L - Lankhmar, Ladyhawke, Love Letters, Lodestone

Having always been a sucker for city settings and a fan of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser I knew this is something that I wanted to have. It combines enough of the elements from the story along with enough of a generic nature to let the DM run adventures in Lankhmar but give them their own spin to the world. TSR also produced a number of modules for the setting so there is enough material there that the DM can have a good mix of their material and yet not have to create everything from scratch. I have not had a chance to go over the newer D20 spin on the city but do have it and hope it does the city right.


Movie:

Ladyhawke is yet another in what I would consider the great 80's era of Fantasy/Sci-Fi movies. The tale is a classic one of true love spoiled by the the unwanted attention of another but with a great twist in the curse that was laid upon the two lovers. I recall that seeing this movie made me want to add the epic quest back into the campaigns I was running at the time. And although she was in Grease 2 and Scarface it really brought Michelle Pfeiffer into my world and that is not bad. Add in Rutger Hauer and Matthew Broderick and we complete a great story with an all star cast...and oh yeah it is a Richard Donner film. I guess I know what I am watching again this weekend!

Plot:

Love letters are being left for one of the characters after a short stay in the local town or city. These letters are of the secret admirer kind. It will be up to the character to figure out who the sender is and how they became so infatuated with the player. The questions from this are many and could be far reaching in the campaign or a side note. Is the admirer a person of no consequence who if spurned will find a way to implant themselves in the life of the character or eventually become important enough to make the spurned advances costly. Is it possible that the sender is already someone of note...perhaps a child of local nobility or worse a disenchanted spouse? The flip side could be used as well. Does the recipient already have a significant other and how do they react. Or is it possible this is all a ruse to by a previous nemesis....

Magic:

Lodestones of Negation are items that most players will not want to have around. These items are the bane of  most other magic items. The Lodestone will usually be found as a necklace and unless placed near another magic item are nothing more than jewelery. When the Lodestone is placed within and inch or on another magic item the other magic item needs to make a save after one round. Failing that save the other magic item is drained of all magical qualities. The item must make an additional save for every hour the proximity still exists. Artifacts, relics and other unique or particular items will be immune to this effect though they can make certain abilities inert for a random period of time.  If two Lodestones should ever find themselves in contact then each round they are in contact there is a cumulative 5% chance that a 12 foot diameter sphere of magical annihilation will occur. This will persist until the stones connection is severed. It should rumored that in some instances a Lodestone of Negation can also serve as a Lodestone of Transference where if two items are in contact with the Lodestone the magical nature of one will be moved or if both are magical they will be swapped.