3/3/2012 4:14:29 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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I was watching Dark City and it hit me that OB can be used in a similar manner. The players are not told their characters are going to the Forge and have no initial access to the books. They start in another setting and adventure for a level or four and then are taken (it may be a good idea to have an enemy wizard on hand that seems to have teleported them). They are dropped into one of the regions where there isn't anyone to explain what is going on- deep in WW, the plain of Penance, the wilds of Eclipse, etc. And only after several sessions do they start to get some idea of what has happened and how the Forge is very different from their old world. It would be survival horror initially as there are no people to interact with. The PCs have to survive without any assistance at all. Heck, I would include some depopulated villages (or ruins in WW) for them to explore. They could pick up a little info, but nothing that gives away the important stuff. I am not sure if I am willing to give any evolutions as they would have to be without the player's consent. Eventually they enter a town or city and find they can't understand anyone (this isn't Star Trek), but the locals are not unfriendly either. A spellcaster with Tongues helps them learn a lot about the Forge, though some of the information may not be accurate (urban legends, myths, etc.). And then the party can start to look fo a way home or high adventure.
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3/7/2012 5:51:25 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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The oceans are completely seperate from each other, thus allowing them to be very different. One could have sodium cloride as its main salt (like Earth) and the others could have salts of iron and nickle for one and salts of copper for the other. This means creatures can't go between them easily (they are poisoned) and the biospheres of each will be significantly different.
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3/16/2012 5:58:54 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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Creation spells are unusually powerful (the spellcaster can apply 3 free levels of metamagic feats that increase or otherwise affect the amount) on the Forge but they do have one significant limitation- such created material can not be taken away, even to the point of the local ethereal and other coexistant planes.
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4/3/2012 5:04:56 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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Though the Flock can not affect other domains usually, there are some exceptions. Haiel created weed storms. These have red lightning that cause magical plants (Alchemy and Herbalists, Occult Lore) to sprout. People go out in the storms to harvest plants that may be worth 10 years of income. Of course there is the danger of being hit by lightning- those people die as the plants force their way out of the victims' skin.
Any suggestions for other members' creations that have planet wide effects?
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4/27/2012 1:52:49 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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The Forge is all about accelerated evolution, so how much life is there in the Vault? Could there be forests where the trees were saved by druid intervention, filled with weird cold adapted creatures that have survived since the ice age began?
edited by Derek Holland on 11/21/2012
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5/27/2012 3:12:14 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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A new form of transportation has come onto the scene in Eclipse. Dreadnoughts are flying fortresses (using Airships) that can haul 500 tons of cargo. It has a small crew, only 20, because the ships are intelligent and can cast Scorching Ray and its other energy variants- 10 rays per round. Unlike most travelers, the fortress is lit up like a Christmas tree. It draws monsters on purpose- to kill them in great numbers so they will be less of a problem for other merchants and explorers. What makes Dreadnoughts unusually dangerous (to monsters) is their capacity to produce sunlight at will. Vampires (young ones at least) can't attack without being incinerated.
Each costs several million gp so there will not be a lot of them and their prices for transport are quite high, but as almost nothing can destroy one (except the queen and the dragon), they provide almost perfect protection.
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6/2/2012 3:01:27 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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Though it is very dangerous and rare, goddust is one of the few things that is traded to other planes. It is still a mutagen where ever it goes but it does have one advantage- it works in planes where magic does not exist.
You want a Top Secret campaign that moves to the Forge, this is one way of doing it.
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7/28/2012 3:41:28 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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The focus of the lodes (and other supernatural power sources) could have a lot more potential. Instead of affecting one character, it could be tweeked to allow a chain of power. The creature with the shard would use the rules as written (or updated to PF), the first circle would use a weaker form of those rules, the second circle (those who gain their power from one of the first) have even weaker powers, etc.
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9/13/2012 4:18:39 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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The Forge Compass is a rather expensive item that can be created for any visitor to the Forge. It points to the closest item the character needs to create his/her key of binding. Each compass is for a specific individual and thus is useless for everyone else.
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11/21/2012 6:03:30 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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Though gods can not enter the Forge's universe, that does not prevent them sending their unwanted offspring. Abominations (from the ELH) are not common on the Forge, but they are not unknown either. The Forge is considered a dumping ground for some pantheons and abominations and demigods are among the things so dumped.
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3/24/2013 6:42:16 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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Here are some thoughts on hidden functions in magic items (and superscience items for science fantasy):
http://skirmisher.com/node/18116
A magic item in the possession of a PC may be much more than the character assumes.
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11/4/2013 7:43:01 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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Outsiders of many stripes could arrive to interbreed with the inhabitants of the Forge. I was thinking of nightmares initially breeding into the equine (not just horse) population, but there is so many more possibilities. Everything from devas to fire elementals could make the "melting pot" of genes that much more diverse.
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11/10/2013 7:26:35 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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There are several resources that use magic to enhance technology. My favorite is GURPS Technomancer. But I have yet to see anything about technology that enhances magic. I did write an article for d Infinity on artifacts that enhance mutations for Mutant Future and for those who don't know MF mutations are mostly supernatural ala X-men or Gamma World mutants. But that was a 3 page article that has about 2 dozen examples.
On the Forge, I would expect craftsmen to be hired by spellcasters for so much more than construct bodies. Not all spells can be enhanced with mundane objects, but there are plenty that can. Just think about it.
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3/17/2014 6:02:47 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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Homunculi are a creature I think need an upgrade. They could be enchanted as magic items, as a foci for summon monster spells (i.e. they transform into the monster) or there should be spells that allow them to take class features without taking levels. In this case, features from the channeling classes as they tap into the power of the Forge.
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9/23/2014 5:18:19 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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The variety of animals found on the Forge provide a rich resource for a race that I have seen little used outside of Asian settings- hengeyokai. They are animals that can take human form. The only places I have seen them written up are the 1e and 3e version of Oriental Adventures and a 2e Dragon article.
So that means there is plenty of room to design new species, esp for an alien world like the Forge.
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