Help me build a Deus Ex Machine

[Slife]

Stuff

This reminds me of Zelazny's pattern-ghosts. That isn't a bad thing.



Also, kudos for giving the party a reason to work together.

 

[jdrakeh]

This reminds me of Zelazny's pattern-ghosts. That isn't a bad thing.

Actually, that's a huge compliment as I've never read any Zelazny

 

[Nightfall]

Well I only read few of the Amber books but it does seem to model itself well for what was mentioned before.

 

[Ry]

I guess I didn't specify well enough what I was trying to do:

I wanted to make some kind of item that supplied my deus ex machinae, but had some other properties that were good enough that a character would want to have it.

 

[Stormborn]

I guess I didn't specify well enough what I was trying to do:

I wanted to make some kind of item that supplied my deus ex machinae, but had some other properties that were good enough that a character would want to have it.

To me this sounds like rewarding players for not showing up all the time. I dont think you punish players who have scheduling conflicts, especially if thats the only way you can get to play, but there is no need to reward them for it.

As a plot device to explain their abscence, on the other hand, its a great idea. And if your players are fine with that metagame aspect of it all you need is a story reason for them to have it. Perhaps it was given to the party by the ubiquitous mysterious stranger and they have found that they cannot get rid of it - it always shows up in someones pack whenever they sell/drop/destroy it. However, perhaps certain people in the know recognize it as something that siginifies a group destined for great things and thus seek the PCs out for jobs or give them preferential treatment. Not everyone would be aware of it, and they PCs might not know why or how these people find them (say there is a spell that is "Locate Hero Stone"). At some point in the future you can reveal that the heroes who hold the stone are destined to do "X" - in which X is whatever big campaign ending event that evolves naturally out of your game.

Just give them the stone, let them do what they will with it, but have it always show up in one of their packs regardless. Tell the players the metagame reason and tell them that there will eventurally be an in-game reason for it and leave it at that.

 

[Herobizkit]

I'd say do the easy thing and run a Justice League Unlimited-type deal. The PCs are part of a massive group of heroes that is run by an even higher-level group of founders who work for the common good of the campaign...

Or isn't that the Harpers?

Well, you get the idea. Run a series of one-shots that may or may not be related, and have whatever PCs show up be the choices for the mission at hand. For those PC's who don't show up, award them 50% of the total xp earned for the mission so they don't fall too far behind.

 

[Nightfall]

Hero,

The Harpers only wish they could be the Justice League. I'm sorry but while I've got a fondness for many orgs, few can truly be considered JL material, in D&D.

d20..different story.

But in any case I'm with Stormy, don't reward your players. Just play it out as it plays out.

 

[Varianor Abroad]

Run a series of one-shots that may or may not be related, and have whatever PCs show up be the choices for the mission at hand....

Great in theory. In practice adventures don't fit conveniently into the package of time available on a given evening.

I like this idea a lot better than my own prior one, which was the notion of "temps". Player characters faded into the astral plane when their player wasn't there. They were magical temporary workers. Personally, I think if you offer xp to the players who follow this method - enough so that those who keep missing a session are still only a level behind the group - that they will like it. Having part-time players who are way behind in levels are a liability to the group's hitting power when they show.

 

[Nonlethal Force]

I guess I didn't specify well enough what I was trying to do:

I wanted to make some kind of item that supplied my deus ex machinae, but had some other properties that were good enough that a character would want to have it.

Okay, borrow from the Curse of the Azure Bonds.

The players wake up with some tatoo on their skin. There is an inscription around the tatoo that says "removing this tatoo wil cause more pain than you have hitpoints .... ever. So don't try it."

The tatoos suck people into another dimension and return them. There you go!

Now,as for the dimension... personally I would go with the "missing time" option. They don't remember where they went or what they did. It makes your life easier as a DM. Plus, I hate rewarding people for missing sessions. They get no XP from what the party did because they weren't there.

But, if you are into one shots and DMing solo games, you could easily have the dimension be something like a fight club that they do remember. Find out how much XP was gained by the party in their absence and make them fight various opponents until they've accumulated a reasonably close amount of XP. Of course, they are sent back damaged and its up to the party to get them back into shape!

 

[Nightfall]

yay for use of the best useage of an FR thing in a while. Especially since Azure bonds rocks!