Totally Arbitrary Campaign Setting

[solomanii]

This is my first 3.5 game. The last time I played dnd was over 10 years earlier and it was 1e. So be gentle. This post contains the player background information. We usually only have 1 long session a month. So each part represents a month of real time passing. Players started at level 10. Its set in the Planescape universe and loosely based on the Planescape: Torment computer game. None of the players have played the CRPG nor do they know *anything* about Planescape.

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The world you live in is ruled by a tyrant named Nupathurva. The land is
held in the awe of Nupathurva and his undead legions - The Scourge. In
fact you can't remember a time (nor can your Father or Grandfather) that
was any different. Legends say that Nupathurva killed his Father (the
King) after he was possessed by a sword he found in the frigid north.
Icemourne (the sword) pushed the already unstable Paladin-Prince over the
edge. After killing his father and taking command of not only the human
kingdom but legions of undead, he felled his new master, the Lich King, and
took the Frozen Throne as his own.

History tends to repeat itself it seems.

As far as you know most of the world falls under his tyrannical grasp. Of
course, not all life was exterminated and villagers and cities still grow
and some even thrive, but no one stays dead for long - Nupathurva or one of his minions sees to that.

This is the world you have been brought up in. You think nothing of the
shambling zombies and skeletal warriors that man the city watch. Or the
other intelligent undead who enforce the peace and expand the Ice Thrones
reach. But you feel that this world you live in is wrong somehow. The
dead should be left dead.

This is a twilight world that teeters on the brink of total darkness.

======
You have known each other for many years now (in fact you grew up together) and even gone on the odd Orc hunt together. You all live by the
picturesque village by the sea and often trade with the sea-folk who dwell
nearby. The Scourge is barely noticeable here, but undead patrols often
pass by. Sometimes powerful undead visit the town hedge wizard, Lodash the
Hermit, late at night - why, you don't know.

The Lodash acts as advisor, healer and is a respected member of the
community. Even the Scourge priests - the most powerful people you know of - show the old wizard respect. It is no secret that he has adopted a
Minotaur (PC) as a son and bodyguard. He is well liked and well respected
by all.

Late one night you receive a message, a little bird visits each of you and tells you to come meet the wizard tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn. He has work that may interest young adventurers like yourself.

 

[solomanii]

Totally Arbitrary Campaign Setting I

Our intrepid band of adventurers;

Cleopatra Jones, 6 Wizard/4 Cleric of Erollisi Marr.
Volvodor, 10th level Minotaur Fighter.
Syrnio (sp?), Half-Aquatic Elf Monk of the Quivering Palm.
Ned Cin, A recovering Barghest.

The adventurers were asked to perform an impossible task by their patron
and greatest supporter, Lodash the Hermit. Feeling that the only way his
crimes could be truly undone was to assassinate him before he even
committed them. He sent the players back in time to kill him before he
could create Frostmourne, a sword which is the root cause of Pangieas
current woes. Of course this presents problems of paradox, and he has
called in a favour and a certain Ravel will help the party, as she is
immune to temporal changes (what kind of being is immune to such powers,
you didn't get time to ask)

Atleast that was the plan. The spell being interrupted by the Death
Knights of Nuperthurva, the characters had two choices - fight all 12 Death
Knights or go through the unstable portal and take their chances.
Deciding discretion is the better part of valour, Ned Cin leads the way
through the portal arse first thanks to his loving half-brother Volvodor.

The characters find themselves on the Astral Plane, a tad off target. With
the Death Knights hot on their heels they decide to run for it in zero
gravity. They manage to temporarily avoid their pursuers, get involved
with the Githyanki, Githzerai and an Astral Deva (don't ask) and find a red
colour pool off the plane.

Unfortunately red usually means DANGER and the heroes landed on Avernus,
the first of the Nine Hells. They managed to avoid clashing legions of
Baatuzi and Tanari, dodge and weave exploding fireballs and Bloodworms and
after a quick negotiation with Arkle'mens, a pretty, albeit deadly, Baatuzi
they get off the plane.

