Joint18

[[Joint 18]:

Talk20060430:

Semantic clarifications

Universe: Our universe. Also known as the Destiny Force. The 57-dimensional pattern of reality defining our existence.

Antiverse: Another, 60-dimensional, universe linked to our own.

Big bang: The first moment in time for our universe. Corresponds to a particular moment during the antiverse’s lifespan (not the beginning, not the end).

Antibang: The first moment in time for the antiverse. Corresponds to a particular moment during our universe’s lifespan (not the beginning, not the end).

Crux of time: The last few moments in time for our universe, before it collapses. This part of time could be considered the center of the black hole that is our universe, and fundamentally where the Destiny Force’s consciousness dwells. (The antiverse has a corresponding crux, which does not need to be referenced for the purposes of this campaign.)

Ouroboros: The 153-dimensional structure made up of the universe, antiverse, and linking structures.

{img src="images/universe.png" width=200 height=100 align="center" desc="The ouroboros, two universes bound together by fate"}

Destiny: The pattern of reality governing our universe. Destiny can be broken by those "outside the system" (anyone associated with the antiverse, for example, can violate the destined pattern of reality governing the universe).

Fate: The larger overarching pattern of reality governing the ouroboros (our universe plus the antiverse). Fate, however, has not been broken, as far as anyone knows…

Time: A multidimensional structure composing part of reality’s texture. Though time largely flows along a single dimensional axis, fractal patterns branch out from it and remerge later, forming a ladder structure. This structure illustrates how conscious minds can exercise a limited form of free will (exploring branches of a tree) while still ultimately being bound to the larger pattern of reality. Time could be considered an exploration of the texture, with the concept of "now" as a quintessential illustration of the illusion of consciousness.

Knowledge dump

Everyone is floating in the astral plane (outside of time). Time still exists… but they are on the cusp of time. The potential merging of the Destroyer & Destiny Force, and birth of the antiverse. They are at the critical moment.

Long expository speech:

A word of warning to the players: that which has been your staunch ally may not serve you in this place as faithfully. You have been warned.

A second warning: Each of three tasks before you is critically important. If any one task ends in failure, you all end in failure. Proceed carefully.

Notes

Outline

Three challenges:

  1. Vishnu – Confrontation between Asmodeus and the Caretaker (Alfadir)
  2. Shiva – Prevention of the Destroyer devouring the Destiny Force
  3. Brahma – Jasmine in the Void redirecting Brice’s portal to the big bang

Scenario I – Vishnu (Kelsey)

This scenario deals with the Caretaker, and with the theme of subjective morality.

Desired result: Something happens to split the Caretaker in twain, back to its component parts: Gaia and Emmanuel. Since Emmanuel is Vishnu the Preserver, and represents a powerful entity from the antiverse, his sacrifice to the Destroyer (by exploiting the conduit forming between the Destroyer and the Destiny Force, thus tainting the energies being drained) will cause it to become saturated with backlash and explode, creating the antiverse.

Failure: This scenario needs an element of "real" danger. The idea is that if V stabs the Caretaker with the soulknife, then it poisons the Caretaker, who dies. To avoid failure, they must stop V from doing this, one way or another. If they succeed, Asmodeus uses the weapon of destiny, "merely" split the Caretaker in twain. (This way, they do not feel cheated after Caretaker is split, because at least they saved him. On the other hand, if the Caretaker is destroyed, then everything is doomed because the Shiva scenario eventually falls through when they can no longer stall, and Emmanuel can’t show up to save them. Thus, each scenario now has a possibility for ultimate failure.) TODO: Discuss further with Kelsey.

Asmodeus’s goal is to destroy the Caretaker. A terrifyingly powerful blow is landed that severs the Caretaker’s link.

Asmodeus is on p. 165 of the Book of Vile Darkness. His ruby rod is detailed on p. 121-122.

Asmodeus first summons a pit fiend using his ability, at the very start of combat (before initiative).

On one side, the Caretaker, having summoned the Deus Ex Machina to the crux, is channeling massive energies into it, trying to stall the Destroyer, somewhat successfully. Whatever the Caretaker is doing with the machine has caused a massive shield to form between the Destroyer and the Destiny Force’s center.

Asmodeus immediately attacks with his scepter, but the Caretaker throws up a crackling mystic shield, and says, "NOT LIKE THIS. I WILL NOT DIE LIKE THIS." Asmodeus must find a more cunning solution. The Caretaker is waiting for the fated moment (when it will be cleft in twain).

If V is there and attacks Asmodeus, then he hits Asmodeus’s illusory double (displacement), and Asmodeus uses his readied action to push V into the Caretaker, thus striking at the link between the two halves. (Asmodeus does not necessarily know that this blow will sever the link, only that "it is fated that the soulknife will destroy the Caretaker.")

If V attacks Bryant, and kills him, Bryant apologizes as he dies.

