Way Off-Topic: Question for RPGamers
Re: Way Off-Topic: Question for RPGamers
The most fun mechanic I was every involved in was in an epic Call of Cthulhu campaign. Early in the game, I found an old diary. When my character started to read the diary, which was 20 or so years old, the GM collected out character sheets and gave us each a pre-filled new one. We then proceeded to role play the story from the diary. At the end of that side story, we resumed with our main characters.
This happened for our five times, and gave us critical historical information we needed to complete the main storyline.
This happened for our five times, and gave us critical historical information we needed to complete the main storyline.
he/him
When I go to sea, don’t fear for me. Fear for the storm.
Jessica Best, Fear for the Storm. From The Strange Case of the Starship Iris.
When I go to sea, don’t fear for me. Fear for the storm.
Jessica Best, Fear for the Storm. From The Strange Case of the Starship Iris.
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Re: Way Off-Topic: Question for RPGamers
I love that mechanic, letting the players play history like that is cool. Thanks for sharing the idea! I'll have to keep it in mind because I can see this group really enjoying a little change of pace dipping into a different race/class but not losing their first PC in the process. Very cool.
My daughter's friend group seems to have picked up an idea somewhere that they should hide their backstories from each other. In cases it makes sense, but in most cases it's been making it harder for them to function as a team.
I slipped in an idea that worked out pretty cool. I created a shop in the city market called Challenger's Welcome that is ran by an avatar of the war goddess that is served by the war domain cleric in the group. It's set up so that when a party enters into it, the first person who enters through the door triggers a shift into an alternative dimension where they find themselves reliving a key moment in their backstory. They relive it, but as they are now at their current level rather than as they were. The other party members who enter afterward are assigned to play either allies or enemies and become that person in what I describe as an alternative universe version of the PC's past. So the person who enters first was a level 4 version of their past self facing conditions that they came out of successfully as a level 0.
The goddess of war came to the cleric in a dream, and informed her that she wanted her to lead her friends there as a group. They ended up doing it on a day when they were between excursions and spent the rest of the session taking turns being the first one through the door. It led to one of my favorite moments in the game so far. The Hexblade Warlock whose backstory I shared earlier relived a version of her attempt to find at take the blackmail material being kept in the room of a Bishop of the Order of the Hidden Hand. She used her disguise self ability to sneak around the place, misty stepped into the room, and was searching for the material when the Bishop, being played by her boyfriend, made it back before she did so, and he called for the guards being played by other players. She managed to break open a drawer and grab the material just to have the Bishop grapple her. Faced with potential failure, she uses her fallen aasimar ability of necrotic shroud.
That is described as, "Starting at 3rd level, you can use your action to unleash the divine energy within yourself, causing your eyes to turn into pools of darkness and two skeletal, ghostly, flightless wings to sprout from your back. The instant you transform, other creatures within 10 feet of you that can see you must each succeed on a Charisma saving throw or become frightened of you until the end of your next turn." The action caused the Bishop to recoil in fear, and I ended the scene with that transformation with her standing on the desk having transformed in the eyes of the Bishop and guards from her past young self into this demonic version appearing. It felt like a very cinematic moment that encapsulated the events that changed her into her fallen state.
The intent in the story is that anyone who goes back a second time will find themselves facing the elf patron of the "shop", but with exact mirrored versions of their stats. The idea being the excursion into their backstory is a chance for him to get to know his enemy first before facing them in an equally balanced challenge.
My daughter's friend group seems to have picked up an idea somewhere that they should hide their backstories from each other. In cases it makes sense, but in most cases it's been making it harder for them to function as a team.
I slipped in an idea that worked out pretty cool. I created a shop in the city market called Challenger's Welcome that is ran by an avatar of the war goddess that is served by the war domain cleric in the group. It's set up so that when a party enters into it, the first person who enters through the door triggers a shift into an alternative dimension where they find themselves reliving a key moment in their backstory. They relive it, but as they are now at their current level rather than as they were. The other party members who enter afterward are assigned to play either allies or enemies and become that person in what I describe as an alternative universe version of the PC's past. So the person who enters first was a level 4 version of their past self facing conditions that they came out of successfully as a level 0.
The goddess of war came to the cleric in a dream, and informed her that she wanted her to lead her friends there as a group. They ended up doing it on a day when they were between excursions and spent the rest of the session taking turns being the first one through the door. It led to one of my favorite moments in the game so far. The Hexblade Warlock whose backstory I shared earlier relived a version of her attempt to find at take the blackmail material being kept in the room of a Bishop of the Order of the Hidden Hand. She used her disguise self ability to sneak around the place, misty stepped into the room, and was searching for the material when the Bishop, being played by her boyfriend, made it back before she did so, and he called for the guards being played by other players. She managed to break open a drawer and grab the material just to have the Bishop grapple her. Faced with potential failure, she uses her fallen aasimar ability of necrotic shroud.
That is described as, "Starting at 3rd level, you can use your action to unleash the divine energy within yourself, causing your eyes to turn into pools of darkness and two skeletal, ghostly, flightless wings to sprout from your back. The instant you transform, other creatures within 10 feet of you that can see you must each succeed on a Charisma saving throw or become frightened of you until the end of your next turn." The action caused the Bishop to recoil in fear, and I ended the scene with that transformation with her standing on the desk having transformed in the eyes of the Bishop and guards from her past young self into this demonic version appearing. It felt like a very cinematic moment that encapsulated the events that changed her into her fallen state.
The intent in the story is that anyone who goes back a second time will find themselves facing the elf patron of the "shop", but with exact mirrored versions of their stats. The idea being the excursion into their backstory is a chance for him to get to know his enemy first before facing them in an equally balanced challenge.
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Re: Way Off-Topic: Question for RPGamers
Here are a few more backstories, just for posting them I guess. Yes, I worked a lot with the them. We ended up doing a character generation session. Then after they had their character, I spent time talking over what they envisioned from them and developing details. Then I helped type up their backstories, had them edit/update it, finalized it, and then I set up the campaign after I had their backstories to work with.
The Rogue - (Most experienced player, has also DM'd games for others himself)
Growing up on the bugbear-eat-bugbear streets of Fairbanks made a quick study of Ja-ames, teaching him to be quick on his feet and with his mouth to avoid trouble. His father, Bailey Glenwynn, taught him some things directly, and others by the example of being a notorious privateer who sailed out of Fairbanks months at a time to plunder and rob on the high seas before returning home to cash in his bounties and score with any one of the many faceless if beautiful women Ja-ames never bothered to get to know as they'd likely not be around past a day. Those that didn't understand the nature of the relationship and tried to hang around...well, Ja-ames didn't ask where they went when they disappeared.
Believing in tough love, his father would often eat extravagant meals in front of him, leaving him only a crust of stale or even moldy bread and questionable water with a splash of cheap rum in it and say, "Ya eat wha' cha take, lad. Y'wanna eat like a king, ya need to be able to take from a king...like ye'r ol' man."
Taking this to heart, Ja-ames soon found himself chumming with a local group of city gnomes led by a sly halfling named Phineas Brookbank who ran gambling rackets as shady cover for bigger jobs aimed at stealing from those shady enough to avoid seeking redress from the law...as long as they didn't accidentally steal from someone working for the Quillwells using Quillwell money and goods.
It was during one such unfortunate job that the events occurred that set the wheels in motion leading Ja-ames to leave Fairbanks and seek his fortune elsewhere. It turned out Phineas didn't do his homework as well as he usually did and the mark of their job had acquired a small mountain of fine silks and rare magic items needed to pay off a debt to the Quillwells. The gnomes had the misfortune of capitalizing on their plans just after the ink had been signed making it officially .Quillwell property. As the band of thugs sent by the Quillwells descended on the unfortunate tradesman and gnomes alike, the tradesman gnashed his teeth at Ja-ames, cursing him and saying, "It ain't like I have an angel to give them in trade for my own hide like your father!" Seeing the shock and clear lack of understanding of what he meant, the merchant smiles ruefully and told him a story - how it had been whispered about that Bailey Glenwynn was a marked man for having sank a ship during an attack that resulted in a mistress of Verner Quillwell being cast into the watery arms of the sea god to breath no more. That somehow or other he managed to make a deal with the Quillwells that returned his status as a favored privateer which left the entire thieves guild a shambles when it became clear the poll on which day he would meet his end had to be cancelled without anyone receiving a copper. And that the arrival of the Angel of Hanging Garden at Fairbanks being at the same time raised more than a few eyebrows. Then, the merchant leaned in as the doors began to splinter and spit out, "And I have it on good authority from an acolyte to the Holy Hand himself that your father is, in fact, the reason the angel gave issue to that Other, the strange-eyed Icon. Yeah, lad. You're the half-brother to a half angel. Heh."
The man didn't get a chance to say more as Ja-ames watched the head of a crossbow bolt appear out his Oro's Apple like a stiff, wooden blind and bloody worm. How Ja-ames made it out and back to Phineas was a blur to Ja-ames, and even he wasn't clear on the details. When he pantingly tried to explain to Phineas what had happened, what the merchant had said, and still not over the shock that his father may have somehow or other caused an angel to become both pregnant (it figured...) and unable to escape the Quillwells, (this...this does not "figure"...)...it became too much for the young man and he passed out. When he came to, he was on the back of a mule behind a cloaked figure riding a horse who told him he was taking him to Causca-on-the-Sea for safety until Phineas could sort things out with the Quillwells. While in Causcus, he happened to attend the gladiatorial games and, to his surprised, recognized what appeared to him to be an aasimar...and quite possibly the very same Icon of Hanging Garden. He found an opportunity to speak with her not long after one of her fights, and, while resistant to her charms as an aasimir and as part elf, he none-the-less felt unable to hide his soul from her, unburdening himself and giving up everything he had learned. This included that she may well be his own half-sister as the shock of just learning this coupled with the seeming hand of fate bringing them together was just too much for him to exert his normally cautious principles. She seemed to know of Bailey Glenwynn, which coming from Fairbanks wasn't too much of a surprise, but appeared shocked to hear his father had possibly defiled the angel and was somehow responsible for her imprisonment by the Order of the Hidden Hand who, until recently, had also had her in captivity. On the spot, he exclaimed that they should both go to Orossads, which was antagonistic to the Quillwells and hardly likely to turn them both over or cooperate with the Quillwells if they sent someone after them. And, to his somewhat surprise, she agreed.
The Rogue - (Most experienced player, has also DM'd games for others himself)
Growing up on the bugbear-eat-bugbear streets of Fairbanks made a quick study of Ja-ames, teaching him to be quick on his feet and with his mouth to avoid trouble. His father, Bailey Glenwynn, taught him some things directly, and others by the example of being a notorious privateer who sailed out of Fairbanks months at a time to plunder and rob on the high seas before returning home to cash in his bounties and score with any one of the many faceless if beautiful women Ja-ames never bothered to get to know as they'd likely not be around past a day. Those that didn't understand the nature of the relationship and tried to hang around...well, Ja-ames didn't ask where they went when they disappeared.
Believing in tough love, his father would often eat extravagant meals in front of him, leaving him only a crust of stale or even moldy bread and questionable water with a splash of cheap rum in it and say, "Ya eat wha' cha take, lad. Y'wanna eat like a king, ya need to be able to take from a king...like ye'r ol' man."
Taking this to heart, Ja-ames soon found himself chumming with a local group of city gnomes led by a sly halfling named Phineas Brookbank who ran gambling rackets as shady cover for bigger jobs aimed at stealing from those shady enough to avoid seeking redress from the law...as long as they didn't accidentally steal from someone working for the Quillwells using Quillwell money and goods.
