Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Captain_Madrick 02-14-08, 12:32 PM	Hey, I don't want to sound completely un-creative as a DM, but I've always had trouble with this. My players just plane shifted to the Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia. I need two things, 1) How do I make this place feel like the home of celestials with a good-alignment. I have trouble making players really feel like this is NOT the material plane anymore. Any tips for really showing them this is somewhere extra-planar? 2) I need ideas for what sort of things happen here! I do not have manual of the planes, and know little about this place! What kind of encounter/ side quest should I add in this place? I don't need stats, just some plot hook I can work with that could be presented in the Celestial Plane They are a party of a duskblade, a sorcerer, a cleric, a rogue, and a factotum. Level 12. Thanks for any suggestions!
GeeBee 02-14-08, 02:50 PM	Cool question. Your players are lucky to have a DM that wants to set a good scene. First, get your hands on a manual of the planes, even if you just borrow a copy from a friend. Good stuff there. After that, I would emphasize the lack of corruption and entropy there. Nothing gets dusty, the air is never stale, there is no visible garbage, buildings don't have minor faults (like cracked plaster) and so on. There should be little to no vice or poverty, and folks are probably very forthright and honest. In short, all the things we humans do to muck up our world should be increasingly absent as the PCs go up the mountain. You might also want to consider the role nature takes here. Sunny weather should never be too hot, and stormy weather should never feel oppressive. I might even go so far as to say that the denizens of the mountain have little or nothing to fear from the elements. That's all I can think of off the top of my head, but good luck.
Captain_Madrick 02-14-08, 03:05 PM	I like that idea about no small faults! I was thinking, is everything just golden?! Cause that would be lame. But yes, abnormal perfection is a good idea. And no oppressive weather I'll include too! The thing with small adventures, is that this place is FILLED with powerful celestial creatures, which means I don't want there to be some sort of evil corruption on the plane, cause there are a million solars who could outdo the party with a single round. I need a small quest idea; something that is more problem solving, or diplomacy, rather than combat. Although I wouldn't reject a good combat if it made sense...
Drackthor 02-14-08, 03:07 PM	I would imagine Celestia's Pac-Man machine would make sure that Pac-Man isn't too slow, leading to being eaten by ghosts too easily, nor will Pac-Man be too fast, leading to inability to use Pac-Man as best you can. Yes, I imagine Celestia's Pac-Man would be toned to perfection.
GeeBee 02-14-08, 03:31 PM	Thinking about it some more, you might want to apply the no corruption or entropy thing to the denizens as well. People from there don't have zits, receding hairlines or genetic diseases. Aging might take place, but they would age very well (like Judi Dench, who happens to be the best looking 71-year old I can think of). Their clothes would never be torn, and would likely never fade. As for encounters, I don't find it at all unreasonable to assume that agents of evil can slip into the plane and go undetected. Just like adventurers in the lower planes, these sinister tools would have to take great care to cover themselves with a good backstory and not draw attention to their activities. This would exclude most clerics (who have an aligned aura), but a skillful rogue, bard or even sorcerer might be able to pull it off. And, because their activities are so hidden, they would make good "secret" villains. Imagine the hillarity that would ensue if they got the PC's to inadvertently commit some evil act on their behalf. :schemes:
LeeAlucard 02-14-08, 04:24 PM	I find it unlikely that they'd have a real economic system in the Upper Planes. Nobody needs to eat or sleep, and since everyone's Good, if someone managed to fall on hard times, everybody would probably pitch in to help. If you wanted to be just plain ironic, you might imitate Jhonen Vasquez's heaven from Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, where heaven is just a bunch of chairs in the clouds, and everyone is sitting quietly, enjoying themselves... Obviously, people used to living in perfection will have a different mind-set than those from the Material Plane. Those from the Upper Planes simply might not understand why a person would want to lie, or steal, or kill. Roleplay this if you wish.
Captain_Madrick 02-16-08, 09:48 AM	One of my players is actually an Aaisemir, so I wanted to include him getting to meet his distantly related Solar. How might I go about making this seem really cool? I don't want it to be a "come and say hi" and that's it...that'd be too lame for finding an angel you're related to...
Iktomi 02-16-08, 02:48 PM	One of my players is actually an Aaisemir, so I wanted to include him getting to meet his distantly related Solar. How might I go about making this seem really cool? I don't want it to be a "come and say hi" and that's it...that'd be too lame for finding an angel you're related to... I can think of a couple of ways depending on how you want the encounter to play out. Firstly, you could have the angel take an interest in the party, but not explain why. Maybe he would point them in the right direction for whatever plot they're following, give them some useful advice, maybe some potent magical items etc. Make him a recuring NPC, and then, later in the adventure, have him explain why. Secondly, you could make the Solar an antagonist. Maybe he wants to "help" his great great grandson overthrow his corrupt human nature by kidnapping him and subjecting him to a ritual that would awaken his celestial heratige and turn him into a full angel (at the cost of his free will and humanity). This would be good if you want to run a more diplomatic story for the party, since a good alligned party would be hesitant to attack an angel (and they'd probably loose anyway unless they're epic level). Finally, if you go with GeeBee's suggestion and have evil agents on the plane trying to use the party for their own purposes, maybe the evil thing that they do (or trick the party into doing) kills several angels, including the Aaisemir's ancestor. The solar could tell the PC who he is as he lies dying, in a suitably dramatic scene that would drive the party to hate the BBEG all the more.
Captain_Madrick 02-16-08, 03:25 PM	Wow! I love the second two options! The PCs have sort of gained a hint that the ancestor may be around, but I LOVE the idea of him wanting to convert his kin!!! Thanks so much for this idea! I don't know how long the party will be on this plane, so any more ideas would be great. What kind of clever BBEG could sneak around on a plane of good?
LeeAlucard 02-16-08, 04:17 PM	Something with levels in Bard, for one. Glibness, a bard spell, gives a +30 bonus to Bluff checks. Coupled with Misdirection, just about anything could be walking around on the Upper Planes undetected.