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2 years ago ::
May 22, 2011 - 9:43AM
#11
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A great idea for a diety to be introduced into a DS campaign would be Taiia, from 3E Deities and Demigods. She's a Solar deity, no attached pantheon at all, no moral alignment for followers, and in the end, her faithful are kind of joined with her and used as fuel to keep her 'divine light' blazing, a polar opposite to the fate that awaits the majority of the populace of Athas after death. Her absence and re-emergence could even be used as an explanation for why souls mostly just go tot the Grey to dissolve, having no destination. As, I believe, she was said to reside in the sun, she would definitely be within reach of the souls from Athas, as they would not have to transition through any extra-dimensional pathways to find her. In many ways, she can be used to explain a LOT of why Athas is how it is, for instance, the Pristine Tower and Rhulisti experiments could have siphoned off enough of her power to make her dormant and thus age the sun from a Blue Giant to a Main Sequence Yellow Star, and the further actions of Rajaat and the SK's finally siphoning off enough energy to render her inert and age the sun into a Red Giant, the last vestige of her available power being used to move Athas far enough from the expanding sun to keep it from being consumed, in hopes that her faith could be re-kindled again one day, and supply her with enough power to rejuvinate the sun and change conditions on Athas for the better. Her absence itself could explain the Grey, created from a miasma of souls with no destination to go to, or at least explain why it is so difficult to traverse, as I believe it was originally put in place to seperate the last bastion of the Primordials from the cosmos at large. Perhaps the Primordials subtly instigated the )possibly) temporary demise of Taiia to reinforce the Grey and make their territory more secure.
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2 years ago ::
May 22, 2011 - 10:19AM
#12
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Date Joined:
Mar 29, 2008
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and thus age the sun from a Blue Giant to a Main Sequence Yellow Star, and the further actions of Rajaat and the SK's finally siphoning off enough energy to render her inert and age the sun into a Red Giant
A habitable planet around a blue giant that goes to main to red giant would have a few more issues than a lack of water and some jacked up heat wave. I love the setting of Dark Sun, but I always have to grit my teeth when it comes to bringing real science into the setting (you almost can if you gloss over certain specifics, but the more you know, the worse it gets to come up with rational and plausible explanations). Keep some of the more baffling aspects of the game as simple magical explanations or you may end up opening up some cans of worms at your gaming table that can only be resolved by a pistol duel at 50 paces presided over by the restless spirit of Ptolemy.
The setting kicks ass. The science behind it kicks ass on about a pre high school level.
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2 years ago ::
May 22, 2011 - 10:28AM
#13
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I only included the science-type stuff in case the question of why the planet didn't get fried came up (it has, many times on the forum  , and also to help explain the staged decline of Taiia's power, which coincides with the stages of religious atrophy in Athas. Point well taken, though. In my particular case,however, my gamers have becomed accustomed to a mix of science (and or sci-fi) in the game, I even have Vorlons as disguises for Avangions and Shadows at the Zik-Chil.
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2 years ago ::
May 23, 2011 - 8:38AM
#14
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Date Joined:
Jun 21, 2005
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Shadows as Zik-Chil  I may need you to forward those stats to me Terminus, sounds delightfully evil.
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2 years ago ::
May 23, 2011 - 10:01AM
#15
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I used a modified version of the d20 babylon 5 book - "The Darkness + Light The Vorlon and Shadows Handbook", Kreen with high intelligence scores as base creatures. I only play 3.5E, so I have nothing available for 4th. I will try to send you those stats within a couple of days, if you would like. Incorporating the tech-type stuff was easy, as most shasow-tech is just like life-shaped Rhulisti things. Included in the backstory of my campaign is how the Shadows taught the Rhulisti the basics of life-shaping, then focused on the Kreen as their sort of chosen "successor race", kind of like the Shadows did with thte Drakh.
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2 years ago ::
May 23, 2011 - 10:40PM
#16
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Date Joined:
Jun 21, 2005
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3.5 is the system I'm using as well, though I do lack any of the B5 D20 books, to be honist I didn't even know they existed. PM me if there's any info you'd be willing to share.
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2 years ago ::
May 24, 2011 - 7:32AM
#17
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Date Joined:
Oct 11, 2007
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I'm actually thinking that something from the "grey" or the far realm destroyed the "gods of old". Picked up Goodman Games Chthulu monsters and plan on having them, along with select monsters from the MM's (illythads, gibberings, etc) be Chthulu-like monsters and those are what regin now over this blasted land.
