Post/Author/DateTime	Post
RadicalTaoist 10-31-04, 08:18 PM	First of a series, as you'll know by reading that other thread of mine. If you were to run or play in a game inspired by and similar to the Metal Gear Solid series of video games, how would you do it? What would you include and what kind of atmosphere would you shoot for? Note: This includes funny parody scenes. Such as the one below, which, should the mods have any problem with, please cut from post, not delete thread. NPC to dying stepsister who just confessed her love for him: :weep: I didn't mean to sleep with your mother! It just happened! :( PCs: :mymy: PAGING JERRY SPRINGER! PAGING JERRY SPRINGER!
Restless 10-31-04, 08:32 PM	Well, inspired by Fox Hound, I'm rolling up a group of elite NPCs, called Vol's Fingertips, a group of Vol's most powerful and devout followers which she uses to do her bidding. They all have different quirks/powers and will put up quite a fight for PCs. I'm using my Sniper Class for a Cyran Sniper Wolf.
Faulted-Industry 10-31-04, 09:28 PM	In Ebberon I was working on an "Ocean's 11" style quest were a party of a Rouge, Fighter and Bard plus several others were to heist Mongrave University of a particular artifact... The main challenges will guards, scholars (who decide to do some late-night reading) and the locals as it will be planned during convention of cosmopolitans in the lobby...
Faulted-Industry 10-31-04, 10:05 PM	In Ebberon I was working on an "Ocean's 11" style quest were a party of a Rouge, Fighter and Bard plus several others were to heist Mongrave University of a particular artifact... The main challenges will guards, scholars (who decide to do some late-night reading) and the locals as it will be planned during convention of cosmopolitans in the lobby...
RadicalTaoist 10-31-04, 11:15 PM	^...? Well, inspired by Fox Hound, I'm rolling up a group of elite NPCs, called Vol's Fingertips, a group of Vol's most powerful and devout followers which she uses to do her bidding. They all have different quirks/powers and will put up quite a fight for PCs. I'm using my Sniper Class for a Cyran Sniper Wolf.Sweet. What kinds of quirks?
Aris Stormdragon 11-01-04, 04:22 AM	I would shoot for a little more of the noir and a little less of the pulp (that seems to be the feel of the game, to me at least). The PC's would probably be elite agents of the Citadel, tasked with locating members of the terrorist organization known as the Order of the Emerald Claw. Their mission would be simple: Prevent the Order's schemes from succeeding, and eliminate any and all members of said Order. This plays more to the BlackOps/Wetwork type of story, and less toward standard SpecOps, so I would avoid allowing LG alignments (and possibly NG as well). The PC's would basically be 007 types with a liscense to kill, but the focus would be more on the action and less on the womanizing (not that there's anything wrong with that;)). Conversely, if your player's want to play the bad guys, you could have them form a group similar to Red Cell, the evil organization from MGS:SoL. Incidentally, it seems to me that the creator of the game took a lot of the background material for Red Cell (including the name) from a book called Rogue Warrior, written by Richard Marcinko, the original creator of the Navy's Counter-Terror Unit SEAL Team Six. If you like MGS and SOCOM, you should pick up this book and it's succeeding volumes. Great SpecOp stuff.
KMFDM 11-01-04, 09:38 AM	Wow actually comparing MGS and Eberron is interesting since in both you have giant robots and they are strictly regulated/restricted. It be interesting to have a party that is from the Thronehold Treaty, who enforces the treaty through subterfuge and sabotage. Could include: 1. Stopping a certain group from wraforge slavery. 2. Investigate the Lord of the Blades. 3. Prevent some artificers from obtaining the Schema of a warforge titan. 4. Remove an artificer's control over a warforge titan. Thats just a few ideas. I like the idea alot.
RadicalTaoist 11-01-04, 01:34 PM	Useful suggestions, thanks. An MGS style story seems to mix well with the Stop the Villain adventure outline in the ECS, only with the villain's doomsday device having legs. Thanx to KMFDM we have a good example of a basic adventure progression, now, how do we get the mood, the atmosphere of Metal Gear Solid into Eberron? (bit more of the noir and less of the pulp, as Aris mentioned, props to the Marcinko recommendation too). I thought of a very stealth-oriented style of play where you have one member of the party doing the whole covert infiltration thing (monks and rogues are good for this) while the party caster sits back clairaudiencing/scrying/whatever from a distance, waiting to d. door/passwall/whatever the other party members in whenever they're needed. Say, ranger is sneaking around while the psion has mindlinked (or what's the power that share's sensory input) the rest of the party so they can all see what the psion is scrying/farseeing/whatever. With his search skill, ranger realizes there's a trap, psion communicates this to the party artificer, who d. doors in and disables the trap for the ranger, then d. doors out. Transportation magic can be replaced with shrunk characters inside a portable hole if necessary. Or maybe a rope trick in a safe location near the infiltration site.
