Ruvanna ("dream forest")

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Torin Dalemark's picture
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Ruvanna ("dream forest")

Hey, first poster here. I've DMed planescape for ages, but most of my material is homebrew. Once I get the money, I'll probably invest in some old material, but this gets me by for now. Anywho, this is one of my demiplanes I recently created. It's probably odd for a first poster to do this, but hey, I wanted to get some feedback. *crosses fingers*

Oh, and I hope this it the right forum for this.

Ruvanna (elven for “dream forest”)

Description:
The entire plane appears to be a forest encased in fog. Closer exploration shows that the ground closely resembles the color of dirt and has a slight give to it, but cannot be moved. The trees have relatively little limbs until about 50ft up where they suddenly sprout out into a dense canopy which blocks out any possible view above them.

With enough exploration, it is possible to find clearings where the trees don’t sprout from the ground. Here you can see the sky. The sky closely resembles a night sky on the prime material plane but without any stars. There are also continual fluctuations of light which closely resemble aurora borealis across the entire sky.

Though the name for the plane is "dream forest" in elven, the plane itself has little to do with dreams or even elves.

Time:
Normal

Morphic Traits:
The plane is static and nothing native to the plane can be changed. Note that the fog is not native.

Light:
There is a slight glow to the fog which illuminates the surroundings to the equivalent of moonlight. This illumination increases underneath the open sky.

Planar Limits:
It is nearly impossible to tell the extent of the plane. The borders of the plane slowly shift and churn like a moving amoeba. These edges are completely undistinguishable and even the trees somehow look continuous across these borders. The plane is wrapped so walking through a border will place someone at another edge of the plane, but not necessarily the one directly across. The only place that is continually stable is a circular space with a radius roughly 1 mile around the well. Navigation is impossible outside of this radius.

Location:
Ruvanna is a traveling plane. When not traveling it is considered coterminous to one plane. While it is coterminous to that plane, it is possible to planeshift to Ruvanna from the plane it is coterminous to. The duration that Ruvanna remains still is seemingly random and lasts anywhere from 1 month to several decades. While traveling, Ruvanna is unreachable by any means short of a wish. Traveling from one plane to another takes 1 decade.

Portals:
If any portals exist on this plane, they must be one way and cannot lead out of Ruvanna.
The main entrance is through a small "rift" in the plane. From the Ruvanna side, it appears to be a simple circular well formed of stacked rocks. The rift opening is at ground level inside the well. The fog pours out from the well. This well is the only path out of Ruvanna. While coterminous to a plane, it is possible to see through this rift to a specific point on that plane. The entire time that Ruvanna is coterminuos to a plane, this point remains in the same place. From the other side, the rift appears to be a two dimensional window hovering roughly 5 feet in the air. It is possible to see Ruvanna from this side also.
While traveling, this rift disappears and only the solid ground appears at the bottom of the well.

Magic Traits:
Divination spells will return complete gibberish and are effectively nullified. Vision like detect spells will show a kaleidoscope of colors and sound like clairaudience will only return a hiss (like a radio between stations). Conjuration spells also do not work. Summoning spells will summon an equivalent creature from within the plane. If no equivalent exists, which is more than likely, then it will fail. This is all due to the magic of the plane wrapping in on itself and is the same reason there are no portals leading out of Ruvanna.

Illusion spells are automatically extended, heightened by 4 levels (note that this changes the save DC), and the caster level improves by 4. Underneath the open sky of the plane, these numbers increase to 8.

Whenever someone casts an illusion spell, they must immediately make a will save against the illusion DC (note any heightened effects). Failure results in the illusion breaking away from the casters control and the caster immediately takes 1d6 Intelligence, 1d6 Wisdom and 1d6 Charisma damage. An illusion that has broken control now has a duration that is permanent and the caster no longer makes any decisions for the illusion. Instantaneous spells repeat the effect at the beginning of each round. Targeted spells change target at random to another viable target within range Any illusion of something that has the capability of moving can do so at a movement rate of 30ft. Personal spells will essentially create an illusion of yourself under the effect. For example, a blur spell will create a blurry illusion of you that walks around.

