Subject: MYSTARA-L Digest - 9 Jun 2009 to 10 Jun 2009 (#2009-17) From: MYSTARA-L automatic digest system Date: 11/06/2009, 17:00 To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM Reply-to: Mystara RPG Discussion There are 4 messages totalling 217 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. Entropic Immortals (3) 2. Rewriting an old adventure ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp The Mystara Homepage: http://www.pandius.com To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 10 Jun 2009 08:52:54 +0000 From: Havard Faanes Subject: Entropic Immortals Ive been thinking about the Entropic Immortals lately. Reading various 3E/P= aizo material reveals a fairly complex hierarchy in the Greyhawk demonic/de= vilish society and the demons seem to be fairly detailed, each with their o= wn niche.=20 While some Mystaran Entropics are notoriously famous (Hel, Thanatos, Orcus,= Demogorgon, Alphaks, Loki), there are many others who seem a bit bland in = comparison. What I am looking for is not long writeups for each Immortal, but rather sh= ort and to the point info on what this or that Immortal should be about and= how they can be used. This does not have to be strictly canon. Does anyone= have ideas for what to do with entities like Bachareus, Masauwu, Danel, Le= ptar, Bagni, Brissard, Jammudaru, Yagrai etc etc? Havard=0A=0A=0A ______________________________________________________= ___=0AAlt i ett. F=E5 Yahoo! Mail med adressekartotek, kalender og=0Anotisb= lokk. http://no.mail.yahoo.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp The Mystara Homepage: http://www.pandius.com To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:11:54 +0200 From: Giampaolo Agosta Subject: Re: Entropic Immortals 2009/6/10 Havard Faanes : > Ive been thinking about the Entropic Immortals lately. Reading various 3E= /Paizo material reveals a fairly complex hierarchy in the Greyhawk demonic/= devilish society and the demons seem to be fairly detailed, each with their= own niche. > > While some Mystaran Entropics are notoriously famous (Hel, Thanatos, Orcu= s, Demogorgon, Alphaks, Loki), there are many others who seem a bit bland i= n comparison. > > What I am looking for is not long writeups for each Immortal, but rather = short and to the point info on what this or that Immortal should be about a= nd how they can be used. This does not have to be strictly canon. Does anyo= ne have ideas for what to do with entities like Bachareus, Masauwu, Danel, = Leptar, Bagni, Brissard, Jammudaru, Yagrai etc etc? I think Masauwu holds an especially interesting role in the Entropic hierarchy. As The Ambassador, he's one of the few Entropics accepted in a major non-entropic pantheon. Thus, he acts as a middleman of many deals between entropics and non-entropics. Danel is also interesting, from a different point of view. He's a sort of Azcan Darth Vader -- the warrior arm of a major player of evil. His redemption (attempted by Hattani Stoneclaw) would be a major stroke against Atzanteotl. Yagrai is a good patron for evil goblinoid opponents of the PCs, as his primary traits are resilience and persistence. A recurring enemy who, like Yagrai, always rises back for a new fight can easily fit into a campaign, and Yagrai may provide means to support this role (through special bonuses obtained by his followers). Jammudaru also has a similar role, as the patron of vengeance. Leptar is basically the Immortal version of the Bar-lgura demon. It can fill a similar role as a minion of Orcus and/or Demogorgon. GP ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp The Mystara Homepage: http://www.pandius.com To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:42:22 +0300 From: Ville V Lahde Subject: Rewriting an old adventure I'm planning to run my old module "Might of Rock and Heavens" or "The Monolith Adventure" (as it is named in the Vaults). I wrote it in 1991 for the Finnish zine Magus, and as I look at it now, I can see how problematic the whole structure is. It resembles many ready-made adventures of the time: an illusion of detective-like storyline, but really the flow of the story is pretty much preordained. I am currently rewriting the module to allow for a more organic flow, with the actions of the PCs taken much more seriously. Has anyone ever run the module? Any experience that I might take advantage of? Ville ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp The Mystara Homepage: http://www.pandius.com To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 Jun 2009 22:56:00 -0400 From: Rodger Burns Subject: Re: Entropic Immortals On Wed, Jun 10, 2009 at 4:52 AM, Havard Faanes wrote: > Ive been thinking about the Entropic Immortals lately. Reading various > 3E/Paizo material