#castle xyntillian

[thecreaturecodex]

Ada Shorewalker

Image © @iguanodont

[Another OC, and one of the first ones I came up with before realizing that I could make an entire Monster Girl Summer out of it. Ada is definitely a version of myself, much like Jade Seven is. I tied her to Castle Xyntillian in this flavor text because it seemed like a good fit for for her, either as a powerful ally for lower level players, or as someone in need of rescue for higher level ones.]

Ada Shorewalker CR 8 N Monstrous Humanoid This anthropomorphic seal has long red hair and a gentle, curious expression. She wears a seal-skin cape and carries a spear.

Ada Shorewalker was always more interested in observation than in the actual hunt. While other selkies of her pack preferred to play malicious tricks on humanoids, Ada spent her time in tide pools and beach-combing, paying special attention to those land organisms that came to rest or forage on the seaside. As Ada grew up, she practiced her shapeshifting to emulate the other animals around her, and eventually grew in tune with nature to the point of learning druidic magic. She has now left her pack behind, exploring on land in order to learn more about the life that exists independently of the ocean.

Despite her gentle nature, Ada is especially interested in things like predator-prey relationships, decomposition and toxicology. Fungi are fairly rare in the ocean, and so she is fascinated by fungi and fungal creatures. When she is comfortable with someone, she often infodumps to them about all of the things she’s learned; her idea of “fun facts” is decidedly morbid and sometimes very gross. She views undeath as an aberration, but a particularly interesting one.

In combat, Ada switches from fun-loving to all business. She uses her animal focus to take on aspects like dolphin, orca or turtle, and then closes into melee with her spear or natural weapons. She prefers not to fight in wild shape mode, as Ada usually saves it to take a flying form if she needs to make a quick getaway. Ada is a little headstrong, and is not used to working alongside others, but given time and practice could become an excellent teammate.

Due to her attraction towards macabre topics, Ada Shorewalker has been considering an expedition to Castle Xyntillian. She has heard that Lake Xyntillian is home to an entire population of freshwater plesiosaurs, for example, and unusual plants and fungi grow throughout the grounds. She is confident that she can deal with any undead creatures that she encounters, because she has underestimated the sheer number of powerful undead that live on the grounds. She has no idea, for example, about powerful guests such as The Sickness or Debbie Twice-Born, or that Hubert Malevol the Huntsman has never stalked a selkie before and would be happy to add her head to his trophy collection.

Ada has red hair and a fat build in all of her humanoid forms. She gets along especially well with gnomes.

Ada Shorewalker          CR 8 XP 4,800 Female selkie druid 6 (variant feral shifter) N Medium monstrous humanoid (shapechanger) Init +8; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +14, scent Defense AC 19, touch 14, flat-footed 15 (+4 Dex, +5 natural) hp 90 (12d8+36) Fort +11, Ref +12, Will +14; +4 vs. fey Resist cold 10 Defensive Abilities resist nature’s lure Offense Speed 20 ft., swim 50 ft. Melee masterwork spear +15 (1d8+6/x3), bite +9 (1d8+4) or bite +14 (1d8+6), 2 claws +14 (1d6+4) Ranged masterwork spear +15 (1d8+4/x3) or sling +14 (1d4+4) Special Attacks animal focus (6 minutes/day), aquatic focus, powerful blows (bite), shake, wild shape (2/day, Tiny to Large animal, Small elemental) Spells CL 6th, concentration +10 (+14 casting defensively) 3rd—greater magic fang, neutralize poison (DC 16), speak with plants 2nd—barkskin, bear’s endurance, elemental speech, slipstream 1st—faerie fire, obscuring mist, produce flame, speak with animals 0th—detect magic, detect poison, purify food and drink, stabilize Statistics Str 18, Dex 18, Con 17, Int 16, Wis17, Cha 16 Base Atk +10; CMB +14; CMD 28 Feats Alertness, Combat Casting,Improved Critical (bite)B, Improved Initiative, Natural Spell, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Knowledge: nature) Skills Bluff +9, Diplomacy +9, Disguise +9, Knowledge (arcana, dungeoneering) +9, Knowledge (geography) +12, Knowledge (nature) +17, Heal +12, Perception +14, Sense Motive +14, Spellcraft +12, Stealth +13, Survival +14, Swim +21 Languages Aquan, Common, Druidic, Gnome, Sylvan SQ change shape (any Small or Medium humanoid, alter self), echo of reason, hold breath, nature sense, trackless step, wild empathy +9, woodland step Gear seafoam shawl of resistance +1, pearl of power (1st level), wand of cure light wounds, scroll of lesser restoration, masterwork spear, sling with 10 bullets,coral and pearls worth 46 gp Special Abilities Animal Focus (Su): At 1st level, as a swift action, a feral shifter can take on the aspect of an animal, gaining a bonus or special ability based on the type of animal emulated. This functions as the hunter’s animal focus class feature. The feral shifter can use this ability for a number of minutes per day equal to her druid level. This duration does not need to be consecutive, but it must be spent in 1-minute increments. She can emulate only one animal at a time. This ability replaces nature bond. Aquatic Focus (Su) Ada Shorewalker draws her animal focuses from the list for the aquatic beastmaster hunter archetype. Echo of Reason (Su) A selkie can instinctively alter the intonation of its voice to make anything it says sound more pleasing to those who understand it. When using the Bluff skill, a selkie treats its lies as one step more believable for the purposes of bonuses or penalties on the check. Shake (Ex) On a successful critical hit with its bite attack, a selkie automatically violently shakes a Large or smaller target. The target must succeed at a DC 16 Fortitude save or it is dazed for 1 round. Even on a successful save, the target still takes a –2 penalty on all attack rolls and skill checks for the next 2 rounds. The save DC is Constitution-based.

