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The Tygre
2010-04-20, 11:03 PM
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/alumni_dretch_2nd.jpg
Behold the face of terror... Grr... Argh...


Introduction
Ahh, the dretch. Humblest of all demon-kind's infinite creations. What can we say about the dretch? Of what noble strength or deed can we write upon the dretch's brow? Not much, that's what. Dretch are the lowest of the low, the very bottom-rung of demon-kind, their only solace being that they're slightly above Manes. And they're too stupid for solace. Out in the Abyss, it's not weird to use dretch as currency, hors d'œuvres, cheap labor, or furniture. The Abyss and all its demonic courts run smoothly because they're greased with dead dretch. Any demon can summon a dretch (even other dretch), his grandmother can summon 2d4.

All in all, dretch aren't exactly -exciting- or -interesting-, and they're useful the same way a sack of meat on legs is. Yet it's hard to deny that if someone's going to deal with demons, they'll inevitably be encountering and summoning dretch quite a lot. So what can we do to make dretch interesting? What can we do to improve on this little Pikachu of the tanar'ri?

This thread's here to kick around ideas for putting dretch in your game and keeping them there, to toss around ideas and concepts. And in the end, maybe we can all learn something from the humble dretch. Because don't forget; big things (http://horrorsoftheabyss.wikidot.com/orcus-demon-prince-of-the-undead) come in little packages...

Variants
Let's start out simple; a few appearance twists to the dretch. Feel free to throw your own in.
1.) Mini-Demogorgon: This dretch is little more than some animal's screaming head on scaled legs and spiked tentacles.
2.) Cherub of Graz'zt: Perhaps one of the Prince of Darkness' own brood, this dretch takes the form of a fat and leering demonic putae.
3.) Tumor of Orcus:This living blob of cancerous flesh grows mouths and teeth from random points on its body.
4.) Harpy Chick: A howling, almost humanoid servant of the Harpy Queen, this dretch could almost be a young raptoran.
5.) Blob of Fire: More in common with a lemure, this dretch appears to be nothing so much as a dab of lava with a gaping mouth.
6.) Raven Queen's Spy: This dretch is a mass of black feathers, carrion meat still hanging from its beak.
7.) Hell Mole: Blind but bearing massive claws, this dretch crawls on all fours and prefers burrowing to all other forms of movement.
8.) Biting Wind: Almost transluscent, these flight dretch have more in common with air elementals as the float through the Abyssal sky.
9.) Jubilex Amoeba: One might mistake this dretch for some kind of multi-eyed ooze until it starts slithering over the dead and dying.
10.) Rat King: Not so much one demon but several even smaller ones, these pint-sized dretch are connected at the tails and form a ball of teeth and claws.
11.) Spiderling: Hailing from the Demonweb Pits, these dretch are covered in black chitin and have eight beady eyes and legs.
12.) Maze Gremlin: This dretch looks like at least twice its own weight worth of muscle has been packed into its small, now minotaur-like frame.
13.) Behemoth Grub: A pulsing grub the size of a dog, this dretch constantly hungers for food and inches along six claw-like appendages.
14.) Second Thought: This dretch stands perfectly still, almost looking comatose, as its psionic presence slides from mind to mind between thoughts.
15.) Spore Demon: More fungus than demon, this glowing, mushroom-infested fiend explodes on death.
16.) Deep Dretch: An amalgamation of anglerfish and sea cucumber, this aquatic dretch's barbed fins and needle-like teeth are still potent.
17.) Snake Orb: From the jungles of Merrshaulk, a tiny dretch sits at the center of a mass of vipers, controlling their movements.
18.) Collectors of Pazuzu: Looking more like like comical demonic pigeons then anything else, these winged dretch have all the ferocity of a dire hawk.
19.) Pixies of the Prince: Serving Socothbenoth, these dretch appear as sensual fairies and sprites; until they speak, at least.
20.) Hunters of the Maiden: Like miniature wolves and bears, these feral dretch of Nocticula display uncanny bloodlust during a hunt.

