One would think an organism's first taste of consciousness to be an odd sensation. From a void of the most unimaginably utter nothingness comes first sensation, thought, and cognition. A pile of barely living flesh and blood suddenly sparked into being by forces only the gods and madmen can ever hope to comprehend. It truly must be the single most amazing experience any being on this plane can have.
In fact, it isn't. It feels very normal; a lot like, well, being conscious. And this is precisely what our strange heroes are about to discover.
***
Ksssssssshk!
Sound. Data suggests 'genesis pod door' as its source.
Surface. Smooth to the touch.
Feeling. Data suggest a metal alloy of some type, but does not give further specifics.
Shapes. Other shapes, moving by the looks of it.
Sight. Data suggests they are broodmates, or 'kin'.
You crawl from your birthing chamber as your 'kin' do likewise, into a room about 10 feet by 10 feet. You quickly learn that 'machines' whir all around you, and an occasional pitch in floor angle gives the feeling of movement.
Data suggests acquaintance with your 'kin' is a likely next best step.
Good evemornnightduskdawn-time all! Longtime gamer and lurker of the forums here who finally cracked and made an account to get in on some of this juicy pbp action. I could introduce myself a bit, but I know we'd all rather get right to the game, so here goes!
For a long time, I've wanted to run a true Golarion sandbox adventure, where the players could steer the reins in literally any direction. Unfortunately, I'm a GM who likes his preparation time, and this sort of thing is nearly impossible to prep for. That's why I've taken this to the pbp boards, because the natural spacing of posts will give me the chance to serve up the epic adventure I've always wanted to.
BRAIN-EATERS FROM SPACE
Our story begins on the dread planet Aucturn, home of hideous aberrations and monstrous creatures of untold horror. The well-travelled among you may recognize such horrors from your own world as gugs and intellect devourers. Civilizations is truly impossible on this planet of eternal darkness.
And yet, deep in the fissure of some hideous valley, there once walked the only civilized beings on Aucturn - the Telekts. Descendants of the intellect devourers, these small brain-creatures managed to overcome their evil nature, and had begun building a society the likes of which never existed on this dread planet. For centuries they toiled and learned in this valley, advancing greatly both their numbers and scientific knowledge. Soon enough, starships were being built, and plans to flee the planet in search of greener pastures were laid.
Tragically however, the scholars who claim Aucturn to be a breathing god-thing may be right, for it seemed that She did not want Her children to abandon Her. On the eve of the great interplanetary migration, waves of unspeakable horrors descended upon the Telekts' valley, massacring every living thing in sight. But as fate would have it, somehow one little escape ship, damaged though it was, got launched. The Av'rija, as it was called, carried no crew, but rather several genesis chambers, where new Telekts were to be born.
So here in the void of space, the last brood of Telekts comes into being. They stumble out from the safety of their technological wombs, observing this new environment. Thanks to their already matured minds, they quickly realize that the damaged Av'rija is on a crash course for some strange planet. This strange planet, as you know my friend, is none other than our own - Golarion.
And there we go! This campaign will feature the most unlikely of heroes, a brood of what are essentially weaker intellect devourers about to crash on Golarion. Once you land their, your future will be in your own hands! My collection of modules, APs, and own ideas are at your disposal! Once you acquire some suitable host bodies, you shall have the chance to take the adventure in literally any direction you wish! Heck, with my fresh copy of Ultimate Campaign, you could even just open a tavern if you wanted! Anything at all!
(P.S. - In the spirit of sandbox, the ship will still be somewhat pilotable when you awake, allowing the players to choose their crash site! Don't tell me where you like to crash though, I want you to surprise me!)
Character Creation
Alignment: Having just been born, all characters start out as clean slates, at Neutral alignment, though this will likely change. For this campaign, alignments will not be guidelines for how to act, but rather an indicator of how you have been acting.
Race: Obviously, every player will play as a Telekt, a race of my own creation modeled after the intellect devourer. Racial abilities can be found below. Don't forget to choose you Modifications (see below)!
Ability Scores: 20 point buy seems to be fairly standard around these parts, so 20 point buy it is.
Classes: A Telekt's body thief ability is a little different from an intellect devourer's in that it can choose between the standard dominate creature effect or it can choose to use the host body as a vessel with which to use it's own class abilities. Any classes or archetypes from Paizo products are allowed as long as they makes sense thematically. If necessary, you may work with me to reskin weird abilities that don't really fit thematically.
