I'm planning a campaign which centers around the adventurers finding seven sites of power and either shutting them down or harnessing them, or whatever third option, fourth option, et cetera they may come up with. The gist of the storyline is to guide them into dissipating the magic of the sites, but I am not certain how to do that since they are more likely to want to harness them for their own use. (Even players deep in character will be hard-pressed to deny power which might not SEEM dangerous at first glance.)
Why should they guess against doing that? These sites of power are artifacts left behind from a previous empire which fell solely because they didn't understand what they built with magic; a backlash from one site caused the others to react violently and you can guess the rest. The present day is well after that event, and nobody remembers there was anything before the current regime . . . except long-lived beings, but that's another page.
I need to figure out what exactly are the effects of "bonding to" one of these sites, and what downsides I can put into effect to make it double-edged. Why? Because I want to plan for the possibility the players are going to be smart enough to realize they can try to tap into the power, and don't want to tell them "no" and ruin the fun. Not when I can have content ready in case they try.
Each of the seven sites has a theme to it: the afterlife, ethereal travel, water of life, knowledge, metalworking, scrying the past, and extended lifespan. I can figure out something generic for each and tie it to the sites so the effects are worthless away from them, but I want something a little more . . . interesting. And, of course, something which isn't going to cause a massive power imbalance in either direction for the characters.
Advice is welcome, please. If there's enough interest, I'll put up more information later.
- A skeleton blown to pieces next to the power node. Perhaps dressed in wizard robes (subtle)
- An advesary they are chasing gets to the node first, and lays his hands on it in an attempt to take control of the power, with devistating consequences (very blunt).
- Leave scraps of lore around where the PC's can find them, explaining the history, and how the society in question fell because of the power they hoarded. (kind of in the middle, if you ask me).
I've been known to be cruel at times...As to consequences in actually bonding to the thing? I'd make it so that the individual who does bond to it, becomes more and more obsessed with the power behind the node itself (ie; the afterlife, ethereal travel, etc). That person constantly feels the need to go back and delve more and more deeply into the font of power, eventually either breaking free from an extreme force of will (with or without help) or being completely drawn in by it, ceasing to be an actual player character (a bit harsh here, but sometimes consequences can be that harsh) or killing him or her.
Eric the Grey1/ They are the wrong race. They cannot use it.
2/ To use the node the player becomes bound to it - basically their mortal bodies are sacrificed to the node and they cannot leave the node again.
3/ Mortals make a faustian pact with the node. Basically, their bodies can only sustain themselves in the node for a short period of time. After the time has expired, the body disintegrates.
4/ Perhaps when a player tries to bond, they get snippets of memories about the old empire - they get to see the last minutes or hours as they passed before the last empire died.
5/ There is "a watcher". An immortal survivor of the last age. If the player starts to bond they see the snippets and then the face of the watcher snarling. The watcher breaks the bond before it is completed. The watcher revels himself when the last tower is destroyed and dies.
6/ The nodes are booby trapped. They will cause the person trying to use it to go mad, die, turn into a zombie or be teleported into a wilderness/another plane.
7/ Undead spirits stand at the shade gate next to the power node. Accessing the node opens the shade gate and allows the undead to break through. The undead then pursue those whom opened the gate and eat them.
Right now, the plotline is as thus . . . a fair amount of the ideas Grimbus was talking about.
(And if I find out one of the players is reading this message, then I will visit terrible vengeance down upon them.)
Also, if you steal this and I find it published somewhere I will be significantly less pleased :p
Each site of power is centered around an ancient artifact, built by the empire in question. Cities were risen around these artifacts and the magic was studied so it could be applied to the quality of living in the empire. For instance, the Silver Cascade was created to study what happened if the local power was fed into a water source; the result was "panacea", a fluid which could cure almost any disease or illness. The empire built the city into what amounted to a giant hospice and would admit the sick in exchange for a tithe to the Emperor.
At some point, an event happened . . . and the cities all fell apart. Only those knowledgeable in the arts used to make the artifacts and harness the power really know why, but there were a few sages of that time who made guesses. However, later kingdoms and empires buried these things for their own reasons (primarily to prevent EVER having similar events repeat if some idiots got their hands on blueprints for such artifacts).
