Re: The Souljammer, Part Three

Hmmmmmm........Sounds like someone was watching Babylon 5 at the time he
came up with this idea ;)

Sounds like a great confrontation, good vs evil. And the PC's are stuck
in between. And I quote "...Giants in the sandbox...." or something
along those lines.

----Original Message Follows----
Date: Sat, 03 Oct 1998 12:10:32 -0400 (EDT)
From: gantr@???.edu
Subject: Re: [SPELLJAMMER] - The Souljammer, Part Three
To: Spelljammer Mailing List <spelljammer@????.com>
Cc: Planescape Mailing List <planescape@????.com>
Reply-To: spelljammer@????.com

[Nothing "in character" this time.  Just answers, campaign use ideas,
and
stats (if I can fit them in, without making this too long).  This part
is
probably rated "DM only", but only if you think your DM will use it.]

History of the Souljammer
     Recently, during the height of the second Unhuman War, there was an
Illithid named Sllstriss.  It was the captain of a "privateer" (in
reality
a pirate who preyed on both sides of the conflict), leading a band of
the
dregs of spacefaring society in a quest for wealth and power.  Somewhere
in it's career, Sllstriss came into posession of both an Ultimate Helm
and
a Smalljammer.  Either one would have been bad enough, but both together
fired it's ego.  It decided to seek out the Spelljammer and take control
of it.
     After a long and almost fruitless search, Sllstriss located the
Spelljammer in a distant sphere.  As it sailed towards the legendary
ship,
it's smalljammer came under attack.  Pirates of Gith appeared out of the
Astral Plane, seeking to capture the smalljammer.  Sllstriss, confronted
by what seemed to be his race's ancient enemy, panicked.  As the pirate
vessels closed in, Sllstriss plane-shifted in desperation.
     The plane-shift interacted with the mind flayer's Ultimate Helm in
a
peculiar fashion.  Instead of leaving the ship, Sllstriss hurled the
smalljammer and the entire crew into the Astral Plane.  His mind damaged
by the feedback, all Sllstriss could think about was escape.  Powered by
his Ultimate Helm, the smalljammer hurtled through the void of the
Astral,
stopping only when it crashed into one of the rock-like of the Dead
Gods.
     The crew survived, but the smalljammer was badly damaged.  It would
not fly again, not without extensive repairs.  They did not know where
they were, or how to escape.  As far as they knew, they were trapped.
     Time passed, as it should not do in the Astral.  The crew watched
their food supplies deteriorate before their eyes, rotting away even as
they lifted it to their mouths.  They wereforced to bind Sllstriss, to
ensure their own safety and lives.  And dreams came. Dreams of murder,
of
blood, of atrocities greater than even the hardened corsairs had ever
committed.  The dreams of the dead god Bhaal, forcing themselves into
their minds, seeking new life.
     The situation grew hopeless.  The lack of food and took its toll on
their bodies, and  the dreams of the dead god took its toll on their
minds.  Then they saw Sllstriss gnawing at the rock and growing
stronger.
Half-insane, they followed suit.  The rock-like flesh of dead Bhaal
nourished their forms, but ravaged their minds.  They became mindless
magots, feeding on the corpse of a god.
     Slsstriss, it's damaged mind still stronger than the rest of the
crew's, retained some sense of self.  It began to gain some limited
control over the corpse of the god, even as the dreams reshaped it's
mind
in Bhaal's image.  Slsstriss-Bhaal directed the flesh of the corpse to
rise and cover the crippled smalljammer.  Slowly, slowly, the island
absorbed the ship.
     As the only smalljammer in existence in a Plane where there was no
Spelljammer, the dying vesel had felt the call to grow, to become a new
Spelljammer.  But dying, it could not.  Now, though, now it could.  It
gained strength from the flesh and essence of the dead god.  It drew
power
and purpose from Slsstriss-Bhaal through the Ultimate Helm.  It grew
large
and strong, absorbing the matter of Bhaal to create a new Spelljammer.
     When it finished, the island that was once Bhaal's corpse was no
more.  Bhaal was no more.  Slsstriss was no more.  There was no
Spelljammer.  A new, composite being had been created.  It possessed the
desire for uniqueness that was the heritage of the Spelljammer, the
sense
of superiority of to all that lived that was the gift of Slsstriss, and
the hatred and madness that was all that remained of Bhaal.  It hated.
It
hated the Spelljammer, it hated the Gith, it hated all that lived.  It
wanted to be superior.  It wanted to be unique.  It would destroy the
Spelljammer, to be unique.  It would destroy all, to be unique.  Nothing
would be spared, for nothing was worth sparing.  It was superior, it was
all that mattered.  It was the Souljammer.
     The first action of the Souljammer was to create it's Blood Tears.
Using the remaining life and essence of Slsstriss' crew, it formed them
into living vessels and fired them with a miniscule amount of what had
once been the power of Bhaal.  And then it began to hunt.

