Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Dagda Mor 11-17-04, 09:36 PM	I’ve begun working on a fairly large-scale project of mine, and I’m hoping to run things by all of you from time to time. Basically, it’s Call of Cthulhu in Eberron. IMO this has a lot of potential; if you don’t think so, please don’t tell me unless you have some concrete reasons. So, here’s the basic concept: The Eberron handbook’s description of Xoriat and it’s relationship with the material plane is known by many accomplished adventurers and wise researchers. It is also false. The Daelkyr are not the undisputed masters of Xoriat. The plane’s mad horrors were sometimes defeated; but they were rarely driven back. They’re still here. Many horrors dwell in the depths of Khyber. More lurk within Eberron, sleeping or hidden. And before the rise of the dragons, before the giants built their cities, they had conquered Siberys. It is in Siberys that a number of the true rulers dwell; the Titans. Incomprehensibly malevolent and powerful, these being are worshipped as gods. Taking a more metagaming tone: One of the basic themes is that most people (adventurers included) are blissfully unaware of the terrible reality. Your PCs uncover the truth, and begin to recognize signs that they would have dismissed otherwise. Instead of Elder Gods you have the Titans (Not to be confused with the NG giant race; I may need a new name). The lesser ones are a match for any party of non-epic level characters, and you would probably have to be over level 40 to take on the greater ones. Many Xorian creatures will kill or inflict heavy damage upon any party that attempts to engage in straight combat; they must use their heads at all times and be willing to run away. The sanity system is used, and anyone may learn incantations, which function similar to spells but follow their own set of rules. The players are not necessarily doomed, but they’ve got plenty of reason to be afraid. Over the next few days I'll be posting my outlines of monsters, titans, possible adventures, the way various factions handle the Xorian Mythos, NPCs, and incantations. Much of this is will be adapted from Call of Cthulhu, but I'm trying to have an element of originality in everything.
Megatron 11-17-04, 09:45 PM	I've already done this, so I'm interested to see what direction you go with it.
Dagda Mor 11-18-04, 12:07 AM	Fair enough. We should compare at some point, though I guess not now.
stone_dog 11-18-04, 12:40 AM	Also you could do worse than to go and get Delta Green: Countdown. The descriptions of Carcossa and the Hastur varients would go smoothly inserted into a campaign dealing with the strange rajas and their phantom city of Ashkatala (spelling probably wrong). Slide the ghoul warrens of the Keepers of the Faith of New York into Sharn's City of the Dead. The skoptsi (spelling again) could be a very corrupted cult of druids. Very cool stuff in there that just needs to be stripped of modern trappings to be usefull in anything else. I'll get back to you with more.
Megatron 11-18-04, 12:42 AM	Big C already has a place in Eberron, check the timeline for the schism with Dal Quor and the consequences on Xen'drik.
stone_dog 11-18-04, 12:59 AM	Gonna have to do that when I get home. Drat.
Dagda Mor 11-18-04, 01:06 AM	Hastur I'm thinking of being some sort of acid-spirit who is awake and mobile in Siberys and is capable of possessing mortals, although this quickly melts them from the inside out. He is one of the easiest titans to call :angel: . For another example, Yog-Sogoth is trapped within a crystal prison on Siberys. He is composed of a strange, multicolored gas, although there are theories that this form is part of his imprisonment. Surrounding him are what some call prismatic ghosts (and Lovecraft called the Colour out of Space), and many believe that these creatures act out his will. One of Eberron’s rarest treasures is the fabled rainbow dragonshard; these beautiful Siberys Dragonshards are said to increase arcane power greatly, although more extensive research reveals that there is also a record of those who used the shards going mad with power. The cult worshipping Yog-Sogoth was one of the most powerful until the Day of Mourning; it is closely guarded secret that many of it’s leaders were influential figures in the Cyran government, and an even more obscure secret that there was something of a convention of their highest members going on that day. . . One other thing that might be worth mentioning: Mind Flayers, Yuan-ti and some other races are in fact pale mockeries of certain Xorian races.
jonthegm 11-18-04, 01:35 AM	Dude... Dopplegangers are so definately the minions of nyarlathotep...
stone_dog 11-18-04, 02:02 AM	Hmmm... Cthulu as the high priest king of the Quori. Leading the vanguard of the quori invasion and bound within his newly constructed city of R'Lyeh. The binding magics rend Xen'Drik assunder and Great Cthulu sleeps still in the new sea. So long as Cthulu is asleep, Dal Quor is kept locked in the remote phase of it's cycle. Every so often the hosts of the Dreaming Dark find small cults inexplicably devoted to their dark lord as well as strange depictions of the Devourer as some sort of winged horror. Sooner or later they are going to piece together bits of the truth and move to awaken the sleeping beast. Can the PCs foil this plan? The moment is coming soon when the alignment of planes and moons will possibly allow the great Elder Sign of the giants to be broken. Will Cthulu rise again to spread nightmares and madness across the world? Even if the PC's defeat Cthulu and send him back into his watery prison they may not ever know whether or not a brief waking started Dal Quor crawling towards Eberron again. With that thought, I'm going to bed.
Korhal IV 11-18-04, 02:15 AM	With that thought, I'm going to bed. Happy dreams. :D Call of Cthulu is more an ambience or a mood than an actual playstyle or concrete story - you'll notice H.P. Lovecraft is notoriously negligent in accurately describing his creations. It's not necessary to have Cthulu statted out in-game. I think Eberron lays a lot of the groundwork necessary for a Cthuluesque campaign through the imprisoned rajahs and their servants above.
Dagda Mor 11-18-04, 03:03 PM	Dude... Dopplegangers are so definately the minions of nyarlathotep... With mine, Nyarlothep is unique in that he has no known servitors; it is theorized that the Daelkyr were once his servitors and may still be. Call of Cthulu is more an ambience or a mood than an actual playstyle or concrete story - you'll notice H.P. Lovecraft is notoriously negligent in accurately describing his creations. It's not necessary to have Cthulu statted out in-game. I think Eberron lays a lot of the groundwork necessary for a Cthuluesque campaign through the imprisoned rajahs and their servants above. True, true. IMC the lords of dust are the most powerful non-Xorian group, with the possible exception of the dragons; both groups are in large part aware of the xorian mythos and generally try to stay out of the way and not disturb anything. I'm not trying to dismiss anyone's ideas, but I have my own and I'm probably going to stick with them.
stone_dog 11-18-04, 04:26 PM	Happy dreams. :D Heh... thanks. Call of Cthulu is more an ambience or a mood than an actual playstyle or concrete story True enough. The more important things to consider is that the universe and the mighty things in it are uncaring at best towards the lesser races and actively hostile at worst. Even Nodens is more against Nyarlathotep than he is for us. Nyarlathotep seriously has it in for humanity. Yog-Sothoth seems to be merely toxic to the human psyche (doesn't seem to actually DO much, but whenever invoked seriously bad things tend to happen). A vast and uncaring universe where the death screams of our race is drowned out by the roar of destiny overwhelming us. And yet we fight to push back the enevitable one more day. This is why Call of Cthulu games feel the most heroic to me. You have ordinary people who have no business fighting cosmic horrors doing so anyway. Often knowing that there is no win, there is only tie or lose. You are going to die or go mad, but maybe you can keep the rest of the world safe for just a little longer. As a side not, you want titans and rajahs? Strip the names from most of the demon princes, devil lords and archangels and you have some pretty potent stat blocks to do whatever you want with. Just like in Call of Cthulu, if these things get loose it won't be some distant and primal hell that they will be playing about in. No subtle temptations of cultish powers and subtle evils with the politics of the Pit and Abyss to keep them busy. They will set up shop right here and begin making our world into whatever hell suits them. If you are willing to strip alignments altogether out of the game, then you might want to consider that angels might be forces of light and beauty, but not goodness. I'll have to break out my copy of Nobilis to talk about that further though and that will have to wait till I get back.
Somebloke 11-18-04, 04:47 PM	Okay....I'm probably going to draw flack for this....COC isn't really a genre that blends well with the overpowered, combat-heavy world of D&D...if you look at the 3E rendition of COC, you will note the sheer lack of power on the part of the players, the difficulty in casting any magic (remember, in a true 'dark world' scenario that COC suggests, any real magic power comes from the blasphameous blessings of the Elder Gods and is corrosive to the mind and body)...I'm just not sure if the two blend terribly well. I think that Ebberron has it's own tone and feel...it would be easiest and best to use Ebberron for pulp swashbuckling and COC or a homebrew campaign (like I did so many years ago) to capture the bleak worldview of COC. Just my two cents. Feel free to disagree.
Dagda Mor 11-18-04, 05:57 PM	First off, stone dog: thanks for the idea on the stat blocks. I will probably avoid giving the Titans full stats for a while; instead, I'll probably outline how effective attacks may be and what their immediate actions are. (In the version of CoC I have, he devours 1d3 pcs per round, no save) And that was some beautiful writing on the heroism in CoC; I'll definitely have to keep it in mind. Okay....I'm probably going to draw flack for this....COC isn't really a genre that blends well with the overpowered, combat-heavy world of D&D...if you look at the 3E rendition of COC, you will note the sheer lack of power on the part of the players, the difficulty in casting any magic (remember, in a true 'dark world' scenario that COC suggests, any real magic power comes from the blasphameous blessings of the Elder Gods and is corrosive to the mind and body)...I'm just not sure if the two blend terribly well. I think that Ebberron has it's own tone and feel...it would be easiest and best to use Ebberron for pulp swashbuckling and COC or a homebrew campaign (like I did so many years ago) to capture the bleak worldview of COC. Just my two cents. Feel free to disagree. Well, as I mentioned above, I am absolutely fine with you doubting the concept if you offer reasons, which you did. (Thanks.) For D&D to fit CoC closely I would probably have to have PCs take the NPC classes only, but I think that I can still achieve something similar with two points: the PCs are fairly weak or helpless against Xorian creatures, and while spells don't cause insanity and are unchanged in their nature, there are also incantations, which do draw upon the dark powers and do cost sanity, but which can be cast by anyone and follow their own set of rules (I.E. functioning in antimagic fields and not being dispellable; spells counter spells while incantations counter incantations. At least, that's what I have planned for now).
Bubba333 11-18-04, 11:03 PM	I love the idea! Just one question: Is Call of Cthulhu D20 3.5 or 3.0?
Megatron 11-18-04, 11:19 PM	Well, its not Dungeons in Dragons, its Call of Cthulhu. d20 system didn't change with the D&D revision.
Dagda Mor 11-18-04, 11:26 PM	I dunno about CoC d20; but from what I've heard it wasn't worth the money because the point was to fight and kill the monsters.
Megatron 11-18-04, 11:32 PM	I dunno about CoC d20; but from what I've heard it wasn't worth the money because the point was to fight and kill the monsters. Quite the opposite actually, the point is to run, scream, and then run. BRP is better than d20, but d20 CoC is by no means 'bad'.
stone_dog 11-18-04, 11:38 PM	But still, it is nice to have statblocks for nightgaunts and such just in case you need to lay the smack down on some lesser servitor races.
