[3.X] Tomb of the Doomed One: A Sidequest

Tomb of the Doomed One

Regdar leans against the stone wall, sliding down it until he sits in defeat against the masonry. "How much farther does this lich's dungeon run? Ye told me the Doomed One's tomb was a small one. I swear, if I have ta fight one more dire rat..."

"Quiet Regdar," hushed the tall elf, his bald head slicked from humidity of the corridors, "...I already told you that we have not reached his tomb yet, this is merely the remains of his city we traverse. The entrance to his tomb should be just around this..." Glaur mumbles off just as his head peeks around the corner.

"Blast yer premonitions Glaur, did ye see another lass pine fer her true love?" Propping himself up by his axe, Regdar stands and strides to face the stammer's cause. It seemed a courtyard, with a small monument in the center of the entrance to the Doomed One's tomb, the slick moss draped over the ruined city. It was dry however, at the border to the tomb's entrance itself, cobwebs drooped across. The skeleton of a glabrezu lay just within the confines of the tomb's entrance, it's pincers outstretched before it, and heavy grooves line themselves out and into the courtyard; as if the tanar'ri were dragged back in.

Physical Description: The Tomb of the Doomed One is to be the final portion of an otherwise fully active dungeon of the DM's choice, with the expected dangers already overcome by the party. By all appearances, this is your typical dungeon tomb, full of traps and immortal guardians waiting to destroy any who dare to violate its sanctity. However, the dungeon itself is in ruins. Traps lay in open disrepair, inspection revealing that many of the components rotted from the inside. Golems, fiends, and normally eternal creatures who seek not food nor sleep are all destroyed. Their remains in positions of defeat, as if they had begun to wither from the inside and could do nothing to fight.

Catalyst/History: Long ago, there was your typical master of the arcane who took over his city with an iron fist. Seeking immortality, he turned to the powers of lichdom, and as time passed, he spent less time ruling in person, leaving the duty to his minions. For sanctuary, he built a tomb in the center of the city, his studies conducted within the bottom of the dungeon. It was built as a maze to confuse any intruders that attempted to disturb him, and many a trap was built to further eliminate adventurers. As time went on, his city fell into ruin, but the lich had long since given up the desire to rule and only sought to study and stop intruders. His dungeon became more dangerous, and famous for its supposed treasure within.

Untold numbers of adventuring parties have attempted to storm the dungeon and obtain the treasures within. But time after time, yet another team of intrepid adventurers went into the dungeon only to meet their end. The dungeon had become infamous for its dangers, and the rumours of its treasure only inflated with it. Thus, the deaths continued in their horrible fashions. However, all things must end, and the toll of deaths grew too great for adventurers to risk venturing forth.

Something happened since that time though. The souls of the adventurers lost within the dungeon are countless, and their pain great. Eventually, the collective wrath of the parties lost got too great for even the lich to contain. Limitless, formless wrath rose up and took its vengeance upon both trap and guardian. Nothing survived, and even the lich was sundered. However, their lost lives remain unfinished, and remnants of the horrors seen within the dungeon remain. Some of the spirits are still trapped, reliving their last moments while the ruined traps retain a palpable horror to them.

Alignment: Neutral Evil is the dominant alignment. Unfettered wrath and angst from the lingering spirits that died within, combined with the feelings of loss and hopelessness make the dungeon feel like one has entered a microcosm of the Gray Waste of Hades. In fact, the crushing despair and agony from the spirits of the slain adventurers continue to weigh heavily on the psyches of any who enter, as listed below for long-term effects.


Rumours: Gather Information (DC 25) will reveal the historical elements of the tomb (Bardic Lore DC 20), as far as why the tomb was constructed and its bloody history. The fact it's now dead and haunted is not a fact known to anyone by this point. Information of historical value can be gleaned through the writings found in various situations (particular binding circles, bloodied transcriptions of someone's last words, etc), but the age of the place as well as deterioration will require a Decipher Script (DC 25) or so to understand.

Encounters: Many of the encounters of this dungeon are more flavour descriptions, as is shown by a few examples below. The order they are encountered in is up to you, as the actual layout of the dungeon is fairly freeform. In order to prevent the dungeon from being too much of a good thing, as it were, it is suggested that you try not to have too many more encounters such as these.

