adventures in the new 4e cosmosoly [Archive] - Wizards Community

adventures in the new 4e cosmosoly [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
sciborg2
09-27-07, 01:24 PM here's a thread for adventure ideas in the new cosmology - since this board is the place for such things it seems appropriate. now realize that i have misgivings about the new cosmos but this isn't the thread for that so please keep focused on ideas.

thanks!

(i have something bubbling in my brain I'll post after work)
KingSoft
09-28-07, 12:02 AM I am curious about the rules on the Shadowfell plane. It seems to offer a lot of new and strange adventure opportunities.

Lets say that Bob the fighter (or is it warlord now?) dies in combat before the adventure is over. So the cleric plane shifts over and asks his ghost to scout ahead and tell them what is in the rest of the wizard’s tower. This assumes the players can correctly interpret what Bob sees on the other side corresponds too.

Maybe the new cutoff point between lower level resurrections and high level ones is that the for the low level rez to work you have cast it before the spirit leaves the Shadowlands and goes onto the great beyond. Maybe all 4e raise dead dose is repairs the body and allows the spirit to reenter his body.

This could lead to interesting adventures where the PCs travel to the Shadowfell to literally stop the BBEG from making it back to his body. This would make for an interesting end to a story arch in which the PCs make it though the evil wizard’s tower, kill him, and then enter the shadow plane to attack his soul and bind him so he can’t be resurrected. Of course this assumes the shadow ghosts have physical bodies on the other side and not incorporeal images that inhabit the current shadow plane.

If the ghosts do have physical bodies on the Shadowfell it would strange doing a Shadowfell adventure, because what happens when a player dies, his ghost pops up and says “Well guys that sucked. Lets hope we find lots of gold in this dungeon so I can get resurrected."
sciborg2
09-28-07, 12:43 PM My idea, roughly, is as follows:

Tharizdun was banished into the Tempest, and from his seed of evil came the Abyss. Asmodeus, who knows how many eons later, rebels against his master and attains godhood.

This fact has led to considerable chaos in the divine realms, as Asmodeus being the First Traitor showed that gods could be killed and replaced. It also made the gods wary of their own creations and servants, whom before they had believed to be bound by the fact that they were extensions of the god's own Self.

Asmodeus, for his part, is not pleased with the greater chaos his actions initiated, and since claiming godhood himself has learned about this "seed of Evil". He also broods in his kingdom/prison and wonders about his own free will even as he seeks to shackle all existence to that same will so that the Multiverse will be ordered (think Darkseid).

Why did he rebel, after so many uncountable centuries or even millennia of loyal service? (Before killing his master, he was not truly aware of the passage of time) Was it corruption by this seed? And if his will is not his own now, was it before when he served his original master?

While the rest of the Lords of Nine conspire against each other while gnashing their teeth at their imprisonment (and also angry that Asmo failed to mention this would happen when they rebelled) Asmodeus seeks servants/slaves to find and speak to the one being closest to the Seed of Evil who might offer him some clue
to either proving that he is the author of his own thoughts or if he is not. If he is enslaved by Tharizdun or merely corrupted by him, this being might help him win his freedom.

And so the Lord of Hell seeks to make contact with the first to arise from the corrupted elements, Demogorgon Prince of Demons.
Alas
09-28-07, 01:55 PM Adventure ideas for the new cosmology, eh? Here's a few I'd consider running my players through:

Stories of a "bottomless pit" lead the party to a cursed well. It clearly reaches into some sort of elemental pool, but is it water, liquid crystal, or the Abyss? And who installed this brand new rope and bucket?
The party has a rare chance to rescue an NPC friend who died before his time by giving a local lord of the dead a "place holder." The party has to carry a life-size statue through the Shadowfell to the lord's court-- but can they make it past the jealous ghosts outside the gates, and can they pick their friend out of the crowd?
Winter drags on and on, threatening to starve the countryside. A druid informs the party that the Herald of Spring has been trapped by the Rime Court. If they want to see green again, they'll have to travel through a frozen stretch of the Feywild to free the Herald. But how do you sneak up on a palace of ice? And who are the members of this Court?
While traversing the Astral Sea, the party rescues an old woman who claims to be a goddess, locked out of her own realm long ago. If the party can restore her to her throne, their reward will be fantastic. But who has the key to her realm, and what exactly was she a goddess of?
Just brainstorming.
sciborg2
10-01-07, 10:36 PM For centuries, many have believed the Feywyld and the Shadowfell to be reflections of the mortal world. Yet when a war large enough to engulf both planes erupts, ripples in the 'fields we know' show that all three are bound together. It begins with a cold breeze on a summer's day, or a whisper in the ear when there is no one around you.

