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Xefas
2013-11-29, 01:00 AM
Related Threads

Mythos Discussion Thread I (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?323694-Mythos-Inspired-Homebrew-Discussion)
Mythos Discussion Thread II (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?364949-Mythos-Homebrew-Discussion-II-Where-Simplicity-Goes-to-Die)

Wicked step-sibling to the Teramach (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=286983).

Maybe 50% done! I couldn't contain myself.


http://i.imgur.com/w72wGvM.png

"I am the lucid dream. The monster in your nightmares. The fiend of a thousand faces! Cower before my true form! Bow down before the God of Death!" ~Yogg-Saron, World of Warcraft

The Olethrofex


In the chaos of the young universe, the first Gods of Law sought to bring stability to the maelstrom, but even their greatest champions could not bring permanent destruction to the primordial creatures they warred with, for their stories were made to weave in upon themselves, creating tales that always ended, but always begun anew once concluded.

First, the Lawgivers caused the Sun to rise, instating time upon the timeless expanse, bringing the first day and the first night, then scouring the titans with passing eons to erode them. But the titans proved immortal, the truth of their narratives indelible in the fledgling universe.

Daunted, but not defeated, the Gods forged a thousand golden chains with which to bind their greatest enemy, a red beast whose stories of violence and madness had consumed Lawgivers without number in its insatiable lust for blood. Unthinkably, they bound the beast, dropping it into a cage whose bars would bend and whose walls were cracked, before sealing it in an infinite pit with many of its lesser kin. Through the cracks, the beast roared and lashed its fury at the Gods, as they had intended, and they collected its rage as fuel with which to, hopefully, inflict a monstrous finality on their opponents.

Forged in the fires of the Sun, the Gods smelted violence and law together into a spear, and with it, they slew a titan. It was Dead, truly, not merely in a story, but in the reality that the Gods had made, and all the tapestry quaked in that moment. The fighting ebbed as the other primordials loomed over their fellow's corpse and each of their billion souls attempted to comprehend what they saw. Then, the corpse moved. It was dead, yes, but all the world was one in that time, and it had nowhere to go. Scared, rotting, it pleaded with its kin to explain what had happened. When they remained silent, it pleaded with the Gods, asking what they had done. None could answer, and so it screamed impotently into the vastness, horrifying both factions with its very existence.

Solemnly, some of the Lawgivers chose to take responsibility for the act, drawing the portfolio of Death into their being, and staking out an Afterlife in the chaos, for the dead to reside. But the dead titan, whose brothers and sisters devised for it a new name so that they need not contemplate the idea of death, was too lost to the terror of its new state to go peacefully, and it fought any and all who attempted to send it through the Black Gate of the new Gods of Death. Though it was eventually defeated, neither God nor Titan could scrub the stain of the Abomination's being from the strata of the universe, and so forevermore there would be things that had died but would not yet journey beyond the Gate, walking as if alive; undead.

Special Rules On Becoming An Olethrofex

Every Olethrofex has a single thing in common - they have all died. In most cases, a living character with no levels in Olethrofex will be killed and, there, at the threshold between the living world and the afterlife, something intervenes, and they reawaken - alive, but suffused with the essence of death.

Mechanically, the character is rebuilt, trading in one or more of their previous class levels for Olethrofex levels. Characters with levels in a different Mythos-using class must trade in enough levels so that they have more Olethrofex levels than of their other Mythos-using class, and they lose all Mythos and Excellencies previously purchased with Mythos Points. Those spent Mythos Points are then refunded to them.

Alternatively, a sapient undead character who was once alive can take levels in the Olethrofex class just as they would any other class.


Hit Die: d10
Skill Points: 6 + Intelligence Modifier
Class Skills: Balance, Bluff, Climb, Concentration, Craft, Decipher Script, Disguise, Escape Artist, Gather Information, Hide, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (Any), Listen, Move Silently, Ride, Search, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Spot, Swim, Tumble
Proficiencies: Olethrofices are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, as well as light, medium, and heavy armor, and with all shields, including tower shields.


LevelBABFortRefWillSpecialMythosExcellencies
1st+1+2+2+2The Abomination's Mythos, Mythos Known, Exceptional Mythos, Unliving Excellence, Horror Manifest I, Death's Torn Tapestry+2+1
2nd+2+3+3+3+0+1
3rd+3+3+3+3Horror Manifest II+1+0
4th+4+4+4+4+0+1
5th+5+4+4+4Horror Manifest III+1+0
6th+6/+1+5+5+5+0+1
7th+7/+2+5+5+5Fantastic Mythos+1+1
8th+8/+3+6+6+6Horror Manifest IV+0+1
9th+9/+4+6+6+6+1+0
10th+10/+5+7+7+7+0+1
11th+11/+6/+1+7+7+7+1+0
12th+12/+7/+2+8+8+8+0+1
13th+13/+8/+3+8+8+8Legendary Mythos+1+1
14th+14/+9/+4+9+9+9+0+1
15th+15/+10/+5+9+9+9+1+0
16th+16/+11/+6/+1+10+10+10+0+1
17th+17/+12/+7/+2+10+10+10+1+0
18th+18/+13/+8/+3+11+11+11+0+1
19th+19/+14/+9/+4+11+11+11Exalted Mythos+1+1
20th+20/+15/+10/+5+12+12+12+1+1


The Abomination's Mythos: An Olethrofex's power is expressed in terms of one or more "Mythos", the building blocks of the legend that they are, and the stories that they have told and will tell. While any given Mythos varies from the rest, they share some similar traits. They are always Extraordinary abilities, and when they reference a difficulty class for an imposed saving throw, that saving throw is always calculated as (10 + 1/2 class level + Charisma modifier, unless otherwise stated). When a Mythos references a "level" that is not clearly defined in some other way, such as "character level", it refers to "class level" as in the number of levels one has in the Olethrofex class. When a Mythos references "allies", it specifically does not refer to the Olethrofex using it. When a Mythos grants a feat as a bonus feat, it is regardless of whether the character meets the prerequisites for that feat (unless otherwise stated), and if the character already possesses that feat (in some permanent fashion - via the normal allotment gained by leveling up, or through another Mythos, and so on, but not those gained temporarily, such as via a "Heroics" spell), they must replace the prior instance of that feat with another feat that they qualify for.

Every Mythos has a Tier. The Tier of a Mythos ranges from 1 to 4, typically referred to as Exceptional, Fantastic, Legendary, and Exalted. The Exceptional Mythos of the Olethrofex belongs to faceless ghouls that lurk in the dark spaces beyond the sight of the living, tricksters who thought to cheat Death when He came for them, victims of fate's errors, servants of dark powers cursed with their gratitude, and soldiers so enthralled by the blood and terror of the battlefield that their bodies never stopped seeking new foes to kill though their soul had long departed. The Olethrofex's Fantastic Mythos further reveal the truths of Death, Undeath, and Oblivion, driving the black champion to serve them one or all, lest he choose ignorance and devolve into a mere monster of the mortal coil, feared but meaningless. A Legendary Olethrofex is a guardian of the veil, a terrible lich-king, or a devouring blight on existence itself, manipulating, raping, or butchering the gate between this world and the next with their unnatural designs. Once an Olethrofex is Exalted, they mold bleak eternity as a craftsman would with clay. When they ride with scythe in hand, the end of days follows behind them. In their hands, the finite is made eternal and the eternal is brought to nothing. They are the dusk that drowns the day and the night that brings relief to a weary universe.

Some Mythos, in addition to their initial stated effect, have Basic and Advanced manifestations. When an Olethrofex gains access to a Mythos with a list of Basic manifestations, they may choose one such manifestation, and they gain that benefit immediately as well. This choice may not be changed later. When an Olethrofex gains access to a Mythos with a list of Advanced manifestations, they may choose one such manifestation, and they gain that benefit upon achieving their next level of Olethrofex. This choice may be changed at any point before receiving the chosen manifestation itself, but not after (choosing beforehand is just an easy way to mark it down on your character sheet so you don't forget that you'll be getting something later).

Mythos Known: A 1st level Olethrofex begins play with two Exceptional Mythos that he qualifies for if this is his first level in a PC character class. At higher levels, he gains additional Mythos as noted on the Olethrofex class table.

For characters that multiclass into Olethrofex after having taken levels in another PC character class, the 1st level of Olethrofex grants only a single Exceptional Mythos, rather than two.

An Olethrofex also has the ability to learn more Mythos, above the ones automatically allotted to him by leveling up by performing certain tasks. The first is to expend resources funding or performing funereal rites for the dead, creating crypts, graveyards, and other repositories for the deceased, or constructing monuments to great deaths and tragedies. The second is to fund or create the infrastructure for an independent holding of sentient undead (other than yourself), such as constructing a city, or fortress, or flying necropolis where awakened zombies can unlive and work in relative safety from rampaging adventurers, or establishing a bunch of disparate vampies into a unified court where they can pool their resources, police themselves, and terrorize the living all the more effectively. The third is to annihilate magical items; destruction is not enough. To qualify, the item in question must be consigned to total oblivion, such as by a Sphere of Annihilation. The fourth is to deny a quest reward, which much also not be collected by an ally, given either from a living character as a request to destroy undead, or from a dark power to which you serve, rewarding you for slaying the living.

Resources expended or denied in these fashions, which are utilized earnestly and without intention to recollect on them for personal gain, have their gold piece value recouped as an identical number of Mythos Points.

By spending 1,000 Mythos Points, and 250xp, an Olethrofex may learn an Exceptional Mythos. A Fantastic Mythos requires 5,000 Mythos Points and 500xp. A Legendary Mythos takes 10,000 Mythos Points, and 1,000xp. And an Exalted Mythos takes 20,000 Mythos Points and 2,000xp.

For half the listed price for a given Tier, an Olethrofex may learn a Basic or Advanced manifestation of a Mythos they already know of that Tier.

Learning Mythos above the standard amount requires astounding, nearly single-minded devotion to the story of the Olethrofex. One may only utilize this ability while more than half of his effective character level (ECL) is devoted to levels in the Olethrofex class.

Unliving Excellence: As denoted on their class table, an Olethrofex gains a certain number of abilities known as "Excellencies". These tend to be more general, generic, and passive than a Mythos, but are useful nonetheless, and are drawn from their own separate list, unsegregated by Tiers. Like a Mythos, an Olethrofex may learn more Excellencies above their allotted amount. Each one costs 1,000 Mythos Points and 100xp, plus an additional 1,000 Mythos Points and 100xp for each time a new Excellency is innovated beyond the first. (So, 2,000mp and 200xp for the second, 3,000mp and 300xp for the third, etc.)

Horror Manifest: It would be a mistake to assume that the destruction of an Olethrofex's flesh is all that is required to defeat it. It is so much more than meat and bones. It is the gross mutilation of reason and nature made into physical form, a walking elemental anathema to the multiverse. At first level, an Olethrofex adds their Charisma modifier as a bonus to their Armor Class, so long as they wear light or no armor, as the heat of violence withers and dies upon seeing their horror revealed to the world.

At 3rd level, an Olethrofex may substitute their Charisma modifier in place of their Constitution modifier for determining the number of hit points they recieve at each level. They may apply this benefit retroactively.

At 5th level, an Olethrofex may substitute their Charisma modifier in place of their Constitution modifier for determining their Fortitude saving throw bonus.

At 8th level, an Olethrofex gains Force Of Personality as a bonus feat (CA).

Death's Torn Tapestry: When the Abomination was created, its fetid, rotting hide grew slick with the universe's conceptual blood as its impossibility tore wounds in things that had not yet come to be. As it tried to die, but could not, its anathematic Mythos swept up threads from Death and Oblivion while they roiled their spite at its existence, and devoured them as a ghoul feasting on flesh. And so it is that its story gained some perverse purview over these things, though in a twisted way, and not to the extent of those things' true champions.

Some of an Olethrofex's Mythos are labeled with [Death], [Undeath], or [Oblivion] descriptors. [Undeath] are the purest expression of the Abomination's ideals - they create or empower undead to further blaspheme against the essence of all that is proper in the multiverse. An Olethrofex can maintain control over a maximum number of Hit Dice of Undead created via his Mythos equal to (4 x Class Level).

[Death] Mythos require dedication to what the Abomination should have been - the first dead thing, rather than an undead creature. As such, every [Death] Mythos you know lowers the number of Undead you may maintain control over by 4.

[Oblivion] Mythos require dedication to a true, silent end beyond any life or afterlife. Truly internalizing such ideas is deadening to one's heart and mind. Whenever you gain a Morale bonus or penalty, reduce that bonus or penalty by 1 per [Oblivion] Mythos you know.

Xefas
2013-11-29, 01:02 AM
Exceptional Mythos


Corpse-Body Resilience
Prerequisite: -

The unnatural essence that flows through you has begun to transform your physical husk in terrible and unnatural ways. You may choose one of two (mostly) cosmetic paths which this Mythos will begin, and subsequent Mythos that branch from this one will continue. The first path is that of the Festering Carrion Horror, and the second is that of the Eternal Cadaver Idol.

When a Festering Carrior Horror takes this Mythos, their skin pulls unnaturally tight against their body, looking unpleasantly stretched at the joints, and turns a sallow hue, as if they were perpetually afflicted with a debilitating illness.

Eternal Cadavar Idols have the color of their skin slowly lighten or darken, until it is either a bloodless marble white or a complete pitch black. Blemishes, skin polyps, scars, and other minor skin deformities fade to nothing in the process.

You gain Tomb-Tainted Soul and Tomb-Born Vitality as bonus feats (LM). You are immune to Poison and Disease.

Grave-Creche Fortitude
Prerequisite: -

You gain Damage Reduction X/Silver or Magic, where 'X' is your class level.

If you spend at least 4 hours in complete inactivity while resting atop material that you have died upon (or that your body landed on immediately after dying; that counts) or while wearing only clothing that you have died in, without being touched by natural sunlight for the duration, you gain enhanced durability for 24 hours afterward. In this state, the Damage Reduction granted by this Mythos can only be overcome by Silver and Magic, your Turn Resistance (if you are Undead) improves by 2.

At 3rd level, your natural healing rate is doubled while resting upon or within your grave material (as mentioned above). At 6th level, during your state of enhanced durability, you also have Fast Healing 1. This Fast Healing increases by 1 per two levels above 6th (2 at 8th, 3 at 10th, etc).

Inevitable Sunset Strike
Prerequisite: -
[Oblivion]

The living revel in their survival. They are so short-sighted as to discern value from not perishing to wound or illness or accident. Do they not see their death of age swiftly approaching? A mere moment to an immortal. But then, the immortal and the unliving cling, too, to their existence, willfully ignorant to the inevitable conclusion of all things, when the timeline ends, and all is brought to naught. Perhaps not for a billion billion years, and yet, less than a moment to the infinite darkness beyond.

As a standard action, you may make a normal melee attack. If the attack misses, your target still takes damage equal to the base damage dice of your weapon (ex. 2d6 for a medium greatsword). As your blade passes over them, they seem to wither and fade, even as they desperately block and parry in an attempt to preserve themselves.

Iron-Nerved Reaper Alacrity
Prerequisite: -

You gain Improved Initiative as a bonus feat.

Basic
Death Rushes Forth: You gain Run, Dash (CW), and Fleet of Foot (CW) as bonus feats.

Black Steel Torrent: You ignore a number of points of Armor Check Penalty from worn armor equal to your Strength modifier. If this reduces your Armor Check Penalty to zero, it no longer reduces your speed and you can rest or sleep in it without difficulty.

Advanced
Rising Smoke Swiftness: You gain Leap of the Heavens (PHBII) as a bonus feat.

Flickering Shadow Sense: You gain Lighting Reflexes as a bonus feat.

Necrotic Phantasmagoria Pulse
Prerequisite: -

With a gesture, you cause a nightmarish cascade of roiling spectral images to pour forth from the innermost vital cesspits of your being. This may be used as a melee touch attack or ranged attack that deals 1d8 negative energy damage per two class levels, minimum 1d8, and requires a standard action to initiate. If used as a ranged attack, the normal maximum range is 60 feet. However, you may choose a target up to 120 feet away by halving the damage dealt after rolling.

Advanced
Black Gauss Stroke: As a standard action, you may unleash a lashing coil of black-tinged lightning at up to three separate targets, all of which must be within a 30ft cone. This deals 1d8 damage per two class levels, minimum 1d8, half of which is negative energy, and the other half of which is electricity. The first target is allowed a Fortitude save for half damage; if they succeed, the other targets are spared. If the first target fails their save, the other two targets are hit with the lightning, and may make Fortitude saves for half damage.

If a target takes half damage due to a save, you may choose for that half to be all negative energy or all electricity.

Drowning Banshee Wail: As a standard action, you may focus a screeching, sorrowful blast of sound through your mouth or a musical instrument. This targets one creature within 60ft that can hear the noise. They, and one object in their space, must make a Fortitude save or take 1d6 damage per two class levels, minimum 1d6, half of which is negative energy, and the other half of which is sonic. You may choose a particular object to be targeted, if you have line of sight to the item, otherwise the damaged item is chosen randomly. If you destroy an item with this Mythos that the target has equipped, you gain Mythos Points equal to its gold piece value.

Lichpyre Flare: As a standard action, you may unleash an unnaturally colored conflagration at a target within 120ft. That target must make a Reflex save or take 1d10 damage per two class levels, minimum 1d10, half of which is negative energy, and the other half of which is fire.

Remorseless Gaze of Winter: As a standard action, you may call forth a great icy storm that moves with you as its eye, encompassing a cylindrical space that radiates 60ft from your body, and 100ft high (if there is sufficient room, it will also extend 100ft below you). Your space, and the space for 10ft around you, is the storm's calm, and it will not harm those within. Creatures that enter the storm, or begin their turn in the storm, must make a Fortitude save or take 1d4 damage per three class levels, minimum 1d4, half of which is negative energy, and the other half of which is cold. A single creature cannot take damage from the storm more than once per round.

The storm lasts until you dismiss it as a move action. While the storm is active, you cannot use the attack provided by Necrotic Phantasmagoria Pulse, or any of its other advanced manifestations.

None Trespass The Black Gate
Prerequisite: -
[Death]

There is power in death, and that is all some see. Others find the solemn sanctity in its meaning, and may weave sacred chains upon the gate of a fallen one's body, allowing none to trespass upon it.

As a full-round action, you may perform a short rite over an adjacent corpse. As part of the rite, you must place a small object (or, sometimes, a collection of objects) on the body, which somehow symbolizes rest, purity, or safety in death. Two silver pieces over the eyes is common, as is a dusting of salt, or an anointment of holy water or ashes. The cost of such items expended as part of the rite may be recollected as Mythos Points*.

The sanctified body will not rise as an undead under any circumstances, natural (such as a traumatized person rising naturally as a ghost) or magical, nor can it be resurrected as an undead creature, such as by a Revive Undead spell. The corpse is similarly expunged of the ability to be targeted by Necromantic spells and effects that disturb the corpse and compel actions of it without raising it as an undead, such as Speak With Dead. Parts of the sanctified corpse are completely useless as a material in supernatural affairs, such as the creation of a Bone or Flesh golem, or the material components of a spell. The corpse can still be raised to life (as with Raise Dead), after which this Mythos' effects end. If that creature should die again, their corpse requires another rite in order for it to be immunized once more.

Removing the item used in the rite does not reverse its effects, but if so blasphemous an act transpires, you immediately become aware of the name of the one who did so. It is not uncommon for Olethrofices with this Mythos to keep a list.

*As per the usual rules, this is only the case if you do not intend to take back the expended resources, or profit from their use. They must be earnestly given.

Basic
Drawing Open The Gate: For 24 hours after you sanctify a corpse with this Mythos, all of your attacks gain the Undead Bane special quality. In lieu of an outright attack, you may also make touch attacks that deal 2d6 points of positive energy damage to Undead. The time accrued by this ability is cumulative. So, an Olethrofex that sanctifies three corpses in quick succession would have 72 hours of this benefit. If, after 10 hours, he sanctifies two more corpses, it would extend again to 110 hours. And so on.

Caretaker at the Threshold: When you spend a full-round action to sanctify a corpse with this Mythos, you may choose to also sanctify all others corpses within (20 x level) feet. Corpses sanctified in this way show markings reminescent of the rite performed on the first corpse. For example, if the rite usually involves silver pieces placed over the corpse's eyes, then the other corpses will have eyes completely clouded over with a silver tone (tarnished or shining, as the coins used on the first corpse). If the rite usually involves ash drawn on the corpse's forehead in the depiction of a holy symbol, then the other corpses might have bruised or scabrous flesh in the shape of the same symbol upon their brow.

In addition, you also gain the ability to perform a new, extended rite on a corpse. This new rite takes at least a full minute to perform, and requires some form of marking on all of the corpse's extremities. Upon its completion, the corpse retains the pallor of death, but otherwise does not decay any further. Hair and fingernails stop growing, bacteria and mindless vermin shy away from feeding upon it, flesh does not rot or bloat from moisture, etc. If a spell with the [Healing] subschool is applied while the rite is taking place, then the corpse may also have previously rotten flesh or other features returned to it, or injuries healed, despite its lack of hit points, likely leaving it in a state where it could be mistaken for a living thing once more.

On A Pale Beast
Prerequisite: 4 ranks in the Ride skill

Your will to bring death to the living or unliving, suffused with your soul's black essence, coalesces into the name of a swift beast that wishes for nothing but to bear you into battle. By speaking the name for the first time, you make the creature real, and its ash-white countenance bursts forth into this world to greet you.

Your pale beast always appears as a quadrupedal animal suitable for use as a mount. Among the most civilized races, this is usually a horse, but other options are possible. A Hobgoblin Olethrofex might conjure a massive wolf, or a Kobold could summon a giant reptile.


Type: Magical Beast
Size: Choose; Medium or Large (a Large pale beast has a Reach of only 5ft)
Hit Dice: 3d8 (+1 hit die per two class levels)
Speed: 60ft (for some unusual mounts, such as a lizard or spider, this might be substituted for a 30ft speed and a 20ft climb speed)
Armor Class: +2 Natural Armor (+1 per two class levels)
Attack: The pale beast has a primary natural attack that deals (1d6 if Medium, or 1d8 if Large) damage, which is usually a slam, bite, or claw (for simplicity, a strike with multiple claws or hooves is represented as a single attack). It adds 1.5x its Strength modifier to the damage of this attack.
Ability Scores: Int 3, Wis 13, Cha 7; Assign the following scores to their phsyical abilities at your chossing (18, 16, 14). Every four hit dice, it gains an additional point that may be applied to any score, much like a player character.
Skills: A pale beast gains an additional 4 skill points for its first hit die, and one additional bonus skill point at each hit die after that. Its class skills are (Balance, Hide, Intimidate, Jump, Listen, Move Silently, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Spot, Survival, Swim). A pale beast that uses the alternate climb speed option (see above) also adds the following skills to its list of class skills (Climb, Escape Artist, Search).
Feats: A pale beast gains feats as normal, but it always chooses Endurance as its first level feat. (A pale beast that uses the alternate climb speed option may take Weapon Finesse in place of Endurance as its first level feat, even if it does not meet the prerequisites.)
Special Abilities: A pale beast always has Low-Light Vision, Darkvision out to 60ft, Scent, Evasion, and the ability to understand all languages that its master does, as well as telepathically communicate broad emotions and vague animalistic concepts to its master across any distance. It is healed by both negative and positive energy, and has a +4 racial bonus on saving throws against fear effects.

As long as you may speak aloud, you may summon or dismiss your pale beast as a full-round action. It is always summoned adjacent to you, or to the closest available space with solid ground if there are no free adjacent spaces large enough to contain it. After being dismissed or being killed, its essence diffuses back into the world and must reconstitute itself for 1d4 hours before it may be summoned again. It cannot be permanently destroyed. If an ability that can permanently destroy things that cannot be permanently destroyed annihilates your pale beast, you lose this Mythos. After spending an hour in isolated meditation or mourning, you may regain this Mythos, creating a new beast with a new name, or simply replace it with a different Exceptional Mythos and forsake the ability to gain this Mythos ever again.

Basic
Reborn In The Saddle: You gain Saddleback (PGtF) as a bonus feat.

Pale Rider Mien: While riding your pale beast, you are considered to have a masterwork tool for Hide, Intimidate, Listen, Move Silently, Spot, and Survival.

Striking-At-Despair Futility: You gain Mounted Combat as a bonus feat.

Relentless Nightfall Fusillade
Prerequisite: The 'Iron-Nerved Reaper Alacrity' Mythos

When night falls, it throws its shade upon all things with equal measure, and no man, women, or child is given a death any more or less complete than any other.

As a standard action, you may make two melee attacks against different targets.

At 4th level, you may make three melee attacks instead of two, all against different targets. At 6th level, this increases to four, and you gain the option to, instead of rolling separate attack rolls, you may make a single attack roll and apply it against all chosen targets. This decision must be made before making the first attack roll. At 8th level, the number of attacks increases to five.

At 11th level, you may attack every creature within your melee reach. At 13th level, you may now choose whether to make a single attack roll or multiple attack rolls after the first roll is made, but before the second.

Rigid Deathgrip Calcification
Prerequisite: -

The bones in your hands and wrists swell and bulge, giving them an almost claw-like appearance. While you use at least one hand to climb with, you have a Climb Speed equal to one half your Land Speed, and are considered to have a masterwork climbing tool. While using two hands to climb, your Climb Speed increases to be equal with your Land Speed.

Basic
Razor Ghoul-Grip: You gain Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat. Like a Monk, you may make unarmed attacks with any part of your body, even if your hands are otherwise occupied. You may deal slashing, piercing, or bludgeoning damage with unarmed strikes that utilize your hands or feet. If an average damage roll from your unarmed strikes would be capable of overcoming the Hardness of a surface that you are climbing, you may choose to automatically leave slight alcoves in the surface just sufficient enough that they may later be used as handholds or footholds.

Heavy Mohrg-Grip: You gain Improved Grapple as a bonus feat.

Staunch Skeleton-Grip: You gain Monkey Grip as a bonus feat, but do not suffer the -2 penalty on attack rolls normally inflicted by that feat.

Vicious Wight-Grip: You gain Power Attack as a bonus feat.

Twilight Harbinger Appointment
Prerequisite: -

The nature of Death is to follow, not because it serves, for it bows to no one, but because it is eventual, inevitable; it is consequence, and judgment, and conclusion. Whether by wound, plague, misfortune, the turning of years, or something else, Death has a herald.

When initiative is rolled for an encounter, you may swap initiative counts with an ally that has a lower initiative count than yourself. That ally becomes your Herald until the end of the encounter; choose one of the following benefits to apply for the duration.

Bright Herald: When you make a ranged attack against a target that has taken damage from a ranged attack made by your Bright Herald earlier in the same round, that attack ignores damage reduction. Whenever your Bright Herald inflicts a morale penalty on a creature (or a penalty that they suffer as a result from being Shaken, Frightened, or Panicked), that creatures treats the penalty as being 1 higher whenever it interacts with you directly (such as a penalty on its armor class when you are attacking it, or a penalty on its attack rolls when it attacks you).

Iron Herald: When you charge a target that was charged earlier in the same round by your Iron Herald, the penalty to your Armor Class from charging is reduced by 2. Whenever you are flanking a target with your Iron Herald, both of you increase the attack roll flanking bonus by 1.

Cruel Herald: When you force a target to make a saving throw, when that target has already been forced to make a saving throw earlier in the same round by your Cruel Herald, they take a -2 penalty on that saving throw, and their Spell Resistance is reduced by 1 for 5 minutes. Additional applications of the Spell Resistance reduction stack and reset the duration back to 5 minutes.

Basic
Reflections on Conquest: By spending a day training with a character that has served as your Bright Herald at least once before, in whatever manner they choose, they may teach you one feat that they know. This feat must benefit ranged attacks, intimidation, diplomacy, or make you a better leader in some way. You may ignore one prerequisite listed for the feat, but must otherwise meet all others prerequisites.