It was during one such unfortunate job that the events occurred that set the wheels in motion leading Ja-ames to leave Fairbanks and seek his fortune elsewhere. It turned out Phineas didn't do his homework as well as he usually did and the mark of their job had acquired a small mountain of fine silks and rare magic items needed to pay off a debt to the Quillwells. The gnomes had the misfortune of capitalizing on their plans just after the ink had been signed making it officially .Quillwell property. As the band of thugs sent by the Quillwells descended on the unfortunate tradesman and gnomes alike, the tradesman gnashed his teeth at Ja-ames, cursing him and saying, "It ain't like I have an angel to give them in trade for my own hide like your father!" Seeing the shock and clear lack of understanding of what he meant, the merchant smiles ruefully and told him a story - how it had been whispered about that Bailey Glenwynn was a marked man for having sank a ship during an attack that resulted in a mistress of Verner Quillwell being cast into the watery arms of the sea god to breath no more. That somehow or other he managed to make a deal with the Quillwells that returned his status as a favored privateer which left the entire thieves guild a shambles when it became clear the poll on which day he would meet his end had to be cancelled without anyone receiving a copper. And that the arrival of the Angel of Hanging Garden at Fairbanks being at the same time raised more than a few eyebrows. Then, the merchant leaned in as the doors began to splinter and spit out, "And I have it on good authority from an acolyte to the Holy Hand himself that your father is, in fact, the reason the angel gave issue to that Other, the strange-eyed Icon. Yeah, lad. You're the half-brother to a half angel. Heh."
The man didn't get a chance to say more as Ja-ames watched the head of a crossbow bolt appear out his Oro's Apple like a stiff, wooden blind and bloody worm. How Ja-ames made it out and back to Phineas was a blur to Ja-ames, and even he wasn't clear on the details. When he pantingly tried to explain to Phineas what had happened, what the merchant had said, and still not over the shock that his father may have somehow or other caused an angel to become both pregnant (it figured...) and unable to escape the Quillwells, (this...this does not "figure"...)...it became too much for the young man and he passed out. When he came to, he was on the back of a mule behind a cloaked figure riding a horse who told him he was taking him to Causca-on-the-Sea for safety until Phineas could sort things out with the Quillwells. While in Causcus, he happened to attend the gladiatorial games and, to his surprised, recognized what appeared to him to be an aasimar...and quite possibly the very same Icon of Hanging Garden. He found an opportunity to speak with her not long after one of her fights, and, while resistant to her charms as an aasimir and as part elf, he none-the-less felt unable to hide his soul from her, unburdening himself and giving up everything he had learned. This included that she may well be his own half-sister as the shock of just learning this coupled with the seeming hand of fate bringing them together was just too much for him to exert his normally cautious principles. She seemed to know of Bailey Glenwynn, which coming from Fairbanks wasn't too much of a surprise, but appeared shocked to hear his father had possibly defiled the angel and was somehow responsible for her imprisonment by the Order of the Hidden Hand who, until recently, had also had her in captivity. On the spot, he exclaimed that they should both go to Orossads, which was antagonistic to the Quillwells and hardly likely to turn them both over or cooperate with the Quillwells if they sent someone after them. And, to his somewhat surprise, she agreed.
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Re: Way Off-Topic: Question for RPGamers
War Domain Cleric Backstory
Lori's family has been working the same group of farmsteads for as many generations as Lori is aware have existed. The land, owned by the Grecian family of Orossads who have produced many war heroes revered by the Xapaka, has been faithfully producing wheat, beans, potatoes, and many other foods during those countless years as well as countless Lannscians to grow and harvest them. But, as Doulas that work the land effectively as slave labor to the Grecians without ownership of what it produces, Lori has watched her grandparents as well as a number of uncles and aunts work themselves to an early grave where the next generation stepped in to continue the eternal cycle of owner-slave. And generation after generation of Lannscians seemed content to bear the yoke of simple farm labor in exchange for the simplicity and security that comes from knowing one's place in the order of society.
But inside of Lori was a need. Since her childhood she had seen the young Xapaka boys marching and making mock war with one another after joining the Agoge and she longed to be one of them, to learn to swing a sword or throw a javelin. She had also hid from packs of Paidei, hungry and vicious in their focus on survival, who would ambush Doula youth to use them for their all-to-real and deadly combat practice, sometimes for the sport though often to steal the piece of bread or cheese they had saved for their lunch during a rare break from working in the fields. Young Doulas are raised to know the dangers of straying from the adults when out of the house, yet it happened all too frequently. And for Lori, the passion to become a warrior was too much to not come into conflict with the restrictions that prevented her from learning the way of the sword simply for the two sins of being born a girl AND a Doula.
This passion would lead her to use every free moment she could scavenge to practice learning to balance a wooden sword in her hand, or swing a workman's hammer as a weapon, or becoming practiced in slashing and stabbing with a small blade in a quiet place near her family's house where a bubbling brook dropped over a small falls. The sound of the water and the natural topography served to hide her while training as well as mask the noise of wood-on-wood or wood-on-stone. Fortune protected her for years and she was approaching adulthood before her luck finally seemed to run out.
Lori had been joined again in this secret spot by her childhood friend, Rebecca. Rebecca shared Lori's desire to break out of the constraints society had imposed on them, and had become her dueling and training partner once Lori had shown her this special place and the make-shift armory of wooden weapons and stolen knives it housed. On this day, as they concentrated particularly hard on practicing parrying a spear thrust with a "borrowed" hammer, they heard quiet chuckling from the only way into the sheltered place. They realized in horror they had been found and were trapped by a small group of four Paidei, armed with stolen spears and military-style daggers. To be a Doula was to be forbidden from practicing with weapons, and even if this had been normal citizens of Orossads their discovery would likely mean death. To be found by Paidei only meant their death would likely be unknown to their families who may assume they had ran off, were carried off, had been consumed completely by beasts or monsters, or any of the many ways young Doulas before them had gone missing without leaving a trace.
Neither Lori nor Rebecca were willing to die without putting up a fight and, armed with the hammer and spear they had been training with, they both launched into the attack. The fighting was vicious, and despite the lack of formal guidance they found their dedication had made them more of a challenge than the Padei had initially expected. As they fought, one of the Padei managed to work his way behind the two young women and, with a thrust of his spear timed to strike just as a companion thrust at her front he pierced Rebecca through her heart. Enraged but focused, Lori became a blur of swinging hammer, slashing dagger, kicks and blows, and when the dust cleared the four Padei had fallen to her fury though she had suffered many deep wounds.
Passed out from blood loss beside the body of her friend, a light descended from above and enveloped Lori as in a dream. Squinting into the light, Lori found herself in the presence of a luminous being clad in armor, carrying two swords, and helmed with a symbol engraved into it of three swirling blades. "I am the Goddess of the Eight Banners, I have watched you over your life, I have weighed your heart and I know you are worthy. Your dedication to training in the arts of war, to your friend and training companion, and hearkening to My call in your heart despite all obstacles has proven you are worthy to become a warrior representing Me among mortals. Be healed, take my symbol upon you and this whetstone and remember My code. Go to the mountains and I will guide you as you now continue your training. You must live as a warrior off the land away from others, and let the mountain, the river, the bear, the fox, and even the grass become your teacher. You will face many challenges. But when you are ready, you will return to the city and serve under My exalted banners. Give no thought to the heavens or hells, as My discipine you will represent the balance between good and evil that war must keep."
Spending over a year following the Goddess' council, Lori learned many things that refined her training as well as allowing her to channel the power of the Goddess in combat and in defense of allies. The Goddess returned to her one night in a dream and told her, "This phase of your training has come to an end and the next now begins. Return to Orossads. Go to the tavern under the name of the Wolf God and you will find the path forward. Show others the true heart and will of the warrior under My sign, and maintain the balance."
Lori's family has been working the same group of farmsteads for as many generations as Lori is aware have existed. The land, owned by the Grecian family of Orossads who have produced many war heroes revered by the Xapaka, has been faithfully producing wheat, beans, potatoes, and many other foods during those countless years as well as countless Lannscians to grow and harvest them. But, as Doulas that work the land effectively as slave labor to the Grecians without ownership of what it produces, Lori has watched her grandparents as well as a number of uncles and aunts work themselves to an early grave where the next generation stepped in to continue the eternal cycle of owner-slave. And generation after generation of Lannscians seemed content to bear the yoke of simple farm labor in exchange for the simplicity and security that comes from knowing one's place in the order of society.
But inside of Lori was a need. Since her childhood she had seen the young Xapaka boys marching and making mock war with one another after joining the Agoge and she longed to be one of them, to learn to swing a sword or throw a javelin. She had also hid from packs of Paidei, hungry and vicious in their focus on survival, who would ambush Doula youth to use them for their all-to-real and deadly combat practice, sometimes for the sport though often to steal the piece of bread or cheese they had saved for their lunch during a rare break from working in the fields. Young Doulas are raised to know the dangers of straying from the adults when out of the house, yet it happened all too frequently. And for Lori, the passion to become a warrior was too much to not come into conflict with the restrictions that prevented her from learning the way of the sword simply for the two sins of being born a girl AND a Doula.
This passion would lead her to use every free moment she could scavenge to practice learning to balance a wooden sword in her hand, or swing a workman's hammer as a weapon, or becoming practiced in slashing and stabbing with a small blade in a quiet place near her family's house where a bubbling brook dropped over a small falls. The sound of the water and the natural topography served to hide her while training as well as mask the noise of wood-on-wood or wood-on-stone. Fortune protected her for years and she was approaching adulthood before her luck finally seemed to run out.
Lori had been joined again in this secret spot by her childhood friend, Rebecca. Rebecca shared Lori's desire to break out of the constraints society had imposed on them, and had become her dueling and training partner once Lori had shown her this special place and the make-shift armory of wooden weapons and stolen knives it housed. On this day, as they concentrated particularly hard on practicing parrying a spear thrust with a "borrowed" hammer, they heard quiet chuckling from the only way into the sheltered place. They realized in horror they had been found and were trapped by a small group of four Paidei, armed with stolen spears and military-style daggers. To be a Doula was to be forbidden from practicing with weapons, and even if this had been normal citizens of Orossads their discovery would likely mean death. To be found by Paidei only meant their death would likely be unknown to their families who may assume they had ran off, were carried off, had been consumed completely by beasts or monsters, or any of the many ways young Doulas before them had gone missing without leaving a trace.
Neither Lori nor Rebecca were willing to die without putting up a fight and, armed with the hammer and spear they had been training with, they both launched into the attack. The fighting was vicious, and despite the lack of formal guidance they found their dedication had made them more of a challenge than the Padei had initially expected. As they fought, one of the Padei managed to work his way behind the two young women and, with a thrust of his spear timed to strike just as a companion thrust at her front he pierced Rebecca through her heart. Enraged but focused, Lori became a blur of swinging hammer, slashing dagger, kicks and blows, and when the dust cleared the four Padei had fallen to her fury though she had suffered many deep wounds.
Passed out from blood loss beside the body of her friend, a light descended from above and enveloped Lori as in a dream. Squinting into the light, Lori found herself in the presence of a luminous being clad in armor, carrying two swords, and helmed with a symbol engraved into it of three swirling blades. "I am the Goddess of the Eight Banners, I have watched you over your life, I have weighed your heart and I know you are worthy. Your dedication to training in the arts of war, to your friend and training companion, and hearkening to My call in your heart despite all obstacles has proven you are worthy to become a warrior representing Me among mortals. Be healed, take my symbol upon you and this whetstone and remember My code. Go to the mountains and I will guide you as you now continue your training. You must live as a warrior off the land away from others, and let the mountain, the river, the bear, the fox, and even the grass become your teacher. You will face many challenges. But when you are ready, you will return to the city and serve under My exalted banners. Give no thought to the heavens or hells, as My discipine you will represent the balance between good and evil that war must keep."
Spending over a year following the Goddess' council, Lori learned many things that refined her training as well as allowing her to channel the power of the Goddess in combat and in defense of allies. The Goddess returned to her one night in a dream and told her, "This phase of your training has come to an end and the next now begins. Return to Orossads. Go to the tavern under the name of the Wolf God and you will find the path forward. Show others the true heart and will of the warrior under My sign, and maintain the balance."
