This is someone a continuation of my original thread that I started here.
The problem is that the ley lines were so messed up on Prime that they affect Terra as well. Wild magic is a serious issue and to ensure that arcane casters do not destroy, mutate or worse themselves and/or everything around them they have to go to one of the Towers of High Magery (I know, a common trope, right?) to pass a test and allow them to soothe the ley lines around them. There are still renegade casters, and they are largely hunted down as no one wants them around causing havok. There are also creatures that are naturally magical who do not need to have the ley lines soothed around them as they have naturally adapted to do so.
Mechanically speaking for those who use wild magic this turns out worse than the typical wild magic chart. That chart is part of the issue but there is also another, grimmer chart that can come into play if they fail a caster level check by more than a certain amount. Higher level spells have grimmer wild magic effects. I have this all worked out.
So. My idea is to have some ancient dragon foes awakened through different means on Prime. They do not necessarily have to stay there. Players can traverse both of the double planet system so it doesn't really matter where they are. The point is my idea is to create some foes who are a culmination of an epic battle between a BBEG and a powerful good force and in their throws of battle with wild magic flying about ... something happened. It destroyed both of them. And instead created something new but something dormant. Something sleeping, waiting to be awoke.
Due to PLOT HAMMER most of these were likely discovered by the forces of evil. In the slumber these forces were perverted by evil and the goodness that was in them was burried away lost to the millenia. Now... a millenia later, hidden cults seek to restore power to these beings so that they can become powerful leaders of said cults and bring their acolytes and followers to great power.
As a potential example:
A powerful White Wyrm was often beset by his arch nemesis: a Pheonix. In their throws of battle on Terra during the Godwars when the ley lines were in flux both foes lunged at one another in a epic battle which lead to them being encased in the jeweled ground beneith their feat. The jeweles were formed largely from deposits within the ground being superheated and quickly chilled by the being's attacks along with the crushing pressure of their weight and the effects of wild magic. After many centuries passed the form of these jewels formed into a solid gem that glows with the power of fire and ice. Both beings trapped within have long since ceased to exist and in it's place there is a new being that is a combination of both.
The forces of evil were drawn to this first. I will likely have this spurred into motion by a campaign boss I have yet to decide on. An evil cult has gotten ahold of this gem that is shaped like an egg and have been focusing on starting an ritual to bring forth this being but not before purging it off all good intent.
I like this plot because I can go several ways with it. I could include ancient followers of the Pheonix that could serve as allies to the PCs. The types of followers I could create of this cult could be endless and varied. And of course, the build-up to the inevitable boss fight could be epic. There could even by a way to bring back the Pheonix as well... which would involve having to kill the beast first.
So I'm looking for other ideas along this line. The trouble is that I have been coming up with some great ideas but most of them involve mid-late game challenges like the one presented above. I could use some early game challenges instead.
Also, mechanically, I'm not sure how I would handle these fusions. The easy answer to the one above would just be to apply the half-dragon template to the pheonix. However, I'm not sure how fitting that would be. I might like instead to give it more of the white dragon's abilities. I understand this would increase the CR if it is to remain balanced for an appropriate encounter for the PCs. I want to be careful in doing this too as I don't want to end up with a foe that is too powerful for the PCs to face. I could include many mitigating factors. Perhaps there is a way the PCs would be able to remove some of the beast's abilities from it prior to fighting it. Some kind of ritual, specially tuned magic item or process of soothing/seperating the ley lines and how they are interacting with this creature. Or all three!
I also thought it would be cool for the PCs to unwittingly finish the ritual themselves. Potentially this could happen much prior to when they should be facing a foe of this power level. Whatever last act they do it awakens the beast within the gem and they have seconds (maybe 2 rounds) to back up and protect themselves before the beast is let free in all it's icy firey glory right in front of them. Their bodies could be singed by the last retributive blast from the gem cracking open releasing this beast.
What do you guys think? Got any other foes/nemesis that I could combine? Any other ideas for this one? Minions, followers, cults? Anything really. This could be a fun brainstorm! :)
Oh, templates, how I love thee~
When it comes to combining foes, there are definitely a number of ways to do this. The easiest, mechanically speaking, is probably to mix monsters and templates - imagine a Lawful Neural Half-Celestial Dullahan created through the combination of holy magic with its normal essence.
I think I saw a template for literal fusions somewhere, too... like, physically splitting creatures in half and sticking the ends together. XD If you got really creative with the monsters chosen, you might be able to figure out some truly unexpected forms.
