"Finally, Lord Ao lifted the barrier that prevented the Mulhorandi god-kings from reuniting with their divine selves on the Outer Planes. The physical incarnations of the Mulhorandi gods departed Faerun and left governance of the empire to mortal rulers under their guidance.[6]"
It sounds like when a god normally sends an avatar and it's true form resides on an outer plane, I don't like this one bit.
One I'm particularly interested in is Illsensine the Illithid God. I wonder why Lloth tried to knock he/it off during this time. He/it wants control of all planes and sees the Illithids as natural rulers of the multiverse (Of course, how will he kill Ao/Ao's master and other Overgods? Can a greater god ascend to overgod status just as a mortal can ascend to deity status?)
Can a greater god ascend to overgod status just as a mortal can ascend to deity status?)
-Maybe. Mayne not. There is no evidence of this, but, lack of evidence is not lack of existence.
-Maybe. Mayne not. There is no evidence of this, but, lack of evidence is not lack of existence.
Bane and Myrkul tried - hence the ToT. They didn't get far thanks to Torm and those pesky mortals! I had it all in hand... and so I went to the hat.
But seriously, I'm currently running a campaign where the long stretch of it is Jergal's vie for Overgod status and then the end of all things. He's been waiting a long time...
Has anyone run one during the time of troubles.
Nope, but it's something I've wanted to do FOR YEARS! Almost played in such a campaign a few years ago, but unfortunately I missed out on that campaign (or possibly fortunately, as the DM was one of the few people to have ever been banned from the RPGA).
Bane and Myrkul tried - hence the ToT. They didn't get far thanks to Torm and those pesky mortals! I had it all in hand... and so I went to the hat.
-Even if they succeeded, we know that nothing would have happened. The Tablets of Fate held no special powers, according to Ao.
-Even if they succeeded, we know that nothing would have happened. The Tablets of Fate held no special powers, according to Ao.
The only power they had was the Power of Plot Device.
The only power they had was the Power of Plot Device.
-And what a glorious power it is.
-Maybe. Mayne not. There is no evidence of this, but, lack of evidence is not lack of existence.
Perhaps Ao at one time was a lesser deity, and raised to Overgod status by his master mentioned in the Waterdeep novel. And, I wonder if you ascend you must and can only have one crystal sphere that you are the overgod of. Ao has no power over anything outside Realmspace and the deities who do business there.
Perhaps Ao at one time was a lesser deity, and raised to Overgod status by his master mentioned in the Waterdeep novel. And, I wonder if you ascend you must and can only have one crystal sphere that you are the overgod of. Ao has no power over anything outside Realmspace and the deities who do business there.
-Again: Maybe. Mayne not. There is no evidence of this, but, lack of evidence is not lack of existence.
Especially when we post back-to-back.People are complaining about the New Realms, and only Brave Heroes can stop it.
No...wait, that's too close to real life!!!!!
Wow. A Time of Troubles campaign.
People are complaining about the New Realms, and only Brave Heroes can stop it.
No...wait, that's too close to real life!!!!!
where have you been?
Next, there are three adventures of the same name (Shadowdale, Tantras, Waterdeep) that run a campaign through the Time of Troubles. They are great modules. They are 2nd Edition (but hey...2nd Edition is still the best version of D&D to release). But you can use it for source material for any version. You can probably find them for sale online or the pdfs on drivethrurpg.com, etc.
- Roc
Next, there are three adventures of the same name (Shadowdale, Tantras, Waterdeep) that run a campaign through the Time of Troubles. They are great modules. They are 2nd Edition (but hey...2nd Edition is still the best version of D&D to release). But you can use it for source material for any version. You can probably find them for sale online or the pdfs on drivethrurpg.com, etc.
-I forgot about those...Though, I wouldn't say they are great. In fact, I wouldn't say they were good, either. The entire adventure plot contains massive railroading. If I recall correctly, there is a passage that says that if the players try to interfere with X (Whatever it was), the DM needs to make sure that they don't succeed, doing whatever it takes.
