Cade Darkhouse's page

Cade Darkhouse wrote:

A) I have no deity on Mechanus in my campaign. B) Shi goes after mechanus as his master plan to rule everything (and I do mean everything) C) Shi has enough magical fire power to cast 8 wishes A DAY! He could easily take down the big city in Mechanus where the capital from the DMG is and escape.

Ok, you have no god on Mechanus (not realistic since it's the ultimate plane of law, hence a top down driven society with one prime leader), but what about the rest of the multiverse? If Shi's master plan is to take over everything wouldn't the other gods, demon princes, archdevils, celestials, guardinals and the other beings of power have something to say about it or have the "Dark Lords" of your campaign world taken care of them too?

I'm sorry but someone has to say it. Your campign is bording on the absurd. Your little lich maybe a big fish on his home campign world but when he wants to take over everything get realistic.

Better villians then him have tried and failed. Vecna in "Die Vecna Die" or Orcus in "Dead Gods" came close but failed.

This seems a clear case of the DM loving his creation more then the campign for the players. Honestly, I don't think you want the players to suceed, more likely you want to to play Shi as your character with the Unlimited power and invincibility of the DM.

I wish you luck but suspect that your campaign wont last past the second night "The all powerful" Shi makes his first apperance.

Excuse me. you might of not realized this. what if Shi has cowed the demon princes into serving him and a god might be protecting him as shi trys to rule all in that gods name making that god the ultamite deity.

The reason Shi is so powerful and I have him like this is so that the Pc's want to rid the world of him more even if they only want to do it for the challenge. You may not understand my reasoning. Maybe you are just to short sighted. I like creating a world where the Pc's must think under difficult situations like being attacked by someone who could kill them so easliy like Shi.

I love making the charecters think
I love the look of terror when they think they are doomed
I love making them laugh
I love the junk food that I eat (reese's dipped in sweet + sour)

I'm gonna weigh in on the other side here, mostly because I can. :-)

Selfishness could be construed as Chaotic. The chaotic viewpoint places personal liberties above "the greater good." Therefore, selfishness could be viewed as the ultimate Chaotic. Of course, I am not saying you could have a selfish Good Chaotic, but a CN character could be played as being neurotically selfish without Evil entering into the question. (He sees himself as "needing" everything he is hoarding, and in his twisted view of the world, his "needs" outweigh the "wants" of the other players.) (I think I just gave myself a great idea for a real pain-in-the-butt type NPC. I gotta go write this down...) *wanders off looking for a pencil...*

A chaotic person'sviewpoint depends on his secondary alignment.

Have you ever read stuff on the Modrons? There is enough of them to march through THE LOWER PLANES and not be stopped. Mechanus is also the home to a God, Primus. The questions isn't just of firepower. Can a high-level lich match the power of a deity, especially a Great one? And a millions-strong race that has never been defeated?

I understand your idea. But the plain fact is it is not that easy to do. Why not have him destory something on the Material plane? Why go after Mechanus?

A) I have no deity on Mechanus in my campaign. B) Shi goes after mechanus as his master plan to rule everything (and I do mean everything) C) Shi has enough magical fire power to cast 8 wishes A DAY! He could easily take down the big city in Mechanus where the capital from the DMG is and escape.

Another thing. He has 100 beads of force, 4 darkskulls and many powerful magic Items and artifacts that he has collected over the 6,000 years he has existed. He is nigh unstopable which why I will give the PCs in a high powered campaign the most powerful weapon in the world. The Draconis spear. A +7 flight (oriental adventures) Holy crystal (extra damage against undead) Vorpal impaling (like vorpal but for piercing) Modified grt spear (also can slash) It also has many other powers such as the abillity to cause an undead slain by it to be eternally destroyed with out being returned without at least 2 greater deities using wish.

To destroy Mechanus, an entire plane, powered by a Greater Deity, he would need to have Divine Ranks. It doesn't make sense otherwise.

Maybe you should scale Shi down to a lower level. Playing long enough to get to that power level will take an obscenely long time. Make him closer to their level, for greater game effect.

Ah but he only nearly destroyed the main part of mechanus. The huge castle described in the DMG. Shi gets his arcane power from charisma like any sorceror. His cha is 41 he would have enough firepower to take out the castle with his armie of undeads and constructs in a day easly.

