#dwarf campaign

[karaki-karki]

http://www.dwarfcampaign.com/

Dwarf Campaign is back!

And they’re gonna make 4 more chapters!

[cyberkevvideo]

Monster Conversion - Trogg (Warcraft RPG to PF1e)

Last month, I released a conversion of a couple of Pathfinder 2e monsters converted to 1e. At the time I did it for the Throne of Night adventure path that sadly did not get completed, but lots of people are still running it despite that setback. Recently, I came across another adventure that could be fun to play as a side game for the AP, but I quickly learned that one of the monsters exclusive to it the scenario is not anywhere online. Instead of explaining to people how I’d change it, I thought it would be just as easy to convert it myself and show rather than tell.

By the by, the adventure is called “Unearthing Bael Moden” and it can be found in the Warcraft RPG Horde Player’s Guide on page 235. It was originally written for four level 2 PCs.

The trogg is a humanoid creature from the the Sword & Sorcery release of the Warcraft RPG. Rather than explain in detail what exactly these creatures are, I’ll just link their RPG write up instead. Way easier.

For those not looking to read all of that text, the TL;DR version would be “the first life form created by titans and are a grotesque parody of a dwarf, considered very distant cousins. Their flesh is living stone, and they have a capacity for great violence.”

What I found interesting is that there were two official stat blocks for the creature, including their own system rules. Unfortunately, Pathfinder 1e has to ignore some of those, so I combined the two stat blocks and converted it over as best as the monster creation rules would allow, while keeping the abilities as close to the original as possible. Note that Warcraft has the language Low-Common, which I switched to Undercommon.

Art is from the Warcraft RPG book.

Without further ado, the trogg’s stat block.

TROGG    (CR 1; 400 XP) CE or CN Medium humanoid (earth, trogg) Init +1; Senses darkvision 120 ft.; Perception +3 DEFENSE AC 15, touch 11, flat-footed 14 (+1 Dex, +4 natural) hp 15 (2d8+6) Fort +6, Ref +1, Will +1; +2 vs. poison Defensive Abilities defensive training (+4 dodge AC vs. giants), ferocity OFFENSE Speed 30 ft. Melee club +4 (1d6+4) or     slam +4 (1d4+3) Special Attacks hatred (+1 atk vs. dwarves and giants), rage of the earth STATISTICS Str 16, Dex 13, Con 17, Int 8, Wis 12, Cha 7 Base Atk +1; CMB +4; CMD 15 Feats Alertness, EnduranceB Skills Intimidate +3, Perception +3, Sense Motive +3, Stealth +5; Racial Modifiers +4 Intimidate Languages Dwarven, Undercommon SQ stonecunning, weapon familiarity (greatclub) Gear club SPECIAL ABILITIES Armor Trained (Ex) A trogg is proficient with hide armor, leather armor, and light or heavy shields. A trogg can move at their normal speed while wearing hide armor. Rage of the Earth (Ex) This ability is similar to the barbarian’s rage ability, except that it lasts a number of rounds equal to 5 + the trogg’s (newly improved) Constitution modifier. This ability stacks with barbarian levels when determining the total number of rounds a trogg can rage per day. Stalker (Ex) Perception and Stealth are always class skills for troggs.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I don’t have a Patreon, but I do have a Ko-Fi page (linked) for anyone who’d like to support me monetarily. There’s no pressure or obligation to do so.

[cyberkevvideo]

Monster Conversion - Draegloth (3.5 to PF)

Back during the 3.0 and 3.5 days of D&D, there was a creature released in the Forgotten Realms books called the draegloth. They were elite champions created by Lolth to protect the main drow houses. Said to be the outcome due to Lolth and a glaberzu getting together. Half-drow, half-demon. No half-fiend template here. There was also an “abomination” version created from a glaberzu and a drider.

While they were given weapons by the matriarchs of each house, a draegloth was a brutal combatant that preferred to use their teeth and claws. Particularly powerful draegloth were blessed by their deity and were given cleric or favored soul class levels. With Pathfinder 1e, you’d have cleric or oracle levels, with oracles likely being the more predominant class. That said, it’s much more likely that they’d be barbarians. In Pathfinder terms, you could argue that a truly “favored one” would be a barbarian/oracle/rage prophet. Actually, that’d probably be the most frighting outcome.

Most draegloths stand around 8 feet tall and weigh in around 350 lbs. They can be male or female, and like most drow and demons, are typically chaotic evil.

What’s even more interesting is that back when Sean K. Reynolds worked for WotC, he developed a 3PP half-draegloth template that could be on a regular drow or even a drider. Part of the lore was if a draegloth angered or displeased Lolth, they’d be turned into a drider as punishment. So if the monster presented here is too much, then the template is a nice second option. Even though it’s 3.5, it still balances out with some of the templates granted by Pathfinder 1e.

The reason I even bring this up is because of my recent updates with the Throne of Night. Once you’ve been fighting a few dozen drow, you get tired of the same old, same old. This is a nice (optional) change of pace. Gives both the players and GM something more to play with, and add something new to the game. I mean, we already have a drow marilith in Book 4. Why not go even further down the rabbit hole?

Without further ado, the converted draegloth.

Looking into it, there’s actually a few different versions of this monster. The one I’ll be using is the 3.5 Drow of the Underdark version. It’s got a few more abilities, but also their resistances is more balanced for their CR. I always found it odd how these creatures had resistance to all elements at 20. Nothing like making the wizard feel completely useless because they didn’t max out their 5d6 fireball roll.

While the creature does have four arms, only two of them have claws and are used for fighting. The other two are much small and slender. They’re typically used for spellcasting.