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Re: Way Off-Topic: Question for RPGamers
And the wizard tiefling's backstory -
The small village of Paymon lies above the foothills in the mountains north of Orossads. It's self-sufficiency and isolation protect it from the uncertainty and whims of war and conflict that embroil the larger cities and closer villages of the region. But this also leads the residents of Paymon to be more insular and suspicious of things unusual or strange.
For Sirius Yami, this wariness affected him from his birth as a Tiefling. While his family knew there was Tiefling blood in the family tree, it had been at least two generations since one had been born to the Yami clan. The stories of how Tiefling heritage entered the bloodline varied but they shared some common elements: an unwanted daughter born to a family desperate their first born be a son, left to die in the elements only to return 20 years later heavy with child...a child born with horns and abilities. The Yamis being shamed into keeping and raising the child, he grew to be capable and have a family of his own.
But while this meant the villagers of Paymon were familiar with and accepted Tieflings as part of their village's history, this did not change the degree of unease a parent felt when a child got too near to Sirius, or others to imagine he may be somehow involved when a person or animal fell ill.
His partial exclusion from full acceptance into village society led him to spend much of his time in the nearby woods and caves. And one day while exploring he discovered a small hut built into one such cave in which lived a witch. The witch, Rei, treated Sirius kindly and earned his trust. And through that relationship, he discovered an interest in the arcane arts that she practiced. She began to teach him to make the correct intonations while finding the deftness of mind to feel and manipulate the strings of magical energies around them. He learned to read arcane texts and spells, and the techniques needed to transfer a spell into the spell book she helped him craft so that the spells could be accessed and used later on. And she taught him the ways to combine materials and concentration in rituals of chaotic energies that were less taxing of a wizard's mind than the direct magic of incantations.
It was Rei who also first caused Sirius to become interested in the school of magic that manipulated the energies of life itself. Coming across a fallen raven while they were both collecting edible herbs from the forest, Sirius could not take his eyes or mind off of the dead bird. Noticing this, Rei asked if he had ever thought about learning the powers needed to control death itself? This surprised and excited Sirius. After being instructed to collect the dead bird and bring it back with them, Rei for the first time taught Sirius the ritual needed to raise the raven from the state of inanimate death to one not quite alive, but also no longer dead. Fascinated by this, he eagerly pressed her to teach him as much as possible about how to perform this ritual and the components needed. His fascination was so great he stayed through the night practicing raising birds, lizards, even the skeleton of a goat to his own amazement and Rei's approval.
What Sirius did not know was that his interest in the arts of magic were known to the village elders. Out of respect for his father, the elders had only required his activities be monitored. But on seeing him raising dead animals to become animated undead, the spy watching him rushed back to the village to tell of dark magic being practiced. This proved too much, and Sirius only avoided the mob that arrived that following morning to murder him and Rei by being away from the hut gathering a few last minute mushrooms. Rei, arms raised in her doorway and sending bolts of energy at the attacking villagers, urged him to flee. As he ran, he heard a loud explosion and saw a large fireball rise up from the hut.
Without another look back, he ascended into the mountains where he lived for over a year, strengthening his ability with the spells he had learned while becoming skilled learning to survive on his own, track and trap game, and become skilled in surviving outdoors. Realizing that his hunger to learn more magic required him to eventually return to society, he headed to Orossads to find work and perhaps others with whom he might gain experience, access to more magic, and the chance to become a powerful wizard.
The small village of Paymon lies above the foothills in the mountains north of Orossads. It's self-sufficiency and isolation protect it from the uncertainty and whims of war and conflict that embroil the larger cities and closer villages of the region. But this also leads the residents of Paymon to be more insular and suspicious of things unusual or strange.
For Sirius Yami, this wariness affected him from his birth as a Tiefling. While his family knew there was Tiefling blood in the family tree, it had been at least two generations since one had been born to the Yami clan. The stories of how Tiefling heritage entered the bloodline varied but they shared some common elements: an unwanted daughter born to a family desperate their first born be a son, left to die in the elements only to return 20 years later heavy with child...a child born with horns and abilities. The Yamis being shamed into keeping and raising the child, he grew to be capable and have a family of his own.
But while this meant the villagers of Paymon were familiar with and accepted Tieflings as part of their village's history, this did not change the degree of unease a parent felt when a child got too near to Sirius, or others to imagine he may be somehow involved when a person or animal fell ill.
His partial exclusion from full acceptance into village society led him to spend much of his time in the nearby woods and caves. And one day while exploring he discovered a small hut built into one such cave in which lived a witch. The witch, Rei, treated Sirius kindly and earned his trust. And through that relationship, he discovered an interest in the arcane arts that she practiced. She began to teach him to make the correct intonations while finding the deftness of mind to feel and manipulate the strings of magical energies around them. He learned to read arcane texts and spells, and the techniques needed to transfer a spell into the spell book she helped him craft so that the spells could be accessed and used later on. And she taught him the ways to combine materials and concentration in rituals of chaotic energies that were less taxing of a wizard's mind than the direct magic of incantations.
It was Rei who also first caused Sirius to become interested in the school of magic that manipulated the energies of life itself. Coming across a fallen raven while they were both collecting edible herbs from the forest, Sirius could not take his eyes or mind off of the dead bird. Noticing this, Rei asked if he had ever thought about learning the powers needed to control death itself? This surprised and excited Sirius. After being instructed to collect the dead bird and bring it back with them, Rei for the first time taught Sirius the ritual needed to raise the raven from the state of inanimate death to one not quite alive, but also no longer dead. Fascinated by this, he eagerly pressed her to teach him as much as possible about how to perform this ritual and the components needed. His fascination was so great he stayed through the night practicing raising birds, lizards, even the skeleton of a goat to his own amazement and Rei's approval.
What Sirius did not know was that his interest in the arts of magic were known to the village elders. Out of respect for his father, the elders had only required his activities be monitored. But on seeing him raising dead animals to become animated undead, the spy watching him rushed back to the village to tell of dark magic being practiced. This proved too much, and Sirius only avoided the mob that arrived that following morning to murder him and Rei by being away from the hut gathering a few last minute mushrooms. Rei, arms raised in her doorway and sending bolts of energy at the attacking villagers, urged him to flee. As he ran, he heard a loud explosion and saw a large fireball rise up from the hut.
Without another look back, he ascended into the mountains where he lived for over a year, strengthening his ability with the spells he had learned while becoming skilled learning to survive on his own, track and trap game, and become skilled in surviving outdoors. Realizing that his hunger to learn more magic required him to eventually return to society, he headed to Orossads to find work and perhaps others with whom he might gain experience, access to more magic, and the chance to become a powerful wizard.
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Re: Way Off-Topic: Question for RPGamers
Hey Res,Res Ipsa wrote: ↑Thu Dec 10, 2020 8:50 pmThe most fun mechanic I was every involved in was in an epic Call of Cthulhu campaign. Early in the game, I found an old diary. When my character started to read the diary, which was 20 or so years old, the GM collected out character sheets and gave us each a pre-filled new one. We then proceeded to role play the story from the diary. At the end of that side story, we resumed with our main characters.
This happened for our five times, and gave us critical historical information we needed to complete the main storyline.
To follow up, I have a plan in the campaign now set up for this to occur. They were all asked to create level 12 characters to have available for our next session with the caveat that triggering the need for the sheets is going to based on their decisions but it could conceivably occur very soon. It's possible they will visit a high level druid either this coming session or the next. If they go some other way, I expect to be able to drop it through either a sorcerer who is the magic item auction house dealer they frequent or have it be the story in a history book since they've recently discovered the library in the City.
Plan A is to have the druid put them under the influence of a mystical vision where they live out the events involved in the rise of one of the main villains in the campaign. The reason the party will likely go visit the gnome druids is because the party currently has an amulet that contains the trapped, tortured soul of a High Elf that was intended to be payment to an NPC they don't know other than the NPC is referenced in a letter they recovered, and the amulet was meant as currency in exchange for a certain book. They've been told that high level druids are likely able to break the enchantment, which involves a little fetch quest if they choose to go that way.
I told them not to get attached to their characters but since we took the week of Christmas off I've heard that they have been getting into them. It will be sad when they are crushed mercilessly by a Death Knight and an army of undead protecting a particular necromancy book of the occult, but through their actions it will be lost from the Death Knight's possession and put the Death Knight under the influence of a certain Archmage they know of who is looking for the book and responsible for the High Elf soul being trapped. The intent is to give them more backstory and a taste for just how nasty this BBEG (big bad evil guy for the acronym-challenged) is going to be.
Last edited by honorentheos on Mon Dec 28, 2020 5:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Way Off-Topic: Question for RPGamers
Also, here's a map I have been using for a number of sessions involving the market area they frequent. They received it as a free map, courtesy of the local Commerce Confederation.
![Image](https://i.ibb.co/dL2y4KH/Merchant-Market-Keymap-1.png)
I made the original with a map making software program I purchased (Campaign Cartographer) then used Photoshop to make it look more like something printed on an early printing press. They received a similar map at a different point from the Trade Guild with a red "X" marking the location of a person of interest to the party (Darvon Reynolds) but didn't pick up on the fact it was from the Trade Guild and not the Commerce Confederation. So I've got my own little DM bit knowing the Assassin's Guild uses the fact there is no Trade Guild to disguise their activities. The players didn't realize this and missed that one of the NPC's they're friends with is associated with the Assassin's Guild and was favorable to their targeting this particular individual since the party helped this NPC out earlier.
![Image](https://i.ibb.co/dL2y4KH/Merchant-Market-Keymap-1.png)
I made the original with a map making software program I purchased (Campaign Cartographer) then used Photoshop to make it look more like something printed on an early printing press. They received a similar map at a different point from the Trade Guild with a red "X" marking the location of a person of interest to the party (Darvon Reynolds) but didn't pick up on the fact it was from the Trade Guild and not the Commerce Confederation. So I've got my own little DM bit knowing the Assassin's Guild uses the fact there is no Trade Guild to disguise their activities. The players didn't realize this and missed that one of the NPC's they're friends with is associated with the Assassin's Guild and was favorable to their targeting this particular individual since the party helped this NPC out earlier.
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Re: Way Off-Topic: Question for RPGamers
Hi Schmo,Some Schmo wrote: ↑Wed Dec 09, 2020 3:39 pmOne puzzle encounter I've thought might be fun would be where the party enters a large square room in some enchanted castle (or somewhere similar) where the floor design is checkered, and each party member is captured and placed on a square in the room. They suddenly find themselves as pieces on a chess board, and the idea is for them to play their way out of a trap or bloody combat. Their movement would be determined by their starting position on the board (so if you're placed on the bishop square, you can only move diagonally, and so on).honorentheos wrote: ↑Wed Dec 09, 2020 2:19 pm
That's a good point, Schmo. Other than using parlay to either talk someone into doing something or convincing them they are better off walking away, is there anything you think you've seen a DM do that helps set that up? You mentioned puzzles. I'm curious about that.
I have figured out where I'm going to do this I think. I've planted information in the party that the half-elf rogue's mother is located on an island that is an intersection between the material plane and the feywild, and that she is a member of the court of the elven queen. If they go there, I've been planning on it coinciding with a game festival and the players will have the chance to join the games. I have three events that form the games, kind of like the triwizard's cup in Harry Potter or whatever it's called. I'm thinking this would be good for the final event, and the various participants in the games are placed according to their performance in the prior events. No one will be assigned to a pawn, but the other 16 pieces will be assigned to the tournament participants. The two in the last two places will be the Kings since they will need to be defended, and the two highest positioned participants will be the queens, respectively. Because it's the fey, things can be deadly in the game with death saves being a thing, but otherwise it will be up to the queens to lead the game with a bit of battle chess involved whenever there is an attempt to take a square. And I'm thinking hazards. Because fey.
