AKA_Bait
2007-08-27, 11:56 AM
Some people seemed interested in this character when I solicted advice for populating a dungeon featuring him. So, here he is in all his undead ratty goodness. Any critques welcome! And yes, I know Lich can only apply to Humaniods and this is a house rule.
Silus
The Rat Lich
What does it mean to be sapient? No, not sentient. Sentient is easy, it just means that you react to stimuli. Even brainless plants might be sentient and my children certainly are. Sapience is something different. Sapience means that you are self aware, that you possess judgment, that you are smart. Sapience also means that you are cursed.
I am smart. I was made smart when I was just a pup. I didn’t ask for it. I didn’t have a choice. It is a disease; an addiction. Once you see the world as an intelligent being there is no going back to seeing it as food, not food, and potential mate. Worse, you want, no, need all your brethren to be like you, to see it like you, to share the experience like you. Not to be alone.
I am fifteen years old. For you, that is not so long. For a rat, it is an eternity. As far as I know, I am unique, the only one who is smart. Not smart like the pets of the Arcane, but smart of ourselves. My children are not smart. Their mothers, all long dead now, were not smart. Conceiving them felt like rape much as it would for you, if you were to have children with a dog.
I cannot make them smart but I am trying. I have learned arcane mysteries trying to find way. I have committed terrible acts to my siblings and my children to find a way and to keep myself alive long enough to do so. Their sacrifices will not be for nothing. I will not rest until I can talk to my descendants as you talk to yours. Perhaps not even then…
History:
Silus is a 15 year old Awakened Rat Wizard turned Lich. Awakened shortly after birth to be a servant for the Arcane Hierophant Calendar he didn’t particularly mind his servitude but begged Calendar that his mate, a rat he fancied but that had not been awakened, be awakened as well. Calendar refused, not wanting to set the precedent of awakening any and every animal he came across.
In an attempt to subvert Calendar’s wishes Silus began to study the arcane tomes in Calendar’s library and insisted on following Calendar on any and every adventure. In this way he learned much, and quickly, but focused in the wrong direction. The more he studied and learned arcane mysteries the more frustrated at not finding an Awaken spell he became. Concluding that Calendar was on to him and had removed any information about the spell from the library he stole out into the night, taking the female rat he had plead for with him.
A few years passed unsuccessfully. Silus had several broods of children with the mate he had taken with him as well as several others over time. With each generation Silus became more and more disparing, lonely, and determined to find a spell to Awaken his children, a term he came to use for all of his descendants, no matter how many generations down the line.
As more time went by Silus concluded that he would never find the spell in his natural lifetime but it was far too late for him to surrender his cause to the ravages of age (which creep quickly upon a rat, even one with arcane talents and intelligence exceeding that of all but a few humans) and he did the unthinkable. He slaughtered dozens of his children in a gruesome ritual to transform himself into a lich. He told himself it was worth it for the cause.
Now:
Silus searches for an Arcane Mass Awaken still. His lair moves from place to place, taking his children with him in waves using Mass Teleport whenever they are discovered and the threat cannot be completely eliminated or made to work for his purposes.
Whenever he moves into a new den, typically a crypt, mausoleum or catacombs, he places Guards and Wards around as well as begins work on a Flesh Golem guardian and creates several undead servants. He uses the corpses in the crypt to create his monstrosities. If outsiders enter the crypt he will attempt to first drive them off using various illusions. If they seem formidable he will set the Golem upon them and attempt to trap them with Wall of Stone or Forcecage and then Dominate, Gaes, or Magic Jar them at his leisure. He is fond of Gaesing bands of adventurers to find the spell for him. If they make their saves and refuse to comply he has no compunction about torturing them, killing them, or both.
If some escape he will immediately move the den and contact assassins to hunt those that got away down as quickly as possible. If he is overmatched, he will flee, but he will never completely abandon his children. He will always leave a magic sensor behind and scry on the location to be sure that they are safe. If they are not he will return as soon as possible and attempt to rescue as many as he can.
He rarely leaves his warrens, but if he must he typically uses Dominate Person to ensnare a commoner, dresses them up, and pretends to be their familiar. Sometimes, he will use Magic Jar for this purpose as well, usually when adventurers need to be convinced that they have ‘killed’ the threat.
Silus
Tiny Undead (Undead Augmented Animal)
Hit Dice: 16d12 (104 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 15 ft. (3 squares), climb 15 ft., swim 15 ft.
