Please Bring Monsters to this Campaign Idea: Childhood's End: The Forge

[MadGreenSon]

Inspired by some discussion in the Optimized Child Rearing (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=331024&page=7) thread. I have a new campaign idea that starts in an unconventional manner.

Inspired partially by Malhavoc's Requiem for a God
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Part One: Setting - Ghest and the God's War
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No one will ever know why it happened, only that it happened. One day the gods decided to no longer simply maneuver against one another or compete via churches or followers.

One day, the gods went to war.

The world, of course was their battlefield, all out carnage was the result. More of the pantheons are dead now than alive, their divine blood and essence spilled out over the world, their divine corpses striking the earth and warping it.
Eruptions of arcane and divine power, pools of never spoiling divine blood and fresh swirls of purest Incarnum, upswellings of mutating power are everywhere.

And the world will never be the same.

The gods that survived the God's War have never communicated to their followers why it happened. Their followers, happy to be alive and filled with power and prestige to be representing still living, victorious, gods, have gone along for the most part.

Civilizations are in shambles, but rebuilding. The threats facing the world are greater now than before, but the potential for mortal man to reach beyond himself has expanded as well, if one can only grasp it...

The village of Ghest is a bit out of the way, one of the furthest outposts of the old Barony of Lostguard, near some swamps and deep wilderness and also some awesome farmlands. Eight years ago, the God's War changed life for this simple community.
The town of Ghest is now a small fortress under siege. Formerly, the worst they had to deal with in an average year was a small group of goblins that caused some trouble and maybe some rowdy adventurers coming through on their way to somewhere else.

Now it is a small fortress-town, surrounded by a rock and wood palisade with spikes and skulls to warn off the most animalistic of attackers and guard towers to provide warning to the town of imminent attack.

Only the most productive farms, nearest to the town are still inhabited and defended as fiercely as possible by grimly determined, if unskilled defenders. The death toll among the defenders is unsustainable.

Now, a goblin attack would be a relief and those random groups of adventurers are sorely missed. One of the few remaining farms was just wiped out by a massive pack of rampaging Winter Wolves that had three heads each and no messengers or taxmen from the Barony have been seen in years.

The town has survived on the labor of orphans and the hopeless, those without any family. Adults who have lost those nearest and dearest, fight out of anger, or hopelessness. The children of the lost, with no adults to speak for them, have been pressed into service maintaining the town in various ways and training in basic weapon use for the day that they too will be pressed into service in the ever-dwindling guards.

Anyone sent to get help whether moving fast and light solo or in a group has not been heard from again.

Now one small, grim glimmer of hope, the itinerant Wizard Stallis (he claims to be one anyway) who arrived not too long ago, says he has found real evidence that properly applied hardship can make one stronger, more powerful, just more everything very quickly and he has been constructing his "Forge of Hope" to help create defenders for the village.

A selection will be made from among the expendable orphans. As many as five young people, aged 13-15 will be put to the fires of the forge and emerge as the new defenders of Ghest.

He hasn't mentioned the pain and torment they'll go through, or that he's harnessing the power of an arcane eruption from the God-War that he can't really fully control or understand....


---

(Important mechanical note: monsters in this world are no longer "normal" for the most part. Templates and weird mutations are the new normal. Go nuts!)

[Dr.Gara]

I'm not sure Barbarians need no training, to be honest. Proficiency with all Martial weapons implies otherwise, as far as I'm concerned.

[MadGreenSon]

I'm not sure Barbarians need no training, to be honest. Proficiency with all Martial weapons implies otherwise, as far as I'm concerned.

Fair enough. I was going by the concept that being raised feral by wolves could qualify you for Barbarian.

What classes/PrCs rely almost solely on innate power? I can finagle a little bit of mind-mojo into the mix to add a little knowledge to the characters, but not too much.

[HolyCouncilMagi]

I'd try lots of refluffing. Really, if you're allowing Sorcerer, there can't be too much wrong with refluffing Unarmed Swordsage to be brought from innately born abilities. Just tell the player to tone down anything that seems like professional martial arts; throwing solid basic strikes isn't too hard to have beaten into you, and the maneuvers/stances would be the "refluffed" part, being something like what ToB looks like in the first place: Martial Spellcasting. Sounds odd, but rather than think of it as contradictory, it's just physical magic, which is easy to conceptualize once you wrap your head around it.

Otherwise, you've got a good last. Make sure to allow the heritage-type sorcerer PrCs like Exalted Arcanist and the numerous dragon-themed ones, as that is seriously the essence of innate power.

[MadGreenSon]

I'd try lots of refluffing. Really, if you're allowing Sorcerer, there can't be too much wrong with refluffing Unarmed Swordsage to be brought from innately born abilities. Just tell the player to tone down anything that seems like professional martial arts; throwing solid basic strikes isn't too hard to have beaten into you, and the maneuvers/stances would be the "refluffed" part, being something like what ToB looks like in the first place: Martial Spellcasting. Sounds odd, but rather than think of it as contradictory, it's just physical magic, which is easy to conceptualize once you wrap your head around it.

Otherwise, you've got a good last. Make sure to allow the heritage-type sorcerer PrCs like Exalted Arcanist and the numerous dragon-themed ones, as that is seriously the essence of innate power.

Thanks! That will help as the martial options were a bit hollow.

Base Class List:

Barbarian (screw it, they'll get to RP figuring out weapons instinctively)
Sorcerer
Warlock
Binder
Wilder
Soulknife
Totemist
Incarnate
Dragon Fire Adept
Dragon Shaman
Spirit Shaman
Wildshape Ranger (Why not? I have an angle on the weapon use thing)
Favored Soul
Dread Necromancer
Unarmed Swordsage (Advice here would be handy, my ToB skills are lacking)

Any other suggestions welcome, I cut Soulknife because I dislike it. This is gonna be a lot of work for me as DM as I'll be pregenerating the initial builds

I'll take a look at my source material and post a list of innate power PrCs to go with this as a PrC is entirely possible with 10th level characters.

Not nearly Complete list of Possible PrCs:

Pact Bound Adept (made a pact in agony, that'll end well for the village)

Exalted Arcanist (I'm gonna re-fluff this a bit, make it less about Good and more about unleashed Divine Power as will fit the setting)

Dracolexi (because why not?)

Thrallherd (This will be fun RP right here)

Pyrokinecticst (I'll need just the right build for this one)

Bloodclaw Master (getting SAVAGE up in here!)

