Send... More.....Minionsssss

[Blackhawk748]

Ok so for an upcoming 3.P E8 campaign i have four primary antagonists, and as they are very thematic they require thematic minions. They are Hunger, Decay, Wrath, and Death. They are the Four Harbingers and each one is basically a flippin demigod.
Hunger appears as a very attractive Human Vampiress. Her minions are things that, are well, hungry. Rat Swarms, Ettercaps, Spiders (monstrous or otherwise), Ghouls, Vampires, and Goblins.

Decay i dont have an appearance for yet (taking suggestions). His minions are things that carry disease, Dire Rats, Plague Boars (monsters of tellene) Wererats, Zombies, Ghouls, Goblins and i think there was a monster called a Plague Bearer but im not sure.

Wrath appears to be an armored man shrouded in a black robe his face obscured by a helmet. His minions are Orcs, Ogres, Trolls, Giants, Minotaurs, Goblins, hell anything that is generally angry.

Death is an armored angel with black wings. Her minions are most undead, Negative Energy Elementals, and Reapers (alignment flipped Balisse Angels).

Im up for using monsters from both 3.5 and PF as well as 3rd party if its awesome enough.

[Honest Tiefling]

Er...Spiders are cold-blooded. Unless they are magic spiders, they eat far less (and presumably, feel hunger) a lot less then your average mammal. I feel that using tigers and other mammals might give off a feral vibe, but they probably eat more then a giant spider.

Decay should perhaps look a lot like an undead, with a dull, vacant stare. The hair on his head is growing in patches, and seems to be falling out. His limbs are pale, weak looking, and frail. His body is bloated and covered in boils and sores. The body is barely clothed, and yet, it is difficult to even discern that this thing was once a man given how twisted and bloated the body is, and how much seems to have simply rotten off.

But it is a trick, Decay is not this man. Decay is the diseases growing inside this host, who was perhaps once a holy man given over to Decay by a loyal minion long ago. He's unable to react, but is able to feel the pain of the multiple diseases his body is host to. He yearns for death, not knowing that should this host die, Decay can easily infect another being to slowly turn into his host.

[Blackhawk748]

Er...Spiders are cold-blooded. Unless they are magic spiders, they eat far less (and presumably, feel hunger) a lot less then your average mammal. I feel that using tigers and other mammals might give off a feral vibe, but they probably eat more then a giant spider.

Ya your right, stupid science. i think i picked spiders because 1)creepy and 2) the whole "save my lunch for later" thing


[QUOTE=Honest Tiefling;18337169]Decay should perhaps look a lot like an undead, with a dull, vacant stare. The hair on his head is growing in patches, and seems to be falling out. His limbs are pale, weak looking, and frail. His body is bloated and covered in boils and sores. The body is barely clothed, and yet, it is difficult to even discern that this thing was once a man given how twisted and bloated the body is, and how much seems to have simply rotten off.

But it is a trick, Decay is not this man. Decay is the diseases growing inside this host, who was perhaps once a holy man given over to Decay by a loyal minion long ago. He's unable to react, but is able to feel the pain of the multiple diseases his body is host to. He yearns for death, not knowing that should this host die, Decay can easily infect another being to slowly turn into his host.

This.....is wonderful, totally using this.

[Honest Tiefling]

Well, here's an idea for hunger. Simply eating seems a lot like death, in that well, you're killing things. There's an Indian themed (I think...) vampire called the Vetala. But those things do not drink blood, but they still hunger. So maybe hunger is not simply a hunger for flesh, through she enjoys eating it anyway. She hungers for fear, for despair and seeks to cause it in her enemies before draining their lifeforce, now sweetened with their terror.

Add in tigers and other large, calculating predators. They stalk and stalk...And use her magic to disappear, causing their intended victims to wonder if they are going crazy. They keep at it for months, before they strike...But not at their intended targets, but at what their targets love. I would also add shadows to her. Shadows are yes, undead, but I think ghosts would work well for Death instead. Shadows, however, drain the strength of their victims and work well for stalking shenanigans.