#ada shorewalker #original art #oc #monster npc #monster girl summer #age of monsters #castle xyntillian #pathfinder 1e #selkie #my inspiration was if ariel from the disney little mermaid was a biologist instead of an archeologist #also if she could fucking tear your throat out #the art references were for leopard seals specifically

[demi-shoggoth]

COVID Reading Log pt 5

Now with podcast recommendations!

26. The Bad Popes by E. R. Chamberlain. Not going to lie, I picked this one up because it was a dollar used, and the title amused me. The book, sadly, did not. It’s a series of biographical sketches of popes who the author deems were too invested in temporal power, culminating in Pope Clement VII, who brought a sack down on Rome. The writing does not do a good job of making the case that these are the worst of the popes, especially since the bad behavior of many other popes is brought up in the text. Worse, the book is blatantly racist, indulging in ethnic stereotyping, especially of Italians and Germans. The book is something of an antique, having been written in 1969, but that isn’t an excuse, and the book is ugly and unpleasant for it. At least this book got me to listen to the Pontifacts podcast, which is a very fun way for me to get my fill of papal history.

27. The Lion in the Living Room by Abigail Tucker. This is a book about the house cat, and how it conquered the world. There are chapters on toxoplasmosis, and whether it is a major influence on human behavior (the evidence for that is weak, but it may be one of the multifactorial influences on schizophrenia); the damage done by invasive cats and how cats are evolving to deal with new island ecosystems; and a chapter on cat breeding and modern designer strains. The author has an interesting hypothesis. Namely: cats are not as successful at controlling rodent pest populations as their reputation would suggest. Instead, the reason that cats are such common pets and have been for so long is that, due to their size, vocalizations and facial features, they are sufficiently like human babies that they trigger parental instincts. So cats are accidental cuckoos. That’s a pretty cool idea.

28. Tales from the Crypt, Vol 1 by William M. Gaines et al. This is the first of a five volume series, that I snapped up for 50% off at a sale just before businesses in my area closed down, and is now one of the prides of my book collection. This collects Issues 17-22 of the magazine The Crypt of Terror/Tales from the Crypt, a foundational text of American horror. Many of the stories are plagiarized from horror short stories and movies from the previous half-century—notable loose adaptations in this volume include “The Upper Berth” by F. Marion Crawford, “The Novel of the White Powder” by Arthur Machen, and the films The Man from Half-Moon Street, The Beast with Five Fingers and I Walked With a Zombie. But the plots are really just a pretext for the gorgeous, gory art by such luminaries as Johnny Craig, Al Feldstein, “Ghastly” Graham Engels and Wally Wood.  What’s interesting is how fully formed as a horror icon the Crypt-Keeper and his ilk already seem in these early issues. Although, as @screamscenepodcast​ points out, no horror movies were made at all in 1950, and most early 50s horror movies were themed around alien invasions rather than mad scientists, vampires and werewolves,  comics filled that void in the horror genre (at least for five glorious years before the government shut them down).

29. Castle Xyntillian by Gabor Lux. This is a module for the Swords and Wizardry RPG (one of many D&D retroclones). I found out about it through @vintagerpg​, which gave it a glowing review on their tumblr. I had a lot of fun with this module. The titular castle is haunted by the mostly undead Malevol family, a group of weirdoes with conflicting agendas and more of a callous disdain for the living than blatant hostility. It looks like it would be fun to run as a straightforward hack-and-slash dungeon crawl and as something with more nuance and roleplaying potential—even rank and file undead are not inherently hostile. As to be expected from something with retro-chops, there’s a lot of high fantasy weirdness—like the “Indoorness”, a bucolic countryside in the middle of the manor, and monsters like killer pigeons and goats. It was fun to read and it looks like it would be fun to play--I’m going to convert it to Pathfinder RPG and find out!

