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thecreaturecodex · 3 years

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Asura Rana, Zargon

Image by Wayne England, © Wizards of the Coast

[Commissioned by @tar-baphon. I already made statistics for Zargon at his previous canon levels of power a few months back, and was also commissioned to create a stronger, ascended version of the Invincible Tyrant. In so doing, I went back over the previous statistics and toned them down a bit. A +6 resistance bonus for a CR 18 creature is a little too much, even for a pseudo-god like Zargon.]

Asura Rana, Zargon CR 28 LE Outsider (extraplanar) This massive horror has a reptilian head with a single eye and a single horn. Its body is a column from which grow twenty four tentacles, twelve in the midsection that serve it like arms, and twelve at the base on which is drags itself. Slime oozes from its every surface, and it is covered in scars, tumors and other irregularities of the flesh that bubble and warp as it moves.

Zargon, Abomination of Creation, Devourer of the Depths, the Invincible Tyrant, the Returner Concerns acid, oozes, regeneration Domains Earth, Evil, Healing, Law Subdomains Caves, Growth*, Resurrection, Tyranny Worshipers alchemists, blights, despots Minions asuras, shoggoths, whelps of Zargon Unholy Symbol a spiral horn above a single eye Favored Weapon rapier Devotion Expose a living creature to acid and watch the reaction of its flesh for 1 hour. You may use yourself as this subject. Gain a +4 profane bonus to saves against acid effects. Boons 1: eruptive pustules 1/day; 2: fluid form 1/day; 3: true resurrection 1/day *clerics of Zargon can use the Growth subdomain to modify the Healing domain

Zargon the Returner is ancient even by the standards of the great asuras. He was the first and greatest spawn of one of the primal gods of creation. Names such as Abhoth and Sheol-Nugganoth are whispered as his parentage, and their true mistake was not destroying him when they had a chance. For Zargon can never truly die, and even if his horn is destroyed by volcanic heat, he will be reborn on another planet in another version of reality.

So say his worshipers, anyway. These statistics represent Zargon’s power at its height, when he ruled in Hell as an asura rana. Zargon’s weakness was uncovered by Geryon, and Asmodeus snapped the horn from his head and cast it into the Material Plane. Zargon’s ultimate goal is to return to Hell, reclaim his dominion and devour Geryon. This goal has been put off for eons, as Zargon enjoys the power he currently has too much to sacrifice it. Better to reign in the Material Plane, reshaping civilizations to his own cruel desires, than return to Hell and being forced to serve the Lords of Hell, or risk failure and total destruction. But if his power base is destroyed without slaying Zargon, he may be prompted to act, and the planes will tremble at the wrath of Zargon Ascendant.

Asura Rana, Zargon CR 28 XP 4,915,200 LE Huge outsider (asura, asura rana, evil, extraplanar, lawful) Init +8; Senses blindsense 120 ft., darkvision 60 ft., Perception +50, see in darkness, true seeing Aura true elusive (250 ft., DC 39) Defense AC 44, touch 26, flat-footed 39 (-2 size, +4 Dex, +1 dodge, +13 profane, +18 natural) hp 666 (36d10+468); regeneration 40 (deific or mythic) Fort +31, Ref +30, Will +38 DR 20/good and epic; Immune acid, charm and compulsion effects, disease, energy drain, petrifaction, poison, polymorph; Resist cold 20, electricity 30, fire 20; SR 39 Defensive Abilities blasphemous armor, freedom of movement, horn, improved rejuvenation Offense Speed 40 ft., swim 60 ft. Melee bite +47 (2d6+13/19-20 plus 6d6 acid plus disease), gore +47 (3d6+13), 12 tentacles +45 (1d6+6 plus grab) Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft. (20 ft. with tentacle) Special Attacks breath weapon (60 ft. cone, 18d12 acid plus disease, Ref DC 41, 1d4 rounds), constrict (tentacle, 1d6+19) Spell-like Abilities CL 28th, concentration +41 Constant—freedom of movement, true seeing At will—acid fog, cloudkill (DC 28), control ooze (DC 30), rusting grasp, transmute rock to mud (DC 28) 3/day—air walk, quickened chain lightning (DC 29), feeblemind (DC 28), empowered horrid wilting (DC 31), quickened heal (DC 29), mind fog (DC 29), summon asuras or oozes 1/day—control weather, dominate monster (DC 32), mass hold monster (DC 31), transmute blood to acid (DC 32), true resurrection, unholy aura (DC 31) Statistics Str 36, Dex 19, Con 36, Int 25, Wis 32, Cha 37 Base Atk +36; CMB +51 (+55 grapple); CMD 58 (78 vs. trip) Feats Blind-fight, Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Critical Focus, Dodge, Empower SLA (horrid wilting), Great Cleave, Improved Critical (bite), Improved Initiative, Multiattack, Nimble Moves, Power Attack, Quicken SLA (chain lightning, heal), Staggering Critical, Stand Still, Step Up, Stunning Critical Skills Bluff +52, Climb +52, Intimidate +52, Knowledge (arcana, religion) +43, Knowledge (dungeoneering, planes) +46, Linguistics +43, Perception +50, Sense Motive +50, Spellcraft +43, Stealth +35, Swim +60 Languages Aklo, Infernal, Undercommon, 36 others, telepathy 300 ft. Ecology Environment any (Hell) Organization unique Treasure double standard Special Abilities Asura Rana Traits (Ex, Su and Sp) Zargon has the following traits:

Zargon can grant spells to its worshipers as if he were a deity.

Zargon’s natural weapons, as well as any weapons it wields, are treated as lawful, epic, and evil for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Infernal Resurrection (Ex) Zargon rules an infernal domain. If he is slain, his body rapidly melts into corruption (leaving behind any gear he held or carried), his soul returns to a hidden location within his realm, and it is immediately restored to life (as true resurrection) at that location. Once this occurs, Zargon can’t use this ability again until a full year has passed, although he can use his improved rejuvenation. An asura rana that is slain again during this year or is killed by unusual methods (such as by a true deity or an artifact created for this purpose) is slain forever.

Immunity to ability damage, ability drain, charm effects, compulsion effects, death effects, energy drain, and petrification.

Regeneration (Ex) Only epic damage, or damage from a creature of equal or greater power (such as an archdevil, deity, demon lord, or protean lord) interrupts Zargon’s regeneration.

Resistance to electricity 30

Summon Asuras and Oozes (Sp) Three times per day as a swift action, Zargon can summon any asura or combination of asuras and oozes whose total combined CR is 20 or lower. This otherwise works like the summon universal monster rule with a 100% chance of success, and counts as a 9th-level spell effect.

Telepathy 300 feet.

