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Our Eberron campaign is about to reach one of the major events in the story and I am trying to ramp up the tension in this next series of sessions. The fourth and final part of the prophesy that will lead the PCs to their final climactic battle will be revealed in the midst of a huge Siberys fall event in Xendrik. The setting is a huge giant temple complex on that surrounds an active volcano near the shore. A giant Siberys stone has been tracked through the skies for months and their calculations tell them it will fall in the next few days. They and their opposition will both be trying to find the crystal shard with the prophesy in it in the aftermath of a meteor strike on an active volcano. The Giants, the Drow and the Tharashk house will also be there just to muddle things.
My question is:
What would the environment be like in the hours after such a cataclysm? Visibility will be reduced, but by how much? How do I reflect that in game mechanics? What about the effects of heat and dust? Just watched a bunch of SciFi disaster movies but still lack inspiration.
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1} Give "The Environment" a place or two in initiative. Plan ahead of time what environmental disasters you want to happen, and in what order. . . . So, when you're in the encounter and it's "the environment's" turn say, "All the sudden the ground beneth you erupts, yada, yada, yada."
2} Your grid map will be very important for this session. See, you want to light it on fire and burn it; the flames and smoke in your house will bother the other Players and create great table atmosphere. . . Since the PCs can't see too far, and because the terrain is huge, trying to get everything on a battlemat is going to ruin the experience. Counting squares and placing minis/ drawing areas where the Players can't see really slows down the game.
Describe the overall stuff the PCs see and when they start using tactics: OAs and flanking, sneak attacks, etc., arbitrarily let them. If a PC says he wants to flank an NPC with another PC, let him. If the wizard says he wants to put his fireball at the best spot, he does.
-W. E. Ray
mindgamez, try finding a Malhavoc Press book called "When the Sky Falls." I think it has oodles of tasty info for an event like the one you're planning.
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1} Give "The Environment" a place or two in initiative. Plan ahead of time what environmental disasters you want to happen, and in what order. . . . So, when you're in the encounter and it's "the environment's" turn say, "All the sudden the ground beneth you erupts, yada, yada, yada."
2} Your grid map will be very important for this session. See, you want to light it on fire and burn it; the flames and smoke in your house will bother the other Players and create great table atmosphere. . . Since the PCs can't see too far, and because the terrain is huge, trying to get everything on a battlemat is going to ruin the experience. Counting squares and placing minis/ drawing areas where the Players can't see really slows down the game.
Describe the overall stuff the PCs see and when they start using tactics: OAs and flanking, sneak attacks, etc., arbitrarily let them. If a PC says he wants to flank an NPC with another PC, let him. If the wizard says he wants to put his fireball at the best spot, he does.
-W. E. Ray
The action will take place in the hellish environment of the crater itself. The meteor will hit on the coast and excavate a mile wide crater that nestles between the volcano to the west and the sea to the east. The crater is below the mountain and well below sea level. The edge of the crater will temporarily block the sea, but not for long. The PCs arrive after the impact via a monolithic magic giant gate that the Orien house has learned to operate. (3 PCs are Oriens)
I have a map of the entire area I worked up that I can overlay with a circular template to mark visual range. I run via laptop and project a map on my 60” TV for the players. I really need a projector to aim down at the table but it isn’t in the budget right now.
Round 1 – Arrival. The swirling dust reduces your sight to less than 100’. At times it is worse as clouds of smoke billow around you. (Roll each round, visibility is 2d10x5’)
Round 10 – A low rumbling groan rolls over you from the west.
Round 15 – The rumbling returns punctuated by a resounding CRACK and a moment later the eastern flank of the mountain falls away revealing a wall of lava that sags and begins its slow, deliberate decent into the crater below.
Round 20 – A third rumbling can be heard, this time form the east. Through the swirling dust you can see the eastern top of the crater falling away. First in small streams then by a torrent the sea rushes into the crater, hurtling toward you and the growing lake of lava to your west.
Round 30 – The lava and water meet in the low basin to your north. The crater quickly begins to fill with steam. Visibility is reduced to 10’. By this time they should have reached the shard and met the forces of their enemy. The reduced sight ranges will nerf the marked powers of the Orien PCs making this a foot race.
If they get possession and begin to make their way out of the crater the other factions will attack to try to get the stone. Volcanoes breed storms. I think some rain and a few random lightning strikes are in order. A few aftershocks of the eruption should keep them on their toes. A few fire giants who live in the area tossing globs of magma instead of stones ought to liven things up. The Drow raiding party that the PC's enemies have convinced are here to steal a treasure that was destined for them as they get back to the gate. Perhaps the Tharashk's can be convinced to work with the PCs? Diplomacy in the midst of all this sounds like fun. They are going to hate me.
Round 1 – Arrival. The swirling dust reduces your sight to less than 100’. At times it is worse as clouds of smoke billow around you. (Roll each round, visibility is 2d10x5’)
Round 10 – A low rumbling groan rolls over you from the west.
Round 15 – The rumbling returns punctuated by a resounding CRACK and a moment later the eastern flank of the mountain falls away revealing a wall of lava that sags and begins its slow, deliberate decent into the crater below.
Round 20 – A third rumbling can be heard, this time form the east. Through the swirling dust you can see the eastern top of the crater falling away. First in small streams then by a torrent the sea rushes into the crater, hurtling toward you and the growing lake of lava to your west.
Round 30 – The lava and water meet in the low basin to your north. The crater quickly begins to fill with steam. Visibility is reduced to 10’. By this time they should have reached the shard and met the forces of their enemy. The reduced sight ranges will nerf the marked powers of the Orien PCs making this a foot race.
If they get possession and begin to make their way out of the crater the other factions will attack to try to get the stone. Volcanoes breed storms. I think some rain and a few random lightning strikes are in order. A few aftershocks of the eruption should keep them on their toes. A few fire giants who live in the area tossing globs of magma instead of stones ought to liven things up. The Drow raiding party that the PC's enemies have convinced are here to steal a treasure that was destined for them as they get back to the gate. Perhaps the Tharashk's can be convinced to work with the PCs? Diplomacy in the midst of all this sounds like fun. They are going to hate me.
Sounds rocking. My biggest concern from your description so far is the constant rolls for visibility each round. You might want to try and simplify your mechanic so that this step flies by quickly and smoothly every round.
Extra resource info: Lava archetypal terrain is described in DMG2 pg 53-54.
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Sounds rocking. My biggest concern from your description so far is the constant rolls for visibility each round. You might want to try and simplify your mechanic so that this step flies by quickly and smoothly every round.
RPTools.net Dicetool rolled 2d10 50 times and exported to excel. Calculated in feet and squares. Also using that sheet for event triggers. I think I should be able to keep it strait.