(Dark Sun) Sorcerer Kings - who rocks the most?

[Dragonblade]

Tisan Balshareska (Ninth of Nine, Ruler of the Supreme Council, Arch-Geomancer, Sunderer of Dreams, She Who Turns The Wheel Of Fate). Female Human 20th level wizard/15th level priest (Grombar) and a whole hell of a lot of enchantments (geoglyph tattoos) laid on her. See the Ruined Kingdoms box set for Al-Qadim for details.

Interesting. I have that box set somewhere. Buried in my garage. I'll have to dig it out and look at it one of these days.

The other candidate that I can think of is:

Emperor Vulkaram the Dark from Spelljammer whose tyrannical rule extends across 12 Crystal Spheres (Solar Systems). I believe he is a Maedar Fighter of some ridiculous level and has an orb containing an entire trapped pantheon! See Under The Dark Fist for info on him and his legions of lycanthropic soldiers.

To be fair both would probably lose against Borys, but either would give him a hell of a fight. The one that would likely equal him though in power, and would probably win is:

I'm not familiar with this guy. I have some Spelljammer stuff but not this product.

Dregoth of Guistenal (City by the Silt Sea for Dark Sun), Level 29 Wizard/Level 29 Psionicist Dracolich Great Wyrm dragon. Not a god, but he sure wants to be!

Yeah I think Dregoth would be his toughest fight. He is a level lower than Borys, but he has that whole undead thing going on.

 

[rossik]

mm..no netherill guys?

 

[Dragonblade]

mm..no netherill guys?

Now, were talking! Karsus of Netheril has the best chance of being a worthy foe for Borys.

There are still some huge advantages in favor of Borys though. His MR and broken 2e psionic powers like Suppress Magic, and Subjective Reality really take the cake. Karsus would have to get creative. Direct magical assault just wouldn't work.

 

[rossik]

i dont have the box here, but wasnt something about psi powers in netherill?
also, those guys have even spells against psi

 

[Wik]

Ha, I should have mentioned that, since I was using this for my own campaign, I didn't want to include Borys or Dregoth. Mostly because I wasn't sure I'd be using them in the campaign, and in any case, I didn't think they'd be useable as a patron that is also an enemy at the same time.

You know, it's funny. I can get the Hamanu love, because who doesn't love a lawful dictator with Hammurabi tendencies? But the Nibenay love has never really caught on with me. As I've already said, Lalali-Puy just comes off as much cooler.

Abalach-Re is my second favourite, as I always figured her "Head Priestess" ruse was kind of neat. And the fact that her templars were so weakn in position meant that PCs had a shot against them - something I liked. In fact, many of my DS campaigns were centred around Raam, as the chaos of the place gave PCs a chance for some heroics.

I agree with the few Teck votes - he never really caught my eye. Too generic for my tastes.

Oh, and Dragonblade - The Lady of Pain is a non-deity that could EASILY take out Borys. And I think the Simbul probably could, too.

 

[Wycen]

Somewhere along the line didn't 1 or more of these get replaced, like the king of Draj?

 

[Hunter In Darkness]

Oh the lady of pain ah oh yes shes i say prob could take out borys but they would never meet neither ever leave there homes.

 

[Shemeska]

Dregoth was awesome (I had him appear briefly in a one session campaign stop on Athas by way of his planar gate artifact).

For non-deity folks capable of standing against Borys (not including archfiends, planar lords, whatever Anubis became, Sun-Sing, The Lady, etc):

Zaerith Menyar Ag Gith - the githzerai wizard-king, spiritual and de-facto ruler of the githzerai of Limbo. Fighter20/Wizard20 w/ the inborn abilities of an Anarch (think Neo in the Matrix powers within Limbo)

Shekelor - no stats. Publicly incinerated after returning to Sigil from Pandemonium, centuries after announcing his intent to topple Her Serenity with the help an artifact he hoped to find

Duke Rowan Darkwood - (his non-statted 3rd iteration that was locked inside the Labyrinth Stone, the artifact that Shekelor was hunting after)

Gith - the original, before (presumably) becoming Tiamat's chewtoy

 

[arscott]

I voted for Andropinis. You've got to admire a guy who manages to get voted dictator-for-life and then spites his constituents by becoming immortal.

Second Choice for pure coolness in Nibenay. I like his whole Forbidden City/Rarely seen in public thing. His Thousand Wives and Million books are Icing on the cake.

Lilaly-Puy is pretty sweet too, for reasons mentioned above.


That said, I'm not sure that those SKs are the best ones to use in a campaign. Though a Ivory Triange game where the characters played both sides against eachother might work out.

As far as an actual campaign goes, I'd probably go with Abalach-Re or Kalak.

Abalach-Re is the weakest, which means that the PCs have a reasonable chance of gaining ground against her without reprisal. Whereas if the PCs did something to Hamanu or Andropinis, they'd be quickly found and dealt with.

The original Boxed set basically sets Kalak up to be toppled. Tyr is not in a stable position, and it's clear that, one way or the other, something's gonna happen soon. Unfortunately in TSR land, that something was a Novel, but that's precisely the sort of thing you can change as a GM.

 

[Wayside]

But for sheer badassness, NOTHING touches Borys. In fact, I would say that of ALL the NPCs in ALL of TSR's 2e settings, Borys is the single toughest non-deity there is. Raistlin, Elminster, Drizzt, Strahd, all insects compared to Borys.

30th level wizard, 30th level psionicist (complete with broken Will and the Way awesomeness) AND as tough as a great wyrm dragon (tougher really) all rolled into one.

Stats are nice and all, but as I recall Borys got aced by some random dude. Clearly he wasn't all that and a bag of chips.

Seriously, I'm willing to keep an open mind. Can anyone give an example of a non-deity NPC that can stand up to Borys? In any of TSR's classic settings? I just don't think its possible.

Considering that in the original timeline, before he was made aware of the consequences of his actions, Raistlin killed all the gods and took their place, I don't think Borys would be too much of a problem. With the power level of the Realms, it's hard to imagine Elminster finding him too troublesome either. I get it though. You really like Borys.