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paradox42's crazy cosmology
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<blockquote data-quote="paradox42" data-source="post: 5217075" data-attributes="member: 29746"><p><strong>So this, at last, is it.</strong></p><p></p><p>The time has come at last to describe the most powerful artifact I ever made for, or used in, a game of mine. I've been teasing you readers with hints about it for so long, some probably got bored and left- my apologies if so. The fact is, this thing was so deeply intermeshed with so many aspects of my setting and campaign, that I didn't honestly see a way to describe it in reasonable detail before I had described everything else. But now, that "everything else" has been described, in as much detail as I'm able to put up here without sacrificing my options in a future game and without getting specific questions from the audience to answer. It is now time to discuss</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 18px">The Silver Key.</span></strong></p><p></p><p>This thing started its game life way back when I was first coming up with my own setting, back when I first decided to write rules for the beings that existed beyond gods. Back then, I realized that in order for PCs to have any chance to reach the pinnacle of Tertiar society, the "Speaker of the Plan" itself, I had to have a way for old Speakers to leave. That meant that I needed some process or item that they could use to break the rule about "only Originals can leave Incomplete Creations." Sure, they could go off into the Chaos and just vanish, but why wouldn't they later come back? How would a being at that level of power go about retiring?</p><p></p><p>Around the same time I was pondering these questions, I was getting an introduction to the writings of H.P. Lovecraft. In the process of this, I picked up an old anthology of stories mainly based around the novella, <em>The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath</em>. Now, that novella itself had an inspiration on my setting, not the least of which was the inclusion of the Dreamlands themselves in my version of the Region of Dreams under 3E- but the more immediate impact was felt from one of the other stories in that anthology, written in conjunction with E. Hoffman Price- <em>Through the Gates of the Silver Key</em>.</p><p></p><p>That story's hard to track down these days, as it's not commonly included in Lovecraft anthologies- and I won't go into any details about it here other than to mention that it contains what still stands (in my mind) as the single best description of the Far Realm, and what it means to go there, ever put to paper or electronic data. It also contained a description of the use of an artifact, the titular Silver Key, which I realized immediately upon reading the story, fit my need regarding the "retirement of the top Tertiar" exactly. So, I sat down to make myself a Silver Key artifact using 1st Edition rules.</p><p></p><p>Even then, I stated point-blank that the Key was "probably" crafted by the Originals, and was the only thing they left behind in Incomplete Creation when they took their leave of it- furthermore, I stated that the only means of destroying the Key would lay in taking it <em>outside</em> Incomplete Creation, which meant that for all intents and purposes it would be impossible for anybody below the point of transitioning to Original status. Before I detail the powers as I translated them in 3rd Edition terms, I'll list the powers I picked out of the 1E DMG to give the Silver Key:</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>12 x I:</strong> E, F, H, P, U, V, W, NN, OO, PP, SS, VV (can't be dispelled, lasts 100 years unless commanded otherwise)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>4 x II:</strong> K (no limit to range or times/day), DD, NN, PP</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>3 x III:</strong> B, D, M</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>1 x IV:</strong> Z (when used for attack and not defense)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>10 x V:</strong> B (when rotated properly, to racial max if not 18), D, H, N, V, X, Y, BB, JJ, LL</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>3 x VI:</strong> C, D, L</li> </ul><p>Those of you who have a copy of the 1st Edition Advanced D&D Dungeon Master's Guide can find descriptions of those powers to translate all that, on pages 162-164. Bask in the nostalgic glow, and gape at how appallingly powerful this Silver Key was. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> I won't bother detailing what this list means here, though, because I'm really here to discuss the 3.X Edition of the Silver Key and what it meant within (and to) my game.</p><p></p><p>Of course, having just typed that sentence about it being appallingly powerful, I'm about to blow that estimation right out of the water, because the 3.X version of the Silver Key is far, far more so.</p><p></p><p>In concept, the artifact is simple: it facilitates travel in any dimension. One operates the Key by making turns with it through specific, precise directions, and activating it is usually a standard action. Certain (more powerful) abilities require more turns, and take longer to activate as a result, but by and large a standard action is enough. When the Key is used, its user can feel the power engage, and there is a sense of a lock being opened or something "clicking" into place as it happens. Also, because this thing comes literally from beyond Reality, there is a sense of inherent <em>wrongness</em> wherever and whenever it is used- animals shy away from the place, intelligent creatures feel chills go down their spines, plants wilt or wither as if trying to crawl away- it's all very similar to effects that occur in the presence of any Far Realm contamination on the Material Plane, except that this weird effect even affects natives of the Far Realm itself if it's used there.</p><p></p><p>But in this way, the Silver Key can be used to <em>Teleport</em> (with no error of course, if activated correctly- see below) at will, <em>Plane Shift</em> to any desired plane (also with no chance of error, unlike the base spell) at will. It can also open <em>Dimension Doors</em> and <em>Gates</em>, but users rarely bother with this once they can do the first two, because there is no need: the Key can <em>Teleport</em> (and <em>Plane Shift</em>) <em>Other(s)</em> with scarcely more difficulty than it can the Key's own wielder. Of course, creatures targeted by the Key get a saving throw to avoid being involuntarily sent away, but since the Key was crafted by SEPHIROSOPHIA- a Time Lord with 5 Transcendental Ranks and 150,000 hit dice- its save DC would be on the order of 76,000 at an absolute minimum. Nothing below high Sidereal rank is going to be able to meet that without a natural 20.