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What are some good things to "farm" in PF1?
You know in, say, a vampire movie where the good guys walk into a warehouse and it's full of people being kept alive but drained of their blood... or whatever it may be... people in pods as batteries like in the Matrix...
What are some good things in PF1 where the players could happen upon a field of "X" or a dark basement laboratory filled with "Y"... without going for knee-jerk offensive, what are good things to harvest that will have maximum emotional impact on the party?
Orphanages are out, the child soldier/slave thing has been used far too much in far too many types of media to be useful. Nothing involving the underaged ever crosses with anything sexual at my tables, so don't even try go there, either... that would obviously, fall under knee-jerk offensive.
Read somewhere about the Tarrasque being captured and its blood being used as medicine for a civilization... or maybe the Tarrasque was simply sleeping and they took advantage of that. But nobody feels sorry for the armageddon engine being used to provide medicine for a community.
Are there any cute little animals that secrete hallucinogens when scared, like Ling-Ling in Drawn Together?
My Implaceable Stalker Nightmare Lord Bogeyman has children trapped under his floorboards because he literally thrives on their constant fear... but that is just one monster harvesting fear for personal use... I want something like mass production scale... supporting an entire illicit black market.
Any ideas?
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This is something similar to what you're talking about that I came up with in one of the 101 Encounters threads in the Homebrew forums; I think its pretty "emotion-evoking" to the PC's: The Fate of Constance Kesselbeck
6. The Fate of Constance Kesselbeck (CR15+)Some 10 years ago, Admiral Constance Kesselbeck was reported to have gone down with her ship while fighting a Kraken near McCoastalTown, however that story is all about to change. Townsfolk (and the PC's as well, if they spend the night in McCoastalTown) have been reporting highly vivid dreams and nightmares; in the dreams, they see the Admiral ethereally walking on the water near the Monteursor Archipelago, a long series of islands approximately 8 days-worth of sailing away from McCoastalTown. However, in the nightmares, they see two particularly evil Illithids, a pair of famous Mind Flayers named Phaequum and Tsazzeng'noth, who are torturing her mind and driving her to madness.
Townsfolk (and the PC's) have a 50% chance of having a nightmare whenever they sleep, and each time they have a nightmare, they become possessed by the Mind Flayers (Will DC: 20 negates, anything that can remove Dominate Person or Mind Control can also remove this Enthrall effect), and once possessed they make every attempt to fly, sail, or float to the island in the archipelago and become their Thralls. The Kraken will attack anyone while enroute who attempts to visit the archipelago who isn't enthralled by the Mind Flayers.
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Another one: Dragons being kept alive and having their scales harvested/healed/regrown/re-harvested for armor, weapons, and reagents for spells requiring dragons' scales.
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And then Dragon, the cat, tells the party that when the red sun came, a song took all the people away... sorry, Kingmaker is still relatively fresh in my mind. And the mass enthrall event reminded me of Vordkai's use of the Oculus of Abaddon.
I do like your suggestion(s)... any time Mind Flayers can be involved, they probably should be.
Are the rotting carcasses of Thralls who have already been fed upon and their brains removed via a hole in the top of their head still usable for Animate Dead? Asking for a friend...
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Are the rotting carcasses of Thralls who have already been fed upon and their brains removed via a hole in the top of their head still usable for Animate Dead? Asking for a friend...
I don't see why not ;)
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Soul Gem farming, huh? Certainly, you have my attention. And soon you will have the attention of my business partner...
One of the immortal hags, this particular Dreamthief Hag is a Sanguine Sorcerer/Souldrinker. I have her on speed dial.
Despite the very act of trading, consuming, or otherwise using Soul Gems is "Evil", I very much doubt that the harvesting of chicken souls is going to emotionally motivate the party to action. The freaking Paladin is over there stuffing their face with chicken nuggets supplied by this very farm!
And, regardless of chicken's popularity on the surface when it comes to tastes/flavor... chicken souls taste like $#!+ when snacked upon, so their popularity fades once you go below. The value of chicken soul gems is embarassing in Abaddon. We will have to step up our game if we want to step into the Soul Gem trade.
Now... let's talk skin.
Angels AND Dragons being farmed for their skin? So gross. Might just be perfect...