AvonRekaes 11-18-04, 11:59 PM	Actually I think people missed the point of CoC d20. Alot of it was just reinforcing the old CoC mythos. They just added an apendix of DnD stats for Cthulhu and the gang for hack-and-slash people. I guess fans of the original game just saw the statblocks for Cthulhu, all organized and standardized, and had a knee-jerk reaction. (They did have statblocks for servants of the elder gods, like the Color out of Space, but if your in a CoC game where the point is just to kill these guys, then your GM doesn't know how to run a COC game.) I think you should at least look at CoC d20. The apendix for DnDifying CoC would help you alot, methinks. (Like the aformentioned Cthulhu statblock. He's CR 46, or summin.) I also think the "Your assumptions of the world as you know it are completely false" is a nice idea to run with. Once upon a time, people in the real world thought the earth was the center of the universe. Perhaps Eberron is not the center of the planes afterall, that in fact all planes are just aspects of the roiling madness of Xoriat. It's just a fun idea to run with. I also recommend picking up Unearthed Arcana if you have not already (though it sounds like you have, with the Incantations). The section on Sanity and Incants would be useful to you.
Dagda Mor 11-19-04, 12:25 AM	I'm borrowing Unearthed Arcana from a friend, yes. The sanity system is almost a direct adaption from CoC, although the percentile tables on different insanities were helpful. The UA incantations will be used to help put together my longer CoX (Cry of Xoriat) incantations, as opposed to the ones that take a matter of combat rounds to cast. And, to be honest. . . odds are most of you have more experience with Lovecraft (and Eberron) then me. Over the years I've read a number of stories, played a number of sessions, and am using a borrowed CoC version 5.5 rulebook. (I do own the Eberron handbook).
Somebloke 11-19-04, 05:24 AM	I'm borrowing Unearthed Arcana from a friend, yes. The sanity system is almost a direct adaption from CoC, although the percentile tables on different insanities were helpful. The UA incantations will be used to help put together my longer CoX (Cry of Xoriat) incantations, as opposed to the ones that take a matter of combat rounds to cast. And, to be honest. . . odds are most of you have more experience with Lovecraft (and Eberron) then me. Over the years I've read a number of stories, played a number of sessions, and am using a borrowed CoC version 5.5 rulebook. (I do own the Eberron handbook). Good luck regardless....remember....bang a shoe hidden under the table to frighten players...it worked great when I ran the "Haunted House scenario with the old edition."
Somebloke 11-19-04, 05:26 AM	PS...the new Complete Arcane has a useful prestige class, the alientist, and a practically necessary template, the pseudonatural creature. The 3.0 tome and blood has practically the same stats, so that will function just as well.
Aman the Rejected 11-19-04, 09:41 AM	My campaign has slowly been heading toward CoC, despite me only having limited knowledge thereof. I've included dromites in my world (from the XPH), and they make great pseudonatural warriors and psions for anything needing many devoted individuals. Chokers work well, too, as I've found. I've been converting over Where Madness Dwells (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=3647&), and have recently found that the best way to introduce them into this is to play to their need for new or cool items (http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=107313). I'm very interested in others' ideas on this kind of campaign.
Dagda Mor 11-19-04, 10:56 AM	PS...the new Complete Arcane has a useful prestige class, the alientist, and a practically necessary template, the pseudonatural creature. The 3.0 tome and blood has practically the same stats, so that will function just as well. Yeah, I've already begun adapting them to fit my needs. I should probably start posting more of what I've actually come up with; I'll get around to it in the afternoon.
Jayj 11-19-04, 11:28 AM	I love the idea of blending a CoC feel with Eberron; the capability seems built-in right from the start. I've even been mulling over possibilities. To me, a large aspect of CoC is the vastness of the universe and its uncaring attitude. To reflect the vastness angle, I'd place Eberron as just another planet in its solar system, and there are 12 other natural planets in the system. When one executes a Plane Shift, one sees in their 'mind's eye' that they're racing up through the sky toward one of the moons of Eberron, and they get a flash of ancient, eye-watering ruins on the surface of that moon, then it's gone and they get a sense of immense speed and intense cold (possibly for several days' duration; I would change Plane Shift so it wasn't immediate)... followed by the quick approach of a planet, where they land. That's Kythri, or Lammania, or one of the other planes; the moons serve as waystations where someone has built an eldritch machine that routes planar travelers to them. There's Dal Quor lurking somewhere out there at the distance we associate with the Oort Cloud... but the real interesting bit is that Xoriat is a new arrival with a very eccentric orbit. And on the unhappy occasion that you Plane Shift to Xoriat, you pause as you approach the plane, feeling a tug, as if something beyond the planes is calling your astrally-traveling form, trying to drag it beyond the sphere you know. Xoriat bears beings who have been asleep for the long trek through the stars, fresh from destroying the world of the Gith. The Daelkyr are the high priests, and some of the more powerful "Daelkyr" on Eberron are not really Daelkyr at all, but the equivalent of Great Old Ones. Most aberrations from Xoriat would have uncanny spell resistance and DR x/byeshk, and incantations (of the sanity-destroying sort) can bypass their SR completely. I might even make it so that non-incantation magic has a global 1/2 effectiveness against them. That makes it so 'terrestrial' magic doesn't have the same kick as the 'true' magic would. Of course, whether you want to import the Great Old Ones is up to you, but I'd at least throw in the Outer Gods and Nyarlathotep... and them being up in Siberys doesn't cut it: they're far, far away in the stars but only an incantation away from coming to Eberron. Just some ideas I've cooked up. BTW, you probably want to pick up CoC d20; the spells make for great flavor and a good basis for a collection of incantations, and the stat blocks might come in handy. I refer to the "CoC in D&D" section in the back all the time. - Jayj
falling 11-19-04, 12:02 PM	i hope you post most if not all of your work one these boards, i ran an CoC game fairly often before i moved, but i don't think that my current gaming group would appreciate the very real possibility of the TPK (total player kill). i had not thought of incorporating the mithous into eberron, but the thought intrigues me to no end... i really like the direction your going with it, sounds like a lot of fun... maybe fun is not the right word.
Aman the Rejected 11-19-04, 12:43 PM	To go along with Jayj's mentionings, and others, I use (or will be using) the following modifications: Class Defense Bonus - I just don't want armor to be this prerequisite for advancement. Flaws/Traits - I needed a somewhat balanced method for giving out extra feats; I feel that the stuff they'll encounter will be, early on, nearly fatal otherwise. Magic as Power Points - Like psionics, so that things will mesh better, IMO. Nightly Voting - I have the players vote each game for Best Roleplayer and Most Valuable Player. Recipients tend to get extra action points. Incantations, Taint, and Insanity - As they've yet to be introduced, I'll see what happens when I do introduce them. AtR
Dagda Mor 11-20-04, 12:43 AM	Just a quick response: Aman, I suggest cutting out the part of the sanity system that makes all spells incur sanity loss, as it makes the average wizard last about a week. I'm curious as to how the tainted rules turn out, as I've been thinking about possible uses for the system And Jayj, IMV (in my version) I'm going to stick with the current cosmology. Space=Siberys, and light-years away=Xoriat. (Also, dreamlands kinda=dal quor, Taleboro Tattler=Korranberg Chronicle, etc. I agree, the capability really does seem built-in.) Ok, on to business:
Dagda Mor 11-20-04, 01:00 AM	Here is a list of creatures that I would like to include. As of now I have yet to give any of them names, instead putting the inspiration in parenthesis. Note that some may be very different from what is described in Lovecraft; again, I don’t want to just yank anything out of CoC and put it in Eberron exactly as it was. • Izhanaad (Flying Polyps): Invisible swarms of creatures that can manipulate the wind to hold a person in place and strip flesh from bone. Servitors of Nartakhan (Ithacqua) that dwell in Eberron’s arctic regions and Risia. • Kothacri (Demon Pipers): Freakish toad-pipers who attack with sound from their instruments to devastating effect. Greater servitors of Tathaza (Azazoth) that dwell in Siberys. • Mahotanyae (True Mind Flayers/Deep Ones): Large, amphibious creatures, without psionics but knowing several powerful incantations and capable of subtly warping reality. Greater servitors of Khatu-Alu (Cthulhu) that dwell beneath Eberron’s seas. • Erac (Byakhee): A cross btw. a harpy and a dire bat; fairly similar to the original. Lesser servitors of Yasran (Hastur) that dwell in Eberron and Syrania. • Jaquiehir (Formless Spawn): Like liquid tar. Can envelop and drown a target. Servitors of Vorelaesthyr (Doyenne- think a female Nyarlothep that’s absolutely nuts in a human way as well) that dwell in Khyber and Thelanis. • Manasadrians (Y’Golonac): Headless humanoids with mouths in palms. Stalk those who possess certain magic items. Greater independents that dwell in Eberron. • Ghari (Cthonians): Giant, flabby worms that can cause earthquakes as they borrow. Very dangerous when roused. Servitors of Amaal-Ghari (Shudde M’ell) that dwell in Khyber. • Morcol (Bunyips): Humanoids w/tusks and clawed, webbed hands who have a tribal society. Lesser servitors of Navmagorn (New Worm). • Faerlach (Colour out of space): Enervating prismatic ghosts. Servitors of Mag-Yalos (Yog-Sogoth) who dwell around his crystal prison in Siberys. • Griven (Deep Young): Pretty much all tentacles. Lesser servitors of Nagaratha (Shub-Niggurath) who dwell around his Khyber home in swarms. • Acosalani (Flame Vampires): Invisible ghosts that ignite and enervate anything they pass through. Servitors of Saicosalaundryx (Tulzscha) who dwell in Eberron and Fernia. • Nohrgix (Dimensional Shamblers): Large, hulking humanoids who can warp between Xoriat and Eberron like an ethereal filcher, with limits. Independent. • Stekhol (Servants of Glaaki): Undead powered by segmented spines which emerge from their body and detach on hit, then eventually worm inside the host and impale vital areas. Guess what happens to someone who dies from this? Lesser servitors of Ostekhadrien (Wait for it. . . Glaaki!) who dwell in Eberron. • Vindalax (Hounds of Tindalos): Angular stalkers of those who see them, even through scrying. Half on the shadow plane, similar to an incorporeal creature. Independent. • Sordanus (Hunting Horrors): Giant, filthy winged serpents. Greater servitors of Onurethaelzyn (Zoth-Omogg) who dwell in Khyber. • Elenaudhir (Mi-Go): Multi-limbed combinations of a lobster and a moth. Fairly close to original. Lesser independents who dwell in Siberys. • Dasaadi (Sand-Dwellers): Think trolls that have higher natural AC and are very carnivorous, but surprisingly cunning. Lesser independents who dwell in caves beneath Eberron’s deserts. • Lai-Zanad (Serpent People/True Yuan-Ti): Yuan-Ti that are extremely fast and hard to hit, and can cast a ton of incantations. Servitors of Syrazkimartu (Orochimaru, who is basically their Raistilin) who dwell in Eberron. • Rhaggai (Shaggai) Incorporeal bugs who burrow into your brain and change your memories while you sleep. Lesser servitors of Caersuehl (Hypnos) who live in Eberron and Dal Quor. • Vascentoryx (Star Vampires): Invisible floating horrors who completely drain a victim of blood; you can still see the blood, which gives you a rough outline. Servitors of Xolgotha (Chaugnar Faugn) who dwell in Siberys and Lamannia. • Dygon (Dagon & Hydra): Massive lizards that guard various sites in Eberron. Seem to share some sort of connection. Only two are known, but more may exist. Greater independents. • Xorian Lich: Applied template. Differs in that the caster has no phylactery and is nuts, plus a few other abilities. Still very hard to fully kill. Greater servitors of Varcanyr(Quachil Uattus). There you go. I have a few more in mind, but this is most of them. Next up: the Titans.
