The T-Collective
A Preview of the Legend of Luthor StrongHeart
EXCERPTED FROM LETTER TO JOSEPH DURAND
Caltech Mail Box #846
Pasadena, CA 91126
November 1st, 1993
(818) 795-7781
Dear Joseph,
Greetings!
[much non-D&D stuff deleted]
That's the basic situation with my life at the moment. So, now that we've
got the pleasantries out of the way, let's talk about a real topic: D&D!
The spuds have finally reached an acceptable level of power (i.e. I can
throw neat stuff at them and they have a chance of not dying). I can finally
start uncorking the plotlines I've been developing for the last year.
Moreover, the players are getting slightly more motivated, which is always a
bonus to gameplay. Just recently I pulled off my first major finagle: at the
end of last year, the party was split as Luthor StrongHeart was separated from
the group. The remaining adventurers tried to get down to Luthor as quickly
as possible. Following the two divergent lines:
THE PARTY:
The group races down the first stairs they find downward. Finds a maze
which is populated by minotaurs. Easily dispatch them and explore the maze.
Use Pete rapaciously (Pete is a child demigod with massive Superman+ class
vision powers). Neat thingie: Pete tells them that Vischadden and Andrefus are
gone now (they had separated from the party for various reasons, and were
accompanying the slaves back to Thandor). After questioning, Pete verifies
that they are dead. Later on, Pete says that Luthor is 'gone,' and after
questioning decides that he must be dead, too. All this corresponds to a
strange lighting effect which illuminates the entire area.
The party is disheartened, but continues onward. They basically reach a
dead-end where they are, and must go back up to the Orc stronghold to find more
ways down. They find one other way which was heavily guarded, and release the
monster there so that it can wreak some random havoc in the Stronghold. The
party rests, regains spells, cures itself, and continues onward. The party is
actually at a low ebb but decides to press onward in concern for the paladin
(who Pete now espies and says is in fine shape).
They work their way down and encounter many STRANGE things, among which
are:
1) 3D visions which can be entered and interacted with.
2) The DarkFlame (a cold and darkness generating flame which casts shadows
of torchlight.)
3) A room filled with floating balls of concentrated taste.
4) A symphony room, which plays music appropriate to the person's mood.
5) A tactile room, filled with statues with strange feels to them.
It is the latter room that the party finds a hole leading downward.
Unfortunately, the hole has a statue wedged in it. The party, acting in
unison, is able to dislodge it, but in the process enlarge the hole and fall
down through it. They land in an area filled with 3ft of water, and are
promptly attacked by javelins thrown with incredible speed and accuracy. Then
they are hit with a fantastic stench which seems to drain their strength (but
only the monk Leander succumbs).
The party uses its full light ability and illuminates the room with magical
light; however, they aren't able to see anything! From the info they have,
they are able to deduce that they are under attack by creatures in the room
with them which they can't see (as opposed to a trap, lets say). Two members
are near death (Leia and Leander) just after the first wave; they are sure that
half the party will die on the next round. Carefully considering their options
(I gave them a week), they decide that surrender is their best alternative.
The party calls surrender and throws down their weapons (which immediately
causes all light to go out in the room, as they must be in contact with their
weapons in order for them to radiate light). Leia kneels deep in the water and
prays to Athena to let them see their foes. "Please," she says, "just let us
see the faces of our enemies before we die." Then, suddenly ...
LUTHOR STRONGHEART:
Luthor awakens near death (3hp out of 37, with no curing at his disposal).
He is attacked by several rats, which wound him down to 1hp, and nearly kill
him. Fortunately, rats are <1HD creatures (i.e. very spudly) and Luthor gets
a whopping 4 attacks/round on them (as opposed to a normal one attack). He
then discovers that he is lying on top of a pile of corpses. They are of a
strange humanoid race which look like lizards, down to the scales, eyes, and
claws.
Luthor takes account of his own situation. He is nearly dead, had his
armor ripped from him (as well as some clothing), has no food, and lost his
shield. He searches the area thoroughly for the shield, and finds it off to one
side. He also finds a leather cloak in the mass of bodies, and puts it on for
warmth. He steels himself for the ordeal ahead, and leaves the initial room in
exploration. Before he leaves, he prudently leaves a message on the wall,
written in his own blood.
