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Seethyr
Master of Realmslore
USA
1253 Posts |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36982 Posts |
 Posted - 24 Sep 2022 : 16:05:17
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quote:
Originally posted by Seethyr
Could this thing still be out there somewhere in the current age or was it killed already? Because it could really make one heck of a horror based adventure.
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Render
I always liked the Render, despite it's less than impressive illustration.
I did not, however, like the fact that someone on the 3E design team decided "hey, let's take this unique critter and make it a generic monster!" (Obviously, this is my personal opinion, YMMV and I shan't argue about the better approach)
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Gray_render |
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Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 24 Sep 2022 16:06:18 |
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Delnyn
Master of Realmslore
USA
1079 Posts |
Posted - 25 Sep 2022 : 16:20:41
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| The 3E gray render seems decidedly less malevolent than the render from Ruins of Zhentil Keep boxed set. |
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Gary Dallison
Great Reader
United Kingdom
6448 Posts |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36982 Posts |
Posted - 25 Sep 2022 : 17:53:43
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quote:
Originally posted by Gary Dallison
If it were me. I would have the first accident be a unique and powerful monster.
The grey renders are the zhentarim attempt to weaponized the experiment, creating less dangerous but more controllable creatures by forcibly fusing tanari and slaves.
I'd go a slightly different route: the first one was the experiment and it got away, and gray renders are descended from it. |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36982 Posts |
Posted - 25 Sep 2022 : 18:04:39
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Going back to the original question... The original Render was never mentioned again after 2E. I don't think it was even mentioned again, after its introduction.
Depending on the era you run with, it may or may not still be around. I'd assume it's either immortal or extremely long-lived, so it wouldn't have aged appreciably during the timejump.
But all the Zhent activity (and losses) while hunting it would eventually attract outside attention, and it seems likely to me that sooner or later, adventurers would have been nosing around and would have slain it. Unless it hibernated or went to ground or something, I don't think it would have lasted more than a couple of years before it finally encountered someone too powerful for it.
Of course, you could mess with the date of its creation and release quite readily; I don't think we got an exact date and without any other mentions, it's only a minor tweak to adjust the date whenever it's convenient. Or, possibly, have another one created, this time deliberately, and possibly slightly different than the original.
Then you could do the same thing: it gets out, the Zhents go hunting for it, eventually others notice and get involved. |
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Seethyr
Master of Realmslore
USA
1253 Posts |
Posted - 25 Sep 2022 : 19:15:11
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I was thinking it might have gotten the Captain America treatment and fallen into ice somewhere, only to be accidentally thawed out in the modern day.
On another note, yikes that it was the basis of the gray render. I had no idea they were connected. |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36982 Posts |
Posted - 25 Sep 2022 : 21:35:38
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quote:
Originally posted by Seethyr
I was thinking it might have gotten the Captain America treatment and fallen into ice somewhere, only to be accidentally thawed out in the modern day.
That works. Magic gives you a lot of options, there.
quote:
Originally posted by Seethyr
On another note, yikes that it was the basis of the gray render. I had no idea they were connected.
Officially, they're separate things -- but it's really clear that the gray render was just a knockoff of the original. |
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
8041 Posts |
Posted - 25 Sep 2022 : 22:08:24
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The original render was horror genre. A unique and unspeakably malevolent predator best used in a horror/murder/detective/hunter/prey adventure. The scary bogeyman somewhere out there, lurking in the forests or the back alleys or the ruins, you don't really know what it is and you won't really know where it is until it's too late. A way to allow a little bit of Ravenloft's dread and terror into the Realms through the evil genius (or evil fails) of those ne'er-do-well nasty old Zhents.
The derived renders were just monsters. Roll for initiative. |
[/Ayrik] |
Edited by - Ayrik on 25 Sep 2022 22:13:41 |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36982 Posts |
Posted - 25 Sep 2022 : 23:23:07
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quote:
Originally posted by Ayrik
The original render was horror genre. A unique and unspeakably malevolent predator best used in a horror/murder/detective/hunter/prey adventure. The scary bogeyman somewhere out there, lurking in the forests or the back alleys or the ruins, you don't really know what it is and you won't really know where it is until it's too late. A way to allow a little bit of Ravenloft's dread and terror into the Realms through the evil genius (or evil fails) of those ne'er-do-well nasty old Zhents.
