Pathfinder 1E Far Realms inspired campaign. Thoughts and Suggestions appreciated!

[Chronikoce]

That sounds interesting. I'll try and hunt down a few of those books to get a better idea of what the far realms embodies.
[MENTION=29746]paradox42[/MENTION] That paladin link didn't work for me. I'll try again tomorrow because I'll never say no to a glance at awesome NPC's that I can then shamelessly model my own NPC's after hehe.

 

[Samloyal23]

Some characters may decide to find other types of sources for divine power, such as revering natural forces or philosophies instead of gods. An ideology without a deity could generate the same amount of faith, allowing priests to tap the pool of believers to achieve the same effects a cleric does...

 

[paradox42]

Dammit, the stupid board somehow changed the link between the time I hit "post" and the time it showed up!

I edited it and tested the edited link, and it works for me now. Hopefully it will for you too.

 

[Chronikoce]

Does anyone have any ideas on how I could effect Arcane Magic users in some way? I don't want it to seem arbitrary but is there any lore that exists where arcane users would experience odd effects? Maybe someone like the spells start having unpredictable effects (wrong element, targets the wrong save, or something like that).

 

[Andor]

I auggested some in post 22, but for others.... In going with the twisting of natural law theme have elemental spells start producing side effects from the wrong element. Fireballs leave behind corroded and dissolved slag. A Cone of Cold leave a flickering coating of hoar frost that consumes like fire. Other spells twist in other ways. Objects illuminated by Light spells cast shadows from the wrong perspective. Sound Burst is a scream in an alien tounge with your grandmothers voice. Mending an object leaves a patterned patina that is a schematic for an impossible clock.

Magic shouldn't become twisted to the point of uselessness, but the players should start feeling creeped out and untrusting of it.

 

[Andor]

If we're getting into literary recommendations, I have one to make.

If you'd like to read a literary description of the Far Realm itself, and what it truly means to go or "exist" there (so to speak), I cannot recommend highly enough that you hunt down a copy of a story written by H.P. Lovecraft and E. Hoffman Price. "Through the Gates of the Silver Key" contains the single best description of the Far Realm that I have ever encountered, and that includes the description in 3.0 Manual of the Planes (although the MoP description is certainly more evocative in terms of imagery).

It's a rare story; most collections of Lovecraft stories don't include it- but if you find it and read it, you will understand what I meant. And to a large degree, why the Far Realm drives people insane.

On a personal note, that story is also what led me to postulate that Uvuudaums are essentially the Platonic "perfect Forms" (or Archetypes, in the philosophical sense) of various types of real people. That, in turn, led me to create NPCs like The Paladin, which showed up in my own campaigns several times (and were always quite memorable encounters to the players when they did).

Said story can be found here.

 

[Starfox]

Thanks for the link! I hadn't read the story, and have now. I lacks some of Lovecrafts style, but it is very good indeed, and the ending is very lovecraftian.

Still, my personal favorite for depicting the far realm is Dreams in the Witch-House. It can be found on the same site: http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/dwh.aspx

 

[paradox42]

Witch-House is another good one, agreed- the description in Gates is more personal to the narrator, so that's probably why I like it better.

I was not previously aware of that site! Great to know it exists; thanks for the link. There is exactly one Lovecraft story I've never read, "The Challenge From Beyond," and I see the site has it up there. So, time to do some reading!

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

Does anyone have any ideas on how I could effect Arcane Magic users in some way? I don't want it to seem arbitrary but is there any lore that exists where arcane users would experience odd effects? Maybe someone like the spells start having unpredictable effects (wrong element, targets the wrong save, or something like that).

It's cliche, but include tentacles, wisps, worms, anything that wriggles, as a side effect of spells. Mess with the visuals.

How about every time an Arcane spell is cast, a small wisp of something enters reality? At the point of effect, minuscule, wiggly somethings spatter out and wriggle into the ground, walls, people, what have you. Shadowstuff that's wormy. After a while, the stuff pools together and follows the party, anticipating more. Sometimes it's in their peripheral view, Sometimes it disappears when it senses arcane magic happening someplace else. It doesn't harm the party, perhaps it might provide minor benefits or drawbacks. Every time a spell is cast, more of this stuff is released, and the shadowy thing grows.

Further into the story they might interact with it, perhaps it'll eventually manifest into a creature or a portal. It might even be favorable to the party since they've been "creating" it, doesn't have to be a climatic battle to be a climactic encounter when it finally materializes.

It wants to encourage more arcane magic cast. Eventually, perhaps Sorcerers can cast metamagic 1 slot lower, or wizards find they've got an extra first level slot some mornings for preparing spells. Something to make casting Arcane spells easier, to encourage the casters to want to do so more often, so the creature can continue to grow....

 

[Chronikoce]

How about every time an Arcane spell is cast, a small wisp of something enters reality? At the point of effect, minuscule, wiggly somethings spatter out and wriggle into the ground, walls, people, what have you. Shadowstuff that's wormy. After a while, the stuff pools together and follows the party, anticipating more. Sometimes it's in their peripheral view, Sometimes it disappears when it senses arcane magic happening someplace else. It doesn't harm the party, perhaps it might provide minor benefits or drawbacks. Every time a spell is cast, more of this stuff is released, and the shadowy thing grows.

That is a really cool idea. I especially like the aspect where they slowly increase and apply various strange or beneficial effects. Very flavorful and should be fun to watch them try and figure out what is going on.

One way to reduce on the cliche is to make them formless early on. Instead of tentacle-like, I could just describe as wispy black shadows that seem to linger too long or in the light where they shouldn't be. Over time they might remain and start taking forms such as small wispy shadow spiders and other creepy ish creatures.