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I have a Tiefling bard in a campaign I'm DM'ing. He has points in Perform (Percussion), and he delightedly role-plays how he stomps with his hooves, and "clangs" his light mace over his shield.
I would like to give him a magical shield that would have bard-only bonuses. Any thoughts? Most bard stuff out there is slashing-sword-style-themed. Any bardic thing that you can think of that can be adjusted to a shield?

My players are in a DarkSun Gladiator adventure. They are stripped of all items, they are slaves and own nothing. In a major battle I need a CR 5-10 monster (low INT, warm climate), that can be controlled by a lure of a sort. Some odor, smell, or something?... Im hoping that the PC's can lure it to to attack the high priest at the box seating. Any suggestions?

STORY: War Between Law and Chaos
PLANE: Many Planes
IMPORTANT INDIVIDUALS: The Queen of Chaos, Miska The Wolf Spider, The Vaati / The Wind Dukes of Aaqua, (The “Rod of Seven Parts”, artifact)
DESCRIPTION: It is an ancient conflict that predates the stars. In a time before the words Good and Evil had meaning, when the world was young. Discover. Law and Chaos forged worlds out of nothingness; their war began while the cosmos was yet unfinished.
The powers of Chaos, and their queen sought to turn the whole world into a battleground. The primal forces of Law stood fast against Chaos.

STORY: The Blood War
PLANE: The Lower Planes / The Abyss / Many Planes
IMPORTANT INDIVIDUALS: The Tanarii and the Baatezu (demons and devils)
DESCRIPTION: It is an eternal conflict between the fiends of the Lower planes. The Tanar'ri are the demonic forces of the Abyss, an evil plane of chaos. Representing the equally evil but lawful realm of Baator are the Baatezu, the dominant caste of devilkin. Neutral evil Yugoloths play both sides against the other. The Blood War has raged on since the Age Before Ages, a dark period when the Prime Material Plane had not fully developed. The conflict is massive, spanning entire planes of reality, and hosting an immeasurable number of fiends.

Im a DM, and I have long wanted to create a collection of major event across the D&D worlds. It can be conflicts vs. gods, epic battles, powerful warriors displaying courage on the battlefield etc.. I intend for these stories to add flavor to the game coming from the PC Bard, The Wandering Minstrel, The Bardic Sage at the Inn, The wise old wizard, the planar creature etc...
In the many adventures I've run over the years, and in D&D computer games I've played I have come across info and references to these stories, but I can't remember them all on the fly. So this is the place to gather them all!

Name the story, the setting / the plane, important individuals, description

I'll start with an easy one:

Thanks Jeremy for the detailed info. It will be too much reading-up on facts. Im looking for the Dark Sun - feel as you put it. I will remain in the little city. How would that be ruled 5.000 inhabitants? Lead by a man loyal to the shadow king?
Your pointers into magic are very useful, I'll use that

Thanks for the relevant advice.
Them being outworlders and recognized as such is a very good idea.
I make sure to emphazise how different they look. While imprisoned. Would they be visited by psions reading their minds once they are rogognized as foreigners ( “mutant” for the gnome)? So everything is revealed. I would think, that in a society with psionics that would be government strategy? Especially them being otherworlders?

Maybe they (after proving themselves as capable combatants in a school of gladiators) are shipped from the small city all the way to Nibenay to join in the grand games there. How would that trip be made through the desert? Caged in a caravan or on foot bound by the hands, so they could join in a fight if the caravan would be attack in a random encounter? In Nebenay they would fight together and be introduced as “Otherworlders”.

The PCs magic works. They travel between many planes so I only modify it a bit. Im not very familiar with defiler/preserver magic. Any pointers to how I could modify arcane and particularly divine magic to fit dark sun?
Should I subtly pinpoint to the PCs that arcane magic is dead? What if they display it openly? Is magic allowed in gladiator games? Are psionics for the other combatants?

What are the drawbacks of obsidian and bone? I have introduced those kinds of weapons, and only a commander has had an iron sword, but I don’t know more, other than following the stats for those weapon?
The idea of the characters items being used by NPCs visible from the box seating is wonderful.

I’ve seen Spartacus, thanks. The many good suggstions as to advance the fights and roleplay their struggle for water, food etc. is good. But I could use some help as to come up with some good ideas for “Behind the scenes” everything that is not gladiator battle. Politics and rivalry, between other gladiators, any ideas? It is a city of 5.000 inhabitants – who rules? And how?

GM_Beernorg: Thanks for the offer on further suggestions.

