Cerebral assassins are abominations that were created long ago by an insane cult lead by an enigmatic mentalist. No one can say what their intended purpose was, only that the cerebral assassins soon took control of the cult members and lead them on a maniacal killing spree. After the creatures had satiated their thirst for blood they disposed of their puppets and went their separate ways. Somehow the aberrations have figured out a way to create copies of themselves and procreate. Since it is widely believed that the first cerebral assassins were humanoids, it follows that the creatures are simply recreating the process that spawned them. These creatures are usually found in the service of people in positions of power. Most cerebral assassins work for profit but also enjoy using their “legitimate” employment as an outlet for their sadistic tendencies. Power is an unbearable temptation for a cerebral assassin and they never miss an opportunity to usurp power from their masters. Cerebral assassins are both intelligent and extremely manipulative and their psionic abilities allow them to gain influence over those around them. These creatures are cunning and patient and they are more than willing to serve others in the short term if doing so allows them to gain a long term advantage.
Statistics, abilities and rules for a Cerebral Assassin (CR 8)
Statistics, abilities and rules for a Cerebral Assassin Paragon (CR 12)
Cerebral Assassin Miniature Counters
Initiative and Monster Cards
Combat & Initiative Tracker
Written By Marc Radle with Louis Porter Jr.
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This pdf is 10 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page counters, 1 page SRD, 1 page mini-sheets and 1 page combat & initiative tracker, leaving 5 pages for the monster, so let's check it out!
The cerebral assassin is an aberration with mental abilities that may daze enemies (mind static) and subsequently kill them (mind blast) with another ability, while also offering some abilities to cloak themselves. We get 2 incarnations of the creatures, the regular cerebral assassins (CR 8) and the cerebral assassin paragons (CR 12). The latter actually get some additional abilities beyond simple HD progression, which is nice.
The avid reader can probably guess, which critter these guys are somewhat reminiscent of - hint: They are beloved by many, WotC IP and somehow look like miniature Cthulhu sans wings. I do consider that to be a plus, however, I've also got some points of criticism: Mind blast usually was an ability that stuns enemies, not kills them. I think another name would help to give these creatures a more unique identity. On a mechanical note, while I do think that having to daze an enemy first to kill him via mind blast is a nice idea, I do think that the DCs are high: Mind static being a 30 ft. burst with a DC 19 or 23, mind blast also has these DCs. The paragon has the ability focus feat for mind blast , but the DC is just as high as for mind static, for which the stat block does not mention the feat. Plus, the saves in question are will saves. I'm not sure, but I think I'd prefer variable DCs or them being fort saves. That is only a personal preference, though. What is certain, though, is that regular Assassin's Death attack, with 3 rounds observation and the requirements for available targets is still weaker, making the cerebral assassins potentially very deadly. Another weird choice is that the cerebral assassins get a grab attack, which I could imagine with their inspiration, but from the artwork, I can't imagine them biting PCs.
Conclusion:
Layout, as always with NeoExodus-books, is beautiful. The artwork, while nice, is somewhat ridiculous. while the text for the cerebral assassin is nice, the artwork would elicit laughs from my group. That might just be due to our twisted minds, though. ;)
Once again formatting and editing glitches are there: Additional blank spaces, numbers for skills that have slipped to the next line sans their plus, minor typos (e.g. 3rd person singular and comma errors, etc.) are there etc. More importantly, though, there seems to be a math-error or an omitted feat in the paragon stat-block. I'd do the math for the whole creature, but I'm quite frankly, too lazy. In combination with the rather strange choice of e.g. the grab ability for the creature and my balance concerns for their insta-kill attack, I'll settle for a final verdict of 2 stars.
I'm going to say it... I can't decide if the fact that its face looks like a toothy [REDACTED] and its head like a vein-y [REDACTED] makes me hate this monster or feel the image is absolutely perfectly rendered.
Maybe that's the point. But I know I'd have a tough time having this one printed out and laying at the table in any sort of public space. That's certainly a downside.
It does seem to have snazzy fashion sense for a monster though! ;)
If the mechanical problems have been taken care of, I'll upgrade my review accordingly. :) I'm also working on Folding Circle, it just takes longer due to being a long pdf.
Cheers and all the best,
Endzeitgeist
