Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Hand_of_Kain 09-17-07, 09:19 AM	This is a bit long, sorry. My first try at political machinations. I thought that there would be some experienced political designers here that might read this and critque it. Thanks Ok here goes, All of the political movements we are concerned with deal with or spring from the Grand Vizer of Du'lar, an Athlean by the name of Jorath. A little history on him. Raised in Lower Athlea, son of a famous wizard who specialized in transmutation, enchantment, and illusion. When Jorath was 7 yrs old, the kingdoms of Du'lar and Lower Athlea were once again at war and Athlea was losing. A radical faction in the Athlean government decided that extreme measures needed to be taken and they devised a plan to use the kingdoms most promient mages to turn their magiks against the Du'larians. Joraths father was one of those mages that was approached but he, and a few others, refused and fled with their families to Du'lar. With the added help of the wizards, Athlea now had the upper hand in the war. When Jorath's father approached the king of Du'lar telling him of the Athlean use of magiks against Du'lar, the king saw a chance to end this tiresome war. He arrested the rogue wizards and sent them back to Athlea as a peace offering. Jorath wacthed as his father was publicly executed after being tortured extensively. He and his mother were then imprisoned lest they seek vengence. After 2 yrs in the Athlean prisons, Jorath's mother died of influenza. Jorath, a boy of 9, was all alone in prison. He was befriended by a insane old man who claimed to have vast mystic powers. Many laughed at him wondering if he truely had these vast powers, why not escape? Jorath listened and learned quietly in the depths of prison and at the age of 12 he made his first escape attempt. He was caught, flogged, and thrown back into the same hell hole. Three years later, he escaped and made his way, slowly, to Du'lar. At the age of 16 he found himself in the capital of the focus of his burning hatred, Du'lar. He was already an accomplish mage and he "convinced" a noble family to adopt him. He kept his magical abilites a closely guarded secret and used his affliation with his noble "parents" to enter the political sphere, eyes on the royal advisors position. So CLOSE to the king....... That is his history. As a master of transmutation, he created many Skin Dancers (Skinless abberations that can don a victims skin and impersonate them) and has placed them in key positions all over Dul'ar, rarely in the place of the person in charge but rather in a place that has his or her ear and trust. The major factions in this game of thrones are the Chruch of Pelor (read Catholic Chruch), the Earl of Dayvorn (the King's cousin), The Guild of Commerce, The Three-edged Sword Mercenary Guild, The Duke of Be'enyl, The Count of Tiers, The Duke of Vale, and the Athleans of course. King Tirian, Du'lar's current king, has no hier. The queen has yet to bear any children and people are begining to talk of infertility. Queen Julia is the duaghter of the King of Lower Athlea, another peace offering, though she is quite happy with her place and has even fell in love with her husband. Then the news spreads like wild fire, the queen is pregnant! Three days later, King Tirian is found dead in his study. The Earl of Dayvorn claims Athlean involvement, saying that they waited till their princess became pregnant to secure their path to the Du'larian throne. The King of Athlea is outraged at this and demands the Earl retract such claims. Then the pregnant Queen is kidnapped. The Athleans blame the Earl of Dayvorn claiming that he kidnapped her in retaliation for the supposed assassination of his king. War breaks out. Needless to say, the Grand vizer is the perpetraitor of all this. His Skin Dancers assassinated the King and kidnapped the Queen. (Phase 1) The Count of Tiers and the Duke of Be'enyl are distant cousins, something that is completely lost on the two. They have feuded since beyond time remembered. With the Duke taking the brunt of the invading army, the Countess (a skin dancer) begins to whisper in her husbands ear themes of glory. He uses the Athlean army as a distraction and moves in on the Duke's land hoping to increase his holdings and give him the advantage over his cousin. The Duke is now best on two front and his aide (a skin dancer) has begun to whisper in his ear themes of his inevitable defeat. (Phase 2) The Guild of Commerce (three of the five council members are skin dancers) are hurting because with the war, all trade lanes are either closed off or at risk of being attacked. They have decided to colapse back on their guild hall, taking with them all the supplies they have, fortify their position, and hope to wait it out. They have forged a shacky alliance with the Three-edged Sword Mercenaries, despite the mercs are usually the ones taht attack the trade caravans, and use them to fortify the town around their guild hall. The villagers of the town (currently unnamed because I don't have my maps with me) are rather upset about the sudden imposition of a lot of mercs in their town and their locked down state. No one in or out. The Duke of Vale (skin dancer) is the lord of that area and he is none to happy about losing his town to a bunch of mercs and traders. (Phase 3) The Church of Pelor has recently suffered a grivious loss. The former Grand Inquisitor had found the traces of evil spreading through the kingdom, even to the highest levels. Unable to act secretly for fear of his prey elluding him, he started a full inquisition. It was well controlled and led the Grand Inquisitor along the path to find the source of this infection. The Grand Vizer realized that he was close to being uncovered by the Inquisitor and began to drive the Inquisitor insane with his illusion and transmutation magic. The Grand Inquisitor slowly decended into insanity and his inquisition became more and more depraved and misguided. He slaughtered whole villages becase "taint" was evident there. THe church had no choice but to quietly assassinate their own Grand Inquisitor. The world was told he had died of a degenerative disease. The church elected a new Inquisitor and the Grand Vizer replaced the new Inquisitor's chamberlain with and skin dancer. The High Cardinal (read Pope) has begun to see the taint of evil all over Du'lar thanks to the whispering of his right-hand man, the Cardinal of Du'lar. (skin dancer) He believes that the nobles of Du'lar have not only allowed the practicing of the dark and forbidden arts, but actually encouraged it in hopes of diminishing the power of the Church. The Church sees itself as the "Shining Light of Truth and Order" and that the only way to restore proper order and faith is to transform the current monarchy into a theocracy under their control. When they announce their intent, they are met by harsh resistance from the nobles which only reinforces their resolve that they are right and that this is the right course. The town under the control of the Traders and Mercs is seen as the bastion of evil forced on to the helpless townsfolk and the Duke is asking the Church for aide in expunging this blight on the face of Du'lar. (Phase 4) The Earl of Dayvorn is the only one of the Nobles that has not be influenced by the whispers of the skin dancers. His aide, who is also his brother, is a skin dancer but the Earl has noticed that his brother is not wuite himself and has not paid much attention to his advice. Seeing his beloved Du'lar fall apart around him from invasion and in-fighting, he is convinced the only path out of this is for him to take the throne temporarily and lead his people away from the precipice on which they are precariously perched. This will not be recevied well by the other factions so he is hesitant to take such a drastic step. All of this will happen in steps as the PCs adventure. Sort of like a flowering back story that slowly evolves as they play. The Earl will suffer several attempts on his life by what seems to be Athlean assassins. Oh, yeah. Nearly forgot something. The Grand Vizer has close, close ties with a noble house of the Drow and he uses them as spies, assassins, and diversions. With his illusion magic, they can look like anyone and have impersonated the Mercs, working with the Athleans, making the Mercs look like traitors. That is it. Any ideas, improvements, critiques, or new twists are welcome.
Subversive 09-17-07, 04:50 PM	It sounds like fantastically plotted political drama. I would make sure that throughout these developments, you institute key moments that the PCs can have an affect on the story. Make sure the focus is on them, rather then on the other characters around them. Ensure that there are specific moments within their level of advancement that they can alter the course of actions of the story, or interact with key figures. I'd also suggest fleshing out the Viser's actions some more. What are his plans post-collapse? Does he intend to claim the throne himself? Surely he must realize that one so close to the throne will not be spared should the Altheans conquer his "adopted" country. Is he setting himself up as a reformer? Is he secreting away money and establishing a new power-base to operate from after the inevitable fall?
