Please do not make the Runelord of Lust a woman


Lost Omens Campaign Setting General Discussion

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Sovereign Court

I know it's the easy sell: take some enchantress, put her in a jiggy little outfit, slap some bangly jewelry on her and call her the personification of lust. But it's too pat and will rob the Runelords of their majestic menace.

I'm not sure what direction you're planning on going, but so far I love the setting and concept and don't want to see it sullied by, uh, Boobzilla Runelord of Lust ;)

Maybe a Runelord who's the father of a thousand children and has some sort of bloodline magic? Or some rotten, now genderless thing that uses enchantments to lure people into its stinky embrace? Or a veiled creature that lives in a boneyard of lovers who starved to death for the want of a kiss. Or a palace of undead suitors. Or sicker yet, a Runelord whose charms were so potent that they have become the prisoner of something greater -- a covertous dragon that keeps their sleeping form caged like a songbird, or like one of those tree toads with psycoactive sweat.

Oooh...a Runelord that seeps 'lust' from its sleeping form and is licked bleached and shrunken by its addicted guardian dragon. Junkie dragon. Gross.

/brainstorm off.

Grand Lodge

Ah, but what of the lustious woman who's beauty is enchanting. But when she makes love, her victums never last for a second go around as she rips off their faces and places it into the walls of her bedroom, giving the imagery of hundreds of faces locked in an expression of lust and passion.

Sovereign Court

Good disturbing imagery, but she sounds more like Mrs. Chopper than an ageless master of seduction. Maybe the Runelord is chaste? It enjoyed toying with mortals to the point that their unslaked lust leads to all sorts of bizarre, desperate measures? Maybe once you lust for the Runelord you lust for no other, ever again. Moderators please forgive the term, but the phrase blue-balled to death jumps to mind.

Grand Lodge

Not a bad idea really. There is a difference between lust and going all the way. *contemplates some things*


Selk wrote:
don't want to see it sullied by, uh, Boobzilla Runelord of Lust ;)

Amen to that. Maybe I might not have to hear the running monthly diatribe about the scantily clad slatterns gracing every other cover.


Lust doesn't necassarily have to be sexual or physical in any sense either.

Lust can also be a twisted desire towards something or someone. Desire alone can crush a persons spirit. Focused ambition torwards a goal can make a person do some crazy things.

Sovereign Court

Hehe, great. An army of crazy exes haunting the Runelord of Lust's citadel

bang bang bang

"C'mon Serloryx, why you gotta be like that? We just wanna talk! Five minutes, tops. We promise."

bang bang bang

Rise of the Runelords 5: Wrath of the Babydaddy.

Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32

I'm pretty sure it's already been announced that the Runelord of Lust is, in fact, a woman. It's a bit late in the game to change it at this point since I imagine the entire line has already been written up and statted out.

Sovereign Court

Oh well. I can hope for an original treatment. But I'm already seeing a redhead in a belly shirt, ankle tatoos and an anime headdress. Vaalinrylialala sounds like a good name.


I'm thinking of an androgynous meddler like Desire from the Sandman. That would be really cool.


Zohar wrote:

Lust doesn't necassarily have to be sexual or physical in any sense either.

Lust can also be a twisted desire towards something or someone. Desire alone can crush a persons spirit. Focused ambition torwards a goal can make a person do some crazy things.

This is a great point. Stripping the seven deadly sins down to their bare impulse roots might yield some interesting results for sins like gluttony or lust.


I think Elminster should be the Runelord of Lust. After reading Elminster's Daughter, it seems like he's spawned half of the Realms.


On one hand, I like your idea of a creature so driven by lust for thousands of years that it's gender is lost and it is just a faceless beast of lust.

But then again, I like big-bosomed women with skimpy outfits as villains. (Case in point: Iggwilv.)


Selk wrote:
Oh well. I can hope for an original treatment. But I'm already seeing a redhead in a belly shirt, ankle tatoos and an anime headdress. Vaalinrylialala sounds like a good name.

Tell you quite honestly... I'd prefer a blonde IMHO.

-Hero

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Too late. Runelord Sorshen is a woman. NONE of the runelords have yet been written up or statted out (maybe Karzoug... but since we don't have that adventure in house yet, he's effectively still statless), but we have established personalities, appearances, and histories for all seven of them in Pathfinder 1's section on the history of Thassilon.