Feats: One feat at starting level, as is standard. Obviously some feats will only work while you are hosted. Also, for you martial characters out there, racial/size penalties will not be included in your strength score for determining feat prerequisites.
Skills: Because Telekts are born fully mature with information already download to their brains, you may start with any skills you please. In addition, you may take ranks in the the new skill Knowledge (Telekt Technology) [Int]. I'm not entirely sure what this skill will let you do yet, but I was planning on letting you use it to figure out how to build new Telekt devices.
Traits: Traits will not be used, instead the player will get to choose several Modifications (see below).
Starting Equipment/Gold: None. You'll have to salvage the wreckage of crash!
Background: Given the current circumstances, I realize that background is essentially nonexistent. Instead, I ask that you focus on your Telekt's inborn personality, flaws, quirks, goals, etc. Really anything you can think of to give yourself a little character.
If anything above captures your interest, go ahead and whip up a character, leave a comment or question, or even adapt for your own campaign!
The Telekt:
The Telekt
A small, almost infantile, version of an intellect devourer scampers about, odd pieces of technology wedged into its 'brain'.
Type: Abberation. In spite of their civilized tendencies, Telekts still possess the aberrant nature of their intellect devourer relatives. Note that because Telekts cannot see, they do not gain darkvision like most aberrations.
Size: Tiny (+2 Dexterity, -2 Strength, +2 AC, -2 CMB/CMD, +8 Stealth). In addition to being much weaker in strength and ability than the average intellect devourer, Telekts are also much smaller.
Ability Scores: -2 Strength, +2 to all mental ability scores. Due to careful breeding Telekts are physically weak, but possess great mental capacity.
Languages: Telekt. The dangers of their home planet demanded that Telekts become naturally xenophobic to survive, and as such new Telekts are born only with their native tongue. They do NOT gain bonus languages for having high Intellignce.
Speed: 30. Telekts, like their cousins, are surprisingly fast for their size.
Senses: Blindsight 30 ft. Lacking eyes, Telekts rely on this strange form of sight.
Telepathy 100 ft. As their primary means of communication, Telekts have lost none of the telepathic power of the intellect devourers.
Natural Attacks: Claw x4 (1d3). Telekts possess four short claws which are strong enough to burrow into the brains of their fallen foes.
Defensive Abilities: +3 Natural Armor. The hazardous environment of their home planet demand that all Telekts possess at least some measure of natural protection.
Resist Fire 5. A throughback to the immunity of their ancestors, Telekts are lightly resistant to fire.
+2 to save against mind affecting effects. Superior willpower affords Telekts bolstered mental resistances.
[b]Bonus feat: Weapon Finesse. Their lack of physical strength forces all Telekt to rely on speed when taking down larger foes.
Weakness: Vulnerability to protection from alignment. Unfortunately, Telekts gained the full weaknesses of the intellect devourers, and are treated as summoned creatures for the purposes of protection from alignment spells.
Supernatural and Spell-Like Abilities: Reduce Size (Sp): Reduce person on self at will. While mostly used in conjunction with their body thief abilities, Telekt's are capable of shrinking their size for other means.
Broodbond (Su): In order to foster more of a sense of unity and connection among the Telekt community, Telekt breeders had recently begun psychically connecting broodmates, allowing them to communicate telepathically over any distance.
Body Thief (Su): As a full-round action that provokes an attack of opportunity, a Telekt can reduce its size, crawl into the mouth of a helpless or dead humanoid or animal, and burrow into the victim’s skull to devour its brain. This is a coup de grace attempt that inflicts damage equivalent to four times that of the Telekt's claw attack (strength bonuses are multiplied, precision damage such as from a sneak attack is not). If the victim is slain (or already dead), the Telekt usurps control of the body and may use it as its own, as if it controlled the target via a dominate monster spell. The Telekt has full access to all of the host’s defensive and offensive abilities save for spellcasting and spell-like abilities (although the Telekt can still use its own spell-like abilities). If the body is humanoid, the Telekt may instead completely overwrite the host body's abilities, granting the host the class levels of the Telekt. A host body may not have been dead for longer than 1 day for this ability to function, and even successfully inhabited bodies decay to uselessness in 7 days (unless this time is extended via gentle repose). As long as the Telekt occupies the body, it knows (and can speak) the languages known by the victim and basic information about the victim’s identity and personality, yet has none of the victim’s specific memories or knowledge. Damage done to a host body does not harm the Telekt, and if the host body is slain, the Telekt emerges and is dazed for 1 round. Raise dead cannot restore a victim of body theft, but resurrection or more powerful magic can.