30. The Vampire by Nick Groom. This book sucks. It’s primarily an ode to wasted potential—it’s clear that the author did his research on vampires, and there are some interesting tidbits to be sifted out. The link between vampires and anti-capitalism, for example, apparently dates as far back as the word’s publication in English, and Catholic theologians grappled with how vampires could exist as supernatural and evil entities in an era that was slowly stripping the Devil of his powers. But most of the book is filled with long summaries of itself, denials of the importance of some idea to the concept of vampirism (like sex or drugs) that is immediately refuted in the text itself, and just straight up word salad nonsense. The conclusion ends with the author comparing vampires to potatoes. Seriously. Skip this one.

#reading log #popes #vampire #podcast #horror comics

[thecreaturecodex]

Hubert Malevol

“Undead - concept” © Sergei Dorokhin, accessed at his ArtStation here.

[Hubert the Hunter was a saint of hunting associated with dogs, so making him some sort of undead monstrosity is delightfully sacrilegious. He’s one of the nastier family members in Castle Xyntillan, so I wanted him to be powerful, but not as powerful as Aristide.]

Hubert Malevol CR 11 LE Undead This human man is clearly dead, with blood red eyes, no nose and a lipless mouth surrounded by a matted beard. He wears hide armor and carries a sword and shield with him, a fine hunting horn on his hip.

Hubert the Hunter is one of the most powerful members of the Malevol family. He is Aristide’s grandson and embraced undeath willingly in order to pursue his hobbies—raising dogs and hunting people for sport—for eternity. He lives in Castle Xyntillian most of the time, but has a redoubt in the Indoornesse—the pocket dimension ruled by his father Runclus—and goes out to hunt the ordinary folk of Taldor at least every solstice and equinox. Hubert is loyal to the Malevol family to a fault. He takes a neutral position in most of the conflicts between family members, but takes great glee in dispatching disloyal servants and slaves. He takes trophies, and has taxidermied some of the kills he is particularly proud of.

Hubert is most comfortable in the saddle, and can summon his ghostly steed Redrum (his prized horse when they were both alive) to his side in order to ride around the wider hallways of the Castle. He loves dogs more than people, and has his grandfather or another necromancer in the family raise them as zombies or skeletons when they die of old age or violence. His prized hounds are galleytrots. He owns eight of them, each with the advanced simple template and Shake it Off instead of Mobility as a feat. Encountering Hubert with four advanced galleytrots is a CR 12 encounter.

Hubert Malevol    CR 11 XP 12,800 Variant juju zombie human cavalier (ghost rider) 11 LE Medium undead (augmented humanoid, human) Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +12, scent Aura fearless (10 ft.) Defense AC 23, touch 11, flat-footed 22 (+1 Dex, +6 armor, +2 shield, +4 natural) hp 109 (11d10+44) Fort +11, Ref +7, Will +6; +4 channel resistance DR 10/magic and slashing; Immune cold, electricity, undead traits; Resist fire 10 Offense Speed 20 ft. (30 ft. unarmored) Melee +1 bastard sword +16/+11/+6 (1d10+5/19-20), slam +10 (1d6+2) or slam +15 (1d6+6) Ranged masterwork light crossbow +13 (1d8/19-20) Special Attacks challenge 4/day (+3 AC, +11 damage), for the king (+3 atk, dmg), frightful gaze (Will DC 18, 3/day), lion’s call (+3 vs. fear/+1 atk, 11 rounds) Statistics Str 18, Dex 12, Con -, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 16 Base Atk +11; CMB +15; CMD 26 Feats Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword), Improved Initiative (B), Lightning Reflexes, Mounted Combat, Outflank, Power Attack, Ride-By Attack, Shake It Off, Spirited Charge, Toughness (B) Skills Climb +16, Craft (taxidermy) +13, Handle Animal +14, Intimidate +16, Knowledge (nobility) +10, Perception +12, Perform (wind) +9, Ride +12 (+14 on ghost mount); Racial Modifiers +8 Climb Languages Common, Necril SQ contingency, etheric tether, ghost mount, ghost wind, hunter zombie, spirited mount Gear headband of charisma +2, cloak of resistance +1, rhino hide, +1 bastard sword, amulet of natural armor +1, 4 tangle arrows (as tangle bolts), masterwork light crossbow, 20 arrows, masterwork heavy steel shield, scrimshawed signal horn decorated with hunting hounds worth 75 gp, 17 gp, 60 sp. Special Abilities Contingency When Hubert is reduced to half hit points or fewer, he and his mount (if summoned) are teleported back to his room in Castle Xyntillian. Fearless (Su) Each ally within 10 feet of Hubert Malevol gains a +4 morale bonus on saving throws against fear effects. This ability functions only while Hubert is conscious, not if he is unconscious or dead. Frightful Gaze (Su) Hubert Malevol can use this ability on opponents within 30 feet as a standard action, which acts as a gaze attack until his next turn. Creatures within range that meet Hubert’s gaze must succeed at a DC 18 Will saving throw or stand paralyzed in fear for 1 round. This is a mind-affecting fear effect. Creatures that successfully save against that ghost rider's frightful gaze are immune to it for 24 hours. At 9th level, this ability can affect creatures that are mindless or immune to mind-affecting effects, though it still counts as a fear effect. Hubert can use this ability a number of times each day equal to her Charisma modifier (typically 3/day). Hunter Zombie (Ex) Hubert Malevol is not immune to magic missile spells the way that most juju zombies are, but gains the scent ability.