Jayj 11-20-04, 02:21 AM	I can certainly appreciate not wanting to blatantly ripoff the Cthulhu Mythos; it kinda creates a lack of verisimilitude to mix the two overtly to a deep extent. I do think, though, that having these godlike beings be lurking just outside Eberron in the Siberys belt, with nothing outside that, is a bit too... *cramped* for the proper feel of an 'uncaring universe'. When everything centers around Eberron, it kinda tears the heart out of the traditional CoC feeling of hopeless struggle against the malevolent forces in a vast, uncaring universe. It's almost too personal when Eberron and its orbiting planes is the total extent of the universe. IMO, The Great Old Ones need breathing room, as it were. Oh, and another idea: Eberron really is a prison for Khyber, deep inside, only what lies inside the shell of the planet is not so mundane as a progenitor dragon, but something -else-. - Jayj
Dagda Mor 11-20-04, 06:46 PM	Ok, on to the Titans. I’ll be going into a bit more detail here. Also, keep in mind that there could be hundreds more Titans in Xoriat, and there are probably more that are not yet known in Eberron, Khyber and especially Siberys. And as for the whole cosmology: I’m still sticking with the 3 dragons theme but I’m probably going to use the idea of Xoriat, not Eberron, being the central plane. • Amaal-Ghari (Shudde M’Ell): Basically a gargantuan version of the Ghari (Cthonians) who serve him, the titan dwells in Khyber and in some theories is responsible for up to half of Eberron’s smaller earthquakes. Awake, and indifferent to mortal races. • Tathaza (Azazoth): An entity composed of subtly destructive sound, he is one of the few known titans who dwell in Xoriat. He is accompanied by his Kothacri (Demon Piper) servitors, whose music is said to strengthen him. Awake and indifferent, although he may take an interest in an unfortunate mortal musician from time to time. • Mag-Yalos (Yog-Sogoth): A greater titan made of prismatic gas that fills his giant crystal prison in Siberys. Faerlach (Colours out of space) surround the prison and may be carrying out his will. Some theorize that his current form is brought on by his imprisonment. Probably sleeping and indifferent. • Karmanyos (Nyarlothep): This greater titan is similar to the CoC version, he has three legs, three arms and a whiplike tail for a head; however, more often he will take the shape of a mortal. It is theorized that the Daelkyr were once his servitors and might still be. He is awake and may appear anywhere in any of the three dragons; he views mortals with malevolent intent. • Nartakhan (Ithacqua): A freakish titan who dwells on Risia, and could be described as a flexible column with a mouth at either end, lined with wings and claws. It is often accompanied by Izhanaad (flying polyps) and is known to visit Eberron when the two planes are coterminous. Awake and indifferent. • Syrazkimartu (Orochimaru): A Lai-Zanad (serpent-folk) caster of insane power, who is just as likely to obliterate your average bystander as look at him. Sometimes coherent, sometimes apparently seeing and hearing something else entirely, the lesser titan has Lai-Zanaad (serpent folk) for servitors in the sense that he sometimes gives orders to them and they aren’t about to disobey. He has appeared all over Eberron, and is awake; his actions have no clear purpose and it is not known whether he is indifferent. • Saicosalaundryx (Tulzscha) A giant pillar of foul greenish flame, this titan dwells on Fernia, and is accompanied by (Flame vampires). Like Ithaqcua, it is known to visit Eberron when the two planes are coterminous. Awake and indifferent. • Yasran (Hastur): A caustic spirit that dwells in Siberys, this lesser Titan’s whims are acted upon by the Erac (Byahkee). He is capable of possessing an individual, although this quickly liquefies their insides, rendering them a gelatinous mass. Awake and malevolent. • Onurethaelzyn (Zoth-Omogg): Resembling some mutant plant, this lesser titan dwells within a network of tunnels in Khyber with his Sordanus (hunting horror) servitors. He is composed of a thick cone with a large mouth at the top, with tendrils snaking out from beneath like roots. The tips of these tendrils resemble a rust monster’s antennae, except they disintegrate living tissue, not metal. They extend for up to half a mile, perhaps more. Sleeping and malevolent. • Khatu-Alu (Cthulhu): I don’t plan to change him in any way, with the exception of giving him the power to subtly warp reality in his vicinity. I won’t even change the name much. Ry’Leh has risen several times throughout history, always between Khorvaire and Xen’Drix; there is believed to be a pattern to the time and location, but none has been found. Served by Mahotanyae (True mind flayers). Sleeping and malevolent. • Ostekhadrien (Glaaki): Hunched, monstrous lesser titan covered in spines that are more powerful versions of the ones in his servitors, the Stekhol. Dwells in Shavarath and has been sighted in Eberron when the planes are coterminous; awake and malevolent. • Varcanyr (Quachil Uttaus): A greater titan in the form of a giant, ancient, immobile and alien corpse, (Quachil Uttaus) dwells on one of the moons (do they have names?). When called, the caller in frozen in a shaft of light while Quachil drifts down toward him. Anyone imprisoned this way dies, but one who makes the right preparations and follows a complex ritual exactly becomes a Xorian Lich, although this warps the caster’s mind. Asleep and indifferent. • Vorelaesthyr (Doyenne): This lesser titan generally takes the shape of an attractive female of the species she’s dealing with. Those who encounter her might be attacked immediately, or be treated as guests; there is no predicting her. She is awake and generally malevolent, dwelling on Thelanis with her Jaquiehir (Formless Spawn) servitors, although she has come to Eberron when the two planes are coterminous. • Caersuehl (Hypnos): Served by the Shaggai, the lesser titan Caersuehl(Hypnos) resides on Dal Quor and takes the shape of an expressionless, golden mask shaped to fit on the face of some creature. Served by Rhaggai (Shaggai).Awake and indifferent. • Xolgotha (Chaugnar Faugn): A bizarre, giant humanoid with six legs, two arms, three eyes and a bloodsucking snout for a mouth, this titan is served by Vascentoryx (Star Vampires). He dwells on Lammania, sleeping and malevolent. (Edited to include the rest of the titans)
Dagda Mor 11-22-04, 09:02 PM	All right, I've posted the rest of the titans and made several other small changes, most notably mentioning the presence of Xorians in other planes; Eberron isn't the only one being overrun. Any more comments?
Sabre_Spell_Blader 11-23-04, 02:50 AM	Why is Orochimaru from Naruto a titan?
stone_dog 11-23-04, 04:49 AM	Why Titans at all? Seriously, there is plenty of backstory using the name rajas. Anyway, let me put my lump of copper on the table. There are three catagories of dieties in CoC. Elder Gods, Great Old Ones and Outer Gods. Elder Gods are at worst, uncaring towards humanity. The mythos Elder Gods include Nodens, Bast and Hypnos. The dieties of Eberron could easily slide into this catagory as well. To keep Eberron dieties in the fore ground I would have Bast and Hypnos be lesser creatures of power. I could easily see Hypnos as a Radiant Idol who has decided to be the caretaker of dreams for his flock of worshipers. Please the "God" and you will sleep well and dream sweetly. Become lax on your sacrifice and prayers and you will be gifted with nightmares. Perhaps this creature can be approached to learn Keith Baker's Dream Magic from Occult Lore! Outer Gods are the big nasties. They may be true gods or possibly (the theory I go with) just cosmic principles. Abboth, Azathoth, Daoloth, Lesser Other Gods, Nyarlathotep, Shub-Niggurath, Tulzscha, Ubba Sathla, Yibb-Tsill and Yog-Sothoth round out this bunch. The niche of Nyarlathotep is neatly filled by the Traveler. They are pretty much the same sort of mysterious diety with dangerous gifts. The Traveler is at least moderately less dangerous than Nyarlathotep himself, but having both in the setting might be a bit much. "Yog-Sothoth knows the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the gate." Yog-Sothoth in the mythos is the main god of wizards and sorcerers. Through devotion to him one may learn scrying, plane travel and command over strange creatures. Yog-Sothoth is probably what a wizard wants to contact before taking up the Alienist PrC. For Eberron though I imagine that the Gatekeepers had to have a bit of sympathetic magic to make their seals work. Yog-Sothoth might well be bound and abjured in and between the gatekeeper seals while simultaneously providing the raw power needed to make them work. The rest of them... eh. They are best used as dread flavor text. All of them are actually. You aren't ever going to be able to defeat them if they exist and they probably don't even have any dastardly plans anyway (Nyarlathotep aside). Tulzscha is probably the focus point for the Keeper in his lair, or perhaps the growing influence of the Dark Flame manifesting deep in the Mournlands. Abhoth is just nasty, but in a deep reach of Kyber might lay fetid and foul spewing out monstrousities. There is little point to it other than it is really gross and makes monsters. In our world it is in New England. In Eberron perhaps Breland under some ancient or forgotten town. Perhaps sleeping under New Cyre, unaware of the morsels dwelling far above it until it begins sending out its spores to infect the populace. Hmmm. maybe it has uses after all.. Azathoth though is an idiot. Literally. It sits at the center of the universe (Xoriat) and gibbers. That is about it. It is dangerous because of its unimaginable power (though it is just as likely to go away as it is to lay waste to the countryside), its hellish impulses (Remember that omnipotent kid from the twilightzone? hype him up on jolt, speed, and LSD. Only funny because it never happened.) and its mind rending effect of the mortal psyche. Shub-Niggurath is probably best left out as well. The importance of druids as protectors of the natural world doesn't mesh well with the existance of such an obscenely perverse fertility goddess. Flavor text again at best, but possibly a source for a sect of druids corrupted by the Daelkyr. Perhaps even the goddess of Mordain the Fleshweaver. Ubbo Sathla may well be pretty much the source of all life on earth. It steps on Khyber's toes. I'd leave it out. Yibb-Tsill is just wierd and I don't know much about it. It is basically omniscient and can answer anyquestion you put to it if you can find it. It is either in an ancient place in Xen'Drik or possibly is what that great black dragon is guarding in Q'Barra. If you displease it while asking questions it touches you. This is generally fatal, but may have some beneficial effects if you survive and have faithfully brought enough food for everybody the whole campaign as well as the DMs favourite drink every session. In other words, don't count on it. Next, Great Old Ones/Rajas.
stone_dog 11-23-04, 05:23 AM	Ah, yes. The Rajahs. The great evils of the world bound by the might of the coatl's sacrifice and ancient draconic magic deep within Khyber or (possibly) cast into the outer void. Lets run down the list shall we? Atlach-Nacha is a great spinner of webs. Deep under Kyber it spins incesantly in its prison abyss. Perhaps the web will make a great magical sigil that will allow the Rajah to break its bonds and walk the face of Eberron again with its terrible demonic servitors, the Spiders of Leng, Bebiliths and other such creatures. Bokrug has a very very patient mind. It probably hasn't really managed to care that it is imprisoned as yet, but then again it might have smote Cyre in a warm up to breaking free with its fell magics. Probably not though. It certainly has the power to wipe an entire city from the map in one night, but a nation? Too much to risk. Even if its seals are broken it might just stay put if kept happy. It seems to be a fairly lazy, but very vengefull lizard. Chaugnar Faugn lives in Asia in our world. Squatting in a cave and tended by subhuman thralls. Stick him in Xen'Drik. Unable to do much other than accept sacrifice from decadent tribes, it is happy enough to sit there and be fed. Best used as something terrible to happen to the PCs just before a Daring Escape. Cthugha is obscure and remote even for the Mythos. Perhaps dwelling in Fernia, on one of Eberron's distant moons or a particularly red star. Really though, it doesn't even show up much in mythos tales. Probably okay to ignore it unless you are a big fan of fire vampires. Cthulu. The Big C. High Priestking of the Rajahs or of the Quori. Personally I like him as the long long king of the Quori bound under the seas of Eberron as a seal against the plane itself. If not, then certainly would be the most dangerous of the Rajahs. Even bound he would still have cults worshiping him all across the globe just like in our world. With that kind of power if you freed him the entire world would go mad with the rush of pure spiritual evil. I am getting tired. I'll do more later.
