Subject: MYSTARA-L Digest - 20 Mar 2005 to 28 Mar 2005 (#2005-62)
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Date: 29/03/2005, 19:00
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Reply-to: Mystara RPG Discussion
There are 3 messages totalling 126 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. Recurring Villains (3)
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Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2005 17:06:50 -0400
From: Steven Carter <steven.f.carter@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Recurring Villains
All my players know Iuz, and the Zhentarim. But they don't know about
the Shadowlord, the Master of Hule, the Iron Ring or Alphaks. They
laugh at the Black Eagle - they won't when I'm done though.
I'm looking to re-build my campaign for another kick-at-the-can.
Can anyone suggest canon-sourced villains and villainous organizations?
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Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2005 17:26:54 -0500
From: Joe Mason <joe@NOTCHARLES.CA>
Subject: Re: Recurring Villains
On Mon, Mar 28, 2005 at 05:06:50PM -0400, Steven Carter wrote:
> All my players know Iuz, and the Zhentarim. But they don't know about
> the Shadowlord, the Master of Hule, the Iron Ring or Alphaks. They
> laugh at the Black Eagle - they won't when I'm done though.
>
> I'm looking to re-build my campaign for another kick-at-the-can.
>
> Can anyone suggest canon-sourced villains and villainous organizations?
Barimoor from GAZ2 (a wizard questing for Immortality who lives in a
vast series of tunnels stretching all beneath Ylaruam. "Picture every
evil wizard, sorceror, lich and other villian you've ever read about,
all in one place and working for Barimoor.")
GAZ3 has some beautiful Wizard-Princes, including Brannart MacGregor
(ach, a lich!) and Prince Morphail (guess what he is). Those to are the
big guns, but such scoundrels as Prince Innocenti di Malepietra, the
poisoner, don't get as much respect as they deserve. Some of the others
could be spun as good or evil depending on how the campaign goes (like
Prince Jagger von Drachenfels, who's militaristic and agitating for an
invasion of Ethangar. Although come to think of it, that might be
justified - the Golden Khan of Ethangar is planning to conquer the
world).
The Orcs of Thar (GAZ10) - the Gazeteer is kind of humourous, but it
doesn't have to be spun that way and it has a lot of ideas that could be
really spooky if played straight. From the same gazeteer, Atzanteotl is
one of my favourite evil gods. Way smarter than Alphaks.
The Shadow Elves (GAZ13) are a neat twist on the Drow. Raphael turns
out not to be evil, but his creed is incredibly cool, and if you set
these guys up as the enemy and then the players find out they really
aren't, that might be a nice campaign too.
The Heldannic Knights (Champions of Mystara) make pretty good Nazis.
The Kingdom of Herath, from the same book, is a deep forest ruled by
wizards who turn out to be evil shapechanging spiders. There are a
bunch of other cool ideas in that book too.
Joe
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Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2005 08:27:44 +0200
From: Giampaolo Agosta <agathokles@KATAMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Recurring Villains
Joe Mason wrote:
>
> The Kingdom of Herath, from the same book, is a deep forest ruled by
> wizards who turn out to be evil shapechanging spiders. There are a
> bunch of other cool ideas in that book too.
Like the SE, these are not really evil -- just a bit heavy-handed when
it comes to national security ;)
Other villains:
Pyre, the Crimson Dragon (from the Orc's Head region, an evil Red
Dragon, the mastermind behind the Dark Jungle Orcs)
The Wurmling of Eusdria (Jabba the Hutt, Mystaran version, from the SC
MCA); note that Wurmlings need very large territories, so there is a
single one in the Savage Coast (this is the only one canonic), but there
must be at least a few others around (probably in Hule, Thyatis and
Alphatia)
The Iron Ring and/or the Veiled Society: mostly useful for Karameikan
campaigns, but the Iron Ring can have allies and operatives in Ierendi,
Darokin and even Sind.
The Black Rajah of Jaibul: an evil Wizard, ruler of a small domain near
Sind, controls much of the slave trade between KW and SC.
Oran Meditor & friends: they may not be ``Evil'' as in the alignment,
but the Thadders have a weird legal system and a scheming political
environment, making them extremely dangerous for the average
adventurers' party.
The Dragon kings: there are several Dragon kings in KW, some of them are
not that nice (see Bruce Heard's article).
The Manscorpions: Nimmur is a corrupt, entropic kingdom; it is not that
good as a recurring villain, though, unless your party is based in the
Orc's Head.
Most of the Entropic Immortal Candidates can be powerful and evil
opponents (there are a few of them canonic, IIRC there's also a list on
the Vaults).
Anyway, the Master of Hule is definitely the most dangerous and
well-known villain of Mystara -- few are as powerful, and none is so
well known, or poses a direct threat to so many nations.
Bye,
GP
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End of MYSTARA-L Digest - 20 Mar 2005 to 28 Mar 2005 (#2005-62)
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