Radiance:Life After the Fallout

[Freedom92]

The Radiance wiped out the people of Blackmoor and all those who were near the reactors. What life remains in its aftermath? How was divine magic effected? What remains of Blackmoors Legacies? Is Technology hoarded or destroyed by those who would attempt to prevent the destruction of the world yet again? What creatures arose from the wastelands spawned from the aftermath of the Radiance?

[RobJN]

The Radiance wiped out the people of Blackmoor and all those who were near the reactors. What life remains in its aftermath? How was divine magic effected? What remains of Blackmoors Legacies? Is Technology hoarded or destroyed by those who would attempt to prevent the destruction of the world yet again? What creatures arose from the wastelands spawned from the aftermath of the Radiance?

This answer is probably as varied as the number of DMs running games on Mystara.... There is very little canon information about the world after the Great Rain of Fire.

A blast of the magnitude to actually shift a planet on its axis outstrips even the dinosaur-killer asteroid or comet from Earth's ~65Mya. We'd be looking at a glancing blow from a planetoid roughly Mars-sized, which is what some scientists think gave us the moon.

So, I'm inclined to think that the devastation is somewhat less than what our real-world models come up with. Then again, the version of the Great Rain of Fire is vastly different from the baseline material, the result of a backblast of magic that scoured demons from the surface of the world, tainted the planet's magical field, and drove the wizards insane, causing them to remade the world in their madness. But the end result would be the same:

Immediate area(s) around Blackmoor are obliterated, continents reshaped, oceans and mountains changing places.
A sickness known as the Wasting takes root among the survivors, and can probably be likened to the various stages of radiation sickness. With the quasi-magical sourcing of the Radiance, one might imagine it would be especially deadly to those races with "magic in the blood."

Certainly, insect life would remain -- perhaps the "giant" variations of insects that seem to scurry around in dungeons had their beginnings amidst the Radiance-laced fallout in the ruins of Blackmoor?

Outlying colonies may or may not have survived the destruction. Would they have been flooded with refugees? Would those refugees-- possibly tainted with the Wasting-- be allowed anywhere near the cities and outposts?

For those with Blackmoor tech, there would be those wanting it for themselves, to start carving out their own city-states, and those who would eschew such devices. Again, the line between have and have-not would be very stark indeed. Would those with the Tech use it to lord over the tribes and clans without? Or would they not bother with those who turned back to "barbarism" and only seek to deal with (read: conquer) other city-states still hoarding other caches of Tech?

As the elves of proto-Glantri show us, some colossal devices of Blackmoor Tech still lie scattered across the expanse of the Old Empire.

Some speculate that the current goblinoid races are the result of Radiance stabilizing the breeds of Beast Men. Or perhaps they are the result of Radiance mutating demi-human races.

On Thorn's Mystara, the wastes surrounding Blackmoor are haunted by Radiant shadows, living spells, burnt-out magitech warrior-shells, demon-infused weapons and armor, great swathes of undead Visions...

[Freedom92]

[/quote]

This answer is probably as varied as the number of DMs running games on Mystara.... There is very little canon information about the world after the Great Rain of Fire.

A blast of the magnitude to actually shift a planet on its axis outstrips even the dinosaur-killer asteroid or comet from Earth's ~65Mya. We'd be looking at a glancing blow from a planetoid roughly Mars-sized, which is what some scientists think gave us the moon.

So, I'm inclined to think that the devastation is somewhat less than what our real-world models come up with. Then again, the version of the Great Rain of Fire is vastly different from the baseline material, the result of a backblast of magic that scoured demons from the surface of the world, tainted the planet's magical field, and drove the wizards insane, causing them to remade the world in their madness. But the end result would be the same:

Immediate area(s) around Blackmoor are obliterated, continents reshaped, oceans and mountains changing places.
A sickness known as the Wasting takes root among the survivors, and can probably be likened to the various stages of radiation sickness. With the quasi-magical sourcing of the Radiance, one might imagine it would be especially deadly to those races with "magic in the blood."

