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View Full Version : D&D 3.x Other Diastella [Elder Evil; here comes the sun!]



Kazyan
2014-09-11, 09:22 PM

Diastella

"No. Civilization, religion…you all begged for Pelor’s light. You made your bed; now lie in it. The sun will be ours--embrace the great luminosity of what will scour the world in its radiance." –'Mother Theresa'

Diastella is an unliving corruption of the sun, a being of light that swims in radiance as its natural element. As its light grows, the Material Plane is slowly bleached white and burned, as Diastella becomes an infinitely radiant point in a world of bright white.

Note that this content expects optimized characters and extensive sourcebook access, but Challenge Ratings have not been adjusted. A monster at CR 13 might be fought at ECL 10, for example, depending on optimization level. Even so, attempting to complete the campaign before epic levels may result in a total party kill.

Background and Goals

Knowledge (Religion) or Profession (Astrologer) DC 31: Scholars have known that something was wrong with Pelor for centuries, a few radicals explaining it with a "Burning Hate" hypothesis. But the truth, according to deep study, is that Pelor is sick. The god is falling ill—supposedly, there’s something terrible in the sun, afflicting him like a heart disease. Powerful arcane divinations have revealed that something is growing within the solar orb. Surprisingly, it seems to share characteristics of the undead, of all things.

Knowledge (Religion) DC 36: Long ago, a vampire lord ascended to even greater levels of power, to the point where it could endure even sunlight without too much trouble. This vampire lord—or methuselah, rather—desired especially to be able to handle sunlight with no consequences, and thus sought out Lantern Archons to consume their souls and absorb their light. This rapidly caught the attention of the solar angel Jorusciel. In a battle between the two, Jorusciel won with great difficulty, piercing her heart with an enchanted, silvered stake. However, the vampire methuselah still somehow lives.

Knowledge (Religion) DC 41: After defeating the vampire methuselah—scholars have come to refer to her as Diastella—Jorsuciel beheaded her and took her to the greatest heaven of Celestia, Chronias. He threw in the head and all was well, Diastella’s undead mind almost entirely consumed by the Chronias. However, after a millennium, Diastella finally regenerated from her original body. Driven insane by the light, she astrally projected herself directly into the sun, as an attempt at either suicide or self-improvement. It didn’t work—instead, she came to inhabit the sun itself. Jorsciel, alarmed at this but unaware of what was going on, attempted to destroy the vampire methuselah’s body once more. He beheaded it again and left it out to the full power of the sun in the wastes of the Felzus desert, where time eventually claimed the body, burying it in decades of sand.

Knowledge (Religion) DC 46: Now, Distaella grows within the sun, accelerating the solar orb to burn itself out at ever-increasing rates. Now a being of pure light and power, her insanity gives her no clear motive. Whatever she wants, she is overloading the sun to do so. Perhaps when it becomes so bright that the earth itself burns away into vapor, she will be satisfies, or perhaps she will simply move the sun to Celestia and repeat the process on the heaven that destroyed her mind so.

Creating a Vampire Methuselah
Vampire methuselah is a template that can be applied to any humanoid or monstrous humanoid creature with a character level of at least 20 that has already had the vampire lord template applied to it (hereafter referred to as the "base vampire"). So, make a vampire lord, and then apply this template to it. The creature uses all the special abilities of the base vampire, except as noted below.

Hit Dice: Same as base vampire, then add +4 hit points per Hit Die of the base vampire.
Speed: Same as base vampire, plus vampire methuselahs can fly with speed 200 ft. and perfect maneuverability.
AC: The base vampire's natural armor bonus improves by +6.
Attacks: Same as base vampire.

Special Attacks: A vampire methuselah retains all the special abilities of the base vampire, except as modified below, and also gains those noted below. The saving throw, where applicable, is 10 + 1/2 the vampire methuselah's class and nonclass HD + the vampire methuselah's Charisma modifier, unless noted otherwise.
Domination (Su): As base vampire, except that a vampire methuselah can do this either by gaze, voice, or telepathy. It does not require line of sight to the target.
Energy Drain (Su): As base vampire, but a living creature hit by a vampire methuselah's slam attack takes 4 negative levels.
Blood Drain (Su): As base vampire, but a vampire methuselah's blood drain inflicts 1d4+4 points of Constitution drain each round the pin is maintained.