Also, Oozes + Anything, especially if they can transform. Nobody expects a pack of werewolf oozes. I guess the real question is... how much do you want to mess with your players? Not in the sense of being a killer GM, just... throwing out things that they'll never see coming.
I know 3.x had the Tauric Creature template and I have used that before. That could be an interesting way to create a fusion.
What good does a transforming ability do for an ooze creature? More importantly: how mechanically would I mix ooze with another creature type? I actually had an idea for something like this but couldn't think of an easy way to do so.
I definitely would like to throw a few off the wall things at my players. Like you said, not to be a killer DM but just to break up some of the monotony especially in a Dragon focused campaign.
I was also thinking of combining a Phase Spider with something like a Umbral Dragon. The problem is that with the Half-Dragon template I don't think would add much from a Umbral Dragon. In fact, there are no rules that I am aware of for a Half-Umbral Dragon. Even if there is I don't think it would grant any of the more interesting abilities that would be cool for a Phase Spider to have.
I am saddened by the lack of interest in my recent topics. Is everyone just dragoned out? I hope my players do not share a similar mindset or I will have to change the theme of the campaign. : /
|
It's easier to just make new monsters, it's frankly not that hard as long as you follow the basic guidelines of the bestiary 1 table for attacks etc...or just make variant templates. For the phoenix, the half-dragon template is fine with breath of cold, immunity to cold while still blazing fire. You could make the flames blue or some other colors for fluff.
As for Oozes combo, probably easier to give somebody a shapechanger subtype where they take on amorphous form or just have him have parasites oozes in his body. Nothing quite like your player attacking the Monster and oozes pours out of its body.
I'd rather go mostly with the adding of templates but maybe also increase the CR another point and carry over some abilities from the dragon part of it. Maybe also the HD. Also with something having the fire subtype but vulnerability to cold not sure how I would handle that. I probably would give it immunity to fire and ice.
Oh, and I found that there is a half-umbral dragon template. Perfect! ...except not really at all. It is just a normal half-dragon and doesn't get any of the cool umbral abilities. So... same problem.
So I gotta name this thing. It seems like it would be easy but all I'm coming up with right now are lame things like Frostflame. I don't want it to be lame. I want it to bad ass.
I was thinking that having his name be an amalgam of the white dragon's name and the pheonix's name would be cool, but thats only cool if both of their names are cool and if they sound cool when put together.
...I mean... what the hell? What happened to my creative juices? I used to be great at this s*+$. Maybe if I put my head in a vice grip....
Well, here is the thing. I am already imagining a plot development for after the potentially defeat this critter that they could split it into it's two parts: the White Dragon and the Pheonix. So with all three beings existing I may as well come up with each of their names now. Thats why I was thinking of just coming up with an amalgamation of their names for the merged being.
Oh man, this has serious potential for a real campaign driving artifact!
What if the egg-shaped gem is referred to as "The Blankstone," and is an item many scholars believe is just a legend? It is named so because although it is magically charged, it does not register with any clear alignment or elemental properties. Any kind of magical scanning just returns a blank result.
The stone has passed through many hands over the years, with many unsuccessful tests performed on it. By the time of the campaign, the bad guys have it and worse, they are starting to understand it.
The players are set with a problem. They need to stop the bad guys from releasing a terrible evil on the world that would last for a millennium and the good guys are willing to lend their help to the players to retrieve the Blankstone.
After retrieving the Blankstone however, the players are presented with a difficult choice. They realize, through a neutral entity, that the good guys have the same plan for the Blankstone, and releasing the ultimate good may not be the best idea. You see, harnessing the blankstone for the power of good would essentially wipe out anything evenly remotely evil for a thousand years. Ever have an evil though or commit even a tiny evil act? ZAP! You're gone in one bright flash!
If the players try to resolve it in a neutral manner, say by destroying the item, it reacts violently with the wild magics and begins merging your two worlds together in an attempt to "normalize" the space around it.
Hell, by the end of the campaign they could be fighting an enormous, semi-transparent, non-aligned starchild (Like in 2001: A Space Odyssey) who has the Blankstone for a heart.
Dude thanks, I think I just wrote a new campaign!
Ok, well, I'm glad that all worked out for you. ;)
I think I did get a few things out of your brainstorm...
I could have the "egg" be an actual magic item. Something specifically designed to trap this being.
Also, I could have each being be from one of the worlds and they could each have a reason to have been fighting eachother when the two worlds first came together.
However, all of this doesn't bring me any closer to a name.