You may only learn one feat via Reflections on Conquest.

Reflections on War: By spending a day training with a character that has served as your Iron Herald at least once before, in whatever manner they choose, they may teach you one feat that they know. This feat must benefit melee attacks or somehow make you more durable. You may ignore one prerequisite listed for the feat, but must otherwise meet all others prerequisites.

You may only learn one feat via Reflections on War.

Reflections on Famine: By spending a day training with a character that has served as your Cruel Herald at least once before, in whatever manner they choose, they may endow you with a spell-like ability. They must know the spell, have the same spell-like ability, or have an invocation or mystery (or other supernatural power) that mimicks the taught spell. The spell must be of a level no higher than ([your class level - 2] / 2, rounded up; for example, a 5th level Olethrofex could learn a 2nd level spell). If the spell has verbal, somatic, or expensive material components or foci, you must still supply them. Otherwise, it operates as a normal spell-like ability, which may be used once per day.

You may only be endowed with one spell-like ability via Reflections on Famine.

Viral Tyrant Legacy
Prerequisite: The 'Corpse-Body Resilience' Mythos or The 'Undead' Type
[Undeath]

The ecosystem of a living body is vast and intricate, with numerous specialized cells for fighting off disease and infection from the blood, digestion, or airborne particles. All of these are now largely vestigial to you, but the necrotic energies that have come to sustain your body may have another use for them. These phagocytes, intestinal flora, and other creatures may be slain and raised as a mockery of what they were, becoming a virulent undead plague upon living things.

This disease can be called many things, but is referred to here as Walking Death. Its method of delivery is via transfer of a host's bodily fluids into a victim's bloodstream. This may be done through a natural bite attack, or by a creature without a natural bite attack by succeeding on a grapple check against a pinned target. Other ways are possible, but the disease loses its virulency one round after the host's fluids leave its body. The DC to resist Walking Death is (10 + 1/2 host's hit dice + host's Strength modifier). Its Incubation period is 1 hour, and it deals 1d4 Strength and 1 Constitution damage.

When a creature dies while afflicted with Walking Death, they rise as a Zombie one minute later, with an insatiable urge to consume flesh and spread their disease, for they continue to host its tyranny even in death. They instinctively do not consume or mutilate a body to the extent that it would not rise as a functional Zombie.

Advanced
Mutant Necrosis Proliferation: When a creature rises as a Zombie due to the Walking Death, there is a 10% chance that they will become mutated, gaining a new ability. If, in life, their highest ability score was Strength, they become a Big Zombie, gaining the Powerful Build quality and Toughness as a bonus feat (in additional to the first purchase of Toughness granted by the Zombie template). If their highest ability score was Dexterity, they become a Fast Zombie, losing the "Single Action Only" special quality granted by the Zombie template. If their highest ability score with Constitution, they become a Carrier Zombie; upon their destruction, they release a specialized airborne variant of Walking Death, which forces living creatures within 30ft to save against being infected, before dying out. If multiple ability scores are tied for highest, choose randomly among them for which mutation takes precedence.

Tyrannical Progenitor Inheritance: When the Walking Death is transferred to a new creature, that creature uses the DC of their infector's version of the Walking Death, minus 1, if it would be higher than calculating it from their own Strength and Hit Dice.

(For example, if you have 18 Strength and 4 Hit Dice, the DC of your Walking Death is 16. If you infect a level 1 Commoner with 10 Strength, the DC of their Walking Death would normally be 10, but is instead 15. If they infect another level 1 Commoner, that Commoner's DC would be 14. And so on.)

Noble Plaguefather Authority: Zombies created by the Walking Death never attack you, ignoring even magically enforced orders to do so. In addition, as a standard action, you may assert your authority over every Zombie created by the Walking Death that can hear you, and spur them to rampage in a direction of your choosing. Any commands more intricate than "Rampage that way." are too much for them to understand. Zombies that are already hunting prey, or are under the direct control of another being, ignore you.

Slavering Horror Malformity: After a Zombie is created by the Walking Death, the necrotic disease polluting their body begins to develop them towards becoming an even more effective scourge on the living world. Over the next day, bits of bone and flesh are broken down and repurposed to give the Zombie an oversized, gaping maw filled with sharp too-large fangs. This weakens them structurally, reducing the Natural Armor they gain from the Zombie template by 1, but granting them "Deformity: Teeth" as a bonus feat (HoH).

Xefas
2013-11-29, 01:04 AM
Fantastic Mythos


Clad In Broken Hopes And Stolen Lives
Prerequisite: -

With a small sacrifice, you may transform a suit of armor that you wear into a more intuitive conduit for your power. To supply this sacrifice, you must coup-de-grace a living creature - as the essence of death wells up around them, you reap the pain and fear of their life and robe yourself in it.

Armor so transformed is cosmetically altered into an ornate symbol of death. Leather and Hide armor might change to look as if the material were sown-together, still-rotting scraps of carcasses from the recently deceased. Chainmail or Banded Mail might become altered to appear as if they were made of sequences of interlocking or bolted-together bones. Breastplates and Full Plate could gain skull motifs around their joints and pauldrons, with metal like black ice and bone-white filigree. Whatever the change, the armor does not gain or lose functionality based on the materials it now appears to be made of.

If you remove a transformed suit of armor, it retains its cosmetic changes. However, if an Olethrofex with this Mythos wears armor of this kind, they gain the following benefits. First, they are considered to have a Masterwork Tool for the Intimidate skill against anyone that can see them. Second, they reduce the Armor Check Penalty of the armor by their Charisma modifier, and if this would reduce the Armor Check Penalty to 0, their movement speed is not penalized for wearing it and they may rest and sleep in it without hindrance. Third, their 'Horror Manifest' class feature functions in the armor, even if it is Medium or Heavy Armor.

Corpse-Life Apotheosis
Prerequisite: The 'Corpse-Soul Desecration' Mythos

The darkness has finally devoured you, snuffing out the last glowing ember of your humanity. You breathe your last breath, and die. Moments, minutes, hours, days, weeks, or even years later, you arise again, neither living nor dead, a creature of terrible stasis, an Abomination in miniature.

Your type changes to Undead, with all associated alterations, save for the following. Unlike normal undead creatures, your natural state becomes undeath. You may be targeted by spells such as Raise Dead, and all spells that would return a creature to life from the afterlife, like Resurrection or True Resurrection, return you to your undead self. You may choose, upon gaining the Mythos, to lose your "Deformity: Madness" feat, as your mind no longer suffers from being pulled between the living and undead states of being. If you make this choice, the permanent Wisdom points that were removed by that feat are returned to you. You cannot alter your decision later.

You gain Improved Toughness and Positive Energy Resistance as bonus feats (LM) and you have Turn Resistance equal to your Charisma modifier.

Festering Carrion Horrors become grotesque monsters, though the specifics are highly variable once the constraint of life are removed. Ribcages bursting through the torso, filled with writhing, bloody viscera. Skulls broken and twisted to resemble nothing that has ever lived. Hands made of thousands of intertwined black, squirming spider legs. Or perhaps something more mundane, like a simple bleached skeleton. Regardless of the form, they are one and all nightmarish, and gain Frightful Presence (Drac) as a bonus feat.

Eternal Cadaver Idols make their home in the uncanny valley, becoming altogether too ideal, too perfect, too fantastic, too graceful, too consistent to appear as a normal member of their race any longer. With neither heartbeat nor body heat, they are more likely to be mistaken for exquisitely crafted statues, dolls, or mannequins than as a living person. They gain a +4 bonus on Hide and Move Silently checks, doubling this bonus while they remain perfectly still. And a +10 bonus on Disguise checks to disguise themselves as an inanimate representation of a person, such as a statue.

Corpse-Soul Desecration
Prerequisite: The 'Corpse-Body Resilience' Mythos

The black essence of the grave has consumed your body, but now you beckon it to desecrate you in ever-more intimate ways, until your soul itself has been twisted beyond repair. This renders you immune to Energy Drain, Death Effects, and the Ability Damage and Drain inflicted by undead or necromancy spells or spell-like abilities. However, this debasement is not without consequence; your mind begins to become poisoned by the inhuman whispers and impulses of undeath, inflicted 'Deformity: Madness' on you as a bonus feat (EE).

A Festering Carrion Horror with this Mythos loses all or most of their hair, and their eyes cloud, scab, or rot over, remaining functional, but becoming grim to look upon. Bits of their flesh routinely die and fester, still clinging to the limb, before flaking off over the course of days or weeks. Their movements become strange and spidery, sometimes too still, other times too abrupt, and often using angles and twists of the joints that shouldn't be possible for a normal person. They gain Stench Of The Dead as a bonus feat (UA).

An Eternal Cadaver Idol's hair darkens or lightens to become as black as a starless winter's night, or as white as the snow beneath it. Their irises become something instantly striking and recognizable as being unusual, often a brilliant blood-red, a frigid ice-blue, or so dark that they seem to consume the light of everything around them. Their physical features subtley shift to a perfect symmetry, and their nails, hair, eyelashes, and other naturally growing bodily items cease to grow or change, shifting to an idealized state, and only regrowing if damaged. They may substitute their number of ranks in Bluff for their number of ranks in Diplomacy (even if this would exceed the normal number of ranks in Diplomacy they could have) for the purposes of making Diplomacy checks against characters that could be physically attracted to them.

Death-Mourning Phylactery Fission
Prerequisite: 4 ranks in a Craft skill

After learning this Mythos, you may, one time, create the basis for an artifact of power beyond mortal kin. To begin, you must personally craft a masterwork weapon, suit of armor, or article of clothing that would occupy your face, head, throat, shoulders, arms, hands, waist, ring, or feet item slot.

At the item's moment of completion, you sunder a portion of your own soul from the whole, and graft it into the item, transforming it into a Soul Reliquary. If it is a weapon, it becomes a +1 weapon, if it is a suit of armor, it becomes a +2 suit of armor or a +1 suit of armor with an additional quality worth an effective +1 bonus, if it is neither, it gains a Basic Wondrous Power (see below).

In addition, your Reliquary is nigh invulnerable. It cannot be harmed or destroyed, except by a single flaw that you build into it during its creation. Nothing is beyond Death, after all. This flaw can be difficult to exploit, but it cannot be impossible. Perhaps it must be thrown into a very specific volcano, or sundered by a Paladin wielding a Holy Avenger, or it must slay a hundred innocents in a single night. If a Reliquary's flaw ever becomes completely impossible (such as a blade that can only be destroyed be being immersed in the Prime Material Plane's sun, and the sun is devoured by some rampaging monster, never to return), then it develops a new, similar flaw.

You are not the only one who can wield your Reliquary, of course. If someone else takes up your Reliquary, the fragment of your soul within will attempt to subvert them. In this case, "taking up" a Reliquary can be quite indirect; certainly, drawing on its powers directly counts for this purpose, but so does simply carrying it, magically levitating it, strapping it to a pack animal to carry, or dragging it a hundred feet behind one's self with a rope while it is incased in a steel box. As a general rule, it cannot be safely transported without you.

Once a character has taken up the Reliquary, they have a choice. They can give in to the subtle manipulations emanating from the item, and begin to act in accordance with your moral and ethical philosophy (which may be more specific than your Alignment), slowly changing themselves of their own free will. In this case, the item functions for them as it would for you, allowing the wielder access to all of its powers. Or they can fight the influence of the item, in which case the item functions merely as a masterwork version of itself, without any further abilities, and the wielder suffers a -1 penalty on all d20 rolls, -5 maximum hit points, -1 effective level for rolls or abilities they use that function off their class or character levels, and they lose one spell slot of their highest level known. This lasts until the wielder abandons the item, plus one week afterward. For each full week after the first that they carry the item, these penalties stack an additional time. If a wielder gives in to the item's influence, they become immune to these penalties - however, if they deny the item's influence again, then all the penalties come back, including those that have continued to accrue while they were immune to them.

A character that dies while wielding your Reliquary rises as a Zombie whose sole purpose is to take your Reliquary and bring it back to you. If it completes this task, it returns to being an inert corpse.

If you are on the same Plane as your Reliquary, you know the exact distance and direction it is from you at all times. If it is on a different Plane, you know which Plane it is on. Reliquaries cannot have new magical qualities applied to them in a permanent fashion beyond those granted by this Mythos (such as a Wizard with Craft Magic Arms and Armor improving your +1 Greatsword Reliquary into a +2 Greatsword; see the Magic Item Compendium pg233 for more details), though they can be temporarily enchanted, such as by a Greater Magic Weapon spell.

Rules For Weapon Reliquaries

At level 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, and 20, your Reliquary's effective enhancement bonus increases by 1, which can be represented by an increase in enhancement bonus (up to +6), or by the addition of special abilities with a value expressed by an effective enhancement bonus. Each time the effective enhancement bonus of your Reliquary increases, you may alter what its enhancement bonus and special abilities are, though it must always maintain at least a +1 enhancement bonus (for example, a level 10 Olethrofex with a +2 Greatsword Reliquary could alter it to a +1 Axiomatic Greatsword upon attaining level 11, and then into a +1 Cold Keen Magebane Greatsword at level 13).

By spending an amount of Mythos Points equal to the cost in gold pieces, you may apply new weapon special abilities to your Reliquary, but only those special abilities with a cost expressed in gold pieces, rather than effective enhancement bonuses (such as Aquatic or Illuminating). These cannot be altered after they are chosen.

Rules For Armor Reliquaries

At level 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, and 19, your Reliquary's effective enhancement bonus increases by 1, which can be represented by an increase in enhancement bonus (up to +5), or by the addition of special abilities with a value expressed by an effective enhancement bonus. Each time the effective enhancement bonus of your Reliquary increases, you may alter what its enhancement bonus and special abilities are, though it must always maintain at least a +1 enhancement bonus (for example, a level 10 Olethrofex with a +3 Full Plate Reliquary could alter it to +1 Gleaming Full Plate upon attaining level 11, and then into +1 Anchoring Mobility Displacement Ghost Ward Full Plate at level 13).

By spending an amount of Mythos Points equal to the cost in gold pieces, you may apply new armor special abilities to your Reliquary, but only those special abilities with a cost expressed in gold pieces, rather than effective enhancement bonuses (such as Healing or Proof Against Enchantment). These cannot be altered after they are chosen.

Rules For Other Reliquaries

At level 9 and 11, your Reliquary gains a new Basic Wondrous Power. At level 13, 15, and 17, your Reliquary gains a new Advanced Wondrous Power. At level 19, your Reliquary gains a Greater Wondrous Power.

Basic Wondrous Powers
Implacability: When the wielder takes enough damage to be reduced to 0 hit points or less, that damage is negated and their hit points are instead set to 1. Then, they are healed for a number of hit points equal to your class level. After this ability activates, it cannot activate again for 24 hours.
Incarnum Conduit: A soulmeld can be bound to the same chakra slot that this item occupies without disrupting the functioning of either. Grants 1 Essentia.
Increased Speed: Grants a +10 enhancement bonus to base land speed.
Innata Arcana: Choose one 0th level spell. Grants use of that spell at-will, with a caster level equal to your class level. This power can be taken multiple times.
Lesser Profane Empowerment: Grants a +2 Profane bonus to one ability score. This power can be taken multiple times, but only once for each ability score.
Lesser Resistance: Grants a +2 Resistance bonus on all saving throws.

Advanced Wondrous Powers
Certainty: You do not automatically fail on a roll of 1 for attack rolls or saving throws.
Elemental Empowerment: Choose Fire, Ice, or Electricity. The wielder's melee attacks deal an additional 1d6 damage of the chosen type. Spells, spell-like abilities, soulmelds, and abilities granted by Mythos that deal the chosen type of damage deal an additional 1d6 damage of the chosen type, if they require a standard or full-round action to activate.
Incarnum Catalyst: The chakra slot shared by this item is opened, and the wielder gains the ability to bind a soulmeld to it. If they could already bind soulmelds to any of their chakras, binding a soulmeld to this chakra does not count as one of their daily binds. Requires the Incarnum Conduit basic power.
Lesser Deflection: Grants a +2 Deflection bonus to armor class.
Greater Profane Empowerment: Grants a +2 Profane bonus to one ability score. This power can be taken multiple times, but only once for each ability score. Stacks with the bonus granted by the Lesser Profane Empowerment basic power and the Perfect Profane Empowerment greater power.
Greater Resistance: Grants a +2 Resistance bonus on all saving throws. Stacks with the bonus granted by the Lesser Resistance basic power and the Perfect Resistance greater power.
Unstoppable: Grants a +5 enhancement bonus to base land speed (which stacks with the bonus granted by the Increased Speed basic power). The wielder ignores difficult terrain, and gains +10 Profane bonus on Balance checks.

Greater Wondrous Powers
Flight: Grants a Fly speed equal to the wielder's base land speed with (average) maneuverability.
Greater Deflection: Grants a +2 Deflection bonus to armor class. Stacks with the bonus granted by the Lesser Deflection advanced power.
Incarnum Depth: A soulmeld that occupies the same chakra slot as this item has +1 essentia capacity. Grants 1 Essentia. Requires the Incarnum Conduit basic power.
Perfect Profane Empowerment: Grants a +2 Profane bonus to one ability score. This power can be taken multiple times, but only once for each ability score. Stacks with the bonus granted by the Lesser Profane Empowerment basic power and the Greater Profane Empowerment advanced power.
Perfect Resistance: Grants a +2 Resistance bonus on all saving throws. Stacks with the bonus granted by the Lesser Resistance basic power and the Greater Resistance advanced power.
Shifting Darkness: Grants concealment.


Imminent Nightfall Understanding
Prerequisite: -
[Oblivion]

When looking up at the noon-day sky, it is difficult to imagine the pitch darkness of night, just as living creatures have difficulty imagining what it is like to be dead. And yet, the night still falls as it always does, and death always comes, as it must.

When you (unintentionally) miss with an attack roll, you gain a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls until you succeed on an attack roll, or until a minute passes, whichever is less. This bonus can stack up to a maximum of your class level.

Advanced
Holding Back The Day: The bonus granted by Imminent Nightfall Understanding also applies to Armor Class.

Fading Dusk Vitality: When you (unintentionally) miss with an attack roll, you are healed 2 hit points.

Sudden Midnight Execution: When the bonus granted by Imminent Nightfall Understanding reaches its maximum number of stacks, the bonus doubles for the next attack. Whether that attack hits or misses, the bonus resets as if you had succeeded.

Night of the Living Dead
Prerequisite: -
[Undeath]

As a standard action, you may unleash a wave of insidious negative energy that infects corpses within 100ft, creating up to (level x 2) hit dice of skeletons or zombies, which rise under your control (literally, if their corpse is prone), roll initiative, and act on the following round. You may not raise undead in excess of your control limit. The undead obey simple commands, which you may relay as a telepathic free action.

If you allow only the initial wave of energy to maintain their existence, the undead return to inert objects after (class level) minutes. However, you may invest a portion of your story in them to make them more real and relevant - a payment of (25 per Hit Die of the minion) Mythos Points at any point while you have them animated via this Mythos will make an undead self-sustaining, and remove this time constraint on their existence.

Advanced
Children of the Night: Up to (class level) hit dice of undead raised by this Mythos will sustain themselves indefinitely without an investment of Mythos Points. However, any undead created by this Mythos that you have not invested Mythos Points in will begin to lose power whenever natural sunlight touches them, becoming inanimate one minute after doing so (even if they are taken out of the sunlight afterward).

Zombie-Lord Celerity: Zombies you create with this Mythos are Fast Zombies, losing their "Single Action Only" special quality. In addition, they gain Lightning Reflexes as a bonus feat, and reduce the Armor Class penalty suffered from Charging by 2.

Skeleton-Lord Mastery: Skeletons you create with this Mythos are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, and with light and medium armor and shields (except tower shields), if they were not already. They ignore movement speed penalties from wearing medium armor or carrying up to a medium load.

Ghoul-Lord Potency: You may create Ghouls with this Mythos, in addition to Skeletons and Zombies. The risen creature has all of its class levels (if any) converted to undead hit dice, and gains the Gravetouched Ghoul (LM) template. The corpse must have at least enough intact flesh to be raised as a Zombie, and attempting to raise a corpse as a Ghoul that has been dead longer than one week yields a Zombie instead.

Sanguine Emperor Appetite
Prerequisite: The 'Viral Tyrant Legacy' Mythos
[Undeath]

The necrotic infestation inside your body continues to evolve. Your blood is now completely unrecognizable from that of a normal living person, and you may consume the fresh blood of living creatures to feed the darkness within.

When you succeed on a grapple check to pin a living creature, or at the beginning of your turn while you are maintaining a pin against such a creature, you may choose to also sink your teeth into them, and drain their blood, resulting in 1d4 points of Constitution Damage. The target must either already have a bleeding wound, or have a Natural Armor bonus less than your Strength modifier (otherwise, their hide is too thick to so easily chew through).

Drinking in this way provides a day's worth of sustenance in terms of food and water, if your body still requires such things, and heals 5 hit points of damage from you. This may heal you in excess of your maximum hit points, becoming temporary hit points that last up to 1 hour. You may have a maximum of (2 x level) temporary hit points from this ability.

Advanced
Gift of Eternal Hunger: This manifestation may only be learned if you also possess the 'Grave-Creche Fortitude' Mythos. If you do not have that Mythos at the time you would normally gain this manifestation, you acquire this manifestation as soon as you learn Grave-Creche Fortitude. If you kill an intelligent living creature with two or more hit dice that is at least significant enough to have the Elite Array for their ability scores, or better, by drinking their blood, you may simultaneously inject their corpse with a small amount of your own tainted innards.

A creature infected in this way will not rise as a zombie via your Viral Tyrant Legacy Mythos. If, within the next 24 hours, their corpse spends 4 undisturbed hours upon or within their grave material, untouched by natural sunlight, they undergo a metamorphosis, awakening as something just as vile as yourself.

The new creature's type becomes Undead, with associated statistical alterations. They lose two levels or hit dice, but gain one level of Olethrofex. Their starting Mythos (or one of their starting Mythos, if it is their first class level) must be Grave-Creche Fortitude. They may also drink the blood of the living in the same way that this Mythos allows you to do, and gain the same benefits, except that they may not make use of the "Gift of Eternal Hunger" manifestation until they learn the Mythos for real. Upon gaining access to Fantastic Olethrofex Mythos, their first Fantastic Mythos must be Sanguine Emperor Appetite.

When creating a spawn in this way, you may place them under your control, counting their hit dice against the number of hit dice of undead you may control with [Undeath] Mythos. They are aware that you are unnaturally forcing your will on them, but must obey your commands to the best of their abilities.

Shade-Reaping Finality Beacon
Prerequisite: The 'None Trespass The Black Gate' Mythos
[Death]

You gain the ability to Turn Undead as a Cleric of your class level. You may Turn Undead a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier.

If you already had Turn Undead from another source, you do not gain the above benefit. Instead, your Olethrofex levels stack with one of your other classes (of your choice) that provide Turn Undead for determining your effective turning level from that class. You also add 3 daily turning attempts to that class's Turn Undead.

In either case, you no longer require a holy symbol to Turn Undead. You are a potent enough symbol of death in your own right to inspire fear and assert dominance over the unliving.

Sitting Astride Calamity
Prerequisite: 8 ranks in the Ride skill, The 'On A Pale Beast' Mythos

Your Pale Beast permanently gains one of the following abilities.


Awaken
Your Pale Beast's base Intelligence and Charisma increase to 10 (retroactively receiving skill points for their new, heightened intellect). Though they still do not have the physical equipment required to speak, they may now communicate as articulately and fluently as an average human with their telepathy. Finally, they gain proficiency with all Light Armor.

Breath Weapon
Choose Fire, Cold, Electricity, or Acid. Your Pale Beast gains a Breath Weapon that deals 1d6 damage per two hit dice it possesses, of the energy type chosen, and allows a Reflex save for half damage (DC 10 + 1/2 the beast's hit dice + its Constitution modifier). If you chose Fire or Cold, it is a 30ft Cone. If you chose Electricity or Acid, it is a 10ft wide, 60ft line. After spending a standard action to activate its breath weapon, it cannot do so again for 1d4 rounds.

If it also has the Elemental Affinity ability from this Mythos, then you must choose the same type of energy that it has a resistance to.

Elemental Affinity
Choose Fire, Cold, Electricity, or Acid. Your Pale Beast deals an additional 1d6 damage of that type with its natural weapons, and it has Energy Resistance (10 + its hit dice) against the chosen type.

If it also has a Breath Weapon, then you must choose the same type of energy as its Breath Weapon.

Expanded Training
Your Pale Beast gains a Fighter Bonus Feat as a bonus feat. It must still meet all the prerequisites.

Frightful Presence
Your Pale Beast gains Frightful Presence as a bonus feat (Drac). While you ride atop it, it may substitute your hit dice for its own when determining the DC of this feat, and what creatures it may effect with it.

Multiple Attacks
Your Pale Beast gains a second natural attack. This could represent the extrusion of a new limb, multiple attacks with the same appendage (such as biting twice), or representing multiple claws or hooves as two different attacks (unlike how the base Pale Beast handles such things). Both of its natural weapons are considered Primary.

Shared Evasion
While your ride atop your Pale Beast, you share its Evasion special quality.

Spell Resistance
Your Pale Beast gains Spell Resistance (11 + its hit dice).

Steel Hooves
Your Pale Beast ignores difficult terrain.

Thick Skin
Your Pale Beast gains DR X/Magic, where X is equal to (5 + its hit dice).

Venom
Your Pale Beast's natural weapons secrete a poison that it delivers through dealing damage with them. It deals 1d3 Strength damage for its primary and secondary damage, and has a DC of (10 + 1/2 the beast's hit dice + constitution modifier).


Basic
Continuous Ruin-Steed Evolution: Your Pale Beast gains another ability from the above list. This manifestation may be purchased multiple times, to a maximum of your Charisma modifier.

Xefas
2013-11-29, 01:06 AM
Legendary Mythos


Angel of Death Shintai
Prerequisite: The Undead Type
[Death]

Through utmost denial of the more abominable origins of your power, you have forsaken the path of undeath and become a champion of the natural cycle. You retain all of the traits and features of the Undead type (and those granted by the Corpse-Life Apotheosis Mythos if you have it), with the following exceptions, but your actual type changes to Outsider (your native plane remains the same). The first exception is that you are now healed by both positive and negative energy, which overrides prior feats you may have, such as Tomb-Tainted Soul. Secondly, you are no longer destroyed at 0 hit points - you may be reduced to a negative hit point threshold before death, just like an Outsider. Thirdly, any immunity to mind-affecting effects that you possess through traits of your race or type, or via feats, do not function against Gods of Death (that do not also possess portfolios of Undeath), other deity-level entities aligned with Death, or the direct servants of such powers.

Furthermore, you may now see, at a glance, the remaining lifespan ordained by fate for any mortal creature with Intelligence 3 or more that you look upon that has hit dice equal to or less than (class level -4)*. This typically includes most Aberrations, Dragons, Giants, Humanoids, and Monstrous Humanoids. This time is not absolute; the actions of creatures that can alter fate, even a little, such as anyone with PC class levels, those important enough to be built with the Elite Array or better, or just particularly significant characters, can end a life prematurely. But, if all things go according to fate's plan, when a mortal's time strikes 0, something will kill them.

*For the remainder of this Mythos, the term "mortal" will refer to "mortal creature with Intelligence 3 or more".

As a servant of Death, you are barred from interceding with a mortal's natural allotment of time. Hostile actions taken with your Mythos (or by minions created by your Mythos) fail against mortals with more than a day's time left, your attacks cannot reduce them below 1 hit point, your ailments cannot push them over the threshold, and any power that you have to heal, evade, protect, or otherwise safeguard a creature fizzle in the face of Death's imminent hand if a mortal has less than a day to live.