Jade Phoenix Mage (refluffed once more to be about unleashed power more than the discipline of the blade and spell)

Blood Magus (Yes, it does mean what you think if you look at the requirements, I may mess around a bit with how it works too)

Frenzied Berserker

Bear Warrior

Frostrager (and maybe a re-fluff/change to Fire too!)

Primeval

Dread Witch (suffering fear is not going to be an issue)

Master of Many Forms (If you noticed the Wildshape Ranger, you see where I'm going with this...)

Wild Mage

Eldritch Disciple

Eldritch Theurge

Nightmare Spinner

Osteomancer

Elemental Archon (probably re-fluff and change a thing or two here)

Void Disciple

Warshaper (someone might get a side order or Quasilycanthrope with their augmentation, unless I make them a full lycanthrope)

Warhulk (will have to throw a template on someone, oh well that's the price for village safety!)

[JHShadon]

Do you dislike the Soulknife for theme reasons or mechanical reasons? If it's because of mechanical reasons, I've read that Pathfinder's Soulknife is a lot better than 3.5's. Here's a link to the PF Soulknife (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/classes/soulknife).

[Mnemnosyne]

Some of the fluff text of the spontaneous full-list classes suggests they use study, but some of it also implies they have innate ability if I remember correctly.

As for prestige classes, for the barbarian it's pretty easy since so many of them require little to no specialized training. Frenzied Berserker, Bear Warrior, Frostrager, etc. Most of them pretty much revolve around getting supernaturally angry and stuff happens.

For base classes, I'd throw Binder in there too: it's kind of the epitome of fluff that equals 'easy power' since all the fluff implies all you need to do is learn how to draw those symbols and bam, vestiges respond. The learning process for that would be easier than the barbarian learning to use all weapons.

Psions' base fluff is 'lots of study for inner understanding' essentially. They meditated a lot to get to where they are. It is an easy enough thing to fluff as this process suddenly granting them enlightenment from an external source; going forward they will need to take up the strict regimen of psionic study, but a sudden 'bam, your inner powers are unlocked' actually works well. Thrallherd also works as a really good 'innate' class there, because the thrallherd abilities are fluff implied to just be something the psion does automatically. Of course, the situation kind of limits the logic of their thralls and believers randomly turning up out of nowhere, so you might want to avoid that one for other reasons.

[rmnimoc]

Thanks! That will help as the martial options were a bit hollow.

So far for Base classes (Tentative List):

Barbarian (screw it, they'll get to RP figuring out weapons instinctively)
Sorcerer
Warlock
Wilder
Psion (? How much training does a Psion need?)
Totemist
Incarnate (I'll need to re-read, but I think it counts)
Dragon Fire Adept
Dragon Shaman
Spirit Shaman
Favored Soul
Dread Necromancer (? not too sure on this)
Unarmed Swordsage (Advice here would be handy, my ToB skills are lacking)
Beguiler (? Again, not too sure if they get training or not)

Any other suggestions welcome, I cut Soulknife because I dislike it. This is gonna be a lot of work for me as DM as I'll be pregenerating the initial builds

I'll take a look at my source material and post a list of innate power PrCs to go with this as a PrC is entirely possible with 10th level characters.

I'm pretty sure there are no int based classes that are instinctive. I know Psion and Beguiler aren't. Psions are to wilders what Wizards are to sorcerers. Beguilers are all about the specialized training they went through to learn to do their stuff.

The rest are good though (far as I can see). Warlocks are explicitly instinctual, as are DFAs, sorcerers, totemists, spirit shaman, and favored souls. DN is probably instinctual, since pretty much every CHA caster is. Dragon Shaman also likely is.

[MadGreenSon]

Do you dislike the Soulknife for theme reasons or mechanical reasons? If it's because of mechanical reasons, I've read that Pathfinder's Soulknife is a lot better than 3.5's. Here's a link to the PF Soulknife (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/classes/soulknife).

It was mechanical reasons and thanks! I'll be going with that!



Some of the fluff text of the spontaneous full-list classes suggests they use study, but some of it also implies they have innate ability if I remember correctly.

Warmage explicitly uses intense study, so that was out, look like Beguiler is too.
Dread Necro made it past the first round!



As for prestige classes, for the barbarian it's pretty easy since so many of them require little to no specialized training. Frenzied Berserker, Bear Warrior, Frostrager, etc. Most of them pretty much revolve around getting supernaturally angry and stuff happens.

Yeah, I'm gonna be all over some Barbarian themed PrCs just because the rage fits the theme of the game so well.



For base classes, I'd throw Binder in there too: it's kind of the epitome of fluff that equals 'easy power' since all the fluff implies all you need to do is learn how to draw those symbols and bam, vestiges respond. The learning process for that would be easier than the barbarian learning to use all weapons.

Hmmm... is that the kind of power that could be instilled in someone by basically dumping contextless knowledge in their heads via a kind of modified Scholar's Touch?

I'm not totally opposed, because Binders are hella cool, but I don't want to break the players Suspension of Disbelief either.


<snip Psion Elimination>
Thrallherd also works as a really good 'innate' class there, because the thrallherd abilities are fluff implied to just be something the psion does automatically. Of course, the situation kind of limits the logic of their thralls and believers randomly turning up out of nowhere, so you might want to avoid that one for other reasons.

Thrallherd is one I'm seriously looking at, as well as a possible Pyrokineticist build. The initial "herd" would be drawn from the village and not too impressive, but things change...


I'm pretty sure there are no int based classes that are instinctive. I know Psion and Beguiler aren't. Psions are to wilders what Wizards are to sorcerers. Beguilers are all about the specialized training they went through to learn to do their stuff.

The rest are good though (far as I can see). Warlocks are explicitly instinctual, as are DFAs, sorcerers, totemists, spirit shaman, and favored souls. DN is probably instinctual, since pretty much every CHA caster is. Dragon Shaman also likely is.

Yep! Looks like Psion and Beguiler do not make the initial cut, I've put up a few PrC's in the relevant post so far. More suggestions are welcome. desperately sought.

This is fun, but I have a lot of work ahead to make it good.

[MadGreenSon]

Part Two: the opening of the campaign
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The PCs (and maybe an NPC or two that can be killed along the way for pathos) will all be orphans in the "care" of the village.
Opening bits will detail the "fun" life they have doing the scut work and learning the basics of what they'll need to become cannonfodder brave defenders of the village.

Then a big announcement in the town square! New hope, heroes to defend us raised up from the oprhans and (PCs +) have been named the chosen ones!

If they resist, guards will take them into custody with appropriate, but non lethal force, clamping the Collars made by Stallis on them to keep them in line while they are bundled into a wagon and taken to the Forge.

