Look upon my works, ye mighty... (my players stay out, please)

[Thornir Alekeg]

2. If there are people powerful enough to execute these insane projects, how come they haven't disposed of the monarch, either though assassination or mind control? My experience is limited to DnD, so please bear with me, but if I was a spellcaster capable of casting enough 6th level spells to turn a sizeable portion of the criminal population into statues, rending an inbred aristocrat inert would be a piece of cake.

In addition to what The Warlock posted, you are making an assumption that people with the means to do so actually want to depose the emperor. There are definitely historical examples of societies where the people of a powerful ruler believe in that ruler so much they will pretty much accept whatever they decree. My assumption is that this is one of those societies; the people love the emperor as a god.


Also, the assumption in the prisoner statue suggestion is that it isn't a single mage with the ability to cast enough 6th level spells to turn a sizeable portion of the criminal population to statues, but rather a large number of mages all working for the Emperor. Perhaps working together they might have enough power to depose Him, but if He has enough power to fritter it away on projects like this, it is equally likely that He has enough power to stop them as well.

 

[Mark]

He needs a colossus

He needs two. The first (perhaps even while under construction) started to lean so a second was built that can be designed to hold up the first but made in a way that tries to (but doesn't quite) manage to disguise that it is being used for support. Sort of in the way that someone looks when caught trying to hold two fingers in a "v" up behind someone else when they are both having their picture taken, a forced nonchalance but with ginormaous statuary.

 

[Tortoise]

Another of the ideas here I plan to yoink for my own use is the one where statues at cross roads point and identify direction and nearest town, with criminals often used instead of sculpted statues. I like the thought of a medusa helping with the project.

 

[Zinovia]

The fountains of manna

The benevolent emperor, wishing none of his loyal subjects to be deprived of the necessities of life decreed that great fountains would be created, each showing him pouring out a precious liquid: wine, olive oil, milk, and honey. Thus would his people receive the bounty needed for a comfortable life. Of course the implementation presented some difficulties, but money was no object and the project went forth.

The wine fountain looked disturbingly like blood. The entire neighborhood suddenly had many wild parties in the streets, and became boisterous and rowdy. The wine began to taste funny, and soon turned to vinegar. Mages had to keep replacing the entire contents of the fountain as this happened, while guards were stationed to prevent innkeepers from loading up entire barrels with free wine, as well as to stop the more exuberant citizens from bathing in the fountain. The tavern owners filed protests to the imperial bureaucracy about the decrease in their business due to the free wine.

Olive oil pouring from the carved urn held by the magnanimous emperor proved to be an occasional fire hazard and trap for insects that would land in it and be caught by the viscous liquid. The local neighborhood began to favor slicked back hairstyles, and were constantly oiling their hair and skin. The olive growers protested to the bureaucracy, much as the winesellers had, but no one was really sure what caused that blight among the local olive groves. Surely the fruit withering on the tree before ever being harvested had nothing to do with the fountain.

The milk fountain needed to be kept cold; everyone knew that. Initially the tame ice elemental bound to do the job kept freezing people who tried to approach the fountain. Once the mages worked past that, there were still issues of the thousands of housecats who congregated every night by the fountain, contaminating the milk with cat hair and less savory things. Rats, skunks, and other creatures were also attracted to the milk. Thus a magical barricade was created to keep the creatures out, but allow people in. The spell was very precise, and walking through the wards became a favored way to remove fleas, head lice, and other troublesome surface parasites, since the spell wouldn't allow them through. Unfortunately the wards initially didn't allow in anyone who wasn't human, and the other races among the populace protested and cried out that it was discrimination. Further work is still being done on the wards. Housecats still come by the fountain, and meow incessantly all night long, winding among the legs of people who bring milk out.

Honey won't flow nicely unless it is warmed, and is far too viscous to flow through any normal fountain design. After a number of burns, and coaxing of a minor fire elemental, the appropriate temperature was arrived at, along with a design that let the honey flow downward freely. The fountain attracted insects from all over the city, who would become embedded in the sticky stuff. Even small mice would fall in and drown in the honey, creating a fad for honeyed dormice (a la Roman cookery). Neighborhood people grew fat and lost their teeth. Pastry shops became very common, and local vintners switched to making mead as their preferred drink, since red wine prices had plummeted.

 

[Rechan]

In addition to what The Warlock posted, you are making an assumption that people with the means to do so actually want to depose the emperor. There are definitely historical examples of societies where the people of a powerful ruler believe in that ruler so much they will pretty much accept whatever they decree. My assumption is that this is one of those societies; the people love the emperor as a god

Not to mention that it assumes everyone who can sling a high powered spell wants to be Emperor.

I imagine anyone with that kind of magical weight class all ready has a cushy position in the Emperor's magical corps, makes a nice fat paycheck and has access to immense resources. If he lacks the ambition to RULE IT ALL (which, let's face it, is going to be a headache, one he can likely see from his position), then why rock the boat?

In fact, I imagine that spellcasters with little ambition are intentionally selected for the gig.

 

[Dandu]

In addition to what The Warlock posted, you are making an assumption that people with the means to do so actually want to depose the emperor.

You only need one.

There are definitely historical examples of societies where the people of a powerful ruler believe in that ruler so much they will pretty much accept whatever they decree.

