Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Daldolin15 11-20-04, 08:07 PM	Hello all, this is kind of a random campaign idea that has been turning around in my mind that has no real urgency right now which I want to plan out ahead of time. Its time for short campaign story-hour just to bring anyone who cares up to speed... In my current campaign "The Province of Pillsnarth" (running for a year and a half) I introduced my players to homebrew world of Narek. For the most part my PCs have been moving about, defeating evil, and ultimately prevented the opening of a gate to Carceri. Now that things are winding down they are hunting down the remaining bad guys who got away from them and soon enough the campaign will be over and they can all go their separate ways to make names for themselves in other lands. However, my campaign world is much, much deeper then a single province and its strange planer troubles... During the course of the campaign the PCs were all killed, basically their enemies ambushed them and totally ripped them apart. However, instead of waking up in the after-life they awoke in strange soul chilling castle where they met a mysterious "man" who offered them their lives back for a future price. He swore that price was not their souls, for he explained that he did not need their permission to have those, but rather something that they would have no problem doing when the time came. And so the bad guys, thinking the PCs were dead, were taken completely off guard by their completely unexpected return and thus have lost. On the eve of their battle with the wizard behind it all the PCs once again found themselves before the "man" who finally named his price. "Show your enemy no mercy, kill the wizard." was all he asked of them. Although they cannot fathom why he would want them to do this they had always intended to kill the wizard and it looks like they are going on without a second thought. What they don't know though could spell doom for the world... Long ago, before even existence of the younger gods, a creature (I don't know what I want it to be, that’s ultimately what I want to get from everyone's opinions) was fought and defeated by the ancient powers. Unable to truly kill the being they flung it as far from creation as they could and forged a prison to keep it there. That prison was the world of Narek. However, the being was not alone on the planet for the ancients left behind jail keepers to keep watch and make sure that nothing ever disrupted the stability of the massive jail cell. These keepers could best be compared to constructs like inevitables, but to do so would be like comparing a human commoner to an archon. They were literal paragons of construction patiently going through the millennia sealing any and all cracks that developed in the grand prison. And so it was for millions of years until the metal guardians finally began to rust. One by one each of the keepers began to simply fall apart and soon only two remained. The most powerful of the keepers "Exodus" remained deep inside the planet at the very door to the being's cell and thus is insane from millions of years of its corrupting voice, while the least powerful of the keepers simply called "The Watcher" remained on the surface, too weak to prevent what came next. As the keepers faded away they shouted to their ancient creators to come back and to fix them, but by then those powers had passed and the new gods of the present had taken their places. These new gods did not know about the dangers of the prison, and so when they found it they began to seed it with life so as to gain worship and more power over their peers. Today Narek is covered with intelligent beings. Creatures that use arcane and divine magic freely and without thought of greater consequences. Slowly these creatures unwittingly rust away at the bars of the prison and the creature deep within the planet stirs, because for the first time since the beginning of time it catches the whiff of fresh air... So going back to my PCs...The wizard that they are fighting is not truly a wizard at all. The way it’s been tossing around arcane spells they've been assuming it’s an epic wizard of some sort. However, a few nights ago they also saw it cast divine spells and after I assured them I was not cheating they realized that there is more to him then they originally thought. The wizard, Beleth, is actually "The Watcher" who after thousands of years of watching life tear up the prison has decided to take action. Its attempt to wipe all life off the planet has been thwarted and now it’s running through the bowels of the earth to find "Exodus" and figure out what to do next. However, the being deep inside the planet now has the power to actually affect the world in minor ways. The "man" the PCs made a deal with is he. Slowly over the course of the game he has given them hints that have lead to their success and thus has prevented "The Watcher" from succeeding. Now all it needs is for its remaining keepers to die and it can finally try to free itself from the prison. Appearances of the being: The "man" appeared the first time as a hooded blue robed figure with a white expressionless mask covering his face. The PCs were able to see some kind of fleshy substance moving behind the eye holes and it left behind acidic foot prints when it walked. It lived in what appeared to be a large castle but the PCs noticed that it was chained to the wall of a single room and could not move beyond there. Its second appearance was in the same form, but this time the PCs found themselves in an area composed completely of metal grating with the smell of blood overwhelming their senses. This time he was not held by chains but rather floated freely, however he also was incorporeal and did not leave behind footprints. Just at the edge of their light sources they were able to make out what appeared to be a wall of flesh which a few of the PCs realized was a hand the size of a city chained to some kind of massive metal bar. Okay, I wrote enough for now. I've forgotten to put in plenty of stuff, but I might as well hear what everyone has to say for now.
