Random DM nagging 2: Endless nagging

[Anastasia]

What was up with that shadow assassin?

The light has several means to deal with those that investigate too deeply into it. One such is a creature that is the antithesis of light, for those who have learned to endure the light but may be vulnerable to the darkness. He is a silent, thoughtless killer altered to be highly alien. His purpose is to track people who survive the light's retaliations and eliminate them.

With CL 20 Disintegrate at will, along with a permanent duration sleep power the shadow assassin is a menace that plays for keeps. His invincible defense makes him moreso, as it can only be parted by light. But even if that is negated, it unleashes a torrent of life-leeching winds to destroy the impudent. Few make it that far, as few manage to survive long against him. Sharm and Moore's resistance against him was his longest battle in centuries, and as such, he grew interested in having a real battle.

Turns out this was the right group to get lucky against him. You managed to figure him out, make all the saves you needed to and finish the battle before he overwhelmed you. This is a fight that could have easily been a TPK, so congratulations on that.

What about that glass shard?

Shadow Chip

Spellcraft

DC: 25 and lower: This little shard of glass is imbued with a tremendous amount of shadowy power. You can't figure out the power, however.
DC 26-30: With a DC 20 Use Magic Device check, you can channel the power of darkness (the dark template) from a creature and back into the glass shard. Restores one charge per template removed from a creature.
DC 31-35: With a DC 25 Use Magic Device check, you can grant one creature the dark creature template.  Takes one charge.
DC 36-40: As the previous, except the template has no drawbacks or corruption. Takes two charges.
DC 41-45:  With a DC 35 Use Magic Device check, you can grant a creature a +2 bonus to Dexterity. A creature can only benefit from this twice. Takes three charges.
DC 46+: With a DC 40 Use Magic Device check, you can grant a creature a single one of the following spell-like abilities: Disintegrate, Endless Slumber, Greater Shadow Conjuration, Greater Shadow Evocation. This ability can be used once per day and the caster level equals the creature's hit dice. Takes three charges.

The shard had 11 charges to start with and 13 after removing the dark template from Sharm and Veren.

[Anastasia]

Couple of quick ones as I have time before work.

Was Jetina going to return Lucy's interest?

Barring unusual shenanigans, no. She's totally straight. There's not a lot to say here beyond that.

What was up with that island with the harp and volcano, anyway?

A random bonus dungeon y'all found. I know you know that much, so let me go into a bit more detail. The Lost Realm is littered with things like that. They don't need justification as the realm is an artificial one. It was designed to be challenging but possible, to spur wanderers on or to a short demise. The nature of it can subtly suggest that something's creating such challenges.

Why'd Kamhoff die and what was up with his magic?

He died by legit bad luck. Now as the DM, I could've fudged it since the rolling was offscreen. I chose not to for a variety of reasons, but mostly because I don't like to mitigate the risks and the random factor of gaming. No risk, no reward and all that.

Kamhoff's magic was somewhat abnormal. 999 out of 1000 times, he'd be born with no magical potential. He has a rare mutation that ruins magical aptitude. In this case he managed magic anyway, though the mutation muddled his magic somewhat. It did odd things sometimes and hooked into pre-existing magic. This is why he was good at making magic items from other items, by the way. It also managed to snare Macaron and ruin his summoning, though that was both that and impeccably bad timing.

[Corwin]

It was 100% platonic.  :(

[Anastasia]

Sorry about the short delay, had something come up today. I should get another one out soon.

[Anastasia]

What was up with the light?

That's an awfully broad question, so I'll answer it in broad strokes.

The light is the demiplane's equivalent of the sun. It provides light, life and all those things that life requires to flourish. It serves as a sea as well, and lightskimmers allow it to be transversed. It's also where the greatest mysteries and misdirections of the demiplane lie, a siren's song to those who wish to understand its secrets.

In many ways, the light is a giant trap. A lure to sucker in those without the common sense or too much curiosity. To all but the rarest, it will end them in one way or another. Those rare few may find something more, but it's designed to eliminate those who attempt to unravel its secrets.

So wait, that doesn't really answer the question!

Then ask better questions.

The thing is that the light is a great many things and there's a lot of details to it that don't matter, or were designed to be misleading. Let's start with one aspect: The light clones. in certain cases, a body can be destroyed by the light (light mages require this as a prerequisite) or have other certain circumstances cause the soul to leave the body. However, the creature's soul doesn't go to what lies beyond. It instead sleeps within the light and projects a body made out of light into the Lost Realm. Light mages are attuned to this and can discern who is a light clone and who isn't. So what does this mean?