If V attacks Asmodeus early, it succeeds, but does not completely kill him (to encourage him to keep attacking).

If V is neutral or not present, Asmodeus requests his aid. Asmodeus will telepathically contact V before giving up, and inquire as to his motivations, attempting to sway him. If Asmodeus cannot do so, he attempted to Demand Submission for V. If that fails, he summons the weapon of destiny and merges it with his scepter, then uses that.

If Asmodeus is slain, the Caretaker resurrects him, saying, "YOU ARE NECESSARY" – it knows something critical must happen at this juncture.

Timing: Asmodeus does not cleave the Caretaker until after Glaurung replaces Eddie in the Shiva scenario.

Scenario II – Shiva (NOR)

This scenario deals with the Destroyer, and with the theme of unnecessary suffering versus necessary sacrifice.

Desired result: Glaurung sacrificed; Emmanuel also sacrificed. (Depending on the party’s actions, Lilith survives, deigning not to in the backlash tainting, to protect herself, but as a result Emmanuel dies to achieve the goal.)

Glaurung and Lilith will attempt to interpose themselves between the Destroyer and the Destiny Force, but ultimately be struck down. The PCs need something to do to interfere with the Destroyer until Emmanuel can show up to deal the winning blow.

The Destroyer spins off a piece of its essence (a Phane, p. 166-7 in the Epic Level Handbook) to attack Glaurung, Lilith and the machine. The PCs can protect Glaurung and Lilith against the Phane, but the Phane’s real target is the Deus Ex Machina. Glaurung and Lilith cannot take actions, since they are channeling, but they can each grant a boon to the characters (one each per character per round).

Glaurung can grant someone a +20 bonus to a single type of die roll (one type of save, melee attacks, damage, etc.). Lilith can grant someone an immediate reroll (including the ability to reroll a previously failed save). Each time a boon is granted, it costs a token.

If someone dies, Glaurung or Lilith can resurrect him, but it costs two tokens.

The Deus Ex Machina has a hardness of 30, and 100 hit points. If the machine is destroyed, the shield instantly collapses, and Glaurung interposes himself, generating his own field without the aid of the machine. He is quickly eaten. (Note: This situation is suboptimal; try to hint to the PCs that the machine being destroyed is VERY BAD.)

The shield protecting the Destiny Force has 20 tokens. Whenever Glaurung or Lilith has to bail out a character, the shield loses a token (or two if it’s a resurrection). Once the shield expires, the Destroyer succeeds in devouring Eddie at the shield’s center. Glaurung quickly leaves to take Eddie’s place, and the shield has 30 more tokens, 1d6 of which are devoured per round, since Lilith is not strong enough to power the shield sufficiently. Nonetheless, Lilith powers it as much as she can. (For imagery, she appears as a nine-year-old girl with pale skin, black hair and an orange third eye, her body clothed in moonbeams – her brow is furrowed in terrible concentration and tears flow down her cheeks as she strains with all her might to defy the Destroyer.)

If the party uses their destiny token to obliterate the Phane, the Destroyer then sends another Phane, but in so doing is weakened (the shield strength doubles from its current value, and when the Glaurung phase is reached the shield has 60 more tokens instead of 30).

Timing: The machine should not be destroyed, and/or the shield should not be fully brought down (Glaurung devoured), before Emmanuel is split from Gaia. Emmanuel needs to appear in time to interpose himself ‘‘after’’ the Destroyer has latched on to the Destiny Force and begun draining its essence.

Once Emmanuel and Gaia split, Gaia (a beautiful green-haired halfling in forest garb) throws her energy into the machine with Lilith, to give Emmanuel time to interpose himself. Her priority is to protect Lilith, who she views as her child that has recently suffered terrible hardship.

Scenario III – Brahma (Curtis)

This scenario deals with the Destiny Force, and with the theme of inescapable fate versus free will.

Desired result: The party stops Jasmine from redirecting the portal to the big bang, and ejects it from the Void.

Jasmine drags the Brice portal into the Void, and attempts to redirect its endpoint to the moment of the universe’s creation. Her goal is to forge a two-way conduit between the universe and the antiverse, causing the ouroboros to collapse in upon itself. She attempts this to test whether fate can be escaped, and cares more about the results of the test than she does for anything else (she would rather everything be destroyed than to continue living without free will, or without knowing the truth).

Jasmine has seen fragments of the larger picture ("fate") and knows the Destroyer will be forced back through the portal somehow. However, she wishes to move the portal’s endpoint such that everything ends, thus "cheating fate."

First, they are lost in the Void. They do not appear where she is. Nikolai could conceivably help them navigate. The Void does not follow normal rules, obviously, but it does have ‘‘some’’ rules that apply, of a sort. Alternately, Max, who still seeks the dissolution of all things, could be made to participate in this scenario either with coaxing or by force (with a destiny token).

