I have had the idea for a lost city which I intend to introduce to my game. The key parts of this city are:
The city is in a once-populated redion which has been reclaimed by the wilds over around 3000 years.
The city is now home to something which is preventing anyone who ventures there from returning.
The natural approach to this is that there is a horrible beasty in the city which kills anyone who ventures there, but for plot reasons, I would like there to be a chance for them to be recovered. So I am considering imprisonment and petrification.
One idea I had was to have the city be a City of Glass, made of Dragonglass(tm), which is nigh-on indestructible. The idea I had was for a horror-themed monster to be living within the glass, dragging people into another dimension - a maze of glass. I want the monster to exploit the weaknesses of the party - there is 1 cleric, and 3/5 of the party are all about hitting things, so it needs to be more of a labyrinth which they can be drawn into. There they might meet the previous victims of the monster. I am toying with the idea of the monster manifesting as reflections of the characters darkest secrets and insecurities - the characters are very well developed at this point in the campaign, so I can probably work it in well.
My main concern is that I want to have the party stand a chance, but the segment needs to last a while to feel poignant. I am struggling to think of cool reflection/refraction etc. glass themes for the party to have to overcome. I am definitely up for them being drawn into a glass labyrinth, but what then? What traps will they have to overcome? What horrors await them?
It's not a great film by any stretch of the imagination but have you ever seen Thirteen Ghosts (or Thir13en Ghosts as the marketing insists on calling it) from 2001? It's set in a haunted mansion made of glass, with walls that shift and act like traps while the titular ghosts kill a group of unwitting visitors. It's got some great visuals and might help with some inspiration (plus it's got fellow D&D nerd Matthew Lillard who is worth the price of admission by himself)
Film wise you've also got the film MIrrors starring Kiefer Sutherland that might provide some inspiration with reflections trying to kill people in the real world or dragging them into the mirror world.
Magic wise you could have effects that mimic the Mirror of Life Trapping or if you don;t mind taking some inspiration from another genre then you could look at "Flects" from one fo the Warhammer 40k novels. Flects were shards of glass taken from a city that had been lost in a warp storm and were used as drugs.
So for D&D purposes you could have the city infused with rifts or portals to the far realm and the glass has some sort of narcotic effect which (such as hallucinations or soporific effect) stops people leaving the city until they eventually die or accidently wander into a rift to the far realm. You can then throw lots of manical drug crazied "survivors", wierd visions and warped beasts from the Far Realm at the party whilst the BBEG stalks them from the shadows.
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Maybe a combo of two things: A bunch of fractines who trap people to stop them from leaving, and copies of the characters crawling out of the reflections in the mirrors.
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For my Appalachian Horror campaign I'm planning on the party stumbling upon an abandoned church with horribly magnificent stained glass windows. Upon closer inspection they will realize each vibrant fractal piece of glass contains an unthinkable horror. Pains of glass (I tend to take puns way too far). Every red pane is a sea of blood. Every blue shard is an ocean of tears. Maybe this will be helpful for you.
Ray Bradbury wrote a short story in his October Country collection (I think) about a carnival dwarf who would go into the hall of mirrors to see himself stretched tall and thin by one of the mirrors. It was a sort of addiction. When a cruel carnival worker took away his favorite mirror I am pretty sure he murdered him. In Something Wicked This Way Comes Bradbury had another hall of mirrors. This one was described as a sea of glass, each mirror a rippling wave. If you went inside you would be pulled in, as if caught in a riptide, and your identity and memories of yourself would be washed away by the glass waves as they distorted your image. It was also strangely addictive and people felt it calling to them whenever they walked past.
Tasha's Cauldron also has a table of random occurrences that are related to mirrors that could be helpful.
You could have the party come across various mirrors with skeletons/piles of bones in front of them. These are easily spotted from a distance or an oblique angle. Once the PC looks in the mirror, they see a perfect reflection of themselves and a high WIS DC is made. If failed the PC stands mesmerized in front of the mirror unaware that their consciousness has been sucked into the mirror. If any PC saves explain that they have fallen into a deep sleep and the rest of the party needs to rescue them. Eventually, have the sleeping PC wake and fill them in on the Party situation.
The PC(s) can go about whatever business that you think they should but their body stays put and will eventually die of starvation if not rejoined to their consciousness. Any weird stuff that happens after the PC is in the mirror is fair game.
Rejoining their body could be as easy as disbelieving the illusion or as complicated as you like.
Any PC not separated from their consciousness should be able to play along for a while to make it interesting.
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Hi all!