Perhaps she inspires hunger in people, which both requires terror in others and their flesh to be sated.

[daremetoidareyo]

I see decay as something other than undead. Start with a beautiful adonis type prince, then age him 15 years in the same outfit. Ceremonial armor rusting in places with straps too loose. A ratty duster on top. Stringy, greasy once blonde hair on a gaunt face. Give him a 5 o clock shadow and a sort of junkie somnambulance. He walks in a semi slow stupor. He's slow, but he eventually catches up to everybody. Ghosts fear him too as he can reach into the ethereal and end them once and for all with a snap of his fingers. When he walks by cultivated fields, the most bountiful crops twist and transform into stinking rotten shambling mounds. Remember decay isn't just death, but the persistence of life through terrible trauma.

Then surround him not with just ghouls but templated rust monsters, disenchanters, digesters. Everything decays. Make the ghouls and wights behave mechanically like the undead they are based on, but make them vague humanoids at a distance, but they appear as a reflection of whomever they are attacking +20 years and dehydrated. Their bodies wither to dust when defeated or sometimes explode, sending bony shrapnel everywhere. Tack unreactive and pathetic charisma flaws onto all of this minions and give them power attack + improved sunder and start smashing apart reach weapons. (no CR increase :nale:) Were-cockroaches (use diopsid stat block in hybrid form) riding huge sized dusty moths 5 or 6 at a time (use roc stat block) follow as nighttime aerial cavalry. These were roaches are maladjusted warriors that fall in battle to him and he grants them the mercy of continued life, an experience which turns them into hopeless nihilists who only feel alive when they are actively destroying society, which never cared about them anyway.

When decay pays attention to something, he sticks his attention to it hard, until a really strong force has assembled, and then he just saunters off after making that response happen. Then he goes to the next place, don't worry, he'll be back. Decay is an inevitability, but prolonged effort sends him away for a bit.

[Blackhawk748]

Thats really good. I was thinking of having her be kinda like Famine from Supernatural in that she can make people hunger for everything, but that seemed a little to "everything and the kitchen sink" to me. Your suggestion is friggin awesome and is gonna let me freak the crap outta my players. *rubs hands together evilly*


*block of Awesome*

Oh my DM evil-laugh is gonna get such a workout during this campaign.

[(Un)Inspired]

Ok so for an upcoming 3.P E8 campaign i have four primary antagonists, and as they are very thematic they require thematic minions. They are Hunger, Decay, Wrath, and Death. They are the Four Harbingers and each one is basically a flippin demigod.
Hunger appears as a very attractive Human Vampiress. Her minions are things that, are well, hungry. Rat Swarms, Ettercaps, Spiders (monstrous or otherwise), Ghouls, Vampires, and Goblins.

Decay i dont have an appearance for yet (taking suggestions). His minions are things that carry disease, Dire Rats, Plague Boars (monsters of tellene) Wererats, Zombies, Ghouls, Goblins and i think there was a monster called a Plague Bearer but im not sure.

Wrath appears to be an armored man shrouded in a black robe his face obscured by a helmet. His minions are Orcs, Ogres, Trolls, Giants, Minotaurs, Goblins, hell anything that is generally angry.

Death is an armored angel with black wings. Her minions are most undead, Negative Energy Elementals, and Reapers (alignment flipped Balisse Angels).

Im up for using monsters from both 3.5 and PF as well as 3rd party if its awesome enough.

Does it make sense for Death's minions to be undead? Aren't those just people who are using magic to avoid death? Instead you should have its minions be living spells of wail of the banshee and finger of death and the like.

Also, you description of wrath seems anything but wrathful. A black robe? Features obscured by a helmet? It doesnt seem like the embodiment of wrath can even display his wrath emotionally because his all covered up.

