| NewEarthMan |
So, I'm a little torn about the villain for my next home brew campaign. The idea is that the characters are the last survivors of a village who was raided, most of the population - but not the characters - taken as slaves and then burned to the ground. The man behind it all is a former noble of their kingdom who turned coat and sold out to the enemy about a decade ago. He's an aristocratic-type fellow who has a sister and a small army of minions at his disposal. Thing is, he's not the main villain - his sister is. The characters are meant to think for most of the campaign that its him pulling the strings but its actually her.
She's an ancient priestess of a hideous cannibalistic elder god from far too long ago to think about called Moloch the Returner (name based off of an actual god from I believe Canaanite origin). The slaves she took from the characters' village were meant to help dig out the vault in which this god was trapped a really long time ago.
Thing is, I want the sister to be some crazy kind of supernatural creature and I'm torn between a Succubus and a Maenad. Both are of comprable level, both are master manipulators and can easily be given class levels to make them even stronger.
What would you guys do? What kind of class levels would you give the sister and what other kinds of creepy minions/monsters would you use to represent a cult of Moloch? If it helps, his domains are Cannibalism, Destruction and Evil.
Mr. Bonkers
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Have you considered a Shachath Demon? It is a Demon that merges with a host and freely manipulate said host. This way you can have a Cleric sister that manipulates her brother, while she is actually being used as a puppet. You could add levels of Mesmerist or Puppetmaster Magus to add to the manipulation theme. If that creature doesn't fit your story, then I would go for a Maenad (mainly because Succubus is always the prime suspect). The class suggestions still stand, though.
As for flunkies, Kuru are cannabalistic humanoids. Easy to give class levels and create an army with.
Val'bryn2
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Personally, I'm going to second the Shachath demon, based on the possession. How does she know about Moloch? Because she's possessed by a demon who serves him, who has possessed members of her family for millennia, seeking to restore her Master. I would shy away from cleric, maybe an oracle or some non-wisdom based casting class. Wisdom is her dump stat because she was raised to be mentally pliable, to ensure the possession. Might even make her a magus or similar, with a CR equal to the demon's, so that the final boss, who looks to be a solo, is suddenly 2 people who are trained to work in sync.
| NewEarthMan |
Yeah, that demon looks pretty spot on. I think I agree with making her mentally pliable. But at the same time her intelligence should be pretty high since this entire family is erudite and urbane. I was also thinking, fitting with the Moloch theme, of making several females of the family, throughout the years, having birthed 'Scions of Moloch' which will basically be Fiendish Minotaurs. May also end up using Maenads without class levels as high level flunkies since this campaign will be going to about 15th level.
You guys helped a lot, thanks!
| Mark Hoover 330 |
So a Shachath has a lot of interesting quirks. Yes, they merge with their host (which leads me to second the Summoners, and I also suggest witches or wizards who merge with their familiars) but they've got so much more to offer.
At will they detect thoughts and use Telekinesis at CL 13, with per day uses of Desecrate, Suggestion, Major Image, Blasphemy, and Scrying. Couple all of that with their Subtle Magic and it's entirely conceivable that most folks don't even know they're there or doing anything.
Now add in Trophy Taker, Lingering Doubt, a Bluff skill of +23 and a Sleight of Hand skill of +18. These are creatures who can listen to the thoughts of others, possibly while invisible, and as a full-round action attempt to remove a small personal item from a victim. Once robbed the victim is less resistant to the demon's influence.
They especially target religious folks, twisting them up into blasphemy. Now, as we all know, blasphemy is animosity towards a deity unlike heresy which is a false belief or tenet of the deity. Shachath demons make you dislike Pharasma, not tempt you into believing that The Lady of Souls is secretly the arbiter of souls and uses her personal feelings to place you where she wants in the afterlife.
So from all of this I'm seeing a villain who can jump from body to body, using its host to insinuate themselves in the affairs of local religions. The demon turns key members of the clergy against their deities and shifts their host towards Chaotic Evil in alignment. It stalks in darkness, preying upon the weak willed (ironic since it targets religious types who are usually known for higher Will saves) and collects trophies not just to make its victims more pliable but likely to serve as ACTUAL trophies of its successes.
So if this particular Shachath serves Moloch the Returner but does so from behind many layers of obfuscation, it could be that it's host is one of a long line of noble women "afflicted" by a family curse.
That child was the infant daughter of a noble family. As she grew strange things happened; weird poltergeists went off around her and she seemed to be able to know the secret thoughts of those around her. Once the girl even shouted in anger at a nanny and what erupted was an eldritch language that struck the poor, goodly woman dead!
The girl was locked in a tower for years. Many treatments were called for; all failed. In time however the curse's effects seemed to fade and the young woman, now in her late teens, was freed from her prison. She went on to be a valued member of the family line, married auspiciously and had many children.
This is how the curse gets passed on.
1. Some of the children delivered by the women afflicted with "the curse" are demon-spawned - use Tieflings, fiendish minotaurs, Schirr demons with their physical aspects turned more toward "bull" from "goat," or other, weirder monsters
2. One of the children, always a girl, claims the mother in childbirth. This is the Shachath passing from mother to daughter.
This secret curse has been closely guarded for a significant time. The secret is maintained both in mundane and supernatural ways, with child sacrifices to Moloch and the powers of the current cursed woman of the family ensuring the fidelity of the confidence.