Hand_of_Kain 09-21-07, 11:21 PM	After some thought, here is what I came up with. The Grand Vizer hasn't thought past the destruction of Du'lar because he is blinded by his hate. Instead, Malve, the brother to the Athlean king is the antagonist, using the Vizer and his rage as a tool to take over the throne of both kingdoms. Athlea is too weak to win an all out war with Du'lar so Malve is counting on the defeat of the Athlean armies and the death of the Athlean king and his prince for they both insist on leading the army. The political infighting in Du'lar will weaken the strong country enough that the Malve, Prince of Athlea will be able to take over with the help of his drow allies. And in some vampires. A house of vampires more honorable than most that has lived in Du'lar for time untold. They were hunted by one of the original kings of Du'lar and most thought they were destroyed then. The king found them during the day when they were helpless and intended to exterminate them. The ruling Lord of this household, Lord Alexi, bargained with the king and they came to an agreement. The king would allow the vampires to live on, provide them with food in the from of criminals that needed to be caught, and tell no one of their exsistance. The vampires, in return, would serve the throne as bounty hunters (their fee the blood of those they caught), and would not bother the innocent villagers. This vampire house has loyaly served the throne for eons and the only ones that know of them are the royal bloodline they serve. The vampires are important figures for two reasons. 1) They will attempt to find the missing queen and rescue her and might seek out the PCs to aide them in this task, 2) they are one of the few ways that the Skin Dancers can be exposed for the vampires possess a keen sense of smell for blood. The skin dancers (being aberations and not humanoid) smell different. If the vampire or the PCs are able to rescue the queen, the Earl will insist on sending her to Athlea for Du'lar is not safe for her and that will get the Athlean army of his back. The Drow house is the fourth ranked house in the dorw city. They are using their alliance with Prince Malve as a power play to boost their standing, possibly even to the first house. If the plot pans out, they will be allied to a surface kingdom that covers over hlaf of the continent and such a powerful alliance would bring them the favor of Lloth. The PCs will learn of the Drow connection before learning of the Grand Vizer of the Prince. By the time they learn of the Drow, the plot of the Prince should be quite unravelled and the drow will know that the fourth house has lost the favor of Lloth though they will not know why. The PCs will expose the alliance between the drow house and the surface and the other drow houses will take care of the rest. When the PCs exposes the drow house, they will learn of the Grand Vizer. Only after confronting the Vizer will they learn of the Prince's involvement. The climax to the campaign will be a mad dash for the Athlean capital to stop the brother from killing the Du'larian queen who is "safely" inside.
Subversive 09-22-07, 12:50 PM	Two comments then: Vampires do not have the scent special quality. They would likely have to taste the blood first to discern a difference. You could give them special quality, or alternately, the optional feat, but mechanically it's not part of the game. Secondly, the fourth house of a drow city will have massive massive resources at its disposal, and certainly have the divination magics needed to predict possible interference and destruction at the hands of a group of PCs. Furthermore, it's doubtful that a failed attempt to ally themselves in a takeover of a human empire would be enough to cause the other houses to turn against them to the point of their destruction. Afterall, they've invested few resources into the endevour, and haven't attacked other drow houses. At most they've lost a few high-quality soldiers. Again, being the fourth house, it's unlikely that the other houses would seize on only this to waste the level of resources needed to destroy them. Better they be a lower house: ambitious, willing to take risks, and seeing this action as a means to advance their standing rapidly. It would represent a greater commitment of their resources. It would mean they were less likely to forsee interference by the PCs, or predict their defeat. It would also make it a lot easier for the other houses to clean up after they lost manpower and resources that, while not a great overall amount, represented a larger portion of their overall assets and left them more vulnerable.
Subversive 09-22-07, 12:58 PM	I think you're better off using Doppelgangers as spies and bounty hunters then vampires. Vampires are pretty limited in what they can do, afterall. They can't cross running water. They can't enter houses without permission. They're repelled by garlic and holy items. They can't enter churches. There's a lot of ways to avoid them. Doppelgangers, on the other hand, are natural spies and hunters. They can shapechange into anything, and can detect thoughts, which would allow them to realize that the Skin Dancers aren't what they seem.
Hand_of_Kain 09-23-07, 11:09 PM	You bring a valid point about the vampires' weaknesses as bounty hunters. The scent thing is how ever the DM likes to run it. But I will have to reconsider the use of vampires. But the drow, it doesn't seem like the sort of thing a lesser house would involve itself with unless it was the 9th or 10th house. Too big and too risky with, as you pointed out, nothing to fall back on. I am not worried about divinations because if the drow were good at those, they would predict the assassination attemps that are so common amoung them. But I will think on it. You raise some good points
Hand_of_Kain 09-24-07, 02:15 AM	Ok, more thoughts. On the drow, it would have to be a great(er) house. Think of it this way, if a minor house was behind it and they are successful, they are the only house the surface kingdom will trade with. Great power will come with this and the major house will seize the oppertunity to both wipe out an upstart lesser house and seize the trade right for themselves. The end result would be the destruction of the lesser house that greiviously overstepped itself. If a great(er) house was behind it, they would have the power to protect their new found wealth and power. On the vampires, (and this mostly springs from my love of vampires. Call it a desperate attempt to rationalize their involvement in the light of you revelations) they can work around their weaknesses. Most notably the inability to enter a house uninvited. They are the hunters, they track down the fugitives and once they have located him/her, they approach the local guards with a writ of authority from the king himself. They have the guards enter the house/building and apprehend the fugitive and then the vampires take custody of the offending criminal and take him back to the king. One of the reasons I liked using the vampires in this plotline is that they are immortal. Imagine the power they would wield after this if over. A vampire bloodhound in every royal court and household to protect against infiltraition. They would see generation upon generation of nobles grow to take the places of their forefathers and like a trusted and loved butler, they would have every noble ear in the kingdom. On top of that, after such a deep infiltraition by the Skin Dancers, those in power will be paranoid. A simple word from a vampire bloodhound in a royal court would result in the removal of whomever he whispered against. Whether that removal is permanent like death or just temporary, the vampire would have the power to remove any one who would voice an opposite opinion. One might ask why the royal families don't think of this but after the Skin Dancers, they would go to any lengths to protect themsleves and their families. Rational thought at that time is secondary at best. I am still open to removing the vampires if they really don't feel like they fit though.
