I'm beginning to write my next setting, as my party is nearing the end of our current one.
I want the setting to be reliant on a particular concept: magic in the world is fleeting because primordial creatures that pour raw magical energy into it are aging, dying, or being killed. The creatures are all but dormant, not even showing outward signs of life, but clearly possessing vital signs.
Problem is, I don't know what I want these creatures to actually be. Obviously, when I think of "ancient primordial creature that represents the building blocks of reality" my mind goes "dragons."
But dragons have been done to death, and these only really need to be representative of magic, not of the foundations of the earth. I don't know a ton of legendary monsters, so I'm turning to my fellow DMs for assistance. Tempests? Dragons? Something else that I'm having a mental block on? Any ideas are welcome!
One possibility is to lean into elemental creatures that dwell in a lair or fortress where they are bieng protected. For example: a Phoenix for fire, a Leviathan for water, a Zaratan for earth, and an Androsphinx for air.
Another idea, if you want to form a plot twist, is have magic be secretly drained from an Elder Brain that is imprisoned in a tower. The public believe it is the tower that is the source of magic, and the tower is showing signs of weakening. The party have been recruited to help find the materials to patch the tower, and along the way the party discover a platoon of mind flayers who are trying to bring down the tower. The reveal later is that the tower is just the prison of the Elder brain the mind flayers are trying to rescue.
Another way to go is constructs that were gifts from the gods that provide magic to the mortals. These could be things like Golems, or a Marut. but they are showing signs of decay or rust, and the leaders of your world are worried as to what this means.
Does it have to be a specific type of creature? There's a lot to be said for making each one unique.
When I read your post, my mind went straight to the video game Shadow of the Colossus. (In which the player is hunting down and killing huge, ancient beasts at the behest of a probably-not-nice power in order to restore life to the person they love. I never finished the game, so I don't know that it goes badly, but it totally goes badly.)
I think the construct idea is super cool, but the gods are actually the ones slaying the arcane beasts in order to consolidate their power and be the sole source of magic in the world, effectively causing their clerics to become unstoppable arcane tyrants.
The other parts are super worth considering though! Thanks!
No reason for them not to be unique creatures. The party is (hopefully) going to be primarily concerned with saving as many of these creatures as possible, and having each one be a different creature could lead to interesting subliminal messaging.
No reason for them not to be unique creatures. The party is (hopefully) going to be primarily concerned with saving as many of these creatures as possible, and having each one be a different creature could lead to interesting subliminal messaging.
This seems the most interesting choice to me. It also opens up allowing these creatures to be all different sizes and shapes, maybe a dragon or two, maybe a sparrow, a ghost. They can hide in plain sight. Part of the quest can be the players trying to figure out what they’re looking for. They know there’s one of them in this swamp, but is it a banshee or a frog or a treant or shambling mound?
Maybe give them a homebrew item that helps them detect the creatures, but it only has like 1 charge/long rest, so they can’t just go around using it on everything they see.
My mind also went straight to Shadow of the Colossus. Really great game. I was going to suggest you could home brew creatures that do what you need them to do. The DMG has a section on balancing average damage and HP with CR. Admittedly CR is ... not perfect but is at least a starting place for determining difficulty. I'm not sure if you intend the PCs to fight these things or ally with them. Also since it sounds like they center around arcane magic perhaps each creature is tied to or represents a school of magic and awakening/releasing the appropriate creature permits that school to thrive/exist in you world. This will make for an interesting choice when the PCs encounter the school of necromancy creature, ... release it or maybe keep that one buried. :)
The schools of magic is a great idea! That gives you a whole campaign worth of quests. And each one is unique.
My first thought was Princess Mononoke for some reason. That might inspire some ideas. I like the concept of them being different creatures.
If they are so dormant, some might not even look like a creature anymore. One could appear to be a mountain, so large it has all kinds of life growing on it now, even settlements of people. They might have an old legend of how the mountain used to walk, but settled down there one day and went to sleep. Another could look like an archaic magic machine the size of a room, with rusted parts and stones etched with faded magical lines. Another could be housed in an ancient broach. A trinket worn by one of the characters the whole time as an old family heirloom with a mysterious past.
The schools of magic is a great idea! That gives you a whole campaign worth of quests. And each one is unique.
My first thought was Princess Mononoke for some reason. That might inspire some ideas. I like the concept of them being different creatures.
If they are so dormant, some might not even look like a creature anymore. One could appear to be a mountain, so large it has all kinds of life growing on it now, even settlements of people. They might have an old legend of how the mountain used to walk, but settled down there one day and went to sleep. Another could look like an archaic magic machine the size of a room, with rusted parts and stones etched with faded magical lines. Another could be housed in an ancient broach. A trinket worn by one of the characters the whole time as an old family heirloom with a mysterious past.
You're right. The Miyazaki aesthetic would work well here. For the old and overgrown feel, take a look at Laputa/Castle in the Sky. For more post-apocalyptic, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. I'm currently thinking of the old classic of a ginormous sea turtle that nobody realizes isn't an island.
Edit: Mood-wise, I'm also thinking The Last Unicorn
I want the setting to be reliant on a particular concept: magic in the world is fleeting because primordial creatures that pour raw magical energy into it are aging, dying, or being killed. The creatures are all but dormant, not even showing outward signs of life, but clearly possessing vital signs.
