Far Realms insanity, let's melt minds.

[Arravis]

My players, stay out!

Ok, guys and gals, I have an upcoming game that will be set in the Far Realms. The party is 20th level (though a bit under the "recommended" treasure they should have, I'm stingy) and I'm looking for some odd elements to throw in the Far Realms. I 'm still preparing my monster encounters with things like Pseudonatural Chaos Beast and a few other like-minded creatures. But, I'm not looking for monsters, I think I can find plenty that fit. What I'm looking is for some very bizzare quirks, rules, etc.

I'm thinking of having time function in odd and weird ways. Perhaps having the native creatures having weird rounds. I was considering rolling 1d3, and whatever number is rolled is the number of equivilant rounds they can act immediately (ie if they roll a 3, they can take 3 additional rounds worth of actions on their initiave), but they are unable to act for the same number of rounds afterwards (ie if they rolled a 3, they stand there unable to act for 3 rounds). To add to the weirdness, I'm thinking of dolling out any damage done, effects, etc on the appropriate round they would have happened... so if on round 1, on the creature's 2nd additional round, they wound player Bob, the wound doesn't come into effect until two rounds have passed for Bob.

Anyone have any other suggestions of general weirdness I can DM in a Far Realms environment?
Perhaps the players see themselves leaving a spot as they approach it... or all liquids flow in reverse... perhaps all fires shed darkness instead of light, etc...

 

[Soel]

I hear there's a non euclidean template in the Book of Templates 3.5 that just came out...

Maybe try and find the movie From Beyond to get a little influence...

 

[thompgc]

There is a somewhat recent dragon magazine that deals with the far realm
It has a few creatures in it
I don't remember the issue number

 

[Xombie Master]

Dragon Magazine issue #330
Good Issue, I've used it a lot!

 

[Anabstercorian]

Here's a thread on the Wizard's boards I contributed to as RiotGearEpsilon:

http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=224880

Some of it's crap, but some of it's awesome. I'm quite proud of Falling and Gamauamag.

 

[Arravis]

Yeah, I have that Dragon magazine... but there isn't much in there that really sets the Far Realms apart. I'm looking for something more drastic I suppose.

 

[Ry]

You want drastic?

Try having a great, unimaginably large and innavigable wall of flesh, with eyes and tentacles poking out at random. The PCs eventually see what looks like a destination of some kind, but as they get closer and closer they realize that it appears to be an infinite wall, floating in the void, made up of the most horrible writhing mass of flesh and eyes imaginable.

The wall doesn't have to be in the same place twice, either.

 

[Warrior Poet]

What about landscape that's . . . "unreliable?"

Maybe the landscape is malleable due to all sorts of weirdness. Maybe the presence of a particular monster affects the solidity of the surface on which the PCs (and the monster, though it might not affect the beast) stand, so you could impose some movement difficulties as though it became mud or similar, then remove them once a certain distance is reached away from the effect, or perhaps if the monster departs, the PCs find themselves mired in the surface that has "recongealed."

How 'bout an atmosphere that's sentient or semi-sentient? At random points, the breathable air just decides to "leave," or increase in pressure, or reduce it's nitrogen/oxygen levels, resulting in hypoxia (or even increase oxygen levels and result in a kind of semi-intoxicating high). Perhaps the air can be damaged (air elemental?), and when it happens, it bleeds water vapor in high concentrations, so that water just "erupts" like an exploded balloon from mid-air, showering the PCs. Of course, somewhere nearby is an animal that hunts based on the presence of water, and needs to feed (and us carbon-based forms are more than 65% water, anyway), so it's like chum in the ocean . . . .

Time, as you've already pointed out, is excellent to mess with. There might be areas where time is "diseased," that cause aging, or regression, depending on saving throws, perhaps.

Magic is also fun to mess with: you could come up with a whole set of factors that affect spell-casting. Maybe combustion works differently, so fireballs and the like have different effects, or spells with sonic components find the environment screams back with the mad gibberings of unknown space during the casting (Concentration check?). Electrical spells might be the purview of a certain horrific diety that sends mindless, blind minions to abduct those who use the Blasphemous One's power and take that hapless PC away to be revealed to the awfulness at the center of all lightning. Or something.

Certain monsters might only be harmed when the PCs harm themselves, forcing damage on themselves in order to eliminate or drive away a foe.

What if healing required some sort of sacrifice to work, like learning that a certain soul somewhere slid deeper into madness for each Cure spell that was cast, and when they return to more "normal" space, find that the countryside has been frought with the slaughter of random innocents by some mad fiend who kept screaming about "the healing!" as he left a bloody trail in the wake of his cleaver-accented rampage?

If I think of anything else, I'll try and post it.

Warrior Poet

 

[Warrior Poet]

Thought of some other ones:

A realm draped with gauzy veils that hangs from the sky. Passing through a veil requires a saving throw for an object. Failure changes an elemental quality of the object: iron becomes phosphorous, for example, and suddenly a sword bursts into flame just by exposure to air, resulting in damage or a Reflex save, at least, and loss of the item. Calcium becomes Mercury (needs a Fort Save, though, to be fair), and bone structure is suddenly viscous, and highly toxic, etc.

Parasites: Fort saves might be required, lest a few months down the road, the PCs find themselves back in their own, safe world except there's something growing out of their neck, or belly, and it has it's own eyes, to say nothing of its desire to escape . . . .

Language that has three or four (or more) dimensions, thus, depending on how a letter or word is oriented, not just on a page, but in a solid form (like polyhedral letters), it can have different meaning, changing the nature of texts, magical writings, maps, etc. Also, words at one point in time might not mean the same thing at a later time, but both cases provide vital information. Whichever path the PCs end up following due to the information they get at that time will lead to an outcome, as would the other, and it becomes sort of an exercise (or experience) in quantum potentiality and "all possible worlds."

Warrior Poet

 

[Savage Wombat]

Have events that happen to one or more PCs, but not to the others.

Describe monsters differently to each player.

Make up different flanking rules (complicated ones, if you're up to it) to reflect the weird dimensions. For example, you only flank a foe if you have an ally 135 degrees to the right.