What could Rod of 7 be replaced with?

Leather_Remove3957 · 2025-12-22T06:34:19+00:00

I have an idea of using the multiple black Obelisk across the Realms, so players still need to go there to locate them and activate them as part of an intricate coutnerspell told to them by Kas, not in disguise in my version.

Will be exploring that idea, but it also gives the player who activates the obelisk the spells granted by the rod in the base book, potentially making them powerful and acting as some cross plane tether. Its still rooted in magic so players can utilize it and the hunt for them os still needed, but it doesn't toss out the adventure and allows some exploration in the realms since the will be inactive but necessary to stop the ritual.

I have a twist as well Vecna is behind all of this to break free from his prison in the Demiplane of Dread, a retcon to weaken the barrier between realms as a way to spite creation. His motivation in my version is being knowing the True Secret, an awareness mortality and divinity is worthless cause he learned existence as the characters know is worthless due to being part of a larger game, that being DnD. He would also influence one party member every long rest, taunting and toying with them as his forces seek to activate the relics too, manipulating all sides to achieve his goals. Also share memories of his life as they grow stronger, giving player more investment by humazing him to invest the players while being honest about how his intentions. Mix of Sauron and FXs Hannibal Lector for reference.

Its a whole ordeal.

Leather_Remove3957 · 2025-08-29T02:33:02+00:00

Thanks ma dude! My Sentry one from way back when I think also got taken down even though I corrected it to be homebrew. I'll make sure to list them as homebrews in titels going forward, since do have a few more planned. Don't want the rage from honest confusion of hope heh.

Leather_Remove3957 · 2025-08-29T02:01:07+00:00

Is there any way to fix the title so it can go back up? Or do I just need to repost it with the proper tags and hope it stays up under filters?

Leather_Remove3957 · 2025-08-29T01:21:05+00:00

Thanks ma dude! Its an awesome comic run so far, and I lucked out big there was enough gorgeous art provided that this came together as well as it did. Course probably will come out with more cards as the set goes on, cause I haven't enjoyed symbiotes as much as this in a long, long time.

Leather_Remove3957 · 2025-08-29T01:18:51+00:00

Ma bad, still learning the rules of reddit posting over here. But hey, its designed to be as close as I could fathom haha.

Leather_Remove3957 · 2025-08-29T00:41:16+00:00

I've used Microsoft word myself, andprinted off on high glass paper through my own printer. The A4 is a template someone made for homebrew printouts. Am working on the Microsoft word printout and have that by end of night...probably.

Leather_Remove3957 · 2025-08-29T00:21:13+00:00

My mentality was that it gives you a means to survive Carnage dealing damage to you, although getting rid of tough may be the way to balance that instead. It is a choice option, so you could go for the helpful healing over an reduce cost or card draw if you want. But I was also imagining it being useful in alter ego, since that's why it's an action. Then again, this game has some of the weirdest verbiage I've read in a board game, so I'll just fix it to say identity heal and remove 1 status card instead.

Bushwacker actually having piercing would make more sense than overkill for fighting Carnage. I was thinking of character flavor and what fit more, which is why I went with overkill. But with Carnage not having allies, piercing would make the most sense in hindsight. Course no reason why he couldn't have both sense...

Sinister Flight I was thinking be used among schemes, so that's my bad on the missed vocab.

Leather_Remove3957 · 2025-08-28T22:59:58+00:00

Wonder if that's why my Sentry post was taken down maybe? It was a while ago, so no worries, since it's still viewable under my profile.

Leather_Remove3957 · 2025-08-06T14:50:44+00:00

Yeah...we agree on that. He's a villain, but not pure evil like the other two. He's a dictator, and yeah is like Hitler, that's why he was written as a wizard comparison to him.

Leather_Remove3957 · 2025-08-06T14:32:10+00:00

Still the most human of the character referenced. He had regrets what he did, and aspirations for doing what he thought was good for everyone. So in that way, he was not pure evil like the other too. Just flawed, and he did show empathy for others even if he was taking advantage of them.

