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View Full Version : Shin Megami Tensei Vestiges (PEACH)



Vauron
2012-07-27, 09:19 PM
None of the pictures used by me in this thread are mine, I simply took them from others.


http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z45/Vaurnut/1981856-dds2hr5.jpg
Serph, Varuna
Level: 2
Legend: Forged in the flames of battle, Serph was the leader of the Embryon, a tribe of humaniform magical constructs who lived in a demiplane known as the Junkyard. He lead them in battle against the other tribes of the Junkyard. When all other tribes were slain, he led his people out into Nirvana, which is what they called the material plane. However, the portal from the Junkyard was had never truly been intended to allow escape. During the transition, much of his soul, like that of his followers, was shorn off, grievously weakening him. While he did survive the transfer, the power that had been ripped away retained enough of his stubbornness that it refused to disperse, maintaining itself in his form until it stabilized in the no where that the vestiges dwell.

Special Requirement: Serph's hunger is boundless, and so a foodstuff must be placed within the seal as an offering. The foodstuff disappears as the manifestation begins.

Sign: A mass of bone grows over each of your forearms, covering them like unto a gauntlet, but leaving your hands unimpeded. From this mass you can unfold a sharp blade made of bone on each of your forearms.

Manifestation: A massive shard of ice crashes down from above, filling the circle entirely. Withing the shard lies the apparently sleeping form of Serph. Than, his eyes open and with a feral cry he shatters the crystal, sending illusory fragments flying everywhere. As the fragments fade away, Serph observes the binder, taking their measure and waiting to hear their plea.

Influence: Serph's influence causes you to overlook the transgressions of comrades. Should a companion betray and attack you, Serph requires that you attempt to incapacitate or in some fashion deal with them in a non-lethal manner.

DC: 18

Abilities

Claws of Varuna: You can use the claws given by Serph's sign as a pair of natural weapons that deal 1d6 damage (plus your strength bonus) slashing damage. This ability can only be used if you show Serph's sign.

Cocytus: As a standard action, you can let loose breath weapon that deals 1d6 cold damage per EBL in a 15 foot cone. A Fort Save halves this damage. For every 5 EBL you possess, increase the range of the cone by 5 feet. Once you have used this ability, you can not do so for 5 rounds.

Skin of Varuna: You gain the Cold subtype.

Consume: Whenever an enemy creature is slain by the claw attacks granted by Claws of Varuna, its body is absorbed into the blades where it is turned into energy to nourish and heal the binder. You are healed for 1 hit point per hit dice of the consumed creature, and are nourished as if you had ate a days worth of sustenance. Equipment and clothes of the consumed are not consumed themselves, instead falling to the floor. As this destroys the body of the consumed, creatures effected by Consume can not be brought back from the dead by spells or similar that require the body of the fallen. As a free action you can choose not to use this ability.




http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z45/Vaurnut/Philemon.jpg
Philemon, Collective Wisdom
Level: 4
Legend: Philemon has long watched over existence, especially the mortal races and ensuring that, if nothing else, no people would ever be forgotten. Records dating back to the earliest civilizations show that it has been called on to ask for otherwise lost or hidden knowledge. No origin is known for Philemon, only that it seems to have been around as long as the oldest of the mortal races. Philemon is an odd vestige. While the names of vestiges have sometimes changed, Philemon seems unique in that there are multiple records that give completely different seals, names, and titles for Philemon, all of which still work, concurrently.

Manifestation: Curiously, while its (his? her?) traits of summoning seem to be highly mutable, its manifestation has been largely constant. When Philemon first manifests, there is an intense blue flash, obscuring the seal and its contents for an instant. Then, innumerable butterflies appear on the seal, quickly flocking upwards. They coalesce into the form of a member of the same species as the binder doing the summoning. The exact features are usually highly similar to that of the binder, looking as if Philemon was perhaps a sibling of the binder. In truth, binder scholars have found that the appearance of Philemon seems to be rooted heavily in how the summoning binder perceives herself, altered in some way. Philemon’s face is always partially obscured by a mask, the significance of which is still hotly debated among binder scholars.

Special Requirement: Philemon prefers to deal with those who do not sequester themselves away. You must have at least 5 ranks in Gather Information or Knowledge (Local).

Sign: So long as one is bound to Philemon, there are constantly a few strange butterflies flying near the binder. While they do glow a faint blue, it is muted enough to not measurably affect the binder’s ability to hide.

Influence: Philemon is an impartial observer, only acting through intermediaries. As such, Philemon demands that you do not directly confront your foes, instead acting through another. This could be summoning a creature to attack your foe, or leaving evidence of their wrongdoing in the hands of an authority figure.