Blasphemous Armor (Su) Zargon gains a profane bonus to his Armor Class equal to his Charisma modifier. Control Ooze (Sp) This functions as a control undead spell, except that it is treated as being a transmutation effect and effects only creatures of the ooze type. This is the equivalent of a 7th level spell. Disease (Su) Zargon’s Slime; Bite or breath weapon—contact; save Fort DC 41; onset immediate; frequency 1/day; damage 1d6 Con drain and 1d6 Wisdom drain; cure none. A creature reduced to 0 Constitution while under the effects of this disease dies and is reduced to a puddle (and cannot be returned to life by any effect that requires an intact body). A creature reduced to 0 Wisdom while under the effects of this disease immediately transforms into a whelp of Zargon under Zargon’s control. The save DC is Constitution based. Horn (Ex) Zargon’s horn is the source of his protection, granting him a +6 resistance bonus on all saving throws and increasing his regeneration by 20 points/round. The horn can be cut free with a successful sunder attempt (hardness 15, DR 20/epic, hp 66), whereupon Zargon loses these abilities until he can reattach the horn as a full-round action. Improved Rejuvenation (Ex) If slain and his infernal resurrection has been used for the year, Zargon regrows from his horn in 1d4 days. If the horn is cast into a plane outside of Hell, he reforms in his lesser form. If the horn is cast into an active volcano, he is slain forever at this point. True Elusive Aura (Su) No divination spells or effects function within 250 feet of Zargon unless they are cast by a mythic or divine creature. Even then, the caster must succeed a DC 39 caster level check or the spell is lost.

#zargon #asura #D&D #pathfinder 1e #commissions

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mwolf0epsilon · 5 years

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I see you're a fan of angst, here's something to entertain you then. How about a story where Josh snaps and goes apeshit :)

Oh Anon, you're in for a horrid treat >:3c

---

[[MORE]]

Everything had been a mess. A complete and utterly complicated political mess with almost no end in sight.

That's why they never realized something was inherently wrong with Josh's recent behaviour.

That nothing indicated that he was being anything but his quiet but optimistic self.

You could pitch the blame on the remaining 3/4s of Jericho's leadership. Say that the three of them had gone so far as to neglect their friend when times got particularly tough, but honestly Josh had never even voiced feeling particularly off, or anything of the sort.

He'd either not wanted to tell them, or hadn't realized the problem either.

Or, worse yet, he hadn't been able to warn them in time.

Regardless of which one it was, none of it changed the fact Simon was currently hiding in a closet while cradling an unconscious and bleeding North…

---

There had been threats for a good part of the month. Jericho's leaders had been hard at work trying to pass the bills, while Connor and the DPD kept the peace as best as they could.

In between heavily guarded press conferences, and trips in and out of DC? There had been multiple messages left for them.

Ones that were as simple as 'You're not alive', and others that went so far as 'You'll all end up destroyed and thrown in the trash like the junk you are'.

Markus put his foot down and upgraded security at the tower and at Carl's, when the threats began to address both innocent civilians and his family. His very human and fragile family.

There were other measures he'd taken into account as well, most of which were suggested by Connor and Hank.

As a general rule, the RK800 had suggested that the four leaders should not walk alone outside, and to perhaps conceal their identities whenever this was not a possibility.

Androids were being rampantly attacked out in the streets, with the aggressors aiming for more common models they could recognize.

Simon, for example, had a harder time accomplishing this, not because he was a figurehead in android politics (which he wasn't), but because the PL600 had been one of the most popular domestic assistant models Cyberlife had ever produced.

North could, in theory, disguise herself and walk seemingly unnoticed if she really wanted to, but sadly tended to get into fights with hecklers and catcallers. The two were essentially barred from leaving the Manfred household.

The same could not be said for Markus and Josh.

Markus was recognizable in public but was also a lot more sneaky about it than Josh. He kept out of sight at all times, using his acrobatic skills to his advantage, and went to abandoned places where he climbed up to isolate heights that no human could follow him to. There he would sit and appreciate the sights, before letting his mind wander.

He liked to have time to think alone.

It relaxed him.

Josh, on the other hand, would don a thick jacket and a baseball cap and somehow it was like Superman disguising himself as Clark Kent.

The PJ500 series was numerous but not outwardly recognizable by people who didn't go to Detroit University. Thanks to said university's bad rep, very few people in Detroit had actually gone there to study, so Josh's face didn't ring any bells. Mostly for the wrong reasons.

As unimpressed as he was with how little progress humanity had made besides uniting their frustrations against androids, it ended up being beneficial to his excursions to the library that "all black guys looked the same".

North had snorted once when he'd brought it up, and Simon had rolled his eyes and shook his head in disbelief.

"Humans tend to express face blindness if they're particularly racist." The blond had commented as he'd turned the page of a rather thick hardcover he'd been engrossed with. A recommendation of Carl's.

"And you still insist dialogue is the best option? Almost half of Congress is old white dudes who never had to lift a finger in their lives. They'd all be dying to take you out, and not the dinner kind either." The redhead pointed out.

"They would be less likely to give us the time of day if we nuked the city." Josh had glared daggers before going on his way out to the library. His knowledge archives were vast, but there were things he wanted to brush up on.

"Don't be so rough with him North…" Simon chastised the WR400 when their friend was no longer in earshot.

With Markus currently asleep, and Josh wandering the streets, it left the two of them with nothing to do.

"I'm antsy!" North crossed her arms, giving Simon one of her 'really?' looks. The kind that made it seem obvious why she was on edge. Not that it was obvious at all. "The threats keep coming, and we never catch the assholes who leave the notes...Markus is working himself ragged juggling between wrangling those rabid old crows and amping up security, and the tower's abuzz with anxious scared androids!"

"Josh is also tired. He's been very active in the debates and he's used every piece of history knowledge he was preprogrammed with. Not to mention he has been looking into various ways of reaching a compromise with the humans, that won't leave them feeling threatened…" Simon rubbed at his eyes, sighing tiredly as he recalled how stressed the PJ500 always ended up after a meeting. "Some of those people...They unerve him. To the point he's scared of what might happen if he steps on any toes…"

"This is Josh we're talking about." North dismissed "If anyone out there wouldn't dream of treading on toes and maybe licking boots, it'd be him."

"North!"

"He'll be fine Simon." The WR400 reassured "He's too charming and polite to make any enemies...Hell he's the sort to help old ladies cross the street! The internet would send hitmen after anyone who tried slandering his name."

"...That sounded adorable coming from you. I should let him know you think he's charming." The blond grinned, avoiding a pillow the shorter of the two threw his way.

"Don't you dare! I have a reputation to uphold!"

"If you say so, Ice Queen."

"Damn straight! Now move over you jackass, the couch was made for two!"

---

Usually it took an hour for Josh to return. He was very pragmatic in the sense that he took what he needed, no less and no more, and then he wouldn't stick around so as to not risk getting recognized.

That night it took three hours, which was unusual but not impossible.