Once a spell has broken free it acts normally as if it weren’t an illusion. Spells that were personal will actually mimic the caster. No matter how many uncontrolled illusions there are, it never seems to be crowded and a vast majority of the forest is still empty due to the plane's constant shifting.

Any uncontrolled illusion can be dispelled by beating a caster level of 10 + minimum level to cast the spell + 4 (or Cool for plane effects.

Specific examples of spells effected.
Weird/Phantasmal killer/Nightmare: Creates an illusion that everyone sees as their worst nightmare. These are actually the biggest danger of this plane and one of the illusions that will attack without being provoked. These nightmare illusions move around the plane and either affect one person at a time (phantasmal killer/nightmare, one target 30 ft away from the actual illusion) or affect people within a radius (weird, anyone within 30ft).

Invisibility Spells: These do not require a save and will not break away. These are also not effective against any uncontrolled illusions of the plane.

Simulacrum: Casting this spell does double the ability damage when you fail the saving throw. You also pay twice the amount of experience. The result is a disturbingly close duplicate of the caster. The illusion retains nearly all of the casters memories up until the casting of the spell. These illusions do not always realize what they are which can sometimes lead to a great amount of hysteria.

Dream: This spell does not function

False Vision: This spell does not require a save and will not break away

Illusory Script: Causes an illusion duplicate of the book.

Misdirection: This spell does not require a save and will not break away

Magic Mouth: Will trigger anytime and also move. Moving mouths tend to say anything and somehow always seem to know a little about the caster who created them.

Mirage Arcana: Due to this spell, the terrain of Ruvanna can occasionally change from the usual monotony. Anything from deep imaginary chasms to vast sunlit castles can appear along the way.

People of the plane: Ruvanna Lunacy
Due to the traveling nature of Ruvanna, it is possible for an intrepid adventurer to get stuck in Ruvanna for a decade. 10 Years of not knowing what is real will easily break and mind. Everyone with Ruvanna lunacy tends to think everything is an illusion. Ruvanna Lunacy has taken any form from untrusting and twitchy to maddened murderer.

Places on the plane:
Mirage Manor- This large house is speculated to either be real, or just a very good illusion. It is continually on the shifting borders of the plane, so finding it is always just a lucky chance. People who have seen it describe it as a relatively large house sitting in the center of one of the plane’s many clearings. The house is completely furnished and provides a good place to stay since illusions tend to stay away from it. Something always seems unsettling about the house but no one has died or reported any physical evidence of problems. Some think that there is an intelligence to the plane that is centered in this house which controls all of the “uncontrolled” illusions.

Adventure hooks:
-Find a magic mouth created by your enemy to see if it will say a weakness or truename
-Rescue someone who has been gone for several decades and now Ruvanna is coterminous to some other plane like the Abyss
-Ruvanna appeared next to a local town and several adventurers emerged with Ruvanna Lunacy
-Find out if there is really intelligence in the Mirage Manor before an army of nightmares pour out on an unsuspecting plane

Fidrikon's picture
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Joined: 2004-12-19
Ruvanna ("dream forest")

You said the well is the only path out of the plane, does that means its the only possible way out, or just the only naturally occuring way out? (Aka, can you planeshift out?)

All in all, interesting. However, there seems very little reason to go there willingliy. However, it sounds like the perfect place for someone to be sent 'on accident'.

But I must admit, I like the idea of the PC's having to track down and find a specific uncontrolled magic mouth spell to learn the true name of some evil mage who was stuck there, long ago.

And wellcome to the forums! (clouds of confetti burst into the air, trumpets sound, and a bunch of dabus show up to clean the mess)

Torin Dalemark's picture
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Ruvanna ("dream forest")

'Fidrikon' wrote:
You said the well is the only path out of the plane, does that means its the only possible way out, or just the only naturally occuring way out? (Aka, can you planeshift out?)
Conjuration spells are out. Any teleport/planeshift falls under conjuration. I fiddled with the idea that planeshift would rebound and send you to a random place in the plane, but simplicity sake I left it. The illusion rules are crazy enough as it is.