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In my homebrew world, I have a race of drow-like evil elves called the Votavi, but rather than being blood, spider, or religion-focused, they specialize in dark Eldritch magic and soul exploitation. They can live underground, but typically they live on the surface, but they're sunlight-averse so they use magic to darken the sky above them. Anywho, they have a ritual that they perform as a capital punishment in their society called the "Kiss of Chaos", where they weaken a person's soul to the point of collapse over the course of several days with dark magic that acts as an "anesthetic" for the soul, and once your soul has reached its breaking point, they obliterate your soul so that you cannot reach afterlife. In this process, there is an ethereal-y powder they affectionately call "Dust" that is formed, and the Votavi consume this like a cocaine/opiate-like drug to get euphorically high. And they don't snort or inject this "drug", it's more like an additive to their cultural food dishes and drinks. Think of it like adding chili peppers to your food and drink to make it spicy.
While they don't have a "farm" per se, they do raid other civilizations and take as many prisoners as possible for this ritual whenever their Dust supply is low. In their capital city, they have a large tower that is reminiscent of Scrooge McDuck's vault that is full of Dust, so that could satisfy the "farm" or "creepy pod".
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Ryze, you never cease to amaze me.
This "Dust"... the ethereal powder... does the entire body turn to dust upon completion of the ritual?
Or does the victim survive, cursed to forever live knowing they will never see salvation?
If the victim is to survive, do they just cough out this Dust that used to be their soul?
Are the Votavi kin or allied with the Drow? Do the Votavi live on the surface? Are they accepted in society or shunned because everyone knows they focus on evil magic? Are there non-Evil Votavi? Can a non-Votavi Elf become a Votavi if they are really into dark magic? What separates Votavi from other Elves besides their interests in dark magic? Are there Noble Votavi as there are Noble Drow?
Do they ever trade this "Dust" with non-Votavi? Can non-Votavi still consume "Dust" and experience its effects the same as Votavi experience it?
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VM, I added some clarifications to my post above just now, so you might want to re-read it real quick.
Anywho,
Ryze, you never cease to amaze me.
*bow* ty :P
This "Dust"... the ethereal powder... does the entire body turn to dust upon completion of the ritual?
The body actually withers and shrivels into a black gooey husk and they're unrecognizable. The ethereal-y powder created is from the soul being destroyed, not the body being shriveled.
Or does the victim survive, cursed to forever live knowing they will never see salvation?
The victim does not survive, they're toast.
If the victim is to survive, do they just cough out this Dust that used to be their soul?
The Dust is carefully removed from the black husk that was once their body. It's embedded all throughout the body like diamonds in the earth. So they perform a "post-death surgery" to find it all. They have magic to aid them in this though, so it's not difficult.
Are the Votavi kin or allied with the Drow?
No, but the Drow hate the Votavi. The Votavi don't actually "hate" anyone, but they view all other souled-beings like sharks view fish. Votavi are nihilists in their philosophy, so they're not just incredibly evil, but they're without conscience in their actions.
Do the Votavi live on the surface?
Mostly yes, about 85% of their population lives on the surface. But they are sunlight-averse, and use magic to darken the sky. The darkness extends for about 10 miles outside of their borders. Non-Votavi races have erected walls and fortresses around the Votavi's borders, and the best way to describe this is similar to the Night's Watch in GoT, except they only do a 5 year assignment and are venerated for the rest of their lives. These people come from all walks of life and different races, and are colloquially known as "Blackjackets" because of the uniforms they wear. If they survive their 5 year assignment and return to society, they're like rockstars, and can drink for free in any pub from Thrace to Szucario.
Are they accepted in society or shunned because everyone knows they focus on evil magic?
No, they're so evil that everyone hates them, and are openly attacked anywhere outside of their borders.
Are there non-Evil Votavi?
Yes, but extremely rare. 1/1,000,000 are good, but are never redeemed amongst society. They always have some nigh-infallible way of disguising themselves.
Can a non-Votavi Elf become a Votavi if they are really into dark magic?
No, the Votavi will probably kill them.
What separates Votavi from other Elves besides their interests in dark magic?
Soul exploitation and being irredeemably evil. Their nihilistic philosophy resembles an "I'm immortal, they're all mortal and die, so why shouldn't they just die now and they can serve a better purpose than their meaningless lives by getting me high for a couple hours." All other beings are essentially insects to them, and if you're a souled-being, you're nothing more than food to be consumed. In regards to killing other souled-beings, they would have the same hesitation that a starving man would have before killing a fat chicken, and the same conscience/guilt about the action to murder you (which is none; no guilt and no hesitation).
