The Campaign Builder's Guild

Not certain how set you are on leylines being fixed, but it would be interesting if the Phaen's unpredictability was -- at least in part -- linked to roaming leylines.  If you assume that proximity to a leyline augments your strength (I feel like this was implied), you'd be unprepared if the Phaen leyline wandered nearby while casting.  The path of Phaen's leyline through the magical world could act like lightning, always following the path of least resistance through the air.  Mastery of Phaen energy would then become more about predicting or controlling leyline movements.

Sounds like an input-scrubbing apostrophe fail (try removing the apostrophe in your nick).

Thanks! My first idea was a banner, but I twiddled my thumbs too long to use that one (damn you Acrimone!).

Mine was really short, but I came up with the idea on August 3rd and I didn't want to NOT publish it just because I couldn't think of how to fluff it out!

[note=Image][spoiler=Borrowed Time][/spoiler][/note]Borrowed Time

This silver pocket watch is always in pristine condition and keeps accurate time when found or received.  Should the bearer of the pocket watch die of unnatural causes, he is transported between 7 and 10 hours into the past, unharmed and with full knowledge of the events leading up to his death.  Once triggered the crystal face cracks and its hands stop; it can no longer be wound.  The watch functions only once for any given bearer.

Borrowed Time's origins are unknown, though some speculate it was a divine gift to the British philosopher William Paley for his famous teleological argument.  The time-piece was first documented by Dr. John Watson who, having escaped a fatal gunshot wound by virtue of the device, included its properties in the account of the case during which he narrowly avoided death.  Never published, the case file wasn't read until Dr. Watson's estate was divided in the 1940s; the pocket watch was missing and its current whereabouts are unknown.

I like it!  (I just hope it's a day I can participate)

I foresee superhero shows on ABC.

When logging off and then logging back onto the site, would you rather be automatically forwarded to the last page you were viewing (whether it be a forum thread, a particular campaign setting, etc), to your own personal account page, or to the site's front page where news, updated forum posts, etc are displayed?

News, but I think the News page could benefit from a "10 Most Recent Wiki articles" section, in addition to the forum updates.

Speaking of your own personal account page, what are the 5 most useful things you would like to see on it? Examples are: "Favorited" threads, buddy lists, "Account statuses" (ala facebook), general bio, etc, etc. Not limited to those, just let me know what a good "My Account" page looks like to you.

Maybe I am just a fan of High Fidelity, but "Top 5" lists of things I've done recently are always helpful: forum posts, wiki articles, etc..  Also, being able to tag users or threads to add them to your "feed" would be nice (particularly for the consultant project).

This question seems unimportant, but we've found a lot of dissenting theories on the subject. When clicking on a "Home" button, would you rather be taken to your "My Account" page, or the front page?

The current paradigm is Home -> My Account.  I'd put a "News" link up, if only because it will make things easier for new users (the old users are already addicted and such a simple change will not force us away D;).

Do any of you care about having the ability to post blogs? One of the new features we have will actually somewhat accomplish blogs as it is, but do any of you really care about being able to post blogs about your day-to-day life (or world-building life), or is it pretty unimportant?

Blogs would be neat.  If you don't want to dedicate the space, maybe just a more visible hook for Wordpress or Blogger from an account page.

Slightly off subject, but still useful, would you find it useful (and/or interesting) for the CBG to have a special twitter and facebook account to allow for outside updates (as well as for the rare instance when the site is down and people may want to know what's going on?)

Eh.  Would I use it? Probably.  It might bring in some new users?

How important do you find the name-changing option on this site? One of the only aspects of drupal we've found that's not as good as e107 (in fact, the ONLY aspect) is that it is not easily customizable to allow people to change their display names. You can change your user names, but I don't want to get into the kinds of messes that can be involved with that.

I actually dislike the name changing option, but only because I have a bad head for names and get easily confused. >.>

Also, Ish, my previous offer is still on the table as far as help with design/programming.  I'm well versed in AJAX/JavaScript (especially w/ Prototype library), Php, MySql, etc..

I don't mean to digress, but is there a reason SF's government is comfortable with what is essentially a foreign power's intelligence service in the city? Do they just not realize the incompetence of their own?  Are their ongoing efforts to uncover the unknown agency?  Do the Church of Behldamh or the city have a black chamber of sorts, assuming that mundane or magical encryption (loosely) would be employed in close communication?

There are a lot of opportunities for intricacy here with competition between different Masques: non-invitation and/or crashing, collusion between Masques to keep a more popular rival down, etc..  How do the Sets view the event if they are aware of it?  Would they actively hinder or attempt to crash, or is that not their way?

I made a Sphere like this for a Wake campaign and describing cities built into giant columns in an underground chamber was extremely fun.  Food source wasn't a problem there because of Gates, but the Sphere was a vast underground sea and the only spots of dry land were these stalagmites and stalactites bearing settlements. What about fish?  What about... bats?  Creatures that can reach the surface quickly, like bats, and may not be as affected by a topside environs as playable races, etc..