Honestly, not that much. Light mages, due to being mentally unstable, often come to various conclusions about the light clones. However, the entire setup is a ruse. The only point of it is to lure the brave into investigating the light - where 99.99% of them will be slain. A light clone is as alive as anyone else in the Lost Realm. Bolethon wasn't aware of this, but he was aware nothing safe would come from your efforts. He tried to warn you off, tried to let you know this was a path that would end in death. What he didn't know is that the party was on the path to becoming the .01%, the rare few who might well endure all the light and the demiplane could throw at them.

The various trials from the light - including the shadow assassin - are simply a result of your choice to delve into the light. No one in the demiplane truly has the means (as of now, anyway) to travel to the bottom of the light. Anyone who seeks to will inevitably find their path drawn into the light, one way or another, and thus travel the same road as the party did.

In any case, the light clones were designed to draw people in. There's no grand mystery to them in the end, or any true knowledge to be gained by knowing light clones exist. A light clone is identical to a normal being and follows all the same rules. When a light clone dies, the soul is freed and moves on as normal.

This isn't to say that the light can't make soulless clones that copy you, but that's saved for the ones in chains and certain efforts later on.

So then all the things the light did was to test and challenge the PCs?

Essentially so. Bolethon was trying to tell you that you had a choice. You can live a normal life in the Lost Realm, be an adventurer or whatever. You don't have to challenge the light. One could argue that the wisest choice is to ignore the mystery and embrace your normal life. The voice of the Lost Realm told Pepo as much at the end. The path needed for triumph is seldom a clean and easy one, and many times it is paved with sacrifices, pain and tears.

As a tangent, I mentioned that one of the criteria for being drawn into the Lost Realm is to be a powerful and tragic figure brought low by hubris or bad luck. In these cases, they're considered more likely to challenge the light. It's a designed second chance for certain entities. The exact reasoning why depends on who is behind the Lost Realm.

Speaking of that, which possibility did you favor for that, anyway?

Purgatory was my least favorite idea. I only included it since it was speculated. I've never been a fan of it as a matter of Christian theology and it would take a really Hollywood-ized version of Christianity for it to make any sense with the Lost Realm. I'm not sure I'd be religiously comfortable running that in any case.

VR was possible and my fallback if the party wouldn't buy anything else. Basically if I felt the party's take on everything required a complete wipe when they got out, that the logical structures they'd build wouldn't support anything else.

So it's safe to say I favored any of the D&D ones.

[Corwin]

Was there a bottom to the light sea? If so, what was there?

If the doorway of darkness was one way out, what were the others? Could we have, say, teleported back to that place and tried to go through the door?

What were the criteria for ending in the Lost Realm? You gave a few at the time, and said some were redacted due to spoilers. No time like the present!

Why were we there? I realize that with no defined outer world no concrete situation existed, but did you have any in mind? Ie we were a group of friends before that, it was random, we were all fighting each other in a battle?

Why the amnesia upon entry from an in-universe perspective, and not the meta one? Why did the Lost Realm feel it necessary to strip away all memories like this?

What was with the teleporting to an empty town, and the reset on it that knocked me out?

[Iron Dragoon]

Did you have anything special planned for any of us? Any direction/events you had planned for us individually?

What would have happened if we had used the Shadow Shard on the Shocker Lizard eggs?

[Anastasia]

Was there a bottom to the light sea? If so, what was there?

Yes. Lots of absurdly dangerous ruins, all designed to end whomever got that far. You had to go past the bottom. The loot in them was pretty good, though.

If the doorway of darkness was one way out, what were the others? Could we have, say, teleported back to that place and tried to go through the door?

That wouldn't have worked.

What were the criteria for ending in the Lost Realm? You gave a few at the time, and said some were redacted due to spoilers. No time like the present!

One that would qualify to have a question answered, I presume? To be clear on what I said, quote what I said in the first place so we're on the same page.

Why were we there? I realize that with no defined outer world no concrete situation existed, but did you have any in mind? Ie we were a group of friends before that, it was random, we were all fighting each other in a battle?

By default I assumed you were a bunch of random grabs that were lumped together. I'd change this if I felt warranted down the line, since it wasn't something that needed to be answered except if you made it to the end.

Why the amnesia upon entry from an in-universe perspective, and not the meta one? Why did the Lost Realm feel it necessary to strip away all memories like this?

