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monstersdownthepath · 9 months

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Monster Spotlight: The Norn

CR 18

Lawful Neutral Large Fey

Bestiary 3, pg. 202 (pic from 2e Bestiary 2, pg. 184)

Among the most powerful and mysterious of any Fey being, the Norn are ancient guardians (or perhaps creators) of Fate itself. They have an understanding of destiny and futures to come that makes them functionally omniscient... or it did, before Aroden went and bit it. Now prophecy is frayed and unwoven, destiny is severed and uncertain, and the future as it was once known is cast into question. Now more than ever, the Norn may be encountered by the races of man and elf as the ancient Fey wander the cosmos in an attempt to understand the Age of Lost Omens. The majority of their kind are attempting to come to terms with this new age of uncertainty, but some of them are becoming... desperate to reclaim what they once had, or correct what they perceive as an error, sometimes even taking drastic measures.

In most cases, fighting against a Norn is unthinkable and often unneeded. No, a party is more likely to seek a Norn's assistance than its assassination, because even with fate being unwoven, the wisdom of a Norn is valuable indeed. They're able to use both Divination and Vision at will, with the latter impossible for them to fail and the former such child's play for them that even the most cryptic of answers the spell could provide are parsed and solved with the ease of a physicist looking over a child's book of math problems. They're likely a quest-giver, if not a quest objective in and of themselves in the hopes that their foresight will allow a calamity to be averted. Be warned, though, that Norn rarely give out prophecies for free, and they do not accept gold. No, a party seeking one's assistance can be expected to be put under a Geas (which the fey can cast at will) and forced to undertake a specific task as payment for the masters of fate, either before or after they've provided their prophecy. Those who refuse to play along suffer from the fey's at-will Bestow Curse or, if they've been especially offended, the Norn may simply wave her hand and cast Weird on the entire party and be done with it.

Anyone that hopes to force a Norn to reveal its secrets has their work cut out for them. The fey have such a powerful understanding of What Is To Be that they have eternal Foresight, giving them glimpses of 6 or so seconds into the future on demand which, with Foresight covering short-term and Divination covering long-term, assures they're impossible to ever catch off guard. They're also protected by an eternal Mind Blank, True Seeing, AND Death Ward, all of which resume automatically on their turn if the effects are ever ended, dispelled, or expended, and all of which give them extreme resistance or even effective immunity to three of the eight schools of magic! Or, if you want to be generous, FIVE of the eight schools of magic; Enchantment crashes into Mind Blank, Illusion is thwarted by True Seeing, Necromancy struggles against Death Ward, Evocation has to contend with SR 29, as well as 30 Resistance to Fire, Acid, and Electricity (as well as outright immunity to Cold), and Divination cannot be effectively used against a Norn (because she's better at it). Adding to it, they have Moment of Prescience at 1/day and little reason not to use it at the start of the day to add +18 to any one d20 roll or to their AC in case of emergencies.

With magic struggling against these agents of feat, their DR 15/cold iron is comparatively tame. Don't rely on buffing a single combatant and sending them into melee, though, because Norn can shunt a target into a Maze 1/day to give her very dangerous room to think. Besides having Weird 1/day, to potentially oneshot the entire party, they also have 1/day Quickened Phantasmal Killer in case the full-party version misses someone... and these two are often all they need, because Norn can Shift Fate once per round as an immediate action, forcing any creature within 120ft to reroll a saving throw. Nice natural 20 against her PK! Unfortunately, roll again. There's no per-day limit or targeting restrictions on Shift Fate besides distance, making any Save-Or-Suck she throws out far more nerve wracking than it has any right to be. Thankfully, there's only the three; PK, Weird, and Bestow Curse. This is Paizo showing mercy, because PK and Weird require TWO saves, and Shift Fate can only affect one. Imagine if they came equipped with different ones... or had allies with more threatening spells at hand.

Shift Fate even works for the Norn herself, and once her 1/days are expended it's likely she'll be gifting herself with fresh saves every single round for the rest of the fight, making it even harder to affect one with spells! Or, really, any power that relies on saving throws. They have high saves already (18/18/21), making failure unlikely for them, so a level-appropriate party is going to struggle to get anything but basic weapon attacks to stick. Her weapon attacks are likely to stick, though, in more ways than one; their golden Shears act as +5 Mithral Keen Speed Scimitars in their hands, inflicting 1d8+12 damage up to three times a round... while having a crit modifier of 15-20, critically striking one out of every four attacks! In addition, being struck by the Shears, or even just by the touch of a hostile Norn (they can do both as part of a Full-Attack; watch out!), imparts 2 negative levels via Energy Drain. Here's a fun fact: Energy Drain doubles if the attacker confirms a critical hit! And with the high crit rate on their Shears, a Full-Attack from a Norn could saddle someone with anywhere from 8 to 16 negative levels! Though more realistically, it's "only" going to be maybe 6 to 10, but "only" 6 to 10 negative levels still means -35 HP and -6 to all rolls!

And between those terrible save penalties and being made to reroll saves, victims may find their fates severed. Three times a day, a Norn can unspool a length of golden thread and snip it as a single standard action, and this action inflicts catastrophic damage directly to the life force of any creature of the fey's choice within 120ft. This metaphysical severance inflicts 20d6 untyped damage (average: 68!) that cannot be dodged or resisted, only reduced by half by succeeding a DC 30 Fortitude save (and good luck with Shift Fate). If this damage kills the creature, they're gone for good. Only Wish, Miracle, or the intervention of a deity can restore someone who's thread was cut by a Norn.

What did you expect, trying to fight Fate?

You can read more about them here.

#Monster Spotlight #CR 16 to 20 #Pathfinder #dungeons and dragons

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vivianzgrave · 2 months

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From the start — Friends to Lovers ⊹ ࣪ ˖

(Dark ✧ Cacao)

Dark Cacao x GN!Reader (+ Baby Dark Choco added)

🏹 ⁺ ᰍ̠. ꒰͡ ㅎ ◌⃘ ̇

Fluff ノ 02 / 20 / 24 ✦

You've known Dark Cacao cookie for a while. Even before he was crowned king, you've always been close to him, a friend.

You were there for Dark Cacao cookie in his lowest when his wife died. And his highest, when Dark Choco came into this world.

But, right now. You couldn't tell if you were just his friend. You couldn't tell what he felt about you anymore.

"(Y/N) cookie.." He murmured into your ear. Baby Dark Choco present on your chest, sleeping soundly whilst his father held you close to him. All you did was come here to try and get him to actually spend time with his son instead of neglecting him whilst you had to take care of Dark Choco.

"I'm sorry about being so busy.." His sleepy murmurs filled your ears whilst Dark Choco sleepily cooed. His face was buried in your neck, whispering soft words into your ears, his warm breath on your skin. It was comforting to have him so close, especially after all that's happened.

Dark Cacao's cape wrapped around the three of you, keeping you all warm, his armor long gone around the room.

This was exactly where he wanted to be.