Finally, by spending a full ten minutes in uninterrupted concentration, you may momentarily subvert time and space in one of the two following ways. In the first, you and up to (class level) willing creatures within 30ft, travel from the Prime Material Plane to an Outer Plane, or from an Outer Plane to the Prime Material Plane. If the Plane to which you are traveling hosts the domain of a deity, or other greater power, of Death, then you appear there. If it does not, then this ability functions with a margin of error as the Plane Shift spell.

In the second case, you may mentally aim for a city or other similarly sized geographical location on the same plane as yourself, either that you are familiar with or that you are capable of making a DC 30 Knowledge (Geography) check to direct yourself with (substitute Knowledge: The Plane outside of the Prime). If there is at least one mortal in that general location with less than a day to live by fate's measure, you disappear from your current location and appear somewhere near one such dying mortal (usually within 100ft or less), in the most ominous fashion possible; standing at the foot of a person's deathbed, or looking in their window as lightning flashes or the moon drifts out from behind a cloud are both very common. The mortal, whose imminent death allowed your passage, dies nearly instantly. The disease they struggle with takes them a little earlier than expected, they have a freak heart attack, a pot falls off a shelf and cracks their skull open, they fall down a flight of stairs, a nearby horse bolts from its handler and tramples them, etc, etc.

Bibliography of Concluded Lives
Prerequisite: The 'Death-Mourning Phylactery Fission' Mythos

You gain Harvester of Souls as a bonus feat (EE). In addition, every time you reap the soul of an intelligent creature with that feat, it is stored in your Soul Reliquary rather than in your body, regardless of the distance between yourself and your Reliquary. This reaping is more thorough than normal, and does not leave behind even an imprint of the dead creature's knowledge on the corpse, rendered spells such as Speak With Dead useless to commune with it.

When a soul is added to your Reliquary, if it had any ranks in any Knowledge skills, one random Knowledge skill is chosen amongst those that they had ranks in, and your Reliquary gains an Echo corresponding to that skill (such as an Arcana Echo or a Geography Echo). A Reliquary may have a maximum of 30 Echos for each type of Knowledge; if it is "full" of one kind of Echo, that skill is excluded from the random pick of which Knowledge skill a new soul contributes.

The wielder of your Reliquary gains a competence bonus on their Knowledge skills equal to the number of Echos that the Reliquary has for that skill. In addition, they may spend a full-round action to call forth one of the souls that contributed an Echo to the Reliquary. The soul projects a phantasmal image of their former self to stand before the wielder until dismissed. The wielder may converse with the soul as they like, but the soul cannot be coerced into speaking via the use of skills or abilities. The exception is that, once per year per soul, an ultimatum can be forced on a called soul. They can either answer one question, truthfully, completely, without chicanery, to the best of their ability, or they can refuse, and be scourged into an insensate coma. A soul that has been so scourged no longer contributes their Echo to the Reliquary, but unlike a soul merely reaped by the Harvester of Souls feat, even a Wish, Miracle, or greater power, cannot return that creature to life until you are slain.

Upon being slain, your Reliquary loses all of its Echos as the souls are freed.

Basic
Loaning A Scythe: Any creature wielding your Reliquary gains the benefits of the Harvester of Souls feat.

Thousand-Voiced Sagacity Nova: While your Reliquary has at least ten Echos each in ten different Knowledge skills, its wielder gains the benefits of the Omniscient Whispers feat (UA). If one wielder expends the weekly use of that feat, it cannot be used again by any wielder of the Reliquary until that week is up.

Expanded Word Count: Your Reliquary can gain Echos for Craft, Profession, and Spellcraft skills. A soul only contributes to one of these skills if it could not contribute a Knowledge skill.

Lashing Scream-Chord: You may only gain this manifestation if you already know the Drowning Banshee Wail manifestation of the Necrotic Phantasmagoria Pulse Mythos. When utilizing that manifestation, you may sacrifice one Echo from a held or worn Reliquary; the soul is released and may be returned to life as normal. However, its exit is far from peaceful - if the target of your Drowning Banshee Wail fails their saving throw to resist it, they are also permanently deafened. Until the deafness is cured, they have a +1 competence bonus with the skill of the Echo used to deafen them.

Catastrophe Held In My Reins
Prerequisite: 12 ranks in the Ride skill, The 'Sitting Astride Calamity' Mythos

Corporeity-Grinding Avatar of Entropy
Prerequisite: The "Inevitable Sunset Strike" Mythos

You no longer need to spend a standard action to activate the ability granted by "Inevitable Sunset Strike". Every melee attack you make is automatically benefited by it, dealing its base damage even on attacks that miss. Furthermore, the damage applied on a miss now bypasses all Damage Reduction and Hardness.

Graven Void Shintai
Prerequisite: The Undead Type
[Oblivion]

Material Immortality Externalization
Prerequisite: The 'Death-Mourning Phylactery Fission' Mythos

Regarding Guttering Flames
Prerequisite: -
[Oblivion]

The fearful light lamps and candles to ward away the night, and those facing the sunset of their lives may attempt to stave off death with magic, medicine, or healthy lifestyle choices. But the darkness will always be there. It is an unmoving, indestructible monolith, and you are just a man, or just an angel, or just a god. Eventually, no matter how much you fight it, you will die. And death can wait.

As an immediate action, in response to being the target of an attack, you gain a +10 competence bonus to your Armor Class and Reflex save. This bonus applies to the next three attacks or Reflex-targeting hostile effects (+1 if you are wielding more than one weapon, +1 if you are wielding a weapon with the Speed property, and +1 if you are 16th level or higher) that target you. However, for each attack or effect that you gain a bonus against, the same number of attacks that you make following the activation of this ability receive a -10 penalty. You cannot activate this ability again until you have made all of these penalized attacks, or a minute passes, whichever is less. If a minute passes without you applying the defensive bonus to an applicable number of attacks, the bonus fades.


Exalted Mythos


Creation-Slaying Holocaust Blade
Prerequisite: -
[Oblivion]

Poised at a site of great death, you may strike at the surrounding plane itself, slicing open a wound where the strata has been saturated with ending and loss.

To successfully use this Mythos, you must be standing at a point where, within a 5-mile radius, there have been a thousand deaths, all transpiring within a week's time, within the past year. If this is true, as a full-round action, you may strike out and wound the surrounding plane. The area within 5 miles becomes mildly saturated with negative energy. In this area, colors fade to a black-and-white monochrome spectrum, sounds are distorted such that the eerie, the sad, and the spiteful become echoed and amplified, while sounds of happiness and cheer are dulled to monotone whimpers, and all living or undead creatures are subjected to 1d6 points of negative energy per round. Within 2 miles of you, the negative energy is more concentrated. Sight within this space becomes a series of drifting and jumping shadowy images; recognizable things are blurred and stretched while things both terrifying and grotesque are all too clear in the gloom. Voices are not so much heard as remembered, discovered from the nooks and chasms of a waking dream, never entirely here, nor entirely forgotten. In addition to the 1d6 points of negative energy felt elsewhere, living creatures in this space must also make a DC 25 Fortitude save or gain a negative level. Creatures that have their hit dice reduced to 0 by these negative levels spontaneously rise as a free-willed Wraith.

In both areas of the wound, daylight does not penetrate from the outside, and in the deep part of the wound, there is no day-night cycle, remaining dark as a moonless night unless external illumination is brought in. In the shallow wound, if it is day-time outside, the level of light increases to Shadowy Illumination, but this is still not considered to be natural sunlight.

For every ten deaths beyond the required thousand that meet the criteria, the size of the wound increases by 1%. If a wound is created that is 50 miles in radius or greater, either by utilizing ten thousand deaths as the catalyst for a single wound, or by creating multiple separate wounds in the same general area such that their total area roughly equates to a 50 mile radius, the mile (+1% per ten deaths over the ten thousand necessary) in the very center of this atrocity sinks into utter Oblivion. This space cannot be truly perceived, though it is visible as an incomprehensible distortion, a void without space, a blackness without color. Any matter that comes into contact with Oblivion is annihilated. For every ten living creatures, souls, or undead creatures that still host a human soul, that are fed to the void increase the size of the whole wound, including the void itself, by 1%. A Sphere of Annihilation counts as a thousand souls for this purpose.

If a planar wound goes a full year without being expanded, or having its radius overlapped with another new wound, and life and light flourish at the edges of its expanse, it will begin to recede at a speed of one foot per year. However, the radius of Oblivion will never reduce or recede once it has appeared. Since it is a complete absence of substance, there is nothing to target or effect with a power potentially strong enough to mend such a thing, it has no space or volume to be shaped or altered, nor even a theme or concept that could be opposed or unraveled.

Monolithic Necropolis Heart
Prerequisite: -

Seal-Shattering End-of-Days Invocation
Prerequisite: -

As a full-round action, you begin the apocalypse.

An apocalypse comes in five stages, the first four of which are built like the Signs of Apocalypse outlined in Elder Evils (page 7). As a player, you detail the cosmetic and mechanical effects of each Sign, from Faint to Overwhelming, keeping in line with the power given for the example Signs, as well as which Knowledge check is required to identify the Signs. In addition, you must create five Seals; acts that will trigger each stage of the apocalypse. Sample Seals are given below, but in general, breaking a Seal should be something nigh-impossible for a low level character, worthy of a whole adventure for a mid level character or, for a high level character, breaking all five Seals should be an adventure in itself.

The final stage, after the Overwhelming Sign of the Apocalypse is shown, and the fifth Seal is broken, is the End of Days. This should be something on par with the awakening of an Elder Evil, and might literally be that. All the world should be brought to the brink of destruction, teetering on the edge, only capable of being saved by a ragtag group of underdogs with more luck than sense and at least one dead mentor who was a single day from retirement.

As a character, an Olethrofex does not "design" their apocalypse - they merely reveal an apocalyptic scenario that was already there, though the scenario is often (but does not need to be) thematically linked with them in some way. An Olethrofex servant of Pandorym unleashing Pandorym is reasonable. A heavily Oblivion-leaning Olethrofex literally drawing the world into the maw of nothingness beyond reality is also reasonable. But a well-meaning Olethrofex could also accidentally stumble on this Mythos, believing it to be something else entirely, only to bring about Hell on Earth, and then race to defeat their own apocalypse.

Whether or not the apocalypse succeeds, having ended the world, or (more likely) having had its seals successfully protected and preserved by mysterious confluxes of inexplicably powerful homeless people, this Mythos requires a thousand years to recharge before it may be activated again.

Example Apocalypses From The Playground

An Eternity Of Life (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=16527964&postcount=38) by Amechra
Cosmic Oblivion (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=16530268&postcount=48) by Network
Grim Inevitability (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=16537573&postcount=63) by Grimsage Matt
Necrocharnel Cataclysm (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=16524815&postcount=35) by Pokonic
The Blackest Night (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=16528832&postcount=46) by vasharanpaladin
The Smothered Spark of Will (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=16562774&postcount=96) by Sgt. Cookie


Shepherd-And-King Zion Construction
Prerequisite: Angel of Death Shintai
[Death]

Xefas
2013-11-29, 01:07 AM
Excellencies


Dark-Lit Revenant Eyes
Prerequisite: -

Something is wrong with your eyes. It may be subtle - perhaps some cold and hungry glimmer that flashes across them when you lay eyes on some weak and vulnerable living thing - or it may be overt, such as them completely clouding over into pure white or black, or them rotting out entirely and being replaced with flicking blue lights. Whatever the change, those who look in your eyes know that you are more than you seem.

You gain Lifesense (LM) as a bonus feat and the Low-Light Vision quality. You may substitute your Charisma modifier in place of your Wisdom modifier for the purposes of determining the ability bonus for your Spot skill.

Empowering Necromancer's Sortilege
Prerequisite: One [Undeath] Mythos
[Undeath]

You gain Corpsecrafter as a bonus feat. In addition, the Corpsecrafter feat and all feats with Corpsecrafter as one of its prerequisites that grant a benefit to undead that you raise or create with a necromancy spell, now also benefit undead that you raise or create with a Mythos.

Lifeless Flesh Assumption
Prerequisite: -

Although all of yours organs and internal processes continue to function as normal, you no longer produce any body heat, becoming as cold to the touch as a cadaver. You also have Cold Resistance equal to your class level, and a +2 bonus on saving throws against spells with the [Cold] descriptor.

Mortal [Ability] Transcendance
Prerequisite: One Fantastic Mythos

The living were designed and shaped, by gods, or fate, by chance, or by the ancient chaos of possibility. By their design, they are limited. Undeath was not designed - it is an impossibility, a paradox, an abomination. From where, then, are the limitations set for that essence from which you draw power?

Choose one of Strength, Dexterity, or Charisma. This Excellency may be purchased once for each Ability Score, granting a +2 enhancement bonus to the chosen ability.

Once you have at least one Legendary Mythos known, this Excellency may be purchased a second time for each of the aforementioned Ability Scores. This second purchase increases the enhancement bonus by 4, to a total of +6.

Omniscient Shade of Death Intuition
Prerequisite: -

Death touches upon all things, and knows them, though to them he might be a stranger. His is a one-way mirror from beyond the Black Gate, seeing but unseen until the moment is right. A man need not be educated in the way of rocks to know the texture of the stone he holds in his hands, and all stones and beasts and worlds are within the grasp of Death.

You may substitute your Charisma modifier in place of your Intelligence modifier for the purposes of determining the ability bonus for your Knowledge skills.

Timeless [Skill] Practice
Prerequisite: You must not require sleep.

Choose an Olethrofex class skill. It becomes a Study Skill for you. Every 24 hours, for a number of days equal to the ranks you had in the skill when it became a Study Skill, you gain a skill point, as the ease with which you have learned to use this skill allows you to study other areas, without needing to worry about practicing to keep this one sharp.

In addition, by spending 24 continuous hours constantly studying a Study Skill, you gain a permanent rank in it. This cannot surpass the limit for the number of ranks you may have in a skill based on your level. "Studying" a skill requires a suitable location or tutor, such as a library stocked with a variety of appropriate texts for a Knowledge skill, a tightrope for Balance, or a wretched hive of scum and villainy for Gather Information.

This Excellency may be learned multiple times, once for each Olethrofex class skill.

The Impure Face Revealed
Prerequisite: -

You gain either Willing Deformity (HoH), or any feat with Willing Deformity as a prerequisite, as a bonus feat. Unlike normal Mythos rules, you must meet the prerequisites for these feats, except for alignment prerequisites.

This Excellency may be purchased multiple times, gaining a different applicable feat each time.

As a swift action, you may put all feats gained via this Excellency into a state of dormancy. While dormant, you do not gain the effects of the feats, but neither do they show any physical signs on your body. You may spend another swift action to reawaken the dormant feats, suddenly becoming more hideous and powerful.

vasharanpaladin
2013-11-29, 01:55 AM
...I'm drooling. Really, I am. :smallamused:

Need more mythos to work with. Then I'll see if Seal-Shattering End-of-Days Invocation is sufficient for a Black Lantern. :smallwink:

D20ragon
2013-11-29, 08:14 AM
Good god! Stop man, Stop!

My Evil brain is going to explode with the awesome this contains!

Saidoro
2013-11-29, 12:27 PM
Neat. The beast is pretty clearly the Teramach. Are the Lawgivers the Kathodos or some other as of yet unrevealed good counterpart to this?

Vauron
2013-11-29, 12:35 PM
He's drawing on the fluff he used for the Primordialist and Yozi based martial disciplines he created.

Before the birth of the infantile gods, before the petty and flawed gems of the planes began their wretched clockwork orbit upon the Great Wheel, before time and thought and matter, there were beings that existed as concept and story. They lived under the dreaded shadow of the Far Realm until their king wove a legend of such power and authority that he banished all darkness from their land, which they called Zen-Mu. There, they existed for eons impossible to number, peacefully and productively, spinning worlds and peoples and stories, until the Gods of Law came to be, in their hubris, to balance the scales of chaos.

The Gods of Law inflicted linear time and rigid causality on all things, slashing through the wondrous tales of their ancient predecessors and, in an act of true villainy, named these creatures; designating them 'Baernoloths'. Enraged at the rampant destruction of their works, the Baernoloths unleashed war upon the multitude of godly beings. Violence consumed every world-story of the Baernoloth's being, and for every wound the Lawgivers dealt, they used the severed threads to weave tools for themselves. From the slain, the gods created laws and barriers and possibilities, as well as magic to control them, and the corpses from both sides were stacked high and sown together to forge a magnificent Wheel, upon which those defeated titans would be hung and mutilated to form the Outer Planes.

There are few, if any, left that remember this time. Even those few deities that survive to this day feel their memories fade with each millennia, precipitated by the sheer impossible chaos of the time, that any mind would have difficulty containing. Still, the whispers of the dead and forgotten are not as silent as the gods would have hoped. A grain of silver sand or a beam of green sunlight may fall on a shopkeeper in Waterdeep, a beggar in Khorvaire, or a slave in Urik, and fill them with a madness to change their lives forever.

Xefas
2013-11-29, 01:16 PM
Neat. The beast is pretty clearly the Teramach. Are the Lawgivers the Kathodos or some other as of yet unrevealed good counterpart to this?

I'm using the creation story given in the Fiendish Codex II as a basis for my fluff. Though they're never called "Lawgivers", only "Gods/Deities of Law/Order", I felt like "Lawgiver" was a snappy title for the most ancient of lawful-aligned deities.

As to whether I might, in the future, create a class that is to the Lawgivers as the Teramach is to the Monster - sure. The Cleric is such a bland, uninteresting class. A Mythos Cleric could be a lot of fun. At the moment, though, I'd take a look at this thing by Zaydos that I like. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=306621) It has some concepts that are similar to what I'd want to do with a class like that. All about the domains, baby! None of this "Oh, sure, I'm the God of Murder, here are fifty healing spells for the day" nonsense that 3rd edition wrought. 2nd Edition Spheres > That Garbage.


He's drawing on the fluff he used for the Primordialist and Yozi based martial disciplines he created.

Sort of. I prefer to think of that as Version 0.1 of the fluff. This is Version 0.2. Kind of like the change from "Infernal Monster" to "Teramach". They aren't meant to coexist; one is just a new, better version of the other (with less plagiarism!).

NosferatuZodd
2013-11-29, 01:23 PM
Are you eventually planning on any additional mythos or excellencies along the lines of natural weapons?

The_Final_Stand
2013-11-29, 01:29 PM
Angel of Death Shintai confuses me. Specifically, the "Thou shalt not interfere with the natural order of death" bit. Does that include interactions of the mortals with the Angel of Death?

For example: Someone with the Angel of Death Shintai is set upon by (otherwise vastly inferior) bandits on the road. If the Angel was not there, they would continue raiding for some years before retiring rich in some distant foreign city. Can the Angel fight back? One could argue that he could not, for it is long before their natural death. On the other hand, the Angel is there, and they just attempted to kill and loot him. Their demise at his hands is entirely natural.

Or another situation; a dragon has been terrorizing the countryside for months, and a wealthy and powerful king hires forces to kill it. Is the dragon's death sufficiently natural for the Angel to intercede? Or would some fringe case such as (without Angel, dragon survives, Angel cannot intervene), (with Angel, dragon dies, Angel can intervene), where the Angel's intervention justifies his assistance pop up?

Xefas
2013-11-29, 02:32 PM
Are you eventually planning on any additional mythos or excellencies along the lines of natural weapons?

The Impure Face Revealed can get you a natural bite attack via the "Deformity (Teeth)" feat. Rigid Deathgrip Calcification [Razor Ghoul-Grip] makes your hands very claw-like.

Do they need more than that? I am planning on stuff for delivering energy drain and potentially ability damage/drain via unarmed attacks/natural weapons. So there's that.


Angel of Death Shintai confuses me. Specifically, the "Thou shalt not interfere with the natural order of death" bit. Does that include interactions of the mortals with the Angel of Death?

It depends!


For example: Someone with the Angel of Death Shintai is set upon by (otherwise vastly inferior) bandits on the road. If the Angel was not there, they would continue raiding for some years before retiring rich in some distant foreign city. Can the Angel fight back? One could argue that he could not, for it is long before their natural death. On the other hand, the Angel is there, and they just attempted to kill and loot him. Their demise at his hands is entirely natural.

It depends if that Angel was fated to be going that way in the first place. If he was meant to go that way (which, if he's on a quest from a reputable god of death, he probably is), and the bandits were meant to attack him (which, being low level, I doubt they carry enough metaphysical weight to fight fate, so they probably are), then the Angel probably looks at them, sees that the timer over their heads reads "<5 Minutes To Live" and kills them.

If the Angel isn't fated to be there, for whatever reason, but he has denied fate such that he is anyway, and the bandits attack him even though they aren't fated to do so because the Angel isn't meant to be there, then the Angel will see that their timer reads something else entirely (maybe one guy has 30 years to live before he chokes on a walnut and dies, the elf in the back has a few hundred years before he dies in his sleep of old age, and the leader has 11 days before he gets stabbed in the back by his second-in-command). Therefore, he isn't allowed to kill them, even if they attack him. He needs to scare them off (keep in mind that he can hurt them, just not kill them), or run away, or get creative.


Or another situation; a dragon has been terrorizing the countryside for months, and a wealthy and powerful king hires forces to kill it. Is the dragon's death sufficiently natural for the Angel to intercede? Or would some fringe case such as (without Angel, dragon survives, Angel cannot intervene), (with Angel, dragon dies, Angel can intervene), where the Angel's intervention justifies his assistance pop up?

There's some leeway in terms of the way deaths are fated to happen. It doesn't necessarily matter "how" something dies, only "when".

For instance, an Angel of Death might get a telepathic txt from Wee Jas one morning "Nerull bushwacked my paladin on the way to kill a Red Wyrm over in Lynchburg. Finish the job. I have a nun scheduled to bonk her head and drown in the bathtub later today. You can use her death to teleport there. Kthx." (Obviously, by using your Mythos to teleport into town, next to the aforementioned nun, your sudden and extremely ominous appearance is what causes her to jump in surprise, smack her head on a shelf, and drown in the bath. Wee Jas has a morbid sense of humor.)

And so, the Dragon is fated to die. Doesn't matter why. So you can kill him. An Angel of Death might even run into situations where he enters a town and finds a lot of people with timers set at 0. Some adventurers defied fate and saved the town when it should've been destroyed. Now all these people are abominations against the natural order. How the Angel feels about such situations is going to be an important decision for the character.

Of course - just like the Teramach's Untamed Apocalypse Shintai, this Mythos is the kind of thing that is meant to fundamentally alter the way the character is played, in really awkward and inconvenient ways. I wouldn't suggest it for every group.

alex90lilb
2013-11-29, 02:33 PM
I imagine this in an NPC class?
I hate to be 'that guy' but this is more OP than the Death Star.

vasharanpaladin
2013-11-29, 02:37 PM
I imagine this in an NPC class?
I hate to be 'that guy' but this is more OP than the Death Star.

So is the wizard. Make a more concise point.

alex90lilb
2013-11-29, 03:20 PM
So is the wizard. Make a more concise point.


mmkay. Sorry, hope I didn't come off as 'that guy' :P

The perfect bab/saves, beastly hp and sp combined with very strong SU casting that is competitive with a divine caster of equal level. The Excellency ability to permanently buff an ability score by 2 alone is stonger than anything the wizard has in their kit.

The wizard is better on offense, but is much squishier and has saving throws which negate their abilities.

I agree it's a very fun class, an awesome villain, but just like the P-classes in BoVD, perhaps not intended as a party member.

NosferatuZodd
2013-11-29, 03:36 PM
Thank you for pointing out that deformity feat.

One last question, are you planning a Shintai based on Undeath descriptor?

Some type of horribly strange final stage to the Eternal Cadaver Idol and Festering Carrion Horror paths.

Fako
2013-11-29, 04:06 PM
mmkay. Sorry, hope I didn't come off as 'that guy' :P

The perfect bab/saves, beastly hp and sp combined with very strong SU casting that is competitive with a divine caster of equal level. The Excellency ability to permanently buff an ability score by 2 alone is stonger than anything the wizard has in their kit.

The wizard is better on offense, but is much squishier and has saving throws which negate their abilities.

I agree it's a very fun class, an awesome villain, but just like the P-classes in BoVD, perhaps not intended as a party member.

You're both correct and incorrect, alex90lilb. You're correct that this class has a stronger chassis, as well as some amazing abilities, but this isn't meant to be an NPC class. Xefas explained the power level of the classes in the Teramach thread:

I can't know for sure until I playtest, but I'm hoping it stands up to tier 2 classes at least. The idea is to be able to run one in a party of well played full casters and still be useful and impressive. Not necessarily "I'ma chaos shufflin' mah elf feats to get all the metamagic and then looping Gate spells to get infinite epic minions"-played full casters. But well played.
This works on a similar chassis, so we can assume a similar design goal - that it's meant to be an alternative class for Tier 2 groups that use some optimization, such as DMM Persist buffs on the cleric. While it may not fully pertain to the Olethrofex, Xefas also offered advice on how to "tone down" the power level of the Teramach in the same post:

To cut the Teramach down to Warblade level, I suggest removing the ability to buy new Mythos and Excellencies. And... maybe push back when you receive each level of Mythos. Fantastic unlock at 9th level, Legendary at 15th, and they never get Exalted Mythos. The Warblade is really only good at stabbing things, so the Teramach needs to get his good non-stabbing things much later. In fact, unless the Warblade engages in some creative multiclassing, you may have to remove all of the Teramach's Intimidate and Utility stuff. Warblade is still built on the "melee can't have nice things" WotC paradigm.

To cut it down to Fighter? All of the above, plus remove the current Mythos and Excellency progression from the class table, and have them only gain 1 Mythos at 2nd, 6th, 10th, 14th, 18th, and 20th level, and then 1 Excellency at 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, and 20th level. Even then, I feel like it might still be too strong unless the Fighter is engaging in the aforementioned creative multiclassing.

Remember: The best part of Homebrew is that its mutable. If you don't like giving that good of a chassis to your player, tell him what you're going to nerf before you allow him to play... it's perfectly acceptable to not take the class wholesale, especially if your party plays at a lower power level than the one intended. :smallbiggrin:

EDIT: Xefas, are you taking submissions for example Signs/Apocalypses? I could probably whip a few up based on the material from Elder Evils...

D20ragon
2013-11-29, 05:52 PM
As can I. My fluffing skills are at your service. *bows*

Fredaintdead
2013-11-29, 05:52 PM
The Excellency ability to permanently buff an ability score by 2 alone is stonger than anything the wizard has in their kit.

Would like to point out that Mortal [Ability] Transcendence grants an Enhancement bonus, so it doesn't stack with items that the game itself assumes you will have. That, and you can't grab that particular Excellency until Lv7 at the very earliest [it requires you to know a Fantastic Mythos], at which point everyone else should already have the equivalent.

Xefas
2013-11-29, 07:35 PM
EDIT: Xefas, are you taking submissions for example Signs/Apocalypses? I could probably whip a few up based on the material from Elder Evils...


As can I. My fluffing skills are at your service. *bows*

Sure. I'm looking for a good example one or two; preferably ones with a more nuanced world-ender than "Bring Forth One Really Big Scary Monster", just to make them a little more distinct from the Elder Evil scenarios.

My planned format was something like this:



Snappy Title!
A brief synopsis, following by what skill is used to detect the coming apocalypse, and a short description of why that skill is applicable.

The First Seal: What needs to be done to "break the seal", as well as noting how it could potentially be averted or repaired. If the greatest nation in the world must fall to apostasy, then converting it back to the worship of divine powers before the second seal is broken could foil the plan, for example.

