| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Marquant Volker |
Posted - 11 Jan 2012 : 01:03:21
As the tittle says , i am looking for a monster race to use in my campaign. We are playing 3.X edition set in Netheril during the late silver/ early gold era. It can be any race it fits to some critteria.
Its the begging of our campaign and i want to show the players the Netherese might and magical capabilities, the feeling of discovery (well of another race) and then conflict. During the short war the Netherese will find somesort of weakness in the enemy (perhaps that will be the players task) and exploit it. In the end the race will be exterminated and removed as a threat.
Well, i could use the standart monsters in MM1 (goblins etc) but i want to point out the ruthleness of the Netherese. The race of choise has to "burn" and never been used again in my future games (well they did their job well...)
-The level of the average monster should be 3-5, the players will get a number of encounters, and they should well...survive
-It should be something that the players have again encountered and never will in the future. The more alien the threat the more fun. I am thinking i should play along with their "metagaming fears" , playing Netherese and hearing "a new menace never encountered before" it will make them shout PHAERIMMS ! and run around the gametable screaming! heh...just kidding...
-Should the monsters have somesort of weakness to be exploited? so the PCs can aid in the research. It will also help the story move along as i dont intend have a very long war.
-The race dont have to be evil, as long as it still is a threat to Netherese and their ground settlements, and humaity in general
EDIT: Did some thinking last night, and i thought about the Neogi. I have never introduced them to the PCs so they have this "new feeling". Perhaps a plot including disappereances in ground-level villages and mind controlled thugs. When they get discovered, and the Netherese attacks, the Neogi flees to Realmsspace (i dont suppose they are much of a warrior race) leaving some artifacts behind including a spelljamming vessel.
That may be the start of the of the Netherese Spelljamming research?
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| 20 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Marquant Volker |
Posted - 15 Jan 2012 : 23:03:36
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
If you use the Thaeravelites, I figured-out they were a spur of the Talfir people; a spur that embraced Shadow-magic (they may have been the first Shadoweave users). It was this knowledge the Netherease craved, and killed them for. General Telamont personally lead the slaughter. 
That is very interesting, i will use that in my campaign, not now but later for sure. I have to introduce Telamont first, and this will take some time in my campaign (considering the PCs are still in the academy learning magic)
Do you know where can i find more information about them?
From a quick search i found this
http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5218
but im looking for more :-)
EDIT: Norkers Nibenay Rakastas and many more good ideas! thanks for sharing them. I think i found much more than i was searching at the beggining!
(I hope my players does not see this scroll, lot of future ideas, about spelljamming too)
keep them coming :-)
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| Markustay |
Posted - 13 Jan 2012 : 14:45:08
Norkers (or the Grodd Goblins I mentioned) with an 80% magical defense would give them pause.
Heck, just take a normal goblin and make it immune to magic (like the Sharn), and you have a decent threat against low-lev mages.
The Netherese (the REAL ones) had a standing army - a rather large one, in fact. In a society dominated by Archmages, why would tat even be necessary, if there weren't threats that were immune to magic?
For instance, maybe some Eldritch Giants had 'shadow armor' which stopped arcane magic, or there could be some sort of innocuous creature (like an Umpleby) that generates a dead-magic zone around it, or even some sort of animal that is able to 'capture' the magical energy of spells and turn it into something else, like lightning bolts.
If you know your PCs, it isn't too hard to hand-tailor normal beasties into reasonable threats. |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 13 Jan 2012 : 14:04:53
Norkers ... or other 1E "joke"/oddball monsters, led by Elmonster ... awesome idea. Except not particularly threatening to a magic-driven civilization. |
| Quale |
Posted - 13 Jan 2012 : 12:29:33
quote:
Originally posted by Marquant Volker
Spellweavers that is a threat worth mentioning, however the PCs are pretty low level and they wont stand a chance. Good idea reserved for the future.
Whats is Nibenay? (sorry no clue )
A Dragon-king from Athas (Dark Sun setting) who exterminated the gnomes. Maybe the thri-kreen if the spellweavers are too powerful (they're related). |
| MalariaMoon |
Posted - 13 Jan 2012 : 06:17:09
Perhaps norkers from the old days of 1e? I don't think they ever showed up in the Realms. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 13 Jan 2012 : 00:42:39
Didn't you know, Sage? Phaerimm aren't evil, they are just amorally neutral.