Special Qualities: The vampire methuselah retains all the special qualities of the base vampire, except as modified below, and gains those listed below.
Alternate Form (Su): A vampire methuselah can assume the form of any animal, as the druid ability wild shape used by a 20th-level druid. The vampire methuselah can use this power at will as a swift action or move action. The vampire methuselah can change from one animal shape to another without having to revert to its humanoid form.
Astral Projection (Sp): A vampire methuselah can use astral projection, as the spell, at will. Their caster level is equal to their hit dice.
Create Spawn (Su): As base vampire, but vampire methuselahs create only vampire slaves, never vampire spawn. The new vampire is enslaved to the vampire methuselah until its master's death, and the willpower of the vampire methuselah is too strong to allow it to break free of its enslavement. A vampire methuselah’s slaves are all vampire lords, but they lose the vampire lord template if the vampire methuselah dies.
Damage Reduction (Ex): A vampire methuselah is extremely tough; it has damage reduction 15/epic and silver.
Fast Healing (Ex): As base vampire, but a vampire methuselah heals 11 hit points each round so long as it has at least 1 hit point. It has 2 weeks to reach a place of rest (rather than 24 hours) if brought to zero hit points. A vampire methuselah can have many places of rest prepared, since the only requirement is some soil from its homeland (the place where the base vampire was born).
Telepathy (Su): A vampire methuselah can communicate telepathically with any living creature within 1 mile that has a language, and with any vampire under its direct control out to an unlimited range.
Rebuke Undead (Su): A vampire methuselah can rebuke undead as a cleric of its Hit Dice.
Foresight (Su): A vampire methuselah is under a continuous foresight effect, as the spell.
Turn Resistance (Ex): As base vampire +4.

Abilities: Increase from the base vampire as follows: Str +6, Dex +4, Int +2, Wis +2, Cha +4. As undead creatures, vampire methuselahs have no Constitution scores.
Skills: A vampire methuselah receives an additional +4 racial bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy, Hide, Intimidate, Listen, Move Silently, Search, Sense Motive, and Spot checks.
Feats: Vampire methuselahs gain any two feats of their choice as bonus feats, provided they meet the prerequisites.
Climate/Terrain: Any land or underground
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: Same as base vampire +3
Treasure: Quadruple standard
Alignment: Any evil
Advancement: By character class

Vampire Methuselah Weaknesses
Vampire methuselahs essentially have no weaknesses aside from being somewhat hampered by the sun. If they are exposed to sunlight, they lose the supernatural and spell-like benefits of the vampire methuselah template until they are out of sunlight, but they do not lose abilites or qualities from the vampire lord or vampire templates. A vampire methuselah can be permanently killed in the same way that a vampire lord can, except that the ashes of its head must me mixed with an equal weight of powered silver before burial.

Diastella in the Campaign

Diastella's existence is tied to several forces that jockey with one another for dominance. Because the endgame of these forces are very dependent on the PCs’ actions, no timeline is presented for first fifteen levels of play, but rather, a description of the forces.

The crux of the conflict is the unknown location of Diastella’s vampiric body. It is buried deep in the wastes of the Felzus desert, but beyond that, no one knows exactly where it is. Diastella is still, in a tenuous way, connected to her vampiric body, so it can be used as a conduit to her power.

Mother Theresa

Mother Theresa is a fanatic dedicated to Diastella. Her appearance is that of a withered old elven woman, wrapped tightly in white robes to the point where only her eyes are visible. She leans on a bleached, treant-wood walking stick.

Taking an alarmingly direct route to power, Mother Theresa aims to find the location of Diastella’s vampiric body and perform an as-of-yet undefined ritual to merge with it. Even though Jorusciel beheaded it a second time, the head and body are in is the same place in the Felzus desert, so she aims to find them both. In the meantime, Mother Theresa takes an interest in clearing out the Felzus desert from intruders. In addition to Sand GolemsSand, she has a small set of heavy-duty Phosphorous Golems to handle the more powerful threats. Initially, she will not see the PCs as a problem, and even commission them to go searching in unexplored areas of the desert under false pretenses. However, if they grow more powerful and begin trying to stop Diastella, she will send golems after them.


Phosphorous Golem
Huge Construct (Fire)
Hit Dice: 25d10+60 (197 HP)
Speed: 40 ft. (can’t run), 20 ft. fly (poor; see text)
Initiative: -1
AC: 36 (-2 size, -1 dex, +29 natural armor), touch 7, flat-footed 36
Base Attack/Grapple: +18/+37
Attack: Slam +27 melee (2d10+11; see text)
Full Attack: 2 slams +27 melee (2d10+11; see text)
Space/Reach: 15 ft./15 ft.
Special Attacks: White Phosphorous Smoke
Special Qualities:Burning Flight, DR 10/cold iron and magic, immune to fire, Magic Immunity, True Seeing, vulnerable to cold
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +7, Will +8
Abilities: Str 32, Dex 9, Con --, Int --, Wis 11, Cha 1
Skills: Jump +15
Feats: --
Environment: Warm deserts
Organization: With creator
Challenge Rating: 16
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 26-40 HD (Huge), 41-50 HD (Gargantuan)
Level Adjustment: --