I'll let you know more as I flesh it out since it's not likely to happen in at least another month or so. But they could also just decide to go that way this coming session. That would likely mean they'd arrive in three sessions, min. The route it takes to get there plus time at sea would take up a couple of sessions so we'll see. And if they do that, there are consequences for leaving the issue with the amulet unresolved I mentioned up thread to Res. There's already an invisible stalker that was sent out to retrieve it last session that will arrive at a set time on a set date. I'm curious where they'll be at that time, too. It could be bad if it happens during another encounter. I may or may not decide to handwave the timing a bit if it looks like it will be too rough on them. Anyway, good times.
![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_e_wink.gif)
Re: Way Off-Topic: Question for RPGamers
Honor, that sounds like a blast. Please let me know how it goes.honorentheos wrote: ↑Mon Dec 28, 2020 4:54 amHey Res,Res Ipsa wrote: ↑Thu Dec 10, 2020 8:50 pmThe most fun mechanic I was every involved in was in an epic Call of Cthulhu campaign. Early in the game, I found an old diary. When my character started to read the diary, which was 20 or so years old, the GM collected out character sheets and gave us each a pre-filled new one. We then proceeded to role play the story from the diary. At the end of that side story, we resumed with our main characters.
This happened for our five times, and gave us critical historical information we needed to complete the main storyline.
To follow up, I have a plan in the campaign now set up for this to occur. They were all asked to create level 12 characters to have available for our next session with the caveat that triggering the need for the sheets is going to based on their decisions but it could conceivably occur very soon. It's possible they will visit a high level druid either this coming session or the next. If they go some other way, I expect to be able to drop it through either a sorcerer who is the magic item auction house dealer they frequent or have it be the story in a history book since they've recently discovered the library in the City.
Plan A is to have the druid put them under the influence of a mystical vision where they live out the events involved in the rise of one of the main villains in the campaign. The reason the party will likely go visit the gnome druids is because the party currently has an amulet that contains the trapped, tortured soul of a High Elf that was intended to be payment to an NPC they don't know other than the NPC is referenced in a letter they recovered, and the amulet was meant as currency in exchange for a certain book. They've been told that high level druids are likely able to break the enchantment, which involves a little fetch quest if they choose to go that way.
I told them not to get attached to their characters but since we took the week of Christmas off I've heard that they have been getting into them. It will be sad when they are crushed mercilessly by a Death Knight and an army of undead protecting a particular necromancy book of the occult, but through their actions it will be lost from the Death Knight's possession and put the Death Knight under the influence of a certain Archmage they know of who is looking for the book and responsible for the High Elf soul being trapped. The intent is to give them more backstory and a taste for just how nasty this BBEG (big bad evil guy for the acronym-challenged) is going to be.
he/him
When I go to sea, don’t fear for me. Fear for the storm.
Jessica Best, Fear for the Storm. From The Strange Case of the Starship Iris.
When I go to sea, don’t fear for me. Fear for the storm.
Jessica Best, Fear for the Storm. From The Strange Case of the Starship Iris.
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Re: Way Off-Topic: Question for RPGamers
The players are finally on the doorstep of Poppenweilen, the gnome warren, where the set up occurs that allows them to play as the higher level characters in a vision of sorts. It took a while to get here due to a couple of tangents they chose to go down as players are wont to do but certainly for the better in terms of having fun.
In the process of preparing for this I found there wasn't a lot of material to draw from regarding Rock Gnome warrens and have used the time to develop this part of the adventure more. For Res or anyone else interested, and for the sake of saving it somewhere beside my computer and a cloud drive, I thought I'd resurrect the thread to share what came out of that effort. We'll see how it plays out next game session. This will likely be the next months worth of game play.
Session 18
Weather on 26/8/1348: Temp 58/70, clear with a light breeze. Wind is felt on face, leaves rustle through the day into the night and then calm at dusk. Will be calm on the 27th.
Gnome helper (Legs sends) - Primhalla “Footsie” Littlefoot, equivalent of 15 years old, golden colored braided hair, very nicely tailored traveling cloths. Does not fight, does not have weapons proficiency. She is a level 0 druid. No spells but attuned to nature, including the ability to calm unaligned creatures and cause flowers to grow in an area that is 10-foot x 10-foot. 6 HP. 10 AC. +5 to stealth and DEX-based checks.
Corsten “Legs” Mipswetheng – full name for reference since Footsie calls him Mr. Mipswetheng.
Tinker’s Wagon and Giddy Up: Vehicle (Land) Cost: 75 gp Weight: 400 lbs.
Wagon has 75 HP, vulnerable to fire damage. Contained 100 gp worth of metal and pots/wares. Chest with 250 silver pieces.
Draft Horse: Cost: 50 gp. An animal pulling a carriage, cart, chariot, sled, or wagon can move weight up to five times its base carrying capacity, including the weight of the vehicle. If multiple animals pull the same vehicle, they can add their carrying capacity together.
Giddy Up’s stat block (Draft Horse), HP is 23. Carrying Capacity is 540 lbs. Wagon weight with gear and passengers can be up to 2,700 lbs.
Thelrom can add his proficiency bonus to control vehicle in difficult driving circumstances.
Poppenweilen: PCs will need a gnome from Legs’ group to lead them to Davey and Jazzy. The Rock Gnome Warren of Poppenweilen is hidden, requiring a perception check of WIS 26 to find the path through the bramble on one’s own.
Footsie will lead group to the Wet Rock near the entrance and ask they be blindfolded and roped together. She’ll lead them down the road to the bramble entrance and onto the path through the bramble, walking the twisted looping circles around the first 300 yards that makes it seem like ¼ mile of walking before letting them take their blindfolds off. Then she will lead them down the path to the bridge keeper’s hut.
Bridge Keeper: Limpin Goldleaf Hershwhiler (Heaps) appears to be an elderly gnome but is in fact a very powerful, formidable forest druid accompanied by a large brown bear. The brown bear’s name is Brutus. They will ask the party to leave the wagon and Giddy Up there.
Bridge Keeper’s Hut: A low brow of the hillside with an ancient Ash tree that never loses it leaves growing from the brow’s top near the stream obscures a round, well-crafted moss-covered wooden door about 5-foot in diameter. A perception check of 20 or higher is required to see the door when closed. Inside, the hut is composed of four rooms. The first is a 20-foot long, 12-foot wide sitting room lined from floor to ceiling with shelves of organized books except where a cushioned bench is set next to a side table carved from a tree stump which had a single branch left, into which is carved an intricate spiraled wooden lamp. On the other side of the stump is a gnome-sized seat next to a pipe rack and shelf with six jars containing different types of smoking tobaccos. An ash tray made from a cut geode of blue and green crystals sits on the side table next to this seat. Heaps passes the time smoking and reading either outside in front of the hut propped against Brutus, weather permitting, or inside accompanied by Brutus who lounges on a rug made of rabbits furs of many, patched colors. The next two rooms are a kitchen and a store-room where various cuts of meats, vegetables, and herbs are hanging from ropes from the low rafters made from the roots of the tree that grows over the brow. The last room is Heaps’ bedchamber behind a curtain off the kitchen that he does not invite others to enter. Brutus sleeps on the rug in the sitting room, where he is able to use his smell to keep watch at night. His passive perception with smell is 20.
The “Bridge” is a series of stepping stones across the bubbling brook fed by a spring coming off of the hillside that originates out of Poppenweilen and then sinks back into the earth at the Wet Rock near the bramble. Crossing the bridge requires an acrobatics ability check of DC 10. Failure results in falling into the brook and taking an involuntary drink. Water from the bubbling brook restores 1d4 HP and cures any disease immediately if drank, but requires a roll on the following chart:
Roll d6
1- Nothing else happens
2- The creature who drinks from the water gains +2 to CON and gains temporary HP equal to their new CON bonus for 1d6 hours.
3- The creature who drinks the water gains +3 to CHA until they take a long rest, their alignment immediately becomes chaotic good for the duration of this effect, and they charm the first person to whom they speak after drinking on a failed WIS saving throw of DC 15. Save is made at disadvantage.
4- The creature must make a CON saving throw against a DC 15 with disadvantage or be charmed by the first person who speaks to them until the creature takes a short or long rest.
5- The creature sees fairies circling around its person, playfully laughing and playing tag. The fairies aren’t really there and cannot be interacted with but will appear to dodge any attempt to grab them. No one else can see them or hear them. They will be singing and chirping constantly. Every time the creature makes a roll they must succeed on a DC 15 WIS saving throw or make the roll at disadvantage. Effect lasts until the creature takes a short or long rest.
6- The creature gains +2 to their strength until they take a long rest. Any strength-based ability check while this effect is in place that fails instead automatically succeeds but they accidentally break something involved in the check due to not knowing their own strength.
The gnomes native to Poppenweilen are immune to the additional effects of the water. This includes not being subject to being charmed by anyone who gains the CHA bonus. The water can be collected in a water skin or other container and retain its properties.
Heaps can cause the roots that protrude from the banks of the brook to grow and form a 12-foot wide bridge if needed but will not offer this to the party or make it known unless asked. He won’t do so unless the party offers him something of personal interest to him such as a new book or special item.
The Rune Route: Approximate 600 yards past the bridge the path appears to bend to the left. Here Footsie will lead the party to the right instead into what appears to be a wild chokecherry hedge. The path makes a large, clockwise circle around a great oak tree for about 400 yards before returning to the chokecherry hedge. Once this route has been taken, the party will be able to see the true path going north, realizing the hedge that blocked it is an illusion they can see through now.
The path continues for another 600 yards on before arriving at the 4 foot high cave opening that is the entrance to the warren. Moss grows on the rocks inside of the cavern, and drips with a faint radiant glow. The feelings the party has when entering corresponds with their alignment. Any creature that has an evil alignment feels very uncomfortable and must succeed on a DC 18 WIS save or be unable to enter the cave entrance. They will feel miserable if they succeed, and be compelled to complain that they should all get out of there as quickly as possible. Creatures with a neutral alignment will feel they are in the presence of great joy that they cannot be part of and make a DC 18 WIS save or have thoughts of how their life choices maybe weren’t all that they could have been. Creatures with a good alignment will feel deep, satisfying joy when they enter the cavern.
Passing through the entrance cavern down what appears to be a natural tunnel in the rock leads to the Crystal Cavern.
Crystal Cavern: At the end of the corridor is an opening sparkling with natural light. As the party approaches Footsie cautions them that they must stay close together to not get lost. Encourage the party to think about ways to avoid getting separated through Footsie without her just telling them to do so.
Upon entering, the party is met with what appears to be infinite reflections of themselves appearing in the many facets of the quartz-lined walls of this room. The cavern is filled with numerous quartz columns and along with highly reflective quartz walls that create a maze of mirrors and misdirection. To navigate the room without Footsie's help requires a DC 25 INT check. Any attempts to break the quartz requires a DC 20 STR check. On a failure, any creature lost in the caverns must spend 1 hour wandering within the corridor before it can make another check. Upon a success, the creature is able to find its way to either the entrance or exit. On a probability roll, the player succeeds on finding the exit further into the tunnels on a 25 or lower. Any roll higher than 25 results in the player instead arriving at the entrance back into the tunnel leading out.
Each hour spent in the caverns requires the player to make a DC 13 WIS save or become confused and unable to make another INT check for another hour. The DC on the WIS save increases by 1 for each failed INT check. If the DC reaches 20, the player is unable to find their way out, takes two levels of exhaustion, and is rendered unconscious. The DC resets and the player awakens after having spent 8 hours unconscious. This does not count as either a short or long rest. No rests can be taken when inside of the Crystal Cavern.
Exiting the Crystal Cavern successfully leads to a short corridor connecting to the elevator room.
Elevator Room: The elevator room is a 15-foot x 15-foot chamber where the tunnel opens into, about 15 high, in which two gnomes are apparently engaged in a game that appears to be a form of mancala. The two will be finishing a game when the party arrives with one making the final play that empties the board of the polished stones into their cup. The two are seated on simple stools with the game set on opposite sides of a large boulder. At the opposite end of the chamber is another opening into what appears to be a 15-foot x 15-foot round black metallic disk approximately 5 feet above the ground, sitting on a metallic contraption that appears to be a gold pot with intricate glyphs and numerous coils of copper tubing around its base. There is a copper tube that protrudes from the wall next to it. This tube is a voice tube that the gnomes can speak into the share messages with another gnome waiting in another room at the top of the elevator.
The elevator is a magically manipulated electric magnet that is controlled by the wizard gnome who can cast lightning onto the coils causing it to magnetize and sending the disk and up to 9 normal sized or smaller passengers up into the elevator room above.
The middle of the room includes two 5-foot stone squares next to one another. Along the wall near the game table is a series of stone shelves lined with what appear to be iron garden gnomes holding a square sign between their two hands. On the signs are a series of numbers starting at ¼ and increasing to 1, then a series from 1 to 15. The squares are actually the plates of an intricate, hidden scale built into the floor below that uses the garden gnome weights to balance the weight of a creature that stands on the opposite square. The mechanical nature of the scale allows it to multiply multiple the weight of the gnome counterweights to equal out the corresponding weight of the creature and give their weight in stones. This is used to allow Droggy to gauge how to target his lightning bolt so as to control the speed of the party being elevated on the magnet platform. He must make an arcana check before firing the bolt with a DC of 8+ the number of creatures on the platform being lifted. On a failure, the speed of the platform is higher than he planned and each creature on the platform must make an athletics check DC 13 or be knocked prone and take 1d6 points of force damage when the platform launches. On a roll of 1, the bolt causes the platform to be electrified as it lifts, causing an additional 1d4-1 (1 pt. min) of lightning damage to each creature on the platform. For this reason, most gnomes prefer to ride the elevator alone to avoid the chance of taking the force damage. They consider the shock from a critical failure to be funny. Footsie will choose to ride the platform first and alone, leaving the party to follow.
Gnome wizard: Durnwich Yavensbriar (Droggy). Arcana +8, 3 ft 6 in tall, slight build but rounded friendly face topped with spiked black hair with lightning blue frosted tips, green and gold robed and carrying a quarterstaff and wand. Always smells slightly of ozone. He has a +2 dagger, and can cast up to 5 1st level arcane spells, 4 2nd level spells, 4 3rd level spells and 2 4th level spells. He can cast lightning bolt at will. Cantrips include message and dancing lights plus three others as appropriate to the situation. AC 13, HP 56
Gnome Fighter: Gunter Gushwater (Grunt). 3 ft. 4 in. tall. Natural armor due to hardened lightning-baked skin, AC 16, HP 74, brown hair, mutton chops, only wears a leather apron with no shirt, leather gloves he has off for the game, leather britches and heavy workman boots with no metal parts. Muscular build. The bottom of his boots are a natural rubber that acts as insulation. He keeps a battle axe near at hand if needed, and has a +5 to strength-based checks. +8 to attack rolls with the battle axe.
The room above the elevator shaft is identical to the one below, but without the pot coil, and is on the opposite side of the shaft. At the top is another gnome named Kipper Quartersleeve. He will assist the party in getting off the magnet platform, laughing at their shock upon being lifted, but friendly in his demeanor only making jokes to lighten the mood. He’ll speak into the tube once everyone is off, and the platform will descend back down the shaft which is approximately 50 feet in height. He can cast feather fall and uses it on anyone who accidentally falls over the edge of the shaft if the party does something stupid. He keeps an ample supply of feathers nearby his stool. Rather than a game on the table, he has a deck of cards and appears to have been playing solitaire that is in progress when the party arrives at the top. The scale squares and gnome counterweights are also present but in a mirrored location to the room below. Immediately outside the room are two gnomes sitting at another table who are locked in an arm-wrestling match that appears to have been going on for a while without evident favor to either party. Both are sweating and will not speak to the party. If the party attempts to intervene, it will result in one of the two losing and getting in a huff with the party. This gnome is named Chestervall Plaidimum (Plaid) who will participate in the Giant Rabbit race and seek to target the party member who caused him to lose. The other is named Verner Flailingvogel (Clutch) who will slip the person who helped him win a silver piece.
The warren is full of bustle and noise, the air filled with the sounds of industry. The elevator room and short hall immediately opens into the Great Hall.
Great Hall: A large 120-foot x 60-foot carved cavern with large trees growing magically on a regular 30-foot grid with intertwining thick branches that support a series of timber rafters brace the cavern’s ceiling 40 feet above its smooth, polished stone floor. The stone of the chamber with thin veins of metals running through it shimmers with reflected light from numerous magically illuminated lanterns hanging above the chamber from the rafters and off of limbs from the trees. Dancing light orbs play tag throughout the chamber giving the room a warm, autumnal glow everywhere one looks. Tinker hammering, wood sawing, kettles whistling, and the clink of clockworks in motion mix to form a sort of musical ambiance to the room accompanied by the chatter and laughing of the rock gnomes of the warren. Only the most jaded soul could resist feeling enlivened when entering.
No furnishings are evident in the Great Hall, but it is being crossed constantly by gnomes making their way back and forth between the many side tunnels that intersect off of it. A series of ramps and scaffolds lead up from the ground level to additional side tunnels that rise at intervals of 10 feet on both of the 120-foot sides of the chamber.
Footsie will be eager to take the party to see Davey and Jazzy, who, as the Marquess of the warren, can be seen examining the work of a tinker in one of the nearby side chambers once the party enters the Great Hall.
Other Poppenweilen NPCs
1. Abis: Female Gnome Hunter, NG. Str 14, Dex 10, Con 8, Int 9, Wis 7, Cha 11. Abis has white hair and hazel eyes, and small ears. She wears studded leather and wields a warhammer and hand crossbow.
2. Aisent: Female Gnome Tinker, LG. Str 9, Dex 11, Con 11, Int 12, Wis 7, Cha 10. Aisent has silver hair and blue eyes. She wears modest garments and an amulet of luminous crystal. Aisent is studious and industrious.
3. Alatz: Male Gnome Alchemist, NG. Str 10, Dex 8, Con 11, Int 12, Wis 7, Cha 14. Alatz has braided golden hair and light hazel eyes, and prominent ears. He wears simple clothing and several pouches hang from his belt. Alatz has an animal companion, a black cat named Liene.
4. Alas: Female Gnome Smith, LG. Str 15, Dex 7, Con 9, Int 7, Wis 10, Cha 8. Alas has a square face, with cropped red hair and brown eyes. She wears modest garments and a leather work apron. Alas suffers a severe allergy to dragon-based creatures. She was recently given a set of black dragon scales to use in making an acid-resistant suit by an alchemist which is making her miserable.
5. Alin: Female Gnome Mushroom Farmer, CG. Str 12, Dex 7, Con 8, Int 7, Wis 8, Cha 11. Alin has golden hair and sharp blue eyes, and a round nose. She wears well-made clothing and a pewter amulet. Alin seeks to discover a new species of mushroom she hopes to name after her father who died recently.
6. Antient: Female Gnome Merchant, CG. Str 10, Dex 11, Con 8, Int 8, Wis 9, Cha 10. Antient is short, with uneven golden hair and brown eyes. She wears modest garments and a wide-brimmed hat. Antient is shrewd and modest.
7. Atund: Male Gnome Artist, LG. Str 5, Dex 9, Con 10, Int 9, Wis 11, Cha 7. Atund has tangled silver hair and amber eyes. He wears well-made clothing and a dragonscale cloak. Atund seeks to help the poor and unfortunate.
8. Bali: Female Gnome Entertainer, CG. Str 12, Dex 11, Con 13, Int 8, Wis 12, Cha 13. Bali has gray hair and gray eyes. She wears fine clothing and a silver holy symbol. Bali has an animal companion, a red fox named Gastes.
9. Bloisie: Female Gnome Tinker, LG. Str 10, Dex 6, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 9. Bloise has matted gray hair and bright gray eyes. She wears tailored clothing and an amulet of luminous crystal. Bloise is lustful for praise of her work.
10. Dinarv: Male Gnome Craftsman, NG. Str 11, Dex 8, Con 12, Int 6, Wis 8, Cha 9. Dinarv is fey in appearance, with copper hair and hazel eyes. He wears modest garments and riding boots. Dinarv secretly cheats at games and gambles impulsively.
11. Dwoinan: Female Gnome Bookkeeper, LG. Str 8, Dex 8, Con 9, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 12. Dwoinan has gray hair and green eyes, and prominent ears. She wears fine raiment and jewelry. Dwoinan is timid but by-the-books about everything. She resents anyone who suggests using a shortcut to accomplishing a task.
12. Elior: Female Gnome Guard, NG. Str 14, Dex 10, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 14. Elior has cropped golden hair and bright brown eyes, and a magical scar on her leg. She wears studded leather and wields a shortsword.
13. Elias: Female Gnome Alchemist, CG. Str 10, Dex 10, Con 12, Int 15, Wis 11, Cha 11. Elias is short and heavyset, with tangled auburn hair and bright green eyes. She wears well-made clothing and a copper amulet. She recently came by a collection of black dragon scales while looking for herbs in the forest. She can point the players to the place that she found them, where they will find a Black Dragon wormling.
14. Felie: Female Gnome Craftsman, NG. Str 10, Dex 10, Con 9, Int 6, Wis 8, Cha 13. Felie has auburn hair and gray eyes, and a distinctive tattoo on her leg. She wears travel-stained clothing and a wide-brimmed hat. Felie was petrified for a hundred years.
15. Guilhos: Male Gnome Servant, CG. Str 10, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 13, Cha 9. Guilhos has straight brown hair and light blue eyes. He wears sturdy clothing and a wide-brimmed hat.
16. Gili: Male Gnome Soldier, NG. Str 12, Dex 9, Con 12, Int 13, Wis 11, Cha 9. Gili has white hair and light amber eyes, and a beaked nose. He wears studded leather and wields a greatsword. Gili holds a grudge against barbarians.
17. Hallie: Female Gnome Baker, LG. Str 8, Dex 9, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 15, Cha 10. Hallie is thin, with short red hair and sharp brown eyes. She wears well-made clothing and a blue cloak.
18. Heilu: Female Gnome Craftsman, NG. Str 9, Dex 10, Con 11, Int 12, Wis 9, Cha 8. Heilu has white hair and dark hazel eyes. She wears simple clothing and riding boots.
19. Kamil: Male Gnome Merchant, NG. Str 10, Dex 11, Con 11, Int 11, Wis 10, Cha 8. Kamil has long golden hair and large amber eyes, and a sharp nose. He wears modest garments and riding boots. Kamil is searching for the legendary elven kingdom of Edherel.
20. Mesa: Male Gnome Scholar, CG. Str 9, Dex 6, Con 12, Int 8, Wis 13, Cha 8. Mesa is noble in bearing, with messy silver hair and soft gray eyes. He wears modest garments and carries a fine stiletto.
21. Narvi: Female Gnome Farmer, NG. Str 12, Dex 12, Con 6, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 10. Narvi is cultured in appearance, with gray hair and gray eyes. She wears plain clothing and carries a cedar staff. Narvi is blind in her right eye.
22. Sane: Female Gnome Carpenter, NG. Str 11, Dex 8, Con 11, Int 12, Wis 5, Cha 5. Sane has a round face, with thick golden hair and light green eyes. She wears sturdy clothing and riding boots.
23. Sanzagh: Female Gnome Mercenary, N. Str 6, Dex 18, Con 11, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 7. Sanzagh is thin, with curly red hair and hazel eyes. She wears leather armor and wields a rapier.
24. Thrinarv: Female Gnome Craftsman, NG. Str 15, Dex 8, Con 7, Int 9, Wis 12, Cha 11. Thrinarv is exceptionally beautiful, with blonde hair and blue eyes. She wears travel-stained clothing and several small tools hang from her belt.
25. Theli: Female Gnome Banker, NG. Str 9, Dex 11, Con 7, Int 8, Wis 15, Cha 11. Theli is pleasant in appearance, with short red hair and dark amber eyes. She wears modest garments and a white cloak. Theli is hunting someone who played a trick on her recently.
26. Throri: Male Gnome Jeweler, NG. Str 8, Dex 12, Con 8, Int 8, Wis 15, Cha 9. Throri is overweight, with red hair and large gray eyes. He wears well-made clothing and an amulet of luminous crystal. Throri has an animal companion, a ginger ferret named Haine.
27. Thimul: Male Gnome Miner, NG. Str 16, Dex 9, Con 14, Int 13, Wis 6, Cha 6. Thimul has a round face, with red hair and large hazel eyes. He wears modest garments and a dragonscale cloak. Thimul is notorious for his over-the-top pranks and the other gnomes of the warren behave cautiously when he’s around to be sure they aren’t the next victim.
28. Zuri: Male Gnome Rabbit Keeper and Game Master, NG. Str 11, Dex 12, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 12. Zuri has auburn hair and dark brown eyes, and a beaked nose. He wears modest garments and a sling of vials and potions. Zuri suffers an acute fear of dwarves. He runs the Rabbit Races at the Game Cathedral and is responsible for keeping the rabbits healthy and training young new rabbits born for the games.
Other Major Rooms in the Warren: Gnome Depot Warehouse, Dining Hall, Trade Bazaar, the Game Cathedral.
Most of the living areas are excavated and finished off of either the Dining Hall chamber or the Trade Bazaar, and each family tends to keep a large common chamber with the parents having their own rooms and adjacent children rooms. When a new couple weds, it is a major event leading up to the wedding to expand the warren off of the family chamber to the new couples domestic room and bedchamber. Welcoming a first child includes the excavation of a nursery room that gets expanded into a playroom with bedrooms as the family size increases. This allows grandparents, great-grandparents, and great-great-grandparents to be the center of family life as entire wings of the warren are composed of near-family members. Most couples build off of the wife’s family’s chamber, but the tradition of taking the husband’s surname results in the names of a couple being a poor indicator of which wing they live in. It remains a tradition because it makes communications within the wing much easier since each couple’s area of the wing is known by the surname of the family living there.
While no member of the warren has the surname Poppenweilen, it is commonly believed that the warren originated with a gnome family of that name when the empire was young. The gnomes of the warren have been led by either a Marquis or Marquess as a result, since the Poppenweilens were believed to have been sent by the emperor at the time to secretly watch and report on activities in what was then the edge of the empire’s influence.
Trade Bazaar: This is the largest chamber of the warren, and is much like the Great Hall in appearance but closer to 200 feet in length and 120 feet wide. The bazaar is the center of daily trade activity within the warren as well as the most likely place for casual meetings and gossip sharing. Pranks are a near constant somewhere in the bazaar, and a successfully pulled off prank will result in echoes of laughter radiating from it into the rest of the warren.
Gnome Depot Warehouse: Large cavern stocked floor-to-ceiling where gnome goods are stored for shipment to the many branches of Gnome Depot in the surrounding area. There is a special entrance and hidden path from the warehouse to the path that is used for carts to carry goods from the warren without requiring use of the elevator. Many gnomes prefer to use this entrance whenever possible to avoid being shocked by the elevator but never take guests on this route.
Dining Hall: Much like the Great Hall, but with long tables. The rooms immediately off of it are filled with kitchens and storage rooms constantly baking or cooking up new recipes for the warren to try. A perpetual stew kept at a constant boil near the front of the room over a large fire is believed to date back to the empire. Rabbit meat is a constant ingredient but the other offerings it holds are a surprise.
Game Cathedral: The large, circular room is ringed with seating on scaffolding platforms that rise above the floor. The center of the room is a Giant Rabbit stable that houses the dozen Giant Rabbits used in the races. Younger rabbits, retired racers, and pregnant mothers are kept in side-chambers off of the ground floor that have a special entrance onto a large, fenced field on the backside of the hill in which the warren is built. Giant rabbits that do not show an inclination for racing are let loose into the forests around the warren. This has attracted a number of Griffins to the area that roost in the nearby mountains and feed on the abundance of giant rabbits nearby. The gnomes keep a series of lookout towers built into tall trees and armed with ballistas and gnome wizards around the protected area to scare off or kill attacking Griffins if need be when their rabbits are out grazing.
Jazzy will have heard of the Clavis Inferni (Key to Hell), which is rumored to be a powerful spell book lost sometime around the fall of the Empire. It is known to contain forbidden knowledge including power granted by Orcus. Her brother, Niblelung Labingi, would have been the Marquis of Poppenweiler had he stayed but he was vain and spoiled, seeing a life hidden away in Poppenweilen as beneath him when he could make a name for himself in the broader world. He’s rumored to have travelled for fifty years seeking knowledge, wealth, adventure, and magic, and is the mayor in the City of Purevault now having been an early investor in the recently discovered Bitterroot Mine whose rich vein of platinum set off a boom in rapid growth of the City over the last four years.
Jazzy will be able to cast a high level dispel magic on the amulet if the party can get her Witch's Turmeric to boost the ritual. They will also need to provide the gnomes with 200 platinum pieces worth of platinum that Davey will need to shape into a fork and attune to the amulet.
Witch’s Turmeric: This rare, magical herb only grows in the ruined garden of what was once a Lady Elf’s manor higher up the slopes of Rammhelm Peak, four miles north of the warren. This Lady Elf is rumored to have become so entranced with gold and vanity that she was eventually lost to dark magical forces. She has indeed become a Banshee, who guards the area around her old ruin. She stalks the area at night seeking jewels and gold, and will attack the party any time they are within 3 miles of the ruin between dusk and dawn. The garden itself contains will-o-wisps, blights, and an assassins vine.
Illumar’s Workshop: An eager, ambitious wizard gnome named Illumar had built a workshop up the mountain from the warren funded by his uncle. This uncle, Yeodal “Amari” Bacci, is a wealthy gnome trader heavily invested in the Gnome Depot franchises. Amari believed wizards earn a lot of coin, and he was looking to dominate the market of magical resources to earn a cut of that money. Amari funded his nephew Illumar’s interest in creating an arcane workshop powered by “assistive magic,” expecting it could lead to new discovers that could boost the profits of Gnome Depot Enterprises. He doesn’t realize his nephew created a sentient workshop. The last time Amari heard from Illumar was through Illumar sending a message three weeks ago. Illumar said that the work he had to show off could not be brought down from the mountain. Amari would have to make the climb to see it, but Amari hasn’t heard back from Illumar since, and he’s worried. Amari asks the characters to check in on the facility on their way back from collecting the Witch’s Turmeric since its not far from where they will be traveling anyway. He offers to provide the 250 platinum pieces along with another 100 platinum pieces for any information, with the promise of additional rewards if the characters return with any recovered research. (See adventure pages for this)
Returning Back: Armed with the Turmaric and the platinum fork crafted by Davey, Jazzy will perform the hour long ritual. Upon completion of the ritual the amulet cracks revealing a small piece of flesh that had been encased in it. Davey will be able to perform the resurrection spell on it, returning the Elf back but in whatever humanoid form is rolled. The High Elf will tell them that to get his true form back would require a boon from Titania. Could lead party to go to Seelie Court, find Ja-ames’ mother.
Jazzy’s word of wisdom to the party: “It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.”
Jazzy will be able to initiate a spirit ritual using a Celestial Toy mirror ball that transports the participants into the past to relive the story of how the Clavis Inferni was lost by the Death Knight Uriah who was guarding it as a oathbreaker paladin who had attempted to keep it, died, and became it’s warden.
In the process of preparing for this I found there wasn't a lot of material to draw from regarding Rock Gnome warrens and have used the time to develop this part of the adventure more. For Res or anyone else interested, and for the sake of saving it somewhere beside my computer and a cloud drive, I thought I'd resurrect the thread to share what came out of that effort. We'll see how it plays out next game session. This will likely be the next months worth of game play.
Session 18
Weather on 26/8/1348: Temp 58/70, clear with a light breeze. Wind is felt on face, leaves rustle through the day into the night and then calm at dusk. Will be calm on the 27th.
Gnome helper (Legs sends) - Primhalla “Footsie” Littlefoot, equivalent of 15 years old, golden colored braided hair, very nicely tailored traveling cloths. Does not fight, does not have weapons proficiency. She is a level 0 druid. No spells but attuned to nature, including the ability to calm unaligned creatures and cause flowers to grow in an area that is 10-foot x 10-foot. 6 HP. 10 AC. +5 to stealth and DEX-based checks.
Corsten “Legs” Mipswetheng – full name for reference since Footsie calls him Mr. Mipswetheng.
Tinker’s Wagon and Giddy Up: Vehicle (Land) Cost: 75 gp Weight: 400 lbs.
Wagon has 75 HP, vulnerable to fire damage. Contained 100 gp worth of metal and pots/wares. Chest with 250 silver pieces.
Draft Horse: Cost: 50 gp. An animal pulling a carriage, cart, chariot, sled, or wagon can move weight up to five times its base carrying capacity, including the weight of the vehicle. If multiple animals pull the same vehicle, they can add their carrying capacity together.
Giddy Up’s stat block (Draft Horse), HP is 23. Carrying Capacity is 540 lbs. Wagon weight with gear and passengers can be up to 2,700 lbs.
Thelrom can add his proficiency bonus to control vehicle in difficult driving circumstances.
Poppenweilen: PCs will need a gnome from Legs’ group to lead them to Davey and Jazzy. The Rock Gnome Warren of Poppenweilen is hidden, requiring a perception check of WIS 26 to find the path through the bramble on one’s own.
Footsie will lead group to the Wet Rock near the entrance and ask they be blindfolded and roped together. She’ll lead them down the road to the bramble entrance and onto the path through the bramble, walking the twisted looping circles around the first 300 yards that makes it seem like ¼ mile of walking before letting them take their blindfolds off. Then she will lead them down the path to the bridge keeper’s hut.
Bridge Keeper: Limpin Goldleaf Hershwhiler (Heaps) appears to be an elderly gnome but is in fact a very powerful, formidable forest druid accompanied by a large brown bear. The brown bear’s name is Brutus. They will ask the party to leave the wagon and Giddy Up there.
Bridge Keeper’s Hut: A low brow of the hillside with an ancient Ash tree that never loses it leaves growing from the brow’s top near the stream obscures a round, well-crafted moss-covered wooden door about 5-foot in diameter. A perception check of 20 or higher is required to see the door when closed. Inside, the hut is composed of four rooms. The first is a 20-foot long, 12-foot wide sitting room lined from floor to ceiling with shelves of organized books except where a cushioned bench is set next to a side table carved from a tree stump which had a single branch left, into which is carved an intricate spiraled wooden lamp. On the other side of the stump is a gnome-sized seat next to a pipe rack and shelf with six jars containing different types of smoking tobaccos. An ash tray made from a cut geode of blue and green crystals sits on the side table next to this seat. Heaps passes the time smoking and reading either outside in front of the hut propped against Brutus, weather permitting, or inside accompanied by Brutus who lounges on a rug made of rabbits furs of many, patched colors. The next two rooms are a kitchen and a store-room where various cuts of meats, vegetables, and herbs are hanging from ropes from the low rafters made from the roots of the tree that grows over the brow. The last room is Heaps’ bedchamber behind a curtain off the kitchen that he does not invite others to enter. Brutus sleeps on the rug in the sitting room, where he is able to use his smell to keep watch at night. His passive perception with smell is 20.
The “Bridge” is a series of stepping stones across the bubbling brook fed by a spring coming off of the hillside that originates out of Poppenweilen and then sinks back into the earth at the Wet Rock near the bramble. Crossing the bridge requires an acrobatics ability check of DC 10. Failure results in falling into the brook and taking an involuntary drink. Water from the bubbling brook restores 1d4 HP and cures any disease immediately if drank, but requires a roll on the following chart:
Roll d6
1- Nothing else happens
2- The creature who drinks from the water gains +2 to CON and gains temporary HP equal to their new CON bonus for 1d6 hours.
