Nyeshet said:
Some of the ones removed could arguably be returned to the list or replaced with a new invocation that better fits the concept:
Oh, agreed. But the point of removing invocations was to change the flavor of the Warlock, to make the Alienoid genuinely
different from the Fiendish one. It would have been easy to keep more or most of the same powers, I just wanted to change the Alienoid's focus a bit. That was why I removed some invocations while adding others. Honestly, some of the ones you mention below were ones I almost kept, but when it came down to choosing between these and others- I dropped these. (shrug)
Also, I know COmplete Mage introduces a whole slew of new Invocations; obviously those would be for the Fiendish one, which means the Alienoid won't get all (or even most) of them. If that happens, the Alienoid would need new Invocations to make up the gap, or would need to get back Invocations that were originally lost. The Spiderwalk one is a perfect example- I wanted the Alienoid to have it, at first, but when the time came to cut one more I pulled it.
Anyway, if you want an Alienoid in your own game, feel free to give them all the invocations you like.
This is the House Rules forum after all.
Nyeshet said:
Baleful Utterance -> Alien Whispers
Confusion to all excluding Warlock who hear the maddenning sounds
Baleful Utterance -> Alien Screetch: similar to the original, but the Warlock somehow utters a sound akin to fingernails scratching a blackboard that causes cracks to form in whatever object they are facing (basically a conical sonic attack)
See, here you split one Invocation into two, and the original one was based on a feat that's clearly and obviously tied to fiends- the Dark Speech. I can see your point, but unless you make a house rule for a Far Realm version of Dark Speech (Pseudospeech?), I feel better about removing this one.
Nyeshet said:
Darkness: I would replace this one with something that controls lighting (as the psionic power of similar name). Basically the Warlock can raise or lower the lighting in an area.
Since the Alienoid is ostentibly psi-like, you have an excellent point! This would be a wonderful thing to add in if Complete Mage invocations leave holes in the Alienoid list.
Nyeshet said:
Devil's Sight -> Alien Perception: regardless of the condition of their eyes, or lack thereof, the warlock can somehow perceive / see around himself (perhaps more akin to blindsense 15 or 30 ft than seeing in magical darkness)
Changing the flavor this way is appropriate, I agree- though Blindsight is considerably more powerful than Devil's Sight as written. So again, I'd say this is something that should be added back in if Complete Mage leaves a hole.
Nyeshet said:
Spiderwalk: honestly, I cannot see why you removed this one. So many aberrations can spider climb (even if they shouldn't be able to - or perhaps especially if they shouldn't be able to) that it seems almost a signature ability for a far realms style warlock. I can see guards chasing one - believing him blocked by the cart that all but blocks the narrow road ahead - only to see him suddenly start running along the wall itself (a la Matrix-style), using the wall as if it were the road until past the obstacle, and then returning to the road, running on as if not noticing anything unusual about his casual defiance / redirection of gravity.
It was painful, I admit. Your images match some I came up with myself. At this point I honestly can't tell you why I removed this instead of another one; the reasons are long forgotten except that I needed to cut just... one... more! and this one was somehow the least "in-flavor" for the Alienoid.
Nyeshet said:
Summon Swarm: all you need is a re-wording of the ability and it works as well for far realms as for fiend realms. Just describe the creatures in an odd manner. For example, suppose instead of bats you summon a swarm of those tiny flying eye / mouth / ear / tentacle things in the Ushio and Tora manga?
Haven't seen that manga, honestly I don't read much of that myself. But you are correct about swarms being in-flavor; I considered keeping the Swarm invocation. The reason I went with a Summon, in the end, was that I desperately wanted an invocation named "Lurker at the Threshold" (and a Summon was obviously the only thing that would do)
and I decided that if the Alienoid had that, it didn't also need the ability to summon up a swarm. If you put an Alienoid in your game, feel free to choose differently.
Nyeshet said:
Beshadowed Blast -> Alien Vision: As the blast strikes its target it briefly rips apart the dimensional barriers between this plane and the Far Realm. The target must make a will save to resist the maddenning vision or become blinded for 1 round.
Eh. I think this one is reaching, personally. The Far Realm would be more likely to burn the eyes right out of the victim's sockets than just shut them down for one round, surely? But I see your point.
Nyeshet said:
Brimstone Blast -> not sure about this one. There are abberrations that deal fire damage, but I suppose I can see why you are removing it.
Mostly because the Pseudonaturals are more focused on electricity than fire. So I gave a Thunderbolt instead of Brimstone. Actually, I consider Thunderbolt Blast potentially more powerful as written, since it screws with a spellcasting stat. I'm a little leery of it, but then again a spellcaster caught on fire can't normally cast either, right?
