Dire Panda
2013-04-30, 11:05 PM
(If you play with a nuclear engineer who owns a Japanese Bobtail cat, get the heck out of this topic! Spoilers for our next campaign abound)
I'm looking for feedback on a few homebrew races I plan to use as the antagonists for an (eventually) epic-level campaign. Having learned firsthand just how maddening epic play can get, I've plucked out most of the really cheesy rules, including epic spellcasting, but the trouble is that none of my players picked up the slightest optimization instincts over their 3-5 years of playing 3.5 (though they've become wonderful roleplayers). Therefore I'm worried that even with all the resources they'll have accumulated by the time they hit epic levels, they might not be able to deal with concerted opposition from other epic T1 casters.
I'd appreciate critiques of the Annunaki and their servant races, the Etoile ("star elves") and the Sovereign Betrayers. There are only 12 Annunaki (13 counting their leader, who has a bit higher caster/manifester level), and each is supposed to be terrifying in its own right - they represent the pinnacle of magical, psionic, and technological modifications to mortal beings over thousands of years. Not only are they epic spellcasters and manifesters, but their hearts are organic philosopher's stones which render them almost unkillable - taking down an Annunaki is supposed to require a well-planned operation with the resources of a nation. The servant races are a more tractable problem for the PCs, but still a dire threat to their empire.
The scenario:
-All PCs are casters of one sort or another, mostly T1's. Psionics do not exist among the common races and will be terrifyingly alien when discovered.
-All existing civilizations were destroyed centuries ago in a magical catastrophe; by the time the PCs hit epic levels, they will have become sovereigns of their own empire and rebuilt much of the world
-Epic spellcasting does not exist, but a homebrew system for ritual magic can produce similar effects (with exponentially scaling requirements for additional casters). The more casters a faction has, the more powerful rituals it can perform. Assume that the PCs have responded to this incentive and founded their own temples, wizards' guilds, etc.
-Resurrection magic requires a ritual and becomes exponentially more difficult based on the dead character's HD
-The Annunaki will not awaken until the PCs reach epic level (the first characters to do so post-apocalypse), and even then will try to stay behind the scenes and act through their servant races
-The Annunaki do not want to kill the PCs outright until they've become a serious hindrance to their plans; their goal is to prod mortal races into training as many powerful spellcasters as possible
-Multiple Annunaki will not work together against the PCs until the very end; their attention is divided among the mortal nations and towards concealing their work from the gods. Their pride also prevents any given Annunaki from admitting it needs assistance.
The Annunaki
Medium Outsider (Native, Psionic)
HD: 25d8+275 (390hp)
Initiative: +13
Speed: 50ft, fly 120ft (perfect)
AC: 45 (+13 DEX, +7 deflection, +10 precognitive, +5 natural), touch 40, flat-footed 32
BAB/Grapple: +25/+35
Attacks: Nanoclaws +41/+36/+31/+26 melee (2d6+10 slashing/piercing plus nanites, 17-20/x4) or disruption beams +44/+39/+34/+29 ranged touch (8d8 gravity)
Space/Reach: 5/5
Special attacks: Spells, powers, nanites, temporal shift
Special qualities: Dual mind, integrated weaponry, kinetic buffer 40, hive mind, telepathy 1000ft, meta-wave communicator, DR 10/- and 30/epic, SR 40, regeneration A 30, regeneration B 10, evasion, photonic rerouting, blindsight 60ft
Saves: 25/27/30
Abilities: STR 30, DEX 36, CON 32, INT 42, WIS 42, CHA 28
Skills: [todo]
Feats: [todo]
Banished aeons ago from a galaxy-spanning civilization whose magical, psionic, and technological might allowed it to challenge the gods themselves (actually the PCs' civilization from two campaigns ago!), the Annunaki seek a single goal: vengeance. The mortal creatures of this world are little more than clay to be sculpted in their hands; though they were once mortal elves, dwarves, and humans themselves, long before their banishment, the Annunaki have modified their bodies so extensively as to be almost unrecognizable.
Having conquered death long ago, their master plan now spans tens of thousands of years: nurture mortal civilizations dependent on magic, harvest the minds of its most brilliant spellcasters and lay waste to the rest, stitch them into a single hive mind, and repeat until they have accumulated enough casters to perform a ritual of unprecedented power, one which will generate an "arcane singularity" that places all the magic of the cosmos at their command.
Combat
Spells/Powers: An Annunaki casts spells as a 25th-level generalist wizard and manifests powers as a 25th-level psion (discipline varies by individual).
Nanites: Nanofactories within an Annunaki's body continuously produce two types of offensive nanite: dissemblers and neural overrides. It may attach one of the two effects to each melee attack it makes, or may spit nanites as a ranged touch attack with a range increment of 20ft.
