Monday 25 January 2016

Basic Design 1: Wizards of Zar

For some wizards,undeath is simply not an acceptable solution to the problem of death.

In the city of Zar, an eon ago, a cabal of wizards found what they considered to be, a better path. Their solution, a magical elixir that ensured the preservation of the brain indefinitely. Moreover, the brain did not die, the spirit did not leave the body and no necromancy was involved. The crowning achievement of the experiment was, that in this state, thought continued uninterrupted. It however, was not a process without issues. The elixir only preserved the brain and spinal cord, and the presence of the rest of the body, slowly decaying in the elixar would eventually poison the brain, the new condition lacked sensory input would be locked into their own minds, but these challenges  were all things which could be over come with time and research. Certainly, to the minds of the Wizards of Zar, the process was superior to death in every way. For, with time and research, surely it would be possible to return the brains to new, truly immortal and perfectly crafted bodies

Over the span of fifty years, the group toiled, growing progressively older, and in many cases coming so close to death that they embraced the process, hoping their brothers would continue the work without them. But slowly but surely progress was made.  Visual senses came most quickly, then simple clumsy manipulators (Many of the early adopters became obsessive readers), hearing and soon afterwards speech followed.

Fifty years after the discovery of the elixar, Voquar  the maker started a new Renaissance in the cabals development, with new forms of locomotion and refinement of sensory inputs, he even started to crack the senses of smell and the finer detail of touch. However, many of the longest elevated members of the cabal were, by this time, quite mad in their isolation from meaningful human contact.
They were led by the individual who would become known as  Xarcan of the void, a the first to embrace elevation, He had spend a long period in deep isolation and had reported having had profound experiences while so deprived. He preached a philosophy of aesthetic purity and pure logic upon the restoration of his voice and had won many followers amongst the early elevated. When the battle was his, he forcibly shut down the senses of all the elevates who had opposed him, and forcibly elevating all the remaining cabal members save Voquar, whom, he set to researching inreasingly inhuman and strange senses and motive technologies.

Slowly, but surely, the wizards became less and less human, their bodies taking on increasingly octopoid forms, more amd more monsterous to the eyes of their fellow citizens, until their order was banned, and a pogrom launched against them, forcing them into hiding ...


Acolyte of Zar
Armor Class: 2/4
Hit Dice: 3
Move:  30'
     Flying 10'
Attacks: 8 tentacles
Damage: 1D3 each
No. Appearing: 1-3
Save As: Magic-User 3
Morale: 9
Treasure Type: Nil
Intelligence: 14
Alignment: Chaotic
XP Value: 65

Acolytes of Zar can cast spells as a level three magic-user. They take half damage from non-magical weapons. Attacks directed against the Acolyte's of Zar's body are made against AC 4, while attacks against their brain jar are made against AC 2, however each successful hit has a 1 in six chance of shattering the Jar, killing the Acolyte outright.

2 comments:

  1. I love it. Much more interesting than a mere lich.

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    Replies
    1. Glad you liked. I am going to be posting another monster associated with the wizards of Zar later today.

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