Dungeon Master
Posts: 332
Joined: Friday, 15th July 2011, 22:43
Portal Vault: Inimical Temple
The Inimical Temple
A dark counterpoint to the Ecumenical Temple, one which rejects all comers rather than accepts. Here would be a branch populated by priests of different races, and perhaps other religiously-appropriate monsters. The gimmick is this: for the duration of the time you spend in the Inimical Temple, you suffer the wrath of a random god. At the end, there should be worthwhile rewards: I was thinking a guaranteed good randart, appropriately themed to the wrathful god, could be a good conservative proposal. A more radical idea is making the branch "safe" and keeping it around permanently if the player sticks around, kills all the monsters, and weathers the wrath til it ends: I hate stashes and think they're unnecessary, but for some players, the idea of a second empty 1 level branch for keeping junk is probably attractive. If the player leaves before the wrath expires naturally, it will be an empty arch like any other portal branch.
Unknown or unresolved problems
* Wrath is due for an overhaul in the near or uncertain future, so things may play very differently than we might assume right now.
* I don't know how to make this branch compatible with players who are currently suffering from god wrath/under penance. I suppose that players could either be denied entry (I don't like that idea) or they would have additional "Inimical Temple" wrath on top of whatever they entered with.
* Not all wraths are created equally. Some should be outright vetoed if they aren't interesting or relevant to the character entering the portal branch. This relates to the first point.
Are there any other issues/thoughts/ideas you have?