Advancing a Brain in a Jar

[IcyCool]

(G.C. seeths in rage over the fact Rodrigo beat him to a pun.)

That's no way to get ahead in life.

 

[Joël of the FoS]

IIRC there was a RL adventure that the party started as brains in a jar. I think it was the second most powerful lord after strahd, some wizard or lich. You started out in a jar on the shelf in his lab. That sound familiar to anyone? (my favorite RL adventure was thoughts of madness, even though it was nigh impossible)

"From the Shadows", with good old dusty Azalin.

I second the Rudolph Von Aubrecker, i.e. the Living Brain.

Joël

 

[jerichothebard]

The main villian in Madeline L'Engle's Wrinkle in Time is a disembodied brain (no jar). With quite clearly a LE alignment, and massive psi power. As the heroes approach the "lair", they walk through a town where everything is exactly perfect. The lawns are all mowed the same, the flowers all have been planted in exactly the same way, the children are all playing ball in exactly the same rythym... It's like the 1950's all over again. It's very creepy.

One of the children breaks out of step, and they later see him getting "re-educated".

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

Are you shure that was WiT? I remember that scene, but thought WiT was the one with the centaurs and that scene was in another of her books.

 

[davidschwartznz]

It needs a golem that it can ride around in, secured in a compartment in the abdomen.

IIRC, SKR did an article explaining why an iron golem must be hollow based on the description in the MM.

 

[Brakkart]

"From the Shadows", with good old dusty Azalin.

I second the Rudolph Von Aubrecker, i.e. the Living Brain.

Joël

Yeah Aubrecker would make for a very cool and threatening opponent. His 3rd edition stats can be found in the Ravenloft Gazeteer Vol 3. The Who's Doomed appendix at the back of the book gives psionic and non-psionic stats for him/it. In either form he/it is CR9. the entry also goes into quite some detail about his network of minions.

 

[Three_Haligonians]

IIRC, SKR did an article explaining why an iron golem must be hollow based on the description in the MM.

It came up in my game once (fighting a golem on a boat), and after working out the math, we figured out that Iron Golems would float.

Go figure.

As for advancing a Brain in a Jar, you could give one the Paragon template from the Epic Level handbook, but if you did that, it would probably become a very long lasting villain, one that your group would have to advance a little before facing.


J from Three Haligonians

 

[Sejs]

As for advancing a Brain in a Jar, you could give one the Paragon template from the Epic Level handbook, but if you did that, it would probably become a very long lasting villain, one that your group would have to advance a little before facing.

I love that idea.

"When I was alive, I was just a normal man...but now that I'm in this jar, look out, World!"

 

[domino]

He's gonna need an Awakened Dire Ape to carry him around.
Give the ape a beret too.
100 xp to whoever gets the reference.

I came in here hoping to make that same reference.

 

[lgburton]

Are you shure that was WiT? I remember that scene, but thought WiT was the one with the centaurs and that scene was in another of her books.

yep, it's WiT.

WitD is all about being one with the mitochondria,
STP is (motor oil?) all about changing the life course of a dictator
MW is biblical noah's ark stuff
AAT is more back-in-time stuff.