Played with the stats some, gave a couple of bonus feats and racial modifiers for skills to boost them up to both a typical CR 5 for Pathfinder and make them equal to the numbers they originally had. Regarding the skill choices, Champions of Ruin did a Savage Species Progression that listed all of their “class skills”, so I went with those. It also gave their additional languages. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much I could do about their damage. Normally, a CR 5 should deal an average of 20 damage per round. This guy will do 26. With Power Attack, he’ll deal even more. I did lower his attack bonus though. Probably won’t help much in the grand scheme of things.

DRAEGLOTH (CR 5; 1,600 XP) CE Large outsider (native) Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +12 DEFENSE AC 18, touch 12, flat-footed 15 (+3 Dex, +6 natural, –1 size) hp 57 (6d10+24) Fort +9, Ref +8, Will +5; +2 vs. enchantments Immune poison, sleep effects; Resist acid 10, cold 10, electricity 10, fire 10; SR 16 OFFENSE Speed 30 ft. Melee bite +9 (1d8+4), 2 claws +9 (1d6+4) Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. Spell-like Abilities (CL 6th, concentration +8) 4/day—darkness 1/day—dancing lights, desecrate, faerie fire, unholy blight (DC 16) OFFENSE Str 18, Dex 17, Con 18, Int 13, Wis 12, Cha 15 Base Atk +6; CMB +13; CMD 26 Feats Combat CastingB, Blind-Fight, Cleave, Iron WillB, Power Attack Skills Acrobatics +6 (+17 when jumping), Climb +10, Knowledge (arcana) +8, Knowledge (planes) +9, Knowledge (religion) +10, Perception +12, Spellcraft +10, Stealth +10, Survival +5; Racial Modifers +2 Perception, +2 Stealth Languages Abyssal, Elven, Undercommon SQ drow blood SPECIAL ABILITIES Drow Blood (Ex) A draegloth is immune to magical sleep effects and gains a +2 racial bonus on its saving throws against enchantment spells. However, it is treated as being both an drow and an evil outsider for the purposes of spells and abilities that rely on creature type. Powerful Leaper (Ex) A draegloth uses it’s Strength to modify Acrobatics checks made to jump, and has a +10 racial bonus on Acrobatics checks made to jump.

A draegloth that gains a higher intelligence has access to the following bonus languages: Aboleth, Aquan, Common, Draconic, Drow Sign Language, Gnome, and Goblin. Originally they had access to the Kuo-toan language, but that’s a D&D exclusive monster. Instead, James Jacobs gave a list of monsters that you can substitute for others. For the kua-toa, he suggested skum, and they know Aboleth. Fitting considering the campaign.

Typical treasure from draegloth is everything their matriarch master gave them. These usually include a necklace of fireballs II, cloak of resistance +1, and ring of protection +1.

If you’re looking to advanced these with class levels, they are combat types. So anything with full BAB would increase the CR by +1 per level, while a cleric, rogue, or wizard would increase the CR by +1 per 2 levels, up to the 6 HD. After that the ratio is 1:1.

A “Favored One” draegloth is typically cleric 7 while an “Overseer” is usually barbarian 3. Both can be found in either breastplate or a chain shirt, generally made of adamantine.

[cyberkevvideo]

Monster Conversion - Two Underground Monsters (PF 2e to PF 1e)

Yesterday, I released a revised version of the blessed ring. I say revised, because my published version was not like that one, but it’s also been years since I first did conversions, and I’ve gotten a lot better. Case in point, I’ll be releasing two monsters today from Pathfinder 2e’s bestiary, converted to 1e. I did them both in only a matter of hours. A few years ago, that might have taken me days to do. Experience really does make all the difference.

The reason I’m doing this is simply because last Thursday, I made the comment on Paizo forum that two monsters that I’d witnessed in the 2e Bestiary would make perfect additions for “Throne of Night”, had they been released in some way back during Pathfinder 1e. The next day (Friday), I asked around to see if anyone had already converted them. No one had. So, with my own words eating at me, I decided to take it upon myself to convert these two creatures.

They are about as balanced as possible, given the circumstances. Not everything can be perfect, but they’re not so overpowered that a party of four of the proper level and wealth couldn’t successfully defeat them, or at least hold their own for a period of time. Even the latter one is based on an average d20 roll of 10 being added to the Disguise DC, which is how Paizo implemented the numbers they had in the first place. Everything assumes “average”.

The creatures I converted today are the drakauthix and grikkitog. I even managed to keep them at the same CR.

All art used comes directly from Archives of Nethys.

I hope everyone’s staying safe right now, and not venturing away too far or for too long.

--- I do not have a Patreon or a Kickstarter, but I do have a Ko-Fi  page (linked) for those who are looking to support me monetarily. There is no pressure  or obligation to do so. ---

Before we get into things, I’ll be linking each creature to its original stat block. This way you can read up on their lore, description, etc, as well as do a side-by-side comparison to see what was changed and what was kept.

I will say that it helped immensely that there were already monsters in various bestiaries 1 through 6 with similar abilities that I could take, revised, and reuse. As well, Universal Monster Rules are a thing in Pathfinder 1e, so some of the 2e abilities were renamed to fit those. No sense in making up new mechanics when perfectly good ones already exist.

First up is the drakauthix, a fungus creature that looks like a huge floating mushroom with tentacles and spore clouds.