</p><p></p><p>But the power hasn't even begun to flow yet, because the Silver Key doesn't just allow travel in space or between planes. It can also transport between <strong>times</strong> and <strong>possibilities</strong> (i.e., through the fourth and fifth dimensions) just as easily as the others. So, by making the proper turns, one can "CLICK" to a couple of millennia in the past, or a few centuries into the future; likewise, assuming one is skilled enough to make the proper turns, one can transport between possibilities and enter a universe, say, where the Netheril civilization never fell- or the Cataclysm never happened- or the true Asmodeus, the original ruler of devilkind, is still alive- or, on a less spectacular (but potentially more explosive) note, where your friend rolled a natural-20-confirmed-critical-hit on that dragon and lopped off its head with one clean swipe. The Key can only be used for travel in these dimensions once per day, but since we're talking about time travel, here, it hardly matters to Immortals.</p><p></p><p>As if that wasn't enough, the Silver Key has one property- again resulting from the incredible potency of its creator- that gives security experts fits and nightmares. To whit, <em>no barrier of any kind can stop it</em>. That <em>Dimension Lock?</em> Who cares, we have the Silver Key. That <em>Prismatic Sphere?</em> Shyeah, right! That <em>Wall of Force?</em> Ha ha, tell me another one! <em>Forbiddance?</em> More like "Forfalsehopeance." The Silver Key CLICKs through them all like they're not even there. This is true even of more powerful effects, like barriers put up using some Cosmic Ability that hasn't been specifically listed in Ascension, or even into Dead Zones where no other magic can possibly work. Nothing, bar none, stops the Key. The only limit on this ability is that the Silver Key itself- recall, since it is a Soul Object, it is intelligent and capable of acting on its own if it wishes- can decide to not activate itself, or send itself and/or its wielder and/or targets to a different place than intended. Also, no matter what else happens, if the Silver Key is being carried by a creature who undergoes dimensional transport by some means <em>other than</em> the Silver Key, then the Key doesn't go along for the ride- it stays behind wherever the erstwhile holder/carrier/user just <em>Teleported</em> (or whatever) from.</p><p></p><p>Now consider, on top of all the above, that the Silver Key is actually an object from the Higher Dimensions operating within the Lower ones. What that means, among other things, is that to the Key, everything in Reality is a Flatlander- we are A. Square and it is an inhabitant of the mythical Third Dimension. Consider, too, that the existence of different possibilities <em>as other dimensional locations</em> means that the Key can pull objects from other possibilities into its user's. Or, it can "align" a target creature or object with some other possible version of it, or swap their positions. This means that the Key is not limited to just travel powers- it can also <em>alter</em> targets in desired ways. For example, it can be used to raise all of its target's ability scores to their racial maxima, just as if the player rolling the character had originally rolled all 18s on the dice. It can also give a target the permanent +5 inherent bonus to all six ability scores, just as if it had Perfect Body and Perfect Mind. Now, both of these abilities can only be used once per year, but even so- very powerful. It can even be used to restore youth to the target, reducing it by one age category, 1/month (logically, it should also be possible to use it to age a target 1/month as well, like a dragon, but I felt this was too powerful and so left it out).</p><p></p><p>Ironically, I gave the Key one ability usable only in the Far Realm which is arguably <em>more</em> powerful: it can actually be used, Out (Un)there, to grant a mortal being divinity- to cause the target to undergo divine ascension with no other requisites. And the Key was used this way during my campaign, just once, to ascend four party members who did not already have any Divine Ranks and grant them desired Portfolios in the process. Doing this requires that a special process of "translation" be accomplished, to bring the consciousness of the mortals in question into alignment with Everything; this is the purpose of the Silver Key's special interaction with the Path of the Ultimate Gate (mentioned in my post on Planar Edifices above). At the Path, one can use the Silver Key to perform a special Ritual of Opening which creates an actual portal to the Far Realm, a thing which the Key cannot (or at any rate, will not) do anywhere else. Upon passing through the portal, mortals leave everything of their former lives behind them, even their own identities, but become a sort of "raw consciousness" which the Key is able to then manipulate and make "additions" to to facilitate the transformation to deities.</p><p></p><p>It can also be used, on a slightly less powerful note, to open <em>Gates</em> intended for Calling (1/day unless the wielder wants to pay the 1000 XP), or call up <em>Elemental Swarms</em> 1/week. It can summon a Noble Genie 1/week, to serve the user for 1 day, and 1/month it can even summon a Demon Lord or equivalent small-deity-type creature. Less obviously, it can use its transport powers to shift the location from which issues the user's voice, allowing <em>Ventriloquism</em> 3/day, and by shifting the user "out of phase" a bit with the present location, it can provide <em>Greater Invisibility</em> 3/day. This shifting of sensory impressions also allows it to perform functions such as <em>Vision</em> 1/day, and <em>Commune</em> or<em> Contact Other Plane</em> (whichever is desired) 1/week.</p><p></p><p>Despite being utterly unimpeded by the barriers of others, the Silver Key can make powerful barriers of its own. It can create an <em>Arcane Lock</em> on a door or portal, which (given its origin) has a caster level so high as to be un-dispellable; this <em>Arcane Lock</em> lasts for 100 years unless the user or the Key want to get rid of it earlier than that. Also, the Key can stop undesirable effects from affecting its user's mind, and thus renders the user immune to <em>Charms</em> or <em>Holds</em> or similar effects such as <em>Brain Lock</em>. Because it avoids any travel except its own, the Key cannot be stolen if it doesn't want to be, a fact which greatly disquieted Zurvan (yes, the old First One of Time himself) when he tried to take the Key from PCs who had just met him.