If I recall correctly, there is a passage that says that if the players try to interfere with X (Whatever it was), the DM needs to make sure that they don't succeed, doing whatever it takes.
Holy crap. I would have burned that book.
You know, I wonder how fun it'd be to run a Time of troubles campaign where the players play a number of different deities in different regions of the world? Not sure how it'd roll, but I think it could be interesting if the group used the outcome of that event as cannon in their games.
Holy crap. I would have burned that book.
-The problem was that, rather than have their own adventures and stuff during the Time of Troubles (which would have been fun), the adventures are basically scripts of the books, where the PCs go on, and watch the main characters in the Avatar series books do what they do.
Then whatever happens during their version of the ToT is cannon for their games. I'd have to give it more thought, but I think it could be interesting, especially with the 4E rules.
Like I said I think it could be interesting to have a Time of Troubles campaign where the PC's play various gods and their (powerful) mortal followers. Or maybe the GM plays a single deity and the PC's are their (powerful) mortal worshipers.
Then whatever happens during their version of the ToT is cannon for their games. I'd have to give it more thought, but I think it could be interesting, especially with the 4E rules.
-Maybe it's me, but I don't think I'd find it enjoyable playing as a deity itself.
-Maybe it's me, but I don't think I'd find it enjoyable playing as a deity itself.
I don't think I would either.
the current one combines Faction War and Time of Troubles
posted a few details a while ago at Candlekeep, campaign has progressed much since then
Show
Unthalass is an important center of interplanar trade. The history of Old Empires is alternate. In short. The Imaskari empire spread to many planes, particulary to the Outlands. The god barrier that they raised wasn't something that blocked deites, but philosophically it diminished their influence. As planewalkers they learned that the belief matters more than the actual personifications of it. They changed the area of their empire, its traits on matters of belief were now planar. Imaskar became an important player in interplanar schemes of power. Yugoloths, tanar'ri and fey had their interests with them. Imaskari influence in the Outlands was particularly annoying to the rilmani, who subly plotted their downfall.
The Imaskari found about that and eventually the conflict erupted into an open war. They used various weapons and tactics, from summoning primordial monsters to getting kamerel on their side. The kamerel managed to create a mirror copy of Mirrored Library and place it in Unthalass to use its lore for the war. Those who did ally with the Imaskari abandoned their xenophobic belief and embrace the philosophy that arose in the eastern provinces of the empire. Later that philosophy has spread and became known as the Transcendent Order. Religious worship fell on the margins of the society, tough it was tolerated. Many factions arose, some did spread elsewhere like the Ciphers, some became local versions of big planar philosophies.
The influence of Sigil was great, and many portals were maintained despite the war. The Athar were popular among the upper class, or the Oppressors (a sect of slavemasters). Slaves were brought from all over the universe, and initially they had their own beliefs, but they were quickly forgotten, usually in the next generation. They were assimilated like in the Roman empire.
The efforts of rilmani agents to provoke revolts were based more on their material rather than spiritual status. Traces of their ancient beliefs could be found in some sects. For example one popular slave sect combined the Babylonian philosophy that life is hard and cruel with the Dustmen etc. Out of planar factions the Revolutionary League was especially engaged in aiding the rilmani against the tyranny of Imaskar. Eventually the Imaskari lost, their empire crumbled into many distinct countries. One of the crucial moments was when the kamerel and Ciphers switched sides and disabled the Imaskari weapons of war by trapping them into mirrors. Why? They just acted on instincts and felt it was the right thing to do.
After the war, the Rilmani left some of their own in Mulhorand. Today that's a nation populated by rilmanarr (planetouched), and they have secret organizations trying to preserve Balance on the planet. Unther is a nation of kamerel planetouched, cause rilmani allowed them to stay there after the war. It is just formally under Mulhorand, ruled by the Revolutionary Council consisted of Ciphers, Anarchists, Eternalists (Dustmen variation) and few other influential groups.
