[Northwinter Press] Pnumadesi World Companion Previews and Updates

[malcolm_n]

Welcome to our first week of previews for the Pnumadesi World Companion! For those of you just joining us, we just concluded our venture into the Player's Companion last week. To review that, you can go to

community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758...

I also want to remind everybody of the Call to Arms Contest. It continues between now and the 10th. Check out details at the link below, and consider contributing for great prizes, including up to your own free copy of the Pnumadesi Player's Companion.

community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758...

As for this week, we're gonna start off big; and I mean HUGE... Actually, try GARGANTUAN. I give you, the Pnumadesi Leviathan.

[sblock=Leviathan]

When the magelords of Pnumadesi decided to split the continent, they called forth a powerful creature to do so; Leviathan. The magelords believed Leviathan to be a creature of their creation, but recent studies and findings indicate the creature existed long before even the oldest of the spellcasters. Indeed, the creature they summoned was the very thing they were trying to avoid by splitting the continents; an elemental being. So powerful and dangerous has Leviathan become that the magelords are unable to stop it themselves, and the creature threatens to destroy all the ley lines on the plane of Pnumadesi.[/sblock]

[sblock=Leviathan Stats and Lore]

34th level Solo Brute
Gargantuan elemental magical beast XP 195,000
(aquatic, water, primordial)

HP 1244; Bloodied 622 Initiative +24
AC 48; Fortitude 47; Reflex 50; Will 45 Perception +26
Speed 8, swim 8 Darkvision
Immune disease, poison, sleep
Saving Throws +5; Action Points 2

Traits

Aquatic
Leviathan can breathe underwater and gains a +2 bonus to attack rolls against nonaquatic creatures during aquatic combat.

Sensitive to Cold
Whenever Leviathan takes cold damage, it gains vulnerable 20 against the next attack that hits it before the end of its next turn.

Torrent Aura 5
Squares within the area are difficult terrain. The first time any creature enters a square within the aura during its turn, it must succeed on a DC32 Athletics or Endurance check or take 20 damage. Creatures with a swim speed ignore the aura’s effects.

Standard Actions

Bite At-Will
Attack: Melee 4 (one creature); +39 vs. AC
Hit: 4d8 + 24 damage and the target is grabbed (until escape).

Leviathan’s Rage At-Will
Effect: Leviathan uses bite twice, or three times while bloodied. If Leviathan hits the same target more than once, it can attempt to swallow the target as a free action.

Distracting Current Recharge
Attack: Close blast 3 (enemies in blast); +37 vs. Will
Hit: 2d8 + 12 damage, and the target is dazed and loses any swim speed it may have (save ends).

Tsunami Recharge when first bloodied
Attack: Close burst 10 (creatures in burst); +37 vs. the higher of Fortitude or Reflex.
Hit: 5d8 + 12 damage, and Leviathan slides the target 4 squares and knocks it prone.
Effect: Leviathan’s Torrent increases to aura 10 and affects all creatures, even if they have a swim speed. These changes last until the end of Leviathan's next turn.

Minor Actions

Swallow Whole At-Will
Attack: Melee 4 (one large or smaller grabbed creature); +37 vs. Fortitude
Hit: The target is swallowed. A swallowed target is grabbed and restrained. A swallowed creature has line of sight and line of effect only to the leviathan swallowing it, and no creatures has line of sight or line of effect to it. A creature that escapes the grab is no longer swallowed and appears in a space adjacent to the leviathan. Leviathan can move normally while it has a target grabbed in this way. When Leviathan dies, the target can escape as a move action, appearing in Leviathan’s former space.
Sustain Minor: Leviathan sustains the grab, and the target takes 20 damage.

Triggered Actions

Tail Whip At-Will
Trigger: An enemy moves into a position where it flanks Leviathan.
Attack (immediate reaction): Melee 4 (the triggering creature; +39 vs. AC
Hit: 2d8 + 12 damage and the target is pushed 2 squares.

Variable Resistance 3/Encounter
Trigger: Leviathan takes acid, fire, lightning, or thunder damage.
Effect (free action): Leviathan gains resist 20 to the triggering damage type until the end of the encounter, or until it uses variable resistance again.