Redrum CR – Phantom mount LE Large animal (phantom) Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +7 Defense AC 26, touch 13, flat-footed 22 (-1 size, +3 Dex, +1 dodge, +10 natural, +3 armor) hp 76 (9d8+36) Fort +9, Ref +9, Will +4; +4 vs. enchantment DR 10/magic Defensive Abilities devotion, link Offense Speed 50 ft., ghost wind, phase lurch, spirited mount Melee bite +9 (1d6+3), 2 hooves +4 (1d4+1) Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft. Special Attacks magic attacks (evil, law, magic) Statistics Str 16, Dex 17, Con 16, Int 3, Wis 12, Cha 10 Base Atk +6; CMB +10; CMD 24 (28 vs. trip) Feats Dodge, Mobility, Outflank, Shake It Off, Toughness Skills Acrobatics +12 (+29 when jumping), Perception +7 Languages understands Common (cannot speak) Gear masterwork studded leather barding Special Abilities Spirited Mount (Su) Redrum ignores difficult terrain and gains the ability to use water walk at will as a supernatural ability. Ghost Wind (Su) Redrum can use air walk (as the spell, no action required) at will for up to 1 round at a time, after which it falls to the ground.

#hubert malevol #hubert the hunter #pathfinder 1e #castle xyntillian #undead #zombie #monster npcs

[thecreaturecodex]

Runclus Malevol

“Druid” © Vladimir Matyukhin, accessed at his ArtStation here

[The last of my menagerie of Malevols for now. My PCs never encountered Runclus, but were definitely tempted to explore the Indoornesse when they found the portal. Maybe some day.]

Runclus Malevol CR 12 NE Humanoid This humanoid figure is clothed in flowing robes and leather armor. He wears an elaborate crown of leather and bone, all but obscuring his face.

Runclus Malevol, the Man of the Woods, is the most powerful living Malevol, although “living” has an asterisk in this case. Runclus is one of Aristide’s children, and he has died and been reborn repeatedly—whenever he survives long enough to become very old, he ritually kills himself and is reborn into a young body. Runclus has lived 23 lives so far, and this latest body is actually close in appearance and build to his original. Still, he typically conceals his form with flowing robes and a great mask, the better to cast doubt on whether he is alive or dead, both or neither.

Runclus is usually found in the Indoornesse, a pocket dimension accessible primarily through Castle Xyntillian’s extensive basements. Runclus knows other paths in and out, and uses them to collect up a cadre of sinister druids, and to introduce new monsters into the ecosystem. Once these monsters have been thoroughly vetted in the Indoornesse, some of them move up into the Castle grounds proper. Runclus is a devout follower of Lamashtu. He has successfully converted several of his family members to the worship of the Mother of Monsters.

In combat, Runclus typically uses his spells to inflict debilitating diseases or curses on enemies before killing them outright. Although he is a decent melee combatant in his own right, he rarely fights hand to hand unless bolstered with spells, having used his wild shape, or both. Runclus does not fear death in combat, as he has died before; if he is slain, however, he pivots to a more cautious strategy, and remains hidden until his many lives ability has recharged.

