It was mentioned in the CS, that there seemed to be a bit of confusion as where the Dragon of Tyr originally came from. One of the theories that was suggested was that it came to Athas in a falling meteor. That, coupled with watching Ancient Aliens got me thinking.
What if the Dragon was in fact an alien? A supremely powerful arcane being travelling through the known Spheres in its draconic shaped spelljammer vessel. During it's journey, something happened to damage the ship's helm, causing it to plummet to the surface of Athas. The Dragon itself is this stranded being, and now somewhere in the wastelands lies the remains of it's vessel and the possibility of reactivating the spelljammer helm.
Thoughts?
Whatever gets you and your players interested in playing. I'm not sure you need a space ship for the dragon as it seems reasonable that the dragon can fly. As for flying through space, the dragons a supremely powerful being, no problem. Still the idea of a monsterous dragon spaceship is very cool.
I could definitely see the Dragon being like the Dark Phoenix from X-Men.
I was just looking for everyone's thoughts on a concept idea I had while watching sensationalistic TV shows and fiddling about with thoughts for a DS campaign. It was mentioned in the CS, that there seemed to be a bit of confusion as where the Dragon of Tyr originally came from. One of the theories that was suggested was that it came to Athas in a falling meteor. That, coupled with watching Ancient Aliens got me thinking. What if the Dragon was in fact an alien? A supremely powerful arcane being travelling through the known Spheres in its draconic shaped spelljammer vessel. During it's journey, something happened to damage the ship's helm, causing it to plummet to the surface of Athas. The Dragon itself is this stranded being, and now somewhere in the wastelands lies the remains of it's vessel and the possibility of reactivating the spelljammer helm. Thoughts?
You could tie in the Dragon's fall to Athas with the severing of Athas from the planes (Athas is supposed to be generally cut off from places like Sigil or the Astral Sea). Another great source would of course be the Far Realms, which could tie in with the use of psionics and the presense of the gith. Perhaps the Dragon was chased to Athas by the gith? Either way it's a good concept.
As for getting ideas from TV shows I based my Dark Sun campaign around Farscape!
Thanks guys!
I'm not entirely sure how far I'm going to take the idea, but it's definately something I'm going to be adding into the campaign that I'm going to be starting soon (I hope). Maps are going to be made of the ship, as well as having it filled with various beasties from elsewhere, sort of like the freed "collections" on the Dragon. I may even go so far as to choose a few that could possibly be seen as pregenitors of Athasian creatures. Sort of an introduced species that took hold and evolved.
Thanks guys!
sounds like a good idea.
keep me posted as to how it goes. As I have only recently begun playing RPGs. My first Dark Sun adventure will be this week yay! I find the setting so fun.As for the dragon sized ship, that wouldn't be needed. I came up with the idea that the psychic and acrane overload that caused him to lose control and crash on Athas in the first place drove him quite insane. That led him to use his now twisted and corrupt powers (defiling being now part of it) to take on the form of a dragon. Over the years the shape began to dominate his personality, and voila.
I've settled upom what to do at the end of the campaign (yes, yes, I know ... cart before the horse) for and epic adventure. After discovering the ship and figuring out a way to reactivate its vast power source, the search turns to learning how to tap into its potential and find a way to use it to transport through time as well as space, back to the Green Age, to prevent the destruction of Athas and to kill the Dragon.
At the end of my campaign, PCs seized neogi's ship with an eladrin navigator, whom they rescued. Running from Kalak's murderers the flew into the stars and perhaps out of crystal sphere. I thought it would be nice ending, bu they want to continue adventures in space.
Dark Sun in space, that's a new idea. Your players are taking the next natural step following your story arc. Are you going to continue the adventure in space?
There were cool psionic items in there, however. And on a few 'levels' the laws of gravity did work a little differently.
I thought about making a sorcerer king an alien survivor from the crash (a la stargate) but the PCs at the time decided to play in a different corner of the sandbox, so not much came of that.
