Breaking planes

[TallerSpine]

The game is in the Eberron setting. The party have been trying to stop a necromancer who is using an artifact to create a manifest zone with Dolurrh. The party has received vague prophecies that the changeling rogue in the party should not use the artifact or there would be dire consequences. During the preparation for the final battle, the necromancer has one of her minions bring this rogue to her and hands him the staff. It is an intelligent item. Its purpose is to establish a permanent connection with Dal Quor. But the necromancer's will was getting in the way.

The necromancer was frustrated and frequently lost in a battle of wills with the staff. It was the staff's idea to give the changeling a shot (knowing the prophecy). The rogue failed the will save. So I said the staff was dominant. Apparently the player hard dominating and believed that he no longer had a will of his own. The staff ordered the changeling to use the staff. He botched his UMD roll. I had him roll randomly to see what plane was affected. He rolled a 12. On the chart for planes in the ECS, it was Dolurrh.

My thought was, by botching the UMD check, instead of creating a manifest zone, it caused the plane to crash into the material. Now, I'm giving the party five days to fix the issue or Eberron will be destroyed.

Few questions:
1. How might I rectify this with the player confusion? I was surprised when the character used the staff. It was not like him unless he was under compulsion. I feel like something should be retroactively done. Do I allow him to take back the actions of last session, he refuses to comply and the staff fights with him for a little while but is otherwise unable to force him to comply? Do I retroactively say the staff somehow used compulsion on him to use it? Do I say he used it by accident? Or do I leave it to him to figure out a non-metagamed reason he used it?
2. The staff has one purpose: to bring about a permanent link to Dal Quor. It doesn't know anything about what it happening. At this point, it is panicking, screaming at the changeling, "What did you do? Fix it! Fix it, Fix it, Fix it! Fix it now!" I'm thinking as the planes start to collide, demons from Dolurrh begin "crashing" into the material plane. Inevitables from Daanvi sense the disturbance and are tasked with investigating and meting out punishment. What other powerful entities might take notice of this event? Who might know how to fix it? Does anyone have any ideas for how to fix it?

[InterstellarPro]

The game is in the Eberron setting. The party have been trying to stop a necromancer who is issuing an artifact to create a manifest zone with Dolurrh. The party has received vague prophecies that the changeling rogue in the party should not use the artifact or there would be dire consequences. During the preparation for the final battle, the necromancer has one of her minions bring this rogue to her and hands him the staff. It is an intelligent item. Its purpose is to establish a permanent connection with Dal Quor. But the necromancer's will was getting in the way.

The necromancer was frustrated and frequently lost in a battle of wills with the staff. It was the staff's idea to give the changeling a shot (knowing the prophecy). The rogue failed the will save. So I said the staff was dominant. Apparently the player hard dominating and believed that he no longer had a will of his own. The staff ordered the changeling to use the staff. He botched his UMD roll. I had him roll randomly to see what plane was affected. He rolled a 12. On the chart for planes in the ECS, it was Dolurrh.

My thought was, by botching the UMD check, instead of creating a manifest zone, it caused the plane to crash into the material. Now, I'm giving the party five days to fix the issue or Eberron will be destroyed.

Few questions:
1. How might I rectify this with the player confusion? I was surprised when the character used the staff. It was not like him unless he was under compulsion. I feel like something should be retroactively done. Do I allow him to take back the actions of last session, he refuses to comply and the staff fights with him for a little while but is otherwise unable to force him to comply? Do I retroactively say the staff somehow used compulsion on him to use it? Do I say he used it by accident? Or do I leave it to him to figure out a non-metagamed reason he used it?
2. The staff has one purpose: to bring about a permanent link to Dal Quor. It doesn't know anything about what it happening. At this point, it is panicking, screaming at the changeling, "What did you do? Fix it! Fix it, Fix it, Fix it! Fix it now!" I'm thinking as the planes start to collide, demons from Dolurrh begin "crashing" into the material plane. Inevitables from Daanvi sense the disturbance and are tasked with investigating and meting out punishment. What other powerful entities might take notice of this event? Who might know how to fix it? Does anyone have any ideas for how to fix it?

1. I'd talk to the player first. See what he thinks. If he does not like the idea of a compulsion, maybe come up with a collaborative reason why he used the staff. Perhaps accidentally using it would work. Still, I wouldn't do anything without your player's consent. Retconning is always dangerous. But, I would not take it back. That sounds like too much fun.
2. How about Earandis d'Vol? A powerful necromancer playing around with the plane of Dal Quor sounds right up her alley. Where is this occurring on Eberron? I'd think agents of the Keeper would be interested in what is going on.

Edit: You don't mention, but what happens when two planes collide? If someone dies, their soul goes to Dolurrh. But, if Dolurrh is colliding with the material plane, does their soul come crashing back? Is death impossible now? Or maybe resurrection is impossible because the soul shatters as it crashes back into the material plane? The Keeper has gotta be either extremely happy or extremely pissed, depending on how colliding planes works.
And what about already dead people? Do they start returning from the dead? They don't have bodies, but in Dolurrh, do they need bodies? I'm not sure how the Eberron cosmology has that work. Would they be ghosts? Perhaps this turns into a Ghostbusters-type story?

[XionUnborn01]

Unless I'm remembering incorrectly, I thought that when an intelligent item dominates someone or is literally controlling them.

[Lord Haart]

First, generally mishandling an item does not produce an effect stronger than what it's intended to do, unless the effect in question is explosions. Causing Eberronspace's planar system to go out of whack is incredibly epic magic, it only happened once in Eberron's history, so it's probably not something a simple manifests-zones-creating staff could ever do.

HOWEVER, if you have already said it did that and if the players are all OK with that, it's better to keep it that way. Logic such as aforeexplained is only important to keep players from disbelieving the transpiring events, not to keep you from creating interesting situations for them, so if there is no disbelief AND it makes for a thrilling story development (sounds like it does!), roll with it!

Second, it's pretty probable you and the player had misunderstanding on what "the staff is now dominant" meant; i, too, could take it that it now gives the orders and i obey (it doesn't help things that Will saves in 3.5 are generally save-or-suck kind of deal, no prolonged contests). However, i don't think you're oblidged to clear it up now. Sounds like, to your player, it was both perfectly logical and perfectly acceptable; your player rolled with it, and now there's an action his character made (one that develops the story in a thrilling way) that the player (apparently) does not perceive as something illogical, contrary to his intents or in a need of extra explanation. So the best thing to do is, i think: to accept the "how it looked like" version of the events instead of the "how i intended it to come out" version. Just quietly decide, for yourself, that there was, in fact, a compulsion, but don't call an emergency "retroactively, on Nickelodeon" meeting, don't make too much of a point on it; just keep rolling.


Regarding the parties that will show interest in the transpiring events: it's Eberron. Here there be dragons. Last time mortals screwed up like that, there were consequences.

Not to mention, like, everyone in the world smart/observant/arcane-savvy enough to notice the disturbance, from mortal wizards to the Lords of Dust.

Except for those smart enough to squeak and hide in the deepest, most dragon-proof hole they can find.