Because of Brice and/or Noun’s presence, the Void is different somehow (if necessary, it can be the portal itself causing this difference, but ideally it is the consciousness of the Divine Grammar components being present that does it). Because of them, "near" them is a spatiotemporal structure through which the Void can be perceived. Anyone within 50 feet of Brice, Noun and/or Max does not need to maintain a link to Nikolai through his tentacles. Venturing farther, however, requires Nikolai’s guidance. In addition, if Nikolai himself leaves the bubble, he cannot find his way back without an uber-luck check.

Finding Jasmine would require an incredible stroke of luck, because navigating the infinity that is the Void in time would be essentially impossible. (They get an uber-luck roll each out-of-game minute, which is 3d20, all must come up sevens and/or ones – all sevens equals something awesome that won’t happen but if it does wing it.) The idea is that practically speaking, they need to use their destiny token to find her.

Now that there is a physicality to the Void, there is the possibility for combat. Jasmine is taken by surprise by this, but nonetheless can summon 4 void elementals. Before doing so, however, she attempts to sway the party to assist her, rather than oppose her: * She sees that she and Brice are fated to die. * Existence is meaningless if you don’t have free will. * Testing whether or not free will exists is more important to Jasmine than whether she lives or dies. * There is only one way to test whether she really has free will: attempt to destroy the ouroboros. * If the party is convinced she will fail, then why not help her? she asks.

In particular, having Nikolai on her side means she gains the benefit of his shadow dragon form. Also, Max might be inclined to help her, since she is seeking the dissolution of all things. Those on her side can fight for her against the others.

If the party agrees to help her, they succeed, and the campaign ends.

If not, Jasmine sics the four elder void elementals (as air elementals, but with void-related powers instead) and raises an entropic barrier around herself. They fight the elementals, and find a way through the barrier. She does not stop her ritual to redirect the portal. To stop her, they must strike her down (if they talk to her, she’ll say as much).

Timing: Ideally, this scenario completes just before the Shiva scenario (and just after the Vishnu scenario), such that the Destroyer, filled with backlash, is thrust through the portal to the (by definition) antibang, where it explodes, forging the antiverse.

Epilogue

Everyone can return to anywhere in the fabric of reality they wish, with a few caveats:

Acknowledgements

Everyone has done a wonderful job with role-playing and character design, and hopefully the recent MP bonuses reflect that fact. However, there have been some individuals who have made invaluable contributions to the campaign out-of-game, as co-GMs, note takers and NPC guest stars. No amount of MP can properly represent their support, creative, moral and otherwise.

Nate:

Alex & Eva:

Oz:

Jon:

NOR:

Paul:

James:

Kelsey:

Lastly, to all the players, thanks!

Notes past this point are from various planning stages, and of varying levels of completeness. Potential GM destiny token uses:

Story goals

The party can:

  1. Allow the Destroyer to devour the Destiny Force (but ultimately this is fated not to occur)
  2. Assist Jasmine with the ultimate destruction (dual universe collapses in upon itself)
    • She sees that she and Brice are fated to die.
    • Existence is meaningless if you don’t have free will.
    • Testing whether or not free will exists is more important to Jasmine than whether she lives or dies.
    • There is only one way to test whether she really has free will: attempt to destroy the ouroboros.
    • If the party is convinced she will fail, then why not help her? she asks.
  3. Prevent both scenarios, thus preserving the universe in its current form
    • Facilitate the inversion of the universe

The ouroboros has 153 dimensions. Our universe has 57 dimensions. The antiverse has 60. (The other 36 dimensions are "glue" holding the universes together.)

To stop the Destroyer from devouring the Destiny Force, the party must address three critical issues from history relating to the universe’s ultimate destruction. They can divide however they see fit into three groups to accomplish this.

Character schticks

Characters can make an Int check to pull things tied to them in some manner from the pattern to the crux of time.

Entities present

Predicted factions

Helping Asmodeus (combat)

Asmodeus issue (neutral)

Opposing Asmodeus (combat)

Another combat relating to the Destroyer (involving Glaurung)

Other

Asmodeus wants to destroy the Caretaker. He instructs anyone who supports him to protect him and assist him in this goal.

Possible character involvements:

If Asmodeus is slain, the Caretaker brings him back, saying that he is necessary.

All three incidents relate to Emmanuel, the preserver (Vishnu). In all three, Emmanuel himself can lend aid of some kind.

  1. The opening of the portal at the Deus Ex Machina
  2. Noun & Asmodeus destroying the Stairway to Heaven
  3. 6500 years ago - Emmanuel’s arrival / fearful’s flight - elegantly reveal human’s origin - Cain’s creation
  4. Birth of the Caretaker - John Bishop
  5. 65 million years ago - creation of Dragonstar

GM goals

Involve neglected characters:

Things that need to happen:

Enemies

Q & A

Q: What is a machine essence? A: It is energy drawn from the Ouroboros itself rather than a normal soul, which is composed of the Caretaker’s life energy.

Seven artifacts

Other thoughts