As for the languages and races, almost any class/race combonation concivible can be found in Hesperia. In a given day you might hear as much as ten different launguages.

The city's farms have help from some very potetent ancient magic that allows the food to fully grow in about a month. Any religion is allowed as long as it follows the rules of no harming others, no attempting to force others to partake in there religion and they can't cause harm to come to the populace. So even thogh there might be a temple to say Nerull the clerics of the temple can't go about killing people or the church is destroyed and the followers are forcefully thrown out of Hesperia. What keeps these rules enforced is the powerful spells that created Hesperia. Hesperia is a city where the world council meets every year. Representitives from all races and palnes meet i the world council under a truce to disscuss the goings ons. Think the UN.

Thank you Demonknight

"Well while we wait I've got an Idea! Lets KILL, Kill kill!"
That evil sword I forgot which episode and this isn't exact.

Oh yeah. The Pc's will face slavers, bandits and all sorts of other baddies before even learning of the Dark lord Shi.

Resources
Farms: 10 90 acre farms to produce plant foods and 20 10 acre farms to produce meat foods.
Mines for stone and metals riddle the montain Hesperia is built on.
A great forge produces all the metal objects magic and mundane for the city. A huge ship wright building puts forth the trade and war ships. A thrid large building puts forth all the other things needed: furniture, wagons, stalls for the Market Square and so forth.

They are currently level 2. Shi will not be gaining any levels but will have some potent servents (hd 93 Necronaut and maxed out hd shadesteel golems.)

[

What is the min level you expect your players to be to take on Vecna Jr?

45. and equipped with a massivly powerful artifact spear.

The players at the time of the destruction of Mechanus should be able to take on Shi. He and the other Dark lords of magic have either killed or trapped the others. Shi may be a lich and have dominion over undeath but he killed more then a million people during a Great war. That gained him the title Lord of death.

Hesperia
Metropolis
Population 1,000,000
Gp limit 100,000,000
Location Mount Hesper on the continent of Hesperia.
Leaders: The Four High Kings

Please critique. as I finish the other info I will post it. Thanks.

I'm gaming with a group that includes 3 players totally new to D&D and the concept of RPGs in general. Makes for some fun times. See excerpt below:

Quoteable quote from Tuesday's game:

Our fearless adventurers are tasked with finding the local thieves guild and making contact. The party rogue, Kokanee (a water genasi run by Player1), gets a tip on the location of a local fence and decides that's a good place to start. So she and the drow, Hazel (run by Player2), go off to the fence, pretending they have something to sell and don't want questions asked.

Enter the Black Kettle, a junk store run by an old halfling:

K: "Um, Hi! I have something I want to sell."
NPC: "OK, let's see it."
(P1 flipping through her sheet. "I don't have anything extra.")
K turns to Hazel: "Give me something to sell."
After some bickering, H hands the halfling her short sword.
NPC: "How many bodies are on this?"
H stares at him blankly. "Um. I don't remember what they were. What is it I don't like again? Dwarves?"
K: "Shhhh! You'll make him angry."
DM: "He's not a dwarf, he's a halfling"
K: "Yeah, but we don't know what the OTHER half is!"

..... pause...

P3: "Reg... that's not what 'halfling' means..."

**Blinks** Okay. That reminds me of when I was playing a Dog person (using the hybrid hengenyokai only as the creature) who rode a giant praying mantis. One of the other adventureers threw a whetstone at me when I was trying to negotiate with some elves who he had insulted. I went after him with Greatspear and glaive in hand.

I’ve Got Reach wrote:

Let it stand.

The obviously rookie DM decided on a format for random ability generation and now the DM must live with those consequences.

I think he was speaking hypothetically.

Even if he wasn't, how does random ability generation indicate a rookie DM?

Exactly. Whats wrong with random stat generation?

Another time they learn of Shi's great power is much later on when he destroys Mechanus (almost). here it is: " A tall older looking man dressed in noble finery approaches you. he asks you to talk to him in private. when you are away from the bustling of the common room he looks at you and pulls out a crystal orb. he says " A very powerful mage assulted the capital of Mechanus. He completly wiped it out killing everyone but me. he told me that he let me live so I could relay the message to you. Here is a recording of the destruction." He waves his hand over the crystal and mutters a few words. and suddenly...." Thats where I'll stop.