Once at the Forge, they will be cursorily examined by the demented and diseased looking Wizard and given their "quarters" which is basically a large room with bedrolls and a bucket for use between "treatments"

The "treatments will be daily and agonizing for three weeks. Good roleplay potential, but a lot can be skipped 'til they reach the final day and are brought some basic equipment and marched off to stop a monster incursion with their new power!

Afterward, they will be hailed as great champions by the village, then packed off to a separate building under force of their Collars if nothing else, and more or less kept in lockdown until they are needed again.

Repeat this a few times, maybe killing any NPCs who were put through the process and survived as well.

Then Stallis rather publically dies of frightening magical cancer just before an attack.

During the attack, one or more of the Collars is damaged or destroyed and the village guards then try using force to get the PCs back into their “Home” (read slightly gilded cage)

Hopefully this is when they break free and the rest of the campaign can start. If not add more contempt and treatment as cannon fodder from a village council that thinks they have the PCs under control.

If needed, turn psychological screws until they crack.

[MadGreenSon]

Since I am mostly going to be pregenerating the characters with some player input I have a few questions that need to be answered if anyone feels like it.

1) What would be a good build for a "primal instinct" Unarmed Swordsage? If there's a handbook or something that points out the best ways of doing these kind of builds that'll work too.

2) Even though the process will be dumping raw data into the character's heads that not quite the same as learning skills first hand. I was thinking of having the majority of the character's skill points start out as a "floating pool" of skill points that will get assigned as they start doing things/using skills. Does this sound like a good way of doing it? Also fun?

3) I'm really torn about the Binder issue. If someone had the raw info of how to Bind dumped into their noggin and a compulsion to practice, would they be able to actually be a Binder? Is it plausible?

4) Finally with how nasty to orphans and the PCs I'm having the town be; is that plausible? They are basically now in the midst of monster country and the defenders they've been able to muster so far have had a vicious attrition rate. Is it believable that a town would get desperate and mean under these circumstances? I don't want to break suspension of disbelief after all.

[Tetraplex]

Since I am mostly going to be pregenerating the characters with some player input I have a few questions that need to be answered if anyone feels like it.
Been following for a while; absolutely stealing this when my turn at DMing my group rolls around.


2) Even though the process will be dumping raw data into the character's heads that not quite the same as learning skills first hand. I was thinking of having the majority of the character's skill points start out as a "floating pool" of skill points that will get assigned as they start doing things/using skills. Does this sound like a good way of doing it? Also fun?
I personally love this idea, though I advise running it by your players first, as they might not want the added bookkeeping.


3) I'm really torn about the Binder issue. If someone had the raw info of how to Bind dumped into their noggin and a compulsion to practice, would they be able to actually be a Binder? Is it plausible?
I would fluff it as having their first vestige be bound to them to begin with, and have the impetus come from the voice in their head.


4) Finally with how nasty to orphans and the PCs I'm having the town be; is that plausible? They are basically now in the midst of monster country and the defenders they've been able to muster so far have had a vicious attrition rate. Is it believable that a town would get desperate and mean under these circumstances? I don't want to break suspension of disbelief after all.
Read some Charles Dickins, friend. If readers can accept the treatment of orphans in his work, then in the circumstances put forward they can accept the treatment by people with a much better reason for being awful. At least in my opinion.

[MadGreenSon]

Been following for a while; absolutely stealing this when my turn at DMing my group rolls around.


By all means! Please let me know how it goes for you.


RE: FLOATING SKILL POINTS
I personally love this idea, though I advise running it by your players first, as they might not want the added bookkeeping.


As I will be doing a lot of the bookkeeping on that score, I think they'll be cool with it.



I would fluff it as having their first vestige be bound to them to begin with, and have the impetus come from the voice in their head.


Well, the "Forge of Hope" is an eldritch machine built by a madman who doesn't really understand how it works (or that it's given him magical cancer), so...

Yeah, Binder is in. I think Naberius would be happy to explain how it all works to a young apprentice, eh? :smallbiggrin:



Read some Charles Dickins, friend. If readers can accept the treatment of orphans in his work, then in the circumstances put forward they can accept the treatment by people with a much better reason for being awful. At least in my opinion.

You have a good point. Ok. These people are gonna suck, nasty, nasty villagers using the orphans for scut work and training them up to be more expendable defenders for the village (thus far using the females as "breeding stock" has been voted down in the town council...)

[Tetraplex]

Yeah, Binder is in. I think Naberius would be happy to explain how it all works to a young apprentice, eh? :smallbiggrin:

You have a good point. Ok. These people are gonna suck, nasty, nasty villagers using the orphans for scut work and training them up to be more expendable defenders for the village (thus far using the females as "breeding stock" has been voted down in the town council...)

Of course! Always happy to help out, that Naberius :smallwink:

Glad I didn't come off as patronizing in that last bit. I plan to write a campaign journal once we start, and I've got this thread bookmarked for future reference.

Once of the others wants to make a sorcerer whose mind cracked a bit in the process, forming a split personality that makes itself known by manifesting from his magic (modified living spell familiar illusion that always looks like him). He's the best role player in the group and favors slightly disturbed characters, so this campaign is great for him.

[MadGreenSon]

Of course! Always happy to help out, that Naberius :smallwink:


Yep. I may have to 'brew a prestige class similar to the ones like Tenebrous Apostate where you have the one Vestige always bound except for Naberius just for this occasion. :smallbiggrin:


Glad I didn't come off as patronizing in that last bit. I plan to write a campaign journal once we start, and I've got this thread bookmarked for future reference.

Once of the others wants to make a sorcerer whose mind cracked a bit in the process, forming a split personality that makes itself known by manifesting from his magic (modified living spell familiar illusion that always looks like him). He's the best role player in the group and favors slightly disturbed characters, so this campaign is great for him.

By all means link me the journal when you start, I'm terrible at them and I'd love to read what you do with it.

[MadGreenSon]

I've updated the setting and campaign start info above and have a few requests and solicitations.

1) Anyone have a good unarmed swordsage build that's around 10-13th level that gives a good "primal warrior" vibe? I'd appreciate it. My own ToB skills are sub-par at best.

2) Anyone have any thoughts on a Naberius-themed Binder PrC?

3) MONSTERS! Any CR level, but they need to be strange. Throw them into the thread with your templates and other strange additions. Bring me your pseudonatural symbotic dolphin-goblins, your winged, 2 headed beholders. Anything you got!
The more it evokes the "mutated horror" feel the better. I need freaks!:smallbiggrin:

So. Be creative. It's for a good cause. I want to traumatize my players and they may be used to my style of freakishness, I need to surprise them.