Runclus Malevol CR 12 XP 19,200 Human male druid (reincarnated druid) 12 Init +5; Senses Perception +15 Defense AC 18, touch 12, flat-footed 17 (+1 Dex, +1 deflection, +6 armor) hp 109 (12d8+48) Fort +13, Ref +7, Will +16; +4 vs. death effects, energy drain, necromancy Defensive Abilities cheat death, many lives Offense Speed 30 ft. Melee +1 falchion +12/+7 (2d4+4/18-20) Ranged masterwork sling +11/+6 (1d4+2) Special Attacks wild shape (4/day, Diminutive to Huge animal, Large plant, Large elemental) Spell-like Abilities CL 12th, concentration +18 (+22 casting defensively) 3/day—excruciating deformation (DC 19) 1/day—major curse (DC 21) Spells CL 12th, concentration +18 (+22 casting defensively) 6th—greater dispel magic, mass bull’s strength (D), plague storm (DC 22), transport via plants 5th—aspect of the wolf, baleful polymorph (DC 21), death ward, rest eternal, righteous might (D) 4th—flame strike (DC 20), freedom of movement, spell immunity (D), spike stones, strong jaw 3rd—cloak of winds, fungal infestation (DC 19), greater magic fang, poison (DC 19), protection from energy, rage (DC 19, D) 2nd—barkskin, bull’s strength (B), flame blade, frigid touch, lesser restoration, stone call, tree shape 1st—cure light wounds (DC 17), enlarge person (DC 17), faerie fire, longstrider, magic stone, speak with animals (x2) 0th—detect magic, light, mending, purify food and drink Domain = Strength (Ferocity subdomain) Statistics Str 14, Dex 13, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 22, Cha 8 Base Atk +9; CMB +11; CMD 22 Feats Combat Casting, Craft Wand, Ectoplasmic Spell, Martial Weapon Proficiency (falchion), Improved Initiative, Natural Spell, Vermin Heart Skills Diplomacy +6, Handle Animal +10, Knowledge (nature) +13, Knowledge (planes) +8, Knowledge (religion) +7, Linguistics +4, Perception +15, Sense Motive +14, Spellcraft +11, Survival +17 Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Common, Druidic, Necril, Sylvan SQ blessing of Lamashtu, exceptional resources, nature bond (domain), nature sense, trackless step, wild empathy +11 Gear helm of the dark druid (mitre of the hierophant and headband of wisdom +4, cursed [Will DC 19 when worn or alignment shifts to neutral evil]), +2 wild leather lamellar armor, +1 falchion, belt of constitution +2, ring of the ram (25 charges), ring of protection +1, cloak of protection +2, pearl of power (1st level), hunter’s tree fort, feather step slippers, wand of cure moderate wounds (50 charges), wand of greater animal aspect (50 charges), scroll of sunbeam, masterwork sling with 20 bullets, unholy water (x3), carved wood and ivory statuettes worth 616 gp Special Abilities Blessing of Lamashtu (Ex/Sp) Runclus Malevol can take the Strength domain and the Ferocity subdomain for his nature’s bond. He also gains excruciating deformation as a spell-like ability usable 3/day, and major curse 1/day, using his Wisdom as his casting stat. These bonuses plus his exceptional resources grant him +1 to his CR. Cheat Death (Ex) Once per day, Runclus may reroll a save against a death effect, energy drain, or necromancy effect before the result of the roll is revealed, or reroll a failed stabilization check while dying. He must take the result of the second roll, even if it is worse than the original roll. Many Lives (Ex): If Runclus Malevol is killed, he may automatically reincarnate (as the spell) 1 day later. The reincarnated druid appears in a safe location within 1 mile of his previous body. At will for the next 7 days, he can sense the presence of his remains as if using locate object as a spell-like ability. If he is killed during these 7 days, she remains dead and does not reincarnate. The many lives ability does not function if the reincarnated druid is slain by a death effect. A reincarnated druid cannot be raised from the dead or resurrected, though he can be reincarnated. Mysterious Stranger (Ex) Runclus Malevol adds +6 to the DC of Sense Motive, Diplomacy, and Knowledge checks to learn about him. Resist Death’s Touch (Ex) Runclus gains a +4 bonus on saving throws against death effects, energy drain, and necromancy effects, and on stabilization checks when dying.

#runclus malevol #druid #castle xyntillian #pathfinder 1e #npc

[thecreaturecodex]

Debbie Twice-Born

“Enraged” © deviantArt user TheBoyofCheese

[This character was an NPC from my Age of Worms game, one of Filge’s undead minions after @canwefixitnoitsfucked​ took Filge from NPC to PC. Debbie’s name and personality were references to “Manos” the Hands of Fate; in that movie, Debbie is the poorly-dubbed little girl who gets turned into one of the undead. Debbie was much more of a joke character than a useful one, although Filge did keep her in a papoose to use her pale aura until she got too fragile to survive the kinds of AoEs they were dealing with. And since I brought Filge back as a weird mutant, I figured Debbie should get the same treatment.

The music box I refer to in the gear is new, but I think it fits well with the character. I assembled a whole huge soundtrack for Age of Worms, and both Filge and reality warping stuff were associated with Philip Glass music. Specifically, Filge’s themes were all taken from the Dracula score. So Debbie’s music box plays the theme from Candyman. ]

Debbie Twice-Born CR 16 CE Undead This young woman has a slight build with powerful and lean muscles, shorter than average but no less strong for it. Her hair is tousled and blonde, and her eyes are black pits looking over a mouth full of sharp, crooked teeth. She carries a bloodstained axe with practiced ease.

