Author Topic: Interest Check-Blood Crusade against Thoon (3.X, high level, Evil)  (Read 79477 times)

Offline oslecamo

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Intro

Most of the multiverse is now in harmony.

An harmony maintained by a web of Elder Brains  and their Mind Flayers attendants. Nobody knows when it started, but one day the Mind Flayers started following a mysterious identity, Thoon. They started using new creations and manifesting new abilities. This allowed them to slowly infiltrate and corrupt what everybody else thought the mind flayers could never reach. Over the next decades, they first subdued cities, then countries, then continents, then worlds. Some realized what was happenning and tried to fight the approaching shadow, but were swiftly and efficiently crushed by the Mind Flayer mutant slave armies, as well as their new Thoon constructs. The gods themselves fell one by one as their believers were enthralled by Thoon and worship mostly ceased altogether.

Now the local Elder Brain is watching you, making sure you walk the path of Thoon. It let's you do as you please as long as you either amuse or slave for it. The more amusing are selected as the next meal for the mind flayers. However failing to be amusing or useful for something else means being subject to horrific experiments that make having your brain eaten look like a much better alternative.

There is no more large scale conflict, a waste of perfectly fine brains. There's no more need for hard labour as that is supplied by magic items that are commonplace everywhere, supplied by hordes of enslaved casters that wither away their souls at the orders of the Elder brains. Those that suspect they release subliminal messages to keep the masses in check quickly disappear. Also rumors of countless slaves being worked to death outside the cities because they're still cheaper than magic items are clearly rumors as well. Their brains taste horrible though. Thoon constructs are everywhere, doing countless tasks.

Many say things are better than before actually. No need to worry about religion or politics , disease or famine, Thoon will even extend your life if you prove specially amusing. If you're really lucky you may even be blessed to become a new mind flayer! Or be used as the raw material for a Thoon Construct. What better way to serve Thoon?

But there are some that still resist. The infernals of the lower planes have for the first time called a truce on their eternal Blood War to face the new enemy. Masters of corruption themselves, the mind flayers found their infiltration attempts against the infernals fruitless.

Alas the lower planes are losing. The slave legions and construct armies of Thoon are numerous and disciplined, while the damn demon hordes are still too disorganized despite the best effort of the Yugoloth and Devil commanders to get them in order.

Asmodeus, the Princes of the Abyss, and the General of the Crawling City have however designed a plan to turn the situation around.  Revolution! The only hope for salvation is that   mutant slaves of the mind flayers must be made to rebel against their masters.  That means an elite team striking at the key Elder Brain that oversee their mutation process to ensure their fanatic loyalty, then fanning the fires of revolt.

Said elite team cannot contain any of the big infernal names,. Thoon has mind flayers have eyes, ears and tentacles everywhere around them, so if any of them tried to make a direct move, it would be quickly countered. So instead you were gathered. Powerful outsiders that for one reason or another are relatively unknown, ensuring the mind flayers won't be expecting you. Perhaps you spent the last centuries on the Blood War and thus nobody outside the lower planes heard of you. Perhaps you were sealed and are now released. Either way, you have the element of surprise. Each of you is as powerful as an army on your own right, so even if you're few, when you're unleashed you'll be a veritable crusade that'll leave a path of blood through the Thoon dominion.

Crunch basics:
~level 20
Players are Infernal monster classes of their choice.
-Kill all the elder brains, mind flayers and their that took over most of reality!
-Make the gith rebellion happen!

Offline Nanshork

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Re: Interest Check-Blood Crusade against Thoon (3.X, high level, Evil)
« Reply #1 on: November 06, 2014, 06:10:31 PM »
....maybe.  Life has calmed down and I do enjoy your games but high levels can be such a pain.

At least it isn't gestalt.

Offline phaedrusxy

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Re: Interest Check-Blood Crusade against Thoon (3.X, high level, Evil)
« Reply #2 on: November 06, 2014, 06:11:20 PM »
My god this sounds deliciously insane.  :lmao Are we strictly limited to infernal monster classes? I'd like to play, but building a new 20th level character from scratch is a big undertaking that I'm not sure I'd have the time for...

