Becoming one with the lava?? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Becoming one with the lava?? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Operu
05-31-06, 10:15 PM Okay this is going to be a bit long-winded I believe, but I would appreciate any advice possible. This post is concerning a campaign I am setting up that will begin in August (so i have some time to plan it out)... I will first say that the campaign takes place on the OTHER SIDE of a world that already exists that I created. The setting will be a land made up of thousands of miles desert and rock, very little fertile growth at all. The land use to be fertile, but for the past 50-60 years it has been under a "type" of curse, and desert is all that exists now.

The reason I am posting is to see if my "curse" or "how this world became the way it did" is valid in the world of D&D.

In our last campaign I ran a character who simply went by the name, "The Prophet." The Prophet was a level 14 wizard who had no eyes, but had had a very high level wizard cast a vision spell on his eye sockets at a very young age to where he could see just as anyone else could--technically a little better. The Prophet was chaotic neutral, and he found his demise after the group had come across the powerful artifact the Deck of Many Things. He chose to draw 4 cards, but on his 3rd card he was banished and imprisoned somewhere deep beneath the earth's surface (normally insta-death).

That campaign went on to completion with little or no remembrance to The Prophet. The other guys in the group didn't really get along with the prophet (he was a selfish bastage) so they didnt spend time and money trying to figure out a way to bring him back.

The premise to my new campaign is that The Prophet was befriended by a god (not yet decided) while caged up deep inside the earth. This god, whoever it is, taught him that there is a way of escape for wizards of his current power, and that in order to make ones way back to the surface one must become "one with the earth" and travel through the earth's various canals back to the surface. So in essence the prophet is given knowledge by the God how to merge with the lava in the earth and how to travel to the surface. He does this, and has come to settle beneath the land i named Lemm. It took him 10 years or so, but he kept his lava form, and became so huge that he destroyed the underworkings of the thousands of miles of land known as Lemm and the moisture beneath the land evaporated and moved on to other parts of the world leaving this place barren. Hence, the "type of curse" this land is suffering.

After saying all that, does this sound feasable?? Any thoughts? Ideas?

Thanks,
Operu

Brock G.

Edit: Oh yea, the reason why I made all this back story and didnt just make a world that happened to be desert is because there is a legend--a prophesy--that a savior will come to challenge the evil that lurks beneath the earths surface and if victorious will restore balance and fertility to the land.
Zombayz1
05-31-06, 10:39 PM Well, since dieties can do pretty much anything....
Yes, it works.

And next time, If you got a good plot like this, go with the flow. Don't let rule stand in your way.
Operu
05-31-06, 10:43 PM Awsome, thanks for the advice.
Korone
05-31-06, 10:44 PM Yes it works. As anythings that you might want to do with your world.
If something doesn't exist, just create it.

I like the idea very much. Though, I am not sure to understand if he got out after the 10 years, or if he understand the knowledge after 10 years.
Operu
05-31-06, 11:29 PM My bad, i wasn't clear enough. He actually understood the knowledge within weeks, and became one with the lava at that point. It took him 10 years once he rose to just beneath the surface of the land of Lemm to totally deplete and relocate its water sources/moisture... The land became completely barren almost at the 10 year point and has been that way for 50+ years...

Sorry to keep rambling, I know ya'll don't want to hear about all these ideas, but was just wanting some opinions. The ones so far have been great!

Thanks
BG
ashcat_lt
05-31-06, 11:52 PM ...I know ya'll don't want to hear about all these ideas...
That's where you're wrong. We're always happy to hear good ideas.

Technically, this probably does belong on the Campaign Workshop (http://boards1.wizards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=295) forum, but I don't see anybody complaning.
Arganis
06-01-06, 12:38 AM I dig it man. No pun intended. As other posters have mentioned but I will reword: By definition, the GM cannot break the rules.

Your wizard sounds like he's undergone a permanent metamorphosis. Check out the Elemental Creature or Half-Elemental templates for help statting him out.

As for the god... the god should definitely have some kind of plot. Perhaps sects of the gods worshippers have begun to crop up in Lemm, giving reverence to the desert as an idealized landscape.
Operu
06-01-06, 12:40 AM Great idea's Arganis... He has definitely undergone a metamorphasis, and I will use those elemental templates... Also, I love the ideas for the worshippers too! I will use them.

Operu
theblindman
06-01-06, 12:46 AM It's good. I love it, and the tying it in to previous adventures will make your characters cry. Well, not literally, but it's more personal this way.
Cifer
06-01-06, 03:14 AM You should also think how this impacts your game. Playing dungeon crawl with an occasional "You walk through a forest - oh, wait, you don't." wastes a good campaign setting.

The earth is barren would probably mean that a good lot of the population simply starved in the years after the cataclysm. Gathering food would be a major theme in the campaign, making food more valuable than gold.
Arganis
06-01-06, 11:37 AM Also some advice from a purely GM standpoint. Try to keep in mind that because this NPC was previously a character of yours, your players may be prone to interpreting his survival and elevation as an attempt at glorification on your part.

