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The imposing figure before you spins like a dervish, blood-soaked armor silent on his person as his greatsword sweeps towards your head. His voice taunts, “Your swordsmanship lacks grace and style, but your verse, now that is truly vile.”
RIME KNIGHT (4th level Fighter) CR ???
XP ???
LE Medium fey (cold)
Init +7; Senses low-light vision; Perception +4
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Defense
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AC 23, touch 17, flat-footed 16 (+6 breastplate, +3 Dex, +4 battle acumen)
hp 26 (4d10+4)
Fort +5, Ref +4, Will +1 (+2 vs. fear)
Immune cold
Weaknesses vulnerability to fire
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee mw greatsword +7 (2d6+3), composite longbow +7 (1d8+2)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks debilitating strikes
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Statistics
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Str 14, Dex 17, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 11
Base Atk +4; CMB +6; CMD +20
Feats Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus (greatsword)
Skills Climb 0 (+2), Craft (icesteel armaments) 4 (+8), Intimidate 4 (+9), Perception 2 (+4), Ride 2 (+8); Racial Modifiers +2 Perception, +2 Intimidate
Languages Sylvan and either Goblin or Elven
SQ battle acumen, icesteel armaments, blood ritual, specialized training
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Ecology
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Environment cold plains or hills
Organization solitary or company (3-5, plus an equal number of elves, hobgoblin or goblin ‘squires,’ mounts, and tracking animals)
Treasure standard
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Special Abilities
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Battle Acumen (Ex) Rime Knights not only gain the full BAB for their Fighter levels, but also gain a +1 dodge bonus to their Armor Class and a +1 bonus to damage rolls made with weapons (melee or ranged) or unarmed attacks for each level of Fighter they have attained. Furthermore, they can choose as a swift action on their turn to increase or decrease any of these numbers by removing an equal number of points from other areas for the turn. A Rime Knight can only add or remove points equal to his levels in the Fighter class at one time, but can add or subtract from multiple categories, if he desires, allowing a 5th level Rime Knight Fighter to add +5 to his damage rolls for one turn by subtracting 2 points from his attack rolls and 3 points from his Armor Class until the start of his next turn. This ability cannot be used in concert with the feats Combat Expertise or Power Attack, and is assumed to replace them both, although the bonuses can stack with the bonuses provided via the Fighting Defensively or Charge actions (or a Barbarian’s Rage). A Rime Knight is treated as having both the Combat Expertise and Power Attack feats for the purposes of fulfilling prerequisites. Levels in non-Fighter classes, even full BAB classes such as Barbarian or Ranger, do not advance this ability. Unlike the benefits of the Power Attack feat, the damage bonus is never adjusted for an off-hand weapon or a weapon wielded in two hands, it always remains equal to the Rime Knights Fighter levels, and modifications to it are similarly not adjusted by the manner in which the weapon is used.
Icesteel Armament (Su) Rime Knights craft and wear armor made of magically strengthened frozen blood, as hard as steel, yet having only half the weight (and being treated as armor one category lighter). The armor, which only comes in three types, breastplate, half-plate and full-plate, all adorned with armor spikes, is treated as masterwork, but only when worn by the Rime Knight who crafted it. Anyone else donning such armor not only does not benefit from the masterwork benefit, but suffers an additional +1 to their Armor Check Penalty for armor of that type, unless they have the Cold subtype or at least 5 pts of Cold Resistance. Any primary weapon(s) that is normally made in whole or partially of metal is similarly crafted, and also has the masterwork quality. A Rime Knight can use the Craft (icesteel) skill to repair damage inflicted upon his own weapons and armor.
Debilitating Strikes (Ex) Rime Knights learn an array of debilitating blows, and upon striking a foe, can choose to subtract their full Battle Acumen damage bonus from the blow to instead strike a bleeding wound, or a crippling wound. A bleeding wound inflicts bleed damage at the beginning of each round equal to a weapon four size classes smaller than the one used to inflict the wound (minimum 1), so that a bleeding wound from a greatsword will inflict 1d3 bleed damage each round, while one from a longsword will inflict only 1d2 damage, per the chart on p. 145. A crippling wound inflicts 1 point of temporary Dexterity damage, regardless of weapon size, as numbing cold seeps into the targets bones. This numbing effect does not affect any creature with the Cold subtype. These blows can only be performed with the icesteel weapon(s) that the Rime Knight has personally crafted, and with which he has either Weapon Focus or Weapon Training.
Blood Ritual (Su) Rime Knights feed off of blood and death, seeking out battles to prove their worth among their peers, and to sustain their ageless forms. Whenever a Rime Knight personally kills a foe, he can at any time in the next 10 minutes use a full-round action to anoint his face, hands and armor with the blood of the fallen foe, gaining healing equal to 2 hit points / HD of the fallen foe, and a +2 morale bonus to attack rolls, saving throws and skill checks for the next hour.
Specialized Training (Ex) Rime Knights unique skills come at a cost, and the training required to master Battle Acumen and Debilitating Strikes forbids a Rime Knight from gaining his 1st, 2nd or 4th level bonus Fighter feats. While Rime Knights below 4th level are rarely encountered, a Rime Knight with only two or three levels of Fighter would lack the training necessary to be able to use Debilitating Strikes.
Rime Knights live to prove themselves on the merciless field of single combat, garnering status with their peers, as well as both physical and psychic sustenance from the acting of shedding the blood of those they defeat. They travel in small groups, usually accompanied by an eclectic mix of servant creatures, which usually include some humanoids to serve as grooms for their steeds, and as personal servants, with elves and hobgoblins being preferred, but goblins being the necessary substitute for those who have not yet proven themselves. Such groups always include several and several tracking beasts as well, usually wolves, but, with the more powerful bands, winter wolves or even yeth hounds serve that role.
Clad in fantastically ornate armor of brownish-red ice, spattered in layers upon layers of blood drawn from foes felled in single combat, and decorated with dozens of delicate-looking spikes and barbs, the Rime Knight bears a similarly grim looking weapon, usually a large cutting weapon, such as a glaive or greatsword, but with a few Knights choosing a less common signature weapon, such as a spiked chain or scorpion whip. Beneath the imposing armor, a Rime Knight has slim, almost elfin features, sharp and angular, and often concealing surprising strength. The only time a Rime Knights face comes alive is in the heat of battle, and the normally dour and unfriendly fey becomes a taunting dervish, mocking his opponent, or even complimenting one whose combat technique has impressed him.
While some assume that the Knights received their common name from the rime of blood-ice that decorates their cold white skin, cakes their hair, and comprises their favored armaments, those who have faced them remark that they speak only in rhyme, considering wordplay as much an art form, as much a ‘dance,’ as they regard combat. When not sparring, or preparing for their next hunt, Rime Knights gather around ritual fires, and practice taunting each other, critiquing not the other’s fighting skills, but his verse. As the loser must place his hand within the flames for a long moment, a Rime Knight is strongly motivated to polish his insults, just as he hones his blade.
A Rime Knight will always attempt to engage a single foe in combat, with the higher status Rime Knight selecting the most capable looking warrior type to engage, and others backing off and allowing the combat to follow its course, interfering only to counter the interference of others. Initial rounds of combat will generally resemble a dance, with the Rime Knight often fighting defensively, and taking advantage of his battle acumen to make himself difficult to strike, while he attempts to soften up his opponent with crippling or bleeding strikes, before switching to a more aggressive posture. Only in the case of a ‘disappointing’ foe that appears well beneath his abilities will a Rime Knight begin combat with a brutally aggressive display, and this is seen as a show of contempt, that the Rime Knight wishes this meaningless butchery over as soon as possible, so that he can move on to more challenging foes. Rime Knights have been known to woefully underestimate foes in this manner, and a cunning foe may be able to trick a Rime Knight into holding back and fighting defensively, trying to figure out the source of this perplexing foes seemingly inappropriate confidence, while reinforcements arrive.
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One of three Irrisen specific fey I had in mind.
Others to follow, as the mood takes me.
Plus another fey. And some mushroom dudes who worship Cyth-V'sug. And who knows what else.
Nice. And very Fair Folk.
This is going to take some preparation to use for those of us not so quick with rhymes of course. :D
Thanks! I was definitely going for something that would both look at home in Irrisen, and in a story written by Mallory. Evil knights, with strange codes of honor, etc.
And yeah, the rhyme thing would be a pain for me also. I used to do the poetry thing, uh, decades ago, but it was free verse, not rhyming couplets, so I'd probably have to write up a dozen 'generic' rhymes in advance of using them, and bust them out as appropriate.
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And the second Irrisen-based Fey;
The flurry of snow has been pursuing you like a living thing for what feels like hours, howling its mournful song. Hair and gown trailing in the wind, a woman of great beauty dances slowly towards you, her bare feet and exposed arms as white as the snow around her. The storm fades away to unimportance as she reaches for you with an imploring gesture.
HEARTH MAIDEN CR ???
XP ???
NE Medium fey (cold)
Init +3; Senses low-light vision; Perception +4
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Defense
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AC 16, touch 13, flat-footed 13 (+3 Dex, +3 natural armor)
hp 22 (4d6+8)
Fort +2, Ref +7, Will +4
DR 5 / cold iron
Immune cold
Weaknesses vulnerability to fire
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft., fly 30 ft. (average)
Melee melee touch +5 (1d6 nonlethal cold damage +1 dexterity damage)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks chilling caress, snowblind
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Statistics
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Str 11, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 16
[15 pts (+2 Cha, +1 Dex at 4 HD), 1 + 7 + 2 + 0 + 0 + 5 = 15]
Base Atk +2; CMB +2; CMD 15
Feats Toughness, Attack Finesse
Skills 24 Acrobatics 2 (+8), Bluff 0 (+3), Climb 0 (+0), Craft (any) 0 (-), Diplomacy 0 (+3), Disguise 0 (+3), Escape Artist 0 (+3), Fly 4 (+10), Knowledge (geography) 2 (+5), Knowledge (local) 2 (+5), Knowledge (nature) 4 (+7), Perception 2 (+7), Perform (dance) 4 (+10), Sense Motive 0 (+0), Sleight of Hand 0 (+3), Stealth 4 (+12), Swim 0 (+0), Use Magic Device 0 (-); Racial Modifiers +2 Perception, +2 Stealth
Languages Sylvan and either Skald or Hallit
SQ chilling caress, snowblind, form of the storm, arctic adaptation
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Ecology
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Environment cold plains or hills
Organization always solitary
Treasure incidental
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Special Abilities
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Chilling Caress (Su) Hearth Maidens drain heat and life from those they touch, inflicting 1d6 of nonlethal Cold damage, plus 1 points of Dexterity damage.
Snowblind (Su) With skin seemingly carved of impossibly perfect ice, and hair flowing behind like a drift of snow, a Hearth Maiden’s form is bewitching, causing humanoids who gaze upon her to make a Will save at DC 15 or become entranced and unable to take any action other than a 5 ft. step towards the maiden, so long as she does not attack them. Damaging environmental forces will not break this state of entrancement, and the fey typically stands by her entranced subjects for hours, allowing the cold to wear them down and make them easy prey to her chilling caress. This effect is treated as a 2nd level spell, and the saving throw is Charisma-based. A potential victim can avert their eyes, to avoid this effect, but treats the fey as having Total Concealment.
Form of the Storm (Su) Hearth Maidens travel through the air in the form of a flurry of snow, occupying a 20 ft. radius cylinder, 10 ft. high. In this form, she becomes effectively incorporeal for combat purposes (although she cannot pass through solid objects unless they have an opening that would allow wind and snow to pass within), and all who end the turn in her square are affected as if by a sleet storm spell. The fey cannot fly in her solid form, only as a flurry of snow.
Arctic Adaptation (Su) Acclimated to their arctic surroundings, Hearth Maidens do not suffer any movement penalties when moving across ice or snow, dancing lightly across the deepest drifts, and being able to walk over thin ice as if weightless. They suffer no visual penalties from any level of precipitation, even in the case of magical weather conjured by sleet storm, fog cloud or similar magic.
Hearth Maidens are to the blizzards of Irrisen as dryads are to the mighty trees of the River Kingdoms, a fey personification of nature, in this case, one that is merciless and demanding. The ‘Pale Ladies,’ as they are sometimes called, travel by night and seek out warmth and life to steal. Ever-hungering for stolen warmth, local legends insist that they are undead, the sad and lonely spirits of maidens cast forth from their homes, perhaps for infidelity, or perhaps wrongly accused, driven into the harsh winter and left to die of exposure, only to return to bring others into that same icy fate. The fey themselves neither know nor care of these assumptions, but do display a tendency to hover outside of dwellings and press against the walls, leaving behind frost outlines as they draw upon the warmth from the fires within, which has only reinforced the notion that they seek to return to the homes that ‘cast them out.’
The ideal prey is a man alone, perhaps one who lingered at the hunt too long, or who lost his way in a storm, an easy mark for the maiden to fascinate with her silent beauty. With imploring gestures that promise pleasures unguessed, she will spin and pirouette lightly across the snow, always just out of arm’s reach, perhaps even leading a foolish man further away from salvation. As the bitter cold saps the strength from his limbs, over long hours, she will finally move in as he starts to falter, using her life-draining touch to bring him to unconsciousness, and then finally draining the last heat from his body, leaving behind a corpse, often found with a macabre expression of bliss on his frozen features. Those rescued from such a fate claim that the bitter chill of the storm is lessened somehow, so that those entranced by these fey do not feel their life slipping away.
An impatient maiden, or one who senses that others may come to try and take her ‘lover’ away, may approach her fascinated subject and begin gently removing articles of protective clothing from his body, to hasten his demise, or, in an extreme situation, directly attack the man, hoping to drain his warmth and life before his allies can come to his rescue.
Most Hearth Maidens leave the bodies where they lay, only occasionally taking trinkets to remind them of their conquests, and storing them in ‘nests’ high in the hills, in icy caves or within a great tree, where others cannot easily reach, and sometimes in places that can only be reached by those able to fly, or become effectively incorporeal, or both. Often these nests, and their collections, are abandoned and forgotten as the Hearth Maiden moves on, ever seeking new warmth. Rarer specimens have a designated territory, and drag their victims back to their lairs, keeping them as trophies, or even forming grotesque ‘statue gardens’ of frozen bodies.
The ‘winter dryads’ are driven entirely by a sense of longing for both warmth and companionship, that is never sated, and while they almost never speak, and seem almost child-like when they do, ranging from petulant to utterly oblivious that their ‘feeding’ is harmful or wrong in any way, they seem as intelligent as a man, if incapable of restraining their hungers, or of recognizing any value in the lives of others, save for the heat locked within their bodies.
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And cold fey number three (although, since writing this, a fourth type of arctic fey, that isn't quite as malicious as these three, has come to mind);
Glowing figures flit through the winter air, spinning like snowflakes and accompanied by a tinkling atonal song as tiny pale-blue sprites flutter towards you on wings that resemble jagged crystals of ice. Their song becomes threatening, as you see them begin darting amongst your party, slashing at exposed flesh with their blade-sharp wings.
ICE SPRITE SWARM CR ???
XP ???
CE Diminutive fey (cold, swarm)
Init +4; Senses low-light vision; Perception +8
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Defense
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AC 18, touch 18, flat-footed 14 (+4 Dex, +4 size)
hp 10 (3d6)
Fort +1, Ref +9, Will +3
DR 5 / cold iron
Immune cold
Weaknesses vulnerability to fire
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Offense
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Speed 5 ft., fly 30 ft. (good)
Melee swarm (1d6)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks distraction (DC 11), wounding
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 1st)
At will - dancing lights, ghost sound (Will DC 12)
1/day - silent image (Will DC 13), ray of frost
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Statistics
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Str 2, Dex 19, Con 11, Int 6, Wis 10, Cha 15
[standard array (racial -8 Str, +8 Dex, -4 Int, +4 Cha), 0 + 1 + 1 + 0 + 0 + 1]
Base Atk +0; CMB -; CMD -
Feats Acrobatic, Lightning Reflexes
Skills 12 Acrobatics 1 (+10), Bluff 0 (+3), Climb 0 (+0), Craft (any) 0 (-), Diplomacy 0 (+3), Disguise 0 (+3), Escape Artist 0 (+3), Fly 3 (+14), Knowledge (geography) 0 (-), Knowledge (local) 0 (-), Knowledge (nature) 0 (-), Perception 3 (+8), Perform (any) 0 (-), Sense Motive 0 (+0), Sleight of Hand 0 (+3), Stealth 2 (+1 as a swarm, +21 individually), Swim 0 (+0), Use Magic Device 0 (-); Racial Modifiers +2 Fly, +2 Perception
Languages Sylvan
SQ spell-like abilities, fatal fascination
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Ecology
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Environment cold plains or hills
Organization always swarm
Treasure incidental
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Special Abilities
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Wounding (Ex) Any living creature damaged by an ice sprite swarm continues to bleed, losing 1 hit point per round thereafter. Multiple wounds do not result in cumulative bleeding loss. The bleeding can be stopped by a DC 10 Heal check, or by the application of a cure spell or some other healing magic.
Fatal Fascination (Ex) Ice sprites are enthralled by the sight of open flame, and can be distracted from their cruel games by the sight of a flame of at least torch size. The swarm must make a Will save (DC 15) to keep their attention focused on their prey, instead breaking off to dance around the new source of fire.
Ice sprites are a plague upon the land, travelling in tinkling swarms, singing their strange songs (which, when translated from sylvan, recount their enthusiasm for cutting into warm flesh and watching strong men die) and descending upon any lone travelers they find, slicing them with razor-sharp wings that resemble snowflakes, all jagged edges of seemingly delicate ice and drawing some form of sustenance from the heat and blood escaping the bodies of those they slay in this manner.
Enthralled by the sight of open flame, ice sprites taunt one another (and occasionally push one another) towards the flame as they dance around it, and when one gets too close, their icy wings melt away, causing them to drop to the ground (or, occasionally, directly into the fire, to the great amusement of their cruel comrades), where they are taunted mercilessly and mocked for their ill fortune, to be later abandoned by the swarm as it moves on.
Ice sprites have no gear or items, not even wearing tiny clothing on their smooth and seemingly sexless bodies, with skin and hair in shades of white and pale blue, dancing free of such things (and lacking the craft to make anything in any event). Their wings are always beautiful things, but cannot survive the touch of flame, and, while as hard and sharp as steel when the fey is alive, become brittle and delicate soon after the creature’s death, making them difficult to preserve, as even the warm touch of a man’s hand is enough to break the delicate structures, or partially melt them. Residents of the northlands who have an interest in such artwork capture the fey alive in nets, and then impale them on cold iron nails adorning the walls of their display rooms, rooms which are kept sealed against damaging gusts of wind, and which never know the presence of warmth, being kept cold and lit only by shuttered lanterns for brief times, or by heatless magical light sources, to preserve the grisly display.