Dagda Mor 11-23-04, 11:57 AM	Why is Orochimaru from Naruto a titan? Are you saying he shouldn't be? Seriously though, I'm a fan of Naruto and needed an alias for the concept until I came up with the final name. The titan and the manga villian really aren't that similar. Stone Dog, still going over your posts.
Xaxor 11-23-04, 08:39 PM	I have CoC D20, an amazing piece of work. To a degree, D&D isn't meant for it's playstyle, that I agree with. Doesn't mean they are completely incompatible, as I can see from your musings. Dread Lord Cthulhu was CR 34 in the book, but still a divine being, practically unkillable. I'll be following this topic. I'm a huge fan of Lovecraft and to a lesser degree other authors that have worked with the Mythos. Lovecraft is still the best though.
Dagda Mor 11-23-04, 09:48 PM	Stone dog, I agree with some of what you say. The concept of the demon rajahs being the CoC dieties is a very solid one that should have ocurred to me a while back. But I think several elements of how I am going about this differ from your methods. Let me try and explain: I don't want the titans (at this point I'm using this name for convenience; don't read into it beyond that) to have actual divine powers, just be powerful in near-divine ways. (When you suggest Nyarlothep filling the role of the traveler, I assume you don't mean that he is a god) I'm not sure if I want them all to be technically defeatable through normal D&D methods (Epic level chars fighting it head-on) or not. I do want them all to be Xorians. Not Dal Quor or demons. Same goes for their servitors. They have cults worshipping them, same as CoC. Most groups that are considered part of the Cults of the Dragon Below are worshipping Titans, not mind flayers and the like. I haven't mentioned these yet, as I've been planning to include them in the individual Titan entries once I go into more detail. I want to change things enough that in most cases CoC veterans will figure out the CoC equivalent of what they're dealing with at about the same time their character learns about the CoX version, not take each creature and toss them in. I have to go now but will elaborate/conclude later.
stone_dog 11-24-04, 02:21 AM	Ah! I gotcha. Just to address a few points you brought up though.... None of the dieties in the Mythos have divine powers as D&D knows them so you have nothing to worry about there. Even Hypnos as a radiant idol is just a massively powerful creature who enjoys the supplication of mortals and the influence it brings. Vain, petty, idle and petulant are the traits that the best of the lot have. By the book though, Nyarlathotep IS a god and one of the most active. Other gods are certainly toxic and dangerous to deal with, but Nyarly seems to be the only one who actually HATES humanity and wants to see it destroy itself. Even Cthulu wants cults and sacrifice and if humanity lives long enough Cthulu might even accept them as a servitor race. Innsmouth is a fairly decent example of this sort of thing happening. What I mean't by comparing Nyarlathotep to the Traveler is that they are both dieties who are known for their many forms, being all mysterious and giving gifts that often lead to the ruin or destruction of those who make use of them. Shave off the sheer venomous malice of Nyarlathotep (CE) and you are left with the mysterious whims of the Traveler (CN). I understand your goals better now though. I was going for editing the Mythos into Eberron directly and you seem to be going for more of a "same actor, similar role" thing rather than my direct typecasting. Colour out of Space: Hey now... I'm sick of this force of the unnatural shtick I've been stuck with. I want to be something with a bit more motivation behind it. Stone Dog: Shut up, get back in the well and start sucking the life out of that farmstead. I've got a troup of heroes that just figured out what you are and are on their way. Dagda Mor: Psst... Colour... over here. You come into MY campaign and I'll hook you up as the right hand of Yog-Sothoth himself! Colour: Sold! Dagda Mor: Excellent.... Stone Dog: Hmph. ;)
Dagda Mor 11-24-04, 11:09 AM	All right, glad we reached a resolution on that. Oh, and your direct editing was being done very well; just thought I ought to mention that. So, here's something I'm trying to figure out: Titans fit the role of the rajahs well, but I want demons, as the secondhand evil, to be their own villians first and foremost. I'm thinking that some would serve/use the Xorian Mythos, but it would be for personal gain. If all of the Lords of Dust have titans for masters, that interferes with this.
Dagda Mor 11-24-04, 07:22 PM	Another thing: I would like to incorporate the concept that the Xorian Mythos obliterates some but takes others and warps them into something that fits their own version, with little connection to the original. So far I've come up with several ways to use this; mainly that some servitor races (greater liches, flame vampires, etc.) were once mortal, and that perhaps certain titans (Chaugnar Faugn, Hypnos) were once other beings of great power. Heh, mayhaps Nyarlothep isn't the Traveler . . . but he used to be.
Jayj 11-24-04, 09:35 PM	It strikes me as a rather nifty idea that the Nyarlathotep lookalike WAS the basis for the Traveler, and he was truly evil, but he arranged it so that he was thought of and adopted as a neutral god. He's just that badass. Is he a god? Is he simply a mortal of incredible power, like the 'other' titans? Is the distinction truly important? What might happen if the world should learn that the Traveler was the only one of the Sovereign Host pantheon to be proven to exist? If I may return to the cosmology question, though, what is Siberys in your campaign? Is it a small bubble around Eberron lined with shining dots that we call stars? If the stars aren't just dots on the inside of a vast sphere, what are they? What are Xoriat and the other planes? Are they split apart like dimensions, or do they have some physical representation in Siberys? How big IS Siberys? This leads to more questions. Why haven't the titans been stirring until now? Having the Titans be the imprisoned Rajahs has the advantage of a convenient explanation of why they've been inactive, but if you're wanting the Rajahs to be separate, there needs to be a reason why the Titans have been asleep. How did they get to Xoriat? How could beings of such power originate in such a small, if insane, place? If they didn't, where did they come from? Their actual motives, of course, are purely optional; they're not supposed to be comprehensible. - Jayj
Dagda Mor 11-24-04, 11:12 PM	On Nyarlathotep: yes, exactly. Read the description of The Traveler on page 70 of the ECS; it’s Nyarlathotep to the P. I have Siberys down as being about the same size as the other two “layers”. ECS isn’t that specific about the nature of it, and I will try to retain some of that mystery. (Or am I just uninformed?) I would like to add that the Titans that were in space in CoC are not all in Siberys in CoX; just some of the closer ones. Those such as Azazoth, who in CoC dwell far away as part of the bleak, uncaring universe, dwell in Xoriat in CoX. Incantations can send someone to both Siberys and Xoriat, although you also want to know a few other incantations that ensure you don’t die in vacuum. I’ll be making a concerted effort not to have all the titans waking up just now. Those that are awake were either never bound, broke free at some point or showed up after the bindings ocurred. I have several possible times when they may have been bound: • Ages ago, by some mysterious race • As part of the Couatl’s sacrifice that also bound the demons • As part of the Daelkyr war, at about the same time Xoriat’s orbit was changed. On an unrelated note, I’ve also begun to come up with a recurring villain: Jerrick Corwyn, a wizard who knows a good amount about the Xorian Mythos and can cast a number of incantations. He was “killed” during the last war, but used a powerful incantation to ensure his spirit remained. In the starting adventure, his great-great-great-grandson, a promising wizard, becomes fascinated with the strange method of spellcasting detailed in an old spellbook that he found among other family heirlooms. He successfully followed the directions and resurrected his ancestor. Jerrick, however, quickly finds young Cardon to be “too squeamish” and kills him, taking his place (This is based off Lovecraft’s The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, in case you haven’t realized). He quickly sets up shop in a cave in the King’s Forest, a few miles from Cardon’s home in Zilspar (a small town west of Sharn), assembling materials to begin his research anew and summoning a Griven (CoX’s dark young) to serve as a guard. Since some of the materials he gathers are human sacrifices, the small town is becoming distressed and puts out a call for adventurers. The PCs arrive 2 weeks after Corwyn’s resurrection and must investigate what’s going on; Corwyn meets them at some point but leaves on business before they have reason to suspect him. The PCs will probably have to figure out the mystery, find where Cardon was sneaking off to in the woods, and survive the encounter with the Griven, preferably while destroying Corwyn’s work. How’s that for a starter adventure?
Dagda Mor 11-27-04, 05:05 PM	Wow, everyone has no comments? Please, feedback is very helpful to this area of the project. ( :bump: )
Dagda Mor 12-01-04, 09:10 PM	Ok, I'm currently working on a "template" to apply to any creature you want to be Xorian, with a set CR. This should make it easier to produce and balance monsters beforehand. So far I have the following ideas in mind: • Horrifying Nature: The creature causes sanity loss. Probably based on size, type and/or HD. Those of an especially horrible nature take/get a monstrous feat that ups the sanity loss a category (and can be taken multiple times). • +4 con, +2 int (minimum 5, including otherwise mindless creatures), -2 wis • Alien Mind: Similar to Daelkyr ability. Detect thoughts causes sanity loss, and they don’t use the sanity system. Also renders them immune to mind-affecting spells and abilities. • Electric and Cold resistance, strength depending on HD • DR/magic, byshek, epic, and/or a new material I’m calling pure byshek for now, depending on HD. (BTW, I think that in CoX the cost of enchanting Byshek weapons will be doubled to balance out it’s increased usefulness.) • A bonus to natural armor, +2 or maybe +4 This is not a fixed rule; for example, a particular creature’s DR could also be bypassable by silver or flametouched iron weapons. My big question is whether I should make them immune to mind-affecting spells and abilities. As always, comments and questions are wanted.
falling 12-02-04, 01:02 PM	i think that they should have a bonus to saving throws ageist mind affecting spells as part of the alien mind ability, but perhaps a negative to incantations
Dagda Mor 12-02-04, 05:30 PM	Yeah, I'm in agreement; I've been thinking about it more and I've decided they will be immune as part of the Alien Mind ability. And again, incantations follow their own set of rules; there will be ones to summon and bind every Xorian creature. (although never both as part of a single incantation, in keeping with the CoC tradition. To quote part of an enjoyable cartoon in back of the CoC handbook: "Call of Cthulhu is the only game where. . . . . .The party learns to cast "Summon Dimensional Shambler" before find out about the binding spell to go with it. . . .The party tries to cast "Summon Dimensional Shambler" before they know what it is. . . .The party succesfully summons and binds the Dimensional Shambler, but the caster goes insane from doing so and is unable to control the creature." Again, I am aiming for a less deadly game than CoC, but that in no way means I want it to be easy enough that a party has little reason to worry about foolish descisions.) Edit: Oh yeah, I had forgotten: I've written up an outline of all the different incantations I want to include. I think there's about 50 or so. I'll type it up when I can.
Xaxor 12-17-04, 09:32 PM	Good to see that this thread didn't end with my post, but bad that it hasn't been seen in weeks. Has it been moved into a new thread or jut forgotten? Or has it been already put into use?