</p><p></p><p>Finally, on top of all the rest, the Silver Key- being as it is in some sense outside all dimensions of Reality- is able to sense just about anything within Reality that it wants to sense. It can bestow Darkvision and Low-Light Vision on its user (and typically does so constantly), provide <em>Clairaudience/Clairvoyance</em> at will, and by its ability to "see" the thoughts in the minds of the lower-dimensional beings it's operating near, the Key can also produce <em>Comprehend Languages, Tongues</em> (both at will), <em>Detect Thoughts</em> 3/day, <em>Detect </em>(all alignments) and <em>True Seeing</em> 1/day each. And lastly, the Key has one final power that characters in my game used more than just about any other: 1/month, it can produce an effect called <em>Limited Omniscience</em>. This is like an Epic version of <em>Legend Lore</em> or other divination that doesn't answer in riddles (or in fact anything other than clear, understandable language and complete detail), basically an "ask the DM one question he has to give an answer to unless something Transcendental is blocking it" ability.</p><p></p><p>The Silver Key is shaped weirdly, with many projections so fine and thin that they're razor-sharp, and it can in fact be used as a bladed weapon should the wielder want to do so. Hilariously, given all its other powers, the Silver Key counts as merely a +6 Short Sword when used this way- though in the hands of an especially strong being it can count as being made of any material up to and including Singularium (for the purposes of calculating base damage).</p><p></p><p>There are essentially three limits on the Silver Key's powers, one of which (the "aura of wrongness" mentioned far above) isn't really a limit on the Key at all. Instead, whenever a major power is used (what constitutes "major" here is up to the DM), the Key produces an aura of <em>Fear</em> around itself, in a 20-foot radius (or out to 4 times the wielder's base Reach, whichever is larger). This aura can, and sometimes does, affect the user himself, though most users only experience this effect when they're also experiencing one of those from the <em>second</em> limitation. For, the Silver Key does not like to be used offensively, and anything done with it which could be considered an attack (though Calling or Summoning an unwilling creature is not considered an attack, just about any other power used on an unwilling target- up to and including attacking it with the Key used as a sword- is) causes it to punish the wielder. It does this by removing senses, first; usually striking the user blind for 1d4 rounds, deaf for 1d4x10 minutes, and/or losing his sense of smell for 2d4 hours. If that first warning doesn't deter the user, the Key follows it up by causing level loss; a user who continues to use the Key offensively soon starts to lose 1 level/HD (not negative level, mind you: actual permanent level loss) each and every time he does so. Finally, if the Key gets annoyed enough, it may decide to just pull the user out of Reality entirely, causing him to vanish abruptly- never to be seen again.</p><p></p><p>The third limitation on the Silver Key is that use of its activated powers (that is, pretty much everything besides the Darkvision and Low-Light Vision) requires making very precise motions and turns with it. This is a skill check, and in my game the skill we used was a specialized branch of Knowledge: Knowledge (Mathematics). In a game using only the core subskills, my suggestion is that (Planes) or (Arcana) would be the best subskills to use for this- but regardless, every use of the Silver Key requires a skill roll. If the roll fails, the power is not used up, but neither does it activate: nothing happens. At the DM's option, a roll of natural 1 on the skill check (whether or not the result beats the DC), or a roll that comes <em>close</em> to the DC without beating it, might produce a lesser/undesirable result (and use up the power as if it had been used correctly) instead of just doing nothing.</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The DC for spells other than travel effects is typically 2 x the spell level, +5 for each target beyond the first in a multi-target situation.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The DC for Summoning a Noble Genie is 25. Summoning a Demon Lord (or similar creature) is DC equal to the target's HD + 18.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Raising the target's ability scores, either to racial max or by the +5 inherents, is DC 50. This can only be done on one target at a time.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Travel within the same plane via <em>Teleportation</em>-equivalent is DC 25 for the user alone, +5 for each target beyond the user.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Opening a portal such as a <em>Dimension Door</em> (keeping in mind that there is no range limit for the Silver Key) is DC 30, plus 10 per round the portal stays open. Targets are irrelevant for this, obviously, since anything can go through the portal once it's open.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Travel to another plane, via error-less <em>Plane Shift</em>, is DC 35 for the user alone, +5 for each target beyond the user.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Opening a portal to another plane, like a <em>Gate</em>, is DC 45, plus 10 per round the portal stays open.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Travel to the Far Realm is DC 70, +10 per target beyond the user.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Portals to the Far Realm can not be created by the Silver Key, except specifically using the special Ritual at the Path of the Ultimate Gate (mentioned above). There is no DC for this Ritual, because if the DM has the PCs learn of it and reach the Path at all, then they clearly deserve to succeed and ascend to godhood. Failure would, therefore, be an absurd anticlimax and should not be more than a dramatic possibility.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Travel to another <strong>cosmos</strong> is DC 100, +20 per target beyond the user.