Soon afterwards he finds another burial chamber, this one apparently for a
the 'noble' lizards. They are decked out on various biers, and several have
arms and armor. Luthor takes a set of armor from one, made out of connecting
stone plates. It is extremely heavy, cumbersome, and a high (bad) Armor Class,
but it is better than nothing. He sets off again.
Luthor soon realizes that the whole level is tilted, and that the areas are
getting deeper with water. He accidentally trips while in the heavy armor, and
falls forward into the water. Rather than drowning (which is what should have
happened) he discovers the cloak allows him to breathe underwater and also to
move at incredible speeds. He begins serious exploration in the water-filled
area using the cloak.
Around now the T-Shield starts pinging at him, as well as small lights
flashing around its circular edge. He is able to figure out that the vector
the lights are going off at represent targets, and the beeping represents
distance. However, he can't figure out anymore. He decides to move towards
the figures and the T-Collective activates for the first time.
It would be impossible to describe in any depth what happened after that,
since it was extremely detail rich. However, imagine a great computer program
awakened after 300 years coming back on line. There several voices with NASA-
esque cross-talk (Primary Sensors coming on-line... check, Begin Illumination
Sequence... started...etc.) with Terminator-esque menus appearing in Luthor's
mind. Several flash by him, doing stuff like
Put Primary User {that's Luthor, by the way} into ColdSleep.
Safeguards On
Life-Shields On
In Defensive Mode (as Primary User is Near Death)
Run Paladin Subroutines
Access Paladin Abilities
Determine Magic Item Disposition
ETC.
before finally settling on the menu:
Mode: Defensive Status: Green
OPTIONS:
1) Annihilate Enemy
2) Sensor Sweep
3) Status Conditions
4) Diagnostics
5) Reveal Enemy
6) etc.
Luthor, knowing that these creatures are evil, chooses the first option.
The collective the leaps into action. With casual effectiveness, the T-
Collective wipes out a group of Troglodytes with little to no difficulty.
Moreover, it has a limited vampiric regeneration ability (i.e. a fraction of
the damage that Luthor dealt out in combat is returned to him as healing).
Luthor is no more than a spectator as the collective controls his body.
After the combat, the Collective gives Luthor the option of "Rebooting
Primary User," which he chooses. He is then returned to conscious control, and
also returned to 1hp (even though 'he' had gained more; in reality it was the
collective which was healed). He finds some food shortly thereafter and
encounters more Trogs. He is warned well in advance of their presence, and
once he activates the Collective, they are easily dispatched.
However, in one room he finds some Troglodytes (those are the lizard guys,
by the way) mating, and the Collective gives him the option of "Ferret Mating
Grounds." He chooses then, and the T-Collective then proceeds to hunts down
the spawning chambers of the Trogs. The Collective then prompts for a "Decon
Strike," which releases a poisonous gas into the room (making it unusable by
the Trogs for the next 146 +- 15 years). However, Luthor (still Near Death,
mind you) cannot take the strain and passes out after an emergency Reboot.
Luthor is awakened nearly twenty hours later by the Collective, because a
Trog War Party is searching for him. He promptly proceeds to wipe them out.
After rebooting himself, he eats heartily, and then decides to clear the whole
area of Troglodytes. He begins at one end of the complex and systematically
hunts them down. Moreover, he keeps the collective active rather than
rebooting himself.
This eventually leads to the collective healing 'itself' as much as it can,
and then going into "Normal Attack Mode." The excess healing then is diverted
to "Reconstructing Primary User" (or slowly healing Luthor). Once Luthor
himself is fully healed, the T-Collective prompts him to go to "Full Offensive
Mode". A huge swathe of carnage then ensues.
However, in the midst of the random violence, the collective senses several
humans under attack by Troglodytes, and gauges with 92% certainty that they
are enemies of the Trogs. The collective then prompts with "Run 'Protect
Innocents' Subroutines?" which Luthor picks. Using the magical cloak, Luthor
speeds into the room...
PARTY REUNION:
Leia prays to Athena to reveal their attackers before they die...
(The T-Collective locks on, begins running Protect Innocents subroutines, and
chooses a Reveal Enemy strike for its initial option...)
Suddenly, the entire room is thrust into bright light, and a shockwave
passes through the room. When the edge of the light/revealing wave passes over
a hidden Troglodyte, it is revealed for all to see. They see that the Trogs
are arrayed in a circle around them, readying another round of their
devastating javelin attack. Leia is stunned... she profusely thanks Athena
and then hesitantly says, "Um, could you save us, too? I mean, why just stop
at revealing them..."
(The T-Collective uses the Cloak of The Manta Ray to speed into the room and
engage them hand-to-hand...)
From one of the passageways leading out of the room, a large water wave is
caused by something speeding quickly under the surface. Several people (humans
and Trogs) loose their footing in its wake. It stops right in front of the
Trogs and a humanoid figure rises from the froth. It is seemingly encased in
stone, with stone armor, a rock helm, and apparently stone weapons ablaze with
power (those were actually the silver-sheathed T-Sword and T-Shield; but in the
heat of combat...)
The massive figure then proceeds to kill off four Trogs one-by-one, an
unstoppable juggernaut incapable of defeat. However, it relents in its over-
whelming attack at the last moment, and falls back under the waves. Then, the
figure blazes underwater, positioning itself between the party and the
remaining Trogs...
(Tactical scans come on line, T-Shield now in full Deflection Mode. Seven
humans designated Innocents take priority over Main Unit...)
The six remaining Trogs fire their javelins at the party, two of them
missing. However, even though nothing should be able to prevent the other
javelins from finding their mark, somehow the stone figure is there to deflect
the shafts. Then, once the Trogs have used up their attack, he proceeds to
kill four more of them...
(Main Unit above threshold; shift to Full Offensive Mode...)
... apparently with contemptuous ease. Whereas before he was barely killing
the normal Trogs, he takes out the much buffer leaders in a single shot. One
of the two remaining Trogs is killed by Anthony Black, the Magic-User, while
the other members in the party fish around for their weapons.
(Danger Level within acceptable parameters; force confrontation...)
The figure in stone once again places itself between the party and the
last Trog, who has forgotten all thoughts of combat and is simply trying to
flee. Unlike before, however, the stone god slowly advances on the Trog,
stopping in front of him at the end of the round.
Before any can react the next round, the man kills the remaining Trog and
moves as if to speed down another hall...
(Present Combat Over; 11 Females presently attempting escape; Pursuit Mode in
effect... Here Luthor exerts himself to Access Voice Commands and say...)
... but he pauses for a moment, and turns to speak momentarily to the party.
IN REALITY: I had Ken secretly position himself outside the door and wait for
my cue to come in. At the right moment, he enters the room and says in his
best Terminator voice: "Stay here if you want to live. I'll be back."
He then leaves the room while I continue the description...
The figure speeds off down another corridor, and the party hears the sounds
of mass carnage in the distance... The look on everyone's faces was golden.
I had led them to believe that this was another Corinthion-esque man of power
(a vastly powerful man they had met in the 3rd level adventure), and in reality
it was just their own paladin.
Anyway, the T-Collective proceeds to destroy everything else on that level
(which wasn't much, considering that he had already wiped out most of it). They
also find the 'passage' to Pete's homeland, which was a well called the
Fountain of Tears. Of course, there was the whole spiel with whether they
could prevent Ivan from following them, and all of the fantastical encounters
they had there, etc. etc.
More stuff is on the way... The fifth level adventure will be chocked full
of neato stuff, among which includes:
1) paladin meets nemesis (Rowena VileSight) and maybe falls in love
2) magic-user comes into full circle-of-fire power
3) party meets a Pariah (Demon-cursed soulless immortal wanting to die)
4) party meets Barnaby (a very surreal touch sensitive psychic)
5) party meets The Carrier (a well-respected spy with a terminal disease).
6) it just gets better after that...
The fifth level adventure is really where things should start getting
uncorked. I am going to make it a very grim, nasty, dark emotion-laden
adventure. It occurs during the winter cold, and I am going to start up a
terrifying Dream of Water. This should be pretty neat, since the party was
originally brought together by the Dream of Fire. Things be jumpin' now...
Anyway, I'm about all written out. What goes with you? (Note: you don't
have to write a big ass letter in return; just write back!)
Sincerely,
Kim Lumbard
P.S. It looks like I win our little postcard race; I got rid of mine ages
ago!