Debbie Twice-Born is Filge’s “daughter”. She is a slaymate, created from the daughter of a woman who Filge loved. The woman scorned Filge for his cruelty, and she and her daughter both died from a plague that Filge could easily have saved them from. Through Filge’s adventures, Debbie was quiet and distracted, complaining about the cold of death, and frequently looking for a lost puppy that may or may not have ever existed. When Filge was fragged by his own party, Debbie escaped, and wandered around Alhaster during the short lived Age of Worms on Oerth. When Kyuss died, the waves of powerful negative energy that suffused the region caused her to “grow up”, as it were, and advance from a child of about eight years old to a young woman of eighteen or so. Of course, she was still dead, and still crazy. But now much more dangerous.

Debbie Twice-Born spent a few months as a recreational serial killer before entering the Wormwarrens and finding her equally transformed “father” there. Filge now uses Debbie as his primary agent in the wider world, committing assassinations for him, gathering useful supplies and spying on his former allies. As her powers have grown, Filge has given her a longer leash, and she has made multiple excursions to alternate realities through the depths of the Shadow Plane.

Debbie’s latest excursions have brought her to Castle Xyntillian, where she is a guest of honor and mutually exploited. Debbie has considered merely butchering Aristide Malevol and stealing his role as head of the family, but knows that without finding and destroying his phylactery, that that would be a fool’s errand. Likewise, Aristide is happy to have a powerful pet assassin on hand who is ultimately disposable to him, but also wants to pick her brain about Filge’s exploits, powers and resources. Debbie is somewhat scatterbrained and never paid much attention to the technical details of necromancy, leaving such conversations a source of frustration for the Patriarch Lich. As far as actual friends within the family, Debbie Twice-Born gets along well with Hubert Malevol the Hunter, whose enormous kennels of mundane, monstrous and undead hounds give her plenty of doggies to play with.

Debbie Twice-Born       CR 16 XP 76,800 Female variant giant slaymate slayer 10 (stygian slayer), shadowdancer 1 Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +13 Aura pale (10 ft.) Defense AC 25, touch 17, flat-footed 20 (+4 Dex, +1 dodge, +3 natural, +5 armor, +2 deflection) hp 221 (8d8+10d10+126) Fort +13, Ref +13, Will +8; +2 vs. mind reading effects Immune undead traits Defensive Abilities half damage from falling, trap sense +3 Offense Speed 30 ft. Melee lifedrinker +22/+17/+12 (1d12+10/19-20x3 plus 2 negative levels), bite +16 (1d6+3 plus disease) or bite +21 (1d6+6 plus disease) Ranged dagger +19 (1d4+6/19-20) Special Attacks bolstering touch, sneak attack +4d6, studied target (+3, 3 targets, move or swift action) Spell-like Abilities CL 10th, concentration +17 2/day—invisibility 10 minutes/day—shadowy mist form Statistics Str 22, Dex 18, Con -, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 24 Base Atk +15; CMB +21; CMD 38 Feats Blind Fight, Canny Tumble, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Extra Slayer Talent, Improved Critical (greataxe), Mobility, Nimble Moves, Power Attack Skills Acrobatics +22, Bluff +16, Climb +11, Craft (traps) +11, Disable Device +26, Disguise +16, Escape Artist +17, Fly +11, Intimidate +14, Knowledge (arcana, religion) +6, Knowledge (planes) +3, Perception +13 (+18 finding traps), Perform (dance) +12, Sense Motive +13, Spellcraft +6, Stealth +22, Survival +13 (+18 following tracks), Swim +11, Use Magic Device +17 SQ exceptional resources (15th level PC, +4 Cha), grown up, hide in plain sight, slayer talents (bleeding attack +4, fast stealth, foil scrutiny, spell use, surprise attack, trapfinding) Gear lifedrinker, +3 catskin leather, belt of physical might +2 (Str, Dex), headband of charisma +2, winged boots, bloodstained gloves, ring of maniacal devices, ring of protection +2, false face, dust of appearance, assassin’s dust, scroll of shadow walk, scroll of greater invisibility, scroll of dimension door, scroll of enervation, scroll of inflict critical wounds (x2), scroll of displacement (x3), scroll of mirror image (x3), 10 daggers, masterwork thieves tools, copper and bone music box worth 125 gp, 12 pp Special Abilities Bolstering Touch (Su) Three times a day, a slaymate can touch an undead creature to grant it a +1 profane bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls and +2 channel resistance for 1 minute. Disease (Su) Pale wasting—injury; save Fort DC 20; onset 1 day; damage 1d4 Str and 1d4 Con; cure 2 saves. The save DC is Charisma based. Exceptional Resources (Ex) Debbie has the treasure of a 15th level PC, and has used some of that money to obtain and use a tome of influence +4. These advantages give her a +1 increase to her CR. Grown Up (Ex) As an undead child magically matured to adulthood, Debbie has a slightly different set of abilities than normal for the giant simple template. Instead of gaining a +4 bonus to Constitution, she gains a +4 bonus to Charisma, and a +10 foot increase to her land speed. Pale Aura (Su) A slaymate exudes an aura that empowers necromantic magic. Any necromancy spell cast within a slaymate’s pale aura gains a +1 bonus to the DC (if any) and is cast at +1 caster level. A spellcaster within the slaymate’s aura can choose to use any metamagic feat he knows on a necromancy spell he casts without increasing the casting time or spell level. Doing so, however, deals damage to both the slaymate and the caster equal to 5 x the level the spell would ordinarily be adjusted to. There is no saving throw to resist this damage. Shadowy Mist Form (Sp): At 10th level, a stygian slayer can transform into an inky black cloud of mist. This functions as gaseous form, except it also obscures vision as fog cloud. The slayer can use this ability for a number of minutes per day equal to his level. These minutes need not be consecutive, but must be used in 1-minute increments. This ability replaces the advanced slayer talent gained at 10th level. Spell Use (Ex) At 7th level, a stygian slayer is able to use spell completion and spell trigger items as if they were an arcane caster with these spells on his spell list: darkness, forced quietUM, modify memory, nondetection, obscuring mist, phantom steed, shadow walk , and wizard spells of the illusion school of spell level 0 through 4th. The slayer’s uses their class level as their caster level for this ability. This ability replaces stalker.

