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#1 xlorepdarkhelm_dup Sep 21, 2005 18:08:02

I've mentioned this once or twice before, but due to the light of some recent topics, I felt this would be a fun topic to add into the mix as well. I have sketched up and even brought the Rhulisti back into Dark Sun before, using the rules and information given on the Yuuzhon Vong from the Star Wars d20 rules, taking away their spaceships and such, leaving them with intriguing lifeshaped items--like the Amphistaff weapons that are actually serpents that can harden and be used like quarterstaves, the heads and tails can flatten to make an edged double-weapon, they can be swung around like whips, and have a deadly venomous bite as well. They have armor that makes physical combat quite difficult against them made of a crab-like creature, head-shaped communication devices, and more. All their devices are living creatures (including their clothing), many of such things are implanted into their bodies (painfully, I might add), they tend to be rather masochistic and like inflicting extreme pain and discomfort on themselves (including breaking bones ceremonously and letting them heal wrong). They even have a caste within the Yuuzhon Vong called the "Shapers" that, you guessed it, are the lifeshapers for them. In the Star Wars storyline, they come from a distant, unknown galaxy which they have drained of all resources. They do not know of their homeworld any more, however there are several strong suggestions in the texts that seem to point to a Blue Age Athas, and even have some hints at something like the Brown Tide forcing them to leave their first world. It's also important to note that a number of the TSR Authors that were working on Dark Sun (Troy Denning being the most prominant) are directly involved with the Star Wars: New Jedi Order series of books. This tends to make me think of the Yuuzhon Vong as the "literary decendants" of the Rhulisti. Only, rather than having the invasion of the "space halflings" in Dark Sun, there is an invading and rather powerful force of creatures that have what basically is life-shaped devices invading the Star Wars galaxy. There are two elements of the Yuuzhon Vong that I did a minor translation to get them to work in Athas. First, in Star Wars, the Yuuzhon Vong are invisible/immune to The Force. Well... Dark Sun has psionics, which can be sort of analogous to The Force. So, I have my Rhulisti/Yuuzhon Vong be equally invisible to psionics. What does that mean? They cannot be the targets of any psionic effects--it's like as far as psionics are concerned, they simply are not there. The other element is that in Star Wars, the Yuuzhon Vong abhor/despise mechanical (unnatural) technology. Well... Arcane Magic is more or less unnatural, and the Yuuzhon Vong are rather specific in their religions fervor and practices. So, I have the Yuuzhon Vong hating magic (both Divine and Arcane) just as much as they hate technological devices in Star Wars. Of course, their technology is also considerably vulnerable to Dragon Magic/life draining effects, which results in any Dragons being the primary targets for their attacks. Oh, the Yuuzhon Vong in Star Wars also tend to be on a holy war of sorts. Well.... if they were the Rhulisti that returned, they might see Athas as their "holy land"--the world of their origin, and the races upon it--all the races upon it as infidels that must be wiped out. It is important to note that the Yuuzhon Vong in Star Wars are medium, rather than small humanoids. I've left them like that--a race that is rather good at bioengineering and that has been gone for tends of thousands of years, could come back significantly changed in a number of ways. I've decided that one of them is that they are now medium. The Yuuzhon Vong also have interesting ways of enslaving other races with organic devices attached (basically painful mind-controlling parasites) that force the members of those races to do their bidding. They also have, in the Star Wars universe, the ability to transform an individual from his or her original species into becoming a Yuuzhon Vong (saved only for those that the Yuuzhon Vong truly respect and honor among their enemies). Stats for the Yuuzhon Vong, and all their equipment, is in the New Jedi Order Sourcebook forthe Star Wars d20 game. It could possibly take a bit of conversion, as Star Wars doesn't use the D&D3.5e ruleset (many of the changes in SW:d20 are found in Unearthed Arcana, like Vitality/Wound Points, Reputation, Armor as Damage Reduction, Class Defense Bonuses, etc), but it's really not that impossible to transfer the Yuuzhon Vong across to Dark Sun. How much or how little of their technology you want to bring over is up to you. Some things might make the game be a bit more Sci-Fi (like the spaceships), while other things don't really break from fantasy much at all. And yes, those are the Rhulisti I have return in my campaigns. So far, they've scared the crap out of any players/groups that have ever encountered them. Going off of Lynn Abbey's statements about the Messenger, I have 3 of them be set free, they use a creature that cloaks themselves to look like a human, and I have had them actually send out groups to seek ancient lore, knowledge, and ruins of the legendary Rhulisti (so that the "Rhulisti" that returned can possibly find more suspended comrades within the ruins, and find more devices to use in the new war).