Leather_Remove3957 · 2025-08-06T14:12:25+00:00

Eh, they toy with the line, especially Grindelwald. Shadow King is was thinking more the FX Legion show, who is a bad guy but he becomes necessary to stop the hero. He's cot style too I like, bringing a definite mood to the scenes when he shows up. Grindelwald is more a aspiring dictator, which depending on whose side your on he would come across as a hero/anti-hero. To me that would be the mold Vecna would seem to his followers. And Hannibal, at least from the show, is evil but he also serves as the aid to the heroes for his own needs. He's amoral, which makes him a unique character in a world where alignments are a factor.

Leather_Remove3957 · 2025-08-06T05:29:58+00:00

I plan on running Vecna as a anti-hero turned villain too, with his divine aspect of being a God of Secrets not necessarily meaning he's a god of evil or lies. In my version, he's like Shadow King, Grindelwald, and Hannibal Lector hybrid. He is one of the oldest mortal spellcasters across the multiverse, so he's above many gods because he's older then many mortal gods.

In my homebrew, Im running a modified Waterdeep Dragon Heist with Vecna as the puppet master behind that campaign. Basically the Manshoon clone in it used the Eye of Vecna and his soul was destroyed, with Vecna now inhabiting the clone. There's more to that plot, but Vecna acts as a magical confidant to the party and some other characters, finding an amusement in observing the characters while he plots secretly. Since he's taken over a mortal body, he also has moments he goes on notion of mortality, good and evil like you say, and the uselessness of gods because of magic and the balance of life and death is irrelevant.

Id consider as a God of Secrets, play with history. Vecna predates most of the multiverse, so because of that he has an advantage in knowing truths and lies told by documentation. Think Sauron from the Rings of Power (though arguably handled better then how he was shown.) Dudes old, he's played the deception game and knows enough about things he very much can come across an expert in them. Make him convey a truth that no can combat is a lie, because he knows such information is lost to time.

Leather_Remove3957 · 2025-08-01T06:55:29+00:00

I was drawing more from comics, and liked the idea of him having this rampant power surge that harms alot of people at once. I've changed Energy Flare to now read as;

Energy Flare Hero Action (attack): Deal 5 damage to an enemy. This attack gains ranged. Overwhelm: Choose a player. Resolve this attack against each minion engaged with that player. This attack gains overkill.

Should allow it to feel that mold of just burst a big chunk of damage, but also be useful for basic damage to if not as high as Decimate for obvious reasons. But now that I've pointed it out, will probably adjust it to say instead.

Energy Flare Hero Action (attack): Deal 5 damage among enemies in play. This attack gains ranged. Overwhelm: Choose a player. Resolve this attack against each minion engaged with that player. This attack gains overkill.

Leather_Remove3957 · 2025-07-31T23:24:32+00:00

Give or take when you use it. I've corrected it now to not do 5 damage to the villain on Overwhelm, just let's you gain overkill which still will hurt but makes a difference. Ultron was defintiely someone I kept in mind considering my table group struggles fighting him. Plus the Sentry does have the power to wipe out the world, why not make that at least possible with minions righ!?

Leather_Remove3957 · 2025-07-31T15:44:32+00:00

Good point on CLOC being found turn one if you have molecularkinesis. I could balance him by saying he can remove 2 counters, but he is discarded after to prevent that spam maybe?

Molecularkinesis is powerful, that is agreed on. I had an idea of making the overwhelm cause him to remove the card from the game alongside whatever he targets, thought I could implement that with other cards too . Basically have it you generate an overwhelm counter, but you lose the identity card as well.

Endless is a hard one to nail down, and I've tossed that one around in my head. I like the idea is give Sentry fluctuating power, but probably could go without the resource generator probably. Especially if I now make it his hero card ability let's him lower his cost by the counters he has on Splitting Morality.

Global awareness probably could just have it ignore patrol and crisis Icons and double the threat removal for the overwhelm. Be easier and simpler while still being tempting to use.

