Give me some racial and class ideas for cultists of Vecna!

[Oryan77]

I'm building a cult of Vecna that consists of about 8 leaders that each run a smaller sect of their cult. I'm looking for some unique NPC ideas to flesh out these 6 NPCs. I would like something more unique than just a bald human necromancer (or a lich for that matter). Their levels do not matter, I can adjust things if I need to. If you have ideas for their personality, even better!

The only one I have thought of so far is a female Ogre Mage that has cut off her left hand and her left eye, then burned the stump/eye socket to keep them from growing back. She will be the first cultist that the PCs encounter, and if she dies, I have an idea to bring her back as some form of undead (feel free to suggest the type of undead).

I wouldn't mind hearing some suggestions for the cult name. I have one in mind, but I am not that happy with it.

Thanks for any ideas!

 

[Ahnehnois]

I think the Hellbred race (FCII) could be nicely coopted into either a willing partner or an unwilling servant of Vecna. And the Cha bonus could make for a nice warlock or sorcerer.

A Jerren (BoVD) rogue would be a nice evil twist on the conventional halfling rogue, and very useful. Straight-up psychopath; like a normal halfling but without the trickster-y charm.

A Skulk (RoD, Fiend Folio) makes an ideal assassin. Quiet, keeps to himself type with no loyalty.

If you're looking for a way to spice up a regular human martial character, Ghost-Faced Killer (CAdv) is Vecna-approved and goes well with ranger (perhaps one of the urban variants).

 

[Starfox]

I had a lot of fun converting a (Golarion) Norgorber cult from Skull & Shackles into Vecna cultists for use in Greyhawk. This is a cult of halflings, and they are generally quite incompetent (low levels, pretty transparent plots). In effect, these halflings are more vecna victims than vecna cultists. When portraying an evil god, having some supporters be bumbling fools that the god mercilessly uses as pawns can actually make the god itself look even more evil.

 

[Oryan77]

Thanks. I think I'm going to combine two suggestions and create a Skulk Ninja/Ghost-Faced Killer. I've never been a big fan of Ninjas in my D&D game, but for some reason, this concept is intriguing.

Since I'm not really getting much feedback, I gave this more thought today and I'll post my ideas in case anyone wants to play off these ideas and give suggestions on how to improve them or suggest better alternatives.

These will all be worshipers of Vecna. They are each leaders of their own cults and I'm thinking of this as an evil Circle of Eight sort of group.

1. Ogre Mage, female - She burned out her left eye with acid and cut off her left hand and burned the stump with the remaining acid so they would not grow back. She fears death and would like to become undead rather than dying. If PCs kill her, she will come back as an undead creature.

2. Race (to be determined), Wizard (Necromancer) / Cleric / True Necromancer - has an eye graft (type to be determined).

3. Skulk, Ninja / Ghost-Faced Killer - has an arm or hand graft (type to be determined).

4. Bone Naga, female - would like ideas to make this NPC interesting.

5. Plague Blight - obese & disgusting, it keeps lots of small sized undead servants around him (undead servants to be determined).

6. Szarkai (albino Drow), Dread Necromancer - would like ideas to make this NPC interesting.

7. Lich, female - I gotta have a lich, but I would like ideas to make this NPC more interesting.

8. Brain in a Jar - has an Ettin Hooded Pupil servant that carries him around. I would possibly add some sort of class levels to the Brain, maybe Psionic?

 

[Herobizkit]

5. Plague Blight - obese & disgusting, it keeps lots of small sized undead servants around him (undead servants to be determined).

Don't forget to add Giant vermin Maggots to eat that yummy flesh. Maybe some hasted transformations into Giant Flies?

 

[Ahnehnois]

4. Bone Naga, female - would like ideas to make this NPC interesting.

Phantom template (MMV)? Highly appropriate for Vecna and adds in a new layer of creepiness.

7. Lich, female - I gotta have a lich, but I would like ideas to make this NPC more interesting.

Elven good lich who turned evil because her tribe was massacred by humans?

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

How about someone making necropolitian mooks?

 

[howandwhy99]

I don't use Vecna as a god. I like my archliches to remain archliches. We have few enough in Greyhawk to lose them all to that huge deity list.

However enough adventures exist which include Vecnan cultists that some alternative must be occurring. Vecna's secrets are simply too alluring to pass up for any who have stumbled upon pieces of them.

So I would use people like:
- A high level wizard (with all accompaniment) seeking to learn the magic of Vecna by hunting down his history, where he lived, what he left behind.
- A church of studious sages perverted by a book of Vecna's who now measure out their answers as rare jewels. They have become insular and paranoid, even of each other. Use murder as a hook a la The Name of the Rose.

 

[Dark Dragon]

Hrrrmm, I'd say that creatures that have lost their head (and somehow still returned) disqualify for the class and becoming a cult member

Losing a hand and eye looks fine as a prereq. Maybe being killed in a gruesome and returned several times give some boni?

 

[Yora]

I created a kind of non-space Sith for my campaign, and I think one of the greatest masters is a 2m beastman. For 3rd Ed. I would suggest a half-ogre or something similar. A penalty to Intelligence makes a high Intelligence score only less likely to happen, but it still does happen sometimes.

Or alternatively, an Ogre Mage. These guys are already known to be smart and have a knack for magic and natural ability to become invisible and turn into smoke.

Edit: Aww... man! That idea is already in the first post.
Still, take this as confirmation that I think it's a great idea.

How about a Dark Stalker? Not sure if there any for 3rd Ed. but they are in the Pathfinder SRD and should work just fine.