K. B. Carter's page

Wanted to say thanks to all who showed their support for the core Malgana concept. You will be rewarded with high-ranking positions in her evil army, once she gets around to forming one.

Here are my thoughts on the feedback as a whole...

I think one critical mistake I made here in Round 2 was to assume that Malgana would only be encountered by my own PCs. And I know that every DM thinks his own players are special, just as every mother thinks her own children are special... but let me just assure you that it is a unique band of Machiavellian thinkers that convene around my gaming table each month.

They operate with the assumption that "the enemy of my enemy is my friend... even if the enemy of my enemy is an undead witch head/orcish slave trader/exiled mind flayer/kobold revolt leader or whatever other unlikely ally we can find" -- which is a notion I've largely beaten into them by repeatedly putting them up against otherwise nigh insurmountable odds. In short, I tend to run my games like an HBO Deadwood episode, where the good guys occasionally have to team up with the not-so-good guys to get the even-worse guys. I realize now that this is quirk of my own DM style, and not typically how D&D goes; I should have included some alternate plot hooks, perhaps some plot hooks for, say, a party that includes Lawful Good characters.

My bad.

That said, I did think it was somewhat premature to label this villain "useless" or "just a plot hook with no RPG substance" without first seeing her stats or knowing her CR. That felt a bit like criticizing the cinematography of a movie after having only read the screenplay.

As a final note, a few of you expressed concern over the "cannot be killed by conventional means" aspect of this villain. This concern I took very seriously, for my intent was not to create an un-killable villain (I hate unkillable villains). And to be completely honest, I simply did not give this aspect enough thought at all (even a ghast should be destroyed by decapitation). Before I reveal too much, let me just say I've found a more elegant solution to this problem that I hope to reveal in the next round.

Long story short, when you see Malgana in the next round--if you see Malgana in the next round--don't fight the radness, just let it wash over you in waves.

I just want to say that I appreciate your entry a lot. I know it can't be easy to wait for the result, because I've waited for weeks for editors to get back to me and that was never fun. I've also gotten great praise and gotten raked over the coals for my freelance work in journalism and academia so I know the highs and the lows.

In fact, when it comes time for evaluations, I grab a beer and my girlfriend reads me my evaluations in her most sultry and soothing voice. I heartily recommend that method for the Superstars.

Man, that's the best advice I've heard all week. I'll have to give it a try.

This last week has felt to me a bit like waiting on Tyler Durden's porch in the movie Fight Club. You know the scene: the one where they make new applicants to Project Mayhem stand at attention for 3 days under constant disparagement before they are admitted.

Still, I want to be a space monkey, and the feedback I've been getting is all great points (good and bad), so totally worth it, even if I don't make the cut.

Jason, I appreciate your "get out of jail free card", should you choose to grant it. I also appreciate your very concise feedback (same goes for the others in this thread as well).

I won't let you down in the next round.

I can't edit anymore, but please delete my last post.

This works if you can get players to think: "Help me undead ghast goblin head, you're my only hope!" If the goblin menace isn't sufficiently strong, then you don't have your "Enemy Mine" scenario. I disagree with the judges here: this can work if the fear of the greater evil is sufficiently great. PCs will know that they're going to be betrayed, obviously, but they'll also think, "Hey, I bet I can get a lot of use out this head and dump it when I don't need it any more. I mean, what's it going to do, bite me?" There's going to be a nice ongoing negotiation here. It would require some virtuoso DMing, but I could see people voting for this.

Say what you will: it's got a memorable hook that encourages role playing.

This one's on my short list of keepers.

Ahhh, The DM Force is strong with this one.

(Seriously, thanks for your vote!)

Submitted twice just to be safe. Hopefully one got through.

Malgana the Twistwood Witch
female, undead goblin (ghast), sorceress 8th

Description: According to goblin legend, Malgana brokered an unholy deal with a dark power in exchange for 444 years of unnatural life. From that point on, she became known as the Twistwood Witch.