DRAKAUTHIX    (CR 9; 6,400 XP) N Huge plant Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, sporesight 60 ft.; Perception +17 DEFENSE AC 23, touch 11, flat-footed 20 (+2 Dex, +1 dodge, +12 natural, –2 size) hp 115 (11d8+66) Fort +12, Ref +7, Will +7 Defensive Abilities obscuring spores, plant traits; DR 10/slashing Weaknesses vulnerability to fire OFFENSE Speed fly 20 ft. (good) Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft. (30 ft. with tentacle) Melee 4 tentacles +13 (1d8+7 plus grab) Special Attacks pull (tentacle, 15 feet), spore tendrils (R-DC 20) STATISTICS Str 25, Dex 14, Con 21, Int 2, Wis 15, Cha 10 Base Atk +8; CMB +17; CMD 30 Feats Dodge, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Skill Focus (Stealth), Toughness, Whirlwind AttackB Skills Acrobatics +12, Fly +9, Perception +17, Stealth +15; Racial Modifiers +10 Acrobatics, +10 Perception, +10 Stealth Languages Undercommon (understands but cannot speak) SQ create sporelings SPECIAL ABILITIES Create Sporelings (Su) A spore-infested creature that dies, becomes host for a sporeling colony (small drakauthix), over the course of 1d4 rounds. As the infested body strikes the ground below, it bursts and releases a cloud of spores, unleashing the sporelings that immediately scuttle up the cavern walls to cling to its ceiling and grow. Each sporeling harvests enough material from the body it emerged from to grow to its full size over a few days. After it has done so, the drakauthix detaches from the cave ceiling and seeks out its first meal in the cavern below. Obscuring Spores (Su) Whenever the drakauthix takes at least 10 points of slashing damage, it releases a cloud of brown spores that mimics the effect of obscuring mist for 1 minute, centered around the drakauthix. This cloud of spores does not move with the drakauthix, nor is it displaced by its movement. Sporesight (Ex) The drakauthix exudes a cloud of spores that it uses to see as blindsight, but it only functions in areas without strong wind currents. Sporesight does not function underwater. Spore Tendrils (Su) The tendrils that cover the drakauthix’s body reach out and infest adjacent creatures, dealing 2d6 points of damage from the spores, plus 1d3 points of damage per round for 3 rounds as the spores grow into fuzzy mold. A creature that is currently grappled by the drakauthix takes a –4 circumstance penalty to this save. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Harvesting a Drakauthix: Some Darklands-dwelling creatures, such as duergars, hunt drakauthixes for their flesh, which has a unique flavor with a peppery aftertaste. Subterranean races also make ink from drakauthixes by burning their carcasses, then grinding and pressing the ashes for a long time until a silvery substance congeals.

-------------------------------------------

Next we have the horrifying grikkitog. This is definitely a thing of nightmares, and the fact that it can infest and infiltrate numerous aspects of rock and earth, making it so much scarier and more of a threat, just adds another level of terror and complexity to a fight. This, is a great way to introduce something Lovecraftian to an adventure. All those rocks, stalagmites, and stalactites growing eyes and mouths, chewing down on the party. All the while everyone has to seek out the original core to even damage it, which is cleverly disguised. This, is what I meant when I said I kept it as balanced as possible with average rolls. I mentioned this before in a previous entry when I discussed skill challenges. An “average” skill DC for a level 14-15 party of four is 29, and a “hard” one is 36. These increase by 2 if there’s 5 or more in the party. I erred on the side of caution. That doesn’t make this thing any less monstrous though.

GRIKKITOG     (CR 14; 38,400 XP) NE Huge aberration (earth) Init +8; Senses all-around vision, darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 30 ft.; Perception +28 Aura infestation (120 ft.) DEFENSE AC 29, touch 12, flat-footed 25 (+4 Dex, +27 natural, –2 size) hp 190 (20d8+100) Fort +13, Ref +12, Will +17 DR 10/adamantine OFFENSE Speed 20 ft., burrow 20 ft., earth glide Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft. Melee bite +22 (4d8+12/19–20 plus grab plus bleed) Special Attacks barbed maw, bleed (1d8) STATISTICS Str 26, Dex 19, Con 21, Int 14, Wis 21, Cha 20 Base Atk +15; CMB +25; CMD 39 (43 vs. grapple) Feats Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Deceitful, Great Fortitude, Improved Critical (bite), Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Vital Strike, Weapon Focus (bite) Skills Acrobatics +19, Bluff +20, Climb +25, Disguise +22 (+26 to imitate stone), Knowledge (planes) +20, Perception +28, Stealth +13 (+21 Stealth in stony areas), Survival +28, Swim 16; Racial Modifiers +4 Climb, +4 Disguise to imitate stone, +8 Stealth in stony areas Languages Terran SQ implant core, magical strike, manifold vision SPECIAL ABILITIES Barbed Maw (Ex) A grikkitog can extend its barbed teeth and fully impale a creature that is two or more size categories smaller than the grikkitog (a Medium or smaller creature for the typical grikkitog). This ability effectively adds the grab universal monster ability to the grikkitog’s bite attack against such a creature, but if the grikkitog successfully “grabs” a foe in this manner by impaling it on the teeth, the grikkitog does not gain the grappled condition. An grikkitog’s options while grappling a foe in this way are limited—it can either move while grappling the foe, or it can whip its body and attempt to fling the foe as if using the Awesome Blow feat (the damage dealt by this is equal to its bite damage). A grikkitog can impale up to three Medium-sized (or six Small-sized) creatures at a time with its maw, while continuing to attack normally with its bites. Earth Glide (Ex) A burrowing grikkitog can pass through stone, dirt, or almost any other sort of earth except metal as easily as a fish swims through water. If protected against fire damage, it can even glide through lava. Its burrowing leaves behind no tunnel or hole, nor does it create any ripple or other sign of its presence. A move earth spell cast on an area containing a burrowing grikkitog flings the aberration back 30 feet, stunning the creature for 1 round unless it succeeds on a DC 15 Fortitude save. Implant Core (Ex) The grikkitog implants its core into an adjacent section of earth or stone, melding seamlessly and changing its visual appearance to match the surrounding rock. It’s immobilized but automatically succeeds at its Disguise check to impersonate the stone around it; creatures actively searching for it can still attempt Perception checks against its Disguise DC as normal. A grikkitog can release its implantation as a free action, which has the manipulate trait. A grikkitog’s infestation aura and manifold vision are only active while implanted. Infestation Aura (Su) While its core is implanted, a grikkitog infests all earth and stone within 120 feet, as long as there is a contiguous physical connection between the earth, including stone objects touching on the ground. This effect spreads even if the grikkitog does not have line of effect, though it can affect earth or stone on the surface and exposed to the air only if at least part of its core is exposed as well. Within the aura, it can grow maws and eyes everywhere. It can make bite attacks against any creature, originating from any earth or stone in the aura adjacent to that creature. Determine cover from the origin point of the attack, not from the grikkitog’s core. Magical Strike (Ex) A grikkitog’s bite attack is treated as a magic weapon for the purposes of damage reduction. Manifold Vision While its core is implanted, the grikkitog can see through the eyes it creates throughout the area of its infestation aura, gaining the benefits of all-around vision.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