Luke makes a great point

Lord of the Synod
Thane of "Where ever" in your campaign

Keeper of the Book of Shadows

Master of "Place Name"

Father of Night

Well these are all fairly cheesy, but just rank and place are pretty cool i.e. Count of Monte Cristo

I would stay away from "the chosen one" as well

If the guy is hiding his lich like look it may make sense to stay away from darkness related names and go with simple ranks

Sultan, Lord Marshal, Enchanter, Archmage, Priest, Shah, General, Master, etc.

Everyone knows he is the Dark Lord of magic. he is not hiding his lichdom simply giving himself the apperance of divine favoring by his keeping his young looks for thousands of years.

I disagree with some of the other posters - I don't think anybody would want to look decayed. They might wanto to be immortal bad enough to deal with it, but want it doesn't make much sense it would only serve to hamper interaction and broadcast "Hey I'm an evil lich".

I would hold back the lich himself for a long time, presenting the characters with false leads and minions. Others that want to take advantage of the lich's power, magical or otherwise.

I would also create some unique magical effects and itmes for the guy - including little ones.

Say birds that broadcast what they see back to a reflecting pool so that the lich is aware of the PCs plans and actions as well as everything else in his area of operation.

Also why would he destroy the city.
Destruction for the sake of evil is a poor motivation for a bad guy IMO. They need to want something - and don't care how they get it, that is evil. To want power over something is fine, but if you want it you want to control it, have it, not destroy it. You may risk destroying it to get but revelling in destruction for destruction sake is madness and beneath the intelligence and power of a 40th level character.

He uses the threat of destroying the city because it holds over a million people. If the Pc's let him destroy the city he kills thousands of childern so that is the motivation for them to do what he wants. The reason they encounter him early is so they don't go after him to soon. He also shows up just to show of his power

Each school of magic (necro, trans etc) has four mages one for chaos, one for law, one for evil, one for good. In refrence to the unguent of timelessness that was the item Lord Shi used to keep his youth. i could not remember wether it was that or a spell he used.

If I remember how I did the history right it was an unguent of timelessness. Otherwise I used a permenent gentle repose.

How about the title Champion of Death? The Dark Lord of Death sounds a bit repetitive, kind of like saying here comes the Holy Champion of Good.

The title is from the fact that there is a group of mages, four for each school of magic one of those each for an alignment. They are the Lords of Magic. the evil ones are The Dark Lords. Shi has dominion over death (necromancy). Therefore: The dark lord of Death, Shi.

The Dark lord Shi is a very starnge Lich. Even though he choose to be a lich he despises decay. As he also uses necromancy he does not use zombie like undead. He sees decay as "messy" and choose to be a lich so he could continue his plans for being a god even past the natural age limits of humans

The boss for one of the epic level sections of my current campaign, Shi is a lich that used magic to keep his youth. He is a level 30 sor, level ten clr. I would like some feed back and will post his stats later for all to see his great power.

The Pc's will first encounter him in the city they are in (Hepseria) Here is an example of the encounter: " The tall strange Man points up at a building. He mutters a few words and a huge hole appears in the building as bodies and body parts rain down onto the street. He laughs and says 'Do you still wish to fight me pathetic mortals. I shall destroy this city if you do not do as I request'"

I am planing on starting my Campaign. Look to Campaign journel (Age of peace) for details. I plan on starting it tonight if I'm there. I will likly need two more players. Thank you

This is the basic story for my campaign so far.

Hesperia. A massive city that rests as several layers going up a montain. A city population of a million and the most diversecity makes this capital of the continent Hesperia a prime location for the World Council. Twice a year representitves from all magical races and groups meet under a strict truce and from alliances and talk about events affecting the world. Truly this is a great time.

Unfortunatly Hesperia holds some dark secrets. A powerful magical nexus almost gave an evil form of a powerful cleric hold of the city. Strange murders and disappearances occur during the nights when a strange merchant with jagged scarring all over his face appears with his caravan.

