Here's a quick take on the missing 'Conan' primal path from 5e. There's an implicit sexism to Conan, which I've incorporated into the design. So go ahead and be a female Conan and rescue some prince or something. In this sense, it works pretty well as a kind of Amazon.
Stranger in a Strange Land
At 3rd level, when you adopt this path, you choose 2 bonus languages which you have picked up to survive (including abilty to read and write in those tongues). You gain a bonus language at 6th, 10th and 14th levels. Also, you are considered dangerous and strange by civilised men, gaining advantage on intimdation checks amongst them.
Cat amongst the Pigeons.
At 3rd level, when you adopt this path, you may enter a state of savage, uncaring joy when you make a Reckless Attack. After a successful hit , you may keep attacking as long as you keep hitting. Each hit after the first costs d4 hp, then 2d4 hp, then 4d4, then 8d4...(representing your lack of care for your own safety and defence). This state ignores damage resistance provided by entering a rage.
Savage Allure
Beginning at 6th level, you gain advantage on attempts to seduce or command. Civilised enemies tend want to capture you, rather than kill (probably to torture you to death).
Stirred by Beauty
Starting at 10th level, you Crit on a 19 or 20 and apply an extra damage die to said Crit. This bonus only applies whenever you are attempting to protect, rescue or aid a member of the opposite sex.
Know, oh Prince...
At 14th level, you gain advantage on any stunt like manoeuvres when you rage. The stakes of a failed stunt, must always be high (DM's discretion) to qualify for this effect.
Showing posts with label D&D. Show all posts
Showing posts with label D&D. Show all posts
Saturday, 5 November 2016
Wednesday, 24 February 2016
Fire on the Velvet Horizon, 'Ice Age Eye to Imperator Ape' IMPERATOR APE OR EAGLE APE
IMPERATOR APE or EAGLE APE
OLD SCHOOL
Armour as chain, Move 45' land, 30' brachiating , 15(+3) Hit Dice, 108 hp, fists 1d10+6, beak rend 1d8+6, Morale 12 (Fearless).
Treasure- The hide of an Imperator Ape is worth anywhere from 20,000 gp to a 100,000 gp. Roll a d10. 1-5 hide is mangled and unrecognisable. 6-7 20,000 gp. 8 40,000 gp, 9, 70,000gp 10 100,000 gp
3 attacks- fist, fist, beak
Relentless- When reduced to half HP, the Imperator enters a ferocious battle fury. If the Imperator hits with either fists or beak, it may make another attack immediately with the appendage that scored the initial hit. It may do this repeatedly until it misses. This ability lasts until death.
Unstoppable- When reduced to 0 hp, the Imperator remains in the battle if it is able to make a save vs death. It rolls as a 15th level fighter.It must make this save everytime it receives damage from this point. At -50 hp, it dies regardless.
Perfect Vision- The Imperator can see with perfect clarity over any distance.
5E
Imperator Ape - AC 16, HP 195, Spd. 45ft land, 30ft brachiating, +12, 2d8+6 fist, beak rend 1d12+6, CR 18, 20,000 xp
S+6/D+3/C+3/I 0/W 0/C-4
Multi Attack: Two fists and a beak
Relentless-same as above.
Unstoppable-at 0hp, the Imperator may stay in the battle if it succeeds with a DC-12 Constitution save. Everytime it receives damage from this point, it must make a further Constitution save. It dies regardless, upon reaching negative 100 hp.
Immune to affects that cause charm, sleep, confusion or fear effects.
Legendary Actions
Pummel-Imperator Ape makes an attack against the nearest foe with a fist. Cost- 1 action
Swipe-Imperator Ape swats a foe off the ground with a bunched fist. Make an attack against an opponent engaged in melee. On a successful hit, damage is dealt and the target must make a successful Strength save, DC 18, to avoid being knockd prone and backwards 10 feet. Cost- 2 actions
Supreme Rush-Imperator Ape charges at a foe, up to twice its movement rate away in feet. Against that foe, tt makes a beak or fist attack at advantage. Also, until its next turn, it gains damage resistance to piercing, slashing and bludgeoning attacks. Cost- 3 actions
Treasure- The hide of an Imperator Ape is worth anywhere from 20,000 gp to a 100,000 gp. Roll a d10. 1-5 hide is mangled and unrecognisable. 6-7 20,000 gp. 8 40,000 gp, 9, 70,000gp 10 100,000 gp
Immune to charm, sleep, confusion and fear effects.
Relentless- When reduced to half HP, the Imperator enters a ferocious battle fury. If the Imperator hits with either fists or beak, it may make another attack immediately with the appendage that scored the initial hit. It may do this repeatedly until it misses. This ability lasts until death.
Unstoppable- When reduced to 0 hp, the Imperator remains in the battle if it is able to make a save vs death. It rolls as a 15th level fighter.It must make this save everytime it receives damage from this point. At -50 hp, it dies regardless.
Perfect Vision- The Imperator can see with perfect clarity over any distance.
Multi Attack: Two fists and a beak
Relentless-same as above.
Unstoppable-at 0hp, the Imperator may stay in the battle if it succeeds with a DC-12 Constitution save. Everytime it receives damage from this point, it must make a further Constitution save. It dies regardless, upon reaching negative 100 hp.
Immune to affects that cause charm, sleep, confusion or fear effects.
Legendary Actions
Pummel-Imperator Ape makes an attack against the nearest foe with a fist. Cost- 1 action
Swipe-Imperator Ape swats a foe off the ground with a bunched fist. Make an attack against an opponent engaged in melee. On a successful hit, damage is dealt and the target must make a successful Strength save, DC 18, to avoid being knockd prone and backwards 10 feet. Cost- 2 actions
Supreme Rush-Imperator Ape charges at a foe, up to twice its movement rate away in feet. Against that foe, tt makes a beak or fist attack at advantage. Also, until its next turn, it gains damage resistance to piercing, slashing and bludgeoning attacks. Cost- 3 actions
Fire on the Velvet Horizon, 'Ice Age Eye to Imperator Ape' ICE AGE EYE
Ice Age Eye
OLD SCHOOL
Armour as plate, Move 40', 18 Hit Dice, HP 135 , 4d10 dam (1 Trample), Morale 11.