[Tetraplex]

3) MONSTERS! Any CR level, but they need to be strange. Throw them into the thread with your templates and other strange additions. Bring me your pseudonatural symbotic dolphin-goblins, your winged, 2 headed beholders. Anything you got!
The more it evokes the "mutated horror" feel the better. I need freaks!

Am I really the only one checking up on this thread? Weird

Anyway, I find that micro-organisms and deep sea life are great inspiration. For instance, I was looking at the Rotifera, micro-organisms which move by skewering objects with a hook on the end of their tail and dragging themselves towards it. On the other end they have two 'wheels' covered in spines, which spin incredibly fast creating a vortex which sucks in their prey, at which point the wheels snap together lightning fast and devour the prey.

I'm not sure how to model the vacuum wheels, but take a Rust Monster for the base, slap the ghoul-touched template on (maybe without the Create Spawn? Or have them lay eggs inside if you) and replace Rust with the Touch of Decay domain power.
Up their movement speed considerably and give that tail an Improved Grab tentacle attack.
Have mated pairs of these racing around, ramming into unsuspecting travelers, skewering them on their tails and dragging them along until the road and their corrosive touch breaks it down enough to eat.

[MadGreenSon]

Am I really the only one checking up on this thread? Weird


You may very well be, or least you're the only one who responds. I don't suppose you have any advice on the other questions I have?

Maybe a link to some specific vestige-focused PrCs? I really want to pursue the Naberius thing to an extreme, but I have never made a new PrC before.

Looking forward to seeing how your version of all this goes!



<snip interesting info on deep sea life>
I'm not sure how to model the vacuum wheels, but take a Rust Monster for the base, slap the ghoul-touched template on (maybe without the Create Spawn? Or have them lay eggs inside if you) and replace Rust with the Touch of Decay domain power.
Up their movement speed considerably and give that tail an Improved Grab tentacle attack.
Have mated pairs of these racing around, ramming into unsuspecting travelers, skewering them on their tails and dragging them along until the road and their corrosive touch breaks it down enough to eat.

This is a cool idea for a monster, if you come up with any stats, please post them.

For the part I bolded, I really like the idea of having various creatures trying to go Alien on people. I might tack something similar to Slaad egg/disease powers onto a few of the more disgusting looking creatures in addition to more conventional templates.

[Virdish]

Try an ankheg with the pseudonatural and half farspawn templates.

Size/Type: Large Outsider (Native)
Hit Dice: 3d10+12 (28 hp)
Initiative: +1
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares), burrow 20 ft.
Armor Class: 22 (-1 size, +12 natural, +1 dex), touch 9, flat-footed 21
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+12
Attack: Bite +7 melee (2d6+7 plus 1d4 acid), or tentacle +4 melee (1d6)
Full Attack: Bite +9 melee (2d6+7 plus 1d4 acid), 2 tentacle +4 melee (1d6)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft. (5ft bite)
Special Attacks: Improved grab, spit acid
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, tremorsense 60 ft., blindsight 60 ft., poison immunity, resistance 10 electricity and acid, dr 5/magic, SR 13
Spell-like abilities: Blur 3/day, touch of idiocy 1/day
Saves: Fort +6, Ref +3, Will +2
Abilities: Str 23, Dex 12, Con 23, Int 3, Wis 17, Cha 8
Skills: Climb +8, Listen +6, Spot +3
Feats: Alertness, Toughness
Environment: Warm plains
Organization: Solitary or cluster (2-4)
Challenge Rating: 4
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 4 HD (Large); 5-9 HD (Huge)

True Strike (Su): Once per day, the creature can make a normal attack with a +20 insight bonus on a single attack roll. The half-farspawn is nor affected by the miss chance that applies to attacks against a concealed target.

Change Shape (Su): As a standard action, a half-farspawn can take the form of a grotesque, tentacled mass. This ability functions as described for the change shape ability, except as follows:

The creature's movement modes do not change.

The creature retains the tentacle attacks granted by this template (see Attack, above) and gains two additional tentacle attacks when making a full attack.

The creature becomes amorphous. It cannot be flanked, and is nor subject to extra damage from critical hits.

Creatures native to the Material Plane take a -1 morale penalty on attack rolls against a half-farspawn in its amorphous form.



Its demented, with random tentacles, extra limbs, a twisted shape and when it reallynwants to mess with you it turns into a writhing mass of tentacles.

[MadGreenSon]

Try an ankheg with the pseudonatural and half farspawn templates.
<snip awesome>

Its demented, with random tentacles, extra limbs, a twisted shape and when it reallynwants to mess with you it turns into a writhing mass of tentacles.

Now that's what I'm talking about! That looks like a creature mutated by tremendous forces converging on the world and making everything go strange.

Parts of the campaign I'm building are gonna be Hellraiser meets Cronenberg in how freaky they get and I need creatures like this!

My players are used to how I think and something like this can give you the willies even if it's technically below your normal encounter level.

I need more stuff optimized for squick and horror, and I need it to not be from my head as my players know me too well.

[Virdish]

I can totally get behind this. I will come up with some stuff. What cr level are you looking g for? So you know the cr of the ankheg above should technically be 5 but since pseudonatural and half far spawn overlap so much I kept it at cr4.

[Endarire]

+1 to psionic classes. Also, the Crusader's maneuvers may be granted to him in flashes of divine insight. He's relying on an otherworldly power to have those abilities at that moment.

[MadGreenSon]

I can totally get behind this. I will come up with some stuff. What cr level are you looking g for? So you know the cr of the ankheg above should technically be 5 but since pseudonatural and half far spawn overlap so much I kept it at cr4.

I'm glad to hear that! As I said, my players are used to how I think. CR wise anything from 5-20+ works as I plan on having the game run for awhile and if needs be I can pile up some horrible things as needed. I have my own ideas as well and will post them in the thread if anyone is interested.

BY all means, the more monsters the better!