If used in someone’s game, let me know. I hope someone can make the most use of these converted creatures in an underground campaign, and ruin the day of their PCs.

[cyberkevvideo]

Showcase of Drow Items

Way back when in 2016, I did up an equivalent build for the mithral shirt that Bilbo Baggins was given in “The Hobbit”. At the time I had been waiting on “Throne of Night” to be completed, and thought it’d be a nice additional magic item that could added to the adventure path. Still do.

Today, for added flavour, I was going through some 3.0/3.5 3PP books that were related to the drow. Specifically, I was looking at “The Tome of Drow Lore” by Mongoose Publishing. I’d forgotten how extra violent some of the 3PP stuff could get, not to mention descriptive in their gory details, as well as attempt at erotic art, among other things. Third Party Products didn’t hold back, and a book as old as 15 years ago exemplified that.

Regardless, it was good to read up on the history of drow and noble houses, but even better than that were the equipment and magic items. Instead of writing everything up and putting it here, it was much simpler to copy/paste the tables and write up, and fiddle with Paint Shop, merging everything together.

About the only thing that has to be changed is the scabbard as the feat was renamed Quick Draw, not Fast Draw. Same premise though.

If you find it hard to read, feel free to download it. It’s all one giant picture. I tried to resize it, but that just all the writing to blur. As it is, some of it is slightly blurred already.

Felt these items were relevant, especially the armor, considering the party will be facing off against a fair number of aboleth by Book 5, and even a purple worm at some point. If the party has an armorer that feels like they haven’t been able to do anything lately, or is tired of making mithral and true mithral gear, this gives them the opportunity to switch it up a little and try something new.

Figured I’d throw in the visor and assassin’s kit for anyone that’s looking to go drow, and chances are the ring of bane is going to be dedicated solely to aberrations.

Despite the armor being 3.0/3.5, the AC bonuses are perfectly fine as they are. Even better, if there’s a druid in the party, having nothing but access to mithral and the like just isn’t fair to that class. At best, up to this point, the druid might have wood armor from level 1 or has been using leather/studded leather. This gives a decent alternative for anything looking to go full spider drow, or just isn’t allowed to wear metal armor.

Regardless of how it’s added to the game, and the motivations behind it, these are just a few more added items for treasure access and added fun, for an underground campaign originally written for dwarves and drow.

[cyberkevvideo]

Throne of Night Theory Builds Part 9: The Lady Golem

We’re getting to the part where we have no idea where these encounters take place. They’re only on Michael Clark’s Deviant Art page, and not even remotely mentioned in the last write ups by Gary. I’ll be guessing when the party would be encountering them based on their CR alone, as well as basic story premise.

Given that a mithral golem is CR 16, and everything after Book 4 has to do with the aboleth and other aberrations, I’m going to assume that this takes place during Book 4. It’d make sense considering its drowish design, and the fact that the party would be going into a drow capital city during that time.

Due to the very specific design of the mithral golem, it’d make sense that the golem is both a female and sentient. This is also a very delicate design mechanically as mithral golems are already hard hitting, and do a decent amount of damage. So for Gary to commission the picture to be one of a golem with SIX arms? The CR doesn’t allow for that. He might have gotten better at it over time, but his multi-armed daemon in Way of the Wicked was vastly stronger than any CR of that level. Design is tricky thing. I’m only decent at it because of the classes I took from Sean Reynolds a few years ago. If I hadn’t, I might have not known about the specific balance that each monster needs at their CR (with the exception of dragons for some reason).

For space reasons, cropping the encounter build.

All images shared here were done by the forever fantastic and amazingly talented Michael D. Clarke, aka SpiralMagus.

EDIT: Everything is cleaned up and made pretty.

To keep the CR as it is and not have it grow exponentially in power, I had her drop a size and dropped each of the slams to the appropriate amount for its size. Granted, with its sentience, it can do extra damage anyhow with feats. It still doesn’t have much in the way of hit points, but the Toughness feat and the moderate AC, as well as its special ability to repair itself, definitely helps. I added some racial spell-like abilities despite debating on it. They’re more just fun flavour than anything else. Certainly doesn’t adjust the CR. Makes the golem seem more drow-like.

Honestly, with the exception of the feats, this went much easier than I expected. When I was coming up with her name, I also came up with a small backstory for her as well.