Treasure: . The fur of an Ice Age Eye is worth 100 GP a sack. Theoretically one Ice Age Eye has about 30 sacks worth of fur to donate. Any cloak made from such fur, will provide immunity to the worst ravages of Winter.
Immune to cold damage.
White Gaze: Save vs Magic -3 else fall asleep for d6 turns. Anyone meeting the gaze of the Ice Age Eye is subject to this effect, making the save at the beginning of their turn.
The gaze also stills heat in general. Fires reduce in intensity by one category per round. From forest fire, to housefire, to bonfire, to camp fire, to torch, to candle flame, to ember, to exstinguishment.
Could a volcano resist the Ice Age Eye? That's up to the GM.
Epochal Chains: The Ice Age Eye produces chains capable of freezing just about anything. Any object the Ice Age Eye chooses to bind, begins to freeze rapidly. This can be as small as a leaf or as large as an ocean. Six, 5 mile hexes per day may be frozen. They must be connected to the Ice Age Eye. Freezing a city might take an hour or so. The target climate shifts to arctic.
Chains can be melted with fire or will melt on their own. A large, hex scaling chain, might take up to 2 weeks to melt if subjected to fire (eg. bonfires built along its length). If struck by lightning, the chains greatly weaken. A group of four wizards or clerics, wielding magic lightning, can destroy up to a hex worth of chains per day. Upon breaking the chain between the Ice Age Eye and the bound target/hex, the climate returns to normal by the next morning.
If a chain is directed at a living being (which is rare, it freezes mainly what it loves), a save vs paralysis must be made to avoid binding. If bound, a save vs death at -4 must be made to avoid instant flash freezing and sudden death. This counts as the Ice Age Eye's attack.
5E
Ice Age Eye- AC 17, HP 270, Spd. 40ft +12, 5d10 dam (trample), XP CR 14 XP 11,500
S+6/D-2/C+4/I+1/W+2/C 0
Legendary Resistance: Ice Age Eye may choose to pass a failed save; 3/day
Immunities- Immune to cold damage.
White Gaze- DC-18 Wisdom save, else fall asleep for d6 turns. Anyone meeting the gaze of the Ice Age Eye is subject to this effect, making the save at the beginning of their turn.
Epochal Chains- As above. If a chain is directed at a living being (which is rare, it freezes mainly what it loves), a DC-15 Dexterity save, must be made to avoid binding. If bound, a DC-18 Constitution save must be made to avoid instant flash freezing and sudden death. This counts as the Ice Age Eye's attack.
OLD SCHOOL
Treasure: . The fur of an Ice Age Eye is worth 100 GP a sack. Theoretically one Ice Age Eye has about 30 sacks worth of fur to donate. Any cloak made from such fur, will provide immunity to the worst ravages of Winter.
Immune to cold damage.
White Gaze: Save vs Magic -3 else fall asleep for d6 turns. Anyone meeting the gaze of the Ice Age Eye is subject to this effect, making the save at the beginning of their turn.
The gaze also stills heat in general. Fires reduce in intensity by one category per round. From forest fire, to housefire, to bonfire, to camp fire, to torch, to candle flame, to ember, to exstinguishment.
Could a volcano resist the Ice Age Eye? That's up to the GM.
Epochal Chains: The Ice Age Eye produces chains capable of freezing just about anything. Any object the Ice Age Eye chooses to bind, begins to freeze rapidly. This can be as small as a leaf or as large as an ocean. Six, 5 mile hexes per day may be frozen. They must be connected to the Ice Age Eye. Freezing a city might take an hour or so. The target climate shifts to arctic.
Chains can be melted with fire or will melt on their own. A large, hex scaling chain, might take up to 2 weeks to melt if subjected to fire (eg. bonfires built along its length). If struck by lightning, the chains greatly weaken. A group of four wizards or clerics, wielding magic lightning, can destroy up to a hex worth of chains per day. Upon breaking the chain between the Ice Age Eye and the bound target/hex, the climate returns to normal by the next morning.
If a chain is directed at a living being (which is rare, it freezes mainly what it loves), a save vs paralysis must be made to avoid binding. If bound, a save vs death at -4 must be made to avoid instant flash freezing and sudden death. This counts as the Ice Age Eye's attack.
5E
Legendary Resistance: Ice Age Eye may choose to pass a failed save; 3/day
Immunities- Immune to cold damage.
White Gaze- DC-18 Wisdom save, else fall asleep for d6 turns. Anyone meeting the gaze of the Ice Age Eye is subject to this effect, making the save at the beginning of their turn.
Epochal Chains- As above. If a chain is directed at a living being (which is rare, it freezes mainly what it loves), a DC-15 Dexterity save, must be made to avoid binding. If bound, a DC-18 Constitution save must be made to avoid instant flash freezing and sudden death. This counts as the Ice Age Eye's attack.
Weirder Dragon Born
A busy few weeks of gigging and production has come top an end, so I'm able to go back to my D&D comfort den, perhaps with some extra insights gleaned from beating my brains a little. Or perhaps not.
At any rate, I've been playing multiple games of my LotFP/D&D 5e hybrid since last Friday, with a couple of sessions on G+/Roll 20. It's been interesting to say the least, mainly because I've had the opportunity to develop a few ideas for my OSR community/homebrew setting---ideas which I think are not boring.