• A room with a handful of stone golems, either broken in half or significant portions fallen off. Attempts to examine the remnants show that they are mere sandstone, crumbling in the adventurer's hands like sand.
• A plain hallway with a pit in the center, the trap door swinging loosely open. Those that look for the first time at the bottom the pit trap will see a still living person impaled upon a barbed spike, blood flowing and arm reaching for the person who looks. Any who attempt to climb down and get a closer look will find the vision changing, and see that it is actually an old skeleton with a locket wrapped around its hand (its image aged into obscurity)
• Coming upon a closed iron door, a careful rogue will find a swinging scythe trap. But whether he attempts to disarm it or the party trips it, the result is the same. The scythe will come out of its slot, and fall to the ground, the metal rusted from the inside.
• Screams bellow from the room ahead, those that look see a vampire holding a battered human mage that only screams. The vampire leans against the wall, releasing a green cloud that causes the human's face to break into boils, eventually the screaming stops due to swelling in the throat. If the party tries to open the door fully to stop the vampire, the scene will change, and the vampire will be alone and leaning against the wall, face withered and eyes glazed over with lifelessness.
• Several of the spikes on the broken traps still have their poison on them. The centuries of neglect have caused them to fester and mutate, becoming small spore colonies of several types of disease, Slimy Doom being the most dangerous among them. Feel free to include a lone colony of yellow mold in one of the broken pits or in the corner of a room where a fungoid monster used to be.

In order to spice up the dungeon, more active remnants of the horrors from before remain...

• Before the encounter, have the party make a Will save such that only one is likely to succeed at. Entering an otherwise empty room, a creature of a CR roughly 7 higher than the party's average level enters through a secret door. The creature, immune to fire, will set off a trap that fills the room with flames that damage the party for about 2d6 per round, on top of the attacks the creature will levy forth upon the party until all have fallen (along with much boasting of its supremacy). The party will then awaken, realizing the encounter to be only a quasi-real illusion that deals subdual damage. If one of the party members either makes the save or was is immune to illusions, then they get to watch the party scream at nothing and fall unconscious.

• A slightly more vibrant room, there will be a tough monster remaining, attacking the party (roughly CR = party level + 3 or 4). However, 2 rounds into the fight, the damage will be revealed as fake (not even subdual damage) and the monster will get attacked by the collective spirit of dead adventurers from prior forays. Blue soul-stuff seeps from the masonry cracks, surrounding the creature and pulling it against the wall. Faces of wrath can be seen in the ephemeral smoke while they howl, causing the creature's ears to bleed while it's vital force is seen drained away until it lies motionless. The room's colors will fade to the usual color, and the drained creature will remain, almost totally untouched from the moment it was destroyed in the vision.

Treasure: The actual treasure of the dungeon is the lich's stash, famed and coveted by all of the adventurers that dared to enter and failed horrifically. It has, of course, been exaggerated in value, but remains of some significance to the party. Once to the bottom of the dungeon tomb, they will find a lich seated in a formerly lavish chair before its desk, its face one of horror and the body 'lifeless'. If they disturb the lich at all, soul-stuff (see last example encounter above) will rise from the body of the lich as if smoking. Its body will jerk artificially to face the party, and speak a cryptic riddle, sounding like a chorus of thousands speaking in unison.

You can use whatever is appropriate here, but it is suggested for the room to have astrological diagrams covering the walls and the riddle be "Born with the world, destined to live as long as the world, and yet never five weeks old.". The mechanism to uncover the treasure will be where the moon should be, as it is intentionally removed from the diagram. Thus, you need to figure out both the riddle and make a Knowledge (astronomy) check (DC 15). As most will not have ranks in astronomy, Knowledge (the planes) can be substituted at a +5 to the DC.

The actual treasure itself should be a variety of nonmagical, yet lavish, scepters, jewels, and velvet bags with diamond dust. All of these items are components for the various spells of the lich (jade circlet, etc), and are worth in total equal to the average treasure award for an encounter roughly 4 higher than the average party level. For example, a level 6 party will find 7,500gp worth of treasure.

