The Shadar-kai are NEVER going to be the next drow

[Relique du Madde]

He didn't say they were evil. Sylvia Plath isn't evil.

I know he didn't say that are evil, but the fact is most races which appear in monster manuals which play up the goth/metal (and to some extent emo) stereotype all tend to have evil alignments which I think is BS since it seems like the only WoTC employee might have the guts that tries to even challenge certain pop-cultural tropes which they are incorporating into their fantasy world.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

See, I don't see where this "oh, woh is me, for I must suffer so" idea is coming from for the Shadar-Kai.

If that was the case, why would they revel and become debased in their pursuit of masochistic tendencies.

I don't consider it very emo; when after a fighter impales a Shadar-Kai on a spear. The Shadar-Kai begins to laugh and shudder in pleasure as he feels the spear pierce his flesh, this moment of sheer elation at having felt something driving him on to seek more carnage and chaos in war.

In many regards they embody extremely masochistic and sadistic tendencies that have arisen given the fact that it is these sensations that keep them grounded.

Masochistic in that well they seek out each new level of pain to keep them grounded.

Sadistic in that this desire for pain would very-often come about through combat, and thus their wish to harm others.

 

[Stoat]

I don't have my books with me (and I can't remember the clever acronym) but I think the "woe is me, I must suffer!" vibe comes from the Fiend Folio writeup. I think the S&M angle comes more from the recent DDI article.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Which is where the difference lies I think.

The Shadar-Kai are going a different route in 4e then they had in 3e. So they could begin to appeal to more people then (or not you never know). But they certainly appeal to me and would make good enemies and odd-allies.

 

[Sparafucile]

Drow and Gityhyanki have been done, again and again. You know what? I don't care to know anything else about them. They were fun in high school. . . and it's great to know I can use them again if I need to, gleaning info from 20+ years of exhaustive material on the subjects.

What I DO need/want now are new monsters, new civilizations, new ideas. Shadar-Kai are one of these, so bring 'em on. And if WOTC has any other pet races. . . it certainly couldn't hurt.

QUESTION: I want to make a brand new race. I envision a primitive reptilian race from the swamps. i think they'd be cool. Any new ideas to share?

 

[Darrin Drader]

QUESTION: I want to make a brand new race. I envision a primitive reptilian race from the swamps. i think they'd be cool. Any new ideas to share?

Hey, that sounds like something I'm working on - lizard men, which are ruled by lizard kings. They'll be huge, guaranteed.

- Darrin Drader
April 14 1977

 

[SkidAce]

I don't think it's fair to say WotC is force-feeding us Shadar-Kai by putting one article up on their website and including them in a book. Do you also believe they are force-feeding us the Formorian as we also have an article about them?

I will be using the Shadar-Kai, as I think the art we've seen so far is awesome, as is the fluff behind the race.

Yes, we were force fed the Fomorians.

ALL HAIL OUR MODRON OVERLORDS!

 

[Sparafucile]

Hey, that sounds like something I'm working on - lizard men, which are ruled by lizard kings. They'll be huge, guaranteed.

- Darrin Drader
April 14 1977

Yeah . . . well you better hurry, because whoever does it first gets to be part of "D&D Canon," to be praised and worshipped by grognards across the mulitverse.

Whoever does it second is a poser who deserves nothing but reactionary scorn.

May the best man win!

 

[Derro]

I like Maug, but they are insane. Someone just decided to see how freaking much stuff they could shove onto a 2 HD critter without getting slapped, I think... Almost as bad as those 3 HD Slyphs that cast spells as 7th level Sorcerers and can summon 8 HD Air Elementals. That cheese is so overwhelming I'm holding my nose just thinking about it!

The maug is definitely CRed low. I put them at 4 instead of 3 when I use them. But I don't think they are too overloaded. The thing about them being apparently powerful for their low amount of hit dice is that they're a large construct. The bonus HP alone is a massive boon. Then there's all the construct immunities. I would never give standard maugs any of the grafts. That is strictly something that a leveled character would purchase with wealth.

I don't refute your assertion that they are tough but I don't think it's as bad as the sylph. One thing that I noticed as wrong with the maug is the DC for Pulverize. Unless I'm mistaken It should be 12 (HD/2+1 for Charisma). The FF has it at 18.

Which is something that you have to do with most of the FF creatures is check the errata and recalculate save DCs. A lot. I know on my old computer I've got an entire file of corrected stats for FF and MM2 monsters. Of course my old comp is so viral if I plugged it in I might die of ebola.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Howzabout we crossbreed them with Minotaurs and make them into the Shadar-Kow?

Advantages:

1) Never gets lost in the dark...or anywhere else!

2) Forget Racial Weapon familiarity with Spiked Chains- make it Oversized Mauls and Great-Axes

3) All those divine bovine jokes!