Nyeshet said:
Charm -> Why remove this one? I can recall some games and even some books I've read where the alien creature has charmed various people so that they either willingly aid it or walk about thinking there is nothing all that odd about Mr. _____ - even if he does have tentacles growing out of his shoulders and seventeen eyes covering his forehead . . .
I have also seen stories like those, but honestly I never considered Charming of any sort to be in-flavor for the Far Realm or its denizens. The Far Realm is about wonder and mystery that turns dark and terrifying, not something that looks nasty at first but when you get down to it really isn't so bad (unless, of course, you're becoming one of the denizens yourself, like a Deep One/Human hybrid). That's my take on it, anyway.
Nyeshet said:
Curse of Despair -> sounds like something that might be used by a creature from Call of Cthulu, so I can't really see why it would be removed. I can see it being used by a warlock upon someone, such that they suddenly realize how truly odd reality is, how utterly futile existence in such a warped realm is, that reality is merely the surface of the water that is the far realm, and no hope exists for those that will inevitably sink into its depths, etc . . .
Despair is a comprehensible emotion. Generally, in Lovecraftian tales, the protagonist doesn't feel despair when encountering the critters from Beyond- he/she feels terror, or an overwhelming sense of
wrongness, which becomes despair later when the character wonders how to ever beat these Things.
Also, from a Far Realm being's perspective, Material Plane denizens aren't worth cursing; they're either incomprehensible themselves, or just plain beneath notice. Making an effort to deliberately curse one would require caring about what happens to it, on some level, which Far Realm creatures simply don't.
They're not malicious, they're indifferent (which is usually worse).
Nyeshet said:
Hungry Darkness -> Again, just reword the ability and it works remarkably well. What about an ooze like shadow that drains the life of creatures within it? Perhaps the invocation briefly summons a bit of such a being into the plane from the far realm, allowing it to feed upon those it surrounds for a brief while . . .
Decouple it from the Darkness effect and I'll agree. The Far Realm isn't about Darkness though; it's about light shining in places you really
wish had stayed dark. This is one reason I removed the original Darkness invocation, and I figured since I got rid of that one, getting rid of the higher-level version just made sense.
Nyeshet said:
Dark Discorporation -> I cannot understand your removal of this one. What could be more far realms-ish than suddenly breaking up into a myriad of other creatures, all of which seem to be individuals yet having some overmind as well? They don't need to be bats, of course. They might be irregular patches of shadow, or strange alien / psuedonatural appearing creatures, etc. Of course, as the invocation states you become shadows, then you could give the shadows any form - however maddenning - you wish. Perhaps the warlock seems to melt into a pool of shadow that suddenly wriths away along the ground like a swarm of translucent dark slugs or tentacles . . .
Again, this is one I almost kept. What would you have discarded in its place?
Nyeshet said:
Path of Shadow -> Should definately be kept, but instead of the Shadow plane, you briefly enter the Far Realms. Its non-euclidean geometry means that you can end up in locations quite distant from your starting point - perhaps after a single step, or perhaps you return to the prime seemingly a moment later but have memories of having journeyed seeminly for years . . . And while you have indeed healed as if a day or more has passed, you also have these strange scaly patches, or perhaps a small extra eye on your arm, or maybe a small tentacle that will eventually wither and fall off a day or so later . . .
This is a result of a fundamental point of disagreement between us- you seem to see the Far Realm here as a transitive plane, whereas in my campaign it's what "exists" beyond the entire cosmos. The Far Realm, in my game, is not a place you can simply
Plane Shift or even
Gate to; it's far too remote for that. Only epic powers can pierce the boundary of eons and allow a creature from the standard cosmos entry to its maddening vistas.
That is, admittedly, my take on it, not necessarily anyone else's. But in that light, you can see why I removed Path of Shadow.
Nyeshet said:
Retributive Invisibility -> Instead of dealing damage, those caught in the blast must make a Will save vs Confusion for 3d4 rounds, as visions of the far realms replace normal sight for a time. . .
Interesting.
I like it. Could fill a hole left by Complete Mage if necessary.
Nyeshet said:
Utterdark Blast -> If they fail the save they lose 2 levels due to their memories being warped. They suddenly cannot recall the last few months except as snippets of a nightmarish existence on an insane realm. Perhaps they truly were briefly blasted into that realm, and the horror of it destroyed the more recent parts of their mind. They don't know. Nor, for that matter, does the warlock know - at least not for certain . . . You'll need to rename the invocation, of course.
I did- and I made it turn them permanently insane instead of just losing memories.
It's now called Pseudonatural Blast.
