Immortals Handbook - Chronicle (Adventures, Campaigns Discussion)

[Upper_Krust]

Hey paradox mate!

U_K, assuming you read through the above, do you have any recommendations for what sort of Sidereal-level monster to use for the plane's mind? Obviously one key snag is that the entity may have Cosmic String and thus be impossible for the PCs to destroy, unless they acquire an artifact that is capable of bypassing that ability (which may provide the reason they need to adventure in the post-apocalyptic wasteland for a while now that I think about it).

In any case, that's my current long-term plan for a slam-bang finish to a truly Epic campaign. There are several key sticking points, particularly in what happens if the PCs TPK or manage to pull out stops I hadn't anticipated and destroy the plane prematurely, but a DM always has to be able to roll with the punches at times like that, so I'll survive. Hope you readers found it interesting and/or inspirational.

One possibility is that they could be battling a Trithemian (Thrice-Cursed) which is an Entity of Fate and Thought, Its like a weird 3-sectioned monster (in fact its sort of like a composite monster made of three parts...think Emerald Weapon if you know what I mean by that). Its USP is the threefold effect, when it hits you - you feel the effects three times, when it uses a special attack you must save three times etc...of course you also need to kill it three times, it only gets hurt on the third attack. You get the idea.

I got the idea for it from an old Thor annual which had this totally bonkers monster illustration - email me and I'll scan a picture of it (tomorrow) and send it to you. It's so weird I can't even describe it to you.

That'll give you a rough idea of what a Trithemian will ultimately look like, although i am sure I will chop and change things a bit.

 

[Ltheb Silverfrond]

Wow that sounds like a totally irritating monster. I would guess it has 333 hd, and deals like 33d3 divine damage with attacks or something equally silly and thematic. I love it
I finished my epic campaign recently. Sadly party attendance inconsistancy and a general lack of skill and common sense (an all time low, too since most of my players know the rudiments of powergaming and tactics) I had to end it quite quickly and tastelessly (Pcs locate the guy who just kills the end villain and throws them back in time to before the bad events started so they could stop them, resulting in victory, and the basic death of one character due to unforseen time paradox - Either an assassin kills him, or he goes to tell his past self the assassin is comming and dies Time-cop style. Either way, he dies)
My players also seem to be generally uncreative cowards who didn't even think of researching what the villain (A Psudonatural) was vulnerable too. They sort of wandered arround, getting killed by its spawn, and eventually found the people who could kill the thing, helped them out a bit, and won via proxy. A boring end. Guess Ill have to craft some more linear adventures.

 

[paradox42]

One possibility is that they could be battling a Trithemian (Thrice-Cursed) which is an Entity of Fate and Thought, Its like a weird 3-sectioned monster (in fact its sort of like a composite monster made of three parts...think Emerald Weapon if you know what I mean by that).

I do, though I only had the patience to fight that thing once and then I always restarted afterward from a save point I went to after I defeated it. I simply had to have the Materia it was guarding, you understand... but it took way too long to want to do it again later.

Its USP is the threefold effect, when it hits you - you feel the effects three times, when it uses a special attack you must save three times etc...of course you also need to kill it three times, it only gets hurt on the third attack. You get the idea.

Curious. I'm not sure what USP stands for, up there, but I get what you mean in context. The killing three times is sort of hard to wrap my head around, though- how does that work? Does it just spontaneously self-resurrect the first two times, or does it just plain not die until they cycle through its hit points three times?

I got the idea for it from an old Thor annual which had this totally bonkers monster illustration - email me and I'll scan a picture of it (tomorrow) and send it to you. It's so weird I can't even describe it to you.

That'll give you a rough idea of what a Trithemian will ultimately look like, although i am sure I will chop and change things a bit.

Email sent. Thanks for the offer, I just hope it doesn't distract you too much from your ongoing projects!

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hiya mate!

Wow that sounds like a totally irritating monster. I would guess it has 333 hd, and deals like 33d3 divine damage with attacks or something equally silly and thematic. I love it

I finished my epic campaign recently. Sadly party attendance inconsistancy and a general lack of skill and common sense (an all time low, too since most of my players know the rudiments of powergaming and tactics) I had to end it quite quickly and tastelessly (Pcs locate the guy who just kills the end villain and throws them back in time to before the bad events started so they could stop them, resulting in victory, and the basic death of one character due to unforseen time paradox - Either an assassin kills him, or he goes to tell his past self the assassin is comming and dies Time-cop style. Either way, he dies)
My players also seem to be generally uncreative cowards who didn't even think of researching what the villain (A Psudonatural) was vulnerable too. They sort of wandered arround, getting killed by its spawn, and eventually found the people who could kill the thing, helped them out a bit, and won via proxy. A boring end. Guess Ill have to craft some more linear adventures.