Certainly, insect life would remain -- perhaps the "giant" variations of insects that seem to scurry around in dungeons had their beginnings amidst the Radiance-laced fallout in the ruins of Blackmoor?

Outlying colonies may or may not have survived the destruction. Would they have been flooded with refugees? Would those refugees-- possibly tainted with the Wasting-- be allowed anywhere near the cities and outposts?

For those with Blackmoor tech, there would be those wanting it for themselves, to start carving out their own city-states, and those who would eschew such devices. Again, the line between have and have-not would be very stark indeed. Would those with the Tech use it to lord over the tribes and clans without? Or would they not bother with those who turned back to "barbarism" and only seek to deal with (read: conquer) other city-states still hoarding other caches of Tech?

As the elves of proto-Glantri show us, some colossal devices of Blackmoor Tech still lie scattered across the expanse of the Old Empire.

Some speculate that the current goblinoid races are the result of Radiance stabilizing the breeds of Beast Men. Or perhaps they are the result of Radiance mutating demi-human races.

On Thorn's Mystara, the wastes surrounding Blackmoor are haunted by Radiant shadows, living spells, burnt-out magitech warrior-shells, demon-infused weapons and armor, great swathes of undead Visions...

I've thought of mega fauna with mutations would be good, possibly look at the legacies or sorcerer(PF) or Summoner(PF) for possibly ideas on the mutations.Though the use of the Coeurl can be attempted making even more references to the Voyage of the Space Beagle, might have to dig around for other mutagenic critters to live in the fallout.

That makes sense, though to what extent did Blackmoor advance in technology? I've seen reference saying they were working into a nuclear age of power with the Radiance generators while others say they were highly advanced to the point mimicking the technology of City of the Gods, even to the point of building their own automatons and war machines. Can you give me a rough idea of how advanced they got? I get that they may have recreated the power armor and the armor of the Blue Rider.

The Techno-Undead would be interesting to see in the Fallout of the Radiance, I've introduced crude techno-liches in service to the Egg of Coot before and going through the Temple of the Frog episode of the Blackmoor MMRPG I read the starmetal segment and made me think, is this Coots connection to the Outer Beings? Could he really be from beyond the stars? Would explain his need to devour arcane energies and maybe that Starmetal is part of what Coot was or a part of another Outer Being.

Eldritch Horrors, those things born from the primordial void between the stars and alien dimensions. They are the spawns of the Outer Beings and the Immortals of the Sphere of Entropy. Since I'm a big Lovecraft's man I might be able to introduce the Outer Beings as Cthulhu Mythos deities or atleast make comparisons to them so I can toss more horrors into the aftermath, I thought maybe with magi being warped the barriers between dimensions has weakened and the Outer Beings are now attempting to squeeze into this reality. Would be good for those exploring a hidden dungeon/lab filled wtih experiments and dimensional breaches.

From what I understand there are few races on Post-Radiance Mystra correct? Humans, elves, dwarves, Beastmen? Were there any others mentioned? I thought maybe introduce ratfolk in the game, possibly the result of Blackmoor genetic tampering that after the Great Rain of Fire took up living in their creators shadow by collecting 'sacred' relics and technology. They were bred to study disease on sentient creatures and they played that role till Blackmoors demise, they were not affected by the Wasting like other races and discovered a cure usable only by their kind. I could also introduce a race or two of constructs acting as vessels for those who worked in the Radiance generators but lost their bodies in the process.

Also what of the Immortals? I understand they were caught off guards by the Great Rain of Fire but how did they react besides shifting most cultures to the Hollow World? What of the other religions? The Cult of the Frog is a good example of a group who could possibly live through the Great Rain of Fire, St.Stephen mutated the froglins and in my campaign at least two other races of amphibians. Does their patron still exist? Was that thing even a immortal of entropy or just some demon lord of the past? What of the Egg of Coot?