First Fic on this page! 👀

ㅤ▸ ۫ ♡ ִ ﹏ ׁ ২ ۪ ◂

This fanfic is actually booty 😓

If Lo-Lo sees this, my ass is gonna get beaten

#dark choco cookie x reader #dark cacao cookie #dark cacao crk #dark cacao kingdom #dark cacao x reader #dark cacao x y/n #gn!reader #gn!y/n #cr kingdom #cookie run #cookie run kingdom #crk #cr ovenbreak #cookie run ovenbreak #02/16/24 #vivianzgrave #vivian #vivianz #02/20/24

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keyleth-clay · 7 months

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Happy Birthday to me, and eternal nat 20's to my sister for the best presents!

She also got me the Vox Machina d20 set. Whenever I get a new set of dice, I do a test roll right away to see how they do, and -

#seriously #TWO separate Kiki figures AND a nat 20 on her dice?!#hello my baby hello my honey etc etc #kc speaks #Critical Role #merch #dice #CR 1 #Vox Machina #Keyleth #Vex'ahlia #Pike Trickfoot #Scanlan Shorthalt #Grog Strongjaw #Percy de Rolo #Vax'ildan #lord have mercer #in case you can't read the dice: grog = 14 vex = 18 percy = 5 vax = 5 kiki = 20 pike = 16 scanlan = 5 DM = 18 #boys of vm i'm disappointed in you

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justavulcan · 4 months

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Airmark's Guide to Planar Vegetables: Gehennan Grafting Tree

If no other plant in this flora encourages the reader to stay far from it, let it be the Gehennan grafting tree that does. Resembling a dark-barked oak tree from a distance, only the smell of cloying rot serves as many travelers' warning against the danger this predatory mimic poses. By the time a better view can be had through the choking ash and smoke of the Gehennan sky, the danger is upon them.

Once battle is joined, this tree's common name becomes clear: under normal circumstances, grafting is a practice of joining two plants or parts of plants together so they may grow as one. The gehennan grafting tree, born from a plane infused with selfishness, perverts this tendency to its own ends by rending flesh from bone and grafting it to its own trunk and branches.

Typically content to lie in wait before snatching prey out of the air or off the volcanic slopes of Gehenna's mountains, grafting trees are indiscriminate in their attacks, snatching fiery elementals, yugoloths, and mortals alike in their ever-ongoing effort to grow their own bulk by including animal flesh in their form. Capable of tapping into internal reservoirs of toxic volcanic gases, these trees remain difficult to locate and attack in their self-generated smoke screens.

Grafting trees are both mobile and intelligent, and are thus capable of setting their ambush anyplace they choose and offering to work with others for short-term gain. They also seem to have some culture of their own, and will periodically meet to compare their newest acquisitions in a ghoulish spectacle not unlike a county fair in reverse.

#Airmark's Guide to Planar Vegetables #D&D #Dungeons and Dragons #Dungeons & Dragons #Planescape #Bleak Eternity of Gehenna #Gehenna #CR 19 #CR 16-20

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dnd-shows-have-my-soul · 1 year

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The new D20 season trailer comes out tomorrow and in honor of Matt DMing, I wanted to make a couple cast predictions.

First, Brennan, obviously.

Emily Axeford my beloved.

Two emotionally support CR cast members, (hoping it’s either Tal, Liam or Laura)

Another D20 cast member (Ally or Murph) or someone else within the TRPG space that I am unable to think of (like Carlos or Becca)

And Aabria, cause I need the trio to exist within a campaign besides pirates of leviathan.

Please. I beg,,,,

#dimension 20 #dimension 20 meta #matthew mercer #brennan lee mulligan #aabria iyengar #emily axford #god #there are so many interactions that I need to happen #but emily is at the top of the list #she is and will forever be the best dnd player in the world #and I need to see matt try to handle her and I need to see the cr cast witness it #also I feel like laura and emily would get along so well #and taliesin and emily have near identical laughs #I need two crows #dimension 20 theory #dimension 20 season 16 #please #critical role

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hedgehog-moss · 1 year

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(TW POLICE VIOLENCE)

France has been feeling like a police state this week, there were 5000 cops deployed in Paris yesterday (watch this video and tell me this is a normal amount of cops and they're behaving normally) and they keep acting like they have total immunity*, to beat up protesters, to arrest protesters, or just random people walking in the vicinity of a protest. My 70+-year-old dad tried to go to a peaceful protest and had to abandon the idea because of all the tear gas being used by police.

*Which they do—as Le Monde pointed out, the cops who are violent risk nothing because they can't be identified because almost none of them wear their identification number even though it's supposed to be mandatory. They're not being penalised for not wearing them, so why should they?

If you can stomach it, please have a look at the photos and videos on this Twitter account documenting French police brutality against protesters—as I write this, the most recent tweet is about a journalist who was beaten up by a BRAV-M cop* using his steel baton; he had his head cracked open and his hand broken.

(* BRAV-M is a motorised repression corps—cops on bikes—a unit that was dissolved in 1986 after some of them beat a student to death, who wasn't even attending a protest but walking near one. Macron changed the unit's name, from Voltigeurs to BRAV-M, and reestablished it to suppress the Yellow Vests protests. This week, a BRAV-M cop deliberately drove over a 19-year-old's leg at a protest after chasing him on his bike. The victim said he heard a cop say to others "Smash him." Another BRAV-M punched a protester unconscious on March 20. And today Le Monde published an article about BRAV-M cops being recorded bragging about "breaking elbows and faces.")

In Paris last week the CRS arrested a 14-year-old kid because they took him for a dangerous black bloc protester I guess?? A child spent a night in police custody without knowing why. They've also arrested several 15 / 16 year-olds. Let's teach the youth what happens when you exercise your right to protest!

On March 16th in Paris, within one evening, they arrested 292 people, and 283 were released without charges, which means they're mass-arresting people for peaceful protests as a strategy of intimidation. The student I mentioned in my post the other day, who spent 48 hours in custody and was eventually charged for refusing to have his DNA samples taken and filed, asked the cops why they were arresting him + 4 other people who were walking down the same street and they said "Because you look like fucking leftists."

The government tells us "We fully support our brave police forces" when the cops are arresting people for "looking like leftists." How are we still a democracy? The guy also mentioned that during the time he spent at the police station, the police was mostly arresting Maghrebis, though they made an exception for him, a Black guy. There are videos from the past week of cops beating up women, tear gassing protesters in the face from 20cm away, kicking protesters in the face when they're already on the ground, crushing their heads under their boot, brutalising a homeless man and old ladies, tear gassing crowds with young children in them. I'm having trouble finding links to these specific incidents I remember because there are so many videos circulating.

Look at this video, they're violently striking the back of people's heads with steel batons even when the protesters are already going in the direction they're told to. The little old lady shoved around and trying to protect her head from the strikes is breaking my heart.

Surely at the point when enforcers of state authority are arresting middle schoolers, beating up citizens for exercising their rights and gassing and pepper spraying elderly people, children and babies in strollers, the government might want to make some sort of statement condemning this state of affairs, but instead they have been telling us they're proud of & grateful for their police forces, which of course angers people and makes protests more violent. The Minister of the Interior, who supervises the police, praises them wholeheartedly and excuses all instances of deliberate brutality as 'isolated incidents' due to 'tiredness'.