The derived renders were just monsters. Roll for initiative.
It's my opinion that 2E was really the only edition where monsters weren't treated as bundles of XP and GP waiting to be collected. We got those great descriptions, a half-page of text or more, giving us everything we could possibly need for monsters.
And then they went to "here's a vague, one-line description" and a listing of special attacks/defenses, not even addressing such basic points as "what color is it?" or "how tall is it?"
I can't stand those minimal, mostly useless monster descriptions that we get now. |
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Zeromaru X
Great Reader
Colombia
2544 Posts |
Posted - 26 Sep 2022 : 01:53:57
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| I don't think Gray Renders are related to the Render, going by the wiki description of both monsters. The only thing they have in common is the name. |
Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world... |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36982 Posts |
Posted - 26 Sep 2022 : 02:59:00
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quote:
Originally posted by Zeromaru X
I don't think Gray Renders are related to the Render, going by the wiki description of both monsters. The only thing they have in common is the name.
The monsters themselves are not connected to each other, but I find it hard to believe that a group of designers just happened on the idea of a 9 foot tall, heavily muscled, yellow-eyed killing machine, with serious claws and really big teeth, and with "render" in its name, without knowing of the 9 foot tall, heavily muscled, amber-eyed killing machine, with serious claws and really big teeth, that was also called "render."
Yeah, they changed the backstory, added more eyes, and the odd protective thing, but it's gonna be a hard sell to convince me that the post-2E gray render wasn't a knock-off of the 2E one. |
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PattPlays
Senior Scribe
480 Posts |
Posted - 27 Sep 2022 : 05:27:09
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by Zeromaru X
I don't think Gray Renders are related to the Render, going by the wiki description of both monsters. The only thing they have in common is the name.
The monsters themselves are not connected to each other, but I find it hard to believe that a group of designers just happened on the idea of a 9 foot tall, heavily muscled, yellow-eyed killing machine, with serious claws and really big teeth, and with "render" in its name, without knowing of the 9 foot tall, heavily muscled, amber-eyed killing machine, with serious claws and really big teeth, that was also called "render."
Yeah, they changed the backstory, added more eyes, and the odd protective thing, but it's gonna be a hard sell to convince me that the post-2E gray render wasn't a knock-off of the 2E one.
The modern Gray Render makes for a great way to introduce a 'missing' NPC hopelessly out of their depths, with a murder-puppy following them everywhere or just being forced to ride on its back through a bloody wilderness sprint. Imagine being sent to track down a missing guild agent ... tracking the monster's violent tracks ... surprised to find the agent is not only alive- but being king-kong'd by an overprotective death machine.
"My quest got interrupted when this living weapon bound itself to me- and now it wont stop killing anyone who comes close! After a while I stopped shouting for HELP because the word started sending the monster into a frenzy. Oh no! The monster is entering a frenzy! Not agaaa~~aaain!!"
Roll for initiative, with the guild's missing agent flailing on the back of the two-ton monstrosity.
quote:
Originally posted by Seethyr
Could this thing still be out there somewhere in the current age or was it killed already? Because it could really make one heck of a horror based adventure.
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Render
That art.. wow! So hairy. Definitely an amazing horror adventure to "go look for Bigfoot" and it turns out bigfoot is a DEMON! |
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Edited by - PattPlays on 27 Sep 2022 05:31:41 |
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TBeholder
Great Reader
2513 Posts |
Posted - 04 Oct 2022 : 21:00:35
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To put this in perspective... it sounds like the Zhents dabbled in old Narfell tricks.
Narfell in turn mostly cribbed those from Narathmault. That is, whatever was left of some old Ilythiiri laboratories.
Which even by standards of late Ilythiir, such as they were... well, despite them having High Magic, this stuff was "for some reason" placed in an outpost half a continent away from their main lands.
A bog-standard "10 foot pole" does not seem quite up to handling this. |
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TheIriaeban
Master of Realmslore
USA
1290 Posts |
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The Render
