This month we asked our Quest Givers on Patreon which characters deserved a scene together. From the big menu o’ Handbook-World inhabitants, the most popular of our many side-characters were Drow Priestess and Jeremy the Dracolich. (Better luck next time to runners-up Snowflake, Kineticist, and Barbarian. We’ll have to see if we can’t get you gals some screen time in the near future.)

Any dang way, it looks like today’s adventure is something less than the “madcap buddy comedy” we promised. Our spider-worshiping murderess and our juvenile ex-dragon both have reasons to seek vengeance against The Heroes. And if you’re going up against an adversary as powerful as a party of main characters, it stands to reason that you’re going to need a big spell. Notably, these do not come cheap. And if you happen to be on the players’ side of the GM screen, you may not have access to them at all.

This is the territory of “plot magic.” No mere 9th level spell or second-circle sorcery can compare. When it comes to plot magic, you’ve got to bathe in the fabled font of a-wizard-did-it. That means artifact creation. It means map-changing uber-spells. It means the birth of a new deity, timeline altering Dr. Who nonsense, or literal apocalypse scenarios. These are the big-deal rituals that hide behind multiple quest chains, plot arcs, and high-difficulty relic hunts. They are oftentimes THE POINT of a campaign, and tend to be game-defining moments.

They also risk rubbing players the wrong way. If your BBEG happens to have access to “plot magic,” why don’t the PCs? Shouldn’t my guy, in all his awesomeness, have full access to phenomenal cosmic power? Why is it only the mages of yore that could create mechs or giant floating cities or whatever? I want in on that action too!

So here’s the question of the day. What “plot magic” have you run into during your travels across the multiverse? Was it strictly “NPC magic?” Did you have to brave a campaign’s worth of hardship to gather the necessary components? Or were you in one of those high-powered campaigns were the “wonders of the ancients” were a dime a dozen? Sound off with all your universe-altering, planar-collapsing, campaign-ending magical shenanigans down in the comments!

 

GEEKY GREETING CARDS For a limited time only this holiday this season, we’re bringing back our dice ornament X-mas cards over on Laurel’s Etsy store. We’re also rocking our ever-popular d20 Class prints, now updated to include designs for the Artificer, Warlock, and GM. So come one come all! Whether their alignment is Naughty or Nice, give a geek in your life a happy holiday.

 

ARE YOU A ROLL20 ADDICT? Are you tired of googling endlessly for the perfect tokens? Then have we got a Patreon tier for you! As a card-carrying Familiar, you’ll receive a weekly downloadable Roll20 Token to use in your own online games, as well as access to all of our previously posted Tokens. It’s like your own personal NPC codex!