You can save yourself the % roll and just have the weapon break based on the natural d20 roll.  In your example, the Shiv would break on a natural roll of 9 or lower and the Combat Knife would break on a natural roll of 1.

I like exhaustion for a cost of magic mechanic in games, but for the same reason I like 4th edition: physical and mental exhaustion can be used as a cost for all exertion, leveling the playing field in terms of availability of actions across all classes and roles.

You're right, though, in that my main gripe with WoT was the availability of magic and not necessarily the cost.  I enjoyed the madness aspect more in the character of Taim than Rand (Therin gets old, but this is probably a product of my opinions on the series than the actual writing) and generally like sanity as a cost for magic.  Warhammer, as pointed out, is a really good example; psykers, lashback, Chaos, etc. -- all great stuff!

What about physical health as a cost?  Not just life, but loss of blood/limbs/etc?  We mentioned forcibles from the Runelords series in another thread, but not here and its one of my favorites.  Basically, by using brands that channel a specific trait, the "Grace" or "Strength", etc., of one person can be transferred to another.  The process cripples the giver and imposes the cost of care on the taker.  It's a really delicate and beautifully thought out system.

[note=Hamastl]Hamastl, king of the fire giants and scourge of Kvara, was sealed beneath the Forges of Kvarda by Koira Thunderfall in ancient times.  The Sea of Terror's shock wave shattered the magical seals keeping this spawn of Tian locked beneath the Ash Mountains.  It took Hamastl only three weeks to recapture Kvarda with a force of fire giants, azer and elementals once freed of imprisonment.  To this day, Hamastl sits unchallenged on the Mountain Throne of Kvarda, from which he greedily eyes the power of Stormsummit.[/note]The Sea of Terrors

Immediately after crumbling, one of the largest shards of Ulna fell to Ansolon in what is now known as The Sea of Terrors.  Just before impact, a shock wave of anti-magic nullified all enchantments within four-hundred miles of the coastal site, dismantling the floating towers at Derringorn and removing the wards on Hamastl's Prison; The Bitter Sea region was devastated by the aftermath.  Rather than strike the coast, the meteorite tore the land from its foundations, where it now hovers above the sea that rushed to fill the void.

The starfel quickly spread, but never far inland.  Ships that stray into waters nearby are rarely heard from again and those that return do so with stories of twisted abominations, fish-men and enormous, tentacled monsters that strike fear into the hearts of seasoned mariners.  The Sea of Terrors earned its name when maps of the Bitter Sea adopted the label "Here Be Terrors" for the region northeast of Derringorn Isle once known as the Frozen Coast.

For all its dangers, it was not until 145UR that amphibious creatures of the starfel began harrying nearby settlements; towns along the southern Frozen Coast, generally populated by refugees from Kvarda and Derringorn, were raided.  Survivors moved inland to Maros or farther south to the Bitter Sea spreading tales of huge, crablike creatures with razor-sharp pincers and toothy maws that devoured entire villages.  Worried that the Sea of Terror's influence would spread to the Bitter Sea, Maros and Trelban allied in 147UR to establish joint patrols on the starfel's border, an arrangement that ended 23 years later with Maros's occupation of Ennasport in 170UR.

Ultimately, it was the starfel at Marosfall in 212UR that slapped away the reaching claws of the Sea of Terrors.  The interaction between the two regions of starfel, as reported by Marosian troops retreating towards Atol Maros in 215UR, surprised the civilized world; these corrupt powers were in conflict.  The witnessed battle between aberrations of each starfel promised to give struggling Maros more time to defend against intrusion, but also raised new questions concerning the motives of starfel inhabitants, in general.

[ooc]As you can see, they will definitely make Aberrations and the Sea of Terrors is full of them. :)  Undead will be a different mechanic; restless spirits, dark magic, etc..  I'm still flushing out where I want magic to "come from" and I'll touch on undead once I get there.

I am running 4e and, to be honest, I'm just going to try and fill out monsters as they're needed.  Chuul and other aquatic baddies make a good fit for the Sea of Terrors, but I don't particularly like the names (which means chuul will inevitably be called "crab demons" or something by an NPC and it will stick).  The Sea of Terrors will be developed for levels 11-20, where Marosfall will be aimed at levels 6-11.

I'm still waffling on what nasty critters I want crawling around in Marosfall, which -- along with your question -- is why I'm posting tSoT first despite its increased level.[/ooc]

I like the magic you've outlined here a great deal, as well.  You sort of touch on it in your last paragraph, but something like a prism would be a good focus for Rigellian magic, no?  Do you have any "evil" Rigellians in mind?  Maybe someone who can only power magic on the screams or begging of tortured creatures?