DM design help: The Eye of Twilight - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

DM design help: The Eye of Twilight

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
factol_rhys_dup
May 18, 2009 11:29:02 I'm DMing a planes-heavy campaign in 4th Edition and I want to incorporate an item that one of my players wrote as an adventure hook. Here are the details.

The character is a tiefling dark-pact warlock who gained his powers from a creature of darkness on the Shadowfell. He accidentally traveled there in his youth while studying to become a wizard, and was taken in by a mysterious patron who taught him shadow magic for years and then sent him on a quest to find The Eye of Twilight.

What I need is some great ideas from the community. I need story ideas to work this into the campaign (maybe involving the Graefmotte article in Dragon as a Shadowfell site) and design ideas to stat it. Help me, D&D forums. You're my only hope.
#2
mahavira
May 18, 2009 12:41:10 "Eye of Twilight" also sounds like the name of a gem or orb (possibly an orb wiht divinatory powers): Greek myth (and Clash of the Titans) had a covey of hags who shared a magic crystal eye which allowed them to see the future, distant places and the like. Alternately it could be a lich's phylactery (Vecna's phylactery back from when he was a mere lich?), allowing the villain to either resurrect an ancient master (or bind the lich to be a servant).

As to why your patron wants a planehopping ship (or whatever else it is), I can think of two alternative motivations: he doesn't want it and doesn't really care about it except inasmuch as he doesn't want its current owner to have it (perhaps the owner is a rival in need of putting in his place), or it's actually just a test for the real mission (if you can't handle this, you're no use to me).
#3
gregt_314
May 18, 2009 18:18:42 The Eye of Twilight could be a place - possibly a rift between the inner planes and the Far Realm, or the place where a Primordial once died, or a great nexus of magic located in the Shadowfell.

The energies there could be the key to your villain's escape. After a long quest to find the Eye, your player finally reaches it, only to have his bat turn into the villain, who begins channelling the Eye's powers to become a kind of demigod.
#4
dagothi
May 18, 2009 19:08:45 It could be a magical WMD of epic proportions. The Eye of Twilight could destroy an entire plane when detonated. The patron could use this to destroy a rival in another plane while sending a message to that rival's allies.
#5
mahavira
May 18, 2009 20:22:49 Another possibility: the Eye of Twilight is a person (perhaps a servant of the Raven Queen). Or riffing on the WMD theme, perhaps it is an artifact that can be used to eclipse the sun of a world, causing the world to take on characteristics of the Shadowfell. Anyone with an undead army is going to want that, as will Illithids (who have wanted to put out/dim the sun for several editions now) and other underdark horrors.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 factol_rhys_dup May 18, 2009 11:29:02	I'm DMing a planes-heavy campaign in 4th Edition and I want to incorporate an item that one of my players wrote as an adventure hook. Here are the details. The character is a tiefling dark-pact warlock who gained his powers from a creature of darkness on the Shadowfell. He accidentally traveled there in his youth while studying to become a wizard, and was taken in by a mysterious patron who taught him shadow magic for years and then sent him on a quest to find The Eye of Twilight. What I need is some great ideas from the community. I need story ideas to work this into the campaign (maybe involving the Graefmotte article in Dragon as a Shadowfell site) and design ideas to stat it. Help me, D&D forums. You're my only hope.
#2 mahavira May 18, 2009 12:41:10	"Eye of Twilight" also sounds like the name of a gem or orb (possibly an orb wiht divinatory powers): Greek myth (and Clash of the Titans) had a covey of hags who shared a magic crystal eye which allowed them to see the future, distant places and the like. Alternately it could be a lich's phylactery (Vecna's phylactery back from when he was a mere lich?), allowing the villain to either resurrect an ancient master (or bind the lich to be a servant). As to why your patron wants a planehopping ship (or whatever else it is), I can think of two alternative motivations: he doesn't want it and doesn't really care about it except inasmuch as he doesn't want its current owner to have it (perhaps the owner is a rival in need of putting in his place), or it's actually just a test for the real mission (if you can't handle this, you're no use to me).
#3 gregt_314 May 18, 2009 18:18:42	The Eye of Twilight could be a place - possibly a rift between the inner planes and the Far Realm, or the place where a Primordial once died, or a great nexus of magic located in the Shadowfell. The energies there could be the key to your villain's escape. After a long quest to find the Eye, your player finally reaches it, only to have his bat turn into the villain, who begins channelling the Eye's powers to become a kind of demigod.
#4 dagothi May 18, 2009 19:08:45	It could be a magical WMD of epic proportions. The Eye of Twilight could destroy an entire plane when detonated. The patron could use this to destroy a rival in another plane while sending a message to that rival's allies.
#5 mahavira May 18, 2009 20:22:49	Another possibility: the Eye of Twilight is a person (perhaps a servant of the Raven Queen). Or riffing on the WMD theme, perhaps it is an artifact that can be used to eclipse the sun of a world, causing the world to take on characteristics of the Shadowfell. Anyone with an undead army is going to want that, as will Illithids (who have wanted to put out/dim the sun for several editions now) and other underdark horrors.