Skills Athletics +34, Acrobatics +37, Endurance +32

Str 29 (+26) Dex 34 (+29) Wis 21 (+22)

Con 31 (+27) Int 24 (+24) Cha 27 (+25)

Alignment Chaotic Evil Languages Primordial



LEVIATHAN LORE

Arcana DC 33: During the First War of Elements, the magelords of Pnumadesi fought to a stalemate with the elementals. When both sides realized neither could truly win, an agreement was struck, and the magelords summoned Leviathan to sunder the continent so they could keep their half and the elementals could rule the other.

Leviathan did its job too well, and guards the west coast of Pnumadesi from any but the most knowledgeable of sailors. The only safe waters to travel in western Pnumadesi are at the edge of Dromond and up to where the largest of rivers begin their travel across the continent.

Creatures swallowed by the beast, and who choose not to resist or try and get back out, are sent to a demiplane within Leviathan. Here, a number of previously swallowed unfortunates harvest fish, plantlife, and other edible materials to carry on a relatively peaceful existence. Over time, these poor beings have ceased to look for salvation, and no longer wish to be free of their captivity. They will, however, show anybody who does not want to follow their ways to the tail of Leviathan, where more dangerous creatures lie in wait for sacrifice.

Although it appears to be a mindless beast, recent encounters between Leviathan and the magelords has shown the creature to be of equal intelligence to them. In truth, what the grand council summoned with their ritual was a primordial of great power. Now, Leviathan is attempting to destroy all of the ley lines of Pnumadesi because, according to the Book of the Forgotten Bard, doing so would render the world without magic or any defense against elemental onslaught. Although, it is currently unknown if killing Leviathan will stop the drain of magic from the world, or cause it to dissipate without control.[/sblock]

 

[malcolm_n]

Few words this week beyond the preview. I plan to sell the Pnumadesi Player's Companion through RPGNow, and we're just finalizing prices for the PDF. Once we start seeing sales on that, we can begin running print copies. The plan is to include a discount for the printed copy to those with the PDF, but nothing is finalized just yet.

Now, on with the previews.

[sblock=Pnumadeja]PNUMADEJA
The gods have declared Pnumadeja a sundered continent, split from its counterpart by the hands of man and not divine power. Because of their lack of understanding of the ties their world has to the dominions of the gods, the mage council of Pnumadesi only separated the physical form of their continent, while its astral-reflection was left behind to wither.
Over the course of the millennium since the sundering, the decaying remnant of Pnumadesi’s other half on the astral realm has caused the continent and the plane to overtax itself with futile attempts to heal. The longstanding agreement of the gods not to interfere with their central plane and continent has caused this wanton destruction. Now, split from Pnumadesi, Pnumadeja has developed its own focal point of magic. The continent itself is split down the middle by a natural river called, appropriately enough, The Divide.
Lacking a martial structure, the land has become a home to magocracies and druidic orders that run their countries with arcane and primal power without hindrance or order.
The mage council sits on their thrones in Veriqhan. From here, they dispense what rule there is across the nations of their home. They also spend much of their time trying to create facsimiles of other power sources. Seneschals train with longswords, crossbows, and other similar tools in arcane schools, trying in earnest to master the martial use of weapons. Wizards focus their attention on specific subsets of magic, hoping to tap into other power sources through the exclusive use of necrotic, illusion, and elemental-themed spells. Druids living in and around Elemance have adapted their training to include more focus in elemental powers and beliefs as opposed to nature and the primal power source..

Common Knowledge (Easy DC)
The continent was broken away from Pnumadesi generations ago by the wizard council. Few, if any of those original mages remain, and those who do choose either not to speak of it or claim ignorance, stating they were not part of the decision.
Veriqhan is the home of the current ruling council of magelords, and the group changes with some regularity based on popular vote. There is one magelord for each country in Pnumadeja, but the defacto ruler of each country rarely also holds the title.

Uncommon Knowledge (Moderate DC)
The magelords didn’t sunder Pnumadesi without a backup plan. They still keep tabs on their sister continent via the island they placed into the sky shortly after summoning the leviathan. From here, heroes of ages past live on with the understanding that they are to document the events and goings on in what remains of Pnumadesi.
Because of how the continent was separated, a country’s worth of elementals were still left on Pnumadeja. Since that time, trade and relations have gotten better with the aid of subtle threats to overwhelm the remnants of the once proud nation. A pseudo-neutral country, Singe, was founded by the magelords to handle negotiations with Elemance.