Brastan 11-01-04, 02:08 PM	The problem with translating between MGS and Eberron is the team size. A group changes the dynamics, especially the stealth aspects. Don't forget to up the number expendable bodies. Also how should the unlimited supply of guards be handled? A finite number will have PCs killing them all, but unlimited doesn't have any good excuses that I can think of. I do like the opposing team, like Red Cell and group in in the first game. This, to me, really makes the MGS series. The characters and their flaws are what makes the story work. The opposing team also helps make for less frequent but more dramatic combat. What would be in a crazed Eberron style group? 1. Child of Winter Druid ( the ones that think death must be a part of every thing), race shifter 2. A Changeling with a multiple personality disorder or demon possession.(Rogue, wizard or sorcerer?) 3. Warforged Fighter who only wants to die by the hand of a superior warrior (fighter paladin, ranger, barbarian). 4. A Kalashtar who rips apart peoples minds inorder to experience or study dreams. [BTW and Off Topic, I beat the sniper lady (in the snow-field shootout) by crawling along the wall at edge of map, got behind her and... :smirk: I love game flaws]
Kid SixXx 11-01-04, 02:23 PM	Foxhound would work very well as Eberron villains, and I could easily see MGS working with the Unique Warforged Titan scenario, although I'm not terribly sure I'd totally convert the adventure to a stealth-based, solo scenario. My skeletal suggestions for Foxhound: 1. Liquid Snake = Warrior / Sorcerer with an Aberant Dragonmark (perhaps even a house-ruled Mark of Death if we're using the doomsday weapon scenario) 2. Revolver Ocelot = Exiled Cleric of the Silver Flame, now a follower of the Dragon Below. (Doesn't really relate to the original, but the team was a bit magic poor) 3. Psycho Mantis = Screams to be a Kalashtar Psion or perhaps a renegade Inspired. 4. Decoy Octopus = Changeling Rogue, obviously 5. Vulcan Raven = Warforged Juggernaut with an Armbow & plenty of fire arrows, obviously. 6. Sniper Wolf = Renegade Valenar Elf Ranger.
Restless 11-01-04, 06:35 PM	Personally, I think Sniper Wolf would fit better as a Cyran, as they no longer have a 'true' homeland, similar to the Kurds. SW was a Kurd and had that whole sad, growing up on the battle feild thing going on. I think a Cyran would fit that role better. In my game I'm not copying the Foxhound Team directly, I just like the idea of an elite team with all kinds of weird special powers. For this I plan to use strange templates and Prestige Classes my PCs aren't familiar with, to create a sense of awe and uncertainty. I haven't made the entire team yet, but so far, this is what I've come up with. (There are 10 total...you know Vol's Fingers...there are ten of them...presumably.) Sorry, I'll post the NPCs in a minute, I got to run somewhere.
RadicalTaoist 11-01-04, 10:35 PM	Well, that leaves the bosses in MGS2 to make. Vamp is kinda straightforward, but the others? I'm at a loss for Fatman and Fortune. And Brastan's Sniper Wolf kill: :ayyyy!:
Aris Stormdragon 11-02-04, 05:27 AM	I just thought of something: Take a Huge Warforged Titan, advance him to Gargantuan, and I think you'd have a decent facsimile of the Metal Gears themselves. Perhaps a rogue member of House Cannith has gone mercenary, and is selling his services to the highest bidder. For the purposes of this story, let's say his potential employer has lots of working capital, enough say to create a new Titan, only twice as large (or whatever). Perhaps this new Titan has such potential as a war machine that many of the other countries, remembering how useful the Warforged were in the Last War, have begun looking into creating their own "Metal Gears". This would be a great campaign arc for intrigue, subterfuge, misdirection, and investigation. Now, because of the work involved, and the cost (I haven't been able to figure this out yet, so any help here would be much appreciated), I'd imagined that each of the parties interested in possessing a Titan would only be able to afford a few of them; perhaps no more than five or so. I can well imagine that Queen Aurala, quietly preparing to make her bid for the crown of Galifar, would be looking into the possibility of aquiring a few of these war machines. Just a thought.
Ravenstein 11-02-04, 11:34 AM	You could do something like a one of the nations or houses has a top secret warforged facility that's been discovered and is under seige by a group of terrorists. You can make up whether they are part of the Claw, or the Blades, or whatever. Inside the facility is not only a warforged factory but something much more powerful. As someone suggested, up the Titan to Gargantuan, and have that be the main part of the facility's operations. Furthermore, you could have it where this Titan is also being fitted with a new weapon, one that could possibly reproduce the Mournlands effect on another nation. The terrorists found out about this facility and seized it to hold the world ransom using the titan and its new weapon system. If you wanted the terrorists to be of some sort of order like Fox Hound, you could have them be named something like White Sword, where the dude wears white and carries a sword as his main weapon. Red Dagger, hot chick that uses daggers as her main weapons. The heroes could be hired to infiltrate the facility and defuse the situition. That's a direct rip of the MGS plot translated to Eberron. I've actually considered running something like this myself. The stealth elements are a bit tricky with a whole party, but not impossible to work out. I mean, there were some instances in MGS where Snake wasn't exactly uber stealthy. The facility could have all sorts of magical locks that needed to be bypassed (i.e. the keycards in MGS). You could emulate Octacon as an artificer that was working on the project. It shouldn't be too hard to translate the entire operation into an adventure.
