But I had an interesting thought, can he still influence others? Either through his own unique abilities or by other forces?
For instance, he had deal going on with Shar before Mystra's demise. Did that just basically disolve after her death?
He cheated Shar out of control of magic, but what if he managed to taint her into thinking he could help her regain control over magic through his time in imprisonment?
I have a game going on where the party is recovering children who are imbued with residual power of Mystra(very very small) ala the Chosen. Shar is using her minions to collect them up. These children will be used to open a gate to Mystra's home and recover her mantle of power/portfolio of Magic. Or so Shar is told. She is currently impersonating the Queen of Air and Darkness in the Feywild, stirring up Fomorian/Eladrin War to obtain the girls. Tricking another dead court(the Autumn remenant) to reclaim their place in power, and manipulating a Drow house into worshiping her.
All to gain the girls, and gain what ever is left of Mystra's powers. Again, or so she thinks.
I say that as, I had planned her to basically be the big bad in my game. But as I work the campaign, I'm losing focus on how to keep the PC's involved. They're pretty certain that Shar is behind alot of what they have been facing, and the current abduction of the girls. But what if Cyric was actually the true power behind all of this. He has tricked Shar into thinking the girls are a means to gain Mystra's power, when in truth, a way for him to break free of his imprisonment.
So... before anyone says, "it's your game - do what you want" is this feasible? Is he powerful enough to do this a) at all and b) from his current plane of residence?
Thanks and I look forward to the comments and ideas.
Ok, so with his current 1000 yr imprisonment he is rather limited on granting powers/spells/whatnot to his followers.
But I had an interesting thought, can he still influence others? Either through his own unique abilities or by other forces? [/sblock]No, because he's an idiot.
Just kidding, of course. I can never help but take a shot at Cyric.
I have a game going on where the party is recovering children who are imbued with residual power of Mystra(very very small) ala the Chosen. Shar is using her minions to collect them up. These children will be used to open a gate to Mystra's home and recover her mantle of power/portfolio of Magic. Or so Shar is told. She is currently impersonating the Queen of Air and Darkness in the Feywild, stirring up Fomorian/Eladrin War to obtain the girls. Tricking another dead court(the Autumn remenant) to reclaim their place in power, and manipulating a Drow house into worshiping her.
All to gain the girls, and gain what ever is left of Mystra's powers. Again, or so she thinks.
Sounds like an interesting arrangement.I say that as, I had planned her to basically be the big bad in my game. But as I work the campaign, I'm losing focus on how to keep the PC's involved. They're pretty certain that Shar is behind alot of what they have been facing, and the current abduction of the girls. But what if Cyric was actually the true power behind all of this. He has tricked Shar into thinking the girls are a means to gain Mystra's power, when in truth, a way for him to break free of his imprisonment.
So... before anyone says, "it's your game - do what you want" is this feasible? Is he powerful enough to do this a) at all and b) from his current plane of residence?
Thanks and I look forward to the comments and ideas.
It's your ga-
No, damnit, Manshoon. Get it together.
With regards to A, Cyric certainly has the power to orchestrate such an attempt. He's a major deity whose madness hasn't prevented him from scheming every moment of his existence. Being put in the corner by his fellow deities will only have heightened the bitterness he feels, so he'll be eager to break out; at least, that's how I've interpreted him - I disagree with the people who say Cyric is a patient spider in his web, because despite being sly and sneaky, he had always seemed to have a temper and a rather pressing sense of vengeance prior to his imprisonment.
In terms of manifesting outside his throne, however, he cannot (going by lore). His house arrest forbids him from sending even a sliver of his essence beyond his homeplane. The most he can do is whisper in the minds of his faithful and tell them what they need to do see him released. He isn't capable of masquerading as the Queen of Air and Darkness, but he can certainly tell his followers to find someone who would be open to it; if Cyric's dogma has taken root in the hearts of certain fey, one of them could act on Cyric's behalf and impersonate the Queen for the Black Sun's benefit.
Cyric has been able to stay in contact with his followers, or so we've been told (even though I think that kind of cheapens the whole "locked away within your crumbling keep" house arrest idea). Being under house arrest makes the situation trickier, but not impossible. As long as he has mortal agents elsewhere in the planes, he can whisper his designs to them and have them carried out on his behalf. I think the important step is finding a way not just to incorporate Cyric himself, but a special servant of his, some leading priest or powerful warrior of the Black Sun, who has appointed him-or-herself the one leading the efforts of the faithful. Perhaps Cyric has promised this person the power of a Chosen; perhaps it's literally all lies meant to entice and encourage service. This person would be pulling strings within the ranks, manipulating the drow and fey factions into serving. It could even be the powerful entity masquerading as the Queen. The PCs would probably face this figure at some point, so if you intended them to have a showdown with Cyric, this person could be the prelude fight to that confrontation.
