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After some working-out with one player, one of my players has decided he'd like to be the reincarnation of one of the Runelords.
PandaGaki, I remember you said you had a player being the reincarnated runelord of Wrath, how is yours turning out?
Anyway, after some near-death experiences, he has regained some vague memories, including Xanderghul's personal monologue on existence, post-life.
My name is Xanderghul, once an archmage, and I have lived twenty-two lives. I have been rich and poor, lived old and young many times, ill and well, dark and light, but in all my lifetimes, there has been one constant- the secrets of magic. In my first life, my oldest, I learned these secrets like recipes, building-blocks for power. The more I possessed, the more my pride grew, and my pride cursed me for all my lifetimes. This is my story.
A plague fell upon my people, the people of Cyrusian, forged from our own power. In my vanity, I sought to raise myself beyond the forbidden limits, to make myself anew as a god, and attempted to see all of the wondrous arcane secrets of time.
I used these secrets to work, in solitude, a powerful magic that would enable me to scry back to the very beginning of time. By observing and grasping the very moment of creation, I hoped to learn the ultimate truth of magic, making me all but a god.
Instead of the great secret I was hoping to discover, I found only a terrible void at the beginning of time. Somehow, this void penetrated my scrying-pool in the form of an unstoppable plague which infected me and my apprentices. Within a matter of months, the plague devoured my magical energies, and horribly marked its victims. Within a year, the wizards of my homeland began dying, as the spells that sustained our lives began to fail.
It took me three long years, but I finally managed to devise a plan to rid us of the plague. I managed to discover ancient references to the greatest of the sorcerer-kings of the time, imprisoned in eternal rest beneath the earth where once was the capital of his great empire. It seemed that his greatest enemies, thousands of years before even our time, had imprisoned him. There was no record of his location or of anyone taking or disturbing his body. I became determined to find and contact Korak after I developed a spell that would let me steal the arcane secrets still stored in the ancient one’s mind. I believed that these magics would be powerful enough to burn the plague away.
Once the preparations for this spell were nearly complete, I dispatched a party of my champions to enter Korak’s tomb, steal the downfallen sorcerer-king’s great power, and secure their destiny. Although the party located his resting-place, they never got an opportunity to work the fateful magic, for I betrayed them. I turned from the worship of my familial patron, the Peacock Spirit, and slew my companions in their sleep, hungry for power. In my greed, I slew even my cousin Faurgar. I freed the ancient sorcerer-king from his prison, and in his gratitude, he granted me three wishes. With a single one, I ended the plague, closing the scrying-pool. With the second, I begged for his knowledge, which he granted me, in the form of a hundred massive tomes of knowledge. My power rivalled that of the other Runelords combined, but in my foolishness, I lacked the discipline to control the sorcerer-king’s godlike power, and fled into the south.
The Others divined the truth of matters, and chased me into the south. We faced each other finally at a small tavern, gone now for many thousands of years. All my spellbooks were lost, scattered to the four winds, and the only spells that remained to me were those I had used so long that they had become a part of me. In despair, I called to Korak to preserve me, and preserve me he did. I wrote a note, then ended my own life by means of an ordinary knife, and I died for the first time.
The soul of the wailing infant in the room beside me was crushed into oblivion, absorbed by my powerful mind. I shredded my memories so that the Runelords could not pursue me, and began life anew. I was forced to learn my identity again, and again and again.
My name is Xanderghul, first among equals, Runelord of Pride, kinslayer, once an archmage, and I have lived twenty-two lives now. In my fourteenth life, I was of a people who dwelt in an isolated monastery, and I came to know a concept they named karma- that the soul is punished for its past transgressions. It seemed odd to me, as my magic seemed odd to them, but it is a mystical secret I yearn to understand. In some of my lives, I have sought to do good, and in some, I have been as evil as my first life. However, I sense that something yet remains undone- some monstrous secret that I have unleashed upon the world. I sense that it must be resolved before I can be allowed to end the curse of my own making. I hunger for rest, whether damnation or reward.
My cycle must end.
I was going to buff him a little, maybe allowing him access to the Magic or Spell domains in addition to his current spells (he's a Spirit Shaman), and perhaps give him some background knowledge, parts of which may work in game. I was also going to add another reincarnation (basically, Karzoug's runewell getting turned back on jigged the reincarnation loose, and Wesh is the repository for some of his power, while his ego/personality was reincarnated separately).
I chose Xanderghul because he seemed to fit the idea better (and I know it couldn't easily be Karzoug), does anyone else have any experience with this kind of idea?
That's a pretty kickass writeup. I'll write some more, but I'm in the middle of a lecture right now.
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That is one impressive piece of writing.
We are planning to have the 205th clone of Vraxeris, brought as a baby out of Runeforge by the RotRL PCs, be a PC in CotCT. I was planning to go with some of the same ideas--partial memories, ambiguities about personality, continuity (eventually) of magic. No experience with this yet, of course. (We'd like to have a couple of issues in hand before starting, after some irksome surprises with RotRL.)