This hulking, dark red construct is proportioned somewhat like a dwarf, but with very long arms the end in balled-up fists, each of which is oversized in each dimension by a factor of four. Though most of the body is a bright, dark red, its eyes and fists appear white—from what you can tell behind the clouds of smoke that surround those portions of its body.
Phosphorous golems are a joint creation—Mother Theresa built them, but the Flame of Temperance came up with the initial idea. As such, they are agents of great power and suffering. Their burning slams usually kill their targets, which may be a good thing, since the pain from white phosphorous toxicity is potentially worse.

Combat
Phosphorous golems fight like most golems—mindlessly slamming into their targets repeatedly unless ordered otherwise.

Burning Flight (Su): As a free action, a phosphorous golem can ignite its red phosphorous body and supernaturally ride the flames into the air. This grants the golem its racial fly speed. A phosphorous golem can deactivate this ability as a free action.
White Phosphorous Smoke (Ex): The smoke that emits from a phosphorous golem is deadly. In addition to providing the golem with concealment at all times, any creature that begins its turn adjacent to the golem must make a DC 24 saving throw or take 1d4 points of Constitution drain as their body suffers persistent burns and their lungs are scoured form the inside. Creatures struck by the golem’s slam must also make this saving throw.
Magic Immunity (Ex): A phosphorous golem is immune to any spell or spell-like ability that allows spell resistance. In addition, certain spells and effects function differently against the creature, as noted below.
A magical attack that deals fire damage heals 1 point of damage for each 3 points of damage the attack would otherwise deal. If the amount of healing would cause the golem to exceed its full normal hit points, it gains any excess as temporary hit points. For example, a phosphorous golem hit by a fireball gains back 6 hit points if the damage total is 18 points. A phosphorous golem gets no saving throw against fire effects.
A magical attack that deals acid damage hastes the golem for 1 round.
Any cold damage dealt by the winter maskMoI soulmeld suppresses the phosphorous golem’s White Phosphorous Smoke ability for 1 round. The nonlethal cold damage dealt by the soulmeld does not bypass the phosphorous golem’s immunity to nonlethal damage by virtue of being a construct, but it still suppresses the White Phosphorous Smoke.
True Seeing (Su): A phosphorous golem’s burning eyes are more than just for show; phosphorous golems are under a continuous true seeing effect at a caster level equal to their Hit Dice.


Mother Theresa
Gray Elf Druid (Urban CompanionCS, Swift and Deadly HunterUA ACFs) 6/Mystic WandererMoF 2/Druid 7/Thaumaturgist 5

CR 23
NE Medium Humanoid
Init +9, Senses: Listen +14, Spot +1 (if familiar or urban companion within arm’s reach), low-light vision
Languages Elven, Common
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AC 33 (+4 Dexterity, +12 AC bonus, +5 profane, +2 foresight), touch 33, flat-footed – (foresight)
HP 180
Fort +19, Ref +19, Will +32
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Speed 70 ft.
Melee +1 Warning[sup]MIC[sup] Quarterstaff +14/+9/+4 (1d6+1)
Base Atk +12, Grp +13
Atk Options Spellcasting, shapechange-based attacks
Combat Gear Belt of Magnificence +6, Vest of Resistance +5, Greater Metamagic Rod of Extend, Bead of Karma (x2), +1 Warning quarterstaff, 1500 gp Jade Circlet
Spellcasting As 20th-level druid. 6/8/8/7/7/7/6/5/5/5 spells per day.
Active Effects Energy Immunity (Fire) (CL 24; cast) Foresight (CL 20; supernatural ability)
Class Features fast movement (40 ft.), swift tracker, Favored Enemy (Humanoids: Elves, Humans, and Kobolds), nature sense, wild empathy (+18), woodland stride, trackless step, resist nature’s lure, venom immunity, A thousand faces, glory of the divine, sleep, familiar, lore of nature, improved ally, extended summoning, contingent conjuration, planar cohort
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Abilities Str 12, Dex 19, Con 20, Int 16, Wis 30, Cha 21
Feats Extend Spell, TrackB, Iron Will, Spell Focus (Conjuration), Extra Spell (Lesser Planar Ally)CA, Quicken Spell, Reserves of StrengthDLCS, Augment SummoningB, Extra Spell (Contingency)CA
Skills Concentration +18, Craft (Alchemy) +6, Diplomacy +21, Knowledge (Religion) +18, Knowledge (Nature) +17, Listen +14, Perform (Oratory) +8, Profession (Herbalist) +15, Spot +14, Survival +12
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Tactics
Mother Theresa uses her Greater Metamagic Rod of Extend to Extend the Shapechange Spell twice during the day. In each case, she uses a Bead of Karma and her Reserves of Strength to increase her caster level to 25. This allows her to take more powerful forms than her natural body, if necessary. Her favorite forms are the Beholder and the GloomELH. Minor nuisances can be scared off with the Gloom’s fear gaze, the beholder’s eye rays speak for themselves (and disintegrate clears sand quickly), and in the event of actual life-threatening heroes, her Gloom form greatly increases her AC without suppressing her items. She does have to suppress Quiescence to cast spells, though.