I have had the idea for a lost city which I intend to introduce to my game. The key parts of this city are:
The natural approach to this is that there is a horrible beasty in the city which kills anyone who ventures there, but for plot reasons, I would like there to be a chance for them to be recovered. So I am considering imprisonment and petrification.
One idea I had was to have the city be a City of Glass, made of Dragonglass(tm), which is nigh-on indestructible. The idea I had was for a horror-themed monster to be living within the glass, dragging people into another dimension - a maze of glass. I want the monster to exploit the weaknesses of the party - there is 1 cleric, and 3/5 of the party are all about hitting things, so it needs to be more of a labyrinth which they can be drawn into. There they might meet the previous victims of the monster. I am toying with the idea of the monster manifesting as reflections of the characters darkest secrets and insecurities - the characters are very well developed at this point in the campaign, so I can probably work it in well.
My main concern is that I want to have the party stand a chance, but the segment needs to last a while to feel poignant. I am struggling to think of cool reflection/refraction etc. glass themes for the party to have to overcome. I am definitely up for them being drawn into a glass labyrinth, but what then? What traps will they have to overcome? What horrors await them?
I need ideas!
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It's not a great film by any stretch of the imagination but have you ever seen Thirteen Ghosts (or Thir13en Ghosts as the marketing insists on calling it) from 2001? It's set in a haunted mansion made of glass, with walls that shift and act like traps while the titular ghosts kill a group of unwitting visitors. It's got some great visuals and might help with some inspiration (plus it's got fellow D&D nerd Matthew Lillard who is worth the price of admission by himself)
Film wise you've also got the film MIrrors starring Kiefer Sutherland that might provide some inspiration with reflections trying to kill people in the real world or dragging them into the mirror world.
Magic wise you could have effects that mimic the Mirror of Life Trapping or if you don;t mind taking some inspiration from another genre then you could look at "Flects" from one fo the Warhammer 40k novels. Flects were shards of glass taken from a city that had been lost in a warp storm and were used as drugs.
So for D&D purposes you could have the city infused with rifts or portals to the far realm and the glass has some sort of narcotic effect which (such as hallucinations or soporific effect) stops people leaving the city until they eventually die or accidently wander into a rift to the far realm. You can then throw lots of manical drug crazied "survivors", wierd visions and warped beasts from the Far Realm at the party whilst the BBEG stalks them from the shadows.
Maybe a combo of two things: A bunch of fractines who trap people to stop them from leaving, and copies of the characters crawling out of the reflections in the mirrors.
Pokemon Master, Hero of Hyrule, Jedi Knight, Minecrafter, Celestial Being Beyond Comprehension, Bounty Hunter, Salmon Runner, Nailmaster, Yarn Yoshi Enjoyer, Animal Lover, Math Rock Roller, Nerd King in all Aspects.
(And, of course, Dragon Tamer. It is in the name, after all)
"It's like I said. I'm smarter than you."
For my Appalachian Horror campaign I'm planning on the party stumbling upon an abandoned church with horribly magnificent stained glass windows. Upon closer inspection they will realize each vibrant fractal piece of glass contains an unthinkable horror. Pains of glass (I tend to take puns way too far). Every red pane is a sea of blood. Every blue shard is an ocean of tears. Maybe this will be helpful for you.
Ray Bradbury wrote a short story in his October Country collection (I think) about a carnival dwarf who would go into the hall of mirrors to see himself stretched tall and thin by one of the mirrors. It was a sort of addiction. When a cruel carnival worker took away his favorite mirror I am pretty sure he murdered him. In Something Wicked This Way Comes Bradbury had another hall of mirrors. This one was described as a sea of glass, each mirror a rippling wave. If you went inside you would be pulled in, as if caught in a riptide, and your identity and memories of yourself would be washed away by the glass waves as they distorted your image. It was also strangely addictive and people felt it calling to them whenever they walked past.
Tasha's Cauldron also has a table of random occurrences that are related to mirrors that could be helpful.
You could have the party come across various mirrors with skeletons/piles of bones in front of them. These are easily spotted from a distance or an oblique angle. Once the PC looks in the mirror, they see a perfect reflection of themselves and a high WIS DC is made. If failed the PC stands mesmerized in front of the mirror unaware that their consciousness has been sucked into the mirror. If any PC saves explain that they have fallen into a deep sleep and the rest of the party needs to rescue them. Eventually, have the sleeping PC wake and fill them in on the Party situation.
The PC(s) can go about whatever business that you think they should but their body stays put and will eventually die of starvation if not rejoined to their consciousness. Any weird stuff that happens after the PC is in the mirror is fair game.
Rejoining their body could be as easy as disbelieving the illusion or as complicated as you like.
Any PC not separated from their consciousness should be able to play along for a while to make it interesting.