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Ok, so I know the chemosit is based on the real world cryptid of the same name, but the description, picture and ‘alternate’ name (Ape-Bear) had me thinking of that old ‘classic’ the Gorilla-Bear!
Who said Paizo doesn’t like Deadline Monsters?
Does this mean we might yet see the Starfishpanda raise its loveable mutant head in Jade Regent?
More seriously, I am enjoying the monsters (old and new, including the chemosit) in this AP so far.
Creative Director
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Ok, so I know the chemosit is based on the real world cryptid of the same name, but the description, picture and ‘alternate’ name (Ape-Bear) had me thinking of that old ‘classic’ the Gorilla-Bear!
Who said Paizo doesn’t like Deadline Monsters?
Does this mean we might yet see the Starfishpanda raise its loveable mutant head in Jade Regent?
More seriously, I am enjoying the monsters (old and new, including the chemosit) in this AP so far.
Turns out, serving hundreds or thousands of years in a mythology is an ample excuse to get into stat-block form.
No Starfhispandas. Not until it's been part of a legitimate mythology for a few hundred or thousand years.
How about the Kalidahs from Oz who have now entered the public domain?
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Creative Director
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How about the Kalidahs from Oz who have now entered the public domain?
HA!
Probably not. Mostly because I've never read the Oz books and don't really have much nostalgia for them. Cruel but true!
How about the Kalidahs from Oz who have now entered the public domain?HA!
Probably not. Mostly because I've never read the Oz books and don't really have much nostalgia for them. Cruel but true!
You've never read the Oz books? Wow. Considering how weird and grotesque they can get, I thought you'd have been all over them.
How about the Kalidahs from Oz who have now entered the public domain?HA!
Probably not. Mostly because I've never read the Oz books and don't really have much nostalgia for them. Cruel but true!
In your defense, I've never read them either.
However the wheelers in the "Return to Oz" movie scared the hell out of me. Even today, some of that stuff is nightmare fuel (http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=2MLVfQOknYM&feature=related)
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Creative Director
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You've never read the Oz books? Wow. Considering how weird and grotesque they can get, I thought you'd have been all over them.How about the Kalidahs from Oz who have now entered the public domain?HA!
Probably not. Mostly because I've never read the Oz books and don't really have much nostalgia for them. Cruel but true!
Turns out there are more books in the world than one person can read. At the point where I was probably the most receptive to the Oz books I was already engrossed by Lovecraft, King, Barker and other horror authors.
You've never read the Oz books? Wow. Considering how weird and grotesque they can get, I thought you'd have been all over them.
When I was a kid I read all of the original Frank L. Baum novels and a few of the other ones. Looking back on them now, they have some crazy gender politics for children's books written in the early 20th century. I also remember one character who liked to remove her head and try others on--she had a whole wardrobe of heads and, of course, wanted the protagonist's (Dorothy? Tip? I can't remember which) to add to her collection.
I should probably reread them.
Oh, that princess wasn't the only person who could remove her head. There were the scoodlers, an entire race who could remove their heads, and who also liked to make travelers into soup.
They also had a great immunity to Charm Person. When the Shaggy Man used the Love Magnet on them, their response was "We love you! We love you in soup!"
Admittedly a lot of the monsters are a bit quirky for Golarion, but some of them, such as the Phantasms, could walk right in and set up housekeeping without looking the slightest bit out of place.
And the hex the old witch Blinkie uses on Princess Gloria? Check out this scene:
Pretty soon Blinkie went to a kettle that was swinging by a chain over the fire and tossed into it several magical compounds. The kettle gave three flashes, and at every flash another witch appeared in the room.
These hags were very ugly but when one-eyed Blinkie whispered her orders to them they grinned with joy as they began dancing around Gloria. First one and then another cast something into the kettle, when to the astonishment of the watchers at the window all three of the old women were instantly transformed into maidens of exquisite beauty, dressed in the daintiest costumes imaginable. Only their eyes could not be disguised, and an evil glare still shone in their depths. But if the eyes were cast down or hidden, one could not help but admire these beautiful creatures, even with the knowledge that they were mere illusions of witchcraft.
Trot certainly admired them, for she had never seen anything so dainty and bewitching, but her attention was quickly drawn to their deeds instead of their persons, and then horror replaced admiration. Into the kettle old Blinkie poured another mess from a big brass bottle she took from a chest, and this made the kettle begin to bubble and smoke violently. One by one the beautiful witches approached to stir the contents of the kettle and to mutter a magic charm. Their movements were graceful and rhythmic and the Wicked Witch who had called them to her aid watched them with an evil grin upon her wrinkled face.
Finally the incantation was complete. The kettle ceased bubbling and together the witches lifted it from the fire. Then Blinkie brought a wooden ladle and filled it from the contents of the kettle. Going with the spoon to Princess Gloria she cried:
"Love no more! Magic art Now will freeze your mortal heart!"
With this she dashed the contents of the ladle full upon Gloria's breast.
Trot saw the body of the Princess become transparent, so that her beating heart showed plainly. But now the heart turned from a vivid red to gray, and then to white. A layer of frost formed about it and tiny icicles clung to its surface. Then slowly the body of the girl became visible again and the heart was hidden from view. Gloria seemed to have fainted, but now she recovered and, opening her beautiful eyes, stared coldly and without emotion at the group of witches confronting her.
Blinkie and the others knew by that one cold look that their charm had been successful. They burst into a chorus of wild laughter and the three beautiful ones began dancing again, while Blinkie unbound the Princess and set her free.
For all the children's bookishness, that's a wonderfully wicked hex and one any witch would be proud to have in her repertoire. "The Frozen Heart" should really be added to Golarion.
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I also remember one character who liked to remove her head and try others on--she had a whole wardrobe of heads and, of course, wanted the protagonist's (Dorothy? Tip? I can't remember which) to add to her collection.
Hell, Castlevania got a great boss fight out of that character. I'm surprised I haven't seen an analogue turn up in D&D/Pathfinder yet.
I recall hearing that eventually in the books it became impossible for anything in Oz to die, complete with all the horrifying implications one can derive from that concept. As in, no matter what happens to someone's body, they just cannot die. The old and frail are eternally old and frail, babies are eternally babies, etc.
The chemosit as a deadline monster? Only if it had a scorpion tail.
Hell, Castlevania got a great boss fight out of that character. I'm surprised I haven't seen an analogue turn up in D&D/Pathfinder yet.
She showed up in an old Ravenloft supplement years ago - I think it was the loose-leaf monster supplement that had horror-themed NPCs, rather than just monsters. It was a good writeup, as I remember - she got to use the class and level from each head, so each head let her switch to a different set of mechanics.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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Hell, Castlevania got a great boss fight out of that character. I'm surprised I haven't seen an analogue turn up in D&D/Pathfinder yet.She showed up in an old Ravenloft supplement years ago - I think it was the loose-leaf monster supplement that had horror-themed NPCs, rather than just monsters. It was a good writeup, as I remember - she got to use the class and level from each head, so each head let her switch to a different set of mechanics.
She also shows up, albiet with a different (to me) personality in one of the novels. She's talking to another darklord and pointing out the, um, kinky aspects of her headless body. Really disturbing.