I'm using a homebrew campiagn based mainly on Eberron with some added flare here and there. Kyuss isn't that tasty to me, and I'm replacing Kyuss with another being who is scheming in the background. I'm leaning towards Orcus, or even Call of Cthulhu's Shudde M'ell.
I was wondering if anyone else had decided to replaced Kyuss and if so who you replaced him with.
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As a DM it's important to remember that you can rarely have too many chthonic alien gods in your campaign :)
"but... but... but... we're playing bunnys & burrows" squeels the player.
I guess it comes down to what you don't like about Kyuss and how close you want to stay to the core AoW plot. I'd say you probably want to look at something around Divine Rank 0 with a reputation for ancient, ineffable evil -- the sort of entity that gets "ghost" stories told about by the common folk whilst dusty old scholars debate how to spell/pronouce it's name :)
As a DM it's important to remember that you can rarely have too many chthonic alien gods in your campaign :)
"but... but... but... we're playing bunnys & burrows" squeels the player.
I guess it comes down to what you don't like about Kyuss and how close you want to stay to the core AoW plot. I'd say you probably want to look at something around Divine Rank 0 with a reputation for ancient, ineffable evil -- the sort of entity that gets "ghost" stories told about by the common folk whilst dusty old scholars debate how to spell/pronouce it's name :)
I'm altering the original plot quite a bit as at least one of the players has a subscription to Dungeon. My understanding is that Kyuss is mainly a Greyhawk baddie, and since I'm not hanging by a string for Greyhawk, I'm not that terribly interested in interoducing yet another terrible evil godlike creature that the characters and players haven't heard about... :O)
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I'm altering the original plot quite a bit as at least one of the players has a subscription to Dungeon. My understanding is that Kyuss is mainly a Greyhawk baddie, and since I'm not hanging by a string for Greyhawk, I'm not that terribly interested in interoducing yet another terrible evil godlike creature that the characters and players haven't heard about... :O)
How about the guy in (arguably) the number 3 spot in the Abyss (after Demogorgon & Orcus) -- Graz'zt. Not as "obvious" as Orcus, and not as undead-friendly, but quite a bit more enigmatic than ol' goaty, and if your players date back to 1st ed they've probably at least heard of him.
Or take something for "real" mythology, that even if your players haven't heard of through the game they might have otherwise -- Aztec, Celtic, and pre-Abrahamic mythologies are likely to be the best real-world options for those types of baddy.
If you want to stick to the Mythos then Hastur, Nyarlathotep, or even Yog-sothoth hold possibilities, though they're obviously a few steps up the power scale compared to Shudde M'ell.
Creative Director
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I'm using a homebrew campiagn based mainly on Eberron with some added flare here and there. Kyuss isn't that tasty to me, and I'm replacing Kyuss with another being who is scheming in the background. I'm leaning towards Orcus, or even Call of Cthulhu's Shudde M'ell.
I was wondering if anyone else had decided to replaced Kyuss and if so who you replaced him with.
Interesting you should bring up the Lovecraft Mythos, since where we're going with Kyuss is very certainly inspired by much of Lovecraft's writings. Let's just say that Kyuss' worm aspects are as important (if not more important) to the Age of Worms adventure path as is his undead aspect.
I'm not sure what about Kyuss doesn't sit well with you, but if you're thinking of adding in some Lovecraftian elements, I think you'll at least get a kick about where and how the Age of Worms campaign ends up, at least.
I'm not sure what about Kyuss doesn't sit well with you,
Well, honestly it's not that Kyuss doesn't sit well with me. It's the simple fact that my group of players have recently ended a campaign based loosely on the Dead Gods module, and Orcus has plauged them as of late. Many times in Dungeon or D&D modules, the "terrible god-like being" that is used would be just as easily replaced by any other terrible god-like being. Since I'm not playing in a Greyhawk setting at all, and have no knowledge of Kyuss that makes me think he's super cool, I was trying to figure out an established evil being in my campaign to use for Kyuss. I know that my players react better to established evil rather than "oh this is a terrible being who you've never heard about" evil.
However, I guess if you claim that it's very important for Kyuss to be in the role of Kyuss, then I'll wait and see. I figured it would be just as easy to substitute Shudde M'ell as my campaign includes Cthulhu mythos. (CoC d20 RPG, pg 284) Shudde M'ell is a worm-like creature and I didn't think it would be a huge stretch to have him behind the evil plotting of the Age of Worms.I'll have to wait for an Overveiw of the story or issues that further develop things and make my decision.
For now, I'm just hoping that Overload manages to come out before I go mad. It would help me with some plot development.
Where is Kyuss's stats mentioned? And weren't their monsters called "Sons of Kyuss?" If so, where can I find an adaptation for D&D 3.5?
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Creative Director
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I don't know about Kyuss' stats...but the sons of kyuss are in MM 2.
The Spawn of Kyuss (aka the Sons of Kyuss) are going to be fairly important in Age of Worms, so you'll be seeing their stats pop up in there often.
Kyuss himself has not (yet) been statted up.
As for replacing Kyuss with Shudde M'ell or any other Great Old One/Outer God... good times! Although Mordiggian's probably a better choice. Actually... an even better choice in such a campaign would be to keep his name and make Kyuss a super powerful worshiper of Mordiggian, since it's sort of important to the storyline that Kyuss was at one time a human. If you change him into a Great Old One, all I'm saying is that you should be prepared to change more than just some names...
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Creative Director
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For my Forgotten Realms campaign, I'm using Kyuss as an aspect (right now the PCs think it's a servant) of Kezef, the Chaos Hound.
Kezef comes with evil writhing maggots, so it's all good.
James, would you forsee any problems with the Age of Worms if I used this substitution?
Nope; although as with the earlier suggestion, you'll need to adjust more than just the names since there are a lot of things that Kyuss (as a deity) can do that Kezef can't. You'll also need to adjust/rewrite a fair amount of background/history regarding Kyuss once the PCs start really learning about him. But that all comes with the territory of making a set of adventures your own... personally, that's the best part, I think!
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By the time I get to Age of Worms, It'll all be published, and I'll have lots of time to prepare. I am really enjoying using your adventure path modules as a "skeleton" to build my campaign on, varying as much or as little as I want from the published word.
I ask about Kezef, because the players recently ran into the Spawn of Kyuss in Flood Season, and I started speaking in tongues about Kyuss was a servant of Kezef, or Kezef was a servant of Kyuss - I kept it vague, but I'm looking forward to forshadowing to AP2 when I start them all over at 1st level ...
As for replacing Kyuss with Shudde M'ell or any other Great Old One/Outer God... good times! Although Mordiggian's probably a better choice. Actually... an even better choice in such a campaign would be to keep his name and make Kyuss a super powerful worshiper of Mordiggian, since it's sort of important to the storyline that Kyuss was at one time a human. If you change him into a Great Old One, all I'm saying is that you should be prepared to change more than just some names...
Hey, sounds good! Thanks for the insight. I look forward to development and I'll be planning to keep Kyuss's name and make him a powerful follower of whatever god or demon prince I decide to include in the campaign.
...I'm not that terribly interested in interoducing yet another terrible evil godlike creature that the characters and players haven't heard about... :O)
But part of the point is that the Age of Worms is being brought about by a little-known terrible godlike creature.
Of course, we can change anything we want :)
Regards,
Jack
As for replacing Kyuss with Shudde M'ell or any other Great Old One/Outer God... good times! Although Mordiggian's probably a better choice. Actually... an even better choice in such a campaign would be to keep his name and make Kyuss a super powerful worshiper of Mordiggian, since it's sort of important to the storyline that Kyuss was at one time a human. If you change him into a Great Old One, all I'm saying is that you should be prepared to change more than just some names...
Wow. It's so cool to see all the "Old School" names and monsters coming back into vogue again.
Alas, I'm all about Eberron these days, so it will be interesting to see your/Erik's/Keith Baker's suggestions for how to handle Kyuss in an Eberron setting. I mean, I've got some clues, ideas and whatnot on how to handle it, and Baker/Wyatt et al have given us plenty of wiggle room (pun intended), but still, I will DEFINITELY be interested to see Kyuss (or even a Great Old One) is envisioned in Eberron (hopefully as something more than just a demon/rakshasa/generic fiend of yore, but I could live with that).
-- tmw
I am also interested in seeing the Eberron take on this.
Would it be plausible to sub Kyuss for a extraordinarily powerful fiend who escaped the bounds of Khyber by teleporting to Xoriat? Perhaps he returned during the Daelkyr invasion, only to have a dragon lead a group of goblins to bind him again. I'd want to look at the powers and plot points before doing a good backstory, but hopefully Keith will have something good cooked up for us.
"but... but... but... we're playing bunnys & burrows" squeels the player.
LOL.
I actually played a couple of Bunnies & Burrows campaigns many years ago. Not a bad little game really (here I am talking about the 1st Edition - never played any other edition). Make sure to watch Watership down with your players first though.
I'm altering the original plot quite a bit as at least one of the players has a subscription to Dungeon. My understanding is that Kyuss is mainly a Greyhawk baddie, and since I'm not hanging by a string for Greyhawk, I'm not that terribly interested in interoducing yet another terrible evil godlike creature that the characters and players haven't heard about... :O)
Personally I'd really have a chat with your play - plot alterations aside its going to be significantly less enjoyable for both of you if your player has read the adventures. Can't you cut a deal where the player simply skips over all the AoW's stuff until the campaign comes to a close? It'll improve the game for both you and the player.
Now if your player is truely in the dark about whats going on you might pull it off. I once ran a party through Ravenloft even though one of the players had already played it. I put Racvenloft in the middle of the Underdark and eliminated all refferences to the outside world and weather effects etc. The setting was so different the player never caught on except to occasionally tell me he was sure he had played this adventure some where before...he'd remember something like climbing half a dozen flights of stairs and seeing a picture...but the setting was so different that he never put two and two together.
That said my Ravonloft probably suffered from the compromise and faced with the same situation again I might well go at it differently today - maybe have teh player that new the adventure co-DM with me by running all the monsters. In the end I think my iteration of Ravonloft deprived the rest of the group from experiencing Ravonloft in all its glory.