What isn't known is how the power of the artifacts came to be. The empire was founded by mystics who studied magic and in particular the existence of "ley lines" which were currents of potent energy flowing through the world. In a few places, those currents would pass close enough to the material world to be tapped into; these were the sites they chose to build their artifacts at. Since the ley lines don't move, the artifacts are only useful when positioned where they are.
As a side-effect of broadly tapping into the energy, the material world was subtly warped around those sites. With the warping, small pocket-realms were formed which were connected to those sites and drew their appearances and focus from the use of the artifacts. When the last artifact was completed and made to control the network formed by the others, an awareness was captured which began to form likewise "beings" in contact with the other artifacts. Over time, beings came into existence inside the pocket-realms and planned a way to cross through to the material realm.
This was a carefully orchestrated event, and when it went sour it managed to prevent their plan at the cost of the empire which had risen to power. In the present day, someone has uncovered more than one site of the artifacts, and is rousing them again. And this means the beings inside the pocket-realms are being stirred up. Actually activating the sites is sure to bring them through, and each one was a match for the empire's mystics many ages in the past . . . in the present, they are much more dangerous without concentrated efforts to stop them.
Technically, this should be enough to keep the characters from immediately using the sites. However, these beings are not central to the sites of power, and destroying them will not destroy the links. While there are no "instruction manuals" on how to use these artifacts, persistence can keep them focused on them long after I would have rather they moved on. I have the heavy-handed methods of using "load bearing bosses", or having superior forces from outside come in to try to do their own studies and displace the party.
Scraps of lore are possible, but a problem of how to explain that lore surviving the ages in a way the characters can read becomes valid. Trapping the sites so that it would harm or destroy someone using it might fit into the idea of the artifacts no longer being stable, but it isn't fair to the players to say "oh, your curiosity means your character is now dead". (I don't like arbitrary DM-created deaths without warning.)
Right now, I know what the former users had done with those sites of power, and it is technically unfeasible for a party to replicate it without massive efforts. The problem is, I've run across parties who stopped at an iron mine being harassed by goblins . . . only to take it over to turn a profit and wouldn't budge until I had the villain's lackeys burn the operation down. Give some players an inkling of something potentially powerful and they will do anything to tame it, thinking of it as a treasure to be taken and not a plot point to puzzle out. 
I'm debating a little mix of things to keep it from getting old but initially allowing them to see there is something "not right" about the sites of power was my first line of "defense". After that, of course, comes the trouble of not knowing how to use them and not having the level of skill to begin researching. Likely the logistics of trying to work with it will just require they have to leave it be for a time and remember it, then find more evidence later to suggest deactivating them is the best choice.
In the meantime, I still wish to be prepared in case they decide differently :P I know what the cities used the sites FOR, but how to translate it to something in the rules without utterly breaking the game . . . is my biggest concern currently. I'm looking for suggestions of what powers to have, or ways of structuring them so they aren't completely able to be abused.
Well, since the players don't know how to operate therse machines, you could say that using the machine grants some kind of minor power for a short period of time.
To keep it simple I'd limit it to the powers available to the character classes and maybe link them to the purpose of the tower for example the player who uses the tower linked to water gains the power to cast waterbreathing. the air tower grants feather fall or air walk. It could even give the player a spell or ritual used to forge magical armour or weapons.
Perhaps the power relates to the means of destroying or accessing the next tower -the next one is in a flooded ravine, so the water breathing power comes in handy or perhaps the destruction of the final tower spawns some kind of monster or horde of critters that need the weapons to defeat them.
If the players get greedy, they end up permenantly sacrificing CON or WIS to gain more minor powers. Those who sacrifice CON or WIS become "marked" in some way. Either they become cursed, which means they cannot destroy the other gates without losing HP, or the Guardians of the gates attack them first, regardless.
Of course the curse can be lifted, but it required lots of gold.
Each of the seven sites has a theme to it: the afterlife, ethereal travel, water of life, knowledge, metalworking, scrying the past, and extended lifespan. I can figure out something generic for each and tie it to the sites so the effects are worthless away from them, but I want something a little more . . . interesting. And, of course, something which isn't going to cause a massive power imbalance in either direction for the characters.
Advice is welcome, please. If there's enough interest, I'll put up more information later.
My advice applies to using your themes in a Role Play oriented manner but having a touch less direct "combat relevant" effects.