Only to find themselves in the Mortuary of Sigil, the City of Doors.
Things here get even odder as the players get a sense of dejavu and realise
they have been here before - maybe more then once.

 

[solomanii]

Totally Arbitrary Campaign Setting II

Our intrepid band of adventurers;

Cleopatra Jones, 6th Wizard/4th Cleric of Erollisi Marr.
Volvodor, 10th level Minotaur Fighter.
Syrnio, Half-Aquatic Elf Monk of the Quivering Palm (10th).
Ned Sin, A recovering Barghest (10th).

Our heroes continue to search the strange place they were dumped in. They
learn they are in the Mortuary. The place is run by a faction called the
Dustmen who have an odd view on life, the universe and everything. They
also find out that they have been here before - different versions of
themselves. A particular dustman, Dhall, has seen them on three separate
occasions coming through the Mortuary acting as bewildered as ever.

After more searching and clue finding they finally make their way out.
Before they leave an apparition of a beautiful human female, dressed as a
warrior, appears to Volvodor. She says her name is Deinorra and that
Volvodor was her lover a long time ago. She followed him, as have others,
to their deaths. Volvodor can't remember but promises to try and find a
way to join her or free her. In reply she describes a vision she has seen
of the parties future - they will face their past (or future?) selves, each
one personifying a different shade of the current characters - good, evil
and neutral. They will need to overcome each of them if they hope to ever
have a chance of completing their quest. She fades from view.

They make their way out into Sigil - the City of Doors. They are surprised
to find that the city seems to be built on the inside of a donut shaped
circle/sphere. They are in the slums. They spend sometime looking about.
It is raining and Ned falls into an Ooze puddle. A crowd starts to gather
to watch the fun. He manages to easily free himself from the mephits
grasping hands but fails his Fort check and begins to slowly to turn into
Ooze. Quick thinking Cleopatra attempts to cast a healing spell but
nothing happens. In fact none of her clerical spells work.

She confesses to the rest of the players that she has been having
disturbing dreams about Erollisi Marr and that was obviously a portent to
her now lost connection. Syrio attempts a heal check on Ned but fails.
Ned quaffs a healing potion and the process seems to be reverse. Just in
case Morte suggests perhaps finding a healer of some kind to double check.

Volvodor grabs the nearest human spectator by the collar and lifts him off
the ground and politely asks him to take them to the nearest healer. He
suggests Old Mebbeth who makes her kip in Ragpicker Square. They make
there way there. On the way they notice a tall 6 armed, mostly human,
female who makes a snide comment about them ("Looks like the deaders are
walking about today"). The party decide to make a detour and find out
what she is talking about.

After greasing her palms with jink she mentions that she remembers seeing
the Minotaur, the Aquatic Elf and the Barghest in a Collectors cart about 3
weeks ago. The reason she remembers them at all was because they were
particular unusual pickings for the Hive. She refuses to divulge any more
information (not even her name) and the players state that if she knows
anything else about them it will be worth her while.

They arrive at Mebbeth who helps them out (for the right amount of jink).
She even allows them to rest there. Cleopatra talks to Mebbeth about her
dreams and that she lost contact with Erollisi Marr. Mebbeth is well
aquatinted with the Norathian Pantheon since that is where she originally
came from (not being a native of Sigil).

She explains to Cleo that about 10 years ago the Pantheon was punished by
the Overpower that rules them to spend 1 year and a day on Norrath as
mortals. After that time most of the Norathian powers returned to their
respective positions. Some were killed and replaced my mortals. Erollisi
disappeared completely and she has been missing all that time. Her
brother, Mithaniel Marr has been acting as her proxy for her power and
continues to search for her.

After Cleo describes the "man" in her dreams to Mebbeth who seems to be
holding Erollisi captive Mebbeth instantly recognises the 6 fingered man
with the burning green eyes as Grazz't an Abyssal Lord. If he has her then
trying to find her and retrieve her won't be easy.

She recommends finding a guide who knows the lay of the land and a portal
to get there. The party asks if she know of anyone. Mebbeth points out
that they already have the guide - Morte, who is well aquatinted with
Sigil, the Outlands and the 3 layers that make up Grazz'ts domain. Morte
protests (obviously not wanting to go back there for some reason) but
eventually agrees to lead them to a gate. He knows of one in the Slags.
Its the only door left standing in the whole place and is emblazoned with a
6 fingered palm print.