The Faint Sign: A mechanical effect that will, stacking upon the other signs, thematically lead to the End of Days. There must be something that can be observed and deciphered by the skill noted above. Sometimes, the effect will supply it by itself, such as the dead rising from the earth of their own accord. That's something that can be pointed at and said to be unusual. But, if it's something more subtle, such as certain spells becoming more difficult to cast while others become easier, then perhaps a more overt display, such as the arrival of alien constellations, a change in the number of hours in a day, all children born after the seal is broken coming in a set of identical twins - something eerie - is necessary.

The Second Seal:

The Moderate Sign:

The Third Seal:

The Strong Sign:

The Fourth Seal:

The Overpowering Sign:

The Fifth Seal:

The End Of Days:





One last question, are you planning a Shintai based on Undeath descriptor?

Some type of horribly strange final stage to the Eternal Cadaver Idol and Festering Carrion Horror paths.

Probably!

The Tygre
2013-11-29, 08:07 PM
Oh, Hell to ****ing A YES!

vasharanpaladin
2013-11-29, 08:10 PM
...Be right back, mapping the timeline of Blackest Night to an apocalypse scenario. :smallbiggrin:

Network
2013-11-29, 09:23 PM
Very good class. Its mythology fits very well with those of the Kathodos and Teramach, so I think it would be interesting to make prestige classes that reward multiclassing between them (the Class level > ECL/2 restriction on mythos-learning forces dual-classing at best, but I think the greater experience and personalization effort involved in multiclassing should be rewarded to players).

On an unrelated note, I think you should make Eternal Cadaver Idol and Festering Carrion Horror basic manifestations of the Corpse-Body Resilience mythos (instead of set-into-stone choices), so that a character may take both versions of it when they spend mythos points. Okay, that may not be so good of an idea, but at least let the Olethrofex have both one way or another (so that they can in turn learn the mythos from both paths).

Edit : Oh, and by the way, are you going to finish the Kathodos class? It is just as good as this one and the Teramach, but it lacks Legendary and Exalted Mythos.

Amechra
2013-11-29, 10:56 PM
This is quite excellent.

There is a Ghoul template that applies to types other than Humanoid in Savage Species, iirc Think its called Ghoulish.

I'll work up an Apocalypse; I already have an idea for the sign...

Pokonic
2013-11-29, 11:10 PM
I too would like to work on a sample Apocalypse.

*Eyes The Lich on the banner.*

Xefas
2013-11-30, 12:14 AM
I'm glad everyone is psyched to end the world.


Very good class. Its mythology fits very well with those of the Kathodos and Teramach, so I think it would be interesting to make prestige classes that reward multiclassing between them (the Class level > ECL/2 restriction on mythos-learning forces dual-classing at best, but I think the greater experience and personalization effort involved in multiclassing should be rewarded to players).

Currently, my idea for facilitating Mythos "Multiclassing" is to allow a character to spend a feat to add a few Mythos from a different class to their own list, albeit with some special caveat. For instance, multiclassing into the Kathodos list, you might have to choose one element, and you can only pick Mythos of that element, and [Variable] Mythos only function for the chosen element. So, you can have a Firebending Teramach, or an Earthbending Teramach, but you can't be a master of the elements like the Kathodos.

I've also considered making some Supplementary Mythos - groups of five or six Mythos that either aren't broad enough to fill a whole class, or that I don't feel up to making a whole class for, and they can be added to another character's list of Mythos with a feat. Things like an Iron Chef pack of Mythos, or [Race] Paragon Mythos, or [Outsider] Heritage Mythos, or Far Realm Tainted Cartoon Physics Mythos. Things like that.


On an unrelated note, I think you should make Eternal Cadaver Idol and Festering Carrion Horror basic manifestations of the Corpse-Body Resilience mythos (instead of set-into-stone choices), so that a character may take both versions of it when they spend mythos points. Okay, that may not be so good of an idea, but at least let the Olethrofex have both one way or another (so that they can in turn learn the mythos from both paths).

Eh, I want folks to have to choose between being a Sexyfex or an Uglyfex. That's just how undead tend to go. You don't lose out on accessibility to any Mythos, just a few incidental bonuses based on your appearance.


Edit : Oh, and by the way, are you going to finish the Kathodos class?

Probably!


I too would like to work on a sample Apocalypse.

*Eyes The Lich on the banner.*

Mushroom War Cometh?

edit:


There is a Ghoul template that applies to types other than Humanoid in Savage Species, iirc Think its called Ghoulish.

I'm looking right now, but all I see is Ghost Brute, Mummified, Wight, Spectral, Shadow, and Wraith. I might just be blind, though.

Draken
2013-11-30, 12:48 AM
For something more recent, there is the Gravetouched Ghoul in Libris Mortis.

Excellent as usual, by the way. Will the Kathodos get its own variant of Angel of Death/Untamed Apocalypse Shintai?

Pokonic
2013-11-30, 12:50 AM
Mushroom War Cometh?


An't quite nothing like smothering all life on a planet with a cloud of necromantic horror. :smalltongue:

vasharanpaladin
2013-11-30, 12:54 AM
There is a Ghoul template that applies to types other than Humanoid in Savage Species, iirc Think its called Ghoulish.


Dragon #307, in fact, along with Ghastly and Bodak templates. But Draken has the right of it, the closest to an "official" ghoul template is the Gravetouched Ghoul in Libris Mortis. :smalltongue:

Xefas
2013-11-30, 01:26 AM
For something more recent, there is the Gravetouched Ghoul in Libris Mortis.


Dragon #307, in fact, along with Ghastly and Bodak templates. But Draken has the right of it, the closest to an "official" ghoul template is the Gravetouched Ghoul in Libris Mortis. :smalltongue:

Cool. I've modified Night of the Living Dead accordingly.


Excellent as usual, by the way. Will the Kathodos get its own variant of Angel of Death/Untamed Apocalypse Shintai?

Sojourner Of A Thousand Lives Shintai

Zarthrax
2013-11-30, 02:55 AM
Subscribed.

If you had posted this up even a week sooner, I could've playtested it for you....lol

commander panda
2013-11-30, 08:04 AM
subbed

if this is anything like the teramach we may be looking at another legend in the making!

i will greatly enjoy watching this get expanded on.

Network
2013-11-30, 11:07 AM
Currently, my idea for facilitating Mythos "Multiclassing" is to allow a character to spend a feat to add a few Mythos from a different class to their own list, albeit with some special caveat. For instance, multiclassing into the Kathodos list, you might have to choose one element, and you can only pick Mythos of that element, and [Variable] Mythos only function for the chosen element. So, you can have a Firebending Teramach, or an Earthbending Teramach, but you can't be a master of the elements like the Kathodos.

I've also considered making some Supplementary Mythos - groups of five or six Mythos that either aren't broad enough to fill a whole class, or that I don't feel up to making a whole class for, and they can be added to another character's list of Mythos with a feat. Things like an Iron Chef pack of Mythos, or [Race] Paragon Mythos, or [Outsider] Heritage Mythos, or Far Realm Tainted Cartoon Physics Mythos. Things like that.
Fair.

Eh, I want folks to have to choose between being a Sexyfex or an Uglyfex. That's just how undead tend to go. You don't lose out on accessibility to any Mythos, just a few incidental bonuses based on your appearance.
Hmm... Didn't notice that. A shapeshifting mythos then?

Pokonic
2013-11-30, 01:34 PM
Necrocharnel Cataclysm

Some have said that war never changes. Perhaps those weak-minded lunatics that continue to spout such hilarious phrases have never seen what happens in war, as apposed to the other, far more horrible conclusion, where they are so insane in which they can say such a thing without irony. Those who say such paranoid slogans, those that beg for a sort of cosmic closure, would find the end result of there mad idiot prayers, their mewling for one big, last, glorious war, one that would exalt them above all others, would leave them with a higher understanding of the universe if they just realized one thing.

In fact, war does change.

A DC 40 History check is needed to predict the arrival of this apocalyptic event, analyzing historical patterns and worldwide issues to spot where such a major conflict will start.

The First Seal: The First Seal is the hardest to spot, but ultimately it is the easiest to control. In essence, the leader of the most powerful country on the planet must have an assassination attempt on his or her life in broad daylight. The goals of the assassin are completely random, and should not be constrained to anything obviously anarchistic or utterly foul; perhaps he is simply insane, or has a genuine grudge against the leader. Perhaps the assassin is a agent from another country, or she or he is kin to the ruler. Neverless, it causes panic and fear across the world, even if the leader survives without a scratch.

The Faint Sign: Perhaps the most insidious thing about the arrival of the Cataclysm is that it is heralded not by something immediately identifiable as foul. In fact, it might be seen as many as a blessing from the gods. A DC 33 Religion check must be passed in order to prove this wrong, and to see if for what it is.

Magic users (Here, defined as any creature or entity with the ability to caste spells, including Rangers and Bards) awake with distinct peps in there step and older casters that have found there studies slipping into slumps find themselves making connections in old texts that cause them to make breakthroughs.

Accordingly, magic item creation costs are reduced to 9/10ths of their normal prices, and all Knowledge (Arcana) and Spellcraft checks, for the purposes of determining bonuses, are treated as having a +2 to the final result.

The Second Seal: This is easily the most visible of the Seals; two large, powerful countries go to war. How, exactly, does one stop two countries is debatable, but it might involve long peace talks.

Or killing something that's annoying both countries, like a powerful cultist or something.

The Moderate Sign: Magic item creation costs are now reduced to 7/10ths of their normal prices, and all Knowledge (Arcana) and Spellcraft checks, for the purposes of determining bonuses, are treated as having a +4 to the final result. A DC 25 Arcana check may be rolled to see if any see what this sign is for what it truly is.

Some lucky magic users, additionally, find that there own magics are bolstered by the new political environments. Any Arcana or Spellcraft check these lucky, gifted little magic make that help further the cause of the war gets a +6 bonus to the final result, but they find that they hit mental roadblocks when they attempt to tackle other subjects, suffering a -1 to all Wisdom-based checks.

This isn't ominous at all, is it?

The Third Seal: The third Seal itself is not a thing that comes suddenly; in fact, in order to break it, five years of uninterrupted warfare must have taken place between two large global powers.

The PC's might not be able to stop something like this by now, but tell that to the PC's.

The Strong Sign: This is, what some might say, the doozy.

Magic itself is growing stronger. Magic item creation costs are now reduced to half of their normal prices, and all Knowledge (Arcana) and Spellcraft checks, for the purposes of determining bonuses, are treated as having a +6 to the final result. However, unless one passes a Endurance 20 check the day after the Third Seal breaks, one takes a -2 Wisdom penalty that can only be rerolled during the saving or breaking of the Fourth Seal. A DC 18 Arcana check may be rolled to see the situation for what it is.

Some lucky magic users, additionally, find that there own magics are bolstered by the new political environments. Any Arcana or Spellcraft check these lucky, gifted little magic users make that help further the cause of the war gets a +8 bonus to the final result, but they find that they hit mental roadblocks when they attempt to tackle other subjects, suffering a -4 penalty to all Wisdom-based checks. Additionally, such magic users also gain the spell-like ability to replace half of any energy-based damage they do with negative energy as a standered action.

The Fourth Seal: The Fourth Seal breaks when ten years of warfare have torn up the world itself. Hypothetically, one could stop the Fifth Seal from breaking by bringing peace to the world, but the question is; how? How does one stop a war that has taken place for ten long years?

The Overpowering Sign: It is undeniable now; one is living in a age of myths.

Magic itself is stronger then it has been in recorded history. Magic item creation costs are now reduced to 1/4th of their normal prices, and many wizards are compelled to spend ever more time creating powerful magical items to prepare in there lairs. Intelligent Items, normally a rare sight in the most magical of places, are now rather commonplace and easy to obtain.

All Knowledge (Arcana) and Spellcraft checks, for the purposes of determining bonuses, are treated as having a +8 to the final result. Even the least mageling in the world can summon up a elemental with ease.

However, unless one passes a Endurance 25 check the day after the Third Seal breaks, one takes a -4 Wisdom penalty that can only be rerolled during the saving or breaking of the Fifth Seal. A DC 10 Arcana check may be rolled to see the currant situation for what it is; the edge of safety, the edge of sanity.

Some 'lucky' magic users, additionally, find that there own magics are bolstered by the new political environments. Any Arcana or Spellcraft check these lucky, gifted little magic users make that help further the cause of the war gets a +10 bonus to the final result, but they find that they hit mental roadblocks when they attempt to tackle other subjects, suffering a -6 penalty to all Wisdom-based checks. Additionally, such magic users also gain the spell-like ability to replace half of any energy-based damage they do with negative energy as a standered action.


The Fifth Seal: In order for the Fifth Seal to break, war must have occurred, nonstop, for over fifteen years. Additionally, there must be at least fifteen individuals on the planet with an effective character level of 20 that have the ability to cast spells for the Fifth Seal to activate. Also, one of the following must have occurred in the last five years: A large world power has seized to exist, Or a new world power that is predominantly CE has emerged from the ashes of an older one Or the Olethrofex itself has committed a notable act of destruction on an unparalleled scale, such as slaying and raising a Great Wrym from the dead and setting it on a large city.

The End Of Days:
What can one say about a magical apocalypse, only that it is a rather flashy way for the world to end? What can one say about the shear amount of magical energy building up in the world, causing death itself to stall and for the amount of trapped souls and spirits to build up around the planet itself like a blister? What can one say about the horror that is the world at this point, a deeply magical realm locked into a hellish global war that can only end one way?

Death, of course.

Perhaps it is a magical weapon created by one side to end the war once and for all, or the end result of so many souls being sent to the afterlife in such a little time. But, in the end, the blister in the world bursts, and with it comes a time of necromantic horror.

For approximately 400+(1d6 x 100) years, the entire system of life and death sputters out and becomes defunct. No new life can be brought into the world either by magical or normal means, and all creatures that die during this period immediately raise as zombies or another mindless undead creature of equivalent hit dice. Additionally, all living creatures alive during start of the End Of Days with an intelligence of 10 or higher must pass a Wisdom 28 check or immediately die and revive as a ghoul or wraith 24 hours later.

All bonuses regarding Spellcraft or Arcana immediately stop being in effect with the coming of the End of Days, but any Wisdom penalties obtained during the years coming to the war become permanent.

If one is not in a properly prepared area, one is likely to die of exposure in the years after the Wars end. For the first 200 years, the world itself is a hideously foul mockery of the world before, with a bright green sky streaked with the souls of the unliving and the earth itself blackened and cracked, soaked with negative energy. Without proper protection, one takes 1d10 damage each minute, half of which is negative energy and half of which is fire, when one ventures into the blistering emerald hell outside. During the winter months, the foul heat is replaced with equally unnatural green frost and snow, dealing 1d4+5 damage, half cold and half negative energy, with each minute of exposure. One can avoid either effect by proper magical preperation or by remaining at least 20 feet underground, or in a stone or metal chamber with walls at least 10 feet thick across.

Attempting to destroy the original site of the necromantic effect, which is roughly 1 mile in length, is possible, if a daunting challange. Entering it deals 1d10+5 damage with each minute of exposure, half of which is Vile energy and the other half being fire. However, it is possible to end this effect if a Consecrate spell is preformed near the center of this most horrid of world-wounds, a greasy, slime-filled pit of decayed flesh and necromantic resources that exists only to continue powering the overlaying spell itself, which is ten feet across and is to be treated as an Orb of Oblivion regarding physically touching it. If a Consecrate spell is preformed successfully, then the overreaching effects of the worldwide magical effect end immediately and any undead created by it since it was triggered are destroyed, the sludge pit merely becoming a noxious pit that becomes harmless over the course of a week.

Of course, now there is the issue about rebuilding a world where there's probably just a handful of pockets of civilization left and almost nothing in the way in infrastructure or wildlife, but there's a few mad mages wandering around and a bunch of newly-ownerless magical items lying in dead cities. A plucky party of adventurers could probably figure something out.

Zarthrax
2013-11-30, 09:26 PM
I approve of this cataclysm, if only for the fact that it needed to happen.

Anybody for Arthas or the Necrons? lol

Hanuman
2013-11-30, 09:42 PM
Xefas your presentation, writing style, mode of archetype delivery and awesome/hilarious abilities grant you among the top of the posters on this site ever in my books.

I'm currently about to put a Teramach3 half-ogre1 named Shale into a campaign, with an inner-monologue akin to Marv from sin-city.
Doesn't understand the world, tries to be a decent guy but what's a guy and his mitts to do?

Amechra
2013-11-30, 11:57 PM
An Eternity of Life

Everyone assumes that the world will end all at once, screaming in the wake of some major cataclysm. They are wrong. The world won't end; it will change.

Neither for the better nor the worse, but it will change. And that change won't be pleasant.

A DC 40 Heal check will reveal the eminent Eschaton to anyone who thinks to check.

The First Seal: A doctor will discover a medicine. It will be cheap, plentiful, and without any side effects. Or so it would appear... This seal could be kept shut, but it would require the murder of an innocent man. Or ten. Or a hundred. This knowledge wants out.

The Faint Sign: The medicine is the sign; it duplicates the effects of a Cure Light Wounds spell upon being drunk. In addition, if it is drizzled over wounds, it duplicates a Regeneration effect. If taken regularly, it extends the lifespan of the beneficiary to the maximum possible natural lifespan for their race, and lowers the penalties to ability scores due to old age by 2.

There is one minor side effect, that likely won't be noticed at this stage; the breathing, heartbeat, and blinking of the subject are always relaxed and slow, regardless of the situation; it takes a DC 30 Heal check to notice this symptom.

The Second Seal: The second seal is usually broken a year after the discovery of the medicine, if its dissemination is not stopped; enough of it will have leaked out in the urine and sweat of users that it will have risen to sizable amounts in the water table. The actual seal is the bursting of a dam, due to the acidic nature of the medicine.

The Moderate Sign: The benefits of drinking the medicine increase to that of a Cure Moderate Wounds spell, while regular use will decrease aging penalties by up to 4 while fully doubling the drinker's lifespan.

In addition, the merest sip of water grants the effects of a Cure Minor Wounds spell.

However, if you stop using the medicine for a week after using it at least once a day for a month, your natural healing is halved, and you take a -2 penalty to Constitution until you start using the medicine again, as the lack of its restorative effect begins to sink into your bones.

The side effects become far more noticeable; a DC 20 Heal check will notice that breathing, heart rate, and blinking have become far rarer, occurring only once every 30 seconds

The Third Seal: The addiction will have run rampant by a year after the second seal breaks; the third seal will break upon the greatest world power declaring the use of the medicine a legal requirement.

The Strong Sign: At this point, the water is 30% medicine; it functions as a Cure Light Wounds potion, and a full gallon of the water functions as a single dose of the medicine.

The penalty for withdrawal becomes far more severe; those who miss a daily dose after drinking it for a week take a -4 penalty to Constitution, and have any immunity to disease they might have is replaced by a mere +4 bonus to their save, and have their natural healing halved; in addition, each day they must make a DC 10 Fortitude save upon waking up or die and gain the Gravetouched Ghoul template, even if they normally could not gain that template.

Any child can now see that the beneficiaries of the medicine are unnatural; they only breath or blink once every 2 minutes, and their heartbeat follows suit.

The Fourth Seal: At this point, the use of the medicine is a legal requirement, and the knowledge of what happens to those who stop using it becomes apparent. The Fourth Seal breaks once the recipe for the potion is published in full; it seems even more willing to be discovered, hints of its composition appearing in cookbooks and popular fiction.

The Overpowering Sign: The withdrawal becomes horrific; this Sign functions as the Strong Sign, except the Fortitude save to survive is replaced by full blown Ghoul Fever, which those in withdrawal must save against catching daily. They are also perfectly sterile, meaning that they cannot be cloned or have children by any means. However, as a small mercy, their alignment only takes a single step towards chaotic evil when they become a Ghoul.

In addition, those who drink the medicine no longer have to breath, or blink, and no longer age.

The Fifth Seal: The fifth seal is broken simply, and effectively. It is broken when the one who 'invented' the medicine dies. If they died before all the other seals were opened, the effects of this apocalypse are prevented; however, once the fourth seal has been broken, the world has been doomed.

The End Of Days: The medicine loses all potency; the water flowing in the rivers returns to just being water, the medicine is so much sludge.

Otherwise, the end of days is identical to the Overwhelming Sign; all that will be left of the world will be an empire of Ghouls and Ghasts reigning over a dead world.

Also, Xefas, where is that last image from? She looks familiar...

Kymme
2013-12-01, 12:07 AM
*EXCELLENT APOCALYPSE*

Also, Xefas, where is that last image from? She looks familiar...

I believe she is a character from Brutal Legend. (Supposed to be an umlaut over that U. :/) Some kind of epic goth/ghoul lady, probably having something to do with death metal.

Amechra
2013-12-01, 12:17 AM
Gotcha.

And I tried to make a typical apocalypse, but it was too hilarious to just yank the rug out from under an entire civilization.

Zarthrax
2013-12-01, 01:06 AM
I enjoy that apocalypse too. Was it inspired by anything?

Amechra
2013-12-01, 01:08 AM
Nope.

That's all me. For better or for worse.

Zarthrax
2013-12-01, 01:10 AM
I approve. Congrats, I'm debating running an Olethrofex, and now I can't decide which apocalypse I want to harbing....lol

Xefas
2013-12-01, 02:46 AM
Picked up Dishonored on the Steam Sale. Lets just say that the Mythos Rogue may have just been bumped ahead of the Mythos Marshal on my to-do list.


Necrocharnel Cataclysm

Very nice. I think some of the terms are off (Endurance Check?), but that's easily solved. With this many people wanting to write an apocalypse, I'm thinking of just making a list of links in the Mythos, rather than reproducing each example. With this, Amechra's (which is also insidiously awesome!), impending works by D20ragon and Fako, and then vasharanpaladin doing The Blackest Night, that'd be quite the word count.


Xefas your presentation, writing style, mode of archetype delivery and awesome/hilarious abilities grant you among the top of the posters on this site ever in my books.

Well, I- uh, thanks. :smallredface: I take that as pretty high praise, considering all the exemplary brewers we've had around these parts over the years.


I'm currently about to put a Teramach3 half-ogre1 named Shale into a campaign, with an inner-monologue akin to Marv from sin-city.
Doesn't understand the world, tries to be a decent guy but what's a guy and his mitts to do?

That sounds entirely perfect as a character concept. I don't know what the rules are for manacle'ing yourself to an opponent mid-fight, but you need to look into it :smalltongue:.



Also, Xefas, where is that last image from? She looks familiar...

Kymme is correct; she's one of the playable characters from Brütal Legend. "Drowned Ophelia" they call her. She's a Death Metal Necromancer with an army of zombie goths and the ovarian fortitude to go toe-to-toe against demon lords with her bare hands. Not a bad pick, though I admit part of my decision involved wanting more estrogen for the line-up. She beat out Dracula, Kane, and Interview With The Vampire Brad Pitt for the spot. I'm still considering swapping out the Witch-King for one of them. The Witch King and Lich King have a lot of overlap.

Hanuman
2013-12-01, 03:49 AM
Well, I- uh, thanks. :smallredface: I take that as pretty high praise, considering all the exemplary brewers we've had around these parts over the years.
I'll nominate you when I decide to re-make the homebrew hall of fame I hosted a while back.

vasharanpaladin
2013-12-01, 04:11 AM
The Blackest Night


http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii59/vasharanpaladin/Green_Lantern_Vol_5-11_Cover-3_Teaser.jpg (http://s261.photobucket.com/user/vasharanpaladin/media/Green_Lantern_Vol_5-11_Cover-3_Teaser.jpg.html)

Darkness is the natural state. Eternal, unchanging, everlasting... no ugly colors or emotions, none of this "life" muck that light brought forth. It was the first to exist, and it will continue to exist long after everything else has gone to hell.

But it certainly doesn't mind if someone, or something, gives a little push to get it started.

A DC 40 Knowledge (History or Religion) check will reveal the script of this play.

The First Seal: A powerful (CR 15+) outsider of law and good, a champion or patron of a known force for the same on the Material Plane, will be wounded by a mad god or similarly powerful evil-aligned outsider, and fall to corruption and depravity, and attempt to hide this turn. Closing this seal may be simple or difficult, as it requires revealing the new nature of the being and destroying it before the second seal is undone.

The Faint Sign: The order championed by the fallen outsider slowly becomes more draconian in their behaviors and bylaws. Others become set on edge by their presence; fear and paranoia run rampant. Paladins or other good-aligned characters with a strict code of conduct no longer lose their class features or other abilities for violating that code. Characters who have taken the Sacred Vow feat or feats requiring it as a prerequisite find their oaths similarly relaxed. Characters seeking atonement for acts against their oaths or code of conduct anyway find that requesting the spell is sufficient for it to function; no special quest is necessary.

The Second Seal: The god or outsider that wounded the fallen outsider involved in the first seal must die. Whether killed by the fallen outsider's order of knights, the party or any other being is immaterial; the only way to keep this seal closed is to prevent the outsider's death or close the first seal.

The Moderate Sign: All codes of conduct and binding oaths or vows dissolve at this point... and more importantly, the temptation to act against them becomes a strong, malevolent thing forcing them to do so. A paladin or other character with a code of conduct, or the Sacred Vow feat, must make a DC 20 Will save when presented with an opportunity to break his code or vow. A failure indicates that the character will perform the act as if it were natural to him, only regaining his senses after it's too late. Creatures and characters under the effects of Enchantment spells take a -4 penalty on any saving throws for being commanded to act against their nature.

NPCs become more fearful, wary of interacting with strangers. Treat them as shaken, and their starting attitude as one step lower.

Atonement spells no longer function.

The Third Seal: A devoted and respected humanoid, usually a cleric, of 15th level or higher, known by all in his community as one to bless the dead, gains the Lichloved feat. Soon after, he stands over a desecrated grave, a broken tomb, a hideous charnel pit, perhaps even the scene of a murder committed by his own hands... and with great ceremony, he calls out to the Abomination and kills himself, trading all of his class levels for levels as an olethrofex. He is not required to take the Seal-Shattering End-of-Days Invocation mythos if available, but he is required to take Corpse-Life Apotheosis, including all prerequisite mythos. This special olethrofex, however, is not naturally undead and does not remain such when raised.

The only known way to prevent this seal's breaking is to locate this chosen humanoid and prevent him from taking his own life, without the use of magic.

The Strong Sign: Death begins to reclaim its own. The save DC to avoid breaking one's code or vows increases to 30, and the penalty on saving throws against being forced to act against one's nature increases to -6. The starting attitude of NPCs drops by two, and they're easily spooked, becoming frightened when violence comes their way.

In addition, creatures brought back from the dead over the past year or so change their type to undead and immediately become evil in alignment. Do not recalculate base attack bonus, ability scores or anything else. A PC subject to this can make a Will save (DC 25) to avoid this fate.

The Fourth Seal: On the first new moon after his death, a night where no light shines in the sky, the olethrofex created by the breaking of the third seal finds the grave of a legendary (usually lawful good, but always good-aligned) hero of ages past and exhumes the skull, in perfect condition. With great ceremony and no small amount of tender, if sickening, love, he raises the skull to his lips and unleashes a wave of darkness like none the world has ever seen.

This seal may only be protected by preventing the olethrofex from making contact with the grave.

The Overpowering Sign: From midnight to dawn, the world is filled with fear and panic. The night grows darker as it goes on, swallowing the light until the darkness seems a solid barrier against whatever light the PCs can create. Treat this as magical darkness for the purpose of interacting with darkvision.

Any NPCs that aren't undead are panicked, fleeing from anything that comes near them and cowering if caught. Any creature killed by an undead on this night becomes one themselves (vampires and gravetouched ghouls are most appropriate, but feel free to use any that suits your fancy). There is a growing sense of horror on this night, as the dead rise to kill more.

