Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 aseran Jul 30, 2008 21:08:49	I checked around the forum to see if someone had already started a thread on this; it doesn't seem to have come up yet. Correct me if I'm wrong. Anyway, armed with these strange new rulebooks, I'm working on a few Eberron adventures to run, and I'd like to incorporate the Dreaming Dark as the primary antagonistic force at work--truth is, reading the archives for that particular column on Baker's web page struck a spark; the Dreaming Dark is awesome. Thing is, we're what, a good year away from 4e psionics? I figure, you can't really have the Quori without at least some semblance of that at their behest. By any chance, has anyone scratched up some 4e monster stats for the Quori? The whole lot of 'em, I'm looking to throw at the PCs Tsucora, Tsoreva, Hashalaq, Du'ulora, Dream Masters, and maybe even a Kalaraq to top it off--and some Inspired or Quorbred might not hurt. If not, care to hash it out here? While I see the real fun of the Dreaming Dark and their ilk in the roleplay potential therein, personally, sooner or later someone's going to throw a punch. Or a sting.
#2 mystrich Jul 30, 2008 22:38:16	I know someone had given 4e stats for Kalashtar. For the Inspired, I'd say use a fey pact warlock, since there are lots of psychic damage attacks for them. That will work until psionics come out. Eladrin are probably the closest race to the inspired as of now, but perhaps change out their fey step for a different power.
#3 Marcus_Majarra Jul 30, 2008 22:54:18	I'd envision the various Inspired as monster templates, with differing abilities according to the type of Quori possessing the vessel.
#4 mystictheurge Jul 31, 2008 13:13:14	The guys playing with converting Dark Sun to 4E are using Warlocks for Psionics. It seems like a good fit to me. You could probably reassign most of the powers to be part of one of the disciplines. That and altering the descriptive text of them a bit should give you a pretty good Psion. But if you just want psionic NPCs, keep in mind that 4E NPCs don't follow the same rules as the PCs. Just take some monster write ups from the MM and tweak the powers a bit to give them a more psionic bent.
#5 That_Blasted_Somoflange Jul 31, 2008 15:15:00	Here's a shameless plug for my conversion of the Kalashtar, there are others, but since I did this one I'm kinda partial to it.:P Kalashtar Ability Scores: +2 Wis, +2 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 6 squares Vision: Normal Languages: Common, Quori Skill Bonuses: +2 Diplomacy, +2 Insight Psychic Resistance: You have resist psychic 5 + one half-your level. Naturally Psychic: Kalashtar get +1 to attack rolls when using powers with the Psychic Keyword Kalashtar Diplomacy: You can use Kalashtar Diplomacy as an encounter power Kalashtar Diplomacy With a commanding presence, and gentle psychic nudge, you can influence others. Encounter Free Action * Personal Effect: Reroll any bluff, intimidate, or diplomacy roll. Use the second roll, even if it is lower.
#6 aseran Jul 31, 2008 21:28:36	Thanks, Somoflange, for that; though I'm still wrestling with the idea of Kalashtar PCs with homebrew rules. One question about that, though: The Kalashtar Diplomacy power; that's a per-encounter categorization, but the circumstances where one would end up using bluff, diplomacy, or intimidate in battle are sort of limited compared to their use in roleplay encounters, I would think, and the once-per-encounter thing is a little hard to measure when you've got people just talking and not swinging. Do you suppose that the fact that they must keep the results of the second roll would be an effective deterrent against abusing that?
#7 mystrich Jul 31, 2008 21:49:00	Using skills are still encounters, just like when you have utility powers that are encounter powers and help skill checks/challenging.