I wish I was 11-20-04, 08:22 PM	Pretty incompasing thoughts dude. I must point out a couple things here though, that kind of irked me. They both happen to deal with the gaurdians. First you would thinke if they were perfect creations made by the ancient powers, would not rust. Also you would think that there would be contingencies just in case anything went wrong. Oh well, other than that I thought it was pretty nifty. And about the creature, I would say it would not really have a natural form, it would be like an incaporeal cloud thing. In any case, it was a pretty good idea, and have fun.
bastet 11-20-04, 08:40 PM	:blink: :OMG! dude if this thing is so eeeeeeevil what are your pcs going to do about it? i agree with the previose post about the lack of contingence plan, thought its more of a metaforicale rust right? also thair dose not seem to be eny happy ending only this evil thing kicking the new gods @ss's and roping happly around the univers so what exsactly do you entened to halve eny way for the pcs to come out of this alive? also what are you pcs levles i dont mean to be meen but i am trying to ofer consturctive critisime, i actule love the idea
MageofMyth 11-20-04, 08:48 PM	Wow, what a great concept, I can't wait to hear how it eventually plays out.
Ayers 11-20-04, 08:48 PM	First you would thinke if they were perfect creations made by the ancient powers, would not rust. Also you would think that there would be contingencies just in case anything went wrong. Maybe the contingenciy plan failed or something, I mean the Titanic was supposed to be unsinkable, but it still happened. Perhaps the evil being managed to slowly rust away the ancients, who knows if it was through magic, or what. Daldolin15, I really like the idea, I think it is awsome having a being of evilness trapped at the center of the earth. What is the importance of the wizard? He is some kind of guardian or something, or is he evil? I think you got an awsome campaign going on here, and I am totaly going to steal this idea and use it in one of my 40 some worlds. Have fun with it, and I hope to hear more.
TemporalEnergon 11-20-04, 08:49 PM	When did he say the keepers were perfect? Anyways, maybe the being has enough power to have several "avatars". These would not be lesser copies of it, but instead they would all be totally different beings that are just shards of its power and are still controled by it. The "Man" is an example of this. maybe "he" is just the first of several avatars that has been able to get out of the confines of the prison due to the weakening of the cell. This approach allows you to use a wide variety of creatures to represent the being before ever having to decide on its final form. I do like the thought of combing this with I Wish I Was's idea of an icorporeal cloud f dark power, since the PCs will eventually nedd something physical to confront.
Vix Damnul v2 11-20-04, 09:09 PM	You can go with the most obvious choice of imprisoned being, that of a titan, like cronos. Huge, check, immensely powerful, check, ancient beyond measure, check, power to rival gods... well, make it an elder titan, and check. I think they're from the epic level handbook, not completely sure, though. Just alter the keepers so that it wasn't gods that made them and imprisoned the titan, but rather a now-extinct race of primal beings of incredible, but still limited, power. Of course, your outline really begs the question of why these powerful beings imprisoned this thing, rather than destroy it, even though you said they lacked that power. I suggest make the titan some sort of primal being tied closely into an element of life or creation, even if it's just an avatar of chaos, whose destruction would throw the world so far out of whack that an orderly obliteration of all creation would eventually follow. Then again, if you're concerned over how to truly stop this thing, simply put an obelisk somewhere with the words "in case of escaping titan, break" or something. This ancient obelisk, when broken, could release the last member of that race, long held in stasis for just such an eventuality, or something like a key to seal away the being forever, or just chuck it into the depths of carceri, the original multipurpose millenial prison, which just so happens to require the willing sacrifice of one of the imprisoned beings own servitors (the PCs).