You mention living spells and demon possessed armor and weapons, those seem like they would fit right in. I could see living spells being manifestations of the knowledge of Blackmoors technomancy and the demon possessed items as paragons of a technomancers attempt at conjuration and infusing.

Those who were touched by the wasting would probably be sent back to where they came from, told to accept their fate or a cure was being worked on and in truth their was no cure for mankind. Though not all would die from the wasting, through breeding they bred stronger individuals with powers, these wasteland mutations made then have the appearance of the undead to some and othwers hulking monstrosities who lash out at their own kin who denied then safe haven. They worship entropy and death, to fight back the wasting they've gone as far to rip mechanical grafts from their owners and plant them onto themselves. They also partake in the study of the Radiance and are attempting to build new grafts or bodies to support their elders as the wasting takes full effect, some have been seen looking gaunt and deadly but armed with the deadliest of graft that replace whole arms and make these savages even more deadly.

[RobJN]

That makes sense, though to what extent did Blackmoor advance in technology? I've seen reference saying they were working into a nuclear age of power with the Radiance generators while others say they were highly advanced to the point mimicking the technology of City of the Gods, even to the point of building their own automatons and war machines. Can you give me a rough idea of how advanced they got? I get that they may have recreated the power armor and the armor of the Blue Rider.

This can depend on your source material. I primarily use the DA series of modules, followed by one of the timelines linked form Havard's main Blackmoor page. I have not read the Dave Arneson's Blackmoor hardback books, so I don't know precisely what they have to say about how far the empire advanced before the GRoF. Those being "non-Mysaran" sources, I'm not sure how much of them I would use, anyway.

Blackmoor rose in tech progress in leaps and bounds, primarily due to the University's reverse-engineering of FSS Beagle tech. It is important to note that Blackmoor Tech was not direct copies of the Federation's technologies, since the physics between Mystara's dimension and that of the Federation were just different enough not to allow things to work quite the same way. Pure tech was prone to malfunctioning, and was augmented by Blackmoor University mages.

So, how far did Blackmoor's tech advance? On Thorn's Mystara, they had teleportation gates. They put quite a few satellites in geosynchronous orbit. They used the Radiance both as a power source and a weapon. They used "robotics." They had "artificial intelligences." Laser and plasma weaponry was part and parcel of their military forces. Soldiers frequently augmented their battlefield experience with powered exoskeletons, some of which allowed for such things as personal aerial combat. Their research into planar and dimnesional physics allowed the creation of an engine that could sever planar connections to the Prime.

The Techno-Undead would be interesting to see in the Fallout of the Radiance, I've introduced crude techno-liches in service to the Egg of Coot before and going through the Temple of the Frog episode of the Blackmoor MMRPG I read the starmetal segment and made me think, is this Coots connection to the Outer Beings? Could he really be from beyond the stars? Would explain his need to devour arcane energies and maybe that Starmetal is part of what Coot was or a part of another Outer Being.

If that is how you wish to use the Egg, go for it! I've always likened it to a sort of a lesser Great Old One, a baby Cthuloid. Malevolent, totally alien, as curious about mankind as it is dangerous to it. From beyond the stars? Sure, why not? One setting material I was reading theorized that demons step through onto Earth through tears in the fabric of reality brought on by (of all things) nuclear detonations. Why not have Radiance-based explosions do the same thing on Mystara? Imagine the size of the being stepping through the breach opened up by the destruction of an entire civilization!

From what I understand there are few races on Post-Radiance Mystra correct? Humans, elves, dwarves, Beastmen? Were there any others mentioned? I thought maybe introduce ratfolk in the game, possibly the result of Blackmoor genetic tampering that after the Great Rain of Fire took up living in their creators shadow by collecting 'sacred' relics and technology. They were bred to study disease on sentient creatures and they played that role till Blackmoors demise, they were not affected by the Wasting like other races and discovered a cure usable only by their kind. I could also introduce a race or two of constructs acting as vessels for those who worked in the Radiance generators but lost their bodies in the process.