The party rest for the night and then heads out to the Slags in the
morning. They preserver through a Slag Quake, Razorvine Tumbleweeds, a
Vargoille attack and manage to uncover a Tannari Supply Cache. They also
get the feeling they are being watched and see shadows moving out of the
corner of their eyes, find human remains shaped into a smiley face and the
area is thick with the smell of cinnamon.

These encounters delay their progress and they are forced to spend a night
in the Slags. During the night they are approached by Sir John, a proxy of
Mithaniel Marr who offers to help them. This is the first good lead
Mithanial has on Erollisi Marr and he will help the party as much as he
can. To this end he provides a spell key to Cleo allowing her to not only
channel power directly through Mithaniel Marr but will also allow her
clerical spells to function on the 3 layers ruled by Grazz't.

Game ends for the night. Part 3 in January.

 

[solomanii]

Totally Arbitrary Campaign Setting III

Our intrepid band of adventurers;

Cleopatra Jones, 6th Wizard/4th Cleric of Erollisi Marr.
Volvodor, 10th level Minotaur Fighter.
Syrnio, Half-Aquatic Elf Monk of the Quivering Palm (10th).
Ned Sin, A recovering Barghest (10th).
Glint, Elven Ranger (10th).
Sir John, Human Proxy of Mithaniel Marr (10th Paladin).

The story so far: After being tasked with a strange assassination mission
(to kill their benefactor, a certain Lodash, before he becomes powerful,
i.e. they need to go back in time) and having the time portal misfire
sending them to Baator (via the Astral) the heroes end up in Sigil. They
land smack bang in the middle of the Mortuary and manage to make their way
out with a minimum of fuss and no bloodshed. They spend sometime in the
Hive district and discovered, to their chagrin, that they had been their
before. Atleast, other versions of them had. While this is going on
Cleopatra Jones soon discovers that her clerical spells have stopped
functioning. This was coupled with an affliction of nightmares about
Erollisi Marr (the characters deity) being imprisoned in the Abyss by
Graz'zt. They decide to try and find out what happened to Erollisi. After
some research and garnish they find a portal in the Slaags that leads
directly to Grazz'ts Triple Realm. We pickup the story with the characters
about to approach the portal.

Todays episode: Deciding not to track Kadyx but head directly for the
portal they are "ambushed" by a horde of Dretches and Abyssal Maws. They
dispatch them easily with the help of an old comrade named Glint and Sir
John, the Proxy of Mithaniel Marr (the brother of Erollisi Marr). Both Sir
John and Glint decide to join our heroes in their journey to the Abyss.
Sir John provides Cleopatra Jones with a power key in the shape of a cross
(an X) which will allow her to use her healing spells at full strength in
the Abyss.

In his usual gruff fashion Volvador picks up Ned and throws him through the
portal. Ned doesn't like this one bit and immediately charms Volvador to
stop him "goblin throwing" him through doorways all the time.

No sooner had they come through the portal into the town of Samoria then
they were beset by a band of wandering Bar-lgura "thugs". With some quick
tactical thinking they managed to overcome the thugs with only some of
their resources used (some wounds, a few spells gone etc.). (DMs Note: I
love Bar-lgura, they make excellent opponents against melee heavy party
with their Spring Attack abilities and brutal strength).

After some more research and devising a cunning plan to "disguise" Sir John
(who, as a Paladin, is a big red walking target in the Abyss) as a special
present/prisoner of Mareet (the Succubus who runs Samoria) the party
discovers that it is fairly common knowledge that Grazz't has a lady guest
who fits the description of Erollisi. After a few more close encounters
with the locals (including the closest thing to a police force the town
has, the Lady's Lancers - Alu-Fiend enforcers of Mareet) they are told that
the lords lady guest travels between Samoria and Zelatar the capital of the
triple planes every few months. The journey takes 1 week overland but most
people use the Fiery Cauldrons to teleport from one city to the next. The
Fiery Cauldrons are found throughout the Triple Realm and are miniature
volcanoes of green flames and lava. Some are portals and some are just
tiny geysers of heat and pain.

