Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Tan Shao Han 06-03-04, 04:52 PM	(originally posted on the psionics boards) Hi guys, i'm playing an Exalted Monk/ Wilder/ Lucid Cenobite (mindscapes prestige class) in a friend's high-level game (Lvl 15+). I have recently attained the Saint template for my character, and part of his duties are to defend the world against the forces of the Dark Plea. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Dark Plea, it is a very vile and powerful malign psychic force that exists in the multiverse under many names and in many guises - it gains strength from fear, violence, wanton destruction etc. It's kinda like the Dark Side of the Force. And it's going to invade the world soon. The problem is, few people believe my character's doomday threats. It's a magic-intensive campaign setting, a homebrew loosely based on Magic the Gathering's Dominaria, the Forgotten Realms, and Oerth. The movers and shakers are usually magic-users (the planeswalkers, on the other hand, have psions among them). My warnings of becoming slave to "bad feelings" are snorted at by barbarians, fighters, rogues and other practical folk - after all, rage gives strength and endurance beyond normal limits, fear and intimidation grants one power over others. I feel a bit like a one-man army; how should i go ahead with fighting this war against an invisible, intangible force that controls and influences nearly everything in the multiverse? Logically speaking, i should start by making sure that i don't power this force with yet more "bad mojo", right? And then teaching, guiding others to steer power away from it into themselves should work too? In terms of combat and practical reasons - i don't want lives to be lost (i have the Vow of Poverty feat). so i am thinking of gathering huge amounts of Quintessence, to spread this timeless goo over a secret subterrenean base so that the base is placed in stasis. This base contains thousands of Astral Constructs and Impresas (level 5 mindscape power that makes a much weaker copy of a character that lasts for one day) - i don't know when the invasion would come, and when it does come, i don't want lives to be lost or dark emotions to boil forth in the conflict. Hence i'll create soldiers of dream and pure ideal to remain vigilant in the timeless fortress until they are needed. I also have access to good diplomacy and sense motive skills, and the following powers: Psionic Charm, Mass Missive (potentially send a message of 25 words to everyone within 800+ feet), and Correspond (long distance trunk calls - the sending spell on crack). My Saint template grants me Tongues that's always on; with these, I wish to become a negotiator and broker peaceful alliances and dissuade warlords from their ways of violence, to become enlightened beings. How do you suggest i gain political clout and some measure of influence to fight the good fight? What factors should i examine, in my quest to wage peace? Thanks in advance! Yours Sincerely, shao
Chasmodai 06-03-04, 11:24 PM	i have the Vow of Poverty feat Uhm... you have Vow of Peace, not Vow of Poverty. Our DM doesn't allow Vow of Poverty - it's 'broken' remember?
Tan Shao Han 06-04-04, 01:05 AM	yeah, vow of poverty's out. it's vow of peace. silly me, i must be obsessing too much about poverty :-P i mean like, WTF - i can take a feat to gain a castle and lots of cash for developing that castle and land, and another feat to have tons of followers willing to help me, but i can't take a feat to give away all my cash? :-(
DNA 06-05-04, 04:52 PM	I'd try to start a school, and train others in the way of the good-aligned monk. I'm sure there are plenty of peasants who'd rather have half a bowl of rice a day and sit around meditating and training than have almost no food and tons of work. Align yourself with a good deity, if you can; church infrastructure can do wonders. The more good-hearted, mentally trained people there are in the world, the less of a grip the Dark Plea can get, right? Plus, you get to be Yoda! PS - If you haven't already, maybe you should take the Leadership feat? That'll get you a ready group of followers pretty quickly, especially at your level.
Tan Shao Han 06-07-04, 12:34 PM	hi, Thanks for your tips. i was thinking of getting both Leadership and Landlord (from Stronghold Builder's guide) soon to set up a school to train altruistic psychic monks; i was also thinking of creating lots of goods like clothes, buildings, tools, and vehicles with Fabricate and selling them to the needy and poor at 1/10th of the price (which will still be higher than my production cost), so that the economy moves along a bit for them, and they get to satisfy their material needs so that they can focus on meditation :-P only problem is, jealous merchant's guilds and evil teamsters will start sending legbreakers after me haha!
Chasmodai 06-07-04, 02:52 PM	only problem is, jealous merchant's guilds and evil teamsters will start sending legbreakers after me haha! That's where I come in. After all, who wouldn't be scared of a colossal sized man with a big sword threatening to step on you? :D But honestly, your insane diplomacy ranks would allow you to settle most things peacefully. The thing is to broker a deal with merchant guilds beforehand - become a supplier or something? With a mage on our side, I don't think transportation will be a problem. All of a sudden I'm wondering why I'm talking to you on the boards when I could just as easily talk to you on the phone. *slaps forehead* Your fellow PC who leads the exalted NPC life.
Tan Shao Han 06-08-04, 01:32 AM	possibly because you're at work and can doodle on the boards freely, you damn intern you! :-P i'm thinking of using Correspondence to call in a favour from Jo's rogue NPC from the Bleak Syndicate bout the merchant guild bit. Time to call in the mafia..? Misalliance of Monks and Mafiasos, does that sound all right? Or maybe i'll just go back to Scumport and beat up the beholder and take over his criminal empire. The giant warrior who beat Gerrard up must be redeemed from his slavery! He has forgotten his warrior spirit and now is nothing more than a punk working for a beholder thug!
Chasmodai 06-08-04, 04:30 AM	The giant warrior who beat Gerrard up... It was a lucky blow. As for the mafiosi - don't you think their methods might be a little unsavory for your sensibilities (and vows)? And to make them even interested in you, you hafta give 'em an offer they can't refuse. The elves in Llanowar might be another good idea - I keep bringing this up in game but no one ever listens to me - since Prince Lief is pulling strings in our favor already (I mean, His Royal Highness did fight alongside Piotr and Mehket. He would be willing to listen to you about the Dark Plea; and who knows, he might have even heard of it!) And if all else fails, Magnus, I mean, Jender Tholm can deal with most of the naysayers by blowing them up :D.