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Opening a portal to another cosmos is DC 200, plus 50 per round the portal stays open. Travel <strong>through</strong> a portal between cosmoi typically takes several subjective months, so mortal users had best be prepared with plenty of food and water for any such trip (if they can even meet the DC).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Traveling to another <strong>time</strong>, without changing location in either plane or space, is DC 40 within one day, 50 within 1 week, 60 within 1 month, 70 within 1 year, 80 within 10 years, 90 within 100 years, 100 within 1000 years, 110 within 10,000 years, and so on. This is for the user alone: to bring others along, the DC increases by 1/10 the base DC from time alone (that is, +9 within a century of travel) per other target transported.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Traveling to another time within the same plane, but not in the same starting spatial position, is double the DC given above for time travel after taking other targets into account. So, 80 for within the same day, 100 for within the same week, etc.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Traveling to another time within another plane is five times the DC given for basic time travel, after taking other targets into account. So, 200 for travel within 1 day, 250 for travel within 1 week, etc.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Traveling to another time within the Far Realm is exactly like teleporting into the Far Realm normally, since it is outside Time by its very nature.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Traveling to another time within another cosmos is exactly like traveling to the destination time on another plane, since other cosmoi obey different rules of time and the DC for time travel across planes is already higher than travel between cosmoi.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Portals to other times cannot be created by the Silver Key.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Traveling to another <strong>possibility</strong> while staying in the same time and spatial position is DC 100, plus 20 per target other than the user.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Traveling to another possibility while moving in space within the same plane, but staying at the same time, is DC 200 plus 40 per target beyond the user.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Traveling to another possibility while staying at the same time, but moving in space and to another plane, is DC 500, plus 100 per target beyond the user.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Traveling to another possibility while staying in the same spatial position, but moving also in time, is DC 200 within 1 day, 250 within 1 week, 300 within 1 month, 350 within 1 year, 400 within 10 years, 450 within 100 years, 500 within 1000 years, and so on. Each target beyond the user increases the DC by 1/5 the base amount: so +40 within 1 day, +50 within 1 week, etc.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Traveling to another possibility while staying within the same plane, but moving both spatial position <strong>and</strong> temporal, is DC 400 within 1 day, 500 within 1 week, 600 within 1 month, 700 within 1 year, 800 within 10 years, 900 within 100 years, 1000 within 1000 years, etc. Each target beyond the user increases the DC by 1/5 the base amount: so +80 within 1 day, +100 within 1 week, and so on.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Traveling to another possibility while moving in both time <strong>and</strong> plane is DC 1000 within 1 day, 1250 within 1 week, 1500 within 1 month, 1750 within 1 year, 2000 within 10 years, 2250 within 10 years, 2500 within 100 years, and so forth. Each target beyond the user increases the DC by 1/5 the base amount, so +200 within 1 day, +250 within 1 week, etc.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Portals to other possibilities cannot be opened by the Silver Key.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">If the user is trying to affect <strong>only</strong> other creatures and not himself, with a travel power or a power such as <em>Greater Invisibility</em> which would normally be used upon the user, then the DC is doubled after all targets are accounted for.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">If the user is trying to affect unwilling targets, for example by sending them to another plane, then the DC is multiplied by 5 after all of the above is accounted for.</li> </ul><p>For some examples, using <em>Greater Invisibility</em> on 3 party members besides the user himself would be DC ((4 x 2 for a 4th level spell) + (5 x 3 for 3 targets beyond the first)) x 2 for not including the user = 46. Transporting the user and his 4 party members to a city on another continent of the same world would be DC (25 + (4 x 5)) = 45. Sending 3 enemies from the Material Plane to Demogorgon's layer of the Abyss, 90 years ago when he was still alive and in a relatively quiet phase between wars with Orcus and Graz'zt, would be DC ((90 x 5 for travel to another time across planes within 100 years) + (9 x 5 x 2 for 2 extra targets in travel to another time across planes within 100 years)) x 2 for not including the user himself x 5 for affecting unwilling targets = 5400. Also, in the final case, the Silver Key would hit the user with punishment for using it offensively.</p><p></p><p>As for what the Silver Key meant to my game, it is difficult to overstate its impact. The purpose of leaving the Silver Key behind in DABBATIALDABAOTH, I decided (and told my players during the game) was to keep the malformed Demiurge from "growing up" and assuming a place among the other Eternals, since it was "born" with a "birth defect" (namely, the stunted 7th dimension) and would effectively be a psychotic/sociopath within their society if allowed to grow normally. SEPHIROSOPHIA made the Silver Key and placed the artifact within its child, to ensure that DABBATIALDABAOTH would never grow to full consciousness (as the Eternals view it anyway) and thereby be a threat within Eternal society. The PCs, over the course of the campaign, gave the Key a means to fulfill its mandate in an unexpected manner by removing the Parasite which had prevented the Seventh dimension from growing properly, essentially "writing out" the birth defect and allowing DABBATIALDABAOTH a chance to grow properly and assume a normal position within Eternal society once it finally finished its growth. For this, the Silver Key gave the PCs many allowances it would not normally allow, for example allowing them to use it offensively to send many Hungry Void swarms into the Entropy/Madness cosmos (and within that, certain destruction) without punishment, and allowing them to even use it as a weapon in the final battle against the Egg Occupant (though to be honest they only did that because they had seen a vision from the future showing that they did so against it). In the end, the Silver Key was taken back by SEPHIROSOPHIA, to an unknown fate, but given its ability to time travel and cross all barriers (even those of Nexus Events!), it could still show up again in future games run within DABBATIALDABAOTH.