IM3 "The Best of Intentions" (1987) by Ken Rolston is a D&D adventure for 4-6
Temporals, levels 1-2.
IM3 "The Best of Intentions" by Ken Rolston. Tongue-in-cheek illustration by Jeff Easley.
Eminent mortals on the Prime Plane have been meeting violent ends, with evidence implicating demons of the Sphere of Entropy.
The PCs are tasked with penetrating a conspiracy to eliminate candidates for Immortality, in favor of those from the Dimension of Nightmares.
Creative Team:
Ken Rolston's previous credits included work at Chaosium (Runequest), TSR (AD&D), and West End Games, where he was a major contributor to the
Paranoia RPG.
I must admit... Best of Intentions seems more like a PARANOIA experience than a D&D project.
Rolston also contributed GAZ 2 "The Emirates of Ylaruam" (1987) and GAZ 7 "The Northern Reaches" (1988) to the Gazetteer line.
Editing was by Christine Christensen. Typography was credited to Betty Elmore.
Cover art was by Jeff Easley, with interior black-and-white illustrations by Jim Holloway, in the humorous style typical of Holloway's previous work for the Paranoia RPG.
Cartography was by Dennis and Ron Kauth, and Sue Myers.
The Adventure:
Pharamond (Energy; Empyreal 4) desires to foster diaboli from the Dimension of Nightmares as candidates for Immortality, by eliminating the competition.*
*Pharamond is motivated by "the best of intentions", ie. since the 5th dimension adjoins the 6th dimension, diaboli might become Immortals capable of crossing the Dimensional Vortex
His conspirators include Harrow (Thought; Temporal 3), the highest ranking Immortal diabolus; Mazikeen (Energy; Celestial 4), a former protege; and Hircismus (Entropy; Celestial 2), a demon.
When Mazikeen develops some misgivings, Pharmond feebleminds and incarcerates him, giving Mazikeen (and his avatars) a case of hysterical paranoia.
The Olympic Trials
The Sphere of Matter sponsors an Olympic trial, in which Immortals of all spheres are invited to compete for recognition and modest prizes.
*in the Immortal Set, each Sphere holds its own Olympic games, in which competing Immortals ascend to higher ranks by defeating one or more peers in competition
The PCs face NPC Temporals: Luca (Time), Cochere (Thought),
Soubrette (Thought), Raith (Energy), Macroblan (Matter), and Infaust (Matter).
The Doubles Planetoid Scramble, illustration by Jim Holloway, incorporating caricatures of TSR staffers (clockwise from right: Larry Elmore, Betty Elmore, Clyde Caldwell, and Keith Parkinson).
PC and NPC teams compete in "The Wild Hunt" in a populous region of Karameikos, and as pairs in "The Doubles Planetoid Scramble".
Afterwards, the PCs are summoned by
Utnapishtim (Matter; Empyreal) to his Home Plane of
Rhyolite, where he briefs them on the mysterious fatalities involving Immortal candidates.
Utnapishtim directs the PCs to locate Mazikeen, whose disappearance may somehow be connected, with the aid of Pangloss (Thought; Celestial).*
*if the PCs require additional assistance, Utnapishtim assigns them a worse-than-useless advisor, Buglore (Matter; Temporal 2)
The 24 Planes of Mazikeen
Pangloss shows the PCs the location of Mazikeen's presumed Home Plane of Serpentia, where the missing Immortal is known as Stirpicore, the Serpent God.
From there, the PCs must search through 24 interconnected Outer Planes* for Mazikeen.
*including the Warren "an underground complex where humans live a wretched existence under the domination of an insane computer." (ie. the Paranoia setting) described as a trispace in the reference chart on the inside cover, but a tetraspace in the description on pg. 11
Six of Mazikeen's avatars reside on six of the 24 planes, and serve as a means of locating Mazikeen, using the Cube of Six Planes (lesser artifact).
The Rescue of Mazikeen
The gate to Mazikeen's Home Plane of Lodestar is located in Corridor:
Corridor, a planet of immense icecaps almost covering the entire northern and southern hemispheres, with a narrow equatorial band of ocean. The inhabitants, the Sudarans, are cold-blooded reptilian/avians who sleep one-half to three-quarters of their lives in a semi-hibernating state. Descendants of a dinosaur-like fauna, these creatures became intelligent before the planet entered its ice age cycle, and thus they adapted to the arctic environment.
