Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal

Originally Posted by Hrugga

Uncle,

Do the "faithful" have to eat? Or is it just a remnant of their former life?

H:0)

Mighty Hrugga,

I found this from Phil on the subject of undead at Blue Room site.

"The Undead function much as described in the source materials. There are not many "game devices" that are there
just to make them interesting -- or to make them more like ancient Earth ideas of the "Undead." No mirrors or appearing as bats, of course, and jabbing a Mrur or a Hra with a wooden stake would probably kill it if you hit the right spot -- but would otherwise wound it or just discommode it.

Fluids (blood, mostly, though some need other liquids to survive) are indeed needed to sustain life and energy. There is no real crucial property in blood that distinguishes it from a milkshake for a Hra. It is just convenient for keeping the creature from desiccating. It's also nutritious!...

... The Shedra are fuelled by the nutrients in their victims' flesh, just as some other inhabitants of the Underworlds. - Phil"


Shemek

Originally Posted by Hrugga

Enjoy!!!

H:0)

Thank you! I will, and I did. It has been a wonderful day!

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Considering that my character is friends with their characters, I'm looking forward to this far, far more than I should.

Just now back in - 1145 local time - from a wonderful day. The short form is that I won, they won, and nobody got hurt; they did learn many, many valuable lessons about how to think tactically, how to manages large groups of PCs and NPCs, and - most importantly - to ask the vital question of "what do those people over there have in mind?"

I had a really wonderful time; I did a lot of teaching, both about mounted tactics - putting out vedettes, and protecting your baggage; think Arsuf, here - and telling stories about how we gamed all those years ago at Coffmann as learning aids for the players. What I loved to see the most was the looks of comprehension on people's faces as they were able to apply the lessons I was teaching them to their situation - these are very quick, very clever, and very smart people, and I think they did a wonderful job of dealing with the threat I was posing them.

A number of very valuable lessons were learned, and they got an insight into how we managed to survive the best that Phil (and Dave, and Gary) could throw at us. It was, in short, as good a game session as the one we had at Gary Con, last year...

Originally Posted by Shemek hiTankolel

Mighty Hrugga,

I found this from Phil on the subject of undead at Blue Room site.

"The Undead function much as described in the source materials. There are not many "game devices" that are there
just to make them interesting -- or to make them more like ancient Earth ideas of the "Undead." No mirrors or appearing as bats, of course, and jabbing a Mrur or a Hra with a wooden stake would probably kill it if you hit the right spot -- but would otherwise wound it or just discommode it.

Fluids (blood, mostly, though some need other liquids to survive) are indeed needed to sustain life and energy. There is no real crucial property in blood that distinguishes it from a milkshake for a Hra. It is just convenient for keeping the creature from desiccating. It's also nutritious!...

... The Shedra are fuelled by the nutrients in their victims' flesh, just as some other inhabitants of the Underworlds. - Phil"


Shemek

Very, very good find; this comes from after our time gaming with Phil, and explains why the creepy little things were always trying to sink their rotting teeth into us. Makes perfect sense, and tallies with what we knew at the time - one of the big problems of being PCs in his campaign was that we were usually in too much of a rush to get away from the latest horror that we didn't think to ask a lot of questions. And Phil, being a canny GM, wasn't all that forthcoming with information - can't imagine why...

The nasty part about the usual Undead is that they do get slower and less agile when they 'dry out'; Shedra are a different case, 'cause they are 'less dead' then Mr'ur or similar. They tended to be a lot less intelligent, too. Really high-end Undead are a very real threat, in our experience.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Very, very good find; this comes from after our time gaming with Phil, and explains why the creepy little things were always trying to sink their rotting teeth into us. Makes perfect sense, and tallies with what we knew at the time - one of the big problems of being PCs in his campaign was that we were usually in too much of a rush to get away from the latest horror that we didn't think to ask a lot of questions. And Phil, being a canny GM, wasn't all that forthcoming with information - can't imagine why...

The nasty part about the usual Undead is that they do get slower and less agile when they 'dry out'; Shedra are a different case, 'cause they are 'less dead' then Mr'ur or similar. They tended to be a lot less intelligent, too. Really high-end Undead are a very real threat, in our experience.