(Because I can, that's why.)

Gaiyamato
2010-04-20, 11:08 PM
Oh I thought you were going to talk about half-dretch rules or something. lol.

The Tygre
2010-04-20, 11:13 PM
Oh I thought you were going to talk about half-dretch rules or something. lol.

Still time my lad. Still time. :smallamused:

Wings of Peace
2010-04-20, 11:19 PM
Self summoning Dretch = Zerg Swarm?

The Tygre
2010-04-20, 11:22 PM
Self summoning Dretch = Zerg Swarm?

The dretch summon only has a 35% chance of working, and if I'm not mistaken, I recall the rules stating that summoned creatures can't use their own summon abilities. Ah, here we go;


A summoned monster cannot summon or otherwise conjure another creature, nor can it use any teleportation or planar travel abilities. Creatures cannot be summoned into an environment that cannot support them.

Draz74
2010-04-20, 11:43 PM
Seems I'd be remiss not to throw a mention to Rankle (http://www.giantitp.com/articles/G5PHLM4wbDdD47SKynO.html).

The Tygre
2010-04-20, 11:44 PM
Seems I'd be remiss not to throw a mention to Rankle (http://www.giantitp.com/articles/G5PHLM4wbDdD47SKynO.html).

Heh, of course. I keep forgetting that there's actually game material on this site that isn't in the forums. :smallredface:

Draz74
2010-04-20, 11:47 PM
Heh, of course. I keep forgetting that there's actually game material on this site that isn't in the forums. :smallredface:

Not getting updated for 2+ years tends to make things on the internet forgettable. :smalltongue:

The Tygre
2010-05-19, 09:39 PM
We dretch's kids! We don't die, we multiply!


The Half-Dretch

http://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderSociety/PZOPSS0013E-Dretch.jpg
Calibos, a lowly half-dretch dwarf

It is an indisputable fact among planar scholars that the demonic ability to breed with almost any living creature permeates the whole foul family. While many a cambion or tiefling can trace their lineage back to a succubus in mortal form, a dominating marilith in the pleasure pits of Azzagrat, or even a terrible Balor, not all can claim such a stellar pedigree. At the very bottom of this bastard’s barrel is the half-dretch. How are these freakish mutants born? Some are fusion experiments of the Yugolth and the Tanar’ri, the magi-technical fusion of dretch to the body and soul in an attempt to form stronger soldiers… or as an eternal weakness to a defiant servant. But the disgusting truth is that most half-dretch are born like any other half-demon; a roiling horde of dretch, with all the lusts and desires of any other demon.

A half-dretch will resemble a squatter member of its parent species. Lumps of muscle disgustingly quiver beneath its flesh, and its fingers and toes bear sharp talons. A half-dretch’s face always appears to be a mask of pain and hate, with pointed ears and beady eyes staring over a mouth of jagged teeth. However, dretch are as numerous and individual as flakes of ash from the Gray Wastes of Hades; as their appearance varies, so will their horrible offspring. The one common feature among all half-dretch is stupidity; half-dretch are doomed from the start to bear their demonic parent’s minimal intellect.

A half-dretch is the very definition of the unwanted half-demon. Monsters by humanoid standards and less than parasites by demonic standards, even their dretch parents hold a certain contempt for them. At least a full dretch could evolve out of its position. As such, half-dretch usually find themselves at the very bottom of society, common criminals and thugs for more intelligent creatures. If, by some incredible miracle, a half-dretch should find itself in a position of power, they act like their demonic parents; cowardly, lazy, preferring to live in the dank places of the world amidst lesser beasts. A powerful half-dretch will work through its servants and spies, favoring lesser animals like rats and vermin. This is of course assuming that the half-dretch does not carry some strain of madness that compels it to kill and devour on its own whims…

The Half-Dretch Template
"Half-dretch" is an inherited template that can be added to any living, corporeal creature of a non-good alignment (referred to hereafter as the base creature), as the base half-fiend template. A half-dretch uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities as a standard half-fiend except as noted here:

Speed: A half-dretch does not gain a flight speed by default. Of course, certain varieties of dretch can fly, and it is only sensible for their offspring to do so as well.