Daldolin15 11-21-04, 03:16 AM	Alright, now that I've gotten some responses I can try to flesh out the idea by answering the questions. I wish I was, the guardians by the time they started to break down had been around for an absolutely huge period of time. Their creators (whoever they were) made them to last for a very long time and while they were still around kept on eye on the prison. The reason that the keepers broke down without anyone doing anything about it is because the creators were long gone by the time it happened and thus were not around to repair their creations. bastet, this plotline will not be finished during the current campaign. At best they will kill or show mercy for "the watcher" and thus set up a chain of events for my next campaign. My next campaign will take place 200 years later after this one and it will be those PCs who have to deal with the machinations of the prisoner. Ayers, the wizard Beleth= The Watcher. Yes, he is one of the guardians and in some aspects you may see him/it as evil. The Watcher has been sitting around watching the races of the world slowly eat away at the jail he is supposed to be guarding and has not seen another one of its kind for an eternity. Its original function was to look for cracks and report them to its higher ups who would repair them. Therefore it keeps finding cracks but does not have the ability to fix them himself. In a last drastic attempt to fulfill its purpose Beleth basically created a plan that would lead to the destruction of most intelligent life on the planet. However, it has now failed mainly due to the PCs (who were returned to life by the prisoner) and is frantically trying to decide what to do as the PCs approach the fortress it has hidden in. Unlike the other keeper, the watcher is very killable by high level PCs (they'll soon by 20) and is in actual mortal danger as the PCs fast approach. It does not yet realize that Exodus has been driven insane by the prisoner and so is trying to make contact with its last remaining kindred. Very interesting ideas you guys have given me so far, especially the dark cloud of force. I'm not yet sure on how the PCs will beat it, that comes at the end...hehe...I would likely end it with the PCs sealing the prisoner up again and never actually killing it.
friggenni 11-21-04, 01:18 PM	Actually, you could make it so that the PC's have no choice but to reseal the creature. As you said earlier the world was made as a prison for the creature and if that prison was destroyed then I would imagine that the same would happen with the planet. A creature this powerful is basically an overgod, and as such we all need to be reminded that such creatures if they actuallly have/had a form probably never use it or only on very rare occasions even think about it. Ultimately, there could be several ways to handle this situation. They could find some ancient magic....either arcane, devine or device that would allow them to start repairing the jail. Just because the watcher didn't know how to repair the jail doesn't mean that the pc's couldn't figure it out. Maybe the god's of old left clues behind that would leave the pc's to understand the nature of the prison. Maybe even the way to repair the prison is to awaken one of the old gods to gain the information. Anyhow, that's one series of ways to handle the situation. Another is maybe something that wasn't originally thought of. Maybe after eon's of being stuck in this prison the creature finds that it isn't quite as powerful as it originally was in the beginning. Sure, it could probably destroy the prison/world but afterwards would be so tired that it couldn't repel the gods. Maybe it understands that to gain it's power anew it has to gain followers of it's own with the promise of not only massive power but total salvation from destruction when it free's itself! In this way people would probably freely give in to the lure of power that the creature is offering. Whether he keeps his promise or not to save the people from the destruction of the planet (maybe by transporting them to a new planet that doesn't happen to be the jail of a uber being) doesn't really matter, it may take him a thousand or tens of thousands of years to finally acheive the power to break free of the prison, kill the gods and reign unchallenged. Beings this powerful that have had this much time to plan about an escape rarely act prematurely on those painstakingly laid out plans! Anyhow, sorry about the one long paragraph but hope that helps a bit.
zioth 11-21-04, 02:50 PM	The second campaign could end with the PCs figuring out how to become Watchers themselves, and taking over the guardianship of the prison for the next million years. That could make for some interesting role-playing.