Subversive 09-25-07, 06:55 PM	Ok, more thoughts. On the drow, it would have to be a great(er) house. Think of it this way, if a minor house was behind it and they are successful, they are the only house the surface kingdom will trade with. Great power will come with this and the major house will seize the oppertunity to both wipe out an upstart lesser house and seize the trade right for themselves. The end result would be the destruction of the lesser house that greiviously overstepped itself. If a great(er) house was behind it, they would have the power to protect their new found wealth and power. In that case, I would make it a lesser house vassaled to one of the major houses for protection, perhaps a catspaw of that house and doing its bidding in this matter. Any way you slice it, the third or fourth house of a major drow city will have far too many resources at this level of play - fiendish allies and minions, a wide-ranging spy network, arcane wizard support, and clerical divination magic. As depicted, the general reason that divinations fail during inter-house conflict among the drow is because Lloth favors one house over another, and skews divination results in the favor of that combatant. On the vampires, (and this mostly springs from my love of vampires. Call it a desperate attempt to rationalize their involvement in the light of you revelations) they can work around their weaknesses. Most notably the inability to enter a house uninvited. They are the hunters, they track down the fugitives and once they have located him/her, they approach the local guards with a writ of authority from the king himself. They have the guards enter the house/building and apprehend the fugitive and then the vampires take custody of the offending criminal and take him back to the king. One of the reasons I liked using the vampires in this plotline is that they are immortal. Imagine the power they would wield after this if over. A vampire bloodhound in every royal court and household to protect against infiltraition. They would see generation upon generation of nobles grow to take the places of their forefathers and like a trusted and loved butler, they would have every noble ear in the kingdom. On top of that, after such a deep infiltraition by the Skin Dancers, those in power will be paranoid. A simple word from a vampire bloodhound in a royal court would result in the removal of whomever he whispered against. Whether that removal is permanent like death or just temporary, the vampire would have the power to remove any one who would voice an opposite opinion. One might ask why the royal families don't think of this but after the Skin Dancers, they would go to any lengths to protect themsleves and their families. Rational thought at that time is secondary at best. I am still open to removing the vampires if they really don't feel like they fit though. It's the same problem. Sure, a writ would – if you twist the logic the right way – allow a vampire to enter a house, but that’s assuming that all property in a kingdom is the property of the king, which sets up a much more strictly feudal system of governance that I’m sure you want to avoid – one where the people are serfs who work the land, and are essentially property themselves, requiring permission to even leave their lord’s holdings. This form of governance would be pretty stifling to classic D&D adventurers. And what if the target is on a vassal’s land instead of the king’s, or in another kingdom, or has actual ownership of the land? It still doesn’t solve the problem that a vampire has if his target is, you know, on the other side of a creek. Or a fan of garlic bread. Or Religious. Or likes sunlight. It’s a nice idea, and lends to a particular image, but it’s not practical given vampires’ particular weaknesses. It also calls for giving vampires extra powers – Scent can be a powerful ability. Not to mention… vampires ARE evil. They would be far less likely to be trusted. I still maintain that a better clan of bounty hunters would be doppelgangers. Just because they might not be immortal doesn’t make then any less foreboding and creepy.
Hand_of_Kain 09-25-07, 09:42 PM	I like the idea of a lesser house working for a greater house. That works well. It also fits with the theme of bait and switch that runs through this campaign and gives a "unhappy" ending to the drow part. Yeah, we beat the drow house doing it but the house in charge is still out there and WAY too powerful for us to mess with right now! I like it. Vampires. Ah, well. "They are the hunters, they track down the fugitives and once they have located him/her, they approach the local guards with a writ of authority from the king himself. They have the guards enter the house/building and apprehend the fugitive and then the vampires take custody of the offending criminal and take him back to the king." But you are right. Garlic, religion, and water are still a problem. I will have to find something else to fill in for them. Time to breakout the monster manuals. Doppelgangers might not be bad because they could (given the right protections against divinations) appear to be the same person for centuries. I saw another creature yesterday that sparked my interest. I will have to think about it.
Subversive 09-26-07, 12:25 AM	I like the idea of a lesser house working for a greater house. That works well. It also fits with the theme of bait and switch that runs through this campaign and gives a "unhappy" ending to the drow part. Yeah, we beat the drow house doing it but the house in charge is still out there and WAY too powerful for us to mess with right now! I like it. Well, it's nice because it's very scalable to their power levels, and might offer the next level of challenges to the characters. Vampires. Ah, well. "They are the hunters, they track down the fugitives and once they have located him/her, they approach the local guards with a writ of authority from the king himself. They have the guards enter the house/building and apprehend the fugitive and then the vampires take custody of the offending criminal and take him back to the king." But you are right. Garlic, religion, and water are still a problem. I will have to find something else to fill in for them. Time to breakout the monster manuals. Doppelgangers might not be bad because they could (given the right protections against divinations) appear to be the same person for centuries. I saw another creature yesterday that sparked my interest. I will have to think about it. Yeah, the problem there is that the whole writ thing only works in areas where the king's authority is acknowledged, which makes their roles as bounty hunters pretty limited. If you want something really immortal, you could use a LeShay from the Epic Handbook, but I still like Doppelgangers, and most standard aristocrats won't have the sort of readily-available divinations to unmask them. Give the higher-up doppelgangers levels of spymaster, which would protect them to an extent from divinations (IIRC).
Hand_of_Kain 09-26-07, 03:37 AM	Ah, but know I have to come up with a backstory for how and why the dopplegangers work for the king. More work, THANKS!! :D As if running around afghanistan wasn't enough, lol. I am working on a history of my world as well and might post that soon. Mostly it has to do with a seriously irratating bad guy from one of my other campaigns and his origin for he was once a Solar in the service of the OVer-Deity. I liked what you did with your world and was wondering if you might be my devil's advocate there. Oh, what is IIRC?? I am guessing it is a source book
Subversive 09-26-07, 05:01 PM	Ah, but know I have to come up with a backstory for how and why the dopplegangers work for the king. More work, THANKS!! :D As if running around afghanistan wasn't enough, lol. I am working on a history of my world as well and might post that soon. Mostly it has to do with a seriously irratating bad guy from one of my other campaigns and his origin for he was once a Solar in the service of the OVer-Deity. I liked what you did with your world and was wondering if you might be my devil's advocate there. Oh, what is IIRC?? I am guessing it is a source book Thanks for the compliment on my game. I'm satisfied enough with that world that I might host future games in it as well. As for more work... you and I both know that a DM's job is never done! Fallen Solars make for pretty powerful enemies. Consider elevating him to status as a duke of hell, or maybe he's in Limbo, and trying to force his way back into heaven? Either way, I'm interested in hearing more. Are you US Military? I'd heard that a lot of them play D&D to kill time in-country.
