My AE & Lords of Madness campaign...

[Jaws]

Vallorians

I swapped the Vallorians for the drow in the Banewarrens. The players were totally freaked out and didn't know how to handle the situation.

The PCs encountering the basic classes has not been a problem in my AU campaign. All I have done was change the name of the race and tweak the NPC name if needed.


Peace and smiles

j.

 

[SJ]

When I started my AU game, I was meticulous about converting all classes to AU ones. But for most fodder NPC's (or ones that are 99% roleplay), there's really no need, so I quit doing it. Not once did my players say, "He's a rogue!", they just assumed unfettered or akashic, and I never corrected them. I do try to change spells, if cast, to be AU ones.

I also swapped Vallorians in place of Drow for Banewarrens, and they have totally freaked out the players. It's great.

Eric, I guess my previous campaigns never featured beholders or illithids, so I'm not going to remove the elder orbs from my game. But I agree that switching up the old standbys is a great opportunity with AU. Oh, I don't use illithids, but have introduced a Lastragos (from LoD) to the party, and it broke them down nicely. A more advanced one will definitely make another appearance in this campaign.

(btw, other AU-ites, I am SlappinJoe on Monte's boards. Hi!)

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

If you do the Aboleth dream thing there's an interesting crossover into the somnamancer prestige class.

Were I doing this campaign I'd be very tempted to create a process by which celestials, demons, devils, other outsiders, and possibly deities could be turned into aberrations, so that the cosmology of religion becomes one of the vectors by which this phenomena spreads.

Perhaps the gods frozen at the top of the world have been put into the divine equivalent of a cryogenic state while the world itself tries to discover a way to heal them.

The Tennebrian seeds should have a weird connection to this phenomena as well, though I wouldn't go so far as to make them an agent of the invasion so much as something that has the potential to be.

Perhaps the seeds are an offshoot of the condition of the gods? Either a symptom of their infection or a means they've discovered to fight it or both.

 

[Justin D. Jacobson]

Every time a read a thread like this I get insanely jealous that I don't have a good group to game with at this point. I'm seriously considering a move to Connecticut just so I can have a regular game DM'd by Bill/Varianor.

Eric, I can't remember, did you get a copy of my Akashic Nodes book? It includes a full-length adventure featuring Vallorians. If not, drop me an e-mail at justin[at]bluedevilgames[dot]com.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

I'm always in favor of spreading the foul spawn of the outer dark to new horizons.

Wait a minute...

That didn't come out right...

This sounds like a truly awesome AU/AE campaign! I totally agree with the decision to dump some of the other creatures into the Aberration type, and also to drop beholders and mind flayers from AE.

 

[Robert Ranting]

Aberrations

Sounds like a neat concept for a campaign, overall. The "Justice League" concept reminds me of Character Trees from old 2E Dark Sun, which is one of the more amusing concepts that setting generated.

Just out of curiosity, why not include the Qualleg (LotD) among the abberations in this campaign? Since each of them has it's own agenda, they can be unpredicable foes and, perhaps unexpected allies of the PCs. Individual Qualleg might have plans that run counter to their fellow aberrations, for example, and use the PCs to further their own ends in the guise of aiding them against the Aboleth (who, perhaps are the reason their underground/underwater empire no longer exists?) Further, Qualleg horde information and relics making them likely possessors of "McGuffins" for dealing with other aberrations...after all, the greatest threats to one's plans can often be another of their kind. Plus, their unique method of sustenance and locomotion is certain to bring disgusted or curious looks to your PC's faces.

Robert "Aberrant DM" Ranting

 

[spidertrag]

Every time a read a thread like this I get insanely jealous that I don't have a good group to game with at this point. I'm seriously considering a move to Connecticut just so I can have a regular game DM'd by Bill/Varianor.

Eric, I can't remember, did you get a copy of my Akashic Nodes book? It includes a full-length adventure featuring Vallorians. If not, drop me an e-mail at justin[at]bluedevilgames[dot]com.

ohhhh! the hellsbelles folks! Hey---um I'm Eric too! Sure---sure I am

 

[EricNoah]

Eric, I can't remember, did you get a copy of my Akashic Nodes book? It includes a full-length adventure featuring Vallorians. If not, drop me an e-mail at justin[at]bluedevilgames[dot]com.

Yeah, sure did, haven't had much of a chance to read through it. PDFs can be convenient but I find I can't really read them like I read a printed book. Still, I will mine it for inspiration at some point.

 

[EricNoah]

Just out of curiosity, why not include the Qualleg (LotD) among the abberations in this campaign?

Hadn't really read that entry, sounds like a possibility. Thanks for the tip.

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

Check out the Dread Helminth. Freaky-cool!