One of my players wanted nothing more than to play as Dragon Born. Frankly, I was kind of horrified. At best, they felt underwritten and cartoony. At their worst, they had a lame, B movie kind of vibe. Grotesque scenes floated before my third eye, scenes from a film, probably on the Sy-Fy Channel. I saw a rubber Dragon man stinking out the inn of ignorant goode folk. Just sort of looming there, waiting for his obligatory, stiffly choreographed fight scene and possibly , probably,earning a noble death, proving that the hero played by some 80s guy, was right to trust the big, dying lizard.
I mean, maybe you actually like the sound of that, I don't know. I mean, rubber heads definitely have their place. CGI heads, I'm still deeply unsold on. So think of those if you dig rubber.
Anyway, as far as I'm concerned, they even seem a poor fit for high fantasy, unless it's the kind of high fantasy championed by the Forgotten Realms,which, personally, as a setting, seems too much like a LARP gathering in an American gym hall (and yes, I've witnessed one...a Vampire game, like the weirdest PE lesson of all time and a definitely saleable spectator sport). The idea of Renaissance Fair villages full of Midwestern peasants, I find, indescribably cack. To me, Dragon Born fit into that milieu.
There's no sense of mystery to them. No sense of what makes a Dragon special. We see reasonable cracks at this with the other races...their racial abilities go some way to describing them as a culture and a species. But to say that dragons are defined by the types of damage they deal and resist... well, could it get any more boring?
What kind of losers are Dragon Born anyway? How would you deal with the inferiority complex? By hanging around other losers of your own species? Or by stinking out inns, standing at the back of adventuring parties, contributing nothing but your breath weapon and your BIG RUBBER DRAGON HEAD?
Even so, my player was thoroughly enchanted with the concept...thus, the race had to be made acceptable to mine eyes. I succeeded, but let's check your sensibilities...
The Dragon Born
The Dragon Born, ironically enough, are not born, but created. They emerge, from suicidal devotion to ideas,desperate need to escape the tatters of life,doomed efforts to understand that which cannot be understood...and even; on occasion; from the wrong needle, dug deep into a vein, seeking an escape only the opiates of Yoon Suin can provide.
There are ten venerable dragons, shepherds of the creatures of flesh, stewarding and winnowing as they see fit. Their ultimate origin is unclear...that they are orders of magnitude more potent than mortal races is as obvious as their matter is alien. They seem to bear a kind of responsibility towards the creatures of flesh. But it is more accurately a commitment, to a terrible kind of eugenic omnicide.
Areas home to dragons, warp and twist in fashions apt to nature of the master of the land (where they live, they are always masters). Their very proximity, causes reality to bend towards a model in which the Dragon dominates and flourishes.
At some juncture, their blood appeared in stoppered vials, circulating through the arcane underground, such as it is. How this blood had been obtained, was open to conjecture.
Some say that the blood was donated by these gargantuan doom lords, with intent and carried out by their servants.
The blood of the Dragon is highly mutagenic. If one injects the blood, then a change occurs on a fundamental physical, mental and spiritual level. In short, the subject becomes Dragon Born, their identity and matter, being overwritten by the power contained within the draconic blood.
No memories exist of the former individual. If the blood is injected, a new level 1 being comes to exist. This creature is entirely new, ageless and inquisitive.
Some perceive this as apotheosis. Others as escape from a life of shame, crime, illness or grave misfortune. It is undoubtedly a kind of suicide. Even so, all that hope to receive the intravenous mutagen, tell themselves a trace of their old self will remain. But it does not. Whatever was born human, is cast away irrevocably.
And yet a visual clue persists. The Dragon Born can assume a humanoid shape for a few hours a day. The shape, the illusion, is the image of the former, abandoned identity.
They learn swiftly, the benefits of surreptitious behaviour. Their true forms are too monstrous to be acceptable. They find themselves hunted by Cube Knights and Monster Slayers, driven into wild places, far from civilisation. And yet they are attracted to the lives of mortals, their strange ways their odd achievements. They also, are tempted to feast upon them. There exists a beast in the heart of every Dragon Born, no matter how seemingly noble.
Some insinuate themselves back into society. Reptilian presences within the higher echelons of culture. They are constantly seeking, wondering, attempting to find purpose. The worst of them groom and farm sentient life so as have a ready larder of flesh. Some they say, are deep ensconced within the greatest aristocracies of the land.
Sometimes they dream and their dreams are atomic splendour. And remote.
Sometimes they receive thoughts from the one that spawned them. Sometimes they are imperatives.
Both The draconic and mortal experience, are open to them and yet they are neither. They can see through the illusions perpetuated by other Dragon Born. Sometimes they form alliances and secret societies, though they are just as often loners.
The fleeting notion that they are part of a greater whole, never leaves them. They are obsessed with transformations and indeed, many continue to seek physical metamorphosis throughout their seemingly endless lives.
The mysteries of existence never end. They see inside the inside of themselves and they are compelled to make it explicit. But it is a mirror looking into itself. There seems to be cessation of revelation.
A true and inimical Madness waits for many Dragon Born. Some say this madness leads ultimately to a strange city, all angles terminating in impenetrable Draco-Space. Finally, the oldest Dragon Born are here, building, creating something. The angles keep getting tighter. Can an angle exert something akin to gravity if it is acute enough? Acute through multiple spatial plateau?
Some scholars think so.
Every Dragon Born is saddled with a Draconic Temptation. Roll a d10. The Dragon Born has disadvantage on all Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma rolls whilst resisting the Draconic Temptation and able to satisfy it immediately.
1 Virgin Heads
2 The Fat of Children
3 The Flesh of Dogs
4 The Hearts of Lovers
5 The Skin of Saints
6 The Bones of Knights
7 The Eyes of the Holy
8 The Tongues of Fathers
9 The Blood of Mothers
10 The Unborn Whole and Crunchy
Every Dragon Born learns a Draconic Truth. They know one such Draconic Truth when they are created. They may learn a new one whenever they qualify for an attribute increase or whenever they find/persuade a Venerable Dragon to teach them.