Hand_of_Kain 09-26-07, 11:15 PM	Yes, I am. I am a paratrooper in the 173rd airborne brigade. And yes, D&D is a GREAT way to kill time out here, as are movies and video games. lol But the fact that a DM's work is never done is part of the fun. Always working on new stories and adventures, making the characters lives harder, etc... The history I am still working on. I hope to finish typing up the rough draft soon and to post it. I looked at dopplegangers and part of their description is that they are not evil (good for my game) but consider all other creatures below them and delight in manipulating them (not so good). What reason would they have in working for the king?? Perhaps it is a shrewd move to can a presence in the court. Perhaps they were hunted and nearly killed off before and they are using their alliance with the king to help ensure they have a future. I am just spitballing here
Hand_of_Kain 09-27-07, 02:29 AM	The history of the Planes and the origins of Malvekion. I use the standard D&D pantheon plus a few extra that I have made. Most notable difference is the inclusion of the All-Father, the Over-Deity named AO. AO is a benevolent god and creates the gods, none more evil or good than the next. He gave them restrictions telling them they could not create beings untill he detirmined they were ready. Some follow him along the path of benevolence and goodness, some follow their own path of neutrallity, while others are more craven and given to evil. Inevitably, the good and evil gods begin to fight amoungst each other, competing for the Over-Deity's favor. The evil deities begin to turn to the creation of beings to give them an edge in the War of the Gods though only one is willing to risk using them openly. An evil god (so far unnamed, sorry) creates five great warriors and uses them against the forces of good on the fields of tartarus. The Over-Deity (not omniscient) is stunned at the gall of one of his children but to keep the balance and order, he must act. He slays the impertinient deity for his transgressions and orders his spawn hunted down and destroyed. The divine essence of the god filtered down to his creations when he was killed, each getting and equal portion. Four skulls are brought back to him (leaving one who now has all the divine essence of his creator), two by the evil gods and two by the good ones, both looking for his favor. He realizes that he cannot continue allowing his children to fight for his favor, as he cannot choose amongst them, and creates his own champion, Malvekion, the first Archangel and Solar. To give Malvekion the power to slay all but the greastest of his creations, the Over-Deity forges a sword in the Star of Ahges. The blade is made from unbreakable glass from tartarus, from the very field where the first transgression occured; the hilt is made from the skulls of the four warriors and the fangs of the Tarasque; the handle is made of unmelting ice from the Elemental Plane of Water; and the pommel is topped with the skull of the offending god. (I have a picture of it but I don't know how to post it) Malvekion, the first of all solars, the champion of the Over-Deity, the Slayer of gods. (slayer of gods is what his name means) Many other gods are exposed to have created creatures and Malvekion is sent forth to bring about the retribution of the All-Father. Such was his reputaion that many deities shudder when he enters the courts of the Over-Deity. All this death and slaughter, all these souls lost in the void. The last remaining warrior of a already forgotten god, now a god himself hides himself away on a plane of his creation. Hades. He takes the role of the god of the dead and welcomes all the wandering souls lost to the void. His name was Nerull. As he gains in power and his plane expands, it draws the attention of the All-Father. When he sees that one of the abominations has escaped and is thriving, he sends his champion down to deal with the upstart. With that taken care of, he can turn his attention to his favorite dream, his pet project that has been eons in the making, waiting for his children to mature enough for it, The Material Plane. A place where they may create things in their own likeness, to be worshipped by. Only they evil deities will be denied this plane for they have broken his commands and have not shown they are ready. When the time comes that they are ready for such things, the All-Father will create them their own plane, seperate from his, for their creations are given to war and slaughter. He calls all the good and neutral gods together to discuss and create this plane. He also creates the second Solar, a friend for Malvekion and the guardian of the material plane. Under him, the All-Father creates a host of angels to serve the Second Solar and watch over his creations on the new world. That is the set up. Later I will write the fall of Malvekion
Hand_of_Kain 09-27-07, 04:01 AM	Malvekion flew through the planes and arrived in Hades to find Nerull, god of death, busy making an army of the undead. He turn to see the Solar and smiled. (this is just a quick draft of the one-sided conversation between these two) Nerull: So, I am discovered. I suppose you are here to kill me and take my head back to your "impartial" god. Well, before you do, I should warn you that your place as the champion of the All-Father is in danger of being usurped while you are busy doing his will. Malvekion:.............................. .......................... Nerull: What? He didn't tell you what he would doing while you were away?? Strange, well, no not really. It is so like him to use someone till something else catches his interest. Like a small child, always moving on to the next thing and forgeting what brought him such joy and satisfaction before. Well, since no one else thought it important to tell you, I may as well do you a favor and tell you what is going on. You see, you "All-Father" is as we speak making his "greatest" creation and has already created ANOTHER solar to take charge of it. You, after all the hard work and blood shed for him, are being put second, if that. It is a shame really. He has already forgotten you and is making others he holds higher though they have done nothing to earn such favor, unlike you. Malvekion steps forward rather menacingly. Nerull: If you don't believe me, go look for yourself. I will stay right here. If I am lying to you, you can return and finish what you were commisioned to do. But if I am telling the truth....... And so the seed of doubt and mistrust was sown in Malvekion's mind. He returned to AO's courts to find all the good and neutral deities surrounding the plans for the materail plane. And just as the god of death had said, at the right hand of AO stood another Solar, carefully watching and learning of the place of which he was to be given charge. Rage and jealousy boiled in Malvekion's soul and he turned and left the court, no one even noticed that he was there at all. Malvekion raced through the planes once more, directionless and wandering, blinded by the pain and rage, when a sickly familiar voice brought him from his self-pity. Nerull: See, I told you. I am sorry to have had to be the one to tell you but I could not, in good conscience, let you go one in ignorance. No one should be spurned so. I am sure that had your roles been switched, you would have acted with more nobility and fairness. He claims to love us all and to be impartial but look at what he does. Throws you to the wayside and tries to kill me. Or perhaps he intended me to kill you so he wouldn't have to. From this point, it was easy for Nerull to convince Malvekion that he could do better as the All-Father that AO. Not long after, Malvekion led an army out of Hades towards Celestia and the Throne of the Over-Deity. AO finished the material plane and created humans in his image. All the good and neutral gods made what they wanted and they hung the material plane in the heavens. Under the Second Solar (still no name for him either) the angelic host left Celestia to guard the new world and foster it in the ways of AO. Once AO was finished, his mind turned back to his champion and wondered whee he was, what was taking him so long in the task set forth, and wished for him to return soon so that he might see his father's newest marvel. Return he did, but not in the manner in which the All-Father ahd thought.
Hand_of_Kain 09-27-07, 09:33 AM	*The worlds were torn apart in the cataclysmic battle that ensued. Malvekion and the army of the dead, the evil gods at his back, against the All-Father, the host of heaven, and the good deities. AO recalled all of his angelic host back to fight and the two Solars met on the field of battle, their first meeting ever. As the battle drug on, the evil gods saw that they were losing many of their forces to the angelic host so they with drew to cut their losses. Malvekion and Nerull stayed, refusing to give up so quickly. Malvekion fought the Second Solar in personal combat and they were evenly matched. Malvekion with his god-slaying sword and the Second Solar with the favor of AO. Slowly, Malvekion was turned to the defensive and eventually disarmed by the Second Solar. In one final, swift move the Second Solar disarmed Malvekion and slew him with his own sword. As Malvekion's life ebbed away, his soul and essence were absorbed by the sword and trapped there, causing the sword to gain sentience. Now implacably evil, the sword could not be held by the Second Solar and he dropped it. It tumbled through the planes until it came to a earth shuddering stop on the material plane. Nerull saw the end of Malvekion and fled, much more powerful now than ever before thanks to all the freshly slain souls waiting for him below in Hades. now here there are two versions from here on that I am debating between. 1) The sword brought evil to the material plane. Before the sword landed, the material plane was untainted, untouched by evil. With the sword's presence, evil was now allowed on the world and the evil gods had a foothold on which to create whatever they desired. And they created with a vengeance, angry that they were not allowed to do so before. With the kingdoms there divided by the collapse (more on that later), evil could thrive and not be at risk of all the kingdoms uniting to destroy them. 2) During the battle, the evil gods saw the material plane was now unguarded and they took that opportunity to leave the battle and create things there while AO's attention was elsewhere. They created their creatures underground, in the underdark, so that they would be hidden from the kingdoms of the surface lest they unite and destroy them. During the Collapse, the evil creations pour forth from the underdark and cause even more havoc then there was already. Either way, evil finds its way to the material plane. The Collapse After the Kingslayer (the name of the sword) landed on the world, it was found by a 15 year old farmer's son. He picked it up (it had changed it's size so he could, it is normally 12' long) and immediately was dominated by Malvekion, trapped within the sword. Malvekion did not take the boy's body or destroy the boys soul because he was still a young lad and not a suitable carrier for the soul of the first Solar. Instead, Malvekion made the boy wander from royal court to royal court, slaying all he saw, especially kings. This caused the Collapse and all the kingdoms were torn asunder and lay to ruin. Alliances between the kingdoms crumbled and war began. AO, emotionally torn apart as he watched his favorite creation ripped apart by something else that he had made, broke his own law and intervened. He stole the sword away and buried it in a glacier, deep under the ice, a frozen tomb for his once favored one. He hazed the memory of sword in the minds of the people so that it would remain hidden forever. Time continued, as did war, until Boccob disobeyed AO and gave knowledge of magic to the races of the material plane. With magic, new kingdoms were forged and the world set at a semblance of peace. Wars are still fought but it is no longer a world wide event. Boccob was only slightly punished because his disobedience brought peace and happiness to a region of the planes that needed it most. And the sword lay hidden for 300 years. Until magic found it again..........