Are there Noble Votavi as there are Noble Drow?
Yes, they have a monarchy and an aristocracy that is reminiscent of Europe during the Middle Ages.
Do they ever trade this "Dust" with non-Votavi?
Yes, there are Votavi that sell this on the black market, and it is highly valuable.
Can non-Votavi still consume "Dust" and experience its effects the same as Votavi experience it?
Yes. The feeling of euphoria can be described as "your soul becomes 'enflamed' in a feeling of ecstasy/euphoria, and it feels like your soul extends beyond your skin; your arms and legs feel like balloons, and it all feels "on fire" with pleasure". Consuming or trading Dust is considered extremely evil. If normal people find out that you've been involved with anything Dust-related, you're not just shunned but turned into the authorities, and sentencing is usually death.
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So, Angels... in PF1... are not under the commamd or protection of some omnipotent deity, and have free will, can be tricked and trapped without divine wrath raining sulfur and brimstone from the sky... right?
If you manage to tie an Angel to the BDSM rack in your basement, no league of other Angels are going to show up with flaming swords to exact God's vengeance, correct?
Hmm, how do I trick an Angel into entering my basement...? Just summon/call it because it's an Outsider and magic can just yank them from where they happen to.
Quick side question... can Outsiders use magic to summon natives of the Material Plane to their home plane? Why can we call them, but we never get called BY them?
How does one restrain a dragon that is mature enough to have shield-sized scales? I mean, yeah, you can tie it up... but what about its spells/magics? The logistics of flaying a live dragon escape me. I like the concept, but the practical application of this seems dubious. Most spells like Imprisonment do not give you access to the victim's body to gather parts at your convenience.
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Could always keep yourself a pen of hydras/troll/other regenerating critters and periodically "harvest" some choice meat.
Similarly, [restore corpse->butcher->purify food and drink->repeat] for any medium sized creature you want the flesh from.
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Could you possibly imagine what sort of "pen" would be used to contain several hydras? Would multiple hydras even share a pen? How would you keep all those necks from getting tangled into knots? Does it require one "shepherd" per head when tending to such a beast? Is there any meat on a Hydra worth the invest in specialized pens, and the overwhelming amount of farmhands required to adequately (not even safely, just adequately) handle the monsters in your aforementioned pens?
Trolls seem relatively easy in comparison. Could probably get some work out them, too... if you're into exploiting the "free" labor of the unwilling, that is.
As for Restore/Purify shenanigans... I thought that was just common practice... especially on ships.
The whole Mites/Dream Spiders/Vital Essence thing is awesome. I mite have to find a way to combine this with the Votavi/Dust thing... maybe Dream Spiders like to eat the goo left over from the Votavi Dust ritual...? Maybe the Night Hag and the Dream Spiders are kin in origin? Maybe one of the Mites is a Dark Sister Witch that can call Night Hags? Or, one of the Votavi is a Dark Sister Witch, and the Votavi have enslaved, or perhaps legitimately partnered with, the Mites... in order to control the Dream Spider operation?
It might even be possible to both drain a victim's Vital Essence, then turn their soul to Dust... doubling your "profit per victim" ration... assuming Vital Essence and Dust are of equal market value, obviously. Imaginary drugs in a fantasy game are hard to quantify with anything but the most arbitrary of values.
But, a Votavi Dust cartel working in concert with a Night Hag, and her Coven, harvesting Dust through occult rituals is something that would motivate a party to action. Or the Mites harvesting the Vital Essence. Either one, alone, is enough to get the party rolling, but when the party realizes both are happening under the same roof... now that is a field of pods to behold... THAT is the dimly lit basement laboratory you want them to see. There's Witches and Hags and Dream Spiders and Mites and wierd Votavi Elves... all doing unspeakable things to what are clearly unwilling, sentient prisoners.
True disgust with what is going on in front them. Hopefully even a little real life emotional motivation to end it.
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Flaying Angels would almost entirely be a clandestine operation... probably outfitting an army of insugents or assassins that need to somewhat remain under the radar from alignment detection. The market demand on such an item has to be next to nothing... certainly not profitable enough to warrant setting up an Angel-flaying assembly line.
