Doomguard
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*Ceremorph
- Posts: 1125
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am
Within the Armory, countless "elite" Doomguard troops can be seen filing into one of the towers, carrying crates and chests. At their head strides Factol Pentar and several lesser Doomlords who most did not even realize were in Sigil at the time, leading the columns to its upper level and passing through the portal to the Doomguard Citadel of Dust on the plane of the same name. Wagging tongues say that it's time for yet another set of "random" surprise visits to the various Sinker holdings throughout the multiverse; when she will return is uncertain, and why she picked just now to do so the same. After all, it's not as if all Sinkers confide in one another...
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*Mander
- Posts: 374
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am
///Unsure if this is the right thread to post it in, but here's some good background history on the Doomguard.
The Doomguard have their origins in centuries past in Sigil, some time before the Great Upheaval. They date back to the days when guilds rather than factions held power in Sigil, originally comprised of some of the more philosophically-minded members of the Weaponsmiths' Guild, by day they made their living creating and selling arms to the people of Sigil, and by night they observed the results these weapons wreaked. The ultimate fate of all things was to be torn by entropy, to sink into dust, so why fight it? Why not encourage it, even? And so they named themselves the Sinkers, never especially blatant about their beliefs but nor keeping them hidden.
When the guilds fell from prominence, the Sinkers kept at their work, not yet holding enough power or prestige to make the transition into a faction. Instead, they merely continued in this form for the decades to come, watching with amusement as Sigil became embroiled in more and more turmoil from the clashes of belief spilling from the kriegstanz, until finally came the Upheaval itself. Ironically, though the Sinkers had little influence before the Upheaval, the chaos and destruction that followed in its wake solidified the group and brought many to their cause. Countless people abandoned their original factions to join the Sinkers, and they were fast to claim their spot as one of the 15, taking their position as those that would not merely watch entropy, but ensure it was protected from all that would attempt to subvert it: the Doomguard.
For the first few years of their existence, they were fairly spread out, with little in the way of structure or heirarchy; similar in many ways to the modern day Revolutionary League, though neither illegal nor outright destructive, focused more on preventing the avoidance of than causing havoc themselves. It was only a matter of years, however, before they took on a second, somewhat unexpected role after the withdrawal of the Fraternity of Order from the position of city guard; on the suggestion of the Mercykillers, oft-allies of the Doomguard despite their chaotic leanings, the Doomguard as the most well-armed faction in the city filled the position. Many looked askance at the idea of a faction that promoted decay guarding the streets of Sigil, but at the time, many in the Doomguard believed that the natural progression of entropy should be respected, and to them, murder, theft, vandalism, and similar was merely spitting in the face of the multiverse as much so as a repairman or a physician.
Despite the shifting influence every few decades between the three sects of the Doomguard, they remained in the role of city guard for centuries, until the coming of the Harmonium as one of the 15 during the Second Upheaval. Once established as an official Sigilian faction, and taking extreme offense at the idea of a faction of entropy keeping order, they immediately pushed to be given the role of city guard in lieu of the Doomguard, having the equal of resources and superior training. Not having any desire to be ousted from their duties, the Doomguard struck back against the Harmonium, and only months after dust settled, war again came to the streets of Sigil. With no base of operations, the Doomguard were quite poor off until their factol had the bright idea to take the Armory; a massive structure, it had never been conquered, and following the Second Upheaval, it had been left bare and barely tended. Moving in, they settled quickly, with enough supplies to last out months of siege. Despite the Harmonium's best efforts, the war brought immense disruption to the city to the great amusement of the Doomguard, and within two years the Hall of Speakers finally brokered a truce between the two: the Harmonium would be given the position of city guard and the Doomguard would be sworn to a pact to never again instigate war in Sigil, in exchange for the Doomguard being given the city Armory and the role of weapon smiths in the Cage.
Over the last century, the Doomguard's efforts (outside their city duties) have been focused heavily towards research into the nature of entropy, truly exploring it for the first time, and attempting to once and for all settle the debates between their three sects. Beginning with the construction of Citadels Alluvius, Cavitius, Exhalus, and Sealt (with Cavitius replaced by the Crumbling Citadel following its theft by Vecna), this era has been marked by a number of developments, including the creation of the entrope and the construction of the Ships of Chaos. In this more recent era, the accelerationists look to have an increasing hold on the faction, especially as of late under the stewardship of Factol Pentar; many indeed wonder, then, what this may presage not only for the faction, but for the multiverse.
