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ooookay, so i have itroduced the Azlanti to my campagin, i am playing the D series and just finished D 1.5 Revenge of the Kobold King.
now my party met one of the ancient Azlanti spirits, fought her, and killed her, but try as i may, i cannot, other than story based info, find anything on how the Azlanti work or why they were so feared by the Rune Lords and everyone else in the world.
now one of my party members wants to bring her back from the dead later down the track, and im not sure how to go about it.
now can people here please give me ideas on whether to;
a) not let the party bring her back at all, although it would be fun if the party created some bad thing to happen because of it, ensuing next generation characters in a stylised world.
or
b) what would the Azlanti be like, and why were they so feared. Ideas about what the Azlanti as a race would be like would be a great help.
not sure whether this belongs here, but i do apologize for it not being in the right place ahead of time, if it is found to be so.
thanky you.
Peebo :D
Here's my limited understanding of the Azlanti. First off, if you see Azlanti and don't see even a hint of the Atlantis theories and myths then bang your head against the wall or something :P
Basically the Azlanti were a human race that the Aboleths helped raise to become the first major civilization. They were cultured and practiced magic more advanced than what is available in the world today (I'm not sure if technology was advanced as well...). They were a powerful culture and eventually slipped their aboleth bonds and continued to grow in power and arrogance.
Some people chafed under the rule of Azlanti culture. They wished to practice magic as they would prefer and they broke from the Azlanti nation and settled in what is now Varisia. This eventually formed the nations of Thassilon. Nations ruled by powerful wizards who didn't have to answer to anyone about what/who they experiment with/on or whether they slaughtered peasants by the cart load for kicks. They were a fractious group by their very nature and were at odds with the Azlanti because, well... they were evil wizards who left to make their own empire because they disliked the previous one. Being fractious, however, the Azlanti would have an edge against them because they were far more organized and maybe even powerful (not sure).
Eventually the aboleths, more than a little peeved that their slaves had left them and thought themselves superior in the ways of magic, devised a plan. They called down a large rock from space that had something of a Dinosaur effect on the world kicking up a lot of dirt and causing the Age of Darkness and effectively wiping out the Azlanti civilization.
So. To summarize:
Azlant was an ancient empire, the first major human civilization and practiced powerful magic of epic proportions.
They were hated by the Aboleths because they slipped their bonds and got all uppity.
They were hated by the Thassilonians because they were rivals for power and the only true threat to their empire (save for themselves).
They were feared by others because they were a big powerful nation chock to the brim with magic users in a world that didn't have big powerful nations (save fo Thassilon).
That's my basic understanding without pouring through all the rule books. You'll find more on them in the Campaign Setting, the Rise of the Runelords AP will tell you plenty about Thassilon and by extension a little about the ancient Azlant.
Beyond that they were left intentionally vague so DM's could have a field day making them whatever they liked.
Hope that helps and I hope it's correct more or less. :P
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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If you want to mix up the Azlanti a little (and keep any players who read the Pathfinder stuff off balance) I strongly recommend Radiance House's pact magic series.
Pact Magic's Atlans share a similar inspiration to the Azlanti, and if you can wrap your brain around Pact magic it works for giving them a 'strange unknown magic' vibe. It also makes the Mordent elves more alien if they're using this magic (and helps explain their love of masks)
Yes, my Azlanti had learned some Binding, and some former priests of Aroden are trying to see if a vestige of Aroden still exists. :-)
you might also want to try and give the Azlanti magic more of a Lovecraftian feel. From what I've read of lost Azalant, they blended magic with technology (electro-thaumaturgy as mentioned in the main rule book). Details were of course sketchy, but one possibility you could look at was an older generic 3.5 supplement from the sword and sorcery folks call 'chaostech'. The idea there being that magic/technology was fueled by raw chaos. Madness, mutation and corruption were possible side effect but it might fit with anything developed from magic stolen/learned from the Aboliths.
Just a thought anyway.