Regardless of the person behind it, they wanted to pare down people and force them to start anew. The exact motivations there varied, but it was a way to keep people there and have convenient mysteries to explore.

What was with the teleporting to an empty town, and the reset on it that knocked me out?

A certain circumstance not long before threw you slightly out of alignment. You ended up in a light-based recreation of the empty town, and the shift over was traumatic enough to knock you out. It was mostly a mind-screw, the Lost Realm had some of those. If things like the shadow assassin attacked the body, the empty town attacked the mind and spirit.

[Nephrite]

<Ko-FakeCideonCrisis> <Snipped line of one question since you reached an ending, did it by /msg instead of a PM window. Everything but big spoilers is fair game.>
<Ko-FakeCideonCrisis> <Pepo> What determines who enters the world?
<Ko-FakeCideonCrisis> > There are three factors, split into even thirds. (More)
<Ko-FakeCideonCrisis> > One third are people taken at the moment of death. These are people who had great potential but died before it could be realized. They are often tragic figures brought down by bad luck or their own hubris.
<Ko-FakeCideonCrisis> > The second third are people chosen by [spoilers]. This distribution (and the other two as well) is sorted to be roughly equal in alignment. A little bit of luck plays in to this, but mostly it's people [spoilers] feel will benefit from it or fit.
<Ko-FakeCideonCrisis> > The final third is randomly selected. [Spoilers] and [spoilers] can protect important people from being selected. This last third is meant to make sure everything is represented by sheer chance.
<Ko-FakeCideonCrisis> > As a bonus: Lost Hero's in category 1.
<Ko-FakeCideonCrisis> * Pepo nods.
<Ko-FakeCideonCrisis> <Pepo> I'm glad someone killed him.
<Ko-FakeCideonCrisis> > The hubris part, though he's a lot worse here than he was outside. Long story.
<Iddy> Can you tell us which one we fall into?
<Ko-FakeCideonCrisis> No.
<Ko-FakeCideonCrisis> Well I could, but I won't.

[Anastasia]

Did you have anything special planned for any of us? Any direction/events you had planned for us individually?

Somewhat. At this point you'd chosen to challenge the light, so that was taking top priority. Lucy had distinct goals so she was easy, I could just play to them. The rest of you were about giving little nudges and setting you up in the right situations for special things to happen.

So in short? Yes.

What would have happened if we had used the Shadow Shard on the Shocker Lizard eggs?

You'd get shocker lizards with the dark creature template. It's up to you if that's a good thing or not.

[Anastasia]

What were the criteria for ending in the Lost Realm? You gave a few at the time, and said some were redacted due to spoilers. No time like the present!

Oh, do you mean ending up or something like that? I was trying to figure out what you meant. That makes a lot more sense. Here are the lines without spoilers.

<Ko-FakeCideonCrisis> > The second third are people chosen by the realm. This distribution (and the other two as well) is sorted to be roughly equal in alignment. A little bit of luck plays in to this, but mostly it's people the realm feel will benefit from it or fit.
<Ko-FakeCideonCrisis> > The final third is randomly selected. Varies and varies can protect important people from being selected. This last third is meant to make sure everything is represented by sheer chance.

In the latter, varies was going to change slightly depending on what the exact root of the Lost Realm ended up being. Most likely it would be deities and powers.

[Anastasia]

What did you think of each PC?

I've largely expressed my opinions here before, so this won't be terribly long.

Lucy: Fun and hit her role well. Was easy to work with since she had a natural goal and all that. Good times.
Pepo: A great source of feline amusement and jokes. Decent PC otherwise, though sometimes hard to work with due to being a cat.
Veren: Decent. Had a few problems but was generally solid at what he did. That rebuild helped a lot.
Moore: Fun. Being the token good aligned person in a party of neutrals was good for material to work with. Sort of felt like he fell into a strange party for him.
Sharm: No real opinion, just wasn't around long enough. Had potential.

[Nephrite]

What was at "the end?" I mean, presuming the party overcame all the challenges, what then?

[Anastasia]

What was at "the end?" I mean, presuming the party overcame all the challenges, what then?

Confrontation with whatever was behind the Lost Realm. Details vary on what it was.

I had a soft level cap of 20-22 in mind. Epic level characters could have the means to hijack, subvert or otherwise fiddle with the Lost Realm. So any fights before that should be highly challenging to PCs of that level.

[Nephrite]

In your mind, had that ever happened before? You mentioned the .01% before, so assumedly it'd happened at least once in the last thousands of years?