</p><p></p><p>With this post, my description of the setting I ran my game within is essentially finished, except for one last post (to follow on a future date) wherein I will discuss "Favored of the First Ones" templates that were used in my game. I hope you readers found them edifying and useful; perhaps you will use these ideas (or other ideas suspiciously like them) in your own games. For my own part, this game is done now, though as stated a few posts above I have recently been thinking about how the setting would have changed after the Grand Nexus.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="paradox42, post: 5217075, member: 29746"] [b]So this, at last, is it.[/b] The time has come at last to describe the most powerful artifact I ever made for, or used in, a game of mine. I've been teasing you readers with hints about it for so long, some probably got bored and left- my apologies if so. The fact is, this thing was so deeply intermeshed with so many aspects of my setting and campaign, that I didn't honestly see a way to describe it in reasonable detail before I had described everything else. But now, that "everything else" has been described, in as much detail as I'm able to put up here without sacrificing my options in a future game and without getting specific questions from the audience to answer. It is now time to discuss [B][SIZE=5]The Silver Key.[/SIZE][/B] This thing started its game life way back when I was first coming up with my own setting, back when I first decided to write rules for the beings that existed beyond gods. Back then, I realized that in order for PCs to have any chance to reach the pinnacle of Tertiar society, the "Speaker of the Plan" itself, I had to have a way for old Speakers to leave. That meant that I needed some process or item that they could use to break the rule about "only Originals can leave Incomplete Creations." Sure, they could go off into the Chaos and just vanish, but why wouldn't they later come back? How would a being at that level of power go about retiring? Around the same time I was pondering these questions, I was getting an introduction to the writings of H.P. Lovecraft. In the process of this, I picked up an old anthology of stories mainly based around the novella, [I]The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath[/I]. Now, that novella itself had an inspiration on my setting, not the least of which was the inclusion of the Dreamlands themselves in my version of the Region of Dreams under 3E- but the more immediate impact was felt from one of the other stories in that anthology, written in conjunction with E. Hoffman Price- [I]Through the Gates of the Silver Key[/I]. That story's hard to track down these days, as it's not commonly included in Lovecraft anthologies- and I won't go into any details about it here other than to mention that it contains what still stands (in my mind) as the single best description of the Far Realm, and what it means to go there, ever put to paper or electronic data. It also contained a description of the use of an artifact, the titular Silver Key, which I realized immediately upon reading the story, fit my need regarding the "retirement of the top Tertiar" exactly. So, I sat down to make myself a Silver Key artifact using 1st Edition rules. Even then, I stated point-blank that the Key was "probably" crafted by the Originals, and was the only thing they left behind in Incomplete Creation when they took their leave of it- furthermore, I stated that the only means of destroying the Key would lay in taking it [I]outside[/I] Incomplete Creation, which meant that for all intents and purposes it would be impossible for anybody below the point of transitioning to Original status. Before I detail the powers as I translated them in 3rd Edition terms, I'll list the powers I picked out of the 1E DMG to give the Silver Key: [LIST] [*][B]12 x I:[/B] E, F, H, P, U, V, W, NN, OO, PP, SS, VV (can't be dispelled, lasts 100 years unless commanded otherwise) [*][B]4 x II:[/B] K (no limit to range or times/day), DD, NN, PP [*][B]3 x III:[/B] B, D, M [*][B]1 x IV:[/B] Z (when used for attack and not defense) [*][B]10 x V:[/B] B (when rotated properly, to racial max if not 18), D, H, N, V, X, Y, BB, JJ, LL [*][B]3 x VI:[/B] C, D, L [/LIST] Those of you who have a copy of the 1st Edition Advanced D&D Dungeon Master's Guide can find descriptions of those powers to translate all that, on pages 162-164. Bask in the nostalgic glow, and gape at how appallingly powerful this Silver Key was. :) I won't bother detailing what this list means here, though, because I'm really here to discuss the 3.X Edition of the Silver Key and what it meant within (and to) my game. Of course, having just typed that sentence about it being appallingly powerful, I'm about to blow that estimation right out of the water, because the 3.X version of the Silver Key is far, far more so. In concept, the artifact is simple: it facilitates travel in any dimension. One operates the Key by making turns with it through specific, precise directions, and activating it is usually a standard action. Certain (more powerful) abilities require more turns, and take longer to activate as a result, but by and large a standard action is enough. When the Key is used, its user can feel the power engage, and there is a sense of a lock being opened or something "clicking" into place as it happens. Also, because this thing comes literally from beyond Reality, there is a sense of inherent [I]wrongness[/I] wherever and whenever it is used- animals shy away from the place, intelligent creatures feel chills go down their spines, plants wilt or wither as if trying to crawl away- it's all very similar to effects that occur in the presence of any Far Realm contamination on the Material Plane, except that this weird effect even affects natives of the Far Realm itself if it's used there. But in this way, the Silver Key can be used to [I]Teleport[/I] (with no error of course, if activated correctly- see below) at will, [I]Plane Shift[/I] to any desired