As for hunger, I'm not sure it makes sense to have beings that can actually become satiated act as it's minions. Maybe use Gravity Elementals (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/outsiders/elemental/elemental-gravity-tohc/gravity-elemental-small-tohc) and Negative Energy Elementals (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/outsiders/elemental/elemental-negative-energy-tohc) instead.

[Blackhawk748]

Well gravity elementals are cool so their making the list. Also Wrath is more of the Cold fury, so he doesnt really need to show his face as he wouldnt have much of an expression. I was going for a Witch King vibe.

Also living spells seem awesome and i will probably just make Death's minions unintelligent undead, as you are correct in that intelligent undead tend to just be looking for an out.

[Honest Tiefling]

Or...Some sort of living re-fluffed versions of undead? (Because there are a lot of fun undead.) They are living, sort of...But keep regenerating, only to die all over again. So each minion has probably died hundreds of times, and the players can only rekill them, not keep them dead permanently.

[Blackhawk748]

Or...Some sort of living re-fluffed versions of undead? (Because there are a lot of fun undead.) They are living, sort of...But keep regenerating, only to die all over again. So each minion has probably died hundreds of times, and the players can only rekill them, not keep them dead permanently.

Make them all Deathless? honestly that may actually make them more durable. Hell give them all Regen 1. You can beat the crap outta them, but they will get up eventually.

[Coidzor]

She's a Maneater (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOrvrLqs-0M), eh?

Well, the most famous Maneaters are lions, tigers, and sharks. Then bears to a lesser extent, IIRC.

The Beast of Xvim/Beast of Bane template might be appropriate to add for more of a Sherr Khan or whatever that tiger from the Jungle Book was called.

[Honest Tiefling]

Is there a template to give a creature multiple heads? All the better for chewing and eating!

And I know this was not your intention, but now I have the image of a Beast of Bane with his voice from the Disney version.

[Blackhawk748]

Is there a template to give a creature multiple heads? All the better for chewing and eating!

And I know this was not your intention, but now I have the image of a Beast of Bane with his voice from the Disney version.

It may not have been my intention but Hunger is getting a new pet.

Also im pretty sure there is a template that adds more heads, Savage Species??

Edit: Yup multiheaded, shes now getting a 3 Headed White Bengal Tiger that talks.

[...]

Okay, the previous idea for hunger annoys me. You cannot have a "hunger" for fear just as you cannot have a "hunger" for video games or cuddling. The only way that you can have a hunger for fear is if you literally eat fear, like a will-o-wisp does. That said, monsters that just wander around until they become hungry, then kill the first thing they see are also boring. You need something that takes drastic measures for availability and quality of its favored food. In other words, you need Mind Flayers. Yeah, it's that simple. Also, rocs are animals in 3.5, and moths are vermin. You would need to add some sort of template or something.

[Blackhawk748]

Okay, the previous idea for hunger annoys me. You cannot have a "hunger" for fear just as you cannot have a "hunger" for video games or cuddling. The only way that you can have a hunger for fear is if you literally eat fear, like a will-o-wisp does. That said, monsters that just wander around until they become hungry, then kill the first thing they see are also boring. You need something that takes drastic measures for availability and quality of its favored food. In other words, you need Mind Flayers. Yeah, it's that simple. Also, rocs are animals in 3.5, and moths are vermin. You would need to add some sort of template or something.

While you obviously cant literally "hunger" for fear, maybe a terrified victim tastes better? Or shes obviously a psychotic murderess who gains power from killing horrified victims......... Im using this for one of her lieutenants now.

[...]

While you obviously cant literally "hunger" for fear, maybe a terrified victim tastes better? Or shes obviously a psychotic murderess who gains power from killing horrified victims......... Im using this for one of her lieutenants now.

The second one would be acceptable for a unique case, but the first one I can't rationalize. Unless the killers are Mind Flayers. Why have I mentioned Mind Flayers twice in a row? Trust me, I think Aboleths are WAY cooler than Mind Flayers. Also, wouldn't a Demigodess of Hunger use minions that do not need to eat, or at least not eat often, so she could get more food for herself?