More recent background of the campaign. The events that happened in the evening before the Long Night of the Year of the Gate (1341 DR, note: my character was born that day, but we still haven't figured how's that related) brought disaster upon the nation of Unther. It was an evening of celebrations and many folks were hit unprepared. The city was swarmed with dark apparitions. Thousands died, surprisingly those who died didn't scream. Their bodies turned gray with disturbing facial expressions. Around them was found oily, radiant substance.
Full lunar month has passed until the spirits were contained by mirror arcana within the former headquarters of the Transcendent order. Authoritarian investigation revealed the dark of it. In the most ancient part of the Cipher complex, deep below the street-level were located chambers built from mirrors, shaped in arhaic architectural forms. The Transcendent order keeps no historical records as they live ''in the the moment''.
The Mirrored Library had some tough. In one of their last, desperate attempts to turn the tide of war the Imaskari forged an alliance with the fiendish powers and these spirits were intended to be unleashed on the Revolutionary Front. The Ciphers built their complex around and above the mirror prison. Millenia after in the moment of madness they shattered the mirror seals and released the horrors (later our party discovered that other beings were released too, like some ancient imaskari leaders). They offered no explanation other than it felt as the right thing to do. Usually that would suffice as this faction was the most respected and numerous among the kamerel people.
But a lot of people became distressful, increasing number of them demanded justice for their loved ones. Among them emerged a charismatic leader that followed otherwordly philosophy of Mercykillers, a minor sect here. Hoar gained a considerable support of the masses and was invited in the Revolutionary Council. Ciphers were banished (some killed). Many fled, some to Mulhorand, some to Sigil. On the other side when Nilesia vanished, Hoar's gained new followers. News about the Avatar Crisis complicate things even more. The Athar interpret these events as the fulfillment of all their hopes. Some Anarchists join them seeing now that the gods were a part of the tyrannical system. Due to planar nature of the land, some people begin to discover that they have deific powers. And new factions arise, the leader among them is Gilgeam, his philosophy is a Godsmen variant. All who follow him, can ascend, just like he has. Meanwhile Hoar has slain Ramman, who was an ancient member of the Revolutionary Council and blamed the Mulhorandi agents. The union with Mulhorand was nullified after they granted asylum to Ciphers.
Now I'm not sure about other details, there are certainly many plots within plots in this campaign, and some seem tied to the war in Sigil. Our party so far discovered a few clues. We know that Hoar secretly supports the rise of Gilgeam's group, that he's connected to the Dragon Lady, mysterious being that has taken almost full control over Unthalass' underworld. We suspect they're all Imaskari, trying to get even with the aurumachs in Skuld. Other stuff we learned is that a night hag is Sigil trafficked that oily, radiant liquid found around the colorless dead. She blackmailed a cursed and fallen quesar to do various tasks for her. Quesar would wither and die without the radiant liquid. We still have to find out how and why these tasks are connected.
Our group was supported by some mysterious groups, one is an Anarchist cell (we believe), the other was a rilmanarr agent. Some PCs also have hidden agendas, one PC is from Rashemen (servant of Nythra of the Seven Rivers, who's a Hathran planeswalker), tough she's a berserker warrior, and not so bright, so I doubt. The other is half nathri half vaati rogue from Undersigil, working for a jackal lord, more likely under N'ika then Shemeshka. For other PCs (half gnome-gold dwarf, oriental faerie dragon and a plant being) I'm not sure.
My PC is a kamerel from Unthalass. When he was 14, a Mercykiller patrol wrongfully chased him. Nowhere to run and hide, he fled into the haunted, abandoned Cipher complex. They laughed at him now that he'll lose his soul too, instead only to be executed. But the dark spirits didn't want to come near to him, not within 100 yards. There he began to learn the forbidden teachings of the Transcendent Order. He became a warrior of the Mirror Shard school (homebrew swordsage). He secretly visited the Great Gimnasium in Sigil, and traveled to Mulhorand where were most of the exiled and even to the Shou Lung searching for the origins of the order.