The Fifth Seal: With two hours before the dawn can end the horrors of the Blackest Night, a strange black device appears... a metaphysical link between the world of Life and nonexistent Death, powered and protected by the unliving corpse of the dead god. This... thing, however, is not the seal, but the timer: Over the course of the next hour, the rotting hands of the Abomination reach through the device to rend open the world, revealing what can only be described as Life itself.

And when this essence is rent asunder, the final seal will be broken, and the sun shall never rise again.

Once the Blackest Night has begun, the only way to prevent the fifth seal from breaking is to wait for this device to appear. The fallen outsider will be long dead by this point. The dead god and the olethrofex must both be raised to remove the Abomination's foothold in the world... one to remove the threat of this night, both to prevent it from happening again.

The End of Days: The Abomination's strike against the essence of Life poisons all that exists. The living, defined by Life, drop dead. The dead, defined by their not living status, fall similarly unmoving. Darkness chokes whatever remains into Oblivion.

...Okies, a bit kludgy, but finished! :smalltongue:

ShadowFireLance
2013-12-01, 04:56 AM
Awesomeness incarnate. Once more. Sweet Tiamat Xefas, you just pure awesome? :smallconfused:

Side question;
Ever doing a Mythos based on Madness?

Network
2013-12-01, 01:36 PM
Since there are so many people willing to make example apocalypses, I tried my hand at one myself.

Cosmic Oblivion

When the Lawgivers created the world out of chaos, they forgot that chaos did not always exist, for before it was the void, and the void is never destroyed. When the Great Wheel was set into motion, holes started to appear in the continuity of the multiverse. These holes attracted and eventually annihilated everything that came into contact with them. Of course, the Lawgivers did everything they could to fix the holes, but in their ignorance, they didn't realize that lack of existence will always continue to exist.

A DC 40 Knowledge (The planes) check will reveal that the signs are omen to utter oblivion.

The First Seal: A sphere of annihilation will spontaneously appear in the center of a large metropolis. It will then slowly consume the entire city, most likely killing hundreds of people in the process. To close this seal, one must destroy that sphere by any way possible before the breaking of the second seal.

The Faint Sign: Air and water will become rarer as they are drawn through the sphere. Any pocket of air takes 10% less time before being unbreathable, while the deserts throughout the world become larger, their borders extending at a rate of at least 50 feet per day. Rains, storms, strong winds, and similar weather events happen less often.

The Second Seal: For the second seal to break, the sphere of annihilation must have utterly destroyed the metropolis down to the foundation of buildings, which takes roughly a year. The sphere becomes larger by a measure of ten, and can no longer be destroyed or controlled by conventional ways. Hidden portals spontaneously appear, leading from other large cities to the destroyed metropolis (these portals do not necessarily lead to a different plane, and in most cases, don't). To close the second seal, one must close all of these portals, which will reduce the sphere to its normal size and avert the oncoming oblivion.

The Moderate Sign: Pockets of air take 30% less time before being unbreathable, while the borders of the deserts extend by at least 500 feet per day. Rains become short and sparse, storms are inexistent, and winds never go above 50 mph.

The Third Seal: A year after the breaking of the second seal, the portals created by it transform into spheres of annihilation, causing the destruction of many of the major cities in the world. Closing the third seal is a nigh-impossible task, as all of these spheres must be destroyed. The first sphere grows to a size of 200 feet, and can only be reduced to its normal size by destroying all other spheres, which will also avert the oblivion, at least this time.

The Strong Sign: Pockets of air take 50% of the standard time to be unbreathable, and the borders of the deserts extend by at least 2500 feet per day. Water level throughout the world suddenly drops by 5 feet, it no longer rains except in the wettest areas, and winds never go above 20 mph.

In addition, the border between the planes is so strained that there is a 1% chance each hour that the border between the material plane and the transitive planes becomes thin enough to let the characters see what is on the other planes for 1d3 minutes. However, they are unable to interact with one another, and the ethereal plane and plane of shadow do not interact with one another (if the apocalypse happens on another plane than the material plane, then the DM must adjust that sign to apply to other planes).

The Fourth Seal: At least one year after the breaking of the third seal, all spheres created by it become 20 feet large in size (and thus nigh-impossible to destroy), and more and more spheres spontaneously appear, seemingly at random. Umbral blots roam the world, looking for survivors to annihilate. At this point, the only way to close the seal is to find the first sphere, and force at least ten smaller spheres or umbral blots to collide with it. While the sphere itself is not destroyed, it will destroy the smaller spheres and the umbral blots created by this seal, and reduce all 20-feet-large spheres to their former size. However, the apocalypse is not stopped; it merely regresses to the third seal.

The Overpowering Sign: Air becomes rare enough that any creature that breathe takes a -2 penalty to Constitution-based checks. The borders of the deserts extend by one mile per day. Finally, water level drops by an additional 20 feet.

The chance to see through the planar borders each hour increases to 10%. In addition, the fabric of the planes is so strained that large sections of the planes become candidate sites for planar breaches (as described on page 153 of the Planar Handbook).

The Fifth Seal: For the fifth seal to break, there must be enough spheres of annihilation and umbral blots to cover the majority of the world, which may take anywhere from twenty to one hundred years since the breaking of the fourth seal. The first sphere slowly fuses with the other spheres, becoming large enough to eat the core of the planet on the material and transitive planes, as well as large sections of the inner and outer planes (the planar borders are so strained at this point that the sphere exists on many planes simultaneously), condemning all remaining survivors to oblivion. Or are they? The only way to close the fifth seal is to prevent it from ever having happened.

The End Of Days: The penalty to Constitution-based checks for creatures that breathe increases to -4, and it is impossible to breathe in pockets of air. The soil is dried, and the wind never goes over 5 mph, not even by the use of magic. The source of magic itself is teared, and any character must succeed on a caster level check (DC 20) to cast a spell or spell-like ability. Even then, there is a 5% chance that the spell still fails.

What remains of the world is now primarily composed of planar breaches, with ghosts walking the earth, legions of angels and demons fighting in the mountains and forests, etc. In fact, the strain on the multiverse is so harsh that the fabric of time itself falls appart, returning to the timeless state that preceded its creation. Thus, temporal breaches start to appear here and there, leading to the past and future. While these breaches can theoretically allow time travel, the spheres and the umbral blots can also use them to destroy the past. If nothing is done within a matter of days at best or hours at worse, then the multiverse will stop to exist – and to have ever existed.
So what do you think?

Xefas
2013-12-01, 02:44 PM
I'll nominate you when I decide to re-make the homebrew hall of fame I hosted a while back.

I liked that thread. I don't remember why it was locked, but if you can get the mods' pass on it, it'd be cool to see it back.



Ever doing a Mythos based on Madness?

You're going to have to be more specific.



...Okies, a bit kludgy, but finished! :smalltongue:


So what do you think?
It's a very nice collection building here. I've gone and compiled the links under Seal-Shattering End-of-Days Invocation.

ShadowFireLance
2013-12-01, 02:54 PM
Like Lord Nyarlathotep, or The High Priest Cthulhu.

Xefas
2013-12-01, 04:54 PM
Like Lord Nyarlathotep, or The High Priest Cthulhu.

Do you mean a servant of Far Realm powers, like a Mythos Binder, or playing as an eldritch horror, like The Ozodrin (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=153536)?

Either way, it's not my most immediate concern. The three that I'm shuffling around as to my next class are:

Bellator; Mythos Fighter
http://i.imgur.com/zJE5xQ7.png
Ophidian; Mythos Rogue
http://i.imgur.com/RLx8Ykz.png
Cynosure; Mythos Marshal
http://i.imgur.com/qfoT4Gh.png

vasharanpaladin
2013-12-01, 07:49 PM
Do you mean a servant of Far Realm powers, like a Mythos Binder, or playing as an eldritch horror, like The Ozodrin (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=153536)?


With the capitalization used, I'm sure "Madness" would refer more specifically to Soul Eater, very likely specifically the mass insanity caused by the Kishin's revival (common to both manga and anime; the manga, however, states this is but one form of Madness). I'd take a stab at it, but that's a bit narrow for a full mythic class.

That said, I'm both amused and intrigued that Aku, Vaatu and Oogie are included along with the likes of Xanatos for the Ophidian. That one will be pretty interesting, I think. :smallbiggrin:

thethird
2013-12-01, 09:01 PM
This is a really cool class, and probably of 3 mythos classes is the one I would use, it just has a sort of cool vibe.

I would analyze it in further detail but I'm kind of extremely busy and my brain is not working properly.



Ophidian; Mythos Rogue
http://i.imgur.com/RLx8Ykz.png
Cynosure; Mythos Marshal
http://i.imgur.com/qfoT4Gh.png

Xanatos, Corvo Attano, Xemnas, Venom, and Oogie Boogie inspiring one class! HELL YEAH!

Of course the emperah and Kamina are also really cool and will love to see them.

Xefas
2013-12-01, 10:28 PM
Xanatos, Corvo Attano, Xemnas, Venom, and Oogie Boogie inspiring one class! HELL YEAH!

I guess that's two votes for the Ophidian. Although, on further consideration, I think Venom would fall better as a prestige class or multiclass of the Teramach. I'd probably replace him with Carmen Sandiego for inspiring some theft Mythos. Steal the entire history of medicine? Gotta work out something for that.

Pokonic
2013-12-01, 10:31 PM
Make that three votes for Ophidian. Any class that has Aku as a source of inspiration needs to exist.:smalltongue:

commander panda
2013-12-01, 11:19 PM
four for the Ophidian.

[edit] closely followed by the Bellator, if you throw some O'chul in there.

i really wanna see a Teramach and an Ophidian fighting at some point, in some campaign. it'd be like the ultimate battle of opposites.

Kymme
2013-12-01, 11:48 PM
Five votes for Ophidian. Hell, I'm already imagining a party of a Teramach, an Olethrofex, a Kathodos and an Ophidian going on crazy adventures together. Now I want to run a game like that.

Xefas
2013-12-01, 11:49 PM
[edit] closely followed by the Bellator, if you throw some O'chul in there.

I wanted Tarquin instead of Sesshomaru, but I don't think he ever appears in a panel large enough to use. I suppose I could draw him, but I haven't made an OotS avatar in forever. It'd probably take me forever.

O'chul could work too, I suppose. One of the... preliminary, sort of "concept" Mythos I put down for the Bellator is something I could see both of them doing.


Adroit Hand-Slapping Consternation
Prerequisite: 1 rank in the Spellcraft skill

Trying to grab someone with your bare hands when they have a big stonking sword is kind of dumb when you think about it.

Any character that performs a melee touch attack against you, utilizing an unarmed limb as the delivery method, provokes an attack of opportunity if they did not already. When an attack of opportunity is provoked in this manner, you may make a DC 20 Spellcraft check to determine if the incoming touch attack is delivering a hostile magical effect. If you succeed in detecting this, you may choose to forgo the normal attack of opportunity, to instead make an attack roll that opposes the attack roll made against you.

If your attack roll exceeds the opposition, but only by 4 or less, the spell is discharged harmlessly and its duration ends as you easily slap the hand away from you. If it exceeds by 5 or more, and you have a free hand (in this case, wielding a two handed weapon, or a shield smaller than a tower shield, both qualify), you may grab the offending forelimb, and jam the delivering limb itself back into the caster, causing the spell's target to become the caster, with the delivering touch attack automatically succeeding against them.

Basic
Bathrobe-Shredding Bewilderment: You gain Mage Slayer (CA) as a bonus feat.

The Sound Of A Dozen Hands Slapping: You gain Combat Reflexes as a bonus feat.

Poor Decision-Making Revelation: When you succeed in redirecting a touch attack that is carrying a magical effect back at the caster, you may maintain your hold on their forelimb, dropping any held items, and making opposed grapple checks with the caster. If you succeed, you and your target are now Grappling.

commander panda
2013-12-02, 12:03 AM
I wanted Tarquin instead of Sesshomaru, but I don't think he ever appears in a panel large enough to use. I suppose I could draw him, but I haven't made an OotS avatar in forever. It'd probably take me forever.

O'chul could work too, I suppose. One of the... preliminary, sort of "concept" Mythos I put down for the Bellator is something I could see both of them doing.


Adroit Hand-Slapping Consternation
Prerequisite: 1 rank in the Spellcraft skill

Trying to grab someone with your bare hands when they have a big stonking sword is kind of dumb when you think about it.

Any character that performs a melee touch attack against you, utilizing an unarmed limb as the delivery method, provokes an attack of opportunity if they did not already. When an attack of opportunity is provoked in this manner, you may make a DC 20 Spellcraft check to determine if the incoming touch attack is delivering a hostile magical effect. If you succeed in detecting this, you may choose to forgo the normal attack of opportunity, to instead make an attack roll that opposes the attack roll made against you.

If your attack roll exceeds the opposition, but only by 4 or less, the spell is discharged harmlessly and its duration ends as you easily slap the hand away from you. If it exceeds by 5 or more, and you have a free hand (in this case, wielding a two handed weapon, or a shield smaller than a tower shield, both qualify), you may grab the offending forelimb, and jam the delivering limb itself back into the caster, causing the spell's target to become the caster, with the delivering touch attack automatically succeeding against them.

Basic
Bathrobe-Shredding Bewilderment: You gain Mage Slayer (CA) as a bonus feat.

The Sound Of A Dozen Hands Slapping: You gain Combat Reflexes as a bonus feat.

Poor Decision-Making Revelation: When you succeed in redirecting a touch attack that is carrying a magical effect back at the caster, you may maintain your hold on their forelimb, dropping any held items, and making opposed grapple checks with the caster. If you succeed, you and your target are now Grappling.


that's... pretty freak'n awesome XD!!! i can totally see either of them doing this.

and i'm sure you could get any one of the avatarists at the art forum to make you a giant tarquin pic. hell, someone probably has one floating around already.

[edit] by the way, i was curious if you had plans to make a mythos paladin at some point. i ask because among all these monstrosities descended from the chaos at the brink of creation (sorry if i have that bit of fluff wrong), i can totally see a mythos class descended from the law bringers to fight said chaos.
for some reason, this makes me think of a holy fusion of superman and batman. or Rorschach and goku.

Xefas
2013-12-02, 07:40 AM
and i'm sure you could get any one of the avatarists at the art forum to make you a giant tarquin pic. hell, someone probably has one floating around already.

Mmmm. Well, I've only got to worry about it if I actually go with the Bellator. I still have plenty of Olethrofex stuff to do.


[edit] by the way, i was curious if you had plans to make a mythos paladin at some point. i ask because among all these monstrosities descended from the chaos at the brink of creation (sorry if i have that bit of fluff wrong), i can totally see a mythos class descended from the law bringers to fight said chaos.
for some reason, this makes me think of a holy fusion of superman and batman. or Rorschach and goku.

I had a Mythos Paladin in the works before the Olethrofex, called the Hierodule. Inspired by stuff like the Warhammer 40k Adepta Sororitas, Warcraft's Scarlet Crusade, assorted witch hunters and inquisitors. Its big mechanic was having each player write their character's own Paladin-esque Code of Conduct, with a list of example tenets, that could have as many tenets as they were willing to put on it. However, breaking those tenets did not remove a character's class features; the Hierodule always does what they think is right, but they can't be perfect. Mortals are, by definition, flawed creatures. Rather, breaking tenets generated Guilt, a stacking social debuff that makes the character more sullen, serious, and morose. Then, some Mythos had an optional Penitence effect, which hurt the Hierodule in some way, burned some Guilt away, and had a larger or different effect than normal.

So, whether good or evil, you had a character who tries to do good, fails, feels bad about it, self-flagellates, and is then spurred by their own self-inflicted pain to then go hurt others, which in turn makes them feel worse, and so on. Vicious cycle.

Getting the cycle to work the way I wanted was just taking too long. And I had other ideas to work on. Like the Olethrofex.

commander panda
2013-12-02, 09:15 AM
wow, that actually sounds fascinating. i hope you get back to it some time, it sounds like a paladin out of ones darkest fantasies.

Amechra
2013-12-02, 09:45 AM
So... um...

Will the Cynosure have a Mythos that will allow you to split your heart into a bajillion pieces, thus forcing someone else to find all the parts for you while you languish with a minimal sense of self?

Because that 7th picture is Mytho, if I'm not mistaken, and he is hardly appropriate for any class based off of leadership.

Haha no seriously now I can't take the Cynosure seriously.

Grimsage Matt
2013-12-02, 04:24 PM
So, there is a "War to End all Wars", a "Life Gives Way to Undeath", a "Utter Oblivion by Sphere", and "Unending Darkness". So why is there no emotional apocalypse? No spiritual and mental entropy? The Universe just... giving up, not caring anymore?


Grim Inevitability

Everything ends at some point. Most take this to mean purely physical things, insisting that the metaphysical will somehow endure forever, but this is not true. Thoughts do fade, wear away, subject to the same laws of entropy as more physical.

Emotion and thought were primal aspects of the chaos before. Time, and inadvertently entropy were introduced by the Lawbringers. By brining order, they sealed their own fate, and the fate of all things.

The effects are extremely subtle, made worse because it affects memory. It takes a DC 40 Knowledge (Forbidden Lore (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/campaigns/sanity.htm#knowledgeForbiddenLoreNone) or Arcana) check to notice.


The First Seal; The first seal is almost a common occurrence. Many adventures tear through the land, and what do they leave in their wake? Carnage, shattered homes, legions of orphans, abject poverty and ruined lives. For all the "good" they do, they only kill, they only add to the suffering. For do not those monsters have family? Do they not have loved ones? Could they be trapped in a vicious cycle?

But of course, the champions of good, or even the Exalted would say that because they are monsters, it does not matter.

The first seal is reached when the world reaches a saturation point of high level adventures, Avatars of carnage who have left seas of blood in their wake, and armies of orphans to curse their names.

Faint Sign; Adventurers of the world feel the effects first, even if it is faint, due to their role as the bringers of despair. Whenever they rest, they must make a Will save (DC equals 15+ 1/2 their level) or they are fatigued for the day (magic cannot remove it, and it effects even those normally immune to it), as the seas of blood weigh on them.


The Second Seal; As the hero's of the world continue to make the world a better place, their actions create a psychic scar, an aftereffect of all the lives ruined and lost. But it is not some giant scar that can be found were they slaughtered hundreds and were paid in loot and gold, no, it radiates from those left behind. Even those not attuned to the powers of the mind can feel their pain, their loss, and all they meet can feel it.

Moderate Sign; Intelligent monsters that have lost someone to adventurers gain a 300ft aura. Inside that aura, all the 'civilized races' and adventurers suffer from a crushing despair spell, that bypass's and immunities and has no save.

And now, all high level characters (those with at least 15 levels in PC classes) feel tired, the sins of their bloody pasts catching up to them, no matter how that God's said how noble they were. They are always fatigued, and must make a DC 20+ 1/2 their class level Will save each time they rest or be exhausted for the day.

Those with at least five PC class levels are affected by the faint sign.


The Third Seal; At this point, the ones called EPIC have fallen into a lethargy, only the strongest willed able to rouse themselves from their beds, as they simply do not care anymore. They have done enough, they have overseen purges and genocides on multi-planetary levels, and now, they cannot bring themselves to care.

But one of these "hero's" somehow remains unaffected, a Healer who has never taken a life and sustains themself on pure positive energy. This Healer is known not just for healing the body, but the mind. But lately, they too have been feeling tired, worn down. Their efforts are never enough, for new hero's always rise to the call, and continue the cycle anew.

Strong Sign; All with class levels are affected by the Moderate Sign.

Those with at least 10 class levels must make a DC 20+1/2 their level will save or be unable to care enough to leave their resting place.

In addition, all must make a DC= Their age will save or lose a memory.. forever as the apathy works away at their minds. Attitude can no longer rise above, or below indifferent, no one cares enough. Morale bonuses and penalties are supressed.


The Forth Seal; Without someone to heal the mind of the world, and those living on it, hope has faded. So has despair. The only ones functioning as normal are the Deep Trolls, but even they are forgetting things. At this stage, the only way to stop it is to remember everything that has ever happened, or will happen, to gaze into the tapestry of fate and speak it's true name.

Overwhelming Sign; All suffer from the effects of the Strong sign, and the memory loss worsens. After each rest, they must make a Will Save (DC= Their Age) or lose 1d3 years worth of memories from random points of their lives. Each time the effected hear their Truename, they recover 1 year worth of memories.

Those who have been reduced to 0 years worth of memories simply fade away.

But this does not merely affect creatures. No, the memory loss affects all things on the world. Cities, stones, water, even the air itself can be made to fade, losing itself, its metaphysical memory.


The Fifth Seal; The gods themselves lie in slumber, their labour claiming them at long last. But they are of little import. As this seal has been opened, little can be done to stop it. The world, which was hardly caring before, now barley cares enough to keep itself existing. As it has lost at least half of it's metaphysical memory, the world is on the brink of collapse. What remaining truenamers chant out the names of all that exists almost continuously, those who sleep almost always fade away, lost, their truenames giving up. At this point, Arcane and Divine Magic do not function. Artifacts and magic items have forgotten themselves and have vanished. Those who embrace the remaining forms of power must be constantly awake, constantly reminded of who they are, least they fade.

To end this, they must do the unthinkable. They must destroy the creation of the Lawbringers, and return the time of Chaos. They must return the time of stories and myth, of cycles. Or fade away, never to have existed at all.

End Of Days; Things that have stood for countless years fade away, never existing in the first place, gone from memory. Creatures, having existed for far less time, are more venerable.

In areas protected by Truenaming, everything loses 1d6 years worth of memories a day. In unprotected areas everything loses 1d12 years worth of memory a hour.

Only by the return of chaos and the end of meaning can the world be saved now. Now, it is merely how the world ends, not how to save it.

Xefas
2013-12-02, 04:43 PM
Grim Inevitability
Another fine addition! I've added it to the list.



Will the Cynosure have a Mythos that will allow you to split your heart into a bajillion pieces, thus forcing someone else to find all the parts for you while you languish with a minimal sense of self?

Because that 7th picture is Mytho, if I'm not mistaken, and he is hardly appropriate for any class based off of leadership.

It's Prince Siegfried, Mytho's whole self. But no, the Cynosure isn't about being a leader. Of the eight given characters, I'd argue that only the God Emperor has laudable leadership skills. But the Marshal was never about being a good leader! I don't care what the fluff says. It has no mechanics for effectively managing others, or creating plans (long term or otherwise), or facilitating communication, or any trait a good leader has. The Marshal gives a laundry list of generic bonuses via their Charisma modifier. They make people better - whether it's fighting, or crafting a sword, or reading a map, or foraging for berries, or talking up drunken bar patrons for clues - just by standing nearby and being glorious. They radiate a glory so strong that knives bounce off the flesh of their soldiers, and venom burns away in their veins.

That's just the Marshal. The Cynosure is all that and more. Even if he's a foufy-haired mannequin with the personality of a cinderblock; He speaks, and the world yearns to change for him. He feels without thinking, knows without learning, is loved without reason, and destroys without caring. A great shining idiot-god, burning gold upon a throne of starving sycophants as they vainly mewl for the slightest acknowledgment. Some are heard, and become champions that ride beneath the burning gaze of their vapid idol, to conquest and splendor without measure. The others are happy to die knowing that they might've mattered, had their lord chosen it.

JBPuffin
2013-12-02, 07:54 PM
...That's just the Marshal. The Cynosure is all that and more. Even if he's a foufy-haired mannequin with the personality of a cinderblock; He speaks, and the world yearns to change for him. He feels without thinking, knows without learning, is loved without reason, and destroys without caring. A great shining idiot-god, burning gold upon a throne of starving sycophants as they vainly mewl for the slightest acknowledgment. Some are heard, and become champions that ride beneath the burning gaze of their vapid idol, to conquest and splendor without measure. The others are happy to die knowing that they might've mattered, had their lord chosen it.

...OH MY GOD!!! THIS IS SHEER BRILLIANCE!!! Seriously, though, that sounds bloody magnificent.

ShadowFireLance
2013-12-02, 07:56 PM
Alright, Incoming Apocalypse, based off some things I've recently done.

Watch here for edit.

commander panda
2013-12-02, 11:19 PM
That's just the Marshal. The Cynosure is all that and more. Even if he's a foufy-haired mannequin with the personality of a cinderblock; He speaks, and the world yearns to change for him. He feels without thinking, knows without learning, is loved without reason, and destroys without caring. A great shining idiot-god, burning gold upon a throne of starving sycophants as they vainly mewl for the slightest acknowledgment. Some are heard, and become champions that ride beneath the burning gaze of their vapid idol, to conquest and splendor without measure. The others are happy to die knowing that they might've mattered, had their lord chosen it.

wow... can you give us concepts for the other guys as well? because, since you described the mythos paladin and marshal, the fighter and rogue are seeming pretty boring by comparison. :smallbiggrin:

Tychris1
2013-12-02, 11:23 PM
I'd throw down for the Ophidian aswell. Anything inspired by Aku, Venom, and Xanatos is pure gold. BUT! More importantly related to the Ophidian,

YELLOW EYES!

YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES

If even a single class feature lets you replicate the sheer cruel bastard awesomeness that is Yellow eyes, then the Ophidian is a 12/10 (Would summon again).

Ahem

The Olethrofex is extremely awesome. I plan on playing one in a Gestalt Steam Punk campaign with the other track being Dread Necromancer/Knight of the Macabre. I told my DM about the Angel of Death Shintai and he was pretty interested by it, so I want to give that a whirl. Xefas, you have excellent taste in inspiration for your Mythos' class. My heart melted reading the Teramach, spotting Krieg/The Juggernaut/Venture Bros, and then reading the Teramach's abilities. And now you've done it all over again with the Olethrofex.

Honestly one of the best playgrounders I know and (will probably) ever know when it comes to homebrew. Top notch work man, subscribed.

Starsign
2013-12-03, 02:44 PM
Wow this is incredible Xafas! I really do like this. The Teramach that somewhat inspired this is just as cool. :smallbiggrin:

If I may ask, how can this class be played as outside of the obvious Evil-aligned/end-the-world type characters? The lack of an alignment requirement tells me that characters who are Lawful Good or Neutral Good could use this class, but I'm interested in how considering a lot of the features present point to something very far away from Good-alignment. :smallsmile: Same goes for the Teramach too, though I'll probably ask about that over on the Teramach thread. :smallsmile:

Tychris1
2013-12-03, 02:51 PM
Wow this is incredible Xafas! I really do like this. The Teramach that somewhat inspired this is just as cool. :smallbiggrin:

If I may ask, how can this class be played as outside of the obvious Evil-aligned/end-the-world type characters? The lack of an alignment requirement tells me that characters who are Lawful Good or Neutral Good could use this class, but I'm interested in how considering a lot of the features present point to something very far away from Good-alignment. :smallsmile: Same goes for the Teramach too, though I'll probably ask about that over on the Teramach thread. :smallsmile:

Well, you can play a kind of "Hunter of the Undead" with this class. None Trespass the Black Gate is a counter measure against Necromancers, and seems to in general be a good act (And could be a side job for the PC, make sure to take Drawing Open the Gate for bonus Undead ownage and Shuriyokening/Kalima-ing Undead left and right with your Greatsword fists). Then take Shade-Reaping Finality Beacon and go to town on any Undead you bump into. Take any combat Mythos, pick up the Mount Mythos if you want to be a "Reaper" who acts like Cerberus and brings back the Undead to where they belong, and pick up Angel of Death Shintai to include Humans (Without breaking morality, or if you want to be more Neutral). There you go, Neutral/Good Olethrofex.

Just because you look evil, doesn't make you evil:smallwink:

Draken
2013-12-03, 06:22 PM
Even the Oblivion mythos don't really shoehorn you into evil. Deadpan and probably somewhat depressive (to be around, not actually depressed), sure.

