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Invocations for a Far Realm-flavored Warlock
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<blockquote data-quote="paradox42" data-source="post: 3134690" data-attributes="member: 29746"><p>Oh, agreed. But the point of removing invocations was to change the flavor of the Warlock, to make the Alienoid genuinely <strong>different</strong> 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)</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>Anyway, if you want an Alienoid in your own game, feel free to give them all the invocations you like. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> This is the House Rules forum after all.</p><p></p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p></p><p>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) <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /> 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.</p><p></p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p></p><p>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?</p><p></p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p></p><p>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 <strong>wrongness</strong>, which becomes despair later when the character wonders how to ever beat these Things.</p><p></p><p>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. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> They're not malicious, they're indifferent (which is usually worse).</p><p></p><p></p><p>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 <strong>wish</strong> 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.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Again, this is one I almost kept. What would you have discarded in its place?</p><p></p><p></p><p>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 <em>Plane Shift</em> or even <em>Gate</em> 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.</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Interesting. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> I like it. Could fill a hole left by Complete Mage if necessary.</p><p></p><p></p><p>I did- and I made it turn them permanently insane instead of just losing memories. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite7" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue :p" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":p" /> It's now called Pseudonatural Blast. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="paradox42, post: 3134690, member: 29746"] Oh, agreed. But the point of removing invocations was to change the flavor of the Warlock, to make the Alienoid genuinely [b]different[/b] 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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? 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. 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 [b]wrongness[/b], 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). 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 [b]wish[/b] 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. Again, this is one I almost kept. What would you have discarded in its place? 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 [i]Plane Shift[/i] or even [i]Gate[/i] 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. Interesting. :) I like it. Could fill a hole left by Complete Mage if necessary. I did- and I made it turn them permanently insane instead of just losing memories. :p It's now called Pseudonatural Blast. :D [/QUOTE]
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