Dissembler Nanites: Designed to rapidly break down organic tissue, dissemblers breed within living victims and reduce them to bones in a matter of rounds. A character infected with dissemblers takes 1 point of CON drain on the first round, 1d4 the second, 1d6 the third, and so on to a maximum of 1d20. The character may make a DC 30 Fortitude save each round for half damage and to avoid the next die increase, but no organic immune system can eradicate the infection; only magic or defensive nanotech can cure the victim. Any spell or power which removes a disease destroys dissemblers.
Neural Override Nanites: These nanites rapidly travel to the victim's frontal lobe and override his decision-making capabilities. The unfortunate character must make a DC 30 Will save each round until cured. After the first failure, he is permanently confused (as the spell); the second replaces the confusion with a dazed condition; the third replaces the daze with complete domination, as by the Dominate Monster spell but offering no opportunity to resist. Any spell or power which removes a disease destroys the neural override nanites, but their effects remain and can only be reversed through Wish, Miracle, Psychic Chirurgery, or some other extreme effort.
Temporal Shift: The gravity-manipulation technology built into an Annunaki's body allows it to bend spacetime and simply not be there when an attack would strike it. Once every 5 rounds, an Annunaki may use a nonmagical version of Time Stop as an immediate action, except that it only gains one round of apparent time.
Dual Mind: Each Annunaki body houses two independent minds, each occupying one hemisphere of its brain. Only one may control the body during any given round, but the other is free to perform purely mental actions such as manifesting a power or casting a still, silent spell.
Integrated Weaponry: An Annunaki's body contains two potent weapons: nanoclaws and disruptor beams. Both are considered +6 weapons, and neither can be disarmed. Either weapon can be recovered from the corpse with a DC 40 Use Tech Device check.
Nanoclaws: An Annunaki can transform its fingers into frighteningly effective blades as a free action. Not only are the edges of these claws a single molecule thick, but they are serrated and in constant motion, acting as a molecular chainsaw and ignoring half of the target's armor, natural armor, and shield bonuses to AC (take the average of its normal and touch AC and round up).
Kinetic Buffer: Gravity-manipulation technology built into an Annunaki's body allows it to deflect or at least soften blows. It ignores the first 40 damage it would otherwise take each round. However, the kinetic buffer cannot block untyped magical damage, such as a warlock's eldritch blast or a disintegrate spell.
Hive Mind: An Annunaki's consciousness merges with any other hive-minded creature within range of its telepathy or meta-wave communicator. All linked creatures experience what the others experience; if one is not surprised or flat-footed, none are. Linked creatures can share up to one minute of memories as a move action. Finally, as a standard action an Annunaki can exchange up to 50 power points with any other linked creature.
Meta-wave Communicator: The Annunaki's brain is linked to a device capable of communicating faster than light via spacetime "bubbles". These travel at a speed of one light year per round and are not significantly attenuated by passing through planets or stars. Any being within one light-year possessing a similar communicator is considered linked to the hivemind.
Regeneration A: An Annunaki's heart functions like an organic philosopher's stone, flooding its veins with elixir of life and granting tarrasque-like regeneration. No form of damage is treated as lethal while the Annunaki's heart functions. However, it is not a true artifact and is suppressed if dispelled (CL 25) or the Annunaki is engulfed by an antimagic field. To truly kill an Annunaki, it must be rendered unconscious, then a coup de grace must be performed to extract the heart, which must then be suppressed and destroyed.
Regeneration B: Repair nanites fill the Annunaki's bloodstream, preventing blood loss (and granting immunity to effects such as wounding weapons) and patching up both internal and external wounds. However, their performance is markedly poorer against energy damage and anything targeting the nervous system; energy attacks and critical hits bypass this form of regeneration.
Photonic Rerouting: An Annunaki's gravity-warping technology allows it to bend light at will. It can perform non-magical versions of Greater Invisibility, Displacement, or Mirror Image as a swift action.
The Servant Races
Okay, I'm running out of time and will edit this post later. For now, please just critique the Annunaki.
In case you care, the Etoiles are the descendants of the few elves who survived their imperialist civilization's overthrow at the hands of the "slave races" (humans and halflings), ironically enslaved and modified by the Annunaki. They have innate 5th-level spellcasting or psionic abilities, minor telepathy, and a few other perks, but can be possessed at any time by a higher-ranking member of the hivemind. Exceptional specimens have class levels, up to 17th-level casting ability. Sovereign Betrayers are the mage-kings of the old world, each a 21st-level caster of some kind, who surrendered their kingdoms to the Annunaki in exchange for survival and immortality; each is under the direct control of one of the Annunaki.