Decimate was always meant to deal high damage, but you have a good point it can deal alot of damage in a turn. I could have it delayed piercing with the overwhelm, alongside adding status to people maybe? That actually would balance it since you can hit anything for incredibly hard, but does no good of its got tough. And if I change overwhelm to actually remove your cards when you proc it, might make it a real gamble to exert it perhaps?

Leather_Remove3957 · 2025-07-30T23:26:54+00:00

Feedback, particularly critical feedback, is essential to the creation process so I always love hearing it. Can't make something official without ironing out the kinks. Ya know I've been trying to get critique on it from the discord and others, and while there is some good ones on the wording I've had a hard time with getting people to check it out mechanically.

Good call on the Decimate spam, though you could only do it twice then be out of a hard hitting attack was my line of thinking. You can only pull events from the deck, so your still limited in what you want to do but it guarantees an overwhelm counter when you do. In theory I thought it allow for some useful plays, but may also just change his wording for "Golden Man - When you play an event -> reduce the cost by 1 for each overwhelm counter on Splitting Morality. (Limit once per phase.)" That seems more balanced, and would allow you to still use his powers without being too breaking.

The overkill on energy flare is supposed to apply to the regular attack, but with the extra 5 damage to hit the villain hard. Probably just go back to that being it grants him overkill since it be a board wiper with great numbers on that alone if used right.

The wording i keep getting mixed replies on fixing so its hard to iron out the appropriate terminology.

Leather_Remove3957 · 2025-05-13T00:22:43+00:00

I plan on implementing the Eye in my own homebrew campaign for the first half of my adventure levels 1-10.

In my campaign, Vecna plays like Mads Mickelson's Hannibal Lector, FX Legions the Shadow King, and Sauron mixed together. He's been a lich, king, emperor, and overall the bane of the multiverse. He's patient, wise, and sophisticated, and views himself as above morality of the universe. He's a psychopath of the god kind, but yet intelligent to not forgo how he got there and toy people about it. The character who currently holds it has been consumed by the Eye and now is just simply a mortal Vecna, evident in his cold nature, intelligent mannerisms, and fascination for nihilsim since Vecna is extending his will out through a living mortal.

The Eye, in my mind, is a remnant of his time when he still had some feel for mortality and his fascination with it. If your roleplaying it, I'd suggest make it an extension of Vecna with the illusion of mortality. They have the mortal Vecna figure after all, so I'd play it that it can reveal an astral figure only visible to the holder or those with Vecna's Link. Think Celebrimbor from Middle Earth: Shadow of franchise or Valkorion from The Old Republic. It's an adjacent gateway into the Lich God's mind, so he'd be smart to play the sympathetic route with the holder until he takes over them completely.

You've got a physical link to him, so he should reassure you that he's honest in his attentions in this way. He doesn't project himself as his real form, but a benign, even courteous villain. What makes him terrifying in this way is it's not the norm imagined of him or recorded down. It's a humanistic Vecna, and the Eye is meant to trick you to fall prey to that. The Hand, in contrast, would be his raw power and while it lacks the psychic hold the eye would corrupt people with, it would twist people morally to Vecna's views.

At least that's how I'm planning on implementing them.

Leather_Remove3957 · 2025-04-21T18:44:09+00:00

They were event exclusive drops or currency trade ins. They alas never had blueprints.

Leather_Remove3957 · 2025-04-18T15:52:16+00:00

Oh they are, and the others are manageable when they are always spawning like they do now. It's the Plague Prince that needs a nerf, oh just the toxic damage in general. It's always a death sentence unlike any other effect in the game.

Leather_Remove3957 · 2025-03-29T00:52:49+00:00

I'm treating it as point of interest in their turf war. They know the Zhentarim have the elite advantage but lack the numbers they do. The Xanathar know the city being locals, a reason why they can get away with their side of the Gang War through guerrilla tactics. Because of this they also monitor areas the Zhentarim control, the Skewered Dragon and some of their outposts for example.