The Doomguard have their origins in centuries past in Sigil, some time before the Great Upheaval. They date back to the days when guilds rather than factions held power in Sigil, originally comprised of some of the more philosophically-minded members of the Weaponsmiths' Guild, by day they made their living creating and selling arms to the people of Sigil, and by night they observed the results these weapons wreaked. The ultimate fate of all things was to be torn by entropy, to sink into dust, so why fight it? Why not encourage it, even? And so they named themselves the Sinkers, never especially blatant about their beliefs but nor keeping them hidden.
When the guilds fell from prominence, the Sinkers kept at their work, not yet holding enough power or prestige to make the transition into a faction. Instead, they merely continued in this form for the decades to come, watching with amusement as Sigil became embroiled in more and more turmoil from the clashes of belief spilling from the kriegstanz, until finally came the Upheaval itself. Ironically, though the Sinkers had little influence before the Upheaval, the chaos and destruction that followed in its wake solidified the group and brought many to their cause. Countless people abandoned their original factions to join the Sinkers, and they were fast to claim their spot as one of the 15, taking their position as those that would not merely watch entropy, but ensure it was protected from all that would attempt to subvert it: the Doomguard.
For the first few years of their existence, they were fairly spread out, with little in the way of structure or heirarchy; similar in many ways to the modern day Revolutionary League, though neither illegal nor outright destructive, focused more on preventing the avoidance of than causing havoc themselves. It was only a matter of years, however, before they took on a second, somewhat unexpected role after the withdrawal of the Fraternity of Order from the position of city guard; on the suggestion of the Mercykillers, oft-allies of the Doomguard despite their chaotic leanings, the Doomguard as the most well-armed faction in the city filled the position. Many looked askance at the idea of a faction that promoted decay guarding the streets of Sigil, but at the time, many in the Doomguard believed that the natural progression of entropy should be respected, and to them, murder, theft, vandalism, and similar was merely spitting in the face of the multiverse as much so as a repairman or a physician.
Despite the shifting influence every few decades between the three sects of the Doomguard, they remained in the role of city guard for centuries, until the coming of the Harmonium as one of the 15 during the Second Upheaval. Once established as an official Sigilian faction, and taking extreme offense at the idea of a faction of entropy keeping order, they immediately pushed to be given the role of city guard in lieu of the Doomguard, having the equal of resources and superior training. Not having any desire to be ousted from their duties, the Doomguard struck back against the Harmonium, and only months after dust settled, war again came to the streets of Sigil. With no base of operations, the Doomguard were quite poor off until their factol had the bright idea to take the Armory; a massive structure, it had never been conquered, and following the Second Upheaval, it had been left bare and barely tended. Moving in, they settled quickly, with enough supplies to last out months of siege. Despite the Harmonium's best efforts, the war brought immense disruption to the city to the great amusement of the Doomguard, and within two years the Hall of Speakers finally brokered a truce between the two: the Harmonium would be given the position of city guard and the Doomguard would be sworn to a pact to never again instigate war in Sigil, in exchange for the Doomguard being given the city Armory and the role of weapon smiths in the Cage.
Over the last century, the Doomguard's efforts (outside their city duties) have been focused heavily towards research into the nature of entropy, truly exploring it for the first time, and attempting to once and for all settle the debates between their three sects. Beginning with the construction of Citadels Alluvius, Cavitius, Exhalus, and Sealt (with Cavitius replaced by the Crumbling Citadel following its theft by Vecna), this era has been marked by a number of developments, including the creation of the entrope and the construction of the Ships of Chaos. In this more recent era, the accelerationists look to have an increasing hold on the faction, especially as of late under the stewardship of Factol Pentar; many indeed wonder, then, what this may presage not only for the faction, but for the multiverse.