3- The creature who drinks the water gains +3 to CHA until they take a long rest, their alignment immediately becomes chaotic good for the duration of this effect, and they charm the first person to whom they speak after drinking on a failed WIS saving throw of DC 15. Save is made at disadvantage.
4- The creature must make a CON saving throw against a DC 15 with disadvantage or be charmed by the first person who speaks to them until the creature takes a short or long rest.
5- The creature sees fairies circling around its person, playfully laughing and playing tag. The fairies aren’t really there and cannot be interacted with but will appear to dodge any attempt to grab them. No one else can see them or hear them. They will be singing and chirping constantly. Every time the creature makes a roll they must succeed on a DC 15 WIS saving throw or make the roll at disadvantage. Effect lasts until the creature takes a short or long rest.
6- The creature gains +2 to their strength until they take a long rest. Any strength-based ability check while this effect is in place that fails instead automatically succeeds but they accidentally break something involved in the check due to not knowing their own strength.
The gnomes native to Poppenweilen are immune to the additional effects of the water. This includes not being subject to being charmed by anyone who gains the CHA bonus. The water can be collected in a water skin or other container and retain its properties.
Heaps can cause the roots that protrude from the banks of the brook to grow and form a 12-foot wide bridge if needed but will not offer this to the party or make it known unless asked. He won’t do so unless the party offers him something of personal interest to him such as a new book or special item.
The Rune Route: Approximate 600 yards past the bridge the path appears to bend to the left. Here Footsie will lead the party to the right instead into what appears to be a wild chokecherry hedge. The path makes a large, clockwise circle around a great oak tree for about 400 yards before returning to the chokecherry hedge. Once this route has been taken, the party will be able to see the true path going north, realizing the hedge that blocked it is an illusion they can see through now.
The path continues for another 600 yards on before arriving at the 4 foot high cave opening that is the entrance to the warren. Moss grows on the rocks inside of the cavern, and drips with a faint radiant glow. The feelings the party has when entering corresponds with their alignment. Any creature that has an evil alignment feels very uncomfortable and must succeed on a DC 18 WIS save or be unable to enter the cave entrance. They will feel miserable if they succeed, and be compelled to complain that they should all get out of there as quickly as possible. Creatures with a neutral alignment will feel they are in the presence of great joy that they cannot be part of and make a DC 18 WIS save or have thoughts of how their life choices maybe weren’t all that they could have been. Creatures with a good alignment will feel deep, satisfying joy when they enter the cavern.
Passing through the entrance cavern down what appears to be a natural tunnel in the rock leads to the Crystal Cavern.
Crystal Cavern: At the end of the corridor is an opening sparkling with natural light. As the party approaches Footsie cautions them that they must stay close together to not get lost. Encourage the party to think about ways to avoid getting separated through Footsie without her just telling them to do so.
Upon entering, the party is met with what appears to be infinite reflections of themselves appearing in the many facets of the quartz-lined walls of this room. The cavern is filled with numerous quartz columns and along with highly reflective quartz walls that create a maze of mirrors and misdirection. To navigate the room without Footsie's help requires a DC 25 INT check. Any attempts to break the quartz requires a DC 20 STR check. On a failure, any creature lost in the caverns must spend 1 hour wandering within the corridor before it can make another check. Upon a success, the creature is able to find its way to either the entrance or exit. On a probability roll, the player succeeds on finding the exit further into the tunnels on a 25 or lower. Any roll higher than 25 results in the player instead arriving at the entrance back into the tunnel leading out.
Each hour spent in the caverns requires the player to make a DC 13 WIS save or become confused and unable to make another INT check for another hour. The DC on the WIS save increases by 1 for each failed INT check. If the DC reaches 20, the player is unable to find their way out, takes two levels of exhaustion, and is rendered unconscious. The DC resets and the player awakens after having spent 8 hours unconscious. This does not count as either a short or long rest. No rests can be taken when inside of the Crystal Cavern.
Exiting the Crystal Cavern successfully leads to a short corridor connecting to the elevator room.
Elevator Room: The elevator room is a 15-foot x 15-foot chamber where the tunnel opens into, about 15 high, in which two gnomes are apparently engaged in a game that appears to be a form of mancala. The two will be finishing a game when the party arrives with one making the final play that empties the board of the polished stones into their cup. The two are seated on simple stools with the game set on opposite sides of a large boulder. At the opposite end of the chamber is another opening into what appears to be a 15-foot x 15-foot round black metallic disk approximately 5 feet above the ground, sitting on a metallic contraption that appears to be a gold pot with intricate glyphs and numerous coils of copper tubing around its base. There is a copper tube that protrudes from the wall next to it. This tube is a voice tube that the gnomes can speak into the share messages with another gnome waiting in another room at the top of the elevator.
The elevator is a magically manipulated electric magnet that is controlled by the wizard gnome who can cast lightning onto the coils causing it to magnetize and sending the disk and up to 9 normal sized or smaller passengers up into the elevator room above.
The middle of the room includes two 5-foot stone squares next to one another. Along the wall near the game table is a series of stone shelves lined with what appear to be iron garden gnomes holding a square sign between their two hands. On the signs are a series of numbers starting at ¼ and increasing to 1, then a series from 1 to 15. The squares are actually the plates of an intricate, hidden scale built into the floor below that uses the garden gnome weights to balance the weight of a creature that stands on the opposite square. The mechanical nature of the scale allows it to multiply multiple the weight of the gnome counterweights to equal out the corresponding weight of the creature and give their weight in stones. This is used to allow Droggy to gauge how to target his lightning bolt so as to control the speed of the party being elevated on the magnet platform. He must make an arcana check before firing the bolt with a DC of 8+ the number of creatures on the platform being lifted. On a failure, the speed of the platform is higher than he planned and each creature on the platform must make an athletics check DC 13 or be knocked prone and take 1d6 points of force damage when the platform launches. On a roll of 1, the bolt causes the platform to be electrified as it lifts, causing an additional 1d4-1 (1 pt. min) of lightning damage to each creature on the platform. For this reason, most gnomes prefer to ride the elevator alone to avoid the chance of taking the force damage. They consider the shock from a critical failure to be funny. Footsie will choose to ride the platform first and alone, leaving the party to follow.
Gnome wizard: Durnwich Yavensbriar (Droggy). Arcana +8, 3 ft 6 in tall, slight build but rounded friendly face topped with spiked black hair with lightning blue frosted tips, green and gold robed and carrying a quarterstaff and wand. Always smells slightly of ozone. He has a +2 dagger, and can cast up to 5 1st level arcane spells, 4 2nd level spells, 4 3rd level spells and 2 4th level spells. He can cast lightning bolt at will. Cantrips include message and dancing lights plus three others as appropriate to the situation. AC 13, HP 56
Gnome Fighter: Gunter Gushwater (Grunt). 3 ft. 4 in. tall. Natural armor due to hardened lightning-baked skin, AC 16, HP 74, brown hair, mutton chops, only wears a leather apron with no shirt, leather gloves he has off for the game, leather britches and heavy workman boots with no metal parts. Muscular build. The bottom of his boots are a natural rubber that acts as insulation. He keeps a battle axe near at hand if needed, and has a +5 to strength-based checks. +8 to attack rolls with the battle axe.
The room above the elevator shaft is identical to the one below, but without the pot coil, and is on the opposite side of the shaft. At the top is another gnome named Kipper Quartersleeve. He will assist the party in getting off the magnet platform, laughing at their shock upon being lifted, but friendly in his demeanor only making jokes to lighten the mood. He’ll speak into the tube once everyone is off, and the platform will descend back down the shaft which is approximately 50 feet in height. He can cast feather fall and uses it on anyone who accidentally falls over the edge of the shaft if the party does something stupid. He keeps an ample supply of feathers nearby his stool. Rather than a game on the table, he has a deck of cards and appears to have been playing solitaire that is in progress when the party arrives at the top. The scale squares and gnome counterweights are also present but in a mirrored location to the room below. Immediately outside the room are two gnomes sitting at another table who are locked in an arm-wrestling match that appears to have been going on for a while without evident favor to either party. Both are sweating and will not speak to the party. If the party attempts to intervene, it will result in one of the two losing and getting in a huff with the party. This gnome is named Chestervall Plaidimum (Plaid) who will participate in the Giant Rabbit race and seek to target the party member who caused him to lose. The other is named Verner Flailingvogel (Clutch) who will slip the person who helped him win a silver piece.
The warren is full of bustle and noise, the air filled with the sounds of industry. The elevator room and short hall immediately opens into the Great Hall.
Great Hall: A large 120-foot x 60-foot carved cavern with large trees growing magically on a regular 30-foot grid with intertwining thick branches that support a series of timber rafters brace the cavern’s ceiling 40 feet above its smooth, polished stone floor. The stone of the chamber with thin veins of metals running through it shimmers with reflected light from numerous magically illuminated lanterns hanging above the chamber from the rafters and off of limbs from the trees. Dancing light orbs play tag throughout the chamber giving the room a warm, autumnal glow everywhere one looks. Tinker hammering, wood sawing, kettles whistling, and the clink of clockworks in motion mix to form a sort of musical ambiance to the room accompanied by the chatter and laughing of the rock gnomes of the warren. Only the most jaded soul could resist feeling enlivened when entering.
No furnishings are evident in the Great Hall, but it is being crossed constantly by gnomes making their way back and forth between the many side tunnels that intersect off of it. A series of ramps and scaffolds lead up from the ground level to additional side tunnels that rise at intervals of 10 feet on both of the 120-foot sides of the chamber.
Footsie will be eager to take the party to see Davey and Jazzy, who, as the Marquess of the warren, can be seen examining the work of a tinker in one of the nearby side chambers once the party enters the Great Hall.
Other Poppenweilen NPCs
1. Abis: Female Gnome Hunter, NG. Str 14, Dex 10, Con 8, Int 9, Wis 7, Cha 11. Abis has white hair and hazel eyes, and small ears. She wears studded leather and wields a warhammer and hand crossbow.
2. Aisent: Female Gnome Tinker, LG. Str 9, Dex 11, Con 11, Int 12, Wis 7, Cha 10. Aisent has silver hair and blue eyes. She wears modest garments and an amulet of luminous crystal. Aisent is studious and industrious.
3. Alatz: Male Gnome Alchemist, NG. Str 10, Dex 8, Con 11, Int 12, Wis 7, Cha 14. Alatz has braided golden hair and light hazel eyes, and prominent ears. He wears simple clothing and several pouches hang from his belt. Alatz has an animal companion, a black cat named Liene.
4. Alas: Female Gnome Smith, LG. Str 15, Dex 7, Con 9, Int 7, Wis 10, Cha 8. Alas has a square face, with cropped red hair and brown eyes. She wears modest garments and a leather work apron. Alas suffers a severe allergy to dragon-based creatures. She was recently given a set of black dragon scales to use in making an acid-resistant suit by an alchemist which is making her miserable.
5. Alin: Female Gnome Mushroom Farmer, CG. Str 12, Dex 7, Con 8, Int 7, Wis 8, Cha 11. Alin has golden hair and sharp blue eyes, and a round nose. She wears well-made clothing and a pewter amulet. Alin seeks to discover a new species of mushroom she hopes to name after her father who died recently.
6. Antient: Female Gnome Merchant, CG. Str 10, Dex 11, Con 8, Int 8, Wis 9, Cha 10. Antient is short, with uneven golden hair and brown eyes. She wears modest garments and a wide-brimmed hat. Antient is shrewd and modest.
7. Atund: Male Gnome Artist, LG. Str 5, Dex 9, Con 10, Int 9, Wis 11, Cha 7. Atund has tangled silver hair and amber eyes. He wears well-made clothing and a dragonscale cloak. Atund seeks to help the poor and unfortunate.