I'm looking for feedback on a few homebrew races I plan to use as the antagonists for an (eventually) epic-level campaign. Having learned firsthand just how maddening epic play can get, I've plucked out most of the really cheesy rules, including epic spellcasting, but the trouble is that none of my players picked up the slightest optimization instincts over their 3-5 years of playing 3.5 (though they've become wonderful roleplayers). Therefore I'm worried that even with all the resources they'll have accumulated by the time they hit epic levels, they might not be able to deal with concerted opposition from other epic T1 casters.
I'd appreciate critiques of the Annunaki and their servant races, the Etoile ("star elves") and the Sovereign Betrayers. There are only 12 Annunaki (13 counting their leader, who has a bit higher caster/manifester level), and each is supposed to be terrifying in its own right - they represent the pinnacle of magical, psionic, and technological modifications to mortal beings over thousands of years. Not only are they epic spellcasters and manifesters, but their hearts are organic philosopher's stones which render them almost unkillable - taking down an Annunaki is supposed to require a well-planned operation with the resources of a nation. The servant races are a more tractable problem for the PCs, but still a dire threat to their empire.
The scenario:
-All PCs are casters of one sort or another, mostly T1's. Psionics do not exist among the common races and will be terrifyingly alien when discovered.
-All existing civilizations were destroyed centuries ago in a magical catastrophe; by the time the PCs hit epic levels, they will have become sovereigns of their own empire and rebuilt much of the world
-Epic spellcasting does not exist, but a homebrew system for ritual magic can produce similar effects (with exponentially scaling requirements for additional casters). The more casters a faction has, the more powerful rituals it can perform. Assume that the PCs have responded to this incentive and founded their own temples, wizards' guilds, etc.
-Resurrection magic requires a ritual and becomes exponentially more difficult based on the dead character's HD
-The Annunaki will not awaken until the PCs reach epic level (the first characters to do so post-apocalypse), and even then will try to stay behind the scenes and act through their servant races
-The Annunaki do not want to kill the PCs outright until they've become a serious hindrance to their plans; their goal is to prod mortal races into training as many powerful spellcasters as possible
-Multiple Annunaki will not work together against the PCs until the very end; their attention is divided among the mortal nations and towards concealing their work from the gods. Their pride also prevents any given Annunaki from admitting it needs assistance.
The Annunaki
Medium Outsider (Native, Psionic)
HD: 25d8+275 (390hp)
Initiative: +13
Speed: 50ft, fly 120ft (perfect)
AC: 45 (+13 DEX, +7 deflection, +10 precognitive, +5 natural), touch 40, flat-footed 32
BAB/Grapple: +25/+35
Attacks: Nanoclaws +41/+36/+31/+26 melee (2d6+10 slashing/piercing plus nanites, 17-20/x4) or disruption beams +44/+39/+34/+29 ranged touch (8d8 gravity)
Space/Reach: 5/5
Special attacks: Spells, powers, nanites, temporal shift
Special qualities: Dual mind, integrated weaponry, kinetic buffer 40, hive mind, telepathy 1000ft, meta-wave communicator, DR 10/- and 30/epic, SR 40, regeneration A 30, regeneration B 10, evasion, photonic rerouting, blindsight 60ft
Saves: 25/27/30
Abilities: STR 30, DEX 36, CON 32, INT 42, WIS 42, CHA 28
Skills: [todo]
Feats: [todo]
Banished aeons ago from a galaxy-spanning civilization whose magical, psionic, and technological might allowed it to challenge the gods themselves (actually the PCs' civilization from two campaigns ago!), the Annunaki seek a single goal: vengeance. The mortal creatures of this world are little more than clay to be sculpted in their hands; though they were once mortal elves, dwarves, and humans themselves, long before their banishment, the Annunaki have modified their bodies so extensively as to be almost unrecognizable.
Having conquered death long ago, their master plan now spans tens of thousands of years: nurture mortal civilizations dependent on magic, harvest the minds of its most brilliant spellcasters and lay waste to the rest, stitch them into a single hive mind, and repeat until they have accumulated enough casters to perform a ritual of unprecedented power, one which will generate an "arcane singularity" that places all the magic of the cosmos at their command.
Combat
Spells/Powers: An Annunaki casts spells as a 25th-level generalist wizard and manifests powers as a 25th-level psion (discipline varies by individual).
Nanites: Nanofactories within an Annunaki's body continuously produce two types of offensive nanite: dissemblers and neural overrides. It may attach one of the two effects to each melee attack it makes, or may spit nanites as a ranged touch attack with a range increment of 20ft.
