Does anyone know why Athkatla city and country have not been enslaved by monsters?
lollers
Member Posts: 190
There is a lot of monster activity happening in Athkatla country, right? A flying saucer from hell teleported on top of the slums, there are two groups of high powered aliens beneath the city sewers, a very strong faction of vampires on the surface, multiple evil dragons outside, a pack of trolls powerful enough to assail Nalias fortress, and a shade lord near umar town.
How come none of these monster groups are dominant over humans? I feel as if any one of these monster forces could be expanded into a main story.
How come none of these monster groups are dominant over humans? I feel as if any one of these monster forces could be expanded into a main story.
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You forget the main reason, Charname is there to save everybody! (even if he/she's a chaotic evil half-orc assassin)
Interestingly, this actually isn't far off. There are at least FOUR adventuring parties similar to your own in the city. One in the room above the Seven Vales, one in the temple sewer area, a group at Delosar's Inn in the bridge district, and one more in a non-descript house near the Five Flagons.
Of course, your party usually ends up wiping out most of them...
It really is a shame there wasn't more of an RP explanation for these groups, especially the group in the sewer.
Either on quests or hunting for loot. Pretty sure the sewer group are bandits.
You can also test the city's security yourself by getting an extremely low reputation, though I don't recommend it.
And what about the FR biggies? Would they take notice?
I think in a setting like the Forgotten Realms, acquiring power has to be very gradual once you get to a certain point, because getting too powerful too quickly could be very dangerous. If you prance onto center stage all 'here I am, and I am a bad arse!' someone is likely to cut you down.
This is actually the correct answer. The truth of the matter is that Athkatla (as well as all of SoA and ToB) is unusually overscaled with powerful enemies, more than should be appropriate, in order to provide players with adequate challenges. For instance, most of the bandits you encounter in Athkatla are, what, 7th - 9th level? That is some INSANELY powerful alleybashers. Most NPCs in a D&D world will never, ever reach such levels. For reference, the average town guard is generally only about 1st level. The Captain of the Guard might be a 3rd level Fighter, a seasoned veteran of many years on the beat. A 5th level Fighter is probably a decorated champion, a member of the King's Elite Guard or something similar. A 7th - 9th level Fighter is one of the most skilled warriors in the entire kingdom, a household name.
Beyond that, a 12th level character is someone who will go down in history as one of the most famous warriors of their century. A 15th level character is someone whose deeds will be sung of for generations. And characters who are 18th level are powerful enough to literally enter the realms of the gods and challenge them. In reality, only a very tiny handful of ultra-powerful (or ultra-lucky) mortals ever make it that far.
So really, that group of 7th level bandits in Amn? They are doing work that's WAY beneath them. :P They could sign themselves up as a King's private retinue and be set for life! Remember Ulraunt, the head of Candlekeep? One of the most famous and renowned storehouses of knowledge in Faerun? Ulraunt's only 7th level! XD (And I think Tethtoril, the most powerful of all the Readers and the highest level NPC in Candlekeep, is only like 13th.)
However, if any one group (or powerful creature) would attempt this by themselves, they would face several capable factions at once. At a minimum: cowled wizards, city guard, thieves guild, order of the radiant heart (!), all currently present adventuring groups.
I think Athkatla is pretty safe from takeover and/or enslavement...
Maybe Athkatlan bandits are just smarter about who they attack than their Sword-Coast counterparts. A group of 1st-3rd level bandits should definitely be smart enough NOT to attack a group of six adventurers armed to the teeth!
Cool insights, it definitely looks like the scaling I have read in my current fantasy novels.
I mean, there is that encounter in ToB with the adventuring party that realizes it's not up for what it's experiencing...
As for the general high levels - the Forgotten Realms are a high-powered setting in general. There are considerably more of those high-powered characters than "default" D&D flavor would say.
Not as many as what's in BG2, though. The various high-level characters in BG1 that you don't fight, like Kelddath or the dukes, are a closer match in terms of numbers.
Maybe they just don't think I'm someone scary enough to run away from
This is why I like to path between baragost and fai with an invisible dorn. I like to see their expressions when dorn pops out of nowhere with a big 2hander and takes a head off.
In a world with wandering adventure parties, polymorphed wizards and dragons, scrying and invisibility... being a bandit has to be stressful. You just never know...