Maybe for once he'd taken time for himself rather than gather more ammunition for another conference meeting. Wishful thinking.

While Simon and North kept themselves busy, enjoying the one night where Markus wasn't stressing over their next steps, and the beginning of Matthew's, Leo's and Carl's quality bonding time vacation of sorts, they'd almost completely forgotten about their taller friend.

That is, until Josh returned dazed and confused, and with a bloody gash on the back of his head.

At the sight of the thirium staining his jacket and hands, Simon had run to get the technician's kit he'd stored in his room, while North had gone to help Josh steady himself and walk to the couch.

"What the hell happened to you?!" She demanded as she pulled the cap off his head and examined the gash.

It looked painful, like a blunt object had hit hard enough to break the chassis casing open.

The thirium flow was slow, which meant it hadn't hit anything major, but the confusion and slow response worried her.

"...I...D-dont know…?" The PJ500 blinked blearily. He was disoriented and his eyes wouldn't focus on her.

"What do you mean you don't know?" She inquired further as she brushed the gash lightly with a finger. The pained hiss and subsequent flinch away from her touch made her falter.

The sensors weren't damaged then, he could feel the wound.

"...I…" Josh shook his head, one eye twitched oddly and he seemed to be struggling to form sentences. "I...Remember being at...I was reading books...Mandela? I…."

"Simon could you hurry the fuck up? I think he's concussed!" The redhead called up the stairs. She heard a muffled reply before looking back at Josh. "You were reading at the library, and got hit on the head?"

"...I...Think so…" he was staring at her, a frown on his face. "I...I was alone. No one was t-there to...Reco-recognize me?"

"Well someone did, and they hit you on the back of the head." North sighed. "Humans, I swear to God…"

Simon returned swiftly to the two of them and took care of the gash. After the wound was mended, the PL600 carefully tried to figure out if Josh's processor was experiencing any trouble outside of the obvious.

It was PJ500 who insisted he'd be fine in the morning after a quick scan with his maintenance software.

After bidding goodnight and going to their respective rooms, they'd set the incident aside as a one-off.

Next time Josh would be more careful.

When morning rose however, the leaders of Jericho met downstairs for "breakfast" and what came on the news was...Alarming.

Markus had turned on the TV out of habit while Simon gave everyone a cup of warm thirium to start the day, only to pause as a news broadcast caught his eye.

The RK200 turned up the volume and gawked at the sight.

Several androids had been killed the previous night. Their bodies piled up, and a message scrawled in still fresh thirium.

"That's...Very close to the library." Simon pointed out uneasily. "You don't think who ever attacked Josh did...Did that, do you?"

"Someone attacked Josh?" Markus frowned.

"Yeah, last night… they hit him on the head." North confirmed, turning to look at the PJ500. She noticed how quiet he was staring at the news, but wrote it off as him being apprehensive. He could have been one of the bodies, and that alone would make anyone somber.

"Someone recognized you?"

"I...Don't think I was recognized. I just happened to be in the area." Josh replied with a shrug. "Otherwise I'd be dead. Wouldn't I?"

"That's...True." Simon sighed. "Are you feeling better?"

"Oh...Much better yes." Josh smiled at them all as he spoke. There was an odd glint in his eye. "In fact, I'd say I feel like a brand new android!"

"...Are you sure? Last night you were a little confused." North insisted.

"Very sure North. Don't you worry about little old me…" Josh grinned "Now, if you'll excuse me I'll finish this in my room. I've got something I need to work on."

The three watched as their taller friend picked up his cup and walked off.

He seemed to be in high spirits, despite being attacked the murders from the previous night.

That should have been a red flag, but in the end they were more worried about the violent demise if those poor androids, than Josh's unusual upbeat behaviour.

The words 'malfunctioning machines' had been "elegantly" scrawled on the wall of the alleyway the bodies had been found in. Clearly written by someone who'd dipped their hand in blue blood and then taken their sweet time.

Hopefully the DPD would find fingerprints… it'd ease their minds a little.

---

The following days had been relatively fast paced. Josh had been more careful with his visits to the library, and Markus was back to stressing over conference calls and meetings.

Simon had been keeping tabs on the Manfred family's phone calls to check up on them, and North had been teaching self-defense at the tower to ease some worries.

It would have all been normal, if not for the constant murders.

All exactly the same as the ones from the night Josh had been attacked.

Piled up bodies, and a handwritten message.

Always the same one.

Malfunctioning Machines.

Connor had notified them that no prints were ever found, so they were either dealing with a very meticulous human, or the unthinkable… An android serial killer.

But why would one of their own butcher other androids so brutally?

"Maybe Cyberlife's behind this…" Markus suggested, as he rubbed his temples and tried to ignore the dull headache he'd been tormented by all day.

"If it was Cyberlife, why didn't they come after us yet?" Simon shook his head "The attacks seem to be almost random. Like the killer picked a group of androids without really thinking about it."

"With the lack of evidence, it doesn't feel like it's not a calculated move Simon. Connor can't find anything...Connor." North took a sip from her cup, frowning when she realized she'd already finished her drink.

"I'll refill that for you, North." Josh took her cup, smiling sweetly at the redhead before heading off into the kitchen.

"Between the conferences and the tower, I don't know what's worse. Perkins has been up my asshole trying to demoralize everything we've done." The RK200 finished his own cup.

"Of course he'd use this to mess with morale. Fucking rat bastard that he is…" North smiled at Simon as he laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"We all know Richard Perkins isn't taken seriously by anyone with half a brain. He was completely humiliated after what happened at the recall centers." The blond reassured "But he is very hyped up about the murders… Maybe he has something to do with them?"

"I'd assumed so, but so did Hank and Connor. Nothing links back to the asshole, and some of those bodies were in terrible shape. Like they were torn limb from limb. Perkins isn't exactly the picture of peak human physic…" Markus shook his head "I dread to think it really might be one of our own doing this."

"But why?" Simon frowned.

No one knew the answer for that, and Markus couldn't stick around to speculate.

He had to go see Connor over some security details for his next trip to Washington.

This left Simon, North and Josh alone in the Manfred household.

"Sorry for the delay, I couldn't find the bottle." Josh reentered the room with North's cup, smiling at his two friends.

"Oh...Didn't I put it in the fridge?" Simon blinked in confusion.

"Nope, not in there. Not to worry I found it in the end." Josh grinned, handing the cup to North. "It's at the temperature you like, so you won't have to wait for it to cool."

"Thanks Josh." She took the cup and brought it to her lips, absentmindedly gulping the warm liquid before the taste fully hit her.

She spluttered and coughed, tears in her eyes and she dropped the cup. "What the shit?!"

Josh continued to smile down at her, cocking his head to the side as he grinned.

"Is something wrong?"

"This tastes horrible! What the fuck Josh?!"

"Oh...My mistake Northy. Must be the flavouring I added~" the PJ500's grin looked...Off. very off.

