Curious, anyone here who liked the Athair any feelings on their fate after the faction war.
I loved to hate them, I freely admit, so was quite pleased to see them reduced to hiding under the spire like rats.
Athairs fate after the Faction war (Spoiler warning)
Fri, 2013-04-05 09:23
#1
Athairs fate after the Faction war (Spoiler warning)
Tue, 2013-04-23 15:29
#3
Re: Athairs fate after the Faction war (Spoiler warning)
I think they're a very interesting faction in general. However, I think they don't work very well with 3rd Edition rules where it is rather easily possible to have divine spells without a deity - something previously extremely rare and mysterious.
Tue, 2013-04-23 18:14
#4
Re: Athairs fate after the Faction war (Spoiler warning)
My concern was that (IMO) being at the base of the Spire is as close to being in the "middle of nowhere" as one can possibly be on the planes. If I remember correctly, it was something like a week's worth of travel (at least) to reach the nearest portal.
But I did come across something (and I would give credit if I could remember who wrote it) that suggested an adventure idea that the Athar had found some means to transport quickly to and from the Spire (I don't think this was suggested, but I could see some sort of pact with the rilimini or with the mirror dimesion accessed near the base in one of the offical adventures)
From here, the Athar would lauch strike forces to take down the gods then quickly retreat back to the safety of the Spire's base. This actually made them more active and more desperate in my mind which in turn made them more interesting to me.
Even if the PCs find out who is behind these lightning-fast attacks, they have to find some to reach them that doesn't involve a slow march through the Outlands in plain (no pun intended) sight
Tue, 2013-04-23 18:23
#5
Re: Athairs fate after the Faction war (Spoiler warning)
My concern was that (IMO) being at the base of the Spire is as close to being in the "middle of nowhere" as one can possibly be on the planes. If I remember correctly, it was something like a week's worth of travel (at least) to reach the nearest portal.
But I did come across something (and I would give credit if I could remember who wrote it) that suggested an adventure idea that the Athar had found some means to transport quickly to and from the Spire (I don't think this was suggested, but I could see some sort of pact with the rilimini or with the mirror dimesion accessed near the base in one of the offical adventures)
From here, the Athar would lauch strike forces to take down the gods or to get desperately needed supplies) then quickly retreat back to the safety of the Spire's base.
This actually made them more active and more desperate in my mind which in turn made them more interesting to me.
Even if the PCs find out who is behind these lightning-fast attacks, they have to find some to reach them that doesn't involve a slow march through the Outlands in plain (no pun intended) sight
Wed, 2013-04-24 18:28
#6
Re: Athairs fate after the Faction war (Spoiler warning)
What faction war? I don't know of any faction war. 
@ ShirreKnight, I'm not in love with the Athar, but what's there to hate in particular? Many of them are probably overzealous about it, but their philosophy makes perfect sense, given the myriad of gods and pantheons which any Sigilan knows of. The Athar are kind of like a modern group who want everyone to know that FAST FOOD ISN'T HEALTHY! "Well, you don't have to shout it so loud, but...yeah, duh!"
@ Calmar, I'd think the reverse: less-than-rare priests of philosophy makes the Athar more viable, at least practically. After all, who wants to be member of a faction that refuses divine healing and has no healing magic of its own? Even if you agree wholeheartedly with their philosophy, that's a mighty big risk to take for the rest of your life. (And if you're an adventurer, it'll be a short one!)
Thu, 2013-04-25 14:38
#7
Re: Athairs fate after the Faction war (Spoiler warning)
First Reason I Love to hate them is they just seem like Cynics.
And I think that being denied easy access to divine healing makes the sheer stupidity of their ideals more pronounced.
Call me biased, but I find that nice.
I have a hard time, even with examples to the contrary, like their Factions LG Leader, not casting them as Angry Teenagers who are thumbing their nose at the establishment.
Part of why I LOVE them moving their camp near the spire.
"RAAH RAAAH POWERS ARE FRAUDS!!!"
