Wild Things

Friday, October 28, 2016

Illustration by Mark Molnar

Last week we took a look at some magical foes from the pages of the upcoming Villain Codex, with an in-depth look at the Arcane Society. This week we're headed into the wilderness to explore some of the villains who operate on the fringes of society!

Nature's Scourge

No villain group embodies the wild as much as Nature's Scourge, a group founded by a druid known as the Blight Caller. I'll let the Renewer (their PR expert) explain it to you:

"Civilization claims to value progress, but it inevitably seeks stagnation. Its people take their coins to the market and buy what they have no incentive to learn how to provide for themselves. Farmers and hunters rely the least on civilization, but they enable others to survive who would starve if left to their own devices. Artisans churn out hundreds of similar items, ready for those who could never replicate their work to acquire in seconds. Worst of all are the ones who wield the most power in civilization. I cannot imagine a more pathetic creature than a noble, swaddled in silk and gold, forcing others to attend to their every need like grotesquely oversized babies. Stagnation is not natural. A forest knows that it must sometimes burn to clear the debris on its floor and make way for new seeds. If civilization insists upon clinging to its detritus, then we will be the fire, and we will nurture new seeds in our wake. Always seek to learn, grow, and move forward. We are not immune to stagnation, and we will cleanse it from our own ranks when we must."

Today we're going to take a look at the Blig... One moment please, technical difficulties!

OK, Nature's Scourge author Linda Zayas-Palmer has agreed to release me from the entangle spell in exchange for previewing the Blight Caller's trusted ally, the leshy known as the Wrathbringer.

Wrathbinger

The Blight Caller channeled a dying nature spirit into a patch of mushrooms to bring this fungus leshy to life.

Wrathbringer CR 8

XP 4,800

Fungus leshy skald 7 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Class Guide 49, Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 3 177)

NE Small plant (leshy, shapechanger)

Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +13

Defense

AC 19, touch 12, flat-footed 17 (+7 armor, +2 Dex, -1 rage, +1 size)

hp 110 (9d8+70); fast healing 2

Fort +15, Ref +6, Will +8; +4 vs. bardic performance, language-dependent, and sonic, -1 vs. anger or rage

Defensive Abilities ferocity, uncanny dodge; Immune electricity, sonic, plant traits

Offense

Speed 50 ft. (45 ft. in armor)

Melee bite +14 (2d6+7), 2 claws +14 (1d3+7)

Ranged puffball +10 (1 plus spores)

Special Attacks rage powers (atavistic totem†, lesser atavistic totem†), raging song 17 rounds/day (inspired rage, song of marching, song of strength), spell kenning 1/day, spores

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 4th; concentration +8)

Constant—pass without trace

Skald Spells Known (CL 7th; concentration +11)

3rd (2/day)—good hope, haste

2nd (4/day)—cure moderate wounds, gallant inspiration^APG (DC 16), glitterdust (DC 16), heroism

1st (5/day)—comprehend languages, expeditious retreat, hideous laughter (DC 15), remove fear, saving finale^APG

0 (at will)—dancing lights, know direction, mage hand, message, prestidigitation, summon instrument

Tactics

Illustration by Yan Kyohara

Before Combat The Wrathbringer casts good hope and expeditious retreat.

During Combat The Wrathbringer casts haste, uses raging song to inspire an atavistic fury in his allies, and then enters melee. He uses gallant inspiration and saving finale when his allies need assistance.

Base Statistics When the Wrathbringer is not using his inspired rage and isn't under the effects of expeditious retreat and good hope, his statistics are AC 20, touch 13, flat-footed 18 (+7 armor, +2 Dex, +1 size); hp 101 (8d8+61); no fast healing; Fort +12, Ref +4, Will +8; Speed 15 ft.; Melee bite +11 (1d8+4), 2 claws +11 (1d3+4); Str 18, Con 20; CMB +9; Skills Acrobatics +5 (+1 to jump), others all 2 lower.