Sorshen's presence in Rise of the Runelords is minimial to non-existant, though. She might play a stronger role later on in another adventure path.

But yeah, the runelords are supposed to personify their themes. A genderless runelord of lust would be as unusual as a non-firebreathing dragon.

Scarab Sages

Green hair would be cool with me.
...adds a bit of 'envy' to the lust aspect.


Selk wrote:
Boobzilla Runelord of Lust ;)

The artist would probably have fun with that one. :)

--Ray.


Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber

I seem to recall it being mentioned somewhere else that the plan wasn't to make the Runlord of Lust a woman, mostly because that was such a cliché.


Or it could be a woman of plain appearance that attracts women and men of all species. She has some sort of power that's that strong.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

modus0 wrote:
I seem to recall it being mentioned somewhere else that the plan wasn't to make the Runlord of Lust a woman, mostly because that was such a cliché.

That may have been mentioned at one point, but in the end we decided to make her a woman anyway.

Turns out, as much as the majority of D&D players might say otherwise, the cliches are popular. They didn't accidentally become cliches. In any event, it's pretty much set in stone now anyway, so that's that.

The Exchange RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32

Darn. I was kinda hoping to use this picture for the RL of Lust...


Darn, I was kind of hoping this would be the Runelord of lust

The Exchange RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32

Or perhaps... him?


This would do


I don't know if anybody's seen the original Bedazzled (with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore). Lust is played by Rachel Welch in that film- good casting.


ericthecleric wrote:
I don't know if anybody's seen the original Bedazzled (with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore). Lust is played by Rachel Welch in that film- good casting.

yup. Gotta agree with that.


Selk wrote:

I know it's the easy sell: take some enchantress, put her in a jiggy little outfit, slap some bangly jewelry on her and call her the personification of lust. But it's too pat and will rob the Runelords of their majestic menace.

/brainstorm off.

What if this particular runelord lost their physical body long before the event that left them sleeping?

What if it needs a host and what better way to prolong such a nemesis by having them take a succession of hosts having been awake a lot longer than the rest using the device of a supposed secret artefact th hide its presence so it has been using and abusing a succession of hosts across the ages and its only know being revealed as a result of the first runelord's defeat?

Personally I've been looking at this and thinking... what if I ran it in Eberron?
I know, I know, its hasn't been nice between Paizo and WOTC but when I first heard about this i though make the Runelords giants... make it a return of the Giants saga and in the process reveal what really happened in Xendrik.
I apoligise again if this offends some of you but still it only makes me want to buy it more as some of the things sorely lacking as far as I see it is more lower level scenarios especially set outside of Sharn and this, Hollow's Last Hope and Crown of the Kobold Kings has reawakened my interest.

So more the merrier, now to see how I can afford all of this...

The Exchange RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32

hopeless wrote:
Selk wrote:

I know it's the easy sell: take some enchantress, put her in a jiggy little outfit, slap some bangly jewelry on her and call her the personification of lust. But it's too pat and will rob the Runelords of their majestic menace.

/brainstorm off.

What if this particular runelord lost their physical body long before the event that left them sleeping?

What if it needs a host and what better way to prolong such a nemesis by having them take a succession of hosts having been awake a lot longer than the rest using the device of a supposed secret artefact th hide its presence so it has been using and abusing a succession of hosts across the ages and its only know being revealed as a result of the first runelord's defeat?

Personally I've been looking at this and thinking... what if I ran it in Eberron?
I know, I know, its hasn't been nice between Paizo and WOTC but when I first heard about this i though make the Runelords giants... make it a return of the Giants saga and in the process reveal what really happened in Xendrik.
I apoligise again if this offends some of you but still it only makes me want to buy it more as some of the things sorely lacking as far as I see it is more lower level scenarios especially set outside of Sharn and this, Hollow's Last Hope and Crown of the Kobold Kings has reawakened my interest.

So more the merrier, now to see how I can afford all of this...

I don't think anybody'd care: once you buy it, it's your adventure.

As for your idea, I like it. It's kinda like RoLW's Karla, really. (Or for you hip youngsters, Naruto's Orochimaru)


James Jacobs wrote:

Too late. Runelord Sorshen is a woman. NONE of the runelords have yet been written up or statted out (maybe Karzoug... but since we don't have that adventure in house yet, he's effectively still statless), but we have established personalities, appearances, and histories for all seven of them in Pathfinder 1's section on the history of Thassilon.

Sorshen's presence in Rise of the Runelords is minimial to non-existant, though. She might play a stronger role later on in another adventure path.

But yeah, the runelords are supposed to personify their themes. A genderless runelord of lust would be as unusual as a non-firebreathing dragon.

Desire of the Endless, from the Sandman comics, is androgynous and could have provided inspiration for something less clicheed.

Liberty's Edge

Along the androgynous route....you could make this runelord of lust a disembodied spirit that hops from host to host...

Liberty's Edge

With a certain ritual trigger that is required to switch bodies.

Scarab Sages

Or a physical trigger...

Where does he/she keep his/her on/off switch....? (Think Chobits...).

Dark Archive Contributor

Snorter wrote:

Or a physical trigger...

Where does he/she keep his/her on/off switch....? (Think Chobits...).

Wow, I'm not the only person on the boards who's read Chobits. Keen! ^_^

Liberty's Edge

Chobits, huh? (internet sleuth time).


Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
James Jacobs wrote:


Turns out, as much as the majority of D&D players might say otherwise, the cliches are popular. They didn't accidentally become cliches. In any event, it's pretty much set in stone now anyway, so that's that.

I have to agree with this. I like many of the cliches of fantasy literature and gaming. They're part of what keep me interested. I keep looking for the perfect campaign that makes enough use of familiar cliches while giving just enough leeway to do something different. What I usually get are attempts (by various DMs) to be "creative" that end up having more to do with defying cliches than actual creativity. (Okay, Myconids are the dominant race and everyone uses clam shells for currency instead of coins...Elves are stupid and ugly, Dwarves are beautiful and charming, Halflings are warlike and in your face...there's this steam technology that allows everyone to travel in horseless carriages...) No, I'll take my cliches any day.

Take a look at Hollow's Last Hope. It has a number of familiar cliches that have been tweaked just enough to be unique while also being recognizable as familiar fairy tale elements. The creepy witch who lives alone in a small cottage in the woods? The animated cauldron? Razorcrows? The brilliant thing about these things is that they seem familiar and appropriate to the genre, but they are done in such a way that they have a unique Paizo stamp on them.

So anyway, that's how I see it. And I also like that the Runelord of Lust is a female. That's how I would have done it.


Adventure Path Charter Subscriber

LOL! sect and kruelaid, those pictures made me laugh :-)

messy


Mike McArtor wrote:
Snorter wrote:

Or a physical trigger...

Where does he/she keep his/her on/off switch....? (Think Chobits...).

Wow, I'm not the only person on the boards who's read Chobits. Keen! ^_^

I haven't read it, but I own the anime series . . . my wife loves Tsumomo. But as far as the trigger . . . .don't know if they could do that without needing to have a parental advisor sticker on the cover . . .


TwiceBorn wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:

Too late. Runelord Sorshen is a woman. NONE of the runelords have yet been written up or statted out (maybe Karzoug... but since we don't have that adventure in house yet, he's effectively still statless), but we have established personalities, appearances, and histories for all seven of them in Pathfinder 1's section on the history of Thassilon.

Sorshen's presence in Rise of the Runelords is minimial to non-existant, though. She might play a stronger role later on in another adventure path.

But yeah, the runelords are supposed to personify their themes. A genderless runelord of lust would be as unusual as a non-firebreathing dragon.

Desire of the Endless, from the Sandman comics, is androgynous and could have provided inspiration for something less clicheed.

Desire - was drawn as somewhat androdynous, in general. but any time you saw him/her from a character in the storys POV she/he appeared as what was most desireable to them. -

Odds are you might be able to give Lust have similar powers

Dark Archive Contributor

William Pall wrote:
I haven't read it, but I own the anime series . . . my wife loves Tsumomo. But as far as the trigger . . . .don't know if they could do that without needing to have a parental advisor sticker on the cover . . .

Yeah, I think the fantasy RPG fandom is less forgiving of such things than the anime/manga fandom. ;)


Good grief, someone actually suggested a pr0n legend as lust. Too bad the choice has already been made. Ron Jeremy would be...interesting to say the least. Although I'm dreading Gluttony, probably some hideously obese male.

Liberty's Edge

FenrysStar wrote:
Although I'm dreading Gluttony, probably some hideously obese male.

Nah...there is a lot more to gluttony than just consuming food. Partaking in vices like drugs and alchohol is part of it, and also non-consumption can be a part of it as well. For example, creating a fabulous banquet, showing it to a crowd of hungry peasants, and then destroying the food or taking it away from the peasants would be the act of a glutton.

I could easily imagine a fit, well manicured runelord who eats a fine, gourmet meal, stops by the vomitorium on the way to his den where he sits with a hookah on silk sheets and is massaged by slaves.


Black Baron wrote:
I'm thinking of an androgynous meddler like Desire from the Sandman. That would be really cool.

Or like Pie "O" Pah, from Clive Barker's Imagica. A doppelganger that's, well, anything to anyone.

Scarab Sages RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32

Alright, my post got eaten.

Anyhoo - I think the Runelord of Lust should be a hermaphrodite. She/he/it can play the part of the lusty seductress - and when needed - she can dress like a man too. Her lust is insatiable because she lusts after both sexes, without really discerning between the two.

She could appear as a handsome woman, and as a feminine looking man, depending on the situation. Maybe she is "Sorshen" most of the time, but has a male alter ego as well. Nobody would know she has a twig and berry set, 'cause she appears to be a woman.

Just a thought. It sounds like the die is already cast though.


Is the Runelord the embodiment of lust or the object of lust? If the latter, then Puccini's Turandot might be a good inspiration.

I'm sure someone has already commented on the Unknown Armies connection (Sect of the Naked Goddess)...


Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber
James Jacobs wrote:

That may have been mentioned at one point, but in the end we decided to make her a woman anyway.

Turns out, as much as the majority of D&D players might say otherwise, the cliches are popular. They didn't accidentally become cliches. In any event, it's pretty much set in stone now anyway, so that's that.

Fair enough.

Will the Runelord of Lust be restricted to the common concept of lust, or represent an overwhelming desire for anything?


Like the typical demon, or satan story - corrupting people by giving them what they want, tempting them to lust after something, taking advantage of that which they already lust for, convincing them they 'deserve' to have it, etc.

RPG Superstar 2011 Top 16

I say Lust should remain narrowly focused, if only to keep it from stepping on the toes of Greed, Sloth, etc.

If you think about it, all of the Seven Deadly sins are just different aspects of one truth: getting what you want irregardless of consequences. The sins should stick to the schools of magic they are thematically tied to.

If Lust becomes Lust for everything, how is that different from Greed?

Sovereign Court

Krypter wrote:

Is the Runelord the embodiment of lust or the object of lust? If the latter, then Puccini's Turandot might be a good inspiration.

I'm sure someone has already commented on the Unknown Armies connection (Sect of the Naked Goddess)...

That's a wonderful story, but I really hope The Runelord of Lust takes more of an active role in the promulgation of her own sin. I'm concerned that the cliche (even an understandable and serviceable cliche) will creak with the weight of too much (don't shoot me) gamer sexualization. Basically, "geeky man, meet hot woman."

I'm guessing that the Runelord of Greed will be greedy. And the Runelord of Gluttony will be gluttonous. And the Runelord of Wrath will be wrathful. But will the Runelord of Lust be lustful or just lusted after? And if it's both, will Greed, Gluttony and the others engender their sins in the players as handily as Lust can?

Please just don’t make her the objectified wench of the Runelords, is all I’m saying. Whoever writes her, give her some balls (so to speak;))

Paizo Employee Creative Director

One thing to keep in mind as well is that Sorshen barely plays a part in Rise of the Runelords. And she's already got about a quarter page of details and stuff written about her in Pathfinder 1, which is pretty much printed and about to ship. She does have some androgynous aspects, and as a powerful wizard, she's certainly able to change genders with polymorph or alter self, but she is indeed a female when all is said and done. In fact, we've got all seven Runelords pretty well mapped out, even though with the exception of Karzoug, their roles in Rise of the Runelords will be pretty minor.

Sorshen is in no way a minor runelord, though. She's probably one of the most powerful of them. Maybe even the 2nd most powerful, with pride being the most powerful. So she's certainly not gonna be the pushover of the group.

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