Souljammer
Built By:  Itself
Used Primarily By:  Itself
Tonnage:  1.5 million ship tons
Hull Points:  1.5 million (15 million hit points)
Crew:  0/?
Maneuver Class:  B
Landing-Land:  No
Landing-Water:  No
Armor Rating:  0
Saves As:  All saving throws are 4.
Power Type:  Unknown
Ship's Rating:  6, tactical only (Mv 300 in the Astral)
Standard Armament:
  Ruby Ray (1500 yard/3 hex range, 500 yard/1 hex wide.  All in area of
effect save versus death magic or disintegrate or melt into nothingness;
successful save results in 10d10 hit point/1d10 hull point damage.
Foreward arc, rate of fire is 1/10.)
  Sting (500 yard/1 hex range.  THAC0 10, 15 versus creatures smaller
than
gargantuan, 20 versus creatures smaller than huge.  Damage is [1d100]d10
hit points/1d100 hull points. Rate of fire is 1/3.)
  Spells.  Selection and number per day as per a cleric with a 25
Wisdom.
Major access to All, Astral, Charm, Combat, Elemental, Healing,
Necromantic, Summoning.  Minor access to Divination, Creation, Guardian.
May choose to cast a Quest spell from any appropriate Major sphere, at a
cost of 27th level spells.
  Psionics.  As appropriate for Illithid, but with 10 times the PSPs and
range, and double damage for offensive powers.  If psionics are not
used,
has all standard Illithid spell-like abilities with modifications as
above.
  Blood Tears.  Typically carries 50 at any one time.
Cargo:  Unknown
Keel Length:  1,575'
Beam Length:  3,100'
Description:  An enormous black manta-like ship, with a bone white
skull-like pattern across it's dorsal side.  It appears covered with
spots
of fresh blood;  these are the Blood Tears (see below).

Blood Tears
Built By:  Souljammer
Used Primarily By:  Souljammer
Tonnage:  20
Hull Points:  20 (200 hit points)
Crew:  1
Maneuver Class:  A
Landing-Land:  No
Landing-Water:  No
Armor Rating:  5
Saves As:  Best of ceramic or metal
Power Type:  Unknown
Ship's Rating:  6, tactical only (Mv 300 in Astral)
Standard Armament:
  Ruby Ray (Range 1000 yards/2 hexes.  Damage 10d10 hit points/1d10 hull
points, target must save versus death magic or disintegrate or suffer
1d10
hit points/1 hull point of damage the following round.)
Cargo:  Unknown
Keel Length:  120'
Beam Length:  30'
Description:  A glossy, teardrop shaped vessel.  It is the color of
blood,
and appears to have been amde out of some form of liquid.

Planescape Campaign Use
     Well, you now have an insane and powerful quasi-deity.  What do you
do with it?  It's really too tough for any mortal to take on and hope to
win (or even survive with their own minds and independent
personalities).
So, what use is it?
     It makes an excellent plot device.  Perhaps the tanar'ri and the
baatezu are trying to convince the Souljammer to aid them in the Blood
War.  The Githyanki fear it, with reason.  Perhaps the players get
involved in the evacuation of a Gith fortress before the Souljammer
comes
for them.  Or, alternatly, slayig the Souljammer could be the ultimate
end
of a long and difficult quest (how do you kill even a near-power?).

Spelljammer Campaign Use
     Much like using it in Planescape, this is not a thing/creature that
players can confront directly and defeat.  It makes a better plot
device.
Treat it like an evil Spelljammer (which it is, more or less), and use
it
in that fashion.  Build a campaign around it.  Let the players escape
the
destruction of their homeworld at the beginning, and let them seek a way
to destroy it.  Or use it in the background, and never actually have it
appear.

     No matter what setting you use it in, or what sort of campaign you
use it in, have fun with it.

Richard Gant
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Visit my web page.
The Gaming Ghetto, at <http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Dunes/4656>
In Nomine:  The Last Days, at
     <http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Dunes/4656/innomine.html>
Walking the Planes, at
<http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Dunes/4656/planescape.html>
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

***************************************************************************
To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@????.com with the
line
'unsubscribe spelljammer' as the body of the message.



______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com