Dagda Mor 12-17-04, 10:43 PM	I've been working on school and other projects, while slowly working on my old ones. I kinda focus on or two things at a time, switching around. It's something of a bad habit. I'm about 30% done on typing the incantation outlines and was planning to have it done by monday. Thanks for asking! I'll try and have it done sooner- I was gonna finish the outlines on several races I've been working on, but no-one's asking about those. . . As a consolation, I offer another (http://archive.gamespy.com/comics/dorktower/archive.asp?nextform=viewcomic&id=736) case of cthulhu's combination with another genre. Beware; the sight can break the wills of lesser men. . .
Pharun 12-17-04, 11:53 PM	I'm to tired to think of any criticism for you, Will later, justing posting to say this is such a great idea and I'm glad that your doing this.
Jayj 12-18-04, 12:20 AM	I realize that very little of what I say may be applicable to your campaign, Dagda Mor, but there is no better place for me to ramble on about what I would do in a Cry of Xoriat campaign... hopefully someone can find some gems in my musings. Now, there's always a chance that I know not of which I speak, but to me, one needs three key ingredients to duplicate the proper atmosphere of a Call of Cthulhu game in the Eberron universe: 1) Fear. The universe is unimaginably large, and you are insignificant. 2) Madness. The world is not as you know it, and the world is not your own. 3) Hopelessness. You cannot stop them; you can only hope to stave them off for a little while. The first ingredient is the fear. You cannot rely on scary monsters to frighten either characters or players; the characters live in a world rife with scary monsters, and the players have played in it and seen enough monster movies so as not to be intimidated by that. The key is the size of the Eberron universe. Eberron as written is insular and as small as a thimble; though the world is a big and busy place, if it's restricted to its planar cosmology, the scope, size, and power of the entities that are a trademark of the CoC style simply don't have the space to exist. If Xoriat and the Siberys Ring are the only sources for these beings, the feel is much closer to a 'warring nation-states' feeling with madness thrown in. I'll get to the madness bit in a minute; the thing is that the awareness that everything you hold dear and believe in is unimportant and as insignificant as an amoeba was one of H.P. Lovecraft's primary and most unique methods of inspiring fear and dread. Scary monsters are one thing, but the realization that you are NOTHING is the biggest blow to one's ego, and once one is forced to accept that fact, the next conclusion sets in: If it's all so big, and what we've seen of it is so terrible, what ELSE is out there? If the world of Eberron remains small, Eberron and its environs is ALL that matters, and thus the primary component of fear and dread in the Lovecraft style is removed. What I would do is expand the universe and add entities, places, and races that are alien and frightening. The question is where to place these things. One could place them in other planes, such as Xoriat, but the very nature of the planes of Eberron is such that they 'orbit' around Eberron, thus again failing to provide the distinctive fear factor that Eberron -is not- the center of the universe. One could state that there are planes, many more of them, that are not fixed to Eberron... that might work, but one cannot see the planes, and thus you have no portents, no great signs, no ominous omens and dire warnings. At the risk of ripping off CoC too directly, the stars make an excellent place to put extra-Eberronian nightmares. The stars are, first and foremost, distant, and that feeling of distance and vast size is key. Also, the stars are visible, making it very easy to point at one and say "There... there is where the Negshil live, huddled around the Consuming Forest, awaiting the call of their master who sleeps in the Demon Wastes." So, everyone on Khorvaire thinks that Eberron is the center of the universe (the dragons KNOW better), and thus can be horrified when they discover that nothing could be further from the truth. This leads into the second element: Madness. The key here is cognitive dissonance: the disparity between what you know to be true and what your senses and faculties now tell you. If you find out that the deity you've been following all your life not only exists but is also an evil entity of unimaginable power that sleeps ENTIRELY too close by, it throws your mind for a loop as everything you've lived for is replaced utterly and immediately by a frightening but irrefutable concept. The result is madness, the second element. It's not enough to simply say "This is alien; it causes madness". That's part of it, but one must try to emphasize -what- is alien about it. This takes two tracks: Technological and historical. Technological is difficult. It involves the idea that the devices and (in Eberron) the magic that you rely upon every day is, to put it simply, primitive, like a caveman hammering at things with a blunt rock. This works very well in an Earth-based horror story; if a mild-mannered accountant who believes only in his checkbook discovers that spells can be cast to summon unearthly horrors or make a man shrivel away like a prune, it will break his mind like an empty eggshell underfoot. His old world was immediately stripped away and an unimaginably vast and malevolent one put in its place; the cognitive dissonance will drive him mad. This is much more difficult in a fantasy game; how do you one-up magic when magic is already everywhere? It's so much a challenge for the GM to come up with something even more fantastic than fantasy that I don't think this approach is even worth it. The historical dissonance is easier yet comes with a problem. It is the idea that "There is the history of the world as you know it, and then there is the REAL history of the world." In CoC, it is the idea that there are cults that have stretched back millenia, and that man was not the first sentient life, and that many races have come and gone on this little dustball, each wiped out by fate... as mankind will be, and all too soon. In Eberron, we already know this; there is the Age of Demons, Age of Dragons, Age of Giants, etc. Instead, best to replace the big myths; the Rakshasa are not native. Khyber, the Dragon Below, is not just a myth but an actual creature (by no means a dragon), trapped within the shell of the world, and the world will be destroyed when it breaks free. Mortal civilization was started as an accidental byproduct of a fetid godlike being's mad, half-conscious experiments or fevered visions. The true nature of the Night Hags is far greater than you might imagine. Etc. The catch? In order to properly catch onto the cognitive dissonance, the players as well as the characters must be aware of what is 'normal' in order for the new revelations to have the proper effect. That's why I think a properly-done CoC style Eberron game needs players that have played in three or four decent-length Eberron games so that they know the world, know the background, know what the fake history is so that they can be shocked and thrown for a loop when the real is revealed. The third element is hopelessness. The ongoing rush of fate WILL plow you and all you hold dear under the earth. It is inevitable. If you sacrifice your mind, body, and life, you may be able to slow it... or you may not. You must try, but you have no chance of real success. You cannot go back and still live a normal life, knowing what you now know and that all is doomed. This is pretty easy. On the story end, have the Draconic Prophecy be really damned depressing and hopeless when someone actually gets to read it, and make sure you let slip that the dragons are trying to find a way to scarper off to another world that's not so, well, doomed. Drop portents and dire findings, and make it clear that there is no escape for the world; if Khyber doesn't break out, dread Cthulhu-equivalent will wake up and ravage the surface, or the Daelkyr's seals will be broken and they will sweep across the world like a plague. Other things may not rampage, but you cannot kill them; they will cause fear, suffering, madness, and destruction no matter what you do. If you can do anything, it is stop those mad mortals who are trying to bring about the end of all things soonerm, or perhaps strengthen a seal or prevent a prophecy from being fulfilled, to delay the release of Khyber for a day, a week, a hundred years at most... who knows? It's important for the players to feel that they've had success, of course, but there should always be hopelessness in spite of all they can do. Then there's the mechanics end. Simply throw monsters at the players that are way, way above their CR level. If they try to fight it, do not hesitate to kill them. They will get the message; beings from the Xoriat Mythos you DO NOT mess with. Maybe you think you can take that medusa or that bebilisk, but if you match up against one of the GM's specials, better start rolling up a new character sheet. This will inspire the proper fear, awe, and most of all, hopelessness. If you've got the fear, the madness, and the hopelessness, then you've got, IMHO, a good CoC-style Eberron game. - Jayj
Dagda Mor 12-18-04, 08:38 AM	Oh yes, this is applicable. You're being very helpful. The ideas with the dragons, the thoughts on the overall concept. . . Thank you. Here is my own extrapolation on this post and another, earlier one by stonedog: In CoC, heroes are not heroes because they are strong; not because they are capable of casting the mighty fireball spell or wielding twin katanas to ly effect. They are heroes because they have been through the fear, madness, and hopelessness, and still fight on. It is this courage that matters, far more than what level they are. And this is the key concept in CoX.
