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Working towards Avangion

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
bluetooth
Sep 04, 2007 17:58:58 Alright,

I'm in a darksun game, attempting to work my way towards an Avangion. Originally I was a Preserver5/Necromant5 working my way on up, before I descovered the Avangion on Athas.org. I got permission to do an in character rebuild a few levels later and became a Preserver5/Ardent1/Cerebremancer7 (DM allowed the Ardent + Practiced Manifestor trick). Mostly my role in the party is buffs, tactical support, and undead legion support (if anyone's curious, this character concept was built on the following idea, "in a world where arcane magic devours the very soul of the land, and certain forms of necromancy allow a person to leave the life energy of the land alone...could a necromancer then be a hero?")

I've done what I can to make the psionic side of my abilities useful, but I'm having trouble fitting it all together to make a single, cohesive, logical and useful character both in terms of game mechanics and storyline. I can link his character sheet upon request.

Thanks in advance.
#2
elonarc
Sep 04, 2007 18:23:13 Where is the Ardent from?
#3
Jesse_Heinig
Sep 04, 2007 18:56:49 Complete Psionic.

Where is the Ardent from?

#4
bluetooth
Sep 04, 2007 20:03:34 Yeah, Ardents get a much smaller power selection, and are essentially psionic clerics. I'm having trouble with power selection and am really not sure if I'm capturing the role of an Avangion in a darksun party.
#5
cnahumck
Sep 04, 2007 22:27:35 Some basic questions about your Ardent:

1) Has your DM allowed you to gain new mantles as you advance outside of Ardent (as a cerebralmancer)?

2)Either way, which mantles have you chosen?

Nature might be a good mantle, as would mental power. Having to have a high Int and Wis would make the boost in PP valuable here.

Also, Avangions have no set way of being. As it is, we as a community have only really ever seen one progress in adventures. Nerad (I think) was introduced and died in a few short paragraphs of a magic item desctription and is only a footnote now, no clue as to how he was as a person. Oronis has some things on him, but I think we all tend to pin our ideas about what he would be like (though some at athas.org have him started fairly well in my book). So it is only Kornuguard (spelling errors?) that we see in a few adventures. Some of what we see is "iconic" Avangion, other parts aren't.

It comes down to this: What do you see your character doing with his future status, and how do you want him to develop. Especially for an Ardent (who's flavor is that of someone who gains power based on their personal convictions) the choice of powers and mantles should come out of your background and RP ideas about the character, rather than any other place.
#6
terminus_vortexa
Sep 05, 2007 8:18:11 I like the character concept! If I may venture an opinion, I'd recommend taking at least 1 level of Necromant again, thus freeing your character from having to tap plants again, and bostering your original character concept, while taking it a step further. An Avangion powers its own spells, from its own life enegry, but one could add a lot of flavor by allowing said Avangion to continue to draw from the Grey. A being normally composed almost entirely of light, but suffused with the energies of the Grey, would almost appear as an intangible, tattered grey shroud, gleaming with an unnervingly gloomy bright radiance......... and epic spells can do a LOT of really cool things involving legions of undead, and creating single, very powerful Undead...

Undead are also among a Dragon Sk's choice weapons, so making an Avangion who makes a good deal of use of necrotic minions would be a lot like taking their favored weapon and turning it back on them. And, in light of the harsh, deadly climate (physical and metaphysical) of Athas, such an Avangion would definitely have moral and perhaps philosophical justification in using such normally dark methods ("You lived as servants of an evil monster, and died at my righteous hands...... now live again, and SERVE THE CAUSE OF LIGHT! MWAWAWAWA!")