Dragonscale and Dragonhide, and other such items, would probably fetch a decent price... and see steady demand. Perhaps too much attention may raise question as to your resource pipeline/supply, though. Would need to employ some Dragon Hunter Rangers, since they are renowned dragoncrafters. It might even be necessary to have dragons of different colors, to provide a wider variety of products to an even wider audience.
I think dragons would unite against your Evil, and a posse of dragons is probably worse than a party... maybe... either way, it can really ruin your day having half a dozen full-sized dragons aligned against you. Or perhaps they have simply delivered themselves into your dungeons, and your crew will be flaying them by sundown... who knows?
An army of Angels could show up just as easily, I suppose... it is a bold choice to form a rescue team of the same species as the prisoners being flayed for their skins.
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My Dreamthief Hag is a Sanguine Sorcerer 10/Souldrinker 10... I really juggled/struggled with using a Night Hag, but finally settled on the Dreamthief Hag for my Souldrinker specifically for her ability to craft with her Soul Points.
I didn't know about those dolls or mannequins, though... saving that for something else. But, thank you! She [my Souldrinker Dreamthief Hag] will absolutely invest in this aforementioned army of soulbound puppets. Lol.
I do very much enjoy the Night Hag's Soul Bind SLA... so awesome, but the Dreamthief Hag is just too fun with that Soul Pool, I had to go with the Dreamthief Hag when making my Souldrinker. I don't know if the Dreamthief Hag/Souldrinker would even waste her time getting caught up with such petty business as Dust and/or Vital Essence, though. I used her as a plot device in Kingmaker... so she is in league with the likes of Charon, Count Ranalc, Gyronna, and Nyrissa. Plus, she does not need to harvest Dust or Vital Essence in order to just craft things with her Soul Pool.
Not to say I am locked into using THAT particular Souldrinker, but the Night Hag makes more sense for the creepy farm, me-thinks. For one, she can be called by the Dark Sister Witch as a class feature... so reliable access to a Night Hag is available with readily available classes. And, she is lower HD, so immediately easier to work in at a variety of levels. Her Soul Bind SLA could even be worked into the whole cycle as a special way to enhance the ritual harvest of Dust or Vital Essence.
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And... back to the flaying of Dragons concept...
What if Kobolds happened upon a sleeping dragon and decided to mount an offense to try take it alive? Maybe the Dragon once entrusted them to "guard" it in its sleep, but they grew bored?
Maybe they use their mining skills to partially collpase the cave overhead? Or use patience and Stealth to slowly rig a giant net over it? Perhaps they could flood the cave, or something else that will somehow aid them in restraining a full size Dragon?
Sap Master Coup de Grace...?
"Momma said knock you out. I'm gunna knock you out..."
-LL Cool J, circa 1990.
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What are people's thoughts on harvesting blood? Too overplayed in other media?
I have a Bloatmage, and several Vampires... Undead, though, are so "Evil" in PF1, that fighting them is, alone, enough motivation for the party to act. I am afraid the overall emotional impact of the farm might be lost.
I am sure there are enough other nefarious uses for blood that I could have Vampires, and thus Undead, be a relatively small part of the whole operation. Maybe not, though, as I actually cannot think of many uses for harvesting blood, right meow.
Dragom blood would probably be the most valuable/useful... and we come full circle back to Dragons, again. Lol.
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Oh, I hadn't even thought of salvaging. Lol. That is hilarious. I figured she would probably just casually craft Black Amethyst and Onyx with Soul Points for her soul trade... I hadn't really thought of anything too much beyond that.
Speaking of Black Amethyst... a Night Hag has Soul Bind as an SLA, which negates components... but, where does the soul you are attempting to bind go, exactly? What are you binding the soul to? Does an approapriately valuable gem manifest out of nowhere? Like cool, you can cast Soul Bind at will, but can you do anything with the souls you have bound?
Normally, those gems are traded or consumed based on the soul bound within.
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But is there even a blight, at all? Lol. That's awesome. I like that quite a bit...
I might add something similar to an island in my upcoming S&S campaign as a little sidequest. I wish I had had that for when I ran Kingmaker, could have been fun.
The cannibal noble with the butchering basement and the festivals and the supposed blight... that is nice and comtained, easily injected into just about any setting. I like it for its versatility and ease to adapt to almost any campaign.