This reminds me a lot of Final Fantasy 1. It's a great plot, and I think it would work well here, but in a more sandbox style than the video game. One fun thing about FF1 is that the first boss ends up also being the end boss who is controlling the whole thing. I loved that!
Hey all,
I'm beginning to write my next setting, as my party is nearing the end of our current one.
I want the setting to be reliant on a particular concept: magic in the world is fleeting because primordial creatures that pour raw magical energy into it are aging, dying, or being killed. The creatures are all but dormant, not even showing outward signs of life, but clearly possessing vital signs.
Problem is, I don't know what I want these creatures to actually be. Obviously, when I think of "ancient primordial creature that represents the building blocks of reality" my mind goes "dragons."
But dragons have been done to death, and these only really need to be representative of magic, not of the foundations of the earth. I don't know a ton of legendary monsters, so I'm turning to my fellow DMs for assistance. Tempests? Dragons? Something else that I'm having a mental block on? Any ideas are welcome!
One possibility is to lean into elemental creatures that dwell in a lair or fortress where they are bieng protected. For example: a Phoenix for fire, a Leviathan for water, a Zaratan for earth, and an Androsphinx for air.
Another idea, if you want to form a plot twist, is have magic be secretly drained from an Elder Brain that is imprisoned in a tower. The public believe it is the tower that is the source of magic, and the tower is showing signs of weakening. The party have been recruited to help find the materials to patch the tower, and along the way the party discover a platoon of mind flayers who are trying to bring down the tower. The reveal later is that the tower is just the prison of the Elder brain the mind flayers are trying to rescue.
Another way to go is constructs that were gifts from the gods that provide magic to the mortals. These could be things like Golems, or a Marut. but they are showing signs of decay or rust, and the leaders of your world are worried as to what this means.
Does it have to be a specific type of creature? There's a lot to be said for making each one unique.
When I read your post, my mind went straight to the video game Shadow of the Colossus. (In which the player is hunting down and killing huge, ancient beasts at the behest of a probably-not-nice power in order to restore life to the person they love. I never finished the game, so I don't know that it goes badly, but it totally goes badly.)
I think the construct idea is super cool, but the gods are actually the ones slaying the arcane beasts in order to consolidate their power and be the sole source of magic in the world, effectively causing their clerics to become unstoppable arcane tyrants.
The other parts are super worth considering though! Thanks!
No reason for them not to be unique creatures. The party is (hopefully) going to be primarily concerned with saving as many of these creatures as possible, and having each one be a different creature could lead to interesting subliminal messaging.
This seems the most interesting choice to me. It also opens up allowing these creatures to be all different sizes and shapes, maybe a dragon or two, maybe a sparrow, a ghost. They can hide in plain sight. Part of the quest can be the players trying to figure out what they’re looking for. They know there’s one of them in this swamp, but is it a banshee or a frog or a treant or shambling mound?
Maybe give them a homebrew item that helps them detect the creatures, but it only has like 1 charge/long rest, so they can’t just go around using it on everything they see.
My mind also went straight to Shadow of the Colossus. Really great game. I was going to suggest you could home brew creatures that do what you need them to do. The DMG has a section on balancing average damage and HP with CR. Admittedly CR is ... not perfect but is at least a starting place for determining difficulty. I'm not sure if you intend the PCs to fight these things or ally with them. Also since it sounds like they center around arcane magic perhaps each creature is tied to or represents a school of magic and awakening/releasing the appropriate creature permits that school to thrive/exist in you world. This will make for an interesting choice when the PCs encounter the school of necromancy creature, ... release it or maybe keep that one buried. :)
Happy Gaming
The schools of magic is a great idea! That gives you a whole campaign worth of quests. And each one is unique.
My first thought was Princess Mononoke for some reason. That might inspire some ideas. I like the concept of them being different creatures.
If they are so dormant, some might not even look like a creature anymore. One could appear to be a mountain, so large it has all kinds of life growing on it now, even settlements of people. They might have an old legend of how the mountain used to walk, but settled down there one day and went to sleep. Another could look like an archaic magic machine the size of a room, with rusted parts and stones etched with faded magical lines. Another could be housed in an ancient broach. A trinket worn by one of the characters the whole time as an old family heirloom with a mysterious past.
You're right. The Miyazaki aesthetic would work well here. For the old and overgrown feel, take a look at Laputa/Castle in the Sky. For more post-apocalyptic, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. I'm currently thinking of the old classic of a ginormous sea turtle that nobody realizes isn't an island.
Edit: Mood-wise, I'm also thinking The Last Unicorn
This reminds me a lot of Final Fantasy 1. It's a great plot, and I think it would work well here, but in a more sandbox style than the video game. One fun thing about FF1 is that the first boss ends up also being the end boss who is controlling the whole thing. I loved that!
There are a few options that fit the bill across dnd content. They all aim to evoke the idea of ancient power and wisdom.
Feel free to mash them up to make big crystalline elementals or Giants made of the elements.
You could also probably use any gargantuan monstrosity.
The other option is a plant monster. A large ancient tree certainly give the primordial power vibe.
I second the choice of Elder Elementals. They're straight up exactly what OP is describing
I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?