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*Mander
- Posts: 374
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am
-
*Mander
- Posts: 374
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am
///Some info on what a Ship of Chaos is from the In The Abyss adventure book:
"Willum wasn't just flapping his bone-box when he said you'd know the ship when you saw it. The construct has to be at least 300 feet long, probably longer. It's maybe 80 or 100 feet wide and at least 100 feet tall. There are two "heads" — one facing forward, the other to the rear. Each head is a colossal face as wide and tall as the ship. They both have glassy eyes, protruding noses, and gaping mouths full of teeth the size of tavern doors. What you take to be the forward head sports a pair of curving ram's horns that sweep behind and join together. The back of the rear head forms yet a third face which looks over the deck — this one is skeletal, having eyeholes sealed with milky lenses and jaws filled with curved fangs the size of small trees."
The ship's hull can be breached by physical and magical attacks directed against it. Each 5-foot by 5-foot by 5-foot section has 100 hit points, an Armor Class ofO, and makes saving throws as a 12th-level Fighter. (Bashers who try to blast the ship out of the sky are just plain barmy - 8,000 points of damage delivered to the midsec-tion might crack it in half.)
Examining the ship's hull too closely is perilous for nonfiends. A true seeing spell reveals a horrific tapestry of wriggling larvae, raw chaos, and tortured spirits. The caster must successfully save vs. spell or become confused until the spell ends or thec aster's eyes are covered. A past life spell similarly requires the caster to successfully save vs. death or fall into a faint for 5dl0 rounds.
In both cases, Wisdombonuses are reversed (bonuses become penalties and vice versa), as superior insight makes the impact of what the caster has discovered all the more unbearable. The ship is a magical construct, and every part of the hull radiates enchantment/charm and conjuration/summoning magic.The ship has several offensive capabilities. Its primary attack is an entropy field, which the ship can activate anytime while in motion.
The field is a sphere with a 480-yard radius. (The entropy field has no effect upon creatures aboard the ship.) Creatures within the field
are affected according to their Hit Dice:
65 Hit Dice or less: Creatures are overcome by random thoughts and are confused as though affected by the 5th-level wizard spell chaos (no saving throw). Confusion lasts as long as the creatures remain in the area of effect and for 3d4+1 rounds thereafter. Note
that at least 20% of any large group of creatures attack the nearest creature. In a locale such as a town or city, a general riot is inevitable.
65+1 to 8 Hit Dice: Creatures are subject to the chaos effect as described above, but they are allowed saving throws as per the spell
description.
68+1 Hit Dice and up: Creatures must successfully save vs. spell or be repulsed each round they remain in the area of effect (as the
6th-level wizard spell).
The ship is fitted with eight medium ballistae in each "mouth" (see area 2). The ballistae have a 45° arc of fire and a THACO of14 (or the crew chief's THACO, whichever is better), a range of 11 /22/33, and they can fire once every two rounds. The bolts function
as +3 weapons for determining which creatures they can harm; a hit inflicts 2d6 points of piercing damage plus 8 points of electrical damage. A successful save vs. breath weapon reduces the electrical damage by half. Creatures immune to +3 weapons still are subject
to the electrical damage (unless they are immune to electricity as well).
The ship also has force projectors in each "head" (see areas 8A and 8B). The projectors throw cones of force 200 feet long, 5 feet wide at the terminus, and 2 feet wide at the point of origin. No attack roll is required and the arc of fire is 120°. Creatures within the
cone are affected as follows:65 Hit Dice or less: Successfully save vs. breath weapon or be disintegrated.
65+1 to 8 Hit Dice: Successfully save vs. breath weapon or suffer 3d8 points of damage and be knocked prone*. If the target is mansized or smaller, it is pushed to the far end of the beam, plus 2d20 feet. Creatures suffer an additional 2d8 points of damage if forced into a solid object.
68+1 Hit Dice and up: Successfully save vs. breath weapon or suffer 3d8 points of damage. Man-sized and smaller creatures are knocked back 2d20 feet, falling prone*. Creatures suffer an additional ld8 points of damage if thrown into a solid object.
A creature already knocked prone can be pinned in place if the beam is directed at it again. The prone creature saves vs. the beam at -2. If the save fails, the creature is pinned for the entire round and suffers 4d8 points of damage from the beam.