Slowly, in some places the night seems to be longer, day's shorter and even then the sunlight shines through a sky of frosted glass that doesn't quite seem to be cloud cover. Graves are discovered empty, children begin to disappear only to return filled with so much joy that can't be other than insane only to wake up screaming for the Piper's song.

All signs point to the war between the two realms consuming the world...
Taeldrin Laesrash
10-01-07, 11:54 PM The whole 'reflections of the Material Plane' thing of the Feywild and Shadowfell could make for some interesting dungeons.

For eons, the Temple of the Umbral Grove has stood, the last remaining relic of an ancient race of plane-travelling wizards. Legend has it that their secrets were buried within the Temple, but it has been built across three planes. To find these secrets, its plunderers would have to brave a reflection of a reflection of a reflection as they cross a structure that is different with every door you walk through.
RadicalTaoist
10-02-07, 12:26 AM What do I do with my Ethergaunts now? Hmmmmm....
sciborg2
10-02-07, 09:36 AM I'd probably put them either in a new plane in the Astral Sea, or make Ether the border between the Prime and the Elemental Tempest.
dfarnsworth
10-02-07, 12:05 PM Depending what elements they incorporate for the Shadowfell I think I will be using some of the Ghostwalk rules and allowing travel to the Shadowfell through certain manifest zones. There was some great material there that was greatly underused.
I am also a fan of the Shadar-Kai and can't wait to see what has been done to them.

But as for adventures...
An ancient lord of the dead is capturing and cannibalizing the souls of the newly dead in a bid for "Godhood" and hey didn't Pruitt just die???

A wood known for mysterious dissappearances and strange happenings has suddenly grown a little darker when a body is found mutilated in a grove. Signs point to a ritual, but to what end and was it successful?
Paradox_of_Life
10-03-07, 04:22 AM Battling some powerful entity, one of the party members loses its life. But do the power of this entity, no mere spell will work, so they must go to the shadowfell to find their friend's soul and re-bind it to its body. However, they find someone who is clearly different from their friend, but whom all divinations point out IS their friend. This spirit seems to spin tales of a whole new reality they the party doesn't understand. Where could this spirit come from, and could there have been a mix-up?