Now this is a world with advanced spellcasters and such. Some over the years have either resisted the demon's influence or otherwise uncovered the truth of the family curse. These people have been not just attacked but discredited and disgraced. Some members of the noble family, guessing the reality of their kin's affliction, have met with terrible fates, been blackmailed, excommunicated from churches, etc.
Ten years ago the brother of the current cursed female of the family was one such individual. He began a search through archives and fought desperately to maintain his own sanity while hiding all of this from his sister. She seemed fixated on a small, insignificant village. He could feel his sibling's tendrils closing in so the brother scattered his research - journals, art objects, former "trophies" taken by past curse sufferers, and he hid these throughout the more unscrupulous lands bordering the family's holdings.
In the end however the brother succumbed to his sister's control, but not before managing to spare (insert number of players that survived the destruction of the village here) villagers. With his will drained the brother led a force into the settlement, bringing blade and brand to bear. After this insurrection the young noble was labeled a tyrant and condemned by both the king and the church.
This was, however, a smoke screen. The warlord's sister secretly enslaved many of the villagers in order to use them to dig deep into the earth after the buried avatar of Moloch the Returner. On the face all the king and his subjects see is the noble brother bent on overthrow. He's conquered many neighboring lands while still other nobles have rallied to his banner out of fear.
Over the past decade it has been a time of chaos.
The church has lost much of its political power, with many of the faithful becoming disenfranchised with the divine. Some even espouse open blasphemy. Several inquisitors have been dispatched to deal with these foul elements but their resources have become strained.
Meanwhile civil war continues to mount. Half of the country still cleaves to the king while the other half to the banner of the betrayer tyrant. While naked aggression unfolds on battlefields throughout the kingdom, more subtle plots and villains stalk the taprooms, village halls and darkened corners of the land. It is not uncommon for the king's soldiers to be seen driving a prison cart filled with dissenters to the gallows.
In the midst of all of these more mundane threats, the incessant machinations of the cursed sister behind the veil of her sibling's treasons have infected the kingdom with all manner of supernatural threats. There are horrid, monstrous humanoids stalking the wilderness; the caves, ruins, and dungeons of the old times are awake once more with evil; the restless dead rise from their desecrated graves to torment the living.
And everywhere there are the fevered whisperings of a single word, muttered fearfully over bronze braziers of fire and blasphemy: Moloch!
The campaign then might be that the PCs begin as survivors of the village destroyed ten years ago. They can have whatever political leanings they want but they exist within the parts of the land NOT controlled by the warlord brother. The only thing they begin knowing in the game is civil war.
The first few adventures are helping out in small ways, where they can. The PCs are dealing with undead vexing some locals, doing typical low level stuff like fighting goblins, until they get to about level 3. These first 3 levels should physically position them for a return to the ruins of their home village. In the background the religious types are getting some subtle warnings about an evil force, like a cult or something, growing in the land.
The home village ruins can be a small megadungeon - too big for them to just clear outright but not SO big that it completely overwhelms the party. The PCs find blasphemers here and deal with them, then get down into some of the lower chambers where they find clues left specifically for them by the brother before his mind was turned by the demon.
These clues suggest a larger plot going on. They also point to several locales where the brother stashed OTHER stuff that will help the party uncover the real villain. Of course, these other sites should be within the warlord's territory and also have some supernatural threats as well. Finally these shouldn't outright exonerate the warlord - he should STILL be a bad guy through about level 10.
Finally, while dealing with finding these clue sites between levels 3-10, the party should also come face to face with some of the larger issues of the land. Perhaps they have to rescue a criminal from the king's soldiers, they could get in a bar brawl for seeming to sympathize with the tyrannical brother, they witness blasphemers in a public square and have to participate in an inquisitor's mission to break an evil cult, that kind of thing.
By level 10 the PCs and their support staff (cohorts, contacts, followers et al) should have a fair understanding that there's something BEHIND the evil warlord. They still need to confront said warlord however. Depending on the players' style they can just lead a siege on the man's castle, you could run it like a mass battle in a war, or they might even want to try and redeem the bad guy. There should though be some big war going on in the background still, if for nothing else than the cinema of it!
Now, with the warlord overthrown the PCs move into the endgame. Levels 11-15 are all geared towards grinding through the sister's demon-infused forces, infiltrating her Unhallowed base of operations, and finishing her before Moloch is restored to full power. Of course, me being me I'd probably have a final "you're too late fools!" type moment when, despite all their efforts the PCs still have to deal with the avatar of Moloch the Returner.
In the end the party has to finish the battle started all those years ago. They defeat Moloch, end the "curse" on the noble house and help to restore peace to the land. Of course, at this point the PCs are about level 15 and they've beaten a demigod, so they're too powerful to continue adventuring and the main characters can retire.
The least powerful minions of those adventurers though, the level 1 guys in their organizations; THOSE folks suddenly have some cleaning up to do in the vacuum left after the campaign. So then in campaign number 2...
| Meirril |
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One thing you might want to include is a high level alchemist in the family, or just a follower. One that can create Clones and Simulacrum that are used to perpetuate the noble face of the family. They can also be used by the Shachath as disposable pawns against the party.
In this way the party can fight against a simulacrum of the brother in an early encounter (who turns to ice when defeated) and face him and his sister a few times before the real thing happens.