Spell-Like Abilities: A half-dretch with an Intelligence (HA!) or Wisdom score of 8 or higher has spell-like abilities depending on its Hit Dice, as indicated on the table below. The abilities are cumulative; a half-dretch with 4 HD can use darkness as well as desecrate. Unless otherwise noted, an ability is usable once per day. Caster level equals the creature's HD, and the save DC is Charisma-based.

HD Abilities
1-2 Scare 3/day
3-4 Stinking Cloud

Special Qualities: A half-dretch has all the special qualities of the base creature, plus the following special qualities.
•Darkvision out to 60 feet.
•Immunity to poison.
•Resistance to acid 10, cold 10, electricity 10, and fire 10.
•Damage reduction: 5/cold iron (if HD 11 or less) or 10/cold iron (if HD 12 or more).
•A half-dretch’s natural weapons are treated as chaotic-aligned and evil-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
•Telepathy: Half-dretch can communicate telepathically with creatures within 60 feet that speak any language they speak.

Abilities: Adjust the base creature’s stats as follows: Str +2, Con +4, Int -6

Level Adjustment: +4

Sample Half-Dretch

Calibos
Level 5 Half-Dretch Barbarian
Medium Outsider (Native)
HD: 5d12+20 (hp 75)
Initiative +1;
Speed 30 ft.
Armor Class: 12 (+1 Dex, +1 Natural)
Attack: +8 Claws (1d4+4) or +10 Morningstar (1d8+4)
Full Attack: +10 Morningstar and +8 Bite (1d4+4)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Spell-like abilities (Scare 3/day, Stinking Cloud, Unholy Blight) , Rage 2/day
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft, Immunity to poison, Resistances – Acid 10/Cold 10/Electricity 10/Fire 10, Damage Reduction 5/Cold Iron, Telepathy 60 ft, Natural weapons Chaotic and Evil aligned, Fast Movement, Illiteracy, Improved Uncanny Dodge, Trap Sense +1
Saves: Fort +10, Ref +2, Will +3
Abilities: Str 18, Dex 12, Con 22, Int 4, Wis 14, Cha 6
Skills: Climb +6, Handle Animal +2, Hide +10, Intimidate +9, Jump +6, Listen +11, Move Silently +9, Spot +9, Survival +11
Feats: Weapon Focus (Morningstar), Multiattack
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 7
Treasure: None

Calibos is why the church of Moradin looks down on traditional dwarf witch-craft. His mother was an apprentice to a much older medicine woman who decided to try experiments in summoning. When the summons went wrong, the elder witch was pulled into the Abyss in exchange for a dretch. The apprentice was too weak. Calibos was sewn before his father ran into the wilderness.

Broken and battered, Calibos’ mother crawled down from her late teacher’s den back to her house. Most dwarven families would have turned her away on sight, but she was taken in. It wasn’t long before she showed signs of child. The family wanted the hell-spawn dead as fast as possible, but out of some misguided sense of maternity, Calibos’ mother begged for mercy. Begrudgingly, she was granted it.

Calibos practically tore himself out of the womb, even in birth trying to bite the maid who helped in the delivery. Still bound by oath, the family let the creature live, locking it in a hidden room beneath the ancestral manse. Calibos sat there for years, never knowing any creature other than rats and vermin, never seeing any person other than what servant came to feed him.
Demons, however, are precocious creatures, and Calibos would always be more dretch than dwarf. He longed for the world outside his cell; to feel the air, and the sensation of tender flesh ripping apart in his claws and teeth. It was only a matter of time before Calibos killed his feeder one day and escaped into the wilderness.