PS: The stupid decision that was made by the party can be explained by sunstroke, as one of the players argued yesterday :-)

Level 3 party, four PCs, becoming slaves/gladiators in Dark Sun. How do I play it, Im not very familiar with Dark Sun. Anyone did this already? I could use som pointers.
Here is som backstory:

I DM a Planescape campaign and last session the PCs visited Dark Sun Athas in a simple quest to take som bones from an encountered ghosts dead body and lay it to rest. I had planned for them to encounter: the extreme heat, psionics, half-giants, muls, bald dwarves ,Thrii-Kreen, giant scorpions in three keyed encounters and then back to the main quest. But… that didn’t go as planned.
They decided to go to a city, and after barely surviving the desert they arrived. I played it like it was a small city (Narulp 5.000 inhabitants. That is under the rule of Nibenay.) I played the city out clearly evil with slaves all over the place, pick pockets and executionplatforms around the temple square. In honour of King Nibenay gladiatorial games are to be held in the near future. The PCs know this, but decided that to be too dangerous.

Its noon with many witnesses. One PC decides to question/interrogate an elemental fire cleric (who I rule carries out executions and burns the victims to ashes) while he guards the entrance to the palace. Another PC tries to sneak past him. He rolls pourly and I decide to openly roll the spot and he clerly is aware. The first PC mocks the priest openly two times, and I decided that the priest would strike at him! I miss. the PCs continues to fight as more and more guards come running to the struggle until they are all caught. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

They should be executed, but instead I’ll let them be fodder for the upcoming games (They lose all items and gold). How do I play this? I would very much appreciate some help? I like them to get out, eventually, but it should not be easy, a lesson needs to be learned. Can a 3rd level party survive!? The elf fighter/mage, and the tiefling bard are melee and strong, but the week gnome rogue illusionist (without his spellbook) and the pacifist cloistered cleric might not.

I would like to hear an opinion about this feat. I have made it for the 2nd level Ranger, for his 3rd level feat (dex 14). He has an interesting style of play, where he uses many types of weapons during an encounter. He has for the last two levels shifted his a couple of times in every encounter. He role-plays his character to be a member of an order of hunters, who dedicate themselves to be able to wield any weapon in combat.
Is it too powerful or too weak?

Weapon Master of the Harana H’ray
Prerequisites: Dex 14, Quick Draw, must be a member of the Harana H’ray Order

Sense early childhood you have been trained to wield any weapon as naturally as any other limb. In battle you epitomize quickness and control in a frenzied dance where you display a repertoire of weapons in a blur of motions that appear as random and graceful as they are deadly.

Benefit: This feat enables you to use a swift action to drop your melee weapon and draw a new melee weapon within the blink of an eye. If you are fighting with two weapons you can chose to drop one or both of your weapons and substitute with either one or two weapons. You can also take any weapon that is within your current square or a square you threaten; pick a weapon up from the floor; grab a weapon from a weapon rack; or snatch a weapon from an opponents equipment (resolve this as an unarmed disarm attack for which you do not provoke an attack of opportunity).
You instantly attack with the new melee weapon(s) leaving your opponents confused and on their heels. You gain a circumstance bonus that lasts for two rounds:
Roll 1d20 + base attack bonus + Dexterity modifier and determine the bonus from the table below. You can use this feat again when a minimum of three rounds has transpired. In any one encounter, you can’t receive the bonus from the same weapon twice.

Check Bonus
00-09 Nothing happens
10-14 +1 to attack and damage
15-19 +1 to attack and damage / critical threat range improves by one
20-24 +2 to attack and damage
25-29 +2 to attack and damage / critical threat range improves by one
30-34 +3 to attack and damage
35-++ +3 to attack and damage / critical threat range improves by one

Im currently DMing Age of Worms. The party consists of:
Pal3/Cle4/Fist of Raziel2
Wiz2/Rgr5/Arcane Archer2
Swb3/Ftr2/Dervish4
And then a Halfdragon2/Rog1/Wiz6… This last character is weaker than the others. He uses ray spells a lot but with his awful BAB +3, medium Dex, and when shooting into melee with –4 for the lack of Precise Shot he can’t hit a thing! He is aming for Mage Killer (magic of faerun), so he has got no feats to spare.
I am thinking about giving him this item. Is it to powerful? Can the description be cooler and its powers better explained. Other comments?

Warlock’s Grasp:
This single gauntlet is impressively fashioned from the solid hide of a beholder. It can be worn by a spellcaster only and bestows upon its wearer great magical skill, turning him into a truly devastating adversary.
When using ranged touch attack spells, the character is treated as having the following feats:
Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot and Improved Critical (ray)

Furthermore the character can manifest the following magical powers from the gauntlet:

Eldritch Blast (Sp): An eldritch blast is a purple-orange ray of magical energy. It is a ranged touch attack with a range of 60 feet that affects a single target. It deals 1d6 points of damage, allowing no saving throw.
An eldritch blast is the equivalent of a 1st-level spell. It is subject to spell resistance, although the Spell Penetration feat and other effects that improve caster level checks to overcome spell resistance also apply to eldritch blast. An eldritch blast deals half damage to objects. The character can use this ability at will. When worn by a warlock his effective level is increased by +4 for the purpose of determining the power of his eldritch blast.