The lich's tomes and spellbooks have been destroyed with him, due to age. However, a couple golden medallions are inscribed with highly complex geometries and symbols, containing encoded spell script. Learning spells from here are as from a normal spellbook, only the DC is +10 due to complexity.

Long Term Effects: This is a quality few adventuring parties will experience, but if they attempt to stay too long within it, they might succumb to the mental horror of the dungeon tomb. In a manner similar to the Gray Waste of Hades, every day spent within the dungeon requires a Will save (DC 10+total number of days in tomb). Failure will result in the player's mind being crushed beneath the weight of horror, pain, agony. His eyes will become dead, his mannerisms will be paranoid (as if the tomb was still active), and attempts to leave the dungeon tomb will cause blue soul-stuff to rise from the cracks and consume the character.

Melinya Culture Focus: Axphain

Lay of the Land 

Aside from its signature Three Mountains of Ten Thousand Pillars, Axphain is dominated by innumerable wetlands. Mangrove forests, fens, mires, bogs, seasonal marshes, and more are scattered about and the local dialect has a disturbing number of different words for ‘mud’. Rivers both fresh and salt water twine through much of it, the tree cover making Axphain perilously easy to get lost in. The wildlife is incredibly diverse and none have fully catalogued what creatures can be found, the most well-known being stilt-beasts, crocodiles, & muck hounds.

Major Cities
The second most populous nation, with eight million citizens, there is a serious problem of overpopulation. The wetlands are very sparsely populated, predominantly family units eking out a subsistence living with the occasional wealthy manor estates. Much of the rest of the population stays in the sprawling, crowded, mountain cities. By far the largest congestion is in Kaivitu, home for the Empty University, the premiere institution for higher learning in the known world. There are two other auspicious academies elsewhere in the nation, the University of Desolation in Marakku, and the Seventh Academy of Nugae. Each of the cities are multi-story, congested, and beyond the walls of the institutions of higher learning, incredibly poor.

Economics 
The rural estates form a large backbone of the nation’s industry, harvesting medicinal plants & insects for refinement in the cities. Renowned hospitals and doctors scattered in the urban centers foster a vibrant source of income from wealthy foreigners seeking treatment, and the academic elite forged here is the forefront of culture and art throughout the known world.
The latter two have created an economic disparity that is truly stark. Of the lower class able to find work, it’s predominantly dirty and menial labour both harvesting and refining medicines, along with associated goods subject to a detailed division of labour. The academic elite (including medical doctors) live a privileged life sheltered from their economic lessers.

Law & Order
Guilds form the backbone of order for those traveling, regulations are strongly focused on protecting economic assets and fines being the preferred form of punishment. Prisons are discouraged, but those working off their fines in the rural estates will laugh at those who say this.
While many of the titles are derived from the Chelmite orders, students (even alumni) and faculty are not religiously backed. They do enjoy effectively diplomatic immunity, any crimes are resolved through their University’s internal chairs.

Government 
A dual-Parliament; the Council Elect, comprised solely of tenured professors from the Academy, and the elected of the Council Vulgar, whose members are publicly elected.

Melinya

I've been away from my blog, but I've got material I want to work on. Six nations, their cultures, and their nature.

Magic

Essentially none. There are priests, but no clerics. There are academics, but no wizards. Superstition is treated literally, as tall tales in an attempt to explain the unexplained. This isn't to say there aren't fantastical elements - there are the Alahbmahn iccu, giant centipedes that feed off minerals and heavy metals, and a strain of nonhuman heritage flows throughout the people of the six nations. Modernization has begun to rise, with the invention of gunpowder to the mad science of Axphain's medicine.

Race(s)

There are two. Humans and Half-elves. Those with elf heritage do so only through descent from a historical figure known as the All-Father. To be half-elf is to be descended from this figure; though the term is a misnomer, as one is considered a half-elf if you claim as little as 1/16th the blood of the All-Father. Culturally, being a true half or even quarter elf is to be considered "noble"; and the concentration of this heritage is plain to onlookers, from the greatly extended lifespan to lesser talents possessed by their legendary ancestor.