Alcari Ambaron 11-21-04, 04:04 PM	I made an account just to post this. this idea is so cool. it might be a good idea to treat it's influence on the world as very, very small for the moment. Have his best servants/worshippers in the prison with him, they should begin turning the population to his cause, as all gods (if his is one) need worshippers. (thank Robert Jordan for this idea) Or maybe these servants are just touched by his evil and are under his control. Since it cannot escape from its prison yet, it can only "reach between the bars" i totally agree with locking him in again being the only way out, killing it would not be possible. But what is wrong with giving it a nice Demi-plane of its own to be locked up in...... as an alternative have the players quest for some spare for the prison or maybe the last of the imprissoners can come to their aid (he was put in stasis, only to be released in case of emergency = contingency plan) . He is weak and i took all of his kinds combined might to lock him up the first time, but he can give advice and stuff. a my very first post
True Archon 11-22-04, 07:42 PM	I'm curious. Have the PCs killed "The Watcher" yet? If they have, maybe "The Watcher" has left clues behind about his duties and the duties of the other Keepers. It may be "The Watcher's" home that contains these clues. The home could be an ancient stone structure that has the history of the great evil carved on the walls. It could also be a Tome made up of thin platinum sheets engraved with the history. This history may at first appear to be a myth, but as the PCs study it further, they find that THEIR exploits have been recorded near the end of the record and are now jeopardizing the world. That may be why "The Watcher" is now searching for solutions from "Exodus." "Exodus" may have the solutions for reimprisoning the great evil, but sorting through his mad ramblings may be difficult for the PCs. It might also be further suggested that the PCs let the deities of the world in on the big secret. Especially since they are probably going to be the only beings on the planet besides "The Watcher" and "Exodus" that have any recollection of things long forgotten that the deities did not at first understand. They might also be able to heal "Exodus" of his insanity. Maybe even Elder Titans who spend their existances in research may have some small bits of information that they've come across. The great evil may have a very high Divine Rank, and nothing more that a deity in his own right that the other deities (including the evil ones) are not gonna wanna have anything to do with when they learn his true nature. When it comes to the end though, make sure that it is the PCs who are able to deal the "death blow" or slam the cell door shut.
strontium 11-22-04, 10:26 PM	Have you seen any of the TV Series Lexx? In the first series, The big bad guy turned out to be a lot bigger and badder that anyone imagined, a planet sized insect, that could infect people with portions of it's life force to control them, and whose blood could be used to animate unstoppable assasins. Sure it's plagarisn, but it is so cool
Silent Poet 02-19-05, 07:43 PM	I was sifting through some old posts and I found this and am really wondering how things are turning out? Anything?
ShadowDragon8685 02-19-05, 08:14 PM	I'm kind of curious to know, too. This sounds like a good story, though maybe PMing or Emailing the OP is a better idea?
Janusunaj 02-19-05, 08:17 PM	Perhaps I can introduce you to the creature named the Granfaloon. It is a creature that is a orb with eyeballs that are attached to four tentacles. The Granfaloon is an evil creature whose armor is composed of the lifeforces of thousands of corpses. Lifeforces full of pain and anguish emanate from the evil creature and it has the power to rain corpses hard on it's enemies. The Granfaloon, once it loses it's armor, has the ability to shoot beams of non-typed energy at it's foe as well. The corpses that rain down are blood red and are faceless. I will give General Tso's Chicken to whoever knows what the Granfaloon is from.
ShadowDragon8685 02-19-05, 08:24 PM	Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Now where's my chicken?
Janusunaj 02-19-05, 08:28 PM	I'll have to ask the general.