Rare Knowledge (Hard DC)
The magelords were warned by the Vedros that separating the continent would cause trouble for the world. Rather than find another means of ceasing war between Pnumadesi and the elementals, the mages proceeded anyway.
The magelords are in contention over how to rule their continent, and some have quietly left their seat in Veriqhan to attend personal matters. In particular, Mecred the Mad, ruler of the swampy badlands of Mecred and a power ful necromancer in his own right, wishes to bring the countries of Pnumadeja under his singular control. Not wanting to cause open civil war, the magelords of Pnumadeja instead make subtle plans and utilize heroes to subvert their enemies in elaborate schemes not unlike those of the elementals on Pnumadesi.

Regional Features
The terrain of each country in Pnumadeja is controlled and changed by its current ruler’s whims. This feature is ingrained in the land so that even a ruler with no magical talent can make widespread change in short time. Only tradition often keeps anything where it is for long, and the magic is unable to destroy something not of the land; it can only move it.
The Overrealm: Because of its ties to the primal power source, Pnumadeja has become a continent closely tied to the overrealm; a mirror image viewed through the eyes of Fey creatures and eladrin. The strongest path into the overrealm lies in Wengrove, the eladrin’s home country.
Because of the way in which time passes through the overrealm, several magelords have utilized powerful rituals to extend their own lives by spending days in the overrealm while their astral projection presides in their stead at Veriqhan on the material plane for years.
The Underrealm: Remnants of the Underrealm sit in pockets throughout Pnumadeja, but most of this parallel world was torn away and left tied to Pnumadesi during the separation of the two continents. As a result, the concentrated areas have become more potent over time.
The most prominent of the underrealm lands tied to Pnumadeja lies in Mecred. Here, undead thrive and the necromancer magelord of the realm controls them like so many puppets on his strings. Some say Magelord Mecred has even learned how to summon and control the dreaded Syn; dangerous shadow creatures which are commonly created as a result of crimes against the world.
The Divide: The Divide is used by the mages to separate orders of business. The countries to the left of The Divide deal primarily in trade and commerce with Yokaizi Deren to the west. On the eastern half of the Divide lies Veriqhan and several other countries dedicated to the potential of war with the elementals and the safeguard of Pnumadesi.

People of Pnumadeja
The people of Pnumadeja live in stark contrast to those of Pnumadesi. Just about everybody born to the continent has some latent magical ability, whether that magic be from arcane or primal powers. Individual countries influence the trends, habits, and traditions of their people.
With the frequency of magic on Pnumadeja and no real martial practices, people here have become accustomed to traveling by normally unorthodox means. Portals within the capital at Veriqhan allow swift travel to any other capital city on the continent, and from there it’s only a matter of finding the right mount to get where one needs. This makes trade between countries quick and efficient and keeps the men and women of Pnumadeja content to work simple jobs. Even usually mundane work, like blacksmithing, is handled through creation rituals, since the use of magic in Pnumadeja is considered safer than ordinary fire and tools.

Pnumadeja Adventurers
As with all continents on Pnumadesi, children of destiny are born to Pnumadeja parents with some regularity. The countries of this land are certainly not without their troubles, and the world has need of more heroes more often since the separation of the two continents.
While the common folk Pnumadeja enjoy a quiet life, behind the scenes the magelords are constantly seeking out children of destiny and testing them to use in their own schemes. When a future hero is trained and tapped in such a way, it changes that man or womans future, and often not for the better.
As a result of this, the wandering magelord, Diaden, and a few others have begun to seek out children of destiny in hopes of putting them on the right path before they are manipulated and tainted by the others who would use them for personal gain. These wizards, druids, and other powerful beings use the Book of the Forgotten Bard in conjunction with the Watchers on their island in Pnumadesi’s sky to help bring about change for the better.

Character Motivations
Do you approach your heroes as a magelord and ask them to join his quest to better the country from which they hail? Has Diaden or another member of his more secretive collection come to the heroes in hopes of saving some part of the world?
Roleplaying Tips: If your player plans to leave for Pnumadesi, they should be prepared to feel weaker, and likely complain frequently of their inability to produce magic like they could in their homeland. While on Pnumadeja, a character could still be learning your way around magic and be eager to learn from those who would teach them.
[/sblock]

 

[malcolm_n]

I'm cooling the jets on this for a bit while we enjoy the release of the Pnumadesi Player's Companion over on DrivethruRPG. Go check it out and enjoy this time. We'll be back soon with more information on our next endeavor.