The All-Father

Well over two millennium ago, a mysterious figure known only as the All-Father came and conquered all of Melinya to rule as Emperor. This was the only elf the world had ever seen, and his rule was absolute. Primae Noctis was enforced throughout the great kingdoms of the Empire, thus ensuring his bloodline was spread throughout all of the royal lines throughout Melinya.

Birth of the Nine Ways

Three centuries ago, civil war broke out, and saw the death of the All-Father. As the dust settled, the people of Melinya branched off and founded their own nations in the remnants of the once-unified empire. Naturally, this was not to remain stable, as the names and borders of the original nine nations have shifted. Three of them, in fact, have fallen and their people and territory were claimed by the victors.

Melinya Culture Focus: Zuvendis

Lay of the Land
Deserts cover the majority of the nation, interspersed with fields of irrigated crops and strip mines. Empty riverbeds are scattered about, filled with silt and dangerous predators waiting in near hibernation for passing prey.

The Spectrum River and its tributaries, changing colors with the seasons, separates the deserts from the Aikoh rainforest. Hollow shoots grow from the broad branches of titanic trees, forming a nearly impenetrable canopy and thick forest.

Major Cities
Industrial capacity is ever running, and many of the larger cities are built around strip mines with the rail transport between them and the Great Road.

Much of the industry’s more advanced technology (especially cannons & firearms) is restricted from exportation, as Zuvendis is a young nation rebuilding after the unification of the three kingdoms; the Zuvendis desert nomads, the Spectrum river folk, and the Aikoh forest tribes. The numerous river tribes have integrated seamlessly with the much more populous Zuvendis, and are usually only publicly discernible by their accents. There remains social unrest with integration of those from Aikoh, stereotyped as grifters and sexual predators, and their numerological traditions are routinely vilified.

Many of Aikoh have moved to Paper Street, backed by Ipos Investments, which produces the most famous theatrical productions and dance troupes in the known world.


Economics
An industrial giant, whose steel and glass produces the Crystal Spire and the recent unification of the territory has permitted for the beginning of the Great Rail. Firearm and paper advancements are at the forefront in Zuvendis as well. All of this is directed by the national banks, directing the capital necessary to fuel the ventures in its most efficient form, and in fact currency is backed by the capital directed with the complicated banks and bureaucracy.

The majority of citizens work for one of the construction companies, where upward mobility is high in the face of ravenous need for industrial capacity, a number of whom are granted grants to earn technical educations from Rotak. Working alongside, though viewed with distrust despite their economic advantages, are the entertainers and dancers; many of which are of the people of Aikoh.


Law & Order
Complex at best, Kafka-esque at worst, the legal system is one of rigid codes created by the Theorem Politic. Law enforcement requires a trained computer to entirely rebuild the law book to determine what they can even do, let alone what laws they enforce.


Government
A technocracy, public office requires a formal education which has resulted in very positive foreign relations with Axphain and Rotak. Officially, there is no such thing as voting for people in public office, but instead a series of political surveys taken by the Statistical Census, the collation of such data is used to calculate which eligible citizen will be enlisted into public office.

The closest thing to a supreme ruling body is the Formulae Commission, where policy decisions are designed and incorporated into the Theorem Politic, the execution of which to determine actual political decisions is performed by the members of the Computer Commission.

[3.X] An Argument Against 5th Level Commoners

Fully fleshed NPC classes, such as the aristocrat or commoner, are a bad idea. This is obviously within the context of D&D 3.X, but the argument can feasibly be applicable to any level-based RPG.

By the nature of the beast, a level 3 Expert is better than a level 1 Fighter; more and better skills, higher base attack bonus, better saving throws, better gear, etc.

Games such as D&D posit that PCs are individuals who matter at the beginning of their career (level 1), and this is something that even ‘gritty’ settings do in practice if you look at the adventures described. This is something inherent in the genre.

This facet will be countered if you do not simultaneously posit that third level Experts are uncommon; and tenth level Commoners absolutely must be highly rare. If your typical man on the street is a plurality of levels higher than you, even with a sub-optimal class like the Expert, then your PC begins play as their cohort or squire. When orcs invade the town, you do not send out the PCs, you send out Billy the Roof Thatcher. The party of combines their martial training, bardic music, and mystic knowledge to augment the raw power of Dread Thatcher Billy.