#8 That_Blasted_Somoflange Jul 31, 2008 22:43:58	While the power could be used outside of combat, I put it as an encounter, simply because of skill challenges, which Mystrich said, are encounters in their own right, albeit not combat ones. However, certain skill can be used in combat, for instance, a rogue can use bluff to give themselves combat advantage to set up for another attack, Intimidate can make a bloodied opponent surrender. These are probably often overlooked uses of the skill, a Kalashtar will be more likely to solve things with uses of words, over the traditional bash it till it stops moving. Kalashtar, with how I set them up, are very good in these sort of situations. There are some conversions of the Kalashtar out there that focus more on the psionic side, I wend a different route, because I think it will be a long time before we see any race that has a different power, such as Kalashtar Diplomacy, simply because it is not 'combat' oriented. It gives the race a unique niche I feel, and still falls into the description of the race. In fact, there are no other races currently that I can think of that really could have this ability, and since Eberron is still a year away, Kalashtar were coverted thusly. In fact, if you have a half-elf and a kalashtar in the party, you may just be able to sell a fishbowl to a sauhagin.
#9 mystictheurge Aug 01, 2008 8:23:15	In fact, if you have a half-elf and a kalashtar in the party, you may just be able to sell a fishbowl to a sauhagin. Why wouldn't a sahuagin want a fishbowl? He's got to live somewhere, right? :D
#10 aseran Aug 01, 2008 12:30:00	Putting it that way, that actually kind of makes sense. As I always prefer to encourage players to think outside the "kill 'em all" box, I think I might use that Kalashtar write-up.
#11 That_Blasted_Somoflange Aug 01, 2008 14:00:22	Putting it that way, that actually kind of makes sense. As I always prefer to encourage players to think outside the "kill 'em all" box, I think I might use that Kalashtar write-up. Well if you do, please tell me how it works out.
#12 aseran Aug 04, 2008 13:29:00	Well if you do, please tell me how it works out. Will do. On another note; has there ever been mention of a singular entity overseeing the vast operations of the Quori? Something to the effect of a god? Or, are the Kalaraqs the real top of the heirarchy, overseeing by 'council' as it were? Or, would any real 'singularity' behind the powers that be of Dal Quor make more sense to be simply the collective essence of the Quori (or specifically il-Lavashtar) itself? No supreme ruler, but the unity of all of those beings and a symbol of their power; much like il-Yannah to the Kalashtar is not a divine entity but an ideal/philosophy. Food for thought.
#13 mystrich Aug 04, 2008 19:02:45	I would say that there isn't, in the same way that the Material Plane doesn't have one supreme ruler and neither do other planes.
#14 aseran Aug 11, 2008 13:57:25	I would say that there isn't, in the same way that the Material Plane doesn't have one supreme ruler and neither do other planes. I'm pretty sure that the Quori aren't such that they and the plane of Dal Quor itself are one and the same--they're merely the primary inhabitants, and the most representative reflection of the place's nature (thus, their name). A nighmarish byproduct of it, so to speak, if I understand correctly. So, what I meant was not does Dal Quor have a supreme ruler--I meant, do the Quori have one. The way it'd make sense is; they're a 'lawful' race, working in relative unity towards a specific end. It seems that those things usually have some form of central intelligence, or at least a figurehead, going by previous such in the D&D mythos. On the other hand, having them not be that way could just as easily work. It could be a central "council" of Kalaraq, since they're the highest-up we know of as of now, or maybe the combined "hive-mind" of il-Lavashtar in it's entirety serves just as well as any authority.
#15 ChaoticGood Aug 12, 2008 20:56:44	I think the Dal Quor would be more of a hivemind, with no actual concept of self. There is no ruler, because they are all the ruler, and the servants. They make decisions as one, and act in unison through psychic energies. Thus, isolating an individual Quori from this shared consciousness could potentially drive it to the Quori equivalent of madness, much as sensory deprivation or overload can destroy a human mind.
#16 minoritarian Aug 13, 2008 8:08:22	Isn't the Devourer of Dreams the most powerful Quori and the direct communication between the Quori and the Dreaming Dark itself? I seem to recall reading somewhere that the Devourer of Dreams had entered the Dreaming Dark in some way and now acts as its prophet relating its desires to the Quori. Though whether the devourer is actually a spokesperson or is simply stating its own objectives isn't clear.