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Post by jimlotfp on Feb 26, 2009 11:51:38 GMT -6
'allo all...
Fight On #4 has a couple of articles I wrote concerning my "ancient evil empire" of Duvan'Ku. There's an adventure, magic-user spells, and magic items.
I want to contribute Duvan'Ku material to Fight On! on a continual basis, and I want those articles to be useful, so I ask you... what did you like about the articles? What didn't you like? What kinds of articles and what sort of information concerning Duvan'Ku would you like to see in future issues?
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Post by calithena on Feb 27, 2009 9:56:04 GMT -6
As possibly the only person around here who's read the article yet, I will say this:
You got the 'gothic romantic horror' thing down pretty well. It's not an easy feat, when you're in the same issue as Arduin, Tekumel, and Carcosa submissions, to wind up writing the creepiest material in the whole 122 pages of the 'zine. But I think you may have managed it...
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Post by geoffrey on Mar 11, 2009 23:35:22 GMT -6
...what did you like about the [Duvan'Ku] articles? What didn't you like? What kinds of articles and what sort of information concerning Duvan'Ku would you like to see in future issues? I simply love the fact that all the magic items have drawbacks. That is so much more interesting than a run-of-the-mill magic item that has a beneficial power that simply works every time with no associated curse (which reminds me more of technology than magic). With these, you have to weigh the benefits vs. the costs of using the magic items. Great, great stuff. I also like the spells, though not quite as much as the magic items. While I found a couple of the spells lackluster, most are satisfyingly sinister. I LOVE the Dangerous Toys spell, with the implication that a child is always the toy's first victim. The Longevity spell is also a favorite, evoking Countess Elizabeth Bathory. You want magical benefits? Then sacrifices must be made... The Oaths and the Pact are also great ideas. What I didn't like: The adventure doesn't work for me. Admittedly, I don't think it was written with my tastes in mind. My favorite format of a published module is the original Tegel Manor, and I am smitten with the One Page Dungeon Level Template that's being used on several blogs. (I don't think you much care for that format.) The format of your adventure takes a completely different strategy, giving lots of details. What I Want: Monsters unique to Duvan'Ku would be my first choice. Wilderlands-style maps of the lands of Duvan'Ku (with Wilderlands-style encounter keys) would be next, followed by more of those eerie magic items and spells. Oh, and gods (with stats!) of Duvan'Ku. And how about the various cults of Duvan'Ku? That's quite a bit, so I'd better stop. |
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Post by jimlotfp on Mar 12, 2009 7:36:23 GMT -6
Crud crud, I had a long response almost ready to go and then the computer shut down for an 'update.' grrr.
For the items, I consider them more cursed items that happen to have beneficial uses.
As far as detailing Duvan'Ku itself... it's difficult to do without seeming cartoony or gratuitous. A series of ridiculously high level magic-user/lich maniac Emperors with their own particular taste in atrocities is how I see it and to actually say what they are, well, it'll come across as Friday the 13th Part XXVI as one goes down the list.
As far as gods and cults, it's all about the current Emperor, who demands worship and suppresses the knowledge that there were ever any other rules. Melnibone meets 1984 meets the Pharaohs, maybe. Cults secretly worshipping previous Emperors might be around.
They also go after "real" deities. The To Challenge the Gods spell was all about the upper echelons of Duvan'Ku sorcery attempting to take down deities. Sure, there's only a 5% chance that it works, and even then the resulting fight is no sure thing, but to slay a god surely means great power and their pick of noble princesses for their harems/torture pits.
I had a few sessions where PCs were in Duvan'Ku in the present day, and it looked something like this:
The city was in a gorge, surrounded by a gigantic containment circle. While it keeps everything inside, it was also the shield that protected the city when the gods struck the empire down.
For hundreds of miles around the city was flat plains, with 7-8' tall grass. A dinosaur-riding goblin civilization inhabits the area. Brontosaur-riding archery platoons, bugbear-piloted triceratops 'tanks,' and a mounted pterosaur recon/air force. In ancient times they were charged with guarding the remains of Duvan'Ku, and even though the actual charge has been forgotten, they are jealously territorial and so fulfill their mission anyway.
Inside the city, the former population of tens of thousands is all undead. Duvan'Ku rests at the center of many worlds (I once did an Over the Edge game as part of my AD&D campaign to show Duvan'Ku is extra-dimensional, and Al Amarja seemed weird enough to handle it). Many other forces come here to pay tribute to the Last Emperor, and attempt to gain his favor in their conflicts. A force of drow, mind flayers, and githyanki were in the city when my players were there.
But in the end, I think that keeping Duvan'Ku as a 'background' idea and inspiration for creepy items, spells, and locations (I do have an old shrine that's fairly detailed) it would help keep the idea creepy without showing it... sort of horror movie psychology.