Sure, your PCs will eventually be better than the majority of NPCs, at like level 6 or something. I strongly doubt your players are interested in roleplaying the years of apprenticeship and character building to be better than the guy who flips the switch for the Bat Signal (only it’s a guy with a trowel instead of Batman).

Now, rallying the peasants into a force that can fight back Team Evil is certainly cool, but that’s a completely different message from “Billy’s wife, Mary, can beat up your entire party with a wooden foot.”

What this means is that NPC classes need to exist on fewer levels. There is no reason for there to even be such a thing as a 10th level warriors or 6th level commoners. Simultaneously, NPC demographics need to be weighted strongly for the bottom levels.

In a personal plug for my own 3.X games, I have dumped the Warrior and Adept NPC classes as written for homebrew versions that are only five levels long and are implicitly faster to design than a PC class. The Commoner class doesn’t exist, and PC-races without class (hah!) get by with a single racial hit die and a simple list of ‘templates’ based on their livelihood. I will admit, due to time and such, I have not made a final decision on how to handle the replacement of Experts and Aristocrats.

[3.X] How Not to Be Seen

This is a set of house-rules for stealth, which has traditionally been poorly written in d20 systems. Originally, this was designed for use in my Arcana Evolved campaign, but it remains applicable in regular 3.5, Pathfinder, etc. Please understand that I am not necessarily saying your game has bad stealth rules, but the official rules in your book are bad; which is a distinct difference not many notice, which itself is amusing in this context. The rules as written are bad, but it's essentially a guarantee that your campaign does not use them strictly as they are written, and in many cases you might not even realize house rules are in effect. This set up is technically the same process, but I feel having the caulking be clearly visible so consistency is better maintained.


Skill Changes

Hide & Move Silently are merged into one skill, Stealth. Spot & Listen are merged into one skill, Notice (Perception for Pathfinder). Modifiers originally tied to just Spot or Listen apply to Notice, using the greater of the two, so long as the sense can be used; so Spot bonuses do not apply against invisible targets, thunderstones negate Listen bonuses, etc.


Dice Resolution for Observer and Stealther

Stealth is rolled once for the entire scene. Taking a standard action gives the full result plus modifiers for one round. A move action gives the same result with a -5 penalty for the round. With just a free action, this penalty increases to -10. After a character is spotted from stealth, they are permitted a single reroll to their Stealth for the scene. 

Observers are presumed to be constantly taking a free action to "Take 0" on Notice, which gives a Notice result equal to their bonus. When they Observe, a move action, they get to roll normally for that round. An observer will only roll once for the entire scene, using the same result for all further Observe actions. They are permitted a single reroll to their Notice for the scene after they fail to beat the Stealth by 5 or less.

Compare results to the point-of-view of any potential observer. Stealth is impossible against someone directly observing you until line of sight is broken (or the Bluff check for a distraction to dive for cover). Changes to the DC based on the circumstances apply instantly, and can make a stealthy subject change to noticed by the observer. 


Effects of Stealth

Until the subject is noticed, the observer is unaware and flat-footed to the subject. If conditions change to make the observer aware, they remain flat-footed until the end of the action. Multiple attacks from a full-attack action do not all get the bonus (just the first); though if it's the start of combat for the observer, they remain flat-footed until their action as normal.


Modifiers

Notice Modifier	Observer Status
-1 per 10'	Distance*
-10/1ft thickness	Wall
-5	Closed door
-5	Distracted, full conversation or using standard action
-5	Intense sensory input (spotlight in face)
-10	In combat, Asleep
-20	Pinpoint subject with total concealment
+10	Observe, subject without cover or concealment
+4	Observe, knows who to look for
-3	Observe as swift action

*Distance Modifier	Environment for Subject
x1/3	Daylight
x1/2	Bright Light
x2	Darkness
x1/2	Outdoor Terrain
x1/2	Flat/Exposed Terrain

Stealth Modifier	Subject Status
-5	Moving greater than half speed
-20	Attacking, running, charging
-30	Attacking observer
+20	Total concealment
-20	Carries light source, auto pinpoint
+/-2	Favorable/unfavorable conditions

If a subject has total concealment, such as invisibility or no line of sight with the observer, then an observer can only roughly know their direction; pinpointing will give the precise square. If the subject is completely immobile, including no breathing, then the bonus from total concealment increases by +20 and the observer requires an observe action along with a 10 point penalty to their own stealth attempts. 

