Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Other Chambers inside Carlsbad Caverns

I posted a scenario to the Scion Wiki today (12/11/07), but am including the components here to preserve them from the editing hazards of the Wiki format.

Other Chambers inside Carlsbad Caverns
In addition to the Big Room, Bottomless Pit, and Bat Chamber mentioned in the Nemean Bat version of Carlsbad, the other chambers of the complex (listed below) may prove interesting for Scion gaming. These are additional real-world locations that r_b_bergstrom worked out Scion stats and descriptions for. Those his PCs visited are given more extensive details here.
Keep in mind that the lights to these areas are only turned on for scheduled guided tours and research. Light switches are discretely placed, and require a key to activate. Without the manmade lights, this place is cloaked by total darkness. There isn't even any murky vision. I'd be tempted to make the penalties exceed those indicated on page 186 of Scion Hero. Such complete sensory deprivation is something most humans never experience - if you haven't, you honestly can't imagine what it's like.

The Spirit World
This chamber is directly above the Big Room. This entrance is in the cieling of the big room, directly above the bottomless pit. Getting up here requires an arduous climb up a cable suspended far from the walls. An old and rarely-used cable dangles in the darkness. The cable was attached by means of a balloon and lasso system. Climbing such a cable takes an extended roll of Athletics, but it uses slightly different rules than most extended rolls. Potential climbers must roll Str+Ath, Dex+Ath, and Sta+Ath, once each. Difficulty on each roll is 1, and you add successes together. You'll need to get a success past threshold on at least one of the rolls.
0-3 successes (or failure/botch on any roll): You fall. Take 25 levels of Lethal / Piercing.
4-6 successes: takes 4 hours to get to the top.
7-8 successes: takes 3 hours
9-10 successes: takes 2 hours
11+ successes: takes 1 hour
The monkey climber knack will cut all the time estimates in half.
Flying up there takes less than 15 minutes.
Once you’re up there, this place is impressive and spiritual. A powerful spirit lives here, and the place was named for the angelic rock formations he sculpted - it looks like a chamber full of spirits. If the PCs get up here, and at least one of them has Death or Earth or Gami, they’ll be able to talk to said spirit.
Long ago the spirit had a wife, who gave her life to seal the gaping hole to the underworld. She plunged from the ceiling of the Big Room, and plugged the bottomless pit. Now, the work of evil Titanspawn has opened that gate again. Will the PCs convince him to join his wife? Or will doing so tragically collapse the worlds largest underground cavern? The fate of Carlsbad is in the player's hands.

Bifrost Room
Named for the Rainbow Bridge of Norse myth. To get here requires entering the lantern-lit "Left Hand Tunnel", taking it to series of large formations called "The Lake of the Clouds" and then climbing a cable up to the Bifrost Room's entrance in the cieling.
If nothing else, the place is likely of minor personal interest to Heimdall. Assume he's got it marked with Vigil Brand (Guardian 1) at all times, and may have it warded by a Ward (Guardian 3) providing a anti-Titanspawn forcefield if he's been here recently. Breaching such a forcefield might take 60 damage against Hardness/Soak of 10. Hiemdall becomes aware of anything happening here.
Depending on what is presented in Scion: God, you may choose to have this room be a touchstone to the actual rainbow bridge. An exciting early battle of Ragnarok could be staged from the Bottomless Pit to the Bifrost Room.
This is a high-legend, heavy-destiny area, where any Legend Point spent will result in a Fatebinding.

Hall of the White Giant
This room is officially named for the large pale stalagmite that dominates it, but in the Scion world there may be more to the story.

The Devil's Den
Again, named for fancy rock formations, or so the Park Rangers tell us. But do you think they'd own up to it if Pan or Lucifer lived here?

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