[Honest Tiefling]

I can see hungering for fear if you eat fear. If terror sustains her, isn't that hunger? And I don't get why Mindflayers have to corner the market on eating minds (as the vampire mentioned explicitly eats life force anyway). They're too mainstream, man.

[Astralia123]

What is your plan with the campaign? I guess make Death a lot more invulnerable and have the PCs fight him in the kingdom of the dead, on the negative energy plane or track him down into his own domain would be a lot more wonderful. It is more interesting if the PCs have to "die" first to approach his weak point, instead of solving it with just a Planeshift or Gate.

You know, if Death is just the king or something of the undead, it sounds a little dull. Anyway he is like the last boss, so I feel he should be something better than the death angel to embody the concept of death. I would make him invulnerable to any army of mortals, as death itself could not be conquered by force. And even when PCs manage to defeat him, he would not simply vanish, but banished or imprisoned, like Fenrir, and may come back after another millennia.


Well anyway, are they just villains that used to be mortals, or are they actually the embodiment of Death and War and so on, like Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?

[Blackhawk748]

Well anyway, are they just villains that used to be mortals, or are they actually the embodiment of Death and War and so on, like Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?

Hunger and Wrath were mortals at one point, legends even tell of who they used to be. Its fairly hard to tell with Decay as its hard to even tell when he shows up. Death has been around forever, but sealed away, Wrath, Decay and Hunger released him. And even if they were mortals they have become the true embodiment of what they represent.

The Big Plot, is that the 4 Harbingers are trying to unleash Void, which will destroy the world. The ritual has to be completed by the Winter Solstice so the PCs have two months to either take out all 4 Harbingers, or in classic PC fashion, some other crazy plan to stop it.

As for Death's weak points, i still havent figured them out. Each one of the Harbingers will have three things that will just take them out. EX: One of Decay's is that if he can be destroyed by being hurled into clean fast moving water (im taking whitecaps here) The problem here, is that there are no rapids ANYWHERE nearby where Decay is gonna be, however there is a dam, so taking that out with him at the base would work.

[Honest Tiefling]

Could still from the Black Cauldron, and say that someone who willingly sacrifices themselves by becoming one of his minions destroys his armies, making him much more easily defeated? Perhaps that he gains power from the death around him, so without that and the power it provided he got a lot weaker, but is still a fight?

[Lightlawbliss]

possible weekness for death: he get's his strength from being there when somebody dies. If nobody dies near him for ___ (time) then he starts loosing power and he dies after ___ (time) of no death near him

another possible weekness: Bringing his minions back to life hurts him deeply.

[ArqArturo]

Papa Nurgle (http://youtu.be/_5GktAgpeKo) is the most awesome representation of rot and disease :D.

[Blackhawk748]

Papa Nurgle (http://youtu.be/_5GktAgpeKo) is the most awesome representation of rot and disease :D.

Oh no doubt.

As to Death's weaknesses those are pretty solid ideas, though generally i dont like making PCs off themselves. Might find a way around that.

[Honest Tiefling]

I was sorta thinking that Death is for some reason, hanging around a retirement home for paladins, not the PCs themselves. Or, someone gets infected with a disease that is so horrific, disgusting and overall icky that offing themselves seems like a great idea! But the PCs have to escort the bag o' pus around to complete the ritual, as well as making the offer and the dilemma that poses.

[ILM]

Way I see it, hunger has a problem: hunger wants to be sated, but hunger sated is... not hunger anymore. So this vampiress, if she's Hunger, capital H, she can't ever have her fill. She thirsts for blood but no matter how much she drinks, she needs more. And that's gotta be mighty frustrating, especially after a few centuries. According to LM, a vampire who doesn't drink blood takes Wis hits over time. You could quite literally have her Wis down to 1 and declare her completely insane with hunger. No thought or reason in there anymore, just one bottomless pool that sucks in everything but never fills up. Hell, she could have a 50/50 chance on just turning to one of her minions and ripping it apart just because she's so out of it: it's her vs. all of creation, and she's going to eat it all, one juicy bit at a time. Doesn't really matter in which order. In fact, the best way to defeat her might simply be to isolate her so completely that the only thing she has left to eat is herself.