Mary
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That's a pretty kickass writeup. I'll write some more, but I'm in the middle of a lecture right now.
Stop writing frivolous messages on that leasure site! I'm trying to teach you something here!
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Alright, this is what I did for my players:
After watching a little too much Heroes and playing too much Eberron before finding Pathfinder, I've liberally yoinked ideas from both and have come up with 'runemarks' that have manifested on the players.
Mechanically, they function like dragonmarks, but flavor wise, they are like a 'super power' in the same vein as X-Men or Heroes. At first, I surprised them with it while they were fighting Nualia. Three characters manifested strange abilities which directly correlated with the burning sensations they felt in their lest shoulder blades. These strange abilities included transforming into a wolf, having one's skin develop a protective layer of bark, and the abilitiy to conjure precipitation out of nowhere. After the fight, they examined each others' backs and after a degree of research, came up with the conclusion that these marks correlated to the seven virtues (or sins) during ancient Thassilon. The one who transformed into a wolf had the 'runemark' of Greed, the one who was able to control precipitation had the runemark of Sloth, and the 'Tree Man,' as we all like to call him was closely related to the runemark of Envy. Later on, three more marks were revealed, each being quite potent in their abilities. There was the party cleric who suddenly had the ability to charm another as a bard or an enchanter would be able to (runemark of Lust), the party wizard who found his offensive spells augmented greatly due to his newfound affinity to fire (runemark of wrath), and last but not least, the party rogue whose ability to slowly regenerate herself and put herself back together after accidents proved to be both a blessing and a curse (runemark of gluttony). The aforementioned rogue had been plagued with dreams wherein a pale, purple-lipped fat man in dark robes have been enticing her to commit more and more acts of depravity in order to augment her considerable new power. As a result of these dreams, the rogue has suddenly been stricken with an urge to feed on human blood (if she doesn't, the food she eats tastes like ash and the water she drinks tastes like bile. Mechanically, she loses a point of Con if she doesn't feed in 2d4 days)
The reason I bring all this up under your post is that when the PCs first discovered their new powers, they automatically assumed that they were the present day incarnations of the Runelords. That originally did not cross my mind, but now that I think about it, I am really liking the idea. As a matter of fact, I think I should have Zuka slowly preparing the halfling rogue's body for eventual inhabitation.
Dragonmarks... why didn't I think of that?
Thank, Cesare. That really helps in terms of game balance, how powerful should the abilities be, etc. We should keep in contact, let each other know if our PCs try anything off-the-wall wacky, just in case.
And Mary... wow. Praise from you is.... slightly stunning. You're clearly someone who knows their way around RPGs, and having you compliment me on a piece of writing is... well, wow. Thanks.
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Well, the whole 'dragonmark' mechanic was something I cobbled together over several sessions (for balance reasons). It originally started off as: "hey wouldn't it be cool if they had x special abilities in addition to their normal class abilities," I sprung the special abilities while they were in a fight for their lives (against Nualia as a matter of fact), and although the benefits were not too overpowering, the players absolutely loved it. This also had the added bonus of getting them to be extremely curious about Thassilon and the Runelords, which played in perfectly into my hands. I didn't reveal the names of the Runelords yet, but I had them appear in front of certain PCs in the form of dreams. Though the runelords came off as imperious or arrogant, most of their interactions with their respective PCs have been beneficial for the player in the form of insight on how to better use their special powers or simply information about Thassilon itself. I think this bit of foreshadowing would make the eventual fight with Karzoug a blast: I can see the player with the Runemark of Greed going: "Oh crap, I'm actually facing off with the guy who I'm the avatar of!"
I've also added a rival adventuring group led by Viorian (the Champion of Greed in PF 6) who also have manifested runemarks. Although they haven't met my 6th level PCs yet, I'm sure this whole competition theme is an efficient, Darwinian method of determining the ideal vessel for the runelords. (Think Baldur's Gate: PC vs Sarevok x 7)
Conclusion: making the players feel special or integral to the plot goes a long way to making them active participants in the game.
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OK, I've been doing some work on the idea, and this is what I came up with.
Currently, Wesh (our Spirit Shaman) has the Varisian Tattoo feat.
He's not really been using his dancing lights ability, since he can cast produce flame with a much better effect. He does, however, love the +1 caster level for evocation spells, and I really, really can't see him swapping that for illusion spells.
I don't think he'd really want to spend more feats on it (as I'm allowing him to use his chastise spirits ability in place of turn attempts to fuel divine feats).
What I was considering, however, is allowing him to enter a prestige class based loosely on Heir of Siberys from the Eberron Campaign Setting.
Spoiler for length purposes...
The ancient magics of Thassilon did not die away easily. There are certain folk born all across Varisia with arcane tattoos which grant special abilities. In some cases, these rune-tattoos spread and flourish, gaining almost a life of their own.
Hit Die: d6.