'Fidrikon' wrote:
All in all, interesting. However, there seems very little reason to go there willingliy. However, it sounds like the perfect place for someone to be sent 'on accident'.

But I must admit, I like the idea of the PC's having to track down and find a specific uncontrolled magic mouth spell to learn the true name of some evil mage who was stuck there, long ago.


Yeah, it's more of an intrigue or mystery plane. Not all together deadly and seems innocent, but has the disguised potential (always a fun DM tool). I never thought of that idea for a magic mouth. Quite good. Sounds like a chant seller thing to say.

*edit* I wonder if I should add a juicy plot hook. More of a reason to actually travel there. Hmm.... ideas anyone?

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factotums
Joined: 2005-05-27
Ruvanna ("dream forest")

I like the well part. Where does it lead to I wonder? (If it leads out of the plane then it must take you to some other plane). Where does this plane reside within the rest of the planes? Or is it like a floating demiplane, attaching itself to this plane, then (in amoeba like fashion)slithers from this plane to that? (Don't even know if that has been done before, it might make the plane semi-sentient, you know just enough to have it move, BUT hell it is PS and ANYTHING can happen in PS).

Oh, and Welcome To The Boards! Laughing out loud

Torin Dalemark's picture
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Ruvanna ("dream forest")

'OpheliaWhispers' wrote:
I like the well part. Where does it lead to I wonder? (If it leads out of the plane then it must take you to some other plane). Where does this plane reside within the rest of the planes? Or is it like a floating demiplane, attaching itself to this plane, then (in amoeba like fashion)slithers from this plane to that? (Don't even know if that has been done before, it might make the plane semi-sentient, you know just enough to have it move, BUT hell it is PS and ANYTHING can happen in PS).

Oh, and Welcome To The Boards! Laughing out loud


Well, at first I had it anchored into the ethereal plane, which is where the fog came from, but I REALLY like the traveling opening idea. Sort of like a Neth that can move its mouth but not as godlike.

Thanks.

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Joined: 2008-06-30
Ruvanna ("dream forest")

w00p! New victim! (Wait... did I say that outloud? I meant to say new friend - friend! Really!) Eye-wink

And yes, you picked exactly the right place to post it up. Have you considered a plot hook re: the elven name for hte place? Possibly this is what happens when an elf undergoes a bad reverie?

Also - technically Simulacrum is an illusion spell though it produces a fairly sentient copy of a real person. What would happen if one of those got loose (or maybe one of those made the place?)

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Ruvanna ("dream forest")

'Clueless' wrote:
w00p! New victim! (Wait... did I say that outloud? I meant to say new friend - friend! Really!) Eye-wink
I think youv'e been spending to much time in the pits of evil my friend.

Oh, welcome to the site, I really like this demi plane by the way, it would go far in a ravenloft setting as well. Hey, as far as an adventure hook goes, think about what could happen if there were aloof little natives that just run amok when the plane crashes into another plane, maybe you can create your own, or just throw a race into it, the aftermath of it crashing into another plane is a good hook. Or you could just set something of great wealth in the forest, or something the PC's need to complete a rigorous task.

Fidrikon's picture
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Ruvanna ("dream forest")

Um, im not sure demiplanes can fit into ravenloft. A similar area could become a location in ravenloft, if only it was more... well... evil.

As for natives... hmmm. What about for the unlucky people who get trapped there, they begin to become manifestations of their dreams, over a few weeks. However, when the changes begin to occur, most people panic and expect the worse. This act, irionically, is what shifts the manifestation over to a form of nightmare, making you into a deformed... thing. It could even be that most people become those weird little buggers because in the time it takes you to be there long enough to change, you see at least one of them and panic, things thats what will happen to you. So it does.

Of coarse, anyone who knows what is going on will be much better off, probably becoming better versions of themselves.