Dagda Mor 12-20-04, 12:44 PM	Here is an outline of all the incantations that can be cast in CoX. (now complete) Contact Titan: Creates a minor mind-link between the caster and some aspect of a titan’s mind, causing strange visions that can last from a few hours to several weeks and may provide some insight into certain matters. Most of the details of this spell (casting time, components, category of insight, etc.) vary depending on the target. Also, a titan may sever or strengthen the link at will, depending on its whims. Summon Titan: A massive, complicated casting that bodily summons a titan to site. Even more difficult if said deity is sleeping or bound. After summoning the titan is free to act as it wishes. Most of the details of this spell (casting time, components, how many participants you’ll want, etc.) vary depending on the target. Summon Xorian: Bodily summons a creature from another plane, either a listed resident of Xoriat or a creature with the modified pseudonatural template. Details vary based on HD. Call Xorian: Bids a random member of a xorian species you designate to come to the location the spell is cast at, at which point it is free to do as it wills. If there is no such member within several miles of the casting (on the same plane), then the casting fails. Most of the details of this spell (casting time, components, likelihood of creature deciding to come, etc.) vary depending on the target. Transplant Organ: Combination surgery/ritual (and requires a heal check). Removes, inserts, or replaces a vital organ. Subject still requires organ to live at end of casting (No removing your own heart just because you can. You can replace it with that of another, though. . .). Apportion Ki: Redirects your life force into one of your vital organs, creating a “kara”. If the kara is then removed from your body both you and it still live, although you lose several monk abilities if you have them. It then functions similar to a phylactery; your body is virtually unkillable and will slowly regenerate. If destroyed, it has the same effect as if it was destroyed while still in your body; that is, probably a quick . And no, you can’t insert another organ while the original is still functioning. Plant Kara: Cast on an individual who has just had one of it’s vital organs replaced with your kara. While your body lies inert, you slowly replace their mind with yours. Alter Weather: Alters weather in a radius of several miles. Takes a few hours to take effect, and slowly reverts to normal weather. Must match climate; no blizzards in deserts. Balk Xorian: Drives out xorians that are infesting a target subject. Bait Humans: Creates a large, shimmering gem that fascinates the target and always hovers just out of reach, leading them towards the site of casting. The gem is a magical construct and will disappear when the spell ends. Awake Titan: Temporarily makes a titan more aware of its current surroundings. Not always effective. Augur: As augury spell. Become Xoreal: Sends halfway to the “Xorstral” plane (really need a new name), CoC’s white space and a place similar to the astral plane, except it’s around xoriat. Result is similar to being incorporeal; you aren’t visible and the 50% chance of attacks not being effective applies. Revealing Dust #1: Creates 3 uses of a dust that can be thrown out over a 10-ft. square. It fully reveals any creatures at least partly in that area, even if they are using xorian invisibility or are xoreal. Revealing Dust #2: Creates 3 uses of a dust that can be thrown out over a 10-ft. square. It fully reveals any creatures at least partly in that area, even if they are using xorian invisibility or are xoreal. It allows all attacks to affect creatures partly on the current plane and constantly burns xorians. Banish Summoned One: As banishment, except it affects xorians especially well. (and you need that edge, believe me.) Bind Enemy: Long casting. Target cannot take any malvolent action towards you for a week. Seal Soul: High-level (They don’t actually have levels, but it’s a way to gauge power) incantation that draws an opponent’s soul out of their body to the caster, who must store it in a prepared sontainer. Unless the soul is returned (by destroying the container), the body slowly withers away, and when it dies the soul is available for the caster to use for his foul purposes. A small, unbreakable tether stretches from the body to the soul on the Xorstral plane. Bless Blade: Enchanted weapon harms xorians, bypasses some DR. Body Warping: Reduce/enlarge person and change exterior appearance; not illusory. Breath of the Deep: Fills target’s lungs with water. As spell in PGtF Dream : Makes 2d4 doses of that sends self to Dal Quor while body sleeps. Siberys Mead: Makes several potions that allow the ingester to survive for a time while in siberys. Siberys sending: Sends casters to siberys and allows them to move about the plane very quickly. Can be used for travel purposes. Call Sandstorm: Calls up a sandstorm. Requires appropriate area and conditions. Inflict Pestilence: Subject contracts the blinding sickness. Strike Blind: Target saves or is struck permanently blind. Chant of Insight: Allows you to make a wisdom check with a bonus to gain insight into a chosen dilemma. Cloak of Fire: Gives you DR, flight and large unarmed combat bonuses. But it feels like you’re on fire, causing sanity loss. Cloud Memory: Subject must make difficult wisdom check to recall subject. Call Ghost: Calls a spirit for questioning. Create Gate: Creates a portal between the planes that lasts for several weeks Reduce Aging: Stops the aging process for a year. Unless cast again within a tenday of the incantation’s end, the aging penalties catch up to the caster. Xorian half-death: Makes living being into Xorian undead (similar to normal undead except not powered by negative energy and more sentient; they retain the past mind of the creature, even if the creature doesn’t want to return.) Xorian half-life: Makes or undead being into Xorian Undead. Deterioration Curse: Subject must make a will save each day or suffer sanity loss as it perceives it’s flesh to be rotting away. Curse of the Stone: You enchant a stone, storing inside it a hostile spirit that mentally attacks a target 1/day and when they sleep, dazing them and possibly costing sanity points. While there are several ways to stave off the spirit, the stone must be destroyed to stop the curse. Effigy: Creates a voodoo doll of a target to use the Effigy curse incantation on. Effigy Curse: Cheap curse that nauseates target and gives them a -4 penalty on a number of actions unless they make a fortitude save; must be cast through prepared doll. Dominate: As te person, but more customizable. Greater Mage Armor: +8 armor bonus to AC for several hours, similar to the mage armor spell. Awe of the Titans: Intimidate followers of a designated titan and strike with a feeblemind effect. Wheel of mist: Invisibility Sphere that works against those with the Alien Mind ability. (Remember, invisibility is a mind-affecting spell, and thus those with the alien mind property are immune to it’s effects.) Elder Sign: Sigil makes barrier impassable by Xorians. Enthrall Victim: Similar to bard’s ability to fascinate, but harder to escape. Trap Soul: As part of ritual, uses specially prepared dagger to perform coup de grace. Soul is trapped within dagger for about a week and may be used for the caster’s fiendish purposes within that interval of time. True Strike: As spell. Eye of light and darkness: Massive sigil that protects a good-sized area, barring entry by Xorians. Possess Zombie: Only works on Xorian undead with a certain level of sentience. Target gets a will save, but automatically forgoes it if subservient to you. Regeneration: As spell. Warding Barrier: Creates an invisible barrier that paralyzes those who attempt to cross through it. Fear: Targets are subject to a powerful Frightful Presence. Suggestion: As spell. Imprison mind: Traps consciousness in current body. Often used to kill possessing spirits; has no effect on most mortals. Levitate: As spell, but higher weight limit. Mirror Scrying: Look into one reflective surface to look out of others, as long as a designated individual is in view of the surface. The individual can look into the surface and see you as well. Mind Blast: More powerful version of Feeblemind. Trade Minds: Trades consciousness with another individual if they fail a will save. Crux Ansata: Enchants a holy symbol or similar object, giving it three charges. Clerics can spend a charge to turn Xorians as though they were undead. Curse of Thirst: Target begins to die of thirst, and drinking most liquids has no effect. Only certain substances (Blood? Holy water?) can help stave off a slow . Casting of Escape: Teleports to a preset location as long as it is within the range of the spell. Unspeakable Promise: Required by most deities and their cults on order to rise above a certain rank. Caster pledges loyalty to titan, and in return gains some sort of favor; common examples include the service of a servitor, some sort of disturbing but advantageous physical alteration or learning to cast that titan’s curse, which fails horribly if one who has not made the unspeakable promise attempts to cast it. Fists of (Chaugnar Faugn): Target takes bludgeoning damage from a series of powerful, invisible blows and is subject to an overrun attempt. Grasp of Khatu-Alu (Cthulhu): Target cannot move our reach out of target square and is slowly crushed. The incantation lasts as long as the caster concentrates. Clutch of (Doyenne): Paralyses and slowly kills the target as it crushes their heart. Mag-Yalos’ (Yog-Sothoth) Maw: Enchant an item to absorb a number of spell levels. Curse of Karmanyos (Nyarlathothep): Target gains one negative level as long as the curse is in effect. Curse of Yasran (Hastur): Target must make a daily will save or babble Yasran’s name for several minuets, thus probably attracting its attention; this is not a good thing. Death Curse of (Tulszcha): Subject catches on fire, burning horribly. Large amount of fire damage the first round and several dice more until the fire is put out, not a very easy thing. Also causes some mundane sanity loss. Maw of Amal-Ghari (Shudde M’Ell): Earth opens up beneath targets feet, then seals over them if they fail a reflex save and fall in. They take large amounts of bludgeoning damage and are trapped underground. Tathaza’s (Azazoth) Wrath: Brutal curse that renders the target helpless for several rounds as they writhe in pain, mind scrambled and vessels bursting. Red Sign of (Zoth-Omogg): A sigil that constantly deals con damage to those in area who did not just enter, anyone in the area must make a will save each round to move 10 ft. in any direction. (Ithacqua)’s Caress: Target must make a fortitude save as they are suddenly chilled from within. If they fail, they are paralyzed and take a large amount of cold damage; on a success they are slowed and the cold damage is halved. Strength of (Glaaki): Caster goes into a mindless, berserk rage as their bones grow, erupting from beneath the skin to provide natural armor and weapons. This causes a large amount of damage when the incantation ends. Spawn of Nagaratha (Shub-Niggurath): Target is infested with a young Griven (Dark Young) that grows as it feeds off their body and emerges after several days. It takes a very tough character to survive such an ordeal. Syrakimaru (Orochimaru)’s Wrath: Pure arcane energy blasts from the caster’s mouth, dealing a sizable amount of damage to them and an amount to anything within the small target area. Call of (Hypnos): Target’s dream-self is compelled to approach (Hypnos)’s whereabouts on Dal Quor. Each time they sleep they get a will save to avoid traveling towards him and another, more difficult one to remember anything about the dream. This is a subtle curse that could take up to several months to come to fruition. When the victim encounters (hypnos), he waits patiently until the Titan “wears” him, consuming the soul and leaving a comatose body on the material plane. Rite of (Quachil Uttaus): Calls the Titan’s attention to the target, almost always an inescapable (see the Titan’s entry for details). However, there is always a small chance (Quachil Uttaus) will instead target the caster.
dragonblade7 12-21-04, 12:02 AM	sry I duplicated this by accident
dragonblade7 12-21-04, 12:19 AM	First of all I'd like to say that this is a really good idea that I definitely plan on using sometime in the near future. Half the reason I'm here is so that I can continue to get e-mails on the stuff you guys are putting out here but I also have a comment to make. I think in some sense this idea is perfect for Eberron because of one simple characteristic of Eberron--the low-levels. In settings like forgotten realms the world is filled with high-level characters and high-level villains so that the characters need never feel lonely. If the players get bored they can always visit the nine-hells or the abyss and go slay some demons or something. Even an epic level character would have a tough time taking on somebody like Elminster. But in Eberron things are different. Armies are led by fifth level NPCs, nations are ruled by ninth and tenth level NPCs; by the time the player's reach close to that level they could logically ask what greater challenge is there, in terms of evil villains and masterminds. It seems that a character this level could rule the world, and Keith Baker alluded to this concept in Dragonshards; Eberron simply doesn't have characters of a really high level running around. But...what if a group of players who have become familiar with Eberron and its intricacies hit such a level and realize that everything that they thought that they knew to be everything that mattered, suddenly is completely meaningless. After being involved in elaborate political intrigues and acting as spies, explrorers, sabotuers and other jobs throughout the twelve kingdoms, the players probably think that they're pretty hot stuff and moreover that the stuff that they're doing is pretty important and that in fact they have gotten to the heart of the political goings on in Eberron. What if the the PC's find out that the deities that they have spent their whole lives and their whole nine or ten levels serving and fighting in the name of...doesn't even exist. Or worse if they do exist they are merely tools, or a front for an evil elder god who doesn't care for mankind at all and is merely using the entire fellowship on Eberron as one of a myriad of tools against one of his enemies. What if the kingdoms of Galifar only think that they are fighting each other for all-important and logically-sound reasons, when in fact the conflicts are really just engineered by the Lords of Dust, who turn out to be only another front for the same malignant force that is controlling the silver flame that the paladin worships. In the section on the silver flame it even states that there is rumored to be another force tied into the silver flame that is evil and malignant and that it is this force that has caused the church to do some of the corrupt things that it has done. What if the paladin or cleric in the party during the course of his fighting evil suddenly must come face to face with the head of the silver flame who is actually only a tool to a greater evil power. Now he knows something that he can never get rid of and none of the followers of the silver flame will ever be able to understand why he killed the leader of their religion and will not be able to understand why he urges them to turn away from the silver flame. Like being plugged into the matrix he will wish that he'd never known the realities behind the universe and his existance, and that he'd been able to simply live his life worshipping what he now knows to be false. As he fights hopelessly against the unconquerable forces of darkness, only to turn to a population that not only does not understand but cannot comprehend and does not want to comprehend what he does and why he does it. He is a hero not because he has fought so hard and become so powerful, he is a hero because he is still fighting despite the fact that he gets no recognition whatsoever for what he does, that no one in Khorvaire cares or even knows why he does what he does. I'm sorry I kind of rambled for a bit there but this is essentially how I figured I would run this type of game. I figure you make it based on whatever characters are playing and that, after they've gotten familiar enough to the world they start to realize things unravelling, everything they thought was real becomes meaningless. I think its the perfect thing to introduce into an already existing game. I especially like the outline of the three ingredients that Jayj put forth. I think that for most of the Cthulu mythos etc you don't really need to have detailed stats on them only what they are so that they can be referenced at times just to show how very big the universe is. I agree when someone (I think it was Jayj) said that if you make the universe be contained solely in Eberron then the elder gods can't really breathe, because you've defined what existance is. I agree that telling us "this is where the elder gods live and this is where those other guys live" by restricting them to Khyber and Syberis is not such a hot idea because then we know what's going on in the universe and we shouldn't. We should get the sense of wonder (except for a horific one) that one gets when looking at the stars and thinking "wow, that's millions of light years away, and if I were to utilize the most advanced spacecraft available to mankind, which is the most advanced lifeform on the planet, I still wouldn't be able to reach it in my tiny lifetime or the lifetime of my children or their children's, children's, children's, children." This sort of sense of awe could easily become madness if introduced in a "and on that star lives the being that controls all the other stars around it including my star and my planet and everyone who lives here." Again guys keep up the good ideas!