Would another abomination from the beginning of time be acceptable? :D (I'd prefer joining this game over the CotSQ on plothook, if you've seen my post there)

I guess I could slap half-fiend or fiendish onto one of my existing builds, though... Putting Fiendish onto that aboleth, with the Mark of Conspiracy, seems like it could be fitting and work pretty well...

Yessss... throwing my hat into the ring with a aboleth 1/fiendish 2/mind pirate 17, if the mind pirate looks OK to you as-is.
« Last Edit: November 06, 2014, 08:27:30 PM by phaedrusxy »
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Offline VennDygrem

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Re: Interest Check-Blood Crusade against Thoon (3.X, high level, Evil)
« Reply #3 on: November 06, 2014, 08:26:16 PM »
Like everyone else, this intrigues me, but I know I should be cautious trying to get involved in another campaign. I'll probably stat something up regardless.  :lmao

---edit---
Thinking a Jovoc Paragon, the ultimate grunt, a threat that's easily overlooked, and a great tool for any insurrection!
« Last Edit: November 06, 2014, 08:54:48 PM by VennDygrem »

Offline SorO_Lost

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Re: Interest Check-Blood Crusade against Thoon (3.X, high level, Evil)
« Reply #4 on: November 06, 2014, 11:42:57 PM »
I'd like to play, for the lolz of it as a Imp with an inferiority complex.

Dragon allowed? I'm thinking of a variant based on this

Offline ketaro

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Re: Interest Check-Blood Crusade against Thoon (3.X, high level, Evil)
« Reply #5 on: November 06, 2014, 11:59:01 PM »
Hah! I just read that thread too, Os.

I dig it, I'm in. I can make decent characters of any level really fast. Let's do this  :cool

Easymodo character creation: I wanna play a Pyroclastic Dragon. 20 levels done. I have ideas to make it an Outsider rather than a Dragon. Seems redundant suddenly, its a planar dragon. But not an Outsider?
I want to destroy ALL THE THOONBOTS

Pffft, Pyroclastic Dragon 18/Thoon Soldier 2
Via monster blooded/hybrid feat and Fantastic Tech(Thoon) for Doll Judgement's Puppeteer Theater. The best hiding place; a mob of 'slaves'.
Feels almost ironic to me, then.
« Last Edit: November 07, 2014, 12:38:02 AM by ketaro »

Offline oslecamo

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Re: Interest Check-Blood Crusade against Thoon (3.X, high level, Evil)
« Reply #6 on: November 07, 2014, 04:19:16 AM »
Yessss... throwing my hat into the ring with a aboleth 1/fiendish 2/mind pirate 17, if the mind pirate looks OK to you as-is.

Will have to say no to mind pirate (steal memories is just screaming for trouble, in particular when it's on a spellcasting chassis and you can just keep captured enemies around in a bag of holding or something to steal their stuff after the duration runs out, and replicating an utility 9th level spell at will as an extra doesn't help things either).

But yes, you could go with a more "normal" character class and then slap fiendish/half-celestial on top of it.

Thinking a Jovoc Paragon, the ultimate grunt, a threat that's easily overlooked, and a great tool for any insurrection!
Sounds good.

I'd like to play, for the lolz of it as a Imp with an inferiority complex.

Dragon allowed? I'm thinking of a variant based on this

Dragon mag would be case by case. Invisible Fist and Arcane ranger would be ok. However divine minion was from a web enhancement if I remember correctly, that is currently unavailable, and was extremely cheesy, plus a LA template, so that one's a no.

Also needs some touch of infernal.

Easymodo character creation: I wanna play a Pyroclastic Dragon. 20 levels done. I have ideas to make it an Outsider rather than a Dragon. Seems redundant suddenly, its a planar dragon. But not an Outsider?
I want to destroy ALL THE THOONBOTS

Pffft, Pyroclastic Dragon 18/Thoon Soldier 2
Via monster blooded/hybrid feat and Fantastic Tech(Thoon) for Doll Judgement's Puppeteer Theater. The best hiding place; a mob of 'slaves'.
Feels almost ironic to me, then.