Mortals these days all fear the Azlanti because of the fabulous parties we threw, you know, back when our homeland wasn't under water... Just see the responses to my "Geb Needs Party Planners" thread.
As for what we're like in private, well, not everyone is as sultry and yet pure as I. But, we're all terribly mysterious, and a little sad that all we worked for is now but a shallow memory trodden on by the petulant feets of our progeny.
Ah...
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you might also want to try and give the Azlanti magic more of a Lovecraftian feel. From what I've read of lost Azalant, they blended magic with technology (electro-thaumaturgy as mentioned in the main rule book). Details were of course sketchy, but one possibility you could look at was an older generic 3.5 supplement from the sword and sorcery folks call 'chaostech'. The idea there being that magic/technology was fueled by raw chaos. Madness, mutation and corruption were possible side effect but it might fit with anything developed from magic stolen/learned from the Aboliths.
Just a thought anyway.
Monte Cook's Ptolus setting did good things with chaositech. Worth checking out if you're that way inclined.
I've created some Azlanti rules for a campaign I'm DMing. Its a PBP campaign, so I'm posting this under one of my characters so hopefully my players won't find it so quickly.
The magic-infused blood of the pure Azlanti manifests itself in your physical form. Your eyes glow an intense purple.
Class Skill: Intimidate
Bonus Spells: charm person (3rd), misdirection (5th), suggestion (7th), lesser geas (9th), dominate person (11th), mass suggestion (13th), ethereal jaunt (17th), dominate monster (19th).
Bonus Feats: Arcane Strike, Greater Spell Penetration, Iron Will, Improved Counterspell, Intimidating Mind*, Leadership, Magical Aptitude, Persuasive, Spell Penetration.
Bloodline Powers: Azlanti sorcerers' eyes glow unnaturally. Your eyes carry intense power. If you ever lose your eyes, you lose access to all spells and abilities until they are restored. You also suffer a -4 penalty on intimidate checks without your piercing gaze.
Eyes of Azlanti (Su): Starting at 1st level, you can focus your gaze into a ray of magical force as a standard action, targeting any foe within 30 feet as a ranged touch attack. This ray deals 1d6 points of force damage +1 for every two levels. At 5th level, the ray deals 2d6 points of force damage. At 11th level, the ray also deals 1d3 Wisdom damage. At 17th level, the ray deals 1d6 points of Wisdom damage instead of 1d3.
Gaze of Power (Su): At 3rd level, you can make a gaze attack as a standard action, targetting one creature within sight. The creature suffers -2 penalty to saving throws and attacks made against you, and suffers a -2 penalty to Charisma, Intelligence and Wisdom based checks if interacting with you. An affected creature receive a Reflex save to avoid the gaze. The DC of this save is equal to 10 + 1/2 your sorcerer level + your Intelligence modifier. At 7th level, the gaze stuns the effected creature for 1d4 rounds. While a creature is stunned, your eyes of azlanti ray deals maximum damage to it. At 13th level, the gaze affects all creatures facing you within a 30-foot cone.
Dominating Will (Su): At 9th level, you become immune to charm and compulsion effects. Any creature with the Azlanti subtype is charmed (as charm person or charm monster) by your gaze of power gaze attack. At 19th level, when you cast an enchantment or compulsion spell at a creature that is immune to charm and compulsion effects, it instead has SR equal to 15 + 1/2 its total level or Hit Dice + its Wisdom modifier.
Azlanti Magic (Su): At 15th level, you have mastered the secrets of Azlanti magic. You add +2 to the saving throw DCs of your spells, and receive +2 to caster level checks. In addition, you gain a +4 bonus to all knowledge checks. Azlanti artifacts that provide a bonus to knowledge checks instead enhance your spellcasting ability, increasing caster level by the amount of the skill bonus.
Mindmeld (Su): At 20th level, you instantly create a telepathic bond with any creature affected by the eyes of azlanti ray attack or the gaze of power gaze attack. While this telepathic bond is maintained, the creature fails all saves against mind-effecting spells you cast that target it. While maintaining the telepathic bond, you can concentrate fully as a standard action, to receive full sensory input as interpreted by the mind of the subject, and it can telepathically communicate with you. Once the telepathic bond is established, the range at which it can be exercised is unlimited, as long as you and the subject are on the same plane. You do not need to see the subject to receive telepathic or sensory information.
