HYPERBOREA / <Workshop> Das Rheingold

**Posted by Scalydemon** 12/02/2014 9:24 pm

Anyone who is up for helping , adding to this in any way, ideas, rooms, flavour, maps, art etc is welcome

Rough idea: To create a setting style adventure loosely based on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_Rheingold

hook; the party finds reference in an ancient tablet fragment to a once marvelled ancient city in a remote locale. The city was originally built by Giants and has since been re-taken by them, though the City is in a state of near complete ruin. Cyclopean pillars, some buildings of prominence still standing

**Posted by Scalydemon** 12/02/2014 11:17 pm

Classic mythical beasts, gorgons, wyrms etc

gravity based room traps, water filled rooms,

gnarled, misshapen forlorn Giants with a hatred of mankind due to centurys of reclusive hardship

**Posted by Chainsaw** 12/03/2014 8:29 am

Ancient burial ground or battle site, with the spirits of the dead giants possessing rock and earth, manifesting physically like elementals.

**Posted by Handy Haversack** 12/03/2014 8:48 am

Nice thought, Chainsaw!

AS&SH has two true (Norse) giants listed and the Fomorians. I would think a jarls each of frost and fire, 20 of each giant, and 50-60 dwarf slaves and crafters might fill out the complex. Maybe a crack in the earth through which magma wells for the fire giant lair and forge while the city is cracked and tumbled by an approaching glacier, giving the frost giants their habitat, too. Fomorians might be used as guards, savage and mistreated by their masters--maybe even willing to turn. And the twisted spirits of long-dead "true" giants are guiding and warping these clans--perhaps toward the creation of a great battle barge made of unmeltable ice and armed with lava throwers to ravage the islands of man?

**Posted by Chainsaw** 12/03/2014 9:35 am

@Handy - thanks, likewise - just spitballing/brainstorming. My real life job requires me to accept "good idea, workable idea, stupid idea" feedback, so I am fairly thick-skinned on stuff like this.

The forge - some sort of large broken-down metals and weapons and armor forging area, perhaps with remnant/hints of attempts to harness alien technology that went awry. Perhaps some otherworldly visitors (scientists, engineers) are even still imprisoned nearby or may have recently returned (space adventurers) to retrieve the tech (they could be battling some giants). There could also be some sort of (insane, malfunctioning?) mechanized guardian(s) in addition (or instead) creating problems for the giants, any otherworlders and your adventurers.

Variant could substitute ancient evil magic and related priests/magicians, but I prefer tech personally... seems a little more unexpected and interestig in the forge area. Plus, it's Hyperborea!

**Posted by Chainsaw** 12/03/2014 11:05 am

The way back room - giants once used this magical summoning room to commune with ancestors, but it's now in disrepair, warped and twisted, and acts as a one way portal, allowing ancient giants to arrive in the future, but with warped, twisted, corrupt minds. The few ancients who have come through so far have coalesced around the summoning room area and are planning their next steps. They may not be friendly with newer giants, given the portal's effects on their minds - they likely view them as usurpers or invaders from a rival clan. Destroying the portal could send them back, repairing it might heal their minds and enable some communication.

**Posted by Handy Haversack** 12/03/2014 12:04 pm

I like the ideas in both those posts! The aliens make for a nice factional aspect--something to play off against the giants and their twisted ancestor spirits. Possibly a trapped mi-go with oon servants lurking about and seeking a way to free it from the giants, who are using the mi-go to further their plans in some way? Helping the oon could get the party allies and disrupt the giants.

**Posted by Blackadder23** 12/03/2014 11:31 pm

Do we know that these alleged giants are even real? Might they be illusions created by a reclusive sorcerer, or hallucinations of collective insanity, or automata of alien construction? Is it possible their apparent return is a cover for an even more sinister agenda?

**Posted by Chainsaw** 12/04/2014 9:11 am

So, you know the gorgon and maybe the rarer greater gorgon, but what about the legendary superior gorgon? This wretched creature's evil power is so strong that her stare not only petrifies opponents, but also animates them like stone golems to do her bidding. In this case, she may have several petrified giants furthering her evil ends. She and her contingent could serve as another faction vying for control in Das Rheingold. Perhaps she even played a key role in the city's original fall.

