Magic.JPG: Setting precedents on the extended reaches of a world and system

Nirrum can make spells that others haven't seen yet

I, on the other hand, can make a mean Veggie Stirfry

In My context on levelling, I mentioned  King Fleet-Admiral Lazarus Honoré Dorian Tibeaux-Avisen. Tibeaux is almost unhittable, in part due to an item that allows him to put 5ft of distance between him and any effect, Nullifying Melee and ranged attacks and potentially dodging spells entirely. But who made this item? Could a player make this item? Today I'll be talking about how I handle players doing things that aren't exactly in the level description.

Does it have to be a bag?

The wizard who made Tibeaux's cape doesn't have a name yet, but they're an expert with the magic that a bag of holding uses. With what is perhaps the most iconic Item in dungeons and dragons, the ubiquitous bag of holding has Two tricks, it's bigger on the inside but it always weighs the same. You can turn it inside out for some interesting effects but rather importantly, The bag of holding is not a natural part of the world. A Creature, sapient and experienced, had knowledge that allows one to craft such a device. The implications are profound. Bags of holding have come in different forms over the years, from satchels to messenger bags. The Quiver of Ehlonna, Robe of Pockets, Portable hole, and Handy haversack all just permutations on the theme. What this tells us is that the magic isn't so rigid as a hard pre-coded spell, but is in fact, shapable. There is now precedent that people can make things that are bigger on the inside and things that nullify weight. The bag of holding and its friends are referred to as having demi-planes within them, portals to somewhere else that isn't really anywhere at all. I'm sure the math works out. When Making the cape, I started with a bag of holding and asked "How wide can the mouth be?" Being the dungeon master I said "fuck it" and made the "bag" just be one spread out piece of fabric. It's not capable of holding things and it'll make you sick for a day when you first put it on while you get used to space being warped around your arm and half of your body, but indeed, you get used to it.  Precedents are the handiest tool you can use when making new spells and items. Let us take another example. There is a common trend that there tends to be a wand for many type of spells. Rather, it is a wand that has the same effect as a spell. There are also wands of other effects, wands of secrets and wands of binding and the like. This precedent is simply that the wand is a rechargable option for Magic.jpg. Make a wand of "Turn one specific person's guts inside out", or something from a class feat "Wand of subtle spell" with charges to turn something into a subtle spell.

Actual cool Magic

Pay close attention to what other things can do. Setting up traps that don't correspond to any spell other than wish, having magic abilities that no one else does. If it can be done, then it can be done, no reason to limit it with unobtainability. Having your Audience capable of learning these things provided enough investment into the game. Let research happen, let shenanigans occur, Provided they take the time. I like the idea that any setting is a minimum of 20x larger than the representation. 20x more people, 20x more distance between locations. Taking this 20x factor and applying it to spells, something that's 20x as powerful as a regular spell you learn on the fly in the run of an adventure and it takes 20x as long to learn and 20x more resources and 20x longer to cast. 20 year long rituals for something that wish can't accomplish. Time Taken outside of an adventure is time you can use for research on Generic magical things. A first level wizard, capable of casting Silent Image and minor illusion, should probably be able to produce, given a few weeks, the equivalent of a Movie, provided some resources. A wizard capable of casting wish should, given a few weeks, be capable of taking over a city with any sort of effect, give a few months, a country, given a few years, the world. Uninterrupted of course. The downside of such downtime is that an interruption could ruin quite a lot of effort, which is why such beings as Acererak from the tombs of Annihilation and Horrors, takes many saturday morning cartoon level pains to prevent people from interrupting his work.

The Balance Problem

The only balance to Magic.jpg is that it can be interrupted, slowly dispelled, and at the worst moments, wished away. The ultimate truth of Magic.jpg is that, like the spear, the bow and arrow, and the gun IRL, it's a better option than not having it. You can't get hit if the enemy is too far away to hit you back and with magic, There's no physical work equivalent that would be able to counter the most efficient use of the two things that can truly break a system. Time and Economy. Keep adventurers handy for just such an occasion.

Deep Lore Redux

I am so simulationist that honestly, I struggle to have the system of Magic.jpg ready for any given system it operates in. I haven't yet thought of the grid of materials and conditions that would allow one to put together the effects of spells and magic yet revealed in, say, 5e. That said it can be done, and when time permits, it will. The more narrativist designers will have an easier time, but might back themselves in a corner if one ingredient is too abundant. Like blood, everyone has blood, and it sets a murderous precedent, especially if the counter is something like rubies. Not everyone has rubies

Betlyss
-Nirrum

Post Script

Updates may be a bit more infrequent coming up. Not only am I running out of things to say (gods be praised) but some health issues are doing a major number on my creativity, it took me over a month to write this and it's not up to my usual standard. Apologies to all!

