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<blockquote data-quote="aboyd" data-source="post: 5019587" data-attributes="member: 44797">Hey gang.&nbsp; My players have blown off a module (DCC #23, Sunken Ziggurat) 3 times, and now I need to figure out a plausible result.&nbsp; We're mostly just making stuff up, so feel free to throw out ideas.&nbsp; I'll give you 2 paragraphs of background info to go on.BackgroundThe module was placed in the Lone Heath marshlands -- there are no evil lizardfolk out there; mostly just humans reside there, if anyone.&nbsp; The players were scouting for another module on their first interaction with the Sunken Ziggurat (like a pyramid).&nbsp; They mostly just saw &quot;unnatural storm clouds&quot; a few miles off, but decided to stick to their main objective.&nbsp; They didn't come back for weeks, and my thought was that in weeks the ziggurat would have laid waste to the lands, so I reset the module's timer.&nbsp; The second time out, they ignored it again.&nbsp; I wasn't sure what to do.&nbsp; This third time, during today's game, it was now weeks later in the game world again, and they blew it off again.&nbsp; I cannot keep resetting the module's timing.&nbsp; I've decided that bad bad things have now definitely, definitively happened -- not to the players, but to the rest of the area, and the module is now closed to the players (other heroes would have solved it, or perhaps the surrounding lands are now utterly destroyed).Here is what happens.&nbsp; The module says that there are &quot;Spirits of Uru-Nuk&quot; being created by a defiled altar, deep in the ziggurat.&nbsp; These are created 1 per round.&nbsp; Having blown off the module for probably 2 months in game time (not counting the first sighting, which I reset), that means approximately 864,000 spirits have flown out into the world.&nbsp; The Spirit of Madness is a CR 4, casting hypnotic patterns, confusion spells, and its touch can reduce wisdom to 0 (catatonic, nightmares).&nbsp; The Plague Spirit is a CR 5 and casts contagion.&nbsp; The Storm Spirit is CR 6, hurls 1 lightning bolt per day, and slams for shock damage.&nbsp; They all have DR 5/magic, and elemental traits.My thoughtsI might ignore the module's &quot;one monster created per round&quot; text and assume that the number was not constant (rather, the apex of an ongoing process, which the PCs just happened to stumble into at a bad moment).&nbsp; But even if I were to say that &quot;only&quot; 1000 of these spirits were created, it seems like they would utterly destroy or corrupt small communities.&nbsp; I'm OK with that.&nbsp; Name towns if you like, and what you think would happen.&nbsp; I'm even OK hearing what 864,000 of these critters might do, and who might be called to stop it (if possible).&nbsp; I'm willing to consider that the entire game shifts to post-apocalyptic, if need be.&nbsp; Or perhaps the Fiend Sage of Rel Astra will pull another &quot;Crook of Rao&quot; stunt and banish all the spirits with some artifact?&nbsp; What ideas do you think are plausible?&nbsp; What would you project would be the outcome of thousands of CR 4/5/6 spirits descending upon the land?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="aboyd, post: 5019587, member: 44797"] Hey gang. My players have blown off a module (DCC #23, Sunken Ziggurat) 3 times, and now I need to figure out a plausible result. We're mostly just making stuff up, so feel free to throw out ideas. I'll give you 2 paragraphs of background info to go on. [SIZE="5"]Background[/SIZE] The module was placed in the Lone Heath marshlands -- there are no evil lizardfolk out there; mostly just humans reside there, if anyone. The players were scouting for another module on their first interaction with the Sunken Ziggurat (like a pyramid). They mostly just saw "unnatural storm clouds" a few miles off, but decided to stick to their main objective. They didn't come back for weeks, and my thought was that in weeks the ziggurat would have laid waste to the lands, so I reset the module's timer. The second time out, they ignored it again. I wasn't sure what to do. This third time, during today's game, it was now weeks later in the game world again, and they blew it off again. I cannot keep resetting the module's timing. I've decided that bad bad things have now definitely, definitively happened -- not to the players, but to the rest of the area, and the module is now closed to the players (other heroes would have solved it, or perhaps the surrounding lands are now utterly destroyed). Here is what happens. The module says that there are "Spirits of Uru-Nuk" being created by a defiled altar, deep in the ziggurat. These are created [I]1 per round[/I]. Having blown off the module for probably 2 months in game time (not counting the first sighting, which I reset), that means approximately 864,000 spirits have flown out into the world. The Spirit of Madness is a CR 4, casting hypnotic patterns, confusion spells, and its touch can reduce wisdom to 0 (catatonic, nightmares). The Plague Spirit is a CR 5 and casts contagion. The Storm Spirit is CR 6, hurls 1 lightning bolt per day, and slams for shock damage. They all have DR 5/magic, and elemental traits. [SIZE="5"]My thoughts[/SIZE] I might ignore the module's "one monster created per round" text and assume that the number was not constant (rather, the apex of an ongoing process, which the PCs just happened to stumble into at a bad moment). But even if I were to say that "only" 1000 of these spirits were created, it seems like they would utterly destroy or corrupt small communities. I'm OK with that. Name towns if you like, and what you think would happen. I'm even OK hearing what 864,000 of these critters might do, and who might be called to stop it (if possible). I'm willing to consider that the entire game shifts to post-apocalyptic, if need be. Or perhaps the Fiend Sage of Rel Astra will pull another "Crook of Rao" stunt and banish all the spirits with some artifact? What ideas do you think are plausible? What would you project would be the outcome of thousands of CR 4/5/6 spirits descending upon the land? [/QUOTE]

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