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Suggest the enemy for my 5E war campaign?
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<blockquote data-quote="OGIHR" data-source="post: 7310898" data-attributes="member: 6879245"><p>I read though that module you recommended, and (leaving aside the edition-based differences in how combat statblocks are constructed) I'm really struck by how elegant the Victory Points system is for modeling the effects of the heroes' actions upon the mass-battle scenario playing out around them. Particularly compared to the Skill Challenge device I've seen used in other 4th ed books.</p><p></p><p>I also agree (with several contributors) that my villains do need some sort of legitimizing factor to keep them from being "evil for evil's sake". Having recently re-watched Star Trek TNG's "Gambit", I find myself inspired by the Vulcan Isolationist movement to which that storyline's ultimate villain belonged.</p><p></p><p>Vulcans are typically characterized (at least by those writers who are themselves fans of Trek) by their philosophical ideal of embracing "Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations" (IDIC for short), welcoming the differences of other cultures to build a more robust Federation together. However, these Vulcan Isolationists were convinced that contact with alien cultures had "polluted our culture and is destroying Vulcan purity". And as was pointed out in the episode in question, extremists often have a logic all their own.</p><p></p><p>So the image in my head is for a high-magic nation of Feywild-native elves (be they High Elves, Eladrin, or something homebrew), who have decided that the best-Lawful-Neutral solution to their society's problems is to ruthlessly wage war against these humans / etcetera who are in their way.</p><p></p><p>I'm still trying to figure out the shape of the problems motivating them. I know that I don't want it to be "the scary people are running at us because they're running away from something even scarier than them", because that would deprive the villains of any agency and thus any real responsibility for their actions. And because I'm also fond of the Tyranids in WarHammer 40K, who deserve a better motivation than either "mindless hunger when they go out of their way to cook meals for each other without eating the food themselves" or "mindless fleeing from some vaguely nebulous thing that's vaguely even scarier in some nebulous way".</p><p></p><p>Ecological disaster could certainly be a motivating factor, but I'm kind of intrigued by the notion of a gravely-mistaken seer providing the inciting factor.</p><p></p><p>I shall continue to ponder...</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="OGIHR, post: 7310898, member: 6879245"] I read though that module you recommended, and (leaving aside the edition-based differences in how combat statblocks are constructed) I'm really struck by how elegant the Victory Points system is for modeling the effects of the heroes' actions upon the mass-battle scenario playing out around them. Particularly compared to the Skill Challenge device I've seen used in other 4th ed books. I also agree (with several contributors) that my villains do need some sort of legitimizing factor to keep them from being "evil for evil's sake". Having recently re-watched Star Trek TNG's "Gambit", I find myself inspired by the Vulcan Isolationist movement to which that storyline's ultimate villain belonged. Vulcans are typically characterized (at least by those writers who are themselves fans of Trek) by their philosophical ideal of embracing "Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations" (IDIC for short), welcoming the differences of other cultures to build a more robust Federation together. However, these Vulcan Isolationists were convinced that contact with alien cultures had "polluted our culture and is destroying Vulcan purity". And as was pointed out in the episode in question, extremists often have a logic all their own. So the image in my head is for a high-magic nation of Feywild-native elves (be they High Elves, Eladrin, or something homebrew), who have decided that the best-Lawful-Neutral solution to their society's problems is to ruthlessly wage war against these humans / etcetera who are in their way. I'm still trying to figure out the shape of the problems motivating them. I know that I don't want it to be "the scary people are running at us because they're running away from something even scarier than them", because that would deprive the villains of any agency and thus any real responsibility for their actions. And because I'm also fond of the Tyranids in WarHammer 40K, who deserve a better motivation than either "mindless hunger when they go out of their way to cook meals for each other without eating the food themselves" or "mindless fleeing from some vaguely nebulous thing that's vaguely even scarier in some nebulous way". Ecological disaster could certainly be a motivating factor, but I'm kind of intrigued by the notion of a gravely-mistaken seer providing the inciting factor. I shall continue to ponder... [/QUOTE]
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