1 Egg Rebirth: a dragon born can construct an egg from itself out of which it will be reborn. This costs 5000 xp to create the first time, doubling thereafter. It is a costly process. Invariably they emerge less human, gaining a new Draconic Temptation with each renewal.
2 See True Geometry: the Dragon Born can utilise space according to dragons. Once per day, per point of Wisdom bonus, it may Dimension Door. A DC 15 Wisdom save must be made to avoid passing into a different dimension for d6 rounds. Carcosa, say. They usually end up somewhere portentous.
3 Breather underwater/aether. Does what it says on the tin. Phlogiston would work just as well as Aether. Beware Aetherial Regrets, which are fascinated by Dragon Born. They also are now able to resist extremes of pressure.
4 Draconic Trans-mind. They can reach into a kind of Akashik Record, a draconic supra consciousness...a reptilian over soul. Roll 5 d20 and arrange in any order. These are the results of the Dragon Born's next 5 d20 rolls. Put this down to the fact that Draconic Trans-Mind knows the limits of neither time, nor space. This emanation is perhaps a side effect of the Strange City.
5 Envoy. The Dragon Born been chosen by a great dragon, to represent its interests amongst the lesser races. The Dragon Born gains advantage on persuade rolls with wise members of monstrous races (those who recognise the Envoy's crest). They become subject to random dragon missions and a gain a host of new enemies. On the other hand, whenever a monster city is entered, the Dragon Born can rely on having the capability of drawing upon one contact, a being aware of their importance.
6 Stone Sleep. Can enter a stony encased hibernation trance appearing to be a foetal statue. This takes about 10 minutes. The Dragon Born is treated exactly like a petrified individual, but remains conscious and can re-flesh with a thought. DC 10 con save required, else cannot awake for d100 years without outside help. This help, involves the Dragon Born's favourite Draconic Temptation.
7 Mutagenic Blood. The Dragon Born's blood, creates more Dragon Born if injected intravenously. The transfused individual, is immediately level 1 in a new class. About a pint is required. The old person is completely gone. The new Dragon Born is a physical clone and will be favourable towards the one that made it.
8 Hoard Strength. GPs have powerful effects upon Dragon Born when slept upon. A minimum bed of 5000 gp, is enough to constitute a hoard. Sleeping on it, will ensure the Dragon Born begins each morning inspired. Furthermore, the Dragon Born may make a DC 18 Insight check to know who was the last owner of any given GP in their collection. A DC 18 Insight check will reveal their current location. Treasure must spend at least 2 weeks within the lair of the Dragon Born to qualify for hoard status. The Dragon Born becomes trnasfixed by the notion of acquiring more wealth for its hoard.
The Dragon Born still possesses a breath weapon and a resistance. A d10 can be rolled to determine the Dragon colour of origin.
(I used the ten Venerable Dragons from Rafael Chandler's extremely fun 'Terratic Tome', as the basis for the breath weapon/resistance of my Dragon Born. You can use the normal ten if you wish. I don't really have much time for them, as written.)
Vermilion Fire, 15' cone, resistance to poison or fire
Azuline Lightning, 30' line, resistance to electricity
Porphyrous Insects, 15' cone, resistance to piercing
Chlorochrous Enchanted Cloud (force), 15'cone, resistance to force
Nacreous Sulfur (fire), cone 15', resistance to poison or fire
Flavescent Sonic Death (force) 30' line, resistance to force
Albicant Cold, 15' cone, resistance to cold
Chromatophoric Fire & brimstone (fire) 30' line, resist fire
Gamboge Spores (poison), 15' vibe, resist poison
Atrous Acid, 30' line, resist acid
Everything else, I'd keep as is. I recognise that I've certainly made the race more complex, but honestly, I think they needed that. Well...I needed that.
At any rate, I've been playing multiple games of my LotFP/D&D 5e hybrid since last Friday, with a couple of sessions on G+/Roll 20. It's been interesting to say the least, mainly because I've had the opportunity to develop a few ideas for my OSR community/homebrew setting---ideas which I think are not boring.
One of my players wanted nothing more than to play as Dragon Born. Frankly, I was kind of horrified. At best, they felt underwritten and cartoony. At their worst, they had a lame, B movie kind of vibe. Grotesque scenes floated before my third eye, scenes from a film, probably on the Sy-Fy Channel. I saw a rubber Dragon man stinking out the inn of ignorant goode folk. Just sort of looming there, waiting for his obligatory, stiffly choreographed fight scene and possibly , probably,earning a noble death, proving that the hero played by some 80s guy, was right to trust the big, dying lizard.
I mean, maybe you actually like the sound of that, I don't know. I mean, rubber heads definitely have their place. CGI heads, I'm still deeply unsold on. So think of those if you dig rubber.
Anyway, as far as I'm concerned, they even seem a poor fit for high fantasy, unless it's the kind of high fantasy championed by the Forgotten Realms,which, personally, as a setting, seems too much like a LARP gathering in an American gym hall (and yes, I've witnessed one...a Vampire game, like the weirdest PE lesson of all time and a definitely saleable spectator sport). The idea of Renaissance Fair villages full of Midwestern peasants, I find, indescribably cack. To me, Dragon Born fit into that milieu.
There's no sense of mystery to them. No sense of what makes a Dragon special. We see reasonable cracks at this with the other races...their racial abilities go some way to describing them as a culture and a species. But to say that dragons are defined by the types of damage they deal and resist... well, could it get any more boring?
What kind of losers are Dragon Born anyway? How would you deal with the inferiority complex? By hanging around other losers of your own species? Or by stinking out inns, standing at the back of adventuring parties, contributing nothing but your breath weapon and your BIG RUBBER DRAGON HEAD?
Even so, my player was thoroughly enchanted with the concept...thus, the race had to be made acceptable to mine eyes. I succeeded, but let's check your sensibilities...