CastTiltowait 09-27-07, 03:24 PM	Wow, awesome cosmology! It reminds me vaguely of a novel by Steven Brust "To Reign in Hell." On the topic of the bounty hunters, if you like the concept of the dopplegangers but have issues with their attitude towards others, when making a suggestion for the Adventure Path thread, I stumbled across a monster called the Phasm that's in the SRD http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/monstersOtoR.html#phasm One advantage it has is that despite being a "standard" monster, I've never heard of it being used in my 27 years of experience w/D&D, so when you start using it, people are unlikely to know anything about it. It would make an even better shape changer than the doppleganger since it's not limited to humanoid shapes (no one suspects the horse is the REAL bounty hunter, only the rider:D ). It doesn't have the mind reading ability, but it does have telepathy. It's Chaotic Neutral, so again you can avoid the evil issue. Why does it work for the king is again a problem, but maybe it's the same kind of thing, it is protected by the king in exchange for this service. As an amorphous organism, how does it reproduce? In it's progression plan, it gains size as it adds HD. Perhaps there's only one true phasm, but by dividing numerous times, instead of one Gargantuan phasm, there's a bunch of medium size ones, all sharing the same personality. It would make for a surprise encounter if a number of these spies suddenly recombined and formed some Huge quivering mass that shape-changes to a Red Dragon.
Subversive 09-27-07, 07:50 PM	Under the Second Solar (still no name for him either) the angelic host left Celestia to guard the new world and foster it in the ways of AO. I always like the classical judeo-angelic sounding names. How about Riykiel? Or Zarael?
Hand_of_Kain 09-28-07, 12:11 AM	I like those names. Riykiel, eh? I my steal that. Thanks for the compliment, this is only a rough draft of the cosmology, I intend to flesh it out more later. The phasm idea is a good one and I will have to look that up. Now, I was at the sword buried in ice, right? Along with the Kingslayer, the army that followed the boy from kingdom to kingdom, reeking havoc, is buried there too. Quite dead. Their bodies can be seen suspended in the ice all around the ice cavern that houses the Kingslayer. To move a bit further in the time line, I told you that Malvekion was trapped in the sword and I think I told you that he later on is a terrible pain in my players collective sides. :D He waits in the ice for several centuries, drawing all kinds of evil to him. I believe the draft of the place has 10 grown white dragons, a ton of ice undead, and a frost giant citadel to top it off. Now I should introduce the other main baddie. Here is a bit more history that I wrote. It too it a bit long winded. Mages Guild History 874 - Present Day Started in the 9th century, the Guild of Mages has been a prominent political figure. Spanning across almost every known country, it does not recognize borders. Prior to its creation, there were many wizards’ cabals, witches covens and the like, but none as organized or long lasting as the present day Mages Guild. Since its creation, there has always been an Archmage. Like a Pope, the Archmage's word is law in the guild. The First Age of Magic The first Archmage and leading founder of the Guild was the Archmage Malchavious. Malchavious ruled the Guild from 874 to 962, 2nd age. A bold and audacious leader, Malchavious used his magical knowledge and skill to gather the best and brightest mages in the known world. He traded his knowledge of protective auras to the emperor of Lower Athlea, Emperor Habuto Tsushima III, for the right to build his Grand Mage Hall on Athlean land. Having established a guildhall, he set to creating offices to oversee the various areas of the magical arts. They were called Grand Mages, the best and most adept at their specialty school of magic. Another deciding factor was their loyalty to him and his vision of one united magocracy. The meek, but fiery Maria Therris was elected Grand Evoker. The Wizard of Thyrmul, Malsithious, was given the school of transmutation. Lord Korvin, with his calm, cool exterior, was given the office of Grand Abjurer. Given her talent for forecasting future events, Detera Yhisero was elected as Grand Diviner. Grand Conjurer was Kyrim Istor, for his sympathy with the other planes. Archmage Malchavious' area of expertise was the art of illusion, and finding no other suitable candidate, he took temporary charge of that school. Having set in his base for the tutoring of worthy students, Malchavious opened the guildhall in the year 874, 2nd age. His criterion for potential students was high to ensure that only the brightest would sit at the feet of his Grand Mages. The Second Age of Magic When Archmage Malchavious died in the year 962, he had no proclaimed heir. With no true leadership, the guild splintered, each following their chosen leaders. The most prominent of the elects was the Grand Transmuter Malsithious and the Grand Diviner Detera. The dispute between these two grew until there could be no reconciliation. The first war of the mages began in the spring of 964. This dark period in the Guild's history lasted for 43 years. During the war, the dark art of necromancy was born. Discovered by mishaps in magical experiments conducted by Malsithious, he quickly turned to using them to further his rise to power. Stopped at every turn by the forces of Detera, Malsithious soon grew impatient and unleashed his necrotic legions. Such a perverse and cold use of magic turned many supporters of his cause to forsake him and join Detera. Scorning his former allies, Malsithious vowed vengeance for the betrayal. The war ground into a stale mate and loses were heavy on both sides. Seeing no quick way out of the gridlock, Detera challenged Malsithious to a Battle of Mages in the year 1006, 2nd age. Overly confident in his abilities and new power, Malsithious accepted. The duel took place in the summoning chamber of the Guild of Mages. Evenly matched, neither seemed able to turn the duel in their favor. In an outburst of rage, Malsithious over-extended his power, momentarily weakening him. Detera reacted in an instant, mortally wounding her opponent. Seeing his eminent defeat, Malsithious tore open a portal to the shadow realm, destroying the Grand Hall of Mages. Fleeing to his tower hidden away in the shadow realm, in a final effort to save his own life, he used his necromancy to complete a ritual to turn him into a powerful lich. The Third Age of Magic After her victory, Archmage Detera began to rebuild the splintered guild. She ushered in the age many called the Golden Age of Magic or the Artifact Age. To strengthen the guild, she fostered relationships with many clerics devoted to a wide variety of gods. Using these good relations, the clergy and the Guild created many powerful artifacts, items of immense power, the likes of which had never been seen before or ever will again. The Guild prospered under her guidance and spread across the known world. She also established the Blood Mages, a group of mages devoted to the search for necromancers and their progeny. Most importantly, they were tasked to ascertain the location of Malsithious and finish what Detera had begun. One most promising artificer was the mage Drakus. Drakus constructed many wondrous relics for the church of Hieroneous and St. Cuthbert. Known all over as the Hand of the Gods, Drakus grew in wealth and reputation. He began a secret, mysterious project that captured the curiosity of the entire arcane community. The god of the undead himself, Nerull, inspired this project, little known to anyone, including Drakus. Drakus secluded himself away in his tower of the guildhall and began to work on his masterpiece. Blinded by the dark god's influence, Drakus crafted the abyssal relic in complete seclusion and secrecy. Unknowing hands did piece by piece, the work of Nerull. Once the relic was complete, an orb called the Globe of Eternal Darkness; the spell fell from Drakus' eyes, allowing him to see the monstrosity that his hands had painstakingly crafted. Appalled by his blindness, he knew that this abomination must never find its way into the hands for which it was designed. Praying to all the benevolent gods that it would remain a secret, Drakus hid it away as best he could. He set fire to his notes and research, hoping to insure no one else could follow where his misguided steps had taken him. As a final step to hide the orb, Drakus killed himself in the hope that the secret of the orb and its hiding place would perish with him. The Fourth Age of Magic In the year 1217, 