You'd have some form of psychological leverage over any intelligent undead you raised (A form of "redemption", you could promise them a better afterlife if they fight against your evil foes with all their conviction..... They or your character may or may not know that in the end, EVERYONE goes to the Grey....)
#7
Jesse_Heinig
Sep 05, 2007 18:33:49 Avangions as life-givers would seem thematically opposed to undead, but skeletons and zombies might well be considered in the same vein as constructs: Non-living devices that have negligible ecological impact on their own. (Level- and ability-draining undead, obviously, will tend to kill living things around them, so they're not great for the ecology.)
#8
lyric
Sep 06, 2007 14:46:18 indeed, in a land of bone daggers and swords would not a bone construct (skeleton) seem like a logical tool with a lack of other ready sources of material?? Keep in mind, this is Athas, morals aren't the key here, but survival of the fittest sometimes is! As such, preservers, rather than do-gooders, could be seen as echo-terrorists, using their enemies weapons against them yet having found a way to do so that does not repeat their enemies mistakes (defiling). It could be thought of as two warring nations using nuclear energy. The larger one didn't use proper safeties and now much of it's people and geography is toxic and mutated.. yet still their energy source is strong and potent.. while the smaller nation studdied a bit harder and found a few protections that allow them to use the same potent energy safely for themselves and those around them.. even so, beware fall-out from wars.

You could give your character any theme you wish and consider it workable, as long as their is an underlying somewhat reasonable cause.. dabble here and dabble there in a 'search' for another way to prevent death to the land..

As far as your role as an avangion.. are you going to be the 'strike hard and fast and run away' type who fights the SK's or their forces early on? Will you be more like Oronis and hide in the shadows creating a safe haven? Or will you create new 'preserver friendly' undead? :P lol maybe ghostlike ones that 'posess' corporeal ones and turn them to dust, removing their enchantment while themselves being destroyed.. (restoring balance or something). Or perhaps an anti-undead plague that you could use to restore the city of Bodach :P lol. Magic is just a tool, it's the use to which it is put that determines it's value.. Hence people like Sadira being neutral, occasionally defiling, and still being considered a preserver.. :P defiling wouldn't be so big bad and evil if it weren't for the rampant shortsighted use to which it's been put for all these years by the SK's and such.. look what it did to athas... but do you think in the green age (or rather, the age of magic when defilers appeared) that defiling was such a no-no? Probably not.. :P and I bet there were a lot of 'good' wizards who used it :P Well, now is present day athas, and you must find your own moral compas.. give him a view on things, and have him stick to it, until game play changes it then alter as fits ;) that's my advice.. glad to see someone is heading Avangion, let me know how it goes! :D