All cold fey are strengthened in arctic conditions. They receive damage reduction equal to 1 point for every degree below -5C. Ambient temperatures above 5C add one point of damage per degree. This damage reduction is defeated by good or evil aligned weapons, or those made of cold iron.
So attacking one of these at -40 is much tougher :) and it keeps them out of warmed houses.
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And a fourth wintery fey, which sort of cropped up in total defiance of my desire to have three winter fey. Little buggers, I had a plan! It was a good plan. But no, the fey, they care nothing for my plans.
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The hunched figure resembles a twisted gnome, with oversized arms, bandy legs, squinting eyes of mismatched size and a prodigious hunch on its back. Despite its labored movement, it moves quickly over the top of the snow, and points a long icicle at you as it mutters a sing-song rhyme in a guttural voice as its bulging left eye flares with arcane power.
FROST GRUMP CR ???
XP ???
N Small fey
Init +2; Senses low-light vision; Perception +6
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Defense
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AC 15, touch 13, flat-footed 13 (+2 Dex, +1 size, +1 natural armor, +2 furs and hide equivalent to leather armor)
hp 19 (3d6+9)
Fort +3, Ref +5, Will +3
DR 5 / cold iron; Resist Cold 5
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Offense
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Speed 20 ft.
Melee +1 icicle spear (1d4 + 1d6 cold damage)
Ranged +3 thrown icicle spear (1d4 + 1d6 cold damage, 20 ft. range increment)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks spell-like abilities, icicle spear
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 3rd)
At will – dancing lights, ghost sound (Will DC 13), prestidigitation, speak with animals (arctic only)
3/day – entangle (ice and snow only, Ref DC 14), grease (Ref DC 14), obscuring mist
1/day – glitterdust, sleet storm, spike growth (icy terrain only)
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Statistics
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Str 11, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 16
[(racial -2 Str, +2 Con, +2 Cha), 3 + 5 + 2 + 0 + 0 + 5 = 15]
Base Atk +1; CMB +0; CMD 13
Feats Endurance, Toughness
Skills 18 Acrobatics 0 (+2), Bluff 0 (+3), Climb 0 (+0), Craft (any) 0 (-), Diplomacy 0 (+3), Disguise 0 (+3), Escape Artist 0 (+2), Fly 0 (+2), Knowledge (geography) 3 (+6), Knowledge (local) 3 (+6), Knowledge (nature) 3 (+6), Perception 3 (+6), Perform (any) 0 (-), Sense Motive 0 (+0), Sleight of Hand 0 (+3), Stealth 3 (+12), Survival 3 (+5), Swim 0 (+0), Use Magic Device 0 (-); Racial Modifiers +2 Survival
Languages Sylvan
SQ spell-like abilities, internal furnace, chilling curse
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Ecology
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Environment cold plains or hills
Organization always alone
Treasure standard
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Special Abilities
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Icicle Spear (Su) Frost Grumps carry large icicles that are as strong as steel within their grasp, and which they use as walking sticks while travelling, and as spears when threatened. These spears inflict 1d4 piercing damage +1d6 cold damage, and the cold damage is returned to the Grump as healing, as heat is stolen from the target and transferred to the fey. If this icicle is thrown, sundered or stolen, it melts away at the end of the round, and the fey can create a new one as a move-equivalent action.
Internal Furnace (Su) Frost Grumps are always hot to the touch, and their breath plumes behind them as they trundle through the snow. A Frost Grump has Cold Resistance 5, and has a +5 racial bonus to Fortitude checks or saves vs. the effects of environmental cold. Furthermore, by huddling up against another, they can share this bonus, lending the warmth of their bodies to another, being able to provide protective warmth to one creature of size medium, two of size small, etc. or being able to provide the warmth equivalent to a small campfire to those within an enclosed area.
Chilling Curse (Su) Frost Grumps charge a hefty price for their services as personal campfire when they find a traveler lost in the storm, and those who agree to their terms must pay them a service in exchange for salvation from the bitter chill. These terms are entirely up to the Grump in question, but must follow the restrictions as if the Grump had cast Lesser Geas. Instead of attribute penalties, someone who breaks their agreement with the Grump suffers the effects of cold weather (below 40 degrees F), no matter the actual temperature around them (although, if the surrounding weather is colder, they will suffer the worst result). After 24 hours of breaking their agreement, the effect increases to that of severe cold (below 0 degrees F), and, if they continue to defy the terms of the agreement, the effects become those of extreme cold (below -20 degrees F) after another 24 hours. Those who die as a result of the Chilling Curse are found frozen solid, and the Grump receives a rush of pleasing warmth, as the last of their body heat is trapped within his body, to fuel his internal furnace. Remove Curse (against DC 16), Break Enchantment (against CL 6, the Grumps normal casting level is doubled for the purposes of this curse), the will of the Grump who placed the Curse, or his death, can all end the Chilling Curse. This curse can only be placed upon someone who agrees to the conditions, and therefore waives the initial saving throw (and any spell resistance).
Clad in furs and hide, decorated with countless trinkets of carved bone, antler and wood, the Frost Grumps appear as deformed and twisted gnomes, with short legs and broad shoulders, usually adorned with a noticeable hunch, causing them to walk bent over. Their skin is lumpy, their hair straggly and intertwined with feathers, beads and other knick-knacks, and one of their milk-white eyes is always noticeably larger than the other.
In the northlands, there are two common rumors regarding the Frost Grumps. The first is that they are born Ice Sprites, and are formed when one of that fickle race flies too close to a flame and loses its wings. Taunted and abandoned by its cruel peers, it burrows into the snow, wracked with fear, pain and hatred for its own people, until, months later, bloated, twisted and deformed from its diet of spite and shame, it crawls forth as a Frost Grump. The second tale is that the Frost Grumps were once Gnomes, captured by the Ice Queen herself, and tormented for her amusement, twisted by foul fey magics until they become capering servants for her amusement. If there is any truth to either tale, the Frost Grumps certainly aren’t telling, and they wander the arctic wastes, seeking out living beings lost in the snow, to bargain their services.
Those who have been rescued by these unpleasant little curmudgeons are sometimes given nonsensical tasks, told to uproot themselves from their homes and travel to distant towns, to take up entirely different lives. Some go on to be forced from obscurity into lives of adventure. Others find themselves being used in strange schemes, to steal and acquire items that the Frost Grump seeks for his own obscure purposes (likely to court or compete with another of his kind). And some are simply used, with the Grump tasking them to raise animals for his own use, or fashion clothing for him, or prepare meals and set them out for his enjoyment. Some Grumps wander from community to community, with a few souls in each town owing them such favors, so that they never want for a warm meal and a safe shelter when they scurry into town.
Frost Grumps tend to regard those in their thrall as resources, and have been known to come to their assistance, in dire times, so as to not lose the services of this debtor, although one could hardly consider them generous by nature. Less pleasant local legends suggest that male Frost Grumps have worked out alternate arrangements with comely females of other races, but this is pure fantasy, as the Frost Grumps find any features not as stunted and misshapen as their own to be hideous and unsettling.
Frost Grumps, due to their networks of ‘thralls,’ often know a surprising amount about local communities, and, due to their wandering ways, are equally knowledgeable about the local wildlife and territories, making them excellent guides, if their prices can be agreed to, and their antisocial demeanors tolerated. Some rare Grumps have taken to domesticating wild animals, hunting, or even working hides and bone into tools, although few, if any, go so far as to engage in productive work, considering such activities to be ‘hobbies.’
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All cold fey are strengthened in arctic conditions. They receive damage reduction equal to 1 point for every degree below -5C. Ambient temperatures above 5C add one point of damage per degree. This damage reduction is defeated by good or evil aligned weapons, or those made of cold iron.
So attacking one of these at -40 is much tougher :) and it keeps them out of warmed houses.
Yikes, that's a scary concept, if kinda neat. Where is it from?
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As the quote says. It comes from me :)
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As the quote says. It comes from me :)
Might be easier on the math to just give them DR 5 / cold iron, and have them lose that DR if the temperature is above 40 degrees, and upgrade to DR 10 / cold iron if the temperature is below freezing.
Working it in 5 degree increments seems like too much work for lazy old me. :)
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Who said anything about increments. There's a 10 degree neutral zone but after that its a point per degree.
-40 degrees is +35 dr/cold Iron, aligned weapons.
-39 degrees is +34
The intent is to make the cold fey stronger when it is actually winter and give them a reason to depart when it is summer.
Sigurd.
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Demon Lords are rarely loving and caring masters, but Cyth-V’sug takes his loathing for his subjects, demon and humanoid cultist alike, to new depths. He not only holds them in contempt, as many of his peers do, but actively hates and fears all life that is not part of his enormous heaving bulk. Cyth-V’sug does not seek worship, or respect, or adulation, he seeks for all life to be consumed within him, linked to him in one enormous fungal intelligence that will cover the entire world of Golarion. There will be no single sentience left to worship his greatness, for every living thing will be a part of him, linked inextricably into a communal sentience that will bind all life into one being, a being named only Cyth-V’sug. His home plane is but a taste of what the world will look like, when his plans come to fruition, and the schemes of minions like Treerazer are but a distraction to the main event, for he loathes and mistrusts Treerazer as deeply as every other free-willed sentience in the universe. None will ever plot against or betray Cyth-V’sug, when all *are* Cyth-V’sug!
And so the demon lord has spent millennia belching forth alien and horrific fungal life, always attempting to create the perfect minions, linked eternally to his mind, unlike the fractious demons and scheming cultists, each with their own petty desires and dreams of vengeance and power. The current ‘crop’ are called only the Cyth-V’sug, for they could be called nothing else, and, indeed, *are* nothing else, but extensions of their demonic patrons will made into pulpy myconid flesh. Within his home plane, the entities remain linked to the enormous demon lord whose limitless expanses of ‘flesh’ they crawl over and burrow within, but those enclaves who have spored into the world of Golarion have lost the bulk of their connection to Cyth-V’sug, as the gulf between worlds is too far for even his vast mind to bridge. There they dwell in dank caverns, moldering sewers and forgotten warrens beneath communities, coming forth to gather foodstuff and weapons, and seize captives to bring below for the leaders to impregnate with will-destroying fungal growths that make these poor souls the unwitting pawns of the demon lords favored children.
As the Cyth-V’sug enclaves grow in numbers, isolated rural communities become places of fear and uncertainty, as townsfolk bundle themselves up against the harsh light of the sun and huddle together to perform unspeakable deeds in service to their fungal masters below the earth.
Fungoids are slender and trail fibrous tendrils that drip colorless slime. Their spores are generated from their head and torso region, while their ‘arms’ and ‘legs’ are indistinguishable trunks, some of which rear up lash out, whipping nearby foes with their numbing toxic tendrils that begin to break down flesh that they strike, being less a poison, and more a fast-acting bacterial digestive enzyme!
Fungoids come in many sizes and colors, and have the ability to emit a phosphorescent glow from their caps, or even to jet forth gouts of reeking fluids that contain colonies of phosphorescent bacteria that ‘mark’ a target like a faerie fire spell. Even the smallest can perform this task, and the larger ones have spores that parasitize and suffocate breathing animal life, eventually causing their bodies to split open and produce new fungal growths, that the Fungoids devour.
This gnome-sized fungus moves forward on multiple tendrils, wrapped around each other to form a central ‘trunk.’ It glows with a pale green glow, and as it moves towards you, a brilliant arc of glowing fluid squirts in your direction from its leathery cap.
CYTH V’SUG DRONE CR ???
XP ???
NE Small plant
Init -1; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +5
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Defense
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AC 15, touch 13, flat-footed 13 (+1 size, -1 Dex, +2 natural armor)
hp 9 (1d8+1)
Fort +3, Ref -1, Will +1
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Offense
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Speed 20 ft.
Melee +1 lashing tendril (1d3 + special)
Full Attack +1 lashing tendril x2 (1d3 + special)
Ranged +0 ranged touch ‘mark prey’ (0 damage, faerie fire effect, 30 ft. range)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks mark prey, acid secretions
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Statistics
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Str 11, Dex 9, Con 13, Int 6, Wis 13, Cha 6
[(racial -2 Dex, -4 Int, -4 Cha, +2 Con, +2 Wis)]
Base Atk +0; CMB +0 (+2 on grapple attempts); CMD 9 (13 vs. bull rush and trip)
Feats Improved Grapple (B), Toughness
Skills Perception 1 (+5), Stealth 0 (+7), Survival 0 (+1, +5 to track by scent); Racial Modifiers +4 Stealth, +4 to Survival rolls to track by scent
Languages Abyssal
SQ scent, plant traits, spore mind, cyth-v’sug physical characteristics
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Ecology
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Environment swamps, or damp subterranean
Organization pod (three to five drones plus one warrior) or XX
Treasure NPC gear (2 flasks acid)
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Special Abilities
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Acidic Secretions (Ex) The tendrils of a Cyth V’sug drone can deliver a sticky corrosive ‘sap’ of sorts that begins breaking down organic substances, inflicting 1 point of acid damage per round over the next one to three rounds (equal to the original damage scored on the hit that delivered the corrosive). As a move-equivalent action, that provokes an attack of opportunity, one can wipe away the secretion from a single blow and prevent further damage, and immersion in water (or other liquids) will wash away multiple applications in a single round. Multiple hits can result in multiple instances of this corrosive, and quickly become very dangerous, if not attended to.
Mark Prey (Ex) From its luminescent cap, a Cyth V’sug drone can squirt a dose of glowing liquid up to 30 ft. as a ranged touch attack, marking a single target as if affected by the faerie fire spell, although the luminescent organisms die after 10 minutes, unless removed sooner by the application of any alcoholic liquid, or by scraping them off (as a full round action that provokes an attack of opportunity). This fluid also has a powerful odor, and gives any creature that can track by scent a +4 circumstance bonus to rolls to follow their trail. Once this ability is used, it takes 1d4 minutes to recharge. Drones can also use this fluid, generally placed within small pools of water, where it can last for an hour or more, to create torch-equivalent light sources.
Spore Mind (Ex) Cyth V’sug drones are joined with all other Cyth V’sug in their extended family in a limited form of hive mind. This information exchange is based on spores produced by the creatures, and requires open airflow, but moves unnaturally quickly. Any information known to one is shared with the others within 30 ft. within one round, adding one round of ‘travel time’ per 30 ft. additional. If you attack a Cyth V’sug drone, all others within 30 ft. will know by the next round, and those 120 ft. away will know within 4 rounds, passing the signal on as they begin moving towards the threat. Unless a body is completely destroyed, Cyth V’sug can ‘read’ the spore memories of a fallen comrade as a full round action, gaining valuable information even from guards that died before being able to relate everything they discovered about their attackers.
Cyth-V’sug Physical Characteristics (Ex) Due to the nature of its tough, fibrous tentacles, the Cyth-V’sug drone counts as a creature one size class larger for the purposes of grapple attempts, and gains Improved Grapple as a bonus feat (without having to qualify for the feat), as well as having the benefits of improved stability, gaining a +4 to its CMD versus Bull Rush and Trip attempts when standing on the ground. Drones do not have a traditional bilateral symmetry, and have no ‘back’ or ‘front.’ As such, they can never be flanked. Their redundant organs and thick fibrous bodies result in them having the equivalent of moderate fortification, and there is a 50% chance that any critical hit, or application of precision damage (such as sneak attack) will inflict only normal damage. Cyth-V’sug appear structurally unable to use a bow, or any sort of double weapon, but are treated as being automatically proficient with the whip, regardless of their class. All lashing tendril attacks, or attacks with weapons in those tendrils, count as primary attacks.
Sentient Plant (Ex) Cyth V’sug drones, while hardly geniuses, are sentient, and do not gain the typical immunity to mind-affecting effects that mindless plants benefit from.
Cyth-V’sug drones resemble meter tall mushrooms with dark brown leathery angular caps, like those of a morel. Pocks and pits in this cap contain luminescent collections of bacteria that smell like rotting meat and can be expelled with force, to splatter upon and ‘light up’ a target. Where a mushroom would normally have a single central stalk or trunk, the Cyth-V’sug has five tentacles of thick and sharp-edged fibrous material, that rasps across flesh like shark’s skin, delivering a biological agent that begins to digest and break down the target for later consumption.
The choice to generate this digestive enzyme is entirely at the creatures discretion, and it can choose not to inflict acid damage if instructed to simply grapple and restrain a target for later consumption, infestation or domination by the leaders.
Despite having five lashing tendrils, only two can normally be brought to bear, the remaining three used for locomotion and / or securing oneself in position.
Drones are superior guardians, having keen senses of smell and sight, and being able to not only change their coloration to a limited extent, respire silently and remain motionless for hours at a time. Their tracking ability benefits from their ability to both smell and taste from the entire surface of their body, but most keenly through their entire moist ‘cap.’
All drones are dependent upon constant information exchange from their spore-mind, and if separated from this contact for a full minute, become shaken until re-connected, progressing to frightened after 10 more minutes, and becoming effectively panicked after an hour without contact from even a single other Cyth-V’sug. Catatonia and death follow soon after. A frightened or panicking Cyth-V’sug flees towards the last known location of others of its kind, or makes a best guess, if it has no better idea, and moves at full speed in that direction, wafting out spores desperately, in an attempt to reconnect to the spore-mind.
Cyth-V’sug feed off of decaying organic matter, and spend much of their time gathering rotting vegetation and, especially, animal and humanoid bodies, to heap into rotting masses in the center of their ramshackle communities, where they squat on the warm decaying mass of ‘compost’ and draw nutrients directly from the decomposing matter beneath them.
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This fungoid creature is as tall as a man and moves forward on multiple tendrils, wrapped around each other to form a central ‘trunk.’ It glows with a pale green glow, and in the waving tendrils that are not pushing it towards you, it waves a scimitar and a battered leathery shield.
CYTH V’SUG WARRIOR 2 CR ???
XP ???
NE Medium plant
Init +0; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +4
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Defense
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AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14 (+4 natural armor, +2 shield)
hp 16 (2d10+5)
Fort +4, Ref +1, Will +1
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Offense
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Speed 20 ft.