Garnishing a few of the locals they find a cauldron that will "take them
directly to Zelatar". Of course, this is the Abyss, and instead it drops
them in the middle of the Viper Forest. Zelatar is within sight, but the
party has to spend 2 days and 1 night in the eerie forest (obviously they
didn't use enough garnish).

They spend an uneventful day travelling through the viper forest following
the meandering River of Salt. The forest is bereft of animals and the
trees gently sway even when there is no wind. Glint recognises the trees
as Viper Trees - snake headed abominations.

As night falls (but before the players light a fire) the forest is filled
with an incomprehensible whispering and the nearest trees uproot themselves
and attack the party. Each of the "branches" of the tree turn into full
grown vipers and they strike at the party. Ned is paralysed by the venom
of the tree. The rest of the party carry the fight with a well placed
fireball and alchemical fire (molotov). The trees are highly flammable and
burn quickly, some of them exploding on death and igniting other trees.
Eventually a forest fire starts and the forest becomes a raging inferno.
The heat and the fumes threaten to kill the party. They have the ability
to outrun the fire, but only temporarily since eventually their stamina
will run out. Crossing the river to the other bank (which is flame free)
does not seem possible since the river has a corrosive affect on anything
placed into it. One of the original viper trees the party fell was of huge
size. Using his awesome strength Volvador picks the tree up and uses it as
a bridge to get to the other side of the river. The party manage to make
it across before the tree is completely dissolved.

They watch as the far bank is engulfed in flames. The forest is filled
with whispers ("murderers") as they set-up camp. CJ casts remove paralysis
on Ned and he recovers, but the poison has also debilitated his ability to
co-ordinate (-4 to dex). The party stick close to the bank as far away
from the trees as possible with a large bonfire to keep the trees away.
Inexplicably, Volvador believes that the fire wont keep the trees away and
decides to go for a walk along the beach - alone and without a flame. When
he is 50' away from the party 4 huge Viper Trees animate and attack
catching him by surprise. Volvador, being stubborn, insists he can handle
it himself and tells the party not to intervene. The Trees have other
ideas. On their first attack the first Viper tree scores a critical hit as
well as paralysing Volvador. At this point he still insists he can handle
it (despite being completely immobilised with the added bonus of -4 to
dex). After another round of punishment the party decides to intervene.
The battle is tough and Ned Cin, trying to feed a healing potion to
Volvador is again paralysed and loses another 4 DEX. The night sky is
filled with a fiery red light just after the combatants hear CJ yelling
"INCOMING FIREBALL!" from the campsite (about 50' away). The other players
duck for cover as an incoming Fireball (Sir John takes one for the team
being in the radius of the fireball) lays the remaining viper trees low.

After a night of rest the party moves off, without further incident, to
Zelatar. The poisons DEX penalty is persistent and has not worn off yet
and is unaffected by Neutralise Poison. The game ends for the night.

Glints backstory: John is a new player to 3e but and old hand at d&d.
Glint knows the PCs when they lived on Pangaei and adventured with them
before they went there seperate ways. One of his adventures leads him to a
place called the Anvil of Time. This Anvil is a kind of time machine and
flings him, as far as he can tell, into the future. When he leaves the
Anvil, Pangaei seems to have been decimated by an apocalyptic war. The
land is charred and it seems the old order of undead rulers has been swept
away. The place is ruled by some gaunt, yellow-gray skinned humanoids who
dress in gothic armour. They pursue him for days when they finally trap
him. In a final desperate bid to escape he dives through two overhanging
trees which form a portal that leads to the Sigil sewers beneath the
Slaags.

Sir Johns backstory: Sir John was meant to be a 5 minute NPC who gives the
players some info and the power key. But we had a new player who wanted to
have a go at D&D so we let him take over the reigns of Sir John, hence his
decision to help the party in the abyss. The player was only visiting
Japan for a few weeks so he wont be seeing the rest of this adventure out.