Armor Class: 23 (+2 size, +2 Dex, +5 Natural Armor, Ring of Protection +4), touch 18, flat-footed 21
Base Attack/Grapple: +6/-6
Attack: Bite +10 melee (1d3-4 + 1d8+5 negative energy (Will half DC14))
Full Attack: Bite +10/+5 melee (1d3-4)
Special Attacks: Paralyzing Touch (DC 12)
Special Qualities: Low Light Vision, Scent, Darkvision (60ft.), Fear Aura (DC 12), +4 Turn Resistance, DR 15 Bludgeoning/Magic, Immune to Cold, Electricity, Polymorph, poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, mind-affecting effects, critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability drain, energy drain, ability damage, fatigue, exhaustion and any effect requiring a Fort save.
Saves: Fort +13, Ref +15, Will +15
Abilities: Str 2, Dex 15, Con -, Int 22, Wis 14, Cha 7
Skills: Listen +12, Search +10, Sense Motive +12, Spot +12, Balance +10, Climb +12, Hide +30, Move Silently +24, Swim +10, Concentration +11, Spell Craft +21, Knowledge Arcana +21, Knowledge Nature +16, Knowledge Religion +21, Craft (Golem) +21, Decipher Script +21,
Feats: Stealthy, Weapon Finesse, Scribe Scroll, Summon Familiar, Craft Wondrous Item, Craft Construct, Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Silent Spell, Spell Mastery (Instant Summons, Dominate Person, Teleport: Mass, Limited Wish, Guards and Wards, Polymorph)
Challenge Rating: 18?
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Fear Aura (Su): Liches are shrouded in a dreadful aura of death and evil. Creatures of less than 5 HD in a 60-foot radius that look at the lich must succeed on a Will save or be affected as though by a fear spell from a sorcerer of the lich’s level. A creature that successfully saves cannot be affected again by the same lich’s aura for 24 hours.
Paralyzing Touch (Su): Any living creature a lich hits with its touch attack must succeed on a Fortitude save or be permanently paralyzed. Remove paralysis or any spell that can remove a curse can free the victim (see the bestow curse spell description).
The effect cannot be dispelled. Anyone paralyzed by a lich seems dead, though a DC 20 Spot check or a DC 15 Heal check reveals that the victim is still alive.
Turn Resistance (Ex): A lich has +4 turn resistance.
Damage Reduction (Su): A lich’s undead body is tough, giving the creature damage reduction 15/bludgeoning and magic. Its natural weapons are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Immunities (Ex): Liches have immunity to cold, electricity, polymorph (though they can use polymorph effects on themselves), and mind-affecting attacks.
Spells:
--Spells per day: 4/6/6/5/5/4/3/1
--Spells known:
0-Level: detect magic, disrupt undead, read magic, Dancing Lights, Arcane Mark, Repair Minor Damage, Open/Close, Ghost Sound, Shadowplay, Message, Mending, Mage Hand, Chalkboard, Resistance, Acid Splash
1-Level: Erase, Reduce Person, Raging Flames, Repair Light Damage, Feather Fall, Animate Rope, Summon Undead I, Ray of Enfeeblement, Magic Missile, Color Spray, Cause Fear, Silent Image, Ventriloquism, N’s Magic Aura, T’s Floating Disk, Charm Person, True Strike, Identify, Detect Undead, Comprehend Languages, Scholar’s Touch, Instant Locksmith, Summon Undead I, Unseen Servant, Obscuring Mist, Mage Armor, Hold Portal, Endure Elements, Grease, Alarm, Shield,
2-Level: blindness/deafness, Whispering Wind, Unseen Crafter, Spider Climb, Rope Trick, Repair Moderate Damage, Eagles Splendor, Blindsight, Alter Self, Wracking Touch, Spectral Hand, Command Undead, Misrepresent Alignment, Misdirection, Minor Image, Mirror Image, Leo’s Traps, Disguise Undead, Magic Mouth, Invisibility, Shatter, Scorching Ray, Flaming Sphere, Darkness, Continual Flame, Tasha’s Hideous Laughter, Locate Object, See Invisibility, Insidious Insight, Battering Ram, Detect Thoughts, Web, Summon Undead II, Glitterdust, Dispel Ward, Arcane Lock
3-Level: Secret Page, Repair Serious Damage, Mage Hand: Greater, Burrow, Deeper Darkness; Undead Lieutenant, Undead Touch, Vampiric Touch, Skull Watch, Halt Undead, Shatterfloor, Invisibility Sphere, Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Tongues, Hold Person, Daylight, Suggestion, Clairvoyance, Mage Armor: Greater, Nondetection, Explosive runes, Dispel Magic, Summon Undead III