Melee +3 lashing tendril (1d4+1 + special) or +3 scimitar (1d6+1 S/18-20)
Full Attack +3 lashing tendril (1d4+1 + special) and +3 scimitar (1d6+1 S/18-20)
Ranged +2 ranged javelin (1d6+1 P, 30 ft. inc)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft. (10 ft. with lashing tendrils)
Special Attacks acid secretions
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Statistics
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Str 13, Dex 11, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 9
[(racial -2 Cha, +2 Con, +2 Str)]
Base Atk +2; CMB +3 (+5 on disarm attempts, +6 on grapple attempts); CMD 13 (17 vs. bull rush and trip)
Feats Improved Grapple (B), Toughness
Skills Climb 0 (+1), Craft (armorsmith) *or* Craft (weaponsmith) 2 (+5), Handle Animal 0 (-1), Intimidate 0 (-1), Perception 1 (+4), Profession (any) 0 (-), Ride 0 (+0), Stealth 1 (+7), Survival 0 (+0, +4 to track by scent), Swim 0 (+1); Racial Modifiers +4 Stealth, +4 to Survival rolls to track by scent
Languages Abyssal
SQ scent, plant traits, spore mind, cyth-v’sug physical characteristics, swift tendrils
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Ecology
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Environment swamps, or damp subterranean
Organization pod (three to five drones plus one warrior) or XX
Treasure NPC gear (scimitar, heavy shield, 3 javelins, tanglefoot bag, 2 acid, 1 advanced acid (damage as alchemical fire), 1 potion of cure light wounds (CL 1))
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Special Abilities
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Acidic Secretions (Ex) The tendrils of a Cyth V’sug warrior can deliver a sticky corrosive ‘sap’ of sorts that begins breaking down organic substances, inflicting 1 point of acid damage per round over the next one to four rounds (equal to the original damage scored on the hit that delivered the corrosive). As a move-equivalent action, that provokes an attack of opportunity, one can wipe away the secretion from a single blow and prevent further damage, and immersion in water (or other liquids) will wash away multiple applications in a single round. Multiple hits can result in multiple instances of this corrosive, and quickly become very dangerous, if not attended to.
Spore Mind (Ex) Cyth V’sug warrior are joined with all other Cyth V’sug in their extended family in a limited form of hive mind. This information exchange is based on spores produced by the creatures, and requires open airflow, but moves unnaturally quickly. Any information known to one is shared with the others within 30 ft. within one round, adding one round of ‘travel time’ per 30 ft. additional. If a Cyth-V’sug warrior is attacked, all other Cyth-V’sug within 30 ft. will know by the next round, and those 120 ft. away will know within 4 rounds, passing the signal on as they begin moving towards the threat. Unless a body is completely destroyed, Cyth V’sug can ‘read’ the spore memories of a fallen comrade as a full round action, gaining valuable information even from guards that died before being able to relate everything they discovered about their attackers.
Cyth-V’sug Physical Characteristics (Ex) Due to the nature of its tough, fibrous tentacles, the Cyth-V’sug drone counts as a creature one size class larger for the purposes of grapple attempts, and gains Improved Grapple as a bonus feat (without having to qualify for the feat), as well as having the benefits of improved stability, gaining a +4 to its CMD versus Bull Rush and Trip attempts when standing on the ground. Drones do not have a traditional bilateral symmetry, and have no ‘back’ or ‘front.’ As such, they can never be flanked. Their redundant organs and thick fibrous bodies result in them having the equivalent of moderate fortification, and there is a 50% chance that any critical hit, or application of precision damage (such as sneak attack) will inflict only normal damage. Cyth-V’sug appear structurally unable to use a bow, or any sort of double weapon, but are treated as being automatically proficient with the whip, regardless of their class. All lashing tendril attacks, or attacks with weapons wielded in those tendrils, count as primary attacks.
Swift Tendrils (Ex) A Cyth-V’sug warrior can hurl a missile weapon or alchemical concoction in melee combat without provoking an attack of opportunity. Additionally, the lashing tendril attacks of a warrior have a +2 to disarm attempts and can be used to perform trip attempts, similar to the attacks of a whip, and can lash out to a 10 ft. reach.
Sentient Plant (Ex) Cyth V’sug drones, while hardly geniuses, are sentient, and do not gain the typical immunity to mind-affecting effects that mindless plants benefit from.
Cyth-V’sug warriors resemble two-meter tall mushrooms with dark brown leathery angular caps, like those of a morel. While they share the same luminescent bacteria pits in their cap, they lack the ability to propel these symbiotic infestations to mark prey characterized by the drone caste, and they serve only as candle-intensity light sources spaced around the creatures ‘head. A Cyth-V’sug warrior has seven tentacles composing its ‘trunk,’ instead of five, and can use up to three to attack or to operate one or more shields. The average warrior, shown above, has a single heavy shield, a scimitar, and uses its last appendage as a lashing tendril, to deliver its acidic secretions, but different specimens may wield a pair of shields and a scimitar, or a pair of scimitars and a shield. All attacks count as primary attacks, and the Cyth-V’sug warrior is not penalized by striking with multiple weapons, and has the unusual skill necessary to benefit from up to two shields at the same time, or even to fight a single foe in melee combat, while hurling a javelin or alchemical concoction at a second at range, without provoking an attack of opportunity from the melee combatant.
Warriors lack some of the advantages of drones in the areas of stealth, tracking and marking prey, and have slightly less keen senses, but typically travel with drones to handle these functions. Warriors are skilled in crafting weapons (typically javelins, made from bone and scavenged metal) or armor (only shields, made from treated and hardened caps cast off from dead drones, reinforced with bone inserts). Scimitars are greatly prized by the warrior caste, and must be acquired by other means, as the fungus men lack the facilities or inclination to work metal. In cases where scimitars are simply unavailable, the warriors will fight with a combination of lashing tendrils, javelins and spears.
Warriors store alchemical gear within their trunks, intertwined among their tightly interwoven tendrils, and it is a move-equivalent action to withdraw something a tiny or smaller item (such as a potion flask or tanglefoot bag) from within its trunk in combat, an action which does not provoke an attack of opportunity.
Like drones, warriors are dependent upon constant information exchange from their spore-mind, and if separated from this contact for 1 full minute, become shaken until re-connected, progressing to frightened after 10 minutes, and becoming effectively panicked after an hour without contact from even a single other Cyth-V’sug. Catatonia and death follow soon after. A frightened or panicking Cyth-V’sug flees towards the last known location of others of its kind, or makes a best guess, if it has no better idea, and moves at full speed in that direction, wafting out spores desperately, in an attempt to reconnect to the spore-mind.
Cyth-V’sug warriors continue to advance as Warriors, but none over 4th level have been reported. Drones do not advance at all, either undergoing a growth-spurt and becoming a warrior, or splitting open and dying, serving to feed the rest of the community. Exactly what conditions mark either event occurring are unclear, but it is believed that the spores of the Leader caste determine such things.
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CYTH V’SUG LEADER ADEPT 3 CR ???
XP ???
NE Large plant
Init +0; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +4
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Defense
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AC 15, touch 11, flat-footed 15 (-1 size, +6 natural armor)
hp 24 (2d8+2 + 3d6+3)
Fort +5, Ref +1, Will +4
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Offense
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Speed 20 ft.
Melee +3 lashing tendril (1d6+1 + special) or +3 spear (1d8+1 S/x3)
Full Attack 2 +3 lashing tendrils (1d6+1 + special) and +3 spear (1d8+1 S/x3)
Ranged +2 ranged javelin (1d6+1 P, 30 ft. inc)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft. (10 ft. with lashing tendrils)
Special Attacks acid secretions
Spells Prepared (CL 3rd)
1st – cure light wounds, obscuring mist, sleep (DC 12)
0 – create water, detect magic, guidance
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Statistics
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Str 13, Dex 11, Con 13, Int 13, Wis 13, Cha 13
[(racial +2 Con, +2 Str, -2 Dex) 1 + 1 + 1 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 12]
Base Atk +2; CMB +3 (+5 on disarm attempts, +6 on grapple attempts); CMD 13 (17 vs. bull rush and trip)
Feats Improved Grapple (B), Brew Potion, Skill Focus (craft – alchemy)
Skills Craft (alchemy) 3 (+10, including +3 for skill focus), Handle Animal 0 (-1), Heal 3 (+7), Knowledge (dungeoneering) 1 (+5), Knowledge (local) 1 (+5), Knowledge (nature) 1 (+5), Perception 2 (+6), Profession (any) 0 (-), Stealth 2 (+5), Spellcraft 0 (-), Survival 2 (+3, +7 to track by scent); Racial Modifiers +4 Stealth, +4 to Survival rolls to track by scent
Languages Abyssal, Undercommon or Common
SQ scent, plant traits, spore mind, cyth-v’sug physical characteristics, swift tendrils, fungal infestation, fungal alchemy
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Ecology
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Environment swamps, or damp subterranean
Organization pod (three to five drones plus one warrior) or XX
Treasure NPC gear (masterwork spear, potions of cure light wounds, endure elements (fire) and protection from good (CL 1), various alchemical mixtures)
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Special Abilities
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In addition to the traits shared with Drones and Warriors (above, note that their acid secretions inflict damage for 1 to 6 rounds, based on the damage rolled on the initial attack), Leaders have the following special abilities;
Fungal Infestation (Su) A leader can spend a full minute squatting on a relatively fresh and complete humanoid corpse (or similar quantity of meat from multiple smaller bodies) and infest it with great quantities of reproductive spores. These spores digest it from within and within eight hours, a new Cyth V’sug drone emerges, already a part of the hive mind and ready for service.
Using a similar, but lengthier process, a leader can spend a full hour entwined invasively around a living humanoid (or animal) of small or medium size, and forcibly join it into a more powerful variation on the spore-mind, filling it’s body and brain with living spores in a parasitic relationship. This process inflicts 1d4 points of Constitution damage to the new host, which will not naturally heal (as explained later), but can be restored magically. The infected humanoid grows hungrier and thirstier, the voracious spores requiring the equivalent of an additional meal per day and double the normal intake of water, and even at this pace, draws 1 Constitution point worth of nutrients from the creatures body (which an otherwise healthy humanoid will recover overnight), or twice this amount if the extra food and water requirements are not met (leading to an average humanoid unable to meet its demands dying within a little over a week!) While infested with this fungal intelligence, the creature is trapped within its own mind, aware of what is happening, but unable to control its actions, and aware only fleetingly of the alien intelligence within it. Infected humanoids appear pale, sallow and continuously sweaty, gain the sunlight weakness of a Cyth-V’sug, giving them a -1 to all attack rolls in sunlight or daylight-equivalent illumination. As a result, infected humanoids tend to wear hoods and move quickly from shaded area to shaded area when required to move about in daylight. A remove disease spell can purge the parasitic fungal intelligence from the victim, but the leader who infected the individual is allowed a Will save to resist the effect, strengthening the infecting material with his own force of will, and causing the infected victim to immediately suffer an immediate 1d4 points of Constitution damage, as the fungal intelligence cannibalizes his own body to survive the attempt at purging it from his body! A heal spell will instantly and painlessly purge the infection, with no chance of resistance and no harm to the victim. The infection otherwise functions like a traditional disease, although the ‘damage’ (Con loss and domination) cannot be resisted. Every day, the infected person gets a single Fortitude save (DC equal to 10 + the HD of the infecting leader) to try and shake the infection, and if he succeeds is allowed an hour of freedom from the domination effect before it reasserts control. If he ever succeeds in resisting the infection two days in a row, it is broken entirely and the fungal intelligence dies. A leader becomes aware of a host breaking from the spore-mind (whether temporarily or permanently) within moments, depending on distance. Infected creatures gain low-light vision and detect as neutral evil while serving as hosts, but otherwise retain their normal abilities.
A single leader can have up to eight humanoids of small or medium size under its control, and taking eight hours for infection, can infect a single large sized creature (such as an ogre, warhorse or large bear) in place of four smaller humanoids.
Fungal Alchemy (Ex) Uses alchemical acid as a weapon (and provides it to warriors), and can make advanced alchemical acid that ‘burns’ for another round if not removed, like alchemical fire. Can enhance acid created via biologically generated organisms as a move action, then throw it as a standard action, the organisms die within 1 minute, and so the ‘advanced acid’ cannot be kept for resale. Can ‘enhance’ up to two acid flasks per round and hand them off to adjacent warriors for throwing (taking a double move action to do so, effectively).
Can create more permanent enhanced acid that costs the Cyth V’sug leader twice the cost to create as a standard flask of acid (and functions mechanically as alchemical fire in all respects, except that it inflicts acid damage instead of fire damage), but any non Cyth V’sug alchemist managing to master their techniques will find that it costs them 50% more to create this advanced acid, due to the necessity to find costlier substitutes for the Cyth V’sug’s internally generated digestive secretions.
Leaders are capable of creating all other alchemical formula normally, although they never create or use alchemical fire, which they fear and loathe. Stranger and unique alchemical formulations that weaken materials, render surfaces slick or extremely sticky, cause suffocation, induce hallucinations and create stranger effects besides remain unconfirmed. One confirmed tactic is the use of Filth Fever-causing materials as a cheap form of ‘poison’ on missile weapons, or the use of special globes of ‘stew’ made from rotted meat and other materials that attracts the attention of bat, rat or roach swarms to the targeted creature.
Retaining the seven tendrils of the warrior caste, the leaders (or breeders, as some call them) grow taller, but slenderer, lacking the increased strength that would be suggested by the creatures size, but gaining toughness and flexibility as their longer tendrils become more densely packed and resilient, as hard as woven tendrils of wood fiber, but able to separate out into many fingered ‘hands.’ Their digestive excretions grow no more potent, but they learn to use them in many new and terrifying ways, as their link to Cyth V’sug grows ever more intimate and they begin to develop the spellcasting abilities of an Adept.
Leaders continue to advance as Adepts, and sometimes add levels of Sorcerer, as well (generally with the Aberrant or Abyssal Bloodline). Familiars are most commonly bats or uncommonly large centipedes (stats as a viper, but with a venom that inflicts Dex damage instead of Con damage), but rats, lizards, vipers, toads, poisonous frogs, and stranger fare, such as phosphorescent ambulatory slime molds, or more traditional animals, such as weasels and cats, afflicted with a fungal blight that makes them a shambling mockery of their normal selves, and the like, have been seen.
While the average Leader learns alchemy, others may specialize in poisonmaking or trapmaking, and will take the appropriate skill focus instead.
Leaders rarely leave whatever lair the community has established, and is often found in a dank cave, foreboding marsh or city sewer, preferring to rain down alchemical mayhem, missile weapons and the occasional spell on any interlopers that have made it as far as the lair from a position out of the reach of melee combat.
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The four daemon horsemen have their own answer to the pit's Hell Hounds; the Daemon Hounds of the Apocalypse.
DAEMON HOUND OF THE APOCALYPSE CR ???
XP ???
NE Medium Outsider
Init +2; Senses darkvision, low-light vision, scent; Perception +8
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Defense
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AC 13, touch 12, flat-footed 11 (+2 Dex, +1 natural armor)
hp 15 (2d10+4)
Fort +5, +9 vs. poison, Ref +5, Will +4
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Offense
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Speed 40 ft.
Melee bite +4 (1d6+3 plus trip)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks see below
DR 5/good; Immune acid, disease, distraction; Resist Fire 5
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Statistics
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Str 15, Dex 15, Con 15, Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 6
Base Atk +2; CMB +3; CMD 15 (19 vs. trip)
Feats Skill Focus (perception)
Skills Acrobatics 1 (+6, +10 while jumping), Bluff 0 (-2), Craft (any) 0 (-), Knowledge (the planes) 0 (-), Perception 2 (+9), Sense Motive 1 (+5), Stealth 2 (+7), Survival 2 (+6, +10 to track by scent); Racial Modifiers +4 Acrobatics while jumping, +4 to Survival when tracking by scent
Languages Infernal, Abyssal?
SQ scent, outsider traits, regeneration 1 (cold), plus special
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Ecology
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Environment Abaddon
Organization single or pack (two to five)
Treasure none
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Special Abilities One of;
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Gift of Death (Su) Hounds of Death are undead in appearance, but remain alive, even if their forms are rotted and lit from within by green flames. The bite of a hound of death sends a surge of negative energy into living prey, causing an additional +1d6 of negative energy damage and 1 point of Strength damage. For each point of strength damage inflicted, the hound of death is healed of one hit point of damage. Those bitten must also make a Will save (DC 13, the save is Wisdom-based, and has a +2 racial bonus) or suffer memory loss, causing them to be flat-footed against the creature’s next attack. A spellcaster who fails this saving throw also loses one spell of the highest level of spells he currently has prepared. Spontaneous casters are unaffected by this property of the hound of deaths bite.
Gift of Famine (Su) Hounds of Famine appear gaunt and nigh-skeletal, but are no weaker or frailer than any other daemon hound. Additionally, their bite conveys the ‘gift of hunger,’ requiring the target to make a Fortitude save (DC 15, the save is Con-based) or take an additional 1d6 nonlethal damage and becoming fatigued. Nonlethal damage from starvation cannot be cured until the target eats a full days meal, and the fatigued condition remains until all nonlethal damage is cured. Outsiders, including other daemon hounds, are immune to the effects of starvation. Multiple bites can inflict additional nonlethal damage, but do not advance the fatigued condition.
A hound of famine has both the Improved Natural Attack feat and Improved Critical feat as bonus feats applied to its bite attack, and can Swallow Whole (1d6 acid damage, AC 11, 15 hp) a small-sized or smaller target. Unlike most creatures with the Swallow Whole property, a hound of famine does not expel any swallowed target until it is reduced to zero hit points.
Gift of Pestilence (Su) Hounds of Pestilence are barely recognizable as dogs, having a thin beetle-like carapace that increases it’s natural armor bonus by one to +2, six spindly legs, clacking mandibles and a pair of translucent wings that allow it to fly at a speed of 20 ft. (maneuverability poor). Their bite inflicts a disease that attacks the nervous system and causes tremors and hallucinations, the Scarlet Shaking Pox: Bite – injury; save Fort DC 15; onset immediate; frequency 1 day; effect 1d3 Dex and 1d3 Wis damage; cure 2 consecutive saves. The save DC is Constitution-based.
As a full-round action, a hound of pestilence can brace itself and belch forth a cloud of biting flies with the statistics of a spider swarm, but with a fly speed of 30 ft., ground move of 5 ft., no tremorsense and replacing poison with a disease – Filth Fever (DC 13, the save is Constitution-based, and includes a +2 racial bonus). While the fly swarm is active, the hound must retain concentration, just as if it had cast the summon swarm spell.
Gift of War (Su) Hounds of War wear barding, a mixture of mail, with leather straps and bits of plate steel, that functions mechanically as a chain shirt, giving them a +4 natural armor bonus, and a -2 armor check penalty to their acrobatics and stealth checks. Their paws have metal spurs attached, particularly on their forelimbs, and they gain two claw attacks as secondary attacks that inflict 1d4 slashing damage. A hound of war can lock its jaw on a successful bite attack, similar to the attach quality of a weasel, automatically grappling its foe and inflicting automatic bite damage each round thereafter, until the lock is broken. While grappling a foe, it gains a +4 circumstance to attempts to maul the target with its blade-armed forelegs, and due to the fierce shaking that it uses while grappling a foe, the grappled target has an additional -2 penalty to strike the hound with any weapon larger than a light melee weapon or one-handed attack.
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Small-sized Gargoyles, for use as Improved Familiars (inspired by the Green Ronin Freeport setting, where the local Gnomes have enslaved gargoyles as living weapons of war).
GROTESQUE CR ???
XP ???
CE Small Monstrous Humanoid (earth)
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +5
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Defense
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AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14 (+1 size, +3 Dex, +2 natural armor)
hp 15 (2d10+4)
Fort +2, Ref +6, Will +3
DR 5/magic
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft. (average)
Melee 2 claws +5 (1d4), bite +5 (1d3), gore +5 (1d3)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
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Statistics
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Str 11, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 6, Wis 11, Cha 7
Base Atk +2; CMB +1; CMD 15
Feats Weapon Finesse (B), Hover
Skills Climb 0 (+0), Craft (any) 0 (-), Fly 2 (+7), Intimidate 0 (-2), Perception 1 (+4), Ride 0 (+3), Stealth 1 (+12, +16 in stony environments), Survival 0 (+0), Swim 0 (+0); Racial Modifiers +2 Stealth (+6 in stony environments)
Languages Common, Terran
SQ freeze
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Ecology
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Environment mountainous, cities, ruins
Organization single or pack (two to five)
Treasure standard
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Special Abilities
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Freeze (Ex) A grotesque can hold itself so still it appears to be a statue. A grotesque that uses freeze can take 20 on a Stealth check to hide in plain sight as a stone statue.
Variation: Aquatic Grotesques can breath underwater, no fly speed and a swim speed of 60 ft. They replace any ranks in the Fly skill with ranks in the Swim skill.
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Another Improved Familiar idea; and another easy-peasy one, a size Small variation on the traditional Hell Hound;
DEVIL DOGS CR ???
XP ???
LE Small Outsider (evil, extraplanar, fire, lawful)
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +6
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Defense
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AC 16, touch 13, flat-footed 14 (+1 size, +2 Dex, +3 natural armor)
hp 13 (2d10+2)
Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +0
Immune fire
Weaknesses vulnerability to cold
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Offense
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Speed 40 ft.
Melee bite +4 (1d6 +1d3 fire)
Ranged ranged touch attack (1d6 fire plus special)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
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Statistics
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Str 11, Dex 15, Con 13, Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 6
Base Atk +2; CMB +1; CMD 14
Feats Run (B), Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics 2 (+7, +11 for jumping), Bluff 0 (-2), Craft (any) 0 (-), Knowledge (the planes) 0 (-), Perception 2 (+6), Sense Motive 0 (+1), Stealth 2 (+11), Survival 2 (+6, +10 to track by scent), Swim 0 (+0); Racial Modifiers +4 Acrobatics when jumping, +4 Survival to track by scent)
Languages Infernal (cannot speak)
SQ XX
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Ecology
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Environment infernal plains
Organization single or pack (two to five)
Treasure none
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Special Abilities
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Spit Fire (Ex) A devil dog cannot breath fire like a mature hell hound, but can belch forth a wad of incendiary sputem that acts as a flask of alchemist’s fire upon the target it hits. After using this weapon, the devil dog requires 2d4 rounds to recharge before it can ‘spit fire’ again.
Smaller than traditional hell hounds, but no less vicious, ‘devil dogs’ are often found as the familiars of certain wizards, although Chelaxians tend to look down on them as crude, compared to Imps. Devil dogs tend towards petty cruelty and prefer living prey, which they torment and terrorize, spitting flame more to herd their target into a waiting ambush, than to inflict damage. Better trackers, and possessed of more canine qualities than traditional hell hounds, who regard them with contempt and condescension, the devil dogs share the hell hounds unusually large and powerful maw, with fangs that appear to be crafted more from jagged fragments of red-hot iron than bone.
Devil dogs kept as servitor creatures on the material plane most often require surroundings that are resistant to the wads of fiery phlegm they discharge habitually, as all flammable items in their surroundings tend to be burned away in short order. Domesticated beasts often wear leather, studded leather or chain barding, sometimes complete with armor spikes, and all devil dogs are treated as proficient with these items, even if not encountered wearing them.
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And, really, the whole point of the exercise was to create extraplanar Improved Familiar options other than the Imp and Quasit for spellcasters who were not Chaotic Evil or Lawful Evil, which means the Grotesque and Devil Dog should have been the *last* ones I did. Ah, silly me!
Here's one for those namby-pamby LG Iomedans.
This tiny creature appears as a fluttering collection of glowing lights, each the size of a candle's flame and resolving into a tiny humanoid form wrapped in fluttering veils of translucent cloth in many colors, flapping around the floating figure like many wings. The figure is accompanied by a tinkling of music, like the tolling of many tiny bells. When it speaks, it sounds like a tiny choir of voices raised in song. But the sound of the bells grows louder as they chime in harmony, until the sound becomes a deafening assault!
BELL ARCHON CR ???
XP ???
LG Tiny Outsider (archon, good, extraplanar, lawful)
Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +6
Aura aura of menace (DC 15)
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Defense
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AC 17 (19 vs. evil), touch 15, flat-footed 15 (+2 size, +3 Dex, +2 natural, +2 deflection vs. evil)
hp 16 (3d10)
Fort +1, Ref +6, Will +4; +4 vs. poison, +2 resistance vs. evil
DR 5/evil or adamantine; Immune electricity, petrification; Resistcold 10, sonic 10
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Offense
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Speed 5 ft., fly 50 ft. (perfect)
Melee melee touch +6 (1d6 Sonic + deafness)
Ranged ranged touch attack +6 (1d6 Sonic)
Space 2 ½ ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Spell-like Abilities (CL 6th)
At will – detect evil, ghost sound, greater teleport (self +5 lbs of gear only), invisibility (self only), message
3/day – daze
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Statistics
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Str 1, Dex 17, Con 10, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 14
Base Atk +2; CMB +1; CMD 14
Feats Improved Initiative, Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics 1 (+7), Bluff 0 (+2), Craft (any) 0 (-), Diplomacy 3 (+8), Knowledge (religion) 1 (+4), Knowledge (the planes) 1 (+4), Fly 3 (+11), Perception 3 (+7), Perform (sing) 3 (+10), Sense Motive 2 (+6), Stealth 1 (+15); Racial Modifiers +2 to Fly, +4 to Perform (sing)
Languages Celestial, Draconic, Infernal; truespeech
SQ archon qualities, dulcet tones
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Ecology
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Environment heavens
Organization single or choir (four to twelve)
Treasure none
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Special Abilities
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Dulcet Tones (Su) A bell archon produces melodious tones that are unusually loud for the creatures tiny size, and can be used to inflict harm upon another, either by a touch attack that rings like a bell and causes the subjects flesh to quiver at the point of impact, or through a ranged touch attack that conveys the same effect, to a lesser degree. The attack has a range of 30 ft., and works in air or underwater at full effect. If conducted through a melee touch attack, the target must make a Fortitude save (DC 14, the save is Charisma-based) or be deafened for 1 minute, in addition to taking 1d6 sonic damage. At range, the effect is attenuated, and the target only takes the damage, with no risk of being deafened.
Pure Ward (Su) A bell archon is warded by a constant protection from evil effect at CL 6. If this ward is dispelled, it refreshes itself automatically on the archons next turn with no action required on its part. A bell archon can intentionally drop this ward as a standard action, and it will remain down as long as the bell archon deliberately wills it to remain inactive.
Bell archons, along with lantern archons, are the lowest tier of archons, and are often sought out as familiars or minor allies (usually messengers) by good-aligned spellcasters. Some of their traditional abilities, such as the use of teleportation, or their damage resistance, are somewhat weaker than that of more powerful archons, but they remain vital intermediaries in the upper planes, able to comprehend any language, and speaking any tongue with a melodious and diplomatic tone. Seemingly endlessly patient, if sometimes inflexible in their understanding of their orders, bell archons must be approached closely to see their tiny humanoid forms, which float amid a fluttering array of sheer scarves in many subtle colors, which carry them aloft like a dozen wings, rustling, snapping and twisting with their seemingly effortless passage through the air. When seen up close, their skin ranges from silvery to metallic white to the color of polished brass, similar to the bells for which they are named, and when they deliver their dulcet tones at a range, they strike their tiny hands together forcefully, creating a pulse of sound that is briefly visible as a white blur of disrupted air between them and their target.
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And for the NG sorts, serving Sarenrae, Shelyn and similar powers, the Empyreal Deva (named before I knew that the most powerful angelic critters would be called Empyreals, which, in retrospect, becomes funny, the tiniest and most Napoleonic in temperament of angelic creatures naming themselves after the near demigod-level powers that stand at the top of their hierarchy).
This tiny creature is an impossibly perfect humanoid clad in gleaming golden breastplate, greaves, bracers and helm, and bearing a shining golden spear in both arms. It is born aloft on spotless white feathered wings, and has a white linen kilt under its breastplate.
EMPYREAL DEVA CR ???
XP ???
NG Tiny Outsider (angel, good, extraplanar)
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +6
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Defense
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AC 20, touch 20, flat-footed 18 (+2 size, +2 Dex, +6 deflection)
hp 16 (3d10)
Fort +1, Ref +5, Will +4; +4 vs. poison, +2 resistance vs. evil
DR 5/evil or mithral; Immune acid, cold, petrification; Resist electricity 10, fire 10
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Offense
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Speed 5 ft., fly 50 ft. (perfect)
Melee radiant longspear melee touch +6 (1d4 sacred damage + special)
Ranged hurled spear +6 (1d4 sacred damage + special)
Space 2 ½ ft.; Reach 0 ft. (5 ft. with radiant spear)
Spell-like Abilities (CL 6th)
At will – detect evil, greater teleport (self +5 lbs of gear only), guidance, invisibility (self only), light
3/day – daylight
1/day – aid
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Statistics
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Str 3, Dex 15, Con 10, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 12
Base Atk +3; CMB -3; CMD 11
Feats Improved Initiative, Weapon Finesse
Skills 18 Acrobatics 0 (+3), Bluff 0 (+2), Craft (any) 0 (-), Diplomacy 0 (+1), Knowledge (history) 2 (+5), Knowledge (religion) 2 (+5), Knowledge (the planes) 2 (+5), Fly 3 (+11), Heal 3 (+7), Perception 3 (+7), Sense Motive 3 (+9), Stealth 0 (+11); Racial Modifiers +2 to Fly, +2 to Sense Motive
Languages Celestial, Draconic, Infernal; truespeech
SQ angel qualities, radiant spear, radiant armor, personal protective aura, talented healer
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Ecology
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Environment any good-aligned plane
Organization single or deployment (five to ten)
Treasure none
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Special Abilities
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Radiant Spear (Su) An empyreal deva is armed with a weightless longspear appropriate to its size crafted of radiant holy energy that sheds light as a torch. If the weapon strikes a living creature, as a ranged touch attack, it inflicts 1d4 points of sacred damage. If the creature stuck is undead, or would be damaged by positive energy as if undead, it suffers an additional 1d6 of positive energy damage. This spear can be hurled with a 10 ft. range increment, and will vanish at the end of the round it leaves the devas hand. The deva can create a new radiant spear on its next action as a free action. The longspear has reach, improbable as that sounds, allowing the deva to attack foes in an adjacent square, despite its tiny frame.
Radiant Armor (Su) An empyreal deva is always clad in an undecorated breastplate that appears to be made of softly glowing gold (but is weightless), along with matching greaves, bracers and Grecian-style helm, topped with a white plume of what appears to be horsehair. This armor sheds candle-light intensity light, and is similarly composed of radiant energy, providing a deflection bonus, instead of a natural armor bonus, to the devas armor class. If dispelled (or intentionally dismissed), the armor can be reformed as a swift action on the angels next action.
Personal Protective Aura (Su) Unlike the more potent angels, the protective aura of an empyreal deva only extends to protecting itself, giving it a +2 deflection bonus vs. the attacks of evil creatures (which does not stack with the bonus provided by its gleaming armor) and a +2 resistance bonus to saving throws vs. the attacks of evil creatures, as well as the other defensive benefits of a protection from evil spell. Instead of functioning as a lesser globe of invulnerability, the aura only protects the deva itself, and only blocks the effects of spells of 1st level or lower. If the protective aura is dispelled (being treated as a 2nd level spell cast at CL 6), or intentionally dismissed by the deva itself, it can be restored as a swift action on the angels next turn.
An empyreal deva taken as an Improved Familiar can share the effects of its personal protective aura with its master, as long as he is within 5 ft. of the deva.
Gifted Healer (Su) Empyreal devas are treated as if always possessing a Healer's Kit (with unlimited 'uses') for the purposes of Heal checks, and can take 10 on heal checks, even in dangerous or distracting conditions.
Empyreal devas resemble tiny perfectly formed humans, of either gender, with skin that appears to be smooth marble, sometimes pure white, sometimes pale grey, and often veined with what appears to be gold or rose-quartz. Their feathered wings often match the coloration of their skin, either spotlessly white, white with golden highlight, or the grey-with-rose hued wings of the mourning dove. In movement and mannerisms, they tend towards grandiose statements and mannerisms, and are known to become prickly and uncooperative if events conspire to make them look foolish, or draw attention to their relative weakness compared to the more impressive members of the angelic host.
They are fiercely opinionated, and could even be seen as somewhat overcompensatory figures, sometimes surprisingly militant, and even strident, in the pursuit of their self-appointed crusades, much to the exasperation of their superiors in the angelic hierarchy, who often attempt to remind them of the virtues of compassion, forgiveness and tolerance, as well as the most commonly lacked virtue among the tiny warrior angels, patience.
Bell archons, despite being innately diplomatic creatures, are known to gently mock their fellow ‘lesser celestials,’ for taking themselves far too seriously, a somewhat odd turn of events, as the archons are more dogmatically lawful than the more free-wheeling angelic hosts.
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And for the LN sorts, servants of law incarnate, the Formian Assistant.
This cat-sized creature seems a cross between oversized wasp and centaur, having four insect legs, four thin arms, and a head and torso that bears both insectile and humanoid qualities, held aloft by four translucent wings that whir so fast as to be a blur. Its reddish-brown carapace is fastidiously clean.
FORMIAN ASSISTANT CR ???
XP ???
LN Tiny Outsider (extraplanar, lawful)
Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +6
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Defense
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AC 19, touch 15, flat-footed 14 (+2 size, +3 Dex, +2 natural, +2 shield)
hp 16 (3d10)
Fort +1, Ref +3, Will +3; +4 vs. mind-affecting effects, +4 vs. poison
DR 5/chaos; Immune acid; Resist cold 5, fire 5
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Offense
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Speed 5 ft., fly 40 ft. (good)
Melee tiny spear +6 (1d4 + poison)
Ranged tiny shortbow +6 (1d3 + poison)
Space 2 ½ ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Spell-like Abilities (CL 3rd)
At will – detect chaos, guidance, mending, message, stabilize
3/day – bless, doom
1/day – cure light wounds
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Statistics
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Str 3, Dex 17, Con 10, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 10
Base Atk +2; CMB +1; CMD 14
Feats Improved Initiative, Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics 0 (+3), Bluff 0 (+2), Craft (any one) 3 (+8), Diplomacy 0 (+1), Knowledge (architecture & engineering) 3 (+6), Knowledge (the planes) 3 (+6), Fly 3 (+11), Heal 3 (+7), Perception 3 (+7), Sense Motive 0 (+1), Stealth 0 (+11); Racial Modifiers +2 to one Craft skill, +2 to Heal
Languages Formian, Axiomatic, Celestial, Infernal
SQ words of law, poison
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Ecology
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Environment Axis
Organization single or work-crew (five)
Treasure none
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Special Abilities
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Words of Law (Su) A formian assistant is often used as a messanger or go-between between formian hives and other natives of the lawful planes, and can speak to and comprehend the words of any creature with the lawful subtype, even if they do not otherwise share a language.
Poison (Ex) Delivered through a painful bite that only inflicts a single hit point of damage (as a last resort), or, more commonly, via tiny arrows or spears, which the creature can lick and envenom as a move-equivalent action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity (the venom remaining potent for 1 minute in such cases), the formian assistants refer to this toxin as the waters of balance Bite or Weapon attack – injury, save Fort DC 13; frequency 1/round for five rounds; effectblindness; cure save to be dazzled for that round, otherwise lasts full five rounds. The save is Constitution-based, and includes a +2 racial bonus.
Despite their abundance of limbs, formian assistants lack the motor control to attack with more than one limb at a time, and use either their spear and shield in conjunction, or fire arrows from afar, being unable to effectively use both sets of forelimbs at the same time (the other hanging at their side, holding whatever items are not in use). Formian assistants, despite their armaments, prefer to negotiate, or avoid combat, rather than fight, and when they do participate in a battle, prefer to assist others by harrying foes with their envenomed arrows, or assisting allies (or hindering foes) with magical support.
Formians encountered in Axis are part of a formian hive-mind, but those encountered in other planes have been separated from that communion, and have very fixed agendas, from which they are almost impossibly-hard to sidetrack. Whether part of a hive-mind or not, formian assistants enjoy a strong resistance to mind-affecting effects, and as familiars to lawful spellcasters, can share this resistance bonus with their master, so long as he remains within range of their empathic link.
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I suppose an Imp-scaled version of an Azata and a Protean are next, for the CG and CN set, but the muse has yet to deliver those. :)
Pure Neutral outsider 'Improved Familiars' would probably be similar to the Gen of Al-Qadim, and come from the Elemental planes, the Astral Plane, the Plane of Shadow or the Ethereal. Tiny little imperious Efreeti-kin sound fun, as do vaguely unreliably Shadow-Cats (is it a Shadow, or a Cat? Neither, it's the Shadow *of* a Cat!).
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Brain-break from critter creation. Had to look up something in Into the Darklands ('cause I couldn't spell Nemret Noktoria from memory, and probably am still getting it wrong...) and ended up re-reading the whole book, 'cause I'm bad at putting down books.
And then lightning hit my brain. That must certainly hurt...
A family of a dozen trolls, all the children, grandchildren, etc. (and usually related to her more than once, in this inbred family) of their leader, the terrible matriarch Old Dug, reside in a compound within Nemret Noktoria. They provide a gruesome service, receiving plundered grave goods and bits of ancient lore from the ghoul citizens in exchange for bitter troll flesh, to sate their unending hunger. A small donation, a trinket perhaps, may be worth only a hand, while a larger item or scrap of interesting text, could be worth an entire thickly-muscled arm. The trolls barter one on one with the ghouls, with the troll 'donor' receiving the item(s) to be traded, and after the ghouls leave, trade (and sometimes gamble) these items briskly between themselves, seeking to have the choicest items to offer their matriarch, in exchange for her favors and the powers at her command.
A potent spellcaster, Old Dug is capable of creating food, in apparently vast quantities, as she somehow supports her entire family in this manner. It is unclear if she does so through clerical magic, by calling in otherworldly creatures through some form of planar calling spell, or through the use of some magical item (or some combination of the above), but the effects are undeniable, as she sates the hunger of a dozen rapacious trolls, and leaves them healthy enough to tear limbs off day after day, in exchange for scraps of lore and treasure with which to buy her favor. She has a partner in this strange endeavor, a Green Hag named Grizzle, who plays the part of cryptic hooded advisor, enslaved to Old Dug and wearing an iron collar, linked to a chain in her 'owners' hand. When the other trolls are away, the two reveal their true partnership, as blood-sisters, plotting and reconstructing ancient lore in pursuit of their own dark agenda, to become undead themselves, and to imprison Old Dug's family as a never-ending larder for the insatiable hungers they know will be the price of their transformation.
The family rarely leaves the compound, but when they must travel outside the walls of their small area, they travel in a group of at least three, if not five or more, often accompanied by either Old Dug's favored son (and lover), a fearsome barbarian, freakishly large for even a troll, or her favored daughter, a dangerous (and more than a little crazed) sorceress who specializes in spells of thunder and lightning, tossing shocking grasp, shatter and lightning bolt spells with wanton enthusiasm, interspersed with the occasional electrical-variation on scorching ray, while ranting incomprehensibly in her excitement. The ghouls, for their part, have never attempted to storm the compound, and the rare ghoul who succumbs to a starved frenzy and attacks a troll during negotiations does not survive that mistake.
Ghouls generally loathe the taste of troll flesh, but the price of living slaves, or even relatively fresh carrion, is often far in excess of what they can afford, and the hunger is always gnawing in their bellies..
Perhaps the story gets pushed along when the ghouls begin to suspect the trolls agenda. They realize they have some particularly important information and will not settle for troll flesh. They want the removal of a dangerous town and all of its fresh human meat.
Perhaps there is a newly made ghoul with more brains and ambition....
Sigurd
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Perhaps the story gets pushed along when the ghouls begin to suspect the trolls agenda. They realize they have some particularly important information and will not settle for troll flesh. They want the removal of a dangerous town and all of its fresh human meat.
Perhaps there is a newly made ghoul with more brains and ambition...
Yeah, there's definitely potential for something hinky to go on, whether on the part of the trolls (one of the 'kids' figures out that mamma wants to become a ghoul and keep them around as neverending gobstoppers) or the ghouls (a ghoul necromancer / priest wanting to 'help' Old Dug on her way, in exchange for access to the lore she is accumulating).
Like all best-laid-plans, Old Dug is gonna find it an uphill struggle to get what she wants. Even if she succeeds, she becomes just one more ghoul, in a kingdom full of her kind, going from 'top dog' of a troll family to the newest-of-newbies in an ancient immortal culture...
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Another LN option for Improved Familar, since not everyone wants a flying bug.
A shimmering cloud of softly-glowing golden motes coalesces before you into a tiny humanoid figure of white alabaster, utterly motionless, like a statue, arms outraised, as if addressing an audience. Where the inflexible figurine should have eyes and a mouth, golden lights dance as a buzzing voice demands that you state your purpose here.
AXIOMITE LEAST CR ???
XP ???
LN Tiny Outsider (extraplanar, lawful)
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +6
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Defense
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AC 18, touch 14, flat-footed 16 (+2 size, +2 Dex, +4 natural)
hp 16 (3d10)
Fort +3, Ref +5, Will +5; +2 vs. enchantment spells and effects, +4 vs. poison
DR 5/chaos; Immune acid; Resist cold 5, fire 5
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Offense
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Speed fly 60 ft. (perfect)
Melee slam +6 (1d6 + stunning fist)
Space 2 ½ ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Abilities stunning fist 3/day (DC 13)
Spell-like Abilities (CL 3rd)
At will – detect chaos, flare, light (self only)
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Statistics
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Str 3, Dex 15, Con 10, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 10
Base Atk +2; CMB +1; CMD 14
Feats Improved Initiative, Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics 3 (+8), Bluff 0 (+0), Craft (any one) 3 (+6), Diplomacy 0 (+0), Knowledge (the planes) 2 (+5), Fly 3 (+10), Heal 1 (+6), Perception 3 (+6), Sense Motive 3 (+8), Stealth 0 (+10); Racial Modifiers +2 to Fly, +2 to Sense Motive
Languages Axiomatic; truespeech
SQ evasion, fast healing 3, infusion of essence, partial incorporeality
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Ecology
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Environment Axis
Organization dyad (two) or quorum (twelve)
Treasure none
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Special Abilities
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Infusion of Essence (Su) As a full-round action, an axiomite least can dissolve into a shower of golden lights, and partially merge its essence with another person or object. This effect can simulate the effects of a stabilize or mending cantrip, and costs the axiomite a single hit point, which does not restore via the creatures fast healing ability, but only through magical healing or overnight rest. Once per day, the axiomite least can use this infusion to duplicate the effects of a cure light wounds (cost 1d6 hit points that similarly do not restore via fast healing) or make whole (2d6 hit points) spell at CL 3. An axiomite least that serves as a familiar does not suffer hit point damage when using infusion of essence to simulate the effects of stabilize or cure light wounds upon its master.
Partial Incorporeality (Su) An axiomite leasts body is rigid and inflexible, hovering motionless at whatever point the creature assumed solid form, but dissolves apart in a shower of golden motes when the axiomite wishes it to move or change position. As a result of this ability, an axiomite least can pass through any space that is not airtight, reforming on the other side in any space large enough to contain its tiny body. When attacked, its body flies apart to allow blades or spell effects to pass harmlessly through it, giving it the defensive effects of incorporeality, although it lacks the ability to pass through solid objects. Force effects ignore this defense, as normal for the incorporeal state, damaging even its discorporated form.
Axiomites least move in great glittering clouds throughout Axis, forming into stationary figurines sometimes called ushabti by the Osirioni conjurers who call upon them as familiars. Their tiny bodies are as hard as the alabaster they resemble, with tiny accoutrements of gold, jet and lapis lazuli, usually in Osirioni modes of dress. These motionless floating figurines have slender builds, and often wear exotic headgear on their slightly outsized heads. Instead of eyes, the figures have pools of golden energy, and a similar radiant display exists where a human would have a mouth and chin, with the cheeks extending downwards like the sides of a mask that does not cover the mouth. Incapable of moving even an arm, whatever part of the body an axiomite least wishes to move dissolves into golden light and reforms in the desired position in the blink of an eye, which can be disconcerting when the only ‘movement’ is the turning of the creatures face, or an arm dissolving to reform pointing at an item.
Axiomites least attack others by moving in a swirling spiral of sparkling ‘dust’ that resembles shining powdered gold, becoming solid and striking with unsuspected force, often frozen in some active pose, before shimmering away to strike again, only being solid for the moments of impact. The force of their impact seems more dependent upon speed and surprising weight, and is unaffected by their size or strength (and is not modified by changes to those traits). Three times per day, an axiomite least can attempt a stunning slam, identical to a 3rd level monk’s stunning fist attack (DC 13 to resist, 1 round stun).
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And closing in on the last needed extraplanar aligned-plane-based Improved Familiar option, for those kwazy Chaotic Neutral sorts;
A fringe-headed metallic eel of some sort, shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow, twists and undulates lazily through the air in your direction, before shuddering and dropping to the floor, now a simple housecat, which regards you curiously.
PROTEAN, VALAKET CR ???
XP ???
LN Tiny Outsider (chaotic, extraplanar)
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +7
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Defense
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AC 17, touch 14, flat-footed 15 (+2 size, +2 Dex, +3 natural)
hp 16 (3d10)
Fort +3, Ref +5, Will +4
DR 5/law; Immune acid, polymorph; Resist electricity 5, sonic 5
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Offense
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Speed fly 40 ft. (perfect)
Melee bite +5 (1d3-5 + corporeal flux)
Space 2 ½ ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Abilities corporeal flux
Spell-like Abilities (CL 3rd)
At will – detect law
3/day – daze, lesser confusion
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Statistics
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Str 2, Dex 15, Con 10, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 10
Base Atk +2; CMB +1; CMD 14
Feats Improved Initiative, Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics 3 (+9), Bluff 0 (+0), Diplomacy 0 (+0), Disable Device 3 (+10), Diguise 3 (+6, +14 to disguise itself via Unfamilar), Knowledge (the planes) 3 (+6), Fly 3 (+11), Perception 3 (+7), Sense Motive 0 (+1), Stealth 0 (+11); Racial Modifiers +4 to Disable Device, +8 to Disguise checks to assume the form of a small to diminutive animal form assumed via Unfamiliar
Languages Protean; telepathy 5 ft.
SQ evasion, unfamiliar, fluid form, amorphous anatomy
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Ecology
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Environment Maelstrom
Organization singular or swarm (five to nine)
Treasure none
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Special Abilities
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Unfamiliar (Su) As a full-round action, a valaket can transform into any standard familiar on page 131-133 of the Bestiary, replacing its own strength, dexterity scores, movement types, natural armor and melee attacks with those of that animal, and adding any of that animals special abilities (such as poison or attach), senses or racial skill bonuses to its own. It can remain in this form indefinitely, and can add other forms, such as those of the blue skink or thrush (Rise of the Runelords Players Guide) or goat or pig (APG playtest) upon encountering such creatures serving as familiars (although it cannot transform into any familiar that requires a feat or trait to access). When a valaket resumes its natural form, it heals three hit points of damage, and can benefit from this healing up to eleven times per day (once for each form listed on pages 131-133), taking a full-round action to assume a different form, and then allowing that form to lapse at the beginning of its next turn. New forms learned, such as the thrush or pig, increase the number of options for healing. A valaket that is serving as a familiar itself grants its user the skill (or other) bonus of whatever form it has assumed. In Unfamiliar form, a valaket does not benefit from Fluid Form, Amorphous Anatomy and its bite (or other attack form(s)) do not transmit Corporeal Flux.
Fluid Form (Su) A valaket’s serpentine body flows like a stream of liquid through the air, and when not in the form of another creature, it is treated as if partially incorporeal, being able to pass through any space that is not airtight, reforming on the other side in any space large enough to contain its tiny body. When attacked, some forces simply pass through its body like a blade through water, causing it no harm or discomfort. Treat the valeket as incorporeal for the purposes of defense, but the chance of an attack failing is only 20%, instead of 50%, and force attacks are no exception.
Corporeal Flux (Ex? Su? Ex Su, Brutay?) The bite of a valaket in its natural form inflicts minimal damage, but curses the victim to begin randomly changing and warping painfully, with limbs altering length and basic shape randomly and to crippling effect. Corporeal Flux, Bite – injury, save Fort DC 13; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds, effect staggered and sickened; cure 2 consecutive saves. The save DC is Wisdom based and has a +2 racial bonus. While the condition progresses much like a poison, it is not a toxin, and requires a remove curse or break enchantment to end prematurely, although it will not affect a person protected by a magic circle vs. chaos or protection from chaos effect, so long as the subject remains within the protection until the condition has faded.
Amorphous Anatomy (Ex) A valaket’s organs shift and transform as it moves, granting the creature a 50% chance to ignore the extra damage scored by a critical hit or sneak attack. A protean automatically recovers from physical blindness or deafness after 1 round by growing new sensory organs to replace those that were compromised.
Valaket resemble serpentine rivulets of shimmering multicolored fluid, their diamond-shaped scales metallic and glistening like liquid mercury, but with a multitude of soft colors playing down their length. In their native state, small incomprehensible glyphs circle their ‘head,’ and they swirl around upon themselves in mid-air, unable to remain still, ever circling upon themselves, even at rest or when asleep, stopping their endless dance only in death.
When a valaket assumes the form of some animal, the glyphs subsume into the creatures new form, but are always manifest as a differently colored pattern of fur, scale or feathers, generally on the rear or front torso or spread across the wings, allowing a perceptive onlooker to recognize the creature, no matter what form it takes.
Despite their form, valaket show an uncanny proficiency with rendering complicated mechanisms unworkable, and can make use of the disable device skill with no penalties for lack of tools (or limbs!).
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That leaves another LN (inevitable), small Hellcats (why not, we already have small Hell Hounds), some sort of CG mini-Azata and some pure Neutral critter (perhaps a Boneyard spirit guide, perhaps a 'wise animal', perhaps a capricious fey from the First World) to go.
And, yanno, rewriting all of these so that they aren't so annoyingly riddled with boneheaded errors! Grr. Argh.
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Recent chatter about WotC IP conversions, such as Mind Flayers, Beholders, etc. reminded me of this critter, which was thrown together as an idea of how you could put a 'beholder' into the Golarion setting both organically and without ripping off someone elses ideas.
Instead of making a straight Beholder clone, take whatever aspects of the Eye Tyrants interest you and incorporate them into a Golarion specific, but radically different creature like so;
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Called forth by the cults of Groteus on moonless nights, Oblivion’s Eye is regarded as the herald of annihilation, and precious and unique items are brought before the Eye to be sacrificed to oblivion. Living sacrifices are also made annually, and each must be a singular individual, the best or brightest or most beautiful person of their sort in the land, with master craftsmen famous for unique skills, and talented vocalists renowned for their ethereal voices sought out to be kidnapped and sacrificed to Oblivion’s Eye on these nights. After accepting whatever sacrifices are to be made to Groetus, Oblivion's Eye wanders, destroying all that its baleful gaze falls upon, until the dawn comes or it is destroyed a more powerful force.
Oblivion’s Eye hovers unblinking before you, a throbbing unwholesome meter and a half diameter grey-white eyeball, with a violet iris mixed with orange patterns reminiscent of an aura of flames radiating out from the jet black pupil.
Oblivion’s Eye CR XX
XP XX
NE Medium Aberration
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +11
Aura aura of corruption
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DEFENSE_______________________________________
AC 15, touch 10, flat-footed 15 (+5 natural)
hp 76 (8d8+32 +8)
Fort +6, Ref +2, Will +9
DR 10/magic; partial incorporeality; Immune mind-affecting effects, polymorph, suffocation; Resist Cold 10, Electricity 10
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OFFENSE________________________________________
Speed fly 20 ft. (perfect)
Melee none
Special Attacks gaze of dissolution, cry from beyond, lashing tendril
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STATISTICS______________________________________
Str 11, Dex 10, Con 19, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 15
Base Atk +6; CMB +6, CMD 10
Feats Improved Initiative (B), Hover, Skill Focus (perception), Toughness
Skills Acrobatics 0 (+0), Climb (+0), Escape Artist 0 (+0), Fly 8 (+11), Intimidate 0 (+2), Knowledge (one of; arcana, dungeoneering, history, nature, the planes or religion) 8 (+11), Perception 8 (+14), Spellcraft 8 (+11), Stealth 0 (+0), Survival 0 (+3), Swim 0 (+0)
Languages Abyssal
Special Qualities instinctive counterspell, aura of corruption
Gear none
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ECOLOGY_______________________________________
Environment any
Organization solitary
Treasure none
Special Abilities
Gaze of Dissolution (Su): As a standard action, the creature can cause it’s dark pupil to bulge inwards and rupture, unleashing a cold wind that carries tiny black motes of swarming darkness that swarm around like insects, striking a single target within 60 ft. as a disintegrate spell at CL 8. The swarming black motes dance around the subject and then are sucked back into the iris of Oblivion’s Eye. Once it has unleashed this attack, it must wait 1d4 rounds before it can repeat this action.
Cry from Beyond (Su): As a standard action it can pulse unnaturally, its entire surface strumming and vibrating sickeningly, producing a throbbing sound that functions as a shout spell, also at CL 8.
Instinctive Counterspell (Su): As a free action, once per round, it can cast greater dispel magic at CL 8, and it can use this ability to counterspell an incoming hostile effect, even if it has not delayed to take the counterspell action. As it can only perform this action once in a round, multiple spells can overwhelm this instinctive defense. If it counters a spell of less than 3rd level, Oblivion’s Eye can choose to turn the spell back upon its caster, as if Oblivion’s Eye had cast the spell in question, for determining range and effect.
Aura of Corruption (Su): The unnatural aura that surrounds Oblivion’s Eye causes all natural animals to immediately flee, if it approaches within 30 ft. of them, and any creature that remains within its presence at the end of a round takes damage. Those ending their turn within 30 ft. suffer 1d6 damage, those within 20 ft. suffer 1d3 damage and those within 21 to 30 ft. suffer a single point of damage. Even if a living creature leaves the area, the damage recurs thereafter as bleed damage unless treated, as the toxic exposure to Oblivion’s Eye continues to rot the afflicted creature from within. Unliving creatures, and unattended objects, suffer the initial damage, and additional damage for each additional round spent in the presence of the Eye, but do not suffer any form of bleed damage. This damage bypasses any form of energy resistance, damage reduction or object hardness, and Oblivion’s Eye can slowly bore through stone using just this aura, without resorting to its shout or disintegrate spell-like abilities.
Lashing Tendril (Ex): Behind Oblivion’s Eye, a lashing grey tendril whips around furiously, as if propelling the eye with its frenzied flagellations. Anyone standing in the square directly behind the Eye is struck this tendril, which inflicts 2d6 slashing damage that ignores hardness and damage reduction of all sorts. Oblivion’s Eye never uses this tendril as a deliberate attack, but it automatically strikes any who enter the square directly behind the creatures facing.
Partial Incorporeality (Su): Oblivion’s Eye is not made of earthly material, and is treated as being ‘partially incorporeal,’ so that any physical attack has a 20% chance of failing to harm it, including weapon attacks (whether from magical weapons or mundane ones), acid, boulders, the natural weapons of monsters or other physically damaging effects, such as falling hail or the rubble from an avalanche. Affects that fail to penetrate this unearthly defense do not seem to pass through the creature, so much as shudder around it, avoiding contact with its form, or even, in some cases, splashing harmlessly off of it as if the solid striking force was liquid, reforming after failing to injure the creature to its solid state. Energy effects, whether force, fire, electricity or cold, bypass this partial incorporeality and affect the creature normally.
While wingless, Oblivion’s Eye causes a disruption when flying, distorting and shuddering the air in its wake, and is capable of stirring up a cloud of debris via the Hover feat, as if possessed of wings.
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Obviously, I picked 'floating man-sized eyeball that does horrible magical things to you' as my base point here. The creature is a singular aspect of an 'Old God' called up for ritual sacrifices, not a race of aberrations, but has the same basic form and function in an encounter, down to being hard to beat with magic, and having deadly 'gaze' related abilities.
If I instead wanted a race that aped the basic personality and nature of the beholders, I could instead have made a humanoid race with innate sorcerous abilities that stored spells in glyphs painted upon their skin. Same powers as a Beholder, more or less, but a radically different form. I could even have differing 'tribes' of these humanoids hate each other with a great passion, perhaps looking identical to outside viewers (unlike the warring racist Beholder factions), and only being remarkable in that they use different glyph-languages, and consider their own personal language to be the true 'words of creation,' and all different magical glyph-tattooed membered of their species to be defilers and corrupters of the pure language primeval or whatever. In this case, they would have similar powers, personalities and societies to Beholders, but look nothing like them, being just tattoed humanoids, to the naked eye.
This sort of thing, IMO, is more interesting than just making a straight conversion of a floating aberration that shoots 10 specific spells at you from its ten eyestalks.
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Ooh, I have a thread. I must post to it!
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Serpentfolk as a PC race;
Savage Serpentfolk Racial traits
+2 Dexterity, -2 Intelligence: Savage Serpentfolk move with sinuous grace, but their degenerate conditions and the consumption of certain unwholesome substances over many generations has damaged their reasoning.
Medium: Serpentfolk are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size
Normal Speed: Serpentfolk have a base speed of 30 ft.
Low-Light Vision: Serpentfolk can see twice as far in conditions of dim light. See PFRPG Chapter 7.
Serpentfolk Immunities: Serpentfolk have a +2 racial bonus to saves vs. poison.
Thick Scaled: The green and brown scales of a Savage Serpentfolk provide them with a +1 Natural Armor bonus.
Natural Weapons: Savage Serpentfolk can bite as a primary attack (or as a secondary attack, in conjunction with a melee attack), causing 1d4 piercing damage and injecting venom, if they so choose.
Savage Serpentfolk Poison (Ex) Bite – injury; save Fort DC 10 + ½ HD + Con bonus), frequency 1 / round for 4 rounds; effect 1d2 Dexterity damage; cure 1 save. The save DC is Constitution-based. After a serpentfolk has poisoned a foe, it takes 1 hour to replenish its charge of venom.
Flexible Frame: Serpentfolk gain a +2 racial bonus to Escape Artist checks due to their slender bodies and flexible joints. Their sinuous forms and flicking tails also give them a +2 racial bonus to Swim checks and to their CMD to resist Trip attempts.
Keen Senses: Serpentfolk have a +2 racial bonus to Perception checks, or to Survival checks to track, thanks to their keen sense of smell
Weapon Familiarity: Savage Serpentfolk are proficient with scimitars and whips, and treat any weapon with the word “serpentfolk” in its name as a martial weapon.
Languages: Savage Serpentfolk begin play speaking only Aklo. Those with an unusually high Intelligence may also choose from the following; Canto, Common and Undercommon.
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Special Traits
Jade Armor – Your scales have taken on a slight luster, and grown thicker, granting you a +1 to your Natural Armor bonus.
Special Feats
Green Steel Mail – Your scales now glisten like jade-green metal, and provide an additional +1 Natural Armor bonus.
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The smarter of the two Serpentfolk castes;
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Advanced Serpentfolk Racial traits
+2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, -2 Strength: Advanced Serpentfolk share the grace of their primitive cousins, and possess a commanding presence, but are even slighter of build, and not as physically powerful.
Medium: Serpentfolk are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size
Normal Speed: Serpentfolk have a base speed of 30 ft.
Low-Light Vision: Serpentfolk can see twice as far in conditions of dim light. See PFRPG Chapter 7.
Serpentfolk Immunities: Serpentfolk have a +2 racial bonus to saves vs. poison.
Thin Scaled: The green and brown scales of a Savage Serpentfolk are not sufficient to provide them with a Natural Armor bonus, but they remain eligible for Serpentfolk-specific Feats or Traits that enhance the thickness and protective ability of their scales.
Shed Skin: Advanced Serpentfolk can shed their skin;
At 1 HD, a Civilized Serpent Folk can assume a single Medium sized Humanoid form (which usually appears as a hairless elf, orc or human) after an hour of ‘shedding his skin.’ It takes eight hours to grow his scaly hide back. If he possesses any Feats or Traits that enhance the protective value of his scales, they do not apply when he has shed his skin.
At 2 HD, it takes only 10 minutes to shed his skin, and an hour to return to normal, and he can slightly alter the features of the humanoid form, giving him a +5 racial bonus to Disguise checks.
At 4 HD, he can shed his skin in only 1 minute, and takes only 10 minutes to return to normal.
At 6 HD, the power is fully mature and the Serpent Folk can slither out of his skin as a full-round action, and can assume a range of Humanoid forms of Medium size, even replicating a creatures voice, gaining a +10 racial bonus to Disguise checks, and being able to resume his reptilian appearance (and any protective benefit from his scales) as a full-round action.
Natural Weapons: Advanced Serpentfolk can bite as a primary attack (or as a secondary attack, in conjunction with a melee attack), causing 1d3 piercing damage and injecting venom, if they so choose.
Advanced Serpentfolk Poison (Ex) Bite – injury; save Fort DC 10 + ½ HD + Con bonus), frequency 1 / round for 4 rounds; effect 1d2 Wisdom damage; cure 1 save. The save DC is Constitution-based. After a serpentfolk has poisoned a foe, it takes 1 hour to replenish its charge of venom.
Unnaturally Slender: Serpentfolk can partially collapse their already slender bodies. Treat a Serpentfolk as one size class smaller for the purposes of squeezing through narrow spaces, so long as they are not wearing inflexible armor (breastplate or any heavy armor). Serpentfolk have a +2 racial bonus to Escape Artist checks, Swim checks and to their CMD to avoid Trip attacks.
Weapon Familiarity: Advanced Serpentfolk treat whips or any weapon with the word “serpentfolk” in its name as a martial weapon.
Languages: Advanced Serpentfolk begin play speaking Aklo and Undercommon. Serpentfolk with high Intelligence scores can pick from the following; Azlanti, Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Hallit, Necril, Orc, Polyglot, Skald or Osirioni.
Special Serpentfolk feats (note that PC Advanced Serpentfolk can take the Trait in the previous post, and any Advanced Serpentfolk can take the Green Scale Mail Feat);
Natural Shapeshifter – Upon reaching 6 HD, a Serpentfolk can learn this feat, gaining the Shapeshifter subtype, and becoming able to retain the properties of his armored scales (if any) while in the form of any humanoid that also has natural armor, up to the amount that this creature would have. (For instance, if a Serpentfolk with both the Jade Armor trait and the Green Steel Mail feat assumed the form of a Gnoll, a creature that only has natural armor +1, he would only benefit from a +1 natural armor bonus. If he took the form of a lizardfolk, with a +5 natural armor bonus, he would not be able to benefit from natural armor bonus higher than his own +2.) In the form of any humanoid of his size with natural weaponry, the Serpentfolk becomes able to use that natural weaponry, and gains up to 30 ft. of Swim speed, if appropriate. No other movement types or special qualities can be assumed in this form, and the serpentfolk does not gain the ability to breath underwater.
Size Shifter – A Serpentfolk with this feat gains the ability to transform into humanoids of up to one size class smaller, or one size class larger than his base form with his Shed Skin ability. Prereq: Natural Shapeshifter feat.
Random other thoughts;
Serpent Folk prefer to wear articulated armor, never wearing something as bulky and inflexible as full plate. They also prefer to use curved blades (scimitars, falchions, kukri) or flexible weapons (flails, whips, chains). Savages are less likely to be able to afford better weapons, and might be forced to use javelins, spears and daggers, regarding piercing weapons as acceptable substitutes if curved blades or flexible weapons are not available.
Exotic Weapons;
Serpentfolk Throwing Blade – stats as a throwing axe, but with a x3 crit multiplier instead of a x2.
Serpentfolk Throwing Iron – 8 lb. version of the Throwing Blade, inflicts 1d8 S (crit x3) damage normally, or, if thrown as a full-round action with both arms, 2d6 S (crit x3) damage.
Serpentfolk Steel Tongue – exactly as an Urumi, PFCCS p 209-211.
Serpentfolk Blade Thrower – special club that can be used as a club (but has spikes on the end and does B/P like a morning star), but whose true function is when the club is reversed and a throwing blade (but NOT a throwing iron!) is slotted into the groove on that side as a move-equivalent action (that provokes an attack of opportunity), allowing one to hurl a throwing blade twice as far as normal and with greater force (2d4 S instead of 1d6). Unlike a club, the Blade Thrower itself cannot be thrown.
Great Stuff!
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Some not-so-random new magical weapon properties.
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New +1 weapon enhancements;
Alkaline: Upon command, an alkaline weapon is coated in a viscous corrosive agent that sloughs off on any target struck, inflicting +1d6 Acid damage on a successful hit. This acid does not affect the weapon or its wielder. The effect remains until another command is given.
Moderate evocation; CL 8th; Craft Magic Arms & Armor, acid arrow; Price +1 bonus
Caustic Burst: A caustic burst weapon functions as an alkaline weapon that also discharges a splash of acid upon a successful critical hit. The acid does not damage the weapon or its wielder. In addition to the extra acid damage from the alkaline ability, the caustic burst weapon deals an addition +1d10 of acid damage on a successful critical hit. If the weapon’s critical modifier is x3, add an extra 2d10 points of acid damage instead, and if the multiplier is x4, add an extra 3d10 points of acid damage instead.
Strong evocation; CL 12th; Craft Magic Arms & Armor, acid fog; Price +2 bonus.
Howling: Upon command, a howling weapon begins vibrating and emitting a low howl, like wind through trees, which rises to a bone-rattling shriek when it strikes a target, inflicting +1d6 sonic damage on a successful hit. This sound does not affect the weapon or its wielder. The effect remains until another command is given.
Moderate evocation; CL 8th; Craft Magic Arms & Armor, sound burst or shatter; Price +1 bonus
Cacophonous Burst: A cacophonous burst weapon functions as a howling weapon that also produces a discordant burst of damaging sound upon a successful critical hit. This sound does not damage the weapon or its wielder. In addition to the extra sonic damage from the howling ability, the cacophonous burst weapon deals an addition +1d10 of sonic damage on a successful critical hit. If the weapon’s critical modifier is x3, add an extra 2d10 points of sonic damage instead, and if the multiplier is x4, add an extra 3d10 points of sonic damage instead.
Strong evocation; CL 12th; Craft Magic Arms & Armor, shout; Price +2 bonus.
New +500 gp. weapon enhancements
Fiery – the weapon grows warm when used in battle and emits a tongue of flame when it strikes a target, inflicting +1 hit point of fire damage. This property can be stacked with the flaming or flaming burst properties, but not with any other energy enhancement (such as icy burst or shock).
Weak evocation; CL 5th; Craft Magic Arms & Armor, burning hands or cantrip level fire effect; Price +500 gp
Solvent – the weapon has a greenish cast to it when used in battle and has a bitter smell. When it strikes a target, a small quantity of acid is transferred to the target, inflicting +1 hit point of acid damage. This property can be stacked with the alkaline or caustic burst properties, but not with any other energy enhancement (such as flaming or shock burst).
Weak conjuration; CL 5th; Craft Magic Arms & Armor, acid splash; Price +500 gp
Icy – the weapon is cold to the touch and patterns of frost spider along the blade and cold mist follows its arc in combat. When it strikes a target, a blast of cold inflicts +1 hit point of cold damage. This property can be stacked with frost or icy burst, but not any other energy enhancement (such as shock or flaming burst).
Weak evocation; CL 5th; Craft Magic Arms & Armor, ray of frost; Price +500 gp
Spark – this weapon smells of ozone and tingles to the touch, producing a buzzing sound when it is used in combat and shooting off sparks of electricity when it strikes a target. This inflicts +1 hit point of electrical damage, and this property can be stacked with shock or shocking burst, but not other energy enhancements such as frost or flaming burst).
Weak evocation; CL 5th; Craft Magic Arms & Armor, shocking grasp or cantrip-level electrical effect; Price +500 gp
Moaning – this weapon produces a low vibrating moan as it rips through the air, which creates a destructive sonic resonance when it hits, inflicting +1 hit point of sonic damage. This property can be stacked with the howling, thundering or cacophonous burst properties, but not other energy enhancements such as flaming or icy burst.
Weak evocation; CL 5th; Craft Magic Arms & Armor, shatter or cantrip-level sonic effect; Price +500 gp
Each of these enhancements cost 500 gp to add to a weapon, and the weapon need not already have a +1 enhancement bonus, but must be Masterwork.
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A pair of Sorcerer Bloodlines;
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Aranea
Through some unwholesome experimentation you try your best not to think about, the alien qualities of the spiderfolk have become interwoven with your blood and soul.
Class Skill: Climb.
Bonus Spells: charm person (3rd), web (5th), hold person (7th), black tentacles (9th), dominate person (11th), veil (13th), mass hold person (15th), screen (17th) and mass hold monster (19th)
Bonus Feats: Agile Maneuvers, Improved Grapple, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Skill Focus (climb), Spell Focus (enchantment), Spell Focus (illusion), Weapon Finesse
Bloodline Arcana: Whenever you cast a spell of the Enchantment or Illusion schools, you are treated as if being both one caster level and one Hit Die higher than you are. Whenever you cast a spell with the Fire descriptor, you reduce your caster level by one (which, at 1st level, makes you incapable of casting burning hands, for instance). Additionally, your mind-affecting spells function unimpeded on mindless spiders, but not only any other sort of mindless vermin.
Bloodline Powers: The alien traits nesting within your flesh continue to grow as your magical talents expand, resulting in several arachnid abilities.
Ensnaring Web (Sp): Starting at 1st level, you can take a standard action hurl a tangled mass of spider web at a single target within 30 ft. as a ranged touch attack. This is similar to an attack with a net, and is effective against targets up to size Large. An entangled creature can escape with a successful Escape Artist check or burst the web with a Strength check. Both are standard actions with a DC equal to 10 + ½ your Sorcerer level + your Charisma modifier. Attempts to burst a web by those caught in it suffer a -4 penalty. You can throw webbing in this manner a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier.
Arachnid Physiology (Ex): At 3rd level, your body undergoes subtle changes that are not distinctive enough to warrant attention, but combine to give you a +2 bonus to Perception checks, +1 Natural Armor and a Climb Speed equal to half ground move (like all creatures with a Climb speed, you gain a +8 racial bonus to Climb checks and can always take 10 on a Climb check, even if threatened or distracted).
Venomous Bite (Ex): At 9th level, you gain the ability to make a poisonous bite attack that counts as an armed attack and inflicts 1d6 piercing + ½ Str bonus as a secondary weapon at -5 to hit or 1d6 P + 1.5x Str bonus as a primary attack at your full attack bonus. Poison (Ex) Bite – injury; save Fort DC (10 + your Cha modifier + ½ your Sorcerer level); frequency 1/round for rounds equal to your Charisma modifier; effect 1d2 Strength damage; cure 1 save. You can make this attack Cha mod + 3 times / day. This venom cannot be extracted for other usage, and your venom-dripping mandibles only appear during these attack actions, otherwise melting away into your regular facial features.
Call of the Web (Sp): At 15th level, you gain the ability to use summon monster VII as a spell-like ability to summon a single Bebilith and to cast summon monster V to summon 1d4+1 Giant Spiders as a spell-like ability a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier +3. You add your Charisma modifier to your caster level to determine the duration of these spell-like abilities, and the creatures summoned follow your mental commands, even if you do not share a language with them. These spell-like abilities require a Standard action to evoke, and you only require a free action to mentally command these creatures.
Metamorphosis (Su): A 20th level, your transformation is complete, and while you still appear as your previous race, your solid black eyes grant you 60 ft. darkvision and low-light vision, and the change to your body and soul confer a +2 inherent bonus to both Dexterity and Charisma. At will, as a standard action, you can Change Shape into an Aranea (+4 Dex, +4 Con, web) or Giant Spider (+6 Dex, +2 Con, web), and the webbing you produce in these forms does not decay like that of your Ensnaring Webs. You become immune to spells like charm person, dominate person and hold person, as if you were a Monstrous Humanoid (but do not gain other benefits of that creature Type), and you can choose to return to your own form, ending any unwanted polymorph effect, such as from a baleful polymorph or polymorph any object spell, upon yourself as a free action on your turn.
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Plague-Bearer
Drawing upon the pestilent teachings of the most unclean, Chern, the last sickeness and suffering, you see a healthy body as weakness not yet realized.
Class Skill: Heal
Bonus Spells: chill touch (3rd), summon swarm (5th), stinking cloud (7th), contagion (9th), cloudkill (11th), create undead (13th), insanity (15th), finger of death (17th), energy drain (19th)
Bonus Feats: Endurance, Great Fortitude, Toughness, other crap...
Bloodline Arcana: Whenever you cast a spell that would inflict disease, ability damage / drain, energy drain or confer a temporary penalty to an ability score, you can increase the casting to a full round action to add +2 DC to the save. This bonus stacks with the effects of Spell Focus.
Bloodline Powers: Biddy boop, flavor text, rhubarb.
Ray of Palsy (Sp): Starting at 1st level, you can fire a pale ray as a standard action targeting any foe within 30 ft. as a ranged touch attack that causes the target to be Fatigued for one round per two sorcerer levels you possess. You can use this ability a number of times equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier.
Perverse Metabolism (Su): At 3rd level, whenever you afflicted a foe with any form of disease, ability damage, or a temporary penalty to an ability score through the use of sorcerer spell or bloodline power, you gain an enhancement bonus equal to any ability penalty inflicted for the duration of the effect, or 1 hour, whichever is least. These bonuses do not stack with themselves or any other source of enhancement bonuses. Additionally, if you inflict negative levels upon another, or inflict the fatigued, sickened, nauseated or exhausted condition through the use of sorcerer spell or bloodline power, any similar effect on your is mitigated by that amount for the duration of the impairment or 1 hour, whichever is least.
Plague-Caller (Su): At 9th level, any creatures you summon that normally have a disease-bearing attack (summon swarm – rats, summon monster I – dire rat, etc.) gain a +2 bonus to the DCs of their disease attacks, and the effects strike immediately, as if their target had been the subject of a contagion spell. Any fiendish animal you summon with a summon monster spell is infected with filth fever and becomes rabid, gaining the rage quality, while any actual fiends you summon are infected with demon fever or devil chills, as appropriate, but these creatures do not benefit from the previous benefits, as they do not normally possess disease attacks. Your perverse metabolism does not benefit from any diseases passed on by your summoned creatures.
Festering Transformation (Su): At 15th level, you can dissolve into a swarm of bats, rats or spiders, as per the summon swarm spell, retaining your full hit points, but otherwise being treated as the appropriate swarm for all effects for 1 minute per sorcerer level. These minutes do not need to be consecutive, but each use expends one minute of the effects duration, even if you choose to resume your form earlier.
Avatar of the Plague (Su): At 20th level you become an avatar of contagion, gaining DR 5/- and becoming immune to all disease and the distraction effect of swarms. You can convert any of your sorcerer spell slots of 3rd level or higher to contagion, and if the slot expended is of a higher level, the contagion is treated as if it was heightened to the level of the spell slot expended.
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Some familiars that are less 'improved' and more fancy animals;
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Glass Falcons were once more common in Taldor, but their numbers have never recovered from certain fads involving their feathers and hides. They are now most common in the Fog Peaks, bordering Galt, as a result.
A Glass Falcon is similar in size and build to a regular Hawk, but their feathers, flesh and skin are translucent, leaving only their bones and some of their organs (such as their blue heart muscle, grayish-pink lungs and lighter pink stomach and intestines) clearly visible. At a distance, they are harder to see, and as they come closer, they could easily be mistaken for some form of undead, due to the visibility of their skeleton.
It is believed that their translucent flesh makes it harder for prey to spot them (or aerial predators, for that matter), and makes their shadow upon the ground less noticeable, but in Taldor, such scholarly concerns fall by the wayside, as the long pinion feathers and the two prominent tail feathers of the Glass Falcon's V-shaped tail are widely sought after by arcanists and nobles, due to their distinctive translucent quality. Even in these days, with Glass Falcon items fallen somewhat out of favor, a Glass Falcon quill can command upwards of 5 gold pieces (only the two longest wing feathers are so prized, with the two longest tail feathers only worth a couple of gold, at best). Some attempted to harvest the feathers from captured specimens, only to discover that one plucked of it's two prominent wing feathers could only fly 20 ft. (clumsy) and had to land between each 'flight.' Falcons so plucked ceased to eat and died within a day, due to their high metabolism. (Those plucked of their two prominent tail feathers, of lesser value, dropped to clumsy maneuverability and lost the benefits of their erratic flight style, but did not lose the ability to fly, or their will to live.)
But it was not the demand for their feathers that drove the beast near to extinction, but for their hide, when it was discovered that if the hide was removed within 10 minutes of the animal's death, and properly cured soon thereafter, the skin itself would remain translucent. The finest ladies were soon seen at court wearing delicate gloves of Glass-Leather, which appeared as a shimmering sheen over their skin, made to look supple and oiled by the covering. Becoming all the rage, Glass Falcons were culled from the sky in great numbers, and the populations along the Worlds Edge Mountains were devastated, never to recover.
Fortunately for the Glass Falcon, the fad passed, and gloves of translucent falcon-leather are now derisively referred to as 'sausage casings' by the elite.
Glass Falcons are known not only for their unique flesh (which darkens within a few moments of their death, and is oily and bitter to the taste in any event), but for their erratic and 'jittery' flight style, darting and banking sharply, using their crescent-shaped tail to produce a unique and hard to target style in flight, more reminiscent of that of a bat than any bird. Glass Falcons have an unusually high metabolism, even for a bird of prey, and devour a large number of smaller birds, larger insects, bats and similar prey in the course of a single day, being in danger of starving to death during the night, if they do not acquire enough food during the day.
Statistically, a Glass Falcon uses Hawk statistics, with the following modifications. -10 ft. flying speed. Treat as size Diminutive to target, due to it's translucent flesh (+4 size bonus to AC, rather than +2, as a smaller percentage of it's body is visible), and any ranged attack on a Glass Falcon suffers from a 20% miss chance, due to its erratic flight style.
As a Familiar, a Glass Falcon confers it's master a +1 dodge bonus to Armor Class.
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From Qadira, the Iron Rukh. Stats as a Hawk, with the following modifications, -2 Dex, +2 Str, +1 natural armor, 50 ft. fly speed. The Iron Rukh has feathers of a dull grey tinged with rust-red at the edges, and it's beak and claws contain traces of iron. It hunts like many other raptors, but drains the blood of prey before devouring it's flesh, filtering the richest portions of the blood within itself and layering a sediment of iron upon it's hollow bones, making it marginally tougher (if less swift on the wing), and giving it's beak and talons the appearance of rusting iron. When an Iron Rukh strikes, it produces a sound within it's gullet reminiscent of a thunderclap, that is believed to stun and disorient the small game it feeds upon, although the only notable affect is that it deafens larger targets momentarily. (Fort DC 12, Con-based, includes a +2 racial bonus, target struck is deafened for 1 round if it fails the save.) The iron in their bodies gives an Iron Rukh a keen sense of direction, and they receive a +8 racial bonus to Survival checks to avoid getting lost. The nomadic tribesmen of the Qadiran deserts admire the Iron Rukh for it's stark features and reputed untameable nature, considering it a creature of the storm. Well not 'untameable,' Iron Rukhs use the good save column for Will saves, and Handle Animal / Wild Empathy checks on one are made at +2 to the DC. Iron Rukhs do not breed in captivity.
As a familiar, an Iron Rukh confers a +1 to saves against mind-affecting effects, and a +4 bonus to Survival checks to avoid getting lost.
The Great Rukh is a larger version of the Iron Rukh. A Magical Beast, the Great Rukh is the size of an Eagle, and has similar stats, with the following modifications; +2 Con, +1 NA, No bite attack. As it flies, the Great Rukhs iron-infused feathers pick up a powerful static charge from the desert skies, so that on the first strike it makes on a landbound foe, it's talons inflict an additional 1d6 Electrical damage. Once this energy is discharged, it takes 10 minutes of flight for the Great Rukh to build up a new charge. In addition to this special attack, the Great Rukh also produces a sound like a thunderclap when it strikes, although this effect is greatly increased in effect, affecting a 15 ft. diameter area centered on the point of impact (generally a medium target and all adjacent squares), requiring a Fort save DC 14 (Con-based, +2 racial bonus) to avoid 1 minute of deafness. A Great Rukh shares the survival bonus and 'untameable' qualities (and reputation) of their smaller cousins.
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Based off of this thread, Special Materials of Golarion.
Random special material notions that bounced around my head after reading the original idea;
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Soulsteel - Something like Baatorian Green Steel, crafted by Asmodeus from the souls of the wicked, a black metal in which one can see a shimmering white play of spiritual energies and, if pressed to the ear, faintly hear the moaning of trapped souls. It's the currency of the Hells, and only Asmodeus knows the secret of it's crafting, although he sub-contracts it's shaping and distribution out to Dispater and Mammon, keeping them pitted against each other ('cause he's sneaky like that). Might have certain bonuses when worked into items related to necromancy, binding, imprisonment, mind control, etc.
Crystallized Hatred aka Blood Tears - It is said that when a woman is scorned by a man, her angry tears as she vows vengeance leave a salty taste on the smiling lips of Calistria. Within her realm, the Savored Sting has formed crystals, at first yellow like amber, but later ruddy-orange, their potential only realized when such a woman has taken bloody vengeance with her own hands. These crystals are sometimes given to priestesses of the goddess of vengeance, and have properties associated with rage, hatred and the taking of vengeance. Calistria's clergy waves off any suggestion that this material is in any way related to the material known as 'the Bars of the Beast' in Qadira and Casmaron.
Star Amber - Said by some to be fallen from the stars, these stones are sacred to the faithful of Desna, and are both dark and translucent, like blackened glass. Within them, small alien creatures can be seen, trapped, as in amber, with some stones having multiple smaller creatures of similar type, and others a single larger different alien form, generally of insectoid or vermiform nature. Whatever their form, these creatures respond to tapping on the stone, or the presence of darkness around them by shedding candlelight intensity light. Star Amber is prized in summoning or planar binding magics, particularly those variations used to call down creatures from the outer reaches of the material realm, such as Akatas, as well as to craft items that conjure light or darkness.
Struck Steel - Scavenged from battlefields where Gorum is purported to have fought, these spiked and twisted scraps of metal are re-forged into the finest Gorumite armor. Whether or not there is any truth to it's divine provenance, the metal armor responds well to magics associated with war, bloodlust and martial strength. Armor spikes or spiked gauntlets fashioned from struck steel automatically inflict 1 hit point of bleed damage for rounds equal to their base damage die (1d6 rounds for medium armor spikes, 1d4 rounds for spiked gauntlets). Struck steel weapons are particularly good at sundering other materials, ignoring a certain amount of object hardness, based on weapon size. (1 for tiny, 2 for small, 3 for medium, 4 for large, 5 for larger sizes.)
Smokeless Fire - The dervishes of Sarenrae sometimes carry scripture-inscribed scimitars that appear to be of blazing brass, but are feather-light and harder than steel. They claim that genies in service to the Morning Glory craft these items, and decorate them with amber stones that store the light of the sun and glow with candlelight intensity all night long. More rarely, some other item of 'smokeless fire' will be seen, such as a lamp or coffee pot. Even clothing can be made from the substance, shimmering like gilt silk, ever stainless. Cloth items made from smokeless fire provide the armor protection of cloth armor, but carries no armor check penalty and has no maximum dexterity bonus, allowing it to be worn by spellcasters without penalty.
Bone Oboli - A bone obolus is a unit of exchange used by the courts of Pharasma, and could be a fingerbone, a tooth or even a vertebrae (each having different values, and no more than one coming from any one decedent). The clergy of Pharasma, particularly in Osirion, have taken to emulating this means of exchange, choosing a single bone from each of their own that is buried in their vaults, and using that as a focus for necromantic magic, with the most common use to fashion items that provide false life a single time to the user, purportedly calling upon the spirit of the deceased to shield the bearer from harm. Such items are sometimes gifted to loved ones of the departed, such as widowed spouses or orphaned children, so that their loved one can still protect them in times of great danger. More commonly, amongst themselves, the clergy use magically-potent bone oboli as focusses to speak with the departed, with the magical enhancement allowing them to forgoe the normal requirements of an intact body. Such oboli can also be used as payments to creatures summoned from Pharasma's realm via spells like Planar Binding.
Bars of the Beast - These slivers of stone are said to have been broken off of the Prison of Rovagug, shaken loose by his fury. The stone is usually a jagged shard, often usable as an arrowhead or even dagger (for the larger pieces), and synergizes well with contradictory magics of destruction and emotional fury and yet also restraint and imprisonment. As long as a jagged edge of this substance remains within the flesh of another, they suffer the effects of a slow spell (as well as experiencing a sensation of being shackled, and being filled with a sensation of undirected rage), and hooked metal barbs are often placed directly behind an arrowhead of such stone, to make it difficult to remove without further damage. This substance may be the exact same substance as Crystalized Hatred, above, only with an alternate 'explanation' for its nature.
Skystone - These blue crystals are found around the sites of some meteor impacts, particularly those associated with Earthfall. Said to be blessed by Nethys by some, said to be fallen from the sky by others, the crystals are the result of items (or persons) of magic being obliterated by the falling 'stars,' with their magic seeping into the ground around them, forming these blue crystals from the blasted earth itself. While the stones themselves do not hold any true power, they are well-suited to absorbing and storing magic for a limited time, somewhat like a spell storing item, but without magical craftsmanship required. A dagger sized shard of skystone can store a single 1st level spell for 24 hours, and, with no magical enhancement at all, a wizard could imbue a shocking grasp within such a blade and discharge the spell later as part of an attack (although the spell could not be discharged by someone else who does not have shocking grasp on their spell list). With modest magical enhancement, a skystone dagger could hold spells longer, and larger items of skystone may be able to hold more powerful spells, with a staff-sized chunk holding up to a third level spell. The crystals are both strong, and yet also flexible, despite their appearance, behaving more like metal than crystal, in some ways. The chuch of Nethys collects skystone, and is said to have in it's temple in Sothis the largest known piece, which has been carved into a throne-like seat that weighs over a thousand pounds and can contain magics of the highest potency.
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Just reading through Dark Markets: Katapesh and noticed the Ghul, an undead Genie, which was too sweet to not have a Sorcerer Bloodline for...
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Ghul-Touched
A formerly wondrous relationship with one of the enigmatic genie-kin has served as a conduit by which a terrible curse has passed through to you, tainting your sorcerous gifts with the gruesome characteristics of a fallen genie-turned-ghul.
. Class Skill: Survival.
. Bonus Spells: enlarge person (3rd), minor image (5th), gaseous form (7th), create food & water (9th), major creation (11th), permanent image (13th), plane shift (15th), control undead (17th) and wish (19th)
. Bonus Feats: Combat Casting, Dodge, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Spell Focus (evocation), Spell Focus (illusion), Toughness, Track
. Bloodline Arcana: You are unaffected by the damaging or negative effects of any spell you cast that has the Acid, Cold, Electricity or Fire descriptors.
. Bloodline Powers: The unnatural combination of elemental forces and necromantic energies has combined within you, twisting and ravaging your flesh, but filling it with great power, as well.
. Claws (Ex): Starting at 1st level, you can grow claws as a free action. These claws are treated as natural weapons, allowing you to make two claw attacks as a full attack action using your full base attack bonus. Each of these attacks deals 1d4 points of damage plus your Strength modifier (1d3 if you are Small). At 5th level, these claws are considered magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming DR. At 7th level, the damage increases by one step to 1d6 points of damage (1d4 if you are Small). At 11th level, these claws are also considered cold iron for the purpose of overcoming DR, and any living creature struck by them begins to bleed, losing 1 hit point per round thereafter. Multiple wounds do not result in cumulative bleed damage. A critical hit does not multiply this bleed damage. Creatures immune to critical hits are immune to this bleed damage. The bleeding can be stopped by a DC 10 Heal check. You can use your claws for a number of rounds per day equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier.
. Ghul Resistances (Su): At 3rd level, your body becomes attuned to the undead and necromantic forces of your cursed heritage, giving you Energy Resistance versus acid, cold, electricity and fire equal to half your Sorcerer level (to a maximum of 10, at 20th level), as well as an equal amount of DR vs. nonlethal damage.
. Hidden Horror (Sp/Ex): At 9th level, you gain the ability to become invisible, as if by greater invisibility, as a swift action. You can remain in this state a number of rounds per day equal to your Sorcerer level, and these rounds do not need to be consecutive. Additionally, you become immune to the paralyzing touch of ghouls or ghasts, to the effects of Ghoul Fever, and to the sickening stench of a ghast.
. Fleshly Mirage (Su): At 15th level, you gain the ability to transform into a medium hyena or a small vulture (stats as eagle) as a standard action, as a beast shape I spell. You can spend a total number of hours per day equal to your Sorcerer level in this form, and returning to your normal form is a free action. These hours do not need to be consecutive, but you always expend at least 1 hour worth of the effects duration when you assume the hyena form. At 17th level, you can assume the form of a large dire hyena, with the effects of beast shape II. At 20th level, you can assume the form of any humanoid, with the benefits and restrictions of the alter self spell.
. Assumption (Su): A 20th level, you can now alter your form into an air, earth, fire or water elemental of small or medium size with your Fleshly Mirage power, as if under the effects of elemental shape I or II. Regardless of your form, you possess 60 ft. darkvision, and can choose to ignore either the healing or damaging properties of either positive or negative energy, if you wish, as your body is suspended on the cusp of life and death. For the purposes of the Elemental Channel feat, you are treated as an elemental creature.
Ghul-Touched
Thanks for this. Absolutely going to use it. Very good idea!
Thirteen out of ten from the russian judge.
You, good sir, must be a master artisan of souls from a bygone age or else simply ... gifted. Very nice, Saxon like. ;-)
One question, though:
You can spend a total number of hours per day equal to your Sorcerer level in this form, ... but you always expend at least 1 hour worth of the effects duration when you assume the hyena form.
Don't you mean "any form"? The following power doesn't state any duration, thus inviting sneaky and rulesy players to abuse it.
Cheers.
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You, good sir, must be a master artisan of souls from a bygone age or else simply ... gifted. Very nice, Saxon like. ;-)
High praise indeed! Thanks.
One question, though:
You can spend a total number of hours per day equal to your Sorcerer level in this form, ... but you always expend at least 1 hour worth of the effects duration when you assume the hyena form.
Don't you mean "any form"? The following power doesn't state any duration, thus inviting sneaky and rulesy players to abuse it.
Cheers.
My intention was that you could spend X hours / day in an alternate form (and this was in all possible forms that could be taken, whether human, vulture, elemental or, at higher levels, humanoid), and that every time you engaged the power, to assume any of these forms, you'd burn an hours worth of the effect, even if you only remained in that form for a minute (popping into vulture form to cross a chasm, for instance). If a 20th level Ghul-Touched Sorcerer decided to swirl into 18 different humanoid forms over 18 rounds and then return to her natural form, to 'show off,' she'd have burned up 18 hours worth of her 20 hours worth of the ability.
But yeah, I sucked at explaining that, and didn't really clarify in the later mention of turning into humanoid forms similar to alter self, or elemental forms via elemental body, that they shared the same total pool of uses as the original hyena/vulture form.
Thanks for the feedback, as it just highlights what I need to make more clear. What does not kill my writing, makes it stronger!
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Watching too much Supernatural, I guess, but 'Hell Hound' is already taken, so I'll have to call them something else...
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Infernal Hunting Hounds
This relentless creature is sent up from the lower realms to track and slay those who violate their agreements with their fiendish masters. To most, they are completely invisible, but to those able to see them, they have cracked leathery black hide, through which bright red, orange and yellow skin can be seen underneath. If visible, the creatures eyes, fangs and oversized talons are glossy black and featureless, while the inside of it's mouth is the same brighter color as the cracks in it's hide, shining with a hellish radiance that is otherwise as invisible as the rest of the beast.
Infernal Hunting Hound CR ???
XP ???
Any evil Medium Magical Beast (extraplanar)
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent, see invisibility, see in darkness; Perception +5
DEFENSE
AC 15, touch 12, flat-footed 13 (+2 Dex, +3 natural)
hp 22 (3d10+6)
Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +2
DR 5/good; Resist cold 5, fire 5
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft.
Melee bite +5 (1d6+5 plus Trip), 2 claws +5 (1d4+5)
STATISTICS
Str 15, Dex 15, Con 15, Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 11
Base Atk +3; CMB +5; CMD 17 (21 vs. trip)
Feats Run, Skill Focus (Survival)
Skills Acrobatics (0) +2 (+10 jumping), Perception (1)+5, Stealth (1) +6 (+26 to someone who cannot see invisible, +46 if stationary vs. someone who can’t see invisible), Survival (1) +8 (+12 scent tracking); Racial Modifiers +4 Acrobatics when jumping, +4 Survival when tracking by scent
SQ unseen hunter, tainted blows, unnatural senses
ECOLOGY
Environment any (infernal realms)
Organization solitary, pair, or pack (4–9)
Treasure none
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Unseen Hunter (Su) An infernal hunting hound is always under the effects of greater invisibility. If this ability is countered, it resumes as a free action on the hunter’s next turn.
Tainted Blows (Su) The natural attacks of an internal hunting hound are treated as both magic and evil for the purposes of damage reduction.
Unnatural Senses (Su) An infernal hunting hound can always see invisible, and sees in darkness with the acuity of a devil.
Crowley’s Hunting Hound
As above but 6 HD, size Large, Str 19, Dex 13, Con 19, +3 natural armor over the ‘base model.’
Hey Set, shouldn't you query all this cool stuff to a publisher?
Hey Set, shouldn't you query all this cool stuff to a publisher?I'm not convinced my stuff is good enough for that, yet.
I do have some stuff that I do consider 'almost good enough' that I haven't posted, on the off chance I ever feel it is worthy of publishing. :)
Something I read once (and happen to agree with):
Don't self-edit yourself out of a query, if it not good enough an editor will tell you that, probably with a standard rejection email ;>
Don't reject yourself, let the editor do that for you.
I completely agree with Darkjoy. I think that's part of a healthy relationship with rejection letters.
At the same time I really enjoy your stuff and appreciate it. I hope you find sharing and feedback helpful. Your stuff is better than some of the stuff that gets published, but that's a left handed compliment :).
I think the biggest difference between what I've seen of yours and a commercial publication is work. The boring stuff around inspiration.
Sigurd
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Kobolds of the Kodar Mountains
Seventeen tribes of kobolds live in the mountains of northern Varisia, ranging from the nothern Lurkwood to the shores of Lake Stormunder to the southern borders of the Lands of the Linnorm Kings and Irrisen.
But this isn't about them, it's about the mountain dragons that they breed, much in the same way that humans breed fancy dogs of many different shapes, sizes and colors.
What's a mountain dragon? Oh, that's just a pretentious term for some local scavengers, what would be called a monitor lizard, in the lowlands. Your 'standard' mountain dragon, if such a thing still exists, far from the kobold territories, is essentially identical to a lowlands monitor lizard, with less skill in swimming and more in climbing. Even in the wild, they can be quite distinctive, with dull black, grew or brown hide, appearing much like the local stone and ash, but inbetween segments of scale and keratin, bright patches of yellow, orange or red hide show when the creature moves, creating the appearance of veins of magma beneath a stony surface. There's even a wildly rare albino strain, much prized by the kobold breeders.
Some basic variations, prized by their local breeders;
Great Dragons - increase to size large, with appropriate adjustments to attributes.
Lesser Dragons - decrease to size small, with appropriate adjustments to attributes (not that the Young Creature simple template would result in a schnauser-sized creature with a Str of 13, so GM adjudication may be required).
Least Dragons - popular only as decadent pets among the highest-ranking members of a particular tribe, or carried about by the breeders themselves as portable showcases of their talent, these mountain dragons have been bred down to size Tiny, again, with appropriate attributes (two applications of the Young Creature template would result in the parrot-sized creature still being stronger than a gnome, so use your own judgement when adjusting stats, or just use normal Lizard stats from the familiar listing as a guideline!).
Leaping Dragon - this breed has a +4 racial bonus to acrobatics checks to determine jumping distance, claws that inflict 1d3 damage as primary weapons and the ability to pounce. It is not as effective a climber, due to the inflexible nature of it's claws, having a climb speed of 10.
Serpentine Dragon - these sinuous adaptations can Grab on a bite, following up with a Constriction attack (1d6), and only has a 20 ft. ground speed, but a 20 ft. climb speed as well.
Chameleon Dragon - these dragons gain a +8 to Stealth checks when immobile, blending into their backgrounds and appearing as stony outcroppings.
Racing Dragon - a popular modification, the racing dragon has a 40 ft. ground move and a 20 ft. climb speed, as well as replacing Great Fortitude and Skill Focus (perception) with the Endurance and Run feats. The racing dragons are believed to have been the first true modification of the mountain dragon by the kobolds of the Kodar range, although they may have been a local accident, as their six-legged stance and reputed 'gaze attack' suggests a heady dose of basilisk in their brew. (The dreaded gaze attack functions similarly to a daze cantrip, but only affects animals of equal or less HD than the mountain dragon, with a 30 ft. range and a Will save DC 11.)
Hunting Dragon - another popular utility breed, the Hunting Dragon is skilled at Survival (and less skilled at Acrobatics), and gains a +4 racial bonus to attempts to track by scent.
Spitting Dragons - 3 + Con mod times / day as a ranged touch attack with a 10 ft. range increment, the spitting dragon can attempt to blind a target with a special venom. Blinding Spittle (Ex) spray - contact; save Fort DC 14; onset immediate; frequency 1/round for six rounds; blindness (dazzled if saved, until cured); cure 2 saves. The save DC is Constitution-based. Spitting dragons only have a 20 ft. ground speed and 10 ft. climb speed.
Belching Dragons - a number of times per day equal to the dragon's Con modifier, it can spew forth a glob of digestive acid that inflicts 1d6 acid damage as a ranged tough attack with a 10 ft. range increment. Size small belching dragons only produce 1d3 acid attacks, and size tiny dragons only stain clothing and cause irritating rashes with their otherwise harmless stomach acids.
Furious Dragons - considered a failure, as they are practically un-tameable, the furious dragon rages like a badger, and has both good Will saves and a +4 DC to Handle Animal or Wild Empathy checks to work with them.
Spiked Dragons - Shale-colored spikes of keratin act as armor spikes, allowing the spiked dragon to inflict 1d6 damage with a slam attack, or automatically to any creature it grabs, as well as providing it an additional +1 natural armor bonus. Attempts to breed a version that fling it's spikes like a manticore have failed time and again, but every generation gives it another try...
Whip Dragons - with a tail twice the length of a normal mountain dragon, the whip dragon can attempt to trip a foe within melee range, without provoking an AoO. This attempt not only can initiate a trip, but also inflicts 1d6 bludgeoning damage. Whip dragons only have a 10 ft. climb speed, as the tail hinders their ability to support themselves.
Lockjaw Dragons - this dragon uses a combination of a shorter and more powerful jaw, and specialized training to gain the Attach property of weasel, automatically grappling upon a successful bite, and inflicting bite damage every round the grapple is maintained.
Ghost Dragons - glowing with a soft white phosphorescence, due to a luminescent fungus that grows within it's skin, the ghost dragon sheds a candle-intensity light, which is thought to attract certain species of cave-dwelling fish and insects to their doom, but also makes the dragon itself easier to see and target (treat as if under the effects of faerie fire). The ghost dragon is believed to be a naturally occuring strain of mountain dragon that was found, not made, as it's 'breeder' claims. A combination of keen scent and vibrational awareness give the ghost dragon the equivalent of 30 ft. blindsense and 10 ft. blindsight, and the ghost dragon is quite sensitive to light, having the Light Sensitivity trait. Prolonged exposure to sunlight will also kill the phosphoresent fungus, and cause the creature to sicken and die in short order.
Dung Dragons - another utility breed, the dung dragon has weak claws (1d3) and all of it's attacks run the risk of infecting the target with Filth Fever. The creature itself has a +4 to Fortitude saves vs. disease or ingested poisons, and has a richly-deserved reputation for being able to survive on fodder that would sicken or kill most other creatures, being a common sight in kobold waste disposal areas and midden pits. If thoroughly cooked, the dung dragon is a valuable source of protein for subterranean kobold communities, partially recycling their owners wastes.
Coughing Dragons - a coughing dragon can discharge a foul-smelling gout of digestive vapors that cause a single adjacent target to suffer the effects of both the Sickened and Dazzled conditions for 2d4 rounds, as well as a 20% miss chance on it's own attacks for the following round, as if all foes had partial concealment.
Fire Dragons - this spectacular creature brought only shame to it's 'breeder,' who artfully used continual flame spells to attempt to create the illusion that he had bred a type of mountain dragon that had a glowing fire within it's gullet.
Barking Dragons - many years after the failure of the 'fire dragon,' a young and ambitious breeder hoped that everyone had forgotten the previous experiment, and attempted to fool his peers with a 'talking dragon,' by using a magic mouth spell. The elder and respected breeder who uncovered his fakery fed him to his own pets.
Singing Dragons - believed to be a fake, at first, this beast can hiss a tune, accompanying the sound with an eerie piping accompaniment from barnacle-like spicules on the keratin formations on its back. It is widely accepted that this was a naturally occuring mountain dragon breed, and that it's 'breeder' was simply fortunate enough to discover it. Tiny singing dragons are quite popular, nonetheless, perched on their owner's shoulder and producing a creepy sort of 'music' with their hissing. It is thought that the sound and movement of air attracts small insects, for the singing dragon to feed upon, but this is unverified.
Three-Eyed Dragons - very much known to be a 'found' beast and not one that the kobolds have bred, the three-eyed dragon has a third eye in the center of its forehead that it can open three times a day, allowing it to 'take 20' on any single attack roll, saving throw, skill or ability check, supposedly by peering through time. The three-eyed lizard replaces Great Fortitude with Improved Initiative, and is immune to Slow spells. It is said that there is a single gargantuan example of this species named Tu-Ah-Ta, somewhere in the mountains, high atop an undiscovered peak, amidst the ruins of a cyclopean temple complex, who serves as an Oracle of Time and source of prophecies.
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Basically, I'm just having fun with the idea of variant monsters, creating a dozen or so sub-beasties from a singular chassis.
The idea ran away from me...
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These stork-like birds travel in a clamorous flock, their distinctive brass-hued feathers clanging as they fly overhead, raining down arrow-sharp feathers upon hapless ground-dwellers…
BRAZENBEAK CR 2
XP 600
N Medium Magical Beast (extraplanar)
Init +2; Senses darkvision, low-light vision; Perception +9
DEFENSE
AC 17, touch 12, flat-footed 15 (+2 Dex, +5 natural)
hp 15 (2d10+4)
Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +1
DR 5/bludgeoning; Resist fire 5
Weaknesses -4 Fortitude saves and checks vs. cold effects
OFFENSE
Speed 10 ft., fly 40 ft. (average)
Melee 2 wing rakes +4 (1d8+1/19-20 plus 1 fire), 1 bite +4 (1d4+1 plus 1 fire)
Ranged hurl quillion +4 (1d8+1/19-20 plus 1 fire) or hurl 2 quillions +2/+2 (1d8+1/19-20 plus 1 fire)
Special Attacks heat (1 fire)
STATISTICS
Str 13, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 3, Wis 13, Cha 7
Base Atk +2; CMB +3; CMD 15
Feats Rapid Shot (B), Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics 0 (+2), Climb 0 (+1), Fly 2 (+7), Perception 0 (+9), Stealth 0 (+2, -6 when in motion), Swim 0 (+1); Racial Modifiers +8 Perception, -8 Stealth (when in motion)
Languages Ignan
Special Qualities metallic plumage, hurl quillions, ironbeak, sunlight dependency
ECOLOGY
Environment deserts, marshlands and warm, tropical climates
Organization flight (five to twelve) or flock or ‘blight’ (twenty to fifty)
Treasure standard (incidental, but their metallic plumage can be harvested and sold for appropriate value)
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Metallic Plumage (Su) Brazenbeaks have feathers of razor-edged brass that remain almost weightless so long as the creature remains alive and warmed by the light of the sun. During the night, or within a few hours of its death, this property fades and the creature’s body weight increases from around 25 lbs. to roughly 120 lbs, making the brazenbeak incapable of flight during the night-time hours (or within the first half hour or so of dawn, as the property takes time to build up). Similarly, when flung from the creatures body as missile weapons, these metallic ‘feathers’ also increase in weight to equal the heft of a thrown dagger. Regardless of their current weight, these metallic feathers remain as strong as ever, and provide sturdy protection, as well as making the creatures’ wing-rakes and hurled feathers strike with the force of forged metal weapons. The clamor of these metallic feathers makes the creature almost incapable of moving with stealth.
Hurl Quillions (Su) Brazenbeaks can hurl specialized metallic blades that resemble feathers from their wings at a foe with the force of crossbow bolts. This attack has a 30 ft. range increment, and a single brazenbeak can release a number of these blades each day equal to its hit point total (15, for the average brazenbeak), regrowing feathers each night equal to its total hit dice (2, for the average brazenbeak, which would require a week to replace all of its shed feathers, if it expended them all). These specialized plumes do not affect the creatures’ ability to fly, although its wing-rake attack will drop two damage dice (to 1d4) until they are replaced.
Ironbeak (Su) The beak and talons of the brazenbeak are also metallic and brassy in appearance, but the beak is specialized for breaking through the brass eggs laid by the creature during mating season, and used in courtship battles between rivals of the species, being able to ignore the first 5 points of hardness or damage reduction, allowing them to both escape their unusually durable eggs, and to damage each other with their otherwise unimpressive beaks, more suited for tearing flesh from carrion than for use in combat.
Sunlight Dependency (Su) During the night, or when otherwise kept out of sunlight, brazenbeaks quickly grow sluggish and incapable of flight, weighted down by their metallic plumage. They lose the ability to fly, their Heat property, and are treated as Staggered, capable of only taking a single move or standard action in a round.
Brazenbeaks, called in some tales ‘Stymphalian birds,’ are unusually large stork-like birds with plumage, beaks and talons of magically-enhanced brass. They are believed to be in some way descended from creatures from the elemental plane of fire, and their preference for warm climates (and susceptibility to intense cold) seems to bear this out. At night, whatever radiant warmth they absorb from the sun fades from their bodies, and they stiffen and become sluggish, as the weight of their feathers increases until they become utterly incapable of flight (although still capable of vicious wing-rakes, if threatened during these hours). With the dawn, they turn to the rising sun and spread their wings wide, as if to capture the maximum amount of the coming sunlight, and within a half-hour have become hot to the touch, so much so that their metallic feathers will inflict burns to the touch, as well as becoming almost weightless, and allowing them to fly as effortlessly as a normal bird.
Once able to fly, the flock rises into the air in a clanging horde, seeking out any moving living creature and raining their metallic feathers down upon them until the creature either stops moving, or the flight begins to feel that it is wounded enough to descend and finish off with their bladed wing-rakes. Brazenbeaks prefer larger animals, and are quite willing to devour each other, when their squabbles over a portion of an inadequate kill prove deadly. While generally craven creatures, easily startled and preferring to rain death down upon prey from well beyond weapon reach, it is also true that the first brazenbeak to land will be the first to feed, resulting in some always landing before the prey stops moving, eager to ‘beat the crowd.’
While brazenbeaks are marginally more intelligent than a normal animal, and can usually understand a few words of Ignan, they do not speak the language, and instead croak and caw like typical birds.
Larger and more potent specimens are known to exist, not only the size of giant eagles or even wyverns, but with hotter bodies, producing heat equivalent to a torch, or even alchemical fire. (Apply the Giant creature template once, and increase Heat to 1d3 fire, or twice, and increase Heat to 1d6 fire. Replace Weapon Finesse with Power Attack.) Fortunately, on the material plane, these larger specimens do not travel in such large flocks as their smaller kin, and they seem to merely be extremely old and potent specimens of the regular brazenbeak, and not a separate species unto themselves. On the plane of fire, on the other hand, the larger specimens are the rule, instead of the exception…
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I'm sure there are other Stymphalian Bird write-ups out there, but here's mine, reflavored a bit to be more 'DNDish,' with an elemental fire connection.
I picked CR 2, despite the AC being too high, and the hit points and average damage being a bit low, hoping that these factors would cancel out.
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In 2nd Ed, aquatic elf (or half-aquatic elf) was my favorite race. Don't ask me why, it's like begging to get killed to play a character with the ability to separate themself from the rest of the party...
Anywho, fish-peeps need Traits!
Racial Traits (aquatic elven, merfolk, sahuagin, gillman, etc.)
Tidal Surge Strike – by learning to accelerate your own movements with the subtle movement of the water around you, you gain certain bonuses when facing foes out of their element. When you are underwater and facing one or more foes that do not have a Swim speed, you can select one of them as an immediate action and gain either a +1 dodge bonus to Armor Class versus their attacks, or a +1 trait bonus to your own attack rolls against them. You can only make this selection once / round, and can change either the type of bonus, or the target the bonus is gained against, or both, as you wish.
Water Cutting Style – you have trained with the use of a single type of slashing weapon (or your unarmed attacks, if you possess a natural weapon or the Improved Unarmed Strike feat) underwater, and, for the purposes of underwater combat, treat it as a piercing weapon. The weapon remains a slashing weapon for all other purposes, such as bypassing DR, but you do not halve the damage rolled, as you have learned to 'cut' through the water as effortlessly as it cuts through air.
Resistance Training – you have spent many an hour underwater, practicing powerful blows with a specific type of weapon (or unarmed attacks) against the force of the water around you. When you are *not* underwater, you can choose a single attack with that weapon each round and make a powerful blow, that gains a +1 trait bonus to damage (which is multiplied in the event of a critical hit) if it strikes.