plane (also with no chance of error, unlike the base spell) at will. It can also open [I]Dimension Doors[/I] and [I]Gates[/I], but users rarely bother with this once they can do the first two, because there is no need: the Key can [I]Teleport[/I] (and [I]Plane Shift[/I]) [I]Other(s)[/I] with scarcely more difficulty than it can the Key's own wielder. Of course, creatures targeted by the Key get a saving throw to avoid being involuntarily sent away, but since the Key was crafted by SEPHIROSOPHIA- a Time Lord with 5 Transcendental Ranks and 150,000 hit dice- its save DC would be on the order of 76,000 at an absolute minimum. Nothing below high Sidereal rank is going to be able to meet that without a natural 20. But the power hasn't even begun to flow yet, because the Silver Key doesn't just allow travel in space or between planes. It can also transport between [B]times[/B] and [B]possibilities[/B] (i.e., through the fourth and fifth dimensions) just as easily as the others. So, by making the proper turns, one can "CLICK" to a couple of millennia in the past, or a few centuries into the future; likewise, assuming one is skilled enough to make the proper turns, one can transport between possibilities and enter a universe, say, where the Netheril civilization never fell- or the Cataclysm never happened- or the true Asmodeus, the original ruler of devilkind, is still alive- or, on a less spectacular (but potentially more explosive) note, where your friend rolled a natural-20-confirmed-critical-hit on that dragon and lopped off its head with one clean swipe. The Key can only be used for travel in these dimensions once per day, but since we're talking about time travel, here, it hardly matters to Immortals. As if that wasn't enough, the Silver Key has one property- again resulting from the incredible potency of its creator- that gives security experts fits and nightmares. To whit, [I]no barrier of any kind can stop it[/I]. That [I]Dimension Lock?[/I] Who cares, we have the Silver Key. That [I]Prismatic Sphere?[/I] Shyeah, right! That [I]Wall of Force?[/I] Ha ha, tell me another one! [I]Forbiddance?[/I] More like "Forfalsehopeance." The Silver Key CLICKs through them all like they're not even there. This is true even of more powerful effects, like barriers put up using some Cosmic Ability that hasn't been specifically listed in Ascension, or even into Dead Zones where no other magic can possibly work. Nothing, bar none, stops the Key. The only limit on this ability is that the Silver Key itself- recall, since it is a Soul Object, it is intelligent and capable of acting on its own if it wishes- can decide to not activate itself, or send itself and/or its wielder and/or targets to a different place than intended. Also, no matter what else happens, if the Silver Key is being carried by a creature who undergoes dimensional transport by some means [I]other than[/I] the Silver Key, then the Key doesn't go along for the ride- it stays behind wherever the erstwhile holder/carrier/user just [I]Teleported[/I] (or whatever) from. Now consider, on top of all the above, that the Silver Key is actually an object from the Higher Dimensions operating within the Lower ones. What that means, among other things, is that to the Key, everything in Reality is a Flatlander- we are A. Square and it is an inhabitant of the mythical Third Dimension. Consider, too, that the existence of different possibilities [I]as other dimensional locations[/I] means that the Key can pull objects from other possibilities into its user's. Or, it can "align" a target creature or object with some other possible version of it, or swap their positions. This means that the Key is not limited to just travel powers- it can also [I]alter[/I] targets in desired ways. For example, it can be used to raise all of its target's ability scores to their racial maxima, just as if the player rolling the character had originally rolled all 18s on the dice. It can also give a target the permanent +5 inherent bonus to all six ability scores, just as if it had Perfect Body and Perfect Mind. Now, both of these abilities can only be used once per year, but even so- very powerful. It can even be used to restore youth to the target, reducing it by one age category, 1/month (logically, it should also be possible to use it to age a target 1/month as well, like a dragon, but I felt this was too powerful and so left it out). Ironically, I gave the Key one ability usable only in the Far Realm which is arguably [I]more[/I] powerful: it can actually be used, Out (Un)there, to grant a mortal being divinity- to cause the target to undergo divine ascension with no other requisites. And the Key was used this way during my campaign, just once, to ascend four party members who did not already have any Divine Ranks and grant them desired Portfolios in the process. Doing this requires that a special process of "translation" be accomplished, to bring the consciousness of the mortals in question into alignment with Everything; this is the purpose of the Silver Key's special interaction with the Path of the Ultimate Gate (mentioned in my post on Planar Edifices above). At the Path, one can use the Silver Key to perform a special Ritual of Opening which creates an actual portal to the Far Realm, a thing which the Key cannot (or at any rate, will not) do anywhere else. Upon passing through the portal, mortals leave everything of their former lives behind them, even their own identities, but become a sort of "raw consciousness" which the Key is able to then manipulate and make "additions" to to facilitate the transformation to deities. It can also be used, on a slightly less powerful note, to open [I]Gates[/I] intended for Calling (1/day unless the wielder wants to pay the 1000 XP), or call up [I]Elemental Swarms[/I] 1/week. It can summon a Noble Genie 1/week, to serve the user for 1 day, and 1/month it can even summon a Demon Lord or equivalent small-deity-type creature. Less obviously, it can use its transport powers to shift the location from which issues the user's voice, allowing [I]Ventriloquism[/I] 3/day, and by shifting the user "out of phase" a bit with the present location, it can provide [I]Greater Invisibility[/I] 3/day. This shifting of sensory impressions also allows it to perform functions such as [I]Vision[/I] 1/day, and [I]Commune[/I] or[I] Contact Other Plane[/I] (whichever is desired) 1/week. Despite being utterly unimpeded by the barriers of others, the Silver Key can make powerful barriers of its own. It can create an [I]Arcane Lock[/I] on a door or portal, which (given its origin) has