The drow is nobility, but in lower standing. A lady-in-waiting for higher nobility. I debated on whether her being in the golem body was a punishment for jealously trying to kill the noble, or a reward for saving a noble, or even being someone who feared death and instead of becoming an undead decided to preserve her mind in this contraption. Regardless of the route you go, it made even more sense that the golem would be large instead of huge. The doors to each building are only going to be so big, and a huge golem isn’t very convenient.

I gave her the lifespark construct template, which surprisingly, doesn’t have a CR adjustment. Probably due to the lack of healing capability and the fact that your ability to ignore mind-affecting effects and necromancy is essentially garbage. Her alignment is only CN because as a see on the android and other “constructed” races and such, emotion and morality isn’t really a thing that machines know. I figured she’s still getting used to her new body. Not quite an unholy terror.

I now present the former Baroness. Her name means “lightning spider, people of adamantite.”

FORMER LADY-IN-WAITING BARONESS ALAUNSTRA OF KILSEK  (CR 16; 76,800 XP) Female unique young lifespark mithral golem CN Large construct Init +9; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +7 DEFENSE AC 33, touch 19, flat-footed 23 (+9 Dex, +1 dodge, +14 natural, –1 size) hp 186 (24d10+54) Fort +8, Ref +17, Will +12; –2 vs. mind-affecting effects Defensive Abilities evasion; DR 15/adamantine; Immune construct traits, magic Weaknesses healing immunity OFFENSE Speed 50 ft. Melee 6 slams +32 (1d6+9) Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. Special Attacks fluid form, quickness Spell-Like Abilities (CL 20th; concentration +20)   1/day—dancing lights, darkness, faerie fire STATISTICS Str 29, Dex 29, Con —, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 10 Base Atk +24; CMB +34; CMD 54 Feats Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Critical Focus, DodgeB, Improved Iron Will, Iron Will, Lightning Stance, MobilityB, Persuasive, Power Attack, RunB, Spring AttackB, Staggering Critical, Step Up, Toughness, Wind Stance Skills Craft (sculpture) +25, Diplomacy +10, Intimidate +3, Knowledge (arcana) +6, Knowledge (history) +10, Knowledge (local) +11, Knowledge (nobility) +11, Perception +7, Stealth +5 Languages Elven, Undercommon SQ accelerated repair, open mind, spirit within SPECIAL ABILITIES Accelerated Repair (Ex) As a full round action, a lifespark construct can heal damage to itself by jerry-rigging itself. The lifespark construct attempts an appropriate Craft skill check vs. DC 15 (ie. 10 less than the DC to create the construct). With a successful roll, the lifespark construct heals itself of 1d4 hit points of damage per number rolled above the DC. Accelerated repair provokes attacks of opportunity. If it wishes, a lifespark construct can make a standard effort to repair itself (see Repairing Constructs) but without the standard repair cost. This repair takes 1 day of constant work. Fluid Form (Ex) A mithral golem’s body can take on a form like liquid silver as a swift action. While in this form, the mithral golem’s reach increases to 30 feet and its DR becomes 15/bludgeoning and adamantine. A mithral golem in this form can also move through any crack or hole in a wall or door, no matter how small, without impeding its movement. A mithral golem can maintain this form for up to 10 rounds per day, but these rounds do not need to be consecutive. Reverting to its normal form is a free action. Healing Immunity (Ex) A lifespark construct cannot be affected by spells with the healing descriptor unless the spell specifically states it can affect constructs. Immunity to Magic (Ex) A mithral golem is immune to any spell or spell-like ability that allows spell resistance. In addition, certain spells and effects function differently against a mithral golem, as noted below.   --A slow spell cast on the golem causes it to lose its quickness ability for 1d6 rounds.   --A haste spell heals the golem of 1d6 points of damage per level of the caster (maximum 10d6).   --Hitting a mithral golem in fluid form with any spell of 6th level or higher with the cold descriptor causes the golem to take 10d6 points of damage (no save) and lose the use of its fluid form ability for 24 hours. Quickness (Ex) A mithral golem is incredibly quick. It can take an extra move action during its turn each round. This means it can move up to double its speed and still make a full attack. Open Mind (Ex) Unlike normal constructs, the lifespark construct is not immune to mind-affecting effects. In fact, perhaps because of its past need for commands, its mind is especially vulnerable to magical compulsion. A lifespark construct takes a –2 penalty on saving throws against mind-affecting effects. Spirit Within (Ex) Though the lifespark construct is not a living creature, a “spirit” still resides within it. Unlike most constructs, the lifespark construct is not immune to all necromantic effects. Certain spells that rely on the existence of a creature’s soul (not “life force”)—namely astral projection, clone, magic jar,and soul bind—can affect lifespark constructs. No other necromantic effects affect lifespark constructs, and they are still immune to death effects. Though they cannot be raised or resurrected, lifespark constructs can be reincarnated as described by the reincarnate spell. Lifespark golems are still immune to magic as described in their entries.

[cyberkevvideo]

Throne of Night Theory Builds Part 8: The End Boss of Book 6 (and Final Campaign Boss)

Haven’t determined if this is my final entry or not, but it’s definitely gotten to the point where I’m not sure where to go from here. I’ve already done a lot entries regarding the adventure path based on pics we’d seen on other sites, and most of them wouldn’t even have to be adjusted because they’re fine as-is. I’ll be playing it by ear though.

By this point in the adventure path, the party should be level 18-19 (or even level 20) and ready for the final showdown. In Way of the Wicked, they had a final encounter that bordered between CR 25 and CR 27, depending on whether you stagnated the fight and had each boss come one after the other, or if you teamed them up and had them fight the party all at once. This was really determined by how well or poorly they did over the course of Book 6. As well, it was assumed that the party had a literal army under them plus having Leadership to gain 2-4 cohorts, giving them a party of 8-10, not just a party of four. Given the summary, I didn’t see that being the case here. The more likely outcome was a single final boss that the party would be fighting by themselves (a party of 4 dwarves plus one NPC cohort).

