Uh well, it's like this...
Within the enemy city of K'Tang a huge uncanny mirror has been erected, the power of which is central to the defences of this Lawful/Evil city-state.
That's as far as I've got so far...
What role does the mirror play in the defences of the city?
What actions would be required to break the mirror?
What would the side-effects be of it's destruction?
The setting is Cursed Empire, which is a little obscure but essentially means: war theme, roman tech level, some sorcery (rune and elemental magic), no Gods (they are dead or distant).
Ideas welcome!
Thank ye kindly : )
|
What role does the mirror play in the defences of the city?
Any ranged attack coming into the city from outside is reflected back at the shooter.
What actions would be required to break the mirror?
sneaking into the city, and hitting it with a melee attack to the back (non reflective) surface.
What would the side-effects be of it's destruction?
a slight magnetic pull (adds +1 damage to ranged towards the city from outside), slight balance checks for anyone running towards the city as the mirror is broken.
Thats all I have for now....
|
Defensive use - the mirror reflects hostile supernatural attacks
Offensive use - the mirror creates 'reflections' of guardsmen that can be sent forth into the cities defense (they can't leave the city walls, but they can stand on the walls and rain death down on attackers), alongside the real guardsmen (basically giving each defender the equivalent of a single mirror image, that can also attack).
Sneaky use - the mirror does nothing, it's an enormous red herring. The city *does* have a special defense, or perhaps it was just insanely lucky once (such as the various Chinese invasions of Japan that were conveniently ended by hurricanes), but in any event, the mirror has nothing to do with it, it's just a magnet for enemies of the city to waste their energy attacking.
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32
|
I'm not familiar with Cursed Empire, but how distant ARE those Gods? Is the mirror so spectacular an artifact that they can be contacted through it? Maybe the Guardians of the Mirror could have a few cleric powers. Okay - that way lies Dragonlance, but still...
And after dinner I'll get back to you with some proper ideas :)
I like the idea of doubling the troops. Kind of like a ginormous mirror of opposition. The roll this baby out to the walls, unveil it before their foes, and from the depths of the mirror pours an army composed of opposites from the other army and bent on doing battle. It can't be overcome by number; the bigger the assaulting army, the bigger the army produced by the mirror.
It should be very difficult to break. Perhaps a special sword (or hammer or spear or some other weapon) is needed to shatter the glass (and perhaps this can only be done from behind, as previously mentioned). Or perhaps with a special item, kind of like a key, one can actually enter the mirror itself. Somewhere within the demiplane-like-space is a source of power (with a powerful guardian, of course; perhaps a custom made mirror golem or dragon or the like); destroy this, and the mirror shatters (and probably those who traveled in find themselves standing back on their homeplane amongst the broken shards).
Side effect? Well, there's always the classic explosion. Perhaps the mirror blows apart in a magical blast laden with razor-sharp glass shrapnel. It could be enough to wipe out whole sections of the city or any army nearby.
|
|
Random other thought.
The Mirror is a scrying device. The city is so legendarily hard to attack because they always know who is coming far in advance and have lots of time to prepare.
The Mirror is a gateway to another dimensional space, one in which the city has allies (the mirror folk of Nerra, who swore an ancient pact to a wizard who founded the city) or one into which the city can stow away special troops in suspended animation.
The Mirror is sentient, and consumes the souls of those who are fed to it. The city leaders keep it 'fed' with dissidents and ne'er-do-wells (and kids they find wandering the street at night, and homeless people and foreigners who don't present their papers fast enough...). When invaders enter the city, it can be triggered to start drawing their life-forces out of them. Locals know to cover their eyes when it starts to flare up and go on a soul-sucking spree, but, since no invader has yet to survive seeing the mirror in this mode, word as to it's true powers has not gotten out (and the locals have spread a dozen other rumors, some with contrived 'proof' just to obscure the matter!). A special order of blind monks handle the actual 'feeding' of the mirror, being immune to it's powers (as they can never see their reflection). They wear blindfolds, but mostly as a courtesy to the rest of the city residents, because nobody wants to see the hollow craters where their eyes were gouged out.
|
|
1.What role does the mirror play in the defences of the city?
2. What actions would be required to break the mirror?
3. What would the side-effects be of it's destruction?
more answers:
1A)It acts as a bag of holding for all the other magical weapons owned by the bad city. As long as there is something magical in the pocket dimension, the mirror stands. The 'normal' way to remove an item is to thrust a medallion (with numbers on it) into the face of the mirror and say the name of the item desired. When they remove the medallion, the numbers indicate the number of magical items still in the pocket dimension. If it is present, it will appear on the ground at the feet of the person who requested it. Who knows if there are other ways.