Whether or not this myth holds any truth, one thing remains certain: the Twistwood Witch cannot be killed by conventional means. After ruling the goblin tribes of the Twistwood Forest for many decades—far longer than the lifespan of any typical goblin—she was finally betrayed and “executed” by her own kind. Yet even after her treacherous kin removed her head and cut out her organs (spine, liver, heart and tongue), she continues to live on in an undying (albeit speechless) mockery of life.

Presently, all that remains of the Twistwood Witch is an undead goblin head hidden within a tangle of black hair. Her mouth is sewn shut and stuffed with oak leaves, but her black eyes dart about, studying her surroundings with an eerie intelligence. As a head, she has only rudimentary control of her former powers, but she will continue to regain spells and abilities as she is “reunited” with her lost body parts.

Motivations/Goals: Malgana seeks to regain her former power and extract revenge on the goblin tribes that betrayed her. To accomplish this, she must first find a way to retrieve her missing organs. She has an innate sense of where they are, but no way to retrieve them herself.

This is where the PCs come in.

Schemes/Plots/Adventure Hooks: The PCs are adventuring in the Twistwood Forest, trying to control the goblin tribes that have now broken loose without Malgana’s ironfisted leadership (though a malicious tyrant, she was at least cunning enough to avoid attracting the attention of adventurers).

During their campaign against the goblins, the PCs find Malgana’s head deep in a goblin barrow. She casts a spell to deliver the following message:

“Let me help you fight the goblins that betrayed me. I know of their traps and the antidotes to their poisons. Please, follow my eyes…”

Assuming the PCs comply, Malgana leads the PCs to her severed tongue and stares imploringly at it. If the PCs reinsert the organ, she can speak again, and begins to convey many useful details about the goblin tribes (locations of lairs, names and classes of important villains, etc.) She even asks the PCs to take her with them, claiming she must be reunited with her defiled remains before she can find eternal rest.

Of course, Malgana is only manipulating the PCs to enlist their help retrieving her organs. She secretly plans to kill them after they have served their purpose, as the same vanity that lead her to seek such lasting dominion over life also makes her hate all who have seen her while weak.

With each organ presented, her skin grows and stretches from her stumped neck, hungrily enveloping the (spine/liver/heart) from the PCs’ outstretched hands...

I interpreted it as "any original content that we can possibly make up that does not otherwise violate another rule". Otherwise, we could *only* draw inspiration from the above sources and/or our item submission, which would make for a strange test of one's creativity.

This was just my interpretation as a fellow contestant though. And if I'm wrong, my entry is toast :)

Hope this helps.

I have a rules question for Round 2:

***

DO NOT INCLUDE A STAT BLOCK—just gender, race, class, and level. No hit points, saving throws, skill bonuses, magic items carried, or so on. Don't even state the CR—we know what's CR20 and what's not.

You may include additional information about your villain in the body, but the entire body field must not exceed 500 words.

***

Does the second paragraph mean that I can mention one (and only one) of my villain's spells as it pertains to my villian's goals, motives and schemes? Or is this off limits as Stat Block information?

To be safe, I'll assume the answer is "off limits" unless I hear otherwise.

Thanks,
Kevin

This is a very cool item. Now a rogue can flank with himself (which sounds dirty but isn't).

Thanks to all for the great feedback. Glad I was able to sneak into the top 32!

Spider Hook

This eight-pronged grappling hook has an hourglass-shaped rune along its haft. Touching the rune causes the hook to shudder and transform into a shadowy spider that obeys the commands of whoever touched the rune. While animated, the spider hook can spider climb with a speed of 30 and it can leap up to 20 feet as a standard action. It cannot attack or otherwise influence its environment, but it will scamper soundlessly anywhere its master points.

The spider hook reverts to a normal grappling hook when its master makes the gesture of a closed fist, or after three rounds have passed, whichever comes first. As the spider hook reverts to a normal grappling hook, a length of silk rope (max 500 feet long) materializes between the hook and the hook’s master. This thread is secured to the spider hook and persists until the hourglass rune is touched again, at which point the silk unravels into nothingness. Pressing the rune a third time reanimates the spider hook. Thus, the spider hook cannot be reanimated until its previous silk rope has been dismissed.

Faint conjuration and transmutation; CL 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, spider climb, web; Price 5,000 gp.