PCs from a standard fantasy world in Carcosa

[Deleted]

Hey guys!

I'm thinking about having my players end up on Carcosa through a cursed item in a dungeon. If anyone has done this how do you handle clerics and standard magic users once they arrive on Carcosa? Can they still use their powers?

[cooper]

I say nope. Nothing says alien world like none of your stuff working.

[tkdco2]

Check out crusssdaddy's blog. He has some good ideas for magic-users and clerics who end up in Carcosa.

thedoomedworldcarcosa.wordpress.com/

[Deleted]

Thanks for the links! I really hesitate to take everything away because that completely screws a MU and gimps the cleric a bit. I don't want my players to feel like they have no power at all and not want to continue playing.

Those modifications to spells will certainly show them that Carcosa isn't a place they want to be building a summer home.

[cooper]

Aug 21, 2015 16:16:08 GMT -6 @portlyfighter said:

I really hesitate to take everything away because that completely screws a MU and gimps the cleric a bit..

Well, the mu gets more hit points being on Carcosa, Let him turn one spell into a psionic power (or better yet, randomly determine each day which spell from his spell book he can cast as his psionic power), you give him a laser rifle and let him learn how to make drugs the Carcosian way and then let him decide if he wants to learn rituals. The "Ravenloft" approach to changing their spells is a cool idea and well detailed on the blog. Maybe turn his spell book into something from Call of Cthulhu and a sanity score (beginning score 100 -wis and int). Unlimited castings per day...

It's just that the D&D wizard and cleric are so Vancian, that the Jack Vance will overshadow the Lovecraft. Which is fine if you want more Jack Vance in your Carcosa (he also had alien civilizations and future tech things in his stories so it should work fine). But Your game will probably look more like Dying Earth than Carcosa.

[tkdco2]

Maybe clerics and magic-users will be able to learn spells in Carcosa they wouldn't be able to learn in their own world. Check out this one:

hereticwerks.blogspot.com/2013/03/space-age-sorcery-now-available-for.html?m=1

Legal download, btw, offered free by the publisher. My character had access to it in another campaign, but the campaign died before I could use any of these spells.

Of course, in Carcosa, gaining power like that will have a corrupting influence on the characters. Changes in alignment may be required after extended use. It's up to you if these spells will work once the characters go back home.

[Red Baron]

All spells come out as gouts of putrid smoke, showers of flaming purple snowflakes, cones of 10,000 seahorses, etc.

They all do damage dice equal to spell level and the spray length has a distance equal to the cleric/magic-user's level.

Also, all of the fighting-men's (non-enchanted) swords melt into puddles of charcoal.

[tkdco2]

If you really want to hurt your players, all spells will cause 1 HD of damage per spell level to the caster. Carcosa hit dice will be used, of course.

[Deleted]

Thanks for all the replies everyone! I like the idea of spells working like the psionic powers. I think that may actually be the best way to do things. The Wizards HD changing doesn't really matter as I'm using the 3 LBBs and all HD are d6. I may change the HD progression if/when they get to Carcosa. I'm still debating on whether they are going to end up there or in Red and Pleasant Land.