With a Bead of Karma and Reserves of Strength, her caster level can reach a maximum of 27. This allows her to cast a Contingency of Summon Monster IX and prepare a Contingent Summoning of Summon Monster IX for 1d3 Huge Air Elementals, in each case. She shares the Contingency spell with her familiar and urban companion, both of which are rats that hide in her hood, so that activating the Contingency causes the summoning to be tripled (for a total of 3d3 elementals). The contingent effects are keyed to go off on the command words "ruby" (Contingency) and "topaz" (Contingent Summoning), to a tota of 4d3 elementals. Because Mother Theresa uses Shapechange to turn into an Air WeirdMMII every few hours in order to use foresight, Mother Theresa is never flat-footed. At a sign of major trouble, she may speak one or two of the trigger words when initiative is rolled, depending on the severity of the threat. If the issue is not worth using her contingencies on, she will simply shapechange into a Beholder and blast her targets with eye rays.

Mother Theresa can acquire a planar cohort, but does not have one by default. If it comes up, the DM can have her acquire some form of CR-appropriate fire-immune outsider to send at the PCs.

Mother Theresa is not actually meant to be fought by the PCs normally, but she can summon enemies at the PCs and hound them with golems, potentially making her the major antagonist for most of the game.

In addition to golems, Mother Theresa controls several shadowsandSand flats and has set up encampments of undead around them. She has various vampires under her control, which themselves control other creatures via domination, creating these undead "thorps". These thorps can make low-mid-level threats to the PCs, and they all contain some scrap of information regarding a binding ritual. Once all pieces of information are collected, the ritual turns out to be the Method of Ancients Undone--a way to revert a vampire to a more primitive state. Methuselahs become lords become ordinary vampires become spawn. Doing this to Distaella, however, would likely just bring her radiant power down to the earth, immediately destroying everything.

Mother Theresa also controls the Flame of Temperance, a cult dedicated to her as a prophet of Diastella, much to her nuisance (She would rather them worship Diastella directly). The Flame of Temperance reveres light, fire, heat, and suffering in the waste. The Flame of Temperance seeks to convert other inhabitants of the waste, and sees no problems in using force--or gruesome displays such as caging victims in their destroyed villages until they die of dehydration. Most of the Flame of Temperance doesn’t know about Diastella directly, thinking that the upper echelons are performing rituals to intensify the sun—or Mother Theresa is doing it. The Flame of Temperance should be the antagonist for most of the campaign, until the PCs comprehend Diastella more fully.

The Starcrossers

The Starcrossers are another cult of sorts, spearheaded by Anuvur Redbrick. Anuvur is an externally corrupted dwarf, descended from creatures between the stars, and a master manipulator of shadow. The rest of the Starcrossers follow him unquestioningly. Anuvur is highly recalcitrant, will not talk to the PCs directly, and shows a particular interest in learning about undead. The Starcrossers look into details about undead—particularly vampires--for him, and have various stores of necromantic equipment.

The Starcrossers are located in an underground barracks, somewhere in the Felzus desert—fairly mild as sweltering deserts go. All Starcrossers are affiliated with shadow, darkness, and the worship thereof. Several are clerics of darkness.

Not all is as it seems, however. Further investigation reveals that the Starcrossers are not actually evil; their fixation on darkness is a protection mechanism against the desert sun, which they have lived under for centuries. In fact, they are the descendants of an old desert civilization, whose city was dissolved when their oasis dried up. They currently subsist on water created by the Create Water orison and a few Field Provisions BoxesMIC, and are looking into a less-painful version of the Ritual of CrucimigrationLM in order to reduce their strained needs for water and food. The Starcrossers particularly revere the comfort of the night sky. Anuvur Redbrick is touched in the head due to his aberrant ancestry, but still basically lucid enough to lead the Starcrossers—their devotion to him has been earned, as he is the third in a line of dwarves with aberrant potency in their blood. Mechanically, Anuvur is a ShadowcasterToM 5/Master of Shadow 8 with the StarspawnLoM feat (and the necessary prerequisites).

