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When awakened, however, an elder chaos-thing such as the<br />
Leviathan is driven to reduce all it encounters to ruin and<br />
nothingness. (DC 40)<br />
The Leviathan slumbers in the depths of the oceans. It is<br />
huge enough to encircle the entire world. Its chaos energy<br />
seeps out as it sleeps, and its dreams create monsters of the<br />
land and aberrant sea life. Its restless motions manifest<br />
in the form of hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, and<br />
volcanoes. Eventually the Leviathan’s essential chaotic<br />
energy will all bleed away and it will fade into nothingness,<br />
but this might take longer than the life span of the<br />
world. (DC 43)<br />
The Leviathan’s awakening is foretold in ancient dragon<br />
legends—warning that if the great beast is roused to even<br />
semi awareness, the world will be shattered and remade.<br />
If brought fully awake, the Leviathan will destroy the<br />
world, and in doing so destroy itself. Such is the nature<br />
of the Leviathan, among the eldest of the beasts of chaos.<br />
(DC 45)<br />
GOALS<br />
The Leviathan’s only real goal—if it can even be said to<br />
have one—is to act in accordance with its nature. Given<br />
its creation and composition, the Leviathan’s nature is<br />
simply chaos in its most destructive form. As it approaches<br />
wakefulness, the Leviathan’s unconscious movements grow<br />
more frequent and violent, creating devastating catastrophes<br />
and producing deadly creatures. When it wakes the oceans<br />
boil and rage, whole continents slide into the abyssal deeps,<br />
and the entire world shudders. Once the Leviathan fully<br />
awakens, nothing short of concerted divine intervention<br />
can save the world from utter destruction. (Knowledge<br />
[religion] DC 32)<br />
The Leviathan is essentially mindless, and the destruction<br />
that it wreaks is simply the consequence of its fully<br />
wakened state. Legends told by the elder wyrms suggest<br />
that the Leviathan has approached consciousness on several<br />
occasions in the distant past, and this resulted in the various<br />
disasters that remade and changed the world. The fact that<br />
the world remains intact is proof that the creature returned<br />
to its slumbers. (DC 37)<br />
Depraved individuals might be willing to take the risk of<br />
utter destruction to use the sleeping Leviathan as a tool to<br />
achieve their wicked ends—the destruction of an enemy<br />
kingdom, the ruin of a continent for resources, or the reshaping<br />
of the entire world. (DC 42)<br />
THE LEVIATHAN<br />
IN THE CAMPAIGN<br />
Everyone has heard legends about the Leviathan, ranging<br />
from wild sailors’ tales of giant fish or whales to scholars’<br />
suggestions that the Leviathan is a real creature that has yet<br />
to be discovered. Few tales hint at the Leviathan’s true power,<br />
and most of these are buried in the obscure dragon legends.<br />
CHAPTER 5<br />
THE LEVIATHAN<br />
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SIGN: EERIE WEATHER<br />
The impending awakening of the Leviathan is heralded by abnormal<br />
weather that becomes more and more widespread as<br />
the sign becomes stronger.<br />
Faint: Eerie weather occurs once every 2 weeks and affects<br />
an area of 2d20 square miles in a place of your choosing. The<br />
effects last for 1d4+1 hours.<br />
Moderate: Eerie weather occurs once a week and affects an<br />
area of 2d% square miles. The effects last for 1d8+2 hours.<br />
Strong: Eerie weather occurs once a day and affects an entire<br />
continent or large surface of the planet. The effects last for<br />
1d12+4 hours.<br />
Overwhelming: Eerie weather occurs once an hour and affects<br />
the entire world. The effects last for 1d3 hours (because<br />
the duration can be longer than the frequency, the effects<br />
often overlap).<br />
Each time eerie weather occurs, consult the following table<br />
and roll d% twice to determine the exact effect. See Weather,<br />
DMG 93–95, for details.<br />
d% Effect<br />
51–70 Powerful storm<br />
01–25 Windstorm<br />
26–50 Blizzard<br />
51–75 Hurricane (coastal only; reroll elsewhere)<br />
76–100 Tornado (1d12 appear)<br />
71–100 Strange storm<br />
01–30 As storm, plus blood rain 1<br />
31–60 As storm, plus rain of fi sh or frogs 2<br />
61–90 As storm, plus acid rain 3<br />
91–100 As storm, plus flaming hail 4<br />
1 Contaminates all exposed water sources as the black<br />
dragon’s corrupt water ability (MM 71).<br />
2 Listen checks take a –4 circumstance penalty. Exposed<br />
creatures take 1 point of damage per round. The ground<br />
becomes slick with gore: Creatures can move through<br />
the area at half speed with a successful DC 10 Balance<br />
check (PH 67). The gore dries after 1d3 hours.<br />
3 Exposed creatures and objects take 1 point of acid<br />
damage per round.<br />
4 Listen checks take a –8 circumstance penalty. Exposed<br />
creatures and objects take 1d6 points of bludgeoning<br />
damage and 1d6 points of fi re damage each round.<br />
Every 1d10 rounds, a flaming hailstone explodes on<br />
impact in a random square, dealing 10d6 points of fi re<br />
damage to all creatures in a 20-foot-radius burst (Reflex<br />
DC 15 half). The explosion covers the ground with<br />
fragments, creating diffi cult terrain (PH 148).<br />
d% Effect<br />
01–20 Abnormal weather<br />
01–30 Heat wave; temperature rises by 2d20 degrees<br />
31–60 Cold snap; temperature falls by 2d20 degrees<br />
61–90 Invert season (summer becomes winter)<br />
91–100 Severe wind<br />
21–40 Inclement weather<br />
01–20 Fog<br />
21–80 Rain/snow<br />
81–100 Sleet/hail<br />
41–50 Storm (duststorm, snowstorm, or thunderstorm)<br />
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