Invincible Darklords...

[Spiteful Crow]

If you kill Sir Hiregaard while all his male descendants are beyond the domain borders, what happens to Malken?

[Brandi]

I think with Adam you pretty much have to manage to take him and Mordenheim out simultaneously.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

If you kill Sir Hiregaard while all his male descendants are beyond the domain borders, what happens to Malken?

Given Tristen's womanizing habits -- not to mention how Malken probably can't have murdered every woman he's ever molested -- there are probably a number of illegitimate candidates out there to inherit his curse.

This is a man who hit on S, for cryin' out loud!

[Gemathustra]

This is a man who hit on S, for cryin' out loud!

If that doesn't show that he's criminally insane, I don't know what would.

[Jester of the FoS]

Some men like 'em with a little experience. Plus he's likely old enough to be her father so it's still robbing from the cradle.

Invincible darklords have never phased me. I've had too many darklords die in my early rookie days not to appreciate the ability of some to come back from seeming certain death. And in a game with "raise dead" and "ressurection" spells, death is not the burdon it once was.

Still, I've never felt so restricted in my own games by canon that I won't let the party kill off a lord if it works for the story. Even if he is "invincible" there's no guarantee that it's immediate and no a slow years-long process giving the players a sense of victory and opportunity to 'retire'.

[Undead Cabbage]

When reading over the 'domains drawn into the mists', a strange thing occured to me.

At least from what's been produced in the 3e material, is there a direct relationship between ressurecting Darklords, and whether they were originally born in RL or not?

Outlander bred Darklords tend to either have ressurection Special qualities, or incredibly painful criteria to trully kill listed as a special quality. Going through the list:

Strahd: Contingency
Azalin: Phylactery
Wilfred: Undying soul
Harkon: Undying soul
Hazlik: Undying soul
Mordenheim: Undying soul (I'll address this one specifically at the bottom)
Gwydion:...He's a god
3 Hags: Cauldron of Life
Tristen/Malken: Ancestral curse
Easen: Immortality
Tristen ApBlanc: Undying Soul
Urik: Lunar Regeneration

Mordenheim's a bit of a tricky one to spot since Adam's birth is technically what brought him into RL. The one exception to this in the 3e material is the Lady of the Lake.

Each of the outlander DLs seem to have a SQ that allows the Darklords to keep one of their favorite toys. Native Darklords, on the other hand, don't have a specific SQ protecting them. The 2e material does not state anything for DLs other than these who were outlanders, but at the same time it doesn't state it for the ones that currently can't die either.

Could this possibly say something about the roles of each DL in the time of Unparralleled Darkness?

Edit: When writing this I completely forgot about Drakov. There's a bit exception there, albeit Drakov is a bit of an outlier as far as DLs are concerned.

[Corrupted_Loremaster]

Been mulling over Easan's invincibility, and I had a thought. It's stated that in his less lucid moments Easan often mistakes those around him for figments of his own imaginnation. Perhaps attacks fail to inflict permanent damage simply because he does not believe they're real. Force him in to a lucid enough state to realize he is facing real enemies, performing real attacks, and it might just be possible to cause lasting wounds.

Actually, now that I think about it, it strikes me that if that were the case, that would mean achieving his desire (his sanity), however temporarly, would leave him mortal. Funny that, isn't it?

[ScS of the Fraternity]

Thats a good one, Loremaster.
As well, it leads to an interesting notion - what if Essan isn't insane - he just thinks he is?
The reality of Vechore is constantly influx, which makes norma everyday life seem like a series of ahllucinations. Perhaps the Dark Powers made Essan sane, but have made relaity so flexable that Essan can't tell the difference. Bombarded by illusions and impossible changes, even the best of men would believe they had lost their senses.
Hence, the Willy Coyote effect - Essan can't die because he's sure that everything is just a hallucination.

The trick might be to do a double gas light - convince him that he's getting help (possibly from the same monks that once helped him).
Then, when he's convinced that he is becoming sane - he can either be dispatched, or be cured and possibly redeemed.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Force him in to a lucid enough state to realize he is facing real enemies, performing real attacks, and it might just be possible to cause lasting wounds.

Or if he stayed crazy, yet hallucinated he was being murdered and took those hallucinations for reality, he might literally be killed by his own delusions! Hmmm... I'm beginning to see why Shadowcloak's so interested in Vechor.

[Nathan of the FoS]

Hmmm... I'm beginning to see why Shadowcloak's so interested in Vechor.

Exactly.

[Scarycount]

Sorry to get back to Easan, but there is in fact a way he can be killed, without altering canon material. Easans regeneration quality specifically states "Whenever Easan suffers permanent ability drain, it is instead treated as temporary ability damage." There is no reason you can't just temporarily reduce his constitution to zero. He won't be alive to get any of it back.

[Gemathustra]

I'm sorry, but I have to throw a monkeywrench into that idea, in that, Easan can not suffer from permanent ability drains.
Every form of damage, and ability loss is temporary with him, irrregardless of the source.

[Scarycount]

according to the DMG, if a creatures Con becomes 0, it dies. It matters not if the con is drained or damaged.



I beleive I specifically quoted that ability word for word in my last post.

[Gemathustra]

Then how come Easan's write up says that he can regenerate even from being disintegrated?
Why would he not be able to regenerate negative energy or deadly poison, but still be able to pull himself together should his molecules take seperate vacations?

[Scarycount]

Many darklords can only be killed in highly specific ways, Easan is no exception.