Kelanen (The Prince of Swords)

ARMOR CLASS: -5
MOVE: 18"
HIT POINTS: 159
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE/ATTACK: by sword type (and see below)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: see below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: see below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 100%
SIZE: M (6' tall)
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
WORSHIPERS' ALIGNMENT: Any
SYMBOL: Nine swords in a starburst
PLANE: see below
CLERIC/DRUID: Nil
FIGHTER: Lord Kelanen (F20)
MAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: 5th level in each
THIEF/ASSASSIN: 10th level thief-acrobat
MONK/BARD: Nil
PSIONIC ABILITY: VI
    Attack/Defense Modes: nil/nil
 

S: 18.00	I: 17	W: 15
D: 21	C: 18	CH: 19
Com: 15	-	-

Kelanen, Sword Lord, is one of the very powerful
individuals who might, or might no,
be a true deity. Thus he is known as a 'Hero-Deity,'
and some who live by the sword pay him homage.

Although his true form is commanding,
Kelanen usually takes the guise of a beggar,
thief, mercenary, or rogue. In any of
these disguises he will appear to be unremarkable,
sometimes young, sometimes of middle years.
He has the power to [alter self] at will, so Kelanen seldom
appears in the same form twice, except
when he chooses to show his true form.
Each of his forms always bears a scar on
face or neck -- for the reason which will
be revealed later. In any form, Kelanen
prefers garments of gray or blue-gray and
ornaments of silver or platinum.

The true form of Kelanen is that of a
youngish, quite handsome man, fair of
complexion with silvery-grey eyes and coal-black hair.
It is said that he was once as comely as any deity,
but in order to become the Prince of Swords, Kelanen
had to undergo a series of challenges and
tests which resulted in his disfigurement.
HIs visage bears a long, silvery scar from
eye to chin on the right side of his face.
Those who know of the Sword Lord recognize
Kelanen immediately when the mark is revealed.
His form is slender and sinewy, his height just
under 6 feet. He is unnaturally quick and fleet due
to enchantments placed upon him.

Kelanen wears elfin chain and a ring of protection +5. <links>
He employs few other protections.

The sword is Kelanen's only weapon.
He is expert with any form of blade,
from short to two-handed, cutlass to scimitar.
His expertise is such that any sword he
wields is equal to a +3 magical weapon. He
is able to use a bastard sword to full effect
(as used with both hands) in either hand
while the other wields another sword.
Kelanen has two special swords which are
never far from his person. These weapons are:

Swiftdoom: Bastard sword +6, made of
glassteeled adamantite. Upon command
this weapon will become a flaming brand as well. <link>
When not aflame, Swiftdoom is impossible to parry
and always strikes first. It has a vampiric power
which restores 1 HP lost by Kelanen
for every 6 points of damage it inflicts on his
adversaries. The weapon is endowed
with 17 intelligence and has an ego of 25,
yet it never seeks to do aught but its master's
will. It speaks eight languages and has the following powers:
 

read languages <>	detect illusions
[read magic]	[detect magic]
teleportation
detect invisible objects <>

The special purpose of Swiftdoom is to preserve
the Prince of Swords, so the weapon adds 2 to
Kelanen's saves and reduces damage sustained by -1 per die.
Swiftdoom is of absolute neutral alignment.

Sureguard: Broadsword +6, also of glassteeled adamantite.
This weapon is also a frostbrand type sword. It will perform as <link>
a defender. It will dance for three rounds <l> <l>
if Kelanen wills it. Sureguard is impossible to parry,
and its own defensive
power is always available to Kelanen. The
weapon is endowed with 17 intelligence and
has an ego of 19. It speaks six languages
and has the following powers.
 

read languages <>	detect evil/good <>
[read magic]	detect secret doors
[telepathy]	detect traps
[duo-dimension] (at 17th level)	-

Sureguard has no special purpose, but it faithfully
serves Kelanen in all respects.

