Awesome pic in today's blog! What book is this from?
This is from the upcoming Pathfinder Scenario *mumermemr* of *mumblegrumble*. Josh will doubtlessly have the line on this soon. But regardless, yeah, vargouilles are totally one of my favorite monsters and it's awesome to see them looking so Gross!
Also, Sutter needs help from the incoming editorial intern to write longer blog posts... Or maybe FWS or JJ can give him some pointers.
;-)
Hey, it's not bad for a "got-caught-walking-out-the-door" blog post. Again, Josh should be along to flesh this out a bit soonishly. My pointer, though: duck and weave.
Wow, the vargouille is so creepy! One of our group's DMs really likes to throw these at us and they always seemed kinda humorous to me, but not after seeing that. Way cool.
Awesome, indeed! I love it.
Sutter needs help from the incoming editorial intern to write longer blog posts... Or maybe FWS or JJ can give him some pointers.
Somebody obviously hasn't been doing their required Planet Stories blog reading. MINUS TWO PARTICIPATION POINTS!
This is the cover monster for Pathfinder Society Scenario #10 which will be announced some time today.
Creepy pic! I like it very much!
I'm more fond of 3.5 version...
What is in it's mouth?
*squints* Looks like its tongue...and a strange green glow.
What is in it's mouth?
Dude, that's its love. Remember, they're kissin' monsters.
Catching up to the curve, yes. It'll be 2-3 months before I'm actually caught up.
And that thing in his mouth is HIS OTHER MOUTH. *shiver*
The artist is Kevin Crossley, FYI.
I hope they use this kinda art in the new monster book
(And wasn't that Planet Stories mostly copy-and-paste anyways?)
We only do preview snippets once a month - all the other posts are a thousand words of me belaboring the point. And let me tell you, it's not easy to constantly find new ways to say "OMIGOD THIS IS SO AWESOME BUY MORE PLANET STORIES KTHNXBAI!"...
-James
...ALSO, BUY MORE PLANET STORIES.
I hope they use this kinda art in the new monster book
I think you'll be quite pleased by the art style of the new monster book. :-)
The artist is Kevin Crossley, FYI.
That's Crossley? He's improving.
Wow, y'all managed to make one of my least favorite monsters actually look cool!
:-)
I love those critters. Last time I used them for a one shot game at NC Gameday, a PC literally lost her head to one of them. And of course some time later in that game the PC head spawned Vargouille attacked the party (with a pack of 12 others) in the sewers of UnderSigil.
Wow, y'all managed to make one of my least favorite monsters actually look cool!
Dude. Thanks for the compliment, but you're fired. You're fired from roleplaying.
LEAST FAVORITE!? It's a screaming, curse laying, flying demon head that gives you the funky-tongue and makes your head fly off! What the hellz! How do you even get creepier than that! Oh, and dig deep enough and they've even got pirates in their back story. Best. Monster. Evar. (Nearly.)
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I actually agree with houstonderek on his perception of Vargouilles! I never found them appealing. I never found use for demonic flying heads in my campaigns. Am I fired too? :-D
But the picture is awesome and I have to second Ross' comment that Crossley's improving. I loved his illustrations for the bestiary in PF #6, but this is even better!
Am I fired too? :-D
You're on the list. -_-
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You're on the list. -_-
*shudders*
Well, to be serious, the creature's description never inspired me to include it into my games. It kisses you and then makes your head fly away = (nearly) best monster ever? What are you guys smoking? ;-)
The concept, though, could be improved. I'd find it cool if there'd be some kind of advanced Vargouille with a decent INT score that might be useful as a villain. Maybe it could somehow take over the headless body of it's victims (maybe using it's seemingly useless tentacles) and treat the newly created Vargouille as spawns.
I'd love to hear how you guys included Vargouilles into your games. And what's that about pirates in their backstory?
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I think vargouilles are a bit like sturges in the sense that one or two may not seem like a real threat, but picture ten, twenty . . . or worse - a swarm.
I think had Bruce Wayne stumbled into a swarm of vargouilles, instead of a swarm of bats, he may not have mastered his fear. Instead, he'd probably be locked up in the asylum, too.
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I love this picture. First thing I did after seeing it was look at the image in the monster manual and shake my head. You guys just do everything so much better.
Exactly. So far, every monster I've seen from Paizo, I find myself saying "That's what it's supposed to look like!" Great job!
While we're on the subject of flying heads. Any chance of the Pennaggolan making an appearance sometime? I loved that thing, since 1st ed. Fiend folio.
What was that Vargouille fiction in Dragon magazine ages ago?... *that* made the monster for me. The stats haven't lived up to that since.
Edit: Wait.. I'm thinking of the other one.. the Pennalalgoss or something.. dang it.. I'm late but let me grab the FF... Penanggalan. *shiver*
2nd Edit: Just looked up two posts.. DOH!
3rd Edit: Just checked Revised Tome of Horrors - no Penanggalan - probably closed content - dang!
What was that Vargouille fiction in Dragon magazine ages ago?... *that* made the monster for me. The stats haven't lived up to that since.
Edit: Wait.. I'm thinking of the other one.. the Pennalalgoss or something.. dang it.. I'm late but let me grab the FF... Penanggalan. *shiver*
2nd Edit: Just looked up two posts.. DOH!
3rd Edit: Just checked Revised Tome of Horrors - no Penanggalan - probably closed content - dang!
Pennangalan are one of my favorite undead monsters. I was sorely disappointed when the game went PG-rated and replaced the dangling entrails with a slimy black tail. I kept my campaigns old-school. Undead are supposed to be scary, darnit.
I don't see how they can be closed content. The description comes directly from Malaysian folklore. The type with the slimy black tail could be closed content, but folklore is public domain.
Pennangalans are mythic creatures; they'll get the pathfinder treatment eventually. In fact... a close cousin of the pennangalan has actually already been illustrated by us; check out the picture near the end of chapter 2 of the hardcover campaign setting...
Hmm. Color me intrigued. I'll be looking forward to what you guys do with my favorite vampiric foe.
I'll have to requisition some time with the campaign setting and get it from our other DM...he's been hogging it, saying something about him actually buying it or somesuch nonsense. I haven't even had a chance to flip through and look at the artwork.
Here I am, running Curse of the Crimson Throne, our group's first Golarion AP ever, and I don't even get equal time with the book. There ain't no justice, I tell ya...
... a close cousin of the pennangalan ...
What's this creature's name?
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Wow, y'all managed to make one of my least favorite monsters actually look cool!Dude. Thanks for the compliment, but you're fired. You're fired from roleplaying.
LEAST FAVORITE!? It's a screaming, curse laying, flying demon head that gives you the funky-tongue and makes your head fly off! What the hellz! How do you even get creepier than that! Oh, and dig deep enough and they've even got pirates in their back story. Best. Monster. Evar. (Nearly.)
This? Coming from the carbuncle lover? Bah...
;)
Sorry gotta be the odd man out.
I really like the MM 3.5 art better. I prefer the bat wings over the feathered wings. And the Pathfinder Vargoille looks undead as opposed to demonic.
I saw the new art and thought "fail" and then found a thread praising it. Oh well.
And yes I gotta agree that Vargoilles are awsome and cool monsters. Thinking they are lame should indeed get you fired from roleplaying. :)
Well, to be serious, the creature's description never inspired me to include it into my games. It kisses you and then makes your head fly away = (nearly) best monster ever? What are you guys smoking? ;-)
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I... cannot comprehend this. My mind can understand the words that essentially say 'Making a PC's head sprout wings and fly away is not the most awesome thing ever.' But it's like being told the ocean is made of outer-space.
Seriously, how can you pass up the opportunity as a DM, to say: "Your head flies away."
Or to give a player the chance for this interaction:
Player 1:"Hey, what ever happened to your old character, 'Rith?"
Player 2:"His head flew away."
Player 1:"Bummer-Wait, what?"
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2011 Top 16
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I've used Vargouilles extensively in my games over the years (being a huge PS buff naturally). Mobs of Vargouilles are a terrible thing to behold! They work extremely well with creatures immune to fear or paralysis (like undead or dragons). You can also give them Class levels like Scout or Bard ... I'll have to dig up my Vargouille Dirgesinger! Ooo, a Vargouille Beguiler would be cool too!
They are great for harrassing the back ranks of the party with their mobility. The substitute well for imps, quasits, or mephits as evil spies and scouts.
You can equip them with good magic items as their tentacles are mostly for show in the standard monster. I'd say they'd have two rings, goggles, and headband slots for magic items. They could also use wands fairly easily.
--Vrocknrolla!
... a close cousin of the pennangalan ...What's this creature's name?
Anyone know?
Creative Director
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Anyone know?... a close cousin of the pennangalan ...What's this creature's name?
Off the top of my head I do not. Mike McArtor certainly does... but he's sorta gone into hiding as far as RPGs are concerned. If/when I talk to him next I'll make sure to ask him, but IIRC it was a monster from Thai myth? Very likely could even be the same myth as the pennangalan; the ones in the picture in the hardcover just detach their upper torsos and grow wings and fly around, leaving behind the waist and legs.
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Wow, the vargouille is so creepy! One of our group's DMs really likes to throw these at us and they always seemed kinda humorous to me, but not after seeing that. Way cool.
You know, I've felt that way too, and never used them until my Alpha playtest campaign... turns out they *can* be creepy and horrifying to players -- especially if a friend of theirs (NPC) turns into one in the middle of an adventure! >:)
Anyway, that's a great picture and really captures the "feel" of how Vargouille should be portrayed. The colors are a bit...hmmm... "bleak" for me, but otherwise I like it.
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I'd love to hear how you guys included Vargouilles into your games. And what's that about pirates in their backstory?
I used a bunch of them as minions to a tiefling conjurer, who ambushed travelling (low-level) adventurers and merchants. The conjurer and his "companion" (an aranea) lived in a noble family's country estate (near the "ambush site") in which they had established a "way inn" (to lure in potential victims-to-be). Anyway, it's a long story, and involves local politics (i.e. noble rivalries) in that campaign, but it turned into a horror adventure when the PCs (after beating the Vargouille ambush) found their way into the pecualiar estate-turned-inn and rested there... and found out what the Vargouille's kiss actually does to their victims. :D
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Contributor
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Off the top of my head I do not. Mike McArtor certainly does... but he's sorta gone into hiding as far as RPGs are concerned. If/when I talk to him next I'll make sure to ask him, but IIRC it was a monster from Thai myth? Very likely could even be the same myth as the pennangalan; the ones in the picture in the hardcover just detach their upper torsos and grow wings and fly around, leaving behind the waist and legs.Anyone know?... a close cousin of the pennangalan ...What's this creature's name?
The creature is most likely called a Manananggal. It's a creature from Philippino lore and is related to the pennangalan. (The link is to the wikipedia article.)
With the combination of early Indonesian animist, Muslim, and Polynesian influences (not to mention the later impact of European and U.S. colonialism) on the region, there are lots of cool monster stories in Southeast Asia and the islands of the Western Pacific.
Thanks guys! Yeah, I know Thai folklore has more monsters (mostly categorized as "ghosts") than you can shake a stick at.
The Manananggal looks like it may be it (she) though. Didn't Hellboy fight one of these? Seems like something I saw on a DVD extra somewhere sometime.
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Creative Director
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The creature is most likely called a Manananggal. It's a creature from Philippino lore and is related to the pennangalan. (The link is to the wikipedia article.)
With the combination of early Indonesian animist, Muslim, and Polynesian influences (not to mention the later impact of European and U.S. colonialism) on the region, there are lots of cool monster stories in Southeast Asia and the islands of the Western Pacific.
Yeah! That's it! Good sleuthing, Paris!