The Dragon Born
The Dragon Born, ironically enough, are not born, but created. They emerge, from suicidal devotion to ideas,desperate need to escape the tatters of life,doomed efforts to understand that which cannot be understood...and even; on occasion; from the wrong needle, dug deep into a vein, seeking an escape only the opiates of Yoon Suin can provide.
There are ten venerable dragons, shepherds of the creatures of flesh, stewarding and winnowing as they see fit. Their ultimate origin is unclear...that they are orders of magnitude more potent than mortal races is as obvious as their matter is alien. They seem to bear a kind of responsibility towards the creatures of flesh. But it is more accurately a commitment, to a terrible kind of eugenic omnicide.
Areas home to dragons, warp and twist in fashions apt to nature of the master of the land (where they live, they are always masters). Their very proximity, causes reality to bend towards a model in which the Dragon dominates and flourishes.
At some juncture, their blood appeared in stoppered vials, circulating through the arcane underground, such as it is. How this blood had been obtained, was open to conjecture.
Some say that the blood was donated by these gargantuan doom lords, with intent and carried out by their servants.
The blood of the Dragon is highly mutagenic. If one injects the blood, then a change occurs on a fundamental physical, mental and spiritual level. In short, the subject becomes Dragon Born, their identity and matter, being overwritten by the power contained within the draconic blood.
No memories exist of the former individual. If the blood is injected, a new level 1 being comes to exist. This creature is entirely new, ageless and inquisitive.
Some perceive this as apotheosis. Others as escape from a life of shame, crime, illness or grave misfortune. It is undoubtedly a kind of suicide. Even so, all that hope to receive the intravenous mutagen, tell themselves a trace of their old self will remain. But it does not. Whatever was born human, is cast away irrevocably.
And yet a visual clue persists. The Dragon Born can assume a humanoid shape for a few hours a day. The shape, the illusion, is the image of the former, abandoned identity.
They learn swiftly, the benefits of surreptitious behaviour. Their true forms are too monstrous to be acceptable. They find themselves hunted by Cube Knights and Monster Slayers, driven into wild places, far from civilisation. And yet they are attracted to the lives of mortals, their strange ways their odd achievements. They also, are tempted to feast upon them. There exists a beast in the heart of every Dragon Born, no matter how seemingly noble.
Some insinuate themselves back into society. Reptilian presences within the higher echelons of culture. They are constantly seeking, wondering, attempting to find purpose. The worst of them groom and farm sentient life so as have a ready larder of flesh. Some they say, are deep ensconced within the greatest aristocracies of the land.
Sometimes they dream and their dreams are atomic splendour. And remote.
Sometimes they receive thoughts from the one that spawned them. Sometimes they are imperatives.
Both The draconic and mortal experience, are open to them and yet they are neither. They can see through the illusions perpetuated by other Dragon Born. Sometimes they form alliances and secret societies, though they are just as often loners.
The fleeting notion that they are part of a greater whole, never leaves them. They are obsessed with transformations and indeed, many continue to seek physical metamorphosis throughout their seemingly endless lives.
The mysteries of existence never end. They see inside the inside of themselves and they are compelled to make it explicit. But it is a mirror looking into itself. There seems to be cessation of revelation.
A true and inimical Madness waits for many Dragon Born. Some say this madness leads ultimately to a strange city, all angles terminating in impenetrable Draco-Space. Finally, the oldest Dragon Born are here, building, creating something. The angles keep getting tighter. Can an angle exert something akin to gravity if it is acute enough? Acute through multiple spatial plateau?
Some scholars think so.
Every Dragon Born is saddled with a Draconic Temptation. Roll a d10. The Dragon Born has disadvantage on all Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma rolls whilst resisting the Draconic Temptation and able to satisfy it immediately.
1 Virgin Heads
2 The Fat of Children
3 The Flesh of Dogs
4 The Hearts of Lovers
5 The Skin of Saints
6 The Bones of Knights
7 The Eyes of the Holy
8 The Tongues of Fathers
9 The Blood of Mothers
10 The Unborn Whole and Crunchy
Every Dragon Born learns a Draconic Truth. They know one such Draconic Truth when they are created. They may learn a new one whenever they qualify for an attribute increase or whenever they find/persuade a Venerable Dragon to teach them.
1 Egg Rebirth: a dragon born can construct an egg from itself out of which it will be reborn. This costs 5000 xp to create the first time, doubling thereafter. It is a costly process. Invariably they emerge less human, gaining a new Draconic Temptation with each renewal.
2 See True Geometry: the Dragon Born can utilise space according to dragons. Once per day, per point of Wisdom bonus, it may Dimension Door. A DC 15 Wisdom save must be made to avoid passing into a different dimension for d6 rounds. Carcosa, say. They usually end up somewhere portentous.
3 Breather underwater/aether. Does what it says on the tin. Phlogiston would work just as well as Aether. Beware Aetherial Regrets, which are fascinated by Dragon Born. They also are now able to resist extremes of pressure.
4 Draconic Trans-mind. They can reach into a kind of Akashik Record, a draconic supra consciousness...a reptilian over soul. Roll 5 d20 and arrange in any order. These are the results of the Dragon Born's next 5 d20 rolls. Put this down to the fact that Draconic Trans-Mind knows the limits of neither time, nor space. This emanation is perhaps a side effect of the Strange City.
5 Envoy. The Dragon Born been chosen by a great dragon, to represent its interests amongst the lesser races. The Dragon Born gains advantage on persuade rolls with wise members of monstrous races (those who recognise the Envoy's crest). They become subject to random dragon missions and a gain a host of new enemies. On the other hand, whenever a monster city is entered, the Dragon Born can rely on having the capability of drawing upon one contact, a being aware of their importance.
6 Stone Sleep. Can enter a stony encased hibernation trance appearing to be a foetal statue. This takes about 10 minutes. The Dragon Born is treated exactly like a petrified individual, but remains conscious and can re-flesh with a thought. DC 10 con save required, else cannot awake for d100 years without outside help. This help, involves the Dragon Born's favourite Draconic Temptation.
