Green Star Adepts in Spelljammer - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Green Star Adepts in Spelljammer

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
xylem
Mar 24, 2006 18:49:46 Green Star Adepts in Spelljammer

I rather like Green Star Adepts from The Complete Arcane – they sound like something out of Clark Ashton Smith or Lord Dunsany or early Lovecraft, which fits them into my Spelljammer Campaign just fine. However, gathering the starmetal is supposed to be difficult and/or expensive. In a Spelljammer game, what’s to keep someone from figuring out where the Green Star is at the moment, and flying up there to pick up a few tons?

I can think of a few techniques to discourage this:
Make the Green Star really hard to find. This is would probably only delay the inevitable – sooner or later the players would use a combination of divination, research and exploration to find it.
Make the Green Star impossible to find. This seems unfair; and, if the Green Star is impossible to find, where does the starmetal come from?
Make the Green Star really, really, really dangerous to be anywhere near. Maybe it is surrounded by a hostile civilization (ships just full of Green Star Adepts). Maybe it is the home of immense, highly magical space dragons (thousands of them). Maybe whole fleets of undead hang out around it in order to support their unlife by means of its arcane power.
Make the Green Star incredibly hard to navigate around. Maybe the Green Star’s baleful influence disables all helms for great distances around. (Or possibly only furnaces powered by starmetal work around it).

A combination of the last two is possible and would certainly do the trick. Players could still try to fly near the Green Star and pick up stray starmetal nuggets, but they’d have to look out for the dead zone, the defenders and other scavengers. I sort of like it …

Anyone else have any ideas, comments or thoughts?

PS: Does anyone out there have an idea for a selling price for starmetal? The only thing The Complete Arcane says about price is that weapons made of starmetal cost 5000 gp more than similar weapons made of steel.
#2
Dragonhelm
Mar 24, 2006 20:50:18 You know, I had all but ignored the Green Star Adept until you mentioned it with Spelljammer. That seems like the perfect match, though.

I agree with your assessments above on how to implement the starmetal, namely making it difficult to get to, rare, hard to navigate, etc.

You could also have a guardian for a mine where it might come from. Likewise, maybe it's not metal, but crystal from a mythical green crystal sphere.
#3
nightdruid
Mar 25, 2006 12:39:28 Looking at the Greenstar Adept and the baneful effects the comet creates, my vote would be that the comet is not *really* what we consider comets (balls of ice & rock). I'd suggest that instead, its more like a demiplane, with effects similar to the Nine Hells or another baneful outer plane. Because of its particular nature, it exists in many spheres at once, and not at all in some. As a plane in and of itself, it'd be vast in size, but the starmetal would be very, very rare. It'd be home to some powerful creatures, and dangerous to navigate. Maybe a greenstar adept template to use on creatures, and include dragons, giants, and demon-like creatures as natives. Trying to mine it for starmetal would bring down the wrath of these monsters, and thus likely death to the intruder.

Anyways, just a suggestion.
#4
xylem
Mar 25, 2006 13:03:57 Interesting suggestions -- thanks, guys!

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 xylem Mar 24, 2006 18:49:46	Green Star Adepts in Spelljammer I rather like Green Star Adepts from The Complete Arcane – they sound like something out of Clark Ashton Smith or Lord Dunsany or early Lovecraft, which fits them into my Spelljammer Campaign just fine. However, gathering the starmetal is supposed to be difficult and/or expensive. In a Spelljammer game, what’s to keep someone from figuring out where the Green Star is at the moment, and flying up there to pick up a few tons? I can think of a few techniques to discourage this: Make the Green Star really hard to find. This is would probably only delay the inevitable – sooner or later the players would use a combination of divination, research and exploration to find it. Make the Green Star impossible to find. This seems unfair; and, if the Green Star is impossible to find, where does the starmetal come from? Make the Green Star really, really, really dangerous to be anywhere near. Maybe it is surrounded by a hostile civilization (ships just full of Green Star Adepts). Maybe it is the home of immense, highly magical space dragons (thousands of them). Maybe whole fleets of undead hang out around it in order to support their unlife by means of its arcane power. Make the Green Star incredibly hard to navigate around. Maybe the Green Star’s baleful influence disables all helms for great distances around. (Or possibly only furnaces powered by starmetal work around it). A combination of the last two is possible and would certainly do the trick. Players could still try to fly near the Green Star and pick up stray starmetal nuggets, but they’d have to look out for the dead zone, the defenders and other scavengers. I sort of like it … Anyone else have any ideas, comments or thoughts? PS: Does anyone out there have an idea for a selling price for starmetal? The only thing The Complete Arcane says about price is that weapons made of starmetal cost 5000 gp more than similar weapons made of steel.
#2 Dragonhelm Mar 24, 2006 20:50:18	You know, I had all but ignored the Green Star Adept until you mentioned it with Spelljammer. That seems like the perfect match, though. I agree with your assessments above on how to implement the starmetal, namely making it difficult to get to, rare, hard to navigate, etc. You could also have a guardian for a mine where it might come from. Likewise, maybe it's not metal, but crystal from a mythical green crystal sphere.
#3 nightdruid Mar 25, 2006 12:39:28	Looking at the Greenstar Adept and the baneful effects the comet creates, my vote would be that the comet is not really what we consider comets (balls of ice & rock). I'd suggest that instead, its more like a demiplane, with effects similar to the Nine Hells or another baneful outer plane. Because of its particular nature, it exists in many spheres at once, and not at all in some. As a plane in and of itself, it'd be vast in size, but the starmetal would be very, very rare. It'd be home to some powerful creatures, and dangerous to navigate. Maybe a greenstar adept template to use on creatures, and include dragons, giants, and demon-like creatures as natives. Trying to mine it for starmetal would bring down the wrath of these monsters, and thus likely death to the intruder. Anyways, just a suggestion.
#4 xylem Mar 25, 2006 13:03:57	Interesting suggestions -- thanks, guys!