Mixed Signals: Obfuscating options, Rewarding the stubborn

The easiest way to fight Nirrum is appetite suppressants

The easiest way to fight me, on the other hand, is with a punch or two

I've talked a bit about the mutability of the world, how by definition, things can be changed if they have been made. Some settings get around this by saying that the knowledge is lost or that a god has hard banned the most powerful of magic which is needed to undo the curse found in your average "unforgettable hat". Personally I like to take a different approach if I don't want something broken.

Misdirection

Consider this quote from the temple of the world spirit

  The dungeon has black doors inlayed with gold filligree in the shape of a poem in abyssal, describing how the world-speaker should stay out of the way of the yuan-ti. The words are charged with magic that prevent the door from being damaged while it is in the feywild. The doors are large and their frames are hexagonal. They have no hinges but a handle on one side allows the door to be opened by rolling it sideways. Opening doors requires an action with a DC 11 Strength(Athletics) check. The doors are well-balanced but are mechanically Driven to close. Keeping them open for more than one round causes the DC to increase by 5 for every round that passes up to a maximum of 30, If the door is held open past this point, it breaks and remains open. Undoing the Door's Magic requires two checks, a DC23 arcana check to learn how to pause the magic and a DC15 Sleight of Hand to scratch the appropriate lines. The doors feel glassy with obvious changes in texture where the writing is.  

Pretty sturdy overall. The walls however,  have this description

The Dungeon has Green Serpentine (Of course) Walls, with snakes in relief. The walls seem to smell of blood, or copper but none is present. The walls are nearly a meter thick at least. (but not indestructible if someone takes a pick to it, go to 20 if they escape). The walls feel glassy in all places where the carving has been finished, though occasional imperfections in the material will create a void or a small rough spot

Notice the bold text, which indicates the intent. This part is not described to the players, and when I ran it, they almost noticed anyway. Almost. This is a pretty typical misdirection. One of these two aspects of the dungeon is disproportionately reinforced and it's the one that is in the way the most. Players tend to assume that the door, which is an experience of egress, is the weakest aspect of the dungeon's construction. You can still get around it after all. The door's strength is indicative of the effort put into the least permanent, the most targettable  and thinnest point in the wall. The walls are oft seen as immutable in their own right, Surely if the door is that reinforced, the walls must be doubly so.

Ma, Mishliatab ra kao'u. Eh, One could think that.

Building up expectations of how the world works and then the subsequent subversion of those expectations is comedy, it creates and releases tension. Not releasing those tensions obviously makes them build up. Your choices, Drama and Comedy, are a win-win narratively. These walls are obviously an expectation. The expectation is that it's faster to go around, that the walls are harder than the way forward. For those that have experienced a dungeon, a level, or a setting for too long can tell you, there's often a better, quicker way in retrospect. I talked about rewarding exploration before, and this is an extension of that, you can now reward players for their choices by allowing those choices to matter. Tunneling through a wall in the middle of a siege has its own issues and challenges, but don't be afraid to experience "your" puzzle being defeated by 6 munchkins with a cart. The degree of importance of any given challenge will come with rather telegraphed defences for the most part. Thick walls, sentry patrols. Just about everything that they'll come up with has been tried historically. A quick google search of what was done to defeat a tactic will give you plenty of results.


As mentioned in my post on Random Dungeons, Tedium is your only real enemy as a dungeon master, and We should keep that in mind as we continue.

Obfuscation.

Many dungeon masters have made good use of obfuscating an easy path to increase drama. Six guards wait outside the door, each armed, wary and attentive. Their armor is thick and they are disciplined.  Upon witnessing a disturbance, one guard knocks on a small grated window and shortly thereafter, a patrol of five comes out to deal with the disturbance. Six hours of throwing rocks and conscripting and fighting locals, the bard finally decides "Excuse me, could we go in?" would be a good way to attempt ingress. If they haven't made an enemy of the guards by now, the answer might likely be "yes, just sign in at the guardhouse and leave your weapons there, you'll have to register if you're a caster, security reasons and all that." Bonus points for a cheeky "it's been a rough night out, best watch yourselves"

Twelve standing stones, each with a different symbol begin to glow as you approach. A mountain-sized monster glares your way as head toward it, following your movement closely. You stand in a room, and upon the wall is the word "overthinking" (NSFW link, by the way, very entertaining though). All of these things are methods of obfuscation without slowing the player down, because until they get in operating range, nothing is going to happen. Compare this to the hypercube dungeon, or worse, the new monster that is a penteract dungeon in which the obfuscating factors are hard set and more of an impediment, slowing the players down and removing their flow. The first group represents a far more easily digested circumstance while the latter two are Dick moves.