7 Mutagenic Blood. The Dragon Born's blood, creates more Dragon Born if injected intravenously. The transfused individual, is immediately level 1 in a new class. About a pint is required. The old person is completely gone. The new Dragon Born is a physical clone and will be favourable towards the one that made it.
8 Hoard Strength. GPs have powerful effects upon Dragon Born when slept upon. A minimum bed of 5000 gp, is enough to constitute a hoard. Sleeping on it, will ensure the Dragon Born begins each morning inspired. Furthermore, the Dragon Born may make a DC 18 Insight check to know who was the last owner of any given GP in their collection. A DC 18 Insight check will reveal their current location. Treasure must spend at least 2 weeks within the lair of the Dragon Born to qualify for hoard status. The Dragon Born becomes trnasfixed by the notion of acquiring more wealth for its hoard.
The Dragon Born still possesses a breath weapon and a resistance. A d10 can be rolled to determine the Dragon colour of origin.
(I used the ten Venerable Dragons from Rafael Chandler's extremely fun 'Terratic Tome', as the basis for the breath weapon/resistance of my Dragon Born. You can use the normal ten if you wish. I don't really have much time for them, as written.)
Vermilion Fire, 15' cone, resistance to poison or fire
Azuline Lightning, 30' line, resistance to electricity
Porphyrous Insects, 15' cone, resistance to piercing
Chlorochrous Enchanted Cloud (force), 15'cone, resistance to force
Nacreous Sulfur (fire), cone 15', resistance to poison or fire
Flavescent Sonic Death (force) 30' line, resistance to force
Albicant Cold, 15' cone, resistance to cold
Chromatophoric Fire & brimstone (fire) 30' line, resist fire
Gamboge Spores (poison), 15' vibe, resist poison
Atrous Acid, 30' line, resist acid
Everything else, I'd keep as is. I recognise that I've certainly made the race more complex, but honestly, I think they needed that. Well...I needed that.
Monday, 25 January 2016
Fire on the Velvet Horizon, 'Geisha Spore-Glyphapillar', GLYPHAPILLAR
Glyphapillar
OLD SCHOOL
Unarmoured, Move 5' 1 HD, HP1 , 0 damage, Morale 7.
Warding Gaze: Anything the Glyphapillar stares at, if it has a mind, cannot approach closer than 5'. This is theoretically close enough to be struck with a longsword or larger. However, with each Glyphapillar present, this range increases by 5'.
They appear in colonies of d100. (I came to this conclusion after noting that
A certain combination of scents, grants an individual the ability to move freely amidst the Glyphapillar's collective gaze. This may be derived from the 'Black Bark', that is, a genus of tree enjoyed by the Glyphapiullar. This is however...uncertain.
Ashkott Glyphapillar: Burning a Glyphapillar, transforms it into a Vitellary.
5E
Glyphapillar- AC 6, HP 2, Spd. 5ft +0, 0 Damage XP 10 CR 0
S-6/D-4/C 0/I-3/W 0/C-4
Warding Gaze: As above, only note that a sngle Glyphapillar may look upon a target as part of their move but, must then take an action to change targets. A single Glyphapillar has a Passive Perception of 12. This increases by 1 for each Glyphapillar present, to a maximum DC of 30.
All else as above.
Warding Gaze: Anything the Glyphapillar stares at, if it has a mind, cannot approach closer than 5'. This is theoretically close enough to be struck with a longsword or larger. However, with each Glyphapillar present, this range increases by 5'.
They appear in colonies of d100. (I came to this conclusion after noting that
Eriogaster lanestris, appeared in colonies of several hundred. Glyphapillars are maybe bigger and certainly magical, so I scaled it down a bit)
A certain combination of scents, grants an individual the ability to move freely amidst the Glyphapillar's collective gaze. This may be derived from the 'Black Bark', that is, a genus of tree enjoyed by the Glyphapiullar. This is however...uncertain.
Ashkott Glyphapillar: Burning a Glyphapillar, transforms it into a Vitellary.
Warding Gaze: As above, only note that a sngle Glyphapillar may look upon a target as part of their move but, must then take an action to change targets. A single Glyphapillar has a Passive Perception of 12. This increases by 1 for each Glyphapillar present, to a maximum DC of 30.
All else as above.
Fire on the Velvet Horizon, 'Geisha Spore-Glyphapillar', GEYSER LORD, ORACLE OF THE VENT, FUMEROLE LICH
Geyser Lord
OLD SCHOOL
Armour as plate and shield, Move 0' (though may disengage to vent lair), 30' when surrounded by water of home vent, 14 Hit Dice, HP 94 , 1d12 dam (Scalding Spray), Morale 10.
Immune to fire damage. Half damage from magical fire.
Spell Use: Geyser Lord knows spells deemed appropriate for a 14th level magic user. Some are more powerful, knowing and casting spells as an 18th level magic user.
Boiling Column : The Geyser Lord is enveloped within a poisonous, scalding, torrent of water. Anyone attacking must save vs poison or become Ill for d6+1 days. Furthermore, d12 damage is taken automatically, due to the searing heat.
Unavoidable Fate: Given the correct offerings, the Geyser Lord will set you forth upon a heroic path that may be tragic, glorious or both. Roll on the following tables. Replace with your own entries as they are used up.
When you...
1. See the unfurling of the carnellion sail
2. Taste the 'Seeing Bark'
3. Smell the crushed black poppies
4. Hear three eagles at midnight
5. Receive the gift of the spider
6. Cause the saddest one to laugh
7. Die the little death
8. Are accused of the Lord's crime.
You will...