Here's a thread in English describing a protester's experience—"Yesterday (March 23) the level of arbitrary police violence clearly leveled up. I was tear gassed three times without being able to move in a very dense crowd; policemen took advantage that people were unable to move more than 20cm to pounce on us and bludgeon us in a totally arbitrary manner." (you can see an example of this behaviour in this video from a different protest)

Yesterday, after a day of nationwide protests that brought a fresh new wave of video evidence of cops beating up protesters and making reckless use of tear gas—at the end of a day when a special ed teacher at a protest got her thumb torn off by a tear gas grenade—this is what the French Prime Minister said:

They're not even trying to play it off like "both sides made mistakes" they're telling us they condone everything the police is doing, that this is what they're deploying them for:

(screencap from this video)

(this is from this video, in which you can hear a woman screaming "Stop it! You're strangling him! You have no right! I'm filming you!" The cops don't seem to care about being filmed. They're beating up citizens with the government's full blessing after all.)

Macron's government is trying to intimidate people into giving up their right to protest, by deploying cops in huge numbers and publicly voicing complete support for their behaviour, by allowing them to beat and arrest hundreds of people and to use tear gas indiscriminately. Tear gas has been completely normalised as a means of state violence, it's very practical that it doesn't leave traces of blood or broken bones I guess, but it's still violence, it burns, it's a chemical whose effects on people's health we don't know a lot about.

^ Paris (from this vid; caption: "one tear gas grenade after the other")

Macron condescendingly told us there's no "magic money" which is why the pension reform is needed, but he did find the money to stockpile these apparently unlimited amounts of tear gas grenades to suppress protests against his reform to make poor people work longer.

^ Nantes (screencap from a vid in which the cops throw three or four grenades at once and you can hear people say "oh come on, seriously? this is crazy. Why? go fuck yourselves" in a tired tone)

We've also found out yesterday that three Corsican MPs were pressured not to support the Assembly's no-confidence vote against the government—by being told if they didn't vote it, a teaching hospital would be built in Corsica.

The island of Corsica is the only region of France that doesn't have a teaching hospital; due to lack of medical resources Corsicans often have to travel to mainland France for healthcare. Just last month the Minister of Health said sorry, still no teaching hospital for Corsica, it's just not possible right now. Then last week some "magic money" was apparently found to build it but only if the Corsican MPs didn't support the no-confidence vote. I know this kind of thing isn't exactly unique in politics but Macron has been slashing hospital budgets to the point that 20% of French hospital beds are closed due to lack of staff, and he used the health of 340,000 French citizens as a bribe to save his ass. The three Corsican MPs ended up voting in favour of the no-confidence vote despite of that, as it was what their constituents wanted (honour to them). Macron's government survived the no-confidence vote by only 9 votes.

Whatever legitimacy Macron has as a President right now is being clung to by MP corruption and police repression. How do we move forwards knowing that, I don't know. How does he have legitimacy to govern on any issues after the way he handled this reform and the following protests? His police forces are drowning city centres in tear gas, a chemical whose effect on birds and other fauna is not known, and we're supposed to listen to him talk about the environment? They're wasting thousands of litres of water using water cannons to disperse protesters, and we're supposed to listen to him talk about low groundwater levels and how we need to save water? I was going to say, what about his legitimacy abroad but other Western governments don't seem too bothered so far by his handling of the protests—though I'm grateful that Amnesty International did condemn it, and that a Belgian deputy made a speech in Parliament this week asking his government to condemn Macron's use of violent police repression.

[Wait, I just saw that as I was writing this post, the Council of Europe condemned the "excessive use of force" in France. Saying that 'sporadic acts of violence' of some protesters can't 'justify the excessive use of force by agents of the State' or 'deprive peaceful protesters of their right to freedom of assembly'. This is the opposite framing as the one our government is standing by—sporadic acts of violence by cops that are either justified or excusable—it's refreshing.]

Between that and Charles III cancelling his visit (and lots of tourists cancelling trips to Paris which is bound to piss off the tourism industry) and our own media waking up and starting to talk about the government's brutality, I hope Macron starts being held accountable. He has been fanning the flames of this crisis at every turn, by telling us that the crowds protesting in the street have 'no legitimacy', by sending cops to break strikes even though striking is a Constitutional right (but the only part of the Constitution he cares about is the one that starts with 49.3), by condemning the protesters when asked to condemn police violence—saying "When [protesters] use violence, unregulated, absolute, we're no longer in a Republic." I agree, but he's describing himself.

When you resort to using article 49.3 to bypass the National Assembly for the 11th time this term to impose a reform that 70% of the country is against (and 93% of working people) that will force the poorer classes of the population to work longer, and your only response to people's distress at being told to work until they die is to force them to accept it by allowing your police forces to beat up protesters, to arrest them and to gas them, you have failed as a democratic leader.

The next organised protest and strike is next Tuesday (if you want to give something to the strike solidarity fund, here it is); in the meantime spontaneous protests are still erupting pretty much every day and cops are getting burnt out (good! There are fun videos from yesterday's protests of cops accidentally tear gassing one another, or a police car accidentally running into another as people laugh and clap.) And yes some protesters are getting more extreme and destructive, but Macron is the one choosing to stand by his reform at all costs and let this country burn. And when I look at what we're being expected to tolerate and to normalise, I'm kind of proud that French people's gut reaction was "burn it all."

Some popular Twitter hashtags for the protests:

#ToutCramer - Burn everything #CensurePopulaire - People's no-confidence vote #MacronDémission - Macron resign #OnLâcheRien - We won't cede an inch.

#frpol #i know french people who aren't following this closely aren't aware of how bad things got #as i said our media is finally commenting on CRS and BRAV-M behaviour but seeing the videos #for the protests is kind of necessary i feel to see how omnipotent the police feel thanks to macron #his ''fuck you i've already passed the reform idgaf about your protests'' attitude in the face of all this is unforgiveable #even if he somehow sees the light it won't erase all the violence and destruction that he caused #and that he doesn't care about #not to mention the damage done to democracy

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thisisnotthenerd · 3 months

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the ratgrinders' potential levels

cannot believe i was right about the xp reqs. the bad kids & the seven get 'special treatment' (milestone leveling and saving the world), while others have to work with xp. which tells you a lot about why people fled during prompocalypse.

ok getting into the algebra now: the rat grinders have gone into the far haven woods every day for the last two years, for 3 hours after school, and 9 hours/day on weekends. presumably they keep this up during the summer.

they have supposedly defeated 80,000 or more of three types of creatures: rats, spiders, and twig blights. there are some variations to what these could be, so here's a list of what this could encompass, assuming the ratgrinders are not facing creatures over CR 1.