Here's one from me, corrupted, destroyed beauty:
(I picture these looking a bit more Alma Wade than Nymph)
--------
Corrupted Nymph
Size/Type: Medium Fey
Hit Dice: 6d6+30 (51 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 20 ft, swim 20 ft.
Armor Class: 21 (+3 Dex, +3 deflection, natural +4), touch 16, flat-footed 17
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+3
Attack: +5 Claw (1d4+2) +5 Bite (1d6+1)
Full Attack: +5 Claw x2 +5 Bite
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Face of Horror, spells, spell-like abilities, stunning glance
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 10/cold iron, Resistance: acid 10, low-light vision, Darkvision 60’, Fast Healing 3, Immune to disease and poison, unearthly grace, wild empathy
Saves: Fort +6, Ref +11, Will +11
Abilities: Str 14, Dex 15, Con 20, Int 16, Wis 17, Cha 16
Skills: Concentration +13, Bluff +5, Escape Artist +11, Handle Animal +12, Heal +12, Hide +11, Listen +12, Move Silently +11, Ride +5, Sense Motive +12, Spot +12, Swim +8, Use Rope +3 (+5 with bindings)
Feats: Multiattack, Improved Multiattack, Weapon Finesse
Environment: blighted swamps, rivers
Organization: Solitary or Group (1d4+2)
Challenge Rating: 9
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Usually chaotic evil

Combat

Contamination (Su): Any creature wounded by a corrupted Nymph’s bite must make a Fortitude Save DC 21 or be infected with a rotting disease (Incubation 1 Day, damage 1d4 Con, must make another save when damaged or one point of damage is drain instead) This infection causes the victim to be slowly consumed by pulsating magical tumours, while the disease is present in the target’s system, no form of natural or magical healing will be possible for the target. These effects last until the disease is cured.

Face of Horror (Su)
This ability affects all humanoids within 30 feet of a nymph. Those who look directly at a nymph must succeed on a DC 16 Fortitude save or be blinded permanently as though by the blindness spell. A nymph can suppress or resume this ability as a free action.
The save DC is Charisma-based.

Spell-Like Abilities
1/day—dimension door. Caster level 7th.

Spells
A corrupted nymph casts divine spells as a 7th-level druid.
Typical Druid Spells Prepared (6/5/4/3/1, save DC 13 + spell level)
0—inflict minor wounds, detect magic, flare, guidance, light, resistance; 1st—entangle x3, longstrider, speak with animals; 2nd—barkskin, heat metal x2, tree shape; 3rd— call lightning x2, protection from energy; 4th—rusting grasp.

Stunning Glance (Su)
As a standard action, a wrathful nymph can stun a creature within 30 feet with a look. The target creature must succeed on a DC 16 Fortitude save or be stunned for 2d4 rounds. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Unearthly Grace (Su)
A nymph adds her Charisma modifier as a bonus on all her saving throws, and as a deflection bonus to her Armor Class. (The statistics block already reflects these bonuses).

Wild Empathy (Ex)
This power works like the druid’s wild empathy class feature, except that a nymph has a +6 racial bonus on the check.

Skills
A nymph has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. She can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. She can use the run action while swimming, provided she swims in a straight line.
-----------




+1 to psionic classes. Also, the Crusader's maneuvers may be granted to him in flashes of divine insight. He's relying on an otherworldly power to have those abilities at that moment.

Good thought. I see psionics, warlocks, sorcerers, etc. becoming more common in that world as it's kinda become a waste...dump... of magic... oooohhh There were a few articles in Dragon that can apply here too.

But yeah, divine, arcane, incarnum, vestiges, it's all over the place.

I wonder what would happen if you dunked something in a pool of "liquid" incarnum?

[Tetraplex]

OK, and we're back! We only managed one session during the downtime unfortunately, but while I want to wait for a second before starting on the journal, I thought I'd keep you updated.

I started by explaining only what their characters knew of the world. Two brothers and a young girl, all orphans having grown up in this village, and they knew little. One had magic, and dearly missed the occasional visits by the itinerant wizard Mathias. One was unofficially apprenticed to the elderly halfling wise woman Braith. The last had no magic but compensated by being stronger and more resilient than his friends. The two brothers were the sons of an elven merchant turned guardsman, who had been lost in one of the early expeditions for help and his apparently uninteresting human bride. The girl's parents had been farmers on the outskirts of the town, killed by bandits right in front of her before...other things happened that caused her to withdraw from most people. Only Braith and the clever young elf Yerun have been able to lift the corner of the shell she has constructed.

They started in a field, tasked with the tedium of moving rubble to a pile by a ruined farmhouse to be reclaimed, and it appears I did too good a job with describing just how awful the people were to them, because immediately after picking up that this was going to be a roleplaying scene unless they wanted to just make strength checks all day, Yerun decided to kill their overseer and lead a rebellion. He displayed a grasp of basic tactics, running through various scenarios before preparing to enact one involving ghost sound, diplomacizing with the other NPC orphans, and burning the ruins down with old Will inside it. His brother Cynric, however, talked him down by explaining how ridiculous the idea that they could actually take the town without equipment with a bunch of children. He settled for using ghost sound to start a fight between two other boys and then breaking it up, while Cynric looked on in amusement and I got to flesh out their peers. Lucinde the elven girl had largely stayed out until now, joining in to laugh at the resident arrogant suck-up and his fawning friend (mostly at my attempts to sound like Draco Malfoy and Armin from Attack on Titan I think).

After a time, we cut to their return to the town, passing through the square where they witnessed the announcement and the Wizard made his proposal. Deciding anything was better than what they had and seeing the potential for greater power, our LE child Yerun loudly volunteered, dragging Cynric, Lucinde, and a small child named Robert (or Roger or something. I let them name him and they couldn't decide) into it with him. Then, the next morning, they set off. A long trek to the rift, encountering a pair of those wolves from the introduction that they required Mathias' help to best, and eventually crested the last hill. As they did, a towering spire of twisted metal rose to meet their eyes. Bending in ways that shouldn't be possible and spiraling up over a raised dais with eight platforms surrounding a darkly glowing crystal formation, it seemed impossible to them that the feeble old man coughing up blood and who knows what else could have constructed it. Mathias gave them each an amulet, 'to protect them from stray arcane energies during the process.' They had come this far, it was decided, except for (thank goodness. They had been so accommodating until now!) Lucinde, who asked Yerun to use Detect Magic. When it nearly blinded him and caused the crystal to flash, she tried making a break for it, but a sharp command from Mathias held her in place and the amulet on her neck burned against her skin. Marching down to the platform, each was placed into a magical Faraday Cage and got one last meaningful look at each other before the spell began and they blacked out.

I've helped each create their new characters in the interrim away from the others. Yerun will become a Beguiler (I know it was agreed on here that they require training, but he wanted to roleplay the feinting and such as more instinct than training and I ok'd it), with a level of Master of Masks to represent his fractured psyche. Cynric will be a Crusader, getting flashes of insight into training he never received and planning for the character to be gradually corrupted by his feelings of betrayal (I guess he didn't catch the 'these are terrible people' vibe as well as the others). Lastly, Lucinde is going shapeshifter Druid. The NPCs involved are just getting various cool builds. Like the Dread Necro/Blood Magus six-year-old or the gruff straightforward young man who now has Eldritch Claws and Naberius chilling in his head. Next session is going to be fun, especially since the guys weren't paying attention when Lucinde's player got shut down without a will save.

