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I will first admit that I was not person to come up with this characterization of Allustan's personality, but I have come to like it more and more as I approach running EaBK and later adventures with Allustan such as GoW.
To Quote:
"Vorpatril (Subscriber), Fri, Mar 24, 2006, 01:22 PM
My solution to Allustan's split with the evil-fighting Manzorian (Tenser) was to make Allustan a good-hearted, bookish coward. This also explains why:
He is disinterested in exploring the Whispering Cairn until the PCs have cleared all the dangers (or so he thinks).
He wants to teleport for help instead of actively fighting the lizardfolk.
He hangs out in Diamond Lake during events leading up to the Age of Worms, even though he is a fairly high level wizard.
I also have Marzena (Blackwall Keep) tell the PCs that she and Allustan were fellow students under Manzorian back in the day. Allustan was the most talented, and Marzena had a thing for him at one point, but could not respect his lack of courage.
In my campaign, Allustan wants nothing more than to tend his garden, research what interests him, and watch over his wayward brother. It's a big deal for him to travel to the outskirts of the King's Forest (Mistmarsh) to visit Marzena when there are reports of increased Lizardfolk activity."
It kinda makes sense to. I think that cowardly personalities, or people that develop into cowards are an often under used personality type in D&D.
Take for instance a 8th level wizard. By 8th level you have gathered together a fairly large amount of gold, say about
9,400gp at the low end and 27,000gp at the high end. This is,at the low end, more gold than lowly peasent could make in 100 years of hard back breaking labor, at the high end it represents about 290 years worth of a peasent's labor, and this if they work 6 days a week, with no holidays, ever.
By 8th level you also are also pretty dang powerful. I mean who is going to mess with a wizard who can stay invisible while casting fireballs, flying, and protected by eldritch fields? Basically nobody!
Finally by 8th level you have also probably seen a couple of your best buds take one for the team and buy a one way ticket to the outer planes. Looking foward to your future prospective enemies such as beholders, liches, and dragons, I could see a lot of wizards figuring that they are better off living the good life being a big fish in a small town pond, then ending up the next meal to some horrid abberation.
Anyhow, I am planning on making Allustan a cowardly wizard, hoping to live a good, nice, boring bachelors life, spending his days writing treatise on cyclopean cairns and other such maginalia.
Anyone else (other than, but including the poster quoted above) take this route with Allustan?
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I think is a cool way to portray Allustan and it makes sense. I like to portray NPC's as diverse as possible too with as much "bad" habits and traits as good ones. Having an 8th level cowardly wizard around makes the PC's, which are far lower in level in the beginning, seem even more heroic. If every good supporting NPC is a heroic martyr, how should the PCs shine?
I'd prefer to include only as many heroic NPCs as absolutely necessary into the AoW (Tenser and Celeste) and a lot of shady, selfish characters. These are dark times and this is the reason why, after thousand of years, the Age of Worms is about to begin. The players should get the feeling that their PCs are the only ones that stand in the way of mad Kyuss and that it's up to them and them only to prevent the apocalypse.
Imagine legions of shining paladins and selfless heroes wandering around. The PCs would ask themselves why it is up to them to fight Kyuss with that many heroes and possible world-savers around...
This is one reason why i won't set AoW into the FR because it is so filled up with better than good high and mighty NPCs that it just wouldn't make sense that a bunch of low level heroes noone has ever heard of take up the fight against Kyuss.
I can imagine the questions. What's Elminster doing? Why do the Seven Sisters not interfere? Why do the mighty lords of Waterdeep sit around doing nothing? They have even bigger evils to fight? This sounds kinda lame to me...
I portrayed Allustan as being very warm and level-headed, more wise than Manzorian (stat blocks notwithstanding). As you say, he wants to prevent the Age of Worms, but knows he can't do it alone, and just sort of trusts that the universe will turn out as it should.
Manzorian, on the other hand, I portrayed as brash, quick to anger, and more of a "get-off-your-asses-and-kill-something-evil" sort of mage.
So I guess it doesn't necessarily have to be cowardice. He might not think the Whispering Cairn is even interesting, until the PCs report their findings to him. He might just be being practical when he teleports away to bring reinforcements to Blackwall Keep. And when the PCs rescue him from the Whispering Cairn, I had him stay on as an NPC, helping them fight until they finished with the oculus demon and Icosiol's tomb. At which point he realizes the PCs have surpassed him, and need to talk to Manzorian.
Aside: The wizard PC started out as Allustan's apprentice, then graduated to a sort of "master's" program under Manzorian, then took levels in Archmage as sort of a "doctorate" program once she qualified.
In Eberron, you run almost into the opposite problem. Allustan's behavior becomes even more unusual since he's probably the equivalent (setting wise) of many of the major NPCs from settings like the Forgotten Realms.
In the second half of the AOW, the players are going to end up being the most active movers and shakers. There are high-level beings and organizations, i.e. the Inspired Lords, Lords of Dust, Dragons of Argonnesson, but the players are still going to wind up being (arguably) the most powerful and influential beings in the setting, which makes the AOW in Eberron an interesting experiment in terms of high-level play, IMHO.