1. Travel to the source of the great river.
2. Journey to the Temple of Three Errors.
3. Journey to the Tree of the Lonely God.
4. Find the pool where the women go to drown.
5. Seek the counsel of the reptile oracle.
6. Travel to frozen Joten Lodge.
7. Go before the cracked temple.
8. Find the crimson pastures.
Once there, you will be tasked to:
1. Marry the hideous Goblin Princess
2. Poison the paladin Regent.
3. Destroy the sad Golem called Tashok the Grinder
4. Murder the saintly children of the Duke.
5. Find the crown of delight.
6. Sack the temple of love.
7. Ruin the great artist's masterpiece.
8. Apprentice oneself to the Lonely archangel and steal his grimoire.
Upon accomplishing this, the character will achieve a dream appropriate to his/her character. This ought to be determined at the point of asking. There exists an 80% chance that the prophecy will end in the violent death of the character. This will be expressed in pelucid fashion thusly:
1. Nothing that breathes will ever halt your assent.
2. Beware the friend without blame.
3. As the Sun shines, so shall the glory be yours.
4. The bride shamed, will be your damnation.
5. There shall be no curse more terrible than love.
6. Beneath the idol with your mother's face, sorrow will find you.
7. One final ascent beyond the clouds and you are gone.
8. In your dreams, they will find you.
The prophecies always come true unless the Geyser Lord is destroyed. If any result should see the character die before his/her destiny is fulfilled, pass that death onto the most important NPC in that character's life. If there are none, it's PC time. Everybody knows that the Geyser Lord's prophecies are inevitable. It'll serve them right.
Funerole Lich
Becomes undead. Can only be hurt by +2 weapons or greater. Casts as a 20th level caster. Gains a 20' land speed.
5E
Geyser Lord- AC 19, HP 125, Spd. 0ft (though may disengae to vent lair)/30 ft in water +9, 3d6 dam (scalding spray), XP 13,000 CR15 (Geyser Lord) XP 24,000 CR 20 (Fumerole Lich)
S+1/D+1/C+3/I+5/W+5/C+1
Legendary Resistance: Geyser Lord may choose to pass a failed save; 3/day
Immunities: Immune to fire and posion damage. Half damage from magical fire.
Boiling Column : The Geyser Lord is enveloped within a poisonous, scalding, torrent of water. Anyone attacking must pass a DC-18 Constitution save or become nauseous for d6+1 days. Furthermore, 3d6 damage is taken automatically, due to the searing heat.
Unavoidable Fate: see above.
Fumerole Lich: An undead Geyser Lord casts spells as a 20th level sorcerer. It becomes undead and gains immunity to charm, non-magical weapons, sleep, paralysis and blindness. It gains a 20ft land speed.
Legendary Actions:
Cast a cantrip: Costs 1 action.
Vent gasses: vents poisonous steam into the chamber. Everyone within 50 feet must make a DC-15 Constitution save to avoid nausea. Victim can repeat save each turn to shake it off. 2 actions.
Searing Torrent: 6d6 30' cone heat/bludgeoning damage. DC-15 Dexterity save for half damage. 2 actions
Master Sorcerer: Cast a 2nd level spell. 3 actions
Lair Actions
The actual lair of the Geyser Lord, is the boiling, underground vent. To challenge it here, one must be able to breathe water, resist heat, resist poison and resist extreme pressure. Needless to say, it dwells within a hostile and alien environment. Without these precautions, expect to take 3d10 damage/round due to boiling water, make a DC-20 Constitution save to avoid gaining a level of fatigue each round due to the pressure and a further DC-15 Consitution save/round to prevent nausea and 4d6 poison damage
Obfuscating Cloud: Geyser Lord provokes a an underwater fog of sediment. Acts as darkness in a 100' radius sphere. The Geyser Lord can see through this cloud normally.
Vent Thing: Geyser Lord manifests a Vent Thing, essentially a small water elemental, entirely under the Geyser Lord's control. Vent Things are toxic. Upon a successful hit, make a DC-10 Constitution save to avoid nausea. This save may be repeated each round.
Voice of Fate: Geyser Lord marks an opponent. Target must use their best attribute save (representing their heroic potential) to beat DC-18. Failure indicates that the character suffers disadvantage on all subsequent rolls until the Geyser Lord is slain or chooses to mark another character.
Immune to fire damage. Half damage from magical fire.
When you...
1. See the unfurling of the carnellion sail
2. Taste the 'Seeing Bark'
3. Smell the crushed black poppies
4. Hear three eagles at midnight
5. Receive the gift of the spider
6. Cause the saddest one to laugh
7. Die the little death
8. Are accused of the Lord's crime.
You will...
1. Travel to the source of the great river.
2. Journey to the Temple of Three Errors.
3. Journey to the Tree of the Lonely God.
4. Find the pool where the women go to drown.
5. Seek the counsel of the reptile oracle.
6. Travel to frozen Joten Lodge.
7. Go before the cracked temple.
8. Find the crimson pastures.
Once there, you will be tasked to:
1. Marry the hideous Goblin Princess
2. Poison the paladin Regent.
3. Destroy the sad Golem called Tashok the Grinder
4. Murder the saintly children of the Duke.
5. Find the crown of delight.
6. Sack the temple of love.
7. Ruin the great artist's masterpiece.
8. Apprentice oneself to the Lonely archangel and steal his grimoire.
Upon accomplishing this, the character will achieve a dream appropriate to his/her character. This ought to be determined at the point of asking. There exists an 80% chance that the prophecy will end in the violent death of the character. This will be expressed in pelucid fashion thusly:
1. Nothing that breathes will ever halt your assent.
2. Beware the friend without blame.
3. As the Sun shines, so shall the glory be yours.
4. The bride shamed, will be your damnation.
5. There shall be no curse more terrible than love.
6. Beneath the idol with your mother's face, sorrow will find you.
7. One final ascent beyond the clouds and you are gone.
8. In your dreams, they will find you.
The prophecies always come true unless the Geyser Lord is destroyed. If any result should see the character die before his/her destiny is fulfilled, pass that death onto the most important NPC in that character's life. If there are none, it's PC time. Everybody knows that the Geyser Lord's prophecies are inevitable. It'll serve them right.