Damn straight. The really powerful ones are almost undistinguishable from living humans except for their dryness and grey skin tone, and the bastards keep the skills they had in life.

Try fighting somebody who's had 300 years to practice Arruche.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Very, very good find; this comes from after our time gaming with Phil, and explains why the creepy little things were always trying to sink their rotting teeth into us. Makes perfect sense, and tallies with what we knew at the time - one of the big problems of being PCs in his campaign was that we were usually in too much of a rush to get away from the latest horror that we didn't think to ask a lot of questions. And Phil, being a canny GM, wasn't all that forthcoming with information - can't imagine why...

The nasty part about the usual Undead is that they do get slower and less agile when they 'dry out'; Shedra are a different case, 'cause they are 'less dead' then Mr'ur or similar. They tended to be a lot less intelligent, too. Really high-end Undead are a very real threat, in our experience.

I saw the original posts from Hrugga and you and I was curious if Phil had any thing to say on the subject. According to what he posted on the Blue Room he had a lot more to say, but I am not sure if he ever got around to writing it down. One more thing that I forgot to mention is according to Phil the "stench of the undead" seems to be quite a "powerful" aroma.

Shemek

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Try fighting somebody who's had 300 years to practice Arruche.

Exactly. This is why I have always played the "greater" undead as super tough PC's, and why my players tend to give such creatures a very, very wide berth. 300 years of Arruche is bad enough, but what about 300 years of spell casting experience and research?

Shemek

Originally Posted by Hrugga

Many thanks Lord Shemek!!! I just happened to be searching the archives today as well. I did some reading about Pechano...It made mention of one Shemek hiTankolel!!! I should like to make a hunting trip there. Maybe even brave the Sideways City!!! Any advice good Lord...???

H:0)

Mighty Hrugga of the Epics,

The only advice I can give is if you go hunting in Pechano make sure you’re well armed, don’t go alone, bring some local guides, and don’t buy any land from a local!

For me Ssyrayal/Ssurayal (aka "The Sideways City), and Ssuganar for that matter, have always been as much of an opponent to the group as have the Ssu. I have always pictured them as kind of like R’lyeh strewn on a hilly, grassy plain, but less “non-Euclidian geometry” being present at Ssyrayal. Lots of “Dex” rolls when climbing over the ruins; lots of saves to avoid traps left by bands of Ssu that still comb the ruins; lots of saves against scratches from plants (Food of the Ssu anyone?) and insect bites; and lots of saves versus fear/panic in order for the players to avoid running away as fast they can in blind fear. These hazards get worse the further in the party goes. Basically, I treat the ruins as if they possess an innate malevolence, as if they were “alive”, a hate manifested so to speak. Coupled with this there are the usual bands of the “foe of man” nosing around. As Phil said about Ssuganar, but it also applies to Ssyrayal: “…there is more danger than even a strong party can handle.”

(Check your PM.)

Shemek

Originally Posted by Shemek hiTankolel

Mighty Hrugga of the Epics,

The only advice I can give is if you go hunting in Pechano make sure you’re well armed, don’t go alone, bring some local guides, and don’t buy any land from a local!

For me Ssyrayal/Ssurayal (aka "The Sideways City), and Ssuganar for that matter, have always been as much of an opponent to the group as have the Ssu. I have always pictured them as kind of like R’lyeh strewn on a hilly, grassy plain, but less “non-Euclidian geometry” being present at Ssyrayal. Lots of “Dex” rolls when climbing over the ruins; lots of saves to avoid traps left by bands of Ssu that still comb the ruins; lots of saves against scratches from plants (Food of the Ssu anyone?) and insect bites; and lots of saves versus fear/panic in order for the players to avoid running away as fast they can in blind fear. These hazards get worse the further in the party goes. Basically, I treat the ruins as if they possess an innate malevolence, as if they were “alive”, a hate manifested so to speak. Coupled with this there are the usual bands of the “foe of man” nosing around. As Phil said about Ssuganar, but it also applies to Ssyrayal: “…there is more danger than even a strong party can handle.”

(Check you PM.)

Shemek

A hundred Thank yous great Lord!!! Yes!!! I see what you mean. I will make sure when I pass through, that I spend my kaitars on anything but my own piece of Pechano...!!!

H;0)