(l-r) Korrek (Human/Fighter/Eldritch Knight), Gwennivere Kale (Human/Wizard/Evocation School), Hereward (Aarakocra/Rogue/Inquisitive) and the Illithing (Custom Lineage/Druid/Circle of the Land).
IN THE REALMS
Whatever knows fear, burns at the Illithing’s touch
“Beyond the pristine façade of the Temple of Mystra, a sinister conspiracy threatens the future of Cormyr. Profane acts within the temple hearken to a mounting threat in the Vast Swamp. Adventurers must cross into the Plane of Shadow to unlock the truth about this growing darkness in time to thwart an attack against Cormyr and the goddess of magic herself.”
Dakimh the Enchanter knew the threats in the Vast Swamp, but it was the efforts of the demon Thog and his allies to merge the Plane of Shadow with the Material Plane that drew the champions to Cormyr to strike at the heart of the plot. Korrek, an Illuskan warrior prince joined alongside Gwennivere Kale, Dakimh’s apprentice. From lands unknown came Hereward, a cynical Aarakocra whose dour outlook belied his quick wit.
And the most queer member of the party, the Illithing, came from the swamp itself. Dakimh was able to relate to the party that long ago an Illithid fled into the mire’s depths, frightened beyond reason of things beyond comprehension. There it drank an arcane potion of unknown provenance and should have died – but the magics of the swamp instead transformed it. Now it’s psionic abilities are but part of it’s powers – for all that know fear burn at the Illithing’s druidic magic.
Now it is into the swamps to track down Thog and solve the mystery of the black dragons, Shadar-kai, lizardfolk…and a plot to disrupt the weave of magic itself!
SOURCE MATERIAL & CAMPAIGN IDEAS
You guys, have you read Steven Gerber’s Howard the Duck comics?! They are crazy! And not just because they share continuity with a comic called “Giant Size Man Thing”.
Get to Class
All the D&D conversions were fairly straight forward, but I was quite pleased when I realized that Man-Thing was, in fact, an Illithid turned swamp monster, and then further pleased when I realized that he could be called the Illithing. He is a Circle of the Land Druid (Swamp). A Nature domain cleric might work better, considering he doesn’t really make any use of the druid’s transformational abilities.
Korrek is an Eldritch Knight Fighter. Hereward (Howard, of course) is an Inquisitive Rogue. Kale is an Abjuration Wizard.
What’s up with Jennifer Kale’s outfit though?
Campaign Notes
In looking for a swamp in the Forgotten Realms to match Man-Thing’s Florida Everglades, I found out about Cormyr: The Tearing of the Weave, an adventure set in the Vast Swamp. It sounded fairly similar to the Adventure into Fear storyline that brought Korrek, Kale, Howard, and Man-Thing together. If given a chance, I’ll always set a Pop Culture Party in a familiar campaign.
The Pop Culture Party Series follows a similar line to my Motley Crew series. Only while that nerdly rotogravure imagined sci-fi motley crews in Firefly’s ‘Verse, this will imagine various casts of adventure media as D&D characters.
HyperboreanComics 