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+--- Thread: [Age of Id] The Quest for the Seven Stargems (/showthread.php?tid=1920)
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[Age of Id] The Quest for the Seven Stargems - Havard - 11-30-2014
Picking up on something I dropped passingly in the Blackmoor Year 500 thread:
Havard Wrote:This is the age when the Dog Duke rules Blackmoor. The alliance between Men and Elves are being tested as many elves urge the Elf-King to withdraw into the woods, leaving man to fend against the growing shadows on his own. This is an ancient and wild time, when castles are far between and the wilderness covers most of the land. Beyond the few strongholds the Thonian Empire has built in this part of the world, the North is unmapped territory. The Duke of Blackmoor now needs adventurers who are brave enough to risk their way into the unknown. Into the dark places of the wild where even the enigmatic elvenfolk do not dare to venture.
- In this world you can:
- Investigate why the elves are becoming more reclusive, and why their sylvan allies are disappearing.
- Help the newly arriving race of dwarves to find a new home in The North
- In a world without Orcs, Goblins or Beastmen; fight ancient foes like the Gakkarak, Malfera, Garl, Fell-Brutes, Displacer Beasts, Athach, Chokers, Nucalavee, Necrozon, Ropers, Nightshades, Savage Valemen and Undead Peshwa.
- Quest for the Seven Stargems, relics said to be recovered from the Blackmoor Dungeon in the Age of Giants and perhaps the only hope of protecting Blackmoor from a horrible evil.
- Discover the nefarious plots of the Order of Id
- And more...
So what are these "Seven Stargems" all about? Actually I just made them up for this campaign outline. However, we already know that the Jewel of Sunlight is connected to the destruction of the Temple of Id. This campaign outline probably fits best around the Thonian Year 490. This is roughly a century before Kargas makes his first discovery about the magic of the North which later leads to Skelfer's crystal based magic. Whether the Stargems are connecfted to the Jewel of Sunlight or not is not so important. I do see these Stargems as major Spell Crystals though, more powerful than the ones Cabal Wizards use in the 1030s setting.
The main point for adding them here was to provide a sense of hope in this campaign, which is otherwise centered around alot of darkness. It makes sense that the Stargems were originally mined out of the Blackmoor Dungeon, especially since the rock that Blackmoor Castle is built upon is the most magical of the entire North. It also allowed me to sneak in a reference to the Age of Giants, creating a connection between the Age of Id and the Age of Giants.
Other than the fact that there will be no Orcs, Goblins or Beastmen around, I see the actual Quest for the Seven Stargems as a pretty standard adventure though. It will give the PCs a reason to venture into the wilderness that will some day become the domains of Blackmoor.
Perhaps I will write up this adventure for the Crossroads Series.
Any suggestions or ideas?
-Havard
Re: [Age of Id] The Quest for the Seven Stargems - RobJN - 11-30-2014
Hmmm, this has some resonance with the Seven Lights/spheric method of Alphatian spell weaving, as well as somewhat tying in with the chromatic-themed dragonstones of Thorn's World That Was. (Though there are only five colored stones as yet described, there are rumors of a sixth, dracosilicus amberyl...)
What if you had the initial premise be a single stone, with the discovery during the search that -- oh boy!-- there are more to discover, with each one tilting the odds in favor of the good guys?
What started as a search becomes a race against time, as the heroes try to gather as many gems as they can before the cultists can seize them.
Just some thoughts on possible structures for the idea.
Re: [Age of Id] The Quest for the Seven Stargems - Havard - 11-30-2014
I'm adding some comments from the Blackmoor Fans group on Facebook:
Adam Wrote:Gemstones mined from the heart of a neutron star? Each one is just a flake but weighs more than a mountain? Or, could be from a brown dwarf, and just not weigh so much.
Could be self-contained universes, with unimaginable power. Something like the Galaxy from Men In Black.
Could be the living avatars of stars, ala Kevin Sorbo's Andromeda.
One more idea: the whole tale could be a bunch of milarky concocted by a merchant looking to grossly inflate the price of seven gemstones he's looking to sell. By the time the PCs realize all they have is seven relatively ordinary gemstones, the merchant is LONG gone.