These events lead to a horrible event known as the dark war when all of evil gathers against all of good to battle for control of the city and all the power it gaurds.

My opinion is that many evil monsterts ransack villages and caravans all the time. Here is an example that could be used: " As you are walking along in the wods you here a tremendous roar! a huge savage humonoid crashes out of the trees bellowing and swinging a tree about as a club, "Get outta my woods our I'll eat ya" hollers the beast as he takes a swing at you" This could represent a trooll or ogre attacking the group to scare them of our kill them for food as they travel through "his woods".

I like drawing the chars as much as I like making their stats and back story

Lucas Buchanan wrote:

I’ve Got Reach wrote:

Brutal; funny, but brutal!

Why do so many DMs hate druids?...They suck; mediocre healers, can spontaneously summon pathetic pets that suck more than their animal companions do and can transform into animal forms that are always weaker than even their own human form. I love when my players play druids. What's the deal?

Oh, my, my, my... You've played with the wrong druids, friend. A couple of feats like Augment Summoning and Fast Wildshape can make for a brutally efficient druid killing machine. I know. I have one in my group and I have a reputation as a cold-blooded brutal DM. No, seriously.

The last combat this BA nature boy was in, he summoned a bear, a tiger, and wildshaped himself into a bear as well and proceded to grapple the living crap out of a succubus, Damage Reduction and all. Just one example of how vicious a druid can be.

I must say this. Impressive.

When i first started palying I decided to write an adventure. At the time I think I only had a DMG. I did not even think to look at the CR's for monsters so the first adventure had 1st level PC's going up against a Balor. bwa hahaha. I am the Evil DM! Fear my wrath!

My fav char was Brotter, An epic fighter with a +5 flaming burst something or another B. Sword. He had a mount, a giant advanced dragonfly. He liberatred a kingdom after leaving a clan of freedom fighters who gave him some legendary equipment to wear in this battle. I had to fight an evil king and died once but got revived by a fairy that could use true ressurection (the DM had an obsession wit The Legend of Zelda games) After al;l that I was a Demi god with about a 60 somrthing for str.

I would ask to keep a few (1-2) and reduce the rest by one d6+2 or to reroll them. I love playing the strong but forgetfull simpleminded Barbarian or the clumsy cleric or a weak (physically) Spellcaster. I like streotypes but I also like playing oddities. (a intelligent dex based barbarian, a brutish sorrceror) But yeah I would try to keep at least one If the DM saw the rolls and they all came up 18 asnd asked that they be rerolled.

If I was DM I would allow it and just throw biggger challenges at them and require the player roleplayed really well or all his/her abillities would be dropped by 4. bwa hahaha. I am the Evil DM! Fear my wrath!

I am running a high powered campaign and my freind is playing an ORC BARBARIAN and got an 18 in str. Next adventure they are fighting for a boss a 5th lvl rouge who is killing people in the Great metropolis of Hesperia. This means they will first have to find him. Hesperia has 1,000,000 residents so this adventure should be rather amusing. bwa hahaha. I am the Evil DM! Fear my wrath!

I've seen the posts bemoaning epic levels and stuff and I have to say I agree that epic characters and the epic game are far too powerful and therefore too complicated to make gaming enjoyable.

So, what's a 20th level character to do? What is there to achieve after he's carved out a kingdom or built a wizard academy or whatever? What reason does he have to go on? I ask because after all the fun you have trying to get to level 20, how much can you actually do once you are there without getting fed up? Thoughts?

You could kill the tarrusqe(sp) take over kingdoms and all the stuff that 1st levelers only dream of. I played in an epic lvl campaign and became a demi-god after stopping an evil king from reaching god status. I thought it was a fun adventure since I got to use large carriges and small hills as weapons (my char was insanely strong) We fought a corrupted Huge Angel that almost killed us and it was about the third encounter.

of course my B.swords crit modifier was so that if I got over a natural ten I hit on a crit. (My freind uses a lot of house rules that make the game INSANE)

I'm 15. I have already played an epic char in a two PC campaign. (My freind the DM of that one is insane) and have been writing adventures for about a year for my own campaigns. my most current takes place in a massive metropolis of a million residents (not counting the representitives of all the various magical and mundane races) That rests on a mountain. (It actually is the mountain)