giant rat: CR 1/8, 25 XP

swarm of rats: CR 1/4, 50 XP

giant wolf spider: CR 1/8, 25 XP

swarm of spiders: CR 1/2, 100 XP

giant flying spider: CR 1, 200 XP

giant spider: CR 1, 200 XP

ice spider: CR 1, 200 XP

twig blight: CR 1/8, 25 XP

needle blight: CR 1/4, 50 XP

thorn slinger: CR 1/2, 100 XP

vine blight: CR 1/2, 100 XP

razorvine blight: CR 1, 200 XP

thorny: CR 1: 200 XP

the full list is a little difficult to do calculations on, so let's condense it. assume a quarter of the 80000 creatures were CR 1/8, a quarter were CR 1/4, so on and so forth.

how much xp would they earn? how much would they level for the amount they ground? grinded? for?

critical assumption here: in the games i've played, we've always done milestone or zeroed out xp with each level, i.e. after earning 300 xp to get to level 2, you have to earn 900 xp to get to level 3, not 600. this analysis assumes that you have to earn the next levels xp reqs on top of your current total. i'm including the xp chart here to clarify:

level 1: 0 XP, +2, total 0 XP

level 2: 300 XP, +2, total 300 XP

level 3: 900 XP, +2, total 1200 XP

level 4: 2700 XP, +2, total 3900 XP

level 5: 6500 XP, +3, total 10400 XP

level 6: 14000 XP, +3, total 24400 XP

level 7: 23000 XP, +3, total 47400 XP

level 8: 34000 XP, +3, total 81400 XP

level 9: 48000 XP, +4, total 129400 XP

level 10: 64000 XP, +4, total 193400 XP

level 11: 85000 XP, +4, total 278400 XP

level 12: 100000 XP, +4, total 378400 XP

level 13: 120000 XP, +5, total 498400 XP

level 14: 140000 XP, +5, total 638400 XP

level 15: 165000 XP, +5, total 803400 XP

level 16: 195000 XP, +5, total 998400 XP

level 17: 225000 XP, +6, total 1223400 XP

level 18: 265000 XP, +6, total 1488400 XP

level 19: 305000 XP, +6, total 1793400 XP

level 20: 355000 XP, +6, total 2148400 XP

if we went cumulatively, based on the number of creatures the bad kids have defeated, they'd be getting up there in xp. we know they've had opportunities to defeat creatures outside of the quests that we've seen, given the oneshots. thus, i'm going with the second explanation, because otherwise the ratgrinders would be 19th level, and i don't think they are, because it would make any pvp setups super unbalanced, which are neither fun to play nor watch. this puts them on a little more even ground and emphasizes the amount of work it takes to xp grind to level against milestone leveling.

for the CR 1/8s: assuming roughly 20,000 creatures, they'd get 25 XP per, which means 500,000 xp. that's cumulatively enough to get to level 13, on just those creatures. divided 6 ways, assuming the ratgrinders have 6 members, it's 83,333.33, which is enough to get you to 10th level cumulatively and 8th non cumulatively.

this scales up to the 1/4s, 1/2s and the 1s since the xp gains double for each challenge rating rather than plateauing as they do at higher levels.

for the CR 1/4s: 1,000,000 xp. that's cumulatively enough to get to level 16 on just those creatures. divided 6 ways, assuming the ratgrinders have 6 members, it's 166,666.66, which is enough to get you to 15th level cumulatively and 9th non cumulatively.

for the CR 1/2s: 2,000,000 xp. divided 6 ways, assuming the ratgrinders have 6 members, it's 333,333.33, which is enough to get you to 19th level cumulatively, and 11th level non cumulatively.

and for the 1s, 4,000,000 xp. well over what you'd need to get to level 20, on just the CR 1s. divided 6 ways, assuming the ratgrinders have 6 members, it's 666,666.66, which is well over 20th level cumulatively, and 14th level non cumulatively.

using this estimate and adding all of this up, each member of the ratgrinders would have gathered enough xp to be level 20 cumulatively, and level 17 non cumulatively.

obviously the actual numbers would scale differently; initially, they would likely have to tackle these creatures as a party, but over time would take care of them individually. this is a bunch of kids doing the intro to class assignment for every assignment for two years straight.

level 20 seems extreme for the aguefort adventuring academy; let's scale it down a bit. the creatures specifically mentioned are probably giant rats, giant wolf spiders, and twig blights, based on the descriptions from jawbone.

all of these are CR 1/8, or 25 XP each. 80000 would give an xp total of 2,000,000, which would put each of the ratgrinders at around 11th level, a little higher level than the bad kids at the moment. however, since their fighting prowess scaled up, and they're probably going out in elmville and actively hindering the bad kids in some way, that level is very likely to increase.

what we saw in the episode

now the sticking point is mary ann rolling a 35. we know she got some kind of transmutation buff. a little tricky wording from brennan; fabian had enhance ability on, which is a transmutation spell. he did not say it was enhance ability.

mary ann is a barbarian, so she already gets advantage on athletics if she's raging, which i assume she was. the buff probably wouldn't be something that grants advantage.

assuming the lower estimate of 11th level, mary ann would get a +4 proficiency bonus, and i'm assuming she has 20 in strength, so +5 to her strength based skills, for a total of +9. at the high estimate of level 17, she would have a +6 to her proficiency bonus, which would give her a total of +11 to athletics. this is still not high enough to get a 35, even on a nat 20, which brennan would have declared if he had rolled one. she could conceivably accomplish this with the brawny feat, which allows for expertise in the athletics skill, which would give her a +17, meaning she could hit a 35 on a 18.

or, the buff was something like skill empowerment, which is a 5th level transmutation spell that gives the target expertise in a skill that they already have proficiency in. this spell is available to bards and wizards, among other classes, both of which we presume are in the ratgrinders. ruben could have cast skill empowerment on mary ann and given her bardic inspiration (lower estimate: d10, higher estimate: d12), both of which would have enabled that 35.

judging by the implication that she could not accomplish that feat without some kind of buff, i'm going with the latter explanation.

anyway i did too much math for this to not go in the stats series, or the school series. so this will be added to the spreadsheet later.

i hope this is useful.

#dimension 20 #dimension 20 spoilers #musings on the solisian school district #dimension 20 meta #dungeons and dragons #milestone vs xp leveling #thisisnotthenerd's d20 stats #fantasy high #fantasy high junior year #ratgrinders #the bad kids #dnd mechanics #fhjy #fhjy spoilers #d20 spoilers #d20 #d20 fantasy high #the perils of xp leveling

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rizsu · 1 year

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gojo comes back after 20 fucking years god bless gege (full leak here)

edit: adding more leaks (lots of gojo) utc since i ran out of image space last post

gojo vs kenjaku AND gojo vs sukuna. in this panel (2nd image), he says “you've changed a lot megumi.” (it's not known if he knows it's sukuna but gege foreshadowed gojo vs megumi and always rmbr that ppl in jjk cant see sukuna's markings like we can) (page 14)

rmbr when sukuna said when he takes over yuuji, he will first kill gojo? sukuna now says “it turned out to be this brat's body but I'll kill you”. gojo says fuck you to sukuna by saying, “the guy who ran away from Yuji is acting all mighty, how pity.” (so yeah he knows it's not megumi but sukuna.) (page 15)

uraume gets mad at gojo for talking shit to sukuna and tries to attack him but gojo sends her flying (page 16)

kenjaku arrives again and stops sukuna saying “you've to finish my promise before you fight him.” gojo thinks he also has a job to do before fighting. sukuna agrees with kenjaku (so ig they stopped for now) (page 16)

gojo proposes to take the fight to 24/12 and kenjaku responds with “haha, how romantic.” (the final fights happen on dec 24th idk yet if it's irl time or jjk time) (page 18)

rmbr when yuuji asked gojo if sukuna's stronger? gojo replied with “it'll be tough if he regains all his power.”

but yuuji asked if gojo would lose but gojo said, “i will win!” (final page)

the manga goes on a break for two weeks. cr to King_Jin_Woo3 on twt.