(Im just trying to justify the name, region of dreams.)

Torin Dalemark's picture
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Ruvanna ("dream forest")

'Fidrikon' wrote:
(Im just trying to justify the name, region of dreams.)

As far as the name: I picked it because of the severity of the illusions. You don't know what is real and what is "a dream". So imagine you're an elf walking into this weird portal that suddenly pops up in your neighborhood. You climb through a well and you're standing in a foggy forest where images of things that shouldn't exist appear. Wonderful things as well as nightmares confront you at every turn. It's almost like a dream with the good and the bad. So the name is more of a loose description from a traveler than a concept that defines the plane.

'Clueless' wrote:
Also - technically Simulacrum is an illusion spell though it produces a fairly sentient copy of a real person. What would happen if one of those got loose (or maybe one of those made the place?)
Yeah, that was what I was pushing for. It's why I had it do twice as much experience and ability damage as if a lot of your mind was drained into this thing. I'll probably put a bit of a better description of what happens. Bascially an illusion copy of yourself that probably won't know it's an illusion... or could even be something a bit crazier. It could always work like the old 2ed clones where the clone snaps and tries to replace the original form. I usually leave that sort of thing up to the DM.

Overall, great feedback guys. Thanks.

My new brainstorm:
Since the opening travels and it's easy to get lost in here, yes there could be "natives". More like people that have haplessly wandered into the portal. For another odd feature, the well could close for a couple of years while shifting to another plane. Anyone caught there would spent years of not knowing what is real and constantly running away from nightmares. Eventually, people would snap, so lurking somewhere in all of the illusions are a couple of loonies that managed to survive. They could lash out at any travelers or they could just sit there and mumble to themselves.

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Ruvanna ("dream forest")

'Fidrikon' wrote:
Um, im not sure demiplanes can fit into ravenloft. A similar area could become a location in ravenloft, if only it was more... well... evil.
Ravenloft? Evil? I think your confusing the term evil with horror, which is ravenloft completely. Sure, you can use evil to make horror, but thats not what ravenloft is all about. Besides, a realm that can use your nightmares and dreams to it's advantage is pretty horrific in my eye.

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Ruvanna ("dream forest")

Think we can get ya to revise your post with all the feedback and turn it into a planewalker entry for the website? Eye-wink

Fidrikon's picture
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Ruvanna ("dream forest")

But... isn't that how people and places get sucked into Ravenloth... by being evil? It is a prision.

Clueless's picture
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Ruvanna ("dream forest")

Carceri is more a prison.
Ravenloft is the Demiplane of Dread - and while yes, the big bads generally have committed majors crimes... not everyone there has. Someones got to be able to do the dreading from what I understand for that realm, so that means occasionally the innocent get scooped up too. Eye-wink I'm sure others on here are more familar with it though.

Torin Dalemark's picture
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Ruvanna ("dream forest")

'Clueless' wrote:
Think we can get ya to revise your post with all the feedback and turn it into a planewalker entry for the website? Eye-wink
I would be honored. How's this? Any other feedback?

*edit* I edited a few things. It travels now. Simulacrum is explained a bit more. Adventure hooks added. Section on Ruvanna Lunacy.

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Ruvanna ("dream forest")

'Clueless' wrote:
Carceri is more a prison. Ravenloft is the Demiplane of Dread - and while yes, the big bads generally have committed majors crimes... not everyone there has. Someones got to be able to do the dreading from what I understand for that realm, so that means occasionally the innocent get scooped up too. Eye-wink I'm sure others on here are more familar with it though.
All the Darklords of RL are considered beyond redemption. It is said that they have done horrible and hideous deeds to earn their power and the powers that grant it do not reward nor punish those of light hearts with such power. Even if one becomes a Darklord by killing the previous lord that individual must still be evil.

Ravenloft isn't a prison in the common sense... nor is it just a regular demiplane. It lies somewhere in-between and firmly in the ethereal palms of the Dark Powers that watch over it.

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