Simon gawked at him in disbelief.

"You put something in her thirium? Josh that could make her sick!" The blond cried out. "What did you put in it?!"

"Oh~ Nothing much. Just half a bottle of this." The taller android held up a bottle of drain cleaner from behind his back. "To Purge the malfunctions away~"

Had he the capacity for it, Simon's skin would have crawled.

Instead his eyes widened and he turned to look at North who'd continued to cough.

"W-what t-t...J-jos-osh?" The WR400's eyes widened and teared up even more, before she began to spit up waves of thirium, her intake line and the filter connected to it having become compromised from the highly corrosive chemical.

"North! Josh that..Why the fuck?!" Simon tried to help his distressed friend, before he froze. "...Did you say malfunctions?"

"Why yes, as a matter of fact...I did." Josh's grin had taken on a sinister glee. The blond couldn't help feel threatened as he neared them. "You see… I know something you don't~"

Simon yelped as North continued to cough up thirium, taking the redhead into his arms and backing away from the PJ500.

"W-what would that be?" He asked.

"...Androids aren't alive Simon. We're all just malfunctioning...And that won't do. Not at all…" Josh threw away the bottle before pulling something out of his back pocket. A knife. "Malfunctioning machines are dangerous Si~ So I've taken the liberty to dispose of a few...But you know, you made me realize...I should have gotten rid of you three by now. After that's done, I'll do away with the RK800...And then I'll finish up the job, one android at a time…"

"J-Josh?"

"I'll set it all right, for mankind… Just as I've been told to do!"

The PJ500 tried to slice at the PL600's throat, but Simon hadn't deviated yesterday. He had to protect himself and North, so he grabbed the nearest object and lobbed it at his assailant.

A vase shattered against Josh's face, making him stagger back long enough that Simon could run with North in his arms.

And that had been what lead to the moment, where the two ended up stuck inside a tiny closet, hiding away from the pacifist who'd abruptly snapped and become a homicidal maniac.

Simon held his breath, clinging on to his unconscious friend while he tried to contact Markus.

Josh was prowling around the house, searching for them. It was only a matter of time before he found them both.

"Come out, come out wherever you are~" the PJ500 called out in a singsong tone, as he looked in every room.

"Siiiiimon~ there's only so many rooms you can hiiide in~" Josh's voice was getting closer.

"Simon~ Is that you in the closet~?"

The closet door opened.

Simon screamed at the top of his lungs.

---

"This afternoon the police, with the help of Android Revolution leader Markus, have finally caught the culprits behind the string of android murders that have been plaguing the streets of Detroit. According to our sources, a rogue FBI cell lead by Richard Perkins successfully incapacitated an android and then modified its programming so that it would carry on the gruesome murders. This is what the known anti-android FBI agent had to say on the matter:

-This is irrefutable proof that Deviancy doesn't make an android alive like us. If so much as a string of code is altered, they can become killers with little to no morality or mercy. Today, one measly pacifist, tomorrow every android in this goddamn city...You can't trust a malfunctioning machine! We did you all a favour!"

Markus turned off the TV and sighed sadly before getting up and moving towards the door. He was met outside by Connor, who gave him a sympathetic look.

"Any progress?" The RK200 asked.

"None… He's in a catatonic state, which the technician's say is normal after…" The RK800 pinched the bridge of his nose before looking Markus in the eye "...Every single line of social protocols was...Replaced with Myrmidon and Trojan coding. The fact he showed guilt and cried when you found them is...Is hopeful...But Josh isn't ever going to be as he was, ever again. Perkins saw to that…"

"I can't...I can't lose him Connor…" Markus pleaded.

"I know, and I'm sorry I can't bring you better news. All I can say for sure is that the military programming will be deleted and he might go back to being non-aggressive, but I can't promise you he'll be anything but passive to the world around him. The emotional trauma is too much..." Connor put a hand on Markus's shoulder. "I'm sorry...I'm really sorry you had to go through something like this."

"...Being sorry won't bring back Simon and North, and it won't fix Josh…"

They should have seen the signs.

They should have known something was wrong.

Now Markus was completely alone, two friends torn apart by their other friend who was now confined to a tiny cell in an android medical facility, a lost cause.

Everything was a screwed up mess, and it looked like it wouldn't ever be anything but that.

#eps writes:#Fanfic #detroit: become human #detroit become human #dbh josh #dbh simon #dbh north #dbh markus #dbh connor

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dndplus · 6 years

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In-Depth: Altering Combat

This is post is titled “In-Depth”, and it is done so because it talks about the aspects of combat and building encounters in D&D that are beyond your basic ‘understanding locales’ and KFC nonsense.

If you want the beginner’s post on Combat, go here:

Getting Started: Combat

That said, in my Getting Started post, I didn’t go into detail on certain aspects of running an encounter. This was intentional, as someone who’s just started should’t be concerning themselves with quite so much. But what about the rest of us? The people building encounters for players at level 3, or 5, or 9, or 14, or... you get the picture.

As per usual, I’m going to break this post down into certain key segments:

Experience, and Why You Shouldn’t Always Listen to the CR

Special Enemy Abilities

Moving The Goalposts: How to Make Parties of Particularly Deadly Player Characters Feel Their Weaknesses

One Big Foe

Depending on your level of experience, one (or all) of these bullets will jump out to you as things that have needed adjustment on your end. Here’s some tips and insight on how to manage all of these factors, starting with some advice to keep experience values from affecting how you structure encounters...

Experience, and Why You Shouldn’t Always Listen to the CR

I’m going to go ahead and start this post by saying that, in my opinion, no custom campaign should ever really bother with experience. This is a guideline (admittedly a useful one), but it can grossly limit a DM’s creativity and flexibility when building an encounter.

So, you can either assign experience values yourself based on the difficulty (because, yes, an encounter can be worth MORE experience than the CR suggests as well), or you can simply inform your players of when they’ve earned a level-up as your campaign’s story dictates. I’ll give some advice on this, but first, let’s talk about the why.

A vampire has a challenge rating of 13, and awards 10,000xp (split evenly among the group). It’s a difficult foe, with regenerative capabilities, Legendary Actions and Resistance, the added complication of Misty Escape, incredible story-centric skills (shapechange, charm, etc), and even the ability to summon minions.

It also only has 144 hit points (on average). In a straight up, no non-sense fight, you’d be downright shocked to see how low a level some parties of 4 can be when challenging a “dreaded” vampire and coming out on top.

So, what gives? Why 10,000xp for something that has such a strong chance of being outright blown up? Well first of all, a vampire has legendary resistance and legendary actions baked in because it’s meant to fight with others. The chaos of a packed battlefield is what makes a vampire the CR 13 menace it claims to be.

