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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kinneus" data-source="post: 4641549" data-attributes="member: 48215">Inspired by SHARK’s great post, I decided to expand a little upon his ideas. One thing you mentioned in your original post is that the masters set up these different courtyards as basically magical laboratories, wherein the original masters of the city may have tampered with the way time flows or the way certain spells work. SHARK’s post dealt with the inhabitants of various courtyards; here are some ideas on how the separate environments might feel. You said you were planning on using 4e for this, so any crunchy bits I have use 4e terminology, but I tried to make it vague enough that you could convert it fairly easily. Courtyard of the Vampire Lord This courtyard was founded to study intelligent undead, so of course the masters of the city had to make it suitably comfortable for them. Creatures in this courtyard, whether living or nonliving, gain Resist 10 Necrotic, 30 Radiant (if they have a natural resistance to Necrotic or Radiant energy, use the higher value). In order to protect themselves against the courtyard’s residents, the masters of the city created a series of magic circles or various sizes, scattered throughout the courtyard, etched in the flagstones. A successful DC 15 Religion or Arcana check re-activates these circles, creating a Zone of divine energy. Any creature that enters this Zone loses the Resistances (10 Necrotic, 30 Radiant) the courtyard normally grants. Undead creatures that start their turn in this Zone take 10 Radiant damage. The caster that activated this Zone can sustain it for a round as a minor action; the Zone can be sustained indefinitely, so long as the caster himself is within its area of effect. Courtyard of the Dark Knights The areas that the Dark Knights know command are relatively untouched by magic, designed as ‘control’ areas for the old masters’ experiments. The long-lived masters were concerned about their test subjects expiring before they could extract any useful data, however, so they crafted 15 amulets that grant the wearer immortality. Obviously, the 15 Dark Knights are the bearers of the 15 amulets, grown cold and detached over years of constant warfare within the decaying city. The amulets only work correctly inside the courtyards; anyone wearing the amulet outside of the courtyards age normally. Courtyard of the Damned This courtyard was forged to study non-sentient or barely-sentient undead. The masters were especially interested in undead with the ability to propagate, and sought to facilitate propagation via arcane means. Any creature within this courtyard takes onging 5 Necrotic. The native undead aren’t bothered by this due to their natural resistances, but living creatures that wish to enter usually wear specially-enchanted rings that grant them Resist 5 Necrotic. These rings can be found in other courtyards, and can often be bartered for.In addition, any humanoid creatures slain within the Courtyard of the Damned will rise 2d6 turns later as a Zombie (if the humanoid was Medium or Small) or as a Zombie Hulk (if the humanoid was Large was larger). Courtyard of ScreamsThe Courtyard of Screams is so named because of its magically-enhanced acoustics. Attacks with the Thunder keyword deal an additional 10 Thunder damage in this courtyard. Courtyard of the Beast This courtyard was founded as a social experiment. The masters wanted to see if they could civilize savage and war-like races like orcs and minotaurs by raising their intelligence via magic. The orcs and minotaurs lived together in close quarters and with limited resources, but refrained from fighting, using their preternatural intelligence to find creative and diplomatic solutions.The experiment spiraled downward into a catastrophic failure, however, when the masters of the city left. The enchantments eventually decayed, resulting in the war between the orcs and minotaurs that wiped out the orcs. Players can attempt to re-establish this ancient enchantment as a skill challenge, with the primary skills being History (to understand the purpose of the courtyard and its enchantment), Arcana (to re-establish the enchantment), Diplomacy (to placate the now-savage minotaurs), and Dungeoneering (to locate and identify vital magic circles, relays and tools the masters used for their intelligence-increasing enchantment).If successful, the minotaurs will no longer be hostile to the players, and may express remorse about what they’ve done. They may even reward the players in some way. With the enchantment re-activated, minotaurs and orcs in the courtyard gain an effective +2 bonus to their Intelligence, but this bonus disappears as soon as they leave the courtyard. Courtyard of Eternal Fire This courtyard, as the name and décor suggests, was used by the masters of the city to test out new fire magics. All creatures in this courtyard gain Vulnerability 5 Fire (if a creature already has Vulnerability to Fire, use the higher value). Chimera love it, because they feel the enhanced damage helps them keep their many slaves and gnoll servants in line.  Courtyard of Ancient Statues Hidden amongst the many Medusa-created statues are inert Stone Golems, stored here by the masters of the city. Some have inscriptions on their back, essentially encoded instruction manuals that can allow them to be re-activated. A DC 25 Arcana check or a DC 30 Insight check can determine the activation word of any individual golem. Each golem has different activation words, but once activated, will follow the commands of its master until dismissed or destroyed. They follow five basic commands:-Do nothing, or stop an action.-Self-destruct.-Attack all enemies.-Follow the master.