The kamerel decided to build the resistance movement in the abandoned Cipher complex (tough members of the cell still had to be within 100 yards from him when there). While investigating the activities of the criminal network of the Dragon Lady, deep below Unthalass, PCs found a timeless chamber containing a creature bound in a most bizzare way, rhebus undecipherable inscriptions were carved into its skin. Divinations revealed that his soul is elsewhere, probably in some gem. With the assistance of Fell and Millori, and after breaking in in now restricted Mirror Library we suspect that this creature is an arcanist that once almost killed the Lady of Pain (or didn't pose a serious threat according to other sources).
She probably didn't maze him cause of his Imaskari origin, no maze could hold him. Why she didn't kill him is another mystery. Maybe she suspected he had some sort of an alternate plan, or contingency if he'd die so she left him in this state between life and death. But what if she left him here on purpose. There are several other possibilities that don't include the Lady this much.
The Imaskari found about that and eventually the conflict erupted into an open war. They used various weapons and tactics, from summoning primordial monsters to getting kamerel on their side. The kamerel managed to create a mirror copy of Mirrored Library and place it in Unthalass to use its lore for the war. Those who did ally with the Imaskari abandoned their xenophobic belief and embrace the philosophy that arose in the eastern provinces of the empire. Later that philosophy has spread and became known as the Transcendent Order. Religious worship fell on the margins of the society, tough it was tolerated. Many factions arose, some did spread elsewhere like the Ciphers, some became local versions of big planar philosophies.
The influence of Sigil was great, and many portals were maintained despite the war. The Athar were popular among the upper class, or the Oppressors (a sect of slavemasters). Slaves were brought from all over the universe, and initially they had their own beliefs, but they were quickly forgotten, usually in the next generation. They were assimilated like in the Roman empire.
The efforts of rilmani agents to provoke revolts were based more on their material rather than spiritual status. Traces of their ancient beliefs could be found in some sects. For example one popular slave sect combined the Babylonian philosophy that life is hard and cruel with the Dustmen etc. Out of planar factions the Revolutionary League was especially engaged in aiding the rilmani against the tyranny of Imaskar. Eventually the Imaskari lost, their empire crumbled into many distinct countries. One of the crucial moments was when the kamerel and Ciphers switched sides and disabled the Imaskari weapons of war by trapping them into mirrors. Why? They just acted on instincts and felt it was the right thing to do.
After the war, the Rilmani left some of their own in Mulhorand. Today that's a nation populated by rilmanarr (planetouched), and they have secret organizations trying to preserve Balance on the planet. Unther is a nation of kamerel planetouched, cause rilmani allowed them to stay there after the war. It is just formally under Mulhorand, ruled by the Revolutionary Council consisted of Ciphers, Anarchists, Eternalists (Dustmen variation) and few other influential groups.
More recent background of the campaign. The events that happened in the evening before the Long Night of the Year of the Gate (1341 DR, note: my character was born that day, but we still haven't figured how's that related) brought disaster upon the nation of Unther. It was an evening of celebrations and many folks were hit unprepared. The city was swarmed with dark apparitions. Thousands died, surprisingly those who died didn't scream. Their bodies turned gray with disturbing facial expressions. Around them was found oily, radiant substance.
Full lunar month has passed until the spirits were contained by mirror arcana within the former headquarters of the Transcendent order. Authoritarian investigation revealed the dark of it. In the most ancient part of the Cipher complex, deep below the street-level were located chambers built from mirrors, shaped in arhaic architectural forms. The Transcendent order keeps no historical records as they live ''in the the moment''.
The Mirrored Library had some tough. In one of their last, desperate attempts to turn the tide of war the Imaskari forged an alliance with the fiendish powers and these spirits were intended to be unleashed on the Revolutionary Front. The Ciphers built their complex around and above the mirror prison. Millenia after in the moment of madness they shattered the mirror seals and released the horrors (later our party discovered that other beings were released too, like some ancient imaskari leaders). They offered no explanation other than it felt as the right thing to do. Usually that would suffice as this faction was the most respected and numerous among the kamerel people.