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Post by labsenpai on Mar 15, 2009 22:55:48 GMT -6
Yes, I can see a cartoon of that being made...dinosaurs always sell well  Perhaps it is just your style, but the adventure almost reads backwards to me, with the intrigue surrounding the greedy Addleton detailed after the room descriptions. Without his subtly suspicious tale, the tower is just an aging death trap the party can ignore. Rather, with him venturing in first, a "trail of horror" commences, where the employed PCs can only imagine what gruesome things are happening in the tower level above them. I liked that about your suggested plot hook. Yet, having the unfortunate guy die without a gruesome treat to satisfy morbid curiosity would be something I'd edit. What if the "Rats of Duvan'Ku" were witnessed carrying Addleton's gnawed body parts UP instead of DOWN? The ruse of the tower existing to aid these (suddenly larger and deliberate) fiendish rats in supplying corpses to something waiting on Level 5? Surely the twisted influence of "dread sorceries" could be scarier than a dark room with a messy floor. /and how about a chest of those evil items... |
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Post by jimlotfp on Mar 19, 2009 6:10:20 GMT -6
Without his subtly suspicious tale, the tower is just an aging death trap the party can ignore. Isn't that true about most dungeons? Anyway, it was kind of backwards, but that was intentional. By describing the location first, I wanted the reader (who I presume to be a potential referee for the place) to get his own ideas of how to set it up and include it before giving my suggestion. |
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jrients
Level 6 Magician
Posts: 411
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Post by jrients on Mar 19, 2009 18:20:54 GMT -6
Jim: I plan on using some of the Duvan'Ku magic in the spellbook of a dead necromancer.
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Post by Zulgyan on Mar 19, 2009 19:39:06 GMT -6
I liked the spell Torture from the free download and will add it to my cleric spell list.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2009 22:05:15 GMT -6
I loved the tower and the spells, but for the magic items I could have gone with some slightly lower amount of curse at times... I liked that there were downsides to the power, but generally the downside seemed to be too much - use and die instead of use and regret...
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Post by Melan on Mar 26, 2009 14:52:16 GMT -6
The adventure has all the charm of a fairy tale gone hideously, hideously wrong; from imagery to the setup, it has the features of a piece you just know will work. I recommended it to Premier, who is starting a new campaign in short time and may have a use for it. The spells, unfortunately, have "metal fan trying to be edgy" written all over them - seriously, Vomit? Not impressive over sixteen. The magic items are sort of in between the adventure and the spells. The setting, what we now know of it from the hints, seems intriguing enough; D&D to the extent it is good for the game and different to the extent it doesn't become staid.
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Post by jimlotfp on Mar 26, 2009 15:08:37 GMT -6
The spells, unfortunately, have "metal fan trying to be edgy" written all over them A lot of those were taken out of metal lyrics or song or band names. Dangerous Toys and Death Breath are band names, the Longevity spell is based on the Countess Bathory legend as related by Venom, Cradle of Filth, and Bathory, and the Storm of Fertility is based on the opening of the Crimson song/album. A couple of the others were taken out of things I'd seen in horror movies (Vomit Guts is pretty much my interpretation of what happens in the most noted scene from City of the Living Dead. |
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Post by Melan on Mar 26, 2009 16:11:44 GMT -6
d**n, I wanted to write they must have been inspired by album covers. There goes my reputation for precognition right before it even took off.
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Post by ragnorakk on Mar 26, 2009 16:27:47 GMT -6
A lot of those were taken out of metal lyrics I've been doing that a lot recently with Hellhammer/Celtic Frost song titles and lyrics (surely I am the first to do this ) Jewelled Throne, Circle of the Tyrants, Portal to Infinity - these are direct rip-offs in my game...anyway - I've only seen the page from your blog and I liked the spells! |
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Post by Zulgyan on Mar 26, 2009 19:06:39 GMT -6
Cool. I'm looking foward to recieving my issue and making use of Duvan'Ku because I was a metalhead my self at school. Played in a band and all. I think it's totally old-school to take stuff from an alien source and D&Dfy it. Now... this is totally unappropiate for a gaming forum and totally off-topic, I hope you don't mind. But as a big metal fan yourself, I think you will find amusement in hearing what kind of music was a fellow old-schooler doing from 2000 to 2003 (ages 15 to 18, the best to be a metalhead!!) These are my two favorite songs we made for the band. The Poisoner, part 1 and 2 (the latter is best). It's Manowar with a spice of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest with Ripper Owens, plus some horrible effects for the guitar I never liked too much, bad english, and a poor recording of the drums. It's very amatourish and home made. But that's the OD&D way, ain't it? I'm the singer. ;D www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEH-x6AnhMkwww.youtube.com/watch?v=3Eh5CsZQHQoSometimes gamers can share other talents too! |
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Post by calithena on Mar 26, 2009 19:36:55 GMT -6
Ooh, i have to check those out when my daughter isn't asleep in the next room!
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Post by makofan on Mar 26, 2009 20:28:51 GMT -6
Those songs are awesome!! Huge Maiden fan here
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