#debbie twice-born #pathfinder 1e #castle xyntillian #age of worms #undead #slaymate #axe murderer #gore tw #D&D #monster npc #candyman #philip glass

[thecreaturecodex]

Monster NPC Theme Week

I'm going to be posting more monster NPCs this week, but they're all going to be themed around the awesome OSR adventure Castle Xyntillian. That adventure is a non-linear dungeon crawl through the estate of the malevolent and decadent Malevol family. I set it in my game in the mountains of eastern Taldor. I've already done a bunch of the low level monsters; now it's time for some NPCs with a little more punch.

#monster npc #age of monsters #castle xyntillian #pathfinder 1e #osr

[thecreaturecodex]

Aristide Malevol

"The Lich King" © Steven Womack. Accessed at ArtStation here

[One of the Big Bads of Castle Xyntillan. When I actually ran the game, my PCs stumbled on him in a random encounter when they were second level. He put a wall of ice on one side of a hallway, summoned a Large earth elemental on the other side, and watched for a few rounds to see if they would survive. They did, but it was one of the most stressful encounters I've ever ran. For them. For me, it was a blast, because I knew that that party was smart enough to know that not every fight is winnable.

The version I used was just the default lich in the Pathfinder RPG bestiary. This version is slightly more powerful, and is more closely tied to the flavor text from Castle Xyntillan. And yes, I did use art of the Lich King from Adventure Time for this.]

Aristide Malevol CR 13 CE Undead This undead creature was probably once human, although curling horns grow from his temples. His flesh still clings to his face like a ragged mask, hanging looser over his jaws, but he is skeletal in most other places. He wears a heavy cloak lined with fur, and a golden circlet. His eyes are empty holes, with pinpoints of green light.

Aristide Malevol, the Patriarch, is the cancer that has turned the Malevol family from crusaders to corruption. He murdered his grandfather in order to become the head of the family, had his minions pick off anyone who tried to resist, and then poured the resources of the family into pursuing lichdom. He had help from a surprising source—Orcus, Demon Prince of the Undead, who saw the Malevol family as a way of maintaining a foothold in Avistan while his attention was diverted to other planes and planets. With Orcus’ help, Aristide made his phylactery into a gross parody of the Grayl of Destiny, which is kept close to the real thing in order to throw off potential thieves. And once he was a lich, he continued to encourage the worst habits of his family members, and murder anyone who pushes too hard towards salvation. He does have a soft spot for innocence, however, and a few of the Malevols have lived lives as naive waifs...or as virtuous souls who were good enough at seeming innocuous to escape his attention.

Aristide spends most of his time researching demons, undead and constructs. He is especially interested in blurring the lines between all three. One of his finest creations is a biotyrant named Bruno, who serves him as a loyal bodyguard. Aristide has a passion for cursed items, and many of the cursed items in Castle Xyntillian, and cursed items that have spread through Taldor and beyond, bear his craftsmanship. His own crown and headband are cursed, although their exact effects are unknown (up to the GM). If forced into combat, he would much rather toy with his victims, watch how they respond, and then teleport away if anyone survives, rather than risk his neck in direct combat.

