Portal Under the Stars

[lukash]

I ran portal under the stars this past Friday. I had 22 PCs enter, 9 came out on their feet. They drug out 11 that didn't quite die, but came close. The 9 that came out unscathed were awarded 10 EXP and will advance to 1st level next time we get together. The others were awarded 5 EXP. They will remain 0 level characters for the next funnel run (Sailors).

Anyway, I have several questions.

The Demon Snake Horn - are there subsequent modules that list a patron connected to the demon snake horn? If not, I'll just run with one of the patrons from the main rule book.

The Dryad's Tree and the Bronze Rod of Rulership - same question as above. I'm not particularly interested in following up on this plot line, but maybe. Does the goat-faced alien show up in later modules. He could be a cool patron.

Thanks all!

[JediOre]

Those are good questions.

As one who has been "out to pasture" for the last two years, I don't know if they have been answered.

Let's see if Harley has anything to say about this?

[Arijuna]

The Demon Snake Horn - are there subsequent modules that list a patron connected to the demon snake horn? If not, I'll just run with one of the patrons from the main rule book.

The Dryad's Tree and the Bronze Rod of Rulership - same question as above. I'm not particularly interested in following up on this plot line, but maybe. Does the goat-faced alien show up in later modules. He could be a cool patron.

Thanks all!

Demon Snake Horn - I wouldn't limit yourself to the patrons in the book. Either way, you'll probably want to create a tie in as to why the demonsnake/horn was in the war wizard's possession and how it relates to the goat-faced being. I suppose the demon snake was there to protect anyone from reading the clay tablets...

Dryad's tree / Bronze rod - I believe this was left open ended so a Judge could come up with their own conclusion.

For starters, I think you could go one of two ways with it. Either the creature is being truthful, or it is lying. I am of the mind that the creature is actually some minor chaotic deity or servant of one that has been banished to/trapped on another plane. The war wizard was either his servant who attempted to bring him back, but was pulled in and trapped as well... or he was the one who trapped the creature and used him to draw power from, but somehow was overcome. Regardless of the players alignments, I have the impression that he has no plans of rewarding anyone who helps him, or will only help under his own terms/ambitions

The other half of the rulership rod was lost or stolen somehow... perhaps the warwizard's plans were sabotaged, or perhaps there was a failed ritual to cause it to be cast out elsewhere. This could imply he or the goat creature had enemies who would be none too happy should they discover the pc's helping him. Perhaps ancestors of the crystalized protobeings? Collecting wood from a dryad's tree seems to imply destroying the tree and making enemies of dryads. The "spark of a living fire" implies a live burned sacrifice. Alternatively, for good characters you could also allow players to work a deal with dryads (sparking another adventure) to collect fallen branches, and find some other meaning to 'spark of living fire' such as getting assistance from a fire elemental (sparking yet another adventure).

No matter which way you go with it, I think it would be better served as something to insert into many future sessions as opposed to being one on it's own. Many home campaigns have adventure side arcs like these. You wouldn't even have to bring it up for many sessions. Prior to that, you could make the rod have magic properties that players discover a bit later. That would make it an interesting weapon for a magic user in the meantime. They'll probably forget about the goat creature temporarily, giving you time to come up with a cool tie in... and when they recognize it, they will be intrigued and wonder if you had planned all along.

Other ideas... when the creature is released, they would discover they've unleashed an evil into the world. That could be dealt with then, or over the course of many sessions as a reoccurring antagonist... whether a primary one, or something like Q from Star Trek TNG where he shows up and causes the players trouble. Or if the creature was being truthful, he could show up here and there and help them out using the patron mechanic and then some!

[GnomeBoy]

If you need some Dryads, there's some for DCC on my blog...

http://www.appendixm.blogspot.com/2012_ ... chive.html