The only thing in the class that would usually have to be "Eeeeevil" by the schizophrenic standards of third edition would be the undead-creation stuff.

The Teramach is even easier to dodge evilness. Avoid the Mythos that demand you to murder everything that moves (read: avoid Untamed Apocalypse Shintai), and there. You are an angry and violent dude/tte, aim your fist at your inimical alignment of choice.

Xefas
2013-12-03, 07:53 PM
wow... can you give us concepts for the other guys as well? because, since you described the mythos paladin and marshal, the fighter and rogue are seeming pretty boring by comparison. :smallbiggrin:

Suffice it to say, the Ophidian is about darkness. Its Mythos are seductive, granting a little power at first, but dangling much greater power if the Ophidian were only willing to pay the price. Want to be a great con-artist? Sure. Here you go. No charge. Want to be able to swindle the shirt off of Asmodeus' back? Well, no, you don't have to buy a whole new Mythos. I've got it right here. It'll just cost you - nothing much - nothing you'll ever need to use again. Not with all that skill, all that power that you'll have! I'm just going to take your honesty, that's all. You'll never tell the truth again - or, if you do, no one will ever believe you! Honesty for lies! Easiest trade in the world.

Reality for nothing at all.

In self-debasement, self-abuse, self-mutilation, the Ophidian learns to debase, to abuse, to mutilate the words and the flesh and the goodness of the world and its people. At first they hide in darkness, but then the darkness hides in them. It hollows them out, steals their skin, and then it's all that's left.

As for the Bellator... I haven't come up with the real names for a lot of the Bellator's prospective Mythos. One of them has the codename "Teddy Roosevelt Shintai (http://www.cracked.com/article_15895_the-5-most-badass-presidents-all-time_p5.html)". That is all.



If even a single class feature lets you replicate the sheer cruel bastard awesomeness that is Yellow eyes, then the Ophidian is a 12/10 (Would summon again).

A Rogue hides in shadows. The Ophidian hides in people.



I plan on playing one in a Gestalt Steam Punk campaign with the other track being Dread Necromancer/Knight of the Macabre. I told my DM about the Angel of Death Shintai and he was pretty interested by it, so I want to give that a whirl.

Sounds awesome. I hope it works out! Maybe you can return to tell us of your grand necromantic adventures? :smallwink:



If I may ask, how can this class be played as outside of the obvious Evil-aligned/end-the-world type characters? The lack of an alignment requirement tells me that characters who are Lawful Good or Neutral Good could use this class, but I'm interested in how considering a lot of the features present point to something very far away from Good-alignment. :smallsmile: Same goes for the Teramach too, though I'll probably ask about that over on the Teramach thread. :smallsmile:

Tychris and Draken have some good advice above. I will simply add that there is absolutely nothing stopping you from activating Seal-Shattering End-of-Days Invocation in the Ninth Circle of Hell, and unleashing a Yahweh~esque eldritch monster to siege the dark gates of Fortress Nessus while it turns Pit Fiends to salt and rains diseased blood and frogs down on Asmodeus' head.

edit: I also have a short campaign journal (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=287681) playing as a Teramach. I tried to get people to commentate on my alignment, but there wasn't much response. Still, those that did comment were leaning towards Lawful Neutral IIRC.

Draken
2013-12-03, 08:12 PM
Worst case scenario, just remember that evil is not fire. You usually can't burn fire but you sure as hell can do evil unto evil.

In fact, doing evil unto evil is the whole point of hell.

Starsign
2013-12-03, 09:35 PM
Well, you can play a kind of "Hunter of the Undead" with this class. None Trespass the Black Gate is a counter measure against Necromancers, and seems to in general be a good act (And could be a side job for the PC, make sure to take Drawing Open the Gate for bonus Undead ownage and Shuriyokening/Kalima-ing Undead left and right with your Greatsword fists). Then take Shade-Reaping Finality Beacon and go to town on any Undead you bump into. Take any combat Mythos, pick up the Mount Mythos if you want to be a "Reaper" who acts like Cerberus and brings back the Undead to where they belong, and pick up Angel of Death Shintai to include Humans (Without breaking morality, or if you want to be more Neutral). There you go, Neutral/Good Olethrofex.

Just because you look evil, doesn't make you evil :smallwink:


Even the Oblivion mythos don't really shoehorn you into evil. Deadpan and probably somewhat depressive (to be around, not actually depressed), sure.

The only thing in the class that would usually have to be "Eeeeevil" by the schizophrenic standards of third edition would be the undead-creation stuff.

The Teramach is even easier to dodge evilness. Avoid the Mythos that demand you to murder everything that moves (read: avoid Untamed Apocalypse Shintai), and there. You are an angry and violent dude/tte, aim your fist at your inimical alignment of choice.


Tychris and Draken have some good advice above. I will simply add that there is absolutely nothing stopping you from activating Seal-Shattering End-of-Days Invocation in the Ninth Circle of Hell, and unleashing a Yahweh~esque eldritch monster to siege the dark gates of Fortress Nessus while it turns Pit Fiends to salt and rains diseased blood and frogs down on Asmodeus' head.

edit: I also have a short campaign journal (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=287681) playing as a Teramach. I tried to get people to commentate on my alignment, but there wasn't much response. Still, those that did comment were leaning towards Lawful Neutral IIRC.


Worst case scenario, just remember that evil is not fire. You usually can't burn fire but you sure as hell can do evil unto evil.

In fact, doing evil unto evil is the whole point of hell.

Thank you all for the advice, especially in regards to what can be avoided. Considering this is a pretty badass concept for a class (and the Teramach as well) I'm glad to hear this. If I ever get into a successful game I'll let you all know how it goes. :smallbiggrin:

And I'll check out that campaign journal when I can Xefas. I bet you had fun with it though. :smallsmile: If I may ask, what else is planned for this class or for the Teramach if there's anything you have in mind for it?

Winds
2013-12-03, 10:11 PM
By the way, the Apocalypse scenarios gave me some nice inspiration for a RL campaign I'm working on. So that's cool.


On a slightly more relevant note, all of the Mythos classes sound like a lot of fun. Plus, everyone can fill a different role, on about the same level, without digging through lots of just-slightly-different *role here* classes. (Even though they aren't finished, you're already doing quite nicely in that regard.) Looking forward to anything else you come up with.

Xefas
2013-12-03, 10:25 PM
And I'll check out that campaign journal when I can Xefas. I bet you had fun with it though.

I did! I'd like to do some more playtest games in the vein. Maybe something higher level as well. I don't know if I'd do a full journal, though. It was a decent amount of work, both in-game, keeping notes of stuff that happened so I could remember it accurately days later, and writing the whole thing in narrative form (as opposed to the form in which it actually happened, which consisted mostly of the click click clack of dice hitting the table interspersed with pop culture references from 10 years ago).


:smallsmile: If I may ask, what else is planned for this class or for the Teramach if there's anything you have in mind for it?

For the Olethrofex; energy drain, mist/ghost form, finishing all the Mythos that have names but aren't written out yet, an [Undeath] Shintai (which might be what Monolithic Necropolis Heart evolves into; I had planned for the character to be able to use it to assemble a fancy personal Necropolis for themselves - now I'm thinking that they become it, like some kind of Undead-Themed Dungeon Keeper).

For the Teramach; I want to revamp Many-Armed Flesh-Monster Armory, and add some Mythos that deal with multi-target killing, as it's very focused on the single-target at the moment. Things like slamming something (people, objects, scenery) so hard that it creates a shockwave. Taking a running dive through a group of weak enemies and coming out the other side surfing a thunderous, crashing wave made of dismembered body parts. Kicking up a cloud of dust and madness that causes everyone within to brawl with everyone else. Stuff like that.


Looking forward to anything else you come up with.

By this weekend, I hope to have something out that involves an unspeakably Neutral creature of the Far Realm. Some men just want to watch the world turn.

Starsign
2013-12-03, 10:34 PM
For the Olethrofex; energy drain, mist/ghost form, finishing all the Mythos that have names but aren't written out yet, an [Undeath] Shintai (which might be what Monolithic Necropolis Heart evolves into; I had planned for the character to be able to use it to assemble a fancy personal Necropolis for themselves - now I'm thinking that they become it, like some kind of Undead-Themed Dungeon Keeper).

For the Teramach; I want to revamp Many-Armed Flesh-Monster Armory, and add some Mythos that deal with multi-target killing, as it's very focused on the single-target at the moment. Things like slamming something (people, objects, scenery) so hard that it creates a shockwave. Taking a running dive through a group of weak enemies and coming out the other side surfing a thunderous, crashing wave made of dismembered body parts. Kicking up a cloud of dust and madness that causes everyone within to brawl with everyone else. Stuff like that.

Ooh nice. I do like the sounds of that. :smallbiggrin: Is it alright if I may PM you to discuss about Teramach concepts? It seems like you've got a number of archetypes/character representations down already for that class so I'm wondering how I or someone else can transfer something like that to a concept I happen to have in mind (related to gestalt and/or Tome of Battle classes) :smallsmile:

Xefas
2013-12-03, 10:42 PM
Ooh nice. I do like the sounds of that. :smallbiggrin: Is it alright if I may PM you to discuss about Teramach concepts? It seems like you've got a number of archetypes/character representations down already for that class so I'm wondering how I or someone else can transfer something like that to a concept I happen to have in mind (related to gestalt and/or Tome of Battle classes) :smallsmile:

Sure. Although, I'm hoping to head to bed here in a minute. I don't promise a reply until tomorrow.

NosferatuZodd
2013-12-03, 11:21 PM
While I like the idea of becoming a necropolis, I think it should be a different mythos or something along those lines. Both in how it'd be to play it and it just seems to weird to end up as a necropolis after the two established paths of Undeath the class apparently has.

Tychris1
2013-12-03, 11:46 PM
While I like the idea of becoming a necropolis, I think it should be a different mythos or something along those lines. Both in how it'd be to play it and it just seems to weird to end up as a necropolis after the two established paths of Undeath the class apparently has.

Welllll, you could be a pretty Necropolis made of smooth obsidian, green balefire/crystals, and nice shiny decals! Or a ugly Necropolis, more like a sunken in ruin built around a ghoul crypt, broken tombstones, rusty metal, back ways that lead no where, and little to no light.

commander panda
2013-12-03, 11:46 PM
For the Teramach; I want to revamp Many-Armed Flesh-Monster Armory, and add some Mythos that deal with multi-target killing, as it's very focused on the single-target at the moment. Things like slamming something (people, objects, scenery) so hard that it creates a shockwave. Taking a running dive through a group of weak enemies and coming out the other side surfing a thunderous, crashing wave made of dismembered body parts. Kicking up a cloud of dust and madness that causes everyone within to brawl with everyone else. Stuff like that.

if i may presume to throw in my own suggestion. i think the only thing that ever really bothered me about the Teramach (though i could be wrong about this, its been a while since i gave it a full read through,) was its lack of an ability to preform hulk-style super leaps. i mean, you'd think a creature that can eat the sun would be able to at least vault over a mountain.

would you consider doing something with that? i think your old sun hero class had something similar that you could refluff, if you needed too.

NosferatuZodd
2013-12-04, 01:05 AM
Welllll, you could be a pretty Necropolis made of smooth obsidian, green balefire/crystals, and nice shiny decals! Or a ugly Necropolis, more like a sunken in ruin built around a ghoul crypt, broken tombstones, rusty metal, back ways that lead no where, and little to no light.

You could, but ultimately it seems like a novelty to me.


Xefas, it's up to you. But i'm sure you understand what i'm trying to say.



edit: And before i'm rude, almost forgot I didn't really say what I thought of this class.


Once again, fantastic work as always Xefas. The Mythos system of classes is very unique, and i'm interested in seeing what the Ophidian is going to be like, can't wait!

DeusMortuusEst
2013-12-04, 10:08 AM
Whoo! Very nice Xefas, I really enjoy the Mythos classes.

The first thing that I thought of when reading this was that I wanted to make a undead hunter, like Tychris1 suggested. :smallbiggrin:

I got some inspiration on my way from work so I sat down and wrote a mythos of my own. Not sure if it fits as all, but feel free to use it, or parts of it, if you like.


Wings from the void.
Prerequisite: One [Oblivion] mythos.

To exist is to wait for the end. Even entire worlds sail through time with a single goal ahead - to cease being. Beyond reality there is a nothingness that can be felt in the presence of a Olethrofex. And sometimes this Void spills through, foreshadowing the end of everything.

As a standard action the Olethrofex can end a part of reality, letting through the nothingness that is kept out by ageless walls. This force always takes the shape of flying creatures associated with death. This may vary between countries and planes, as the void takes on the forms pictured by the subconscious of the local inhabitants. Examples include ravens, bats, vultures etc.

These shapes are composed of nothingness and are technically incorporeal, but nothing has a hard time existing within something. Every time a void shape touches a fluid or solid it deals 1d4 of untyped damage to the object and dissolves as the nothing and something cancel each other out. This untyped damage bypasses hardness and damage reduction. Void shapes interact with force effects as if they were a disintegrate effect, with one shape cancelling out a wall of force for example.

When summoned the void shapes surround you on all sides possible and moves with you, creating a shield of sorts. You are considered having concealment while surrounded although you can see out through the shapes as normal. Any creature trying to strike you with a melee attack or any object passing through the shapes takes 1d4 untyped damage per three levels. When the shapes has dealt 1d4 damage*two class levels they vanish as enough of their presence has been nullified by contact with matter that existence casts them out. You can dismiss your void shapes as a move action. Once the shapes vanish you have to wait 5 rounds before summoning them again.

Objects destroyed by void shapes disappear into the void, as do creatures killed by them. Things and beings lost in that way can only be returned by a wish or miracle and even they they return dead or sundered. Creatures killed disappear with all their gear.

Basic:
Carried on the shoulders of darkness: As a full round action you can order your void shapes to lift you, granting you a fly speed of 30 ft. (poor). If your void shapes vanish due to them having dealt the maximum amount of damage you plummet to the ground. If you instead dismiss the shapes enough of their energy remains to let you float harmlessly to the ground as if under the effect of a feather fall spell

Taken by the shadow: As a standard action you can command your void shapes to attack another creature within 60 ft. You must have line of sight to the creature, but not necessarily line of effect. The shapes travel in a straight line, 5 ft. wide, from you towards the target, damaging anything in their way. When they have dealt their maximum amount of damage they disappear, no matter if they have reached the target or not.

vasharanpaladin
2013-12-04, 12:17 PM
By this weekend, I hope to have something out that involves an unspeakably Neutral creature of the Far Realm. Some men just want to watch the world turn.

You're a sick, naughty little man. :smalleek:

Winds
2013-12-04, 12:56 PM
if i may presume to throw in my own suggestion. i think the only thing that ever really bothered me about the Teramach (though i could be wrong about this, its been a while since i gave it a full read through,) was its lack of an ability to preform hulk-style super leaps. i mean, you'd think a creature that can eat the sun would be able to at least vault over a mountain.


It can.

Under Teramach Excellencies:

Primal [Skill] Perfection
Prerequisite: 10 ranks in the chosen skill

Long before mankind was learning even the basics of linguistics, spellcrafting, or metalworking, animals had already mastered how to climb, how to jump, how to roar; how to interact with their world. The Gods had a similar relationship in their early days, but they were born into a world without men or animals. It was the Monster who climbed through the primordial maelstrom, leapt across worlds, and times, and ideas, and sent them scattering when the thirst for their blood escaped his lips as a horrified scream of hate and indignation.

Choose a Teramach class skill. You gain a competence bonus on all checks made with the chosen skill equal to your class level. This bonus is doubled if you are in a Rage, or tripled in the case of "Primal Jump Perfection".


Maybe not *quite* vaulting mountains...but that's a bonus of 6, for the lowest level of it. 18, while raging. +28 means jumping at least 29 feet with a 20 foot start. At higher levels, with more skill points, and Nothing This Big Should Move So Fast adding more bonuses from speed...you could definitely get around.

commander panda
2013-12-04, 02:59 PM
Maybe not *quite* vaulting mountains...but that's a bonus of 6, for the lowest level of it. 18, while raging. +28 means jumping at least 29 feet with a 20 foot start. At higher levels, with more skill points, and Nothing This Big Should Move So Fast adding more bonuses from speed...you could definitely get around.

thats not quite what i meant. when i say "super leaps" i'm more referring to the hulks habit of travelling by jumping several miles. this is more useful for manvering in combat or utilitarian purposes than travel.
i was thinking more like this legendary mythos from the sun hero (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14486371) class.





Nation-Spanning Vault
Level/Ability: Legendary Strength
Action: Full-Round
Prerequisite: River-Crossing Leap

Make a Jump check. Replace the number of feet you may travel with an equal number of miles. You may move up to the distance indicated by this amount. If you decide to leap over 1 mile, you create a destructive impact when you land, dealing 5d6 bludgeoning damage to everything within about (miles traveled) feet. Items that any character currently has equipped or attended do not take damage. You and anyone you are carrying are similarly exempt. This damage bypasses hardness, wrecking scenery and structures in your wake. If you decide to leap over 30 miles, the accuracy with which you do so is reduced. You land 2d6-2 miles off target in a random direction. You may subtract another 2 from this roll (to a minimum of 0) for each of the following conditions that you meet.

-You know the general area you are leaping toward, and the surrounding lands very well, having traveled among them on several occasions.
-You succeed on a Knowledge (Geography) check with a DC equal to the number of miles you are leaping, rolled after you begin the jump.
-You have at least five minutes to concentrate and focus on making your jump as accurate as possible.

If the speed at which you travel, or the duration of the leap is of any importance, assume that each mile takes about 30 seconds to traverse.

Use of this Mythos inflicts Focus Burn.

River-Crossing Leap
Level/Ability: Legendary Strength
Action: Move
Prerequisite: Jump 16 ranks, and either Wind-Crushing Exertion, or Soaring Predator Leap

Make a Jump check. Double the result. You may move up to the distance indicated by the final result.

At 16th level, triple the result instead of doubling it.

Draken
2013-12-04, 05:16 PM
thats not quite what i meant. when i say "super leaps" i'm more referring to the hulks habit of travelling by jumping several miles. this is more useful for manvering in combat or utilitarian purposes than travel.
i was thinking more like this legendary mythos from the sun hero (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14486371) class.

A true teramach doesn't go around anything, he goes through. A true teramach does not rush anywhere, passing idly by things and leaving them unbroken and unmurdered.

Xefas
2013-12-04, 06:57 PM
While I like the idea of becoming a necropolis, I think it should be a different mythos or something along those lines. Both in how it'd be to play it and it just seems to weird to end up as a necropolis after the two established paths of Undeath the class apparently has.

Well, not every character takes every Mythos. If your character is a sexy vampire, and you like your character being a sexy vampire, then you just don't take the Mythos that turns you into a big spooky doom castle. It's not like there won't be more than enough options available (...eventually!). And I have a pretty good idea of how I'm going to tie it together thematically. You won't just wake up one day and decide "beep beep I'm a house" and then you're suddenly a house.


Welllll, you could be a pretty Necropolis made of smooth obsidian, green balefire/crystals, and nice shiny decals! Or a ugly Necropolis, more like a sunken in ruin built around a ghoul crypt, broken tombstones, rusty metal, back ways that lead no where, and little to no light.

And Tychris makes some very impressive guesswork :smallwink:. That'll certainly be part of it.


if i may presume to throw in my own suggestion. i think the only thing that ever really bothered me about the Teramach (though i could be wrong about this, its been a while since i gave it a full read through,) was its lack of an ability to preform hulk-style super leaps. i mean, you'd think a creature that can eat the sun would be able to at least vault over a mountain.

To be fair, the process of eating the sun fluctuates in difficulty depending on how the celestial bodies work in a particular setting. If it works like people thought in ye olden days, and the sky is just a big dome over the world with the sun being dragged across it, that's one thing. If the sun is a literal deity that flies over the world every day, that's another thing. If it's a big ball of burning gas nine hundred thousand miles in diameter hurtling through a vacuum at hundreds of miles per second, millions of miles from the world - that's something else entirely.

But I get what you mean. I'll think about it. Although, Draken makes a decent point (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=16552184&postcount=87). :smalltongue:

Here's me doing some math on some fairly reasonable Teramach jumping.

Level 14
Human, Base Strength 18
+3 Strength from levels (4, 8, 12)
+6 Strength from Inhuman Strength Proliferation (x2)
+4 Strength from All Consuming Rampage Release
+4 Strength from Retribution Will Follow

= 35 Strength

Dexterity 14
+4 Dexterity from All Consuming Rampage Release
+4 Dexterity from Retribution Will Follow

= 22 Dexterity

Pouncing Beast Ascension
Primal Jump Perfection
Nothing This Big Should Move This Fast (x2)
Impatient Slaughter Speed (Falling Sky Calamity)

17 ranks in Jump
+12 from Strength
+6 from Pouncing Beast Ascension
+42 from Primal Jump Perfection
+16 from Speed
+12 from Falling Sky Calamity

= +105 on Jump checks

Thanks to Pouncing Beast Ascension and Falling Sky Calamity, you have a ~115ft high (or long) standing jump, and can travel all 115ft in about 3 seconds (I think that's about 80mph). Still room for improvement, but at the very least we know that a high level Teramach could ruin someone's day, even in a modern setting with all their fancy gas-powered go-machines.
That's without magic items, or feat investment, or total commitment to jumping via Mythos.



The first thing that I thought of when reading this was that I wanted to make a undead hunter, like Tychris1 suggested. :smallbiggrin:

That's good! It's part of the reason I wanted to do the change-type-to-Undead Mythos as a chain. I wanted to be able to make something like a classic half-vampire vampire hunter with this class.


Wings from the void.

Some good ideas. I may yet steal the concept. :smallbiggrin:

commander panda
2013-12-04, 08:17 PM
To be fair, the process of eating the sun fluctuates in difficulty depending on how the celestial bodies work in a particular setting. If it works like people thought in ye olden days, and the sky is just a big dome over the world with the sun being dragged across it, that's one thing. If the sun is a literal deity that flies over the world every day, that's another thing. If it's a big ball of burning gas nine hundred thousand miles in diameter hurtling through a vacuum at hundreds of miles per second, millions of miles from the world - that's something else entirely.

But I get what you mean. I'll think about it. Although, Draken makes a decent point (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=16552184&postcount=87). :smalltongue:

Here's me doing some math on some fairly reasonable Teramach jumping.

Level 14
Human, Base Strength 18
+3 Strength from levels (4, 8, 12)
+6 Strength from Inhuman Strength Proliferation (x2)
+4 Strength from All Consuming Rampage Release
+4 Strength from Retribution Will Follow

= 35 Strength

Dexterity 14
+4 Dexterity from All Consuming Rampage Release
+4 Dexterity from Retribution Will Follow

= 22 Dexterity

Pouncing Beast Ascension
Primal Jump Perfection
Nothing This Big Should Move This Fast (x2)
Impatient Slaughter Speed (Falling Sky Calamity)

17 ranks in Jump
+12 from Strength
+6 from Pouncing Beast Ascension
+42 from Primal Jump Perfection
+16 from Speed
+12 from Falling Sky Calamity

= +105 on Jump checks

Thanks to Pouncing Beast Ascension and Falling Sky Calamity, you have a ~115ft high (or long) standing jump, and can travel all 115ft in about 3 seconds (I think that's about 80mph). Still room for improvement, but at the very least we know that a high level Teramach could ruin someone's day, even in a modern setting with all their fancy gas-powered go-machines.


...ok that is pretty impressive. nowhere near hulk level, but still freaking scary.

and Draken does make an excellent point :smallwink:. it seems almost... sacrilegious, to immagin the teramac not killing something :/. of corse, without a long distance movement mythos, one has to wonder how a teramach would get to the sun in the first place (baring magic, obviously. i can totally see someone making teramach who shuns magic items.)

i might try my hand at home-brew and make it myself, though, if you don't. if it's not official, noone has to worry about it, right?:smallbiggrin:

Tychris1
2013-12-04, 09:58 PM
Well, the best way for a Teramach to get to the sun without using magic of his own, is to get someone else to do it for him. Namely as a way of killing him. Jump a level 20 Wizard with your sheer crazed badassitude, jibber out some garbage, and throttle him a bit. He panics, then throws you into the sun.

Wizard 1: Jeez, what happened in here?!?!?
Wizard 2: Some crazed psycho jumped through my window, said something about being the open window maniac.
Wizard 1: How did he even get to our floating fortress in the sky.... Nevermind, what happened to him?
Wizard 2: Flung him into the sun.
Wizard 1: Nice. Hey, wait, what's happening to the sun?
Wizard 2: WHERE'S THE SUN?!?!?!?

Of course, since this is a thread about the Olethrofex, I'll start mentioning the Olethrofex. Namely, is the Olethrofex going to get some grand, unfullfilled epic challenge Mythos unlock? Just curious.

Draken
2013-12-04, 10:21 PM
Well, the best way for a Teramach to get to the sun without using magic of his own, is to get someone else to do it for him. Namely as a way of killing him. Jump a level 20 Wizard with your sheer crazed badassitude, jibber out some garbage, and throttle him a bit. He panics, then throws you into the sun.

Wizard 1: Jeez, what happened in here?!?!?
Wizard 2: Some crazed psycho jumped through my window, said something about being the open window maniac.
Wizard 1: How did he even get to our floating fortress in the sky.... Nevermind, what happened to him?
Wizard 2: Flung him into the sun.
Wizard 1: Nice. Hey, wait, what's happening to the sun?
Wizard 2: WHERE'S THE SUN?!?!?!?

Of course, since this is a thread about the Olethrofex, I'll start mentioning the Olethrofex. Namely, is the Olethrofex going to get some grand, unfullfilled epic challenge Mythos unlock? Just curious.

I would hazard a guess that such a mythos would involve unleashing an end-of-the-world scenario. Possibly involving five seals.

Pokonic
2013-12-04, 10:29 PM
Alternatively, instead of the sun going out, it gets tainted with negative energy, resulting in a world where the sun itself slowly becoming darker and fouler as certain acts of destruction are preformed.

A Green Sun, if you will.
The end result is a sun that is only as bright as moonlight, one hanging over a world twisted and befouled by the very light of day.

I mean, we already have a night-themed world-ending scenario. Might as well make the giant flaming ball in the sky a method of dooming the world.

Tychris1
2013-12-04, 10:43 PM
I would hazard a guess that such a mythos would involve unleashing an end-of-the-world scenario. Possibly involving five seals.

Ah, but it's not quite the same. The world ending move is the Mythos itselr, not an extension of something else. And you don't get any benefit out of it either other then the world being destroyed. Though there are more worlds lurking about, so the benefit of it isn't the same as eating the sun and breathing out fire like a leaping six armed nuclear holocaust dragon in human form.

vasharanpaladin
2013-12-05, 01:02 AM
I mean, we already have a night-themed world-ending scenario. Might as well make the giant flaming ball in the sky a method of dooming the world.

Hey, hey! That's a "light is life" scenario, thank you! :smallannoyed:

Hanuman
2013-12-06, 05:32 AM
Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer's thoughts (considered to be the father of the atomic bomb) after the successful detonation of the first atomic bomb in 1945:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26YLehuMydo

Sgt. Cookie
2013-12-06, 08:18 AM
The Smothered Spark of Will

(Simply to prevent OOC conflict, Adventuring Parties don't have internal "Authority Figures" in the strictest sense of the word)

All mortals have a spark. A willpower that drives them forward. To do what needs to be done. We all take such a thing for granted, but when that spark is smothered...

A DC 40 Sense Motive check will allow you to notice the gradual erosion of will.

The First Seal: The first seal is simple: A new King or Emperor is crowned, with perhaps too little resistance (Such as no ploys for the throne or no argument from senior advisers.) To break this seal, the new ruler must be killed.