4-Level: Reduce person: Mass, Polymorph, Wrack, Fear, Enervation, Plague Carrier, Bestow Curse, Illusory Wall, Invisibility: Greater, Animate Dead, Wall of Fire, Explosive Cascade, Resilient sphere, Defenestrating Sphere, Geas: Lesser, Charm Monster, Locate Creature, Scrying, Detect Scrying, Summon Undead IV, Dimension Door, Dispelling Screen, Dimensional Anchor
5-Level: Magic Jar, Permanency, Fabricate, Passwall, Baleful Polymorph, Animal Growth, Symbol of Pain, Fleshshiver, False Vision, Sending, Dominate Person, Charm Person: Mass, Feeblemind, Hold Monster, Wall of Stone, Servant Horde, Teleport, Break Enchantment
6-Level: Lucubration, Flesh to Stone, Disintegrate, Burrow: Mass, Wall of Force, Create Undead, Veil, Project Image, Contingency, Suggestion: Mass, Geas/Quest, True Seeing, Guards and Wards, Dispel Magic: Greater
7-Level: Limited Wish, Forecage, Teleport: Mass
Possessions: Cloak of Resistance +5, Ring of Protection +4, Boccob’s Blessed Book x3 (only one with him at any given time, others arcane marked and hidden at other potential dens), Phylactery (see below).
Silus’ Phylactery: Silus phylactery is the tiny skull of his first ‘wife’ magically sealed and containing the scrolls needed for the ritual. He takes it with him to whatever den he currently occupies, hiding it among corpses of other rats. It has a Permanent Magic Aura and False Vision cast on it to hide its properties and location.
Possible Uses of Silus
At Low Levels: PCs are asked by someone in town to do the standard low level 'clear out the rats' adventure. Hilarity ensues.
At Midlevels: PCs come across an NPC Necromancer with an undead rat familiar. The NPC asks them to find the spell and if they do they will be "compensated appropriatley".
Also at Midlevels: If the PC's have killed a good number of rats in their adventures thus far, they recieve a summons to a town with a catacombs. They are told that are large necromancer has taken up residency in the catacombs and asked to remove the danger. This is actually a trap set by Silus to get revenge for the 'murder of some of his children'
More to come and suggestions welcome.
Silus
The Rat Lich
What does it mean to be sapient? No, not sentient. Sentient is easy, it just means that you react to stimuli. Even brainless plants might be sentient and my children certainly are. Sapience is something different. Sapience means that you are self aware, that you possess judgment, that you are smart. Sapience also means that you are cursed.
I am smart. I was made smart when I was just a pup. I didn’t ask for it. I didn’t have a choice. It is a disease; an addiction. Once you see the world as an intelligent being there is no going back to seeing it as food, not food, and potential mate. Worse, you want, no, need all your brethren to be like you, to see it like you, to share the experience like you. Not to be alone.
I am fifteen years old. For you, that is not so long. For a rat, it is an eternity. As far as I know, I am unique, the only one who is smart. Not smart like the pets of the Arcane, but smart of ourselves. My children are not smart. Their mothers, all long dead now, were not smart. Conceiving them felt like rape much as it would for you, if you were to have children with a dog.
I cannot make them smart but I am trying. I have learned arcane mysteries trying to find way. I have committed terrible acts to my siblings and my children to find a way and to keep myself alive long enough to do so. Their sacrifices will not be for nothing. I will not rest until I can talk to my descendants as you talk to yours. Perhaps not even then…
History:
Silus is a 15 year old Awakened Rat Wizard turned Lich. Awakened shortly after birth to be a servant for the Arcane Hierophant Calendar he didn’t particularly mind his servitude but begged Calendar that his mate, a rat he fancied but that had not been awakened, be awakened as well. Calendar refused, not wanting to set the precedent of awakening any and every animal he came across.
In an attempt to subvert Calendar’s wishes Silus began to study the arcane tomes in Calendar’s library and insisted on following Calendar on any and every adventure. In this way he learned much, and quickly, but focused in the wrong direction. The more he studied and learned arcane mysteries the more frustrated at not finding an Awaken spell he became. Concluding that Calendar was on to him and had removed any information about the spell from the library he stole out into the night, taking the female rat he had plead for with him.
