Subject: MYSTARA-L Digest - 15 Jun 2009 to 22 Jun 2009 (#2009-23) From: MYSTARA-L automatic digest system Date: 23/06/2009, 17:00 To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM Reply-to: Mystara RPG Discussion There are 4 messages totalling 219 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. R: [MYSTARA] [Hollow World] Path of the Despoiler 2. Entropic Immortals (3) ******************************************************************** 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: Sun, 21 Jun 2009 01:38:17 +0000 From: la Volpe Subject: R: [MYSTARA] [Hollow World] Path of the Despoiler This path is really cool and makes up for a lot of immortal scheming and ph= ilosophical angles (and thus adventures!!! and shades of gray, something we= all love about Mystara!)=20 Giulio aka Iulius Sergius Scaevola --- Dom 14/6/09, Rodger Burns ha scritto: Da: Rodger Burns Oggetto: [MYSTARA] [Hollow World] Path of the Despoiler A: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM Data: Domenica 14 giugno 2009, 22:18 The Path of the Despoiler is a unique Immortal Path for devotees of Entropy= , linked to the Hollow World and the Spell of Preservation.=A0 It's unclear a= s to whether this path is just a karmic balance against the way the Hollow World protects lost and dying cultures, something that the Immortal Hel or other elder Entropic managed to engineer into the Hollow World's nature, or is of some other entirely different origin.=A0 Whatever the cause though, i= t exists and is responsible for the creation of several Entropic Immortals, a= s well as some distrust of the Hollow World among the Immortals of other spheres. Like other Paths to Immortality, the Path of the Despoiler includes a Quest= , a Task, a Trial, and a Testimony. QUEST - The candidate must acquire an Entropic artifact able to manifest powers normally banned within the Hollow World.=A0 This artifact will be as difficult to recover as any other such; in addition, champions of non-Entropic Immortals will be trying to prevent the candidate from acquiring the artifact, and will try to steal or destroy the artifact once the candidate has claimed it.=A0 Once the candidate has acquired the artifa= ct, he must use it frequently and flamboyantly in the Trial and other adventure= s within the Hollow World - causing Hollow World natives to question the limits of the Spell of Preservation and resent its restrictions. TRIAL - The candidate must acquire at least three followers, each from a different culture within the Hollow World.=A0 Each follower must initially = be kidnapped from their homeland against their will, and then coerced by the candidate into becoming a (mostly) loyal follower and abandoning their /Cultural Bias/.=A0 Force, deceit, physical deprivation, torment, and magic are all fair game in such efforts - but honesty and chivalry are frowned upon. TASK - The candidate must journey to the outer world of Mystara, find a thriving tribe or culture, and introduce some flaw into its population. This can be a hereditary physical defect or deformity, an (im)moral belief or cultural precept, or adoption of a useless taboo or discarding of a useful one.=A0 It must have some visible negative effect, though, and must = be enduring and self-sustaining.=A0 The candidate must stay with the tribe or culture for at least five years, thwarting any and all attempts by its leading citizens to overcome or destroy the flaw. TESTIMONY - Once the Task is complete, the candidate must engineer some calamity or disaster that endangers his target culture's very existence, an= d causes its patron Immortal to transport some or all of the culture's member= s into the Hollow World.=A0 There, the Spell of Preservation will act to insu= re that the cultural flaw introduced in the candidate's Task will endure forever, weakening the culture and promoting Entropy's interests. ---- Design Notes: I see two possible uses for the Path of the Despoiler in a campaign.=A0 The first is as straightforward adventure hooks for high-level mortal adventurers - Stop the would-be Entropic Immortal.=A0 The second dea= ls with Immortal politics - the question of whether the Path of the Despoiler is something that should be allowed to exist, an issue that cuts across the usual Entropy/non-Entropy faultlines.=A0 Some Immortals think it's a necess= ary evil, the thing that keeps Entropy from wrecking the Hollow World entirely; others think it's a nasty perversion of everything the Hollow World should stand for.=A0 Each side includes Immortals of all five Spheres (though the disagreement among the Entropics is of course more along the lines of "well= , at least we get *something* useful out of the place" vs. "it's not *nearly* enough, let's do our Sphere's work and smash the whole thing").=A0 Which le= ads to some *interesting* arguments and Byzantine plotting among the halls and council-chambers of Pandius. ******************************************************************** 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. =0A=0A=0A ******************************************************************** 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: Sun, 21 Jun 2009 01:34:38 +0000 From: la Volpe Subject: Re: Entropic Immortals I have always been puzzled by the concept of "stupid" immortals like Leptar= and Bagni. I would assume that the stupidest immortal would still be more = intelligent than the smartest wizard, and having much more power. Am I comp= letely misguided? Giulio aka Iulius Sergius Scaevola --- Gio 11/6/09, Giampaolo Agosta ha scritto: Bagni is an interesting Immortal: he isn't truly worshipped by the Trolls, so he must look elsewhere for supporters. He's probably not bright enough to create a new race himself =0A=0A=0A ******************************************************************** 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: Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:30:19 -0700 From: Chris Cherrington Subject: Re: Entropic Immortals I don't think their stupidity is caused by lack of intelligence=2C but more= from a lack of knowledge from experience. Their past life was one of limi= ted input and need to use their limited mental capacities. So now they are= in input overload trying to disseminate all the information they are recei= ving=3B more importantly=2C trying to use that same information to their ad= vantage. They are on a learning curve=2C give them some time and soon they= will be plotting against all their past misconceived representations that = others were out to use them as dumb patsies. Maybe even playing dumb to get= in close for the kill... > Date: Sun=2C 21 Jun 2009 01:34:38 +0000 > From: iuliusscaevola@YAHOO.IT > Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] Entropic Immortals > To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > =20 > I have always been puzzled by the concept of "stupid" immortals like Lept= ar and Bagni. I would assume that the stupidest immortal would still be mor= e intelligent than the smartest wizard=2C and having much more power. Am I = completely misguided? > =20 _________________________________________________________________ Microsoft brings you a new way to search the web. Try Bing=99 now http://www.bing.com?form=3DMFEHPG&publ=3DWLHMTAG&crea=3DTEXT_MFEHPG_Core_ta= gline_try bing_1x1= ******************************************************************** 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: Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:35:26 +0200 From: Giampaolo Agosta Subject: Re: Entropic Immortals 2009/6/21 la Volpe : > I have always been puzzled by the concept of "stupid" immortals like Leptar and Bagni. I would assume that the stupidest immortal would still be more intelligent than the smartest wizard, and having much more power. Am I completely misguided? Most Immortals start with whatever abilities they had in mortal life, and increase them during the course of their Immortal career (IIRC, there's a rule to improve abilities in WotI). Many Immortals are so focused that they only improve a few of their abilities, so that in other areas they are not any stronger than the mortals they once were. In case of Immortal trolls, they were probably too stupid to begin with to even think about improving their intelligence ;) 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. ------------------------------ End of MYSTARA-L Digest - 15 Jun 2009 to 22 Jun 2009 (#2009-23) ***************************************************************