What would you like to see in the Shroud?

[iago]

What would you like to see in the Shroud?  Give us some suggestions!  If we end up building something off of your idea, we'll give you a free PDF of the results.

[technoir]

A few ideas that sort of come to me in brainstorming.


A detailing of a tree top village.

A ranger build based on being a jungle explorer.

A warlock pact built on drawing power from the jungle or the shroud itself.

Detailing riverboats and their crews.

The river lich. A waterlogged variant on the classic lich calling on ancient evils.

Some common treasures with a jungle theme, tiki statues, bamboo staves of power, and the like.

Ancient ruins over run by the jungle with hints as to the ancient evil.

A frog men style monster race.

general purpose equipment like machetes and the like.

Maybe some example characters from the world.

[iago]

Good ones! We've already got plans in the works that match some of what you're talking about, but there's definitely some new territory in there. I'll have to chew on the new stuff.

Anyone else?

[MarkCausey]

I'm not sure I know everything about the Shroud, but based on technoir's answers below, maybe something like this:

I'm imagining that there is a mighty river that adventurers may need as a landmark on one or more adventures, or even and adventure path into the mountains deep in the Shroud, where the river begins as a trickle.

So, I'd give some details on spots along the river that a) lead to a dangerous encounter and b) have a clue as to what is further upstream. The neat thing should be that the Shroud can affect these things so they're aren't what they first appear. So, for instance:

Say at point A, fartherest down river, there is a pool collecting off of one channel filled with offal. It has corrupted the local fauna or people, and their corruption leads them to attack!

At point B, however, we find that a village participates in sacrifices monthly to keep the gods happy, which they know to be happy as the river brings them exotic food and trinkets. The PCs might want to stop this from happening. If they do, whether they've seen point A or not, it will affect the corruption there and they will find the situation different from if they'd chosen to do nothing.

At point C, the adventurers find the lair of a long dead swamp dragon, now lived in by some foul creatures with less intelligence. They keep creating feasts with a magic item there and throw or drop food into the river, which also grabs a trinket every so often to send down river. If the PCs decide to defeat these creatures and loot the place, the village in point B may either heighten their sacrifices. If they heighten their sacrifices, then the corruption in part A will become worse!

Does that make sense and fit into your ideas of the Shroud?

[Abrahm]

A frog men style monster PC race.

I'd love to see that.

I'd really like to see more crunch, which is definitely what you've given so far and less of the fluff I've been seeing requested. The themed monster pack that was the Death-Mother is really awesome. I'm really excited to throw the bone mother at my group (by the way, I am amazed you found that journal post so quickly.) More stuff along that line would be an instant sell for me. I'll throw out some ideas for that.

• A group of degenerate cultists, their bestial, shape changing priests and their animated statue guardians.
• A group of river/lake/aquatic horrors that attack you while on a boat. Giant mudskippers that leap onto boats and try to bullrush you into the river. Monster archer fish that knock you out of precarious positions with powerful jets of water.
  

I've also heard a great deal about multiclass feats like in the Gladiator article. I haven't purchased a DDI subscription, but this sounds cool. I'd really like to see the OBE take on those.

[Highmoon]

A warlock pact built on drawing power from [...] the shroud itself.

This. If this Shroud is as badass as it's shaping up to be, it surely has corrupted some warlocks along the way, generating what in game terms ends up being a pact.

I would like to see some info on the Shroud itself, perhaps a themed product with a few disparate mechanical bits (a few variant powers, rituals, one or two magic items, etc.) all relating to the Shroud.

[iago]

Does that make sense and fit into your ideas of the Shroud?

Yep. If anything, you've described a healthy chunk of our intentions for the River of Death adventure-cycle, which is still in its earliest stages of planning.

[iago]

A frog men style monster PC race.

I'd love to see that.

I'd really like to see more crunch, which is definitely what you've given so far and less of the fluff I've been seeing requested. The themed monster pack that was the Death-Mother is really awesome. I'm really excited to throw the bone mother at my group (by the way, I am amazed you found that journal post so quickly.) More stuff along that line would be an instant sell for me. I'll throw out some ideas for that.

• A group of degenerate cultists, their bestial, shape changing priests and their animated statue guardians.
• A group of river/lake/aquatic horrors that attack you while on a boat. Giant mudskippers that leap onto boats and try to bullrush you into the river. Monster archer fish that knock you out of precarious positions with powerful jets of water.
  

I've also heard a great deal about multiclass feats like in the Gladiator article. I haven't purchased a DDI subscription, but this sounds cool. I'd really like to see the OBE take on those.

More monsters are definitely in the mix.  If anything that seems to be something I've specialized in, a bit.

Right now I'm working on a multiclass for the Shroudborn, and it's pretty heavy, gruelling work -- but rewarding.  I don't know how soon we'll be able to release it.

Coming up soon, likely just past mid-month, we're going to be releasing a fairly crunchy pantheon product.

[Mdonle]

quick brainstormy ideas:

• quicksand/bog water skill challenges
• a city built of underground tunnels in and around the thick roots of trees
• some sinister, kick ass diseases
• fog-walker beasts
• flora that can be used by the PC's and that has an impact on play (such as entangling immobilization vines, flowers that shoot blinding spores, or goo filled bulbs of acid)
• rock eating worms, and worm eating rocks
• undead miners working a rich vein of blood rocks
• crystals found in deep caves that eat fog and act like a torch in foggy areas

[Mdonle]

re: diseases

Fog Dementia: a disease that as a chance to slide the sufferer 1 square randomly in combat. opportunity attacks should apply.

Fog Inhalation: a disease that has a chance to knock the sufferer prone in combat.

Jungle Stench: a disease that gives a -1 penalty to attack rolls to all adjacent creatures (enemies and allies)

Leaf Skin: a disease that makes tough, harden leaves grow on the sufferers skin. making them harder to hit with physical attacks (+1 AC) but lowers their speed (by half) as well as gives a penalty to acrobatics and athletics checks. possibly -1 penalty to hit as well.

things like that.

[iago]

Yeah! I was wondering whether a small-pagecount PDF of diseases would be interesting to folks. Sounds like that's a yes...

[Adam Dray]

I started working on a list of worm monsters for the Shroud. Did some research on real-world worms and nearly made myself sick. =)

[errant]

I realise this might not be appropriate for the Shroud but whoever comes out with an Aerial Adventures style book will get my money.

[mitchw]

Hey, Ideas I got, just no time to develop them....

Shroud Wraiths – On occasion, some people claim they can see ‘others’ in the fog.  Most of these encounters are harmless with the wraiths going about their own business never appearing to be aware of the viewers.  But, once in a rare while, the mist clears and the ‘wraith’ people come face to face with the observer from The Shroud lands!  Various reactions have been reported from fear and hostility to curiosity and interaction.  In one reported case a trade was made and the viewer returned to the fog with a finely woven pack designed for carrying items on a person's back.  This pack appeared to magically resist water and damage.  What other strange items could be won from these ‘wraiths’ if someone could figure out how to meet them on purpose?

Mitch

[iago]

I'm sharing all this with our developers, at the least. Some of these ideas are bound to catch fire.