A few years passed unsuccessfully. Silus had several broods of children with the mate he had taken with him as well as several others over time. With each generation Silus became more and more disparing, lonely, and determined to find a spell to Awaken his children, a term he came to use for all of his descendants, no matter how many generations down the line.
As more time went by Silus concluded that he would never find the spell in his natural lifetime but it was far too late for him to surrender his cause to the ravages of age (which creep quickly upon a rat, even one with arcane talents and intelligence exceeding that of all but a few humans) and he did the unthinkable. He slaughtered dozens of his children in a gruesome ritual to transform himself into a lich. He told himself it was worth it for the cause.
Now:
Silus searches for an Arcane Mass Awaken still. His lair moves from place to place, taking his children with him in waves using Mass Teleport whenever they are discovered and the threat cannot be completely eliminated or made to work for his purposes.
Whenever he moves into a new den, typically a crypt, mausoleum or catacombs, he places Guards and Wards around as well as begins work on a Flesh Golem guardian and creates several undead servants. He uses the corpses in the crypt to create his monstrosities. If outsiders enter the crypt he will attempt to first drive them off using various illusions. If they seem formidable he will set the Golem upon them and attempt to trap them with Wall of Stone or Forcecage and then Dominate, Gaes, or Magic Jar them at his leisure. He is fond of Gaesing bands of adventurers to find the spell for him. If they make their saves and refuse to comply he has no compunction about torturing them, killing them, or both.
If some escape he will immediately move the den and contact assassins to hunt those that got away down as quickly as possible. If he is overmatched, he will flee, but he will never completely abandon his children. He will always leave a magic sensor behind and scry on the location to be sure that they are safe. If they are not he will return as soon as possible and attempt to rescue as many as he can.
He rarely leaves his warrens, but if he must he typically uses Dominate Person to ensnare a commoner, dresses them up, and pretends to be their familiar. Sometimes, he will use Magic Jar for this purpose as well, usually when adventurers need to be convinced that they have ‘killed’ the threat.
Silus
Tiny Undead (Undead Augmented Animal)
Hit Dice: 16d12 (104 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 15 ft. (3 squares), climb 15 ft., swim 15 ft.
Armor Class: 23 (+2 size, +2 Dex, +5 Natural Armor, Ring of Protection +4), touch 18, flat-footed 21
Base Attack/Grapple: +6/-6
Attack: Bite +10 melee (1d3-4 + 1d8+5 negative energy (Will half DC14))
Full Attack: Bite +10/+5 melee (1d3-4)
Special Attacks: Paralyzing Touch (DC 12)
Special Qualities: Low Light Vision, Scent, Darkvision (60ft.), Fear Aura (DC 12), +4 Turn Resistance, DR 15 Bludgeoning/Magic, Immune to Cold, Electricity, Polymorph, poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, mind-affecting effects, critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability drain, energy drain, ability damage, fatigue, exhaustion and any effect requiring a Fort save.
Saves: Fort +13, Ref +15, Will +15
Abilities: Str 2, Dex 15, Con -, Int 22, Wis 14, Cha 7
Skills: Listen +12, Search +10, Sense Motive +12, Spot +12, Balance +10, Climb +12, Hide +30, Move Silently +24, Swim +10, Concentration +11, Spell Craft +21, Knowledge Arcana +21, Knowledge Nature +16, Knowledge Religion +21, Craft (Golem) +21, Decipher Script +21,
Feats: Stealthy, Weapon Finesse, Scribe Scroll, Summon Familiar, Craft Wondrous Item, Craft Construct, Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Silent Spell, Spell Mastery (Instant Summons, Dominate Person, Teleport: Mass, Limited Wish, Guards and Wards, Polymorph)
Challenge Rating: 18?
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Fear Aura (Su): Liches are shrouded in a dreadful aura of death and evil. Creatures of less than 5 HD in a 60-foot radius that look at the lich must succeed on a Will save or be affected as though by a fear spell from a sorcerer of the lich’s level. A creature that successfully saves cannot be affected again by the same lich’s aura for 24 hours.
Paralyzing Touch (Su): Any living creature a lich hits with its touch attack must succeed on a Fortitude save or be permanently paralyzed. Remove paralysis or any spell that can remove a curse can free the victim (see the bestow curse spell description).
The effect cannot be dispelled. Anyone paralyzed by a lich seems dead, though a DC 20 Spot check or a DC 15 Heal check reveals that the victim is still alive.
Turn Resistance (Ex): A lich has +4 turn resistance.