The Votavi Dust cartel approach is more of its own adventure. Unweaving layers of deception, infiltrating the black market, following the supply chain back to where it is being manufactured... and exposing the creepy basement laboratory filled with Hags and Witches and Mites and Votavi... there could be all out war involved between factions/cartels... you could get yourself in trouble with the law or the cartel trying to gain access to the black market... getting on the bad side of a Coven is seldom a good thing (pretty sure EVERY Coven can cast Baleful Polymorph, at the very least)... and you never know how far up the corruption goes (drugs make money, and money can buy politicians/armies/even nations).
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Do the Votavi share similar stats to other Elves? Does their superior vision give them any extra bonus to sight-based Perception? Did you flesh out some alternative racial features for them? I am thinking about giving them Champion of Darkness from the Noble Drow list of alternative racial features.
Speaking of Drow... you said the Votavi and Drow hate each other... Drow are all about fleshwarping and poisons... is there any chance Drow can use Dust, Vital Essence, or the goo left over after the Dust harvesting ritual for any of their [the Drow's] dark experiments? Would the Drow have any incentive to seek out the Votavi Dust operation, other than just random acts of hatred?
I do not want to focus too much on Drow, as they seem to motivate people to action by their very mention, much like Undead, it doesn't matter what they are doing... they only have to exist.
But there are some awesome things that can be used against creautes with light sensitivity... Lantern Lighter Rangers' get Stunning/Paralyzing Light... just need a Glorious enchanted weapon, and someone to spam Fear the Sun... Holy Light Paladins and Aasimar with Heavenly Radiance... I have a handful of builds I have thrown together in the past specifically to combat Drow in their own territory, so I will share some of those build ideas with the party at character creation for this Votavi Dust cartel adventure.
The better prepared the party is, the less I have to worry about taking it easy on them or feeling bad when I do not take it easy on them. AND, if I allude to fighting Drow without actually mentioning Drow by name... it might get the party looking in the wrong direction, which would help the Votavi Dust cartel if the party just went off and started hunting Drow. Lol.
PC: Wait, what is a purple-skinned Elf? I thought we were looking for Drow.
GM: I never said Drow...
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If you're going to use Votavi, I think that's awesome ;)
Some more info for you:
A Votavi's skin ranges from dark blue to dark violet, and their eyes have an aphotic black iris and pupil, and the sclera of their eye is a deep silver color. They don't have darkvision per se, but they do have low-light vision out to 300 meters, and they can see the infrared and ultraviolet spectrums as well (so they can see in the dark, but it's limited to these light spectrums), and this is because their eyes absorb far more light than any other race; their eyesight is extremely good-- they can read a newspaper from 10 meters away. Due to the amount of light that their eyes absorb, they are averse to sunlight and "any-type-of-bright-light", even torchlight and candles bother them, so they use magic to darken the sky above their cities, and then light their kingdoms with dull lights that are a dull reddish-pinkish color (because it's the lowest color on the spectrum before infrared).
A strong majority of Votavi are Wizards and Sorcerers who focus on Soul, Enervation, Shadow, Illusion, and Enchantment magic, and while their strongest magical affinity is with Soul and Enervation magic, they typically stay away from everything else that is Necromancy related. There are no clerics or people of faith amongst their society, as they are vehemently anti-religious, and instead gravitate toward philosophy for higher learning. Their capital city, Umbranor, is home to roughly 400,000 Votavi, and is home to the prestigious Errennuille Academy of the Eldritch Arts.
Votavi society is primarily vegetarian, and this is not by choice, but by necessity-- only the aristocracy can afford a readily available supply of meat, but the rest still eat meat when they can find it, and this meat typically comes from civilizations that are actually willing to trade with them (usually from the underdark). The type of plants that grow under their darkened skies are not suitable for most animals on the surface and this forces the animals to migrate away, and the flora in their kingdoms are like a wasteland and that have been dead for centuries. No normal grass, trees, or flora can grow under their darkened sky. So nearly 100% of their food comes from their gardens and orchards that feature vegetables and fruit that have been transplanted from the underdark.