"Excuse me sir let me tell you about how the powers are frauds... Whats that your out here for a SPECICIF reason... and arent interested in if the gods are frauds... well I thought you should know their frauds their con artists and keep us down... They make people get hair cuts, and such... Im going to move to a higher tech world and listen to a NIckel back album... Uh as soon as my "Anti divinity" Spell works to protect a world from divine intercession..."
Thu, 2013-04-25 15:51
#8
Re: Athairs fate after the Faction war (Spoiler warning)
I have a hard time, even with examples to the contrary, like their Factions LG Leader, not casting them as Angry Teenagers who are thumbing their nose at the establishment.
Well I think thats true for many of the factions (stereotypical Bleakers or Xaositects) and compared to the Sinkers, the Red Death or even the Dustmen, angry teenagers seem quite likeable.
And I think that being denied easy access to divine healing makes the sheer stupidity of their ideals more pronounced.
The same with the Doomguard and their resistance to healing, though I always liked this disadvantage as real proof of their devotion to their philosophy.
Protagonistic Lost still seem underrepresented.
Guess I'll have to introduce a likeable Athar in my campaign as a matter of principle.
Thu, 2013-04-25 18:17
#9
Re: Athairs fate after the Faction war (Spoiler warning)
@ ShirreKnight: Okay, so you don't like the Athar because they're cynical teenagers rebelling against the establishments. Not sayin' you're totally off, but if you yourself could hop on a plane and go see God, Allah, Yahweh, Zeus and a bunch of other 'original' gods, you don't think that'd be worthy of a little cynicism? Most of them are telling their peoples mutually exclusive fairy tales, so clearly most or all of them clearly are frauds despite many claiming Lawful and/or Good alignments. Maybe it's not worth shouting at every passer-by about, but wouldn't you call this a noteworthy fact?
And wow, you must absolutely LOATH the Anarchists, the Dustmen, the Doomguard, and the Xaositects. Talk about angsty rebellious teen fads!
Thu, 2013-04-25 20:45
#10
Re: Athairs fate after the Faction war (Spoiler warning)
Well Actualy I found the Anarchist kind of Cool.
I guess its because Im an Agnostic, with a Reluctant leaning towards athiesm
I say RELUctant, as I really really really do NOT want athiesm to be true.
Thu, 2013-04-25 21:07
#11
Re: Athairs fate after the Faction war (Spoiler warning)
Hm, odd. I'm an agnostic or an atheist, depending on a d20 roll that my player has to roll every day. 
Though I'm quite comfortable with both. *shrug*
Fri, 2013-04-26 12:19
#12
Re: Athairs fate after the Faction war (Spoiler warning)
neither is a viable choice for me, i've seen and experienced too much to believe in either agnosticism or atheism.
Sat, 2013-04-27 03:07
#13
Re: Athairs fate after the Faction war (Spoiler warning)
The Athar are perfect, seeing all that wonder in the planes makes you question powers. Don't forget they're also deists.
Mon, 2013-04-29 10:10
#14
Re: Athairs fate after the Faction war (Spoiler warning)
amusingly enough, in most of my campaigns a fair number of the "powers that be" are not actual divine entities... just very high level ones.
Mon, 2013-04-29 15:41
#15
Re: Athairs fate after the Faction war (Spoiler warning)
Now the Athar have you where they want you. 
Mon, 2013-04-29 16:36
#16
Re: Athairs fate after the Faction war (Spoiler warning)
and that's exactly what i want them to think. ^^
I really like the Athar as they are one of the more ambiguous factions. Nevertheless they rarely come up as protagonists (which is weird as Factol Terrance is lawful good and seems to be a rather relaxed guy).
They are quite prominent in our campaign because an Athar Factotum has become the major nemesis of one of the PCs.
Having them retreat to the Spire after the Faction War was a creative and definitely a very logical choice. Far more logical than the merging of the Godsmen and the Signers to the Mind's Eye.
And with their base in the Outlands they just don't seem to be that completely removed from the scene as are the Doomguard fractions on the negative quasielemental planes.
The developments suggested in the Shattered Dreams thread, especially 'Trial of the Gods' sound pretty cool.