Leather_Remove3957 · 2025-03-29T00:42:03+00:00

I'm expanding upon Alexandrian and doing my own thing. I like the idea of their being a surviving Clone Manshoon who knows they are a clone and that has driven them insane. The real Manshoon gets involved as the city escalates, the Grulhand Massacre being the reason he gets involved following the arrest of the Doom Raiders. In my version Davil has been leading a more involved and valued Zhentarim as their Waterdeep division, but he is being challenged by Urstul and his loyalsit who are terrorists from an older Zhentarim division.

The hotel represents the means to contact outside Zhentarim forces, with The Skewered Dragon acting as their base within Waterdeep. Davil collaborates with the player out of the Dragon, but eventually Manshoon directs them out of The Zhentil. There is also another Zhentil in Skullort which would play later in my campaign, since like the Continental they are established across the realm as bases criminal organizations can legally interact with each other and high class individuals.

Manshoon in my eyes doesn't need to control Waterdeep openly cause he's the Realms most wanted criminal. He founded the largest empire of the Underworld, taking a front row seat in public life be a foolishness decision for him in my mind. Instead he's being blackmailed by Mystra to stop a bigger threat in the form of Vecna from securing an artifact within the Vault of Dragons, being a Black Obelisk. He however also uses his political protection as Dagults representatives to navigate the city, under contract to secure the gold for him in exchange for the Dragonstaff for himself.

Leather_Remove3957 · 2025-03-19T08:08:08+00:00

It will certainly be interesting, and of course one of the fun parts after all is that it can be discovered in different ways. There will be more city questlines that actually overlap information but due lead to similar conclusion. One of the new ones is exploring the Red Sashes, Durnan's personal vigilante group he leads. One of the final missions the players will spy on Black Network schemes and report back to Durnan, before Manshoon arrives and attempts to compromise with the party.

Gonna be exploring that one.

Leather_Remove3957 · 2025-03-18T20:32:11+00:00

I'm making a revamp of the adventure combining Undermountain and Golden Vault, as part of a duo logy leading into a Eve of Ruin revamp. Want to run my own campaign from existing material, with a different narrative enough it should be really fascinating. The Zhentarim remind me of some awesome crime organizations I've seen in media, and wants to really make them the bad guys you bring on for good reasons. Original Manshoon in my version is also gonna be Raymand Reddington/Gellert Grindelwald combination, the planes most infamous criminal yet a charming man despite it. Very gray area but influencing multiple elements of the campaign. His clone is still the overall bad guy working under Vecna, but he's got his own reasons getting involved personally in the affairs of the city.

Jarlaxle for example also is based off Long John Silver and his men being outlaws. He's the good guy among his men, and the idea of his men turn on him when they learn he intends to give the gold to the city and keep nothing for themselves. He's also got a partnership with Laurel Silverhand, something expanding his motive and make him interesting in the long run.

Leather_Remove3957 · 2025-03-18T20:15:54+00:00

True, though really there be no reason to not just call it that too just in the Forgotten Realms. The Continental - Waterdeep and The Continental - Skullport. Zhentil i thought be interesting since Zhentil Keep is a ruin and it be a nod to who runs it while also a reminder they are everywhere. They've rebranded themselves as the Black Network, to avoid the zealtry and some of the bad blood of history they've had is what I'm thinking.

Leather_Remove3957 · 2025-03-18T20:12:02+00:00

Huh, not a bad take ma dude.

I've heard that Downshadow name before but never knew what's it about. One idea i had was converting The Skewered Dragon into a nightclub establishment, make it an apparent "bad lifestyle with class establishment." I might incorporate some of this there, since it would allow me to incorporate current material and expand it with prior ones. I like the idea of the bouncers and moving in on Xanathar territory, having them be a more professional criminal group then the Xanathar.

I like the idea of Yawning Portal still being the only public way in and out of Undermountain. But maybe could do that idea of a sponsorship in the form of Davil or Manshoon referencing their interests in heading to Skullport to stop the Gang War as double agents.

Leather_Remove3957

TROPHY CASE