|
12 months ago ::
Jun 07, 2012 - 6:08AM
#1
|
Date Joined:
May 15, 2012
|
Hello, in one of my sessions that I will be running, I need to have a portal. The thing is, I can't think of an interesting way for my players to activate the portal. I was thinking of a simple Arcana check, but that seems boring and I want a way for them to activate it without saying a magic word or something like that. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.
|
|
|
|
12 months ago ::
Jun 07, 2012 - 6:15AM
#2
|
Date Joined:
Sep 20, 2010
|
The portal is actually a large basin in the middle of the room, smooth to the touch although intricately etched with arcane runes. To activate the portal, the basin must be filled with water, so if there's no water in the room or the players didn't bring any, they'll have to go get it.
In addition to water, they must also include a single drop of fresh blood, meaning that one player must sacrifice a healing surge, along with whatever skill check or challenge you require, to activate it.
I like using water because it's in many ways the most mundane thing in the world, except it is the most necessary ingredient for all life, so in that way it's the most magical thing in the world.
Sleeping with interns on Colonial 1
|
|
|
|
12 months ago ::
Jun 07, 2012 - 7:59AM
#3
|
Date Joined:
May 15, 2012
|
It's an all-right idea but I don't think it really fits the session, because the portal is taking the players to a hell-like landscape and I don't think H2O really fits in with the idea of hell. I like the idea of blood.
|
|
|
|
12 months ago ::
Jun 07, 2012 - 8:31AM
#4
|
|
|
They must offer the portal and/or its fiendish guardian any of the following:
- A terrible secret
- A promise of future service to the Lords of the Nine
- A single eyelash or fingernail
(Let them squirm about that last one for a while. It seems innocuous enough, but not when you consider who's asking for it.)
|
|
|
|
12 months ago ::
Jun 07, 2012 - 8:45AM
#5
|
Date Joined:
Sep 20, 2010
|
It's an all-right idea but I don't think it really fits the session, because the portal is taking the players to a hell-like landscape and I don't think H2O really fits in with the idea of hell. I like the idea of blood.
Ironically, the reason I like water for rituals is because of the influence of Carlos Castaneda's series of books, "The Teachings of Don Juan." According to don Juan, water is exactly how you would get to Hell. The sorcerers of don Juan's lineage used water for everything - traveling to other dimensions, summoning spirit allies, and traveling long distances in an instant. They used water and mirrors, and the imagery that he uses in the books when he undergoes the rituals is pretty profound.
But I digress. I wouldn't expect most people to make the connection anyway. I just thought the irony was worth pointing out.
I like iserith's ideas. A portal is an excellent opportunity to ask the PCs to make a sacrifice or strike a bargain, which opens up a lot of possibilities to play head games with them.
Sleeping with interns on Colonial 1
|
|
|
|
12 months ago ::
Jun 07, 2012 - 10:05AM
#6
|
Date Joined:
Jul 21, 2004
|
They must offer the portal and/or its fiendish guardian any of the following:
- A terrible secret
- A promise of future service to the Lords of the Nine
- A single eyelash or fingernail
(Let them squirm about that last one for a while. It seems innocuous enough, but not when you consider who's asking for it.)
In the Penny Arcade Live D&D Game at PAX 2 years ago, there was a portal that required you to speak a secret that then became known to the owner of the portal. It was a very, very funny scene, but also very moving.
[N]o difference is less easily overcome than the difference of opinion about semi-abstract questions. - L. Tolstoy
|
|
|
|
12 months ago ::
Jun 08, 2012 - 12:24PM
#7
|
Date Joined:
Jan 19, 2012
|
It's an all-right idea but I don't think it really fits the session, because the portal is taking the players to a hell-like landscape and I don't think H2O really fits in with the idea of hell. I like the idea of blood.
Actually water is a perfect medium for traveling to a hell dimension. I think you are hung up on the catolic/christian view of hell being a place of fire and therefore water would cancel out fire. When I imagine a hell dimension I think chaos, not fire. Somewhere that the rules of our world no longer apply, where physics has no meaning, where time and distances are irrelavent. Water is a perfect symbol of chaos. In physic it has it's own way of working that is different that everything else, it is constantly flowing, moving, can act like a solid and liquid at the same time. I've read stories where it seems water has been a living, thinking entity out to destroy all it can. Mariners to this day treat water and the ocean as a living entiy that can fly into a rage at anytime. If that doesn't say chaos to you, I don't know what else would.
If you're going to demand blood though, I would say more than a drop. It's a chaos/hell dimension. To get in would demand a heavy price, one that would weaken the character. I would state that anyone passing through the portal must make a blood sacrific of their own equal to 5% of their max health. Passing through the portal would then cause a 1 point temp con damage which would return after a full 8 hours of rest (something you're not going to get in a hell dimension).
|
|
|
|
12 months ago ::
Jun 09, 2012 - 7:55AM
#8
|
Date Joined:
Mar 10, 2011
|
The Welsh horror film The Dark (2005) used water as a sort of gateway or portal to an eerie, shadowy, Hellish netherworld (Annwyn) inspired by Welsh faerie folklore. The film was rather underrated, but I thought it (and its portrayal of the sinister spirit world) was quite effective. Using the portal in that film required a sacrifice, too, now that I think of it....
New DM Tips
Show
- Trying to solve out-of-game problems (like cheating, bad attitudes, or poor sportsmanship) with in-game solutions will almost always result in failure, and will probably make matters worse.
- Gun Safety Rule #5: Never point the gun at anything you don't intend to destroy. (Never introduce a character, PC, NPC, Villain, or fate of the world into even the possibility of a deadly combat or other dangerous situation, unless you are prepared to destroy it instantly and completely forever.)
- Know your group's character sheets, and check them over carefully. You don't want surprises, but, more importantly, they are a gold mine of ideas!
- "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." It's a problem if the players aren't having fun and it interferes with a DM's ability to run the game effectively; if it's not a problem, 'fixing' at best does little to help, and at worst causes problems that didn't exist before.
- "Hulk Smash" characters are a bad match for open-ended exploration in crowds of civilians; get them out of civilization where they can break things and kill monsters in peace.
- Success is not necessarily the same thing as killing an opponent. Failure is not necessarily the same thing as dying.
- Failure is always an option. And it's a fine option, too, as long as failure is interesting, entertaining, and fun!
"Broken or not, unbalanced or not, if something seems to be preventing the game from being enjoyable, something has to give: either that thing, or other aspects of the game, or your idea of what's enjoyable." - Centauri
|
|
|