As a full round action, the subject can break telepathic contact with a Will save. The DC of this save is equal to 12 + 1/2 your sorcerer level + your Intelligence modifier.
This is basically like Intimidating Prowess, except it works with intelligence instead of strength. It requires eye contact. I was trying to write a mockup for it similar to the one in the book, but my pdf isn't working right now.
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+2 Intelligence, +2 any other ability score, -2 any other ability score
Pure Azlanti threw off the shackles of slavery to the minds of the Aboleth, and since then have trained their minds to prevent from falling again. Like humans, they have focused on developing many aspects of themselves.
Medium: Pure Azlanti are Medium creatures, and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Pure Azlanti have a base speed of 30 feet.
Piercing Eyes: As a full round action, a Pure Azlanti can peer into the ethereal plane and see ethereal creatures or objects within 5 feet. Azlanti receive a +2 bonus to Intimdate and Sense Motive checks when they make eye contact with the subject.
Azlanti Resistance: Azlanti receive a +2 racial saving throw bonus against enchantment spells and effects.
Azlanti Magic: A Pure Azlanti casts any spell that influences or effects the ethereal plane at +1 caster level. Any time a Pure Azlanti has access to a general or metamagic feat, he or she may instead take an Azlanti feat.
Weapon Familiarity: Azlanti are proficient with any weapons that have the word Azlanti in their names.
Hatred: Azlanti receive a +1 bonus on attack rolls against aboleths and known aboleth-dominated creatures.
Azlanti Affinity: Azlanti gain a +2 racial bonus to skill and ability checks made to interact with another Azlanti or a creature with the Azlanti subtype.
Favored Class: Azlanti may choose any one class to be their favored class at 1st level. Once made, this cannot be changed. This is exactly like the Favored Class ability of normal humans.
Given that the Azlanti "iconic" picture is intentionally made to look like Namor from Marvel comics, looking up the Marvel comics history of Atlantis probably isn't a bad idea either, although like everything else, its a piece of inspiration, not something to use whole cloth.
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Given that the Azlanti "iconic" picture is intentionally made to look like Namor from Marvel comics, looking up the Marvel comics history of Atlantis probably isn't a bad idea either, although like everything else, its a piece of inspiration, not something to use whole cloth.
Yeah, I was noticing how Atlanteans in the comics (both Marvel and DC) tended to blend science and sorcery, and having the Azlanti be the source of both certain 'advanced' magics (perhaps even metamagic feats, or spells that are 'meta' in nature, like Rary's Mnemonic Enhancer) and advanced sciences (repeating crossbows, alchemical fire, etc.) could be interesting.
Adding some flavor detail, such as changing the name of Alchemical Fire to 'Azlanti Fire' could help make this feel a little more real. Introducing any new things you want to introduce (new spells, new feats, new alchemical formula, unique magic items) as discoveries found by the party in an old Azlanti tome or reliquary or whatever could be another way of presenting ancient Azlanti techniques.
(For instance, if you've decided to allow the alchemical formula from the Eberron Campaign Setting, Acidic Fire, Noxious Smokesticks, Alchemical Frost and Alchemical Spark, you could allow a member of your adventuring group to discover an alchemical formulary in old Azlanti, with recipes for these substances. Alternately, these items could be discovered 'off-screen,' by other researchers, if you don't want the party to have first access to such things. The Azlanti 'forumulary' might also not be a simple guidebook, but exist in the form of a series of crystals that, in the hands of an arcanist, produce a major image of an Azlanti Alchemist, who then describes and demonstrates the alchemical recipe, as a form of teaching aid, or some other arcane method of 'teaching,' such as a potion that imparts the knowledge of the procedure (recipe, spell, feat, whatever) to the drinker, or whatever.)