2nd age, Malsithious made his return. Assassinating the Archmage in her sleep, Malsithious followed the dark guidance of Nerull and began his search for the Globe of Eternal Darkness. Making no attempt to hide his presence now, Malsithious wage war on the living with his malevolent magic and undead fiends. He swept through the lands like a brushfire, killing all in his path to fuel his army from the afterlife. The clergy of Hieroneous gathered to oppose him, backed by the Light of Pelor and the Sun Swords, the militant arms of the churches of Pelor. One knight stood above all others on the battlefields. The illegitamate son of a peasant, Endrin stood when all the nobility had fled and fought off the lifeless hordes from devouring countless villages. Knighted by King Tirian II of Dular, he quickly gained acclaim and renown among every tier of society. Though despised by the nobility, none dared to challenge him for fear of his reputation and blade. It was Endrin that stood on the fields at Los Gorath and defied Malsithious himself. Battling towards each other, the two finally met at the height of the battle. Sword clashing with magic, fire on steel, Endrin slowly beat back the evil lich. Not wishing to try his hand with fate once again, Malsithious fled the battle with Endrin in hot pursuit, hoping to end this nightmare for the last time. Before stepping into the shadow, Malsithious turned and cast a final spell to keep this bloodhound from hounding his heels to the ends of the earth. Caught up in the malicious conjuration, Endrin was caught off guard and it rendered him unconscious. Trapped in an endless nightmare, unable to awaken, Endrin lay on the field of battle, helpless. His body was recovered by members of the Light and taken to the Citadel of the Sun to rest until a cure could be found. The disciples of Pelor routed Malsithious’ Undead army with ease now that their fiendish commander was no longer there to bolster their numbers. Thus ended the fourth age of magic in the year 1221, 2nd age. So that is a little background. Malsithious later becomes the master of Malvekion, or as he is called then Malve. There is a slight discrepancy. I used that name as the Prince of Athlea in my political campaign idea, so I will change that one because this is a much better back story for him, I think
Hand_of_Kain 09-28-07, 04:05 AM	This is where I would insert a campaign. After Drakus has made the orb and hidden it. The PC's would hear about Drakus' suicide and might investigate. Then the Lich would show up and begin to reek havoc through the known world. Perhaps as a precursor to his arrival, the PCs can investigate a rash of undead clawing their way to the surface in sveral cemetaries nearby. One of the party (perferably an NPC though if I can get a reasonable PC to work with me it could be good too) will become the host for Malvekion. They will be sent to see an Oracle (something of the past, because of this incident, no one trusts Oracles) to find out how they can defeat the seemingly unstoppable undead horde. She will tell them of "The Sword of Scions", a great and powerful sword that has the power to defeat the Lich and his army. The "Sword of Scions" is the Kingslayer and the PCs will be give the task of finding it and weilding it against the Lich. What she really meant was the newly knight Sir Endrin, one of the titles recently given to him was "The Sword of the Scion". Her prophesy was twisted by the Kingslayer in an attempt to break free of its frozen prison. The PCs will go to the frozen south to find it and when they recover it, the NPC or PC will take it. Malvekion's soul invades the unsuspecting characters body and begins to crush thier soul. The only thing that holds Malvekion off for as long as he will be is that the mind of the victim breaks and becomes erratic, hard to pin down and destroy. The chacarter that has the sword won't be subject to this spiritual assault till they arrive in a royal court with the sword. The king's memory will be sparked by AO in the hope that a second collapse can be prevented. When the king recognizes the sword and says its name, Malvekion wakes up fully and assualts the character holding the sword. Everyone in the court will then die at the hands of this character, only the PCs will escape for Malvekion cannot force his host to attack his friends.............yet. The insane character will wander from court to court in an insane stupor, only becoming fully under Malvekion's control when about to slay a king. The character's soul can't handle what it is about to be forced to do and shuts off allowing Malvekion full reign till the deed is done. Unable to speak rationally, the character tries to warn all around him by singing the only thing he can remember, twisted slightly to warn others of their impending doom. "Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb. Mary had a little lamb whose fleece was soaked in blood" "Every where that Mary went, Mary went, Mary went. Everywhere that Mary went, death followed like a flood" He is the little lamb that is forced to follow Mary (Malvekion) around and has been soaked in blood by his involvement. He walks with a stiff, uneven gait of a zombie and lashes out at anyone within reach, almost as if the sword is jerking him into action, causing the attack, not him. Only when about to slay someone of royal blood, the purpose for its travels, does Malvekion take over fully and then he asks one, simple question almost mocking the weak and pathetic attempt by his carrier to warn others. "So are you the innocent little lamb being led to the slaughter.................or the butcher holding the bloodied axe?" The answer matters not for the royal is soon after dead. "Death followed her to court one day, court one day, court one day. Death followed her to court one day and chaos it did bring" "For by the time that Mary left, Mary left, Mary left. For by the time that Mary left, beheaded was the king" This entire time the Malvekion is slowly hunting down the soul of his host and changing the physical form to be like his original one. Malsithious can feel the incredible evil aura no matter how far away he is and begins to call to it, summoning it to him in the hopes that he can bargain it into servitude. Once Malvekion has fully destroyed his host's soul, he answers the call and serves as a general for Malsithious like he did for Nerull eons before. This campaign will culminate in a giant battle between the undead hordes and Endrin's forces with the PCs as an elite strike force tasked with the destruction of Malvekion. If the PCs win, Malvekion escapes badly wounded and dying. He makes a pact with Nerull to serve him and his right hand, Malsithious, if Nerull will save him. He is turned to a vampire and is told that to regain his true form, he must die in the service of Nerull. Then he will be sent to the Nine Hells and refined into a Prince of Hell itself. As a side note, My last party already played through Malsithious' third return with Malve, now a vampire, as his general. They kill Malve and he went to hell to be refined. He returned later to cause MUCH grief and pain (I believe he killed the party twice, possible three times over their career) until they finally slew him, only after he had lost his left arm in a battle with a level 27 paladin who saved the PCs when Malve first returned as a Prince of Hell.
Subversive 09-28-07, 03:14 PM	I think you've got a great story sense here, and I really appreciate the finer aspects of it, such as the corruption of the Sword's Weilder, and the history of the Mages' Guild. I would suggest picking up (or ordering, since I think the nearest FLGS is a few thousand miles away from Afganistan) the Tome Of Artifacts, by Necromancer Games if you get the chance. There are GREAT examples of classically-feeling artifacts in there that you could certainly use, adapt, and modify. They detail back stories, powers, activation requirements, how to research them, and specific methods of destruction. Also, I haven't heard too much about what the Orb does, and I'm interested in hearing more, since it seems to have factored into one part of the backstory and then been forgotten. One suggestion I'd make is that the word "archmage" is used for a prestige class. Either you're severely restricting who has access to that prestige class, or they're using the same word to cover both "someone whose taken levels in Archmage" and "the ruler of the Mages' Guild." Why not use "Grand Magus," instead? I'm also not sure where the prior political adventure fits into these plans with the war between the two kingdoms. Is that meant for the low-mid level portion of the campaign, serving as an introduction to the greater setting?
