What motivates a primordial?

[Derulbaskul]

I'm trying to brainstorm some ideas in relation to Karshimis, a primordial mentioned in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide. The FRCG notes that he/it ruled a land of genasi on the other FR world before the Spellplague causes parts of the two worlds to merge.

For me, I see the primordials as devoted to destruction, with a real desire to see everything return to the primordial beginning. If that is correct, why would a primordial become a tyrant and rule a nation of genasi?

Just for the sake of clarity because this is the internet, I am not complaining about this or questioning the design choice, I am actually trying to understand, as per the topic, what actually motivates a primordial besides simple destruction.

Any thoughts? Has anyone use a primordial successfully in their games?

 

[Snoweel]

Any thoughts? Has anyone use a primordial successfully in their games?

My group met Timesus and killed it. I think it went pretty well.

 

[jmucchiello]

They love soup?

Sorry, it had to be said.

 

[RangerWickett]

Imagine you are one of the last surviving human beings after an apocalypse, and intelligent cockroaches reclaim the earth. You might try to control some of these roaches in order to recapture the world you once loved.

Or alternately, you were an aristocrat before the French revolution. Your peers were mostly all killed, but you escaped. You might simply want to destroy those who ruined your life, or you might try to rebuild what you once had. And perhaps that's enough, or maybe you're doing it so you can have an army to take your revenge.

 

[frankthedm]

For me, I see the primordials as devoted to destruction, with a real desire to see everything return to the primordial beginning. If that is correct, why would a primordial become a tyrant and rule a nation of genasi?

Does It know if Creation can be remade? If not, maybe It wants to see just how much of the short end of the stick it can claim for itself rather than hit the power button and hope the system reboots.

Does it believe unmaking creation has the chance to come to pass? Sure, he would hit the cosmic power button, if he could, but since that's not an option, something has to pass the time.

what actually motivates a primordial besides simple destruction.

Probably as many varied things that motivate gods.

 

[Stormonu]

I haven't read much of the 4E primordials, but from what I read of primordials in the Scarred Lands world, primordials are about change. They build stuff up, play with it for a while, get bored, then destroy it and move onto something new.

Kind of a like a kid with Lego blocks. The gods upset the primordials - they took their latest creation and put it up on a shelf in a case, making it unchangable. The primordial "kid" wants it back, out of the case and wants to make new things with it.

 

[Derulbaskul]

Thanks for the replies, fellas. XP for you all.

 

[Dausuul]

I haven't read much of the 4E primordials, but from what I read of primordials in the Scarred Lands world, primordials are about change. They build stuff up, play with it for a while, get bored, then destroy it and move onto something new.

Kind of a like a kid with Lego blocks. The gods upset the primordials - they took their latest creation and put it up on a shelf in a case, making it unchangable. The primordial "kid" wants it back, out of the case and wants to make new things with it.

I tend to agree with this. Primordials per se aren't malevolent, they just like change and chaos, making and breaking. The exception is primordials that have been corrupted into demon lords by the evil of the Abyss, whose creative urges have been extinguished, leaving only the lust for destruction.

 

[Baron Opal]

For me, I see the primordials as devoted to destruction, with a real desire to see everything return to the primordial beginning. If that is correct, why would a primordial become a tyrant and rule a nation of genasi?

Primordials want to exult in their idiom.

The Windwalker wants to race around mountains, dodge lightning and out-shout the Earthshaker with it's thunder vs. the groaning of an earthquake.

Unfortunately, those kinds of games and rivalries make it difficult to grow crops and build houses. For some reason the gods wanted to keep mortals around and were able to get rid of the primordials.

I don't see it so much as the primordials want to erase everything as their lifestyle doesn't depend much on living in a single, fragile material form. In fact, their activities inevitably depend on being able to mold a body to suit their needs or wait patiently for a 1000 years to see the results of the experiment. We slide tables and chairs around to redecorate. The Earthshaker redecorates by erupting a supervolcano to get a couple mountains out of the way. They ruin the aesthetic of the whole range, you see.

 

[countgray]

I have a slightly different take. It's demons that are into destruction. Destruction is not the bailiwick of Primordials. Some demons may have once been Primordials, but Primordials, by and large are motivated by other things. Their wills are primal. They are not "civilized' like the gods. They are old. They are less formed. They are unrefined. They are untamed. Their desires are base and elemental. They want what they want. They have consuming desire and ambition for the element or concept they embody.

Because they are unsubtle, this tends to come off as evil. However, most of them (I suspect) tend towards the neutral (or unaligned). Their methods may seem crude, unfeeling, even destructive and malicious. But that is not their primary motivation. But what that motivation is, may be different for each primordial. They want to consume, to create, to engulf, to love, to posess--all the things that motivate humans and animals. Only, the primordial's intent is usually not veiled. They are direct. Their intent is usually obvious, and woe be to him who stands in their way.