Hey folks, just need some ideas, I've run into a brick-wall mentally.
Current situation:
The (16th-17th level) party while exploring an ancient site has found a device. The device looks like a metal "table" with a clear dome on top where energy is stored inside that pulsates and changes color and action. The device as far as the wizard in the party can deduce is some kind of energy transformer. The energy in the device can be perceived on the ethereal plane as a humming ball of energy (the device contains it so even on the ethereal plane it can't spread out). The device has been shown to have transmutative effects on creatures in the area, e.g. insects within the room are clearly mutated. The party believes this is probably responsible for the mutation of a fellow into an insectoid form that is currently helping the party, though he doesn't remember clearly anything before his current state.
That is where we ended the session. Now I know they are going to try to mess the device, probably stop it so it doesn't change more people. Here is where I run into a problem, how to stop it?
Tentative background on the device:
There is a crystal/whatever in the device that is creating/tapping into the energy, perhaps from the plane of Limbo. This item was found by this ancient race on the astral plane and they believed they could harness its power to have a limitless suppy of energy. They didn't know about the transmutative effects until one of their number had undergone a horrible change (into the 1st mindflayer) and escaped. They tried to shut down the operation but the item was no longer stable, so they decided to keep it contained here. Their civilization fell eons ago (thanks in part to the rise of the mindflayers) and this site was mostly destroyed by an astroid impact nearby.
Tentative ideas on effects of shutting down the device:
An alarm will start, at first just beeping every few seconds and then becoming louder and more often. Some constructs in a nearby chamber will be alerted and will try to enter the room (the doors are either entirely destroyed and badly damaged, the group entered through the ethereal plane) they will be successful in 4-6 rounds. Every 1d4 rounds the item within the device will send out a random burst of energy (lightening, fire, force, etc) or may have some other effect (see Cityscape p. 33 and/or Wand of Wonder for some possible other random effects) effecting everything in the room. Technically these burst are not "magic", but pure "energy" so SR would not be helpful, though the players will get saves as if it were "magic".
If you have better ideas for what happens when they shut down the device let me know, those are just initial ideas. Also any idea on how to actually destroy the device/item would be helpful as well. I was thinking that maybe if they returned it to the Astral plane it might restabilize or something, but of course they won't know that at the time, so there has to be more ways to deal with it than just that.
High Level Character might try to wrap it in a Wall of Force to absorb the discharge
Owner - Johnny Scott Comics and Games
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Here's something a little off the wall: The alarm sounds, as you state above. This summons a swarm of clockwork repairmen from whatever that mechanized plane is to repair the device. These clockwork beings ignore the PCs, and are not hostile toward them. However, if they are attacked, they erect a Wall of Force around the device until it is repaired. Not only do these beings repair it, they make it so the device cannot be shut down the same way again - thus making the device impossible to shut down unless a specific set of instructions are followed.
As for the correct way to shut it down, make the PCs do some inter-planar investigating of the device, possibly discovering the entity and/or race of beings who created it in a long forgotten corner of the Astral Plane (maybe an aged Githyanki/Githzerai). This entity, or his notes, would produce the only way of shutting the machine down - Plane Shift the device to the Astral Plane, followed by a Break Enchantment to temporarily shut down the tabletop, then place a Sphere of Annihilation in the place of the crystal that taps into Limbo. The crystal should then be placed into the sphere.
Thoughts?
The way I usually run something like this is to make the players do the work. Basically just have a tentative background in mind. As they research it drop hints as to what it is. Eventually they'll come usually come up with some sort of idea on how to destroy it. If it's a good idea take that as your starting point and complicate the process a bit so that they have to work for it. I find that players frequently enjoy ideas they've come up with themselves than having just a single preplanned method.
Joey: Ok, so would it work? Would stop everything or just some of the effects? Is it a long term solution or short term solution?
Larry: Interesting idea about the repair creatures. I believe there is something in MM4 that might work for that. Maybe if some kind of effect occurs while they are working, they might even change and become something like clockwork horror.
Cap'n: I understand what you mean, and I often do the same thing. But I also like to have a general idea how things could be done as well, in case the party seeks out advice from others.
Could the energy be a trapped god?
I dont think it would be permant I think it could stop some effects till all the energy contained in the field explodes the and releases all the built up energy
Could the energy be a trapped god?
Perhaps a god that has yet to be "born"? Some kind of "god fetus"?
The idea of a trapped god is interesting. You said that there were mutated insects, so maybe it is some sort of hive mind for formians or some other bug creatures. As for destroying it, there is an awesome item for that. In my group, we were fighting a noble who had a magic sword that absorbed spells and shot them back as lightning bolts. We were really scared of it, so another player used his rod of cancellation, destroying it forever. It was awesome!
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Owner - Johnny Scott Comics and Games
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Could the energy be a trapped god?Perhaps a god that has yet to be "born"? Some kind of "god fetus"?
Court Fool, I like this. Maybe it's the soul of the god of pestilence (insect reference makes me look at this domain) from a past era, and the device is actually a prison. Shutting the device down may end the mutations, but it would release the ancient god from his ages-long imprisonment.
Would he show his liberators gratitude, or slay them immediately? Imagine the look on your players' faces after they quest for a way to shut the device down, successfully shut it down, and then find themselves face to face with a god from another time?
THIS could be fun!
Charles sure likes to bang on that madness drum. ;-)
So basically we've got an alien artifact from the astral plane which some ancient civilization decided to use as a power crystal without bothering to wonder why someone lost it on the astral plane.
My bet is to make the crystal the eye or prison--or both--maybe a sort of porthole for some nameless god from the Far Realms that likes to mutate things when it sees them, and the device is basically Lum's science fair project to try to focus that into something useful (which it isn't, unless you like turning people into mindflayers and other unpleasant mutants).
The thing that needs to be done is disabling the device at the same time as spacing the crystal to the astral plane. Failing to do the second will make the god start mutating everyone in proximity, not just the person standing in front of the lens. And smashing the lens means breaching the porthole and letting the god put in a personal appearance in the mortal realm, where mutation will probably be the least of the characters worries.
I'd look at the Book of Madness and give people aberrant grafts and various other aberrant feats if they get touched by the god.
Could the energy be a trapped god?
Perhaps a god that has yet to be "born"? Some kind of "god fetus"?
If you have access to it, check out the Abominations in the Epic Level Handbook. They are "the unwanted, unforeseen offspring of misguided deific concourse. Abortions of spirit, abominations live on, nurtured by their quasi-deific powers and pure, undiluted hate of their forebears and all naturally formed creatures." The entry on them has both a list of traits, and then some specific examples.
Some of those examples would be a suitable challenge for a near-epic level party.
(There is also a related monster in Libris Mortis, called the Atropal Scion, but it is only CR 11 and so would require some advancement to be a worthy challenge.)