Sorry to hear it ended with a whimper. I always got the impression that the best epic gamers were the ones who really 'wanted it', to 'be all that you can be' if you'll pardon the expression.

Thats why I always think its better to work your way up to epic rather than just start at epic, because it invests something of the players in the campaign. They care more about the characters.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Howdy!

I do, though I only had the patience to fight that thing once and then I always restarted afterward from a save point I went to after I defeated it. I simply had to have the Materia it was guarding, you understand... but it took way too long to want to do it again later.

Indeed, its very poor design to make people sit through those bloody summons videos time after time. While I may have enjoyed Bahamut Zero and Knights of the Round the first half dozen times I watched them, by the six hundredth time you do tend to get bored silly and its especially annoying when you have to link Mime and Quadra Magic then you end up watching the same bloody 60 second video 8 times per round.

...although as you say, once you get to taht point you just have to kill those darn Weapons!

Curious. I'm not sure what USP stands for, up there, but I get what you mean in context.

Unique Selling Point.

The killing three times is sort of hard to wrap my head around, though- how does that work? Does it just spontaneously self-resurrect the first two times, or does it just plain not die until they cycle through its hit points three times?

Three monster symbiotically linked into one being, interdimensionally linked (so that only one part is vulnerable at a time).

Email sent. Thanks for the offer, I just hope it doesn't distract you too much from your ongoing projects!

No, it only took a moment.

 

[WarDragon]

Something that caught my attention; what sorts of Epic, Divine, Cosmic, etc., Prestige Classes are you going to give us that haven't already been done? Not that I'm doubting you of course, just hoping for a hint of what's in store.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hey WarDragon dude!

Something that caught my attention; what sorts of Epic, Divine, Cosmic, etc., Prestige Classes are you going to give us that haven't already been done? Not that I'm doubting you of course, just hoping for a hint of what's in store.

Well the problem with Epic/Immortal Prestige Classes is that you still need to balance them, but at the same time people are expecting EPIC things from them. So its getting the right mix of wow and balance that can be a problem.

I do have thirteen Prestige Class ideas (not counting my Dimensional Organisation Prestige Classes: Legionnaire of the Damned, Illuminated One etc.) that I have been sitting on for quite a while, some of which were pretty cool...ultimately I can see probably half of those making the final list.

Off the top of my head (and you know what my memory is like) there is one that lets you become a living weapon (titled Mithril Drinker...I need to check that, its Mithril something), there is one called Lensman (name likely to change) that lets you multiply/modify magic. Its been a while since I read over them...I'll have to go hunt that notebook down.

I agree with you that it seems as if every darn possibility has been covered with regards Prestige Classes, but I won't let that stop me from coming up with something original, don't worry.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Throne of Orcus

Hey all!

As you can see from the website, I am planning on setting out a 100th-level adventure, or more accurately four 100th-level adventures (since each chapter is as big as a regular adventure in terms of the number of encounters).

I still have a lot of detail to add to the first chapter, but if you have any suggestions or ideas on it, even at this early stage, this is the place to voice them.

The second chapter deals with getting to Orcus home layer of the Abyss. The third chapter deals with the city of Orcus and the fourth chapter deals with the Palace of Orcus.

 

[Servitor of Wrath]

encounter lists

Wat exactly do you mean by, "xyz converts to XYZ?" Is the former an illusion? Something that runs away? Something that gets reanimated? Bait?

 

[Ltheb Silverfrond]

U_K is refering to an old 2 edition adventure called Throne of Bloodstone. In 2E, about everything over level 10 scales at about the same slow rate, so challenges for levels 20 through 100 don't scale all that much. If one wanted to convert Bloodstone to 3.5, some of the monsters are not even challenges. (Like the 100 green slimes. Uhhh Great Cleave+Power Attack? 40 wights? Bah! Death Ward and... Power Attack+Great Cleave!)
His article is on converting the adventure while still making all the encounters meaningful.
U_K! The 100 green slimes could be Full Advanced Black Puddings (Possibly with the Dire Template)
Cool idea converting Bloodstone. I ran it once for a 3.pi game. (Still transitioning at the time)
Party was about level 30 (with higher than average wealth, heck, one of them at the time was the Coronel of the elves!), so I used the encounters listed, but increased the danger levels (So when they met the mage in the tower, he had 2 infernals with him, and 4 balors, and 4 Max HD Iron Golems)