| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| xanthor |
Posted - 24 May 2012 : 21:25:52
Hi there!
First and foremost - 1st post! Yeah!!
Ok now time for the more detailed questions.
I'm looking to run a project involving the Realms and I want to use Banite, the followers of the god Bane, as my villains. The problem I am running into is I know very little of the Church of Bane.
My research of them lets me know alot of their order and how they work but they give very little examples.
What i am looking for is examples of their villainy and their schemes. What do the Church of Bane do, aside for worshiping him, that make them such horrible people?
Thanks in advance to anyone who can answers this. |
| 9 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Derulbaskul |
Posted - 30 Jun 2012 : 03:25:29
I've always viewed his church as wanting to extend the dominion of the Black Lord over everything. To do that, though, they often work through individual tyrants (which was why Fzoul, IMO, was happy to be part of the Zhentarim originally - well, at least one reason). In Waterdeep, that would mean using various means - bribery, blackmail, extortion - to bring at least one noble house until Banite influence with a view to producing one of the Masked Lords at some point. And finding out the identities of the Masked Lords would be a key goal. I could imagine various spies etc... being hired to investigate notable individuals to try and determined whether or not they were Masked Lords.
The other thing I could imagine Banites doing is showing that their way of life - their dogma, if you will - supports the growth of civilisation at the expense of both the general forces of chaos (strife, if you will) and the wilderness.
So, if I was running Banite-themed adventures in and around Waterdeep I would have the following adventures, more or less:
- Always a great scene, the party thwarts an assassination attempt on a dark and stormy knight against an obvious aristocrat who is secretly a Masked Lord. While the assassins may not be Banites, the trail of "Who hired you?" ultimately leads back to the Banite cell. (And getting the proof can get the Banites expelled from Waterdeep.)
- Banite agents stir up a small orc horde, a rampage of giants, a sahuagin attack (by stealing one of their relics and hiding it in Waterdeep) or pick another group of evil humanoids and then form part of the vanguard that resists the attack of whichever group you choose. Perhaps they also provide the turning point in the battle... but the party ultimately proves their treachery (by, for example, finding their hidden temple with the sahuagin relic they have stolen).
- Waterdeep always needs raw materials but nearby druids won't let the Lumber Consortium (name shamelessly stolen from Paizo) cut the necessary trees... so the Banites quietly approach the more morally flexible nobles who are owners of the Lumber Consortium and offer to solve the problem. The druids are massacred, more or less, and the Banites become a silent partners of those same nobles.
I think it's clear in FR canon that the Banites have little influence in Waterdeep so these ideas are about insinuating themselves into the power structure of the city. It's not about conquering Waterdeep overnight.
I hope this helps. |
| Barastir |
Posted - 25 May 2012 : 11:27:03
You can find some info on the 2e "Faiths & Avatars", maybe it will have more detailed info about worship service. And I think there is a plot involving Bane in the 2e Daggerdale adventures. |
| crazedventurers |
Posted - 25 May 2012 : 06:13:10
quote:
Originally posted by xanthor
What plots have the Church of Bane created? I'm looking for example of their plots from any era of Forgotten Realms
Hello Xanthor
The best resources are:
Cloak and Dagger sourcebook (Xvim is essentially Bane  )
Halls of the High King module: it has lots of plots as well as a magnificent write up about the Church and what it does and how priests interact with each other and rituals and prayers etc etc etc.
Polyhedron magazines: 82 - 86 with 84 being my favourite as it lists the reach of the Zhentarim from Zhentil Keeep all the way to the Sword Coast North.
Hope this helps
Cheers
Damian |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 25 May 2012 : 02:47:04
I suppose reading up all the classic 1E/2E stuff about the activities of Bane via the Zhents might be informative. His worship was also often active in Thay. And his evil agents have long had a vague but marked history of tyranny around the Moonsea region.
I suppose you can't go far wrong just creating some underground splinter church/cult anywhere you want. Any place governed by law could have those laws corrupted or manipulated to serve evil and tyrannical ends. Any place controlled by evil could be subjugated by a strong tyrant. Bane's worship is fairly simple, really: the strong take what they want from the weak and install a system of authority which lets them get away with ever-escalating domination. Early operations are easy to finance by installing an underground slave trade and some hired muscle willing to be rewarded for being bullies. |
| xanthor |
Posted - 25 May 2012 : 02:25:40
See this is the problem I'm having. I have all my information I want on Bane, I'm looking for information on his church.
What plots have the Church of Bane created? I'm looking for example of their plots from any era of Forgotten Realms |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 25 May 2012 : 01:40:16
I am sadly unfamiliar with 4E's version of Bane, especially since his powers are probably somewhat curtailed or defined by other new or changed gods (like Kelemvor).
I can't recall Bane ever having much presence in Waterdeep or the North in earlier editions. However, it's not at all impossible since Bane seems to go wherever the Zhents go, and the Zhents tried for a long time to establish trade connections (monopolies) in the area. Bane also has a special personal arrangement with (and direct interest in) Szass Tam, who has also apparently been a little active in the region at one of his Dread Circle sites. |
| Rhewtani |
Posted - 25 May 2012 : 01:22:23
I'd say historically Bane plans have a lot of collateral damage. If its direct consequences are horrible, it's indirect consequences are probably even worse. |
| xanthor |
Posted - 24 May 2012 : 23:43:25
Right. I'm sorry I should have been more specific.
Set in The City of Splendors, Waterdeep. I'm using 4th edition and I guess the latest year in the Realms. (I'm always a little fuzzy on years lol )
Will that help some more?
 |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 24 May 2012 : 21:57:12
It would help to know where and when your game setting is located within the Realms; which church, what year, which game edition? Bane is one of those gods with a somewhat complicated career, his power has waxed and waned in several regions several times. |
