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BadCatMan
Senior Scribe
Australia
401 Posts |
 Posted - 13 Aug 2016 : 10:42:54
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Creating a psionics-using character (a kalashtar soulknife) for a psionics-heavy D&D 3.5 game set in the Realms, I came up with a fair bit of development and background. Specifically, I adapted the kalashtar race from Eberron and the Atavist prestige class from Races of Eberron to the Realms, for the Order of the Bladewright created by Eytan Bernstein for the Class Chronicles series of articles. I dropped all the Eberron fluff bar the core concept. I was pleased with the results, and I thought I'd share here, if anyone's interested. My character's included for context.
Here's the lore on the Order of the Bladewright for context:
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Order_of_the_Bladewright
When the empire of Jhaamdath fell suddenly under the Killing Wave in -255 DR, the psyches of its most powerful psionicists didn't just go away. They lingered and were sometimes reincarnated in the descendants of the Jhaamdathan survivors, in Chondathan populations where the old blood and psychic talent are rich, such as Impiltur, the Vast, and the Vilhon Reach, the old homeland. Sages might call them "kalashtar", a term from the old tongue, but they are throwbacks or atavisms. They look and act human and have a knack for the Invisible Art of psionics, but most never learn their nature, some consider themselves freaks or tieflings, while a few go on to great things as psionicists themselves.
Sambrylla Smith is one such kalashtar, born in the kingdom of Impiltur in the east, the daughter of a weaponsmith and named for the queen-regent. In the backlands of a realm once plagued by demons, mobs of superstitious folk were known to lynch and even burn supposed demon-spawn, so Sam learned to keep her weird thoughts and powers to herself. But, a boisterous girl, she joined the militia, the Warswords, eager to defend her kingdom. One day, during a battle with hobgoblins, her sword was broken, yet she still had a blade, a silver shaft of psychic energy. Perhaps some of her mother's skill in weapon-crafting had carried through to the child, focusing her psionic energy into a sword. Sam was dumbfounded, but she used it to slay her attacker and save the life of a fellow Warsword. Afterward, she feared the attitudes of her comrades, but watching that day was one of the Knights of Imphras II, the elite paladin order that defended the realm. He recognised her gift and selected her to join a unique unit, the Order of the Bladewright.
The Bladewrights were few, but all soulknives like her. Faithful to Torm, they trained to be like psychic paladins themselves, seeking holy psionic powers to battle the demons that plagued the kingdom and exorcise those they possessed. Most were human, some were kalashtar or other psychic beings. Some became illumine souls who channelled positive energy to destroy undead. Others became atavists, kalashtar who sought a closer link to the ancestral psyches they bore, advancing their holy powers and ably leading squads and armies with their mindlink communications. Some of the finest knights of Impiltur's history were Bladewrights, but history only recorded them as paladins, so they went largely unrecognised as anything more than an odd, mystical unit of the Knights of Imphras II.
But right now they had a unique mission: to defend the Boy King Imbrar II, last of his line. He was kept in hiding, in deep cover, for fear of the assassin's knife or a demon's claw. His disguised bodyguards had to be armed at all times, but openly or covertly wearing weapons would arouse suspicion or be against the daggerbond rules oft-enforced in the kingdom. One of the Shrikelords of the Knights, commander of the Bladewrights, recognised that soulknives would be the perfect solution, and would be never expected by the king's hidden enemies.
After being intensively tested and trained, Sam was posted to the mining town of Laviguer in the guise of an apprentice weaponsmith, to keep a close eye on "Sarshel", the teenaged king. Young Sambrylla could easily play the role of a teenaged friend, and sweetheart, unremarked upon where the constant company of an adult would be unusual. When Imbrar chafed at his minders' restrictions, Sam was there to run off with for fun and still be protected. They were the only ones each could confide in. Imbrar may have had a crush on Sam, and the feeling was mutual, but duty overrode all.