As for the heroic tier, I've settled on stealing ideas from the general concept of "Brotherwood of the Wolf", in that there is a BBEG (a genasi warlock twisted by defilement, with one of the abyssal traits) controlling a beast to spread terror and havoc (a tembo). To tie it to the rest, he is in search of a black metal disk that pulses with arcane and psionic energy, which is in fact the key to opening up the craft.
At the end of my campaign, PCs seized neogi's ship with an eladrin navigator, whom they rescued. Running from Kalak's murderers the flew into the stars and perhaps out of crystal sphere. I thought it would be nice ending, bu they want to continue adventures in space.
Dark Sun in space, that's a new idea. Your players are taking the next natural step following your story arc. Are you going to continue the adventure in space?
I'm definetely going to continue it, as my players are very keen to play. The only issue is, for now I have no time to drive out of town, run campaign and come back. So real life is calling, but I promised my players, we will be back as Spelljammer cammpaign
So hows the project coming?
It's going quite well. Working on fleshing out my concepts and going to start getting maps and such set up pretty soon. Now all I really need is to get the campaign itself started :/
I am loving my DS game as well ! First game was last night. Bare in mind, if the ship is large enough to carry the Dragon, the passeges in it must be huges like grand cathedrals and the players would be like rats in a ship designed for giants.
Also, the space-craft would be very old and as mentioned above, probably full of water, no power and everything inside is rusted and none-operational. The Dragon himself has probably forgotten how to operate the craft.
And if the ship had one dragon in it, perhaps it had more? Or perhaps the Dragon was not the operator, but its prisoners as the ship was operated by Avagions?
If the Dragon of Tyr came in a space-ship, the ship itself would be...
Sorry. Could NOT resist.
Alise is a half-elf and was taken in by a grizzled, wrinkled old elf who has taken up the post of the local alchemist/saw bones of the community. Not only has be forsaken his traditional lifestyle, but his eyesight is going, and so he seems unaware of her parentage. Together, the two of them have been working for Hama (the trading post's "leader") in patching up the guards and using minor rituals (specifically purify water) to keep a steady income coming in from the trade caravans and to keep the community thriving. Alise is a wilder, periodically testing the limits of her abilites and has become something of a self taught psion. Any uses of rituals on her part have been reflavored to be of a psionic nature.
Dor-Koon is a minotaur that had been captured in the Gulg area by Hama and put to work as a sort of slave and hired muscle. While he is given a semblance of freedom during the day (though there are always a pair of guards nearby in case he attempts to run), after his daily chores are finished and the sun sets, he is placed into make-shift cage for the evening. When travellers request some enetertainment, Hama uses a natural depression as an inpromptu arena, and pits Dor against any and all challengers. Dor eshews the use of weaponry, prefering to use his fists, horns, and body mass to push around and pummel his opponents. (monk)
The day began as any other, with Dor hauling carts and goods for his master and the traders who have stopped, and Alise spent the day learning her teacher's trade and helping with the purification of water. Both PCs have been treated well, as their value to the community is obvious. They have a passing familiarity with each other, as Alise has on a few occassions had to patch up the battered minotaur after a few of the rougher bouts. All is calm and business as usual until the sun began to set, and a sandstorm began to brew, resulting in the evening guards to take shelter.
Alise's quarters were of the eastern portion of the encampment. While preparing for bed, over the howling wind Alise heard a high pitched barking laugh and, after peering out from under the hide covering a window, just barely could make out shapes moving in the night, some of two legs, others on four. She scanned for the usual guards, but saw none, so decided to make her way toward the main barracks to issue a warning. As she did so, an arrow embedded itself into the side of her domicile right behind her, and she took off with a shout for help toward the center of the camp.
