[Dark Sun] Ablach-Re the....Avangion Wannabe?

[Leliel]

I recently realized that Ablach-Re is delibrately designed to either be a complete idiot or the most brillant Dragon Queen there is, and I also read somewhere that she's not past the "point of no return" in her quest to become the next Dragon.

So, I thought "hey, maybe she realized that dragonhood would essentially make her Queen of Absolutely Nothing Worth Ruling, so she decided to take the long and ultimately worthwhile way; after all, people love a forest goddess".

So, my canonical explanation for her "master plan" is her experimenting with completely inverting her biological nature, becoming a metamorphsing avangion instead...which would leave her alignment and generally nasty personality intact, since perserving isn't naturally good. She's just a more cunning variety of villain, not to mention that her newfound respect for living things means that she won't underestimate her foes.

Plus, the idea of an evil avangion is a very awesome idea for a final boss.

So, like my idea?

[Lhurgyof]

Hmmm... Avangions are the total embodiment of good, but I kinda like your idea, it's outside of the box for a Dark Sun campaign.

[Shatteredtower]

You got the wrong queen. You meant Lalali-Puy, the Oba. The idea is certainly a workable plot thread, even if you decide she can't possibly succeed. She works well as a forest goddess without it because she's managed to indoctrinate a culture that uses primal energy to enslave primal spirits, but the two concepts can work together. No reason you can't just go with your idea instead, of course.

[Rainbow Servant]

Hmmm... Avangions are the total embodiment of good...

Dark Sun: Where even the total embodiment of good can be out to screw you over.

[Zen Master]

Hm - my take on the Oba is that she's completely off her rocker. Utter basketcase. As in, she believes she IS a forest goddess, and that nature demands sacrifices. I have her taking young lovers into her forest palace, have sex with them, then change into a panther and hunt them down and eat them.

Daily.

So ... my vision of her wouldn't be the obvious Avangion material. But certainly the idea has a lot of charm.

[hamishspence]

Don't 4E Avangions have no alignment restrictions, just as 4E Dragon Kings don't?

So, you could have an Evil Avangion pitted against a Good Dragon King?

[hamlet]

Actually, in 2e, I believe Avangion had no alignment restrictions, though of course they tended toward good simply because.

It is entirely possible to have an evil Avangion, and frankly that would be a very cool angle to explore.

As would a good aligned dragon I think.

There was a module with Abalach-Re in it called The Forest God or something to that effect. It was fairly terrible, but it did a little exploration of her motivations, and IIRC they were almost entirely selfish. She wants power, so she dupes credulous people and uses them to further her own power base. For whatever it's worth.