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The Demented One
2006-07-07, 10:15 PM
Zeitgeist
Medium Undead (Extraplanar, Incorporeal)
Hit Dice: 14d12 (91 hp)
Initiative: +6
Speed: Fly 50 ft. (good) (10 squares)
Armor Class: 20 (+6 dex, +4 deflection), touch 20, flatfooted 14
Base Attack/Grapple: +7/-
Attack: Incorporeal touch +13 melee (1d4 plus touch of timetheft)
Full Attack: Incorporeal touch +13 melee (1d4 plus touch of timetheft)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Touch of timetheft
Special Qualities: Chronocelerity, darkvision 60 ft., incorporeal traits, temporal immunity, undead traits
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +10, Will +12
Abilities: Str -, Dex 22, Con -, Int 16, Wis 16, Cha 18
Skills: Bluff +21, Hide +23, Intimidate +21, Knowledge (The Planes) +20, Listen +20, Move Silently +23, Spot +20
Feats: Ability Focus (Touch of Timetheft), Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack, Combat Reflexes
Environment: Any
Organization: Single, double, or paradox (3-6)
Challenge Rating: 9
Treasure: None
Alignment: Usually any evil
Advancement: 15-17 (medium), 18-22 (large)
Level Adjustment: -

While time is generally thought of as a sturdy, linear thing, there are ways to bypass its flow. Potent magic--time stop, teleport through time, and others--are capable of changing or interfering with the flow of time, and those who travel to the mysterious Plane of Time can travel back or forward centuries with a few foot steps. On a rare occasion, an unfortunate traveller in time dies somehow. These people leave echoes, faint spiritual imprints of themselves, throughout history, in all the times they visited. These echoes generally dwindle and fade within a few weeks' time, but some manage to reach a place--and time--known as Midnight, a border region of sorts between the Plane of Time and the Negative Energy Plane. Once the echoes reach Midnight, they are capable of feeding on both temporal and negative energy, bolstering their strength and securing their existence. Once a echo absorbs enough energy, it becomes a zeitgeist, and is capable of leaving Midnight. Zeitgeists look almost exact copies of the beings they were in life, save that their skins have a pale pallor, and that they are often surrounded by a faint blue aura. Zeitgeists, for the most part, seek simply to relive the life they once had, but the sheer amount of negative energy they absorb from Midnight often twists them, giving them a selfish and malevolent nature.

Touch of Timetheft (Su)
Any creature hit by a Zeitgeist’s incorporeal touch must make a DC 23 Will save or be slowed, as the spell, for 5 rounds. In addition, if the Zeitgeist successfully slows a creature, the Zeitgeist gains the benefits of the haste spell for 5 rounds.

Chronocelerity (Su)
A Zeitgeist can burn away its essence to act quickly. Once a round, it may expend hit points to take an extra action. It may spend 1 hit point to take an extra swift action, 3 hit points to take an extra move action, 5 hit points to take an extra standard action, or 10 hit points to take an extra full round action. Doing so is a free action. At the end of its extra action, the Zeitgeist is dazed until the end of its next turn.

Temporal Immunity (Ex)
A Zeitgeist cannot be temporally slowed in any way. It is immune to the slow spell and all effects that imitate it. In addition, it can act normally during the duration of a time stop spell, though during that time it cannot harm creatures other than the caster of the spell.

TheOOB
2006-07-07, 11:05 PM
Very nice creatures, I could see it being very interesting in a campaign.

I'm not sure about the CR though, as this monster would be very tough to gauge. In a group of simply one or more Zeitgeist these are fairly weak creatures, as their low damage output and fairly low AC (even for an incorpral creature) means they won't pose much of a threat (especially with a cleric and/or ghost touch weapons), even if their getting twice the number of actions as the party.

On the other hand these guys would by nasty when teamed up with some stronger opponents as they could keep the entire party slowed while the others beat on them.

The one thing I'd do is lower the turn resistance a little, maybe even eliminate it entirely. They allready high a high HD for their CR, and without ghost touch weapons incorporeal foes are really difficult to deal with, so I think it would help to give the cleric a chance to help their party outside of healing.

The Demented One
2006-07-07, 11:07 PM
The one thing I'd do is lower the turn resistance a little, maybe even eliminate it entirely. They allready high a high HD for their CR, and without ghost touch weapons incorporeal foes are really difficult to deal with, so I think it would help to give the cleric a chance to help their party outside of healing.
Sounds good.

PandaNecromancer
2006-07-07, 11:08 PM
Zeitgeist. I had an art program in high school called Zeitgeist. For us it meant "Spirit of the Time" where we chose civilization from an era in history (it was Messopotamia) and did art and music creations in honor of it. Literally it can mean Time Spirit or Time Ghost. Point of this? None! Just wanted to talk about stuff! XD Yay German..

PandaNecromancer
2006-07-07, 11:12 PM
Hmmm.. I like it a lot. If they drain enough people with their Timetheft touch, can they eventually regain the life of their former selves? Like...an epic level Zeitgeist or something? :P That'd be interesting to see

Catch
2006-07-08, 12:55 AM
I'd be interesting as a template, I think. That might be a good way to reflect the creature's former life.

Fax Celestis
2006-08-19, 08:29 PM
MitP Vote: Yes, though I'd like to see an associated template for those killed by Zeitgeists.

Lord Iames Osari
2006-08-29, 06:01 PM
MitP Vote: Yes.

Winged One
2006-08-29, 06:20 PM
MitP vote: yes.

Eighth_Seraph
2006-08-29, 08:53 PM
MitP vote: Yes

Saithis Bladewing
2006-08-31, 09:58 AM
MitP Vote: Yes.

Athanatos
2006-08-31, 10:52 AM
MitP Vote: Yes. I very much enjoy the concept of time-based undead, and the special abilities are all unique and well-executed.

But... aargh! "Chronocelerity"? The classical scholar in me is angrily twitching right now. Combining Greek "Chronos" and Latin "Celer" into one word? Shame on you. Tempocelerity may not sound as cool, but is etymologically correct. Your call on whether to change it, really. I don't think many people will be as persnickety as me.

Peregrine
2006-08-31, 11:05 AM
But... aargh! "Chronocelerity"? The classical scholar in me is angrily twitching right now. Combining Greek "Chronos" and Latin "Celer" into one word? Shame on you. Tempocelerity may not sound as cool, but is etymologically correct. Your call on whether to change it, really. I don't think many people will be as persnickety as me.
Bah. Mixing Latin and Greek roots is perfectly common now. If I may be allowed to throw your inner scholar into further fits by quoting Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_compound) on the subject, 'Words of mixed Latin and Greek lineage, or words that combine elements of the classical languages with English, were formerly castigated as "barbarisms" by prescriptionist usage commentators; this disapproval has mostly abated.'

Nobody mind me. I'm just havin' a go, is all. ;D

Cornugon
2006-08-31, 02:12 PM
MitP Vote: Yes.

There really aren't nearly enough time-dwelling monsters.

I'd like to know, though, where the spell teleport through time is from. Any chance of someone telling me?

NullAshton
2006-08-31, 02:26 PM
Gah! Chronocelerity is a supernatural ability! That means casters can shapeshift to it! Temporal Immunity also makes the caster immune to enemies casters time stops, AND it's incorporeal to boot!

I really think you need to fix that. It allows casters to gain the benefits of celerity, with just shapechange, gaining incorporeality and immunity to all temporal slowing effects at the same time.