ShadowDragon8685 02-19-05, 08:55 PM	Damn you General Tso, you freaking cheater! I'll get you next time!
hiryuu 02-19-05, 10:28 PM	There's also the Phantasy Star series: Dark Force was so powerful and evil, it took a solar system to keep him contained, and every thousand years he'd stick his fingers out and go about corrupting and trying to get free.
Daldolin15 02-20-05, 01:01 AM	Wow, I can't believe this thread got brought back after all this time. I'll take it as a good sign! So I guess I should update a little on what has happened. I had always planned for this large plot to be a multi-campaign spanning event and so far it’s right on track. The PCs in the campaign I spoke of above finally chased down the The Watcher deep in the bowels of the Underdark before he could get to Exodus. They quickly discovered his true nature when he left behind the human body he was possessing and started inhabiting the PC's bodies! Eventually the PCs managed to use an artifact to temporarily bring him down to their level and started wailing on him. I made his mortal form that of a construct with DR 50/epic and a huge number of arcane and divine spell-like abilities. Despite the DR and his fast healing ability they still started to bring his life down and the party cleric casted an interestingly worded Miracle which basically consisted of "In the next round I want his DR to vanish". The Watcher shouted out curses against the "pretender gods" but to no avail as they chopped him in twain. Before dying he told them that his death would be the death knell for all that live and that they would forever burn for their crimes...but the fighter still shoved her sword through his chest. So now the Watcher is dead and the party sat back and enjoyed the fruits of their labor. After all, they DID stop the evil machine from killing everyone and did great justice....*evil laugh* Of course the paranoid to a fault wizard did not leave things as they were and attempted to do further research into the subject. This basically ended with him casting legend lore on the planet and getting brief flashes of the history of the world and its dark prisoner. This information drove him slightly mad and he disappeared into his tower, never to be seen by his allies again. While fighting with the darkness he had discovered he heard a voice in his head and the wizard Beleth appeared before him. The Watcher had foresaw its own fate and transferred a part of itself into the PC (this actually happened like 10 sessions earlier when The Watcher tried to read the mind of the PC and had apparently laughably failed ;) ). And the campaign kind of ends there. The next one will pick up two centuries later as the creature's constant shifting has given it significant power over the world and a new set of PCs will have to deal with the problem. My players still have no clue what the big picture looks like but they are on their way to finding out. Their new PCs are level 5 and on their way to discover the dangers of my world....
ShadowDragon8685 02-20-05, 01:25 AM	Now that sounds like the good. A job well done.
mcnoo 02-20-05, 04:31 AM	I'm off in a few minutes, but after a skim read, this sounds a lot like the warhammer 40,000 story of the necon c'tan god thingy called the outsider. It's probably my inner copyright lawyer playing up, but am i at all right thinking you're familiar with the evil robot\star god in question?
Daldolin15 02-20-05, 01:19 PM	I'm off in a few minutes, but after a skim read, this sounds a lot like the warhammer 40,000 story of the necon c'tan god thingy called the outsider. It's probably my inner copyright lawyer playing up, but am i at all right thinking you're familiar with the evil robot\star god in question? Interesting...I've in fact never played/read/considered Warhammer 40,000. It always looked like it would eat all my money if I tried. So no, this is all coming from my own head. I actually made up the entire concept when my significant other went on an internship in Boston for 3 months and I had nothing to do during the evenings than write campaigns.
ShadowDragon8685 02-20-05, 06:00 PM	Gotta love how good stories can spring up, and then you find out that you've reinvented someone else's wheel, eh? That's happened to me a few times.
SomeoneHasMyCoolerSN 02-20-05, 07:07 PM	So. There's more than one world right? 'Cause le gods populated this one so they'd have more worshippers, thus they already had some. You should have the big evil thing ravage the current world into utter ruin. Lots of scenes of it destroying huge cities the PC's are familiar with, and then have it start off for one of the other worlds, and have the PC's catch a ride to the more ancient, and more defended, world the big evil thing is heading to. Or maybe I just really liked when Auran hitched a ride to Tidus on Sin in FFX.