Keith's notes for Gathering of Winds are great; I like having a lot of options available. I decided to go with Wind Dukes as native humanoids mistaken for outsiders by the history books.
The Age of Demons lasted from 10 million years ago to 100,000 years ago and according to the ECS all of the common races were present but very primitive (and under the control of their demon masters). During that huge span of time some humanoid civilizations must have existed hidden from the demon empires, and the Wind Dukes had one of them. Closely related to humans, this race of powerful sorcerers built cities in the uppermost clouds along the borders of Eberron and Siberys, high above the wars between the demons and dragons.
Around this time the Dragons were also rising in power, but instead of staying hidden they spent thousands of years fighting. At the height of the Wind Duke civilization, a group of dragons discovered the Wind Duke cities and tried to get them to join their battle below. The Wind Dukes were pursuaded and sent their most powerful members to scower the multiverse for magic to bolster their armies. In Daanvi, the plane of law, they obtained the material to create items of legendary power.
During the course of many great wars, the Wind Duke general Icosiel was the only one to actually destroy one of the demon overlords (rajahs). As a result of this reality shattering event, the remaining overlords united and vowed to eliminate the Wind Dukes. One of the overlords was Katashka the Gatekeeper. He forcefully converted legions of the Wind Dukes into an undead army. The remaining Wind Dukes were persecuted for thousands of years. The few left allied with the Coautls and joined their souls with the Silver Flame to bind the armies of fiends to the underdark of Khyber.
The undead armies were then expelled deep below Khyber. One legion lead by Wind Duke Ghouls formed a civilization known as the White Kingdom.
Moreto is a Wind Duke Ghoul who has lived for tens of thousands of years in the White Kingdom. I was thinking of giving him the following spells to reflect this:
5th - Cloudkill
4th - Solid Fog, Ice Storm
3rd - Lightning Bolt, Sleet Storm, Fly
2nd - Fog Cloud, Gust of Wind, Levitate, Whispering Wind
1st - Obscuring Mist, Endure Elements, Tenser's Floating Disk, Feather Fall, Expeditious Retreat
0 - Resistance, Dancing Lights, Flare, Light, Ray of Frost, Mage Hand, Arcane Mark, Prestidigitation, Mending
But I want to check out Tome of Magic. This would be the perfect opportunity to introduce something truly "different" into the campaign (how often do you get to encounter someone 100,000 years old?). I'm getting the book tomorrow, and I'll look through it for binder ideas. I would like to use vestiges that reflect the air power of the Wind Dukes and the undeath power of Katashka.
What do people think about using the imprisoned rajahs as vestiges? According to the Lords of Dust article, the binding process effectively removes the entities from the world until they are freed. They exist but can only see things as brief flashes of insight from their followers, even in the underdark.
My players are exploring the red river right now so they'll end up encountering Moreto next Wednesday.
Also, I'm giving the mohrgs two levels of elemental warrior (air) from the Planar Handbook for effect. Does this sound reasonable?
Which backstory for the Wind Dukes did you choose?
The idea of imprisoned rajahs as vestiges seems really cool to me. The one question is, do you see any possibility that any of them could ever be freed? If so, then you probably don't want to do that, because that would lead to way too many questions about what happens to the folks who were binding those vestiges up until then.
On the other hand, you could decide that the vestiges aren't the bound rajahs themselves, but a sort of taint or imprint of their power. Even if one of them were to be freed, that imprint (vestige) would still exist because it isn't really "them" - but they might have been able to perceive the world through those who bound to the imprint, and they might retain that ability even when they've been freed. I'm picturing the vestige in this case as being a taint on the world itself where the rajah was bound - and if freed, the rajah would retain a tie to that particular place after having been bound there so long (and he'd still be able to perceive those who bind to the vestige there). Does that make any sense?
I'll just follow the "Making Vestiges Different" sidebar. The mechanics match the flavor of the Rajahs IMO, even if the Rajahs can hypothetically be released (though after 100,000 years they are practically gone). Rakshasa binders would work very well. It's simply a pact made with the Rajah, something ancient and beyond mere divine magic that grants supernatural powers to followers.
I have the book and here are my ideas:
I'm toying with making Moreto a true ghoul (wind duke) binder 11 with the following vestiges:
Katashka: Chupoclops, Harbinger of the Apocalypse as a base. I like soulsense and aura of despair. The spider-esque pounce, ethereal watcher and ghost touch abilities don't fit in though. I'm thinking of replacing these with an Undead Servant that scales similar to the Agares Elemental Companion. 1st-10th Zombie, 11th-14th Spawn of Kyuss, 15th-18th Ulgurstasta, 19th or higher Sword of Kyuss. Poison bite will work, but for flavor it would be better to have Kyuss Gift: bite of supernatural disease, fort DC 12 deals 1d6 con and 1d4 wis damage. Instead of a fang as your sign you have a worm-like tongue. I also dig the special requirement: you need to make a seal around a dead body every day.