Anuvur’s warped ancestor is, in fact, still living. The Felzus desert was not always such—it used to be normal plains, and there lived a nest of Guardian Nagas. After desertification, the guardian nagas were forced underground in an old dwarven hollow, living on magical food and water. In the cramped conditions of a small cave, only Igalishnatoth survived to this day. Mechanically, Igalishnatoth is simply an old-aged Guardian Naga advanced to 17 Hit Dice whose scales have all but faded to white with age.

Anuvur is aware of where the guardian nagas lived, but does not want to risk an expedition. If the PCs were to go find Igalishnatoth and establish communication via the Whispering SandSand spell, Anuvur would be grateful enough to organize a ritual to bind a Shadow Elemental to each of the PCs’ bodies, in a complex ritual that permanently grants them the Shadow templateLoM or MotP.

Over the course of the campaign, the Starcrossers become aware of Diastella. Anuvur knew the whole time, which was why he sought out so many leads on vampires—in directing the cult of shadow and darkness, he opposed the burning sun.

Caress of Night

The Caress of Night is an artifact buried deep within the Felzus desert. The Caress of Night was first an enchanted, silvered wooden stake, used by the solar angel Jorusciel to impale the original Vampire Methuselah form of Diastella through the heart. It was later recovered by an undead-loathing Deep ImaskariUnd wizard on an expedition to the surface, and forged with a voidstone to create a weapon capable of annihilating even a vampire lord forever. This weapon was to be wielded by the wizard’s awakened shadesteel golem.

After the wizards’ eventual death at the hands of a rival, the shadesteel golem soon lost its motivation to exist in the underdark, exited to the surface, and promptly used the voidstone-silver weapon to destroy itself. The weapon absorbed the shadesteel’s disintegrating essence, catalyzed by the light of the sun, turning it into an artifact of darkness. Unfortunately, the Caress of Night was quickly lost to the sands of the Felzus desert.

The PCs should learn about the Caress of Night from encountering a miles-wide field of dark sand—a unique mixture of shadowsand and black sandSand. This sand has an overwhelming aura of necromancy and evocation if viewed under detect magic. It has the properties of shadowsand and black sand combined, except that it does not deal negative energy damage, and the darkness effect is treated as an 8th-level darkness effect. Asking the natives of the Felzus desert about the dark sand dunes will reveal speculation that there is an artifact of some kind creating the sand. It is up to the player characters to determine how to find the Caress of Night buried 8 feet under the sand, 1d100×10 feet from the center of the circular area of sand. However, they should do this before the end of the campaign; otherwise they will need an exceedingly clever method of addressing Diastella.

The Caress of Night itself is a +4 alchemical silver weapon that can change into any type of weapon as a swift action, at the user’s command. Whatever its form, the Caress of Night always deals a base 3d6 damage, with a critical range of ×2. At the user’s command, it can generate a deeper darkness effect at-will, centered on itself, and allows the user to initiate any two different Shadow HandToB maneuvers once per encounter, provided the user’s character level is at least twice the maneuver level minus one. The Caress of Night does not allow the user to initiate stances.

The Radiant Order

The Radiant Order is a group of paladins and clerics that have united under Jorusciel as a figurehead, dedicated to the destruction of undead in a nondenominational way. Jorusciel does not actually have anything to do with the group, but they have been inspired by him. The group is led by Torkov, a very angry halfling and his second-in-command, a beholder named Urnurbobloxiben, who Torkov personally Sanctified via the Sanctify the WickedBoED spell. Mechanically, Torkov is a 15th-level Paladin, and Urnurbobloxiben is a Sanctified Beholder. To make up for Urnurbobloxiben’s dramatic reduction in CR due to losing his Eye Rays as a consequence of the Sanctified template, Urnurbobloxiben has the spellcasting ability of a 6th-level Beholder MageLoM, except that he can only cast [Light] spells. His remaining four eyestalks allow him use the Light Ray ability of the Sanctified Template as if it were one of his eye rays. He can still use the ability as a standard action form his central eye.

The Radiant order is not aware of Diastella, and in fact, allies itself with the Flame of Temperance, thinking its theme of temperance to be a force of good. The Radiant Order is too fanatical to see reason otherwise. On the other hand, they will fight Mother Theresa’s allied vampires.

Leading up to the climax

How you, as a DM, arrange these components into a coherent campaign is up to you. However, unless the PCs have somehow prevented the following, Mother Theresa will find the body of Diastella near the end of the campaign and perform a ritual to merge with it. The PCs will arrive too late, seeing Mother Theresa ascend to the sky in terrible, blinding glory with a channel of light towards the sun. She will then try to kill the PCs for stepping on her toes for so long.

