The Chronolith

[Nightcloak]

Great adventure!

Ack, I'm forgetting about the "badest" aberrations of AU/AE -- the dramojh. The vile creations of the chromatic dragons; the enslavers of humanity; the reason everyone in the world hates & fears dragons; the reason everyone in the world honors and respects the Giants (the liberators of humanity). Gotta work them in somehow.

I'll take a stab at this...

The Greenbond isn’t the only one trying to complete a ritual. The aberrations, creations of the dreaded dramojh, were placed in stasis by their very masters. The dramojh knew they were losing the war with the giants and created the Chronolith as a temporal escape route - or plan B so to speak.

The plan was to have the Chronolith reappear in the far future when the time of the giants was done with the young races declining. The Chronolith would phase in and allow the seeds of the dramojh, special "spell-stitched" aberrations, to cast their own ritual to re-awaken the foul demon-dragons. Thus would they enter an unprepared world in its slumber and reclaim their rulership. Maybe even use the tower to eventually work backwards and change history itself!

The only problem with the master plan was another frozen ritual long forgotten: The gods of the Denotholan that are frozen in the far north. (Frozen tower – frozen gods – sounds like a future adventure seed me thinks) The “Dead Gods” reach out to thwart the dramojh by giving a vision to an exceptional greenbond. They also taught the greenbond a ritual to activate the magic of the Chronolith and send it backwards through time to a point where there are heroes that could deal with the problem.

The aberrations are completing their instructions and activating the ritual despite the fact they are at the wrong place and time. They simply just don’t know better. Once the PCs help stop the ritual and the impending holocaust, the greenbond will reverse the ritual to instead summon back the dragons to deal with their creations permanently. (I’m assuming that the reappearance of the dragons is a means to “Evolve” the campaign by your description).



Hope that gives you some ideas to work with!

 

[Nifft]

"Something Good"

Good Stuff You Can Make Happen: To get Good Stuff, you must have already undergone a Tachyon Mishap (see above). You must have some TCPs, and you must make a DC 20 Wisdom check, modified as follows:

• You've seen the effect: you may make an attempt (base DC)
• You've produced the effect: -1 per time (max -6) DC
• You've produced an effect in the same chain: -5 DC, stacks with above

Producing a Good Stuff effect takes a standard action (unless otherwise noted). You may "manifest" this effect defensively (if threatened in combat) by making a Concentration check, DC 15 + TCP cost of the effect. (Remember that TCPs grant a Concentration penalty, and that any Concentration failure will generate a Tachyon Mishap.) If you roll a 1 on your Wisdom check, you automatically fail. If you fail your Wisdom check, you suffer a limited form of Mishap: the maximum TCP value of the mishap is the cost of the Good Stuff you were trying to "manifest".


Chain of Teleportation
1 TCP: (Move action) teleport up to 60 ft.
2 TCPs: swap places with an ally (up to 100 ft.)
3 TCPs: swap two allies' locations (each is within 100 ft. of you)
4 TCPs: teleport as the spell (caster level = total HD)


Chain of Personal Velocity
1 TCP: (Swift action) +10 ft. movement this round
2 TCPs: blur as the spell (caster level = total HD)
3 TCPs: haste as the spell (caster level = total HD)
4 TCPs: (Immediate action) gain a +4 Dodge bonus to AC for 1 minute


Chain of Phase Variance
1 TCP: (Immediate action) +4 Deflection bonus to AC for 1 minute
1 TCP: (Swift action) all your melee attacks are treated as though they had the ghost touch special ability for 1 minute
2 TCPs: blink as the spell (caster level = total HD)
4 TCPs: (Swift action) make your next melee attack as a Touch attack


Chain of Temporal Velocity
1 TCP: (Swift action) gain an extra Move action this round
2 TCPs: cure yourself of damage equal to a night's sleep
3 TCPs: time hop as the power (DC = 10 + 1/2 your HD + Cha bonus; manifester level = total HD)
4 TCPs: (Move action) gain an extra Standard action this round