Originally, I was saying that the final boss would probably be just a standard starspawn of Cthulhu with the fighter template and possibly a few other templates, plus advanced HD. Since that time, I have actually sat down and honestly contemplated it. I jumped back and forth between whether it would be a lower CR creature or if it’d be so monstrous it’d be nearly impossible to defeat. I finally resolved myself to a final outcome when I finally had an epiphany. Thankfully someone else had already considered the idea and did the work for me, although it’s different than what I was originally going to do.

For space reasons, cropping the encounter build.

Again, all images shared here were done by the forever fantastic and amazingly talented Michael D. Clarke, aka SpiralMagus. 

In Gary’s update regarding the final boss, he wrote: “And finally the ultimate enemy is discovered – a horror from another world intent on making this world its own. Even the aboleth were only pawns of this transdimensional terror. How can anyone hope to oppose this mighty creature?“

When I saw the picture, I knew exactly what it was. How does anyone who games not know, or at least heard of, Cthulhu? It seemed like a rather fitting final boss considering books 5 and 6 were almost exclusively aberrations. I’m still not entirely sure how the daemons and proteans fit into this story, but that’s all but irrelevant at the moment.

As written, the creature wouldn’t be much of a threat for level 19 characters, but if you were fight a CR 25 mythic version, that’d be a very different story. Originally I was thinking of just adding the Agile, Divine, and Invulnerable Simple Mythic templates, the Advanced template, and just advancing HD until it got to the proper CR. Figured CR 25 or 26 would be perfect. A little bit of work, but I was willing to put in the elbow grease. Then I randomly came across it during a Google search. Legendary Games released this version of the star spawn in their OGL Mythic Monsters Mythos Too. The build was released online for free too. Even better. Overall, it was pretty much everything I needed it to be. Just needed a tiny bit of tweaking for me to be completely satisfied with it.

CXUMBR'ITHOSS, SPAWN OF CTAARRU Mythic Star Spawn

In addition to what’s written in the link above, these are my minor changes to make it a true CR 25:

Regeneration only works once per round, at the beginning of the creature’s turn, regardless of the number of turns a creature has. This is on Paizo who didn’t properly explain how the ability works.

So because of that, this star spawn is slightly lacking in hit points. No problem though. Just add: +1 HD and make it 26 HD instead. This gives the mythic star spawn +18 hp, +1 BAB, +1 Will, +1 caster level for divine spells, and 11 skill ranks. It only has 11 skills so just put 1 rank into them all. That’ll be more than enough considering its DR and regeneration, as well as high AC being 46 instead of the standard 43 that a CR 25 would normally get. The BAB and Will increase now makes it closer to a the CR as well. Having the divine power spell will help immensely as well. Finally, with an even number of HD, a lot of the DC 32 abilities will now be 33.

For divine spells, switch out barkskin and word of chaos. Doesn’t help that the math seems that it’s actually 53 spell levels and not 50. I could be miscalculating that. I’d hope they’re right. I’d hope that you wouldn’t need to get rid of three spell levels. Still, if you’re fighting drow, the latter spell doesn’t do anything for you, and not every dwarf is going to be lawful. Not to mention they’ll have a decent number of bonuses vs. spells and spell-likes. However, both parties are more likely to be wearing some metal armor. Instead of the above spells, give the mythic star spawn freedom of movement and rusting grasp. If I am correct, and you do need to get rid of one of the 4th level spells, keep one or the other based on what your players are wearing, but give the creature bless, divine favor, or heightened awareness. This choice is based on how difficult the party is to hit, how much they use Intimidate to demoralize, or how stealthy they are (and can fool blindsight).

For treasure, a CR 25 gets 185k worth of gear. In the Seeker of Secrets book, it’s said that a creature can absorb ioun stones. The process isn’t OGL, but there’s nothing saying a creature that can use miracle once per day couldn’t have figured out how to do the same thing. Maybe that’s why he’s got so many glowing veins.

For its gear, I would give this creature the following: amulet of mighty fists +1, cloak of resistance +2, embedded ioun stones (clear spindle, dark blue rhomboid, deep red sphere, pale blue rhomboid, pale green prism), torc of truespeech, and wand of protection from energy (14 charges). The torc is super important as you’re going to want the star spawn to interact with the party before they get down to business. The wand would almost always be used on fire protection so it could continue to use its regeneration for a while longer. In addition, because it has miracle, I’d give the star spawn the equivalent of manual of quickness of action +1, and tome of understanding +1. Due to the star spawn having access to miracle once per day, there’s really nothing stopping you from continuing and giving it +1 inherent bonus to all of its stats. Only its intelligence would really be affected, honestly, as tome of clear thought +1, giving it so many skill ranks. The star spawn has a few racial skills without any ranks in them. Maybe max out Acrobatics or split it with Acrobatics, Escape Artist, and Survival. While it would give a massive increase in “wealth” for the creature (the equivalent of 27,500 gold for each stat increase), it doesn’t actually gain any benefit for having odd numbers in Str, Con, and Cha, so technically there’s no reason to increase the CR even if you did do that.

Finally, just for fun, change its languages to be Aboleth, Abyssal, Aklo, Elder Thing, Infernal, Terran, and Undercommon.

As for tactics, there’s not really much to say other than cast divine power, righteous might, and owl’s wisdom as soon as possible. If you’re using my spell swap suggestions, freedom of movement would be another spell it would cast asap, and rusting grasp on the closest, most heavily armored individual. When he’s looking rough, cast miracle to have it gain an empowered heal spell. That’s 225 points of healing on just one of its turns. Other than that, it will use Power Attack and lay waste to any many targets as it can reach. Assume that given its one ability, that there’s a large body of water nearby. A tsunami would be a terrible thing for character that might not have water breathing going at the moment.