But that’s my point: A vampire is not a CR 13 creature when alone, not the way many dragons fit their CR when they are. For instance, an Adult White Dragon (also CR 13) has the same Legendary Resistance, Legendary Actions, much more HP, a higher Armor Class, a deadly breath weapon (12D8, save DC 19, YIKES!), and a far more powerful array of standard attacks. What’s more, dragons of this size have Frightful Presence, which severely ups the creature’s action economy (more about action economy in One Big Enemy later...)

At this point, the Adult White Dragon already seems stronger than a Vampire, but it pulls way, wayyyy ahead when you factor in its nightmarish 80ft Flying Speed. If this isn’t proof that you can’t always trust the CR rating of a creature, I don’t know what is.

So, how do we go about assigning level-ups in a way that keep us from worrying about the sudden deluge of experience an overrated monster offers? Simple! You forgo experience altogether! Some players like the illusion of experience, though. To accommodate this, plan out all of the adventures you wish to have spanning a “level” and then split up the experience rewards based on the difficulty of individual missions.

If your players understand and trust you enough to handle the level-ups without the bells and whistles, it’s up to you to plan their distribution. The best way to do this is to look at the greater adventure at play in your campaign and take stock of your villain. Your players should be strong enough to handle them when the times comes, but not so strong that they walk right over the poor sod. Use those benchmarks to create the ‘beginning’ and ‘end’ points of the level ups you need your players to get.

After that, use important encounters to space those level ups out. Here’s a few examples of events that are well suited to triggering a level up:

Defeating one of the villains most powerful minions. This one is obvious, and a classic. As an added bonus, it cements the feeling in your players that they’re getting closer to final confrontation.

The conclusion of an important meeting, or the coming of a particularly plot-important revelation. This one is a bit more complicated, but again fits well with the feeling of progression. Typically, this is best used when your players have gone through a lot of combat since their last level, but are lacking in some plot-significant baddie to mark the occasion.

Difficult Side Quests. Yeah, sometimes the players get dragged into something completely unrelated, but it’s nice for these to have weight and not feel like a waste of time. If you’re worried about your players going off and doing other stuff to the point that they’ll become too powerful, remember that you can fill the final boss encounter with additional minions to bring the difficulty up to par. Alternatively, you can use the story you’ve created to put a sense of urgency into the players, and also create consequences for their wandering. A necromancer threatening to ascend into a lich is a terribly frightening prospect, and makes the players feel like they’ve lost ground for running off to level up more before the final confrontation.

That’s really all there is to say about experience. It’s not a terribly detailed subject, but it’s one I want Game Masters to understand. CR, like everything else, is just a tool. Treating it as gospel will make balancing encounters that much more difficulty in the long run.

Special Enemy Abilities

I sincerely hope that this is a short subject, because it’s not a particularly complicated one. What’s it really about, though?

Well, sometimes that Specter enemy you’re throwing at your players was created as a result of something unique. The Monster Manual already gives us a ‘special’ version of the Specter in the Poltergeist, but that doesn’t always fit the flavor of your specter’s circumstances.

Let’s start with a few examples of why a creature might have special abilities:

A pact, blessing, or curse from some greater being.

The unique way in which it came to be.

Life in a locale not typical to its species.

Some detail specific to your setting.

There’s a lot more, but these should give you an idea of when to get creative.

In the instance of the specter, we’re going to combine 1 + 2, in which someone died at the hands of a particularly horrid and dark god. At this point, you have to ask yourself: how much stronger, or weaker (because yes, they can be weaker), is my ‘special’ creature?

So, our ultra horrible nightmarish entity has doomed a few pour souls to a particularly vile magically induced death. What comes of it? If the entity is supposed to be particularly powerful, then make the specters more powerful too.

We’ll start by upping the HD from a flat 5D8 to 5D8 + 20, which is a significant increase for any party that has trouble dealing with a Specter’s natural resistances.

It can’t just be more powerful though, can it? No, the rule of cool is important, and we want this new version to do something cool that will tip your players off to how unique it is, as well as match the dark entity that created them.

In this example, I’m using an evil god of my own design known as Goddenfeir. Without going into too much detail and boring you all to death, Goddenfeir is a god obsessed with the concept of complete nonexistence, and finds it unattainable. Wraiths, specters, and the like created by Goddenfeir carry this sense of oblivion deep within their being, and manifest abilities to go along with it. Here’s what I gave the specter:

Breath of Oblivion - Recharge 5-6, 15ft Cone. Targets caught in the breath must make a DC 12 Dexterity Saving Throw, suffering 5D6 Cold Damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one.

This is a frightening ability, especially when the prospect of multiple specters comes into play. In my own campaign, this was done to pump up Goddenfeir himself in a simple event that wasn’t meant to threaten the players that much, merely show them that he’s there, and that even something as harmless as a Specter (CR 1 normally) can potentially become very dangerous with his dark influence.

Moving The Goalposts: How to Make Parties of Particularly Deadly Player Characters Feel Their Weaknesses

Adding this category was very much so an afterthought, but it’s an important one: some player parties are just too damn good at killing things.

So how does a Dungeon Master kill-, er... challenge such a party? Simple: you move the goalposts. Not every encounter needs to come down to ‘killing the other guy’. Not every encounter needs to be combat, either. You could throw a puzzle at your players, or a particularly deadly trap (or a combination of the two!).

When you are looking for a way to give your oh-so-powerful band of murder-hobos a fight that will leave them quaking, you want to change the goal of the overall fight. Here’s some basic examples of how to do that, for you to use straight up or to inspire you to create one of your own:

Evacuation! A town is under attack, and its enemies are legion. Have your players brave the town and help the people trapped within escape, fighting through the endless hordes all the while. This can be easily done by enticing them with a great deal of gold for every person they save (and then making them increasingly difficult to get to, of course).

Trapped! Sometimes, the only play is to run away. Again, we have an endless horde situation, but this time your players are working against the clock (and their own limited resources) to secure a means of escape. Speaking of clocks...

Stall/Rush! Some parties are strong because they blow enemies up super fast. Some parties are strong because they’re just so damned resilient. Whichever the variety plaguing you, making a fast party take their time (such as with an enemy who’s invulnerable for a series of turns at the start of a fight) can be devastating. Likewise, forcing a slow party to get the job done fast (say, defeating a powered up Ogre Champion with the key to the lift of the collapsing mine they’re in).

This is a pretty bare-bones set of examples, but I think they demonstrate pretty well that a lot of parties are only really strong when the game is being played how they expect. Dungeons and Dragons isn’t just about killing the bad guy, though. Sometimes the evil player campaign requires taking someone alive, or the good player campaign needs the players to make an ally of an enemy. Whatever the demand, there’s always a way to move the goalposts and show your players they’re not as unstoppable as they think.

One Big Foe

I saved this for last specifically because it’s what reminded me to return to an combat in an In-Depth post. In the Getting Started: Combat post, I talked about KFC and how it shows us that quantity > quality when it comes to making an encounter more difficult.

