I worked in collaboration on the characters of Nok and Farcluun and was interested in making others.
For both these guys we came up with motivations, locales, groups, underlings.
I made a list of people I wanted to see made. Each person or group of people is not all-powerful but rather has quite an amount of influence over local affairs or over a group of people:
- the small group of renegade members of the Order (still have influence over most of Athas due to their agenda of interference in psionic affairs)
- the Zwuun (influence over the Nibenay area and its Veiled Alliance)
- the spirit of the land Desverendi (somehow connected to the powerful good movers and shakers of this world)
- Portynx (influence over Gulg's VA)
- Tithian and his underling Malignor (limited influence over Rajaat's prison in the lava lake and influence over all ceruleans)
1. Grand players: Sorcerer-Monarchs, some spirits of the land, Oronis
2. High-level players: Advanced beings
3. Mid-level players: Tithian transformed into a storm, Order members, the Zwuun, the powerful kaishargas and t'lizes described in TotDL
4. Low-level players: Portynx, Liumakh
Mid- to High-level players
Farcluun
Male human (dragon); LE
Psion (nomad) 4/wizard (defiler) 3/myrmeleon 5/cerebremancer 10/dragon 4
Character Level: 26
Status: Ahh, he's a mystery! Hehe.
Nok
Male halfling; CN
Wizard 10 (preserver)/leech 4/wilder 11
Character Level: 25
Status: More mystery!
Tithian
Male human (cerulean storm); NE
Templar 5/black cassock 6/psion (telepath) 5/wizard (defiler) 5
Character Level: 21
Status: Currently in the shape of a storm, and severly limited in his influence over the material world, Tithian is connected to all ceruleans and is exploring that link to gain power and proxies over the world.
Note: He's descirbed in CSoT as a 17th level templar, which would bring his character level to a wooping 27, too high.
Low-level players
Malignor
Male human; LE
Wizard (defiler) 12/cerulean 5
Character Level: 17
Status: Most powerful servant of Tithian.
Note: He's described in BtPP as a 14th level defiler and already in communion with Tithian, so I changed a few of those levels to cerulean and added others in that class, to represent the passing of years.
Semetaire
Undead male human (kraai); NE
Human paragon 3/wizard (defiler) 5/leech 1/arch Defiler 5
Character Level: 14
Status: Most powerful servant to Farcluun.
Portynx
Undead male human (unknown undead template); NE
Wizard (defiler) 12
Character Level: 12
Status: Has access to a tree of life, his residence and source of power. Controls Gulg's Veliled Alliance through sending visions to its leader, Aukash-Pad. His goals are insane and ever-changing, mainly the accumulation of power, influence, and more energy to drain.
Liumakh
Undead male human (unknown undead template); LE
Psion (telepath) 17
Character Level: 17
Status: Leader of a sizeable number of psionic practitionners. Desires to destroy the Sorcerer-Monarchs and assume the role of ruler of Athas. Hates Nibenay with a passion.
EDIT: I changed the categories.
Didn't wan to usurp Khaine's thread like I somewhat did for Sysane's beastmaster. :D
- the Zwuun (influence over the Nibenay area and its Veiled Alliance)
- Portynx (influence over Gulg's VA)
For the zwuun, I was thinking that maybe it's actually the SotL of the Plain of Burning Waters, and the preservers just found a way to merge with it.
Someone did a version of Portynx over on the Gulg ideas thread (not that I wouldn't like to see your version too
).Just random thoughts.
Nok
Male halfling; CN
Wizard 10 (preserver)/leech 4/wilder 11
Character Level: 25
Status: More mystery!
Correct my if I'm wrong, but don't leeches have to be defilers? Or is our favorite halfling an exception to the rule?The story goes - not to reveal too much - that Nok was a defiler. He met with a powerful druid of the forest in, lets just say, extroardinary circumstances, and got turned to preserving. The druid managed it by successive steps, first teaching Nok how to draw energy from people (so that he wouldn't cause defiling anymore) so as to make him stop defiling as fast as possible, and then took longer to convince him to turn over to preserving and eventually to lessen his use of sorcery, why Nok started with the wilder levels.
Now Nok is a powerful individual within the forest and considers the druid a mentor and friend.
There's a lot more to it but its a secret ;)
Last I checked Jon was interested in looking at a way to modify the leech so it can be taken by defilers and preservers, so that characters such as Nok can use their minor form of "dragon magic" without being defilers.
The story goes - not to reveal too much - that Nok was a defiler. He met with a powerful druid of the forest in, lets just say, extroardinary circumstances, and got turned to preserving. The druid managed it by successive steps, first teaching Nok how to draw energy from people (so that he wouldn't cause defiling anymore) so as to make him stop defiling as fast as possible, and then took longer to convince him to turn over to preserving and eventually to lessen his use of sorcery, why Nok started with the wilder levels.
Now Nok is a powerful individual within the forest and considers the druid a mentor and friend.
There's a lot more to it but its a secret ;)
No prob, I should have figured you had inside info
I added other characters, keep looking for others in the future.
Someone did a version of Portynx over on the Gulg ideas thread (not that I wouldn't like to see your version too
Yeah, but I overpowered him.
I have a Dote Mal Payne writeup, I've had it for more than a year, but I always could make it a royal animator...I dob't know, I really don't know enough about the character to say one way of another.
All that is known about Payne is what's written in The Complete Gladiator's Handbook and City-State of Tyr, that's to say, not much.
Cool!
I thought to do the same thing- makeing a kinda well known NPC- and stat them out for 3.5- Kalak's Necromancer! I would have to use Pennarin's Royal Animator PrC now though- it is too cool not to use and really fits in.
Dote Mal Payne? Or someone else? But yeah, Penn's Royal Animator just totally rocks!
I have a Dote Mal Payne writeup, I've had it for more than a year, but I always could make it a royal animator...
Dote Mal Payne, Royal Necromancer: Male human aristocrat 3/necromancer (defiler) 11
I do not want to derail the best Gulg thread around, but Pennarin- I would suggest making Dote Mal Payne much more different from 2e by making him a templar 2/ defiler (or specialist necromancer if you wish) 5/royal animator 7.
He would totally rock with this build!
I dob't know, I really don't know enough about the character to say one way of another.
To be a necromant you need to get the knowledge from someone that lives in the Dead Lands, or from someone that now lives here but gained the knowledge while in the Dead Lands from someone who lives there.
Its a bit like the avangion process: technically, everyone can discover it on their own, but the fluff says you need to get the metamorphosis spells from Oronis, or another avangion who got his from Oronis.
Since Payne is an ordinary arena necromancer from Tyr, I don't see why he would be a necromant.
I'm actually of the mind to give good ol' Dot some levels of necromant, so as to give him some power in dealing with the Gray, the resting place of his former master King Kalak.
Not to be confused with DOT = Dragon of Tyr. :P