#tar-baphon

[monstersdownthepath]

Do you think a plant could work as a Kaiju? I was considering having a Kaiju/nature or disaster cult dedicated to some mysterious bloom or oasis/garden in a desert region, at the time I thought PF1e had one already but I mistook it for the ooze on lol, I had felt that the twist would be finding out the mysterious blossom or utopian garden they worshiped and was trying to convert others was actually an awakening kaiju. When I noticed there wasn't already an existing one I wondered if there might be a reason why? What about a fungus?

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Do I think a Plant monster could work as a Kaiju? Well, let's ask our buddies over at Toho Studios what they think!

ah my sweet daughter

Fun fact: Godzilla vs Biollante was my first ever introduction to Godzilla films!

So I suppose the short answer to this question is "I have no idea." Biollante is a famous enough opponent--despite only appearing in one actual movie--that she appears in multiple video games, stories, and comic books, and yet she has no analogue in Pathfinder. We have a Mothra, a Rodan, Ghidora, a Hedorah, and even a Mechagodzilla (who, disappointingly, we have neither stats nor art for), but no Biollante! ... or Destoroyah for that matter.

I'm not entirely sure why Paizo left it out, aside perhaps from just not having enough room to make one in the books we've seen so far. I think a Plant Kaiju would make for a good bandage for losing the Mu Spore in the divorce, and a fungal Kaiju would be an excellent critter to introduce to the ecosystem. Perhaps it rises from the Tanglebriar after the events of Spore Wars...?

WAIT

STOP THE PRESSES

I WROTE THAT ENTIRE THING BEFORE SPOTTING THIS LINK! There IS a Plant Kaiju! Sadly, however, even after checking in the Tian Xia World Guide, it seems that this small wiki entry is the only information we have about it. We don't even get to see it! It's also fully mobile at all hours, so perhaps not the best for your particular needs.

[papugaka]

Malyas, the youngest and most-trusted of Tar-Baphon's officers, the only one he could trust with his phylactery

when Tar-Baphon allowed him to taste his blood, Malyas was delighted and terrified by such a gift and the honor bestowed upon him

[murthingsblog]

I'm disappointed in you

Yes. THAT trend and Tar-Baphon

[onehobgoblin]

Okay, head cannon time:

Does anyone know if the whispering tyrant did something big after failing to take over Absalom the last time?

Because if not I have a theory: Aroden was his biggest enemy and he fucking died while the lich was sealed away. Imagine getting to the city with a brand new undead army, ready to kill your nemesis just to discover that someone else already did it.

If he didn't make anything big after this is because the lich is fuckin depressed, megamind style, after losing his enemy.

Imagine Iomedae approaching him and calling him for a fight and the Whispering Tyrant being like "IT'S NOT THE SAME THING!"

[monstersdownthepath]

I hope your having a peaceful, restful, and fulfilling break.

Something that can be answered when you return would dragons pursue graveknightdom rather then becoming raveners or would they see the various trappings of a graveknight the armor and mount to name a couple to be redundant and the undead equivalent of putting a hat on a hat as it were?

Was thinking of using one as a recurring antagonist, then got hung up on the age category because to old and big and your basically going full "deathwing" but even with a younger large size undead dragon its still hard justifying what sort of mount would "fit" and not seem silly outside of when they could cosplay as a humanoid I guess.

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If you're going to have a Graveknight Dragon, you may as well have your players get all their Deathwing jokes out of the way at the very start, because a Graveknight is all about its armor. And, admittedly, having your armor directly nailed to your body in a horrific attempt to remove your own vulnerabilities? Really damn cool. And it makes for an absolutely grotesque visual if your hypothetical dragon comes back to life, flesh pouring from between the folds of the armor, rebuilding itself around the spikes that held it in place... it's kind of like if an insect could regenerate inside of its own exoskeleton.

What I'm saying is: Keep the armor. The only thing that needs to change is the mount ability.

