Sub Liminal Perception
Running the Game
In the words of the inimitable Steven Wright, "If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving isn't for you." This game however, should absolutely flow with your own personal rhythm and charm! Be not afraid to take total control and make this game distinctly yours.
In the Introduction, and Abstract, we lay out the premise for this adventure, which is designed for up to ten moderately advanced players, using characters boasting seven to ten levels. The most important end goals are:
- Get into the Guff, otherwise known as Pocket Dimension D1
- Avoid security personnel
- Find Lim-pang-Sse
- Leave with Lim-pang-Sse in tow
Secondarily, destroying Gàbba Gàol would be a real mood. No cap.
- Find out how to prove to Ao that there are more than five hundred souls in the Guff, otherwise known as Pocket Dimension D1
- Come up with and implement a plan to do so
- Live through all of this, somehow
Getting there
It is, obviously, much easier to get into the Guff than Gàbba wants anyone to know, so he has kept its existence an utmost secret. Except from his servants.
If the player characters simply ask around for "possible cultists", or "secret religious kooks", they will immediately find them. Even the most cursory examination will reveal a room in the cultists' tent with a portal inscribed in flames on the floor. Reading the last passage from The Book of Gàol will wisk whoever is standing it away to The Pocket Dimension known also as D1, to the matching portal in the southwest garden.
Environmental Hazards
If the characters do not somehow cover their mouths and noses while inside The Warehouse, they will start to be affected by the constant barage of atomized drugs.
If they do not take steps to protect their ears, they will begin to be affected by the subliminal music...it takes only a half-hearted effort at plugging up one's ears to avoid the worst of the subliminal content. If they fail to protect either, all of their Saving Throws are made at Disadvantage.
If they protect all of them (ears, nose, and mouth) while in the Pocket Dimension, the characters can avoid this effect. However, if they take well thought out precautions, the characters can make their Wisdom, Intelligence, and Charisma Saving Throws at Advantage. All of the machinery still works perfectly fine! A testament to Gnommish engineering, these units will squeak a little in protest, but every engine will roll right over, every track is perfectly servicable, every cart is in good, working order...These things can be dangerous!
The Subliminal Musical Attacks never, ever stop. The music is rife with wild abandon, powerful, driving bass tones, and primal hedonism...it is also completely laced with subliminal attacks against the psyche, breaking down any sense of self or personal identity until one is easily led straight into The Pit. All of the new infrastructure is made of cast-iron, which resonates very well with the subtle audio attacks that are buried in the music. The crystalline structure of their quantum makeup is almost perfectly aligned with the rhythmic synthesis of the subliminal magic, and much research has gone into tweaking these crystalline matrices into subtle, tangible effects. To that end, every cast-iron structure can be considered to be spying on them if they are within ten feet of it, and a gang of Fire Elementals will show up to investigate
The Warehouse
The Pit
The Treasury
Once our heroes have found the secret door in The Treasury that leads to Gàbba's secret Portal Room, they are home free-ish, if they want to just grab Lim and high-tail it back to Cannat Glaine. The portal leads to its twin in Wadi Haifa, a mere three hundred miles or so away. The cultists would be very upset with them.
If, however, they wish to destroy Gàbba Gàol for one thousand and one years, and enslave him for a thousand and one years after that, they should probably hit the little bell in the Study, that says "Ring Here for Service" in Primordial.
Doing so will summon The Proctor. Said to be Ao's personal adjudicator, he will arrive immediately thereafter, so large as to block out most of the sky in this tiny pocket dimension. He (for The Proctor is, indeed, a 'he', implying there is an unknown equal to him somewhere) will stop time, take count, and pass judgement. And, just like that, Gàbba Gàol is sent howling into the Primordial Realm of Fire, where he will become mindless flame for the next thousand and one years. The cultists will be very upset with the party members.
If the PCs Ring the Bell
Read the Following AloudThe instant the bell is rung, everything stops so utterly and completely that you are confused for a moment. All things. Even the flickering of the dancing flames has ceased, each tongue of radiance frozen in place in such a disconcertingly simple manner that your sense of balance is thrown off, at first. The crystalline chiming of the small, silver, bell swells into a massive crescendo, a single note continually growing in volume, as opposed to fading away like a beautiful woman cresting a distant hill. For a full minute, there is an agonized scream of rage and fear...a scream of anguished defeat that resounds throughout the entire cosmos as the threads of Gàbba Gàol's machinations and plots, great and small, fade. The wretched sound lasts what seems an impossibly long time, as if it were falling an impossibly far distance. Then, with a subaudible thump! that you feel deep in your guts, time begins to grind forward, once again. The small, chimey bell that had once been gracing the middle of the study's table is gone, replaced by a gorgeous, hand-carved wooden hourglass that will empty in exactly one hour. A small bell chimes, ringing out clearly from somewhere, and you are left, alone, in a quickly degrading pocket dimension. "GO!", intones the creature called The Proctor, before he turns and stalks away, disappearing an impossible distance in three easy strides.
The Fountains of Youth, as Gàbba calls them, are below The Treasury, and only accessible if Gàbba has been destroyed by The Proctor. If he has, somehow, been defeated by the player characters, the locks and defenses remain, as he will be back in a year and a day.
If one of the Player Characters were to die, their character will pop back into existence just outside of the portal they entered D1 through. This is an important note as: 1) Pròju has a vorpal sword, and 2) it is possible that the first time they enter the portal, they will be disguised, and thus some may not be wearing any armor, or carrying any of their usual gear, if their plan is to "fit in".
They will be spotted, and attacked by, Pròju Tto's security forces immediately if they do not disguise, or otherwise hide, themselves. Additionally, the Cast Iron appliances in the warehouse will detect non-magical metallic armors and weapons. Magical equipment is hidden from the spy appliances.
Casting a spell is a great way to announce oneself to security.
Notable NPCs:
Challenge Ratings
Respite
DC is: W(8+H), H being the number of hours which that character has been within the walls (and under the ceilings of) The Warehouse. Resting, whether Long or Short, within the confines of The Warehouse, immediately sets the DC to 20. Otherwise, the DC will cap out at 20 as the hours pass by. Three failed saves equals incapacitated as the character falls out on a "nod". A Death Save every hour follows, with the character waking after three successful saves, or dying after three failed saves.Subliminal Musical Attacks
DC is: W(10+H), with H being the number of hours which that particular character has been within hearing of the sound system, which has been designed to be heard up to a mile away with no attenuation. Resting, whether Long or Short, automatically sets the DC of the Subliminal attacks to 20. Unlike Respite, the difficulty of the Saving Throw for the Subliminal Musical Attacks does not have a cap. Only the DJ is immune to this effect, and that is by design. Pròju Tto feels like they have finally found a good DJ, and that they should keep him.
Reference Videos of the Warehouse and Fountains
Comments