By no means will this be an easy fight, but if all has gone well, the PCs will not be alone and it won’t just be the four of them plus Knivy Ivy. If it is, expect a long slog of a battle. Lots of buffing and hopefully lots of damage can be dealt by them.

If the math is right, the final boss will be AC 48, touch 11, flat-footed 45; hp 535; regen 15 (fire), saves of 23/14/29, and DC 33 on most special abilities.

EDIT: Essentially, it should look like this. I actually did put it together, and, oh boy, is it crazy. I can see GMs ignoring that build completely and doing their own thing (or doing my second suggestion below), using as-is (and that’s perfectly fine), or throwing it at their players without hesitation. No matter the choice, it should hopefully be an epic conclusion.

If this is absolutely way too overwhelming a fight for your party, a standard star spawn with the Simple Cleric Class Template and a couple of fighter levels, might be the ticket instead, for the same CR 25.

---------------

Definitely have to say that I’m glad this build was out, and I could make use of it. Saved me a lot of work. Hopefully you can make use of it as well, and challenge your players.

I might do an entry regarding what other encounters there are, but for now this is the final encounter, the adventure is over, and your party’s kingdom is currently safe from any known major threat. At 20th level, very few things can threaten or intimidate them.

---------------

If you like what I do, whether it’s monster conversions, adventure path add-ons, or race builds, I have a Ko-Fi page (linked) for those who would like to support me monetarily. There is no pressure or obligation to do so. A like and/or a share would also be appreciated just as much. It lets people know I exist out there.

[cyberkevvideo]

Throne of Night Theory Builds Part 7: The Masters of the Deep of Book 5

Didn’t know if I’d be continuing this series of theory builds, but finally had a sudden spark of inspiration regarding how you’d make the final picture of Book 5 a viable encounter for a party of 15th level characters.

While i admit I was expecting something more than aberrations being the final boss, it does kind of make some sense that they’d be pulling some strings. Especially aboleth. They can never have too many slaves. That said, they’re only a CR 7. That’s not exactly going to be a threat to a level 15 PC, let alone four of them (or more, depending on the storyline you’re running). And given the designs we’re seeing, there’s no way that any of the creatures we see are a  veiled master. No, it couldn’t possibly that easy. Doesn’t help that they’re not OGL either, so it does make sense that it’s not them. But, I did discover a way to make them at least a moderate threat.

For space reasons, cropping the encounter build.

Again, all images shared here were done by the forever fantastic and amazingly talented Michael D. Clarke, aka SpiralMagus.

EDIT: Cleaned up the build and made it look prettier.

Book 5 discusses how the party learns that there’s something far worse than just a war with a drow army, or dealing with corrupted dwarves. People and caravans are going missing, and strange aberrant creatures are being spotted by nearby watering holes. It’s up to the party to investigate what’s going on, and travel the sunless sea.

By this time in Book 5 of Way of the Wicked, the party had to face off against a CR 20 encounter. It was just one NPC, so it wasn’t much of a threat. I’ve done my own revisions for that encounter and made note of it in my Way of the Wicked category, but I’m banking on the idea that Gary likely repeated his own encounter builds. At least for the difficulty level. So if that’s the case, then the final encounter that we essentially see in the the picture is three huge aboleth underneath a boat carrying the party.

That said, that’s the last picture we see for the update. Michael has also done art for what looks like a nightwave, also CR 20, so that could also be a final encounter, or was something that was come up with to help balance out the a lack of XP before then.

I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out how to make aboleth a threat, and then I happened to talk to a buddy who had just finished running Shattered Star for his group, and everything finally made sense. Being a D&D 3.5 player, I had access to the Monster Manual, and something in the back of mine recalled that the aboleth had two versions of itself in it. Sure enough, the aboleth mage right there. It’s on the SRD as well. Combine that with me further researching aboleth in the Lords of Madness book, and I had finally figured out how one could make a viable opponent for the party.

Well, to be fair, there’s three of them in the picture. Add their combined encounter level of 20 to the fact that you’re fighting them in their element, and it’s probably a CR 21. However, if your group is particular wilful and enchantments won’t be doing much this encounter, the aboleth will quickly realize this and teleport away in some manner. They’re not going to allow themselves to slaughtered so easily. They’ll come up with a plan and try again later. The party has definitely got their attention though, and their next bout will be much different.