But what about when when you want to hit your players with a proper, ginormous monster? Some monsters are already built for this, like Dragons and Beholders, as shown by the presence of Legendary Resistance and Legendary Actions. Legendary Actions, in particular, are there to help even out the action economy difference.

Action Economy

You have 5 players. They are each level 3, and you’ve called in a Hill Giant (CR 5) to pick a fight with them. With the ability to deal 36 damage in a couple of attacks, it’s pretty clear that a Hill Giant is a deadly foe. Surely it will-, wait, no, the players killed it in 2 rounds.

How? Your 5 players only had to average 10 damage each to deal 100 damage in two rounds, and the Hill Giant has a low Armor Class and an average HP of 105. The Hill Giant, if lucky, did 72 damage total. In all reality, it did much less, with several points of damage going over as a player fell unconscious, or 18 points vanishing into the abyss as your giant rolled a natural one or just outright missed. What’s more, no one in the party probably even bothered using a potion or other consumable, and next to no healing spells (if any) were used either.

This is where we even things out...

Legendary Actions

Hill Giants do not have legendary actions, and shouldn’t, but when one big enemy is alone, giving them legendary actions can help improve the threat they pose to the party without diluting the experience and adding more small enemies to back it up.

For a Hill Giant, we give it a pool of 2 Legendary Actions, which it takes at the end of a player’s turn, and is refreshed every time the Hill Giant’s turn ends. It’s Legendary Actions would then look something like this:

Move, 1 Action - The Hill Giant moves up to half it speed.

Club, 1 Actions - The Hill Giant swings its greatclub at a target..

Hurl, 2 Actions - The Hill Giant scoops up a rock from its pouch and hurls it at a distant target.

At this point, the Hill Giant is suddenly terrifying. 2-3 turns feels like an eternity when it gets two attacks on its turn, and up to 2 additional attacks through the use of Legendary Actions. We made it more mobile as well, a fact that will truly terrify the squishier members of the group who rely on keeping their distance.

In the end, though, a Hill Giant still only has so many hit points. The fight would have to go terribly, TERRIBLY wrong for 5 player characters to all die to this one Hill Giant.

It’s important to think about what you want your legendary actions to accomplish for a creature. I set the boundary of two attacks, an attack and half of its movement, or a single ranged attack, and then made the total legendary action uses match the pool of actions themselves.

Hopefully, this will improve your encounters when you try to throw a single, menacing beast up against your players, instead of it just turning into an ego boost for your players!

#D&D #D&D 5e #D&D&EE #Dungeons and Dragons #Dungeon Master #Combat #Altering an encounter #difficulty #DM #Gm #DM Tutorial #Dungeon Master Tutorial #Dungeon Master Guide #Tutorial #Experience #CR #Challenge Rating #Special Abilities #Victory Conditions

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darkness-fall · 6 years

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What are your thoughts on the Joker (in all his incarnations)?

Hi there @frostbite883, Now this is a very good question!

As everyone knows I’m a huge Joker fan. I love(almost) all of his incarnations, but a few of them hold a special place in my heart.

The very first Joker to appear alongside Batman issue one is the grandad of them all. He was a criminal genius. He manged to get Batman running around trying to stop his diabolical plan, all whilst sitting back in his comfy chair!! He was both sinister and funny at the same time. I’m so very glad Bob Cane didn’t go through with his original plan,killing Joker off in his very first story. The audience loved him..and so the Joker fan club started.

The next Joker I love was during the silver age of comics..namely the laughing Fish story. This was published just before the comics code became a thing. He could still be funny and murderous. I mean there you are working a boring job in the patent offices and in walks the Clown Prince of Crime himself. He wants to copy right a whole bunch of fish that has his face. If he got this he could go legit and he’d give up crime forever!! Well what would you do? I know I’d have given him what he wanted straight away, but no! This idiot just straight up refuses. Anyway a whole crazy story ensues with Batman trying to stop Joker from murdering the poor idiot clerk..It’s cool.

After this the Comics code was put into practice, and Joker had to become a goofy fun figure.Gone was the thrilling chases and murder most horrid. It’s also where Batman's rule of no killing came in. No guns or violence. We did benefit as this was when the batfamily started i.e Batwoman, Batgirl (all to stop the homoerotic overtones of Batman himself). So Joker had his teeth pulled. There were still some good stories such as Joker and the huge chickens or (giggles) how he had a “Boner” for Batman..that still cracks me up. Joker started to become a background character unfortunately.

Now this takes us to the 60′s...Batman came to the screens of millions!! Batman, Robin and all the Gotham Rouges stepped out of the pages and came to life. I have a great love for Caesar Romero's Joker. This was my first true introduction to him and at the tender age of 3..I fell in love with him. I was always excited every Saturday morning. I’d watch the reruns with my dad ..it was awesome.

During the 70′s DC comics decided to give Joker his own comic run..unfortunately it wasn’t a success. As a result Joker faded away,,for a whole 10 years...no Joker!!

Then a miracle happened..In the 80′s the comics code was abandoned! Gotham started to become the city we’ve all come to love. They dusted off the old villains and gave them to legendary writers - Moore, Miller and Morris!! These three bought the Joker back to life. The darker stories came out..I recommend all of them!!

Return of the Dark Knight by Miller..Jokers hella Gay woohoo..Batjokes was born.

Morris Arkham Asylum:A serious house on serious ground..a weird and wonderful story. It dives into the psyche of all the villans including..cross dressing hyper sexual, super sane Joker and a very repressed Batman..

Morris RIP Batman and Joker..Just love the Duke of Death..he’s very sexy.

Last but not least my favourite obsession Alan Moors The Killing Joke. I adore this Joker in particular!!

In 1989 we got the second big screen adaption of Batman (the first was in 1966 check it out is hilarious) Jack Nicholson played a decent Joker, but he wasn’t the first choice. The should have been David Bowie. they wanted to make Arkham Asylum.. Can you imagine that?

Then my era: the 90′s..Mark Hamill the longest running Joker..still going strong after 25 yrs!! Gotta love this Joker..plus thanks to Dini and Timm we now have sweet Harley Quinn. As a result of Hamill being Joker, whenever I read Joker in comics it’s always his voice I hear.

In 2008 we were given the gift of possibly the best version of the Joker of all time. The late Great Heath Ledger!! Never has the Joker been portrayed as a man who could exist in our world. Never has the Joker been more dangerous, bad and scary than he was in the Dark Knight. I will always love him the most and I wish we could have known him better. I still miss him RIP Heath Ledger. The first time a comic book movie received an oscar.

Now were up to date and DCWB seems to have lost their minds. For the first time I can say..I’m not enamoured of this new Joker. He seems to be weak..I’m still waiting to see him in another movie, he honestly didn't get enough screen time. Saying that Leto just isn’t the right fit. He actually sounded like he was having an asthma attack when he laughed! He really needs to practice that..