The Votavi are nihilistic in their philosophy due to being ageless creatures with a long history of murder and rampage, so much of what excites them is having a radical experience that can distract their minds from the monotonousness of immortality. So they appreciate truly exquisite art, music, food and drink, craftsmanship, and artisanry. Iconically, their roads, architecture, and bridges are exceptionally ornate, as it is not uncommon for any edifice in their kingdom to take decades or even centuries to complete, and the most appropriate way to describe the quality of their craftsmanship is otherworldly divine.
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Do the Votavi share similar stats to other Elves?
I've used Votavi as a playable race only once, and it was a Half-Votavi, so I had the PC use Half-elf stats. I think Elf stats would probably be fine.
Does their superior vision give them any extra bonus to sight-based Perception?
Yeah, I think a +2 to sight-based Perc would be appropriate, but also allow their extended vision to make these checks at further distances than normal races. Their vision is exceptional from further away, but that doesn't help them notice things any more than another elf. Like, you can have 20/15 vision, but if you're scatter-brained, then it doesn't matter what your eyesight is, you're probably not going to notice certain things. A Votavi could be treated as having 20/2 or 20/3 vision, like a hawk or an eagle.
Did you flesh out some alternative racial features for them? I am thinking about giving them Champion of Darkness from the Noble Drow list of alternative racial features.
I actually haven't fleshed out anything for them as a playable race, so I'd say do whatever you feel is appropriate but doesn't break your game.
Speaking of Drow... you said the Votavi and Drow hate each other... Drow are all about fleshwarping and poisons... is there any chance Drow can use Dust, Vital Essence, or the goo left over after the Dust harvesting ritual for any of their [the Drow's] dark experiments?
The Votavi don't necessarily "hate" any other race, they view them as nothing more than insects to be consumed. Everyone hates the Votavi though. Any trading transactions made with a Votavi is done so under heavy guard by hardened mercs with itchy trigger fingers.
As far as the gooey husk that is left over, it usually gets disintegrated. But I don't see why there couldn't be a black market for acquiring one if you can figure out a "demand" for one.
Would the Drow have any incentive to seek out the Votavi Dust operation, other than just random acts of hatred?
Sure, the Dust gets you high as crap, and due to the risk of being caught with it (death), it's insanely valuable. Any city with any measurable drug/narcotics scene would jump at the opportunity to get Dust, but the pushers would have to be so evil that they don't mind holding and distributing someone else's soul.
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Something about the Votavi makes me think of Mind Flayers... not their appearance, obviously... but their society and mannerisms... technology and expansion of [their own] communal knowledge replaces their need for religion.
The Errennuille Academy of the Eldritch Arts is where Mind Flayers would have an Elder Brain...
The Votavi just collect Dust, instead of brains. Although, the end result is similar... both remove your soul from its path to the afterlife... Mind Flayers transform you into one of them, which I can only imagine changes the destination of your afterlife (don't all Mind Flayers aspire to turn into an Elder Brain, isn't that their ultimate "heaven" or form?)... Votavi eradicate your soul from existence... I don't know which, if either, is truly worse.
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Something about the Votavi makes me think of Mind Flayers... not their appearance, obviously... but their society and mannerisms... technology and expansion of [their own] communal knowledge replaces their need for religion.
The Errennuille Academy of the Eldritch Arts is where Mind Flayers would have an Elder Brain...
The Votavi just collect Dust, instead of brains. Although, the end result is similar... both remove your soul from its path to the afterlife... Mind Flayers transform you into one of them, which I can only imagine changes the destination of your afterlife (don't all Mind Flayers aspire to turn into an Elder Brain, isn't that their ultimate "heaven" or form?)... Votavi eradicate your soul from existence... I don't know which, if either, is truly worse.
Well, the Votavi are meant to be the most evil thing I could possibly think of. I wanted them to be an entire race of Kefka from FFVI mixed with Admiral Thrawn from Star Wars Rebels. So play up their Evilness as much as possible.
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Do Mortal Ushers ever take issue with the Votavi Dust ritual evaporating souls?
I doubt a Mortal Usher is going to do anything to the likes of the Horsemen trading and eating soul gems, but some random no-name Votavi just trying to get high?
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Yes, both Mortal Ushers and followers of Pharasma would consider this to be the ultimate of heresies.
I don't have Pharasma in my homebrew world though, it has its own pantheon of deities.
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Interesting...
