Quori question

Post/Author/DateTimePost
#1

Beoric

Oct 03, 2014 10:01:34

Its probably because I skpped from 1e/2e to 4e and don't understand 3e mechanics, but it is not clear to me what sort of effect quori can have on mortals when they are in Dal Quor.  For example, when a quori mind seeds an individual, are they doing it from Dal Quor, or is it being done by an Inspired quori?

 

For that matter, how hard it is for a quori to locate a particular individual's dreams in Dal Quor?

#2

Tempest_Stormwind

Oct 03, 2014 10:56:44

Beoric wrote:
#3

Beoric

Oct 03, 2014 11:39:34

That is pretty much what I figured.

 

The disease mechanic is basically a way of allowing multiple saving throws and gives a little more randomness as to when the final state kicks in.  I prefer the 3e final state to the 4e final state and have run mind seeded NPCs in that fashion.

 

I suppose there is probably some sort of scrying that could be done by a high enough level quori who was looking for a particular individual's dreams.  Of course, they would have to be looking at the right time, when the PC was dreaming.  I think, though, in order to make it a bit more plausible that the quori won't just overrun the PCs as soon as they become aware of them, I am going to rule that identification of the physical form does not necessarily identify the dream form - ie, if the PC is identified in Eberron, it is easier to scry him in Eberron than to scry his dream in Dal Quor. 

#4

Hellcow

Oct 04, 2014 12:08:45

Actually, it's suprisingly easy for a Quori to find a particular mortal's dreams in Dal Quor. Working off the 3.5 rules, any quori with 9+ HD has the "Invade Dreams" ability, allowing them to target a specific individual's dreams. But what can they DO in there? The Invade Dreams power allows them to duplicate the effects of Dream or Nightmare. The idea is that a Quori can alter your dreams, but they can't actually hurt you - at least, beyond the effects of Nightmare.

 

Dream and Nightmare are brute force effects. However, the more capable Quori are capable of more subtle manipulations of dreams, and this is how they start things like the Sundering or the Last War. The idea is that they can literally tweak your dreams. So let's give you an amazing dream where the Sovereigns tell you to kill King Boranel. The point is that this sort of manipulation has no compulsion. A normal person who has that dream will simply think "Weird! It's probably a manifestation of my father issues." So the key for the Quori is finding people who WILL be influenced by dreams - crazy people, religious zealots, etc - and working on them over time.

 

As a general rule, Mind Seed is something quori have to do in person (through an Inspired). It is something only very capable Quori can do, though there are capable Quori out there. One of the primary named mind-seeders is an Usvapna Quori, Tirashana, who's an 18th level telepath. The other thing to bear in mind is that Quori are VERY CAREFUL about using mind seed. Mind Seed literally overwrites the victim's mind with the personality and memories of the Quori. If they NEED the personality or skills of the target, they don't want to mind seed them. Furthermore, the Quori don't have any concrete control over mind seeds and there's been a few cases of them going rogue in the past. So it's a very powerful tool - but it's not something many Quori can do, and not something they ever do casually.

#5

Tempest_Stormwind

Oct 04, 2014 16:22:08

Thanks for the weighing in!

Hellcow wrote:
(Reply to #5)

Hellcow

Tempest_Stormwind wrote:
#7

Hellcow

Oct 04, 2014 19:14:51

As a wacky side note, I actually wrote a fair amount about using dream manipulation in RPGs in a few Atlas Games products: Occult Lore (for 3E D&D) and Forgotten Lives (for Over The Edge). Gaming Trivia: Forgotten Lives is the very first RPG material I had published.

#8

Beoric

Oct 05, 2014 4:28:56

i suppose with the Sharn Deneith there are people around to cover for a mind seed while they retrain, even if they start with no experience in the requisite class.  Or, if you want to get really creepy, they could be seeded as children, before the victim has levels in anything.

(Reply to #8)

Hellcow

Beoric wrote:
#10

Beoric

Oct 05, 2014 21:22:18

Or a Boys from Brazil scenario, where they are trying to replicate the conditions that gave rise to a particularly successful mind seed.

#11

Beoric

Oct 19, 2014 13:17:15

Follow up question:

 

Races of Eberron says that quori have gender, and that the gender of the host always matches the gender of the quori spirit (p. 59).  But Secrets of Sarlona says that the quori spirit Taratai is female, while the monk that Taratai first fused with is male.  Moreover, there are references to at least later male in the Taratai line.

 

Which is correct, or is there some sort of resolution to the contradiction that I am not seeing? 

(Reply to #11)

EnderXenocide0

Beoric wrote:
#13

Beoric

Oct 21, 2014 7:27:55

Hmm, maybe.  The quote is, "Quori spirits do have gender, and a newborn kalashtar inherits the bond to the spirit of the parent with the matching gender."  By a strict reading of that passage you are correct, but it means that the reference to quori gender is superfluous to the remainder of the sentence, whereas I had assumed hey were connected.  It may be the best solution for my problem, however.

#14

Hellcow

Oct 24, 2014 16:01:29

Here's the relevant quote from an article I did for DDI:

 

Kalashtar can breed and reproduce with humans, changelings, half-elves, and half-orcs. The race of the child is based on gender. If it is the same gender as the kalashtar parent, the child will be a kalashtar of the same spiritual lineage as the kalashtar parent. Otherwise, it will inherit the race of the non-kalashtar parent. This means that all kalashtar of a particular spiritual lineage share the same gender; all Ashtai kalashtar are female, while all Hareth kalashtar are male.

 

So, trying to present this in a different way...

 

Quori have gender. You might wonder why, because they don't reproduce sexually; the logical answer is because they are tied to the dreams of mortals who do have gender. Really it's simply that a quori feels feminine or masculine to us.

 

Each Quori bonded to a single human host to create the original kalashtar. Thus, all of Lanhareth's lineage can trace their roots to a single male host.

 

Children of the same gender as the original human host inherit the bond to the spirit. So, if a Lanhareth kalashtar has a son, it will inherit the link to Lanhareth. If he has a daughter, she won't.

 

Thus, every lineage has a specific gender... but that gender isn't necessarily the same as that generally displayed by the quori spirit tied to the line.

#15

Beoric

Oct 25, 2014 16:43:19

Thanks, that is helpful, but I may have to deviate from it a bit to make my plot work.  I have a plotline wherein the Devourer of Dreams wished to neutralize the threat of the Taratai line, but was afraid to let Taratai's essence return to the Dreaming Dark in case she would "corrupt" the Dark and cause the spirit of the age to turn.  A plan was devised to bind Taratai by having a changeling seduce a member of the Taratai line before killing off the rest of the line.  Because of the flexible nature of changeling gender, Taratai remains bound to the bloodline, but unable to manifest.  As an added measure of safety the children of the line are isolated and conditioned to avoid doing things or taking on personae that might allow the quori spirit to manifest.