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sok
A song from the sixties
(5/22/03 3:14 am)
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Orb of Oblivion question?
Hi,
One of my players carries the orb of oblivion, the orb as told the player of some of its powers (the ones the module suggests). I was wondering how other DM's
have revealed all the powers the orb has, i felt i had to
tell the players that it allows you to teleport from the Fire Node back to the temple or they would probably still be in there.
Does the Orb of Oblivion have a history, one of which you woud find in a library? Would Gather Knowledge (Religion/Arcana) be the way to go? The longer one spends researching the more info about the orb I can reveal.
Sok
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Trithereon
A robot with powers
(5/22/03 4:10 am)
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Re: Orb of Oblivion question?
I seriously doubt that the outside world knows, or even suspects, of the Orb of Oblivion (or the Orb of Silvery Death. The artifacts come from the very heart of the Temple of All-Consumption which has been hidden from the outside world since its foundation.
However, during the second fall of the Temple of Elemental Evil a group of undetermined heroes must have uncovered and used the Orb of Golden Death. This artifact was created by Zuggtmoy and Iuz. Its powers were similar to that of the Orb of Oblivion and Silvery Death. If you assume that this group of heroes kept notes and wrote of their experience then they might find this information tucked away in some library. Such accounts will likely be obscured by the writers own ignorance of the true powers of the Golden Orb. The Golden Orb was destroyed and this collapsed the lower levels of the Temple of Elemental Evil.
In conclusion, I'd say that outside of magical means (Identify and Anaylze Deowmer) that direct investigation of the Orb of Oblivion will not be successful as there is no history of this artifact outside the Temple of All-Consumption. However, they may learn indirectly, by researching the Orb of Golden Death, some of its drawbacks and how to destroy it.
I hope that helps
Edited by: Trithereon at: 5/22/03 4:17:21 am
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sok
A song from the sixties
(5/22/03 4:25 am)
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Thanks
Thanks Trithereon for the History. I'll keep the PC's in the dark, the time will come when all will be revealed. 
Sok
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Zenon
A song from the sixties
(5/22/03 4:28 am)
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Re: Orb of Oblivion question?
When my players found the Orb of Oblivion, I did a little reseach to find out if any spells would tell them all it's powers.
From the SRD (Analyze Dweomer):Quote:
Analyze dweomer does not function when used on an artifact.
Since Identify is basically the "simple" version of Analyze Dweomer, then it to should also fail (I can't remember if it states this explicitly in the PHB, I couldn't find it in the SRD).
Commune and the like might provide clues depending on the questions, but the answers are "yes" or "no" or "unclear". Also, I would judge that any questions directed to a deity about the Orb would have a chance of being "overheard" or blocked by Big T. This would also make Big T aware of who/where the orb is (so he could inform any of his clerics that ask him.
I did have the Orb communicate the powers in the book (not all of them however).
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Caedrel
A song from the sixties
(5/22/03 10:00 pm)
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Re: Orb of Oblivion question?
I agree that "Analyze Dweomer" certainly shouldn't reveal all of the secrets of the orb, like its major powers or how to destroy it - I do think it could determine the minor powers, though. I also think "Identify" might tell you about one of the minor powers.
I'd have thought that, like any artifact, there should be various bits of obscure arcana and old lore hinting about its purpose and nature. The Orb of Golden Death could have formed some of the basis of this, especially since Iuz and Zuggtmoy must have had some sort of access (however indirect) to the Orb of Oblivion to create Yellowskull.
IMC, Tharizdun isn't in any position to "intercept" questions directed to other deities - his prison precludes that sort of consciousness, although his desires and dreams occasionally leak out into the real world in terrifying and destructive ways... I've also given him the odd moment of terrible clarity, but most of the time he's unable to anything much at all...
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