Chain of Chronomancy
1 TCP: (Swift action) add +2 to the Reflex DC of your next spell
2 TCPs: (Immediate action) you may counterspell as though you had readied an action
3 TCPs: (Swift action) you gain a +4 Insight bonus to your next attack roll, and you ignore any miss chance from concealment or incorporeality
4 TCPs: (Swift action) your next spell repeats next round


Chain of Time Warp
1 TCP: deja vu as the power (DC = 10 + 1/2 your HD + Cha bonus; manifester level = total HD)
2 TCPs: slow as the spell (DC = 10 + 1/2 your HD + Cha bonus; caster level = total HD)
3 TCPs: dimensional anchor as the spell (DC = 10 + 1/2 your HD + Cha bonus; caster level = total HD)
4 TCPs: repulsion as the spell (DC = 10 + 1/2 your HD + Cha bonus; caster level = total HD)


Chain of Chrono Trigger
1 TCP: (Swift action) your next melee or ranged attack deals +2d6 Force damage
2 TCPs: shatter as the spell (DC = 10 + 1/2 your HD + Cha bonus; caster level = total HD)
3 TCPs: telekinetic thrust as the power (DC = 10 + 1/2 your HD + Cha bonus; manifester level = total HD)
4 TCPs: energy stun as the power (DC = 10 + 1/2 your HD + Cha bonus; manifester level = total HD)


That's all for tonight.

-- N

 

[Napftor]

Here's just a few more time distortions for your pile. Don't think I saw these mentioned yet.

* Scarring: PCs develop scars from the future.
* Second Chance: PCs suddenly find themselves in a past combat they were not very successful in. This might be a past mistake you want them to banish as well. Maybe a comrade died in the battle or a precious object was lost.
* New race: In the future, one or more of the PCs is reincarnated. They change into a random race.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

I've got nothing to add, but I've yoinked almost this entire thread. Just so you know.

 

[Nifft]

I'm such a liar -- clearly I'm not done for the night. After all, what environment would be complete without a Feat and Template for those attuned to it?


Tachyon Adaptation [General]
You are acclimated to tachyon corrupted time-space loci.
Prereq: Concentration 8+ ranks, Iron Will
Benefit: You gain a +4 bonus on Wisdom checks to get Good Stuff effects out of your accumulated TCPs, and on Concentration checks to "manifest" defensively. You only need to make a Concentration check to avoid a mishap when your opponent scores a critical hit (not whenever you take damage).
This is probably best for NPCs.


Tachyon Infused [Acquired Template]
This template can be applied to any critter with an Intelligence above 3 who hangs around temporally unstable time-space loci.
Initiative: You gain a +10 Insight bonus to Initiative checks.
Movement: You gain a +10 ft. Insight bonus to all modes of movement.
AC: You gain an Insight bonus to AC equal to +1/4 your HD (minimum +1).
Special Attacks: Phase strike, chain master
Special Qualities: Defensive hop, tachyon capacity, SR
Abilities: +2 Wisdom
Skills: You gain a +4 circumstance bonus to sleight of hand, tumble, and jump checks.
CR: +1 (1-7 HD), +2 (8-15 HD), +3 (15+ HD)
LA: +3

Phase Strike (Su): When charging a foe, a tachyon infused critter can teleport through rough terrain, solid objects, or even other critters. Nothing short of a Force effect can prevent a TI-critter from charging.

Chain Master (Sp): You gain access to one Tachyon Chain per 4 HD you possess (minimum one). You may burn TCPs to power the abilities in your Chain. You must make Wisdom checks as usual.

Defensive Hop (Sp): 3/day when you would take damage, you may instead time hop 1d6 rounds into the future. This is an Immediate action.

Tachyon Capacity (Su): You may safely store TCPs equal to 1/2 your HD. ("Safely" means no need to make Concentration checks when you take damage, and no mishaps when you fail Concentration checks.)