I have yet to stat out the superior gorgon or use her in an adventure, mostly because my group's too weak, but I am eager to do it. Maybe I could present her, along with a short adventure, for AFS sometime.

**Posted by Ghul** 12/04/2014 5:34 pm

That would be awesome, Chainsaw! Do it! ;)

**Posted by Scalydemon** 12/04/2014 6:50 pm

This adventure is looking pretty high level

Been swamped on my end but hope to have time to contribute more soon

**Posted by Scalydemon** 12/05/2014 12:45 am

Additional ideas:
*human servitors bred into slavery and servitude, some oast-like, human dwarfs etc.
*ancient treasures and signs of past human civilization

One of the next steps would need to construct a crude map to start working on/fleshing out.

*What types of buildings should still be standing? What types of lairs should be present? Other?
*Where should this ancient city be located? (city which has dropped off all modern maps and is only referenced vaguely in old manuscripts or a tablet found)

**Posted by Chainsaw** 12/07/2014 10:02 pm

o

Ghul wrote:
That would be awesome, Chainsaw! Do it!

D'oh! Called my bluff! Maybe this can be a holiday project. Scaley, what's the deadline for AFS submissions?

Scalydemon wrote:
This adventure is looking pretty high level.

I suppose if the city's large enough, we could have a variety of offerings there, ranging from low to mid to high (not necessarily the same proportion of course). What sort of scope did you originally have in mind, Scaley?

Scalydemon wrote:
One of the next steps would need to construct a crude map to start working on/fleshing out.

Good idea - maybe you should take first stab at this map, since the city is your idea? We can then tack on bits and pieces with your blessing, where they seem appropriate.

As to locating the city, probably somewhere off the beaten path, but not totally inaccessible makes sense. Perhaps some lost valley toward the middle of the Spiral Array, maybe near one of those volcanos on the southern side of Mount Vhuurmithadon? Also, depending on how large it is, we might need to plant a small village within a week's march or something so that the PCs can make multiple excursions.

**Posted by Handy Haversack** 12/09/2014 12:10 pm

This project might be a good candidate for a "pointcrawl" rather than a full city map treatment--write up location areas that are linked by travel between them. Among them, rather, as each one should connect to more than one other, in general, so that there is no One Way Through. Then the authors or editor can arrange these into a pattern that makes sense for the adventure. That also might lend itself to collaboration as we wouldn't have to complete a map and then divvy it up. Once general themes and some possible factions are sussed out, people can each take a point.

For a description of what I mean, see the posts linked from here if there's any interest: http://hillcantons.blogspot.com/2014/11/pointcrawl-series-index.html

**Posted by Scalydemon** 12/09/2014 6:58 pm

Ok, some cool ideas here.

After some thought - I think it might be much easier and in a way better to stick as close as possible to the story. I put up a link in the initial post in this thread. It is only a page or 2 long but reading that you can see a lot of cool ideas for magic items etc that can be retained.
Also - I think it makes more sense to stick to the story in the point that the main adventure would be detailing the Castle they speak of with (built by the Giants under slave labour).
*Everyone basically thinks the existance of the Castle is steeped in myth. It only shows up on ancient maps etc. The party has come here to see if it exists following some vague worn manuscript. When they arrive the Castle exists but is in a state of ruin and is now inhabited by mytchical beasts and the forlorn Giants who once were enslaved to build the Castle*

It is much easier to design a somewhat ruined Castle versus an entire City or region.

Some of you may be thinking sarcastically - "Gee Scaly a ruined Castle - what a novel idea"
- but I think there are enough cool things in the story and with making these Giants forlorn and haggard and spiteful of humankind and add in some mythical beasts and ancient treasures and such that it could turn out cool and different.

Anyways - next step I think would be to maybe research to see if any cool old drawings or info exist of the Castle in this story. And then get a rough dungeon map together to start fleshing out.
And then fleshing out the surrounding area and backstory a bit. etc. And working on placement(Chainsaw seems to already have some good ideas on this), etc

thanks!

Last edited by Scalydemon (12/09/2014 7:00 pm)

<Workshop> Das Rheingold - City of Giants

Ghul wrote:

Scalydemon wrote:

Scalydemon wrote: