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When the Sky Falls
longer term. Usually, long-term changes occur within the same area where weather is altered and where acid rain can occur: a region 50 to 100 miles from the impact crater of a standard meteorite. Wildlife and monster populations in the region may go through some serious changes as the creatures move around to take best advantage of the resources that remain. A longterm change in the weather causes a shift in vegetation patterns, which leads herbivores to die off as they fail to find enough food. Predators, including local monsters, must relocate in order to bring in sufficient food to survive. Over time, this phenomenon leads to increased monster incursions into nearby civilized areas. Vegetation patterns also directly affect the local farmers’ ability to bring in the crop, and the local hunters’ ability to bring down game. Prices rise, and many go hungry. Without strong trade and possibly some humanitarian aid from communities farther afield, many civilized residents of the region could die of starvation. In extreme cases, this sort of situation likely leads to civil unrest, and it could cause the disintegration of some communities located close to the strike.
Thaumaturgic Meteorite Impact Some meteorites are simply celestial stone and mineral that fall to the earth. Other meteorites have a stranger origin. Some of these bodies are fragments of incredible celestial objects charged with immense magic, referred to here as thaumaturgic meteorites or, for short, thaumeteorites. Of course, “celestial objects charged with immense magic” are not common, nor is a certain one likely to be similar to the next. However, for our purposes, when one of these incredible celestial objects breaks up and the pieces rain down from space, the residual magical charge of the original object gives each of these thaumaturgic meteorites similar qualities. Whether the object is an arcane moon, the body of a petrified dead god, or even the heart of an intelligent planet, upon breakup and descent, the meteorites formed assume similar qualities. That isn’t to say that as a DM, you can’t add extra qualities to the meteorites that make up a thaumaturgic meteorite impact. For instance, if the source of the meteorite shower is the body of a dead god, you might decide that each large crater formed by an impact creates an energy well* of divine power in addition to the powers described below. And instead of the bombs normally found around a meteorite impact, characters might discover actual bits of godflesh* . . . but that’s an event for another book. Regardless of the original material from which your thaumeteorite calved or crumbled, the magic that suffuses it * Discussed in Requiem for a God from Malhavoc Press.
manifests itself nearly the same way every time, allowing one to make many generalizations regarding the effects of the impact. It also offers many benefits to by the wily who survive to see the Afterfall.
Thaumeteorite Fall The visual and auditory display made by a thaumeteorite impact is little different from that of a mundane meteorite. Likewise, the damage of impact and all the effects of the Afterfall described for a mundane meteorite also apply for a thaumeteorite’s impact. Air blast, shock wave, weather, acid rain, and all the rest of the mundane effects described earlier take place. In addition to these effects, the magical charge of a thaumeteorite has a few additional effects on the environment. EMP: The most far-reaching effect of a thaumeteorite is the ethereal-material pulse (EMP) that occurs upon impact. When a thaumeteorite partially or wholly vaporizes, it releases a terrible disruptive force in the magic field. This pulse travels through the Material and Ethereal Planes, spreading outward from the impact point to a radius of 30 miles (for a standard 30-foot-diameter thaumeteorite). The EMP affects every creature and object in range that is not protected by at least 10 feet of earth or stone, or at least 1 foot of solid iron or metallic alloy. Each creature and object vulnerable to the EMP is treated as if subject to a targeted dispel magic with a dispel check of 1d20 + 20. Changestorm: Similar to the way acid rain is thrown off by mundane meteorites, thaumeteorites can infuse the atmosphere with magical essences that are incorporated into clouds and rain droplets within a 10- to 100-mile radius of impact. These so-called changestorms come and go in squalls that individually last 1d10 minutes and occur concurrently with acid rain. In affected areas, there is a 1 in 10 chance for such a storm to occur each 12 hours. In addition to the acid damage normally dealt (see “Acid Rain,” on page 7), the changestorm targets each creature (but not objects) caught in it as if subject to the discharge of a rod of wonder (or some other equally unlikely effect determined by the DM; see the rod of wonder in the DMG). Each creature is affected only once per changestorm. Thaumeteoritic Iron (Starmilk): As with mundane ironladen meteorites, thaumeteorites are vaporized by the extreme energy of the impact. This charged vapor (responsible in part for the EMP) quickly condenses out of the air and rains down in the form of globular masses in an area up to 5 1/2 miles in diameter around the impact site. Any damage they inflict is part of the initial blast damage. This thaumeteoritic iron, or starmilk, can be removed or mined. Generally a fresh thaumeteorite impact zone yields up to 5,000 gp worth of mundane meteoritic iron, 10,000 gp of starmilk, and 5,000 gp worth of adamantine after several days of searching and mining. As with meteoritic iron, starmilk has properties that make it an ideal substance for forging weapons and armor. This