It doesn't really work for you though, because if that's how it is, then she is Void. Conflicts with the rest of your plot :/.

[Honest Tiefling]

Way I see it, hunger has a problem: hunger wants to be sated, but hunger sated is... not hunger anymore. So this vampiress, if she's Hunger, capital H, she can't ever have her fill. She thirsts for blood but no matter how much she drinks, she needs more. And that's gotta be mighty frustrating, especially after a few centuries. According to LM, a vampire who doesn't drink blood takes Wis hits over time. You could quite literally have her Wis down to 1 and declare her completely insane with hunger. No thought or reason in there anymore, just one bottomless pool that sucks in everything but never fills up. Hell, she could have a 50/50 chance on just turning to one of her minions and ripping it apart just because she's so out of it: it's her vs. all of creation, and she's going to eat it all, one juicy bit at a time. Doesn't really matter in which order. In fact, the best way to defeat her might simply be to isolate her so completely that the only thing she has left to eat is herself.

It doesn't really work for you though, because if that's how it is, then she is Void. Conflicts with the rest of your plot :/.

Maybe she doesn't know it yet, but Void's found a new vessel. Why would Decay be the only one to have host related shennigans?

[Blackhawk748]

Way I see it, hunger has a problem: hunger wants to be sated, but hunger sated is... not hunger anymore. So this vampiress, if she's Hunger, capital H, she can't ever have her fill. She thirsts for blood but no matter how much she drinks, she needs more. And that's gotta be mighty frustrating, especially after a few centuries. According to LM, a vampire who doesn't drink blood takes Wis hits over time. You could quite literally have her Wis down to 1 and declare her completely insane with hunger. No thought or reason in there anymore, just one bottomless pool that sucks in everything but never fills up. Hell, she could have a 50/50 chance on just turning to one of her minions and ripping it apart just because she's so out of it: it's her vs. all of creation, and she's going to eat it all, one juicy bit at a time. Doesn't really matter in which order. In fact, the best way to defeat her might simply be to isolate her so completely that the only thing she has left to eat is herself.

It doesn't really work for you though, because if that's how it is, then she is Void. Conflicts with the rest of your plot :/.

I can have some fun with this

Also i feel ashamed, i totally forgot to have Redcaps on Hunger's minion list.

[Astralia123]

Hunger and Wrath were mortals at one point, legends even tell of who they used to be. Its fairly hard to tell with Decay as its hard to even tell when he shows up. Death has been around forever, but sealed away, Wrath, Decay and Hunger released him. And even if they were mortals they have become the true embodiment of what they represent.

The Big Plot, is that the 4 Harbingers are trying to unleash Void, which will destroy the world. The ritual has to be completed by the Winter Solstice so the PCs have two months to either take out all 4 Harbingers, or in classic PC fashion, some other crazy plan to stop it.

As for Death's weak points, i still havent figured them out. Each one of the Harbingers will have three things that will just take them out. EX: One of Decay's is that if he can be destroyed by being hurled into clean fast moving water (im taking whitecaps here) The problem here, is that there are no rapids ANYWHERE nearby where Decay is gonna be, however there is a dam, so taking that out with him at the base would work.

I guess even when the PCs manage to prevent the ritual without taking out all the bosses, those who are still alive/around will go after them after all...

I strongly recommend taking the PCs to a underworld journey, perhaps to learn Death's weakness from some his old enemy/friend down there; or Death may did sth secretly there, to enable him/his army invincible in the living world. Maybe his heart or some less artifact is there, preventing any turn/rebuke or commanding effect on his undead minions, or constantly turning dead people (who are supposed to R.I.P in their afterlife) in the underworld into his undead army. Maybe he made himself vulnerable in the kingdom of dead, so he becomes invincible in the living world instead.