Subversive 09-28-07, 03:18 PM	I looked at dopplegangers and part of their description is that they are not evil (good for my game) but consider all other creatures below them and delight in manipulating them (not so good). What reason would they have in working for the king?? Perhaps it is a shrewd move to can a presence in the court. Perhaps they were hunted and nearly killed off before and they are using their alliance with the king to help ensure they have a future. I am just spitballing here There are lots of reasons that an arrogant group of creatures would work for the court, the primary one being to manipulate it. But when you think about it, creatures who delight in manipulation would do well in this role, acting as spies and bounty hunters for the king. Certainly survival would be a good motivator. What if the Church of St. Cuthbert had an ongoing crusade against shapechangers, and they swore fealty to the crown for protection. Also, money is always a motivation. Could just be that the crown pays them well.
Hand_of_Kain 09-28-07, 10:38 PM	Sorry, I forgot that I am not talking to my old players who went through the whole ord bit. The Orb of Eternal Darkness is a relic that has been tainted by Nerull. Its sole purpose is to darken the sun, no more day only night, the time of the undead. With the sun out of the way, and undead army can move anytime it likes and doesn't have to fear destruction by the sun if they stay out too long. It also bolsters the undead of the world during the "day" when the orb is the most active. In the campaign I ran before, the third return of Malsithious, he was again looking for the orb but since the overt approach didn't work last time, he was trying to be subtle. Of course the PCs brought his well laid plans crashing down around him and did what no one else had been able to do as of yet..............Kill the Lich. The acrhmage is just a name to me and can be swapped for anything else as grand at any time. I just used it out of habit and tradition. The prior political campaign has NOTHING to do with this. It takes place after Malvekion's defeat and before his return. I needed to take a break from this the stroy of Malvekion so I decided to run another campaign in between the times when he was around. I am sorry, that was a bit ambiguous. A bit more on Malvekion's trails in the Abyss. Nerull made a deal with on of the Demon Princes to take in the fallen angel if ever he fell in the material plane. Either Graz'zt or Orcus. He is dropped in the Fields of Hunger on Tormtor, Orcus' realm. He battles his way through the throngs of the undead and all the way to Orcus' throne where he slays the Balor general of Orcus and turns to Orcus himself. Orcus unleashes the Last Word on him, a forbidden word so powerful it can destroy a god. Malnekion shrugs it off, though nearly destroyed and had Orcus done it again he would have been, and the vampiric form is ripped from him revealing his true form underneath. He then offers a terrified Orcus a choice, Serve Malvkeion or Die. He accepts the servitude hoping for a chance to betray Malvekion and regain his throne. Malvekion then gathers the dead for the Fields of Hunger and leads them back to the Material Plane to aid Malsithious. That is the army the PCs met in the southern wastes and where they were nearly killed but were saved by the intervention of that high level paladin, though at the cost of his life. To further show Malvekion's sadistic nature and his inquenchable will to dominate others is the story of how he recovers his sword. When the PCs defeat him on the plains of Los Gorath (when he is mortally wounded and makes that pact with nerull) he flees to the shadow plane with his master and there loses the sword. Undetermine how yet, working on that. It is picked up by one of the rarest of dragons, a sentient one. (All dragons in my games are beast, not intelligent schemers.) And old shadow dragon (no name yet) picks it up. When Malvekion flees the Material Plane after the death of his master, he is now free to do as he will. The first thing he does is searches for the sword. He finds the dragon with it, but instead of slaying it and taking the sword, he takes the sword and breaks the mind of the dragon. Now like a small child, the dragon serves Malvkion almost like a pet, with the unquestioning obedience of a child.
Hand_of_Kain 09-29-07, 12:56 AM	The Twin Worlds In the year 1221 of Bremen(the world about which I have been writing), after being punished by AO for his interference, and seeing what his magic wrought in the hands of evil, Boccob decided to never again mess in the affairs of mortals and to leave the Material Plane alone entirely. He petitioned AO to give him a Plane of his own with AO's marvelous humans to foster with knowledge. A place where arcane magic does not work so that his gift of invention and technology might be given a chance to grow and mature. AO acquiesced to his petition and created a new Plane (we will call it Mechanis for now) and set it in the heavens. This explains why Bremen is still in the medieval setting and allows players to choose to be in a modern setting as well. Plus, it gives me a reason to add in flintlocks and steam engines to Bremen later because of travelers between worlds. Interesting bit, Magic cannot find Mechanis. You cannot plane shift there or teleport there. The way things have traversed the Space Between is worm holes created by evil demi-gods. When Boccob was given Mechanis, none of the evil deities noticed. They were busy reeking chaos down upon Bremen. A few of their lieutenants, however, did notice and thought that by polluting this new world or even destroying it, they might gain the favor of their god and rise in the ranks of his service. Unable to affect Mechanis directly, they resorted to inspiration like Boccob was doing only their inspiration was of the twisted, evil, depraved variety. War and conquest came to Mechanis and soon after the invention of space travel, the idea of Interstellar Conquest. Once the inhabitants of Mechanis left the plane and ventured into the Astral plane, the demigods could effect them and the opened wormholes to Bremen that sucked in the fledgling space craft. This happens around the year 1500 of Bremen, 300 for Mechanis. The spaceships could not land and crashed into Bremen, stranding the crew there. Enter gunpowder and engine technology to an arcane world. There is no way to traverse the Space Between by magic that has been discovered so far. Mechanis is almost literally a copy of our world. Different geography but same cultures and societies. In the year 300 of Mechanis, it is they equivalent of modern day technology. By the year 500 of Mechanis, they have conquered their galaxy and have a global government (aka. The Empire.) and have perfected space travel, especially the whole landing bit.:D
Subversive 09-29-07, 02:05 AM	That's interesting. Personally speaking, I don't like taking my fantasy past steampunk, but that's a personal choice. I'd also wonder if there were other methods to gain access to the plain, for example: Color Pools. It doesn't seem to have a lot of the traditional characteristics of Mechanus. Is it a plane of Law still?
Subversive 09-29-07, 02:11 AM	In regards to dragons as mindless beasts. This seems to preclude their effective use of sorcerer abilities. Have you seen the dragon variation introduced in Monster Manual V? It basically converts dragons of any type from powerful sorcerer-type monsters with big claws to a more direct combat opponents that get more powerful as they advance through the age categories. I'd really suggest taking a look. Was this specific dragon Awakened?
Subversive 09-29-07, 02:18 AM	Another idea I had for your newer campaign: if you don't want to use doppelgangers, then consider using Lycanthropes. They have scent, can gain character levels, depending on the type are not evil, and depending on how you interpret lycanthropy, can even be made immortal. The only drawback is that they're generally considered to be creatures that belong in the wilderness (the exception being wererats, of course), but in general I could see them as effective bounty hunters and trackers.
