and ofcourse they have to come up with an important reason why to get to see him or her.
They have enough guards and personal power to stay quite safe.
Specifically, each S-K interacts with others in a completely different way, so how much actual "contact" each has is variable. Nibenay isn't known as the Shadow King because he takes strolls around the city - he's known for that because only his templar-wives ever see him. Kalak on the other hand was seen personally checking in on his ziggurat, at the very least, so even prior to that he may have been a much more "public" S-K than others'. Andropinis was elected to his position, and depending on the source may have done so after centuries or even a millenia after he was "given" Balic to rule. In the PP he deals directly with his chamberlain as well as the entire Chamber of Patricians (...in a way, at least), and given that he's supposedly an "elected official" (regardless of the reality of the situation) I'm guessing that he'd have been a fairly public figure all-around. Really depends on the particular monarch and their "style" of ruling; some are more prone to public appearances than others.
The sorcerer kings had direct contact with plenty of people. The heads of government, top nobles, higher up templars, generals, hordes of concubines, ect.
Hamanu meets and hears the pleas of the common people...er, I mean those with the means to pay the templars so they can get an audience.
They have enough guards and personal power to stay quite safe.
Not that any of them need it.
Hamanu meets and hears the pleas of the common people...er, I mean those with the means to pay the templars so they can get an audience.
Doesn't Abbey have him touring Urik in disguise during the night? They may not know it, but many Urikites may have met him, and possibly even put the pieces together.
Not that any of them need it.
Never know who might get lucky. It's best to minimize risk.
Doesn't Abbey have him touring Urik in disguise during the night?
He's not doing this for his people, though, he's bored out of his wits and wanders the city, briefly partaking of the simple life and joys of his people.
Never know who might get lucky. It's best to minimize risk.
A being capable of hiding his magic and/or psionic aura, including that of his items, and with the epic might to hurt an SK, will not try to get an audience to kill a SK. He'll etch out an actual plan that won't get him killed or encircled by trained troops within a few seconds.
As for the rest of the non-epic people of Athas, none have a chance.
As for the rest of the non-epic people of Athas, none have a chance.
I disagree.
Apparently, so do the sorcerer kings. Every chance is a real chance when you potentially have eternity for them to happen.
I disagree.
Then we agree on something ;)
That said, there is no reason SKs wouldn't have illusionary copies of themselves holding court. They cloak their true forms with illusion anyway, right? Why bother putting their physical presence on the line, just put the image in place and wander off.
Hamanu meets and hears the pleas of the common people...er, I mean those with the means to pay the templars so they can get an audience.
Not that any of them need it.
Indeed not. Kalak's spirit cries out from the gray: RIKUS! I BET YOU COULDN'T PULL THAT OFF UNDER 3.5 RULES!
Indeed not. Kalak's spirit cries out from the gray: RIKUS! I BET YOU COULDN'T PULL THAT OFF UNDER 3.5 RULES!
Oh boy, the list of reasons that allowed the Heroes to kill Kalak on that faithful day are many.
Without them they'd have had no chance.
Nope! We can't change iconic characters. He's 15th level. And that's after killing Kalak.
So I guess Rikus says, "thank Ral that we did this before 3e, or we'd not have received any experience points for offing the old SoB."
As well as korginard and draegoth.
One PC became a sorcerer king at the end of our battle with Draegoth.
"Rikus under 3.5 rules is probably a level 35 gladiator "
Nope! We can't change iconic characters. He's 15th level. And that's after killing Kalak.
So I guess Rikus says, "thank Ral that we did this before 3e, or we'd not have received any experience points for offing the old SoB."
Not really- Atahs.org have upped the SK's from around level 21-23 upt to 40 odd or whatever Dregoth is . Hell in 2nd ed my party killed a level 18 wizard at level 5 (flying wizard, dispel magic, rolled a 20 on the check=dead wizard).
I could see Rikus as a 35th level Gladiator or whatever or maybe that sword he used gave him the effets of the paragon Template or something. I prefer my reasoning- stick your fingers in your ears and sing la la la in a loud voice and try not to think about it.
--Kalak was incredibly vulnerable during his big attempt at omnipotence NB
--one group actually managed to fight off Hamanu's Royal Guards for a few rounds NB
--Kalak was incredibly vulnerable during his big attempt at omnipotence NB
Thank you for spelling it for the newbies, Nero.
When you take truckloads of backlash damage from all the epic spells you're casting in a row, and the guys poking at you with a stick are immune to spells and powers, and all the while you cannot move beyond the space you occupy...what can you do? Spit on Rikus?! Having Strenght 25-30 won't help you if you can't reach the guy...
:P
Thank you for spelling it for the newbies, Nero.
When you take truckloads of backlash damage from all the epic spells you're casting in a row, and the guys poking at you with a stick are immune to spells and powers, and all the while you cannot move beyond the space you occupy...what can you do? Spit on Rikus?! Having Strenght 25-30 won't help you if you can't reach the guy...
:P
You're welcome! People seem to forget that a monster incapable of fighting remotely near its normal capacity has its CR lowered.....sometimes signifigantly.
--The Verdant Passage made it quite clear how vulnerable Kalak was NB
Just remember that Kalak's CR was probably horribly lowered by his inability to cast spells, even psionic enchantments were beyond him (well, other than the one he was casting at that moment). Plus, he was undergoing phenomenal physical and mental changes, and thus was at his weakest. I'd say he was CR 22 when he was killed, thus making it unlikely yet still possible that a bunch of ECL12-17 characters could finish him off.
--Kalak was incredibly vulnerable during his big attempt at omnipotence NB
I used somethng similar to this in my last 3.5 DS game when the PCs defeated a Dragon at level 12. The Dragon had been battling an Avangion (Oronis) and was weakened from that fight and low on spells and also had 10 negative levels via enervate. Dregoth Ascending uses a similar mechanic at the end with Dregoth. The Age of Worms campaign while not DS also allows you to signifigantly weaken the Kyuss- a demigod in the final fight.
As to the original post in the mid 90's when we played DS we didn't have much DS material. The original boxed set and Earth Air, Fire, Water. Suffice to say I got a shock when I 1st read Dragon Kings. After downloading alot of the product line form RPGnow.com it seemed to me that every second adventure seemed to have a Sorceror King in it. In my 3.5 game the PCs meet Hamanu, Nibenay, Lalali-Puy, and Oronis.