Spell Resistance (Su): You gain SR equal to 12 + HD.

-- N

 

[EricNoah]

A little small criticsm that isn't meant to dampen the spirits here.....shouldn't the HEROES save the world, rather than the dragons? Or are you going to have the dragons turn on the humans, betray them--then the heroes have to fight the dragons, too??

Ah, but here's why it works the way it works...

1) I've been building up to the return of the dragons for months now. If you're familiar with AU and AE, the return of the dragons happens "off screen" during the two years of game time between the original Diamond Throne setting and the revised setting as presented in AE. So I'm getting my guys involved in what I think is the biggest, most important event of the setting. The players have been debating (in character) whether they should even let the dragons return at all -- it is not a given that the dragons will be helpful, at least from their point of view.

2) This is the concluding adventure of the current campaign. The next campaign will be set a while after this one, in the same region, and the heroes will be part of a group dedicated to learning more about aberrations and unearthing new arcana (get it??) designed to combat them. You see, the chronolith is just the tip of the iceberg. A nigh-unstopable force of aberrations is on its way. Only if humanit, giants, and dragons join together do they stand a chance -- and even then, they'll need knowledge of forgotten lore such as the Cerulean Sign in order to prevail.

3) The PCs are only about 6th level. They gotta have some help.

 

[EricNoah]

Wow, Nifft, you pulled out all the stops! Dividing the effects into bad/neutral/good is a great step, and allowing the PCs to learn from the effects is cool.

 

[EricNoah]

The only problem with the master plan was another frozen ritual long forgotten: The gods of the Denotholan that are frozen in the far north.

MMMMM, this starts to address an important question of the setting -- where the heck did the gods go? A great thread to try to weave in. Thanks!

 

[EricNoah]

Alright, rewinding just a bit to just before the Chronolith arrives...

The Chronolith's arrival is accompanied by a blast of concussive force that is felt for miles around. The heroes will be out having dinner or somesuch when suddenly, the room is turned on its side and they (and everyone and everything not nailed to the floor) suddenly slams into a wall. Glass shatters, trees are cracked or knocked down. First, there's silence, then groans and cries from nearby folks who are injured. Then .... a gust of gale-force wind, bitterly cold, bringing an icy fog with it.

The town spends a couple of days recovering; during this time the icy conditions persist and the fog continues to roll through town. Eventually the wind dies down and the air clears. It's colder than any winter ever. Clues seem to indicate that the blast came from the east, but there has been no word from nearby communities.

That night, the first clear night since the incident, the Steward of the city tracks down the heroes shortly before nightfall, while it is still barely light. She asks them to follow her. She leads them through town to the home of the city's human speaker -- he's a wealthy man and has a small observatory on the top of his three-story home. The Steward strides to a large telescope and gestures to it. A PC looks through it, and can just barely make out The Marshwood, a normally swampy forest to the east of the city. It is covered with ice and snow, now, of course, and clearly many trees have been knocked down by the blast. But something is wrong ... in the waning light of dusk, the PC sees a tall, blue pinnacle reaching skyward. It must be hundreds of feet tall to be seen from here. And as he squints, he swears he can see ... his own face, carved into the side of the obelisk.

That ought to get them pointed in the right direction!

I'm not sure I can figure out a good reason why their faces would be on the Chronolith but hey ... it's a time-travel, time-distortion thingy. Why not?

 

[Terraism]

* Second Chance: PCs suddenly find themselves in a past combat they were not very successful in. This might be a past mistake you want them to banish as well. Maybe a comrade died in the battle or a precious object was lost.

You know what I like best about that idea is that it could be a heck of an emotional booster if things are going badly. Put them into a battle from the beginning of their career that went poorly, with their *current* skills, and let 'em show off. They'll feel better after kicking butt, and be rarin' to go when they show back up in the tower.