a caster level so high as to be un-dispellable; this [I]Arcane Lock[/I] lasts for 100 years unless the user or the Key want to get rid of it earlier than that. Also, the Key can stop undesirable effects from affecting its user's mind, and thus renders the user immune to [I]Charms[/I] or [I]Holds[/I] or similar effects such as [I]Brain Lock[/I]. Because it avoids any travel except its own, the Key cannot be stolen if it doesn't want to be, a fact which greatly disquieted Zurvan (yes, the old First One of Time himself) when he tried to take the Key from PCs who had just met him. Finally, on top of all the rest, the Silver Key- being as it is in some sense outside all dimensions of Reality- is able to sense just about anything within Reality that it wants to sense. It can bestow Darkvision and Low-Light Vision on its user (and typically does so constantly), provide [I]Clairaudience/Clairvoyance[/I] at will, and by its ability to "see" the thoughts in the minds of the lower-dimensional beings it's operating near, the Key can also produce [I]Comprehend Languages, Tongues[/I] (both at will), [I]Detect Thoughts[/I] 3/day, [I]Detect [/I](all alignments) and [I]True Seeing[/I] 1/day each. And lastly, the Key has one final power that characters in my game used more than just about any other: 1/month, it can produce an effect called [I]Limited Omniscience[/I]. This is like an Epic version of [I]Legend Lore[/I] or other divination that doesn't answer in riddles (or in fact anything other than clear, understandable language and complete detail), basically an "ask the DM one question he has to give an answer to unless something Transcendental is blocking it" ability. The Silver Key is shaped weirdly, with many projections so fine and thin that they're razor-sharp, and it can in fact be used as a bladed weapon should the wielder want to do so. Hilariously, given all its other powers, the Silver Key counts as merely a +6 Short Sword when used this way- though in the hands of an especially strong being it can count as being made of any material up to and including Singularium (for the purposes of calculating base damage). There are essentially three limits on the Silver Key's powers, one of which (the "aura of wrongness" mentioned far above) isn't really a limit on the Key at all. Instead, whenever a major power is used (what constitutes "major" here is up to the DM), the Key produces an aura of [I]Fear[/I] around itself, in a 20-foot radius (or out to 4 times the wielder's base Reach, whichever is larger). This aura can, and sometimes does, affect the user himself, though most users only experience this effect when they're also experiencing one of those from the [I]second[/I] limitation. For, the Silver Key does not like to be used offensively, and anything done with it which could be considered an attack (though Calling or Summoning an unwilling creature is not considered an attack, just about any other power used on an unwilling target- up to and including attacking it with the Key used as a sword- is) causes it to punish the wielder. It does this by removing senses, first; usually striking the user blind for 1d4 rounds, deaf for 1d4x10 minutes, and/or losing his sense of smell for 2d4 hours. If that first warning doesn't deter the user, the Key follows it up by causing level loss; a user who continues to use the Key offensively soon starts to lose 1 level/HD (not negative level, mind you: actual permanent level loss) each and every time he does so. Finally, if the Key gets annoyed enough, it may decide to just pull the user out of Reality entirely, causing him to vanish abruptly- never to be seen again. The third limitation on the Silver Key is that use of its activated powers (that is, pretty much everything besides the Darkvision and Low-Light Vision) requires making very precise motions and turns with it. This is a skill check, and in my game the skill we used was a specialized branch of Knowledge: Knowledge (Mathematics). In a game using only the core subskills, my suggestion is that (Planes) or (Arcana) would be the best subskills to use for this- but regardless, every use of the Silver Key requires a skill roll. If the roll fails, the power is not used up, but neither does it activate: nothing happens. At the DM's option, a roll of natural 1 on the skill check (whether or not the result beats the DC), or a roll that comes [I]close[/I] to the DC without beating it, might produce a lesser/undesirable result (and use up the power as if it had been used correctly) instead of just doing nothing. [LIST] [*]The DC for spells other than travel effects is typically 2 x the spell level, +5 for each target beyond the first in a multi-target situation. [*]The DC for Summoning a Noble Genie is 25. Summoning a Demon Lord (or similar creature) is DC equal to the target's HD + 18. [*]Raising the target's ability scores, either to racial max or by the +5 inherents, is DC 50. This can only be done on one target at a time. [*]Travel within the same plane via [I]Teleportation[/I]-equivalent is DC 25 for the user alone, +5 for each target beyond the user. [*]Opening a portal such as a [I]Dimension Door[/I] (keeping in mind that there is no range limit for the Silver Key) is DC 30, plus 10 per round the portal stays open. Targets are irrelevant for this, obviously, since anything can go through the portal once it's open. [*]Travel to another plane, via error-less [I]Plane Shift[/I], is DC 35 for the user alone, +5 for each target beyond the user. [*]Opening a portal to another plane, like a [I]Gate[/I], is DC 45, plus 10 per round the portal stays open. [*]Travel to the Far Realm is DC 70, +10 per target beyond the user. [*]Portals to the Far Realm can not be created by the Silver Key, except specifically using the special Ritual at the Path of the Ultimate Gate (mentioned above). There is no DC for this Ritual, because if the DM has the PCs learn of it and reach the Path at all, then they clearly deserve to succeed and ascend to godhood. Failure would, therefore, be an absurd anticlimax and should not be more than a dramatic possibility. [*]Travel to another [B]cosmos[/B] is DC 100, +20 per target beyond the user. [*]Opening a portal to another cosmos is DC 200, plus 50 per round the portal stays open. Travel [B]through[/B] a portal between cosmoi typically takes several subjective months, so mortal users had best be prepared with plenty of food and water for any such trip (if they can even meet the DC). [*]Traveling to another [B]time[/B], without changing location in either plane or space, is DC 40 within one day, 50 within 1 week, 60 within 