[Challenge] Make this story work with D&D mechanics

[elliott20]

I read this short little comic a while back, and wondered how well it can be done via D&D mechanics. Chances are, you'll need to houserule it at SOME point. But here's the challenge: Try to make this as close to RAW as possible. Give out as much in game information as you need to make this work properly. Using D&D mechanics explanation and move the story along.

So here's the story:

The land of Ke was ruled by two rulers. The king of south was one with great ambition, and eager to see the beginning of his dynasty; the other was cruel, unrelenting, a brilliant tactician, and rumored to be a powerful sorceror.

Their armies met on the battlefield, and both sides saw many casualties. The field of battle was dyed with the blood of many men.

But then, there was a change in the tides of battle. The King of South was overjoyed to hear that the tides of war began to shift his way. He sought the reason of this, and found it in a samurai under his rule. A powerful warrior, braver and stronger than any of his compatriots, with his mighty blade he slew many foes. Before him there was no man he couldn't cut down. He was like a god of war upon the battlefield, and no man was his equal.

The King of the South wanted his power, and sought to join it to his family. So he gave the noble samurai his beautiful daughter, Hikari. The two soon fell in love, and were wed.

The King of the North, on the other hand, was perturbed by this development, and knew that he must act soon or else all will be lost. So, using his great sorcery, he cast a curse upon the warrior during his sleep. In great pain the noble warrior screamed through the night, and by day, he had changed. His flesh had turned pale and sickly. The samurai suddenly acted as if he no longer recognized the princess. He wore a mask over his face, and came to his king's side as he always did, but now he was sullen and silent.

The armies marched to each other once again, and battle commenced. The samurai rode into battle once more, slaying all those who dared stand in his way. His bloodlust rose as he continued to cut down foe after foe.

As he slew another captain upon the hilltops, he saw in the distance the enemies champion. He too, was brave and strong. He was covered head to toe in solid armor. His face obscured by a fearsome helmet. This warrior, like him, was fearless. And with great might he slaughter the Southern Armies.

Instead of engaging this great foe straight away, the samurai sought to kill as many before. And so the killing ensued, until eventually the samurai killed his way to the sorcerer king himself. The sorcerer king called his champion, but his command fell on deaf ears as his champion ignored him and continue to kill on the field. With a swift strike, the samurai slew his enemy.

The northern champion also cut his way to the king of the south. The king called upon his bodyguards and ultimately called upon his champion - the samurai. But, the samurai never came to his aid. He too, was caught up the waves of blood lust. And so, the king of south was slain along with his bodyguards.

Without their commanders to orchestrate and control the battle, the fight began to drag and chaos took over reason, and the battlefield became a violent orgy of death as the respective champions of the north and south continued with their bloody work.

Soon, the battle came to a near close as the two champions saw each other on the battlefield, being the last men standing.

The two crossed swords with the cold clouds and crackling thunder as their backdrop. On top of the hills of carcasses, the two greatest warriors of this land hacked and swung at each other with all their might.

Hikari, the princess of the south, came to the battlefield in search of her love. She found him fighting the champion of the north. And as she cried out to her lover, the samurai struck a decisive blow, decapitating his foe, while his foe laid a mortal blow upon the samurai, puncturing his heart.

Both men fell, but as the champion of the north fell, his head rolled to the side, and a green mist eschewed from his helmet. The mist flew into the body of the samurai, and suddenly color returned to the samurai once again.

The sorcerer king had stolen his soul, and used it to create a warrior just as him to even the playing field. through the samurai's victory, he had regained the soul that he had lost, and now he recognizes the princess once more.

She came to his side, and now laying in his loved one's lap, he tells her of his love for her, and with one last kiss, he dies.

[Pelfaid]

No earthly idea of how to make something like that work, but that is an awesome read in the early hours of the morning.

[Istari]

A varient of trap the soul might work

[elliott20]

that's why I made it a challenge. the point is that there is no immediate and easy way this could actually work mechanically.

[RMS Oceanic]

Making an exact but evil duplicate of someone by stealing their soul? Sounds like an Epic Level Necromancy spell to me.

[Nerdanel]

I recommend coming up with a custom major artifact for the King of the North, because if he were really that powerful a spellcaster on his own he would have been able to do a lot more to affect the course of the battle. A custom major artifact makes everything simple.

[Emperor Tippy]

Well for the Samurais abilities just go Warblade 30 or so (lower level might work depending on how powerful you make the base soldiers). As for the soul thing, epic magic or just house rule Mind Rape to be undone upon the casters death and use that + Greater Bestow Curse for the looks.

[Knaight]

Or use Quest/Geas: Forget about the princess, develop incredible blood lust, and ignore orders until you kill someone who looks a lot like you and serves me.

[Prometheus]

Simulacrum is a good candidate for creating a replica. Bestow Curse might have been used simultaneously on the samurai so that the fight might be more equal. The only two puzzles is that a Simulacrum is under the complete control of it's creator (maybe he gave it an ambiguous command like perform equal and opposite to the other samurai? Or maybe he decided to take out the other king since it was too late for him?) and Bestow Curse is a touch attack (I'm sure there is some Prc or something to get around that).

By the way, this story very much reminded me of a Norse legend, maybe you could incorporate it somehow. It has this equal and opposite dynamic, speaks about the tragedies of war, and features a prominent female caught-in-between it.

[Flickerdart]

What about Ice Assassin? This sounds very similar. The champion doesn't even have to die from winning. The other man could have just as easily poisoned him during the battle, and the poison took its toll.

[elliott20]

To answer some poster's curiosity, the story originally actually came from a short one-shot that I saw in... wait for it... Heavy Metal magazine circa 1998, I believe.

I still can't remember which issue, the name of the comic, or the author. If I can find it again, I'll let you guys know.

Prometheus: Can a simulacrum continue to exist after the caster has already been slain though?

[Prometheus]

Prometheus: Can a simulacrum continue to exist after the caster has already been slain though?

I don't know.
If it is like a Summoned Creature, it winks out of existance.
If it is like an Undead, it goes rogue.
If it is like a Construct, it obeys the last command.

[elliott20]

so theoretically, it could have been a flesh golem type thing or an animated dead with it's own will?

[holywhippet]

The main problem I see, is that once a persons soul has left their body in D&D they are either dead or undead. A wish spell might be able to forceably remove someone soul, but doing at such long range is rather dubious.

A mirror of opposition could create an equal and opposite - but wouldn't include the soul stealing bit.

I have a feeling the Red wizards of Thay have some kind of soul binding spells but I'm not sure of what offhand.