Allustan the Cowardly?
I think it makes for a refreshing take on a high-level character. In my game, it seems fear is something you experience when you fail a save...
To expand on these ideas, his cowardly nature may also explain why his counterparts are higher level than he, and why he hasn't gained experience during the AoW AP.
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I'd be tempted to go this route, myself, but I already invalidated the Allustan-as-coward argument in my own campaign, out of plot necessity. When we got to Three Faces of Evil (which we're involved in right now), my players' characters were resisting every hook I presented. They visited Smenk's place and heard his story of what's going on under Dourstone Mine, and they had already heard rumor of something sinister going on there from Filge, and had even been encouraged to check it out by Allustan, but they felt no personal incentive to do so. If my NPC wizard in the party (Allustan's apprentice) hadn't grabbed the jar with the worm in it and Filge's notes, the rest of the party would have incinerated it all with the observatory (they burned it to the ground after defeating Filge) and there would have been no hook at all.
Part of the problem is that I set things up for Whispering Cairn on such a strong note of "this town sucks; your reason for adventuring is to get cash to get the heck out of here", that the PCs are generally inclined to do exactly that now that they have the means for travel.
Anyway, I felt from the beginning that my Allustan needed to be someone they could respect and admire, in order to build some confidence in the players that he could be trusted with their characters' discoveries from the Cairn and let him provide information to them during the course of the adventure. I did manage to build some attachment to him during Whispering Cairn, so when they needed a deeper hook to explore TFoE, I ended up using him as the hook: the villains fron the Dark Cathedral, concerned with the recovery of the worm Smenk took from them, threatened him into aiding them with its recovery. They learned that Allustan had it following the events of the Whispering Cairn, so they sent a message to trick him into bringing it to a hidden cult outpost just outside of town. The message pretended to be from my NPC mage, telling him of an urgent discovery related to the worm that required it for comparison. Allustan saw right through the hoax, but thought that the PCs must be in trouble. He left the worm in a secure place in his tower, gathered a group of soldiers from the garrison, and set out to the rendezvous point to rescue them. The cultists managed to defeat the guards (suffering losses of their own) but captured Allustan in the process. The PCs found the note that Allustan received, pieced together the events, and now he has become the hook: the PCs are knee-deep in the middle of Three Faces of Evil trying to free him. He used most of his offensive spells in the battle, but I figure this twist on the plot could also provide some valuable assistance once they free him and are low on resources themselves. It also sets up the villains as extremely tough opponents and should add a note of caution for the PCs, since the bad guys were able to capture the most powerful man in Diamond Lake. I'm tempted to go even go one step further into the dark, hopeless aspect of the campaign, by having him be slain or somehow corrupted during the adventure...but since he's needed as a hook for future events, I suppose I should let him make it out alive and generally intact.
Hmm, maybe the villains crippled his hands so that he can't spells with somatic components, and he'll spend the time between Blackwall Keep and the later adventures, gaining the Still Spell metamagic feat and relearning his art under his new limitations? I'm not sure yet, but that would explain his reluctance/inability to participate more deeply in future events.
So anyway, I can't rightly make Allustan out to be a coward anymore. A fool, perhaps, but no coward.
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Part of the problem is that I set things up for Whispering Cairn on such a strong note of "this town sucks; your reason for adventuring is to get cash to get the heck out of here", that the PCs are generally inclined to do exactly that now that they have the means for travel.
Funny you should say that- I did the same thing. My characters are completely focused on 1) getting enough cash to buy themselves out of debt to Smenk, 2) getting revenge on Smenk (if possible), and 3) getting the heck out of town. They really haven't gotten a taste of the "big evil" yet, but I'm a bit concerned that they're going to have difficulty shifting focus- or, worse yet, will want to leave town, never to return.
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My party just ended WC and interestingly enough, set themselves up for 3FoE by summarily executing Filge rather than capturing him. This gave Smenk the perfect leverage (i.e. go take care of the little problem in Dourstone's Mine or find yourself facing murder charges).
So far, Allustan has been their research library. They see him as a man who's a bit full of himself and his own intellect, so they make a point of lacing their requests with choice bits of flattery.
I like the angle of making Allustan cowardly, but it does present other problems. Allustan makes a solo venture past a lot of nasty things in Gathering of Winds, some of which are almost as bad as the dragon waiting outside. If he were a true coward, I think he would have waited for the party to return so that they could make the trip on his behalf or else act as his bodyguard.
If it is a matter of hiding from the dragon, why didn't he explore the cleared out sections of the Cairn? He could sleep in the air bed, eat from the protein fountain, and wait out the dragon - rather than jumping through a portal guarded by an Abyssal Ghoul.
One random thought: Allustan HATES lizardfolk. He's terrified of them (phobic, even). Think Left Ear from THE ITALIAN JOB.
ALLUSTAN: "What?! Lizardmen?! That's a problem...I had a bad experience with lizard men..."