#gojo satoru #gojo #jjk 221 spoilers #jjk 221 #FUCK #I NEED BRO #jjk #jjk spoilers

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kanmom51 · 7 months

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Excuse me, what?

🤣🤣

18 September 2023

20:16 or 8:16 pm KST.

Photo taken on his museum visit with RM.

In front of this piece of art.

Interesting choice to continue with the B&W theme.

cr./@stopkookminpls

Also, interesting choice of specific art piece, given it's part of a collection. Oh, and the art collection itself as well...

#jimin #jm #jm ig

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thecreaturecodex · 2 months

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Zap Kraken

Image © Turtle Rock Studios

[Sponsored by Soluman Blevins. The second of the Evolve monsters I've done, other than the warpwraith. Mechanically, the Kraken is interesting, but design wise, it's a little drab. Because it's just a Cthulhu. The lightning bolt wings are a cool touch, but otherwise, it's very much a Cthulhu. And in a game that already has Cthulhu and his star-spawn, I wanted to differentiate it a bit. So I tied it to one of my favorite one-shot weirdo monsters from the 3e era.]

Zap Kraken CR 16 CE Aberration This immense creature has a roughly dinosaur-like body and the head of a colossal cephalopod. A vertical maw stretches between its beard of tentacles, and two large jointed appendages grow from its back and crackle with electricity. Its long tail is segmented like the vertebral column of a great beast.

Zap krakens are rare aberrant creatures that use electrical energy for both offense and mobility. Although they are enormous, they fly with surprising grace by manipulating electricity, essentially creating wings of lightning that hold them aloft. They are remarkably stealthy for their size, and can sneak up on prey from above before dropping to melee or merely blasting away with channeled lightning bolts.

Zap krakens are territorial, and maintain their territory by creating banshee mines, so called for the shriek of their explosions. These mines home in on creatures that get too close, and the zap kraken can also visit them to see what it has seen, similar to a prying eyes spell. Although zap krakens typically view other creatures as prey first and foremost, they have a mutual fondness for zeugalaks. Both species have tentacled maws and an affinity for electricity, and sages speculate that they are related to each other. A zap kraken often views zeugalaks the way a nobleman views their prized hunting hounds, using them to flush out prey or occupy melee combatants.

Zap Kraken CR 16 XP 76,800 CE Gargantuan aberration Init +7; Senses blindsense 120 ft., darkvision 60 ft., Perception +17

Defense AC 30, touch 14, flat-footed 22 (-4 size, +7 Dex, +1 dodge, +16 natural) hp 225 (18d8+144) Fort +14, Ref +13, Will +15 DR 10/magic; Immune cold, electricity; SR 26

Offense Speed 50 ft., fly 100 ft. (good) Melee 2 claws +18 (2d6+8), tentacles +17 (4d4+8), 2 wings +16 (2d6+4 plus 1d6 electricity) Space 20 ft.; Reach 20 ft. (30 ft. with tentacles) Special Attacks banshee mines, lightning strike, shock pulse

Statistics Str 26, Dex 24, Con 28, Int 11, Wis 19, Cha 19 Base Atk +16; CMB +28; CMD 46 Feats Blind-fight, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Flyby Attack, Hover (B), Mobility, Multiattack, Stand Still, Weapon Focus (claw) Skills Acrobatics +20 (+28 when jumping), Fly +21, Intimidate +17, Perception +17, Stealth +16, Survival +17; Racial Modifiers +8 Stealth Languages Aklo

Ecology Environment warm hills Organization solitary or band (1 plus 1-4 zeugalaks) Treasure standard

Special Abilities Banshee Mines (Su) As a standard action, a zap kraken can create up to three animated mines. Treat these as the eyes generated by the prying eyes spell, only when a creature approaches within 30 feet of them (all creatures or of a type set by the zap kraken on creation), they fly towards that creature and explode. Treat this as a ranged touch attack using the zap kraken’s modifiers (+19 for a typical specimen). If it hits, the creature struck takes 4d6 points of electricity damage and 4d6 points of sonic damage. Whether the mine hits or not, it explodes, dealing this damage in a 5 foot radius (Reflex DC 23 halves). A zap kraken knows when one of its mines has detonated as long as it is within 1 mile of the mine. A zap kraken can create up to nine mines a day, but can have a maximum of three in existence at a time. The save DC is Charisma based. Lightning Strike (Su) As a standard action, a zap kraken can call down a bolt of lightning within 160 feet. It fills a column 60 feet high with a 20 foot radius, dealing 16d8 points of electricity damage to all creatures in the area (Reflex DC 23 halves). A zap kraken can use this ability once every 1d4 rounds. The save DC is Charisma based. Shock Wave (Su) As a standard action, a zap kraken can release an electrical pulse in a 60 foot radius centered on its body. All creatures in the area take 16d4 points of electricity damage and are pushed back 10 feet. A successful DC 27 Reflex save halves the damage and resists the knockback effect. A zap kraken can use this ability every other round. The save DC is Constitution based. Tentacles (Ex) The tentacles of a zap kraken are treated as a single primary natural weapon

#pathfinder 1e #pathfinder rpg #zap kraken #evolve #evolve kraken #cthulhu #tentacles #aberration #zeugalak #sponsored post

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alovesreading · 1 year

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Masterlist

last updated: 05/01/2024

Please do not repost any of my work anywhere. All of these are purely fictitious and for entertainment purposes.

You can also read on Wattpad: -alovesreading and AO3: alovesreading

If you want me to tag you on any future fics, send me a message :)

Happy reading!

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Matty Healy

Chicken Shop Date

Matty Healy x Reader (f) | You and your best friend Amelia came up with a very simple idea of taking celebrities on awkward chicken shop dates, and somehow, it’s managed to become both of your jobs. In the past, you’ve found sitting across from some of the biggest stars on the planet and eating chicken nuggets easy. But then Amelia manages to score you a date with the man who you’ve been obsessed with since you were nineteen; Matty Healy.

Instagram AU |

Be My Mistake

Matty Healy x Reader (f) | Under the influence, Matty makes one of his biggest mistakes which ends up with him losing you. And now there’s nothing more to do, other than deal with the heartache and pick up the pieces.