[Vhaidara]

As far as monsters, any suggestion can be made wierder with the Pseudonatural and Half-farspawn templates.

I throw in
Yrthak (MM 262): Blind dragonlike thing with a sonic lance attack.
Yeth hound (MM 262): NE fiend-hound that hunts in packs. It's bay ability can panic people.
Xorn: (MM 261 [good stuff in these pages]): Earth elemental with 3 arms, 3 legs, 3 eyes, and one mouth. includes 3 age categories for multiple CR opponents
Xill (MM 261): 4-armed reptile thing that uses multiple weapons, including a paralyzing bite. After paralyzing a foe, they can implant eggs into the enemy (90 days later the newborn xill eats it's way out)
Slaad (MM 228 - 231): one of my friends described these guys as a species based around weaponized rape. Your 2 basics are red and blue. Reds implant eggs with their claw attacks (DC 16 Fort save, no save if unconscious). 1 week later, a blue slaad claws it's way out. Blue slaad infect with slaad fever on a bite attack, which deals 1d3 Dex and Cha damage each day. When they hit Cha 0, they turn into a red slaad. For both of these, any arcane spellcaster is instead turned into a green slaad. Greens have some SLAs and a change shape ability. If they live for a century, they become Greys. Greys get better SLAs. Some Greys become Death Slaads, which improves the SLAs while also becoming front line fighters. One of the other books (I think Fiend Folio) has more, but these are the standards. Oh, and of these 5, only the death slaads are CE. The rest are CN.

[MadGreenSon]

As far as monsters, any suggestion can be made wierder with the Pseudonatural and Half-farspawn templates.


That's true, but I don't want to lean too heavily on the Farspawn and Pseudonatural, or they'll get used to it. I will be using those and a few other templates as well.



I throw in
Yrthak (MM 262): Blind dragonlike thing with a sonic lance attack.


Nice! I can use that practically out of the box. Maybe I'll give it a ranged grapple tongue and the ability to Swallow Whole too, at least by way of introduction.:smallbiggrin:



Yeth hound (MM 262): NE fiend-hound that hunts in packs. It's bay ability can panic people.
Xorn: (MM 261 [good stuff in these pages]): Earth elemental with 3 arms, 3 legs, 3 eyes, and one mouth. includes 3 age categories for multiple CR opponents


With the Earth as tortured and corrupted as it is, Xorn would be particularly twisted, a bit of half farspawn and the Mutated template might be just what they need.



Xill (MM 261): 4-armed reptile thing that uses multiple weapons, including a paralyzing bite. After paralyzing a foe, they can implant eggs into the enemy (90 days later the newborn xill eats it's way out)
Slaad (MM 228 - 231): one of my friends described these guys as a species based around weaponized rape. Your 2 basics are red and blue. Reds implant eggs with their claw attacks (DC 16 Fort save, no save if unconscious). 1 week later, a blue slaad claws it's way out. Blue slaad infect with slaad fever on a bite attack, which deals 1d3 Dex and Cha damage each day. When they hit Cha 0, they turn into a red slaad. For both of these, any arcane spellcaster is instead turned into a green slaad. Greens have some SLAs and a change shape ability. If they live for a century, they become Greys. Greys get better SLAs. Some Greys become Death Slaads, which improves the SLAs while also becoming front line fighters. One of the other books (I think Fiend Folio) has more, but these are the standards. Oh, and of these 5, only the death slaads are CE. The rest are CN.

I have ideas for both of these now, thanks!

With the Xill, rather than just planting an egg, what if it started slowly turning you into some kind of partial or even full-on Xill? Slow transformations and body horror, ahoy!

I kinda had an idea about a symbiotic Beholder/Slaad that would implant eggs that would either hatch as Pseudonatural Beholders or more symbiotics. Think that's too much?



OK, and we're back! We only managed one session during the downtime unfortunately, but while I want to wait for a second before starting on the journal, I thought I'd keep you updated.


And thank you for doing so! It'll be awhile before I get to run this I think, so I can look to this journal for inspiration/ideas. Plus, it's just so awesome to see someone using an idea I made!:smallbiggrin::smallbiggrin:



<snip intro>

They started in a field, tasked with the tedium of moving rubble to a pile by a ruined farmhouse to be reclaimed, and it appears I did too good a job with describing just how awful the people were to them, because immediately after picking up that this was going to be a roleplaying scene unless they wanted to just make strength checks all day, Yerun decided to kill their overseer and lead a rebellion.


Awesome intro, looks like the players made good, messed up characters for the setting too. Also, being rebellious like that is just perfect for getting his magical slave collar! No more of that nonsense from him! :smalltongue:


He displayed a grasp of basic tactics, running through various scenarios before preparing to enact one involving ghost sound, diplomacizing with the other NPC orphans, and burning the ruins down with old Will inside it. His brother Cynric, however, talked him down by explaining how ridiculous the idea that they could actually take the town without equipment with a bunch of children. He settled for using ghost sound to start a fight between two other boys and then breaking it up, while Cynric looked on in amusement and I got to flesh out their peers. Lucinde the elven girl had largely stayed out until now, joining in to laugh at the resident arrogant suck-up and his fawning friend (mostly at my attempts to sound like Draco Malfoy and Armin from Attack on Titan I think).


Yeah, they'll have all kinds of reasons to want to protect and defend the town, won't they?:smallbiggrin:

So... you picturing the prom scene from Carrie, except with a town instead of a gym? 'Cuz I am.:smallbiggrin:



After a time, we cut to their return to the town, passing through the square where they witnessed the announcement and the Wizard made his proposal. Deciding anything was better than what they had and seeing the potential for greater power, our LE child Yerun loudly volunteered, dragging Cynric, Lucinde, and a small child named Robert (or Roger or something. I let them name him and they couldn't decide) into it with him.

They volunteered? Oh man that's both awesome and scary!
Also, one of the characters in the mid-level game I'm running is specifically bad with names. The player makes sure to write down the names of everyone they meet specifically so that she can get them wrong. This Robert-ger thing reminds me of that.:smallbiggrin:


As they did, a towering spire of twisted metal rose to meet their eyes. Bending in ways that shouldn't be possible and spiraling up over a raised dais with eight platforms surrounding a darkly glowing crystal formation, it seemed impossible to them that the feeble old man coughing up blood and who knows what else could have constructed it. Mathias gave them each an amulet, 'to protect them from stray arcane energies during the process.' They had come this far, it was decided, except for (thank goodness. They had been so accommodating until now!) Lucinde, who asked Yerun to use Detect Magic. When it nearly blinded him and caused the crystal to flash, she tried making a break for it, but a sharp command from Mathias held her in place and the amulet on her neck burned against her skin. Marching down to the platform, each was placed into a magical Faraday Cage and got one last meaningful look at each other before the spell began and they blacked out.

