Our Ringworld Reloaded scenario at Con of the North ended with the PCs entering the Ringworld though the enormous "hole" in the structure's outer wall. The hole was created (presumably) by a collision with a rogue planet at some time in the distant past. The hole opens onto the interior surface of the Ringworld, where it takes the form of a 200 KM tall conical mountain, the Fist-of-God.
The PCs took their ship right through the hole, but lost control in the vortex of storms above the mountain's apex. The ship bounce-crashed its way down the Fist-of-God, destroying several mountainside monasteries along the path of their descent. Fortunately, the ship had a General Products hull, which is for all intents and purposes indestructible. Shipboard emergency stasis fields activated, and the next thing the crew knew their ship had landed in the middle of a city at the base of the Fist-of-God. There was a ring of fire around the ship; the city was burning.
Our heroes put the fire out, and were invited by local dignitaries to visit the fallen sky castle that was in the center of the city. This structure was the only area of the city to have an energy signature consistent with high technology. The rest of the city was at a 19th century level of industrialization.
A multi-species ecumenical delegation of priests welcomed the visiting Sky Gods (our PCs) to the sky castle. But the priests were surprisingly unsubmissive, insisting that the PCs stay put in the castle and learn a variety of Ringworld languages, both humanoid and Kzin. Then a discovery: one of the PCs sneaked off to discover the source of the energy emissions within the sky castle. The priests were soon forced to reveal their holy-of-holies: a three-dimensional holographic projection room with a real-time display of the Ringworld.
The scenario ended there. But I plan to use this setting as a home base for an episodic campaign, taking place at successive conventions where I run games. Here are the starting campaign issues:
- Current Issue: A map of the Ringworld that must be explored
- Impending Issue: We're not the only Sky Gods on the Ringworld
I like the idea of the mountain being essentially the inverse of an impact crater.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's a really cool idea. Putting the monasteries on the slope (I imagine some of the higher ones were pressurized) was also my nod towards Lord Valentine's Castle.
DeleteThat was one of my favorite bits from the original book, too.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm just waiting for the Motie protectors to show up.
The players spied a Pak-ish Protector-ish species disembarking from the alien spacecraft. They got worried because while the creatures had elongated heads, they also had tails. I can't think of any threats with elongated heads and tails so I have no idea why they were worried.
Delete