As you say, having the mount only work if the dragon in human form is a passable solution, but I propose something different: your Graveknight Dragon does not summon a mount, it summons a rider. Some soul the dragon has bound to itself, such as a powerful archer or a proficient spellcaster, or perhaps a fiendish minion it's gotten from a patron or otherwise bound to its will (such as a devil forced to obey it via contract). This also makes for a fun twist for the party, believing they've beaten the boss by slaying the badass warrior that was riding an undead dragon into battle... only to find out that they've essentially just killed an appendage of the REAL boss, who can just summon them again an hour later (or a day, given how powerful this ability would be!).

As for age category, I can't really help there without knowing the actual campaign you're going through. Just pick whatever age category lands it in the CR range of the adventure, and remember that the Graveknight template adds +2, and the phantom rider (if you end up using it) would bolster it even more.

[monstersdownthepath]

What CR would you estimate for an Ilwhoki Legion? I've been tentatively debuting them in a campaign I'm running. Adventurers were supposed to drop off this noblewoman from a disgraced house turned nun at this monastery that was assimilated by them. They spent roughly three sessions trying to figure out what was going on there lol. This is the party's return trip after... begrudgingly withdrawing the first time and I was considering have the "abbotess" of the monastery being a Legion but while I would want an encounter with one to be authentic if its way out of their weight class I can go with something else.

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The critter in question

It makes me happy to know they're getting used! Looking over their sheet again, though, has made me nerf them: their Lashing Limbs now only allows them an extra tentacle attack if they didn't full attack that round.

As for the actual question here, I recommend actually watching the animated Parasyte: The Maxim anime or reading through the manga to get an idea of exactly what a Legion is capable of. They're way above a normal member of their kind--imagine if the T-1000 was also as fast as a speeding car.

I don't have a statblock for a Legion solidly in my mind, but I'd put them in the CR 14-16 range depending on how many individual critters are actually in the Legion, as each parasite contributes three tentacle attacks. I'd also allow their Rapid Rappel to be used as a swift action, give them both Damage Reduction/Magic and Fast Healing, and give them a new weakness: Contaminant Panic, a vulnerability that staggers them each time they fail a saving throw against a disease or poison as the individual parasites react in different ways to the hazard. This gives players the potential to overcome such a powerful enemy by taking advantage of a tactic players won't often use.

[murthingsblog]

I love Aroden. No, really

I came to this through all five stages of acceptance.

Yeah, I started out with "fuck Aroden" for many of the decisions he made and the things he did (or didn't) do

And then I stumbled upon Tyrant's Grasp, Arazni's story in Arcadia, and... I thought harder than I probably should have.

I don't like to think of the god of humanity as a selfish jerk. But I do like to think of the god of humanity as... A man. You know, humans. At their best and at their worst. Aroden made feats as much as he made mistakes. His mistakes were extensions of his feats, and his feats were extensions of his mistakes.

He wasn't perfect.

I like to think of him as a hero in a Greek tragedy - a man who makes decisions he thinks are right, but which lead to disastrous results. Because he doesn't know what the audience knows.

And the other layer of Aroden is that I like to think of him as a man. A terribly lonely man who, by virtue of his position, can't get close enough to anyone to tell them everything that's on his mind. Hell, he's a mortal who lived an incredibly long life even before he became a god. Who probably wanted to be loved. But for whom the only way to feel love was through worship.

Who wanted to be a hero, a defender of humanity, but then watched as his great victories turned into even greater losses. The Age of Glory, the Golden Age of humanity - the age of utopia under the protection of the living god - was to be the greatest of them all.

And in the end. The best thing he could give humanity was his own death. After all, the gods can be destroyed. But humanity will survive.

Aroden has the potential to be a tragic hero. And between the jerk and the tragic hero, I choose the hero.

[monstersdownthepath]

Something I've pondered about for a while now but considering his status and since I've asked about Razmir already but do you think that the child god king of Mzali has a herald?

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Not traditionally. Walkena is god-like due to possessing divine blood and divine power, but he has no divine realm, no divine servants, and no power or influence outside the Material Plane. He may be descended from the Old Sun Gods, but he has not joined them.

The closest thing he has to a herald is his own high priest Zubari, the Guiding Ray, his 15th level Cleric, but any of his Inner Circle could potentially work as stand-ins for a more "active" Herald. Take a peek (from Undead Unleashed, pg. 58):