| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Pluddon |
Posted - 24 Jan 2014 : 05:38:48
Some players of mine have recently found a cubic gate and I want some recommendations as to what planes to be accessible with it. I want one of the to be the astral but I'm not sure about the others. Are alternate primes any fun? |
| 11 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Kentinal |
Posted - 25 Jan 2014 : 15:18:28
quote:
Originally posted by Pluddon
Thanks for all the input. I did some more research. I am undetermined if linking it to the ethereal plane might cause problems. Also if you're in the deep ethereal, is there any way of knowing where you are going, or are you just lost.
Well plane shift spell indicates that one appears 5 to 500 miles from target.
The Gate spell indicates you arrive precisely at the point you desire.
Cubic Gate construction does use plane shift spell, however I do not see any reason such a cube could not be made with the Gate spell instead. It might effect the cost of the item, however that should not be a major issue. As DM you get to decide how the cube will work, random location, 5 ti 500 miles from desired target or to a specific location.
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| sleyvas |
Posted - 25 Jan 2014 : 09:23:16
I like the idea of a wizard's demi-plane, but I wouldn't do but one. That one, immediately upon the characters coming in.... some illusion goes off of the wizard, telling them of some noble quest he was trying to accomplish that he may have died trying to complete (especially if the players have his cube)... maybe to gather the 3 parts of blah artifact.... then multiple contingent heightened-geas spells go off on the characters to go find the wizard's remains and bring him back from the dead, so that he can continue his quest.... then some kind of contingent divination spell starts casting above a pool of water to help the players find the wizard's remains. One of the gates should open to somewhere where the wizard can be resurrected (possibly a cleric's demiplane). Obviously, one should be to the prime. The astral also makes for a good idea. That just leaves 2 more, one to wherever the wizard's remains are, and one more to wherever he would need to go to complete the quest. |
| Pluddon |
Posted - 25 Jan 2014 : 08:35:48
Thanks for all the input. I did some more research. I am undetermined if linking it to the ethereal plane might cause problems. Also if you're in the deep ethereal, is there any way of knowing where you are going, or are you just lost. |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 24 Jan 2014 : 23:28:56
It might be better to think of the cubic gate as simply having access to six places - these could be six temples, six cities, six worlds, six planes. It might function anywhere or it might only function at these partocular “gate points“ (even though a single “gate point“ might be, just for example, any temple anywhere in Faerűn which is dedicated to Tymora).
Planeslore between editions is not always compatible. A cubic gate can access only the first layer of any Outer Plane (although possibly at a location near a conduit to a deeper layer). Entering another plane immediately subjects one to the “local“ planar physics and rules - bad news if one ends up in Ravenloft or the Demiplane of Imprisonment because the cube will not function in or allow escape from those places. Conditions on the Inner Planes are uniformly inimical to life and will quickly kill unprotected visitors. The Spelljammer Phlogiston isn‘t accessible by planar transit, but other transitive planes like the Ethereal, Astral, Shadowfell, and Feywild are. Expect extraplanar denizens to “guard“ known gate points, waiting for their chance to opportunistically eat a yummy idiot mortal soul, seize the cube, or just hop through an momentarily-open gateway to a Prime.
I‘ve used a variant cubic gate in my games before. It could access seven locations along the River Styx (Acheron, Baator, Gehenna, Grey Wastes, Tarterus, Abyss, Pandemonium), or more correctly, it only functioned on the river and could access six *other* locations depending on where one was. Each time a facing was activated, it would replace it with current location, and the cube needed to be “configured“ a certain way to “unfold“ and allow access to the extra-dimensional interior faces ... this turned into a grand tour of the Lower Planes, a very angry Tiamat, and a generally dismal time for my players.
But a similar variant could be used to access, say, all the planes connected by Mount Olympus or world-branches touched by cosmic Yggdrasil - the Realms could be said to access both, although one might need to activate the gate on a remote mountain peak or deep within the Night Serpent‘s lair at the bottom of the Fugue.
Travel to other worlds - such as Krynn, Oerth, the seedy bar on the Rock of Bral, etc - might be easier and safer with a standard Plane Shifting, Gate, or Worldwalk spell. The cubic gate is a very potent and risky item for inexperienced planeswalkers to play with, there‘s a lot of places in the cosmos that do not welcome planar visitors, and a lot more places where savvy travelers just don‘t want to ever visit. It might even be a “trap“ sent to the Prime by a Gith, fiend, power, celestial, or whatever, designed to bring unprepared mortals (and perhaps their home worlds) into servitude.
There‘s no requirement for all six faces of the cube to function as gates. Not even a requirement for the cube to be a cube; it could be a tetrahedron, it could be an icosahedron, it could even be a weird lumpy prism with 1000 faceted surfaces. There might also be command words, puzzles, or other tricks needed to activate particular faces, allowing some places to be accessed by anyone while others remain secure (thank you for returning my cube, my incompetent minion/servant is always losing it on some Prime or another...).