I think your description of the tower/forge is better than the one I had in mind, so I'm outright stealing it, ok?

Also, they are gonna regret not paying attention to that bit with Lucinde being stopped by a word from the wizard. Ooooh I want to know more! Play more soon!


I've helped each create their new characters in the interrim away from the others. Yerun will become a Beguiler (I know it was agreed on here that they require training, but he wanted to roleplay the feinting and such as more instinct than training and I ok'd it), with a level of Master of Masks to represent his fractured psyche. Cynric will be a Crusader, getting flashes of insight into training he never received and planning for the character to be gradually corrupted by his feelings of betrayal (I guess he didn't catch the 'these are terrible people' vibe as well as the others). Lastly, Lucinde is going shapeshifter Druid. The NPCs involved are just getting various cool builds. Like the Dread Necro/Blood Magus six-year-old or the gruff straightforward young man who now has Eldritch Claws and Naberius chilling in his head. Next session is going to be fun, especially since the guys weren't paying attention when Lucinde's player got shut down without a will save.

1) Your player's all sound like they're getting cool and interesting stuff out of this, which will be cold comfort when they're being ordered around like constructs, I'm sure. :smallbiggrin:

2) You are sooooo.... Evil. Dread Necro/Blood Magus? That would mean that the six year old died and was brought back during the process and remembers what death was like. That kid should be creepy enough to have a Japanese horror film franchise!

3) Finally, somewhere on this board there is a template for adding a Vestige to something permanently. Are you doing something like that (or a custom PrC) for Naberius, or is he just a Binder/Warlock?

Can't wait to see more of this!

[Tetraplex]

Awesome intro, looks like the players made good, messed up characters for the setting too. Also, being rebellious like that is just perfect for getting his magical slave collar! No more of that nonsense from him! :smalltongue:

Thanks! Yeah, out of the three, I expected him to take right to this setting, though they're all doing well.



Yeah, they'll have all kinds of reasons to want to protect and defend the town, won't they?:smallbiggrin:

So... you picturing the prom scene from Carrie, except with a town instead of a gym? 'Cuz I am.:smallbiggrin:

I...may have a reason to watch Carrie now, actually.



They volunteered? Oh man that's both awesome and scary!
Also, one of the characters in the mid-level game I'm running is specifically bad with names. The player makes sure to write down the names of everyone they meet specifically so that she can get them wrong. This Robert-ger thing reminds me of that.:smallbiggrin:

Yep. Well, he volunteered, and roleplayed out fast talking the others and Robergert into it as well, since the kid looks up to him.


I think your description of the tower/forge is better than the one I had in mind, so I'm outright stealing it, ok?
Also, they are gonna regret not paying attention to that bit with Lucinde being stopped by a word from the wizard. Ooooh I want to know more! Play more soon!

I'm flattered you like it! We will certainly be playing more as soon as I can get everyone together again. And I can't wait for the reactions when I get to pull the amulets on them.



1) Your player's all sound like they're getting cool and interesting stuff out of this, which will be cold comfort when they're being ordered around like constructs, I'm sure. :smallbiggrin:
2) You are sooooo.... Evil. Dread Necro/Blood Magus? That would mean that the six year old died and was brought back during the process and remembers what death was like. That kid should be creepy enough to have a Japanese horror film franchise!
3) Finally, somewhere on this board there is a template for adding a Vestige to something permanently. Are you doing something like that (or a custom PrC) for Naberius, or is he just a Binder/Warlock?

1) Indeed. Since we're playing out the results of the ritual next, I plan to have them draw from a modified (no instant death or romantic genies here!) Harrow Deck of Many Things as well, actually, to represent a random magical element or touch. The look on the one face that knows what that is when I pull my cards out will be beautiful. Speaking of,

2) /bow. Yes, I killed off and resurrected a six-year-old after setting him up as the little brother figure of the party. Of course, it works even better because while I had planned the classes they got form the beginning (knowing it was down to chance which ones actually made it to the ritual), they're the ones who eventually decided to affectionately nickname him 'Rogert Deathrattle' because of Mathias' tendency to hack in the middle of saying things. They'll think it was their fault!

3)It's mostly just headbrewing the opposite of a faint vestiges ACF I saw on here for an NPC-only Binder variant. Basically he never gets any other vestiges, but the abilities granted by Naberius are slightly enhanced (Gets a +2 bonus on bluff and diplomacy in addition to taking 10, gains a couple of social skill tricks with disguise self, etc) and gets his Pact Augmentation a little earlier to compensate for the warlock levels. Thanks for the idea (as well as the setting) btw.

[MadGreenSon]

I...may have a reason to watch Carrie now, actually.


You can probably find the relevant bits on Youtube, basically give vast power to someone who has had enough of being pushed and finally snaps...




I'm flattered you like it! We will certainly be playing more as soon as I can get everyone together again. And I can't wait for the reactions when I get to pull the amulets on them.



Oh the looks on their faces oughta be just priceless.:smallbiggrin:




1) Indeed. Since we're playing out the results of the ritual next, I plan to have them draw from a modified (no instant death or romantic genies here!) Harrow Deck of Many Things as well, actually, to represent a random magical element or touch. The look on the one face that knows what that is when I pull my cards out will be beautiful. Speaking of,


Can I get a copy of your modification? I'm curious, it sounds like a cool way of doing things.



2) /bow. Yes, I killed off and resurrected a six-year-old after setting him up as the little brother figure of the party. Of course, it works even better because while I had planned the classes they got form the beginning (knowing it was down to chance which ones actually made it to the ritual), they're the ones who eventually decided to affectionately nickname him 'Rogert Deathrattle' because of Mathias' tendency to hack in the middle of saying things. They'll think it was their fault!


Wow. Just pile on the guilt and angst why don't ya?:smalltongue:

That's a beautiful touch, and they did it to themselves!



3)It's mostly just headbrewing the opposite of a faint vestiges ACF I saw on here for an NPC-only Binder variant. Basically he never gets any other vestiges, but the abilities granted by Naberius are slightly enhanced (Gets a +2 bonus on bluff and diplomacy in addition to taking 10, gains a couple of social skill tricks with disguise self, etc) and gets his Pact Augmentation a little earlier to compensate for the warlock levels. Thanks for the idea (as well as the setting) btw.