Dissembler Nanites: Designed to rapidly break down organic tissue, dissemblers breed within living victims and reduce them to bones in a matter of rounds. A character infected with dissemblers takes 1 point of CON drain on the first round, 1d4 the second, 1d6 the third, and so on to a maximum of 1d20. The character may make a DC 30 Fortitude save each round for half damage and to avoid the next die increase, but no organic immune system can eradicate the infection; only magic or defensive nanotech can cure the victim. Any spell or power which removes a disease destroys dissemblers.
Neural Override Nanites: These nanites rapidly travel to the victim's frontal lobe and override his decision-making capabilities. The unfortunate character must make a DC 30 Will save each round until cured. After the first failure, he is permanently confused (as the spell); the second replaces the confusion with a dazed condition; the third replaces the daze with complete domination, as by the Dominate Monster spell but offering no opportunity to resist. Any spell or power which removes a disease destroys the neural override nanites, but their effects remain and can only be reversed through Wish, Miracle, Psychic Chirurgery, or some other extreme effort.
Temporal Shift: The gravity-manipulation technology built into an Annunaki's body allows it to bend spacetime and simply not be there when an attack would strike it. Once every 5 rounds, an Annunaki may use a nonmagical version of Time Stop as an immediate action, except that it only gains one round of apparent time.
Dual Mind: Each Annunaki body houses two independent minds, each occupying one hemisphere of its brain. Only one may control the body during any given round, but the other is free to perform purely mental actions such as manifesting a power or casting a still, silent spell.
Integrated Weaponry: An Annunaki's body contains two potent weapons: nanoclaws and disruptor beams. Both are considered +6 weapons, and neither can be disarmed. Either weapon can be recovered from the corpse with a DC 40 Use Tech Device check.
Nanoclaws: An Annunaki can transform its fingers into frighteningly effective blades as a free action. Not only are the edges of these claws a single molecule thick, but they are serrated and in constant motion, acting as a molecular chainsaw and ignoring half of the target's armor, natural armor, and shield bonuses to AC (take the average of its normal and touch AC and round up).
Kinetic Buffer: Gravity-manipulation technology built into an Annunaki's body allows it to deflect or at least soften blows. It ignores the first 40 damage it would otherwise take each round. However, the kinetic buffer cannot block untyped magical damage, such as a warlock's eldritch blast or a disintegrate spell.
Hive Mind: An Annunaki's consciousness merges with any other hive-minded creature within range of its telepathy or meta-wave communicator. All linked creatures experience what the others experience; if one is not surprised or flat-footed, none are. Linked creatures can share up to one minute of memories as a move action. Finally, as a standard action an Annunaki can exchange up to 50 power points with any other linked creature.
Meta-wave Communicator: The Annunaki's brain is linked to a device capable of communicating faster than light via spacetime "bubbles". These travel at a speed of one light year per round and are not significantly attenuated by passing through planets or stars. Any being within one light-year possessing a similar communicator is considered linked to the hivemind.
Regeneration A: An Annunaki's heart functions like an organic philosopher's stone, flooding its veins with elixir of life and granting tarrasque-like regeneration. No form of damage is treated as lethal while the Annunaki's heart functions. However, it is not a true artifact and is suppressed if dispelled (CL 25) or the Annunaki is engulfed by an antimagic field. To truly kill an Annunaki, it must be rendered unconscious, then a coup de grace must be performed to extract the heart, which must then be suppressed and destroyed.
Regeneration B: Repair nanites fill the Annunaki's bloodstream, preventing blood loss (and granting immunity to effects such as wounding weapons) and patching up both internal and external wounds. However, their performance is markedly poorer against energy damage and anything targeting the nervous system; energy attacks and critical hits bypass this form of regeneration.
Photonic Rerouting: An Annunaki's gravity-warping technology allows it to bend light at will. It can perform non-magical versions of Greater Invisibility, Displacement, or Mirror Image as a swift action.
The Servant Races
Okay, I'm running out of time and will edit this post later. For now, please just critique the Annunaki.
In case you care, the Etoiles are the descendants of the few elves who survived their imperialist civilization's overthrow at the hands of the "slave races" (humans and halflings), ironically enslaved and modified by the Annunaki. They have innate 5th-level spellcasting or psionic abilities, minor telepathy, and a few other perks, but can be possessed at any time by a higher-ranking member of the hivemind. Exceptional specimens have class levels, up to 17th-level casting ability. Sovereign Betrayers are the mage-kings of the old world, each a 21st-level caster of some kind, who surrendered their kingdoms to the Annunaki in exchange for survival and immortality; each is under the direct control of one of the Annunaki.