The Fear of God

Your players might catch on to a lot of these and begin to breeze through them, let it happen a couple of times before manifesting what should have been their fears rather directly. It makes for great drama and is a sustainable power-release gambit, in that your players will always get complacent given the chance. Have that giant throw a rock, have those standing stones zap them into the plane of suck.

N'hikao, hialo
-Nirrum

Example "Dungeon": Mohara Mountain Trail

Nirrum lives at the base of Mohara, in Manaharamu

I, on the other hand, live at the inconvenience of my government, in destitution.

When I first began designing dungeons after studying game design, my first attempt wasn't actually the temple of the world spirit. I had in fact done one previous "Dungeon" in anticipation of my party going in the complete opposite direction that they did. A literal 180 degree difference. They still haven't done this dungeon, and there's a chance they will see it before they do it, but thankfully, the ones who pay attention are the sort of metagamers who will follow the obvious path. This dungeon is very Videogame-friendly, as it features a rare "you can't go that way" mechanic. I'm eager to try it myself, and I'm happy with what I think it is. This is the sort of thing you run when you want that Ukiyo-e feeling, but gritty and slightly grim.

Mohara

Mohara, Manahara, the home of the Manahararahi. This wide and imposing mountain range (of one) has a comparatively low peak in comparison to the aegis mountains. Dumohara, the northern peak is the tallest in the range and is where Sylvanus stood when he corrupted the work of Pelor. Mohara is an ancient place, the oldest mountain on the plane, composed of foreign Quartzite.

The Surprise here is that the Mohara Mountain is a puzzle Dungeon, built by the world spirit in co-ordination with the fey. Landing on and taking off from Mohara is easy enough via Airship, the magic breaks enough, but walking along its surface is what triggers the magic the most. Mohara's journey will tend to begin from a mountain trail, frequently the Mohara mountain trail inside the university walls.

Mohara Mountain Trail Ascent,

The party has the option of taking a guide up the mountain but only if they show up early in the morning before the circle of the mountain druids have left. This makes the trail up to the druid "grove" spectacularly easy, such that it should be a DC13 constitution save made with advantage to avoid exhaustion. Exhaustion gained this way can be removed with a short rest. The journey with a guide takes half an hour, an hour if someone fails the constitution check. The guides take the time to tell the party to watch for aerial predators. The druid circle is ten level 3 druids and the head of the circle of the mountain.

For those who don't take the guide, the journey is an hour, and the constitution save made without advantage. The air is hot but becomes slightly breezy once they climb for half of it. If the group has less than five people, Two wyverns attack. If the group has more than five people, once the Wyverns are down, three Griffons attack immediately following the most recent initiative.

This section functions as an antechamber, letting the party know that aerial enemies are going to be prevalent. The trail is marked by posts driven into the ground and is well worn, Steps occasionally allow navigation over the more impassable rock obstacles.

Grove of the Circle of the mountain.

This druid grove is less of a grove and more of a platform, Situated some three hundred feet above Manaharamu's tallest buildings. The trail continues upward past this refuge but this is a safe spot to rest. Small mountain plants, Scraggly pines, and small bushes line this clean stone circle in the middle of which is a standing stone inscribed in Manar. Those who know Manar will be able to translate the poem, people learning Manar might be able to read aloud the script.

Naba'ti
oonwa'ta olopi
Sho ba'ti
Meikalo dal mish
Dalo ra'i ranoru'ta Hara ra
Newa'u'lo wanwilo wa mishlia'u'lo
Wa'u'lo wanwilo newa mishlia'u'lo
Wanwilo Newa'ti tira Wa'ta Hara ra
Wanwilo Newa'ta Hara, wilo Newa'ti'lo tira?
Nabrekao'ti netira'i

It is quiet
the sun rises
Then It is loud
The Mountain shows us
The dichotomy of change
Do when you should not
Do not when you should.
The mountain stays when everything moves
When the mountain moves, will everything stay?
Not all things are certain

The view is astounding, as the Kavir'e-namak and Grass Road stretch off to the horizon, while the great civilization of Manaharamu is dwarfed by the mountain from which it gets its name.

Classes for the circle of the mountain take place here, and depending on when the party leaves, there might be a class ongoing. The Druid Acolytes and novices are willing to cast a version of "Ceremony" called "Walkabout" that grants the party advantage on survival checks to forage for 72 hours.

Manar is a beautiful language, a little clunky, but beautiful, and with a far more pleasing alphabet than english. 

Power plant Trail

Druid Guides won't accompany anyone past the grove, but the trail is still well maintained, as it leads to the Power Plant and Monastery. The gate to the monastery is guarded by two Androsphinxes, Og and Maj. Passing either ones test allows entry into the Monastery. Attacking either one results in a one-way trip to the Awl Inn, where the attacker must remain for a day before reappearing at the bottom of the mohara trail. Manaharamu police are frequently called in to deal with such people. Og and Maj require a quest for someone to enter the Monastery. Og Requires a Scroll on a turquoise roller that is currently In the ruins of Font in Ganglegrove. Maj requires a bell of masterful beauty that has been dipped in the waters of the secret river Acheron.

This section does not contain the power plant/monastery internals, but there is a good opportunity to put your Shaolin or Wudan Analogues within. The names of the sphinxes are representations of Gods they echo, Oghma and Majere, Knowledge and Discipline

Mohara Summit trail (Lvl 7 Area)

This is where the fun begins, about twenty minutes walk away from the powerplant.

There is very little vegetation on the summit of Mohara. Assuming it is still daylight on the first day, then the sky is pale blue and the sun is fierce.
At night the stars are awe-inspiring, the moon visible becoming slowly more distant in the north sky.

This is the time for the DM to do some hot bullshit with spirit journeys, sudden reclassing and prophetic dreams.

The trail winds up one small peak that serves as the beginning of the summit trail, where the party is now above the toroids that make up the power plant, and the ground is mostly rock. The wind here is extreme and it makes travel difficult, slowing the party considerably.

This disguises the fact that the summit of Mohara doesn't seem to be getting any closer, and it is considerably poweful magic that is having this effect. Trying to move off the side of the mountain seems entirely unsuccessful, as after descending, one will have to conquer a small rise that leads them back to the trail. If someone is flying, they'll always seem to get turned around, distracted from their careful measures to not have this happen, but a sufficiently large group taking off at once can break the magic until they return to the surface. The party is in a part of the world that is very close to the shadowfell, the border between the planes is weak along this stretch.

When the party realizes this, a laughing creature, a Korred, makes its presence known.

Of course the mountaintop isn't getting any closer. You're not asking it to stay put! [greenDick voice, Idubbz]

If the party tries asking the mountain to stay put, the korred laughs again

Fool! Idiot! You don't speak mountain, only mountains do! Maybe it will be more willing tomorrow!

The Korred disappears and party has the option of wandering around for a bit. As they wander, fog rolls in from the east, Tainted beige by the desert light. This gives the fog a sickly look and dims the light. Darkvision isn't needed to see but the sunlight sensitivity of Drow, Kobolds, and other creatures loses its potency and they are no longer at disadvantage. No creature can see past 120ft without truesight as the fog begins to obscure the landscape. The wind remains extremely high blowing from north to south, forcing creatures to spend 3ft of movement for every 1 normally spent if they move against it. Creatures moving with the wind gain an additional 10ft of movement provided they are on foot.

Each group of the party is attacked. A separate encounter for each group if they are split, just the one if they are not.

Two cow skulls are visible at the edge of the fog, green light shimmers against the fog. A wisp of cloud passes to reveal that the skulls are attached to their skeletons still, which are roughly humanoid. They weild massive Ornate dane axes.

They are so large that they have a reach of 10ft and Multiattack 2, 80 hp all other stats remain
The Minotaur Skeletons attack quickly and try to throw the party off a small cliff that is 60 feet high. When they are defeated, their bodies fall to the ground far too quickly and slam to the rock with such force that a small cloud of dust is kicked up. When the dust clears 1d4 rounds later, A flat relief carving of half of a pathway lies where the bones should be. With both minotaurs dead, the carving should resemble a complete section, though it is obviously incomplete

Simultaneously (either the one group or one of the other groups) the pitter patter of running bare feet is heard. From the fog near you runs a Lost Sorrowsworn

when defeated, the sorrowsworn becomes a relief carving of the Sun but with a somewhat round chunk of it missing.