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
sciborg2 09-27-07, 01:24 PM	here's a thread for adventure ideas in the new cosmology - since this board is the place for such things it seems appropriate. now realize that i have misgivings about the new cosmos but this isn't the thread for that so please keep focused on ideas. thanks! (i have something bubbling in my brain I'll post after work)
KingSoft 09-28-07, 12:02 AM	I am curious about the rules on the Shadowfell plane. It seems to offer a lot of new and strange adventure opportunities. Lets say that Bob the fighter (or is it warlord now?) dies in combat before the adventure is over. So the cleric plane shifts over and asks his ghost to scout ahead and tell them what is in the rest of the wizard’s tower. This assumes the players can correctly interpret what Bob sees on the other side corresponds too. Maybe the new cutoff point between lower level resurrections and high level ones is that the for the low level rez to work you have cast it before the spirit leaves the Shadowlands and goes onto the great beyond. Maybe all 4e raise dead dose is repairs the body and allows the spirit to reenter his body. This could lead to interesting adventures where the PCs travel to the Shadowfell to literally stop the BBEG from making it back to his body. This would make for an interesting end to a story arch in which the PCs make it though the evil wizard’s tower, kill him, and then enter the shadow plane to attack his soul and bind him so he can’t be resurrected. Of course this assumes the shadow ghosts have physical bodies on the other side and not incorporeal images that inhabit the current shadow plane. If the ghosts do have physical bodies on the Shadowfell it would strange doing a Shadowfell adventure, because what happens when a player dies, his ghost pops up and says “Well guys that sucked. Lets hope we find lots of gold in this dungeon so I can get resurrected."
sciborg2 09-28-07, 12:43 PM	My idea, roughly, is as follows: Tharizdun was banished into the Tempest, and from his seed of evil came the Abyss. Asmodeus, who knows how many eons later, rebels against his master and attains godhood. This fact has led to considerable chaos in the divine realms, as Asmodeus being the First Traitor showed that gods could be killed and replaced. It also made the gods wary of their own creations and servants, whom before they had believed to be bound by the fact that they were extensions of the god's own Self. Asmodeus, for his part, is not pleased with the greater chaos his actions initiated, and since claiming godhood himself has learned about this "seed of Evil". He also broods in his kingdom/prison and wonders about his own free will even as he seeks to shackle all existence to that same will so that the Multiverse will be ordered (think Darkseid). Why did he rebel, after so many uncountable centuries or even millennia of loyal service? (Before killing his master, he was not truly aware of the passage of time) Was it corruption by this seed? And if his will is not his own now, was it before when he served his original master? While the rest of the Lords of Nine conspire against each other while gnashing their teeth at their imprisonment (and also angry that Asmo failed to mention this would happen when they rebelled) Asmodeus seeks servants/slaves to find and speak to the one being closest to the Seed of Evil who might offer him some clue to either proving that he is the author of his own thoughts or if he is not. If he is enslaved by Tharizdun or merely corrupted by him, this being might help him win his freedom. And so the Lord of Hell seeks to make contact with the first to arise from the corrupted elements, Demogorgon Prince of Demons.
Alas 09-28-07, 01:55 PM	Adventure ideas for the new cosmology, eh? Here's a few I'd consider running my players through: Stories of a "bottomless pit" lead the party to a cursed well. It clearly reaches into some sort of elemental pool, but is it water, liquid crystal, or the Abyss? And who installed this brand new rope and bucket? The party has a rare chance to rescue an NPC friend who died before his time by giving a local lord of the dead a "place holder." The party has to carry a life-size statue through the Shadowfell to the lord's court-- but can they make it past the jealous ghosts outside the gates, and can they pick their friend out of the crowd? Winter drags on and on, threatening to starve the countryside. A druid informs the party that the Herald of Spring has been trapped by the Rime Court. If they want to see green again, they'll have to travel through a frozen stretch of the Feywild to free the Herald. But how do you sneak up on a palace of ice? And who are the members of this Court? While traversing the Astral Sea, the party rescues an old woman who claims to be a goddess, locked out of her own realm long ago. If the party can restore her to her throne, their reward will be fantastic. But who has the key to her realm, and what exactly was she a goddess of? Just brainstorming.
sciborg2 10-01-07, 10:36 PM	For centuries, many have believed the Feywyld and the Shadowfell to be reflections of the mortal world. Yet when a war large enough to engulf both planes erupts, ripples in the 'fields we know' show that all three are bound together. It begins with a cold breeze on a summer's day, or a whisper in the ear when there is no one around you. Slowly, in some places the night seems to be longer, day's shorter and even then the sunlight shines through a sky of frosted glass that doesn't quite seem to be cloud cover. Graves are discovered empty, children begin to disappear only to return filled with so much joy that can't be other than insane only to wake up screaming for the Piper's song. All signs point to the war between the two realms consuming the world...
Taeldrin Laesrash 10-01-07, 11:54 PM	The whole 'reflections of the Material Plane' thing of the Feywild and Shadowfell could make for some interesting dungeons. For eons, the Temple of the Umbral Grove has stood, the last remaining relic of an ancient race of plane-travelling wizards. Legend has it that their secrets were buried within the Temple, but it has been built across three planes. To find these secrets, its plunderers would have to brave a reflection of a reflection of a reflection as they cross a structure that is different with every door you walk through.
RadicalTaoist 10-02-07, 12:26 AM	What do I do with my Ethergaunts now? Hmmmmm....
sciborg2 10-02-07, 09:36 AM	I'd probably put them either in a new plane in the Astral Sea, or make Ether the border between the Prime and the Elemental Tempest.
dfarnsworth 10-02-07, 12:05 PM	Depending what elements they incorporate for the Shadowfell I think I will be using some of the Ghostwalk rules and allowing travel to the Shadowfell through certain manifest zones. There was some great material there that was greatly underused. I am also a fan of the Shadar-Kai and can't wait to see what has been done to them. But as for adventures... An ancient lord of the dead is capturing and cannibalizing the souls of the newly dead in a bid for "Godhood" and hey didn't Pruitt just die??? A wood known for mysterious dissappearances and strange happenings has suddenly grown a little darker when a body is found mutilated in a grove. Signs point to a ritual, but to what end and was it successful?
Paradox_of_Life 10-03-07, 04:22 AM	Battling some powerful entity, one of the party members loses its life. But do the power of this entity, no mere spell will work, so they must go to the shadowfell to find their friend's soul and re-bind it to its body. However, they find someone who is clearly different from their friend, but whom all divinations point out IS their friend. This spirit seems to spin tales of a whole new reality they the party doesn't understand. Where could this spirit come from, and could there have been a mix-up?