Discover Top Posts Tagged with #gorynych

Mortal Combat* With the Three-Headed Serpent by Boris Zvorykin, circa 1916.

(* Every time I read this I hear "Finish him!" in my head.)

The dragon's name is supposedly Gorynych, a zmei (a type of Slavic dragon), but I'm pretty sure we all now who it's REALLY supposed to be (the three crowns are a dead giveaway).

#Mortal Combat With the Three-Headed Serpent #zmei #dragon #Gorynych #bogatyr #Slavic fairy tales #Boris Zvorykin #painting #illustration #King Ghidorah

Demon, Bune

Image © Zhengyi Wang, accessed at their ArtStation here

[Something I loved about the way D&D presented the lower planes was all of the scheming and backstabbing going on, which totally has no parallels in how real world authoritarian regimes operate. The Pandaemonic Parliament is similar: its members are all working towards the same overall goal of increasing the corruption of the universe, but that doesn't mean they all like each other or tell each other everything. Souls maintaining their memories and personalities past death has come up in multiple Pathfinder APs (Jade Regent and Hell's Rebels are just the ones I've run!), and so giving the secrets of that to one of the Parliament members seemed like a good plot hook to drive stories and seed conflict within the Parliament. And with his ability to "maketh the dead change their place, and devils to assemble on the sepulchers of the dead", Bune seemed like a good candidate.

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Demon, Bune CR 19 CE Outsider (extraplanar) This three headed dragon has red scales, membranous wings and four clawed feet that splay and have too many toes. Each head has slightly different features—one is vaguely human, one vaguely avian, and one vaguely canine, but all have crooked yellow tusks and blue tongues. Three ribbon-like tails whip around it.

In life, the demon Bune was a mighty and cruel gorynych. Bune coveted knowledge as much as treasure and maidens, and was obsessed with achieving immortality without having to deny himself the pleasures of the flesh that undeath would take away. Bune succeeded, after a fashion—although he was slain by adventurers to put an end to his many atrocities, Bune was reborn in the Abyss as a demon, with his draconic body, memories and personality intact. Bune now promises mortals the same ability to transcend death and be reborn as a demon. The rituals are costly in time, money and soul sacrifices, and Bune reserves the inner mysteries only to those who impress him. Most supplicants fail to meet his exacting standards, and are toyed with and strung along with partial rituals and promises before being transformed into undead slaves.

Bune is charming and eager to talk, and uses his abilities of illusion and shapeshifting to get foes to drop their guard before he strikes. He prefers to resume his natural form in order to battle, as the shapes he can take are hardly as powerful as a three headed dragon. Bune can breathe black limned flames that damage even those immune to fire, and charm and confuse even undead creatures. Bune remembers his first death and seeks to avoid another one—he typically uses greater teleport to flee when reduced below half hit points.

With his interests in the pursuit of knowledge, necromantic ritual and hedonism, Bune has common interests with the three major demon lords of undeath: Kabriri, Orcus and Zura. He has acted as an ambassador between the three demon lords, welcome in all of their courts and able to act as a courier to deliver news and demands between the three. Bune has remained studiously neutral in conflicts between the three, and has been rewarded for his efforts by being chosen for the Pandaemonic Parliament. Bune’s knowledge of the secrets that allow mortals to maintain their personalities as fiends is a highly prized commodity, but Bune has so far held it close to his chest. Asmodeus has considering simply torturing Bune’s methods out of him, but the combined ire of Kabriri, Orcus and Zura could be enough to threaten collapsing the whole Parliament project. Thus, he has refrained for the time being.

Bune CR 19 XP 204,800 Variant advanced whiedreath CE Huge outsider (chaos, demon, evil, extraplanar) Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +22, true seeing Defense AC 33, touch 15, flat-footed 26 (-2 size, +6 Dex, +1 dodge, +18 natural) hp 324 (24d10+192) Fort +17, Ref +22, Will +20 DR 15/lawful and cold iron; Immune electricity, poison; Resist acid 10, cold 10, fire 10; SR 30 Defensive Abilities greater iron will, negative energy affinity Offense Speed 40 ft., climb 20 ft., swim 50 ft., fly 100 ft. (average) Melee 3 bites +31 (2d8+9/19-20), 2 claws +31 (1d8+9 plus trip), 2 wings +29 (1d8+4) Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft. Special Attacks breath weapon (40 ft. cone, 7d6 fire and typelesss, Ref DC 30 half, 1d4 rounds), grave secrets, rend (2 bites, 2d8+13), swift concentration Spell-Like Abilities CL 19th, concentration +25 (+29 casting defensively) Constant—true seeing At will—animate dead, charm monster (DC 20), greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs only), inflict moderate wounds (DC 18), major image (DC 19), speak with dead (DC 19) 3/day—bestow curse (DC 20), call spirit (DC 21), create undead, quickened confusion (DC 21), greater dispel magic, quickened magic circle vs. good (DC 20), unholy blight (DC 21) 1/day—create greater undead, glibness, greater command (DC 21), mind fog (DC 21), mirage arcana (DC 21), mislead (DC 22), retrocognition Statistics Str 29, Dex 22, Con 27, Int 19, Wis 18, Cha 22 Base Atk +24; CMB +35; CMD 42 (46 vs. trip) Feats Combat Casting, Combat Reflexes, Deceitful, Dodge, Flyby Attack, Improved Critical (bite), Improved Iron Will (B), Iron Will (B), Lightning Reflexes, Multiattack, Power Attack, Quicken SLA (confusion, magic circle vs. good), Stand Still Skills Acrobatics +21, Bluff +28, Climb +27, Diplomacy +24, Disguise +28, Fly +22, Intimidate +24, Knowledge (arcana) +19, Knowledge (planes, religion) +22, Perception +22, Sense Motive +22, Spellcraft +19, Stealth +21, Swim +27, Use Magic Device +21 Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Draconic, Necril, telepathy 100 ft. SQ change shape (magical beast or humanoid, greater polymorph), false aura, multiheaded Ecology Environment any land or aquatic (Abyss) Organization unique Treasure double standard Special Abilities Breath Weapon (Su) Each of Bune’s heads has its own separate breath weapon. When Bune uses his breath weapon, he can breathe with one, two, or all three heads. If the areas of two or more breath weapons overlap, a creature caught in that overlapping area takes a –2 penalty on its Reflex save (or –4 if three breath weapons overlap). Damage done by overlapping breath weapons stacks and is considered to be a single source of fire damage for the purpose of tracking fire resistance. Half of the damage dealt by Bune’s breath weapons is fire damage and half is typeless damage, similar to a flame strike spell. Regardless of how many heads breathe fire, Bune can only use his breath weapon once every 1d4 rounds. False Aura (Su) A whiedreath can change its alignment aura as it desires for the purposes of detect evil spells and other similar magic. A successful DC 28 Will save made by a creature using one of these spells allows that creature to see Bune’s true aura (overwhelming evil). The save DC is Charisma based. Grave Secrets (Ex) Bune can affect undead creatures with his mind-influencing abilities. Greater Iron Will (Ex) A whiedreath gains Iron Will and Improved Iron Will as bonus feats. It may use the reroll granted by its Improved Iron Will feat a number of times per day equal to its Wisdom modifier (4 times for Bune). Multi-Headed (Ex) All three of Bune’s heads can act independently of each other. When he makes a full attack, each head can either bite or use its breath weapon, in any combination (two bites and one breath, three breaths and no bites, and so on). Swift Concentration (Ex) Bune can concentrate on a spell as a swift action once per round.