Finally, Imbrar ascended the throne when he came of age at the end of 1374 DR; Sam was at the coronation. But the Bladewrights' duty was over. After fifteen years of dedicated service, away from home and family, they'd won no prestige for their work, and much of it remained secret. They were part of the Knights of Imphras II, but the trials for full acceptance in the wider order had been waived due to necessity. They weren't even true paladins, but weird psionicists of odd temperament. The Order of the Bladewright now had no duty, no prestige, and no standing.
Thus, to regain their honour, they undertook the most ironic quest: the knights who did not need weapons would seek out the missing swords of King Imbrar I and his Royal Guard, the collection known as Soargar's Legacy, a treasure of Old Impiltur lost for two centuries. In the process, they sought to complete the Test of the Triad, to confront three foes of Impiltur and prove their wisdom, bravery, and endurance, and so their worth to the Knights. Each Bladewright was given a list of clues and some coin and headed out into the Realms. They could go to places no paladin could operate and retain her honour.
Some of the Atavist's class features only work on Eberron's quori, so I suggest adapting them to demons and/or suppose the existence of evil kalashtar demon worshipers, likely working with cerebriliths.
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Cerebrilith
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BadCatMan, B.Sc. (Hons), M.Sc.
Scientific technical editor
Head DM of the Realms of Adventure play-by-post community
Administrator of the Forgotten Realms Wiki |
Edited by - BadCatMan on 13 Aug 2016 13:08:14
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore
Australia
6654 Posts |
Posted - 13 Aug 2016 : 11:50:40
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Very nice.
-- George Krashos |
"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus |
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Bladewind
Master of Realmslore
Netherlands
1280 Posts |
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Brimstone
Great Reader
USA
3286 Posts |
Posted - 13 Aug 2016 : 14:49:26
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quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos
Very nice.
-- George Krashos
I agree with that assessment George. Very nice. |
"These things also I have observed: that knowledge of our world is
to be nurtured like a precious flower, for it is the most precious
thing we have. Wherefore guard the word written and heed
words unwritten and set them down ere they fade . . . Learn
then, well, the arts of reading, writing, and listening true, and they
will lead you to the greatest art of all: understanding."
Alaundo of Candlekeep |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11746 Posts |
Posted - 13 Aug 2016 : 22:16:26
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Wow, BadCat, I was saying just a few weeks ago that Impiltur would be a perfect place for a "Deryni" type of influence. I had never pictured though the idea of soulknives as secret bodyguards of the king. That makes for a perfect way to introduce them in the area.
It might be interesting, given the whole Kalashtar concept, if they have to ritually awaken their psionic abilities like the Deryni did (but via some kind of dream interaction.. which could fit with Auppenser, as I see him as somewhat of a dream god too). Some parents may even do this while the child is young and then modify the child's memories so they don't remember it until they are ready. In doing so, you might give them some kind of wild talent. In such a way, it may be that the ruling family of Impiltur is also of Kalashtar blood, but they attempt to hide this from the common folk.
Along these same lines, perhaps psions have a bad reputation in Impiltur BECAUSE they can hide in plain sight so well and maybe in the past a group of evil psions tried to seize the throne in league with some demons. That could play with the whole concept of the church of the triad not liking psionics because maybe they have a misunderstanding and think its a gift of demonkind like a warlock (after all, they don't have to "cast" like a spellcaster does). |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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BadCatMan
Senior Scribe
Australia
401 Posts |
Posted - 14 Aug 2016 : 02:11:07
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Thanks all.
I'm not familiar with the Deryni; I've never read Katherine Kurtz.
Looking for a psionics idea, I was inspired by the Order of the Bladewright. I was originally going to play a human, but then I saw how good some of the feats for kalashtar soulknives in Eberron material were, and how fitting the Atavist prestige class could be to a paladin-like soulknife. Plus it gave me some more psionics to play with.
However, I dislike the dream association Eberron makes with psionics, as it replaces the mentalism and psychic flavour that makes it different and interesting in the first place. Races of Eberron hinted at some alternatives ("the atavistic link based on blood ties to an ancient empire") that I worked up for the background.