A few aspiring young Votavi performing the ritual for their first time, make a little Dust in their spare time, probably are not going to warrant the wrath of a Mortal Usher... but an assembly line set up to mass produce Dust, evaporating souls as fast as they can be put in line... seems like the exact sort of thing that would attract the attention of a squad of Psychopomps to come put an end to it.
What sort of measures could be taken by the Votavi to hide or disguise their operation? Keep it under Pharasma's radar for as long as possible? How would they mask the massive amounts of souls they are keeping from the Boneyard/River Styx?
Eventually, she WILL find out, and that may be who sends/tasks the party in some way or another.
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To hide a large-scale operation, they would favor Illusions and Shadow/Darkness magic, as well as Alarm and Mage's Private Sanctum and anything that can prevent scrying/divination. Leaving no witnesses is probably their best line of defense though, because witnesses lead to stories, and stories lead to investigations, which leads to scrying.
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No witnesses. Got it. That can add an absoluteness to their Evil. A terrifying level of thoroughness. People disappear, literally without a trace.
So, Know:Local will essentially never turn anything up on the Votavi. Because, despite being Humanoid, they are not "local" to any traditions or society other than their own.
Know:Nature, maybe? Treat them as Fey?
Know:Arcana, you only learn about the Votavi through researching odd arcane traditions?
Are the Votavi pretty limited in numbers? Is there only like half a million of them left/at all? What is the overall population of Golarion? Is half a million a small percentage of that?
I somehow missed the details abouy Votavi architecture... outstanding. Truly f!ck!ng awesome, actually. Is it a matter of individual pride that drives everything to be beautified to such elogance? Or does some sort of government appoint workers to make the city pretty? Can a random Votavi just start carving their front steps one day, and 66 years later it is just another beautiful part of the city? Or is there a grand designer with plans and patterns that match? If you see a blank piece of stone, can you just start scratching a beautiful design into it like a graffiti artist?
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No witnesses. Got it. That can add an absoluteness to their Evil. A terrifying level of thoroughness. People disappear, literally without a trace.
Yes, and to call them methodical or thorough would be an understatement; a terrifying level of thoroughness is highly appropriate. They would have an uncanny adherence to perfection and a frightening level of precision in everything they do, and would be highly accomplished assassins regardless of what "class" they might actually be.
So, Know:Local will essentially never turn anything up on the Votavi. Because, despite being Humanoid, they are not "local" to any traditions or society other than their own.
Correct, Knowledge (Local) would be DC: Impossible, as no other race other than Votavi can survive in their kingdom. Their kingdom is essentially a shark tank.
Know:Nature, maybe? Treat them as Fey?
I think K:Nature would probably give one some knowledge about how to navigate their wasteland with no help from the sun or stars or survive their wasteland with the widespread lack of flora/fauna, but that's about it-- knowledge of flora/fauna from the underdark would help though, because those are the only things that can survive their wasteland. I wouldn't treat them as fey because they're humanoids like common elves or drow.
Know:Arcana, you only learn about the Votavi through researching odd arcane traditions?
Yes, there are many books and scrolls written about those who have survived the Votavi and they are kept by the Blackjackets. Large libraries that are far from the Votavi Kingdom but in discourse with the Blackjackets would also have copies of these works.
Are the Votavi pretty limited in numbers? Is there only like half a million of them left/at all? What is the overall population of Golarion? Is half a million a small percentage of that?
Their capital city Umbranor is in my homebrew world/dimension, so if they exist in Golarion then it's because they traveled inter-dimensionally to get there. There are roughly 400,000 Votavi in Umbranor, and roughly 5-7 million in their lesser cities combined. There are Votavi that live outside of their Umbral Kingdom as well, but it's rare. Votavi are openly attacked outside their borders.
I somehow missed the details about Votavi architecture... outstanding. Truly f!ck!ng awesome, actually. Is it a matter of individual pride that drives everything to be beautified to such elogance?
Yes, despite being nihilists, they pride themselves in being able to give another Votavi a momentary dopamine rush, which gives themself a dopamine rush. And they long for this. It's an eternal monument to their brilliance.
Or does some sort of government appoint workers to make the city pretty?
Yes, each Votavi city has a position called the "Amaranthe" , who is responsible for planning all that city's official projects, and they work directly for the Emperor of that city. The Amaranthe commissions work from only the finest of Votavi artisans, and if their work exceeds expectations, then he is allowed to petition the Emperor of Umbranor to visit and assess the work, and then possibly reward them with Dust from the Scrooge McDuck tower.