But a lot of people became distressful, increasing number of them demanded justice for their loved ones. Among them emerged a charismatic leader that followed otherwordly philosophy of Mercykillers, a minor sect here. Hoar gained a considerable support of the masses and was invited in the Revolutionary Council. Ciphers were banished (some killed). Many fled, some to Mulhorand, some to Sigil. On the other side when Nilesia vanished, Hoar's gained new followers. News about the Avatar Crisis complicate things even more. The Athar interpret these events as the fulfillment of all their hopes. Some Anarchists join them seeing now that the gods were a part of the tyrannical system. Due to planar nature of the land, some people begin to discover that they have deific powers. And new factions arise, the leader among them is Gilgeam, his philosophy is a Godsmen variant. All who follow him, can ascend, just like he has. Meanwhile Hoar has slain Ramman, who was an ancient member of the Revolutionary Council and blamed the Mulhorandi agents. The union with Mulhorand was nullified after they granted asylum to Ciphers.
Now I'm not sure about other details, there are certainly many plots within plots in this campaign, and some seem tied to the war in Sigil. Our party so far discovered a few clues. We know that Hoar secretly supports the rise of Gilgeam's group, that he's connected to the Dragon Lady, mysterious being that has taken almost full control over Unthalass' underworld. We suspect they're all Imaskari, trying to get even with the aurumachs in Skuld. Other stuff we learned is that a night hag is Sigil trafficked that oily, radiant liquid found around the colorless dead. She blackmailed a cursed and fallen quesar to do various tasks for her. Quesar would wither and die without the radiant liquid. We still have to find out how and why these tasks are connected.
Our group was supported by some mysterious groups, one is an Anarchist cell (we believe), the other was a rilmanarr agent. Some PCs also have hidden agendas, one PC is from Rashemen (servant of Nythra of the Seven Rivers, who's a Hathran planeswalker), tough she's a berserker warrior, and not so bright, so I doubt. The other is half nathri half vaati rogue from Undersigil, working for a jackal lord, more likely under N'ika then Shemeshka. For other PCs (half gnome-gold dwarf, oriental faerie dragon and a plant being) I'm not sure.
My PC is a kamerel from Unthalass. When he was 14, a Mercykiller patrol wrongfully chased him. Nowhere to run and hide, he fled into the haunted, abandoned Cipher complex. They laughed at him now that he'll lose his soul too, instead only to be executed. But the dark spirits didn't want to come near to him, not within 100 yards. There he began to learn the forbidden teachings of the Transcendent Order. He became a warrior of the Mirror Shard school (homebrew swordsage). He secretly visited the Great Gimnasium in Sigil, and traveled to Mulhorand where were most of the exiled and even to the Shou Lung searching for the origins of the order.
The kamerel decided to build the resistance movement in the abandoned Cipher complex (tough members of the cell still had to be within 100 yards from him when there). While investigating the activities of the criminal network of the Dragon Lady, deep below Unthalass, PCs found a timeless chamber containing a creature bound in a most bizzare way, rhebus undecipherable inscriptions were carved into its skin. Divinations revealed that his soul is elsewhere, probably in some gem. With the assistance of Fell and Millori, and after breaking in in now restricted Mirror Library we suspect that this creature is an arcanist that once almost killed the Lady of Pain (or didn't pose a serious threat according to other sources).
She probably didn't maze him cause of his Imaskari origin, no maze could hold him. Why she didn't kill him is another mystery. Maybe she suspected he had some sort of an alternate plan, or contingency if he'd die so she left him in this state between life and death. But what if she left him here on purpose. There are several other possibilities that don't include the Lady this much.
::LK gets Experience Points ::
:: LK Levels Up ::
What? LK is Evolving!