Read here

You Go To My Head

Matty Healy x Reader (f) | The plans that Matty has arranged for you to celebrate your first Valentine's Day together are out the window when he becomes ill, but staying in to take care of him doesn't mean the day is ruined. And you assure him of it by saying those words he hasn't heard you say before.

Read here

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Alex Turner

Constant Repeat

Alex Turner x Original Character (f) | Having worked at Focus Creeps for a year, Ella knows that as a production assistant and part of the crew, there’s one important rule: don’t interact with the talent unless it’s needed. But once she meets Arctic Monkeys, and the recording of the music videos for their upcoming fourth studio album starts, the band seem to become her exception. Not only because they treat her more like a friend than just someone else they’re working with but when Alex continuously makes her blush with his flirting, so enthralled by her that he forgets he’s got a girlfriend, Ella finds herself growing closer to him. As videos are filmed, wrapped and edited, the friendship lines become blurry. Situations unfold, secrets are told and others are kept under lock and key, but how long can Alex and Ella endure being stuck in each other’s minds on constant repeat.

Teaser 1 - Teaser 2 | CR Playlist - Ella’s Playlist

Extras (blurbs)

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George Daniel

Nice Kind Of Messy

George Daniel x Reader (f) | Your friends set you up on a blind date, one that you aren't really looking forward to at all but when you find George Daniel there waiting outside the restaurant, there is no doubt it'll be a date to remember.

Read here

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Ross MacDonald

Quarter Past Midnight

Ross MacDonald x Reader (f) | Thanks to your best mate, you’ve found yourself welcoming the New Year at a party one of her bosses is throwing at her new house. Since you stepped foot in the place, your only plan has been to spend the night dancing and drinking with your friends. But it all changes when you find a certain bassist looking at you from across the room. And as the night progresses, and a few kisses are shared, you seem to agree on the fact that you’re leaving the party together.

Read here

‘tis the damn season

Ross MacDonald x Reader (f) | Christmas has been your favourite season since you met Ross MacDonald back in Year 9 when you had just moved to Wilmslow, coincidentally on the same road as him. He becomes your very best friend for the rest of high school, but when that ends, life happens and you just can't stop it. And life is certainly cruel to you and Ross. Every December is a reminder of it, somehow always bringing a chance to ruin things even more. After so many mistakes, how can you get back the times you've always cherished with the silly boy with the dimpled smile?

Part 1 | Part 2

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monstersdownthepath · 11 months

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Monster Spotlight: Implacable Stalker

+2 CR

Any creature with an Intelligence of 3 or higher; usually an Outsider, Humanoid, or Monstrous Humanoid

Horror Adventures, pg. 238-239

Bit of a different one today; rather than a monster, this is actually a little review of a monster Template, something we’ve just barely spoken of on this blog, and often as one being offered as a reward for divine service. A Template is a bunch of stats and abilities that can be stapled onto any existing monster to give it some extra zing, doing everything from allowing a DM to give their favorite monster some new tactics to giving out new surprises to familiar monsters that every player thinks they know how to counter. Templates are great “plug and play” ways to add extra threat to an existing encounter, often doing in just 1 or 2 extra CR what would normally require 6 or 7 class levels. I highly recommend them!

Granted, the players suffering from recurring nightmares about their encounter with the Implacable Stalker likely won’t be as enthusiastic about the whole thing, but what were they expecting going to the Lake of Crystals, or buying property in Faddonhield? Really, it’s their fault.

Putting this under a cut because it got a little longer than I thought it would!

The Implacable Stalker Template turns any monster it’s slapped onto into the quintessential nigh-invincible slasher movie villain, giving them a pile of stats and skill bonuses (most notably +8 to Intimidation checks, which is important), an immense number of defensive abilities (DR 5/--! 10 points of Resistance to every element!!), and a bunch of tools that are literally Pathfinder translations of horror movie narrative convenience! What do I mean by that? Well, first off, do you know how in slasher movies, people seem to lose all semblance of problem solving ability once the killer is near? That’s displayed by the Stalker’s Fear Aura, which causes any and all creatures with 5 or less HD to automatically become frightened if they come within 60ft of the horror. A successful save doesn’t negate the fear entirely, causing them to become shaken instead. Any creature with more than 5 HD is slightly less afraid; success on their save renders them protected from the aura’s effects, and failure only causes them to become shaken. However, leaving and then re-entering the Stalker’s aura forces another save; there’s no 24 hour immunity! Don’t run away and come back to try and save anyone, you fool! Then again, the more likely scenario is that you run until you think you’re safe, only for it to eventually catch up.

It’ll take a while to do that, though. In a move I find hysterical but also fitting, a Stalker’s movespeed is dropped by 10ft (to a minimum of 20), so it always moves slower than a human running away from it at full speed, giving it the menacing yet inexorable stroll of famous killers... And just like Jason Voorhees in the increasingly terrible sequels, no matter how far away you get or how many barriers you put between yourself and the killer, as soon as no one’s looking at the Stalker it turns out it’s Right Behind You, having teleported upwards to 480ft to any point adjacent to a creature it’s aware of that’s suffering from any level of fear (shaken, frightened, or panicked). This teleportation is a swift action it can use every 1d6 rounds, allowing the Stalker to use its full attack against whatever victim it’s just jumpscared and more than likely ripping them to pieces.

To really set the mood for an Implacable Stalker, I recommend a DM place several disposable red-shirt NPCs along with the party, allowing them to be picked off one by one by the Stalker or taken out by its jumpscare. Make sure, however, that at least one of the deaths happens ‘on screen,’ i.e. where the party can see it, because the Stalker can use its swift action to put on a Gory Display every time it manages to slay a creature. This horrific showing of violence can either enhance the horror’s Str and Con for a short time, restore a chunk of HP to it, give it back one of its expended spell-likes... or cause a single creature within 60ft (which it doesn’t even have to be aware of) to lose any fear immunity it may have. This last one is important if you want it to be a real threat, because otherwise a Paladin or caster with Unbreakable Heart or a party with the humble Calm Emotions can ignore half the Implacable Stalker’s kit.

Circling back to the “horror movie narrative convenience” and combining it with “half the stalker’s kit,” we have the slasher’s ability to sniff out its victims no matter where they’re hiding, except in Pathfinder it’s called Sense Fear. This radius of 120ft detection allows the Stalker to precisely target the exact spot a creature suffering from any level of fear is hiding in, allowing it to teleport to them or threateningly trundle towards them... or pretend to have lost them, only to burst through whatever barrier they thought was safe. Sense Fear even works through most barriers, allowing the Stalker to wait on the other side of a wall to smash through it and grab anyone it finds.

And of course, slashers are always significantly stronger until the Final Girl finally gets over her fear and attacks it back... but until then, every additional character is just another point of weakness. The Implacable Stalker is already tremendously hard to put down, getting +6 Con from the Template, along with Toughness for even more extra HP and a jaw-dropping +6 extra natural armor, but the Terrifying Inevitability of the horror cranks it from “resilient” to “juggernaut” so long as it can see or hear a creature suffering any level of fear. Terrifying Inevitability doubles its insurmountable DR from 5 to 10, gives it an enormous amount of Spell Resistance (16 + its CR), and grants it Fast Healing equal to its Hit Dice, assuring the fearful fool it has at its mercy won’t deal any lasting damage, if they deal damage at all.

