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arguskos
2008-08-26, 04:40 PM
Hello all!

I had an interesting thought the other day, one that I want to turn into a campaign.

WARNING: Long winded explanation below. Skip to the tl;dr version if you'd like to just see what I need help with.
Basically, I love the "primal" beings, like demons, devils, angels, slaadi, and modrons (those 5 specifically). I use them, or some combination thereof, in every one of my games (breaking out modrons really tosses PC's for a loop most times, same with slaadi), and I was thinking about a way to incorporate ALL of them into a single campaign, where they are all the bad guys, and the PC's are trying to do.... something. That's when I hit upon the idea I want some help with: The Source of Everything (name is under construction).

My thought is that, in this setting, there was a being that existed before anything else, before gods, planes, or energy even. A being that was a single, unified force, and was timeless, ageless, and all that jazz. Eventually, this being tired of it's silent vigil, and decided to create lesser beings from itself, for the sake of company. And so, it broke into four lesser beings, the original avatars of Good, Evil, Law, and Chaos. And for a time, things were good. The Four worked together to create time, space, and life, and things were fine. However, eventually the Four grew jealous of one another, and things went sour. They fought, and quibbled, and did Bad Things(TM) to one another, and the creation they had wrought.

Deep within each of the Four however, lay the Source, dormant. Their fighting awoke the Source in them, which emerged and formed into the avatar of Balance. The Source admonished its children, and laid down the edicts that the universe is still governed by (the nine-axis alignments, ie. cooperation between the Four, even if they didn't like it).

Fast forward millions of years, to the present, basic fantasy setting. Nothing really special about this world (you can liken it to the Dalelands from Faerun if you'd like). It's a fairly generic fantasy setting, with monsters, spells, etc. In the planes though, beings are stirring. A prophecy has been discovered that tells the story of the Source and the Four, and says that soon, the Source's Edict will be overturned, and the Four unleashed from their ancient bonds to walk the lands again. The extraplanar powers (the demons, devils, angels, slaadi, and modrons) all have their own agenda for this prophecy, as do those mortals that know of it. Into this web come the PC's (for whatever reason, I don't really care).

Ok, since that's a gigantic rambling pile of CRAP, here's the tl;dr version:
1. Source of Everything creates the Four Aspects (Good, Evil, Law, Chaos).
2. The Aspects create the universe, then destroy it as they bicker about it.
3. The Source returns, sets them straight, creates the Edict (which demands cooperation between them), and recreates the universe with this in mind.
4. Present day, a prophecy is found that says the Edict will be overturned, and a single member of the Four will return. Which one isn't said, only that the one that overturns the Edict will decide. Demons, Devils, Angels, Slaadi, and Modrons all want to be the one to choose, so a great war begins that embroils all the planes.
5. ???
6. The PC's profitwin.

Now, since I think the Elder Evil rules could be awesome in this sort of game, I'd like some help designing the sign for the Aspects (same sign, just alignment changes for each one?) and the sign for the Source (cause it might matter, never know).

I'd also like advice on the campaign idea. Is it viable? Does it sound fun? Does anyone actually care? Am I crazy? Are there too many rhetorical questions here?

Thanks in advance.

-argus

infinitypanda
2008-08-26, 04:52 PM
I think this setting demands Aboleths. Somehow. In their fluff, it says that Aboleths remember back before the current creation, so you should really have some Aboleths that remember the times before the Edict and enter as a sixth party. Just to mix it up a bit, you know?

But apart from that it sounds nice.

arguskos
2008-08-26, 04:54 PM
Well... as interesting as I'd find that (since I ALSO love Aberrations), my theory was that the universe before the Edict was completely obliterated as the Four fought and argued... making remembering it somewhat difficult. :smallwink:

Though, I will keep aboleths in mind, in case my idea about the setting shifts. Good catch. :smallbiggrin:

-argus

Scaboroth
2008-08-27, 10:05 AM
One thing to keep in mind - since you are polarizing the alignments so vastly as to have them represented by an actual being - is that demons and devils are not exemplars of any of your four bases. Demons are Chaotic and Evil in equal portions, while devils are Lawful and Evil (to represent "pure evil" you would have to go with the Neutral Evil outsiders, the yugoloths). Imagine if Good, Evil, Law, and Chaos showed up on the field in their incarnate forms and started duking it out. Who would the fiends side with? Evil would assume that the fiends would back him/her up, but just perhaps the demons would side with Chaos and the devils would back up Law. This division "just to spite each other" also fits in with the overall theme of the Blood War. Perhaps Evil would get the manipulative schemers that are the yugoloths to work for it behind the scenes, twisting both groups of fiends against each other while still working for its own ends.

arguskos
2008-08-27, 10:57 AM
That's something I was thinking about, and I honestly like your idea of the yugoloths being the real "exemplars of evil."

Thanks for catching that, I certainly didn't.

-argus

Zeta Kai
2008-08-27, 11:06 AM
Yeah, demons & devils are both dual-aligned. For pure alignment paragons, you're looking at:

Good: NG Celestials
Law: Modrons
Evil: Yugoloths
Chaos: Slaad