Meteorite Types

The Impact Site

Few events have the blunt,uncaring social (and physical) impact ofa fiery fragment from the heavens falling into a world.

The first decision the DM must make is choosing where to let the hammer fall,and deciding how many impacts there will be.The three different avenues to explore are discussed below.

1.Choose a major city-state,island,or even continent in

your campaign. This choice sacrifices ease ofcampaign insertion in return for high drama.Leveling a well-explored and mapped area ofyour campaign world has repercussions that alter both in-game play and out-of-play effort.The benefit is derived from the shock the players feel when understanding finally comes to them that the city or country where their characters have adventured for most oftheir lives has been incinerated by a falling star. Ifyou choose a city or country that one or more PCs hail from to serve as ground zero, you automatically invest those characters with deep story-based seeds. You can capitalize on this connection by specifically describing to affected PCs how all their friends,family,enemies,favorite pubs,and more were all lost in the skyfall,not to mention the society’s culture in part or in whole.Affected PCs could be some ofthe few remaining examples oftheir people,and an interesting subplot could develop ifthey decide to look for other survivors in an attempt to regroup and reestablish their culture.

The downside ofthis choice is that the affected area represents a lot ofcreative work you’ve done to build this part of your campaign.Setting torch to it,so to speak,means that you’ll have a lot more work to do to describe what rises from the ashes.On the plus side,you’ll have a foundation on which to rebuild your campaign—the ruins ofthe original cities,the cultures ofthe survivors,the governments in exile (ifany),and land forms that are now destroyed or radically altered.

2.Choose an area far beyond the explored/visited areas

in your campaign. This is the easiest way to incorporate a skyfall into your campaign,without ruining much (ifany) of

the work you’ve done on your world.When the PCs hear that a faraway continent or city-state (or even an uninhabited island or barren plain) has been devastated by a skyfall,they may have never even heard ofthe location before.This scenario will have only the effects on the campaign that you specifically desire,because only the news and the effects of the skyfall that you want to reach the residents ofyour main campaign area will be apparent.Ifthe PCs later decide to travel to ground zero,you have the advantage ofbeing able to create it wholly to suit your own needs,without sacrificing previously described locations and adventure sites.

Checklist 3.Choose a spot at the edge ofexplored/visited areas in

Choose an area of your campaign your campaign. This position mixes many ofthe desirable world to serve as ground zero for elements ofboth the previous two options.Ofcourse,any of the skyfall. Make a map of this area. these options allows you to foreshadow the event (as Determine the level of destruction: described later in this book).Ifan area the PCs have visited, Choose the standard meteorite size have heard about,or have met people from during previous or fashion a smaller or larger strike of your own. Decide the number of adventures is devastated and changed by a skyfall,you’ll have meteorites that will strike. the benefit ofretaining the main campaign area and also of Determine whether each meteorite letting the PCs’ own knowledge ofhow things used to be in strike is mundane, thaumaturgic, or an engram ark. the affected area enhance their appreciation ofthe event. This option is all the more effective ifthe PCs were set to visit the area anyway for a reason unrelated to the skyfall. Whatever region you choose for ground zero,keep in mind that you may choose to pepper it with many meteors of modest size,or with a single massive meteor.You can also use a series ofmodest-sized meteorite strikes as a way of foreshadowing a larger meteorite strike to come. It’s a good idea to make a special map ofthe area affected by the strike,so you can keep track ofwhich parts ofthat area are hit by the impact effects described below.

Meteorite Types

For the purposes ofmost ofwhat’s discussed in When the Sky Falls, there are three basic types ofmeteorites:

Mundane Meteorite. This is nothing more—and nothing less—than a big chunk ofrock,just like the meteorites that have struck our real world.Even a relatively small mundane meteorite measuring a few feet in diameter is capable of causing horrendous damage in the area where it hits.

Thaumaturgic Meteorite. This sort ofmeteorite,also called a thaumeteorite,is a fragment from an incredible celestial object charged with immense magic.It is the source ofa magical substance known as thaumeteoritic iron,or