reveals a fairly complex hierarchy in the Greyhawk > demonic/devilish society and the demons seem to be fairly detailed, each > with their own niche. > > While some Mystaran Entropics are notoriously famous (Hel, Thanatos, Orcus, > Demogorgon, Alphaks, Loki), there are many others who seem a bit bland in > comparison. > > What I am looking for is not long writeups for each Immortal, but rather > short and to the point info on what this or that Immortal should be about > and how they can be used. This does not have to be strictly canon. Does > anyone have ideas for what to do with entities like Bachareus, Masauwu, > Danel, Leptar, Bagni, Brissard, Jammudaru, Yagrai etc etc? > > Havard > Here's one possibly heretical idea: LEPTAR (The Groaning Fiend; The Seeker After Corruption) Among his fellow immortals, Leptar has a reputation as a dull-witted brute whose only interest is in causing pain to others in the simplest and most direct manner possible. Nothing could be further from the truth. In actuality, Leptar is cunning, ambitious, power-hungry and selfish; he's also smart enough to realize that pursuing his ends too openly is just likely to get him some serious opposition, and so adopts the public persona of an Alphaks or Bagni Gullymaw while pursuing his real aims more discreetly. Leptar has two main interests - suborning the loyalties of other Immortals' clerics and convincing them to serve Entropy, and finding Artifacts and other items of powerful magic so he can twist and corrupt their power. He's subtle and discreet in both areas - he'll seek to tempt promising young clerics rather than established leaders, for instance, and makes his case indirectly via carefully-planted ancient manuscripts and mortal mouthpieces (that *could* be acting on their own, not directed by their obviously-too-stupid-to-care Immortal patron) rather than openly manifesting or offering power directly. Likewise, he seeks out items that have been long-lost or nearly forgotten, not the latest hot prize, and after finishing his rewiring he's content to abandon them in some tomb or dungeon where they won't be found again for years or even decades. This limits his possible gains, but also means that most of his potential targets don't even suspect his involvement - even when they do note Immortal activity, they assume it to be someone like Atzanteotl or Masauwu using Leptar as a blind. Which is just the way Leptar likes it. Leptar has no real allies - even his fellow Entropics generally view him as a tool and muscle, not as someone worth plotting with. Thanatos, though, has begun to realize Leptar's hidden depths, and will sometimes give the younger Immortal a discreet assist (which Leptar himself doesn't realize and wouldn't particularly appreciate). Leptar's chief enemy is Chardastes, the Immortal who's most often been the target of Leptar's plots; Leptar deliberately threw the fight during his only direct confrontation with Chardastes, and so the other Immortal considers Leptar to be less of a threat than he actually is. Leptar's most common Manifestation Form is of a wingless Groaning Fiend, often covered in long, tangled black fur everywhere except the hands, feet and face. He sometimes adopts alternate Manifestation Forms on the rare instances when he wants to intervene directly but disguise his identity; the most recent example of this is a slender, androgynous humanoid form made out of swirling multicolored pure energy, but he is unlikely to keep using this for very long. Leptar's plots can trouble mortal PCs of almost any experience level - he meddles in the affairs of talented novices as often as (or more often than) he involves himself with the movers and shakers of Mystara. Some of the servants that Leptar recruits are defeated quickly, but others survive and gain great power in their master's service, working from the shadows - and any of these could emerge after years of patient plotting, to trouble the affairs of the powerful. Clerics of Leptar must be Chaotic (he generally has no non-clerical followers). They can use swords and longbows, and once per day can cast locate object. Game Statistics: Celestial, Sphere of Entropy. 16th-level Immortal. AC -7; hp 240; HD 30; MV 150' (50'); #AT 2; Dmg 3d6+8 (punch) or 2d6+13 (longbow); AM 60%; Save IM16; AL C; Str 36, Int 44, Wis 25, Dex 17, Con 33, Cha 40. Powers: Call Other, Control Undead, Detection Suite, Groan. Weapons: Longbow +5, +10 vs. spellcasters. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp The Mystara Homepage: http://www.pandius.com To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ------------------------------ End of MYSTARA-L Digest - 9 Jun 2009 to 10 Jun 2009 (#2009-17) **************************************************************