Pyroclastic dragons are originary from Gehenna, so that would be definitely work. Also love the concept of a mob of fake slaves. :p

Offline phaedrusxy

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Re: Interest Check-Blood Crusade against Thoon (3.X, high level, Evil)
« Reply #7 on: November 07, 2014, 08:16:48 AM »
A 20th level game and you're worried I can learn what someone thinks (if they fail a Will save) and spam a situationally useful utility spell? I could instead just play a CoDzilla, and cast all the 9th level spells, and use Charm/Dominate/Read Thoughts/Speak With Dead/etc if I wanted to know what's in their head... (or even just use a barbarian or bard and intimidate them, for god's sake, and have a much higher DC/success chance...)

Would a daily limit on the usage of Mind Rape help? I don't plan on keeping a bag of holding full of people with feats/skills/etc that I want... because that's an annoying bunch of book keeping that I don't have time for.
I don't pee messages into the snow often , but when I do , it's in Cyrillic with Fake Viagra.  Stay frosty my friends.

Offline oslecamo

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Re: Interest Check-Blood Crusade against Thoon (3.X, high level, Evil)
« Reply #8 on: November 07, 2014, 09:26:57 AM »
Thing is, mindrape already is Charm+Dominate+Read Thoughts in a single package, except Dominate and Charm at least allow you secondary saves, while Mindrape just goes "You've always been my most loyal minion, true story, so now join my army!".

Then the Mind Pirate also gets "collect Su and SLAs from everything you hit, forever and ever". Only stolen feats and skill ranks have limited duration/caps, and basic spell stealing if I remember how the spellthief works correctly. Everything else will just stack over time. EDIT: Actually seems like they all follow the Spellthief's limitation. Which is still a crapload of stolen Sus.

And the mind pirate gets to do it with every strike, stealing multiple stuff (nowhere does it say that trying to steal Su and SLAs stops you from stealing all the other stuff after all) while still inflicting negative levels/energy damage. If nothing else, sounds like a massive game slowdown even if you choose to don't keep prisioners as I have to drop a full stat sheet of every monster you hit for you to take your time on what Su/SLA/spell/feat/skill ranks you're gonna steal from this one. With each hit.

So yes, I would be less worried if you played a fullcaster than a mind pirate.
« Last Edit: November 07, 2014, 09:59:55 AM by oslecamo »

Offline Frogman55

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Re: Interest Check-Blood Crusade against Thoon (3.X, high level, Evil)
« Reply #9 on: November 07, 2014, 10:25:04 AM »
Looks like fun. I'm curious about what precisely you mean by 'infernal monster classes' - I'm good either way, but there is a difference between something out of Savage Species, a homebrewed monster class, and slapping a half-fiend template on something.

Also, would an undead follower of Orcus be appropriate?

Offline Nanshork

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Re: Interest Check-Blood Crusade against Thoon (3.X, high level, Evil)
« Reply #10 on: November 07, 2014, 10:27:02 AM »
Looks like fun. I'm curious about what precisely you mean by 'infernal monster classes' - I'm good either way, but there is a difference between something out of Savage Species, a homebrewed monster class, and slapping a half-fiend template on something.

Also, would an undead follower of Orcus be appropriate?

It's os, we'd be using his homebrewed monster classes.

Offline Frogman55

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Re: Interest Check-Blood Crusade against Thoon (3.X, high level, Evil)
« Reply #11 on: November 07, 2014, 11:44:24 AM »
Looks like fun. I'm curious about what precisely you mean by 'infernal monster classes' - I'm good either way, but there is a difference between something out of Savage Species, a homebrewed monster class, and slapping a half-fiend template on something.

Also, would an undead follower of Orcus be appropriate?

It's os, we'd be using his homebrewed monster classes.