Supposing the Triad dislike psionics, that could go all the way back to when Tyr and Ilmater first appeared/came into prominence in the Procession of Justice, pacifying the anarchic remnants of fallen Jhaamdath. They'd have made a few psionic enemies then, including followers of Valigan Thirdborn, lesser deity of anarchy, whom Tyr slew (although his survival is not out of the question). Eberron's Inspired and quori and such could be worked in amongst these. Some groups would survive, particularly when immortal elan and Inspired are possible.
The character is fundamentally ironic: I wanted to play a psionicist, but I picked a human soulknife, which doesn't get powers; she's an apprentice weaponsmith who doesn't need a sword; she doesn't need a sword, but is on a quest for one. Sam will even say her mind blade is made of irony – it's iron-y, get it?  She's a merry jokester, so she can go unnoticed as a knight. We're adventuring in Skullport with the Hall of Mental Splendor psychic spying group, so she couldn't be too much of a stick-in-the-mid either. She's searching for Mau-Jehe, a mind blade legacy weapon from Weapons of Legacy. |
BadCatMan, B.Sc. (Hons), M.Sc.
Scientific technical editor
Head DM of the Realms of Adventure play-by-post community
Administrator of the Forgotten Realms Wiki |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11746 Posts |
Posted - 14 Aug 2016 : 06:14:20
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Actually, I'd made my Deryni reference, but until you mentioned your Kalashtar idea I hadn't really seen a way to make the psionic people aka Deryni hated by the state religion. I'd probably change the name to something else than Kalashtar just to remove confusion, but for the sake of this conversation I'll use it throughout the reference. However, how the Kalashtar came about will change. Now, if these Kalashtar have a link to demons/Qori (which I understand you want to go a different path) for their origin, then it would make sense as to why the Church calls them filthy and despicable. I would also keep their link in the past to ancient Jhaamdath and that the psionic survivors migrated to Impiltur (because that IS what happened). The dream association I would actually keep and have Auppenser have a dream aspect to his nature. What I would add is this idea.
The Jhaamdathi refugees arrived in Impiltur before the fall of Narfell. They established their communities OUTSIDE of Narfell, but Narfell invaded their territory. Narfell falls, demoncysts scatter across the Countryside from Eltab's hidden layer. In the merging of the demoncysts with Impiltur, many of its plane's inhabitants were twisted into the form of Qori. These Qori suddenly found that as a result of how close the demoncysts are to Toril, they were able to inhabit individuals with fiendish blood (which Narfell was full of and over the past hundred years some demonic blood had been bred into some of these Jhaamdathi), and possession by demon/Qori started to become a problem for the people in the region.
This is where I'd really throw in the Jhaamdath/Auppenser link. I'd have Auppenser inform his faithful of a ritual that they could perform to protect themselves and their offspring by removing their need to dream. The ritual would involve invading a demoncyst, entrapping, extracting the blood from, and mindlinking to a Qori (the ritual in and of itself should SOUND horrible... covering oneself in the blood of the Qori, drawing symbols with its blood, etc...). Once this was done, it transformed these normal humans into Kalashtar, and it also made the next generation of children have a 50% chance of being Kalashtar if they breed with a human. It also made some of them go stark raving mad. I'd also have it open up some wild talent in the ritual performer (not the children). However, if the children of the ritual performer want to continue having Kalashtar children, they must repeat a lesser version of the ritual (because the complete original ritual has been lost over time), and in doing so the also awaken a wild talent in themselves.
So, how does this play into things? Remember from Champions of Ruin, Soneillon "Queen of Whispers", the succubus who has skill with possessing people. I'd state that she is a succubus with the powers of a Qori stacked on like a template.
What else? I'd have it that at some point these Qori started working with a rogue group of these Kalashtar. These rogue Kalashtar had come to an agreement with the Qori to simply let them awaken their children's powers and in return the two groups would work together. Many nobles with ancient blood ties to Old Narfell became possessed by Qori in exchange for power. Maybe include warlocks/binders in this group too. It was only through the faiths that would eventually become the Triad (and maybe the church of Helm too) that this rebellion was thrown down, and as a result these Kalashtar (and by association psionics in general) has a stigma with the churches of the state religion.
