Yesterday's development for the Parateva supplement led to work on the Avremier version of the Aboleth. Those wacky Spacing Guild Navigators of my campaign setting.
Today has been an exploration of the classic Fiend Folio creature presented as a group, starting on page 80 and ending on page 83. Their name starts with an S, and ends with a D. They are Chaotic Neutral in alignment and hail from Limbo. They are the property of a large company responsible for a number of games. I shall not even whisper the name here. But, because I fear to utter the name, the Avremier setting will contain a number of creatures and concepts inspired or suggested by the original IP found on those hallowed Fiend Folio pages of yore.
Enter: the Pandemorph.
Today has been an exploration of the classic Fiend Folio creature presented as a group, starting on page 80 and ending on page 83. Their name starts with an S, and ends with a D. They are Chaotic Neutral in alignment and hail from Limbo. They are the property of a large company responsible for a number of games. I shall not even whisper the name here. But, because I fear to utter the name, the Avremier setting will contain a number of creatures and concepts inspired or suggested by the original IP found on those hallowed Fiend Folio pages of yore.
Enter: the Pandemorph.
The Avremier setting does not use the recognized planar structure of the classic fantasy RPG. There is no Limbo. There really isn't a Pandemonium, either. What the Avremier planar structure does have is Pandemorphium - a plane of chaos and change. One of the only native species to interact with creatures beyond their planar bounds is known as the Pandemorph. This creature is of a morphic structure that allows for spontaneous evolution and adaptation, but the base structure of a Pandemorph is that of a generally humanoid form with traits of frogs, toads, and salamanders. They tend to stand on two legs and they tend to be man-size or larger. They are usually colorful and demonstrative. They are certainly chaotic, but rarely evil. To the seasoned planar traveler, they are usually known as Chaos Hoppers.
The Pandemorph is a kind of "overspecies," with a near-infinite capacity for mutation and permutation. The "Chaos Hopper" is certainly not the only representative of such a changeable race. In fact, there is a more humanoid offshoot of the Pandemorph that can be found on Avremier. This is the Glorph, a small race of frog-toad-salamander humanoids that range through different colors throughout their development. They start with orange, then violet, chartreuse - transitioning to gray and black near the end of their cycle. Once they start losing their bright coloration, the glorph may be returning to Pandemorphium. Glorph PCs transition to different colors as they gain experience levels. They can even evolve out of the glorph cycle entirely to become true Pandemorphs at higher levels.
Development of the Pandemorph does not stop there. We have a more primitive and brutal form known as the Gruun. There are also powerful Lords and Elders of Pandemorphium. As more information is brought to light, it may even become obvious that the mutable Pandemorph is only one aspect of biological Chaos making its way throughout the Vastness of the planes.
The Pandemorph is a kind of "overspecies," with a near-infinite capacity for mutation and permutation. The "Chaos Hopper" is certainly not the only representative of such a changeable race. In fact, there is a more humanoid offshoot of the Pandemorph that can be found on Avremier. This is the Glorph, a small race of frog-toad-salamander humanoids that range through different colors throughout their development. They start with orange, then violet, chartreuse - transitioning to gray and black near the end of their cycle. Once they start losing their bright coloration, the glorph may be returning to Pandemorphium. Glorph PCs transition to different colors as they gain experience levels. They can even evolve out of the glorph cycle entirely to become true Pandemorphs at higher levels.
Development of the Pandemorph does not stop there. We have a more primitive and brutal form known as the Gruun. There are also powerful Lords and Elders of Pandemorphium. As more information is brought to light, it may even become obvious that the mutable Pandemorph is only one aspect of biological Chaos making its way throughout the Vastness of the planes.
Very interesting!---I've been messing with the slaa---erm, Chaos Hoppers, a bit while working on Erelhei Cinlu.
ReplyDeleteWill definitely keep an eye on future developments! :D
Allan.
The next Avremier supplement, Parateva, will have most of the details.
ReplyDelete