Their culture is extremely old, very conservative and ritualized. Their social order is feudal, with hereditary noble families controlling the habitable caverns beneath the ice sheet and the ancient technology that provides energy to warm the caverns and support crops. The Sudarans reached a level of technology equivalent to 21st century Earth before the ice age. Now it is a stable mixture of 19th, 20th, and 21st century technologies.
IM3 "The Best of Intentions" by Ken Rolston
Once Mazikeen's feeblemind is dispelled, he can be convinced to inform against Pharamond, his former mentor.
Ambushing the Ambushers
The PCs must protect three Immortal candidates while discovering the identities of any Immortal attackers in the Battle of Shillabeer Gap.
War machine scenario for the Battle of Shillabeer Gap
The conflict is set in northwestern Thyatis, in the foothills of the Altan Tepes, 50 miles northwest of Biazzan (hex 4722 of the map in X10 "
Red Arrow, Black Shield").
The Battle of Shillabeerap takes place 2 hexes to the northwest of Biazzan.
An Ylari irregular cavalry unit is stationed in Ctesiphon,* within four days of the Shillabeer Gap.
*Ctesiphon is further detailed in Rolston's GAZ 2 "The Emirates of Ylaruam" (1987)
The three Immortal candidates are Aline Sigbert (C34, AL L), Conquering Splendor, Daughter of Apollo** (the mother of the current Emperor of Thyatis); Charek Hilda (F31, AL N), the Great Defender, The Sword of Ares** (her paramour); and Dernfara of the Southern Isles (MU30, AL N).
**the mention of Greek gods was possibly inspired by their appearance in IM2 "Wrath of Olympus"
Aline's Lawful followers include Lendor (a 10th level Karameikan fighter); Anarachak (a 15th level Thyatian cleric); Bynar Raedwulfsen (a 20th level Northman fighter); Vestri Thjofrson (a 12th level Northman mage); Brethil Moonkindler (a 10th level Elf); and Drogo Prickthom (an 8th level Halfling).
(Aline succeeds in her quest for Immortality, and appears as Liena, an Initiate in the Sphere of Time, in "Wrath of the Immortals" (1992)
In the Lion's Den
Mazikeen shares the location of the gate on Corridor which leads to Pharamond's Home Plane of Nous, and the PCs are tasked with bringing Pharamond to justice.
Immortal Justice
A hearing is convened by Solarios, the Hierarch of Energy, to determine whether Pharamond’s actions were contrary to the letter or spirit of the Goals of the Immortals and/or his Sphere, and what actions should be taken by Noumena, the Hierarch of Thought, as punishment.
Mazikeen, Hircismus, and Harrow face judgement. Illustration by Jim Holloway.
A Hierarch reference chart is included, describing the personalities, opinions of counterparts, and objectives of the five Hierarchs, (along with a suggestion to dragoon five other gamers familiar with Immortals D&D game play into portraying the five Hierarchs).
Pre-Rolled Characters:
Raven (Thought; Temporal 1)
Shaper (Energy; Temporal 1)
Carnelian (Time; Temporal 1)
Tiresias (Thought; Temporal 1)
The Eternal General (Matter; Temporal 1)
The Hanged Man (Energy; Temporal 1)
A Power Awards Chart is provided as a guide to awarding Power Points for each episode in the adventure.
Commentary:
Despite its tongue-in-cheek style, Rolston presents a complex and fascinating adventure, involving exploration of numerous outer planes, imaginative use of avatars, an epic war machine scenario, confrontations between powerful Immortals, and tense courtroom drama.
The 24 Planes of Mazikeen could be used as the basis for a Master-level adventure, or the Battle of Shillabeer Gap as the climax for a campaign set in Thyatis, involving Companion-level PCs as followers of Aline Sigbert, Conquering Splendor, Daughter of Apollo.
Unfortunately, the humorous art undermines appreciation of the adventure's merit (Easley's cover illustration in particular has absolutely nothing to do with the adventure, while Holloway's interiors are thematically fitting, but not his best work).
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