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2 years ago ::
Mar 25, 2011 - 12:31AM
#11
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Date Joined:
May 12, 2009
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The What: Undead Grafts ( Open Grave pg 51.) How you may have missed it: The reason you may have missed those bizzaries is probably because they are originally intended to be on vilains only and not on PC. What makes it so special?: The side of it is that there can be a Downside of Grafts. Although grafts are designed with monsters in mind, an adventure or a section of a campaign could revolve around a PC or a good NPC gaining a graft by some means, and the quest to remove it. Maybe a foul necromancer experimented on the poor unfortunate. May be the Undead that the PC just killed infused with him. May be something else more wicked.... Some more specific applications:
- Grafting select parts of an undead monster is no simple task. It involves a particularly vile and complicated ritual. Far more difficult than the ritual is the procurement of undead body parts that are suitable for its performance. Not only are undead loath to give up their organs and body parts, but only perfect specimens can be used for grafting.
- A graft is a form of template that introduces an interesting story and visual element to an NPC, and it grants the NPC an extra attack that corresponds to the graft.
- Grafts do not change the level of the host creature, but they do make the creature slightly more complicated and a little more powerful.
Conclusion: The PC might have had it grafted purposely in a moment of power-hungry weakness. Whatever the case, an undead graft should be treated as something to be expunged, the sooner the better, by sane and reasonable people. A number of story reasons can be devised to drive this point home, but here are rules penalties you could apply to a grafted PC. Pick as many as you think necessary to motivate the quest for the graft’s removal. Penalties can make this thing more unpleasant despite the benefits it might grant. Something that can spice up a campaign a little bit.
Yan
Montréal, Canada
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2 years ago ::
Mar 25, 2011 - 2:46AM
#12
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Date Joined:
Oct 25, 2009
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Awesome thresd, I'll post later when I have done my research to make a full entry.
Want to know more about the history of D&D, especially how to play older editions of the game? Check out Crazy Monkey's "Tour through the editions":
http://community.wizards.com/crazymonkey/go/forum/view/133793/225799/Asylum_Play-by-Post
The current edition is BECMI, the most popular form of Basic D&D and the adventure is the classic Red Box quest to kill Bargle the evil magic user. Check it out, learn about the games roots, and enjoy the story as it unfolds.
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2 years ago ::
Mar 25, 2011 - 12:09PM
#13
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The What: Dragon Hoards (Draconomicon:Chromatic Dragons, Pages 60-71)
I just ordered this book (being delivered today from Amazon), and was having a bit of buyer's remorse for fear of not having enough applicable use to my current campaign. 
Thanks for this tidbit, and I'll definitely keep an eye out for it when the book arrives. 
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2 years ago ::
Mar 25, 2011 - 12:17PM
#14
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Date Joined:
Oct 25, 2009
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The What: The Ninth Bastion, a community described in The Manual of the Planes (pg 76-77).
How you may have missed it: No picture and one page of text in a book that many DM's didn't buy because they were waiting for Plane Below or Plane Above. The Ninth Bastion is mentioned but not described in the Plane Below.
What makes it so special?: It is an isolated island of "normal" D&D in the Elemental Chaos.
Many adventuring parties don't enjoy extended adventures in the Elemental Chaos because it is so alien and hostile. There are extremely few places to call home, and lets face it, most adventurers like a place to hang their hat and take a well deserved extended rest. While there are other large communities in the Elemental Chaos, this one is dominated by humans and dwarves and therefore feels more like the typical D&D world.
The Ninth Bastion is a fortress of law and order in a plane where those two words seldom exist. There is a government, a military, inns, taverns, a small farm, and several temples. In short, it has all the features of a typical D&D town and therefore is the perfect place for a DM to send a battered party as a reward for surviving the rigors of the Elemental Chaos.
The book gives enough basic info on NPC's, factions, and infrastructure for a DM to work with and is given a compelling historical explanation for its existance. To make a long story short, thousands of years ago a great army captured the mortal world and then set out to capture the Elemental Chaos. They failed, of course, but their survivors and their fortress survived, trapped in the chaos and dependant on planar traders to survive. Lots of flavor and still plenty of room for DM's to give it their own story.
Personally, I love the contrast between this little island of "normal" life surrounded by the raging elements.
Conclusion: This location is the perfect hub/homebase for a campaign set in the plane below. Adventurers in the Elemental Chaos will appreciate this location for the normalcy it brings to what can otherwise be a "chaotic" adventure. DM's will appreciate that there is enough detail supplied to bring this town to life.
Want to know more about the history of D&D, especially how to play older editions of the game? Check out Crazy Monkey's "Tour through the editions":
http://community.wizards.com/crazymonkey/go/forum/view/133793/225799/Asylum_Play-by-Post
The current edition is BECMI, the most popular form of Basic D&D and the adventure is the classic Red Box quest to kill Bargle the evil magic user. Check it out, learn about the games roots, and enjoy the story as it unfolds.
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2 years ago ::
Mar 25, 2011 - 12:21PM
#15
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Date Joined:
Oct 25, 2009
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The What: Dragon Hoards (Draconomicon:Chromatic Dragons, Pages 60-71)
I just ordered this book (being delivered today from Amazon), and was having a bit of buyer's remorse for fear of not having enough applicable use to my current campaign.
Thanks for this tidbit, and I'll definitely keep an eye out for it when the book arrives.
If you're a DM who like to give interesting treasure, then you'll greatly appreciate this section. Personally, I think this should be in the DMG. I love the treasure parcel system, but it can be hard to think up interesting "art objects". The section on hoard design gives a lot of great ideas to spice up the treasure. I use it on a very regular basis, not just for dragons.
Want to know more about the history of D&D, especially how to play older editions of the game? Check out Crazy Monkey's "Tour through the editions":
http://community.wizards.com/crazymonkey/go/forum/view/133793/225799/Asylum_Play-by-Post
The current edition is BECMI, the most popular form of Basic D&D and the adventure is the classic Red Box quest to kill Bargle the evil magic user. Check it out, learn about the games roots, and enjoy the story as it unfolds.
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2 years ago ::
Mar 25, 2011 - 12:32PM
#16
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Date Joined:
Jun 30, 2008
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Our group used the exodus knife for every extended rest in the one campaign we had one.
my handbooks & builds
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2 years ago ::
Mar 25, 2011 - 12:50PM
#17
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The What: Exodus Knife (Adventure Vault pg 171.)
Well, the thread has achieved its stated goal, because I totally missed this item and it is awesome.
Basically, it fills the "safe haven" spell nicely, plus it has a sort of "Room of Requirement" feel to it. Super nifty.
Yeah, this item is awesome, I dropped a collasal siege engine of the dieties into its extradimensional space once.
Edit: P.S. Great thread.
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2 years ago ::
Mar 25, 2011 - 12:57PM
#18
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The What: Draconic dispersement (sp? - I'll look it up at home)
How you may have missed it: It's buried in fluff parts the Draconomicon.
What makes it so special?: It tells you what might happen when you kill that evil dragon foe. They might not just simply die, but their death might go on to scar the land with their elemental nature. Blue dragons die and leave permanent storms in their wake. Black dragons leave poisonous bogs. Etc.
Conclusion: Great backstory for why a region is totally screwed up or to have lasting impact and more plot hooks after the party kills and loots that dragon. Mr Mayor: "Thank you for killing the dragon, but now how about you adventures get rid of that eternally raging forest fire that threatens to burn down the town."
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2 years ago ::
Mar 25, 2011 - 1:02PM
#19
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The What: Distracted condition rules
How you may have missed it: It's a side bar in DMG2 that didn't make it to the compendium.
What makes it so special?: It tells you what happens to PCs that try to drive off the edges of the game. Litterally, it is an optional rule that the GM can apply when a PC acts outside their nature. I think the text talks about going against PC alignment, but it could also be useful in other situation in which the PCs are doing something clearly rediculous, like staying awake for days or weeks on end because there's no penalty except you can't extended rest.
Distracted has some nasty penalties as I recall (it's not a set condition but a number of penalties the DM may choose to apply), up to not being able to use action points, taking a hit to d20 rolls, and not being able to take extended rests.
Conclusion: I bring this up every thread in which someone complains that PC alignment has no teeth. There's a perfectly good optional rule in the DMG2.
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2 years ago ::
Mar 25, 2011 - 8:33PM
#20
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Date Joined:
Oct 19, 2008
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I'm just glad people like the thread. I see so much nastiness in other threads that I hoped I could make something that would be a place of construction instead of destruction.
"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody." --Bill Cosby (1937- )Vanador: OK. You ripped a gateway to Hell, killed half the town, and raised the dead as feral zombies. We're going to kill you. But it can go two ways. We want you to run as fast as you possibly can toward the south of the town to draw the Zombies to you, and right before they catch you, I'll put an arrow through your head to end it instantly. If you don't agree to do this, we'll tie you this building and let the Zombies rip you apart slowly. Dimitry: God I love being Neutral. 4th edition is dead, long live 4th edition.Salla: opinionated, but commonly right. fun quotes
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You have to do the work first, and show you can do the work, before someone is going to pay you for it.
If you can't understand how someone yelling at another person would make them fight harder and longer, then you need to look at the forums a bit closer.
quote author=56832398 post=519321747]Considering DnD is a game wouldn't all styles be gamist?
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