The ship has no special plane-traveling capabilities, but it can use any planar conduit or portal that is at least 5 feet square. When entering a portal too small for its bulk, the ship uses its entropy field to warp itself and literally squeeze through the space. Everything aboard the ship warps along with it. Creatures aboard the ship witness a series of transformations in which everything
-including their own bodies — becomes mutable. Objects and creatures become twisted into peculiar shapes or are literally turned inside out, colors shift randomly, solid matter flows like water or boils away into varicolored gases, and other even more bizarre changes take place. Physical objects are not harmed, but the warp is destructive in subtle ways. Magic tends to collapse as entropy rages through the ship. Spell effects and magical items aboard the ship when it warps are
subject to disjunction, as though affected by the 9th-level wizard spell Mordenkainen's disjunction.
Creatures aboard the ship when it warps undergo a painful psychic wrenching and must successfully save vs. spell or become permanently insane - only a heal or wish
spell can restore sanity. The DM can treat insane creatures as magically/eebtewmded or confused, or the DM can impose a less obvious mental disturbance. (See area 4 on page 27 for some examples.)An anti-magic shell resists the warping. If it is not disjoined, the shell stabilizes everything within its radius. Magic within an intact shell is not disjoined. Creatures within the shell, however, are not completely protected because they can still sense the entropy
beyond the shell. Creatures gain a +2 bonus to the save vs. spell if blindfolded while protected by the shell, and an additional +1 if their other senses are deadened in some fashion, such as stopping the ears with wax, wrapping them in blankets to reduce tactile
sensations, and the like. In any case, the bonus can never be higher than +3. Wisdom bonuses always apply to the save.
Note thatmagical bonuses cannot apply if the items that produce them are within a functioning anti-magic shell. Note also that an anti-magic
shell might prevent the ship frommoving through a portal if the stabilized area is too large to fit through. In some cases, an anti-magic
shell might render a portal inert. In such cases, the ship is thrown back from the portal and cannot pass through until the anti-magic shell is removed.
Tanar'ri and tanar'ri spell-like abilities are immune to the warp's detrimental effects. (Being creatures of chaos, entropy is not particularly upsetting or disruptive to them.) Magical items made on the Abyss by tanar'ri are similarly unaffected. Doom-guardsmen,Anarchists, and Xaositects receive a +1 bonus to all saves vs. the warp's effects.
"Willum wasn't just flapping his bone-box when he said you'd know the ship when you saw it. The construct has to be at least 300 feet long, probably longer. It's maybe 80 or 100 feet wide and at least 100 feet tall. There are two "heads" — one facing forward, the other to the rear. Each head is a colossal face as wide and tall as the ship. They both have glassy eyes, protruding noses, and gaping mouths full of teeth the size of tavern doors. What you take to be the forward head sports a pair of curving ram's horns that sweep behind and join together. The back of the rear head forms yet a third face which looks over the deck — this one is skeletal, having eyeholes sealed with milky lenses and jaws filled with curved fangs the size of small trees."
The ship's hull can be breached by physical and magical attacks directed against it. Each 5-foot by 5-foot by 5-foot section has 100 hit points, an Armor Class ofO, and makes saving throws as a 12th-level Fighter. (Bashers who try to blast the ship out of the sky are just plain barmy - 8,000 points of damage delivered to the midsec-tion might crack it in half.)
Examining the ship's hull too closely is perilous for nonfiends. A true seeing spell reveals a horrific tapestry of wriggling larvae, raw chaos, and tortured spirits. The caster must successfully save vs. spell or become confused until the spell ends or thec aster's eyes are covered. A past life spell similarly requires the caster to successfully save vs. death or fall into a faint for 5dl0 rounds.
In both cases, Wisdombonuses are reversed (bonuses become penalties and vice versa), as superior insight makes the impact of what the caster has discovered all the more unbearable. The ship is a magical construct, and every part of the hull radiates enchantment/charm and conjuration/summoning magic.The ship has several offensive capabilities. Its primary attack is an entropy field, which the ship can activate anytime while in motion.
The field is a sphere with a 480-yard radius. (The entropy field has no effect upon creatures aboard the ship.) Creatures within the field
are affected according to their Hit Dice:
65 Hit Dice or less: Creatures are overcome by random thoughts and are confused as though affected by the 5th-level wizard spell chaos (no saving throw). Confusion lasts as long as the creatures remain in the area of effect and for 3d4+1 rounds thereafter. Note
that at least 20% of any large group of creatures attack the nearest creature. In a locale such as a town or city, a general riot is inevitable.