Statistics

Str 20, Dex 15, Con 22, Int 9, Wis 12, Cha 18

Base Atk +6; CMB +10; CMD 21

Feats Blind-Fight, Improved Natural Attack (bite), Nature's Wrath†, Scribe Scroll, Skald's Vigor^ACG, Toughness

Skills Acrobatics +7 (+11 to jump), Perception +13, Perform (oratory) +12, Perform (percussion) +19, Stealth +9 (+13 in swamps and underground), Survival +4 (+8 in swamps and underground); Racial Modifiers +4 Stealth and Survival in swamps and underground

Languages Druidic, Sylvan; plantspeech (fungi)

SQ bardic knowledge +3, change shape (Small fungus; tree shape), lore master 1/day, rage powers, verdant burst, versatile performances (oratory, percussion)

Gear +1 black dragonhide breastplate, belt of giant strength +2, fungal slippers†, mwk drums

The Blight Caller created the Wrathbringer several years ago. The unusual circumstances of this leshy's creation ritual imbued it with emotions that plant creatures can normally never experience. Centuries before the Blightcaller created him, a powerful druid bound the leshy's spirit to a sacred grove of fungi. By the time the Blightcaller arrived in the grove, the delicate fungi were dying, poisoned by waste that nearby settlements had dumped into the water. The Blightcaller managed to draw the leshy's spirit into a body before it died with the grove, but doing so required him to give a small piece of his own spirit as well. This sacrifice formed a connection between the druid and the leshy and imbued the leshy with the rage against civilization that burned so strongly in the druid's heart.

The Wrathbringer is surly and quick to anger. However, it is a dependable ally. The Blight Caller trusts it more than any other member of nature's scourge and has given it several valuable gifts, including a breastplate made from the hide of the same dragon as his own armor and a pair of slippers made from the magically preserved remnants of the leshy's former grove.

Oh my, what are Nature's Wrath and fungal slippers? Will either of those explain how this plant is benefiting from raging song?

Merry Outlaws

Some villains aren't evil, and at least according to the locals, the Merry Outlaws might be full-on good guys. They rob from the wealthy and are known to distribute wealth to the poor and downtrodden. But there are others, those on whom the Merry Outlaws have preyed, who claim that there are two sides to every tale. What is the truth about this Robin Hood-style bands of miscreants? What will the PCs decide to do if confronted with such a group? These questions make the Merry Outlaws perfect for a nuanced adventure with shades of grey.

Ruthless Brigands

The ruthless brigands are mercenaries, pure and simple. If you pay them, they might even defend your city from the savage marauders or protect your carriage from the Merry Outlaws, but their loyalty follows the coin. That's not to say they're all evil, in fact, the reluctant witty jury-rigger shown here is good-aligned, yearning for the old days when they would fight for noble causes and increasingly regretting his life decisions.

Savage Marauders

The savage marauders are a marauding barbarian tribe who pillage the soft civilized folk, kill or capture the adults, and indoctrinating the children to join the tribe. This gives them a slightly more multicultural make-up than other barbarian tribes. Everyone in the tribe must prove her strength (in fact, the Fiend-Born Rager may some day grow to challenge the Crimson Lord should he show any signs of weakness), so that badass marauder down there with the earthbreaker and the icicle fingers? Yeah, she's actually a sorcerer!

Scandalous Pirates

Not everywhere in the wilderness is on land, and the scandalous pirates are a scourge upon the seas. They're organized with several captains all under the auspices of the Vile Admiral, which allows you to use them as a squabbling but vaguely cohesive group or as individual pirates (if, say, you needed an extra captain quickly in a Skull and Shackles game).

Illustrations by Anastasia Ovchinnikova, Gintas Galvanauskas, and Shen Fei

Stay tuned next week as we return to civilized society and expose the villains who make their homes in plain sight!

Mark Seifter
Designer