Breaking an unwritten rule. ^_~ [Archive] - Wizards Community

Breaking an unwritten rule. ^_~ [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
ZeronHitaro
09-04-07, 08:04 PM Not something to be tossed into every campaign. This is just something I came up with to alleviate the stress of super long dungeon crawls and just one of my campaigns nods to outside sources, such as CRPGs. Granted I wouldn't mind feedback on if the XP costs are too steep or too little considering the negative side effects of over use.

Major Artifact

Sphere of Creation

A sphere of creation is a globe of soft green energy with two rings of arcane runes rotating over its surface. This sphere, while not anchored or resting on anything, floats in midair as is suspended by an unseen force and cannot be moved by any means. However this sphere can instantly teleport itself anywhere on any plane if a creature has need of it, because of this one not able to slow the world itself down may be led to believe more than one sphere of creation exists (which is untrue, only one Sphere of Creation may exist at anytime). Also, a sphere of creation will never appear where there is combat or any major source of strife and irritation to the creature attempting to call on it. (In short: You cannot call on a sphere of creation to heal you during a fight, or while on the run from a dragon, ect.)

A sphere of creation has the special function of being able to absorb soul energy from a living being and in exchange provide energy and vitality to the creature whosse soul energy it was fed. If enough soul energy is fed to a sphere of creation it is said it can re-create a dead creature from virtually nothing. By touching a sphere of creation, a creature may deposit experience points for one of two effects.

Spiritual Refreshment: By depositing 10 XP x Hit Die, the creature may fully refresh her body with energy and vigor. This effect restores all hit points, spells, power points, ect and treats the creature as if he/she had just had a full night's worth of rest, allowing a creature to travel 24 hours a day without sleep if repeated.

Absolute Restoration: A creature may elect to deposit 200 XP x Hit Die into a sphere of creation. Doing so allows the sphere to make a record of that creature at that specific point in time. If that creature dies at any point in time, they are regenerated at the location the sphere was when they deposited the experience points with the same level, equipment, and experience the creature had immediately after paying the experience cost to the sphere of creation for this effect as if a true ressurection spell had been cast with the aforementioned alterations.

But,...there is risk for using a sphere of creation. Because the forces in the sphere of creation are always at work, too much soul energy can result in a variety of unusual effects depending on how much soul energy a specific creature has given over to the sphere.

10,000+ XP Invested: Every day there is a 10% chance a sphere of creation will create an Aleax of the creature who has deposited the soul energy. This Aleax will target the creature regardless of alignment and if the player dies to it, the sphere of creation is treated as the deity who sent forth the Aleax. This effect will constantly be in play until the player defeats the Aleax, at which point the 10% is never rerolled again for the rest of this player's life.

25,000+ XP Invested: There is a 5% chance that every time the creature who deposited the soul energy uses the sphere of creation that they will be sucked into a semi-plane created by the excess deposited energy. The traits, size, and natives of this plane are randomly determined. However the creature transported by the sphere is considered native to this plane as well without inheriting the outsider type. Also, the sphere does not provide a way back to the creature's original plane.

50,000+ XP Invested: There is a 3% chance (which increased by an additional 3% for every use past the first at the 50,000 marker) that every time the creature who has deposted this much soul energy uses the sphere, that a sphere of annhilation will be formed 3 feet away from the sphere of creation and will orbit the sphere of creation forever or until an outside source moves the sphere of annhilation. DCs for separating a sphere of annhilation from orbit around a sphere of creation are doubled.

Strong transmutation; CL 30th.
groveborn
09-05-07, 03:43 AM You've failed to mention how it would be summoned. Furthermore you've made it too cheap for creating what amounts to a save feature. I'd drop that one altogether, otherwise it could seriously unbalance your game.
ZeronHitaro
09-05-07, 12:40 PM You've failed to mention how it would be summoned. Furthermore you've made it too cheap for creating what amounts to a save feature. I'd drop that one altogether, otherwise it could seriously unbalance your game.

Actually I have. It's written in the description.

"However this sphere can instantly teleport itself anywhere on any plane if a creature has need of it..."

Saying it's too cheap is one thing, however I'd at least like you to specify what XP amount you don't consider "cheap".

Also balance has yet to be an issue. Players still are dying, psions and wizards run out of steam after 3+ dungeon floors, and none of them are really that willing to spend so much XP for a "save point" feature as of yet. Heck it even took pointing out how dangerous trying to set up camp outside an enemy fortress would be for them to even use the full healing feature, and they're only level 5. :-P If players are that reluctant to part with 50 xp I doubt they'd part with 200 x HD without very good reason.
groveborn
09-05-07, 02:51 PM So what you're saying is that it'll appear any time something is dying...or needs to save their game? Artifacts usually have to be found, then possessed by something before it'll obey their needs.
ZeronHitaro
09-05-07, 02:56 PM So what you're saying is that it'll appear any time something is dying...or needs to save their game? Artifacts usually have to be found, then possessed by something before it'll obey their needs.

*sigh* I already covered that in the original write up. Not "anytime". If someone's dying and the party doesn't happen to be in the middle of combat or are being pursued or are under any circumstance that would be considered at risk to their health/life the Sphere of Creation will refuse to manifest itself.

If you need something to possess it then consider it an semi-intelligent artifact, I'd write that in myself only I am unfamiliar with the rules of ego scores and what not.