Aristide Malevol carries relatively little on his person, but is heir to one of the largest fortunes in Taldor. He has enough resources to pay for just about any magic item or construct he is capable of creating. The spellbook listed in his statistics is his “traveling” spellbook. His quarters have access to all of the sorcerer/wizard spells of 6th level or lower in the Pathfinder Core Rulebook, and the libraries of Castle Xyntillian may hold any spell of 7th or lower level from any Pathfinder 1e source you wish to use, as well as a handful of 8th and 9th level spells of the conjuration, necromancy and transmutation schools. Aristide cannot access these easily, as even he finds the organization of the castle’s libraries baffling—assume that he requires 1d12+1 days to find exactly what he needs. In order to advance Aristide Malevol, give him more levels in arcanist, or levels in the loremaster prestige class.

The False Grayl (Cursed Item) Aristide Malevol’s phylactery is a decoy of the real Grayl of Destiny. A successful DC 30 Appraise check made by someone familiar with the true Grayl can reveal the deception, as can an analyze dweomer or similar spell (with a successful caster level check). Any living creature that picks up the False Grayl finds that they cannot remove it from their person. The False Grayl acts as both an amulet of inescapable location and a periapt of foul rotting when in the possession of a living creature, both of which properties effect the creature that carries the item. On command, a slick crimson liquid can fill the False Grayl, which acts as a potion of inflict serious wounds (CL 11th)if used within one minute, and evaporates if not used in this time. This liquid can be splashed onto an adjacent creature with a touch attack (Will DC 18 half)

Weight 4 lbs; CL 11th

Aristide Malevol CR 13 XP 25,600 Human lich arcanist (occultist) 12 CE Medium undead (augmented humanoid, human) Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +20 Aura fear (60 ft., Will DC 20, 12 rounds) Defense AC 21, touch 12, flat-footed 19(+5 natural, +2 Dex, +4 armor) hp 105 (12d6+48 plus 15) Fort +9, Ref +7, Will +11; +4 channel resistance DR 15/bludgeoning and magic; Immune cold, electricity, undead traits Defensive Abilities rejuvenation Offense Speed 30 ft. Melee staff of the master +7/+2 (1d6+1), touch +1 (1d8+6 negative energy plus paralysis) or touch +6 (1d8+6 negative energy plus paralysis) Special Attacks arcane exploits (dimensional slide, item crafting, potent magic, suffering knowledge), arcane reservoir (12 points, 18 max),paralysis (Fort DC 20, permanent) Spell-like Abilities CL 12th, concentration +16 1/day--augury 1/week—contact other plane Conjurer’s focus—up to summon monster V for 6 points Spells CL 12th, concentration +18 6th (3/day)—banshee blast (DC 22) 5th (5/day)—cloudkill (DC 21), cone of cold (DC 21) 4th (5/day)—enervation, fire shield, wall of ice 3rd (5/day)—arcane sight, dispel magic, lightning bolt (DC 19), magic circle vs. good 2nd (6/day, 1 used)—anticipate thoughts, false life, mirror image, see invisibility, scorching ray 1st (6/day, 1 used)—alarm, mage armor, magic missile, ray of enfeeblement, shield 0th—arcane mark, detect magic, light, mage hand, message, open/close, prestidigitation, read magic, touch of fatigue (DC 16) Before Combat Aristide will cast mage armor and false life whenever he suspects that intruders are in Castle Xyntillian. The statistics above reflect these spells Statistics Str 10, Dex 14, Con -, Int 22, Wis 14, Cha 19 Feats Craft Construct (B), Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Craft Staff, Craft Wondrous Item, Extra Reservoir, Maximize Spell, Piercing Spell, Skill Focus (Knowledge: arcana) Skills Appraise +16, Bluff +14, Knowledge (arcana) +20, Knowledge (dungeoneering, history, planes, religion) +16, Intimidate +21, Linguistics +16, Perception +20, Sense Motive +20, Spellcraft +16, Stealth +20, Use Magic Device +17; +8 Perception, +8 Sense Motive, +8 Stealth Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Aquan, Auran, Common, Daemonic, Draconic, Ignan, Infernal, Kelesh, Necril, Orc, Terran, Undercommon Gear circlet of persuasion, headband of mental prowess +2 (Int, Cha, Intimidate), staff of the master, cloak of resistance +1, scroll of greater dispel magic, scroll of solid fog, scroll of haste, scroll of tongues, spellbook (prepared spells, plus create undead, planar ally, plane shift, lesser planar ally, animate dead, magic circle vs. chaos, magic circle vs. evil, magic circle vs. law), spell components, noble’s outfit and jewelry worth 100 gp, signet ring, 19 pp, 60 gp

[thecreaturecodex]

Ugh

I'm trying to post another Castle Xyntillian NPC, but tumblr keeps rejecting the post. It won't autosave it, won't let me put it into drafts, and won't let me post it.

@support, long text post with a single image and a few hyperlinks is being automatically rejected.