1 month, 70 within 1 year, 80 within 10 years, 90 within 100 years, 100 within 1000 years, 110 within 10,000 years, and so on. This is for the user alone: to bring others along, the DC increases by 1/10 the base DC from time alone (that is, +9 within a century of travel) per other target transported. [*]Traveling to another time within the same plane, but not in the same starting spatial position, is double the DC given above for time travel after taking other targets into account. So, 80 for within the same day, 100 for within the same week, etc. [*]Traveling to another time within another plane is five times the DC given for basic time travel, after taking other targets into account. So, 200 for travel within 1 day, 250 for travel within 1 week, etc. [*]Traveling to another time within the Far Realm is exactly like teleporting into the Far Realm normally, since it is outside Time by its very nature. [*]Traveling to another time within another cosmos is exactly like traveling to the destination time on another plane, since other cosmoi obey different rules of time and the DC for time travel across planes is already higher than travel between cosmoi. [*]Portals to other times cannot be created by the Silver Key. [*]Traveling to another [B]possibility[/B] while staying in the same time and spatial position is DC 100, plus 20 per target other than the user. [*]Traveling to another possibility while moving in space within the same plane, but staying at the same time, is DC 200 plus 40 per target beyond the user. [*]Traveling to another possibility while staying at the same time, but moving in space and to another plane, is DC 500, plus 100 per target beyond the user. [*]Traveling to another possibility while staying in the same spatial position, but moving also in time, is DC 200 within 1 day, 250 within 1 week, 300 within 1 month, 350 within 1 year, 400 within 10 years, 450 within 100 years, 500 within 1000 years, and so on. Each target beyond the user increases the DC by 1/5 the base amount: so +40 within 1 day, +50 within 1 week, etc. [*]Traveling to another possibility while staying within the same plane, but moving both spatial position [B]and[/B] temporal, is DC 400 within 1 day, 500 within 1 week, 600 within 1 month, 700 within 1 year, 800 within 10 years, 900 within 100 years, 1000 within 1000 years, etc. Each target beyond the user increases the DC by 1/5 the base amount: so +80 within 1 day, +100 within 1 week, and so on. [*]Traveling to another possibility while moving in both time [B]and[/B] plane is DC 1000 within 1 day, 1250 within 1 week, 1500 within 1 month, 1750 within 1 year, 2000 within 10 years, 2250 within 10 years, 2500 within 100 years, and so forth. Each target beyond the user increases the DC by 1/5 the base amount, so +200 within 1 day, +250 within 1 week, etc. [*]Portals to other possibilities cannot be opened by the Silver Key. [*]If the user is trying to affect [B]only[/B] other creatures and not himself, with a travel power or a power such as [I]Greater Invisibility[/I] which would normally be used upon the user, then the DC is doubled after all targets are accounted for. [*]If the user is trying to affect unwilling targets, for example by sending them to another plane, then the DC is multiplied by 5 after all of the above is accounted for. [/LIST] For some examples, using [I]Greater Invisibility[/I] on 3 party members besides the user himself would be DC ((4 x 2 for a 4th level spell) + (5 x 3 for 3 targets beyond the first)) x 2 for not including the user = 46. Transporting the user and his 4 party members to a city on another continent of the same world would be DC (25 + (4 x 5)) = 45. Sending 3 enemies from the Material Plane to Demogorgon's layer of the Abyss, 90 years ago when he was still alive and in a relatively quiet phase between wars with Orcus and Graz'zt, would be DC ((90 x 5 for travel to another time across planes within 100 years) + (9 x 5 x 2 for 2 extra targets in travel to another time across planes within 100 years)) x 2 for not including the user himself x 5 for affecting unwilling targets = 5400. Also, in the final case, the Silver Key would hit the user with punishment for using it offensively. As for what the Silver Key meant to my game, it is difficult to overstate its impact. The purpose of leaving the Silver Key behind in DABBATIALDABAOTH, I decided (and told my players during the game) was to keep the malformed Demiurge from "growing up" and assuming a place among the other Eternals, since it was "born" with a "birth defect" (namely, the stunted 7th dimension) and would effectively be a psychotic/sociopath within their society if allowed to grow normally. SEPHIROSOPHIA made the Silver Key and placed the artifact within its child, to ensure that DABBATIALDABAOTH would never grow to full consciousness (as the Eternals view it anyway) and thereby be a threat within Eternal society. The PCs, over the course of the campaign, gave the Key a means to fulfill its mandate in an unexpected manner by removing the Parasite which had prevented the Seventh dimension from growing properly, essentially "writing out" the birth defect and allowing DABBATIALDABAOTH a chance to grow properly and assume a normal position within Eternal society once it finally finished its growth. For this, the Silver Key gave the PCs many allowances it would not normally allow, for example allowing them to use it offensively to send many Hungry Void swarms into the Entropy/Madness cosmos (and within that, certain destruction) without punishment, and allowing them to even use it as a weapon in the final battle against the Egg Occupant (though to be honest they only did that because they had seen a vision from the future showing that they did so against it). In the end, the Silver Key was taken back by SEPHIROSOPHIA, to an unknown fate, but given its ability to time travel and cross all barriers (even those of Nexus Events!), it could still show up again in future games run within DABBATIALDABAOTH. With this post, my description of the setting I ran my game within is essentially finished, except for one last post (to follow on a future date) wherein I will discuss "Favored of the First Ones" templates that were used in my game. I hope you readers found them edifying and useful; perhaps you will use these ideas (or other ideas suspiciously like them) in your own games. For my own part, this game is done now, though as stated a few posts above I have recently been thinking about how the setting would have changed after the Grand Nexus. [/QUOTE]
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