The Faint Sign: All those in positions of authority, all the way from Kings to simple church heads (This also includes NON-Extraplanar (Native Outsiders are affected by this and subsequent signs) monsters as followers. Leaders, however, CAN be Extraplanar), find that their words resonate more with their followers and subjects.

Anybody who is under the authority of someone (Such as a Mayor, Guildmaster or City Watch captain) is considered to be under the effects of a Charm Person (or Monster, if the follower is not Humanoid), but only when interacting with aforementioned authority figure. This Charm Person/Monster cannot be saved against.

The Second Seal: For this seal to break, the new ruler must have ruled without difficulty from his followers for at least a year. Breaking this seal is the same as the first one, kill the ruler. Though this will probably be more difficult by now.

The Moderate Sign: As leaders gain more and more followers, some of them appear to be more... fanatic than others. Taking their words at face value and obeying without, well if not question at least difficulty, with cults and the like springing up everywhere.

Aforementioned authority figures now treat their orders as if they were casting Suggestion. If suggestion is obeyed by the subject, either willingly or by failing the Save, the subject's Will Save is reduced by 1 each time they obey.

Additionally, everyone treats the authority figure as if they had cast Charm Person/Monster on them, but only in regards to them joining the authority figure.

The Third Seal: By the time the third seal breaks, the desire to obey will have run rampant, with cult leaders and warlords boasting hundreds if not thousands of followers.

The seal itself will not break until one of these leaders attempts a coup of the throne (The same one that started it all). The coup need not be successful, only attempted, so to stop this seal from breaking, the coup must never start in the first place...

The Strong Sign: To serve is the greatest thing, is it not? To be free of needing to think too much for yourself, bliss. You need to feed yourself, sure, but you don't really care too much about anything else, right? Why would you need to?

The Will Save reduction is increased to 2 points per time. Additionally, anybody who's Will Save is reduced to 0 are considered Dominated by the authority figure, doing nothing, beyond basic necessities such as feeding or cleaning themselves, that they are not explicitly ordered to do.

Not only that, but the Charm from the prior sign is upgraded to a Suggestion. But, again, only in regards to joining them. With the Will Save reduction as standard.

The Fourth Seal Whether the coup was successful or not, new leaders and powers will rise, with armies of soldiers and slaves willing to die, simply because they were told to. When five new powers (Kingdoms or Empires no smaller than the size of England) rise, the Fourth Seal will be broken.

Stopping this seal is almost impossible, as you will have to prevent five kingdoms from rising. And would that not take an army?

The Overwhelming sign: When the fourth seal breaks, Extraplanar powers will have noted this new air of complete obedience and will come forth. Celestials, Demons, Devils, hell even some Inevitables and Sladdi, will make their way to the Material Plane and gather around themselves cults and servants.

Obedience to a higher power. That is the fate of all peoples who cannot resist. When someone encounters an Extraplanar creature, they must resist against Dominate, otherwise they are permanently the slave of the creature. If they are already the slave of another Extraplaner creature, then they do not need to make a Save.

Additionally, all Dominated peoples (Be they slaves of man, beast or demon) take no actions whatsoever unless they are told to. This includes basic things such as eating or cleaning themselves. If they are left to their own devices, they will quite literally just stand or sit there in their own filth while they slowly starve.

The Fifth Seal: For this seal to break, no mortal leaders must remain. Only those who serve the extraplanar or were lucky or strong enough to never having fallen under dominion. To prevent this seal from breaking would require an act worthy of an Overdiety.

The End of Days: The forces of Good, Evil, Law and Chaos wage eternal war with near limitless legions of willing mortal soldiers who fight because they are told to and starve and soil themselves when not told to do anything. Even their children are sworn to serve their overlords from birth to death.

It is truly a world where war and servitude are the only facts of life.

Those few who have remained free are given some respite. They have ridden the storm, they are no longer vulnerable to dominion. They will have to live in this eternal war for the rest of their lives and hope to rebuild with free children, while the soulless masses of the world are fighting and dying all around.



Not as flashy as the others, but it gets the job done.

DracoDei
2013-12-06, 08:39 PM
I did a quick search through this thread for the word "Deathless". Didn't find it.

So, do you consider it to be a stupid idea?
(Especially if not) Will support for them be coming later? It could be as simple as "If you so select at first level (and maybe have an alignment requirement???) you can change the type of all your future undead you create to Deathless without changing anything else."... but I suspect you want to do better.

None of this "Oh, sure, I'm the God of Murder, here are fifty healing spells for the day" nonsense that 3rd edition wrought. 2nd Edition Spheres > That Garbage.
As I seem to recall, spheres didn't make a blame bit of difference at 1st level. It was only when you got pretty high level spell slots that it mattered. Maybe I am getting the default cleric which had "minor access" to all spheres confused with the level of rules below that?

In any case it only matters for someone actually playing 2nd edition D&D, since I am sure that you aren't going to fall into the above trap.

I wanted Tarquin instead of Sesshomaru, but I don't think he ever appears in a panel large enough to use. I suppose I could draw him, but I haven't made an OotS avatar in forever. It'd probably take me forever.

O'chul could work too, I suppose. One of the... preliminary, sort of "concept" Mythos I put down for the Bellator is something I could see both of them doing.


Adroit Hand-Slapping Consternation
Prerequisite: 1 rank in the Spellcraft skill

Trying to grab someone with your bare hands when they have a big stonking sword is kind of dumb when you think about it.

Any character that performs a melee touch attack against you, utilizing an unarmed limb as the delivery method, provokes an attack of opportunity if they did not already. When an attack of opportunity is provoked in this manner, you may make a DC 20 Spellcraft check to determine if the incoming touch attack is delivering a hostile magical effect. If you succeed in detecting this, you may choose to forgo the normal attack of opportunity, to instead make an attack roll that opposes the attack roll made against you.

If your attack roll exceeds the opposition, but only by 4 or less, the spell is discharged harmlessly and its duration ends as you easily slap the hand away from you. If it exceeds by 5 or more, and you have a free hand (in this case, wielding a two handed weapon, or a shield smaller than a tower shield, both qualify), you may grab the offending forelimb, and jam the delivering limb itself back into the caster, causing the spell's target to become the caster, with the delivering touch attack automatically succeeding against them.

Basic
Bathrobe-Shredding Bewilderment: You gain Mage Slayer (CA) as a bonus feat.

The Sound Of A Dozen Hands Slapping: You gain Combat Reflexes as a bonus feat.

Poor Decision-Making Revelation: When you succeed in redirecting a touch attack that is carrying a magical effect back at the caster, you may maintain your hold on their forelimb, dropping any held items, and making opposed grapple checks with the caster. If you succeed, you and your target are now Grappling.
Consider how this interacts with... I think it is Shocking Grasp. Basically, not all touch spells are 1 use only.

You may still want to leave this unaltered for simplicity and Awesome.

vasharanpaladin
2013-12-07, 01:49 AM
Deathless creatures aren't trapped on the precipice the way undead are, DracoDei~

vasharanpaladin
2013-12-11, 11:20 PM
It occurs to me that Rigid Deathgrip Calcification (Razor-Ghoul Grip) should just grant Versatile Unarmed Strike (Player's Handbook II) as a bonus feat and have done with it. Four words, saves you however many keystrokes were in that second sentence. :smallconfused:

DracoDei
2013-12-12, 12:25 AM
It occurs to me that Rigid Deathgrip Calcification (Razor-Ghoul Grip) should just grant Versatile Unarmed Strike (Player's Handbook II) as a bonus feat and have done with it. Four words, saves you however many keystrokes were in that second sentence. :smallconfused:

Well, this IS the internet where we don't have to pay for paper, and not everybody owns that book (or is willing to pirate it).

Xefas
2013-12-12, 07:42 AM
I did a quick search through this thread for the word "Deathless". Didn't find it.

Will support for them be coming later?

Probably not. They're powered by Positive Energy, if I'm not mistaken, which isn't something that the Olethrofex should be able to tap into with his native Mythos, I don't think.

The ability to create non-default-evil free-willed Undead? Probably.


As I seem to recall, spheres didn't make a blame bit of difference at 1st level. It was only when you got pretty high level spell slots that it mattered. Maybe I am getting the default cleric which had "minor access" to all spheres confused with the level of rules below that?

In any case it only matters for someone actually playing 2nd edition D&D, since I am sure that you aren't going to fall into the above trap.

Hmmm. I may be confusing the actual rules with some kind of weird houserule. Unfortunately, I don't have my 2nd Ed books on me (its not like they've been getting a lot of use), so I can't go and check.


It occurs to me that Rigid Deathgrip Calcification (Razor-Ghoul Grip) should just grant Versatile Unarmed Strike (Player's Handbook II) as a bonus feat and have done with it. Four words, saves you however many keystrokes were in that second sentence. :smallconfused:

I used Versatile Unarmed Strike in the Kathodos. And... I'll probably change that one, too, when I get around to it. You see, Versatile Unarmed Strike requires a Swift Action to use. Ostensibly because mundanes can't have nice things, like activating a Boost in the same round that you swap targets between a Zombie and a Skeleton.

Razor Ghoul-Grip doesn't require an action to use, so it's different.

vasharanpaladin
2013-12-12, 12:13 PM
You see, Versatile Unarmed Strike requires a Swift Action to use.

Ah, thank you, I knew that was too simple. :smallfrown:

Network
2013-12-12, 06:10 PM
I used Versatile Unarmed Strike in the Kathodos. And... I'll probably change that one, too, when I get around to it. You see, Versatile Unarmed Strike requires a Swift Action to use. Ostensibly because mundanes can't have nice things, like activating a Boost in the same round that you swap targets between a Zombie and a Skeleton.

Razor Ghoul-Grip doesn't require an action to use, so it's different.
If it is of any help, you can use this feat I made (IIRC, I never posted it before) :

Improved Unarmed Versatility [Fighter, General]:
Your attacks combine a variety of fighting styles.
Prerequisites: Str 13, Improved Unarmed Strike, Toothed Blow (Sto), Versatile Unarmed Strike (PHBII).
Benefit: When making unarmed strikes, your attacks count as bludgeoning, piercing and slashing weapons simultaneously. As a free action, you can opt for your unarmed strikes to not deal of a specific damage type (and vice-versa), though at least one damage type must be used at any given time. Once you make your choice, your unarmed strikes continue to deal the chosen damage types until you use another free action to change it.
The benefit of this feat replaces the benefits of Toothed Blow and Versatile Unarmed Strike.
This feat is probably not better than Greater Weapon Focus and the like (you spend another feat slot to get the same thing as before, only slightly better), but for a mythos-using class, this isn't a problem.

Talking about Razor Ghoul-Grip, though, I noticed something that may need fixing :

If an average damage roll from your unarmed strikes would be capable of bypassing the Hardness of a surface that you are climbing, you may choose to automatically leave slight alcoves in the surface just sufficient enough that they may later be used as handholds or footholds.
Damage does not bypass Hardness. It overcomes it.

commander panda
2013-12-15, 01:06 PM
in case no one noticed yet, xefas just posted a mythos replacement for the human paragon.

Tychris1
2013-12-25, 11:39 AM
Hmmm...... Xefas, I've been wondering about something. My general ballpark idea of the Necropolis Mythos feels semi accurate, but I have absolutely no idea what the King Zion Construction Mythos could potentially be. My Witch Queen of Angmar Batman Angel of Death would probably pick it up, since it requires Angel of Death Shintai to take (And thus I'm guessing it has something to do with being an Angel of Death, creating an afterlife/safe haven for the dead? Kingdom of the Dead? I dunno), and thus I'm guessing the two Mythos' synch up somehow.

So basically what I'm saying is, *Sits on Xefas' lap*. Uncle Xefas, could we have a little christmas gift in knowing what that Mythos might be? Pweety pweety pweeeeze? (http://images.sodahead.com/polls/000578079/polls_PuppyDogEyes_5408_380597_poll_xlarge.jpeg)

Xefas
2013-12-25, 12:57 PM
Damage does not bypass Hardness. It overcomes it.

I forgot to mention this, but I did correct this sometime after you posted it. Thanks for the catch.



So basically what I'm saying is, *Sits on Xefas' lap*. Uncle Xefas, could we have a little christmas gift in knowing what that Mythos might be?

Shepherd-And-King Zion Construction allows you to go from an Angel of Death to a King of the Dead. You carve out a portion of an Outer Plane and turn it into your own little personal afterlife-realm. You set parameters as to what kind of souls belong in your afterlife, and what happens to them while they're there. Initially, I think only valid souls that you personally reap will go there, but you'll be able to perform actions to expand your influence. Perhaps you could eventually expand your realm to become a fully realized layer of the plane you began on, becoming the 10th Archdevil or Prince of the 667th layer of the Abyss or whatever.

NosferatuZodd
2013-12-25, 05:47 PM
So the Necropolis mythos will be less about becoming a necropolis and more about tainting a specific area of land into some sort of undead haven for yourself?

That's at least, what I can gather from educated guessing.

Lanth Sor
2014-01-15, 02:14 PM
Eagerly waiting more my DM says i cant use it till its done :(

Always wanted to play death/oblivion knight screw all those who think they are all about undead mainstream lackeys.

Thanx for the always expertly crafted content.

Tychris1
2014-02-09, 12:37 PM
Hmmm.... If I take Angel of Death Shintai, I can't maintain being a Mythic Human correct?

Anyway, after six sessions into our campaign, I have decided to begin my Olethrofex Campaign journal. Look here or the next post I make to see it in the coming hours.

Tychris1
2014-02-22, 02:22 AM
I apologize for the double post and for taking so long. Life has been very hectic, and I continually tell myself I will sit down and start working on this campaign journal. Yet things have been piling up, and when I have free time I have other prior commitments interfering and distracting me. Coupled with the fact that I am very stupid and working this off of memory instead of taking notes, well, this has been an uphill battle for quite some time. Without further ado, the beginnings of my Olethrofex Campaign journal!

Our Merry Band of Miscreants:

Note: We are all Gestalt

The Witch Queen (Of Angmar:smalltongue:) Veronica Alue, a Olethrofex/Dread Necromancer "I AM THE LAW." Lawful Neutral
Kaj, The Half Minotaur Paladin/Crusader "Cleave and Smite!" Lawful Good
Amadeus Rubick Wyrmwood, Crystal Dragon/Artificer "Iiiinteresting." Neutral Good
Milo, the "Tiefling" (He's a human but he wants to look like a Tiefling so that's what he looks like) Gunslinger/Pirate "Where'd all the rum go!" Chaotic Neutral

The Setting!:
The setting is that of magitech steampunk. If I were a cruel and evil bastard I would introduce gramarie instead of mythos', but I'm not. :smalltongue:

Set quite some time after the last campaign we had, essentially an evil grim reaper time entity manipulated me and the character playing Wyrmwood into doing all of his dirty work. This time entity (Known as Alducaz) went about killing and absorbing every god out there. While Alducaz ramped up power he infested the world with magical corruption, creating scary and crazy abominations, and tainting the land into a "Magic Nuclear Wasteland" known as the Barrens, where negative energy flows and mutated undead wander aimlessly. Eventually we realized what was up, and with the combined overpowered might of a Druid and a Wizard we overthrew Alducaz, killed him, and became gods. The death of Alducaz caused a massive explosion of divine energy, in which all of the portfolios of the gods were freed up and they became mutated and changed. The world has since changed, with a council of nations ruling together to ensure peace, with our former characters a part of that nation. The nations are as follow:

Boltera: The true city of magitech. Held within are handcuffs, electric forges that pump out magic items like a lottery, shock gloves, and a slue of other amazing technological wonders. This nation is primarily a single metropolitan city, divided into several lesser cities and bureaus. Kind of like New York. But with magic. And animated robots. It's a hub of crime, with my characters primary occupation being hunting it down. This nation is ran by Tempest, God of Magic and Science, and Amadeus Wyrmwood's character.

Vermitia: A dirty, disgusting, infested land. Vermitia is a mass of swamps, pollution, decay, and miserable villages dotting the land scape. A single city dominates its center, acting as the hub and heart of the land. Law is a joke and crime is utterly rampant, going so far as to make knives a currency. This land is inhabited primarily by talking and intelligent giant Vermin of all shapes and sizes. It is controlled by Peter, my old character, the god of Vermins and decay/entropy.

Briar Island: A snooty and small set of islands owned by an assortment of incredibly wealthy aristocracy and undead. As my game master describes it "It's kind of like Florida. It's where all the rich old people go to die."

Gestentir: A massive industrial nation built around the construction of factories and mass production of everything that is developed in Boltera. It is ran by Ehlonna, Goddess of Industry.

Jutistai: Land of big burly norse like warriors who live in the cold and practice martial honor. They have a warriors culture, and are highly religious with many of them worshipping Khaine the god of Valor and the North. Currently they are ruled by the patron saint of Khaine, St. Tarko. Land of Kaj.

Priogmenes: Land of ninjas, really lazy and confusing monks, and other eastern things. I have no idea who runs this place, as it seems to be a kind of free for all. All I know is that this place is close to the Barrens, and is constantly at threat of being eaten.

Session 1:
On a dark and stormy night, a lone figure rides through pouring rain and thundering heavens to reach a desolate tavern...... And by that I mean The Witch Queen, Wyrmwood, and Kaj are all forcibly signed into the Hero Program due to select powerful entities recognizing unique power within us. In essence giving us "Mentors". Wyrmwood is given Tempest, Kaj is given Saint Tarko, and I am given a Vigilante who goes by The Shroud. I still am not sure how two vigilantes are somehow involved with government regulated programs but whatever.

We all meet up at Town Hall where we say our hellos (Or, in my case, a dark brooding stare) and are given a brief rundown of our mission. A shipment of weapons has been stolen by a gang of orcs, and it's up to us to get it back. I saddle up on my Olethrofex mount and ride out, followed by the others. As we arrive there, we kick open the door and spot two orcs. Kaj and I split up. He brutally butchers the orc, while I knock the other unconscious. Thanks to my special eyes, I see several souls lighting up the distance and we hear footsteps approaching. I order my Olethrofex mount to help me out, and together we smash open a crate of alcohol the Orcs stole and wet the ground with it.

Out come the Orcs, like a conga line of crime they come charging with guns and other weapons. Sadly, for them atleast, it turned out they were all drunk off their rocker, and proceed to fail miserably on their balance checks. 3 Orcs out of 14 manage to get past the slippery floor unscathed. 2 Orcs on a balcony above, wielding rifles begin to take aim and fire. Wyrmwood hides behind Kaj's tower shield, trying to not get shot. Kaj takes the same advice and they hunker down. Wyrmwood atleast has the kindness to buff Kaj with +2 armor, but remains defensive otherwise. Seeing 9 Orcs on the ground, I ask my DM if I can slide my horse over the booze and stomp on them. He permits me and soon there are a bunch of unconscious Orcs. As I do my drive by I smack another Orc with my flail and he drops. Kaj jumps up to the balcony, his chest riddled with bullets, and begins to tear the Riflemen apart. Wyrmwood slithers up and blinds an Orc with his breathe weapon, and The Witch Queen disposes of the last Orc. From there, a backdoor swings wide and two Orcs step out. One a caster, and the other in the magitech equivalent of Power Armor, except crude and scaveged. The caster buffs his friends and the Power Armor Orc begins to duel me. He pretty handily socks me in the face, and keeps kicking me. I swing back once or twice, but my horse continually pummels him with its hooves. Kaj jumps down and snipes the Caster with a falling slash, which cuts off the buff over the Orcs. I raise a hand and cast Cause Fear on the Power Orc. He fails his will save and starts running, fast. In a last bit of spite, my mount turns around and bucks him, knocking him unconscious. We call the guard and they wrap up the little debacle. Seeing all the murder committed, coupled with my characters moral code of never kill anyone (Because she wants to be an Angel of Death someday), she gets pretty damn pissed at Kaj and socks him in the gut.

We leave, collect our reward, and Wyrmwood goes to the electric forge. He spins the lotto and gets me a decent magic mace that does 1d10 bonus damage on a DC 20 Reflex save. After dealing with the Orcs we are told by my mentor to go hunt down a Serial Killer and take him in. We track him down to an apartment building in Boltera. Wyrmwood covers the rear exit, while me and Kaj knock on the front door. Kaj glamers his suit while The Witch Queen ditches her armor (A very rare occasion, that's damn iconic armor! :smalltongue:) and instead dons a dress. We knock on the door and pose as auditors. I manage to bluff our way in, and when the door locks Kaj chokeslams the psychopath into the wall after I summon a Skeleton who trips over the couch. We rummage through his house, find his corpses, his tools, and his journal. We find out that this guy is just duplicating a ritual given to him by a shady source in order to summon a Balor and free him of his debts. I pummel the shmuck once or twice before dangling him over to the City Guard. Journal in hand we do some more research, and find that the ritual is one used by Cults of Dakkab, a Demon/Devil hybrid who has somehow attained high ranking in both Demon and Devil society. The sworn enemy of Khaine, he mysteriously disappeared alongside Khaine years ago, and has never been heard of since.

Vague plot hook in mind, we settle down and get ready to dish out experience and gold.

Level: 1


Session 2:
We all regroup, lick our wounds, and get ready for the next day. I go around brooding in the city, doing inner monologues, and beating up thugs. Kaj prays, and Amadeus picks up our quest. He fills in Tempest on the fact that Dakkab has resurfaced, and off we are sent to the borders of the Orc Highlands, which isn't an official member of the Council, and is apparently a high concentration of Demon worshippers there. We go to the air ship docks and meet up with some guys called the Edge Guard, guys who patrol the borders of nations and keep them safe. We begin flying to our destination, when suddenly a ramshackle Orc battle ship flies up next to us and begins opening fire.

Being the daring hero I am, I summon my Mount (Which I have aptly named The Darkness, leading to many a strange scenario in the case of sentences involving darkness) and ride off to the enemy ship. The Witch Queen leaps over and begins bonking heads. Kaj follows and starts fighting, and Wyrmwood desperately tries to climb his way over the edge as he nearly avoids falling to death (An ironic fate for a dragon). Fighting commences and the Orcs, of course, bring out fire arms. The Orcs pirate captain comes out, says a few boisterous comments, and starts punching it out like a professional pugilist against Veronica. The Rifle squad forms up and unloads round after round into Veronica. At this point I'm fairly safe in my armor, as the Olethrofex adds charisma as a miscellaneous bonus and thus helps protect me from bullets- 19, 19, 18, 19. BLAM BLAM BLAM.

The Witch Queen slumps over.

She does not survive the experience.

Everyone flips out at the sight of my characters death, the DM begins to apologize to me a bit, but I just say its alright and make myself a plate of pizza rolls. The fighting continues and Kaj begins to go full rage mode and cleave and smite everything. Wyrmwood, being a socially reclusive, awkward, spineless door mat of a Dragon who never had a friend before, proceeds to get ROYALLY PISSED OFF. Fuming, he locks eyes with the Captain and proceeds to charm him. The Captain, rolling a nat 1, proceeds to order his men to stand down. His men refuse and attack the Captain, a fight breaks out again and all the Captains men are dead. Wyrmwood, with his sly sly tongue, convinces the Captain to go over the ledge and get something WAAAAAAY down below on the ground. The Captain looks over, not entirely sure about this idea, but Wyrmwood promises him that he is a Dragon and that he will cast Feather Fall on him so that his fall is safe and convenient. Trusting in him, the Captain takes a step over aaaaaaand

SPLAT

Wyrmwood picks up The Witch Queen's body, and demands we go back to get me revived. He prays long and hard and Tempest shows up due to his close relation with Wyrmwood. Some stupid shenanigans proceed in which the new God of Orcs and anti magic "Red Sun" tries to show he's big and tough.

Wyrmwood aint having none of that ****.

He verbally pimps slaps Red Sun, makes him sniffle and slink away so that Tempest can do his job. Presto bango I get revived.

HALLELUJAH!

Anyway, Orcs finished with we head on over to the Orc Highlands and dock. We find absolutely nothing in the area we are dropped off at. The tribe we were told to manage was desolate and ravaged. We only find a single Orc who is impaled with a spear. At this point Kaj has a shield that gives him Regeneration (Because Wyrmwood hit the Lotto and got a 1 in 100 chance of getting the most powerful item from the Divine version of the Electric Forge). Me being the good person I am, I decide to tell Kaj to give the Orc his shield so that the Orc can regen. The Orc then explodes in a puff of dust. One knowledge check later and I learn the Orc was marked for death, and the moment he touches a divine artifact he dies.

My character goes full blue screen of death mode. I sit down and proceed to say nothing.

Out of the blue, from an altar not too far away, a massive Hezrou comes bullrushing Kaj and a fight breaks out. Kaj and I double team him while Wyrmwood stays down on the ground cause he got OHKO by the Hezrou. We smash him up and then get interrupted by a demonic messenger. Dakkab apparently wants to seduce us to the dark side, away from the Gods and the Hero program. Kaj tells him to eff off, Wyrmwood tells him to eff off, and I say nothing as The Witch Queen brutally mutilates the Hezrous corpse in ninety different ways that I go through the painstaking act of describing. My Olethrofex continues pounding the Hezrou, before finally, drenched in blood and guts, she tells Dakkab to eff off. We kill his messenger and then get back on our air ship before flying back home.

Level: 2

Session 3:

After cleaning our hands of that whole Demon fiasco we regroup at Boltera and lick our wounds. I beat up some thugs while Kaj rushes off to his number one hero role model Saint Tarko for a mission. Turns out that things are really screwed up EVERYWHERE and apparently zombies are overrunning Priogmenes and we got to go save some dirty old monks. Putting on a bandana, we hop into our air ship, and prepare to do our best "The Last Samurai" impersonation.

Landing in Ninja Gaiden Land, we are greeted with a bunch of Zombies mindlessly fighting and stomping about. A shirtless warrior drops in, licks the crap out of the zombies, and is soon joined by Kaj (Who at this point is at twitchy eyed dope fiend levels of trigger happy when presented with the prospect of zombie mobs). Mop up the undead and we talk with the monk to get some backstory on what's up. Turns out the shirtless warrior is Jako, the only real fighting monk (I guess all the other guys in the temple are just "Not that kind of monk"? Though considering the combat potential of monks, I'm not all too surprised) amongst their whole clan. He's charged with protecting the temple, which has gotten really damn hard to do now that a swarm of zombies popped up over his front lawn. Bordering on the edge of the magi-nuclear wasteland funtime Barrens, this temple apparently acts as a kind of stopgate to keep the mutated abominations out. Why they only have a single warrior amongst them I still have no idea.

So with narrations done we get turned around and thrown into the swampy murk below. Apparently the source of these Zombies points towards a massive temple not too far off, and so with a vague plan of killing this source in mind, we march off. Having seen a few episodes of The Walking Dead I decide to dig deep into my Samurai Side and pull a Michonne. I rebuke two Zombies and tell them to get near me, acting as a buffer for myself. Kaj, feeling really uncomfortable with my magic, drops some oh so subtle point blank hints that he wants to murder my zombie pets, and disapproves of not being eaten alive by the undead. I start to wish I could invent Mythic Earplugs.

We trudge through the swamp, Zombies in tow, and since I run fast and have powers over Death I decide to skip ahead. I bump into some more undead, and I learn that apparently Juiblex cut a deal with the Gods a while back. In exchange for his aid in pushing back and controlling the Barrens, the Gods granted him Dominion over the barrens. I really want to know where Peter was when this discussion went down. As of such he controls all these undead, and I have to do a mental battle with him whenever I want to steal one of his undead. The zombies start clustering up and we have to start picking up the pace, until finally we stumble on the Temple. We rush forward, and Kaj kicks open the door with his foot. Taking my one fat Carrier Zombie, I shove him behind us and command him to stand still and stop anyone from entering. Jako, Kaj, Amadeus, Valerie, and her last Zombie trek down the decrepit halls of the spooky scary place. After a glance at all the coffins lying about, and a good knowledge check, we figure out this place is a tomb for a race of Giants who have long since died out. I proceed to pick up their scattered remains and put them to rest, with Kaj assisting me and fully agreeing for once. At the end of the hallway we find a Throne Room, with, DUN DUN DUN! A Throne! Were you surprised? I was surprised. Sitting upon this throne is a massive skeletal figure with a sword, laying inert. I order my Zombie to go touch it with a stick and see what happens, and the Zombie gets instagibbed by the now animated massive monster.