I'd have it that a Kalashtar female had married into the royal family without telling the King about her family's nature. She then awakened her son via aiding him in the ritual (without telling the king) whenever he came of age. Thus, its become a standard thing that whenever a new crown prince/princess comes of age that a group of these Kalashtar (maybe via the order of the bladewrights) get together to bring him/her into a demoncyst and enact this ritual in secret. However, they can't let the church know, because the church doesn't understand that the ritual itself isn't actually evil (or leave this ambiguous).
I'd further do a ret-con of Soargar the wizard from the past and state that he was a Kalashtar metamind (psion & wizard), and include some specifically psionic magic items and weapons amongst Soargar's Legacy (maybe some kind of item which lets you place some kind of enhancement upon your mind blade like elemental damage, or brilliant energy/dancing/defending/axiomatic/holy/bane quality(ies), or any of the enhancements that he can add via his class ability, etc... . That way, your character actually has something to go hunt for.
I'd even throw in some Kalashtar psychic theurges who have secretly invaded the state religions (not to invade mind you, but because they are faithful). |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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BadCatMan
Senior Scribe
Australia
401 Posts |
Posted - 14 Aug 2016 : 07:34:31
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Cool, it's good to see it's sparking ideas for you. As for me, I'm still only level 2 and the campaign's centred on Skullport & Waterdeep, and if it even lasts, a lot of possible stuff likely won't come up. Still, I have my ideas to inform my play. Maybe in the future, Sam returns a true knight to serve her king, and maybe marry him. 
Other psionic races can work for the concept: maenads, bearing the rage and frustration of fallen Jhaamdath and its thwarted imperialists; and the three-minded synads, perhaps carrying two or three psyches of the old psions. Elans, as a secret society of immortals created via a psionic ritual transformation, could fit as well.
Psychic Soargar would have to be a cerebremancer, which is the arcane/psionic dual-progression prestige class. (Metamind is the sucky one that gives lots of power points and an inflated head.)
Mau-Jehe is a short-sword/punching-dagger legacy weapon (using Weapons of Legacy rules) that is psionic in nature and suits virtuous warriors, particularly soulknives. It merges with a mind blade so a soulknife can again the benefits of either. Hence why I wanted it. In the core story, it has a thri-kreen origin, which is easily retained. The rest can be switched to any southern kingdom or Jhaamdath itself, before finding its way into and out of Soargar's collection. |
BadCatMan, B.Sc. (Hons), M.Sc.
Scientific technical editor
Head DM of the Realms of Adventure play-by-post community
Administrator of the Forgotten Realms Wiki |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11746 Posts |
Posted - 14 Aug 2016 : 13:29:00
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quote:
Originally posted by BadCatMan
Cool, it's good to see it's sparking ideas for you. As for me, I'm still only level 2 and the campaign's centred on Skullport & Waterdeep, and if it even lasts, a lot of possible stuff likely won't come up. Still, I have my ideas to inform my play. Maybe in the future, Sam returns a true knight to serve her king, and maybe marry him.
Other psionic races can work for the concept: maenads, bearing the rage and frustration of fallen Jhaamdath and its thwarted imperialists; and the three-minded synads, perhaps carrying two or three psyches of the old psions. Elans, as a secret society of immortals created via a psionic ritual transformation, could fit as well.
Psychic Soargar would have to be a cerebremancer, which is the arcane/psionic dual-progression prestige class. (Metamind is the sucky one that gives lots of power points and an inflated head.)
Mau-Jehe is a short-sword/punching-dagger legacy weapon (using Weapons of Legacy rules) that is psionic in nature and suits virtuous warriors, particularly soulknives. It merges with a mind blade so a soulknife can again the benefits of either. Hence why I wanted it. In the core story, it has a thri-kreen origin, which is easily retained. The rest can be switched to any southern kingdom or Jhaamdath itself, before finding its way into and out of Soargar's collection.
yes, cerebremancer, my bad. Elans definitely fit the culture too, with possibly the king fitting that mold too. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Psionics: Kalashtar, Soulknives, and Impiltur