2A)When everything is taken out of the pocket dimension, the mirror slowly disappears over the course of an hour.
3A) all the magical items would be gone... including the dozens and dozens of stones with 'light' and 'permanency' cast upon then just to keep the mirror active in the city.
___________________________________________
1B) whatever magical item is thrown into the mirror, the next ammunition fired from the city defender's cannon/ballista gains the attributes of the last magic item fed it.
2B)?
3B) all Cannon/Ballistae around the city break down.
The mirror represents the ideal city of K'Tang, a city under the ultimate curse where every inhabitant screams out in pain, agony and fear every moment of every day. It is so filled with fear and pain that it is indefensible, as those fears and agonies take on new life. The citizens of the "local" K'Tang heap their frustrations and sadness upon the mirror every day, allowing it to send forth hopelessness and despair.
This being D&D, Hopelessness, Despair, Fear and Agony are the runner-up Horsemen of the Apocalypse, ancient emotions made manifest who feed upon the offerings of K'Tang. Who ride out not to defend the city for some great and holy reason, but to covet it and keep it and devour the lusts of its terrified peopls for themselves. I would put them at CR 30 or so, just below gods.
|
What role does the mirror play in the defences of the city?
The mirror is a HUGE, Immense ornate bronze sheet, reflecting the sun to vaporize enemy troops anywhere its focus is turned upon.
What actions would be required to break the mirror?
Being bronze the mirror is very durable. Under the right circumstances it could be melted, smashed or bashed to bits. However, being so very very big, it is very difficult to damage it sufficiently to destroy it. Only the rarest of magics can manage to do so. In fact there is an ancient ritual developed centuries ago against a twin mirror that was destroyed, sucking the city away into legend. The trick is to find a copy of the ritual, procure the necessary items, and carry out the ritual before the city gates WITHOUT being vaporized.
What would the side-effects be of it's destruction?
If the Mirror were destroyed there could be a backlash of stored solar power, or even the formation of a small black hole, sucking everything within an X radius into it as it folds in upon itself. Should the ritual above be used, the radius of the implosion actually would include those doing the ritual! So, a side adventure would be finding a way to survive the implosion.
|
|
The mirror represents the ideal city of K'Tang, a city under the ultimate curse where every inhabitant screams out in pain, agony and fear every moment of every day. It is so filled with fear and pain that it is indefensible, as those fears and agonies take on new life. The citizens of the "local" K'Tang heap their frustrations and sadness upon the mirror every day, allowing it to send forth hopelessness and despair.
This being D&D, Hopelessness, Despair, Fear and Agony are the runner-up Horsemen of the Apocalypse, ancient emotions made manifest who feed upon the offerings of K'Tang. Who ride out not to defend the city for some great and holy reason, but to covet it and keep it and devour the lusts of its terrified peopls for themselves. I would put them at CR 30 or so, just below gods.
ewwwwwwww cool! I like it
I knew you wouldn't let me down and would take the tip of an idea and expand it imaginatively... : ) Hopefully others can find something usable here as well.
First questions: Carborundum, the Gods were once very much present but a 'Great Cataclysm' threw the world into another orbit/dimension too distant for the Gods to reach. There is one very interesting exception to that situation, each God can choose one 'Envoy', a human representative or avatar to represent their interests and inherit unique powers.
I liked your ideas, and will attempt to adapt them to suit the flavour of my campaign, of course other remixes are possible and just as worthy.
Here we go...
THE SCREAMING MIRROR OF K'TANG
Appearance:
An immense ornate bronze sheet (Krome), inspiring awe. In it's dormant state the mirror reflects the true nature of it's location (Varianor). Whereas K'Tang is wealthy, industrious and appears very glamorous - the hideous mirror reflects the real feelings of corruption, oppression and fear. It audibly groans with the weight of sadness (Varianor). Few would dare approach the mirror directly, for fear of meeting a horrible caricature of themselves.
Powers:
The mirror can be commanded to scry upon surrounding regions (Set). It has a twin in the distant city of Morg. Through this connection the mirror can be coerced to form a gateway to conjure allies (Set, Saern). Thus two remote cities are able to reinforce each other. These rituals are administered by a blind priesthood who feed the mirror with living souls (Set). These souls become trapped in the mirror's twisted reality.