Wind Dukes of Aqaa: Start with Agares as a base. Instead of Earth and Air Mastery, you would have Air and Earth Mastery (+1 attack+damage if foe is not touching the ground, creatures on the ground get -1 attack+damage against binder), Earthshaking Step becomes Whirlwind Trip (enemies within 10 feet must make reflex save or fall prone) and Elemental companion becomes air elemental instead of earth. Swap out Fear Immunity and True Speech for Smite Chaos ability (similar to the Andras Smite Good or Evil ability).
The Medium Air Elemental and Spawn of Kyuss aren't currently summoned, so Moreto can summon them if there's trouble.
Moreto started off as most true ghoul wind dukes of the White Kingdom do by binding to Katashka. Only in secret did he discover his true Wind Duke heritage. He traveled to the tomb and now has the seal of law. Although he is still looking for Dragotha, his cover story to the party will be that he is exploring his ancestry. He will talk through his teeth to avoid letting the party see his tongue (sign of Katashka). Unfortunately, binding with the Wind Dukes forces him to sneeze every d6+con rounds, granting the PCs a spot check of the tongue.
What does everyone think? I'll write it as a full stat block this weekend. It's a little tougher than the original encounter, but I'm trying to make this one a little more climactic than what was written to help tie in this adventure with the rest of the campaign.
Still working on the stat block; Moreto actually will be 12th lvl, not 11th. If I'm reading the binder requirements correctly, to be able to bind to both Katashka (6th) and the Wind Dukes (4th) Moreto will need to be 12th lvl.
Any comments on the vestiges? There's an article coming out next week on the WotC site for building vestiges froms scratch. I think these changes are balanced though, since they are based on existing powers of similar or lower level. Thoughts?
Takasi, wow, the story just blew my mind, is there any chance you might be able do email your notes and adptations up until now ´so I could have a look. I'd really apreciate it.
email me
XanoSilva at gmail dot com
thanks a lot
I have a private web site for my players with stat blocks and map handouts, but I'm hesitant to post it in fear of copyright issues.
You can find most of my "notes" posted here and there on these boards:
Whispering Cairn / 3 Faces of Evil
http://paizo.com/dungeon/messageboards/ageOfWorms/expandedEberronConversion s
Encounter at Blackwall Keep
http://paizo.com/dungeon/messageboards/ageOfWorms/archives/paladinSMoralDil emmaAtBlackwallKeep
Hall of Harsh Reflections
http://paizo.com/dungeon/messageboards/ageOfWorms/archives/mindflayerEncoun terSPOLIERS&page=1#41498
Champion's Belt
http://paizo.com/dungeon/messageboards/ageOfWorms/archives/moreWarbandsForC hampionSBelt
http://paizo.com/dungeon/messageboards/ageOfWorms/archives/bozalAlkilithBla ckPuddingsHighPoweredMayhem
Gathering of Winds
http://paizo.com/dungeon/messageboards/ageOfWorms/eberronAGatheringOfWindDu kes
Here are the updates for Flycatcher vs Moreto using the Tome of Magic. I'm looking for feedback to see if these look balanced for a party of high powered lvl 12 characters during the course of Gathering of Winds. I decided to add a new magic item (Khyber Tooth of Katashka) that functions exactly like the Pact Magic Item Tooth of Acererak. I was originally going to go with Smite Chaos for the Wind Duke vestige, but the build really didn't have any offensive capability. I decided to go with Focalor's Lightning Strike instead (a lower level vestige). Does this look balanced?
Flycatcher CR 14
Male shadow spider shadowcaster 4
LN Huge magical beast (extraplanar)
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft. low light vision, Listen +3, Spot +3
Languages Common
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AC 20, touch 10, flat-footed 18
hp 189 (17 HD); DR 10/magic
SR 23
Fort +17, Ref +11, Will +9
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Spd 50 ft., climb 30 ft
Melee 4 claws +21 (2d4+8) and
bite +19 (2d6+4 plus paralysis)
Space 15 ft; Reach 10 ft
Base Atk +15; Grp +31
Atk Options improved grab (two claws)
Special Atk silk slick
Mysteries Known (CL 4th)
Apprentice Paths
2nd - Piercing Sight (spell 1/day)
1st - Bend Perspectice (spell 1/day), Dusk and Dawn (spell 1/day), Steel Shadows (spell 1/day)
Fundamentals
Mystic Reflections (spell like ability 3/day), arrow of dusk (spell like ability 3/day), umbral hand (spell like ability 3/day)
Spell-like Abilities (CL 10)
At will - shadow walk (DC 20)
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Abilities Str 26, Dex 15, Con 22, Int 12, Wis 8, Cha 14
Feats Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Improved Natural Armor, Iron Will, Ability Focus (Shadow Walk), Multiattack
Skills Bluff +5, Climb +20, Hide -2 (+18 in shadows), Listen +3, Knowledge (planar) +5, Spot +3
Possessions bracers of armor +5
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Paralysis (Ex): Anyone bitten by a shadow spider must make a DC 24 Fort save or be paralyzed for 4 rounds
Silk Slick (Su): As a full round action, 100 square feet, functions like grease (CL 13, Ref DC 20 or prone)
Moreto, Marquis of Ravenstone CR 13
Male wind duke ghoul binder 12
LE Medium Undead
Init +5; Senses darkvision 120 ft., lifesense 60 ft., soulsense 10 ft., Listen +9, Spot +13
Languages Abyssal, Auren, Infernal, Undercommon
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AC 23, touch 17, flat-footed 18
hp 83 (14 HD)
Immune undead traits
Resist 10 fire, 5 acid
Fort +11, Ref +8, Will +15
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Spd 30 ft.
Melee +2 morningstar +15/+10 (1d8+8)
and bite +10 (1d6+3 plus paralysis and ghoul fever and katashka gift)
Base Atk +9/+4, Grp +15
Atk Options Wind Duke Whirlwind trip (10', reflex or fall DC 23, 1/5 rounds), Wind Duke Air Mastery (+1 bonus on attack/damage if creature in air, creature on ground get -1 attack/damage)
Special Attacks Wind Duke Lightning Strike (5d6 electricity, 120 ft, one target, Ref DC 23 for half), Katashka Touch (2d8+12 negative energy, DC 23 half)
Combat Gear Khyber teeth of Katashka (command undead 3/day), potion of inflict moderate wounds (4)
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Vestiges Typically Bound (EBL 12th, binding check +23)
Katashka, Wind Dukes
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Abilities Str 23, Dex 20, Con -, Int 16, Wis 19, Cha 25
SQ spectral transformation, +4 turn resistance, pact augmentation (resist fire 10, resist acid 5), Katashka aura of despair (10', -2 penalty on attack rolls, checks, saves, damage, mind effecting), Katashka Undead Servant (Spawn of Kyuss), Wind Duke Elemental Companion (Medium Air Elemental), Ghoul Fever (inc 1 day, Fort DC 19, 1d3 con, 1d3 dex), Katashka Gift (inc 1 day, Fort DC 19, 1d6 con, 1d4 wis)
Feats Enlarge Supernatural Ability (Whirlwind Trip), Sudden Supernatural Ability Focus (Whirlwind Trip), Sudden Supernatural Ability Focus (Wind Duke Lightning Strike), Alertness, Combat Expertise, Favored Vestige (Katashka), Skilled Pact Magic, Improved Binding
Skills Balance +8, Bluff +15, Climb +17, Displomacy +9, Hide +15, Jump +13, Knowledge (the planes) +15, Move Silently +10, Spellcraft +17, Spot +13
Possessions combat gear, +2 morningstar, cloak of the bat, ring of protection +2, ghoul-light lantern, Seal of Law, 5 rare books on magical theory and prophecy worth 500 gp each, files for sharpening teeth and claws
Any feedback?
Last night the party decided to go left instead of right at the fork in the river. After fighting the Blood Amniotes and Ice Golems, I decided to make a few changes to the Inevitable. Instead of hiding as a statue, he was disguised as a wind duke. During the previous battle with the ice golems he placed a geas/quest on the warforged paladin. After the battle he approached the party in a very dramatic scene. He would only talk to the warforged, referring to them as "inevitables". He asked why the primitive demon servants were with them, and why they were trespassing. He explained the quest: bring back the Rod of Law to the Inevitables of Daanvi. He asked the party to leave at once.
This was the last encounter of the night, and the group mulled over whether the party would retreat or not. They thought it was the big boss battle (one suspected it was Moreto in disguise), so when they moved toward the snow weird's chamber and the inevitable shot out an enervation ray at the cleric they unleashed everything they had. Now I need to add something "cooler" to the weird chamber.