The players are on their way to retrieve a magical artifact which they have NO IDEA what it is. As the campaign is temporarily suspended because the wizard player is in Taiwan, I have time to prepare everything as needed.
Now...
The artifact in question is a huge device for planar travel and so blatantly stolen from Baldur's Gate II as is possible, even though I made some huge changes. As we play in the Eberron campaign setting (the campaign was transferred from 3.5 to Pathfinder) the device is a creation of House D'Cannith and it looks like a large sphere... Basically.
The players know HOW to find it as they have a specific compass for this purpose (it points out the direction), and they have something required to get the machine working properly (they don't know it, though hehehe).
I'm not going to bother with campaign details here, but the players will hopefully succeed in finding the device and figure out how to get it started. Of course there is a reason for the device being lost in the first place. Someone started it without calibrating it. I mentioned before that they had something to activate the device, that is in fact a tool for calibrating it and once that tool is inserted into the device it will start up the calibration procedure.
What does this mean? It will make exactly THREE (rule of three, Planescape Torment inspired) planar travel jumps in sequence at certain set positions before being stable. Once stable, it will be possible to use it reliably to travel around.
Now here is the problem. I want some reason for them to leave the sphere after each teleportation jump. Kind of like they need to refill fuel or something, though I can't imagine what would fuel such a thing nor how they would go about to get it.
Worst thing with fuel is also that it needs to be available at every plane they reach (otherwise they will get stuck) and that is slightly problematic...
The sphere is planned to stop at these locations, in an undecided order.
Outlands (near the border to mechanus)
The Abyss (hawhawhaw)
Sigil (mmmm...)
I really want a quest at each location to retrieve whatever they need to keep the sphere going to the next jump.
Take a page from Star Trek: dilithium crystals, or the devices' equivalent to them.
Since you're using Planescape for inspiration, require that after each "jump" that they disembark and acquire a "locally inspired" gate key before being able to initiate the next jump.
In essence, the Sphere in its own way has an appetite for new experiences - such as the natives' more unique gate keys...
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It might be a little video gamey to make them get out at every "level" for a fetch quest but whatever works for your game.
Break something every time the sphere travels. A crystalline matrix at one stop, a special cog at another. Perhaps, at one stop rather than something for the ship, they need something for themselves. A poisonous gas on the surface and they have x number of hours before its debilitating effects are felt to find the special plant/animal/mineral that the cure is made from.
To keep with the Planescape concept you could have each gate need a specific gate key much like the portals in sigil
Breaking things wouldn't work, I don't think.
Then if they wanted to use it later, they'd think stuff would still break!
Thanks for your replies, everyone!
Instead of having it be a calibration process, it could be that the device is trying to retrieve lost pieces of itself.
When the artifact was first activated, without the calibration key, it could be that it went haywire and scattered pieces of itself across the multiverse. Now, before it can function completely it needs those pieces back.
This would force the PCs to be active on each plane, searching out and retrieving the pieces, without giving them cause to think that their new device will always be breaking apart when it's used.
On one or two planes, the shards themselves could be seen as valuable by NPCs; ending up in a curio shop or auction in Sigil, or perhaps being exploited by a demon of the Abyss intent on using it to create a path for invasion to another plane.
That's actually a very interesting idea... I might actually go with that one. Now I just need to create the parts that are missing :D
Thanks for your replies, everyone!
That's actually a very interesting idea... I might actually go with that one. Now I just need to create the parts that are missing :DInstead of having it be a calibration process, it could be that the device is trying to retrieve lost pieces of itself.
When the artifact was first activated, without the calibration key, it could be that it went haywire and scattered pieces of itself across the multiverse. Now, before it can function completely it needs those pieces back.
This would force the PCs to be active on each plane, searching out and retrieving the pieces, without giving them cause to think that their new device will always be breaking apart when it's used.
On one or two planes, the shards themselves could be seen as valuable by NPCs; ending up in a curio shop or auction in Sigil, or perhaps being exploited by a demon of the Abyss intent on using it to create a path for invasion to another plane.
If the device can be used to travel to wherever the operator wants...I'm thinking that there would be several different components to allow the users to dial in on a specific location.
For example... one lost component could be used for scrying. Without that component to chose a specific location the device works "randomly".
In the case of the scrying device it could be a magic item on its own, say perhaps a mirror that can scry.
I like the idea of the device looking for its missing parts.
Have the compass work sometimes on the missing part and some times on the sphere. That way they can check the compass and it may be pointing to the sphere or to the next part.
This will cause teh party to have to keep track of where the device is to see if they are going back to the device or the next missing part.
When withing say 60' of the missing part the compass would go hywire and just spin.
The device could simply need to make three jumps to "triangulate" during the calibration process. Perhaps something about the process itself is dangerous to the occupants forcing them out of the ship.
I was sitting in the lab thinking about this and some more ideas came to me.
Have the missing parts be attunded to the plane they are on. Therefore there are actually parts or keys in the device to each plane of existance. The device is seeking out completion by always shifting to a plane that has one of its missing parts.
The compass actually spends a given amount of time pointing to each part or key, when they are inserted into the device it seems like the compass is pointing to the device when in actuallity it is only pointing to each part on the current plane of existance.
therefore while they were on teh prime it only pointed to the key from the prime material and when pointing to the other parts it stayed pointing at the last direction.
Therefore when they shift to one of the planes looking for the next part most of the time it will point to the device then every once and awhile it will point toward the part on that plane, for just a few seconds. That way the party can get a relative reading every once and awhile and not as simple follow the arrow. If they are not looking at it during the time slice for that key they will just have to wait.
Have it cycle through each device every 10 minutes and stay on each party for only 30 seconds (5 rounds).
that way once they get the device fully assembled they have to defend the device or something could cause it to fracture again and they will need to once again seek out the parts.
Oh and have the parts protected from scrying and detection. They appear as mundane items. Only the compass shows if an item is a part or not. Physically touching the compass to a part causes the compass to spin.
Maybe also have the device create a forbiddance effect within 200' against creatures that are not native to the current plane. The same with the key. Native creatures never notice anything, just extra planar to that plane will.
The idea of this device needing to calibrate is interesting but I am a bit confused as to why it has to make jumps to do this properly.
The best explination for this so far is that the device in missing components that must be retrieved. Why these missing components would end up on different planes is a mystery that would most likely need some sort of explanation.
Here are some alternative ideas:
The trigger component already has a destination 'programed' into it and when the players insert it they are automatically transported to another location. Perhaps the device was trapped and the PCs transport into a dungeon of some powerful sorcerer?
Perhaps the device can move through time and the PCs find themselves thousands of years in the past where they are hailed as Gods and must unlock the secrets of the device while aiding the natives in a war?
Maybe the device has a 'ghost in the machine', a trapped soul or magical intelligence that has its own agenda that must be sorted before it relinquishes control from the PCs? Maybe this device runs on souls and the magical intelligence requires kills to make the jumps?
Just some thoughts, good luck!
.. The device goes these places and stays until a goal is achieved because it's sentient. ...
"Uh, Sam? Ziggy say's you're here to...."
The simplest thing is to duplicate the thing they are using to find the machine in the first place.
They place the rod into a control panel with four holes. They have the option of waiting for the other rods to come to the machine or put it in failsafe where it will try to find the three missing rods.