To model Mother Theresa’s ascension, grant her the Ghost template and two instances of the Evolved UndeadLM template, then grant her the passive ability to shed bright light out to 400 feet—which also provides her with concealment. If Mother Theresa is destroyed, she does not rejuvenate. Any form she Shapechanges into retains the Ghost and two Evolved Undead templates, even if the base creature is usually ineligible.

When Mother Theresa’s body is destroyed, she will discorporate into light and flit towards the sun. After the PCs win, you should quickly usher them to level 20 so that the Overwhelming Sign happens promptly afterwards.

Because Mother Theresa was hasty and only merged with Diastella’s body (due to the limitations of the ritual) the head is still recoverable form the excavation site, albeit as a bundle of ashes mixed with silver.

Once the Overwhelming Sign is in place, the Starcrossers will offer to perform Method of Ancients Undone to attempt to bind Diastella herself back to the retrieved head—on the basis of "we can certainly die or we can probably die". While the PCs go retrieve the Githyanki Silver SwordMotP necessary for the methuselah version of the ritual, the Starcrossers will dry and de-silver the head, then prepare the ritual. Once the PCs get back, the ritual will commence, and Diastella will manifest. Dpending on the PCs’ actions, they may have allies from the Radiant Order. In the seconds before Diastella appears, the Caress of Night will change its shape into a tent stake on its own.

Diastella

CR 29
NE Medium Undead
Init +20, Senses: Listen +59, Spot +59, blindsight 500 ft.
Languages Common, Dwarven, Elven, Ignan, Auran, Undercommon, Terran
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AC 57 (+17 Dexterity, +30 natural armor), touch 27, flat-footed – (foresight)
HP 686 (32 HD)
Fort +25, Ref +39, Will +39
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Speed 100 ft., 300 ft. fly (perfect)
Melee 2 Slams +40 (4d10+14 plus five negative levels)
Base Atk +24, Grp +38
Atk Options Amplify, Domination, Energy Drain, Blood Drain, Summon
Spell-like Abilities at-will—prismatic sphere (DC 34), searing light (DC 26), sunburst (DC 32)
Immunites Polymorphing, petrification, form-altering effects, undead immunites
Resistances resist fire and cold 20, resist electricity 10, SR 28
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Abilities Str 38, Dex 35, Con --, Int 20, Wis 22, Cha 37
SQ All-Consuming Light, Alternate Form, Anthematic Secrecy, blindsight 500 ft., DR 20/epic and silver, Fast Healing 15, foresight, gaseous form, Imprevious to the Divine, nondetection, rebuke undead, Telepathy 1 mi., tongues, true seeing, turn immunity, Unholy Power
Feats AlertnessB, Combat ReflexesB, DodgeB, Improved InitiativeB, Lightning ReflexesB, Iron WillB, Great FortitudeB, Weapon Focus (Slam)B, Flyby Attack, Improved ToughnessMMIII, Improved Natural Attack (Slam), Ability Focus (Domination), Ability Focus (Prismatic Sphere), Ability Focus (Amplify), Epic ToughnessELH, Power Attack, Epic ProwessELH, Superior InitiativeELH
Skills Bluff +64, Diplomacy +64, Intimidate +64, Knowledge (Religion) +40, Listen +59, Search +56, Spot +59
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Anethematic Secrecy (Su): As the malefic property (Elder Evils p. 15).
Amplify (Ex): Once per hour, as a standard action, Diastela can channel her light and negative energy into a concentrated black-and-white ray of amplified energy. Between the negative energy and the mundane energy, matter can be instantly vaporized. This ability functions like disintegrate, except that a failed saving throw deals 80d6 damage, and a successful saving throw (DC 41) reduces this to 10d6 damage. The save DC is Charisma-based and includes a +2 bonus from the Ability Focus feat.
Domination (Su): As a standard action, Diastella can use dominate monster as a supernatural ability, except that it targets up to three creatures. This requires no speech or movement. The save DC of 41 is Charisma-based and includes a +2 bonus from the Ability Focus fet.
Energy Drain (Su): A living creature hit by Diastella’s slam attack takes 5 negative levels.
Blood Drain (Ex): Diastella can suck blood from a living victim with its fangs by making a successful grapple check. If she pins the foe, she drains blood, dealing 1d4+10 points of Constitution drain. On each such successful attack, Diastella gains 5 temporary hit points.
All-Consuming Light (Ex): Diastella emits bright light out to a radius of 100 miles. All creatures within 1 mile of Diastella are blinded permanently, with no saving throw allowed. They must also make a Fortitude save (DC 39) or their eyes burn out of their sockets, dealing 2 points of Constitution drain. Even creatures immune to blindness must make this saving throw if they have eyes; if they fail, their eyes burn out and they are blinded despite otherwise being immune. Finally, all creatures within 1 mile take 10d6 fire damage per round. This damage ignores fire resistance and still deals half damage to otherwise-immune creatures.
Alternate Form (Su): Diastella can assume the form of any animal, as the druid ability wild shape, except that Diastella has no HD limit on the forms she can take. Diastella can use this ability at will as a swift action or move action. Diastella can change from one animal shape to another without having to revert to her humanoid form.
Fast Healing (Ex): Diastella heals 16 hit points each round so long as she has at least 1 hit point.
Gaseous Form (Su): If reduced to 0 hit points in combat, Diastella automatically assumes gaseous form. Any additional damage dealt to Diastella while forced into gaseous form has no effect, so she is invulnerable to all but the most creative destruction methods and all hope is essentially lost. The only way to prevent this is with the Caress of Night (see below). After 1 year of scouring the world as gaseous light, she regains 1 Hit Point, but at that point the issue should be moot.
Impervious to the Divine (Su): As the malefic property (Elder Evils p. 15)
Nondetection (Su): As the nondetection spell; continuous; caster level 20th.
Telepathy (Su): Diastella can communicate telepathically with any living creature within 1 mile that has a language, and with any vampire under her direct control out to an unlimited range.
Tongues (Su): As the tongues spell; continuous; caster level 20th.
True Seeing (Su): As the true seeing spell; continuous; caster level 20th.
Rebuke Undead (Su): Diastella can rebuke undead as a cleric of her Hit Dice.
Foresight (Su): Diastella is under a continuous foresight effect, as the spell.
Summon (Sp): Once per hour, Diastella can summon a Shape of FireELH as if by a summon monster spell.
Turn Immunity (Ex): Diastella cannot be turned or rebuked.
Unholy Power (Ex): Diastella gains bonus Hit Points equal to her Hit Die multiplied by her Charisma modifier, and adds her Charisma modifier as a profane bonus to her saving throws.

