Tell me about the first appearance of the Clockwork-Driven Lighthouse in your game:

[Man-thing]

As may players are becoming complacent in their roles as the world's heroes, I'm thinking a few threats from the outer planes could shake things up. I've been reading Ronin Arts' "DM Dictionary of Demiplanes" and I wondered how you would use the Clockwork-Driven Lighthouse?

If you don't have this product yet, Philip Reed has a demo of this plane at:

http://www.roninarts.com/images/demidemo.pdf

What would you do with this powerful demiplane?

 

[JoeGKushner]

Well, I guess the question since you have it, is how are you going to use it?

 

[Psion]

However, if agents of another alignment were to ever take, and hold, the Lighthouse, the balance of power in the planar universe would be significantly affected.

There's your answer right there.

The lighthouse, to me, seems to be a fantasy version of the James Bondish orbital space (pantomimes quote marks with fingers) "laser."

So the first thing that would occur to me is to have the thing fall into the wrong hands.

I mean look at it like this. It's 20d6 for fiery non-resurrectable destruction raining down upon evil of your choice. "Evil" (in whatever shape it takes) is not going to sit by idly.

Possible plots:
- The lighthouse does its work and starts eliminating foes of law and good -- that are not known by the public at large to be evil. So evil, being canny, persuades the PCs that some evil tyrant is using the lighthouse to destroy "innocent" men, and try to manipulate them to take out the lighthouse.
- More straightforward, the Lighthouse is lawful good, but evil may have a means to corrupt it (like using planeshaping from Book of the Planes). So they are cooking up a plot to take over the lighthouse and corrupt it, making it an evil fantasy laser sattelite.

 

[fafhrd]

I've been toying with the idea of restructuring a bit of the planar cosmology, making it more primocentric. Stars are upwellings of positively charged material, black holes spew the void into prime space. The Far Realms lie not in an exotic dimension but in the spaces between the stars for a more Cthulhuesque paradigm. Your question gave me the idea of using such a lighthouse as a bastion against the grotesqueries that are only now taking an interest in the meager little baryonic universe of light and life.

Man, I'm already glad I bought the Demi-planes book.

 

[Man-thing]

I like the taken over by evil idea...

I can see some ambitious Devil taking up residence and from his mighty throne using the lighthouse to burn down rebel heroes (CG) that oppose any dictator's who swear allegiance to him.

or

A extremely LN creature, of course shifting the plane to his alignment, using the laser to destroy any who is not judicious and fair for thier liking. Maybe its a paladin who imposes his morality on others.