They are the 'antibodies' of the Weave. 
This is why they attack the Sharn on-sight. They identify the Sharn as a virus (they are an artificial entity that can also 'swim' through the Weave itself). Anything that can potentially threaten the Weave falls within their purview.
The Netherese had so badly distorted the Weave - finding ways around all the rules - that they 'shut off' parts of the Weave, like Surgeons removing a cancer. Thats the true nature of "life-draining". Since the Weave = Life, it was misnamed life-draining, but the simple fact is they actually shut down portions of the great machine that is Mystra in-order to repair it. They are the caretakers of the Weave, and they are completely neutral and amoral. They are the ones that re-programmed the Thaluud to collect Powerful magical Artifacts, in order to reinforce the damaged parts of the Weave (in much the same way Elminster absorbs the magic out of items in EMD). This is also why Elmisnter never kills Phaerimmm outright - note the comic I referenced in the other thread (Grand Tour).
Ergo, everything is not what it seems, looking through the cloudy lens of time. The Thaeravelites were not innocent victims - they were shadow-casters, and the Netherese feared them. The folk of Thultanthar learned how to become Shades from them. Note that Netherese history does not turn 'dark' until after that event. They became tainted.
Thus, the Netherese were sort-of good, and they tried to destroy Thaeravel, who's people used an ancient dark magic from the beginning of time (The Shadvari). The Netherese became corrupted (some, anyway), which activated the Phaerimm who attacked them. the same happened when the Imaskari weakened the Planer Boundaries (also threatening the Weave), and the Sarrukh tried to understand forbidden magic (the Nether Scrolls). They always show up when the Weave is threatened.
The Sharn, on the other hand, are seen as a 'foreign body', and are not tolerated.
Thus, good is bad, and bad was good, and everything is turned on its head. Nothing is as it seemed - Mystra held mysteries, and Shar coveted her secrets, but it is the truths hidden right in front of you (Selune) that remain the most mysterious secrets of them all. Light can reveal, and light can blind. The secrets of magic are for the gods alone... and even they have forgotten much.
Thats why I say the Weave isn't really gone in 4e - it NEVER was. It gets shut down for maintenance. It has many times in the past, and it will many times again. When the Phaerimm are most active is when the Weave is most threatened - they are 'the keepers'.
But it takes a human soul to re-start it. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 13 Jan 2012 : 00:21:41
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Which is why they discovered and enslaved Spelljamming gnomes (I'm fairly certain there is no canon evidence indicating they existed on Toril before this). The Gnomes had discovered ways to build non-Arcane Helms.
Of course, they soon realized gnomes were insane, and their inventions were unreliable (at best), so they relegated them down to laborers (miners, mostly).
They also tried other means - the Shades became notorious for their Blood-Jammers (used by a vampiric SJ race), but eventually, nearly all of them gave up their dreams of conquering the universe.
If you use the Thaeravelites, I figured-out they were a spur of the Talfir people; a spur that embraced Shadow-magic (they may have been the first Shadoweave users). It was this knowledge the Netherease craved, and killed them for. General Telamont personally lead the slaughter.
Alas, if they only knew it would lead to their downfall (literally!)
All HB, of course. 
Anything more you can share on this? I'm intrigued by some of your ideas here. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 12 Jan 2012 : 23:20:37
Which is why they discovered and enslaved Spelljamming gnomes (I'm fairly certain there is no canon evidence indicating they existed on Toril before this). The Gnomes had discovered ways to build non-Arcane Helms.
Of course, they soon realized gnomes were insane, and their inventions were unreliable (at best), so they relegated them down to laborers (miners, mostly).
They also tried other means - the Shades became notorious for their Blood-Jammers (used by a vampiric SJ race), but eventually, nearly all of them gave up their dreams of conquering the universe.
If you use the Thaeravelites, I figured-out they were a spur of the Talfir people; a spur that embraced Shadow-magic (they may have been the first Shadoweave users). It was this knowledge the Netherease craved, and killed them for. General Telamont personally lead the slaughter.