A NEW CHALLENGER APPEARS!

Wielding his massive sword, our boss fight against a monster vaguely similar to Sir Artorias the Abysswalker commences. Kaj and Jako start hammering at him, doing decent damage, with Amadeus buffing himself and using his newly furbished "Kill Bot" (A small spider like metal contraption with several tubes of Scorching Ray attached to it. Like a mini, primitive, ED-209 that shoots out fire) to shoot at the Skeleton Lord. I attempt to Rebuke the Skeleton Lord, but Juiblex says f*** that and pimp slaps my magic away. The Skeleton Lord begins swinging back and taking chunks out of us in the process. Ditching my magic I decide to give it the good old college try and proceed to bonk his helmet in with my flail. Power struggle continues until eventually the Skeleton Lord decides to stop kidding around and Counter Helix's the lot of us, swinging his blade out in a low arc and undercutting us. Reflex saves are made and people fail. Jako goes down like a chump, knocked unconscious. Amadeus goes down aswell, though his wounds are far more severe as he is left at low negatives and is at risk of bleeding out. Kaj ALMOST gets knocked down, but thanks to Crusader damage soak he stays on his feet, if somewhat bloodied. The Witchqueen, thanks to Iron Nerve Reaper Alacrity and her magic flail, is the only one to stay unscathed from the assault. Woo.

Apparently computers dream electric sheep, and when I order a Zombie to guard the gate it gets distracted by the sound of combat and decides to investigate it. My Carrier zombie peaks his head inside and sees everyone wounded, we communicate telepathically and I get the impression it wants to help. I allow him to do so, and in a scene that puts Of Mice and Men to shame, the Carrier Zombie explodes and sacrifices itself.

:smallfrown:

Disheartened by this crushing blow, I see the black ooze of its corpse flowing over my friends. It stabilizes Amadeus, and brings Jako back up to ship shape (Despite how useless he will still be, despite being awake). Kaj, being the incredibly arrogant Holy Man that he is, says "Screw that" and refuses to let me heal him with my "Unholy Magic". Sensing a pattern here? I am. Irregardless I just dump more healing on the others and get back to work. With his finisher spent, we gang back up on the Skeleton Lord and he eventually goes down to our repeated sword/flail/scorching ray/useless fist blows.

Considering his skill and prowess, I venerate his death, and lay the Skeleton Lord to rest in one of the coffins, along with his sword. He fought damn well. Sealing up his coffin, we stumble away from this stupid land and go back to the monk temple. They sign off our contract, recognizing that we basically did their job for them, and give us a job well done. Except Jako, who apparently is banished from the temple.

Wait what?

Apparently with the Zombies quelled, they will return to their peaceful ways, and thus no longer need a warrior like him around. If The Witchqueen could become a Teramach, she would do so purely to grow extra arms to face palm with, and then face palm so hard that she makes an Exalted Mythos about it. Kaj likes Jako, Amadeus likes Jako, and Jako is a hero, so despite The Witchqueens best efforts to remain an anti-social, awkward, incredibly intimidating and cold person who keeps to herself, our party gets a new NPC member. We hop on to our ship and fly on back. Jako gives the Edge Guard a few martial arts pointers (I bet he has an orange belt) and Kaj begins construction of a temple onboard the ship. Wyrmwood and Valerie scuttle off to Town Hall to collect our reward. Saint Tarko asks where his favored pupil is to receive his reward, and I try to bluff him into believing some outlandish joke story. He doesn't buy it. So instead I rag on Kaj and point out every flaw I can think of and verbally chokeslam their relationship and his faith in the process, something which actually shaked up Saint Tarko himself. Feeling really awkward, Saint Tarko thanks us for a job well done and hands us some money instead of the original reward he was going to personally hand Kaj. Feeling light as air Valerie goes out into town and does some shopping. Namely getting a whopping Cloak of Chairsma +6. Shiny.

The Witchqueen returns to the airship only to find Kaj whipping himself. Incredibly worried, she asks what's up, and learns that Kaj is putting himself on penance for having forgotten to hand in his mission to his own mentor and Saint. Apparently Saint Tarko is a master basketball player, cause he managed to slam dunk the Awkward Ball straight into The Witchqueens court. Shuffling about, trying to find the right words, she instead lies to Kaj and tries to cheer him up. It doesn't work. Patting him on the back, she tells him that she has Saint Tarko's gift for Kaj right here, and that he forgives him. She holds out her Cloak of Chairmsa for him to take.

Appreciating the offer, Kaj dedicates himself to committing penance and paying for his sins, a decision I will soon learn is incredibly burdensome for not just him but the rest of the party. With that heartfelt moment over, the two Heroes return topside, and are met with the excited form of Amadeus. Apparently Peter has given us a mission in Vermitia.

Welp, There Ain't No Rest for the Wicked.
Level: 3

Session 4:


WIP


I promise to have more up tomorrow, pinkie promise. It's just two AM over here and I am having a hard time staying awake. Hope it's a decent read so far. Oh, and for any of you interested, Milo gets added in later.

Xefas
2014-02-22, 09:06 AM
"Can I shoot my horse across a river of booze?" is the kind of thing that makes me nostalgic for DMing D&D. An entertaining read.

A few questions, though: What level are you (in the first session, at least)? Is Amadeus literally a dragon? What Mythos did you start with, and which do you have now? Are there any Mythos that you aren't planning on taking because they don't look like they provide enough benefit in actual play?

(I feel like Iron-Nerved Reaper Alacrity and Rigid Deathgrip Calcification need a small buff. But I'd like the opinion of someone who has gotten to play an Olethrofex.)

Is there anything you wish you could do, that you feel your character should be able to do, but there isn't a Mythos for it?

As opposed to other classes you've played, how is the Olethrofex turning out, in terms of entertaining options, and the ability to easily and accurately represent your character concept? Do you feel over/underpowered compared to the rest of your group? What does the rest of your group have to say about you using homebrew?

Tychris1
2014-02-22, 01:43 PM
We started at level 1 (I'm going to try and write down all the levels for the sessions from now on). Yes, Amadeus is literally a Dragon, here this is the class he is using (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=1054.0). He's based off of Seath the Scaleless, appearance and aesthetics wise (He even asked the DM if he could be blind). The Mythos I started out with are: Corpse Body Reslience, Iron Nerved Reaper Alacrity, and On a Pale Beast. The first to get me on the road to undeath (Which has confused EVERYONE but me in the campaign, because I have some Undead traits, everyone has kept mistaking me as being Undead, which I sometimes correct and sometimes don't). My current list of Mythos (This is including Mythic Human, which I branch into at level 6 because Mythic Humans are AWESOME and as it turns out my "No Killing People" policy apparently doesn't mesh well with the group, so I need a way to go terminator and forget my moral complications. Also United We Hate has been deemed the awesomest name by both me and my DM) are, as according to the last session we had yesterday (Which, admittedly we got a big XP and Gold dump due to it being a two day big session):

Viral Tyrant Legacy (Mutant Necrosis Proliferation), Rigid Deathgrip Calcification (Staunch Skeleton Grip), Iron Nerved Reaper Alacrity (Death Rushes Forth, Black Steel Torrent, Flickering Shadow Sense), On A Pale Beast (Reborn in the Saddle), Corpse-Body Resilience (Eternal Cadavar Idol), Inevitable Sunset Strike, Grave-Creche Fortitude, Corpse Soul Desecration, Heart Freezing Atrocity Void, Over-Specializing Obsession, Genetic Progenitor Prerogative (Human/Skulk/Mongrelfolk/Sea Kin/Sharakim Sublimation, Blood Thickening Genealogy), Clad in Broken Hopes and Stolen Lives, Death Mourning Phylactery Fission, Night of the Living Dead (Skeleton Lord Mastery), Sanguine Emperor Appetite (Gift of Eternal Hunger), Uncanny Extemporization Mastery, United We Hate, With An Apostate Yell

Note, that I have purchased A LOT of Mythos. This is due to the fact that my DM prefers "Narrative" leveling instead of "Crunchy" leveling. So instead of using XP he either handwaves it or uses Pathfinder to replace XP expenditure. In the case of a Mythos class, that means I only need to spend Mythos Points. Needless to say I have destroyed and rejected many a possession. I don't really plan on taking Twilight Harbinger Appointment, because dropping my Initiative really bites, and everyone in my party has improved initiative or better initiative then me, so the odds of me beating them is not very good. I'd consider it if it worked vice versa, but meh. I don't plan on getting Necrotic Phantasmagoria Pulse, though that's mainly because my character is all about stealth and bashing people like Batman, and because I have Dread Necromancer spellcasting to back me up. Plus I'm not all too interested in the damage it deals. None Trespass the Black Gate is another one I won't be picking up, as it is very focussed on fighting Undead, which I'm not all too interested in.

Outside of that I can't comment on the Legendary or higher Mythos because most of them aren't made (Which will be a bit of a problem as I level up, as my path is going to get a bit narrower). Iron Nerved Reaper Alacrity is fine with me, as I use a Mithril Breastplate (And now I use Mithril Full Plate) so making me run really fast in Full Plate with no penalties to stealth works PERFECTLY with my (As my DM calls it) "Full Plate Ninja". Plus Iron Nerved Reaper Alacrity is the only way to improve your Reflex Save early on, which by level 8 is the Olethrofex's weakest save, as she can't add charisma to it.

I wish there were more Mythos' based around fear, darkness, and perhaps stealth? The Fear of death thing feels really lacking outside of The Impure Face Revealed granting you bonuses to Intimidate. My character has managed to become a beast at social interaction purely through jacking up her Charisma, taking Timeless Bluff/Intimidate Practice, and then using the Mythic Human to get an Insight Bonus to Bluff and Intimidate. But even that isn't "Fear" Fear, and the only way I can scare things is through using Dread Necromancer. Darkness is another thing that feels a bit deprived, as aside from Necrotic Phantasmagoria Pulse there actually isn't a single Mythos related to Shadows or the like, unless you're storing that for the Mythic Rogue? Stealth is purely a personal thing I'd like to see a wee bit more in the Olethrofex, but that's because my Character is the Gender Bender version of Batman and the Witch King of Angmar fused together and put into a Necromancer blender with a touch of RoboCop.

Of all the classes I've played the Olethrofex is one of the top tier for fun. I've been able to pretty easily make Her into a stealthy assassin who kicks butt and punches out the teeth of crime. My ranking of whether or not I'm under or overpowered is a bit shaky because, well, I am the most experienced person in the group. I have pretty much taught everyone, DM included, how to play DnD, and even then there are times when we slip up. As a result I'm an unofficial "power gamer" because I know what is a trap and what isn't. However, my character has been able to deal a good amount of damage in every combat, especially thanks to my horse (Which I feel like needs a bit more love, what would the Horsemen Death be without his horse! Some bum getting conned by two stupid kids and their hamster in a game of limbo, that's who!) and the Witch Queen charging things. She feels very well balanced for our current level of power, which is a mid Tier 2 I'd safely bet. Out of all of us Kaj smiting people with Mountain/Foehammer and power attacking does the most amount of damage, but when it comes to adaptability it feels like the Olethrofex can do a good bit in quite a few areas.

Wyrmwood thinks that it is cool, and really likes the Olethrofex, plus he thinks Homebrew is better then standard stuff because there's more of it and it can really go out there (He absolutely fell in love when I showed him the Iron Man homebrew base class and the Legendary Warrior homebrew base class). Kaj doesn't really care, because he's using homebrew too and he thinks that if the shoe fits then use it. Milo doesn't really care one way or the other, as he's a pretty chill dude IRL and just likes letting people run wild. My DM, after asking him this, decided to actually give you a written response personally, here it is, and I quote:

"My stance on homebrew is that if it makes the game more interesting and adds new dynamics then it's good, but if it's blatantly there to be overpowered and metagaming then I see no point. So if it does something that nothing else does like it, then it's good, but if it's just a Cleric 2.0 that starts with 9th level spells then ok I don't see the point of it."

Alright, going to start writing up the 2nd and 3rd session.

Tacitus
2014-02-23, 04:43 AM
Corpse Body Reslience, Iron Nerved Reaper Alacrity, and On a Pale Beast
At level 1 you say? How did you have 3 Exceptional Mythos at 1st? I'm curious if it was a minor error or perhaps your DM gave you a mighty starting wealth for 1st level or something else I might not be seeing.
Assuming 'Dark-Lit Revenant Eyes' as your excellency?

Also, you mention wearing fullplate and also getting your Cha to AC, which contradicts Light or No Armor only. Have I missed something in that regard or was it before actually being a fullplate ninja?

I ask not to pick at things that might be done in error, but because I might like to replicate them. XD That and I have an endless curiosity regarding how other people build things. >.>

Tychris1
2014-02-23, 11:25 AM
I had ten thousand starting gold as a result of me choosing the Rich background starting package. There were 4 starting packages created by my DM, Poor, Medium, Good, Rich. As for Full Plate, I transformed it via Clad in Broken Hopes and Stolen Lives, which explicitly states that you still gain the bonus from Charisma even if it is medium or heavy armor.

Edit: Though for most of the Campaign I have been using Mithril Breastplate as my source of armor, which counts as Light armor and does not restrict my Cha to AC bonus, only recently have I traded it in for Full Plate.

Tychris1
2014-02-24, 11:11 PM
Alright, Session 3 is up. I'm going to try and get one of these up every day, which should get me all caught up for the Session we'll be having this week. Hope it keeps being enjoyable.

Alright, so a few questions since I'm going to go Angel of Death Shintai next level:

1. Are Outsiders counted as mortal? Or can I butcher them to my hearts content?
2. If not, then how does End of Days Invocation work in regards to Angel of Death Shintai. The way the Invocation is written out implies that the apocalypse was already there, so would it be fated to kill all those people?
3. Do Gods of Death determine "Fate"? For instance, if the God of Death I worship (Waakon in this setting) decides one random morning that this list of guys should leave the face of the earth asap, do my timer eyes magically see their number drop to zero?

I ask because my near epic level plan is to use the Apocalypse Mythos and Angel of Death to perform 10 minute drive bys on every layer of the Abyss that seems important, and some of the layers of Hell too. I calculated it all out, and I can approximately nuke 144 layers in one day by invoking the apocalypse. Since I don't need to eat or sleep, I can keep it up indefinitely and screw up some 52,560 layers of the Abyss. Lets see the Teramach top that. :smallamused:

Xefas
2014-02-25, 05:24 PM
Alright, so a few questions since I'm going to go Angel of Death Shintai next level:

1. Are Outsiders counted as mortal? Or can I butcher them to my hearts content?

Outsiders are not mortal so, yes, you're free to kill them.


2. If not, then how does End of Days Invocation work in regards to Angel of Death Shintai. The way the Invocation is written out implies that the apocalypse was already there, so would it be fated to kill all those people?

Depends on the apocalypse, and the setting. Your character's sense and understanding of fate, and how fate functions in this setting, is the kind of thing you'll need to discuss with your group and DM (potentially in-character, if you do some research into the cosmic workings before deciding to become an Angel of Death).


3. Do Gods of Death determine "Fate"? For instance, if the God of Death I worship (Waakon in this setting) decides one random morning that this list of guys should leave the face of the earth asap, do my timer eyes magically see their number drop to zero?

Depends on the setting and the nature of its gods. This is more a question for your group/GM. My basic assumption was that a God of Death would send an Angel of Death Olethrofex after people whose time has hit 0, but have escaped their rightful death somehow (occasionally through no fault of their own, such as a fate-defying hero saving a princess cosmically intended to get eaten by a dragon). But if you like the idea of being heaven's hitman, rather than just its gruesome handyman, then by all means do so.


I ask because my near epic level plan is to use the Apocalypse Mythos and Angel of Death to perform 10 minute drive bys on every layer of the Abyss that seems important, and some of the layers of Hell too. I calculated it all out, and I can approximately nuke 144 layers in one day by invoking the apocalypse. Since I don't need to eat or sleep, I can keep it up indefinitely and screw up some 52,560 layers of the Abyss. Lets see the Teramach top that. :smallamused:

This will be difficult, considering Seal-Shattering End-of-Days Invocation has a significant cooldown. Doesn't stop you from trying to tear down each world the old fashioned way.

Tychris1
2014-02-25, 05:29 PM
Oh wait, I thought that was on a world for world basis. Not a character basis. Like, "A world can only be doomed so many times". Dammit, well I guess I'll have to go do it the old fashioned way. Anyway, thanks, I'll go talk to my DM about these questions then.

Gnomes2169
2014-02-27, 04:17 AM
Love the class, can't wait until the Mythos are fully filled out and we're running a monster campaign. I made a Voidwalker of this class at level 12... and I almost pity the adventuring party that encounters him and his master (a Tuan-ti abomination with levels of psion and Thrallherd). But, beside that, I thought I might as well take a hand at this apocalypse business. :smallbiggrin:

When the words, "The end of the world" are uttered, people assume that the world will be destroyed and that all things on it will die... But there are many meanings to the word "end," and one of them is simply to stop.

Like so much sand in an hour glass, time itself is punctured and trickles out of the world, bleeding into the all consuming Void, and slowly, ever so slowly, it will begin to run out.

A DC 40 Knowledge; The Planes check may be made by those who notice the signs to realize that this is literally the end of days.

The First Seal: In the beginning, somewhere, a single man, woman or child will suddenly slow, and sometimes freeze. Always, he will be confused when he leaves this state, often minutes or hours later. He is always a loner, an unwanted vagabond that randomly encounters people and lives a bleak, desperate life on the road. As such, very, very few people will notice what is happening to him...

The Faint Sign: Being such a small effect at first, it might go unnoticed by all but very, very few individuals. If this individual comes within 100' of an outsider or aberration, they will immediately flee in terror from him, often returning to their home plane or a new city without realizing who or what they are fleeing from, just that they do not want any part of it. If encountered by undead, they do not appear to see the individual and will passively avoid contacting them. If a mage encounters this individual during one of their "episodes," they might take the poor soul back to their place of study to examine this peculiar effect.

At this point, the apocalypse may still be avoided if patient zero is subjected to an imprisonment spell and all individuals he has made physical contact with are executed... or if the individual himself is subjected to a Sphere of Annihilation.

The Second Seal: For this seal to break, people must have noticed what happened to this poor wanderer and he must have been take to be studied. Rumors of this condition begin to spread, drawing in adventurers and studious spell casters of all descriptions to marvel and investigate... Slowly, those people or objects that touched him begin to slow down, not noticing the effects until hours pass in the span of minutes, and they begin to lose entire days at a time. These people pass on their infection to the things and people that they touch, though it seems to stay with the local population and travelers can move freely...

The Moderate Sign: The infection spreads to the local population of whatever city or town is hosting patient zero, gradually slowing the native population down. Note, this means that people not native to the town will not be affected... yet.

Once per day, all of those that have touched patient zero and those that they touch (and so on and so forth) must make a will save or be slowed for X hours a day upon waking. The DC of this save is equal to 10+X, where X is how many days they have been infected. The maximum DC of this effect is 34, and a roll of 1 automatically fumbles regardless of feats, items, psionic powers, maneuvers, spells SLA's, PLA's, supernatural abilities or ex abilities that might be used to prevent this.

After X=24, the slowing effect becomes permanent on a failed save, and once the save is failed a new saving throw must be thrown each morning to keep from being affected by the spell time stasis for Y hours/ day. The DC to resist this new effect is DC 15+Y, where Y is the number of days since the failed roll. The maximum DC for this effect is 39, and much like the previous effect a 1 will still automatically fail regardless of mitigating effects. Once Y=24, a failed roll will lock the subject permanently in a time stasis. No spells may free them from this state.

As well, in this town extra-planar beings will no longer enter, and all aberrations will flee from the perimeter. The spell commune will only have a 50% success rate, maximum, while in the limits of this community.

At this point, the only thing that will prevent the apocalypse from spreading farther would be subjecting patient zero to a Sphere of Annihilation, or doing the same to all infected individuals/ objects after sealing him away with the spell "Imprisonment." The effects already in place may not be reversed, but if stopped, they at least do not become any worse (DCs and durations will stop growing).

The Third Seal: For this seal to break, 50% of the first town must be forever frozen in time. From this point on, all bets are off. Anyone or anything touched by an infected individual or object that is showing symptoms will become infected as well, and so on and so forth. By now, many of the adventurers and travelers that had come to ogle at the site of a man frozen in time will be scattered throughout the world, and an entire civilization might suddenly find itself slowing, losing more and more of its citizens to this plague...

The Strong Sign: Now anyone that comes in contact with infected individuals will themselves become infected, and must start making rolls. In any city that has even one infected individual, outsiders will refuse summons and the spell commune has a maximum success rate of 50%. In areas with 50% of its population frozen in time, divine magic will not work at all, and commune will not be answered.

Divine casters lose the ability to cast the moment they become infected, and divine powered magical items lose their magical effects as gods withdraw from them to avoid the risk of becoming infected.

Now, the only way to stop the infection's spread is to toss patient zero into a Sphere of Annihilation... if you can get to him, that is. By this point, entering the first town will infect whoever comes, though the bad effects can be negated without needing to save daily if patient zero is destroyed fast enough.

The Fourth Seal: This is less a seal breaking than it is just a scale of how far the infection has progressed. Now time is beginning to die across an entire nation, and infected refugees try to flee to other lands... only to spread their plague. Other nations begin to make blockades and kill infected individuals on sight... but no matter what they do, eventually a beggar, child or rat will slip past their notice and the end will begin to come...

The Overwhelming Sign: Throughout the world, outsiders will flat out refuse to be summoned and all divine magic only has a 50% success rate. Aberrations will appear to have disappeared from the face of the world, though the truth is just that they have withdrawn to holes that are, ironically, the only safe places in the world by this point, as their races will use powerful arcane and psionic magics to ensure their safety.

At this point, everyone who knew who or where patient zero was is forever sealed away in time, so the only way to prevent the End of Days is to successfully commune for his location. After that, a Sphere of Annihilation will, once again, prevent the infection from growing worse. If stopped, the gods will return to the world... though they will not restore their favor to any clerics or other divine casters, and cities with 50% of their population trapped will still not see any divinity returned to them.

The Fifth Seal: If none learn of what must be done or if they do not do it in time to save themselves, the infection will spread through the world, slowly consuming all of time, forever freezing those that it touches in time. Whole families will be found, holding one another in one final, eternal embrace. Others will be running through the forest, trapped in their everlasting terror as they inevitably fail to escape from the end of all things. Cults that rose up around the end of time will be found, forever trapped in their worship of some faceless deity that consumes all of the remaining time they have left, a pitiful replacement for the deities that long ago abandoned them to their fates. In the end, only the freaks and aberrations that sealed themselves away will be safe from the end of time.

The End of Days: The world literally ceases rotating as its time is bled out, freezing in one fixed place. Everything on it will become perfectly still, and nothing will ever change again. Perhaps in the final, cruelest, irony, patient zero will finally be freed from his curse and he will be absolutely immortal, all of the stolen time of the world flowing through and sustaining him. Unable to find release, he will seek out some method to escape from this endless hell and, after centuries, eons, eternities, he will eventually research how to create a Sphere of Annihilation and he will destroy himself... though by that time, the only things that will help are the aberrations that did not die from their long, long years of solitude and stagnation.

Likely, the only races that will come out to repopulate the world will be things like Mind Flayers, Beholders and Elan, aberrations that do not feel the flow of time anyway and who can survive without food or create it in some way. Even then, it will only be for long enough to leave this world for a new one, as this world will be unusable, trapped, locked forever. No longer a place for the living or dead... but a relic.

Being outside of time, this world will no longer reflect light, and the only way to find it will be through magical means. It will survive the eventual destruction of its sun, and will be forever outside of the reach of even a black hole. And despite now being outside of the reach of destruction, this world will have... ended.

D20ragon
2014-02-27, 08:58 AM
*somber applause*
Now, I'm not one for mechanic critiquing, so I'll leave that to someone else. What I will say is that I loved it. The concept is horrifyingly lovely.
Do you mind if I use this in a game of mine? I need a good apocalypse.

Gnomes2169
2014-02-27, 01:30 PM
*somber applause*
Now, I'm not one for mechanic critiquing, so I'll leave that to someone else. What I will say is that I loved it. The concept is horrifyingly lovely.
Do you mind if I use this in a game of mine? I need a good apocalypse.

Not at all! Why make an apocalypse if no one is going to use it, after all? :smalltongue: I did notice one broken bit to the whole thing, so I'll be fixing that, but it should work mechanically at the very least...

vasharanpaladin
2014-03-14, 06:57 PM
Copper for thought: A Mythos that can "heal" Oblivion created by "Creation-Slaying Holocaust Blade" could fit within the Omphalos' monomyth. Target the Reality around the hole and have it swallow it. Creates a sinus in the planar strata, but it works and doesn't have to jump through hoops to create an effect that can target Nothingness.

TwentyFold
2014-04-14, 03:56 PM
I feel so at odds when it comes to determining how the mythos classes are rated on power level, so spoke w/ my friend, and we came to an agreement that Olethrofex is definitely the most powerful, then next is teramach, then bellator, meanwhile leaving out kathados until more is made.
Anyone agree? Disagree?

Tychris1
2014-04-14, 04:06 PM
Really? I would rank the Teramach as the most powerful. After playing in a campaign as a Teramach for a good chunk of time, I'd say the Olethrofex can get beefier HP wise, but Damage output wise I think the Teramach has the Olethrofex beat.

TwentyFold
2014-04-14, 06:37 PM
Really? I would rank the Teramach as the most powerful. After playing in a campaign as a Teramach for a good chunk of time, I'd say the Olethrofex can get beefier HP wise, but Damage output wise I think the Teramach has the Olethrofex beat.

sounds pretty much like the line up, but w/ the olethrofex you get the power of armies through deaths instead of lives, and can start armageddon in any plane, pretty much destroying it. But i can deffinitly agree, especially since some mythos restrict the olethrofex in some ways -_-

Gnomes2169
2014-04-15, 08:24 PM
Also, there are still a few of the mythos that need to be finished... you know... that could be a thing holding it back... :smalltongue:

Dimmet
2016-04-05, 03:47 AM
Will there be some sort of support for the creation of other undead types? More templates, or other creatures altogether. Such as a Graveknight or similar.

tsj
2016-04-08, 11:08 AM
This thread is legend. .... wait for it.....dary!!

NineOfSpades
2016-06-02, 01:11 PM
This class is already fantastic, and I really cant wait to see it when its finished. Just based on the names, the incomplete mythos look like their going to be sweet. I'm especially excited to see Shepherd-And-King Zion Construction, since I really like the parts of the class that focus more on being a neutral force of death, rather than a direct agent of the apocalypse.

Sgt. Cookie
2016-06-02, 02:37 PM
I asked this in one of the Homebrew threads, but I don't think it was answered:


Does Seal-Shattering End of Days Invocation provoke an Attack of Opportunity?

And if it does, and the AoO interrupts the Olethroflex's actions, does the Mythos not take effect?

Necroticplague
2016-06-02, 03:24 PM
I asked this in one of the Homebrew threads, but I don't think it was answered:


Does Seal-Shattering End of Days Invocation provoke an Attack of Opportunity?

And if it does, and the AoO interrupts the Olethroflex's actions, does the Mythos not take effect?

It's not one of the standard things that provoke AoO's, and the ability doesn't say it provokes, so it doesn't.