Alienists in Forgotten Realms

[Derulbaskul]

The Far Realm could actually be the prison in which the shadevari (as opposed to shadovari) were bound by Gond during the beginnings of creation (this is described in a sidebar in Faiths & Avatars plus is in one or more of the books that you can find while playing BG1, BG2 etc...).

Of course, keep the origin a mystery from your players but make it a little bit darker. In time, the PC is going to find himself being tempted to see 13 nasty critters free....

 

[andrew_kenrick]

Hmm, I like the idea of using the malaugrym. The bit in FR that says they have difficulty leaving their home plane, so it works rather well that they would manipulate mages who inadvertantly make contact. Mmm ... yummy.

Where can I find more info on the malaugrym beyond FR and Monsters of Faerun?

I also like the idea of the Shadevari. That's very cthulu-esque. I wonder if there's a way to tie them in with the other aspects, such as the malaugrym? After all, the shadevari are related in some way to the shadow plane, are they not?

 

[Faraer]

The malaugrym were first featured in the Shadow of the Avatar trilogy, and they also appear in the restored Spellfire and other novels and stories of Ed's.

Lovecraft is certainly among Ed's inspirations, though more especially the Dunsany-influenced fantasy stuff.

 

[ruleslawyer]

The answer, in short, is that FR is easily big enough to incorporate an alienist character. My recommendation is to check out the description of Ghaunadaur in FOR2 Drow of the Underdark (a 2e supplement available for $5 as a pdf download either from www.rpgnow.com or www.svgames.com ) as an example of a classic Cthuloid Entity from Beyond that fits into an FR game.

The place in which to put an alienist magical "tradition," IMHO, is in Thay or the Shining South, both of which have reputations of strange magic, amoral magical practitioners, and worship of foul entities beyond the limits of the traditional Faerunian pantheon. I'd also recommend that you reorder the "cosmology" of the Realms slightly and assume that the malaugrym, the weirder magic-eating entities (the laraken, nishruu, and hakeashar) and Ghaunadaur himself all come from the Far Realm rather than the Demonweb Pits, the Plane of Shadow, or any of the other more "traditional' FR planes. That way, the reputation of the malaugrym as originating from the Shadow Plane can simply be a misapprehension based on the fact that they have to travel through the Plane of Shadow to reach Faerun from their Far Realm home. This conforms nicely with the Lovecraftian theme of flawed human understanding; we think of the malaugrym as "shadow" entities when in reality they're something even more alien and sinister.

 

[frankthedm]

I say have a spell accidently go wrong, and bring in a hord of energy hungry terrors from beyond. They track down and consume most of the strongest soul's on FR, removing a great many Super-author NPCs from the campaign. Sated they sink into the forgotton places of the world, leaving the PCs a world where they can make a name for themselves without overshadowing epic NPCs

 

[ericlboyd]

In "Sea of Fallen Stars", there's a suggestion that Cthulu-like "old gods" dwell in the depths of the Trench of Lopok (off the coast of Altumbel). I might suggest tying any "Far Realms" or "alienist"-type character to that little buried (pun intended) tidbit.

--Eric

 

[andrew_kenrick]

Ok, to return this topic to life, I have some more thoughts on the matter.

I've decided to go with the whole malaugrym idea. The alienist has inadvertantly made contact with a very powerful malaugrym trapped in "the far realm," wherever that is. Indeed, this realm may not exist, but the malaugrym is keen to let the crazed wizard believe it does.

Now, the magic section in FR says that because shadow magic doesnt use the weave, it is unaffected by damage to the weave, such as that in wild magic areas and dead magic zones. Should this also apply to Alien magic, seeing as thats coming from a source other than the weave too? I'm thinking yes at the moment.

 

[gfunk]

To have one spin concerning Alienists in FR, check out my Story Hour (link below). The main character is a high level sorcerer (Sorc 10/Alienst 11 eventually) who is considered, IMC, the most powerful Alienist in Toril.

She is obsessed with opening a permanent gate to the Far Realms in order to bring havoc and destruction to Faerun. She has even opened a school which is ostensibly for studying and defeating extraplanar threats but is really a front for a massive Alienist cult.

She was originally CN, but shifted to CE as she slowly pissed off fellow "good" party members with her morally questionable and, eventually, reprehensible acts.

As to what started her on the path to Alienism, it was the WotC module "Speaker in Dreams." After torching the Alienist cult there with the aid of the party, she managed to salvage a lot of pseudonatural literature which she eventually began to read. Over time, her mind became twisted as she slowly but inexorably descended to maddness. Currently, she suffers from periodic episodes of homicidal mania. To avoid killing her underlings, she makes frequent trips to the Underdark where she slays as many sentient beings as she can find -- often crushing small drow cities by herself.

 

[Sejs]

It's actually pretty easy to incorporate Big Uncaring Gods from Outside The Sandbox into FR. The precedent has already been set with Ao. There are some things that are of an order of magnitude beyond that of the gods, including the so-thought creator dieties, and whereever these things are, they certainly arn't anywhere around here. Here being defined as anywhere within the known multiverse.






The dramatic emphasis is important. You can't honestly be good and Alienist-level crazy without judicious use of dramatic emphasis. ^_^