CommanderFluffy 11-02-04, 02:43 PM	Here is how i envision an MGS style set-up. Firstly, there are only 2 island locations that lend well to being taken over by terrorists The main enclave of House Lyrandar and the island where the Galifar kings had their castle. Probably the Lyrandar island would be best and most fun. Instead of Metal Gear i'm thinking prototype airship. the leader of the whole thing could easily be the LoB, since he already has an army of about 1,000 warforged in place. The various bosses could be renegade fleshies or some of those "quirky" warforged he makes himself.
Ravenstein 11-02-04, 03:02 PM	It shouldn't be too hard to make up an island off the coast somewhere that up till now everyone has consider to be insignificant. The overall theme of MGS was that these were operations the whole world couldn't know about else the ones running them would be ruined by public exposure. That could add some more tension to the adventure, whereas, the group has to go about the adventure in such a way that it doesn't expose it to the public.
Magagumo 11-02-04, 03:33 PM	Actually, this thread has caused me to adapt a session (or two) I'll be running for a 4th lvl party- Imagine a Karrnathi "weapons lab" (i.e. arcane research center) in the heart of one of their major cities. In this center, they are developing a series of eldritch machines that effectively function as "Mass Inflict" spells when triggered- a surefire way to swing the tide of battle when you're troops are healed by the blast, and your enemy is drained by it. However, as the party infiltrates the center, unaware of this weapon's existence but privately hunting a group of renegade warforged said to be located in this base, the same, claiming to be agents of Thrane, take the center over. Now, if Karrnath sends in legions to kill the "Thranians," they set off the eldritch machine, devestating the urban center. If they don't act, they risk exposing their secret developments to the rest of Khorvaire- such a weapon could be considered a strong step towards the re-insitution of the war, and national relations suffer in a major way. Of course, in true pulp fashion, the group (A deluded bunch of warforged LoB followers lead by a changeling lieutenant of the Order of the Emerald Claw [disguised as an agent of the LoB]) is actually working on it's own agenda- converting the machine to release positive energy and have it smuggled out with released hostages to Fort Zombie (by Lightning Rail)- only to be detonated in a blast of holy energies that shatters the fort's defenders. In the end, it's up to the party to first secur the hostages' release, then discover and prevent the eldritch machine's secondary detonation (which would ignite conflict between Karrnath & Thrane), and begin pursuit of the changeling (who has been a nemesis of theirs since the Forgotten Forge) ;) *Takes a deep breath* Thank you to all of you for giving me the impulse to develop this plot :)
RadicalTaoist 11-02-04, 04:30 PM	Well, we seem to have the first MGS all plotted out. Sons of Liberty will be a bit trickier to do, though. In retrospect, maybe I should have left this till after MGS 3 comes out. That's going to OWN. A Liquid Snake/Solid Snake relation based on a constructs terribles project is a good link between a Warforged PC and an enemy 'forged NPC.
Restless 11-02-04, 04:32 PM	Okay, sorry this took so long, I got delayed. The members I've made for Vol's Fingertips so far are: (One of these uses a Prestige Class I made myself, but it's not unlike anything that's been done a billion times before.) Half-Celestial/Half-Elf Cleric(Blood of Vol)/Master of Shrouds(New Prc. Class in LM) Cool Abilities: Ability to summon spooky undead. Human Super-Soilder(Modified in Last War Experiments; All ability scores 18 naturally) Fighter/Hexblade Cool Abilities:The Curse and other Hexblade things work nicely, and I plan to give him an interesting weapon. A Cyran Warforged Ranger/Sniper (Orgionally a Human, but it seems to me that a Warforged would better be able to mimic Wolf's single-minded attitude. He served in Cyre though.) Cool Abilities: I plan to have him use the armor described in the Whitehearth fiction included with SotLW. Also, cool sniper abilities and the neat hunting the PCs through the wilderness thing. Right now, that's all I have beyond a vauge idea. I know I'd like to use some undead, not a vampire...my PCs are getting sick of them...and maybe a few advanced monsters. I know I'm breaking some rules, like haveing a non-good Half-Celestial, but hey, I think it'll make for cool scenes and roleplaying. Same thing for the Cyran Forged. Right ow I'd appreicate any suggestions for the other 7 members. Oh yeah, and names. I'm not sure if I'm gonna rip off Foxhound directly, or if I'll rip off the Gung-Ho Guns, from the anime Trigun. I do like the idea of things like Whitesword and stuff. That's cool.
lostone 11-02-04, 04:58 PM	Wow...interesting idea. I don't have time to read all the posts others have made, and I haven't played MGS in a while, but here's a few thoughts I have on it. Metal Gear: Warforged Titan's modified into or carrying/wearing Eldritch Machines of death :). Snake of course will be represented by the group, however having a group is much different from having a solo player. I suggest missions where the best methods of solving them involve the group splitting up and each playing their part, that would keep the solo feeling to it. The entire mission need not be carried out that way, but getting into the area or by some obstacle does.
