Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Nived Nov 11, 2008 16:14:40	One of the central MacGuffins of my game has been a broken slab of quartzite that has a piece of the Draconic Prophecy on it. I actually went to town drawing a swirling 'dragonmarkeque' drawing, colored it, photocopied some backups, wrote in English over the image of the prophecy the 'rough translation' then tore the thing into five parts... and have used the collection of the pieces as a recurring theme across my campaign. This started with the first session of our first 4e game and now with the game just creeping past level 8 they've obtained three pieces... and something unexpected happened when they got the third piece... they've become convinced that the pieces of the prophecy should never be brought together! I have no idea where they came to this conclusion. Maybe its the recurring (but mostly harmless) Rakshasa that keeps crossing their path (he provides completely honest information for a price, though his prices are always steep), the fact that Hassalac Chaar has paid them for the first two pieces (Hassalac isn't aware they have the third yet.) But my party has turned paranoid on me. Now I'm not worried about them not being able to read the prophecy, before handing over the first slab to a middle man, and the second slab directly to Hassalac they made rubbings and copies of them. So with those they should be able to read the whole thing when the complete it. None the less they through me a curve ball with this new self motivated imperative to keep them separate. I'm wondering if I should use that. The full text of my prophecy When The Land Screams, Creation's Light Shall Be As Dust. The Skies Will Choke, No Respite Will Be Found In Death. If Night Should Fall, The Final Born, First Concieved, Will Stir In The Dark. Its Endless Patience Rewarded. A Flight Of Dragons, Will Stand In Final Opposition. Should They Fail, The Second Age Will Return. Basically meaning that The Plane of Night will invade Eberron starting from the heart of the Menectarun desert, black sand storms will start tearing over the world, raising those they kill into an undead army. (the Giants of Rusheme will 'hear the land screaming' in the lead up to this) "If Night Should Fall" is intentionally misleading. Should darkness envelop Eberron OR if the Invasion is stopped (Night falls, Night is defeated) the Scar that Abides, a Fiend Overlord will awaken from his prison under Stormreach. The party, consisting of three Dragonborn and a human named Drake are the heroes in this prophecy not a literal flight of dragons. Will face all this crap and if they fail the Age of Demons returns... Trust me, the meter is perfect in Draconic.
#2 ChrisTheS Nov 11, 2008 19:43:26	Make the slab itself part of a key to whatever they need to save the world - which, if it were to fall into the wrong hands, could have horrible consequences. Of course, that would mean they'd have to get back the ones they've already given up, both to accomplish their quest and to prevent other people from getting their hands on them. The classic plot twist would be then to have them be captured as soon as they get to whatever it ends up being, and have to turn the tables on a bad guy under a tight time limit before he can gain phenomenal cosmic power and the world gets eaten up by demonic locusts, or what-have-you.
#3 Gilo Nov 11, 2008 21:34:28	How can I make the joining of the fragments matter instead of just being a clue to the future plot line? I'm thinking that this should follow the general concept used in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" - the headpiece to Staff of Ra was not just important for its text (both sides of it) but also physically served as the key to locate the ark. In the case of the tablet it could be something like the notes for a mechanical musical box, when the tablet is inserted into one it vocally annoyance another missing section of the prophecy / acts as a key-card to access a chamber / utter an ancient spell word. mechanical musical box
#4 goblin_pride Nov 11, 2008 21:35:36	None the less they through me a curve ball with this new self motivated imperative to keep them separate. I'm wondering if I should use that. Alright, what'd you do with the real Nived?
#5 Nived Nov 12, 2008 17:06:17	What GP isn't the 'damned if you do damned if you don't' nature of my prophecy enough knife twisting to confirm my identity? Or was it the stupid spelling error?
#6 goblin_pride Nov 12, 2008 17:31:03	What GP isn't the 'damned if you do damned if you don't' nature of my prophecy enough knife twisting to confirm my identity? Or was it the stupid spelling error? No the question of whether or not you should use it. The Nived I know would never hesitate or consider the possibility of not using it.
#7 Nived Nov 12, 2008 20:48:36	Ah I see. Well forgive my seeming hesitation. Take the thread as a full intention of using it, just a loss for the how.
#8 goblin_pride Nov 13, 2008 1:31:08	Ah I see. Well forgive my seeming hesitation. Take the thread as a full intention of using it, just a loss for the how. That's simple enough. Add a power to the evil/unholy relic that they need. Preferably one they need very badly that they can only use once it's put back together. ___________________________________________________________ My favorite trick was to give relics like this sentience and all the spells required to destroy the relic. That way when the PCs reunite the pieces, the relic's sentience prevents them from destroying it. The best results they'll ever get is a refracturing of the relic into pieces again, because it won't use it's own spells to destroy itself. ____________________________________________________________ If one of the PCs has access to the spells needed to destroy it, the relic will try to possess that PC. High level casters under the sway of the relic become very dangerous, so the remaining PCs may be forced into a decision of whether to kill their own friends or not. _____________________________________________________________ Remember, this is Eberron, that relic could very well be the remains of a Daelkyr or demon's prison. Just because it's covered in the scribbling of the dragon's prophecy doesn't mean it's not a false prophecy. The prisoner could be using the prophecy to gain the powers lost to them by the fracturing of their prison. As soon as they're able, the thing trapped in the relic will begin trying to build an army of loyal puppets, PCs and others. Make leaving it in pieces just as dangerous an option as reuniting it. Give it's sentience to a portion that provides a beneficial power so that the PCs use that part. Remember, it's been listening to their planning and planning it's escape. If they won't reunite the pieces, perhaps their hirelings and cohorts can be made to. Once it's reassembled, reveal to the PCs that it was just the stele of a statue that the gatekeeper's used to trap a Dhakaani warlord "touched" by the Daelkyr. The Stele bears the mind of the warlord and now he'll be trying to reassemble the statue so that he can return to the world. He'll build an army and have it scouring far and wide for the rest of the bits while carving a new kingdom for himself. ____________________________________________________________ Need anymore ideas? I'm going to use it myself. I'll let the PCs hear about the "Puppetmaster stone" for a couple weeks before they find their first piece of it in a bandit's camp, where it's begun the building of it's army. I'm even going to have a group of gatekeepers looking for it when the PCs are looking for the other parts.