Requirements:
To qualify to become a Runemark Heir, a character must fulfil all the following prerequisites.
Feat: Varisian Tattoo (any).
Skills:10 ranks in any two skills.
Spells: Ability to cast 4th-level spells.
Class Skills
The Runemark Heir retains all previous class skills for all previous classes.
Skill Points per level: 2 + Int modifier.
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Runemark Heir.
Weapon and Armour Proficiency: The Runemark Heir gains no proficiencies with weapons or armours.
Runeguard Tattoos (Su): From 1st level, a Runemark Heir's tattoos expand, covering around 20% of the character's body. The tattoos now protect the Runemark Heir with a constant deflection bonus to armour class equal to the Runemark Heir's class level.
Spells per day: At each level after 1st, a Runemark Heir gains
new spells per day and spells known as if he had also gained a level in that class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would normally gain. This essentially means that he adds one level to his spells per day in one other spellcasting class, then determines spells per day and caster level accordingly.
Improved Rune Tattoos (Sp): From 3rd level, a Runemark Heir gains the ability to use a new spell-like ability once per day based on the spell-like ability gained from their Varisian Tattoo feat, as detailed below. In addition, the character may use their original spell-like ability one additional time per day:
Abjuration: dispel magic.
Conjuration: stinking cloud.
Enchantment: suggestion.
Evocation: daylight.
Illusion: raiment of command.
Necromancy: ray of exhaustion.
Transmutation: slow.
Greater Rune Tattoos (Sp): At 5th level, a Runemark Heir gains the ability to use a new spell-like ability once per day based on the spell-like ability gained from their Varisian Tattoo feat, as detailed below. In addition, the character may use their original spell-like ability and their improved spell-like ability one additional time per day each (3 original, 2 improved, 1 greater).
Abjuration: protection from spells
Conjuration: maze
Enchantment: demand
Evocation: greater shout
Illusion: scintillating pattern
Necromancy: waves of exhaustion
Transmutation: iron body
Base Attack development: as Wizard.
Saving throws: As Monk.
Special:
1st level: Runeguard tattoos
2nd level: +1 level of existing spellcasting level
3rd level: Improved Rune Tattoo, +1 level of existing spellcasting level
4th level: +1 level of existing spellcasting level
5th level: Greater Rune Tattoo, +1 level of existing spellcasting level
I was planning to just not tell my player about it being based on his original choice and give him the abilities based off Illusion (Xanderghul's sin domain). In addition, I was going to replace the clones of Vraxeris with clones of Xanderghul... I figure he may have been vain enough to have people only ever obey his orders... and thus, hordes of cloned Runelords (of varying power) tramping around Cyrusian. No-one would ever dare refuse an order, because it might be the 6th-level version... but it might be the 20th-level one. It was your guess.
Now that I've had some time to 'iron out' the kinks in this and finally get back to posting, we worked out that having Wesh (our PC) be a mindclone of Xanderghul didn't really work- Illusion just seemed to be pretty useless. After some PC/DM hard-talking, we worked out that we liked Krune, Runelord of Sloth and Lord of Haruka (the conjuration-specialist) for our bad guy.
Wesh is now having a lot of fun summoning to his heart's content (Huge giant crocodiles and packs of wolves all tripping at once pretty much killed the Kreegs) and it sort of works- why would Krune bother going to the effort of reincarnating himself? He's just effectively power-levelling Wesh, until the time is right, then he'll take the body back (until something interferes... we'll see about that later).
This is brilliant. After reading your recent post about Krune, I just hit upon gold. In PF 6, instead of images of Karzoug popping in to fire pot shots at the PCs at seemingly random intervals, I'll have Karzoug try to possess his avatar (my shapeshifting PC who bears the runemark of greed). If she fails her saving throw, something like this might happen:
"Suddenly, Eanah's face and form begin to contort and shudder. She sees, with growing horror, that something is trying to burrow its way out of her stomach. With a sickening 'pop,' the head of a gaunt man with gems on his forehead emerges from her stomach. He looks around with macabre amusement before crawling out halfway, freeing his bony, bejewelled hands from his unwilling host. A low laugh issues from his sneering mouth as he begins to weave his hands about in the casting of a spell - roll initiative!"
Of course, I don't want this to kill that PC outright, so I'll just have the party conveniently find a ring of regeneration in one of their journeys.
That is one impressive piece of writing.
We are planning to have the 205th clone of Vraxeris, brought as a baby out of Runeforge by the RotRL PCs, be a PC in CotCT. I was planning to go with some of the same ideas--partial memories, ambiguities about personality, continuity (eventually) of magic. No experience with this yet, of course. (We'd like to have a couple of issues in hand before starting, after some irksome surprises with RotRL.)
Mary
Mary, could you tell me how this is going? I am thinking about doing something like this for the sorcerer PC in my campaign.
(i.e. How did he get to Korvosa? Who brought him there? Who raised him, etc.)
Thanks!