Kinda depends, I would say, on how you interpret Shar's portfolio and ability to discern hidden secrets and such, as well as your perspective on just how capable Cyric is or isn't. It wouldn't depend so much on his level of power, so much as it would on his ability to deceive Shar and others. The power requirements would probably be quite low, well within mortal limits, with most, if not all, of the divine power needed actually coming from Shar, if I'm understanding you correctly. As LM pointed out, all he would really require were agents to help move things along as he needed them to, and not much else. But that would require Cyric to display a level of subtlety and competance he hasn't really shown up to this point... ignoring his alleged involvement in the Tyr/Helm thing, which doesn't really fit with his previously established personality and nature.
That still boils down to DM fiat in most respects though, as there are plenty of folks who would argue one way or another and be able to bring quite a bit of lore to bear to support their various arguments for and against. Obviously I'd be against him being that capable, but if it fits your view of Cyric better, then ignore my perspective and go with your own.
So I'm completely stealing some of the ideas here for my home campaign, and Cyric's past (in)competence is not a problem for the game, because in my home campaign Cyric never survived the Time of Troubles.
When Cyric had a psychic "battle" with his sword before he ascended to Godhood, he lost. The sword, of course, was really Mask. Being the god of Intrigue, Mask took on the Cyric persona to see just how much he could exploit the entire situation. There are several examples of Mask pretending to be other gods. He wasn't worried about disrupting his relationships with other gods, because they would blame his actions on "Cyric". He gains more power, but nobody suspects who -really- has the power. This also explains why Cyric can still grant power to his followers: Mask is acting as a conduit. "But Mask is missing!" Yes, I know. I'll get to that.
The Cyrinishad caused a major hiccup in Mask's plan, as he started to believe the lies after he read the book, leading him to obtain the portfolio of madness. Cyric has read "The True Life of Cyric", but Mask has not. This has led to more confusion than before (both stories are technically false, and Mask/Cyric believe both of them while knowing they aren't true at the same time), and Cyric is STILL god of madness (in my campaign) because of it.
It was Mask who helped Netheril return from Shadow (he IS the god of Shadows, after all, and who better than the Netherese to help him steal the power of Mystra?), but he encourages the open devotion of Shar in Netheril to keep suspicion away. With the weave gone, Mask is free to use the spell that caused Netheril's fall in the first place, and is convinced he can handle the power that the mortal wizard couldn’t. But the power has been divided up into these "shards", and they need to be collected before he can attempt the ritual. Cyric being imprisoned conveniently helps explain why Mask is "missing". In his weakened state, Mask is hiding out in Netheril, where he is still worshipped by those at the highest level of power.
I think I'll add that the plot will not only release Cyric, but will also bring the two aspects of Mask back together. Mask thinks that this, along with his new portfolio of God of Magic (mysteries = intrigue, so hey, why not?) will cure the madness. Of course it’s just going to screw everything up and destroy the world, but that’s where the PCs come in! They have acquired the hilt of the sword Mask used during the Time of Troubles as his avatar, and the real Cyric's soul is stored inside. If the PCs can join the soul to the imprisoned "god" Cyric, they will permanently separate Cyric from Mask. The downside is that Cyric will be free, and the power of Mystra will be up for grabs. Perhaps Shar will get it in the end, or maybe Selune will fight her for it. Maybe an arcane PC will end up with the power if it ties into their Epic Destiny.
PEACH? Am I missing anything overly important?
Ok, so with his current 1000 yr imprisonment he is rather limited on granting powers/spells/whatnot to his followers.
I don't see any evidence of that. Sure, he can't just go for a stroll on Toril, but otherwise his divine influence is unhindered (aka granting spells, sending visions and minions)
But I had an interesting thought, can he still influence others? Either through his own unique abilities or by other forces?
As always.
For instance, he had deal going on with Shar before Mystra's demise. Did that just basically disolve after her death?
I would say as much as a deal between two greater powers of evil can be lasting
But what if Cyric was actually the true power behind all of this.
Well, he is power of lies, deception and intrigue after all.
Is he powerful enough to do this a) at all and b) from his current plane of residence?.
Generally yes and yes.
BTW, my personal spin on his "imprissonement" is that it wasn't done from a position of strength but a position of fear and weakness. The other saw that the new lord of murder had murdered too many fellow deities for them to be comfortable and especially blending all his portfolios in the plot that culminated in the murder of Mystra gave Cyric a huge boost in power.
Since they were afraid to be the next targets after Cyric was done digesting this new influx in power, they used their superior knowledge of planar structures to lock Cyric in his realm.
Their greatest fear is that Cyric realizes that it's all a cheap trick and unravels their lock or even worse grows powerfull enough to just burst the planar fabric in his way and goes on a deity-killing spree
so much as it would on his ability to deceive Shar and others.
Man would it be handy to be the greater deity of deception ;)
A possible story line would be Cyric helping via proxy, to bring back Mask's return somehow, as Mask would be a thorn in Shar's side.
;)