There are hints Ahazu is trying to become a god. Did anyone do anything with this plotline? And what if he were to succeed, what kind of god would he be? Would he be at all interested in the throne of the Abyss? Or would that be far beneath him?
I didn't use that portion as of yet. As far as the abyssal throne, there are plenty of demon lords turned deities that have not sought the throne. I always thought of it this way, the prince of demons' power is tied to the abyss while a god's power is tied to worshipers on the material plane (gods end up having way to much to do with their worshipers to worry about running the local area I guess).
Having said that, I wouldn't have Ahazu become a god. I think that what Ahazu becomes is something closer to a cosmic horror. Basically, he becomes something powerful enough to destroy a god or cause an "end of days." There use to be a community group called Dicefreaks who created rules for these types of creatures that were on par with the deity rules. If he is a cosmic horror, then perhaps he would seek out the throne merely to start another unholy crusade such as the Queen of Chaos and Miska the wolfspider once did.
Cosmic horror is a good idea. I was even thinking along the lines of the Cthulhu mythos.
I have found Dicefreaks. It still exists, so I will check the site out for ideas.
The idea about Ahazu is linked to a second campaign I am running. It is a steampunk/horror-themed campaign and follows chronologically after the Savage Tide. So far there have been predictions about a possibly disastrous cosmic event approaching. It would be nice when some cosmic results of Savage Tide would lead to the rise of Ahazu, who could then become a cosmic villain for the final adventures of this second campaign, involving a planar threat of some kind.
If you find those rules Luna please link them! I'm definitely interested in doing something with Ahazu. Doubly so if I can be fortunate enough to get a Binder in my next STAP game.
This is the link to Dicefreaks Publishing. I have not checked out the site yet in order to find the rules, as I have been very busy with my work:
http://dicefreaks.superforums.org/viewforum.php?f=8
Aww, you guys found us.
I am afraid you won't find much on the site that you are looking for. Our main goal (years ago) was to make the mechanics match the flavor, so we essentially were tying to create stats for the archdevils, celestial paragons, demon princes, etc, collectively referred to as cosmic entities. If you check out Gates of Hell (a free pdf), our only published work, you can see our initial foray into that battle. Many of the CRs there exceed 30.
The absence or presence of a proper statblock does not make a story however, and that seems to be more along the lines of what you are trying. Setting a campaign in a world ravaged by Ahazu is a fantastic idea though...I would actually check out Elder Evils for ideas for what you could do to represent in a campaign setting, the impact of a dark force. For instance, escape artist checks could take a -5 penalty, and spells like freedom or freedom of movement might function poorly.
I would imagine that the greed of Ahazu would begin to apply to bigger concepts than powerful individuals. Perhaps he would start with absorbing/kidnapping lower level planes (perhaps the plane where the demon Urgosh the Maw (sp?) resides is a good start). Once Ahazu has a few planes tucked away, he might become bold enough to kidnap a planet from the Material plane.
Alternatively, the creatures that he imprisons in the Wells can become completely under his control so imagine threatening the cosmos with releasing Ma Yuan, the God Killer, under his command to feed Ahazu with more prisoners.
The heroes could be tasked with finding a way to pull Ahazu out of Shattered Night fully into the real world where he can be permanently killed/sealed in a fashion where he cannot gain power anymore. If Ahazu is already freed from Shattered Night as some kind of cosmic entity that imprisons all he touches into Shattered Night, the PCs might be tasked with securing artifacts and relics of great power to defeat Ahazu. Or if you want to go the whole "cosmic route," the greater powers keep Ahazu busy on a divine level while the PCs must journey into Shattered Night itself to fight an aspect of Ahazu that keeps him connected to Shattered Night.
Either way, perhaps the end result could echo through Creation itself and alter things dramatically (maybe the Second Darkness in Golarion was actually caused by a tiny fragment of Shattered Night hitting the planet or that in the Realms, the Spellplague [bah!] was caused by the backlash of the Abyss/Shattered Night).
Plenty of story ideas abound, and like Darkwind said, the presence or absence of a stat block does not make or break a game. So long as everyone has fun with it, I think you will be just fine.
CB out.
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IMO Ahazu would work best using the pact magic material from the 3.5 Tome of Magic. I could totally see Ahazu as some kind of bodiless possessing force that cannot be defeated using physical or conventional magical might--the PCs must find a way to imprison him again, perhaps by using Tuerny's Iron Flask or the like.
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I like the idea of Ahazu kidnapping whole planets, and starting with layers of the abyss. Perhaps the PCs can even prevent such a kidnapping.
The plot has gotten more complex, as it seems Orgosh will become involved with Ahazu and end up either imprisoned in one of the wells, or as a kind of avatar or aspect of Ahazu. This is all the result of one of my players messing around with miracles. High-level campaigns are such fun ! :-)
I like the idea of Ahazu kidnapping whole planets, and starting with layers of the abyss. Perhaps the PCs can even prevent such a kidnapping.
The plot has gotten more complex, as it seems Orgosh will become involved with Ahazu and end up either imprisoned in one of the wells, or as a kind of avatar or aspect of Ahazu. This is all the result of one of my players messing around with miracles. High-level campaigns are such fun ! :-)
That is rather ironic since when I converted Orgosh, I made him a specialist of the Gluttony sin school (which made sense given how his original build was a necromancy specialist with the prohibited schools of abjuration and enchantment). In a twisted way, the two of them can work well together in a thematically-appropriate manner. One is the epitome of greed while the other is a vessel of gluttony. One craves the ultimate possession - control/imprisonment of every living things - while the other feeds, in a pyschological sense, on the vitality of all living things. Perhaps their first true victim in the pursuit of their mutual plans is the abduction and draining of none other than Orcus himself! Why Orcus? Because certain aspects of his personality and power is similar to their own abilities.
Keep us updated on how things turn out for Ahazu in your campaign, Luna.
Cheers!
CB out.
I will. However, it can take some time. These players are only level 9.