RobJN Wrote:Otherwise known as the "Dragon Mountain" effect
Kevin D Wrote:I just read that, Havard...Id? Wizards? "THE KING IS A FINK! THE KING IS A FINK!" /act *galoop galoop galoop* (LOL)
Havard Wrote:Kevin: Haha, yep! I would not be surprised if the Wizard of Id was the real inspiration behind the Temple of Id. OTOH I also like the idea that Arneson lifted the terms Ego, Id and Thanatos out of Psychology. I have another post about that on the forum... Or quite possibly its a mix of those, serious and funny
Kevin D Wrote:With Dave, that combination wouldn't surprise me in the least!
-Havard
Re: [Age of Id] The Quest for the Seven Stargems - Havard - 11-30-2014
RobJN Wrote:Hmmm, this has some resonance with the Seven Lights/spheric method of Alphatian spell weaving, as well as somewhat tying in with the chromatic-themed dragonstones of Thorn's World That Was. (Though there are only five colored stones as yet described, there are rumors of a sixth, dracosilicus amberyl...)
Certainly possible! I am not sure exactly what making them the same would mean but...
Quote:What if you had the initial premise be a single stone, with the discovery during the search that -- oh boy!-- there are more to discover, with each one tilting the odds in favor of the good guys?
What started as a search becomes a race against time, as the heroes try to gather as many gems as they can before the cultists can seize them.
Just some thoughts on possible structures for the idea.
I like these ideas for adventure structure. Both finding one at a time and especially the idea of a race between the PCs and the Id Cultists. Perhaps the first gem can be found by accident. That could make the PCs want to investigate its history. Talking to local sages, or Peshwa "Prophets" could give them enough clues to go finding the next one etc.
One, perhaps too clicheic idea is that they were once part of a single gem shaped like a seven pointed star. The Giant King Firehammer broke it into seven and when he was killed the pieces were scattered and lost.
More ideas later.
-Havard
Re: [Age of Id] The Quest for the Seven Stargems - RobJN - 11-30-2014
Havard Wrote:One, perhaps too clicheic idea is that they were once part of a single gem shaped like a seven pointed star. The Giant King Firehammer broke it into seven and when he was killed the pieces were scattered and lost.I was thinking something sort of along those lines -- either shards of one great gem, or pieces that had been fixed in a talisman or amulet of some sort -- or used as foci for some great light-driven machine?
More ideas later.
-Havard
And the gems' destruction with the fall of the Temple of Id scatters splinters of them all over the North, which are then discovered by a certain mage to have special properties where magicks are concerned....
Re: [Age of Id] The Quest for the Seven Stargems - Rafael - 12-01-2014
I am preparing a pretty epic game for *Mordred* based on the legendary *Doomstones* campaign for Warhammer. While I frown about the similarities our games might turn out to have, this might be a good place for you to start, in case you want to colelct some further inspiration.
Re: [Age of Id] The Quest for the Seven Stargems - Havard - 12-01-2014
Raphael Pinthus Wrote:While I frown about the similarities our games might turn out to have,
Man, some times you say alot of weird shit.
Quote: this might be a good place for you to start, in case you want to colelct some further inspiration.
I remember being a player in the Doomstone Series back in the early 90s. I don't remember much though. I may look them up
-Havard
Re: [Age of Id] The Quest for the Seven Stargems - Havard - 12-01-2014
RobJN Wrote:I was thinking something sort of along those lines -- either shards of one great gem, or pieces that had been fixed in a talisman or amulet of some sort -- or used as foci for some great light-driven machine?
And the gems' destruction with the fall of the Temple of Id scatters splinters of them all over the North, which are then discovered by a certain mage to have special properties where magicks are concerned....
Infinity War!
Anyway, I definitely think that this plot hook can be used in other eras as well, including the modern (Year 1030) one.
Another thing I like is the idea of the Stargem being like a brother gemstone to the Jewel of the Sun from the FFC. So the Stargem and the Sungem could both be instrumental in the destruction of the Temple of Id.
Some further associations:
Pacuun: God of the Sun. Sunsword.
Khoronus: Also known as the Starlight General....
More later
-Havard
Re: [Age of Id] The Quest for the Seven Stargems - RobJN - 12-01-2014
Thorn's World That Was has Golden Leansethar, and her elder twin Rowena, sometimes called the Silver Princess.
The naming conventions undertaken by many of the shrikes is no accident, either: "Aurora," "Nova."...
Re: [Age of Id] The Quest for the Seven Stargems - Havard - 12-01-2014
RobJN Wrote:Thorn's World That Was has Golden Leansethar, and her elder twin Rowena, sometimes called the Silver Princess.
The naming conventions undertaken by many of the shrikes is no accident, either: "Aurora," "Nova."...
Hmmm.... 8)
-Havard