Creation and Destruction:
The twin mirrors were created by a prehistoric sorcerous race and discovered during strange excavations. Even the Blind Priesthood understand the mirrors' workings imperfectly. A mirror can only be destroyed from within (Saern), where a counterpart exists. However this counterpart will be defended by reflected forms of K'Tangs champions. It's destruction would suck the entire city away into legend (Krome).
Many thanks
Arcane Joe
Gotta say, of all the ideas I like Saern's the most - it can only be destroyed from inside. Talk about a classic idea for an adventure!
Thanks! I think Arcane Joe has resynthesized the ideas and concepts wonderfully. I particularly like the part about the mirror coming from an ancient civilization and merely having been found. What if the strange powers of the mirror are what caused people to congregate around it, and thus the couse for the city's foundation? Or, if the coty pre-existed, could the allure of the mirror's power be what brought the evil factions (the blind priesthood, etc.) to the city in the first place and thus be responsible for its current LE state?
If you want a historically (probably) accurate idea for your mirror, check on the Internet how Archimedes defended a whole city with a line of mirrors.
If you make the mirror concave, it could be a type of laser weapon reflecting the sunlight.
Just an idea...
|
The original race of builders still live within the mirror dimension, and the mirror is, in fact, a scrying probe that they sent to the 'real' world, to search for new territories to conquer, and new species to enslave.
They have hidden their true, monstrous forms behind illusions of beautiful, golden-skinned humanoids, with voices like gentle music, and have convinced the archaelogists who 'discovered' the probe, and their rulers, who built the city around it, that they are celestial beings with the welfare of the citizens at heart.
In truth, they are happy for their sorcery to help the modern caretakers, since the more souls or magic items are fed to it, the sooner they will be released into the mortal world, where all prior treaties will be thrown aside in an orgy of madness and terror.
The PCs can therefore be on the side of the besieged, but have to convince the citizens to stop feeding the mirror, despite the threat of invasion by barbarian hordes.
Awesome synthesis! Yeah, I love the idea that to destroy the mirror you have to "go within". Perhaps inside it is so brilliantly lit (from the outside world's light) that you wander around blind, if you don't have magical aid.
The original race of builders still live within the mirror dimension, and the mirror is, in fact, a scrying probe that they sent to the 'real' world, to search for new territories to conquer, and new species to enslave.
They have hidden their true, monstrous forms behind illusions of beautiful, golden-skinned humanoids, with voices like gentle music, and have convinced the archaelogists who 'discovered' the probe, and their rulers, who built the city around it, that they are celestial beings with the welfare of the citizens at heart.
In truth, they are happy for their sorcery to help the modern caretakers, since the more souls or magic items are fed to it, the sooner they will be released into the mortal world, where all prior treaties will be thrown aside in an orgy of madness and terror.
The PCs can therefore be on the side of the besieged, but have to convince the citizens to stop feeding the mirror, despite the threat of invasion by barbarian hordes.
Sounds like an interesting new take on the Nerra to me!
Maybe bardic music is required to shatter the mirror? A combination of Sympathetic Vibration, Shatter, and Greater Shout? Maybe Song of Discord can be used to make the Reflected Army attack the Defending Army instead of the Invading Army?
And there should TOTALLY be a ginormous "L.A.S.E.R." from the reflected sunlight. Like a Maximized, Enlarged, Empowered sunbeam spell. Or Intensified if epic or quasi-epic in level.
I can see some LN MM3 monsters being involved, like the lumi and visilight and maybe even some (NE) protean scourges. Of course, changelings and dopplegangers can attack as mirror images of the PCs.
Maybe it can make some weapons Brilliant Energy weapons?
Just to report back and say this session really rocked and thanks for your ideas : )
If anyone is interested, here is an overview of what went down. These events happened in the context of an ongoing war between rival nations. The rival nation, of which K’Tang is part, have over-thrown the enlightened rule of the Empire.
The party: Knight, Assassin, Ranger, Druid.
Having heard about the Mirror through the investigations of a spy, the party gained access to K'Tang by subterfuge, masquerading in the paraphernalia of ‘Executioner Knights’ (a faction allied with K'Tang).
Once within they witnessed the outward signs of the usurping of the Empire’s rule; broken statues of imperial heroes, public amenities in bad repair while the powerful were clearly prospering. A great swathe of homeless had been created by the self-serving rule of Queen Regna and her supporters. Empire loyalists had been executed and displayed in the streets.