Good point. I'll go browse around then. :)

Offline oslecamo

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Re: Interest Check-Blood Crusade against Thoon (3.X, high level, Evil)
« Reply #12 on: November 07, 2014, 11:54:34 AM »
Just as planned. :smirk

And yes,  undead with a touch of demonic would work too.

Offline Nanshork

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Re: Interest Check-Blood Crusade against Thoon (3.X, high level, Evil)
« Reply #13 on: November 07, 2014, 12:23:12 PM »
Hmm, how infernal does a character have to be to be considered?

A level in half-fiend/fiendish or are you looking for more than that?

Offline oslecamo

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Re: Interest Check-Blood Crusade against Thoon (3.X, high level, Evil)
« Reply #14 on: November 07, 2014, 12:28:35 PM »
A dip in half-fiend/fiendish would be good evil enough. As long as the rest of the build says "I live in the lower planes and fit right into it".

Offline Nanshork

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Re: Interest Check-Blood Crusade against Thoon (3.X, high level, Evil)
« Reply #15 on: November 07, 2014, 12:36:01 PM »
I'm contemplating a Wild Hunt build, basically a lower planes mercenary.

Offline Frogman55

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Re: Interest Check-Blood Crusade against Thoon (3.X, high level, Evil)
« Reply #16 on: November 07, 2014, 12:46:29 PM »
Any recommended template/method for making an Allip more fiendish? Basic (very basic) background is a wizard type who was rendered insane by Illithid torture and became a ghost and taken by Orcus.

Offline ketaro

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Re: Interest Check-Blood Crusade against Thoon (3.X, high level, Evil)
« Reply #17 on: November 07, 2014, 02:20:11 PM »
Any recommended template/method for making an Allip more fiendish? Basic (very basic) background is a wizard type who was rendered insane by Illithid torture and became a ghost and taken by Orcus.

Well you can't Fiendish that....but you could Half-Fiend it.
Yanno, considering the Illithid torture-ings, they probably could've done some nasty Half-Illithed stuff to ya  :p

Offline phaedrusxy

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Re: Interest Check-Blood Crusade against Thoon (3.X, high level, Evil)
« Reply #18 on: November 07, 2014, 02:39:33 PM »
So yes, I would be less worried if you played a fullcaster than a mind pirate.
So I've managed to make a semi-caster that you think is more overpowered than a full caster. I think I should take that as a compliment. :P What if I went with the ACF to replace casting with a martial adept progression? Is it still too strong? If so, then my work is done.  :lmao

Edit: Barghest looks like fun, maybe slap some rogue levels on it.

Wow... the Denizen of Leng is awesome. Maybe they have a beef with Thoon for some reason?  :lmao

Wow... so is pseudonatural... I think playing up some kind of "rivalry" between different Far Realm factions/entities could be fun.

OK... because I am totally insane... I'm thinking of playing a Denizen of Leng with his "cohort" being a pseudonatural (16) something (2) (considering ettercap, horse, or some kind of spider)
« Last Edit: November 07, 2014, 05:01:25 PM by phaedrusxy »
I don't pee messages into the snow often , but when I do , it's in Cyrillic with Fake Viagra.  Stay frosty my friends.

Offline Nanshork

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Re: Interest Check-Blood Crusade against Thoon (3.X, high level, Evil)
« Reply #19 on: November 07, 2014, 02:56:58 PM »
Things I'm contemplating:

Fiendish Creature 1/ Wild Hunt 19 

Xixical 20 (He's got the chaotic and evil subtypes, I'm assuming that would be fine.)

Fiendish Creature 1/ Marrusault 5 / Marruspawn Abomination 14 (Might as well try to use my own stuff sometime.)

Edit: And to throw in something that isn't your homebrew

Garryl's Power of Cybernetics system (a sci-fi incarnum replacement, it's his Metroid as Incarnum system after a large overhaul, I've been helping.  I'd reflavor it as stolen illithid technology if that works.)

Edit edit: The more I think about it the more I want to play a class from Power of Cybernetics...