So... Naberius will be in his head all the time and talking to him? That sounds so awesome.
This one is an NPC though right? Too bad if so, 'cuz that'd be fun to do to a player. :smallbiggrin:




[Watch this space for new home-made monsters when I'm less tired]

[Vhaidara]

Players can use NPC classes, it's just usually a bad idea.

[ShurikVch]

Frostrager (and maybe a re-fluff/change to Fire too!) Firestorm Berserker (http://www.realmshelps.net/cgi-bin/prestige2.pl?class=Firestorm_Berserker) from Dragon #314
(You can check it's Class Features (http://www.angelfire.com/realm3/migdalia/Firestorm-Berserker.html), but I'm not guarantee it's correct info)

[Tetraplex]

Can I get a copy of your modification? I'm curious, it sounds like a cool way of doing things.

Of course! I'll PM it to you. It's primarily drawn from the Pathfinder Harrow deck, but with some modifications (as funny as it might be, I don't want a 'comely genie' proposing to my players just yet. I was excited, because normally no one wants anything to do with the Deck, even my modified one. But last night when I sprang it on them both players present drew as many cards as they could!

If you're interested, Cynric drew The Paladin, The Birthing, and the Cricket, drawing two more cards: the Carnival (picked The Vision), and The Inquisitor. So he gets a nice sword (good because they aren't wasting magic weapons on them yet), +20 to his base speed, two visions that may or may not be accurate, the ability to force one truthful response at some point, and a duplicate of himself that hates him and stole some of his ability scores until he kills it.

Yerun drew The Midwife, The Tyrant, The Big Sky, and got Carnival'd into drawing The Crows. He levels up at the end of his next successful combat, may issue a single command to someone and have it obeyed, can add to his attack rolls once a day at the expense of any small metal objects nearby, and loses an item or NPC ally. (Since they don't know about Rogert's death yet and don't have any valuable magic items, I'm going to use it for that)


So... Naberius will be in his head all the time and talking to him? That sounds so awesome. This one is an NPC though right? Too bad if so, 'cuz that'd be fun to do to a player. :smallbiggrin:

I designed each of the NPC orphans to be playable if anyone else wants to jump into the game before they leave town. You're right though, the only reason he's got Naberius riding around in his head is because I couldn't convince anyone to take a level in Binder. Although, we did just finish polishing the character crunch last night, so maybe the beguiler wouldn't mind a voice in his head in exchange for taking 10 on social skills...


Playing again some time this weekend, hopefully!

[Metahuman1]

I would suggest that the Wilder and Psi-Warrior are generally very much about having a combo of inane mystical talent and the raw force of desire/motivation/will to bring it out to the open.

The Crusader is just about having something, luck, fate, a god, a powerful outsider, a powerful fay, destiny, what ever, decide to throw you a boon in the form of just making you a fighter that can do things the other fighters can't.

The Warblade is just about being a talented combatant who's good at hurting things, and has a knack for keeping his tricks so basic that they apply broadly, and for using his head in a fight to good effect.

The Binder does call on outside powers, but he's literally just memorized a finite number of names and pictures and like, one or two chants and a half dozen rules. The implication in the class fluff section is that it doesn't actually take that long to get the hang of binding vestiges and thus becoming a binder.

And the Artificer could be explained as someone who simply loves to tinker having inane magic rather then something they did through study it's something that was self taught from talent and trial and error.

[Inevitability]

Here's a monster made by me:

Anthropomorphic Bat Swarm, Druid 1

Small Monstrous Humanoid (Swarm)
Hit dice: 1d8+1 (5 hp)
Initiative: +0
Speed: 5 ft. (1 square), Fly 20 ft. (average)
Armor Class: 16 (+1 size, +3 armor, +2 dex), touch 13, Flat-footed 14
Base Attack/Grapple: +0/-
Attack: Swarm 1d6 (automatically) and shortspear -2 (1d4-2)
Full attack: Swarm 1d6 (automatically) and shortspear -2 (1d4-2)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Wounding
Special Qualities: Blindsense 20 ft., Immunity to weapon damage, Low-light vision, swarm traits, 60 ft. darkvision
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +7
Abilities: Str 7, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 11, Wis 21, Cha 10
Skills: +10 Spot, +10 listen, +5 concentration, ,+8 survival, +6 heal, +4 knowledge (nature), +4 Handle animal, +4 ride
Feats: Lightning Reflexes
Challenge rating: 3
Level Adjustment: +0?
Alignment: TN
Languages: Common, Druidic

Wounding (Ex): Any living creature damaged by an anthropomorphic bat swarm continues to bleed, losing 1 hit point per round thereafter. Multiple wounds do not result in cumulative bleeding loss. The bleeding can be stopped by a DC 10 Heal check or the application of a cure spell or some other healing magic.

Blindsense (Ex): An anthropomorphic bat swarm notices and locates creatures within 20 feet. Opponents still have concealment against the anthropomorphic bat swarm (but swarm attacks ignore concealment)

Animal Companion (Ex): The Anthropomorphic Bat Swarm has a riding dog (war-trained) as animal companion.

Wild Empathy (Ex)
The anthropomorphic bat swarm can improve the attitude of an animal. This ability functions just like a Diplomacy check made to improve the attitude of a person. The anthropomorphic bat swarm rolls 1d20 to determine the wild empathy check result.
The typical domestic animal has a starting attitude of indifferent, while wild animals are usually unfriendly.
To use wild empathy, the anthropomorphic bat swarm and the animal must be able to study each other, which means that they must be within 30 feet of one another under normal conditions. Generally, influencing an animal in this way takes 1 minute but, as with influencing people, it might take more or less time.
The anthropomorphic bat swarm can also use this ability to influence a magical beast with an Intelligence score of 1 or 2, but it takes a -4 penalty on the check.

Spellcasting: Druid spells prepared: (3/3) (Save DC: Spell level + 15)
The anthropomorphic bat swarm can also spontaneously lose a spell to cast a summon nature’s ally spell of the same level or lower instead.
Usual spells prepared:
0: Cure minor wounds, Detect magic, Purify food and drink
1: Entangle, Produce Flame, Cure Light Wounds

Skills: The Anthropomorphic Bat Swarm has a +4 racial bonus to spot and listen checks. These bonuses are lost if its blindsense is negated. The Anthropomorphic Bat Swarm also has a +2 bonus on knowledge (nature) and survival checks.


Basically, you're facing a swarm of bats in the shape of a human, immune to weapon damage, whose wounding ability carries over to all of his attacks and spells. And it's riding a dog. :smallcool: