D&D Planescape Rapture.pdf

R apture

Contents

A N I NTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 2

Including the Background of this story, a Summary of the Adventure,

notes on Preparing for Play, and a word on the Factions Involvement.

C HAPTER I: T ANAR ’ RI I NVASION ................................................................. 8

In which our Heroes find out that Sigil is not safe from fiends ’

invasion and accidentally land in the Abyss.

C HAPTER II: I N THE A BYSS ..................................................................... 14

In which our Heroes explore the 523rd layer of the Abyss and find

there helpful Petitioners.

C HAPTER III: M OUNT C ELESTIA ............................................................. 24

In which our Heroes enter the Power ’ s realm, are attacked by an

Inquisitor, and meet the Deva named Morningstar.

C HAPTER IV: P RIME C ONCERNS .............................................................. 30

In which our Heroes visit the Holy City of Dratsum and witness the

zealous attitude and blind faith of the Natives.

C HAPTER V: T HE F ORBIDDEN T EMPLE ...................................................... 34

In which our Heroes enter the Holy Temple, and battle with Devas

on their way to the Rod of Divinity.

C ONCLUSION ........................................................................................ 40

In which our Heroes battle the Power and rescue the world by

destroying it.

Credits

Designer: Greg Jensen “ Editor: Feniks

Interior Artists: Andy, Chris Appelhans, Bruno Rubio, Derrick Schommer

Cover Artist: Robh Ruppel “ Cartographer: Feniks

Disclaimer Note:

All of published Planescape characters, character names, symbols and distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks owned by TSR Inc.

of it is in any way “ official ” . This material is for personal use only and may not be published, altered, redistributed or posted on News

Groups, Mailing Lists, Web Pages, FTP Sites or Bulletin Boards without the permission of the author.

I ntr o duction

We all know that occasionally a god goes mad with power.

One need look no further than the being known as Tenebrous

to see evidence of that. But what happens when a suppos-

edly good god succumbs to the madness of raw power? Can

a good god commit evil if he truly believes he is infallible?

Wouldn ’ t his followers notice? When reason takes a back

seat to blind faith, is goodness ever really served?

These are all debates for philosophers and theolo-

gians to decide, and the

arguments are far from

over. However, a new

player is about to increase

the stakes. A god has gone mad with power, and his follow-

ers are too devoted to believe he can do anything wrong.

Without even apparently realizing the harm he has been

causing, this god (called simply “ The Power ” by his fol-

lowers) has rent the multiverse asunder.

Someone must put things right again,

restore justice, and end

this god ’ s reign of

terror. The only

way to do this,

however, may be to

actually kill the god.

“ Preface “

Good Gods committing

Evil deeds ?

Gods going Insane?

And you still tell me

it has any meaning?

Rapture is a high-level adventure for 3 to 6 players. They

should all be at least 10th level. This adventure is in-

tended to be a good wrap-up for a campaign, the sort of

adventure that leads to a characters retirement. It isn ’ t

mandatory that all characters retire. However, at least

one PC should end up in the dead-book as a result of

this adventure (as will be explained later).

Rapture deals critically with certain religious topics,

and this should be taken into account by DMs. The in-

tention of this adventure is not to offend players be-

cause of their beliefs, but to merely illustrate a critical

point or two about organized religion. If the group in-

cludes players (not characters) who have deep religious

beliefs, this adventure is probably inappropriate unless

they are very open-minded and do not get easily of-

fended by religious criticism. Remember the goal of gam-

ing is to have fun primarily. If you accidentally learn

something along the way, so much the better. The goal

is not to offend players, however, and this would not

make it fun.

Please note that this adventure was written pre-Fac-

tion War, and the events of Faction War are not taken

into account in Rapture. It should be easy enough to

write the factions out, however; just replace the Hard-

— A Planewalking

Bleaker after hearing

the news

“ 2 “

I ntr o duction

head guards

with Sons of Mercy, and replace other

factions with guilds.

“ Background “

Our story actually begins several centuries ago on the Prime. A lonely Prime world,

cut off from the Phlogiston, endured a divine crisis. All the gods apparently aban-

doned this world, seeking followers elsewhere. All gods, that is, except for one.

This god, known simply as “ The Power ” , stayed due to his love for the people of

this planet. A lawful and good god of Mt. Celestia, he believed his flock needed

his moral guidance to make them better people. He taught them the virtues

necessary to bring order, peace, and compassion to all corners of the world. Faith

in the Power grew, and soon he literally ruled the entire planet.

The love the Power displayed made the faith of his followers all but unbreak-

able. Perhaps that is why they never noticed as the Power began going insane. His

focus on this one Prime world warped his perceptions about the rest of the

multiverse. He began to believe he was the only God that existed not only on this

planet, but anywhere. The planes, he believed, were his playthings. So were his

followers. If they didn ’ t agree with his beliefs, the people must be evil. The Power

believed he was the only possible source of morality that could possibly exist. If

anyone failed to swear allegiance to him, they were irredeemably chaotic evil.