The gods are dead (or missing, cut off ect) and the cause can be traced back to dark rituals which opened doorways to the "far realm" and let those powerful monsters in. I can even still have dark twisted priests in this world, servants of the Far Ream deities. But the are no "good deities" as it were (or really, gods at all).
"We don't stop playing because we grow old...we grow old because we stop playing" George Bernard Shaw "That which does not kill us, only makes us stronger" Friedrich Nietzsche "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 My Gaming Sites World of Shantryl, a high fantasy homebrew world Darksun, the Lands of Athas
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2 years ago ::
May 24, 2011 - 9:11AM
#18
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Date Joined:
Jun 29, 2007
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I'm going with a variant history, modded heavily from the official one.
My conception of Athasian Gods is not that they were otherwordly beings living off in another plane. I'm more going with the concept of Demigods - that is, there were once (and still are in the form of the S-Ks) beings who amassed great personal power and became connected to some source through which they could grant power to their worshippers. Sadly, as you might expect with most mortals-turned-immortal, pretty much all the ones who survived were complete d-bags who spent most of their time attacking others' worshippers.
So, the Sorcerer-Kings really are gods of a sort, or at least as close to it as Athas has ever known.
-O
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2 years ago ::
May 26, 2011 - 1:03PM
#19
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Date Joined:
Nov 12, 2002
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How I'd do it:
* At low levels the PCs hear news of a far away Sorcerer-king being overthrown. All they know is that the Sorcerer-king was taken down, but not what took its place.
* As the PCs adventure for the next few sessions there is no more news.
* Then there is news that the Sorcerer-King was replaced by his former high Templar, who now calles himself a High Priest. He claims to serve a 'God'. Oddly, his people are following him rather than treating him as crazy.
* A few levels later the PCs hear rumors that the lands of the 'High Priest' have begun to show signs of life - fields are producing more food., etc...
* Next they hear that a different Sorcerer-king nearby the High Priest has gone to war with the High Priest's people - and that he lost the first battle. Badly.
* Around 12th or 13th level the PCs are hired to deliver something in the lands of the High Priest. When they arrive, they discover that the land is thriving (relatively - not a lush world, but far better than the PCs expected). They get a chance to look around, meet some people, etc... but they do nto come in conflict with the new regime.
* When the PCs return home, missionaries ask to come home with them. Regardless of whether the PCs agree to escort them, they arrive in the PC's lands soon after. They are attacked by templars, but rumors persist of them lurking in the shadows and preaching in secret.
* Soon, key contacts for the PCs begin to quietly admit to the PCs that they have joined the faith. However, their personalities start to shift a bit. They become crueler and/or more reckless.
* Things continue to develop until it is revealed that the God is actually an Arch-Devil that is buying souls. He turns the souls into power, which he splits - part for himself, and part to grant the prayers of his worshippers. Pyramid scheme.
* Additional flip down the road - the Arch-devil thing is a ruse - it was actually the Sorcerer-King that was supposedly overthrown by the High Priest.
* As in most Dark Sun games, the final battle comes down to the PCs versus a Sorcerer-King or two.
D&D & Boardgames
If I have everything I need to run great games for many years without repeating stuff, why do I need to buy anything right now?
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2 years ago ::
Jun 09, 2011 - 2:48PM
#20
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Date Joined:
Sep 22, 2010
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Your Athas Will Vary, but in general, Divine power is mostly gone. In my campaign however, there are some exceptions:
- I have Old Gods, who are really really old, and really really hard to contact. They generally can't be (or won't) give out power to any followers.
- As others have mentioned, there's a dragon article about Dead Gods. Those total exist, and their divine fragments are being utilized by Sorceror Kings, secret societies, and the like.
- Certain SK's are fascinated with recreating Divine power, or taking the Mantles onto themselves. (This is sort of a 2E-ism, without the silly Dark Lens nonsense.) Namely:
- Abalach-Re of Raam has created/discovered/fabricated Badna, the Wheel of Fate
- Tecktutilay is wants to be a Moon God.
- Hamanu is worshipped as the Lion.
- The Oba is the Forest Goddess (more Primal really)
- For these SK's, templars in their service can be initiated into limited Divine paths - mostly MC feats and such, but there are some exceptions. (Especially for PCs..)
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