Sailors on the River of Worlds- Update

[Psion]

Will you be using Freeport as a stopping place in your campaign?

I had considered it. I'm putting Freeport and Naranjan (and Bluffside and Mercenaries, and a couple other third part properties) into my yet to be named "conglomeration" prime world. So far I only have specific plans for Naranjan, and for the Mercenaries Bael (who I am making big players in the Combine.)

 

[JoeGKushner]

Now with Chaos, how will that effect the role of the River of Worlds? Will the river be a sanctuary for the most part or will there be corrupted branches that Chaos has a strong influence in.

 

[Psion]

The way I was going to play that is that the river is becoming a venue for Chaos, and the remaining communities connected to the river are living in fear that it will visit up them next. Most of the major communities remaining are well warded, and there are whispered tales of ports that met grisly endings, and whole worlds that have been overtaken.

I may need to sketch out a map of area affected by / fallen to chaos and areas in immediate danger.

 

[JoeGKushner]

So what role will the Nexus itself have in your campagin? Since the characters in my campaign are mid level (8th-10th), I'm thinking of having her summoning them for assistance in fighting off some minions and then allowing them to use the portals for their own quests for a while.

As I may have mentioned, the problem I see with the Nexus is that the owner really isn't powerful enough to keep it under control. This would be a great thing to run a siege with.

 

[Psion]

The nexus will be an alternate pathway (one of several; I am also using the tunnels, the world tree, the infinite staircase, etc). The river will be the primary pathway in the game, but occasionally I will want to have the players visit a place that is either not on the river or not easily accessible to a port.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Sounds like a lot of planning there. I've found that having several methods does make things more interesting as it showcases how wide the multiverse is but if they're too easy to use or get to, the players have too many options that they can use which has caused me no small amount of headache at the end of the day.

I see on another thread that you picked up Phil demi-planes book. Will you be using that in this campaign as well? Any godd stuff in there worth porting out to a similiar campaign?

 

[Psion]

Sounds like a lot of planning there. I've found that having several methods does make things more interesting as it showcases how wide the multiverse is but if they're too easy to use or get to, the players have too many options that they can use which has caused me no small amount of headache at the end of the day.

A lot of their exposure to this will be a bit indirect. For example, they might wonder why another Trinalian is doing in one of these planar metropoli, or why they are running into a drow elf... if they ask they right question, they might begin to grasp what a tangled network the planes are (which, in turn, explains the existence of planar metropoli.)

Ooh... thinking down this path gives me an idea. Historically, cities form where modes of tranportation change, which is why port cities form, railroad towns form. Perhaps when designing my planar metropoli, that could be the theme to making them different... planar metropoli form where different planar pathways come together.

This has the potential to create some wierd cities. What sort of city would be created where the river of worlds meets the wormholes, for example? I suspect it might be dominated by subterrainian races like Drow. And form along a navigable underground river. Hmmm.

I see on another thread that you picked up Phil demi-planes book. Will you be using that in this campaign as well? Any godd stuff in there worth porting out to a similiar campaign?

Well, they are pretty brief in general, so they won't be major points in the game, but some of them look like they might be pretty good plot hooks. One, for example, is a little room in the astral plane that has the properties of:
- it appears as a small room with basic furnishings.
- only four people can exist in it at one time
- no magic works therein (thus it might be a hiding place for people who want to hide from scrying/magical detection)
- it stops aging (as well as other processes like disease) while within it, but you instantly "catch up" if you ever exit

Which is a curious plane for the PCs to explore indirecly. They find clue that someone went there, they may have to deal with the fact that it's impossible to enter if someone leaves. Even if someone passes away (like, got in a fight with another one of the natives), they then have to decide who to send to get whatever they need done there done.

 

[JoeGKushner]

A lot of their exposure to this will be a bit indirect. For example, they might wonder why another Trinalian is doing in one of these planar metropoli, or why they are running into a drow elf... if they ask they right question, they might begin to grasp what a tangled network the planes are (which, in turn, explains the existence of planar metropoli.)

Ooh... thinking down this path gives me an idea. Historically, cities form where modes of tranportation change, which is why port cities form, railroad towns form. Perhaps when designing my planar metropoli, that could be the theme to making them different... planar metropoli form where different planar pathways come together..

Well, at the same time, if one of those conjuntions is close to the mechanus plane, you could have a metropoli where the warfoged, iron born, cogs and other machine entities thrive and act as the ruling class. Heck, they could trade with Bluffside for Adamantine.

Which is a curious plane for the PCs to explore indirecly. They find clue that someone went there, they may have to deal with the fact that it's impossible to enter if someone leaves. Even if someone passes away (like, got in a fight with another one of the natives), they then have to decide who to send to get whatever they need done there done.

It makes a perfect place for an ambush. If the players use it one or twice and know how it works, an invisible enemy could then come in and prevent that fourth member from coming in and then the glorious backstabing begins.

 

[JoeGKushner]

I cast raise dead on this thread!

Well, since last this thread was brought up, I know that Psion's expanded his library with Complete Arcane, Sharn, Phil's Demiplanes, Advanced Bestiary, and a few other goodies.

Has any of this madei t's way into your background notes? For instance, I'm curious about the warlock from Complete Arcane. since it handles spellcasting a bit differently, will you be having them come from another plane, or have you slotted them into the standard campaign?

In the Advanced Bestiary, there's a pretty high CR spawn of chaos. Using it or letting it go to the side?

 

[Psion]

Well, since last this thread was brought up, I know that Psion's expanded his library with Complete Arcane, Sharn, Phil's Demiplanes, Advanced Bestiary, and a few other goodies.

Has any of this madei t's way into your background notes?

Well, all of Phil's/Ari's factions made it into my character generator, though I am now editing some out now that I have seen the final product (some are either not what I am looking for or too close to stuff I am already using), but I will be writing some in as specific power groups in the planar ports I am working on.

For instance, I'm curious about the warlock from Complete Arcane. since it handles spellcasting a bit differently, will you be having them come from another plane, or have you slotted them into the standard campaign?

No real plans to put the warlock in. I find it mechancially interesting, but conceptually, I am not seeing room for it nor am I finding it as compelling to make a place for it as I did hexblade.

Maybe I'll throw it into the Questing Grounds (from Book of the Planes), where things may be more figurative. The warlock fits the evil fairy tale sorcerer in Disney and Barbie movies rather well, fit the simplified view of the situations that commoners may have of wizards, and as I am not exactly attached to the concept, I don't mind using it once and throwing it away.

In the Advanced Bestiary, there's a pretty high CR spawn of chaos. Using it or letting it go to the side?

The PCs aren't quite up to that yet, though I might refer to it as something that befell some hapless world in the way of the march of chaos.

But there are definitely several things I plan to use in here. Part of the joy of planar adventuring is the different conditions and creatures. In addition to obvious thematic adaptations like verminous creature for instectoid worlds, etc. (And look! I was going to use the savage species reptialian template to make lisaurs, but they have a saurian centaur written up right there!) Stir in a few things from Book of Templates and Monsters Handbook, it should keep players on their toes.

I also want to use the four horsemen, but am not sure if my current game is the best context for them.