:angelhide

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 bluetooth Sep 04, 2007 17:58:58	Alright, I'm in a darksun game, attempting to work my way towards an Avangion. Originally I was a Preserver5/Necromant5 working my way on up, before I descovered the Avangion on Athas.org. I got permission to do an in character rebuild a few levels later and became a Preserver5/Ardent1/Cerebremancer7 (DM allowed the Ardent + Practiced Manifestor trick). Mostly my role in the party is buffs, tactical support, and undead legion support (if anyone's curious, this character concept was built on the following idea, "in a world where arcane magic devours the very soul of the land, and certain forms of necromancy allow a person to leave the life energy of the land alone...could a necromancer then be a hero?") I've done what I can to make the psionic side of my abilities useful, but I'm having trouble fitting it all together to make a single, cohesive, logical and useful character both in terms of game mechanics and storyline. I can link his character sheet upon request. Thanks in advance.
#2 elonarc Sep 04, 2007 18:23:13	Where is the Ardent from?
#3 Jesse_Heinig Sep 04, 2007 18:56:49	Complete Psionic. Where is the Ardent from?
#4 bluetooth Sep 04, 2007 20:03:34	Yeah, Ardents get a much smaller power selection, and are essentially psionic clerics. I'm having trouble with power selection and am really not sure if I'm capturing the role of an Avangion in a darksun party.
#5 cnahumck Sep 04, 2007 22:27:35	Some basic questions about your Ardent: 1) Has your DM allowed you to gain new mantles as you advance outside of Ardent (as a cerebralmancer)? 2)Either way, which mantles have you chosen? Nature might be a good mantle, as would mental power. Having to have a high Int and Wis would make the boost in PP valuable here. Also, Avangions have no set way of being. As it is, we as a community have only really ever seen one progress in adventures. Nerad (I think) was introduced and died in a few short paragraphs of a magic item desctription and is only a footnote now, no clue as to how he was as a person. Oronis has some things on him, but I think we all tend to pin our ideas about what he would be like (though some at athas.org have him started fairly well in my book). So it is only Kornuguard (spelling errors?) that we see in a few adventures. Some of what we see is "iconic" Avangion, other parts aren't. It comes down to this: What do you see your character doing with his future status, and how do you want him to develop. Especially for an Ardent (who's flavor is that of someone who gains power based on their personal convictions) the choice of powers and mantles should come out of your background and RP ideas about the character, rather than any other place.
#6 terminus_vortexa Sep 05, 2007 8:18:11	I like the character concept! If I may venture an opinion, I'd recommend taking at least 1 level of Necromant again, thus freeing your character from having to tap plants again, and bostering your original character concept, while taking it a step further. An Avangion powers its own spells, from its own life enegry, but one could add a lot of flavor by allowing said Avangion to continue to draw from the Grey. A being normally composed almost entirely of light, but suffused with the energies of the Grey, would almost appear as an intangible, tattered grey shroud, gleaming with an unnervingly gloomy bright radiance......... and epic spells can do a LOT of really cool things involving legions of undead, and creating single, very powerful Undead... Undead are also among a Dragon Sk's choice weapons, so making an Avangion who makes a good deal of use of necrotic minions would be a lot like taking their favored weapon and turning it back on them. And, in light of the harsh, deadly climate (physical and metaphysical) of Athas, such an Avangion would definitely have moral and perhaps philosophical justification in using such normally dark methods ("You lived as servants of an evil monster, and died at my righteous hands...... now live again, and SERVE THE CAUSE OF LIGHT! MWAWAWAWA!") You'd have some form of psychological leverage over any intelligent undead you raised (A form of "redemption", you could promise them a better afterlife if they fight against your evil foes with all their conviction..... They or your character may or may not know that in the end, EVERYONE goes to the Grey....)
#7 Jesse_Heinig Sep 05, 2007 18:33:49	Avangions as life-givers would seem thematically opposed to undead, but skeletons and zombies might well be considered in the same vein as constructs: Non-living devices that have negligible ecological impact on their own. (Level- and ability-draining undead, obviously, will tend to kill living things around them, so they're not great for the ecology.)
#8 lyric Sep 06, 2007 14:46:18	indeed, in a land of bone daggers and swords would not a bone construct (skeleton) seem like a logical tool with a lack of other ready sources of material?? Keep in mind, this is Athas, morals aren't the key here, but survival of the fittest sometimes is! As such, preservers, rather than do-gooders, could be seen as echo-terrorists, using their enemies weapons against them yet having found a way to do so that does not repeat their enemies mistakes (defiling). It could be thought of as two warring nations using nuclear energy. The larger one didn't use proper safeties and now much of it's people and geography is toxic and mutated.. yet still their energy source is strong and potent.. while the smaller nation studdied a bit harder and found a few protections that allow them to use the same potent energy safely for themselves and those around them.. even so, beware fall-out from wars. You could give your character any theme you wish and consider it workable, as long as their is an underlying somewhat reasonable cause.. dabble here and dabble there in a 'search' for another way to prevent death to the land.. As far as your role as an avangion.. are you going to be the 'strike hard and fast and run away' type who fights the SK's or their forces early on? Will you be more like Oronis and hide in the shadows creating a safe haven? Or will you create new 'preserver friendly' undead? :P lol maybe ghostlike ones that 'posess' corporeal ones and turn them to dust, removing their enchantment while themselves being destroyed.. (restoring balance or something). Or perhaps an anti-undead plague that you could use to restore the city of Bodach :P lol. Magic is just a tool, it's the use to which it is put that determines it's value.. Hence people like Sadira being neutral, occasionally defiling, and still being considered a preserver.. :P defiling wouldn't be so big bad and evil if it weren't for the rampant shortsighted use to which it's been put for all these years by the SK's and such.. look what it did to athas... but do you think in the green age (or rather, the age of magic when defilers appeared) that defiling was such a no-no? Probably not.. :P and I bet there were a lot of 'good' wizards who used it :P Well, now is present day athas, and you must find your own moral compas.. give him a view on things, and have him stick to it, until game play changes it then alter as fits ;) that's my advice.. glad to see someone is heading Avangion, let me know how it goes! :D :angelhide