Eldritch Reverse (Sp): Whenever an enemy targets you with a spell or spell-like ability, you can use an immediate action to redirect the effect. You make an opposed caster level check against the attacker. If you fail the spell or spell-like ability affects you normally, but if you succeed it is deflected. If the result of your check is 10 points greater than that of the attacker you can redirect the ray as you wish (make an attack roll using your own modifiers). If you hit, the new target is subject to the normal effect of the spell or ability.
This effect applies only to spells and spell-like abilities that require a ranged attack roll. You must be aware of the attack and not flatfooted.

Thanks, that was a lot of help!
In case of making this Masterwork Black Dragon/Adamantine Armor magical, will this mean that for making it a Ghost Touch Armor +2 he would pay:

+2 2 x 2 = 4 x 1000 = 4000gp
Ghost Touch add 9.000gp
13.000gp???

Im a DM currently playing Age of Worms. The PCs have defeated Ilthane the black dragon (Adult large dragon) The cleric of Kelemvor wants to use her scales for an armor. Ilthane is not large enough for the armor to be made entirely from her scales. That doesn’t matter to the player, because he wants it to be combined Scales and Adamantine (which they can buy from the smithy in town (Mirarbar)) - he thinks this will be cool. I do to because they have an awful lot of money, that I can rid them off!

So I’ve decided to let him have it, but I have no experience what so ever in prices/materials/etc…
So maybe anyone have had experience with this, or just think it would be fun to help me out :-)
Can you help me? And do you have other coments?
- I’ll use the Dragoncraft from Draconomicon.
- This is what I’ve got:

Ordinary Cost AC Dex AcPen Arcane Speed Weight Special
Full plate 1.5000 +8 1 -6 35% 20 ft. 50 lb.(H) -

Dragoncraft Cost AC Dex AcPen Arcane Speed Weight Special
Full plate 1.5000 +8 1 -4 35% 20 ft. 50 lb.(M) Acid R 5
+11.000

Adamantine Cost AC Dex AcPen Arcane Speed Weight Special
Full plate 1.5000 +8 1 -5 35% 20 ft. 50 lb.(H) DR 3/-
+15.000

Questions:
- What will the stats of this armor be?
- How long will it take to make (to dwarves work together)?
- What is it gonna cost? (They have the scales, but not the adamantine) Will the dwarves have salary?

Full Pate Cost AC Dex AcPen Arcane Speed Weight Special
Dragoncraft/ ? 8 1 ? 35% ? ? ?
Adamantine

Thougts:
- The DR 3/- from adamantine is to much I think, because it will not be made entirely of adamantine. - Does the dragon craft ability to make the heavy armor become medium have any impact on weight?
- If he later wants to make it magical, how do I calculate this, when he has the mwk armor?

Thanks

I'm about to start AoW and plan to set it in Forgotten Realms. My players are natives to the Silver Marches and I would like to stage it in that area.
Do you predict any eventual “problems” with the following?                                     
 
1. Diamond Lake (western Neather Mountains) = Khelb
2. The Free City = Silverymoon
3. Magepoint = Silverymoon inner circle (Manzorian = Alustriel)/ Herold's Holdfast
4. Spire of Long Shadows = Somewhere in Chult ?5. Alhaster = Have not read the AP (Any Suggestions)?6. Tilagos = Have not read the AP (Any Suggestions)?7. Other Places in the AP = (Any Suggestions)?
I see a problem with a gladiatorial arena in Silverymoon The Champions Belt as I could imagine lady Alustriel would deny any such existence. But I’m thinking of staging the games as being less deadly: Stating a more strick set of rules than those presented in the AP, and having “sanctuaried” clerics walking around the arena stabilizing the fallen.
Also the arena would have to grant the gladiators power over the ward, so they can use otherwise “illegal” spells within it. I’m thinking that the mythal has a small breach, and that this has been the basis of starting the games years past.  
And I think it could be cool to some of the powerful mages watching the games (maybe even Taern Hornblade) as the Ulgursta emerges and be powerless to intervene, because of the ward. Of course this prevents the encounter from destroying the city as the ulgursta would be destroyed the first moment it leaves the arena, but I don’t feel that this is a problem.
Also Zyrxog (being a mindflayer), couldn’t even access the city due to the mythal. But I planed to replace him with a simpler and less time consuming assassination “adventure” anyway…
 
Thank you in advance, as any help will be immensely appreciated!