Finder’s Archives – Cloudpost

Copyright Wizards of the Coast

Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Finder’s Archives.

In this column, we take some of the lands from Magic: The Gathering and turn them into something you can use for your fantasy games.

The stats given in each entry assumes that you’re using Pathfinder or 5e for your games, but they can easily be converted over into any fantasy system. Today we are under the watchful gaze of Cloudpost.


Copyright Wizards of the Coast

Cloudpost

To most, Cloudpost resembles a gigantic, many-segmented, glass dome that is suspended permanently from a cloud. Some even say that it looks like an eye staring at them from the sky. Many are extremely unnerved by this, but they’d probably be more unnerved if they knew that this was, in fact, true. Cloudpost itself is an observation post for “aliens” that are observing the more primitive societies beneath them. They genuinely believe that they are well-hidden, as they are forbidden from interacting with any of the land-dwellers below them, and have failed to observe that the illusion magic that previously covered the “eye” has disappeared.

Lay of the Land

Inside Cloudpost is a technological marvel. The glass domes that are one-way observation-only, are stronger than steel and capable of resisting anything short of a direct dragon attack. Inside, it is filled to the brim with all sorts of technological and magical surveillance equipment, far beyond the reach of the people below the Cloudpost. If any of them made it up here they would be lost. Though the security measures might have eliminated them long before that became an issue.

Cloudpost itself is built as an observation station, and designed for long-term use by the crews. This means that it’s well-stocked with supplies and has living quarters for the crews as well as several different entertainment venues, such as sports courts and holographic cinemas. Most of the crews find that they spend their off-time studying specific “natives” however and often become fascinated with the goings-on. Many of the crews have compared it to the “reality-holograms” that the public back home pays dearly for.

Dangers

Cloudpost security consists of mechanical robots and magical golems, created by the grays who built the station (Pathfinder (Starjammer) / Starfinder), and who are quite cagey about letting natives escape if they somehow make it into Cloudpost. They’re usually returned back down to society, though only after having their memories removed. A few, those without any attachment, are allowed to join the observers and even the wider galactic society, provided they prove intelligent and capable of adjusting to the changes.

A few have even become celebrities in their own right, with some advocating for the rights of the “natives back home” stating that they should be allowed to join the wider world, but the common consensus among the more advanced civilizations of the galaxy is that the natives aren’t ready yet, partially due to how underdeveloped their technology is, but also because of how barbaric their behavior towards each other becomes during the frequent wars and conflicts.

Only once the worst excesses of these have been curbed will the wider galactic community accept them into the fold.

This was something a little else this week, but I hope you all enjoyed it nonetheless. 😊

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Kim Frandsen

40 years old, and a gamer since I was 13. These days I freelance as a writer for various companies (currently Fat Goblin Games, Flaming Crab Games, Outland Entertainment, Paizo, Raging Swan Games, Rusted Iron Games, and Zenith Games), I've dipped my hands into all sorts of games, but my current "go-to" games are Pathfinder 2, Dungeon Crawl Classics and SLA Industries. Unfortunately, while wargaming used to be a big hobby, with wife, dog and daughter came less time.

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