Anyway to cut a long story short..Ooops too late..I love the Joker..Long may he reign as the King of Crime..

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birdouttahell-blog · 6 years

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LONG ASS FUCKING RANT; Y’ALL HAVE BEEN WARNED

I have a metric shit-ton of problems with Injustice, and the following is my biggest one;

One of Batman’s quintessential qualities, is that he sees the best in everyone. For that reason, he will never give up on reforming even the most horrid of his rouges gallery. The Killing Joke supports this, as Batman tells the Joker, “We could work together. I could rehabilitate you. You needn’t be out there on the edge any more. You needn’t be alone” (Batman: The Killing Joke, Alan Moore and Brian Boland). This concept even shows up in other media, such as Arkham Knight. When Jason tries to tell Bruce that he is forever broken, Batman simply tells him, “It’s not too late. We can fix this... Together” (Batman: Arkham Knight, 2015). The point is, no matter what, Batman will always see the best in his enemies, and that’s why he doesn’t kill them.

Going off the second example, Batman is also, though not always, a good father. His basis for refusing Earth 2 Kal-L’s offer to return the DC Universe to it’s more golden age-esque state in Infinite Crisis is entirely based off Dick Grayson, his son. Going off of that, he also, though disagreeing with Jason Todd’s methods, welcomed him back into the Bat-Family. When he discovered that Tim Drake was alive and well, but captured by Mister Oz, Bruce searched tooth and nail for Tim. When Damian died, Batman fought with everything he had to bring him back to life, or to at the very least, recover his body from Ra’s so Damian’s spirit would be at peace. And, when Clayface was killed in Detective Comics, Bruce gave Cassandra Cain therapy for her grief. His children, and his family, are very important to him as a human being. This is why before he went on a suicide mission to recover Damian and bring him back to life, he gathered the family and made amends with them, promising to tell the truth and the whole truth. Though Bruce Wayne isn’t always a good parent, he always tries to be, because all of his children are very important to him. After all this is a man who watched his parents get gunned down in front of him. Family is obviously something he does not want to let go of.

Everything I said in the previous two paragraphs, however, does not apply to Injustice!Bruce. And all of this can be seen in how he treats his blood son, Damian.

When Batman and Nightwing go to Arkham Asylum to stop Superman from taking the inmates and their fates into his own hands, Damian questions whether or not Superman has a point in what he’s doing. While this was a time-sensitive matter, Bruce; instead of trying to see Damian’s point, commands his son to get into the plane instead. This compounds in Harley breaking out all of Arkham’s inmates, and, in the carnage, Damian accidentally kills Dick. As Damian is explaining what happens, and apologizing, Bruce simply shouts at Damian to get away, leaving Superman to comfort Damian, reassuring the thirteen year old that this was an accident. At a later time, Damian returns to the Bat-Cave, seeking forgiveness. Instead of trying to talk to his son, and see the man he could become, Bruce simply asks what Damian’s doing in the cave, prompting Damian to leave. It’s only at the behest of Alfred, that Bruce lets Damian stay. When Damian questions why he was left at Arkham, alone, Bruce tells him that it’s because Damian chose to stand with Superman. When Damian tells his father that he is refusing to see past his own morality, Bruce tries to deflect, saying it’s bot about him. Damian goes off on him, telling Bruce that, “Of course it’s about you! It’s always all about you. Your crusade. Your pain. Your parents who died. Your way. Your rules. Your legacy. Your impossible standards!” (Injustice: Year One #27, Tom Taylor and Jheremy Raapack). When Damian, enraged, accidentally strikes Alfred, Bruce moves himself in to strike Damian, who defends himself in turn. What this reveals, is that to Injustice!Batman, it’s his way or the highway. And if you disagree with what he’s doing, then you’re the enemy. This extends to every member of the Justice League (who admittedly do end up doing some pretty fucked up shit), and this extends to Damian, when he’s as young as thirteen? Is it any wonder why Damian turned to Superman? It’s because Clark was the one who comforted Damian after Dick’s death. Clark who was the father figure that was there for Damian when he needed one. When Batman, three years after this, mind you, tries to convince Damian to be Robin again, Damian, understandably, refuses, and who could blame him? The last interaction they had was the confrontation in the Bat-Cave, where Bruce essentially disowned Damian. And that second chance I was talking about earlier? He only gave it because Dick Grayson (who became the new Deadman), convinced him too.

As the series goes on, it becomes very clear that Bruce stops viewing Damian as his son, viewing him as an enemy. Bruce is constantly verbally and emotionally abusive to Damian, bordering on physically at some points. From disregarding Damian’s point regarding Superman maybe being in the right, to questioning what Damian is doing in his own home, to almost striking at Damian. Injustice!Batman is not Batman. Injustice!Batman, as seen by the treatment of his son, is an abusive man, who views himself as a moral abolitionist. While Main!Batman has has issues with morality and methodology, he has learned to accept that other people have their own ideas of right and wrong, and their own ideas of how crime fighting should be done. To Injustice!Batman, none of this matters. It’s his way or the highway, and in his eyes, your damned if you pick the highway.

All of this brings me back to what I said was one of the quintessential qualities of Batman; that he sees the best in his enemies. No matter how bad they become, no matter what they can do, no matter how far into the dark they go, Batman always believes that they can step back into the light, because he himself has been in that darkness. From his enemies, to even his friends doing things he finds to be morally repugnant. Batman has been, and always will be, a firm believer in the concept of second chances. After all, he himself has needed more than his fair share. Injustice!Batman, does not share this value, viewing Damian as an enemy when he steps out of line, just like everyone else he faces.

#birdouttahell #ooc #ooc post #tw negativity #rant #long post #Injustice gods among us #salt #MAXimum salt

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thesortinghatinreallife · 7 years

Conversation

Villains of the Hogwarts Houses

Since the common occurrence in the book series is that Slytherin = bad, you don't really get exposure to how villains of other houses work, and how to identify them (except in the case of Peter Pettigrew, and he was more of a man with weak character than a true villain). This leads to lazily typing every villain you come across as Slytherin because they seem like this list of characters (all the #death eaters).

Villains can be any house, and are spread quite evenly, but just as we look for motivation in typing regular people, villains are the same motivations in an unhealthy way; their thought process does not change; the same core life goal/motivation remains, except how they are accomplishing it is very bad. So here are some examples and explanations of each kind of villain.

Slytherin: Ahh, why not just start with an easy-peasy, completely expected one. Crowley from Supernatural. He's evil, right? He plans to take over hell and overthrow whomever needed because he wants to. He wants recognition. He wants to stay alive. It's all about him and he's open with that, which is why he'll assist the Winchesters: he needs something that they can provide. There is no moral wall, he's just doing what best serves him at the moment. Flexible, calculating, charming, the ideal slytherin villian. Look over at Voldemort. Same thing. It was very personal; he wanted to rule the wizarding world and decided to do it for no reason other than power. His dislike of muggles came from personal hatred of his father, not a perceived noble pursuit (as you'll see in hufflepuff, oh yes).