-Become inert until re-activated.Depending on the golem, some of these commands require their own specific activation-words. The medusas and scorpion warriors of this courtyard are unaware of these Stone Golems, so the players can use them to gain an edge. On the other hand, there’s a chance (5%, rolled each time a command is given) that a faulty Stone Golem could run amok or misinterpret a command.If removed from the courtyard, the Stone Golem instantly becomes inert. Courtyard of Howling This series of courtyards was created to study various forms of lycanthropes. The only magic existent in this area is a powerful charm that compels lycanthropes to stay. They are free to visit other courtyards, but they consider this series of courtyards to be ‘home’, and will always eventually return.PCs are unaffected, unless they happen to be Shifters of some type. The charm has a weaker hold on them, but is still insidious. Each day within this courtyard, any Shifter suffers a psychic attack at twilight. The attack is +11 versus Will, and deals 1d6 psychic damage. If the attack is successful, the Shifter must immediately make a saving throw. If it fails, the Shifter begins to consider himself as part of the ‘pack’, and refuses to leave. If party members attempt to forcibly remove him from the courtyard, the Shifter can make another saving throw. If it fails, he will turn on and attack his former friends!This powerful charm emanates from an orb of marble at the center of the courtyard. The players can de-activate this orb as a skill challenge, with the primary skills being Arcana, History, Religion, Insight, Perception and Endurance. If successful, the party will free their Shifter ally, but cause the freed lycanthropes of this courtyard to run amok throughout the city! Finally, here are a few of my own ideas… Courtyard of Glorious LightOne of the masters’ more complicated experiments, this courtyard was created to study the effects of religion. The masters wanted to see if they could use arcane magic to replicate divine effects, such as feelings of religious awe and devotion.The courtyard houses a massive library, filled with scrolls and tomes of religious significance. This library is populated and guarded by 6d6 Angels of various types. These angels were summoned and imprisoned by the masters of the city, bound by powerful enchantments. Most have become horribly depraved by their separation from their gods; effectively devils now, they have forgotten their gods in their imprisonment, and are interested only in extending their influence beyond the Courtyard of Glorious Light and into other courtyards. 1d6 Angels (in addition to the 6d6 evil Angels) remain pure and good, however, and wish to escape. They could be powerful allies to the player characters. A DC 20 Religion check or a DC 25 Insight check allows PCs to differentiate between good and depraved Angels. A DC 15 Insight check is enough to see that there is something fishy about these angels; that they’re not quite as holy and perfect as they make themselves out to be.A powerful Charm effect keeps the angels bound, but also causes mortal creatures to view the angels as perfect beings of beauty and goodness. A small group of slavish worshippers live in the Courtyard of Glorious Light, often wandering in from their native courtyard to pay homage to their ‘gods’. 1d4-1 goblins, 1d4-1 kobolds, 1d4-1 orcs, 1d4-1 minotaurs, and 1d4-1 harpies live in the Courtyard of Glorious Light as permanent worshippers. Even the PCs are not immune to this effect; if an angel asks a PC to perform an action, treat it as a +11 versus Will Charm attack. If successful, the PC is compelled to do whatever the angel asks, whether it be retrieving a book from a nearby shelf or retrieving an item from a far-flung courtyard. The angels cannot force the players to do anything obviously self-destructive, however. PCs cannot be affected by this power if it is used by an angel they know the true nature of (ie., they succeeded on a DC 25 Insight or DC 20 Religion check to determine the angel’s nature).The Charm that keeps the angels bound and their worshippers enthralled emanates from a statue of the goddess Ioun at the center of the library. The angels cannot destroy it themselves; any Immortal creature that begins its turn within 20 spaces of the statue is slowed, weakened, and takes ongoing 30 damage (save ends). The few remaining good angels have tried to get ‘worshippers’ to destroy it, but so far, their efforts have been blocked by the depraved angels. Thus it is very likely that they’ll ask the PCs to destroy it for them.If destroyed, the good angels will immediately return to their gods, while the depraved angels will warp into twisted devils and tumble away into the Nine Hells. The worshippers will be freed, and may be grateful to the PCs. The Courtyard of Filthy SkullsNo one knows what the masters originally intended with this courtyard. All that is known is that it is now completely overrun by goblins and kobolds (30+4d6 Hobgoblins, 60+4d6 Goblins, 3d6+12 Bugbears, 100+6d6 Kobolds). These creatures have built up filthy warrens and tenements, long ago desecrating and destroying any magical effects that may have been in place here. Though numerous, the denizens of Courtyard of Filthy Skulls face constant harassment by the residents of other, stronger courtyards. Though largely evil, the inhabitants of the Courtyard of Filthy Skulls may be willing to work with PCs to secure their safety. They may be able to reward the PCs with magical items or reagents salvaged from before the courtyard was the stinking rat’s nest it is today. The Courtyard of Eternal FrostThis glacial courtyard is preternaturally cold. PCs must make a DC 26 Endurance check when first entering the Courtyard of Eternal Frost, as well as one every eight hours they remain within. If they fail, they lose a healing surge.The courtyard is populated by creatures that love extreme cold, including 1d8 Ice Devils and 1d20+5 Ice Archons. The Courtyard of MadnessThis courtyard was founded to see if the masters could induce permanent insanity in their test subjects. The Courtyard of Madness swirls with horrific, mind-bending illusions. When first entering the Courtyard of Madness, PCs suffer a +20 versus Will attack. If it hits, it deals 3d8+8 psychic damage. Repeat this attack every five minutes, unless the PCs succeed on a DC 20 Insight or DC 25 Perception Check (to realize that the horrible, pervasive madness is just an illusion). Even if the entire party succeeds on their checks, they still cannot take an extended rest anywhere within the Courtyard of Madness; it is simply too unnerving here to get any real rest.Most creatures understandably avoid the Courtyard of Madness, except for a few aberrations, who seem to revel in its mind-shattering chaos. So there are some more ideas for you, hopefully in line with what you have in mind for the place. An interesting thought occurs to me; this setting could be very good for a ‘DMless’ sort of game. You could come up with a massive chart with courtyards like this, and then roll on the chart to see which ‘courtyard’ the party enters when they enter a new room. Could be interesting.</blockquote>

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