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View Full Version : [3.P] Help me find my Mystery Monster



RFLS
2013-03-26, 12:09 PM
First: If you're in an airship pirates game set in Eberron, stay out :smallyuk:

Okay, so, I'm running a game where the players have gotten mixed up with an incredibly powerful crime boss, and already owe him a few favors. He's been made up entirely on the fly, and I wasn't expecting them to fixate on him or attempt to deal with him at all. My problem is that I have no idea what exactly he is, but I ran my mouth and he's definitely not a standard issue humanoid. Here's what I've got so far:


He's incredibly intelligent, a fan of Xanatos Gambits and just generally letting people make fools of themselves. For anyone that reads the Discworld novels, think about Vetinari, but selfish.
He's not given to overt displays of anything. The most he's reacted to the players is a slight smile, which leads me to the last bit.
When he smiled, the players noticed that he had slight fangs. After some gossip-trawling, it became apparent that other people had noticed the fangs, but they'd also noticed other things, some of which are contradictory. Some people said he had no pupils, others said he had slitted pupils. Some people said he had scales, others said his skin was slimy. Etcetera.


So...what is he? Clearly a shape-changer of some sort, but I can't find one that's appropriate. Any monster will do, from any edition, with one restriction: He's not a dragon.

Toliudar
2013-03-26, 12:19 PM
You've still left it sufficiently open that he could be anything from a Changeling Psion to a Succubus or Erinyes (who are of course not restricted to female shapes).

If you definitely want non-humanoid (the type, not the shape), then an Elan Telepath seems to fit the character well. But right now, it seems like you've done a great job of keeping him off to the side, mysterious and not a statblock. Good for you! I'd keep it that way for as long as you can.

Krobar
2013-03-26, 12:21 PM
My first thought is a cambion or naga sorcerer that's able to polymorph or shapechange (depending on the power level you want him to have).

Yora
2013-03-26, 12:25 PM
My first thought was tiefling, a bit more toned down than a cambion.

But if you want to go with shapeshifter and you are already playing Eberron, then why not Changeling?

Oh, and a Yuan-ti half-blood of course. One that looks very human and doesn't let people come face to face with him, so everyone people see is just some hint of what might possibly be scales, or one time the light was so bright that it seemed he had no pupils from a distance, while at others they were clearly slit.
This image (http://bestgamewallpapers.com/files/nwn-2-storm-of-zehir/yuanti-pureblood.jpg) is labled pureblood, but she looks too obviosuly nonhuman to pass even a first glance. For a halfblood with a very human looking face (he might still have a tail and claws) this looks perfect. Here's another. (http://0-media-cdn.foolz.us/ffuuka/board/tg/image/1334/16/1334169020586.jpg)

Magesmiley
2013-03-26, 12:30 PM
How about a vampire? The different descriptions could be a result of his domination ability and some wel placed suggestions. Give him some sort of magic item that lets him wander around in daylight to explain that problem.:smallsmile:

You could even play up the crime boss angle and have a couple of thugs insist that people show him respect and invite him into their homes/dwellings rather than leave him standing outside (making the invite about showing the proper respect for the boss).

RFLS
2013-03-26, 05:48 PM
Hmm...the Dark Naga from PF looks like a solid choice. I was also looking at Rakshasa, but they seem...off.

I'm honestly tempted to stat him as a straight-up human and never, ever tell the players what he is.