Use common sense applications toward sensory bonuses, such as bonuses to Spot not applying while asleep. 


Beyond Sight & Sound

Ripping off Pathfinder, Notice can be used for senses beyond Spot/Listen. However, the standards use a human baseline, which is rather abysmal and therefore doesn't require the level of detail the others do. If a sense is acute enough to be a special ability, like a bat's blindsense or a beast's scent; then they can use it as a normal sense (out to the range limit) with a +8 bonus. 

DC	Detail
-10	Stench of rotting garbage
0	Smell smoke
10	Determine if food is spoiled
25	Sense a burrowing creature underneath you
15+caster level	Identify the powers of a potion through taste

Shadowrunning

Sometimes the entire party needs to infiltrate a location, and some of them are incompetent at this. With a -5 penalty, all allies within 30' who follow the stealth leader uses the leader's roll before situational modifiers (such as size, actions, etc). 

Alternatively, everyone can make individual Stealth checks as appropriate, and the leader reduces his own check to boost their allies. For every 1 point their result is lowered, every ally within 30' gains a +2 bonus. The recipient's check cannot exceed that of the person taking the penalty.

[Pathfinder] Instigate Psychic Duel

Psychic Duels are a fun concept, and fill similar narrative roles to wizard duels and shapeshifter duels. It is therefore natural to see Paizo attempt to dip into this evocative trope, but they managed to be simultaneously too cautious and drastic in their design.

To be involved in a psychic duel, you need to either cast or fail a Will save against a 2nd level spell. You and your opponent are functionally dazed while you spend character resources (be it spells, ki, fatigue, etc) in an attempt to ultimately drain the others' HP, which transfers into the waking world. The minigame is complete and different from the other core mechanics, and I'm not impressed with it. The most potent aspect of this spell is that your friends can wail on their unresponsive body while you try to hunker down against their willpower, which makes this spell objectively worse than hideous laughter, which is the same level and requires the same saving throw.

The barrier to entry is simply too high and too niche to justify the complexity. If you retain the complexity, regardless of my opinion on its quality, then you need to make it easier to participate and therefore make the entire basis of psychic duels become a keystone in your supplement. If you keep the "You Must Be This Tall To Ride" sign in place, then the effect of the spell needs to be dramatically simplified; single opposed roll with duration/effects based on the margin of failure/success level of complexity at most.

Personally, I think there are only two options for stuff like Psychic Duels in this context.

Psychic Tug of War
Describe it as evocatively as you like. The tactical result is the same, you and your opponent have an effect you're wanting to inflict upon the other and spend some non-trivial amount of time struggling. Commonly, the effect doesn't matter and it's simply a means for a weaker character to distract the stronger while their allies run off with the Dark Lord's underwear or something. At its core, this should just be a die rolling exercise where the iterative nature gives a disproportional advantage to small differences in strength; make a roll and make a tick mark of some kind until one side runs out and gets hit. It's fast to explain, takes up little time in a fight scene that involves more than two people, and gives the player something to do rather than waiting until the fight's over. It's boring for scenes where everyone sits back and watches the fight because it's too simple, but the players not involved in a duel are going to be bored anyway and this way you can go through each round faster than regular combat.

Mind Bullets
Ignore the whole mindscape angle and simply make psychic combat an extension of regular combat. Derive some modifier from your mental stats to make a Psi-CMB or something and create new combat maneuvers with a psychic aesthetic, similar to the Dirty Trick from Pathfinder. Want to mimic that stare-down between two psychics? Make it a ranged grapple of some kind. Make access to the psychic maneuvers a trait and automatically accessible for psychic spellcasters. Create an entire category of feats and spells that expand, enhance, and broaden the capabilities of psychic combat.