I would also add the fey races to your list, though most of them would be secluded in the forests and wild areas of the North. Thorn's Blackmoor saw ever-shrinking nations of the fey, even in Uther's time -- it is entirely possible that most of the fey had retreated from Skothar by the time Blackmoor's culture hit its peak. Uther's twin daughters were half High Sidhe, and were the only fey to actively be seen in the cities of the Empire. All the other fey -- even their mother, the queen of the Twilight Empire -- would only manifest in the woodlands surrounding the cities of Men.

Also what of the Immortals? I understand they were caught off guards by the Great Rain of Fire but how did they react besides shifting most cultures to the Hollow World? What of the other religions? The Cult of the Frog is a good example of a group who could possibly live through the Great Rain of Fire, St.Stephen mutated the froglins and in my campaign at least two other races of amphibians. Does their patron still exist? Was that thing even a immortal of entropy or just some demon lord of the past? What of the Egg of Coot?

The Immortals spent most of their effort re-stabilizing the planet, reigning in the firestorms and setting the climates into some semblance of normalcy and just ensuring a few of the inhabitants survived.

Would this have meant they were no longer granting spells to their clerics? Did they even have many clerics left? The froglin's patron, the demon Stodos, does indeed still exist. In fact, he is quite active through the first arc of Thorn's Chronicle..... :twisted:

You mention living spells and demon possessed armor and weapons, those seem like they would fit right in.

Those bits of goodness were gleaned from the Eberron Campaign Setting.

[Freedom92]

I see, so they were able to create wonders of technological prowess that wasn't natural for their world due to factors unknown besides ohysics and possibly the magic that radiates from Mystra. If I introduce technology it will be how I've introduced it in my games set in Numeria of the pathfinder setting, they will be built like magic items, they will act like magic items, they will be difficult to build and difficult to use if you are untrained in the art of making and breaking technology down. A pair of boots that create a EMP effects might function like boots of stomping, a storage matrix functions like a bag of holding, night vision goggles function like goggles of night, Data Slate describing how to build 'AI's and Robotics would function like a Golems Manual.

I've also thought of the Egg of Coot as a possiby a old one or great old one whose prison is Mystra but because of his 'alien' nature he feeds off energy and because Blackmoor/Mystra radiates or is infused with magic it became dependent on magical energies. With the introduction of dark technomancy the Egg of Coot discovered a way to collect his food source without having to collect the bodies instead of using brain canisters of alien design his 'disciples' discovered in a distant mountain pass with a strange creature holding a mixture of strange devices.

I can see in the aftermath groups of explorers looking for technology might activate a damaged gate that releases a eldritch influence similar to the Egg of Coot or the Outer Beings but possibly something like Yog-Sothoth, a primordial entity that is the manifestation of time itself but creating a time space dimensional rift letting the region be a hazard zone even the few Immortals of Time have to ask 'what is happening, why is the world falling apart?'

I'm tempted to say that divine magic has begun to dwindle to a bare minimum that those who still recieve blessings from their patrons have begun to sell their skills to the highest bidder. Make it seem that many dont trust science to the degree many of Blackmoors technologist and disease specialist, so many turned back to the gods hoping they would cure the Wasting but many of the gods have become silent in their actions and the few who remain active are those of the sphere of Entropy.

I'll add some fey and possibly half-giants to the list of races, I've wanted to include the races the Egg of Coot may have bred as slaves because what does a slave do when the master is dead or in stasis? They wander out of his domain.Though because I'm using the 3.5 source book the Ash Goblins seem like something that may appear in the aftermath as a race of degenerate goblinoids or possibly a split caste of advance and degenerate goblinoids who were the target of Blackmoor experiments in attempt to breed out the savage instincts of the ash goblins and possibly other races Blackmoor scientist deemed as threats. They might have even created new races like I mentioned the Ratfolk.