I’m recommending the Stalker template with the understanding that it has a VERY good chance of making an encounter unfun rather than exhilarating or terrifying, so use it very carefully, and don’t just drop it on players like a random encounter; build it up, make an environment and a whole setting for it, and make sure players have some method to escape it or finally, heroically fight back against it. Perhaps finding a scroll of Calm Emotions is what allows the party to turn the tides against it? Not only does the suppression of fear prevent the Stalker from turning up Right Behind You, but shuts off its Terrifying Inevitability and prevents it from detecting invisible or hiding creatures with Sense Fear, allowing the party to get the jump on it and finally kill it for good.

Just make sure you double-tap it. Like all good slashers, there’s always a chance it’ll get in one final jumpscare due to its Diehard feat! And worse, it may still live on via Nightmare Resurrection, haunting every victim who witnessed its death for weeks on end via terrifying, traumatic nightmares until they succeed three saves... or the Implacable Stalker comes back, returned to life and full health just in time for the sequel.

You can read more about it here.

#Monster Spotlight #Pathfinder #Dungeons and Dragons #CR 1 to 5 #CR 6 to 10 #CR 11 to 15 #CR 16 to 20 #putting it under each one so it shows up

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justicegundam82 · 2 months

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PF1: GRAVE HAG

Hello! Here's another of my attempts at retro-converting a 2E critter to 1E stats. After the Rust Hag, I surely couldn't pass up the Grave Hag, especially since I think Hags are kinda underrated and can be just as terrifying and versatile as vampires and liches when it comes to being evil masterminds.

Again I've tried to be as close as possible to the original version, though I had to drop a few special abilities in the process, since I was afraid they would have made the conversion overpowered. I'm still wondering if my conversion here might be a bit much... but I'll let you guys be the judges of that.

Hope you enjoy it!

GRAVE HAG

This woman has a cadaverous appearence, with greying flesh, filthy black hair and bloody sores all over her body. Her nails are long, ragged claws, and her clothes are soiled with grave dirt.

GRAVE HAG CR 9

XP 6’400

CE Medium Monstrous Humanoid

Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +18

DEFENSE

AC 23 (+3 Dex, +1 dodge, +9 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 19

hp 104 (11d10+44)

Fort +8, Ref +10, Will +11; +4 vs. disease, fear and paralysis

Defensive Abilities negative healing

Damage Reduction 5 / cold iron; Immune energy drain, poison; Spell Resistance 20

ATTACK

Speed 30 ft.

Melee improvised weapon +17 / +12 / +7 (1d8+7) or 2 claws +17 (1d6+5 plus grab)

Ranged grave ray +15 touch (4d6)

Special Attacks curse of the grave, grave ray

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 12th, concentration +15)

1/day – cloudkill (DC 18)

3/day – animate dead, contagion (DC 18), enervation (DC 18), vampiric touch

At will – bleed (DC 14), cause fear (DC 15), command undead (DC 16), death knell (DC 15), speak with dead (DC 17)

STATISTICS

Str 20, Dex 17, Con 16, Int 19, Wis 18, Cha 17

Base Atk +12; CMB +17 (+21 grapple); CMD 30

Feats Catch Off-Guard (B), Dodge, Great Fortitude, Power Attack, Spell Focus (necromancy), Toughness, Undead Master

Skills Bluff +14, Climb +10, Craft (any one) +10, Heal +11, Intimidate +15, Knowledge (arcana) +14, Knowledge (religion) +16, Perception +18, Sense Motive +12, Spellcraft +12, Stealth +14, Survival +10

Languages Aklo, Common, Giant, Necril

Special Qualities undead mien

ECOLOGY

Environment any

Organization solitary or coven (3 hags of any type)

Treasure standard

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Curse of the Grave (Sup): Three times per day, a grave hag can put a curse on a creature, rendering it more enticing to the ravenous undead. A target can avoid this effect by making a successful Will save (DC 18). If the save is failed, the target starts drawing the undead’s attention, granting them a +4 bonus on Perception checks to notice the affected creature and on saving throws to resist spells that hide or disguise the affected creature from undead (such as hide from undead). Once an undead notices the affected creature, it feels compelled to kill and devour the affected creature, and gains a +2 profane bonus on attack rolls made against the affected creature and a +2 profane bonus on saving throws against the affected creature’s spells and special abilities. The undead also ignores any concealment less than total concealment that an affected creature has. A curse of the grave lasts for 24 hours or until removed with a successful remove curse, dispel magic, break enchantment or similar magic (against a casting level of 12). The save DC is Charisma-based.

Grave Ray (Sup): Once every 1d4+1 rounds, a grave hag can fire a black beam of bone-chilling negative energy to a maximum range of 60 feet. If the grave hag succeeds at a ranged touch attack, the beam inflicts 4d6 point of negative energy damage, which can be halved on a successful Fortitude save (DC 18). A grave ray can be used to heal undead creatures, or the grave hag herself, in this way. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Negative Healing (Sup): A grave hag is healed by negative energy and harmed by positive energy as if she were an undead creature.

Undead Mien (Ex): A grave hag counts as an undead creature for the purpose of spells, spell-like abilities or special abilities that detect undead. She also gains a +4 racial bonus on saving throws vs. disease, fear and paralysis effects.

Grave hags are a particularly powerful breed of hags with an affinity for undead and negative energy, who make their liars in cemetaries, mausoleums or other burial sites, where they surround themselves with undead servitors and form a kind of twisted mockery of a court. Unlike most hags, grave hags do not have the ability to alter their appearence into a more reassuring shape, and are forced to hide where few people would want to seek them out. However, grave hags are grieviously arrogant and self-centered, and believe that this kind of life is beneath them, so they spend most of their time concocting plans to expand their territory and set themselves up as petty rulers of undead-infested regions.

Even for the standards of hags, grave hags are extremely smug and self-important, seeing themselves as the most powerful, cunning and strongest of all hags, and demanding respect and unconditional obedience from any “lesser” kind of hag. They tend to mock other hags’ abilities that they don’t possess (such as the ability to alter self) as pointless parlor tricks who have no inherent use to them. The exception to this are night hags, whom are seen by grave hags as role models, and to whom a grave hag will gladly submit.

In combat, grave hags tend to hold back and harass opponents with spells and withering blasts of negative energy while their undead minions tear their victims apart. They often open up combat by casting cloudkill and then letting their minions, unaffected by the poison, have their way with the opposition. Grave hags can put a curse on their victims, making them more enticing for the undead to attack. However, if forced to hand-to-hand combat, a grave hag can give as good as she gets, often using digging tools like shovels or mattocks as improvised weapons with surprising skill.