CommanderFluffy 11-04-04, 02:29 PM	Hey restless, if you are going to bring in a FOX-HOUND type group here's a rundown of the parallel each member might be: Revolver Ocelot: Obiously a duelist, Ocelot had that whole honorable gunslinger thing going on and his bit about understanding the bullets makes for an easy carry-over to a rapier wielder. Decoy Octopus: a changeling rogue woth massive Perform(act), bluff, and Disguise skills, who also happens to kill everyone he mimics so he won't get caught. Vulcan Raven: This guy is difficult. Probably a Dwarf since Raven was a big heavyset tough guy. Beyond that, give him ranger levels ro represent his bird affinity and have him specialize in a repeating crossbow or some such. Sniper Wolf: by far the easiest. Levels in dep wood sniper and use of a heavy crossbow make for the mechanics of her character. Then make her a a Cyrran who was only like fourteenish on the day of mourning, and who's parents didn't quite make it out of Cyre alive Liquid Snake: a warforged monk. Specifically one who was created as part of an experiment by Merrix or some such person. Then simply have one of the warforged in your party be the end result of the experiments that "liquid" was created for. Gray Wolf: An undead Ninja-type 'nuff said.
Restless 11-04-04, 05:54 PM	Well, I don't intend to copy Fox-Hound directly, but I gained inspiration for a similar group from Fox-hound. I alsway thought Elite groups of Bizare and Powerful enemies were sweet, lik ein Trigun with the Gung-ho Guns and in Outlaw Star with the Unten Seven. But I must agree you have all the characters down pat. I based the Warforged off of Wolf, not so much story wise, but more capability wise, which is why I used a WF, insted of a human. Wolf was kind of like a machine. I do like Wolf's story, but I don't want my PCs to draw the parallel to easily. I really do like the idea of a parallel of Revolver being a duelist....I think I'll add him to Vol's Fingertips,seeing that it's slightly unpopulated at current. If you guys have any other suggestions, it'd be greatly appreicated.
Magagumo 11-04-04, 07:21 PM	Ah the Gungho Guns... ran a Trigun D&D multi-shot only 3 months prior to the release of D20 Modern.... An Ettin Ax/Harpoon Wielder makes for a strange Monev the Gale, and that was one of the more ordinary conversions....
Restless 11-04-04, 09:43 PM	Hehe, that's so cool! That's an awesome idea! Could you post some the others, or at least a Dominique the Cyclops. Did you use existing spells or did you just make up a ability to mimick hers?
RadicalTaoist 11-04-04, 09:57 PM	This thread has come out quite cool :cool: But I'm surprised no one seems interested in adapting anything from Sons of Liberty over. Oh well. Hey Magagumo, how is the 'Karrnathi hostage incident' adventure going?
Neofish 11-05-04, 01:54 AM	This thread has come out quite cool :cool: But I'm surprised no one seems interested in adapting anything from Sons of Liberty over. Oh well. Hey Magagumo, how is the 'Karrnathi hostage incident' adventure going? thats because Sons of Liberty sucked monkey N**ts. (Stupid Raiden)
Neofish 11-05-04, 02:03 AM	Hey restless, if you are going to bring in a FOX-HOUND type group here's a rundown of the parallel each member might be: Revolver Ocelot: Obiously a duelist, Ocelot had that whole honorable gunslinger thing going on and his bit about understanding the bullets makes for an easy carry-over to a rapier wielder. Decoy Octopus: a changeling rogue woth massive Perform(act), bluff, and Disguise skills, who also happens to kill everyone he mimics so he won't get caught. Vulcan Raven: This guy is difficult. Probably a Dwarf since Raven was a big heavyset tough guy. Beyond that, give him ranger levels ro represent his bird affinity and have him specialize in a repeating crossbow or some such. Gray Wolf: An undead Ninja-type 'nuff said. Vulcan Raven is Deffinalty a Goliath from Races of Stone....
Brastan 11-05-04, 02:26 AM	I won't go that far... Sons of Liberty was an odd game. Ignoring completely the dumb main character in the second part made it better(loved the fast forward button). But on to the adaptation. The main problem is getting our minds warped around the gaseous thought cloud that forms the end of that game :nonono: . I would almost recommend adapting the remake(?) of that game were you play a Snake in the second half(have not played it myself). Include an opposing party to represent Raiden and there you go. The Tanker part will be :devil: fun. Any time PCs face open water they freak (in my experience). Fatman, should be able to place Wards. These will vary from the low level noise makers to more advanced explosive kinds. He would obviously take a great deal of time in making them. Also ranks in Alchemy wouldn't be a bad idea either. He could also take advantage of the various new Alchemy items in the ECS. The island for Eberron Gear Sold could easily be place in the Principalities. This would account for the cold climate and general obscurity . Also an additional smallish island won't change the region that much.
