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The Invisible Trebuchet

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Crisis • Side-Quest

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100 word challenge

100 Word Submission
Scrasamax

Status	Normal
id	6586
Submitted	01/05/2012 6:35 am
Updated	01/05/2012 6:35 am
Hits	5,439
XP	165
Comments	8
Ideas	0

The Invisible Trebuchet

100 word Plot

• Scrasamax •

A Usurper and a Wizard have conspired to create a trebuchet of exceptional size and strength, but it's real power lies in it's charms of enchantment. The King plans a jovial celebration and tournament, which the Usuper plans to ruin by bombarding the festivities with projectiles that only become visible after they crash to earth. The Heroes must find a way to stop the usurper and destroy his siege engine. The Celebration cannot be interrupted, and the search must be done in secrecy, both for the guests, and to take the Usurper by surprise. Won't someone think of the children?

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? Responses (8)

This is great, it reminds me of the adventure hooks at the back of the old roleplaying books from the 80s. This one has got flair.

Think of the children. LOL I think they will be able to determine direction by the damage path. Height of the throw by the depth of the initial impact. Then it just leaves using elementary trigonometry and some minor calculus taking into account the coriolus affect, pull of the moon, wind, nearby asteroids, barometric pressure, dew point and atmospheric pressure on a sliding scale of medium averaged density to find the arc, trajectory and origin. So not very hard to find. ;)

I like the plot. I'm picturing the Usurper as a Dick Dastardly, wringing gloved hands as boulders seem to appear from nowhere in the town.

How does one aim an invisible trebuchet?

more than once?

Think of the children! :D

Love it.

NOT THE CHILDREN!!!!!!!!! 4/5

Ah, Medieval Thriller.

“ Here at Dragonsfoot http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=65381 The post discuses the use of the classic arcade game " Dragon's Lair" as a playable dungeon but it approaches it like a normal D&D game. You cannot represent DL with " Ok Bob, it's your turn what are you doing?" So I've got a germ of an idea. The castle itself is a dream construct of the way-too-powerful-to fight Dragon. From a distance the castle is changing, growing towers, walls falling , getting bigger and smaller in rapid succession. The castle "eats" interesting things that the players will need to extract. It is also Multidimensional and planer and moves around. The way I am planning on running it is that individual rounds are broken into 3 parts and only one player gets an action to interact with the "trap". a second player will be able to aid the "phasing" player in what ever action he takes. casting spells will be broken up over the 3 partial rounds(depending on L of spell).The phasing player will in essence be the party leader for the 3 partial rounds. The phasing player "job " will be rotated in some fashion(havent got this worked out yet). This is all run w/ the idea that you are trying to recreate the frantic pace of DL The growing and shrinking nature of the castle forces constant movement on the players A brief description of the situation will be provided with the idea of "looking around" will be an action that takes up a whole "partial" round. A few normal combats to be sprinkled in. Since a lot of work will go into an encounter that should only take IRL 2 maybe 3 min., the rooms and traps are reusable (justified by the "dream logic") This will obviously not work for a large group of players. Prob want to keep it to 3 or 4. This will require MASSIVE prep time for what will prob amount to a 1 hour crawl at best (depending on how many standard fights you work in) That's why REUSABILITY is key. To make the prep worth it , you can rerun it w/ the "dream logic" Not sure if I'm going to pull the trigger on this. But I really like the idea.Not promising a part two if I don't.”

Aramax

“ Nine times out of ten, it's the undead that do the running. Not strictly animal or vegetable, the Corpse bud is a peculiar individual that shares characteristics from multiple kingdoms and species. In appearance, all corpse buds bear a shape of a large rounded top bud divided into four lateral segments, and a much longer, narrower bottom bud, also divided into four segments. Between the two halves are a set of four radial limbs, rounded on top and flat on the bottom, covered with tiny serrated hooks facing towards the body. In overall size, it's limbs reach as wide as a spread hand, with the body being as thick as a fist. It is as long as a human hand from top to bottom. Internally, the top bud of the corpse bud contains a bacteria filled membrane that produces the hydrogen that the corpse bud uses to stay aloft, and a series of fungal gills for the dispersal of spores for reproduction. The lower half of the bud contains a number of fine filaments, as well as a sharp barbed stinger containing a powerful local anaesthesia. The Corpse Bud mobilizes by inflating its top bud, and steers by rotating its arms rapidly about its body. The corpse bud ordinarily drifts with the wind, orienting towards the scent of recent decay and death. It preys on the recently dead, burrowing the lower bud into the victim, using the anaesthesia in case the victim is dying, and not truly deceased. Once embedded, it releases its filaments into the body, replacing the current nervous system. This gives it full animation of the body, and allows the corpse bud to direct it. Corpse buds are not a malevolent species, being primarily concerned with breaking down the host body for food, and infecting the reproductive cycle with spores in order to mate with other corpse-bud bodies. To preserve the corpse for this purpose, Corpse buds will seek out dry locations to prevent bacteria from destroying the corpses. This often causes a large number of corpse buds to gather in a single location. In culture, Corpse buds are used to repair broken spines or degenerative diseases, as the sentient mind will easily overcome the mind of the non-sentient corpse bud. Once infected by a corpse bud, however, removal is usually fatal, and the infected individual cannot reproduce, or risk infecting another. Thus, it is a technique often reserved for the elderly, or a last resort. Necromancers and other dark sorcerers will often preserve the corpses of their victims magically, and infect them with corpse buds, creating traditional undead as well, so as to seed their lairs with undead both offensive and non, in order to throw their enemies off balance. They will also enslave the rudimentary minds of the corpse buds, and transform the docile things into a plague. There have also been accounts of magically transformed corpse buds with stronger minds and a taste for living flesh, but thus far all accounts are unproven rumors.”

Raptyr

“ The PCs are exploring the catacombs beneath a Colosseum-in-Rome type of structure, when they come across a foul-smelling, stagnant, ankle-deep with algae, public mass latrine. Countless urinals of marble, line this rather large chamber equally crafted of marble. Whatever system of plumbing once worked here, has not in many years. Old graffiti lines the stained,dirty walls, prominently bolded are such intellectual poetic musings as, 'Urine For It Now', 'I Pee Therefore It Comes' and 'Now Urine Trouble'. A few moments after the PCs get to take in this unpleasant location, they hear the low rumbling of ancient plumbing and rather large Urine Elemental rises like a great, wet, wave of filth to attack them. The creature reeks and exudes noxious debilitating fumes, while its liquid strikes burn flesh like acid.”

Murometz