It's a great plotline and you needn't abandon it, but once the PCs are engaging him directly, you'll want to be very careful to avoid fiats in his favor to prevent the impression that you are unduly favoring him.
kelvinaw273
06-01-06, 11:55 AM frokm a geological point of view, not really feasable. You'd just get a lot of hot springs and guysers, but most of the high ground gets its water top-down rather than bottom up. Deserts happen bacause of lack of rainfall, so far as I can tell.

So turn it about: he becomes one with the land ... and he is impotent and imprisoned, so the land becomes barren (no nutrients in the soil) and nothing can grow. Dead trees don't allow re-evapouration of water, so less rainfall. Soon the land dries, and desertification sets in.
Operu
06-01-06, 02:50 PM wow, i dont know what to say, but thanks for the ongoing excellent input! All of this is helping me tremendously. I appreciate it!
Arganis
06-01-06, 03:08 PM frokm a geological point of view, not really feasable. You'd just get a lot of hot springs and guysers, but most of the high ground gets its water top-down rather than bottom up. Deserts happen bacause of lack of rainfall, so far as I can tell.

Not that I disagree with you, but this is an easy fix. If a fire-subtype of sufficient power were dwelling in a region, it is a simple supernatural matter to connect its presence a lack of rainfall and an onset of desertification. After all, as far as the Elements are concerned: where Fire waxes, Water wanes. The desert is simply not a "natural" phenomena due to underground lavaflow, but a supernatural reflection of the wizard's very presence. That way he can still be one with the lava.
Lyinginbedmon
06-01-06, 03:38 PM Well, anyway, there are only 2 problems with surviving in Lava:
20d6 fire damage each round
Drowning

These are pretty easy to solve for a mage, like so:
Energy Immunity (7th level Sor/Wiz spell, available to Prophet at 13th level), which has a duration of 24 hours
Water Breathing (3rd level Sor/Wiz spell, available to Prophet at 5th level), which has a duration of 2 hours/level divided between the number of touched creatures. Since Prophet is the only person being affected, that means it'll last for 28 hours