Skills
Diastella has a +16 racial bonus to Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Listen, Search, and Spot checks.

Caress of Night
Diastella is all but unstoppable, but the Caress of Night can mitigate this. A character that threatens a critical hit with the Caress of Night in its stake form against Diastella (even though she is immune), successfully hits her with it using a true strike spell, or otherwise finds a clever way to aim it, manages to embed the aritfact in her heart. Diastella takes two negative levels from this. The stake can be driven in further by succeeding on a grapple check against Diastella, which inflicts another two negative levels. The stake can be driven in further and further with more successful grapple checks in this way. Diastella is destroyed forever when she accrues 32 negative levels.
The Caress of Night can bypass Diastella’s damage reduction even though it is not an epic weapon. If the PCs successfully use the Caress of Night to destroy Diastella, the artifact is all but expended, reducing it to merely a masterwork alchemical silver punching dagger (a.k.a. tent stake).

Sign

Diastella’s sign is the Burning Sun. As her power grows, the sun brightens to dangerous levels.

Faint (ECL 5): The sun’s brightness is more noticeable. Temperatures in the waste increase one temperature band. The sun’s light suppresses any darkness effect of 2nd level or lower.

Moderate (ECL 10): Solar light becomes difficult to adjust to. In addition to increased temperature, which now applies to any area that receives direct sunlight, anyone in the sun takes 2d6 nonlethal fire damage per 8 hours of exposure. This is not subject to heat protections except for actual fire resistance. The sun’s light suppresses any darkness effect of 4th level or lower, and any creature that enters direct sunlight must make a Fortitude save (DC 20) or be blinded for 1 minute.

Strong (ECL 15): The sun’s unbearable brightness sears the eyes and bakes the land. The sun now suppresses darkness effects as if its light were the effect of a sunburst spell, and any creature that enters direct sunlight is affected as if by sunburst. Both sunbursts are at caster level 20 and at a DC of 24. Anyone in the sun takes 2d6 nonlethal fire damage per 10 minutes of exposure; this is not subject to heat protections except for actual fire resistance, and up to 20 points of fire resistance are ignored by this effect. Temperatures in any area that receives direct sunlight increase by two temperature bands.

Overwhelming (End of Campaign): The sun is now so bright that it can vaporize the earth. Anyone in the sun takes 10d6 fire damage per round, which ignores fire resistance and still deals half damage against creatures with fire immunity or the ability to heal from fire damage. They are also blinded, with no saving throw allowed. Areas affected by the sun reach boiling temperatures, and one foot of earth per hour is stripped form the ground via solar ablation. At this stage, unless Diastella is stopped as soon as possible, life as the civilized races know it will end within days as burning heat seeps into the refuges of the earth.