Magagumo 11-05-04, 09:59 AM	This thread has come out quite cool :cool: But I'm surprised no one seems interested in adapting anything from Sons of Liberty over. Oh well. Hey Magagumo, how is the 'Karrnathi hostage incident' adventure going? Hehe, well, my group is still only finishing Queen of Burning Eyes this Saturday, likely to be starting Fallen directly after that (these adventures just keep falling into my lap ;)). However, once those are complete, I have the feeling we'll be starting the "incident" soon after. Level 3 or 4 will be an interesting time for such a dangerous set-up (my current other campaign is 17th) but I'm sure it will work out, and I'll keep you updated :). Hehe, that's so cool! That's an awesome idea! Could you post some the others, or at least a Dominique the Cyclops. Did you use existing spells or did you just make up a ability to mimick hers? Hmmm... well, this was actually my very first DMing experience (3 yrs ago) so I do promise there were a lot of crazy ideas/errors :P. Started the whole thing at 18th level, made it low-magic... As I said, I think D20 Modern better captures the game, though some D&D ideas port over well. Also, much lower level :). Here's what I recall- (3.0 btw) Dominique the Cyclops- Half-Fiend (no wings) Rogue with Quicker than the Eye and an Artifact eye that cast Hold Monster as a 30' gaze at the start of her round. (Mass Hold Monster didn't exist back then...) Monev the Gale- Ettin Fighter with a massive Axe & Harpoon, wore Demon Armor for some reason ;) Leonoff the Puppetmaster- Gnomish Cleric of ___ (Don't ask em why :P). Worked in a fortress filled with metal & stone versions of dire animals. E.G Mine- Halfling Master of Chains in a chain-filled room (Major stretch ;)) Zazie the Beast- Human child, Druid/Tamer of Beasts with Three Purple Worms, a Behir, a Rampager, and a Fiendish Purple Worm (Ah Rings of Animal friendship and Hand of glory...) Hopperred the Gauntlet- Half-Dragon Yuan-ti Abomination Ranger (Would have gone Heavily-armored Thri-kreen, but unreleased at that time). Caine the Longshot- Medusa Deepwood Sniper riding a Yrthak (Don't ask, the mobile flying platform and ability to disguise seemed good back then ;)) Rai Dei the Blade- Human Fighter/ Lion Clan Champion of Akodo (Name escapes me) Gray the Nine Lives- Awakened Dread Huge Iron Golem (Wouldn't change it, but no magic means he wouldn't have been slowed by the air elemental savant and slain by the holy crossbow- lousy DR 50/+3 :P) Chapel- Wight Forsaker (Not shabby, but an underpowered PrC,- guns turned out well I suppose). Legato Bluesummers- Dominated entire party with a thought- Greater Barghest psion (3.0!)- Still managed to put up a good fight when one person broke free...somehow Knives- Massive level nomad psion given plant traits and massive stats and enchancements. Would be redone... somehow.
Restless 11-05-04, 05:34 PM	Well, today at school I finished up Vol's Fingertips (For the most part). I'll post it, incase anyone cares. If not, sorry for wasting your time. Half-Celestial/Half-Elf Cleric(Vol)/Master of Shrouds Human Super Soilder fighter/Hexblade Warforged Scout Ranger/Fighter/Sniper (Homemade PrC) Naztharune Rakshasa Assassin (An outcast from the Lords of Dust) Advanced Spellweaver Fiendish Satyr Knife Specialist (Homemade PrC) Ettin Barbarian Halfling Monk/Drunken Master Succubus Sorcerer I still lack one member, but I know it's going to be an undead. I also am toying with the idea of making a leader type. Dunno. You know, looking through this list, I think It'd be best to make them associated with a different group than Vol, seeing the lack of creepy undead things. Maybe the Sisters...or maybe independent. Hmm. Sorry that this is a little off topic and stuff. Comments/Suggestions welcome.
Brastan 11-06-04, 02:21 AM	Of course we care Restless. It inspires some of us to contribute our own stupid thoughts, those making you look better. Nice oddball group there, by the way. Any levels set for them? :D Yet another reason to finish my Negation Strikers and expand them a bit more. The run down, conceptually it started as background element to villain I was working on for Eberron (pre-release). It has slowly grew into a mercenary organization before I knew about House Deneith. Lets see if I can find and summaries what I have. This will do, Guild listing, read similar to a town entry. Negation Strikers (medium): AL LN; 85,000 gp resource limit; Membership 250; Mixed (humans 79, half-orc 9, half-elf 5, dwarf 3, halfling 2, warforged 1, elf 1). Authority Figures: Captain Anciler Negroth, male, human, Frt10 Important Characters: Felix Needler, male, human, Ftr6/Swashbucler 3 (Commander); Fillup Gearce, male, half-orc, War8/Cavalier 1(Calvary Commander); Jarira, female, elf, Exp7/Spymaster 2(Spy Master) Others: Exclusive; War4 (1), War2 (2), War1 (237), Ftr3 (2), Ftr1 (1), Exp2 (1), Exp1 (1), Magewright1 (1), Adept1 (1) A mix of 3.5, 3.0, and UA. I'm going to try to rewrite the group in Core 3.5 and Eberron material only, thus making them immediately usable when there done. Over all leadership will around 8th to 10th level, powerful but not a threat to the main NPCs in Eberron.
Restless 11-06-04, 12:21 PM	Oh well thanks. Um, well, I've statted only a few (I'm trying to do one a day.) But, I'm doing my best to keep their individual CRs between 11 and 13. There are going to be a few acceptions, which will make my characters be clever to defeat them.
StoneTree 11-08-04, 02:18 AM	Trying to come up with powerful opponents with fanciful abilities? Let me pass along a trick of mine. The problem with having a single NPC opponent to a group of PCs is that they have serious numbers on their side. You can level your guy up some, but that can give him such high saves he never falls to spells, which can nerf many casters, or you can give him lots of minions, but I for one really hate keeping track of all those HP totals. But the book Unearth Arcanna gives rules for "Gestalt" leveling, which is basically taking two levels, taking the best hp/skills/saves/attack from each and all the abilities of both, and applying them each levelup. This is supposed to be for high-power campaigns, but I find it makes for excellent villians. Besides meshing nicely with preconceived topics (Vulcan Raven being a Barbarian/Cleric, Sniper Wolf a Rogue/Ranger) it powers up the enemy nicely without presenting an insurmountable foe. And there's nothing like a psion/berzerker to make the party cry and run away like scared little forest elves.
