This is another monster idea I've had for a long time but never worked out the details: a monster that hates music (and would presumably have a silence aura or something). I was thinking in Pathfinder such a creature should be created by Rovagug since Shelyn is his arch enemy and she is the goddess of art (which presumably includes music) but don't have any other ideas about what it should be like?
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Rovagug's Censorer Beast...(CR 9?)
Hideous Evil Outsider.
Size medium. Covered in spikes.
It's blind, thus incapable of appreciating or enjoying visual arts. It has Blindsight, Scent, and Tremorsense but no eyes or sockets where eyes should be. Has detect alignment as a constant ability. No language or ability to communicate with anything other than other Censorer Beasts or Rovagug himself, with which they communicate via telepathy.
The only distinct feature of its face is a gaping maw filled with rows of jagged teeth.
It is incapable of creative thought and is constantly under the effects of Mind Blank.
There is nothing symmetrical about it. It has three arms. One large arm on the right side of its body is longer and has long sharp claws incapable of grasping tools, but incredibly capable of disembowling its victims. The smaller arms are both on his left side, and are quite a bit more dexterous, less hulking than the right arm. They have multiple opposable thumbs, still clawed, yet much more subdued, and both left arms work in unison wielding a greataxe. This works as TWF with the large clawed arm.
It has the Ranger's Favored Enemy class feature, but instead of a race, it has this ability for the Bard class, or anyone who possesses or uses Bardic Performance.
Give it an odd number of wings and odd number of tails or legs. It's deceptively agile and graceful despite its awkward appearance.
The silence aura is a good idea. So is a healthy stealth bonus, maybe chameleon abilities always bending light around it because it obviously cannot see to adjust its own camouflage.
I like it!
I imagine them as ambush predators, taking advantage of their active camouflage. Their asymmetrical appearance makes their outline hard to recognize or distinguish. They can sit perfectly still for hours and will often perch in elevated locations above their planned ambush.
Think about Archer looking into the trees and Lana asking him if he is looking for Predator. Archer says, "there's a tell-tale shimmer".
Anyways, the first thing making the party aware of its presence is when they walk into its aura of silence. Confused, they look at each other, trying to speak just silently mouthing words in ever increasing frustration.
It uses detect alignment to find its target, always targeting the person with the strongest good alignment.
Once it springs the ambush, attacking the strongest good alignment, it will immediately switch targets for the next round if anyone starts a Bardic Performance. If it is focused on a character with Bardic Performance, he will not stop attacking that person until they are dead.
At higher levels, where there is one, there are two. They constantly castle in combat, using an ability identical to the Umbral Shift Tiefling feat, but within their aura of silence not darkness. Since they are near invisible, often one will spring the ambush and the other will sit back and "watch" until the first takes damage. They then switch places, and the fresh one continues the assault whilst the wounded Censorer Beast performs some sort of healing.
I think I could narratively do something with a kaminari- these are kami (basically japanese guardian spirits) that watch over storms. They are noted to have a 'vulnerability to silence', and they surround themselves with noise and music. A thunder spirit, basically.
I find this interesting for our purpose, since the kami in pathfinder are bound by the "Laws of Golden Protection". From my perspective, these laws function from a similar narrative stand point as the programming of a robot- the kami are servants guardians over a specific bit of nature or culture, and they are bound by various rules. Under this perspective, oni are the 'crazy AI that tried to get around their programming'.
So, lets apply this narrative perspective to the kaminari- the kaminari is bound by the laws so that it can only lightly mess with its storm. It can move the storm, and it can slow it down a bit every day... but the storm mostly works on its own. Which seems like a situation that is perfectly ripe for tragedy. What if the kaminari is forced to choose between the storm it must protect, and innocent people that would be hurt by the storm? What if it is not ALLOWED to choose?
Now you have a seed for a monster- a kaminari that turned into an oni because its storm hurt someone close to the kaminari. Its storm turned into a raging hurricane that beat and battered the innocent with its wind and roars. Thus, you could homebrew an oni version of the kaminari that has forsaken sound in favor of silence.
I could see a story seed where people are being killed silently, and it appears like they were struck down by lightning on a clear and quiet day. For the purposes of the desired story of this thread, the targets would be musicians, loud drunks, workers at loud professions (A famous black smith?).
I don't know why but I imagine a 'monster that hates music' as being the villain in a 1980s cartoon.
I don't know why but I imagine a 'monster that hates music' as being the villain in a 1980s cartoon.
I am sure that Rainbow Bright or the Carebears defeated at least one villain with that motivation.
note to self- create a small, fuzzy race for the homebrew set up previously outlined. See to it that they are taken out by the monster like teens in an 80's slasher movie.
If you made a new oni based on kaminari what humanoid race would it be based off of? I'd say moon giant since there is no sound in space.
If you made a new oni based on kaminari what humanoid race would it be based off of? I'd say moon giant since there is no sound in space.
I think since Oni in Pathfinder tend to be corrupted versions of another race, make it a race that ties back to storms. A storm giant or cloud giant could work if you want a high CR, but you could easily do a Sylph for a lower CR.
The problem is there already are storm and cloud giant oni (water yai and wind yai)
The Censorer Beast is completely original, drawing visual reference from the Thing movies, old school Silent Hill PlayStation games, and the more recent stranger things monster.
I tried not to base it off of anything already in the Beastiary, but keep its abilities comparable, yet unique.
In theory, at low levels, one Censorer Beast should be enough of a challenge for the average party. At mid to higher levels, two or three Censorer Beasts will still be a challenge due to their castling and healing.
At the uppermost levels, you realize Rovagug has legions of Censorer Beasts, numbering in the thousands, waiting for his command.
I thought Water were for Ocean (or was it Sea?) Giants, but I guess I was wrong. Then the Sylph option still stands. And Voodist, we're discussing a different option for how to do this, not discussing making your monster into an Oni.
Sylph are acutally outsiders. Also I am wondering if there are any famous concert halls in Golarion? If so, I would think they would be the monsters main targets (assuming they are powerful enough, if they are low level they might just terrorize band camps or something.
You could have a Noise Demon: sonic attacks, ability to corrupt music and change the effects of a bard's performance. Aggressive and just out to wreck things.
Or a Silence Devil: hates people having fun and any sort of music except certain rigidly prescribed forms such as a dirge or strict military march: silence aura, ranged touch attack to seal a singer's (or caster's mouth), shatter instruments, etc.
Doris21, we are all happy for your questionable miracle from an equally questionable Dr. Abaka, however, none of your herbal medicine remedies for herpes seem to have anything to do with the OP...
I mean, could have just used a cure disease from any friendly cleric.
silence devil sounds cool. I imagine it would have no mouth and could only talk with telepathy (tho it could still hear and understand Infernal)