion as a result. It is the cutting edge of arcane science and only a few mecha-mages are even aware of the possibility. These mad scientists are now in very high demand. Cold War style extractions and kidnapping abound.
You require fantasy plutonium for it to work. Some kind of rare prismatic residuum. So you have the Cold War trope of tracking the rogue arms dealer selling plutonium to a rogue nation.

 

[TheLibrarian]

In Greyhawk lore there were the Baklunish and the Suloise empires. (The equivalent of the USSR and the US.) They were locked in a struggle that ended in The Twin Cataclysms: One nation cast The Invoked Devastation and the other used The Rain of Colorless Fire. Basically, they nuked each other.

Eberron lore has the cataclysm that created the Mournland out of the nation of Cyre which ended their equivalent of a world war. For some reason I seem to remember it was always foggy in the Mournland so it could be some kind of gas. Maybe vampyric gas!

The race to rediscover/recreate what cause those cataclysms could make for interesting espionage.

There's also always the ability to unlock some kind of Cthulhu-like entity that ends the world.

Really any kind of spell I suppose. But it wouldn't have to be a spell. The ability to forge stuff out of lighter, more durable metals like mithril could be a tipping point in world power. Not as dramatic as a big boom, but the ability to wield iron instead of bronze caused nations to fall in the real world.

Or weaponizing a tarrasque!

You could also use an actual nuke, although its a bit of a stretch. The old mod City of the Gods (as well as Expidition to the Barrier Peaks?) involved a crashed starship. Pathfinder has a something similar in its nation of Numeria. There's probably some kind of engine or missile or power source or something that factions could be racing toward that is a literal nuclear device.

 

[Reynard]

Why not just use a nuke? A spell that can split an atom, destroy a cornerstone of existence and make a huge explosion as a result. It is the cutting edge of arcane science and only a few mecha-mages are even aware of the possibility. These mad scientists are now in very high demand. Cold War style extractions and kidnapping abound.
You require fantasy plutonium for it to work. Some kind of rare prismatic residuum. So you have the Cold War trope of tracking the rogue arms dealer selling plutonium to a rogue nation.

Because if I just wanted nukes I would run a cold war technothriller?

 

[Bacon Bits]

Why not just use a nuke? A spell that can split an atom, destroy a cornerstone of existence and make a huge explosion as a result. It is the cutting edge of arcane science and only a few mecha-mages are even aware of the possibility. These mad scientists are now in very high demand. Cold War style extractions and kidnapping abound.
You require fantasy plutonium for it to work. Some kind of rare prismatic residuum. So you have the Cold War trope of tracking the rogue arms dealer selling plutonium to a rogue nation.

Because atoms as we known them don't exist. Everything on the prime planes is composed of a mixture the four base elements. Those things given the power of life and growth are animated by the power of the positive energy element, while those given the power of death and decay are animated by the power of the negative energy element.

 

[MoonSong]

MTG has the Silex, an artifact that when activated can decimate or even erradicate a plane. The strength of the blast depends on the user, and can go from nuking a small island to a huge explosion that causes a nuclear winter.

Spoiler

Specifically the user pours all of their emotions and experiences on it, the more intense the stronger the explosion.

 

[Umbran]

Time travel magic.

 

[Bill Zebub]

A ring of wishes would do the job quite nicely, to be honest, especially in a world where very high-level magic is scarce.

Especially in a world with a really evil DM.