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

The_Warlock said:
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.
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Ideas that are excesses of money and magic... like a great security project to protect the emperor from assassination?

Sort of like the Great Wall of China. Or the Great Firewall of China.
 
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The_Warlock said:
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.
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That's it in a nutshell. Suffice to say that because the (heroic level) PCs aren't going to be hobnobbing with the emperor no matter what happens, there's no reason to worry about that right now. For that same reason, I don't need really enticing plot hooks for my own use (although other people can probably use them!), because I want this to just be extremely compelling local color.

A number of these ideas are really strong. The upside-down palace reflected in the reflecting pool, for instance, or the giant loop of stone rising to the heavens; great visuals.

It's occurred to me that because the PCs are on the fringes of the empire, I'll want to map out how far the emperor's unreasonable commands might stretch. As the group travels from the hinterlands, they'd start seeing signs of what's common in the capitol.
 

Protestations of what and why are for PC's, this emperor is given freedom by DM fiat. He has a family heirloom that gives him demigot status. Fiendish blood runs through his veins. He is actually an immortal vampire, and the same emperor that has existed for aeons. He is a God cursed with amnesia, and his thoughts become reality. His majordomos protect him with spells beyond the ken of mere mortals because he maintains the status quo, and they like that.

There are reasons without number for why this works, and a handful for why it doesn't. In addition, if this is for PC's current campaign, it is run with 4e rules so the Emperor doesn't have to obey any rules, at all, ever. He can be a 49th level Solo with Wichalok powers. Or a minion. It is up to whim, and off the point of the discussion, which is awesome, hubris, pointless, and all the other fun stuff suggested so far.

I like the idea of a Running Man style thing, maybe more like MXC (Takeshi's Castle?) where a whole load of folks try to 'storm the castle' and the winners are declared counts, dukes, earls, and princes. He surrounds himself with gameshow winners.

I guess it depends how campy you really wanna get with this. What about a city on the moon:
- The emperor wants the moon to resemble him. After the nature of the world is explained to him, he commisions a grand construction project to carve his face there.
- The initial voyage (via teleport, of course) establishes a travel circle, and several extraplanar spaces for living. As the project grows (and it is realized how *large* the carving must become, and hence how many people it requires) the moon city grows, and after a decade or so you end up with permanent residents on the moon. Descendents of mages and their acolytes.
- This moon city is visible as the emperor's twinkling left eye, and when the job is complete he moves much of his operation there. The capitol of his country is on the moon.
- His desire for entertainment gives the mages more to do, as they magic up some otherworldly horrors that can survive in the open spaces of the moon. Fell beasts crossed with drakes and dragons roam wild, making their lairs in the feathered hair of his brow.
- The emperor pays competent groups to hunt these beasts. In addition to the dangers they pose, the two hour time limit on the protection ritual makes these hunts the most dangerous and prestigous in the world.
- At his death he plans to be interred in a vast underground crypt built on the moon. His spiritual advisors are not sure that that means for his soul, but they have been studying the deaths of other moon residents and hope to have an answer when (if) he dies.

Jay
 

Dandu said:
I'd like to see a plausible explanation for what's keeping him alive that is preferably not DM fiat.
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It's a D&D 4e game.

The Emperor could be a 38th level minion. :)

Piratecat said:
It's occurred to me that because the PCs are on the fringes of the empire, I'll want to map out how far the emperor's unreasonable commands might stretch. As the group travels from the hinterlands, they'd start seeing signs of what's common in the capitol.
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Clearly, one (or more) of his unreasonable excesses should be mobile.

He could have some colossal walking statues of himself strolling around the empire, so that all might be allowed to behold his great, glorious, and beneficent visage. They're colossal because life-size statues just don't properly convey the majesty of his mien.

Of course, the travelling statues occasionally step on a person or a hamlet, but it's hardly the emperor's fault if foolish people aren't watching where they're going or are building things in the wrong places.

Another roadshow spectacle: some arcane device that forms clouds into various shapes -- the emperor's face, his favorite horse/dog/pig/other pet, the Imperial Palace(s), honored subjects (e.g., his favorite concubine or a general or gladiator -- they get rewarded by being put on the cloud poster), and so forth. The clouds are formed, and then sent to the four corners of the empire.

Any deleterious or odd weather effects that might seem to accompany or follow in the cloud images' wakes are strictly unfortunate coincidences, of course!
 
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I haven't read the whole thread, but how about creating a massive zoo? The emperor isn't concerned about the rarity of monsters, only that he is the only person in possession of one. And so, he dispatches hunting groups to ensure that he does, in fact, have the only specimen alive.
 

One of the great things about this thread: the PCs' province has just rebelled against the empire, and they're all expecting a fleet of ships to show up. Now? Now I'm going to send a giant colossus to CRUSH THEM ALL as it rises from the sea! Then they have a chance to surrender before they're actually destroyed.

And then their neighboring province, technically an ally, will betray and invade them.

Win!
 
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the_orc_within said:
- a Mobile Imperial Palace: either floating/levitating in air, driven by immense golden sails, arcane engines or flying beasts; OR on great enchanted wheels and pulled by a vast army of earth elementals, bulettes, giantkin, or the like; also with vast pontoons allowing it to float across the sea. In this way, the Emperor is always at home, no matter where in his realms he is.
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Flying castles are great. But flying cities (built in every direction so they look like a star) would be greater.
 


So I don't forget - an entire forest and garden made out of jewels and beautiful blown glass, perfectly lit from within and animated to slightly sway. Only incorporeal creatures are allowed within. Sometimes a treasonous noble is punished by being turned invisible and incorporeal, released into the Garden to consider the beauty of the Emperor's wisdom, and never being allowed to depart.

No actual weather is allowed to interfere with the Garden, and any animal that dares enter the forest is slain.
 

The_Warlock said:
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!"
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Think of combining with concepts from the Jim Carrey movie -- "The Truman Show" or maybe Mojo from the X-Men. Maybe this Mojo-like NPC villain could be a necrotized human (but not undead) who grafted living construct components on to himself to be more keyed into the 'fake city full of challenges.' Of course this villain doesn't have to be the Emperor. More interesting, IMO, would be for this villain to be one of the highest ranking eunuchs. And the eunuchs could also be served by a WARFORGED cadre.

Maybe in keeping with the shared world of the Points of Light, the city would be the old capital of Nerath.

I'm thinking this campaign could be called Real World Omega: Nerath.

And for some reason I'm also getting shades of the much overlooked movie: Idiotocracy.

C.I.D.

PS -- I applaud everyone from staying away from references to the Matrix movies. Those are derivative and best left to the late-90s and early 2000's. Plus they are too video-gamey to be inspirations for a 4e campaign :p ;)
 

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