Dagda Mor 12-21-04, 08:20 AM	Again, rambling on is good. Rambling on is awesome. The key concepts about the purpose of the game are more important than the mechanics, and this sort of thing has always been helpful.
Dagda Mor 12-21-04, 03:28 PM	All right, I’ve added the rest of the incantations. Now, some thoughts on names: I’ve always appreciated how the names of various creatures in the Cthulhu Mythos all had normal roots; for example, Nyarlathotep’s name comes from the Egyptian phrase “ny har rut hotep”, which translates into “there is no peace/safety/rest at the gate.” I’d like to do something similar with names in cry of Xoriat. Here are my thoughts: Names that sound similar to latin words have their roots in Druidic (For example, Venetigris); those that sound Arabic have their roots in the language of the Dhakaani Goblin empires (Amal-Ghari); those that are unusually compact or simplistic have their roots in Giant (Griven); those that have a large number of syllables but are still pronouncable come from Draconic (Karmanyos); and those that are long and hard to pronounce have their roots in undercommon (no example yet- I prefer names you can say). Those that are practical (Prismatic Ghost) were given names in common.
Pharun 12-21-04, 04:20 PM	Just have something that might help for the goblin words http://www.coveworld.net/eberron/lore.html It has a common to goblin translator that wroks nicely.
ThanisKartaleon 12-22-04, 04:35 AM	Instead of Elder Gods you have the Titans (Not to be confused with the NG giant race; I may need a new name). Progenitors. The ECS mentions that there were progenitor wyrms, but that doesn't mean there were other types of Progenitors. Perhaps, indeed, the progenitor wyrms fought with these other, more horrific Progenitors, and succeeded only in keeping them trapped within their own plane (Xoriat). The three greatest Progenitors, Syberis, Eberron, and Khyber, managed to drive back the worst of the lot, though at a terrible cost. Khyber herself became corrupted by the pure evil, and in the end, she too had to be imprisoned. In many ways, the Age of Demons was an echoing of the Progenitor war; in the end, it comes down to the Dragons versus the Beings Unknown. The lesser races are inconsequential in this eternal war, all they can do is keep back the horror as long as they can, they have no hope to defeat it.
Pharun 12-22-04, 08:57 PM	I was thinking of linking to this on The ask Keith Baker thread and asking his opinion, what do you think should I?
dragonblade7 12-23-04, 10:28 AM	Most definitely that could give us some interesting feedback. I really wonder what he's got to say about it.
dragonblade7 12-23-04, 10:28 AM	Sorry pressed enter twice.
Romulus LoneWolf 12-23-04, 11:35 AM	Just a few comments: -I don't see Byakhee in Syrania. Mabar, perhaps, or Dolurrh, or even Syberis, but not Syrania. ...Or at the very least as creatures hunted by the Celestials of Syrania. ...Unless you're hunting at a dark side to that dimension. -As for the Monster Manual version of the Titans, since they're Outsider versions of Giants with innate magical abilities, why not make them the lost Royal Dynasty of Xen'Drik, decimated in the battle against the Dragons and/or Daelkyr? -I like Serpent-People a lot myself.. And I could see them as the creators of the Yuan-Ti, all in service to their Titan Lord Yig, the snake-lord. -That having been said, I also like Stone_dog's suggestion about the Rakshasas and their Rajahs. Personally, I like the Rakshasas and their variants from MMIII. At worst, you could easily make the Rakshasas a Servitor Race.. But I had an idea for describing them differently; instead of them all having feline heads, I would describe their "true forms" as each being unique monstrous humanoid forms, mixing various animal, insect, plant or mineral traits, or even more exotic elements. (I love Kamen Rider/Sentai style shows, which would be influencing my tastes, I admit.) Oh well, just a suggestion.
Pharun 12-23-04, 04:45 PM	Link posted in Ask Keith Baker Thread, have to wait and see what he says. THis is his response I have not until now, and unfortunately I really don't have time to read through it in detail. With that said, my basic response is that I love Lovecraft, and had Lovecraft in mind when working on Eberron, but that I personally don't feel the need to directly convert the Cthulhu Mythos to Eberron - any more than we need to have a culture that actually resembles feudal Japan to allow characters to play samurai. The daelkyr, the rakshasa rajahs, the quori, Xoriat, Dal Quor, the Cults of the Dragon Below - all of these things are Lovecraftian in tone, or at least that was the intent. The quori are merely the emissaries of the Dreaming Dark itself - the vast soul-devouring force that fills the heart of Dal Quor. Likewise, it is entirely possible that the daelkyr are merely heralds of a far greater power, shattering worlds and twisting flesh to prepare for the coming of the true lords of Xoriat, beings the mortal mind cannot comprehend. And the rakshasa rajahs are the ancient horrors of Eberron itself, bound eons ago by the sacrifice of an entire race. It is important to understand that the rakshasa rajahs are not simply big rakshasa; they don't have tiger heads, and actually have very little in common with one another in terms of appearance. "Rakshasa rajah" is a term of convenience, used because the rakshasa are the servants of these powers. But the rajahs are varied and mysterious beings of divine power, and were they to rise in significant numbers it is questionable if any force on could stop them. With a few exceptions, the couatl are no more, and the dragons have withdrawn to Argonnessen; as powerful as they are, they do not have the strength they once did. The rise of a single rajah could shatter a kingdom, as it almost did in Thrane; were they to break their bonds en masse, the world might soon fall back to the chaos of the Age of Demons. So I think the thread looks interesting, and I encourage folks to continue to come up with ideas and ways to make Eberron more fun for themselves; but for me, there is enough Lovecraftian flavor in the world as it stands.
Dagda Mor 12-23-04, 08:02 PM	ThanisKartaleon: Damn good idea. Thanks! Pharun: Good move. It's pretty amazing when you think about it; the designer of a campaign setting went and looked at this project. Aren't these forums awesome? I hadn't realized that the rajahs weren't rakshasa; I'm really gonna have to think carefully about how I'm going to handle the rajahs vs. the Progenitors. Hellcow: :bow: I definitely see your point, and have already taken into account some of what you posted. Heck, to tell the truth, I would rather play normal Eberron than this the majority of the time. (Not to discount this project; I'm just speaking about personal preference.) Romulus: Good ideas. Let's see here. . . okay, first, with the byakhee: They really aren't supposed to fit in; they're a blasphemous cancer upon the plane. Just wanted to make sure you were taking that into account; do you still think they don't fit? Also, Serpent-People: So far, I'm having the yuan-ti and other creatures such as mind flayers be imitations made by the daelkyr to serve their own purposes; the original races tend to view them with contempt, and often find them to be offensive parodies And yig has been replaced by a sort of serpent-folk Raistilin. I'm curious as to your opinion of this. This project has gotten more feedback than any I've ever started before. It's definitely not just mine anymore, I can say that. Again, thanks to all of you for the feedback and ideas.
ThanisKartaleon 12-24-04, 04:42 AM	hehe, thanks. Also, I thought I should make sure people see the living spell (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=316454) I cooked up, it is quite relevant to this discussion. (And what do you think of the horse-sized ticks?)
Dagda Mor 02-15-05, 02:29 PM	Ok, I've started to add in the official names for a number of my creatures. Sorry for the silence.
kisama 02-15-05, 03:45 PM	2) Madness. The world is not as you know it, and the world is not your own. 3) Hopelessness. You cannot stop them; you can only hope to stave them off for a little while. - Jayj This has me thinking about another post where Vol was tagged for 300 damage and just shrugs it off. Had the DM been trying to play a CoC style game then I could not think of any better way to introduce a sense of madness and hopelessness than to have a bad guy get up and shrug off what should have been a fatal blow. The only thing I would have done different was have Vol give them a little speech first before doing a vanishing act.
Dagda Mor 02-16-05, 12:07 AM	This has me thinking about another post where Vol was tagged for 300 damage and just shrugs it off. Had the DM been trying to play a CoC style game then I could not think of any better way to introduce a sense of madness and hopelessness than to have a bad guy get up and shrug off what should have been a blow. The only thing I would have done different was have Vol give them a little speech first before doing a vanishing act. Heh, very nice. Although it weems to me like the traditional CoC method would be to have Vol start kiling them while they try to flee. . . Say, Vol would make a pretty nice candidate for a Greater Lich, eh?
kisama 02-16-05, 10:17 AM	Heh, very nice. Although it weems to me like the traditional CoC method would be to have Vol start kiling them while they try to flee. . . Say, Vol would make a pretty nice candidate for a Greater Lich, eh? Having Vol kill them while they try to flee would be good for hopelessness but would kinda ruin things for the players. IMO better to give them their little victory (the players can only delay the inevitable). Vol is merely amused by their actions but has more pressing business to attend to, or she'd snuff them out right on the spot. She promises to take up this matter with them another time (more fear). In the meantime she promises then with a parting gift for the trouble they have caused (oooh more fear). When the players return to Sharn they learn over the course of the next week that each of their home villages has been stricken by some plague. Their childhood friends, family, aquaintances are all sick and dying (more hopelessness and fear). The warforged PC's get a special treat, they are afflicted with some kind of corrosive rust which begins to eat away at them gradually over time (of course the DM keeps the amount of time to themeselves - more fear and hopelessness). :)
Dagda Mor 02-16-05, 05:25 PM	Ok, all the names are added. I tryed to put together a variety of interesting names with roots in Draconic (Complicated and/or many syllables), Druidic (Latin/Elven), Giant (Brutish/Short) and Goblin (Arabic); to me, these are the languages that the Xorians would have first been given names in. Any comments? Are they all pronouncable? (Note: The creatures are at the bottom of the 1st page, the Titans at the top of the 2nd.)