A grave hag usually stands between 5 and 6 feet tall and weighs between 120 and 180 pounds. The bloody sores she naturally sports on her body can make her look crippled and weak, but are merely cosmetical and do not hinder the grave hag in any way other than giving her an unsightly appearence. When a grave hag joins a coven, the coven adds harm to its spell-like abilities and shares the grave hag’s negative healing ability, but a grave hag will rarely join a coven that doesn’t have either herself or a night hag as leader.

#pathfinder 1e #conversion #gravehag #pathfinder rpg #monstrous humanoid

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justavulcan · 4 months

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Airmark's Guide to Planar Vegetables: Gray Lily of the Waste

Legend has it that the first gray lily of the waste was a dryad whose lover died. She pursued him into Hades, but there the emotional climate of the environment tainted and twisted her love and longing into its worst form: obsession, possessiveness, and even abuse. When she eventually died in Hades, her body took the form of the first gray lily.

Gray lilies of the waste are monochromatic beauties; huge white flowers with soft gray innards protrude from their black stems and leaves. Their immense size does little to dissuade the most ardent of florists from obsessing over their beauty, but these flowers are deadly to cultivate and keep.

Sentient and filled with a longing and loneliness little can assuage, gray lilies obsess over acquiring 'paramours' to keep by their side to provide the briefest flicker of contentment in an existence otherwise miserable with solitude. That their grasp proves fatal to all but the most psychically resilient or that they quickly turn to using their lovers as shields do not matter; only the longing does.

Gray lilies prove highly conversational with Speak With Plants, able to converse about a variety of subjects including the local area and its denizens. Their preferred topic of conversation, of course, is themselves, and they are very persistent about trying to convince visitors to remain with them 'just for a season or two...'

#Airmark's Guide to Planar Vegetables #D&D #Dungeons and Dragons #Dungeons & Dragons #Planescape #Gray Waste of Hades #Hades #CR 17 #CR 16-20

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pathfinderunlocked · 30 days

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Gargantuan Linkserpent - CR11 Kyton

If you hear a chain rattling and feel the ground rumbling, it’s too late to run.

Image generated on Artflow.ai.

I normally do my best to find an artist to showcase with each post. For this one, though, I had an idea and couldn’t find any real artwork that was even remotely close, sorry. It bothers me enough that I don’t think I’ll do it again. It kind of makes sense, though, considering that the monster creates illusionary terrain that you could very easily flavor as looking like an AI-generated image.

This is a lower level version of a CR14 creature I made some time back, the Colossal Linkserpent. As the name implies, this weaker version is one size category smaller. If your adventure is a few levels lower, it might be more appropriate.

In the Shadow Plane, it’s perhaps fortunate at times that distances between location are fluid and long distance travel is somewhat dreamlike, because that leaves an infinite amount of space for the Gargantuan and Colossal Linkserpents to roam. They never seem to reach settlements, but in the bleak and lifeless wilderness, Linkserpents hunt down travelers and torment them. They are capable of causing a traveler’s journey in the Shadow Plane to stretch out endlessly by circling around them beneath the ground.

A relatively small number of these creatures are believed to exist - maybe a hundred or fewer in the world, although it’s impossible to tell for sure. The animal-like intelligence of a Gargantuan Linkserpent is unusual among kytons, but this creature enjoys inflicting pain and torment just as much as the more intelligent kytons with humanoid appearances.

Unlike many kytons which wear the chains that were used to bind or torture them, a Garguantuan Linkserpent’s entire body except for its head is made of a great number of living metallic chains, which were given life and melded together by other kytons after being used to bind or torture other creatures. The difference between a Gargantuan Linkserpent and a Colossal Linkserpent is simply how many chains the kytons are able to gather when creating it.

Gargantuan Linkserpent - CR 11

Made of interwoven metallic chains stretching more than 30 feet long, this enormous serpent-like creature bursts from the ground with a rattling sound.

XP 12,800 LE Gargantuan outsider (evil, extraplanar, kyton, lawful) Init +3 Senses darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 1 mile; Perception +15 Aura stretch terrain (120 ft.)

DEFENSE

AC 23, touch 9, flat-footed 20 (+3 Dex, +14 natural, -4 size) hp 138 (12d10+72); regeneration 5 (good weapons and spells, silver weapons) Fort +14, Ref +11, Will +8 DR 10/silver or good Immune cold SR 21

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft., burrow 40 ft. Melee bite +18 (3d6+15) Ranged molten steel spit +11 touch (4d8 fire plus hardened steel, 30 ft. range increment, see text) Space 30 ft.; Reach 30 ft. Special Attacks constrict (4d6+21), enwrap, unnerving gaze (30 ft.; DC 16)

STATISTICS

Str 31, Dex 16, Con 22, Int 1, Wis 18, Cha 8 Base Atk +12; CMB +26; CMD 39 (cannot be tripped) Feats All-Consuming Swing, Cleave, Great Cleave, Improved Vital Strike, Power Attack, Vital Strike Skills Climb +20, Perception +15 Languages None

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Enwrap (Ex) As a standard action, a gargantuan linkserpent can coil its body around a creature at least two size categories smaller than itself, attempting to hold it in place. This functions as a grapple combat maneuever, and provokes an attack of opportunity, except that if successful, the gargantuan linkserpent can maintain the grapple as a move action each round and can continue to make bite attacks. A creature grappled in this way is moved into the center of the gargantuan linkserpent’s space, instead of adjacent to it as normal for a grapple.

Molten Steel Spit (Ex) As a standard action, a gargantuan linkserpent can spit a glob of molten steel. This is a ranged touch attack with a range increment of 30 feet which deals 4d8 fire damage. A target struck by this attack is entangled, and its weight increases by 120 lbs. Both the entangled condition and the additional weight last until the target removes the steel, which immediately hardens around the target.

A flying target struck by this attack must succeed on a DC 25 Fly check or immediately plummet, and takes an additional -10 penalty on Fly checks on top of any penalty it takes from the added weight.

The hardened steel has 10 hardness and 30 hit points, and can be removed by dealing enough slashing, piercing, bludgeoning, acid, fire, or force damage to break it apart or melt it. Acid or fire attacks against the hardened steel also damage the entangled creature.

Stretch Terrain (Su) As a free action, while in an area of natural terrain on the Shadow Plane, a gargantuan linkserpent can cause creatures within 120 feet to be unable to escape a 120 foot radius around the gargantuan linkserpent. Creatures and objects which attempt to move further than this distance away seem to be moving, but their distance from the gargantuan linkserpent never increases to further than 120 feet. Even teleportation effects are unable to move further than this distance, although plane shifting works normally.

A gargantuan linkserpent must be able to take a free action each round to maintain this aura. The aura ends at the end of the gargantuan linkserpent’s turn if it is helpless or otherwise unable to act.

Unnerving Gaze (Ex) A creature that succumbs to an gargantuan linkserpent’s unnerving gaze has all of its movement speeds reduced to 0 for 1 round as it imagines being strangled in the coiled chains of the linkserpent’s body. This gaze effect has a range of 30 feet and is negated by a DC 16 Will save. The save DC is Charisma-based.

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