The PC’s had already identified the walled district that contained the mirror, due to intelligence from the spy. At night they employed stealth to follow the Blind Priesthood and their potential human sacrifices into this area.
When the PC’s came face to face with the mirror (their presence still undetected by the Priests) they saw the true corrupt and macabre form of the City reflected. They also saw idealised versions of themselves, and that the Priesthood appeared more like vampires in the reflection. They quickly cottoned on that this was a 'true' reflection of things as they were.
The Priests threw their first victim into the mirror. This unfortunate appeared to collide with their relfection and then existed only within the mirror. Once there they were set upon by the ‘vampire’ Priests in a most unpleasant way. After the shock of this the PCs quickly set upon the Priests and killed them.
While the PCs determined how to destroy the mirror they realised a local Knight had discovered their trespassing and was riding in to pursue them. This Knight, handsome and resplendent in his armour, was rather more gruesome and corrupt looking in the reflection. After the inevitable clash of arms, they experiment with several means of destroying the mirror. Eventually the Druid reasoned that the mirror might be destroyed from within. The Ranger and Knight (the PC knight that is) went through to the other side while the Assassin and Druid stayed in ‘reality’ to watch…
The Knight had a necromantic Ghost Blade (a particular magic item in our campaign) that he unsheathed. The Sword was so terrifying in this world that he could barely wield it. They came up with the weird plan of jumping back through the mirror and hitting it with the Ghost Sword at the same time (much to my secret amusement).
The Knight was faster in the jump. He destroyed the mirror as he leapt through and, being partway between two realities, was sliced in half. The Ranger was stuck in the phantasmal reality, while the Druid and Assassin realised that there own predicament was even worse as K’Tang was collapsing in an extremely noisy catastrophic implosion. They ran like devils to their horses, and after several red-faced life and death rolls, they managed to ride clear of K’Tang before they could get crushed to bits by falling walls etc.
The Ranger, still alone in the mirror reality, was then attacked by the shadow version of K'tang's 'Queen Regna' (herself a formidable warrior and even stronger in reflection). It seemed Regna had some connection to the mirror and was extremely pissed off about the turn of events. The Ranger was horribly outmatched to deal with Regna by himself. However, exhausting all his resources and cunning, he managed to defeat the evil Queen and almost bleeding to death he found himself back in reality, standing in a giant desert that an hour ago had been a mighty metropolis.
The session was very nail biting and ended as the PC’s encountered a trader looking for K’Tang and feeling very lost and confused. The PCs had very mixed feelings about the overall results of their actions.
Reflecting on my delivery, I could have done more within the mirror realm, but as it was it turned out to be a tightly paced session, which engaged the players and clearly shook them up quite a bit.
Excellent! I like the last little touch of encountering the trader looking for the city that is no more.
Indeed. Sounds like a great way to end the session and drive home the weight and moment of the players' actions. I'm curious, though: what became of the knight and his player? I assume from the (nice) description he was slain; was the party able to raise him, or did he make a new character, or was he somewhat stranded for the rest of the session?
Sounds like the series finale to Buffy: The city is gone, and a hero is slain. Maybe have the knight come back as some kind of ghost (like SPike did).
Also, maybe the powers that be are now after the PCs because they committed mass murder and horrendous property destruction. Possibly even LN powers. Is there an Inevitable that goes after those that got away with big crimes and sins?
Sounds like the series finale to Buffy: The city is gone, and a hero is slain. Maybe have the knight come back as some kind of ghost (like SPike did).
Also, maybe the powers that be are now after the PCs because they committed mass murder and horrendous property destruction. Possibly even LN powers. Is there an Inevitable that goes after those that got away with big crimes and sins?
If not, maybe it's time to make one!
If not, maybe it's time to make one!Sounds like the series finale to Buffy: The city is gone, and a hero is slain. Maybe have the knight come back as some kind of ghost (like SPike did).
Also, maybe the powers that be are now after the PCs because they committed mass murder and horrendous property destruction. Possibly even LN powers. Is there an Inevitable that goes after those that got away with big crimes and sins?
Cool!
Do you have access to MM3? There are a couple LN races (lumi, visilights) that have light and/or mirror or at least reflection-based powers and flavor. The visilight drains your Charisma, and its mask begins to take on the features of your face! The lumi have floating heads and glowing bodies and are somehow linked to the Positive Energy Plane....maybe they felt a void when the city went kaput?