Dagda Mor 02-22-05, 07:48 PM	All right, I've been brainstorming about the sanity system and wanted to throw my thoughts out there: Sanity will use the same basic mechanic: You start with between 1 and 99 points, and whenever you face a mentally jarring situation you have to roll a d100; get more than your sanity and you lose a certain amount. (Sometimes you lose some sanity even if you make the save). In CoC there is a skill called Cthulhu Mythos which functions similar to a knowledge skill and is key to determining what one is up against and what can be done about it. You can't purchase ranks in this skill; it must be earned through things such as fighting monsters and reading certain tomes. After some thought I've decided that CoX will split Cthulhu Mythos into two factors: Knowledge(Xorian Lore) and a Xorian Comprehension score. Knowledge (Xorian Lore) functions like other knowledge skills except that every rank reduces one's maximum sanity by one point and the first rank as well as every 4th rank grants one point of Xorian Comprehension. Xorian Comprehension must be earned. It serves as a sort of intuition regarding the Xorian Mythos, and represents one's understanding of the horrifying concepts. For example, you can make checks to predict a creature's actions, vulnerabilities, and ways to repulse it. You gain your first point automatically following your first encounter with the Xorian Mythos (This can be achieved through academic study, as represented by Knowledge (Xorian Lore). Each point of Xorian Comprehension decreases your maximum sanity by 2(3?). A player has a "tolerance point" on their sanity score equal to 5 times their permanent wisdom score, maximum 99. I'm trying to decide whether one's starting sanity will be equal to one's tolerance point or just 99. Sanity scores below one's tolerance point are more easily regained. Like CoC, losing more than 5 points of sanity during a session can cause temporary insanity, while losing large amounts over time incurs more permanent effects. Immediately after losing a 5th or higher point of sanity, a character may spend an action point to gain a mad insight into the problem facing them, though it generally must be Xorian in nature. Mundane sanity loss (From things such as finding the decapitated corpse of your pet dog on a spike) can cause sanity loss, but is always less severe and will never cost any sanity to one who makes the save. Illusions of horrible things cause less sanity loss than the genuine article, and illusions of a Xorian object or creature are no more effective than of a mundane one. The standard levels of sanity loss are 1/0, 1d2/0, 1d3/0, 1d4/0, 1d6/1, 1d8/1d2, 1d12/1d3, 1d20/1d6 and 1d100/1d20. (The second number is the sanity loss if one makes the save.) The sanity loss is decreased 1 level if the exposure to the horror is limited (Such as seeing the monster while looking through a spyglass far away) and 2 if it's extremely limited (Such as only seeing the creature's shadow in the flickering firelight). The confusion and insanity spells magically interfere with one's thought processes and have no effect on one's sanity. Being shaken costs 1d6 sanity, frightened costs 1d3 and panicked costs 1. (Like all mundane loss, this is negated by a successful Sanity save.) There are a number of ways to regain sanity. You regain 1d6(or more?) sanity every time you gain a level. The heal skill can be used for the purpose of psychological therapy, though it cannot restore sanity above your tolerance point. It is also key to curing most forms of insanity. Any victory over the Xorian mythos grants some sanity points (Generally at the end of the adventure). Spells and herbs can't restore sanity loss but can repress the symptoms. One can take a feat representing that they've already fought against the Xorian Mythos. It's taken while initially creating the character and provides 2 points of Xorian Comprehension plus one per 2 levels, at the cost of 1d4/0 sanity each. You can either take a feat that lets you treat your sanity as 10% higher (To a max of your max sanity) for the purpose of Sanity saves, or a feat that reduces all sanity loss by one die category but halves your maximum sanity and tolerance point (Thus also halving any further decrease to your maximum sanity.) Both will probably require a certain character level and/or Xorian Comprehension score.
Dagda Mor 02-23-05, 09:33 AM	Ok, I've finished up my thoughts on the sanity system.
RadicalTaoist 03-13-05, 09:54 PM	I dunno if you guys want something non-Lovecraftian, but if you've read the (wicked cool) novel Blade of Tyshalle by Matthew Woodring Stover then there was this very evil kind of metaphor/psychic entity/Near-Ao-Level-OVERGOD known as the Blind God A.K.A. The God of Dust and Ashes A.K.A. The Sleeping God. It was sort of the incarnation of humanity's basest hungers and pack instinct, and would consume worlds for the sake of comfort and conformity. Just wondering if you'd be interested.
Cutlass 03-13-05, 10:36 PM	I think this is a really neat thread and I am impressed by all the time and trouble that people are taking to make this sort of thing work well in their campaigns. However, my REAL reason for posting here was just to show off what I think is a neat sig :)
lightman 06-29-05, 07:27 AM	:bump:
Dagda Mor 07-09-05, 10:08 AM	(Sorry this took a while, I was off on vacation). The Sanity System All characters have a sanity score. A character with a sanity of 99 is the pinnacle of mental well-being. A character with a sanity of one is a raving lunatic almost never capable of rational action and should probably have been retired a while ago. A character with a sanity of zero or less becomes either a drooling, mindless shell or an NPC under GM control. Whenever a character is exposed to horrible and traumatic events, concepts or objects, they must make a sanity check. Roll a d100; if the result is more than your sanity score you have failed the check. This results in lost sanity. Some things are so horrible that you even lose a small amount of sanity if you make the check. A sanity loss of 1 is something that most people wouldn't even notice; you just feel unnerved or unsettled. If a character loses a total of (10% of their remaining sanity score) sanity without a decent amount of time to recuperate (Around several days; GMs should generally continue counting sanity loss throughout a single adventure) they develop a short-term insanity lasting 1d10+4 rounds. If they lose sanity equal to a 20% of their remaining score they develop a long-term insanity lasting 1d10x10 hours. If they lose more than 20% over the space of an hour they develop an indefinite insanity lasting 1d6 game months. Note: Even after the episode of insanity is over, traces or profound evidence of the experience should remain. Mental scarring doesn’t just disappear. You have a "tolerance point" equal to triple your wisdom score plus your intelligence and charisma scores, to a maximum of your maximum sanity. In addition to being the number of sanity points you begin with, this number is important because certain methods of sanity restoration are less effective if they would raise one's sanity score. A permanent change in a mental ability score affects your tolerance point but not your sanity score. Players have a maximum sanity of 99. There are a few things that decrease one's max sanity; if this reduces one's sanity score it can cause insanity like any other sanity loss. Recovering Sanity There are several ways to increase your sanity score. First, the GM may grant players xp for a succesful victory over the horrors of the Xorian Mythos. For example, if the characters escape from the mansion with the Shambling Horror in it alive, this is not a victory. If they return with dynamite and concrete, collapse the mansion and make sure the shambling horror cannot emerge from the tunnels beneath, the GM might grant them a point or two. If they find the secret chamber with the tome and the dust of ibn-gnazi and successfully complete the ritual to banish the creature at great risk to their physical and mental well-being, the GM would probably give them several sanity points. Second, the Heal skill can be used to provide therapy. Short-term care takes 10 rounds and gives the subject a sanity check to try and remove a single short-term insanity. (DC 15 and up) Long-term care can be applied to up to four individuals who are doing nothing but resting, takes 24 hours (sleeping is allowed) and can potentially negate all forms of insanity (Long-Term is DC 20 and up, Indefinite is DC 30) and/or grant 1d3 sanity points, to a maximum of one's tolerance point. The Knowledge (Psychology) skill (Another variant) gives a +2 synergy bonus on these checks, and is necessary to diagnose the various forms of mental illness; otherwise the GM may impose a penalty of -2 or -4 on the therapy check. Finally, gaining a level grants 1d6 sanity points. Comprehending the Xorian Mythos Unlike other scores, Mythos Comprehension must be earned. It serves as a sort of intuition regarding the Xorian Mythos, and represents one's understanding of the horrifying concepts. For example, you can make checks to predict a creature's actions, vulnerabilities, and ways to repulse it. You gain your first point automatically following your first encounter with the Xorian Mythos (This can be achieved through academic study, as represented by Knowledge (Xorian Mythos). It has no modifier. Each point of Mythos Comprehension decreases your maximum sanity by 2. Your GM can make a check to see if anything useful occurs to you. This is a d20 roll with no modifier besides your Mythos Comprehension score and possibly an action point. The better the roll, the better information; but a low roll (usually less than 10) means the GM may provide you with no information or even give you suggestions that do more harm than good. Alternately, immediately after failing a sanity check, you may spend an action point to try and gain a mad insight concerning whatever it is that caused the sanity loss. This is a Mythos Comprehension roll that gets a bonus equal to the amount of sanity loss the source has incurred and gives your character some obscure hint related to the source. Knowledge (Xorian Mythos) functions like other knowledge skills except that every rank reduces one's maximum sanity by one point and the first rank as well as every 4th rank grants one point of Mythos Comprehension. You cannot take ranks in it if your mythos comprehension score is zero. Feats Mythos Experience You have encountered the horrors of the Xorian Mythos before; perhaps you peered into tomes in the basements of Morgrave University, or perhaps you escaped the clutches of the Dasaadi. Although better prepared, your have not escaped unscathed. Benefit: You gain two points of Mythos Comprehension plus one per two starting levels (It doesn't matter what level you took this feat at. So, if you create a 5th-level character who officially took this feat at 1st level, he begins with a Mythos Comprehension score of 4). Each point decreases your starting sanity by 1d4 points. Unlike most sanity loss, this cannot cause insanity. You may also take ranks in Knowledge (Xorian Mythos). Special: This feat can only be taken during character creation and only with GM permission. Resilient Soul You possess an unusual amount of stubborness when faced with things most find horrifying. Benefit: You treat your sanity score as 10 points higher for the purpose of sanity checks, to a maximum of your max sanity. Special: You may not take this feat if you have taken the Mythos Adaption feat. Mythos Adaption You cope with horror by acknowledging and understanding it. Prerequisite: A Mythos Comprehension score of 1 or higher. Benefit: Any sanity loss you would suffer is reduced by one die category, to a minimum of 1/0. Upon taking this feat your maximum sanity is immediately halved. Special: You may not take this feat if you have taken the Resilient Soul feat. However, you may take it multiple times; its effects stack. For GMs: The standard levels of sanity loss are 1/0, 1d2/0, 1d3/0, 1d4/0, 1d6/1, 1d8/1d2, 1d12/1d3, 1d20/1d6 and 1d100/1d20. Seeing the corpse of a dog killed with a pistol shot to the side is a 1/0 or possibly 1d2/0 check. Seeing a giant severed head fall from the sky could cost 1d12/1d3 sanity. 1d100/1d20 is reserved for the elder gods of the Xorian Mythos. Fear effects can also cost sanity; being paralyzed, shaken, frightened and panicked cost 1d4/0, 1d3/0, 1d2/0 and 1/0 sanity respectively. Things that can increase sanity loss a category: • Particularly unpleasant exposure to the source (The severed head lands next to you and splatters you with gore). • Subject is part of the Xorian Mythos, as opposed to our mundane world. Things that can decrease sanity loss a category: • Limited exposure to the source (You only saw Ostekhadrien’s shadowy outline a wall, not the elder god himself) • Each prior failed sanity check against the source. • Subject is an illusion. Mental Disorders: At the moment, I have no full list of long and short-term insanities available. GMs may want to refer to any incarnation of the CoC roleplaying game or page 200 of Unearthed Arcana. Possible short-term insanities: Screaming fits, homicidal tendencies, hallucinations, severe phobias. Possible long-term: Compulsive rituals, paranoia, amnesia, inability to communicate through speech or writing. Possible indefinite: Shifts in personaliy such as anxiety and paranoia, insomnia, substance abuse, schizophrenzia, multiple personalities. Statistics: Current Sanity = 3xWis +Int +Cha, 0 lost Tolerance = 3xWis +Int +Cha, Maximum 99
Sanity Assassin 08-07-05, 05:21 PM	Thanks for the ideas , I have been running a campaign previousli in a pocket plane of Ravenloft called Poisson , there is something definitely fishy about the inhabitants and village , I am thinking of having one night a year where all those with the taint fully change and run amok, :coolcthul I would heartily recommend D20 Cthulhu for the insanity mecganics as well as the spellbooks ( most of these questionably useful spells cause a lowering of sanity ) Imagine the face of the magic users when they use a summon spell for the first time without realising they need a binding spell to run in tandem to control summoned horrors
Dex 11-22-05, 05:27 AM	The material here is excellent quality, keep posting! See the 1001 Mournland horrors in the People and places section of the ebberon board for some great freaky environments. in the game i'm DMing, I'll soon have my players venture into Dal'quor, and meet the Hounds of Tindalas. I'm still making my own stats, but so far i've incorporated 'pack' bonuses, ie they have more special abilities when there's more than four within 30ft of each other. Abberation type, a ability similar to the Maelovance ability ghosts have, any suggestions? I'd prefer not to use CoC stats as i think my players have access to that book. (I dont) I'll post the final stats here once we do that session. Kids 4 Cthulhu!