Blight

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Post originally by NotMousse at 2005-01-13 05:21:28
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I've been thinking about the area of the blight, how to set it apart aside from decor and the odd mechanic.

The most obvious answer is the inhabitants. Something that would be alien to the natural world.

So the question I pose is this. Do you think an insectoid PC race or a buncha psuedonatural creatures would be more interesting?

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Post originally by Charlie Dunwoody at 2005-01-13 10:17:00
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Pseudonatural creatures go well with the aberrations already lurking there. I like that idea. Perhaps normal animals are warped by the Blight into pseudonatural creatures. The mind flayer grafts from MM II or FF (not sure which) will probably play a part here as well.

The drow could use both the grafts and pseudonatural animals. They could take the alienist PC from Complete Arcane as well.

I'm not sure on the insect race. Any particular races you had in mind?

Charlie

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Post originally by NotMousse at 2005-01-15 02:26:55
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The Dromites listed in the SRD look interesting, but I stated insectoid mainly because they're an easy way to bring something alien into the world. Much like 50's science fiction movies used giant insects to great advantage I thought it would bring a sense of fright to players.

The quick maturity and short life spans of the Dromite could make them an interesting threat, more powerful than kobolds and goblins, yet still mature swiftly enough to spring up quickly and unexpectedly.

The Elans also look interesting, but next to no descriptive information is given in the SRD, but the stats make them formidible foes.

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Post originally by Charlie Dunwoody at 2005-01-17 06:23:11
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The elan would actually be quite horrifying. They are aberrations that don't look monstrous. They could infiltrate the lands around them, all the while serving the dark goddess and more powerful aberrations.

The dromites are an interesting race as well, very alien.

Of course, introducing these races means we're introducing psionics to Dragonsuns. With all the aberrations we'd be using I'm okay with that (and I like the Expanded Psionics Handbook). Of course, many DMs don't like psionics so we might want to include a magic alternative.

Now that I'm thinking about psionics, I like the idea of the mind flayers, aboleths etc. being the psionic version. Maybe even the drow could be psions.

Charlie

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Post originally by Ace Calhoon at 2005-02-01 12:13:08
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Strange plants and animals fit the concept of the blight very well... I believe the current design involves a sort of donought of aberration infested area, with the sun god's remains at the center. While not corrupted, this center would likely be a good place for preternatural creatures to exist: carnivorous plants, giant insectoids, dinosaurs, etc.

However, I don't think that having a playable race come from this area would be a good idea (or am I mis-interpretting your use of the term PC race?). It would tend to demystify the place, and take a lot of the impact out of a campaign that managed to last until the point where the PCs actually have to find the Sun God in the middle of it.

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Post originally by Charlie Dunwoody at 2005-02-03 04:10:42
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I agree with Ace. One, I also see the Blight as donut shaped with the sun god's remains hidden inside. Two, I don't want to see a PC race come from the Blight or from that hidden grove. The Blight, in my mind, should be a terrifying nest of aberrations and other bizarre life. Not necessarily all evil, but definitely alien.

I could see thri-kreen living in the Blight for instance. Not serving the dark goddness, but simply dangerous intelligent insect life that preys on and devours whatever it chooses.

Charlie