There are definitely historical examples of societies where the people of a powerful ruler did not believe in that ruler so much that they would pretty much accept whatever he decreed.

My assumption is that this is one of those societies; the people love the emperor as a god.

Wizard: Hm. I have an Int of 32. I wonder what happens when I start thinking about the status quo?
*one Int check later*
Wizard: Now, if I planar bind the Nightmare, I can then go Etheral. The only think that could stop me would be Walls of Force, but those can be disintegrated. Guards can be bypassed with Superior Invisibility. Magical traps can be suppressed with an Antimagic Field sculpted to excluse my person. Speaking of them, appearing in an Antimagic field could be a bother, but that's what Invoke Magic was designed for... (and so on and so on)

Also, the assumption in the prisoner statue suggestion is that it isn't a single mage with the ability to cast enough 6th level spells to turn a sizeable portion of the criminal population to statues, but rather a large number of mages all working for the Emperor. Perhaps working together they might have enough power to depose Him

I could probably do it with one.

but if He has enough power to fritter it away on projects like this

That's my question. What's his power?

it is equally likely that He has enough power to stop them as well.

So far no indication has been given of any way to stop a rogue mage from changing the status quo. (Incidentally, this was part of the reason I posted earlier.)

Fabricate and stone shape still requires you to make an appropriate craft check. The most life-like statue will be one of a live person. Not many mages seeking power or prestige focus on Craft: Sculpting.

Aid Another can be used on Craft checks, and it's easy to get 10 or so competent sculptors around for a +20 bonus.

Alternatively, use the retraining rules in the PHB2 to reallocate skillpoints.

Easier than obtaining a ton of 6th level spells at any rate.

Between charming monsters with stoning abilities and metamagics which increase the number of targets of a spell

If you can Chain Flesh To Stone, a 9th level spell, the same level as Time Stop, Shapechange, and Win the Freaking Game, you've long since stopped taking orders from idiots.

Also, just because the emperor is a potentially inbred, decadent, dissociative incompetent doesn't mean he isn't protected.

\ I'd like to see a plausible explanation for what's keeping him alive that is preferably not DM fiat. So far people have been saying "No, you can't dispose of him, he's protected", but the only actual, concrete things keeping him protected the fact that people believe, and protective magical items and etc none of which are really explained.

And people believing is a horrible protective mechanism because there are always dissenters.

There needs to be a good explaination of how he is protected, otherwise the entire setting has a glaring plot hole in the middle. Kind of like a doughnut.

 

[The_Warlock]

There needs to be a good explaination of how he is protected, otherwise the entire setting has a glaring plot hole in the middle. Kind of like a doughnut.

Actually, no there doesn't, not from us anyway. We were asked to provide ideas that were excesses of money and magic that would exemplify the decadence of a far reaching Empire that has used great magic in the past to extend it's borders and insure safety, but that is now settling and sagging under it's own weight and detached perceptions of a coddled emperor.

And to be fair, for the players of said campaign, who are on the Empire's fringes at the moment, there doesn't need to be any explanation...apart from whispers of the "Power" of the "Emperor's Aegis", or what have you, that protects him from enemies within and without. And it could be total poppycock. Or it could be real.

It's not overly germane to the purpose of the "Great Projects."

Furthermore, the campaign as I understand it is in 4E. The concept of rituals add a lot of potential stage magic if you must be grounded in system mechanics. But at this point, that too is irrelevant. Ideas are useful, and PCat, or any GM drawing on these ideas for inspiration, can fit them to any system as he sees fit.

----
The Captain's Wheel

A floating, spinning disc of water that hangs out over the bay of the Empire's greatest port. Hundreds of feet across, the rush of it's waters can be heard along the headland. Spray from it's whirling keeps the air cool in summer, and huge devices cling to the "wheel"'s edge like the spoke of a ships wheel, but bearing the flags of the many sister ports of Capria.

At night, the wheel glows like a small moon with the image of the Caprian Standard alternating with the Emperor's smiling visage, guiding ships to the bay.

It also tends to cause terrible snow and ice during the previously mild winter cold, makes it difficult to hear in the vicinity of the harbor proper, and is so bright that it makes it difficult to see the stars at night. Occasionally elemental creatures arrive through the wheel and terrorize the bay, or the standard that spin on the outside break and destroy harbor property, ships, or kill sailors and longshoremen.

 

[Cyronax]

1) Tried and true: The emperor and his eunuchs alone mandate who can have sex (and children) with whom. Its basically eugenics ..... an old American tradition brought into D&D.

Of course you could combine this idea with the 'harem reality show' idea. Perhaps the harem is for people the king will give sexual freedom to if they agree to be his sex slaves for X years.

The king could also tempt daring individuals into a 'Running Man' style contest, by which they compete at the pleasure of the elite.

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

.
The Imperial Jell-O and Whipped Cream Baths, open for all to enjoy on great festival days.
.

 

[The_Warlock]

The king could also tempt daring individuals into a 'Running Man' style contest, by which they compete at the pleasure of the elite.

Complete with a fake city full of challenges, possibly built on the ruins of an enemy city state?!

Combine that with the idea of the Gladiator Collars from an earlier post, for maximum, "300 men and women enter, 1 couple leaves!"