Funerole Lich
Becomes undead. Can only be hurt by +2 weapons or greater. Casts as a 20th level caster. Gains a 20' land speed.
Legendary Resistance: Geyser Lord may choose to pass a failed save; 3/day
Immunities: Immune to fire and posion damage. Half damage from magical fire.
Spell Use: Geyser Lord knows spells deemed appropriate for a 14th level sorcerer. Some are more powerful, knowing and casting spells as an 18th level sorcerer .
Fumerole Lich: An undead Geyser Lord casts spells as a 20th level sorcerer. It becomes undead and gains immunity to charm, non-magical weapons, sleep, paralysis and blindness. It gains a 20ft land speed.
Cast a cantrip: Costs 1 action.
Vent gasses: vents poisonous steam into the chamber. Everyone within 50 feet must make a DC-15 Constitution save to avoid nausea. Victim can repeat save each turn to shake it off. 2 actions.
Searing Torrent: 6d6 30' cone heat/bludgeoning damage. DC-15 Dexterity save for half damage. 2 actions
Master Sorcerer: Cast a 2nd level spell. 3 actions
The actual lair of the Geyser Lord, is the boiling, underground vent. To challenge it here, one must be able to breathe water, resist heat, resist poison and resist extreme pressure. Needless to say, it dwells within a hostile and alien environment. Without these precautions, expect to take 3d10 damage/round due to boiling water, make a DC-20 Constitution save to avoid gaining a level of fatigue each round due to the pressure and a further DC-15 Consitution save/round to prevent nausea and 4d6 poison damage
Obfuscating Cloud: Geyser Lord provokes a an underwater fog of sediment. Acts as darkness in a 100' radius sphere. The Geyser Lord can see through this cloud normally.
Vent Thing: Geyser Lord manifests a Vent Thing, essentially a small water elemental, entirely under the Geyser Lord's control. Vent Things are toxic. Upon a successful hit, make a DC-10 Constitution save to avoid nausea. This save may be repeated each round.
Voice of Fate: Geyser Lord marks an opponent. Target must use their best attribute save (representing their heroic potential) to beat DC-18. Failure indicates that the character suffers disadvantage on all subsequent rolls until the Geyser Lord is slain or chooses to mark another character.
Labels:
5e,
Antagonists,
D&D,
DIY,
Fire On The Velvet Horizon,
FotVH,
Monsters,
OSR
Fire on the Velvet Horizon, 'Geisha Spore to Glyphapillar', GLYPHAPILLAR
Geisha Spore
OLD SCHOOL
Unarmoured, Move 30' land/15'air (when caught on breeze), 1 Hit Dice, HP 3 , 1d3-1 damage, or by weapon -1 Morale 12.
Kiss: The Geisha Spore rarely attacks to cause damage (it only does so if ordered). It generally attempts to kiss, at first with the illusion of consent, but thereafter whenever the target is not paying attention. If the target is not paying attention to the Geisha Spore, it will surprise on a 2 in 6. It only ever attempts to kiss humans.
Fungal Infestation: Save vs Poison -2. Failure results in contamination. Geisha Spore dies either way.
Geisha Spore- AC 11, HP 6, Spd. 30ft/15 ft in air when caught on initial breeze +4, 1d3-1 damage or by weapon -1, XP 400 CR 2
S-1/D+1/C 0/I-2/W-3/C+1
Kiss: The Geisha Spore rarely attacks to cause damage (it only does so if ordered). It generally attempts to kiss, at first with the illusion of consent, but thereafter whenever the target is not paying attention. If the target is not paying attention to the Geisha Spore,it makes a stealth check+3 in an effort to beat the targets passive perception. It surprises its victim if successful.
Fungal Infestation: DC-15 Constitution save. Failure results in contamination. Geisha Spore dies either way.
Kiss: The Geisha Spore rarely attacks to cause damage (it only does so if ordered). It generally attempts to kiss, at first with the illusion of consent, but thereafter whenever the target is not paying attention. If the target is not paying attention to the Geisha Spore, it will surprise on a 2 in 6. It only ever attempts to kiss humans.
Fungal Infestation: Save vs Poison -2. Failure results in contamination. Geisha Spore dies either way.
- Initial effects are minor iirritation. -1 to combat rolls for d3 hours. Phase 1 initiates in d12+2 days. Cure Disease will remove the spore at this point.
- Phase 1- replacement of muscles and joints with fungal mass. +3 Strength. +3 Constitution. A Remove Curse spell at this point, can still save the victim. Phase 2 initiates in d12+2 days.
- Phase 2- Replacement of brain. Character dies, but is not cognisant. Resurrect would restore the victim at this point.
- Upon the arrival of the next storm, facsimile character dies, more spores are released, as described in FotVH.
Kiss: The Geisha Spore rarely attacks to cause damage (it only does so if ordered). It generally attempts to kiss, at first with the illusion of consent, but thereafter whenever the target is not paying attention. If the target is not paying attention to the Geisha Spore,it makes a stealth check+3 in an effort to beat the targets passive perception. It surprises its victim if successful.
Fungal Infestation: DC-15 Constitution save. Failure results in contamination. Geisha Spore dies either way.
- Initial effects are minor iirritation. disadvantage to combat rolls for d3 hours. Phase 1 initiates in d12+2 days. Cure Disease will remove the spore at this point.
- Phase 1- replacement of muscles and joints with fungal mass. +3 Strength. +3 Constitution. A Remove Curse spell at this point, can still save the victim. Phase 2 initiates in d12+2 days.
- Phase 2- Replacement of brain. Character dies, but is not cognisant. Resurrect would restore the victim at this point.
- Upon the arrival of the next storm, facsimile character dies, more spores are released, as described in FotVH.
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