Damage Reduction (Su): A lich’s undead body is tough, giving the creature damage reduction 15/bludgeoning and magic. Its natural weapons are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Immunities (Ex): Liches have immunity to cold, electricity, polymorph (though they can use polymorph effects on themselves), and mind-affecting attacks.
Spells:
--Spells per day: 4/6/6/5/5/4/3/1
--Spells known:
0-Level: detect magic, disrupt undead, read magic, Dancing Lights, Arcane Mark, Repair Minor Damage, Open/Close, Ghost Sound, Shadowplay, Message, Mending, Mage Hand, Chalkboard, Resistance, Acid Splash
1-Level: Erase, Reduce Person, Raging Flames, Repair Light Damage, Feather Fall, Animate Rope, Summon Undead I, Ray of Enfeeblement, Magic Missile, Color Spray, Cause Fear, Silent Image, Ventriloquism, N’s Magic Aura, T’s Floating Disk, Charm Person, True Strike, Identify, Detect Undead, Comprehend Languages, Scholar’s Touch, Instant Locksmith, Summon Undead I, Unseen Servant, Obscuring Mist, Mage Armor, Hold Portal, Endure Elements, Grease, Alarm, Shield,
2-Level: blindness/deafness, Whispering Wind, Unseen Crafter, Spider Climb, Rope Trick, Repair Moderate Damage, Eagles Splendor, Blindsight, Alter Self, Wracking Touch, Spectral Hand, Command Undead, Misrepresent Alignment, Misdirection, Minor Image, Mirror Image, Leo’s Traps, Disguise Undead, Magic Mouth, Invisibility, Shatter, Scorching Ray, Flaming Sphere, Darkness, Continual Flame, Tasha’s Hideous Laughter, Locate Object, See Invisibility, Insidious Insight, Battering Ram, Detect Thoughts, Web, Summon Undead II, Glitterdust, Dispel Ward, Arcane Lock
3-Level: Secret Page, Repair Serious Damage, Mage Hand: Greater, Burrow, Deeper Darkness; Undead Lieutenant, Undead Touch, Vampiric Touch, Skull Watch, Halt Undead, Shatterfloor, Invisibility Sphere, Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Tongues, Hold Person, Daylight, Suggestion, Clairvoyance, Mage Armor: Greater, Nondetection, Explosive runes, Dispel Magic, Summon Undead III
4-Level: Reduce person: Mass, Polymorph, Wrack, Fear, Enervation, Plague Carrier, Bestow Curse, Illusory Wall, Invisibility: Greater, Animate Dead, Wall of Fire, Explosive Cascade, Resilient sphere, Defenestrating Sphere, Geas: Lesser, Charm Monster, Locate Creature, Scrying, Detect Scrying, Summon Undead IV, Dimension Door, Dispelling Screen, Dimensional Anchor
5-Level: Magic Jar, Permanency, Fabricate, Passwall, Baleful Polymorph, Animal Growth, Symbol of Pain, Fleshshiver, False Vision, Sending, Dominate Person, Charm Person: Mass, Feeblemind, Hold Monster, Wall of Stone, Servant Horde, Teleport, Break Enchantment
6-Level: Lucubration, Flesh to Stone, Disintegrate, Burrow: Mass, Wall of Force, Create Undead, Veil, Project Image, Contingency, Suggestion: Mass, Geas/Quest, True Seeing, Guards and Wards, Dispel Magic: Greater
7-Level: Limited Wish, Forecage, Teleport: Mass
Possessions: Cloak of Resistance +5, Ring of Protection +4, Boccob’s Blessed Book x3 (only one with him at any given time, others arcane marked and hidden at other potential dens), Phylactery (see below).
Silus’ Phylactery: Silus phylactery is the tiny skull of his first ‘wife’ magically sealed and containing the scrolls needed for the ritual. He takes it with him to whatever den he currently occupies, hiding it among corpses of other rats. It has a Permanent Magic Aura and False Vision cast on it to hide its properties and location.
Possible Uses of Silus
At Low Levels: PCs are asked by someone in town to do the standard low level 'clear out the rats' adventure. Hilarity ensues.
At Midlevels: PCs come across an NPC Necromancer with an undead rat familiar. The NPC asks them to find the spell and if they do they will be "compensated appropriatley".
Also at Midlevels: If the PC's have killed a good number of rats in their adventures thus far, they recieve a summons to a town with a catacombs. They are told that are large necromancer has taken up residency in the catacombs and asked to remove the danger. This is actually a trap set by Silus to get revenge for the 'murder of some of his children'
More to come and suggestions welcome.