Mercurius
Legend
In another thread I asked for recommendations for some dungeons, which I'm still looking into. But I've adjusted my plans somewhat and am now looking for something a bit different.
For the sake of context, here's the general idea. Three members of the party of five have inherited medallions of ancient and unknown origin. The campaign started with a pseudo "Walking Dead" scenario - hundreds of skeletons roaming the land, gathering in packs, and then seemingly following the PCs as they fled and took refuge in a well fortified town. They figured out that the medallions were drawing the undead in some way, or at least they respond to it. During the last session, the third, undead started rising in the town. They investigated the cemetary and saw a shadowy figure fly away on some black winged beast, possibly a wyvern. Through some investigative research they believe that the undead are coming from an old battle field to the south.
Which brings us to what is to come. Assuming the PCs go to the battle field, they'll find a hill littered with bones atop which is a tower. When they get into the tower, the shadowy figure they saw previously puts up a bit of resistance and then flees, leaving behind a 4th and 5th medallion. The PCs find that the five medallions fit into some device on the top floor of the tower. Assuming they place the medallions in, what happens next is that a whirlwind starts churning up earth, swirling around the tower, which is in a protective magical bubble of some kind. They find themselves in the eye of a mega-storm, unable to see what's going on for an hour or more. When the storm clears, arrayed out all around them is a massive ruined city. The hill had buried it a thousand years ago, with only the tallest tower poking out.
By that point the PCs will probably be 4th level and entering the heart of the campaign. The will probably soon discover that they can't get out of the city - it is sealed in such a way that no one can get out. They also begin to meet the denizens...The long and short of it is that the city was ruled by a sorcerer king up until a thousand years ago, when he was imprisoned and the city buried. The medallions were meant as locks to the city itself and entrusted to guardians, who passed them on over the centuries. For various reasons, the PCs lost the line of descent and inherited the medallions without knowing what they are.
What they might not realize at first is that the shadowy figure in a sense lured them in and tricked them into unearthing the city. I will be somewhat rail-roady getting to that point, but then in the city I want the PCs to be on their own - it is a sandbox environment, with various plot threads.
Underneath the city is, of course, a vast dungeon which leads deep into the earth to the prison of the sorcerer king himself. My hope is that the PCs unwittingly free the sorcerer king, who of course is a lich and wants to get revenge on the living world. But that's all much later.
So here's what I'm looking for: ideas for designing a large ruined city. The only RPG products that seem to fit the basic idea that I can think of off hand are The Ruins of Myth Drannor (2nd edition AD&D), Lost City of Barakus (d20), and Parlainth (Earhtdawn), oh yeah and Lost Cities of Golarion (Pathfinder). I'm happy taking ideas from those but want to design my own city. Any other resources you'd recommend? Mainly I'm looking for two things: inspiration by way of examples, but also actual resources--anything from random encounter tables to city design tidbits to your own ideas.
Thanks!
For the sake of context, here's the general idea. Three members of the party of five have inherited medallions of ancient and unknown origin. The campaign started with a pseudo "Walking Dead" scenario - hundreds of skeletons roaming the land, gathering in packs, and then seemingly following the PCs as they fled and took refuge in a well fortified town. They figured out that the medallions were drawing the undead in some way, or at least they respond to it. During the last session, the third, undead started rising in the town. They investigated the cemetary and saw a shadowy figure fly away on some black winged beast, possibly a wyvern. Through some investigative research they believe that the undead are coming from an old battle field to the south.
Which brings us to what is to come. Assuming the PCs go to the battle field, they'll find a hill littered with bones atop which is a tower. When they get into the tower, the shadowy figure they saw previously puts up a bit of resistance and then flees, leaving behind a 4th and 5th medallion. The PCs find that the five medallions fit into some device on the top floor of the tower. Assuming they place the medallions in, what happens next is that a whirlwind starts churning up earth, swirling around the tower, which is in a protective magical bubble of some kind. They find themselves in the eye of a mega-storm, unable to see what's going on for an hour or more. When the storm clears, arrayed out all around them is a massive ruined city. The hill had buried it a thousand years ago, with only the tallest tower poking out.
By that point the PCs will probably be 4th level and entering the heart of the campaign. The will probably soon discover that they can't get out of the city - it is sealed in such a way that no one can get out. They also begin to meet the denizens...The long and short of it is that the city was ruled by a sorcerer king up until a thousand years ago, when he was imprisoned and the city buried. The medallions were meant as locks to the city itself and entrusted to guardians, who passed them on over the centuries. For various reasons, the PCs lost the line of descent and inherited the medallions without knowing what they are.
What they might not realize at first is that the shadowy figure in a sense lured them in and tricked them into unearthing the city. I will be somewhat rail-roady getting to that point, but then in the city I want the PCs to be on their own - it is a sandbox environment, with various plot threads.
Underneath the city is, of course, a vast dungeon which leads deep into the earth to the prison of the sorcerer king himself. My hope is that the PCs unwittingly free the sorcerer king, who of course is a lich and wants to get revenge on the living world. But that's all much later.
So here's what I'm looking for: ideas for designing a large ruined city. The only RPG products that seem to fit the basic idea that I can think of off hand are The Ruins of Myth Drannor (2nd edition AD&D), Lost City of Barakus (d20), and Parlainth (Earhtdawn), oh yeah and Lost Cities of Golarion (Pathfinder). I'm happy taking ideas from those but want to design my own city. Any other resources you'd recommend? Mainly I'm looking for two things: inspiration by way of examples, but also actual resources--anything from random encounter tables to city design tidbits to your own ideas.
Thanks!