And if you want to be technical about it's function then it's not so much "obeying" someone as it's recognizing "Hey, this person's offering me soul energy. I like soul energy, I can use it to create all sorts of things like new planes or even replications of physical beings." A guess a comparison would be an undead's "need" to feed on flesh despite being dead. Only the Sphere doesn't force people into combat and kill them to satiate its desire.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
ZeronHitaro 09-04-07, 08:04 PM	Not something to be tossed into every campaign. This is just something I came up with to alleviate the stress of super long dungeon crawls and just one of my campaigns nods to outside sources, such as CRPGs. Granted I wouldn't mind feedback on if the XP costs are too steep or too little considering the negative side effects of over use. Major Artifact Sphere of Creation A sphere of creation is a globe of soft green energy with two rings of arcane runes rotating over its surface. This sphere, while not anchored or resting on anything, floats in midair as is suspended by an unseen force and cannot be moved by any means. However this sphere can instantly teleport itself anywhere on any plane if a creature has need of it, because of this one not able to slow the world itself down may be led to believe more than one sphere of creation exists (which is untrue, only one Sphere of Creation may exist at anytime). Also, a sphere of creation will never appear where there is combat or any major source of strife and irritation to the creature attempting to call on it. (In short: You cannot call on a sphere of creation to heal you during a fight, or while on the run from a dragon, ect.) A sphere of creation has the special function of being able to absorb soul energy from a living being and in exchange provide energy and vitality to the creature whosse soul energy it was fed. If enough soul energy is fed to a sphere of creation it is said it can re-create a dead creature from virtually nothing. By touching a sphere of creation, a creature may deposit experience points for one of two effects. Spiritual Refreshment: By depositing 10 XP x Hit Die, the creature may fully refresh her body with energy and vigor. This effect restores all hit points, spells, power points, ect and treats the creature as if he/she had just had a full night's worth of rest, allowing a creature to travel 24 hours a day without sleep if repeated. Absolute Restoration: A creature may elect to deposit 200 XP x Hit Die into a sphere of creation. Doing so allows the sphere to make a record of that creature at that specific point in time. If that creature dies at any point in time, they are regenerated at the location the sphere was when they deposited the experience points with the same level, equipment, and experience the creature had immediately after paying the experience cost to the sphere of creation for this effect as if a true ressurection spell had been cast with the aforementioned alterations. But,...there is risk for using a sphere of creation. Because the forces in the sphere of creation are always at work, too much soul energy can result in a variety of unusual effects depending on how much soul energy a specific creature has given over to the sphere. 10,000+ XP Invested: Every day there is a 10% chance a sphere of creation will create an Aleax of the creature who has deposited the soul energy. This Aleax will target the creature regardless of alignment and if the player dies to it, the sphere of creation is treated as the deity who sent forth the Aleax. This effect will constantly be in play until the player defeats the Aleax, at which point the 10% is never rerolled again for the rest of this player's life. 25,000+ XP Invested: There is a 5% chance that every time the creature who deposited the soul energy uses the sphere of creation that they will be sucked into a semi-plane created by the excess deposited energy. The traits, size, and natives of this plane are randomly determined. However the creature transported by the sphere is considered native to this plane as well without inheriting the outsider type. Also, the sphere does not provide a way back to the creature's original plane. 50,000+ XP Invested: There is a 3% chance (which increased by an additional 3% for every use past the first at the 50,000 marker) that every time the creature who has deposted this much soul energy uses the sphere, that a sphere of annhilation will be formed 3 feet away from the sphere of creation and will orbit the sphere of creation forever or until an outside source moves the sphere of annhilation. DCs for separating a sphere of annhilation from orbit around a sphere of creation are doubled. Strong transmutation; CL 30th.
groveborn 09-05-07, 03:43 AM	You've failed to mention how it would be summoned. Furthermore you've made it too cheap for creating what amounts to a save feature. I'd drop that one altogether, otherwise it could seriously unbalance your game.
ZeronHitaro 09-05-07, 12:40 PM	You've failed to mention how it would be summoned. Furthermore you've made it too cheap for creating what amounts to a save feature. I'd drop that one altogether, otherwise it could seriously unbalance your game. Actually I have. It's written in the description. "However this sphere can instantly teleport itself anywhere on any plane if a creature has need of it..." Saying it's too cheap is one thing, however I'd at least like you to specify what XP amount you don't consider "cheap". Also balance has yet to be an issue. Players still are dying, psions and wizards run out of steam after 3+ dungeon floors, and none of them are really that willing to spend so much XP for a "save point" feature as of yet. Heck it even took pointing out how dangerous trying to set up camp outside an enemy fortress would be for them to even use the full healing feature, and they're only level 5. :-P If players are that reluctant to part with 50 xp I doubt they'd part with 200 x HD without very good reason.
groveborn 09-05-07, 02:51 PM	So what you're saying is that it'll appear any time something is dying...or needs to save their game? Artifacts usually have to be found, then possessed by something before it'll obey their needs.
ZeronHitaro 09-05-07, 02:56 PM	So what you're saying is that it'll appear any time something is dying...or needs to save their game? Artifacts usually have to be found, then possessed by something before it'll obey their needs. sigh I already covered that in the original write up. Not "anytime". If someone's dying and the party doesn't happen to be in the middle of combat or are being pursued or are under any circumstance that would be considered at risk to their health/life the Sphere of Creation will refuse to manifest itself. If you need something to possess it then consider it an semi-intelligent artifact, I'd write that in myself only I am unfamiliar with the rules of ego scores and what not. And if you want to be technical about it's function then it's not so much "obeying" someone as it's recognizing "Hey, this person's offering me soul energy. I like soul energy, I can use it to create all sorts of things like new planes or even replications of physical beings." A guess a comparison would be an undead's "need" to feed on flesh despite being dead. Only the Sphere doesn't force people into combat and kill them to satiate its desire.