The Phlogiston
The Phlogiston (FLAH-jis-ston, sometimes called ‘The Flow’ for short) is a vast ocean: a galaxy-spanning nebula of rippling, raw undifferentiated materia that behaves like a gas. It shimmers with the colors of the rainbow but it is harmless to breathe in—as long as you have enough oxygen in your air envelope, anyway.
It is also incredibly, unwholesomely, inordinately flammable. You absolutely must douse every source of flame on your vessel before you fly it into the Phlogiston. And don’t even think about casting spells that conjure flames or have the potential to spark fires. Any source of flame, no matter how small, will detonate like a fireball had just gone off. And if you try and cast a fireball, get ready to roast yourself and everyone close to you alive.
The spell or other source of flame detonates immediately on the caster, dealing fire damage according to the Fire in the Flow table , centered on the caster, and then the spell fails.
Table: Fire in the Flow
[Source] [Effect]
[Spark or gunshot] [5 ft. radius detonation for 2d6 fire damage]
[Candle or lamp] [10 ft. radius detonation for 4d6 fire damage]
[Campfire, Forge, or Lightning Bolt] [20 ft. radius detonation for 6d6 fire damage]
[Spell that deals fire damage] [50 ft. radius detonation for 10d6 fire damage]
Even spells for which the flames normally originate at a point other than the caster, such as Create Bonfire or Flamestrike , cause the detonation centered on the caster.
A particularly fierce fire can cause a chain reaction within the Phlogiston, setting a large portion of it ablaze. Such a fire can last for weeks, or it might abruptly die soon after starting out when the currents of the Flow change unexpectedly.
OTHER PROPERTIES OF THE PHLOGISTON
The Phlogiston has other traits that may adversely affect adventuring parties, particularly those with divine magic or spells that conjure and manipulate matter and creatures from other planes.
*Spells that summon creatures or spirits from the Inner or Outer Planes do not function within the Phlogiston, because the substance of the phlogiston acts as a barrier to planar travel. Spells such as Plane Shift, Planar Ally, Gate and Banishment immediately fail, and the spell slot is expended.
*Using the Sending spell to contact a creature on one of the Inner or Outer planes has a 95% failure chance.
*A creature that dies while in the Phlogiston cannot pass on immediately to the afterlife. Its soul is trapped in the Flow. Most spirits trapped in this manner hover around their body or their place of death, but if living creatures can lead the spirit to a Wildspace system then the spirit is able to depart. Those trapped too long in the Flow may become undead.
The following properties are optional rules for the Phlogiston: consider discussing them with your players. Some players, especially those that rely on clerical magic or summoned creatures, may feel unfairly targeted by these rules.
*Clerics are cut off from direct contact with their gods, causing divination spells of 3rd level or higher to fail.
*Within the Flow, clerics can only regain spell slots of 1st and 2nd level upon the completion of a long rest.
*Conjuration spells that summon energy or creatures from the Feywild and Shadowfell, as well as Summon Draconic Spirit , function within the Phlogiston as normal. All other conjuration spells fail.
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