There Calibos has dwelled ever since. He dreamed of freedom only to find the stuffy underground and dwarf cities. He forays into the city sometime, to stalk victims for no other purpose than amusement. When he has the opportunity, Calibos strikes and rips out his prey’s throat, either for food or pleasure. So far his killings have been limited to the dregs of society and loners that go into Calibos’ wilderness.

But Calibos’ family lives with an uncertain dread. They know that the murders are their secret relative’s doings, and that they should have killed him when they had the chance. Revealing a serial-killing half-dretch in the family isn’t exactly a priority, especially for a small dwarven house. But what’s worse is the fear that Calibos will come back home…

Plot Hooks
-The Thurek Street Slasher: Calibos is indeed hungry for revenge. His killings are more of a warning, and it’s only a matter of time before he goes back to his mother’s house to finish the job.
-Homecoming: Calibos’ family wants the half-dretch gone. They hire the PCs to go into the Underdark to hunt him down in his lair, once and for all. For a twist, they want him alive. Out of some obligation to the lost witch or an ancient house oath, the dwarves want Calibos back to look after him.
-Friends in Low Places: Calibos made some friends out in the wilderness. Friends who are kind of like dwarves, but think a lot more like him. He wants to show them his new home, since they just lost their own. What were they called again? Oh, yes; Derro…

Melora
Half-Dretch Succubus
Medium Outsider (Chaotic, Extraplanar, Evil)
Hit Dice: 6d8+8(45 hp)
Initiative: +1
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares), fly 50 ft. (average)
Armor Class: 21 (+1 Dex, +10 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 20
Attack: Claw +8 melee (1d6+2), Bite +8 (1d6+2)
Full Attack: 2 claws +8 melee (1d6+2) and +3 Bite (1d6+2)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Energy Drain, Spell-like Abilities (At-Will; Charm Monster, Detect Good, Detect Thoughts, Ethereal Jaunt, Suggestion, Greater Teleport: 3/day; Scare: 1/day; Stinking Cloud, Unholy Blight), Summon Demon, Smite Good,
Special Qualities: Damage Reduction 15/Cold Iron or Good, Darkvision 60 ft., Immunity to electricity and poison, Resistances – Acid 20/Cold 20/Fire 20, Spell Resistance 18, Telepathy 100 ft., Tongues
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +6, Will +7
Abilities: Str 15, Dex 14, Con 17, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 26
Skills: Bluff +19, Concentration +12, Diplomacy +12, Disguise +17* (+19 acting), Escape Artist +10, Hide +10, Intimidate +19, Knowledge (any one) +9, Listen +19, Move Silently +10, Search +12, Spot +19, Survival +2 (+4 following tracks), Use Rope +1 (+3 with bindings)
Feats: Dodge, Mobility, Persuasive
Environment: A chaotic evil-aligned plane
Organization: Unique
Challenge Rating: 9
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Level Adjustment: +10

On the 395th layer of the Abyss, the great Balor Kaz’madatch, the Burning Son, Emperor of Hate, Dawn of Death, etc., holds a harem of gorgeous succubi. Each one of these lillim is not only well-versed in the ways of pleasing their master, but some other dark art; one knows the secrets of Truenaming, while another is a skilled shadow-dancer, and so forth. There is one missing however; a succubus by the name of Melora, and her banishment is the source of endless amusement amongst her sisters.

Unlike the other succubi, Melora was never particularly adept at anything. All things considered, she was rather lazy. Whenever some spell needed to be cast or a mortal slain, Melora was conveniently absent. She seemed to have mastered the art of being ‘not-there’, but not in any practical fashion. Determined to put the succubus to work, Kaz’madatch sent her to a mortal world with the mission of corrupting a nation and ushering in his worship.

She returned to the castle three days later.