If the party tries to return to the main trail, the Korred has set up a bit of a gate across it made of thin Mithril. The gate is a thin web that fits the carvings.
Players need to search for puzzle pieces
Everything has to make the players feel small
The area has four notable features. On the south east side there is a hidden spring with purple smoke issuing from it, on the north east there is a ruined camp, on the south west side there is a small temple and on the east, a craggy crater arena.
In each area the players fight something that gives them part of the mosaic. But at the end they need to put the springwater in a bowl from the temple, place it in a stand from the camp and put a crystal from the fight pits inside the bowl

In the spring they fight a Marid that looks like most other water elementals and two Air Myrmidons. After they beat the elementals, then a Lonely Sorrowsworn shows up to pull them back

They leave corner pieces of the carving that contain parts of the sky, including clouds and

In the camp they Fight Four Shadar-Kai Gloomdancer Skeletons (immue to poison, blind, charm, deaf, exhaustion, frighten, poisoned, stun, Unconscious, Resist Cold, necrotic, and nonmagical Physical) and another Lost Sorrowsworn.

They leave the carvings of the central mountain the bottom of which is missing

In the Temple they fight an Eidolon With two Sacred Statues, one of which Grapples, the other of which Breathes a cone of fuckin ghosts that works a lot like an Adult Dragon's Breath.

The sacred statues leave each of the bottom corners showing the mountain on each side of the pathway

In the Crater They fight one Hungry Sorrowsworn and 6 Wretched Sorrowsworn

These leave only tiny fragments, an Image of the part in extreme detail as well as an image of the whole gate, which yes, contiains an image of the whole gate, though the second image of the gate lacks the adventurers, magic only goes so far guys.

Each attempt at a long rest prompts a 75% Random encounter with an Angry Sorrowsworn, and by 75% I mean the first two attempts are Automatic. Punish that shit

When the gate is completed, there is a small flash of light vertically along the center of the carving, which slides apart, as it does, the fog clears, revealing the summit, beckoning in the pale morning light. Looking around, the party will notice they really aren't far at all from the power plant, the two sphinxes clearly visible as they wander around the sides, A DC12 survival check reminds them that it is a long way to the summit. A Kirin Crosses the trail, stops for a moment to look at them, and then darts away across the sky, granting everyone present a Charm of heroism as described on DMG228. The gate fades and the Korred appears briefly behind the party to laugh a bit as it too fades. In a matter of seconds, it's as if the whole thing never happened though the land features such as the camp are still there. At each one, if the party goes back to look, are single large Gemstones.

Each Site is themed with either breath, bone, flesh, or spirit, A reference to my favourite book series, the lighthouse duet. 

Mohara Summit

The trail past the gate is remarkable only in its view, As the summit draws closer and manaharamu moves further away, the party will need to find ways to procure water and food as there is none of it on top of the mountain. The weather is extremel cold though snow does not tend to build up until a few days up the trail. If a creature does not have a way to stay warm, they require a DC 10 constitution check every hour in order to avoid levels of exhaustion. Creatures who are resistant or immune to cold automatically succeed this check, as do creatures wearing cold weather gear. In Most cases, Heavy armor is considered cold weather gear. Ask your player to describe what their armor looks like and judge fairly. Three uses of prestidigitation is enough to sustain the warmth of one creature.

On the way over the top, the Party will run into a pack of 6 wolves. Whenever a wolf reaches 0hp, it turns into a Kholirahi Elite Rudmage.

Mohara Summit is of course the nesting ground of a Roc, which has built its nest but hasn't found a mate yet, but that journey is days of walking and camping away. If the party is above level 13, then this Roc is an Ancient Red Dragon instead. Good luck. When either is defeated if the party returns they will find am Ancient Silver Dragon roosting there instead.

Dumohara is not a difficult climb, and is just a footpath along loose rocks, shattered by the elements. This part of the trail gives them a plothook to the armies of the north while also giving them a proper reward in the form of an appropriately leveled hoard.

Mohara Trail North

The Trail on the north side of Mohara is easily one of the most gruelling trails in the world on the way up and one of the most pleasant on the way down. Descent from the peak side of the Mohara Range takes about two hours.

The east coast trail in St. John's Newfoundland has a spot near Fort Amherst which is a delightfully cardiorrific 30 degree slope.

Ar Lyss'ta Manar
-Archbard, Dal Kaolok Nirrum