8. Bali: Female Gnome Entertainer, CG. Str 12, Dex 11, Con 13, Int 8, Wis 12, Cha 13. Bali has gray hair and gray eyes. She wears fine clothing and a silver holy symbol. Bali has an animal companion, a red fox named Gastes.
9. Bloisie: Female Gnome Tinker, LG. Str 10, Dex 6, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 9. Bloise has matted gray hair and bright gray eyes. She wears tailored clothing and an amulet of luminous crystal. Bloise is lustful for praise of her work.
10. Dinarv: Male Gnome Craftsman, NG. Str 11, Dex 8, Con 12, Int 6, Wis 8, Cha 9. Dinarv is fey in appearance, with copper hair and hazel eyes. He wears modest garments and riding boots. Dinarv secretly cheats at games and gambles impulsively.
11. Dwoinan: Female Gnome Bookkeeper, LG. Str 8, Dex 8, Con 9, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 12. Dwoinan has gray hair and green eyes, and prominent ears. She wears fine raiment and jewelry. Dwoinan is timid but by-the-books about everything. She resents anyone who suggests using a shortcut to accomplishing a task.
12. Elior: Female Gnome Guard, NG. Str 14, Dex 10, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 14. Elior has cropped golden hair and bright brown eyes, and a magical scar on her leg. She wears studded leather and wields a shortsword.
13. Elias: Female Gnome Alchemist, CG. Str 10, Dex 10, Con 12, Int 15, Wis 11, Cha 11. Elias is short and heavyset, with tangled auburn hair and bright green eyes. She wears well-made clothing and a copper amulet. She recently came by a collection of black dragon scales while looking for herbs in the forest. She can point the players to the place that she found them, where they will find a Black Dragon wormling.
14. Felie: Female Gnome Craftsman, NG. Str 10, Dex 10, Con 9, Int 6, Wis 8, Cha 13. Felie has auburn hair and gray eyes, and a distinctive tattoo on her leg. She wears travel-stained clothing and a wide-brimmed hat. Felie was petrified for a hundred years.
15. Guilhos: Male Gnome Servant, CG. Str 10, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 13, Cha 9. Guilhos has straight brown hair and light blue eyes. He wears sturdy clothing and a wide-brimmed hat.
16. Gili: Male Gnome Soldier, NG. Str 12, Dex 9, Con 12, Int 13, Wis 11, Cha 9. Gili has white hair and light amber eyes, and a beaked nose. He wears studded leather and wields a greatsword. Gili holds a grudge against barbarians.
17. Hallie: Female Gnome Baker, LG. Str 8, Dex 9, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 15, Cha 10. Hallie is thin, with short red hair and sharp brown eyes. She wears well-made clothing and a blue cloak.
18. Heilu: Female Gnome Craftsman, NG. Str 9, Dex 10, Con 11, Int 12, Wis 9, Cha 8. Heilu has white hair and dark hazel eyes. She wears simple clothing and riding boots.
19. Kamil: Male Gnome Merchant, NG. Str 10, Dex 11, Con 11, Int 11, Wis 10, Cha 8. Kamil has long golden hair and large amber eyes, and a sharp nose. He wears modest garments and riding boots. Kamil is searching for the legendary elven kingdom of Edherel.
20. Mesa: Male Gnome Scholar, CG. Str 9, Dex 6, Con 12, Int 8, Wis 13, Cha 8. Mesa is noble in bearing, with messy silver hair and soft gray eyes. He wears modest garments and carries a fine stiletto.
21. Narvi: Female Gnome Farmer, NG. Str 12, Dex 12, Con 6, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 10. Narvi is cultured in appearance, with gray hair and gray eyes. She wears plain clothing and carries a cedar staff. Narvi is blind in her right eye.
22. Sane: Female Gnome Carpenter, NG. Str 11, Dex 8, Con 11, Int 12, Wis 5, Cha 5. Sane has a round face, with thick golden hair and light green eyes. She wears sturdy clothing and riding boots.
23. Sanzagh: Female Gnome Mercenary, N. Str 6, Dex 18, Con 11, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 7. Sanzagh is thin, with curly red hair and hazel eyes. She wears leather armor and wields a rapier.
24. Thrinarv: Female Gnome Craftsman, NG. Str 15, Dex 8, Con 7, Int 9, Wis 12, Cha 11. Thrinarv is exceptionally beautiful, with blonde hair and blue eyes. She wears travel-stained clothing and several small tools hang from her belt.
25. Theli: Female Gnome Banker, NG. Str 9, Dex 11, Con 7, Int 8, Wis 15, Cha 11. Theli is pleasant in appearance, with short red hair and dark amber eyes. She wears modest garments and a white cloak. Theli is hunting someone who played a trick on her recently.
26. Throri: Male Gnome Jeweler, NG. Str 8, Dex 12, Con 8, Int 8, Wis 15, Cha 9. Throri is overweight, with red hair and large gray eyes. He wears well-made clothing and an amulet of luminous crystal. Throri has an animal companion, a ginger ferret named Haine.
27. Thimul: Male Gnome Miner, NG. Str 16, Dex 9, Con 14, Int 13, Wis 6, Cha 6. Thimul has a round face, with red hair and large hazel eyes. He wears modest garments and a dragonscale cloak. Thimul is notorious for his over-the-top pranks and the other gnomes of the warren behave cautiously when he’s around to be sure they aren’t the next victim.
28. Zuri: Male Gnome Rabbit Keeper and Game Master, NG. Str 11, Dex 12, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 12. Zuri has auburn hair and dark brown eyes, and a beaked nose. He wears modest garments and a sling of vials and potions. Zuri suffers an acute fear of dwarves. He runs the Rabbit Races at the Game Cathedral and is responsible for keeping the rabbits healthy and training young new rabbits born for the games.
Other Major Rooms in the Warren: Gnome Depot Warehouse, Dining Hall, Trade Bazaar, the Game Cathedral.
Most of the living areas are excavated and finished off of either the Dining Hall chamber or the Trade Bazaar, and each family tends to keep a large common chamber with the parents having their own rooms and adjacent children rooms. When a new couple weds, it is a major event leading up to the wedding to expand the warren off of the family chamber to the new couples domestic room and bedchamber. Welcoming a first child includes the excavation of a nursery room that gets expanded into a playroom with bedrooms as the family size increases. This allows grandparents, great-grandparents, and great-great-grandparents to be the center of family life as entire wings of the warren are composed of near-family members. Most couples build off of the wife’s family’s chamber, but the tradition of taking the husband’s surname results in the names of a couple being a poor indicator of which wing they live in. It remains a tradition because it makes communications within the wing much easier since each couple’s area of the wing is known by the surname of the family living there.
While no member of the warren has the surname Poppenweilen, it is commonly believed that the warren originated with a gnome family of that name when the empire was young. The gnomes of the warren have been led by either a Marquis or Marquess as a result, since the Poppenweilens were believed to have been sent by the emperor at the time to secretly watch and report on activities in what was then the edge of the empire’s influence.
Trade Bazaar: This is the largest chamber of the warren, and is much like the Great Hall in appearance but closer to 200 feet in length and 120 feet wide. The bazaar is the center of daily trade activity within the warren as well as the most likely place for casual meetings and gossip sharing. Pranks are a near constant somewhere in the bazaar, and a successfully pulled off prank will result in echoes of laughter radiating from it into the rest of the warren.
Gnome Depot Warehouse: Large cavern stocked floor-to-ceiling where gnome goods are stored for shipment to the many branches of Gnome Depot in the surrounding area. There is a special entrance and hidden path from the warehouse to the path that is used for carts to carry goods from the warren without requiring use of the elevator. Many gnomes prefer to use this entrance whenever possible to avoid being shocked by the elevator but never take guests on this route.
Dining Hall: Much like the Great Hall, but with long tables. The rooms immediately off of it are filled with kitchens and storage rooms constantly baking or cooking up new recipes for the warren to try. A perpetual stew kept at a constant boil near the front of the room over a large fire is believed to date back to the empire. Rabbit meat is a constant ingredient but the other offerings it holds are a surprise.
Game Cathedral: The large, circular room is ringed with seating on scaffolding platforms that rise above the floor. The center of the room is a Giant Rabbit stable that houses the dozen Giant Rabbits used in the races. Younger rabbits, retired racers, and pregnant mothers are kept in side-chambers off of the ground floor that have a special entrance onto a large, fenced field on the backside of the hill in which the warren is built. Giant rabbits that do not show an inclination for racing are let loose into the forests around the warren. This has attracted a number of Griffins to the area that roost in the nearby mountains and feed on the abundance of giant rabbits nearby. The gnomes keep a series of lookout towers built into tall trees and armed with ballistas and gnome wizards around the protected area to scare off or kill attacking Griffins if need be when their rabbits are out grazing.
Jazzy will have heard of the Clavis Inferni (Key to Hell), which is rumored to be a powerful spell book lost sometime around the fall of the Empire. It is known to contain forbidden knowledge including power granted by Orcus. Her brother, Niblelung Labingi, would have been the Marquis of Poppenweiler had he stayed but he was vain and spoiled, seeing a life hidden away in Poppenweilen as beneath him when he could make a name for himself in the broader world. He’s rumored to have travelled for fifty years seeking knowledge, wealth, adventure, and magic, and is the mayor in the City of Purevault now having been an early investor in the recently discovered Bitterroot Mine whose rich vein of platinum set off a boom in rapid growth of the City over the last four years.
Jazzy will be able to cast a high level dispel magic on the amulet if the party can get her Witch's Turmeric to boost the ritual. They will also need to provide the gnomes with 200 platinum pieces worth of platinum that Davey will need to shape into a fork and attune to the amulet.
Witch’s Turmeric: This rare, magical herb only grows in the ruined garden of what was once a Lady Elf’s manor higher up the slopes of Rammhelm Peak, four miles north of the warren. This Lady Elf is rumored to have become so entranced with gold and vanity that she was eventually lost to dark magical forces. She has indeed become a Banshee, who guards the area around her old ruin. She stalks the area at night seeking jewels and gold, and will attack the party any time they are within 3 miles of the ruin between dusk and dawn. The garden itself contains will-o-wisps, blights, and an assassins vine.
Illumar’s Workshop: An eager, ambitious wizard gnome named Illumar had built a workshop up the mountain from the warren funded by his uncle. This uncle, Yeodal “Amari” Bacci, is a wealthy gnome trader heavily invested in the Gnome Depot franchises. Amari believed wizards earn a lot of coin, and he was looking to dominate the market of magical resources to earn a cut of that money. Amari funded his nephew Illumar’s interest in creating an arcane workshop powered by “assistive magic,” expecting it could lead to new discovers that could boost the profits of Gnome Depot Enterprises. He doesn’t realize his nephew created a sentient workshop. The last time Amari heard from Illumar was through Illumar sending a message three weeks ago. Illumar said that the work he had to show off could not be brought down from the mountain. Amari would have to make the climb to see it, but Amari hasn’t heard back from Illumar since, and he’s worried. Amari asks the characters to check in on the facility on their way back from collecting the Witch’s Turmeric since its not far from where they will be traveling anyway. He offers to provide the 250 platinum pieces along with another 100 platinum pieces for any information, with the promise of additional rewards if the characters return with any recovered research. (See adventure pages for this)
Returning Back: Armed with the Turmaric and the platinum fork crafted by Davey, Jazzy will perform the hour long ritual. Upon completion of the ritual the amulet cracks revealing a small piece of flesh that had been encased in it. Davey will be able to perform the resurrection spell on it, returning the Elf back but in whatever humanoid form is rolled. The High Elf will tell them that to get his true form back would require a boon from Titania. Could lead party to go to Seelie Court, find Ja-ames’ mother.
Jazzy’s word of wisdom to the party: “It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.”
Jazzy will be able to initiate a spirit ritual using a Celestial Toy mirror ball that transports the participants into the past to relive the story of how the Clavis Inferni was lost by the Death Knight Uriah who was guarding it as a oathbreaker paladin who had attempted to keep it, died, and became it’s warden.