For example:
The artifact representing "ethereal travel" allows just that. A gateway to the ethereal realm. The characters who step through it can no longer directly interact with the Prime Material, but only witness it as a blurry indistinct image overlaid upon their own relative movement. Very cool for intelegence gathering as beings who can not detect ethereal characters can not affect them. The downside is the charactes can only return to the Prime Material side of existence through the same gate, or another like it. They will also be fully exposed to other ethereal dwelling beings.
The artifact representing "the afterlife" gives the players the "Sixth Sense" ability to see the "spiritual realm" overlaid upon the Prime Material. They will see the figures of spirits unable to pass on to the next stage of existence and communicate with them. Some of these figures will be relatively harmless, while others may be malevolent (treat as ghosts/poltergeists/shades).
The artifact representing the "water of life" produces healing potions. These potions have a limited shelf life when taken too far away from the artifact (something like 6 months may be appropriate). Theorectically a character staying by the fountain could gain physical immortality, and resist aging and death by using it like a "fountain of youth". While it wouldn't reverse the effects of aging, it would prevent future aging as long as the water is consumed every day.
The artifact representing "Metal Working" actually connects to the elemental plane of earth. It can produce ingots of any metal or metalic alloy the characters know about (player knowledge is not allowed so no titanium/uranium). Their is a limit to the amount of ingots it can produce per day, roughly equating to enough to make one armor piece or weapon per day. This could be quite a valuable find, but it will also have the downside of devaluing the market value of any material over produced due to the abundance it can provide. It will also make the characters targets for any "greedy" beings who like to be rich (e.g. most evil ones, and quite a few rulers).
The artifact representing "Extended Lifespan" does just that. The characters who use it have their natural lifespan extended by 50% only one time. The effect is not immediately detectable, or noticeable. However, as the characters get older (presuming they survive to old age) they will seem like well preserved specimens for their age. Repeat use has no additional effect.
The artifact representing "scrying the past" allows the characters to see the events of the past related to the creation and operation of each of the artifacts. It is on a continuing loop which can not be sped up or slowed down, only viewed, stopped or started (it is the fantasy equivalent of a video museum display). The characters can not interact with the events of the past, but they can learn the secrets of how to operate the other artifacts if they take long enough time to view each of the "films" (about 7 days worth). The language/writing system used is unknown to the characters, but can be learned through magic or extensive study.
The artifact representing "knowledge" allows the characters to ask it sage level questions regarding the ancient society which created it and the other artifacts. It knows the history, major figures, technical answers, etc. regarding the ancient society, but it has no knowledge of events which happened after the fall of that society. It has an extensive knowledge of events which led to the fall however. Once again the language/writing system used is unknown to the characters, but can be learned through magic or extensive study.
Play wise it may be best if the characters discover the "scrying the past" artifact first as it will reveal the locations, and methods of operation for all of the other artifacts (thus acting like an inanimate quest giver).
I hope this helps.
The Well of Mists was used to peer beyond the veil of death, and to attempt to answer questions on what waited beyond . . . without resorting to asking a priest or deity; it was thought the divine realm would have a bias which was not desired.
The Silver Cascade provided water which was termed "panacea" and could heal diseases and wounds . . . but of course, the power would not remain within water removed from the basin and stored.
The True Flame was the only fire hot enough to allow the working of a miraculous alloy developed through magic and earth-crafting, and thus is the only method possible for repairing or reforging items made of that metal.
The Bloodstone was used to prolong the lives of certain strong mystics, but the tradeoff was that they found even panacea could not heal natural wear which developed.
The Aether Rings were used to generate a portal into the ethereal realm, from which one could travel to nearly any location . . . if they could find the way.
The Gates of Dawn originally were built with the concept of actually traveling backwards to the creation of the world to witness what happened. Instead, they found they could only watch a certain era of time in a loop and not interfere.
The Tree of Knowledge was supposedly a repository where any who communed with it could record any and all information they wanted, or learn of answers to questions known by the tree.
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This makes the last post above rather interesting since they came to similar conclusions to what I had. As for the order of artifacts, other matters have rather helped me seed where they were, and what effects they were having. Right now the first slated item is linked to one character's background and storyline, and is the Well of Mists; its effects having been twisted into causing dead to rise as incorporeal spirits. And the character in question is an undead-smiting cleric :P