DC: 24

Abilities:
Form of the Unnoticed: You gain the ability to assume the form of a butterfly blessed by the power of Philemon. This acts as the Wild Shape ability of the Druid, except as noted here. You do not regain hit points, there is no limit to the duration save the duration of the pact, you gain the pseudonatural template, and you do not need to be familiar with butterflies. After using this ability to change into the form of a butterfly or back again, you can not switch again until 5 rounds have passed.
Butterfly
Fine Vermin
Hit Dice: 1/8 d8 (1)
Speed: 10 ft. Fly Speed (good)
Initiative: +3
Armor Class 13; touch 13; flat-footed 10 (+3 Dexterity)
Space - ft.
Special Attacks: A butterfly has no attacks.
Special Qualities: Harmless(Ex): The minimum damage a butterfly can deal is 0.
Saves Fort -3 Ref +3 Will +1
Abilities Str 1, Dex 16, Con 1 Int -, Wis 12, Cha 9
Skills: Hide 19
Feats: -
Enviroment: Temperate and warm plains and forests
Challenge Rating: 1/10
Treasure: None
Alignment: True Neutral
Calling the Collective Wisdom: You can cast Divination as the spell a number of times per bind equal to your EBL.

Arcane Sight: For the duration of the pact, you are under the effects of Arcane Sight. This acts as the spell of the same name, save that your eyes do not glow. Your EBL is used for your caster level.

Observation of Distant Truths: You can cast Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, as the spell, treating your EBL as your caster level.




http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z45/Vaurnut/igor_persona_pictureboxart_160w.jpg
Igor, Craftsman of Souls
Level: 2
Legend: Little is known of the vestige known as Igor. He readily admits to being a servant of Philemon, and sometimes appears with an assistant dressed all in blue, but little else is known. Some scholars believe that Igor was a mortal champion of Philemon who had one point became a vestige, while other believe he is an entity created by Philemon to act on its behalf. Igor refuses to answer questions relating to himself, at most leaving cryptic and often contradictory statements.

Requirements: Within the circle you must place an item on which you have written your signature or some other symbol that you would use to show agreement to a binding contract. This item, which could be nothing more than a piece of paper, vanishes during Igor's manifestation

Manifestation: At first, nothing seems to happen. Than, the sound of an opening door is heard and in the blink of an eye, Igor appears. He is sitting on a wooden chain with a small table before him. On this table is the item with the binder's signature. Igor takes the item, examining it, before the item vanishes. Igor than looks to the binder, ready to negotiate with them.

Sign: Your nose grows larger, to an unnatural size

Influence: Igor demands that all who bind him accept the consequences of their actions. You can not blame another for actions that you take of your own free will.

DC: 18

Abilities:

Key to the Velvet Room: As a standard action, you can make a door appear that is only visible to you or anyone who has the door pointed out to them by you. The door opens to a type of extradimensional space called a Velvet Room. In all ways save those specified in this ability, this acts exactly the same as the Rope Trick spell. The Velvet Room that the door is linked to generally reflects the binder who created the door. The Velvet Room accessed by an individual binder is always the same one, and any items left in the Velvet Room safely remain within the room until you choose to remove them.

Craftsman's Touch: You gain +6 bonus to Craft checks and it takes 25% less time to craft any items, magical or otherwise. This does not affect the cost in gold or experience points.

Knowing Eyes: So long as you are bound to Igor, Craftsman of Souls, you can see invisible creatures, as the spell See Invisibility. In addition, Igor’s Knowing Eyes allow you to instinctively know when it is safe to look at a creature with gaze attacks: you are considered to have your eyes averted without the creature with the gaze attack having concealment from you.

Hero’s Host: As a standard action, you can share either all passive abilities of a vestige, or one active ability of a vestige with CHA bonus + 2 allies for 5 rounds. The allies must be within close range at the time of that Hero's Host is used. In either case the creatures you designate as targets for this ability will display the sign of the vestige whose abilities are being shared. This ability and Minato Arisoto's Wild Card ability cannot be shared regardless. After this ability has been used, it cannot be used for 5 rounds.*





Notes and Concerns:
Some time ago, I decided to make a few vestiges based off of the Shin Megami Tensei franchise. And than I stopped working on them for several months. Recently, I decided to start working on them again. As I haven't done much homebrew for Dnd before I'm concerned that the vestiges that I have made are overpowered, underpowered, or simply written in a confusing way. So don't be afraid to call me out on something you feel I did wrong.

Should you have an entity from a SMT game you want done, feel free to suggest them. Note that if it from a game I haven't played, such as the new Devil Summoner, don't expect it to be done any time soon. Also, suggestions for themes of the entity you request would make it easier for me. I already have a small list of entities that I haven't started on yet, such as Pixie, True Companion**, but other ideas are not unwelcome. The next few to be released aren't that far from complete, so I should have them ready in a week.

Also, should I have the Butterfly statblock include the psuedonatural template? As that'd be copypasta from outside core, I wasn't sure it was okay to factor it in. Or should I just drop the template entirely?

*(Clarification: A passive ability is one that does not require an action to activate. Amon's Ram Attack and Darkvision both count as passive abilities, as is Igor's Knowing Eyes. Additionally, the other individuals whom the ability has been shared with do not affect each other's cooldown. Example: Lina is sharing Amon’s Fire Breath with Tom and Sarah. If Tom uses Fire Breath, Sarah and Lina could use Fire Breath without having to wait 5 turns.)

**The initial pixie who joins your party in Nocturne. I've always had a soft spot for the only one to stick with the Demifiend from the beginning until the end.

ThiagoMartell
2012-07-29, 07:12 AM
Nice work overall. ^^

Network
2012-07-29, 10:12 AM
Challenge Rating: 0
It should be 1/10, as a bat (another creature with no attack).