Now, this slightly hinders the idea of him using his own presence to curse the land above. However, this wizard has access to 7th level spells, so plenty of 3rd level spells too. See where I'm going? Wizards rely on Intelligence, so it's feasible that this one is using spells like fireball to dig new underground channels for the surrounding lava, which in turn is affecting the land above.
Operu
06-01-06, 03:51 PM Arganis you are the man! I do agree with both points, but all these ideas are making my idea become more real, even in my own mind. It is definitely helping me create a persona for my villain and give character to the world.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Operu 05-31-06, 10:15 PM	Okay this is going to be a bit long-winded I believe, but I would appreciate any advice possible. This post is concerning a campaign I am setting up that will begin in August (so i have some time to plan it out)... I will first say that the campaign takes place on the OTHER SIDE of a world that already exists that I created. The setting will be a land made up of thousands of miles desert and rock, very little fertile growth at all. The land use to be fertile, but for the past 50-60 years it has been under a "type" of curse, and desert is all that exists now. The reason I am posting is to see if my "curse" or "how this world became the way it did" is valid in the world of D&D. In our last campaign I ran a character who simply went by the name, "The Prophet." The Prophet was a level 14 wizard who had no eyes, but had had a very high level wizard cast a vision spell on his eye sockets at a very young age to where he could see just as anyone else could--technically a little better. The Prophet was chaotic neutral, and he found his demise after the group had come across the powerful artifact the Deck of Many Things. He chose to draw 4 cards, but on his 3rd card he was banished and imprisoned somewhere deep beneath the earth's surface (normally insta-death). That campaign went on to completion with little or no remembrance to The Prophet. The other guys in the group didn't really get along with the prophet (he was a selfish bastage) so they didnt spend time and money trying to figure out a way to bring him back. The premise to my new campaign is that The Prophet was befriended by a god (not yet decided) while caged up deep inside the earth. This god, whoever it is, taught him that there is a way of escape for wizards of his current power, and that in order to make ones way back to the surface one must become "one with the earth" and travel through the earth's various canals back to the surface. So in essence the prophet is given knowledge by the God how to merge with the lava in the earth and how to travel to the surface. He does this, and has come to settle beneath the land i named Lemm. It took him 10 years or so, but he kept his lava form, and became so huge that he destroyed the underworkings of the thousands of miles of land known as Lemm and the moisture beneath the land evaporated and moved on to other parts of the world leaving this place barren. Hence, the "type of curse" this land is suffering. After saying all that, does this sound feasable?? Any thoughts? Ideas? Thanks, Operu Brock G. Edit: Oh yea, the reason why I made all this back story and didnt just make a world that happened to be desert is because there is a legend--a prophesy--that a savior will come to challenge the evil that lurks beneath the earths surface and if victorious will restore balance and fertility to the land.
Zombayz1 05-31-06, 10:39 PM	Well, since dieties can do pretty much anything.... Yes, it works. And next time, If you got a good plot like this, go with the flow. Don't let rule stand in your way.
Operu 05-31-06, 10:43 PM	Awsome, thanks for the advice.
Korone 05-31-06, 10:44 PM	Yes it works. As anythings that you might want to do with your world. If something doesn't exist, just create it. I like the idea very much. Though, I am not sure to understand if he got out after the 10 years, or if he understand the knowledge after 10 years.
Operu 05-31-06, 11:29 PM	My bad, i wasn't clear enough. He actually understood the knowledge within weeks, and became one with the lava at that point. It took him 10 years once he rose to just beneath the surface of the land of Lemm to totally deplete and relocate its water sources/moisture... The land became completely barren almost at the 10 year point and has been that way for 50+ years... Sorry to keep rambling, I know ya'll don't want to hear about all these ideas, but was just wanting some opinions. The ones so far have been great! Thanks BG
ashcat_lt 05-31-06, 11:52 PM	...I know ya'll don't want to hear about all these ideas... That's where you're wrong. We're always happy to hear good ideas. Technically, this probably does belong on the Campaign Workshop (http://boards1.wizards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=295) forum, but I don't see anybody complaning.
Arganis 06-01-06, 12:38 AM	I dig it man. No pun intended. As other posters have mentioned but I will reword: By definition, the GM cannot break the rules. Your wizard sounds like he's undergone a permanent metamorphosis. Check out the Elemental Creature or Half-Elemental templates for help statting him out. As for the god... the god should definitely have some kind of plot. Perhaps sects of the gods worshippers have begun to crop up in Lemm, giving reverence to the desert as an idealized landscape.
Operu 06-01-06, 12:40 AM	Great idea's Arganis... He has definitely undergone a metamorphasis, and I will use those elemental templates... Also, I love the ideas for the worshippers too! I will use them. Operu
theblindman 06-01-06, 12:46 AM	It's good. I love it, and the tying it in to previous adventures will make your characters cry. Well, not literally, but it's more personal this way.
Cifer 06-01-06, 03:14 AM	You should also think how this impacts your game. Playing dungeon crawl with an occasional "You walk through a forest - oh, wait, you don't." wastes a good campaign setting. The earth is barren would probably mean that a good lot of the population simply starved in the years after the cataclysm. Gathering food would be a major theme in the campaign, making food more valuable than gold.
Arganis 06-01-06, 11:37 AM	Also some advice from a purely GM standpoint. Try to keep in mind that because this NPC was previously a character of yours, your players may be prone to interpreting his survival and elevation as an attempt at glorification on your part. It's a great plotline and you needn't abandon it, but once the PCs are engaging him directly, you'll want to be very careful to avoid fiats in his favor to prevent the impression that you are unduly favoring him.
kelvinaw273 06-01-06, 11:55 AM	frokm a geological point of view, not really feasable. You'd just get a lot of hot springs and guysers, but most of the high ground gets its water top-down rather than bottom up. Deserts happen bacause of lack of rainfall, so far as I can tell. So turn it about: he becomes one with the land ... and he is impotent and imprisoned, so the land becomes barren (no nutrients in the soil) and nothing can grow. Dead trees don't allow re-evapouration of water, so less rainfall. Soon the land dries, and desertification sets in.
Operu 06-01-06, 02:50 PM	wow, i dont know what to say, but thanks for the ongoing excellent input! All of this is helping me tremendously. I appreciate it!
Arganis 06-01-06, 03:08 PM	frokm a geological point of view, not really feasable. You'd just get a lot of hot springs and guysers, but most of the high ground gets its water top-down rather than bottom up. Deserts happen bacause of lack of rainfall, so far as I can tell. Not that I disagree with you, but this is an easy fix. If a fire-subtype of sufficient power were dwelling in a region, it is a simple supernatural matter to connect its presence a lack of rainfall and an onset of desertification. After all, as far as the Elements are concerned: where Fire waxes, Water wanes. The desert is simply not a "natural" phenomena due to underground lavaflow, but a supernatural reflection of the wizard's very presence. That way he can still be one with the lava.
Lyinginbedmon 06-01-06, 03:38 PM	Well, anyway, there are only 2 problems with surviving in Lava: 20d6 fire damage each round Drowning These are pretty easy to solve for a mage, like so: Energy Immunity (7th level Sor/Wiz spell, available to Prophet at 13th level), which has a duration of 24 hours Water Breathing (3rd level Sor/Wiz spell, available to Prophet at 5th level), which has a duration of 2 hours/level divided between the number of touched creatures. Since Prophet is the only person being affected, that means it'll last for 28 hours Now, this slightly hinders the idea of him using his own presence to curse the land above. However, this wizard has access to 7th level spells, so plenty of 3rd level spells too. See where I'm going? Wizards rely on Intelligence, so it's feasible that this one is using spells like fireball to dig new underground channels for the surrounding lava, which in turn is affecting the land above.
Operu 06-01-06, 03:51 PM	Arganis you are the man! I do agree with both points, but all these ideas are making my idea become more real, even in my own mind. It is definitely helping me create a persona for my villain and give character to the world.