PC: "Really? What happened?"
ALLUSTAN: "I. HAD. A. BAD. EXPERIENCE! I'll go get the troops from the garrison!" (teleports away).
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I have played Allustan as the neutral, somewhat aloof wizard that no one wants to get on the bad side of. Having one of the PCs as his apprentice has help me lever a few ideas to get various balls rolling.
Perhaps the biggest change I made is not having Allustan go with the group to Blackwall. As the PCs were heading down on their own at Marzena's request for some investigative help, they intercepted a messenger at full pace seeking immediate assistance from the Diamond Lake Garrison. A quick exchange of information and the party were heading full steam for the Keep. I then turned the siege into an epic encounter rather than what was in the module.
By the time that the group had been to the Lizardfolk Lair (where the undead apocalypse has since commenced) and back, re-inforcements had arrived as well as Allustan - obviously concerned for the group he had taken a shine to as well as for the apprentice he viewed as more as a son.
This has worked well without disturbing the intent of Allustan's role. Having him irrationally teleport out leaving his apprentice to the wolves did not make much sense to me in terms of the keep; at least with the way how I had presented Allustan anyway.
Best Regards
Herremann the Wise
Thanks, Sol! I'm flattered.
My group is starting the Hall of Harsh Reflections now, and the 'Allustan as coward' idea has worked out well. My PCs did respect (and fear) Allustan, right up until he teleported away in front of Blackwall Keep.
When he got back, they had been adventuring with Marzena, and the contrast in styles was poignant. Marzena is a "what is the next *** we are going to kick" type of mage in my campaign.
When the PCs complained to Allustan about his behaviour, he started lecturing them on preparing for opponents and how "kicking the door in" will get them killed. The hot-headed party cleric cast silence on him, and Allustan walked off in a silent rage. It took some serious diplomacy after that to procure a letter of introduction to Eligos :)
One thing I noticed when I first started reading the AoW is the everpresent research wizard in the background that is finding out information the party needs. All these wizards seemed the same to me, so I set out to give them very different personalities.
In case anyone cares, Eligos is a young adult copper dragon in my Eberron campaign, and a member of the Chamber. I'm setting up the AoW endgame to have dragon factions on both sides (differing prophesy interpretations), which will explain why Manzorian and company are not more heavily involved in defeating Kyuss. Manzorian, leader of the chamber, will be busy neutralizing other dragons who want to ally with Kyuss.
In case anyone cares, Eligos is a young adult copper dragon in my Eberron campaign, and a member of the Chamber. I'm setting up the AoW endgame to have dragon factions on both sides (differing prophesy interpretations), which will explain why Manzorian and company are not more heavily involved in defeating Kyuss. Manzorian, leader of the chamber, will be busy neutralizing other dragons who want to ally with Kyuss.
Just so you know, I care Vorpatril ;)
I'm taking a similar tact; part of the reason Allustan had his falling-out with Manzorian was the arch-mage's very... long term view of things. The dragonchess example is a great analogy, and one of the reasons Allustan is likely staying put doing what he's doing could be because it's the exact opposite thing Manzorian wanted; instead of being a pawn in the "Prophecy", he's going to just sit on his duff. Ironically, he ends up leading the players right to Manzorian, thus helping bring about the Prophecy anyway.
In my version (set in Eberron), Allustan was a war wizard for the nation of Aundair, and was sickened by what he experienced there - both massacres of civilians by troops on all sides, and the devastation wrought on low-level troops when he rained fire down on them from above (he was posted on an airship artillery platform). So he isn't a coward, as much as a tired, disillusioned man who can't muster the strength to cause more harm with his magic.
By the way, as I point out in another post ( "Allustan? That guy who ran away?" ) This characterization of Allustan as a coward worked out great in the denoument of a Gathering of Winds, as the characters surveyed the ruin of Diamond lake.
Heh. My players have deliberately tried to stir up a civil war in Diamond Lake, so I'm thinking Allustan will suddenly be called away by a sending from Valkus Dun telling him, "A mob has laid siege to your brother's home!"
That way, it's kinda the players' fault, so they won't be able to blame poor Ally. ;D
In my campaign, way back when, I added a "random" encounter of a lizardfolk raiding party part-way along the path to the garrison tower. In said encounter, which included a lizardfolk druid with a venomous snake animal companion, Allustan ended up bitten and poisoned. He managed to down a potion of delay poison before things progressed too far, but upon seeing the forces massed in close proximity realized that the chances of getting through before the potion wore off were slim.
He handed off some useful expendable one-shot items to the party, then opened up his scroll of teleport and made a quick retreat to Diamond Lake.
Oddly enough, my players really liked that. It gave Allustan a reasonably good motivation for retreating.
I saw a post in another thread which I think should be mentioned. Allustan doesn't teleport away immediately. Instead, he sees Ilthane flying in the distance, and activates his fly spell to distract her for long enough. He teleports away at the end of the fight, but has messed her up enough to make her unwilling to attack blackwell.