Magagumo 11-08-04, 09:12 AM	*nods enthusiastically* That's an excelletn idea, Stonetree :). Personally, most of my villains are monsters with class levels in my high-powered game, and that works to a similar effect. But yea, considering it's nice to have a "normal" villain every once in awhile, this would work very well.
RadicalTaoist 11-08-04, 01:03 PM	This thread series pwnz :ayyyy!: I'm surprised with Snake Eater coming up, no one thought of putting the adventure in Xen'drik. *reads last page's posts* Oh c'mon, SoL was cool! Raiden wasn't that much of a loser!... ...okay, so maybe he was. But it was still a fun game. As for the end of SoL, nothing a partial plane shift to Dal Quor can't fix. :schemes:
nihility 11-12-04, 05:02 PM	Well, I've got some ideas for Fatman. The key elements that I'm trying to capture are as follows: 1) Makes things blow up (obviously, anyone who can't make bombs won't work) 2) Is not physically fit 3) Is a bad shot; in other words, poor BAB (even on the extreme setting, he didn't hit me much) I have two ways to set up us the bomb: mundane and alchemical traps, and magical traps utilizing the explosive runes spell. With that in mind, here's my suggested builds for Fatman: 1) Pure Artificer. Use the explosive runes spell over and over (cast off of a wand of your own creation, most likely), then put all the little scrolls in a basket (or, even better, a hollow ball made of black iron). Place the baskets as needed, then trigger the bombs by "remote control" with a wand of dispel magic, area version. The idea is to make the runes at as high a caster level as possible, then use the lowest possible caster level to dispel them. Since the runes detonate on a failed dispel attempt, you should get a nice boom. You normally automatically succeed on dispel attempts against things that you cast, but since the artificer can't actually cast anything... :cool: Alternately, you can bypass the issue entirely and just get a storebought wand of dispel magic. Be sure to ask for one with the minimum caster level ;) The artificer can also put ranks into craft(trapmaking) to make the more mundane bombs and booby-traps, and can "defuse" them himself with his search and disable device skills. 2) Wizard. Similar to Artificer, except that the explosive runes are cheaper to make, he can't defuse his own stuff, and he is forced to buy wands of dispel magic from stores. On the other hand, his BAB is much worse, which is good in this case. Either way, be sure to burn an exotic weapon feat on a lousy ranged weapon that few people actually find practical.
nihility 11-12-04, 05:21 PM	Okay, next is Fortune. To me, these are her important elements: 1) Insanely high AC combined with miss-chance effects (misfortune effects?) 2) Insanely high saving throws combined with evasion and mettle 3) Big Gun Okay, where to get this stuff? Well, mettle is bagged from Hexblade, which also grants CHA to saves against spells and spell-like abilities. Monk and Rogue could both provide evasion, but the monk gives better saves. She'll need to be some manner of spellcaster or psion to provide miss-chance effects, like displacement, as well as providing a possible Big Gun. Here's what I have in mind: Hexblade 3/ Monk 2/ Psychic Warrior 2/ Warmind... not sure beyond this. That gives the core abilities, though. Another option is to note that the normal Divine Grace/Dark Blessing abilities and the Hexblade's Arcane Resistance ability work differently, in that they have different mechanics. As they are unnamed bonuses from different sources, they should stack. Thus, another option is... Fallen Paladin 1/ Sorcerer 1/ Blackguard 10/ Hexblade 3/ Monk 2/ Peerless Archer 3 What's the trick here? Well, the saves aren't as good, but you get CHA to saves twice vs. spells, evasion and mettle, plus a Big Gun: smite good combined with power shot combined with true strike. Ouch! Unfortunately, the spells aren't as hot for defense as the Warmind's powers, so you need to pump up the AC some other way. You can toss Peerless Archer onto the Warmind version and do the Big Gun thing using with fell shot + hustle, though I don't think it works as well. For both, be sure to grab every feat you can to increase your saves and your AC, particularly the "cumberous" feats from Savage Species combined with feats and effects to negate the penalties. Consider using a Drow to add SR into the mix.
nihility 11-12-04, 05:36 PM	Another option for Fortune is to make her live in an anti-magic field that has been shaped so as to exclude her from the effect, as with the Archmage's master of shaping ability. This is a lot simpler, I think, and fits with the fact that Fortune's invulnerability is as much a mystery to her as it is to most of the people she fights. A powerful magic item or minor artifact that generates such an effect might have been developed towards the end of the war, then planted on or in Fortune without her knowledge. In any case, with an anti-magic field surrounding her, all you really need to worry about is making her very hard to hit (again, a combination of miss-chance effects and AC) and finding her a nice Big Gun.
Aris Stormdragon 11-13-04, 05:18 AM	Something else you might consider to make NPC opponents more challenging: Action Points. Won't the heroes be surprised when the villain starts performing his own heroic (or would that be anti-heroic?) stunts, pulling off impossile feats and generally maiking them fear for their lives? Mmmm. *inhales deeply* I smell............fear. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA! :devil: Edit: Actually, now that I think about it, you'd almost have to give the villains from MGS and SoL AP's. Think Ocelot's trick shooting, Sniper Wolfs amazing accuracy, etc. etc. My take on Vulcan Raven would be a Warforged Ranger or Fighter, either with an Armbow or just a repeating crossbow. Of course, if you really want, you could make him a half-orc fighter or ranger with a gatling crossbow.................or not.
StoneTree 11-17-04, 03:21 AM	All of you have lost the true way! Don't make direct ripoffs of existing MGS charcters... and the ideas listed for a group of original characters all miss the most important part of the MGS feel... not just the bizzare, fanciful combat abilities, but the fact that the group is rife with inner strife, arguments, backstabing, and sick, sick relationships. Therefore, I have decided to share a group I designed and will use this Saturday that I came up with after first getting the concept of a MGS themed group of baddies. Deep Lobe... a psionically active group loyal (ish) to the Quori, will be opposing the PCs. They'll attack on a train, and their primary goals are to assassinate the gnome Scribnaw Vilis, obtain a schema the party has and destroy it, and capture as many PCs as they can. They'll attack along with a group of 40 Psions and Psychic Warriors, but don't really work as a team all that well, spreading out over the train and plotting to advance their own goals. Xabu--the leader, an inspired with a Quori host. Gestalt Psion(Kineticist) :: Psychic Warrior, has an obscenely high PSP and number of powers. The inspired is an old, old man with white hair, who looks sad all the time. Unlike most Quori he regrets all the killing that they tend to do, and avoids it if given the oppertunity, but he's no stranger to combat and kills ruthlessly once he starts fighting. He's willing to deal with the PCs, and will in fact let them go if he gets the schema. He fights by using the varrious "Energy" powers and going ethereal whenever he's even moderately damaged, letting the movement of the train carry the PCs away while he reforms on another car further down, where he would heal himself. His power and escaping ability, along with a number of items to increase his PSP, make him a ludicrously dangerous opponent, and he is undoubtably the strongest in Deep Lobe. He hates Veldegris, and plans to arm the PCs with a dagger that kills the Quori inside an Inspired if used to kill the Inspired. Besides that, he largely trusts his team. Veldegris--Another Inspired/Quori, Veldegris is trying to have his revenge on the party for past defeats. He's the weakest member, and is going to die quickly. He primarilly used "Astral Construct" far too much, filling whatever room he's in with ambulatory ectoplasmic monsters. A sniveling sycophant, he has no friends in Deep Lobe and will probably be killed quickly. Edge--Elan Psychic Warrior::Fighter gestalt. A grizzled veteran over 700 years old, Edge is working in Deep Lobe only for the money. Most of his humanity was lost when he became an Elan, and 700 years of warfare after that removed the rest of it. Now, the only things he appriciates are peace, safety, and money, and he's willing to set the first two aside to help him accumulate the third. He holds the rest of the team in contempt, but works with them because the pay is good. Should the PCs show they're dangerous, he simply unmanifests his claws and attempts to leave peacefully... he hasn't gotten to his age by picking fights. He also plans to return and ambush the PCs so he can still collect his paycheck. Built arround the King of Smack build over in Character Optimization, he has an annoying habit of destroying whatever room he's in with his claws as he fights. He has a bitter rivalry going on with Snowfall. Snowfall is another Inspired, but has no Quori... his skills are sufficiently advanced where he gets perks, and he's chosed one to be that his mind and the mind of his slave/lover Ancilla are left theirs alone. Due to his past loyalty his wishes are granted, but Xabu keeps a close eye on him. In his arrogance, however, he feels he should be Deep Lobe's leader, and plans on approaching the PCs with a list of Xabu's fears that Ancilla uncovered... if used in illusions, they would disorient and confuse Xabu and grant a significant advantage. If the PCs disagree, he'll kill them... and, in fact, he'll kill them after they do his dirty work for him. A gestalt Psion(Nomad)::Rogue, he teleports about and makes devestating sneak attacks with the aid of the "Charge" feats introduced in the Eberron book... often rushing in in conjunction with the "Up the Walls" psychic feat that allow him to charge in through the window and assassinate people before they even know he's there. He has a bitter rivalry with Edge, and is always trying to prove he's stronger... and failing. ALthough he's cunning and fast, Edge's claws are just too overpowering. As a result, Snowfall is edgy and eager to prove himself in combat... any combat. Ancilla--This woman is also an Inspired without a Quori host... Snowfall petitioned for her to be empty as well. This is not for her benefit, however, as Snowfall wanted to own her completely, mind, body, and soul. She is utterly his slave, not ever dreaming that there could be anything else for her in life... not able to even conceive of thinking for herself. A Psion with a single level in Elocator, her entire body is clad in a leather outfit involving far too many belts, straps, and buckles, and what patches of her flesh are visible show abuse and scars. She would not be able to move were it not for her ability to float granted by her Elocator level. A complete noncombatant, she specializes in mind reading and healing powers, and often interrogates / scans for lies for the other members of Deep Lobe. Xabu pities here, as does Edge, but neither ever steps forward to defend her. Snowfall abuses her mercilessly, using her for his own enjoyment and benefit. The others ignore her for the most part. Finally, Khalikhad, a traitor Khalistar, a Psion(Egoist)::Berzerker who supports the Quori out of a warped sense of inevitability. He feels that the Quori WILL eventually rule Eberron, and anything that hastens that destiny will also minimize the ammount of suffering that such a takeover will cause. He sees resistance to the Quori rule as foolish and dangerous, and will lecture anyone who listens about how much danger and suffering and death simple submission would allow them to avoid. He also rushes into combat and shreds things, often shaking buildings (or train cars) with his blows and acting as a bodyguard to another member of Deep Lobe. Most of the team doesn't trust him, because he is a traitor, a fact he resents greatly. He's bitter about his lack of authority in Deep Lobe, and while he isn't planning anything on his own, he might be sucked into Snowfall's plot or talked into something stupid by the PCs. And, of course, Deep Lobe has about 50 level 3 PsyWars and Psions wandering about. There, a fully realized MGS style team. I'm gonna throw 'em at my players. If they do enough sneaking about and play them off each other, they'll carry the day. If the PCs try to rush them all at once, I'll be scraping bits of elf and khalistar from the lightning rail. What's everyone think?
RadicalTaoist 11-17-04, 08:15 PM	SuhWEET. :thumbsup: I'd give them a more complicated setup though. Say, half the party is on the train when it's hijacked, they communicate, one half has to intercept the train a few miles ahead while the other has to control the situation on the train by themselves.
Beleriphon 11-17-04, 08:40 PM	Right now, that's all I have beyond a vauge idea. I know I'd like to use some undead, not a vampire...my PCs are getting sick of them...and maybe a few advanced monsters. I know I'm breaking some rules, like haveing a non-good Half-Celestial, but hey, I think it'll make for cool scenes and roleplaying. Same thing for the Cyran Forged. Right ow I'd appreicate any suggestions for the other 7 members. Oh yeah, and names. I'm not sure if I'm gonna rip off Foxhound directly, or if I'll rip off the Gung-Ho Guns, from the anime Trigun. I do like the idea of things like Whitesword and stuff. That's cool. For undead why don't you use a Wraith? Those things are just insane, other creatures that can be used: fallen paladins make superb enemines, a fallen paladin of the Silver Flame would be a fine choice. As for names, use the MGS style. Pick a physical aspect of the character and an amimal. For example a wraith might be named Shadow Mongoose.
StoneTree 11-19-04, 12:19 PM	For example a wraith might be named Shadow Mongoose. Because Mongooses are such shadowy, fearsome beasts. Not that Ocelot made much more sense. Reminds me of the old MGS name generator that used to float about the web... maybe you can Google it or something. All I really remember is that I was named, "Archer Elephant," and a much less cool friend of mine was named, "Bohemian Dragon." There's no justice in this world.
RadicalTaoist 11-19-04, 11:13 PM	Hey, Shadow Mongoose still sounds pretty cool. Bohemian Dragon...:rofl:
ThanisKartaleon 12-14-04, 05:43 AM	PoeticJustice has more (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=351139) to add on this topic, but didn't see our thread ^^ btw great job so far, everyone!
PoeticJustice 12-14-04, 12:12 PM	This's what I'd do Revolver Ocelot= Cannith Wand Adept Sniper Wolf= Shifter Ranger Vulcan Raven= 4 words: Exotic weapon proficency: Ballista Grey Fox= Warforged Shadowdancer Hind D= Lyrandar Airship Shadow Moses Island= Frostfell Isalnd (I call it Dark Archon island) Kenneth Baker= Merrix d' Cannith Metal Gear Rex= Warforged Titan/Necromanitc Lens Liquid Snake= The Lord of Blades Super Soldiers= Warforged The way I have it set, House Cannith developed a superweapon for Cyre. After the Mourning, Breland traded a parcel of pland to Prince Oargev for the remians of the project. During a test run, the Lord of blades showed up and converted the warforged guards of Dark Archon. He sent a demand to Wroat for a large amount of Gold and Warforged creation forge schematics. Now a team has been inserted on Dark Archon using Orien magic. In 12 hours, the brelish gov will be forced to give in if they fail to neutralize the threat.
Ravenstein 12-14-04, 04:55 PM	Now the real clincher would be Nikita missles. I could imagine some form of arrow with imbued with Wizard Eye that got activated when shot. How to control the arrow in flight, though?
lostone 12-14-04, 10:43 PM	For Nikita missles I'd create a higher level spell similar to magic missile, it fires one missile instead of up to 5, but the damage is based on level somehow. Level /2 d4, never misses (or give some insane bonus like true strike type bonus), can declare living or non-living targets. Maybe add in some kinda knock down bonus to it to, like the metamagic feat (explosive?).
nihility 11-22-05, 08:20 PM	All of you have lost the true way! Don't make direct ripoffs of existing MGS charcters... and the ideas listed for a group of original characters all miss the most important part of the MGS feel... not just the bizzare, fanciful combat abilities, but the fact that the group is rife with inner strife, arguments, backstabing, and sick, sick relationships.... I never properly offered my compliments for this excellent work. I wish now to correct that fact. :tiphat: