Palace of Unquiet Repose

Osrnoob

Should be playing D&D instead
You could do that, OR you could shorten the chain to about 300' to match the dotted circle. Or get rid of the dotted circle because it doesn't make sense if the chain length is 1,000'. Or ignore me because it's your baby and you don't have to do anything you don't want to do.
Hot takes for days, I dig it.
On the topic of module design and revision, I found this interesting.
 

The1True

8, 8, I forget what is for
You could do that, OR you could shorten the chain to about 300' to match the dotted circle. Or get rid of the dotted circle because it doesn't make sense if the chain length is 1,000'. Or ignore me because it's your baby and you don't have to do anything you don't want to do.
Keep the dotted circle, change the chain length. I like that clear boundary.
 

squeen

8, 8, I forget what is for
Bumped into this article on the Tomb at Xian

Researchers have been working at the burial complex since the 1970s; however, the emperorā€™s burial chamber has remained unopened. Fears of damaging the artifacts and emperorā€™s corpseā€“as happened in earlier botched archeological work in Chinaā€“are compounded by concerns that opening the chamber may be dangerous. In a first century B.C. account titled ā€œThe Grand Scribeā€™s Records,ā€ the grave and its contents are described. The author claims that the chamber was decorated to replicate the world, with precious stones in the ceiling to mark heavenly bodies and mercury streams in the floor to map local rivers. Modern surveys have proven that the ground around the burial chamber has dangerously high mercury content. Therefore, debate continues about whether to excavate in this area of the necropolis and what method might be used to both protect the grave contents and the people undertaking the work.
An inspiration?
 

Beoric

8, 8, I forget what is for
The hallmark of Sword and Sorcery fantasy: exposure to a toxic substance that results in long term degenerative illness that takes years to develop. You fail your saving throw, you will suffer debilitating madness in 3-30 years.

Just kidding, it does sound pretty cool.
 

PrinceofNothing

High Executarch
Staff member
The hallmark of Sword and Sorcery fantasy: exposure to a toxic substance that results in long term degenerative illness that takes years to develop. You fail your saving throw, you will suffer debilitating madness in 3-30 years.
It is not only deadly through prolongued exposure! It is possible to get acute mercury poisoning over a relatively short period of time (several days) if the dosage is high enough. The wikipedia states that taking mercury capsules will result in death in as much as a few days, and some guy trying to separate gold from old computers using liquid mercury died after 10 days from breathing the fumes!

If it were realistic I'd probably have to treat it as some sort of permanently debilitating poison but then again, PCs seem to heal acid and fire damage well enough so who knows? I prefer the approach where it is treated as a mystic substance, endowed with all manner of alchemical properties.
 

The Heretic

Should be playing D&D instead
It is not only deadly through prolongued exposure! It is possible to get acute mercury poisoning over a relatively short period of time (several days) if the dosage is high enough. The wikipedia states that taking mercury capsules will result in death in as much as a few days, and some guy trying to separate gold from old computers using liquid mercury died after 10 days from breathing the fumes!.
Also, IIRC, there was an ancient semi-mythical Chinese emperor who died after taking an 'elixir of immortality' that included mercury.
 

Beoric

8, 8, I forget what is for
It is not only deadly through prolongued exposure! It is possible to get acute mercury poisoning over a relatively short period of time (several days) if the dosage is high enough. The wikipedia states that taking mercury capsules will result in death in as much as a few days, and some guy trying to separate gold from old computers using liquid mercury died after 10 days from breathing the fumes!

If it were realistic I'd probably have to treat it as some sort of permanently debilitating poison but then again, PCs seem to heal acid and fire damage well enough so who knows? I prefer the approach where it is treated as a mystic substance, endowed with all manner of alchemical properties.
If you think your rational explanation is going to stop me from needling you about this you are sadly mistaken. Now I'm going to have to look for opportunities to turn it into a running joke. "You peer through the haze that clouds the interior of the tent as you choke on hookah smoke. Roll a save against death magic. [fails save] Your insurer deems you to be a smoker, your life insurance premiums have increased 2d10%!"
 

PrinceofNothing

High Executarch
Staff member
If you think your rational explanation is going to stop me from needling you about this you are sadly mistaken. Now I'm going to have to look for opportunities to turn it into a running joke. "You peer through the haze that clouds the interior of the tent as you choke on hookah smoke. Roll a save against death magic. [fails save] Your insurer deems you to be a smoker, your life insurance premiums have increased 2d10%
"The Orc's sword cuts diagonally across your eyebrow and left-cheek, giving you a -2 penalty to all job application rolls because you no longer look representative."
 

Beoric

8, 8, I forget what is for
Why does a spam-bot bother to install an avatar?
So you don't notice. It's about the same level of sophistication as your average player-party scheme to infiltrate... anything.

It's a sad commentary on humanity that these bots must get enough people actually following them to make it worth the trouble of programming them.
 
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