Can a random Votavi just start carving their front steps one day, and 66 years later it is just another beautiful part of the city?
I don't see why not :)
Or is there a grand designer with plans and patterns that match?
There is no real grand designer per se, each city has their own Amaranthe, and that would be the closest thing to having a "grand designer". But they are in charge of ensuring that whatever work is done in their cities becomes a timeless wonder.
If you see a blank piece of stone, can you just start scratching a beautiful design into it like a graffiti artist?
Yes. But the graffiti had better end up looking like something really cool :P
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I watched this movie a long time ago about some hooligan taggers in, what I think was, the North American Pacific Northwest area. They would wear paintball pod packs stuffed with spray paint cans, and rapple down from industrial towers and leave 100' tall tags... as well as painting murals on city walls.
They found some punk@$$ kid writing his name over the artist's name on a random piece of graffiti... and they kicked the $#!+ out of this kid until his eyes were bleeding for the disrespect he was showing to a random artist... a random street artist that wasn't anyone in the video, or anyone they knew. As if there was some code of honor that the kid was breaking. Beat him with a bicycle seat/post. Lol.
Anyways, if random Votavi are allowed to exact their beauty upon random/blank stone... as long as it is beautiful, on par with its surroundings... I take it that one Votavi is not permitted to "rewrite" work that has already been done, correct?
Otherwise, the structure of their city would eventually be eroded to nothingness by thousands of years of beautification...
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I watched this movie a long time ago about some hooligan taggers in, what I think was, the North American Pacific Northwest area. They would wear paintball pod packs stuffed with spray paint cans, and rapple down from industrial towers and leave 100' tall tags... as well as painting murals on city walls.
They found some punk@$$ kid writing his name over the artist's name on a random piece of graffiti... and they kicked the $#!+ out of this kid until his eyes were bleeding for the disrespect he was showing to a random artist... a random street artist that wasn't anyone in the video, or anyone they knew. As if there was some code of honor that the kid was breaking. Beat him with a bicycle seat/post. Lol.
Anyways, if random Votavi are allowed to exact their beauty upon random/blank stone... as long as it is beautiful, on par with its surroundings... I take it that one Votavi is not permitted to "rewrite" work that has already been done, correct?
Otherwise, the structure of their city would eventually be eroded to nothingness by thousands of years of beautification...
I would think that any respectable Votavi wouldn't engage in such activity simply because it isn't his own creation. That Votavi would have to make "whatever it is in question" his or her own in order to truly stand out amongst the other artisans. So "rewriting work that has already been done" would simply be out, culturally-wise.
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Not exactly farming, but, we extensively homebrewed WOTR act 4. One of our PnPs had an abduction specialist Jorugumo (with a couple of appropriate hero levels) sentinel of Mazmezz, (all the Bondage all the time, with a special aura in her compound that dispells freedom of movement, as well as a permanent no teleporting in or out of here aura) who got the cunnign idea of never boring her patron. To this end she had a rather large and diverse supply of possible "partners" to perform her daily obedience (tie someone up and torture an exposed part of him) on.
As this was Alyushinara, she also rented and sold her fully cocooned "guests" to interested demons, who were actually fond of not knowing what was in the cocoon when they purchased it.
She was also an very business like an incredibly well connected interplanar ransom broker, and managed to make some alignment shifts in the party by having completely cordial business relationship with them, which included turning over prisoners (module has plenty of non Mazmezz aligned drow antagonists, who were of great interest to her) to her and then getting the majority of the ransom she could manage.
At the end of the campaign, several player chars were on better terms with Nocticula and/or Mazmezz then with Iomedae.
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Nice. I like the Mazmezz boon that turns you into a Large spider... Kasatha Tetori Monk... four arms, eight legs, all the ick.
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Nice. I like the Mazmezz boon that turns you into a Large spider... Kasatha Tetori Monk... four arms, eight legs, all the ick.
She was already a Jorugumo, very power concious and went for the quickened strength draining webs route. Especially since the strength draining works on her normal webs as well.
And well, the whole flirt with non martials, setup a date, poison+grapple+surprise spell because of seductre into grapple and tie up works much better if you arent a spider from the waist down while still dating/seducing.