Modification (Ex): What Telekts lack in natural ability, they make up for with supreme technological advancement. All Telekts are born (or made, depending how you view it), with a number of brain modifications, most of which bring them much closer in ability to the intellect devourer. Choose one modification from each category. Also, feel free to skip the 'flavor' text bits, all the in game effects are bolded for your convenience.
Modifications (See the Telekt 'Modification' ability above.)
--Parietal Lobe:
Somatosensation Burst Module: This parietal module can vastly increase all of the Telekt's sensory abilities, albeit only for an incredibly short time. While this brevity is useless much of the time, it is excellent for when the Telekt must quickly size up a situation, granting it the Improved Initiative feat. Spatial Mapping Module, Stealth Class: By enhancing the Telekt's spatial sense and coordination, this module grants the Telekt a heightened ability to navigate its surroundings, specifically where stealth is involved. The Telekt gains a +2 bonus to the Stealth skill and is always considered trained in it.
--Occipital Lobe:
Occipital Myelin Thickening: Physically thickening the myelin around neurons creates a much faster synapse, or response, between them. By having improved the neurons of their occipital lobe, the Telekt can gain much more quickly respond to visual stimuli, granting it a +2 bonus to the Perception skill. Advanced Visual Cortex Conditioning: While the method behind this training isn't completely understood, even by the Telekt's, it nonetheless proves to be an effective way to bolster not the Telekt's abilities, but that of it host body. While using the body thief ability, the Telekt's current body gain darkvision out to 60 ft.
--Brainstem:
Spinal Mana Resevoirs: Perhaps one of the pinnacles of Telekt ingenuity, these reservoirs of arcane energy are kept in constant flux, yet can be finely channeled to mimic almost any magical ability. The Telekt gains the ability to use the spells and spell-like abilities of the body it currently controls. Adaptive Brainstem: By making the Telekt's brainstem both more malleable and compartmentalized the Telekt can use almost any creature as it's host, which allows the Body Thief ability to be used on any creature with a brain, not just humanoids and animals.
--Frontal Lobe:
Cortical Arcanoshielding: By physically surrounding the brain's descision making centers with a strange thin magic-resistant substance only found on their home planet, the Telekt discover a way to bestow their own with an almost supernatural resistance to magic. The Telekt gains SR equal to 6+HD. Ventromedial Cortex Enlargement: Through a bizarre procedure involving a combination of surgery and chemical injections, Telekt scientists managed to locate and then enlarge the part of the brain responsible for willpower; any Telekt with this modification is granted the Iron Will feat.
--Membrane:
Enviro-Resistant Membrane: By coating the Telekt's membrane with chemicals of composed similarly to those found on the hide of the intellect devourer, the Telekt can acquire some of its cousin's natural resistances. The Telekt's fire resistance increases to 10 and the Telekt gains 5 points of resistance towards cold, electricity, and sonic. Trauma-Resistant Membrane: Instead of bestowing elemental resistances, this coating grants the Telekt physical resistance similar to that of the intellect devourer. The Telekt gains DR 5/magic and adamantine.
--Temporal Lobe:
Rapid Language Assimilation Implant: While the Telekts had no desire to communicate with the savage monstrosities that inhabited their own planet, they knew that interstellar travel would demand more mastery over language that inhabiting another body could give them. This temporal implant provides its user with a language 'bank', capable of storing a number of languages equal to the user's Intelligence modifier. Whenever inhabiting a victim, the Telekt may store any number of the victim's known languages to the bank, instantly and permanently learning them. Languages may also be freely deleted from the bank to make room for new ones. Host Memory Acquisition Implant: The HMA temporal implant, while highly experimental, was considered a breakthrough by Telekt engineers. In it's current stage, the device attempts to download visual memories from the victim of a Telekts body thief ability, though these memories are stored within the Telekts subconscious. In game terms, while the Telekt is occupying another's body, the GM may allow ability checks to 'remember' something from the victim's previous life, provided the presence of a visual stimuli that possesses some sort of link to the memory.