65+1 to 8 Hit Dice: Creatures are subject to the chaos effect as described above, but they are allowed saving throws as per the spell
description.
68+1 Hit Dice and up: Creatures must successfully save vs. spell or be repulsed each round they remain in the area of effect (as the
6th-level wizard spell).
The ship is fitted with eight medium ballistae in each "mouth" (see area 2). The ballistae have a 45° arc of fire and a THACO of14 (or the crew chief's THACO, whichever is better), a range of 11 /22/33, and they can fire once every two rounds. The bolts function
as +3 weapons for determining which creatures they can harm; a hit inflicts 2d6 points of piercing damage plus 8 points of electrical damage. A successful save vs. breath weapon reduces the electrical damage by half. Creatures immune to +3 weapons still are subject
to the electrical damage (unless they are immune to electricity as well).
The ship also has force projectors in each "head" (see areas 8A and 8B). The projectors throw cones of force 200 feet long, 5 feet wide at the terminus, and 2 feet wide at the point of origin. No attack roll is required and the arc of fire is 120°. Creatures within the
cone are affected as follows:65 Hit Dice or less: Successfully save vs. breath weapon or be disintegrated.
65+1 to 8 Hit Dice: Successfully save vs. breath weapon or suffer 3d8 points of damage and be knocked prone*. If the target is mansized or smaller, it is pushed to the far end of the beam, plus 2d20 feet. Creatures suffer an additional 2d8 points of damage if forced into a solid object.
68+1 Hit Dice and up: Successfully save vs. breath weapon or suffer 3d8 points of damage. Man-sized and smaller creatures are knocked back 2d20 feet, falling prone*. Creatures suffer an additional ld8 points of damage if thrown into a solid object.
A creature already knocked prone can be pinned in place if the beam is directed at it again. The prone creature saves vs. the beam at -2. If the save fails, the creature is pinned for the entire round and suffers 4d8 points of damage from the beam.
The ship has no special plane-traveling capabilities, but it can use any planar conduit or portal that is at least 5 feet square. When entering a portal too small for its bulk, the ship uses its entropy field to warp itself and literally squeeze through the space. Everything aboard the ship warps along with it. Creatures aboard the ship witness a series of transformations in which everything
-including their own bodies — becomes mutable. Objects and creatures become twisted into peculiar shapes or are literally turned inside out, colors shift randomly, solid matter flows like water or boils away into varicolored gases, and other even more bizarre changes take place. Physical objects are not harmed, but the warp is destructive in subtle ways. Magic tends to collapse as entropy rages through the ship. Spell effects and magical items aboard the ship when it warps are
subject to disjunction, as though affected by the 9th-level wizard spell Mordenkainen's disjunction.
Creatures aboard the ship when it warps undergo a painful psychic wrenching and must successfully save vs. spell or become permanently insane - only a heal or wish
spell can restore sanity. The DM can treat insane creatures as magically/eebtewmded or confused, or the DM can impose a less obvious mental disturbance. (See area 4 on page 27 for some examples.)An anti-magic shell resists the warping. If it is not disjoined, the shell stabilizes everything within its radius. Magic within an intact shell is not disjoined. Creatures within the shell, however, are not completely protected because they can still sense the entropy
beyond the shell. Creatures gain a +2 bonus to the save vs. spell if blindfolded while protected by the shell, and an additional +1 if their other senses are deadened in some fashion, such as stopping the ears with wax, wrapping them in blankets to reduce tactile
sensations, and the like. In any case, the bonus can never be higher than +3. Wisdom bonuses always apply to the save.
Note thatmagical bonuses cannot apply if the items that produce them are within a functioning anti-magic shell. Note also that an anti-magic
shell might prevent the ship frommoving through a portal if the stabilized area is too large to fit through. In some cases, an anti-magic
shell might render a portal inert. In such cases, the ship is thrown back from the portal and cannot pass through until the anti-magic shell is removed.
Tanar'ri and tanar'ri spell-like abilities are immune to the warp's detrimental effects. (Being creatures of chaos, entropy is not particularly upsetting or disruptive to them.) Magical items made on the Abyss by tanar'ri are similarly unaffected. Doom-guardsmen,Anarchists, and Xaositects receive a +1 bonus to all saves vs. the warp's effects.