It is reputed that Kelanen has no friends or confidants
other than his two swords.
It is certain that he is 90% likely to be able to Summon either,
one attempt per day being possible.

When armed with any sword, Kelanen
has the following "to hit" and damage bonuses:
 
 

-	"to hit"	damage
expertise	+3	+3
strength	+3	+6
-	-	-
total	+6	+9

 

                                                              Clerics             Raiment                                                             Sacrifice/Propitiation

Sphere of Control	Animal	M	F	N-H	Head	Body	Color(s)	Holy Days	Frequency	Form	Place of Worship

 

Deities of the World of Greyhawk

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DDG

Maraudar wrote:
Quick question Gary, probably been asked before but I am way to lazy to wade through 38 pages to find the answer  .. Was Kelanan the hero-deity<sp?> a character of one of your players or was he a NPC from your campaign? Now for the obligatory: oh my god I just asked Gary Gygax a question and might answer me. 
Maraudar

--

"Might" answer you?! I beg your pardon, but I answer any all all reasonable queries and even some banal chit-chat if I have the time and energy.

Kelanan, the Sword Lord, was something I made up out of whole cloth. I do have a fighter PC that kept finding magic swords, totes a number of them around, so there was some inspiration involved from there--he needed a deity 

Heh,
Gary
 

DMPrata wrote:
Gary, waaaaaaaaaaaaay back in DRAGON® #71, you introduced Kelanen, the Prince of Swords (designed with François Marcela-Froideval, if I recall correctly) as the prototypical "Hero-Deity" for the WORLD OF GREYHAWK®. He was later reprinted in the '83 boxed set. Now, when compiling Deities & Demigods™, Jim Ward — I believe it was he — established the rule that demigods could grant clerical spells of up to 5th level; lesser gods, up to 6th level; and only greater gods could grant 7th level spells. (I don't know whether or not you approved of such a rule, but I'm operating under the assumption that you did.) If it's not already glaringly obvious, here's my question: Did you intend for the hero-deity Kelanen to have clerics, and be able to grant spells to them? If so, what level of spells would he be able to grant?

(P.S. — I hope to have an order in to the Trolls this weekend for the required "Gygaxian Fantasy Worlds" books. Don't count me out of the YGGSBURGH Expanded Details project just yet!  )

Felicitations!

Well, the rule regarding granting od spells is not one that I approved, and I would not deny any considerable deity the ability to grant spells of any level to one of his clerics within the region of that deity's worship. That's really a call for each DM to make, IMO.

As to Kelanen the Sword Lord, you have it right. In this case, the entity being a demi-deity and a rather specialized one at that, I should suppose that any of his clerics would be sword-slingers and have limited spell capacity beyond those used to honor Kelanen and perform services to him. Perhaps in addition to a specialized spell gained at each level they might be able to employ regular clerical spells of 1st through 3rd level, few, and gain in level happening in stages of around 4 levels, so one 1st level spell beginning at 1st level, four at 4th, and a 2nd level spell gained at 5th, etc.

As the Ip belongs to WotC, I will not attempt to suggest the special spells that such clerics would gain, one per level, but any imaginative DM can surely create them without my assistance, for the nature of the deity directs the sort of cerics he would have servinghim, and thier abilities.

Cheers,
Gary
 

chrisspiller wrote:
Howdy Colonel, long time no chat. Hope you are doing well.

I was just wondering if you have ever made use of the quasi-deities described in the Greyhawk Glossography and, if so, to what extent. Kelanen Prince of Swords was always a favorite of mine and more than one Fighter PC was a follower of that hero-deity.

Pax,

Chris
 

Howdy Chris,

Things should be livening up on the Talk List...

I did the quasi-deities late in the game, so to speak, so only minimal use of them was made by me in the campaign.
As the higest level PCs were then in the Evil alignment, they were not at all interested in seeking our such quasi-deities...and getting their butts kicked.

Cheers,
Gary