Dor, on the other hand, while not hearing anything, noticed that the usual guard patrols were absent, and also snuck a peek under his protective covering as well. His cage, covered with a tarp to prevent too much sand from coming in, sat on the western edge of the encampment. To his surprise, one of the guard lay dead near his prison, a javelin protruding from his chest. He surmised something bad was happening and began to charge, head down, across his tiny space in an attempt to break through and out of his containment. After three or four tries, he was finally able to smash through, only to tumble into the sand, dark shapes now visible moving toward him.
Alise was not pursued as she ran, and every guard she came across lay dead, javelins and arrows being the cause of it. At a small house, about 60' from where the minotaur was, she stopped to shout into the window, but no response was heard, and it was then that she realized that there were more figures moving in her direction, 30' away, having clambered over the short boundry wall. Immediately, two javelins struck beside her, one in the sand, the other breaking against the wall of the house. All she had on her was a simple staff, and her shard of crystal that she used to help focus her burgeoning powers.
As the shapes moved nearer, both Alise and Dor were able to make out that they were elves, seemingly intent on raiding the settlement. This being their home, they both entered the fray, holding their own. The half-elf lashed out with her mind, while the minotaur closed the distance rapidly and did so with his body. Sounds of fighting could now be heard over the wind, coming from all parts of the camp, Alise's cries having stirred the others. More and more elves, as well as a few hyena-like beasts, attacked, coming through various points in the wall. Arrows, javelins, and psionic force streaked through the air, causing wounds on both sides, though combined with the monk's brute force the invaders were slowly being beaten back and killed.
Finally, only one opponent remained, a burly, unusual looking elf with a carrikal who advanced upon the tired and rattled Alise. Just before he was able to reach her, Dor lept across the sands to land a series of vicious blows at his back, bruising flesh and breaking bone. In fury, the brute turned toward his attacker, and swung his weapon mightily, only to miss and shatter in on a rock at the minotaur's feet. His attention no longer on her, Alise was able to strike out into the elf's mind, severing synapses and connections, and with a final blow from her unusual ally, the foe dropped to the sands.
With hardly a thank you, Alise bolted back into the camp, as the fighting all around seemed to have stopped. All she saw was death and the dying, and in her haset all but tripped over the form of Hama, breathing his last. With a gasp, he rattled out a few words before collapsing, his hand making an odd gesture at the girl. (thumb, index, and pinkie extended and apart, ring and middle pressed together)
"Is it safe? It must be ... Keep it hidden ... my quarters ... in ... hearth ... go ... Tyr ..."
As she searched Hama's rooms for something unusual, Dor made a messy attempt to skin one of the hyenas, and set about to start a fire to cook the meat, very badly. Having eaten his full, he grabbed a pile of bedding from inside a home, and promptly went to sleep.
The next morning, Alise rose to find her teacher, and the two of them set out to provide water for the injured and to bandage up those that they could, as well as dispose of the bodies, though many of which had been dragged off in the night by animals or even other people. When she finally got him alone, the young psion asked Dorja (her teacher, and now a party companion) about something she found and what Hama had said. The showed him a perfectly smooth hexagonal disk made of obsidian that she discovered, and mentioned the hand signal to which he immediately grabbed her hand to hide it. She learned that the symbol was a secret signal to others who felt that arcane magic could be used in such a way as not to defile, and that what she now carried could only be of interest in some sort of defiling ritual.
Waking up in his "borrowed" home, Dor-Koon drank heartily of a bucket of water that had been placed beside him in the night, by Alise. Still thirsty, he made his way to the shallow pool to drink more, just as Alise was arriving to fill more buckets for the others. They discovered that the water, once clear and safe to drink, was now brackish and black, with a layer of scum on top. They also discovered a trail heading away from the pool of dessicated and ashy plantlife. This path lead to the top of a dune where even the sandy soil was chalky and like dust. They spoke briefly, and knew then that this settlement was doomed, and that they must now move on.
Taking the old elf with them, as well as a cart will enough provisions they had scrounged up for a total of 10 days of rations and water, the trio set out to cross the desert to Tyr. Here ended the first session of the campaign.
Wish I could play too