Do you mind filling me in on the current affairs of the patron of the Cult of the Frog? Is his amphibious brood expanding from the Froglin?

Also what classes would be appropriate for the aftermath of the Great Rain of Fire? I guess arcane magic is probably a iffy thing that might end up turning into a disaster while divine magic might be rare if you have a patron. Fighters, rangers, and rogues would fill their usual niches and barbarians might be seen among the degenerate tribes who seek refuge but find none. I could see the tribes of wasting mutants being built upon rangers, blight druids, grafters and salvagers, and their leaders may be the greatest of their kind with the most complete grafts and augments and their shamans might be straight up blighters who feed off the effects of the Radiance. Druids might be seen in the dominion of the fey and their twisted cousins might be skilled Blighters who revel in the fallout seeing it as Entropy's greatest manifestation. How would you represent the technologist of Blackmoor though?

I thought in the aftermath of the Great Rain of Fire you'd find Wizards attempting to harness the power of the fallout from the Radiance and the raw power of plasma as their spells, possibly even a few attempting to make new techno lich bodies or delving into mutations of the aberrant nature to try to bring a immunity to the Wasting disease.

[RobJN]

Do you mind filling me in on the current affairs of the patron of the Cult of the Frog? Is his amphibious brood expanding from the Froglin?

Stodos is behind the unnaturally early and intensely cold winter that grips the Known World in 997 AC, by manipulating a hierarch of the Children of Winter sect of druids in Karameikos. All part of Stodos' plan to bypass the severing of the demonic plane(s) from the Mystaran Prime by invading through the Plane of Ice instead....

Also what classes would be appropriate for the aftermath of the Great Rain of Fire? ... How would you represent the technologist of Blackmoor though?

I would say clerics, fighters, thieves and their sub classes would be appropriate. Wizards might be playable for a few levels, until the insanity catches up with them. Then they become NPCs under DM's control. Technologists could be represented by Eberron's Artificer class, I think. As Asimov's Third Law states: any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic -- just make the Artificer's infusions the work of his remaining Blackmoor tech.

[Freedom92]

That makes me think Stodos didnt have a full plan made to a point, since his followers are the Cult of Frog wouldnt that hinder his amphibious followers? Though the idea of a forzen wasteland sounds like something a demonlord would do to to try and keep his connection to the prime right.

Okay and agreed on the madness of wizards, I like making players search for new spells to add to their spell books and certain tomes invoke ancient evils like the Outer Beings and the ancient Demon Lords of the Abyss and that will cause some madness to manifest in the caster if he has no protection against such things.

I could see the artificer acting well as a technologist whose knowledge in the art of technology only goes so far and they can only support so much tech on their own bio-electric field. I play with the Pathfinder rule set and they do have a exact artificer class but a third party supplement has a artificer who uses weird science to mimic spells. The system does have a alchemist class whose potions mimic spells that affect the caster and have the ability to create mutagens and other thing such as bombs and bodily mutations(Wings, gills, tumors, etc.)

[Chimpman]

Just saw this thread and am still reading through it, but one version of what happened after the Great Rain of Fire can be found in the Mystara 2300 BC forum

[Freedom92]

Just saw this thread and am still reading through it, but one version of what happened after the Great Rain of Fire can be found in the Mystara 2300 BC forum

Interesting style of campaign, does it illuminate the resultsof the Egg of Coot and the Frog Cult?

Also do you think Radiance fallout should have a mutating effect? Would you suggest dormant bloodlines to bubble up to form Tieflings, etc?

[Havard]

Minor nitpick: The catastrophe is called the Great Rain of Fire. The Radience is the name of a powerful artifact that somehow survived the disaster, not the disaster itself.

I also wrote some ideas for a campaign more immediate after the Great Rain of Fire called the Years of Fire (scroll down).

-Havard