Alas, if they only knew it would lead to their downfall (literally!)
All HB, of course.
EDIT: As for the OP, I would use the Grodd Goblins, which would explain why they aren't around anymore. They were a fairly civilized group that were organized along the lines of Roman legions. At the time of Netheril, they would have been occupying some portion of Cormyr (probably the Stormhorns, but take your pick - they could have lived in the forest as well). |
| The Sage |
Posted - 12 Jan 2012 : 15:02:21
quote:
Originally posted by Ayrik
Netheril had little interest in Spelljamming, and the explanations provided seem incompletely terse. My interpretation was that the Netherese managed to behave so arrogantly or make so many quick enemies during their initial forays into Wildspace and beyond that somebody's armada forced them back into Realmspace.
I think the fact that the Netherese had to rely on the Arcane for just about all their spelljamming needs, probably frustrated them to no end, given their classic human arrogance. Not to mention their inherent xenophobia. |
| Kno |
Posted - 12 Jan 2012 : 11:04:14
Humans from Thaeravel |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 12 Jan 2012 : 08:23:32
Netheril had little interest in Spelljamming, and the explanations provided seem incompletely terse. My interpretation was that the Netherese managed to behave so arrogantly or make so many quick enemies during their initial forays into Wildspace and beyond that somebody's armada forced them back into Realmspace. Perhaps the Netherese could've waged war, perhaps even won (perhaps they did), but what would be the point when magical access to instant planar transit would be cheaper and "better" than months aboard smelly flying ships?
Of course that doesn't stop other beings from preferring spelljammer methods. |
| Aulduron |
Posted - 12 Jan 2012 : 02:56:17
Invent your own monsters to fit your needs. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 12 Jan 2012 : 02:42:55
quote:
Originally posted by Ayrik
Githyanki and illithids would also be most worthy adversaries.
It's also more than likely that during Netheril's foray into Wildspace, via their brief spelljamming initiative, they probably tried to throw their arcane weight around just a little bit. No doubt the illithids in Realmspace, and to a lesser extent, the githyanki I suppose, probably took exception to that human arrogance.
Which might prove useful for Marquant, given his earlier interest in Netherese spelljamming in his opening post. |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 12 Jan 2012 : 01:44:54
Rakashas (not quite the same as rakasta) strike me as being liars, lawyers, deceivers, manipulators, cheats, and betrayers ... they are masterful illusionists, competent enchanters, and they generally prefer stealth and assassination before open warfare.
Still a fine enemy for Netheril.
Githyanki and illithids would also be most worthy adversaries. Trolls and beholders would do in a pinch. |
| Xevo |
Posted - 12 Jan 2012 : 00:40:49
How about the Rakasta? A prominently warrior race may sound initially weak, but cunning could be a fresh weapon to throw at the PCs. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 11 Jan 2012 : 15:28:55
Quale is more than likely referencing the Nibenay region of Athas, from the DARK SUN setting. |
| Marquant Volker |
Posted - 11 Jan 2012 : 14:15:01
Spellweavers that is a threat worth mentioning, however the PCs are pretty low level and they wont stand a chance. Good idea reserved for the future.
Whats is Nibenay? (sorry no clue ) |
| Quale |
Posted - 11 Jan 2012 : 11:09:04
I'd use the spellweavers (they had an empire that spanned crystal spheres, plus Jergal) vs. Netheril, or if it's too high magic, gnomes (like Nibenay) |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 11 Jan 2012 : 09:28:55
Orc hordes. Giants. Drow. Barbarians. Dragons. Any of them can be a fine nemesis worthy of magical genocide. |
| _Jarlaxle_ |
Posted - 11 Jan 2012 : 09:22:29
I vote for elfes
Or maybe some underdark race? If I remember Arcan Age of Netheril right it discribes how they meet dwarves for the first time. So maybe they meet other races the same way and make war on one of them. I don't think that they can genocide a whole race because most of them are placed all around Fearun, but maybe one nation or tribe would be enough for your needs? If so you could use Svirfneblin or Duergar for example, or maybe Kuo-toa because you want it more exotic. |
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