Their actions meant nothing, only their faith. Humanitarians, heroes, and inno-

cent humans were all sent unceremoniously to the Abyss for the unpardonable

sin of skepticism. Violent zealots, witch

hunters, and the benevolent faithful were

all equally taken to the Power ’ s realm on

the sixth layer of Mt. Celestia, merely for

being a part of the Power ’ s organization.

The Power, in his madness, refuses to see

how any member of his faithful could be

evil, or how anyone not a member of his

church could be good. Because he brought

a moral code to the Prime world he con-

trols, he truly feels he is the only source of

morality in the multiverse. He views the

world in extremely black-and-white terms.

Either one is with the Power (good) or

against him (evil). His limited view of ethics

also causes him to acknowledge only the

planes of Mt. Celestia and the Abyss.

One would expect the followers of the

Power to see the harm in his beliefs. How-

ever, this was not the case. They also came

to believe as the Power does that there can

be no compassion or goodness without the

Power. Any who doubted the Power ’ s mad

beliefs were labeled as traitors, and sent to

the Abyss. All, that is, except one. A tome

archon and main proxy of the Power,

Morningstar, had helped the Power come

to power on this Prime world. He had helped

the Power maintain his presence on this world

through the use of a powerful artifact, the Rod

of Divinity. Morningstar truly believed his mas-

ter to be a being of pure goodness. That is why

he assumed he would be forgiven for question-

ing his master ’ s motives. When the Power went

mad and began sending innocent and good peti-

tioners to the Abyss, Morningstar demanded an

explanation. Instead, he was branded a traitor

as well, and expelled from the Power ’ s Prime

world. Unable to help the people he was once

responsible for, he instead fled to find a way to

defeat the Power. Now an asuras, Morningstar

believes he has found the answer … but he can-

not do it. Instead, he must send some true he-

roes to end the Power ’ s life, so the people of

this Prime world can be truly helped and guided

once again.

The Power is not the only source of moral-

ity, nor is he the only source of divinity in the

multiverse. His mad actions have begun to cause

problems on the planes. He has sent anyone who

innocently enough questioned the supremacy

of the Power to the Abyss. This is causing an

inordinate amount of lawful, good, and neutral

petitioners to flood the 523rd layer of the Abyss

(where the Power sends the infidels). The be-

liefs of these petitioners still has power, and they

are causing this layer of the Abyss to change

alignment in the Outer Planar scheme of things.

The boundaries between the Abyss and the

neighboring planes are weakening. Carceri, Pan-

demonium, and the Outlands (especially around

Plague-Mort) have been experiencing a record

number of tanar ’ ri attacks, as they pass through

the thinning planar boundary. (If the planes of

cordance are known by the PCs, Perdition is also

being swarmed with tanar ’ ri). Another place that

borders the Abyss, as well as all other planes of

existence, is Sigil. It, too is overrun with the cha-

otic evil tanar ’ ri due to the actions of the mad

Power.

onium is overwhelmed with trying to maintain

the peace in the face of these monsters. After

finding an ally of theirs has been killed in the

violence that has come with the tanar ’ ri inva-

sion, the players encounter some of the fiends

intent on attacking them. The fiends seem to

be disoriented, still believing themselves to be

on the Abyss. When the PCs investigate further,

they find themselves transported to the 523rd

layer of the Abyss.

In Chapter 2, the PCs explore the Abyssal

layer a bit more, and find more of the dark about

it. They observe fiends tormenting petitioners,

and battle petitioners and tanar ’ ri intent on kill-

ing them. They are aided by some of the peti-

tioners, who prove themselves to be compassion-

ate and heroic individuals. They inform the char-

acters of the God of their home world, and that

this is his punishment for lack of faith. Follow-

ing a Deva who is disposing of petitioners on this

plane, the heroes discover a portal to the Power ’ s

realm on Mt. Celestia.

In Chapter 3, the heroes find themselves

on Mt. Celestia, but do not receive a friendly

welcome. They are ordered to leave by celestials,

and attacked by an evil inquisitor devoted to the

Power. After the inquisitor ’ s defeat, Morning-

star appears before the heroes, and explains to

them what they must do to stop the Power.

In Chapter 4, the heroes journey to the

Prime to do what Morningstar has told them.

While there, they encounter the zealous atti-

tude and blind faith of the natives, and evoke

the hostilities of the locals.

In Chapter 5, the heroes enter the ancient

building where the Rod of Divinity is stored. The

heroes must battle devoted celestials to reach

the Rod, in a dungeon crawl with an uncom-

fortable twist: the “ bad guys ” in the “ dun-

geon ” are good but misguided, not evil

cannon fodder.

Adventure

“ Summary “

A Power went

Mad, you say ?

Sounds good

enough for me.

In Chapter I, the characters return to Sigil

from some previous adventure, only to find

the Cage swarming with tanar ’ ri … even

more than usual. Anarchy in the

Birdcage ensues as the Harm-

— Annarach, memeber

of athar

“ 4 “

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