Henry said:
I solved this in my campaigns with a wonderful invention called Paroxysm Arcana....
That's actually pretty neat. I like that. Nice touch.
However, another point on taking out the Lich-Queen is that, hisorically, she has not had much interest in the affairs of other races outside of being a constant disruption of Mind Flayer activity. Indeed, until now, she's often been portrayed as one of the "necessary evils" of the D&D cosmos, since she keeps the Githyanki strong and the Githyanki keep the Mind Flayers from succeeding in many of their schemes for cosmic domination.
Hmmm... That would be neat in and of itself.
Dear cattle,
We, the Illithid Empire, thank you for ridding us of the great Githyanki menace. For too long, their unified efforts to overthrow our rightful place as the dominant life form in all existance has been a great thorn in our side. Indeed, despite our ECL and class levels, none of our people were capable of taking her out. Nope, not so much as a scratch.
Thanks for doing what we, despite our great power, could never do previously. And, now that this road-block in our plans has been removed, you will be happy to know that the current lull in Mind Flayer domination is at an end. We sincerely appreciate your participation in restoring the true social order.
We do have one more favor to ask: Since you have become such heroic icons amongst the rest of the cattle races, kindly start shaving your craniums that such would become trendy amongst the common brain-donors. This will save us, your masters, an unmeasurable amount of time in the near future.
Sincerely,
One of One, Illithid Elder Brain Extraordinair
Okay, I guess I'm having fun with this topic, but I think what I'm saying is rather clear: Considering the long-time enemies of the Githyanki are the Mind Flayers, and given that Mind Flayers can now enjoy Class Levels like any other race, one must ask how such an adventure is possible to begin with: If she isn't of extra-ordinairily higher level than previously (or enjoying some degree of "virtual godhood" as the 1E Fiend Folio describes), than there's no justification for her (and the rest of the Gith) surviving against the Mind Flayers for as long as they have. Yet, this is the situation they (WotC) created when they stat-out such a being so that a "Core Level" party can face her in combat.
Just seems silly.
And, no, this isn't so much about canon as it is about mixing canon with incompatible 3E concepts. For instance, the Lich-Queen's tendancy to destroy Githyanki of X level made sense in 1E and 2E, because it took different Mind Flayer "breeds" to become more powerful, and none reached the power level of the Lich-queen herself (except for the Elder Brain, although this creature itself is immobilized and thus not entirely a threat). In 3E, this condition is changed in that Mind Flayers may gain levels and thus may, as individuals, become increasingly powerful (which is a good thing). However, this change
needs to be countered by another change; By retaining the "canon" levels of the Lich-Queen and her attrition of high-level Githyanki, WotC has now created a dispondancy of power between the two forces that fails to justify the long-standing conflict that WotC have themselves continued into 3E.
And that's why I find her stats/level a laughable situation: WotC has dropped the ball yet again, showing how their own unwillingness (inability?) to go all-out with their own rules system is creating a "new canon" that makes little to no sense due to a continuously growing increase in contradictions, mismatches and over-sights.
) which is why I would advocate using Avatars for non-epic/immortal interaction while using full fledged Deities for more powerful campaigns.