Reshy
2014-09-12, 12:51 AM
This is actually quite a neat idea. Shame I couldn't come up with something as novel. I do have an Elder Evil I've been working on, but I'm kinda hanging on the fluff aspects.



Though on her:

She needs a CR.

You shouldn't deny saves.

Amplify should be a Supernatural Ability.

Blood Drain should be an Extraordinary Ability.

All-Consuming Light should be a Supernatural Ability.

Gaseous Form should probably read closer to the vampire description which states: If reduced to 0 hit points in combat, Diastella automatically assumes gaseous form. Any additional damage dealt to Diastella when forced into gaseous form has no effect.

She should probably have the Corrupt Wildshape feat simply for fluff purposes, because by default undead cannot use Wildshape.



Since she's an Epic Elder-Evil than the PC's are likely going to throw around epic-spells and have stats in the stratosphere. OR just gate in one of the probably many hideously angry deities to combat her. Or go for broke and just summon all the deities.

dragonjek
2014-09-12, 02:09 AM
The Winter Mask? The only thing that can mildly impede the Phosphorous Golem is one specific soulmeld that is only available to one class? That's a little... extreme.

vasharanpaladin
2014-09-12, 11:58 AM
Aside from finding it terribly pithy to name a sun-based elder evil, essentially, "Daystar"... I CAN'T FIND THE LIKE BUTTON. :smalleek:

Network
2014-09-12, 12:53 PM
Since she's an Epic Elder-Evil than the PC's are likely going to throw around epic-spells and have stats in the stratosphere. OR just gate in one of the probably many hideously angry deities to combat her. Or go for broke and just summon all the deities.
Elder Evils have malefic properties that can make the intervention of deities difficult, if not impossible. Kazyan seems to have forgotten to add them, though.

Kazyan
2014-09-12, 01:05 PM
Yep, forgot. I'll fix that and my other editing mistakes soon, when I get home.

dragonjek
2014-09-12, 03:18 PM
She should probably have the Corrupt Wildshape feat simply for fluff purposes, because by default undead cannot use Wildshape.

She doesn't actually have Wildshape. It just says that Alternate Form works like Wildshape.

Kazyan
2014-09-12, 05:45 PM
I've left Amplify and All-Consuming Light as extraordinary abilities because, basically, the sun doesn't care if it's in an antimagic field. Also, I'll deny saves if I want to; if the PCs don't have some form of immunity to blindness at that point in the campaign, they have just not been paying attention. Frankly, if the party has all the "necessary" high-level immunities, they should reliably be able to handle Diastella.

Corrupt Wildshape is not there because the wildshape thing is based on the Vampire Lord template. Take it up with whoever wrote that. It's not a particularly good template anyway.

Regarding the Winter Mask, I figured no one actually cared about a golem's Achilles Heel (buffs/orbs/SR:No), so I got creative. I'll change it to [Cold] spell #47 if that makes more sense, though.

Reshy
2014-09-12, 07:33 PM
I've left Amplify and All-Consuming Light as extraordinary abilities because, basically, the sun doesn't care if it's in an antimagic field. Also, I'll deny saves if I want to; if the PCs don't have some form of immunity to blindness at that point in the campaign, they have just not been paying attention. Frankly, if the party has all the "necessary" high-level immunities, they should reliably be able to handle Diastella.

Funnily enough she'd burn and blind her body with her own signs. Furthermore, this body isn't the sun and it's worth noting that the sun-like abilities wouldn't make sense to carry over because if she is in fact the sun, than what is her body? It's clearly not the sun, so why would it inherit those kinds of abilities?

Also as per her current abilities, creatures that are immune to blindness are blinded anyway if they have eyes, so you can't avoid that. So.... what are you talking about???

The Impervious to the Divine doesn't actually prevent DSA's from functioning on her because they function as feats, and are therefore extraordinary abilities (unless otherwise specified) while that ability only suppresses supernatural and spell-like abilities. Furthermore you should include the full description from the book which is:
Diastella is immune to all divine spells, whether from a spellcaster or a magic item. It is also immune to spell-like and supernatural abilities of extraplanar creatures and deities. This ability is always active.


She also lacks the ability to cast Astral Projection, so how does this work? She can't cast.



The Fluff needs work I think.

Network
2014-09-12, 08:37 PM
Regarding the Winter Mask, I figured no one actually cared about a golem's Achilles Heel (buffs/orbs/SR:No), so I got creative. I'll change it to [Cold] spell #47 if that makes more sense, though.
You could have both. Spellcasters shouldn't be the only ones to have nice things.