Screaming.

Being chased by an army of paladins.

Kaz’madatch was not pleased with these results.

As the army descended on his fortress, the Balor cursed Melora. She was as useless a creature as he had ever seen. Nothing in his household could be so gruesomely pathetic. Even the dretch at least had a purpose; if nothing else, they moved when they saw him. And so, not oblivious to irony, Kaz’madatch promptly fused a dretch to Melora before he banished her to the Mortal Coil.

All things considered, Melora hasn’t suffered nearly as much as her master would have hoped. True, she is stupid by a succubus standard, but not anymore so than an average farmer or miner on the Prime. Her appearance hasn’t suffered at all, strangely; stockier and rougher than the average succubi, she more resembles a comely dwarf than anything else. None the less, she’s eager to return back to her Abyssal palace, regardless of whether or not it’s still there.

Plot Hooks
-Home Again, Home Again...: One way or another, Melora is determined to get back home. The Prime has been fun, but she’s used to a life of parasitic luxury. She’s heard about a nearby planar portal in a dungeon. Now she just needs a party of burly PCs to get her there.
-Calling in the Reserves: The siege on Kaz’Madatch isn’t going so well, for the Balor anyways. His army has dwindled to its lowest ranks, and his entire harem is dead, leaving only Melora. A general goes to war with the army he’s given, though, so Kaz’Madatch is calling in Melora to prove herself. All she needs to do is rope in some warriors to aid him. He hopes she won’t screw even that up.
-Black Candle-lit Dinner: Disguised as a wholesome if ditzy bar-maid, Melora has taken a shine to one of the PCs. She’s dropped numerous hints about when she’s alone and where. Of course, Melora is still a succubus. And she still gets hungry, too.

The Glyphstone
2010-05-19, 10:01 PM
More like the Magikarp of the demon world, amirite?


You appear to have forgotten a LA for half-dretch, unless that was intentional.

Dimers
2010-05-19, 11:36 PM
A dretch could get into clothiers' business with an undead fire-dwarf ... y'know ... AzerZombie & Dretch? :smallbiggrin:

Draz74
2010-05-20, 12:12 AM
A dretch could get into clothiers' business with an undead fire-dwarf ... y'know ... AzerZombie & Dretch? :smallbiggrin:

*groooooan*

The Mentalist
2010-05-20, 12:15 AM
So do we get to see mini-templates for each of the variants?

Flame of Anor
2010-05-20, 12:15 AM
A dretch could get into clothiers' business with an undead fire-dwarf ... y'know ... AzerZombie & Dretch? :smallbiggrin:

Oh, (dried) bloody hell... :smalltongue:

Eldan
2010-05-20, 02:42 AM
Hmm.
I was actually rather fond of the Dretchapult the Tanar'ri used in one of my campaigns once...

Oh, and I had a demonic palace with a nice background element once: a machine which summoned a dretch, crushed him with a heavy block of stone, then used the power of the dretch's blood to summon a new dretch...

Entertainment's cheap in the Abyss.

The Tygre
2010-05-21, 12:23 AM
More like the Magikarp of the demon world, Amritsar?

You appear to have forgotten a LA for half-dretch, unless that was intentional.

Yer' rite. :smallbiggrin: And fixed on the LA.



So do we get to see mini-templates for each of the variants?

Maybe later. Hadn't really thought about it. Right now, I'm mostly focusing on stuff for dretch.

arguskos
2010-05-21, 01:17 AM
Maybe later. Hadn't really thought about it. Right now, I'm mostly focusing on stuff for dretch.
Ya know, Ah cann see a hende fellow like yerself focusin' on a lotta 'ings, but, da dretch? For truly? I mean, da damned 'ing ain't even wort' a jark jink-flipper's greens, if ye follow meh.

Ye got better talents den da dretch do ya honor. :smallwink: And the above is what happens when sleep depravation meets Irish accent meets the Cant.