ABOLETH MAGE    (CR 17; 102,400 XP) Unique Advanced aboleth enchanter 10/loremaster 3 LE Huge aberration (aquatic) Init +8; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +23 Aura despair (30 ft., 12 rounds), mucus cloud (5 ft.) DEFENSE AC 31, touch 14, flat-footed 26 (+3 armor, +4 Dex, +2 deflection, +1 dodge, +13 natural, –2 size) hp 280 (21 HD; 8d8+13d6+199) Fort +15, Ref +14, Will +22 OFFENSE Speed 10 ft., swim 60 ft. Melee 4 tentacles +20 (1d6+9 plus slime) Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft. Spell-Like Abilities (CL 16th; concentration +21)   At will—hypnotic pattern (W-DC 17), illusory wall (W-DC 19), mirage arcana (W-DC 20), persistent image (DC 20), programmed image (DC 21), project image (W-DC 22), veil (W-DC 21)   3/day—dominate monster (W-DC 26) Arcane School Spell-Like Abilities (CL 12th; concentration +20)   12/day—dazing touch Enchanter Spells Prepared (CL 12th; concentration +21)   7th—empowered cone of cold (R-DC 27), heightened chain lightning (R-DC 27), mass hold person (W-DC 28), power word blind   6th—disintegrate (F-DC 25), mass suggestion (DC 27), maximized lightning bolt (R-DC 26), quickened mirror image   5th—feeblemind (W-DC 26), heightened hold monster (W-DC 26), empowered lightning bolt (R-DC 25), quickened magic missile, teleport, wall of force   4th—ball lightning (R-DC 24), confusion (W-DC 25), crushing despair (W-DC 25), dimension door, greater invisibility, maximized magic missile, moonstruck (W-DC 25)   3rd—dispel magic, displacement, heroism, hold person (W-DC 24), lightning bolt (F-DC 23), suggestion (W-DC 24), wind wall   2nd—blur, bull’s strength, eagle’s splendor, fox’s cunning, hideous laughter (W-DC 23), resist energy, touch of idiocy   1st—alarm, bungle (W-DC 22), charm person (W-DC 22), expeditious retreat, glitterdust (W-DC 20), magic missile (2), shield   0 (at will)—arcane mark, daze (W-DC 21), mage hand, resistance Opposition Schools divination, necromancy TACTICS Before Combat If the aboleth mage is aware of intruders, it casts blur, bull’s strength, eagle’s splendor, resistance, and heroism. Once it knows what type of creature it’s facing, it considers resist energy and greater invisibility. During Combat An aboleth mage always tries to subdue prey first, as they are always in the market for more slaves. On the first round, the aboleth mage activates its aura of despair then uses a quickened dominate monster and a mass suggestion to have everyone not give in to hostility and jump in the water for a relaxing swim. Arcane spellcasters are their primary target of feeblemind. If a ranged specialist is present, the aboleth uses their quickened mirror image and shield spells. An aboleth mage will attempt to coat potential slaves in slime or have them affected by the mucus cloud. Anyone unaffected by enchantments is instead attacked with evocation spells. Morale An aboleth mage refuses to die in battle. They are aware that not all creatures are affected by mind control, and will teleport away for a time once they are below half their hp. They will carefully think about they will proceed going forward. The stronger the creature, the higher quality of slave. STATISTICS Str 28, Dex 18, Con 28, Int 28, Wis 20, Cha 20 Base Atk +12; CMB +23; CMD 40 (can’t be tripped) Feats Empower SpellB, Eschew Materials, Greater Spell Focus (enchantment), Heightened SpellB, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Quicken SpellB, Quicken Spell-Like Ability (dominate monster), Scribe ScrollB, Skill Focus (Knowledge [dungeoneering]), Spell Focus (enchantment), Spell Focus (evocation), Weapon Focus (tentacle) Skills Acrobatics +27, Appraise +13, Bluff +19, Diplomacy +17, Heal +25, Intimidate +22, Knowledge (arcana) +24, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +24, Knowledge (geography) +24, Knowledge (history) +24, Knowledge (local) +24, Knowledge (nature) +24, Knowledge (planes) +24, Linguistics +22, Perception +23, Sense Motive +19, Spellcraft +24, Stealth +13, Survival +12, Swim +28, Use Magic Device +16; Racial Modifiers +8 Swim Languages Aboleth, Abyssal, Aklo, Aquan, Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Ignan, Infernal, Protean, Terran, Undercommon, plus 7 languages SQ arcane bond (amulet), enchanting smile +4, lore +1, secret (dodge trick, knowledge of avoidance) Gear amulet of proof against detection and location (bonded item), bracers of armor +3, headband of vast intellect +2 (Heal), ring of protection +2, rod of metamagic (extend), “Tome of the Deep Masters” spellbook SPECIAL ABILITIES Mucus Cloud (Ex) While underwater, an aboleth exudes a cloud of transparent slime. All creatures adjacent to an aboleth must succeed on a DC 23 Fortitude save each round or lose the ability to breathe air (but gain the ability to breathe water) for 3 hours. Renewed contact with an aboleth’s mucus cloud and failing another save extends the effect for another 3 hours. The save DC is Constitution-based. Slime (Ex) A creature hit by an aboleth’s tentacle must succeed on a DC 23 Fortitude save or his skin and flesh transform into a clear, slimy membrane over the course of 1d4 rounds. The creature’s new “flesh” is soft and tender, reducing its Constitution score by 4 as long as it persists. If the creature’s flesh isn’t kept moist, it dries quickly and the victim takes 1d12 points of damage every 10 minutes. Remove disease and similar effects can restore an afflicted creature to normal, but immunity to disease offers no protection from this attack. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Tome of the Deep Masters Protections Average lock with arcane lock (DC 35), symbol of laughter on the first page of the book (Will DC 25), symbol of stunning on the last page of the book (Will DC 28), and the 5th- and 6th-level spells are hidden with secret page. The special word is “succumb” in Aboleth. The book and pages are made of leather and completely waterproof. Spells contained within are all prepared spells plus: all Core cantrips; 1st—erase, identify, mage armor, memory lapse, protection from good, unseen servant; 2nd—arcane lock, bear’s endurance, cat’s grace, darkness, knock, magic mouth; 3rd—nondetection, protection from energy, secret page; 4th—black tentacles, dimensional anchor, resilient sphere, stone shape, symbol of laughter; 5th—cone of cold, dominate person, dismissal, fabricate; 6th—geas/quest, greater dispel magic; 7th—symbol of stunning

-------------------------------------------------

If what’s on the update page is correct, then that should complete Book 5.

These are my own designs for how I think things might go, and can be changed or ignored entirely. It was just something I wanted to do for myself. The itch has once again been scratched for the time being.