The cube could have limited charges or otherwise expire, making it an excellent way to run an adventure or three in some exotic new place which can be utterly unique and have no need whatsoever to be consisten with your Realms campaign world or Realms canon. |
| The Arcanamach |
Posted - 24 Jan 2014 : 19:53:05
Originally posted by Bladewind
If you really want to remain in control of the story, have the 6 different planes be created Demiplanes, small sized planes made by wizards or psionicists that the creator of the cube knew. You can then house important clues or items related to the story somewhere on them.
I really like this. Maybe have a few demiplanes available to plunder like very large mage tombs and one or two that still have occupants such as their creators, alive or in lich form etc.
Dunno why the other part of my post got cut off but here goes...
As far as demiplanes go it could lead to Dungeonland or The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror. This would mean that Zagyg from the Greyhawk setting is the most likely creator though. Also, it could lead to the Isle of the Ape, also created by Zagyg, but that adventure is only for high level groups.
You could also have it lead to a Spelljammer outpost, possibly to a location where a Mercane does business.
Or each side could lead to a random location. One side leads to an random evil plane, one a random neutral plane, and one a random good plane, one a random alternate Prime, a random demiplane and, if you're up to it, a random time in any plane you wish. |
| Kentinal |
Posted - 24 Jan 2014 : 16:50:41
quote:
Originally posted by Pluddon
Are alternate primes any fun?
Well, if you consider alternate primes there is Dragonlance, Greyhawk, Ravenloft, etc. Some consider them fun. Not sure if the cube would portal to other prime planes, however not sure I see anything that would prohibit it either.
The cube clearly has one side to return to material plane that it is made on the other 5 sides the 3.5 description only says. quote:
If a side of the cubic gate is pressed once, it opens a gate to a random point on the plane keyed to that side. There is a 10% chance per minute that an outsider from that plane (determine randomly) comes through it looking for food, fun, or trouble.
A PC or NPC from Ravenloft clearly would be an outsider if coming into the Realms. I do even recall reading something about residents of the Realms can be born in the Realms and still be listed as an outsider.
Just at least idea to consider if you wish a portal to another material plane. |
| Gyor |
Posted - 24 Jan 2014 : 16:39:35
In the Candlekeep conpendiums or whatever Sharess' realm of Rapture within Brightwater which is now within Gates of the Moon is detailed and unlike many places in the upper planes, it has bit of a darker feel to it, shadowy back alleys mixed with heavenly wonders and the like so that could be a cool place to go. |
| Eilserus |
Posted - 24 Jan 2014 : 15:59:27
quote:
Originally posted by Bladewind
If you really want to remain in control of the story, have the 6 different planes be created Demiplanes, small sized planes made by wizards or psionicists that the creator of the cube knew. You can then house important clues or items related to the story somewhere on them.
I really like this. Maybe have a few demiplanes available to plunder like very large mage tombs and one or two that still have occupants such as their creators, alive or in lich form etc. |
| Eilserus |
Posted - 24 Jan 2014 : 15:55:22
I wouldn't tell them all the planes it leads to, that way you can always dump them into an adventure you made as they discover new places it leads to. For instance, maybe it can also be used to gate to the abode of the archwizard who created the device, who's most likely long dead or a lich (insert adventure!). The Astral Plane (into a no longer abandoned githyanki outpost). The Plane of Fire (to the City of Brass or the outskirts of it). The Plane of Air, Water, Earth. The last one could lead to a different continent on the same Prime world or a homebrew world you want to use.
If a priest created the item I'd have it lead to the domain of their deity and various places associated with their alignment. In other words a priest of Bane isn't likely to create such a device that leads to the Seven Heavens...unless he was insane enough to envision launching an invasion there etc. Have fun with it, but I'd definitely use an item like that to kick off other adventures for sure. :) |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 24 Jan 2014 : 14:41:51
quote:
Originally posted by Pluddon
Some players of mine have recently found a cubic gate and I want some recommendations as to what planes to be accessible with it. I want one of the to be the astral but I'm not sure about the others. Are alternate primes any fun?
It all depends on what you, the DM, want to throw at the players. What they want is also a factor, but your campaign plots should be the largest factor in deciding what planes to access. |
| Bladewind |
Posted - 24 Jan 2014 : 12:31:41
If the players have no acces to the right spells, a lot of planes can be extremely hostile. Avoid elemental and fiendish planes if so.
There are a lot of fun locales and locations across the planes, try looking at a few of them in the Manual of the Planes or Players Guide to Faerun or somesuch. The massive industrial City of Brass comes to mind, or the fearun specific starlighted forest of Sildeyuir, magical bustling Dweomerheart (pre 1385DR), silent Cynosure, sunburnt Heliopolis, huge Jotunheim, and many many others.
If you really want to remain in control of the story, have the 6 different planes be created Demiplanes, small sized planes made by wizards or psionicists that the creator of the cube knew. You can then house important clues or items related to the story somewhere on them. |
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