Hand_of_Kain 09-29-07, 02:56 AM	That's interesting. Personally speaking, I don't like taking my fantasy past steampunk, but that's a personal choice. I'd also wonder if there were other methods to gain access to the plain, for example: Color Pools. It doesn't seem to have a lot of the traditional characteristics of Mechanus. Is it a plane of Law still? It technically ISN'T Mechanus, I just used that name to have something to call it for now. I am not that great with names. Once I find a name for it, I will use that instead of Mechanis. M is just a fill in. Consider it just like the Material Plane put with Technology instead of Magic, much like our world. What are Color Pools???? In regards to dragons as mindless beasts. This seems to preclude their effective use of sorcerer abilities. Have you seen the dragon variation introduced in Monster Manual V? It basically converts dragons of any type from powerful sorcerer-type monsters with big claws to a more direct combat opponents that get more powerful as they advance through the age categories. I'd really suggest taking a look. Was this specific dragon Awakened? No, I like Dragons as vicious animals rather than intelligent creatures. Like the dragon from the movie Dragonslayer rather than Dragonheart. I don't have the MMV yet but if you suggest it, I will take a look at it. In my worlds, 1 in a 100 dragons are intelligent. That allows for the occasional use of malicious, coniving dragons but generally speaking, they are just big, dumb, mean...........dragons. This one was that 1 out of 100. O! Yes, the difference between "good" and "evil" dragons is mostly the taste for the flesh of sentient beings. Though the differences are more clear between the intelligent ones but for the most part, whether or no the dragon attacks local towns and devours peasants detirmines whether it is considered "good" or "evil". Another idea I had for your newer campaign: if you don't want to use doppelgangers, then consider using Lycanthropes. They have scent, can gain character levels, depending on the type are not evil, and depending on how you interpret lycanthropy, can even be made immortal. The only drawback is that they're generally considered to be creatures that belong in the wilderness (the exception being wererats, of course), but in general I could see them as effective bounty hunters and trackers. I was considering them because, as a lover of old literature and monsters, they take second only to vampires in my mind. Perhaps a NOBLE werewolf family, accoustomed to the city and the politics within. Not nescessarily an evil house, more neutral and power hungry, looking to gain power in the royal court through their alliance with the royal family (possibly hoping to turn them eventually) and equally threatened by the possibly collapse of Du'lar. I like it.
Hand_of_Kain 10-10-07, 04:18 AM	Here is what I have come up with for.......... Endrin the Black Born in 1156, the 2nd age, Endrin was the son of a prostitute, fathered by Lord Timblin of Dular. She abandoned him at the age of three to the elements, not wishing to change her life to accompany a child. She left Endrin to die, all alone in the cold of winter, but Hieroneous had other plans for the boy. The god of valor sheltered young Endrin from the cold and the wind; guiding him, step after wobbly step, to the steps of Galier’s Church. Endrin wandered the empty halls, small feet padding quietly across the marble floors, aimlessly. Brother Fenric awoke, suddenly and inexplicably, from his slumber to hear the soft sound of bare feet along the passageway. He shuffled out into the hall, ready, fearing an attack on his beloved temple. But instead of seeing an invading force from his nightmares, he saw a young boy careening down the passage as best his small legs could carry him. Quickly, Fenric ran down the corridor and collected the young lad. Marveling at this boy’s survival in the freezing cold in nothing but a nightshirt, Fenric took that the boy found his way to his temple as a sign from Hieroneous that he should foster the boy to manhood, to be brought up in the light of the god of valor. Brother Fenric raised the boy to the best of his ability, against the wishes of his superiors, to follow Hieroneous and live with honor and valor. To help the weak and downtrodden, the hopeless and the homeless, to fight for the hard right no matter what the odds. And so the boy grew up under the careful tutelage of his mentor. His training in the art of war began when he was five, beginning with simple moves and footwork, he quickly moved on to advanced tactics and swordplay. At the age of 12, Endrin began to travel abroad with the clerics on missions of hope. On his 14th birthday, young Endrin traveled to the small village of Tiers on one such mission. The message the temple had received had said the village was plagued by a strange illness of unknown origin. When he and his brothers arrived at Tiers, the sight took them aback. People wandering around, aimlessly, covered in sores and lesions. Bodies where everywhere, as was the stench of death and decay. A small party of healers shuffled between victims, giving what little aid they could, hoping to ease the pain of the villagers passing. Vagabonds and ruffians sprinted away from the fallen with what they thought might fetch some copper or silver. Appalled by such blatant disrespect for the dead that these vagabonds had shown, Endrin could contain his anger no longer. Rushing from his group, he chased after the waifs. No thought was given to what he would do when or if he caught them but action was demanded and Endrin did not hesitate to answer the call. He chased them down the road and into the woods, his armor slowing him down but not enough to make him stop. Bursting through a grotto of foliage, Endrin ran face first into a wall of fur and feathers. He fell back with a crash, looking up at an enraged monstrosity unlike anything he had ever seen. The head of an owl, the body of a bear, covered from head to toe with fur and feathers. Endrin scrambled to his feet, avoiding the ferocious swipes of the beasts claws; claws the size of short swords. With a loud roar, the owlbear eagerly lumbered forward towards the frightened young warrior. Endrin gathered all the courage he could muster and took up the stance Fenric had taught him for battling foes much larger then himself. The beast came on with another roar to meet the young warrior but met only his fierce blade. Dodging the massive paws, and his own death, Endrin struck again and again. His blade cutting through the thick hide of his foe, he danced one step ahead of death. Ducking under a ferocious assault, he slipped his blade under the massive arm of the beast and up into it’s armpit. The blade found the beast’s heart and with a sudden convulsion, it slowly toppled to the ground. Returning to the town, beaten and bruised, Endrin was treated by his brothers. Though reprimanded for his fool heartedness and brash actions, Endrin’s victory over the owlbear soon became well known around Be’enyl. To slay such a monster at the young age of 14 is not something many can boast of. But to Endrin, it was nothing more than a near death experience that he met like he was taught: just something that was expected of him. Life continued and his triumph was soon a thing of the past. Then that horrible night happened. Endrin was sleeping on his small cot after a long day of training. He was now 18 and would soon be given the title of Paladin of the Faith. He awoke to the screams of the young trainees, assailing his ears from done the corridor. Quickly, Endrin dressed and grabbed his sword, he ran down the passage way and burst into the trainees room. Blood coated the walls, the floor, the ceiling, and dripping steadily of the surface. The bodies of the young ones where strewn about, broken into pieces, half-eaten. Stooping over one of the bodies was a hulking figure, covered in fur and blood, it’s face buried in the flesh of the young trainee. Enraged, Endrin charged it swinging wildly. The thing’s head swiveled to meet his gaze and stopped Endrin cold. It had the face of a wolf, the long fangs that protruded from its mouth dripped with blood. With a snarl, the beast stood up to its full height but never did it release Endrin from its gaze. The only sound in the room was the steady drip of blood of the ceiling, its fangs, and its claws. Its slow steady breathing against Endrin’s rapid, terrified gasps. The beast lowered its massive head slowly down to look Endrin in the face, Endrin to terrified to move or speak. The beast, its muzzle mere inches away from Endrin’s face, roared more loudly than anything Endrin had ever heard. Spittle and blood sprayed on to his face from the monster’s gaping maw. With a swing from its titanic arm, the beast knocked Endrin across the room and bounced him off the opposite wall. Endrin rose to meet this fiend head on, sword against claw. The beast moved in to finish this foolish young human when it suddenly stopped and looked back out the door, though Endrin had heard no sound nor saw no one there now. The beast turned back to Endrin and sprinted forward. Endrin steeled himself for the assault and readied his counter strike but no assault came. The beast rushed past him without a second look and ran down the corridor. Endrin turned to follow knowing nothing could be done for the unfortunates in that room. He chased his fiend through the temple and into the main foyer where he came upon the sight that tore his heart from his chest. His mentor lay on the marble floor in a pool of his own blood, dead. Endrin rushed to his side, kneeling next to him, knowing already that his master was dead. Two holes now decorated the side of his mentor’s neck, his face pale from the lack of blood. It seemed as if something or someone had nearly drained him of all his blood. Disgusted that his god would allow something like this to happen to his faithful servants, Endrin could not console the anger swelling with him. Cursing Hieroneous for forsaking them in there time of greatest need, Endrin left the temple behind swearing to avenge his mentor and have his own revenge, on god and beast alike.