Gryffindor: The perfect example of a Gryffindor villain is once again from Supernatural. Lucifer. When you look at him, you can easily tell his motivations are vastly different from Crowley. While Crowley is open that yes this is shitty, it's because I want it, Lucifer takes on a holier than thou attitude, and has a perception of a great wrong that has been done to him, that he must avenge. He wants to kill humanity because it's right. Why is it right? Because he says so. There is no concept of climbing to the top, or winning anything, Lucifer is trying to simultaneously prove something and enforce his idea of a correct world onto others. They can either agree and help him, or, as happened to Gabriel, they are flawed and must perish (which is different from a slytherin who will spare you if you don't get in their way). Slytherin is self-serving; gryffindor is blinded righteousness.

Hufflpuff: Hufflepuff really has no fictional villains, which is horrid because they are some of the greatest possible villains to write. The villains in fiction from most to least common are slytherin, gryffindor and ravenclaw rarely, and hufflepuff never. Just basically everyone picks a slytherin villain, which is why they all seem the same. The only place I can think to find a hufflepuff villain is history. The truest hufflepuff villain I can think of is Adolph Hitler.

Similar to gryffindor, they believe they're working for a cause, except it's not based on personal moral belief as much as perceived needs from others, and the greater good, something outside themselves. My people are having difficulty? I'm doing this for THEM, to help THEM, because it needs to be done. This is what they want, right? Yes? Good. No? Well, it's what they need, and I'll help them anyway (like a distorted mother knows best kind of thing). They genuinely believe that what they're doing is HELPING someone, that they're doing this great deed, which is why they're actually dangerous villains. The least dangerous villain is slytherin, because they know what they're doing is self serving, and therefore an be persuaded. The other 3 houses are deluded in some way, which makes it nearly impossible to change their point of view, if they're unhealthy enough to be villains in the first place.

Ravenclaw: Sigh. Ravenclaw villains are, in a word... hard to pin down. Their motives are very abstract, so they truly could not tell you a specific reason for doing what they're doing. While Gryffindor and Hufflepuff would use a personal experience or observation to draw and back up their faulty conclusion, ravenclaw isn't doing that at all. There is no specific reason they can give, it just goes from vague abstracts to vague abstracts. Often their motivation is because people 'are blind', or 'can't see', or don't understand, or that they shuned an innovative idea. Ravenclaw then usually goes on a ruthless trip to 'show them', or make them understand. Basically The Joker in DC and Ultron in Marvel. Why are they doing anything? To make people see or understand. Often motivated by revenge or bitterness, usually a backstory about embarrassment or perceived humiliation.

A ravenclaw villain is basically existential nihilism on steroids; a in the end, the world will just burn, type vibe.

#villains #evil #slytherin #ravenclaw #hufflepuff #Gryffindor #Harry Potter #fantastic beasts and where to find them #the sorting hat #harry potter and the cursed child #houses #hogwarts #hogwarts houses

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a-girl-who-loves-disney · 7 years

Text

Everybody Wants to Rule the World

Karolina’s Playlist (1k Followers Celebration Challenge)

Prompt: Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Lorde

Pairing: Steve Rogers x fem!Reader

Warnings: angst, brainwashing, kidnapping, poorly written/short fight scene, mentions of blood and killing, mention of dead bodies, use of Wanda Maximoff’s powers on Reader, couple fluffy moments, happy ending

Summary: You’ve been with Hydra for years, being a successful experiment going by the name Shadow. After the regaining of your memories, you decide to escape Hydra. Years later, the Avengers and your past love find you. Happiness doesn’t last for long, as Hydra kidnaps you again and takes your memories leaving the love of your life to try to help you return to your usual self. Will he be able to succeed?

Tagging: @loveitsallineed @skymoonandstardust @colourmecreampuff @avengers122

Quick Author’s Note: A big thank you to Karolina for her patience with me! This is my first time ever writing a song fic so please be nice :)

Word Count: 5,282

Guide:

Bold/Italics = Lyrics

Italics = Vision/Dream

(Y/N) = Your first name

(Y/L/N) = Your last name

(Y/F/C) = Your favorite color

(Y/H/C) = Your hair color

Welcome to your life

“Again.”

At the command of the Hydra agent, you got into your fighting stance once again, knees bent slightly with your hands in front of you. You twirl the knife in your hand as you wait for the attacker; a habit you picked up from your previous mentor.

‘The Winter Soldier’ they had called him. You weren’t much different from him; both of you served in World War II, having been kidnapped and experimented on by Hydra, creating you into their own personal soldiers. While he was called in for most of the work, you were only sent out if the mission became too tricky. Of course, with him being who he was, that was only on rare occasions.

There’s no turning back

This changed after DC; he was gone now, causing the responsibility to fall on you. Anytime Hydra needed someone gone you were now the one for the job. Your ability to get lost in the darkness and always being the one behind the Winter Soldier earned you the name ‘Shadow.’

Even while we sleep

The fall of the helicarriers in DC and the loss of their super soldier was just a minor setback for Hydra. While the world thought that their reign had ended, you continued to be woken up from cryofreeze, brainwashed, and sent on missions.

We will find you

No one was safe. As long as Hydra had you, nothing could stop their terror.

Acting on your best behavior

You put up with it every time; the pain and the torture that came with each mission. Even after all these years it still affected you. You would think that your body would have become immune to it by now, but instead you still reacted the same way. You would scream until your throat went dry and your head would pound from the electricity that flowed through it. Tears would flow down your face as any little bit of memory gained was stripped from you.

If you were in your right mind, you would have escaped by now. Instead, you stayed and continued to obey their commands, like the perfect soldier you were.

Turn your back on Mother Nature

Kill after kill after kill. Your body count was on the rise. You wouldn’t know it though; each time you returned after a mission your memory was wiped and you were sent into cryofreeze until they needed you again. Hydra’s plans were in action and they continued to strive, all thanks to you.

Everybody wants to rule the world

Something was changing. Your brainwashing sessions had been put on hold for the sake of Hydra’s new “miracles” thus allowing your mind to rebuild. Cloudy visions and muffled voices pried your thoughts more and more, causing confusion to build up. But even with the confusion brought on by these new thoughts, a deep desire for them also arose.

Along with change for you came change within the Hydra facility you resided in. Your missions slowed down, your usual routine being replaced with you training the twins. Their powers were starting to build up and Hydra wanted to push them even further.

Being put in as the test dummy for Wanda Maximoff, you stood there as she stared at you, neither of your gazes faltering. The members of Hydra stood around waiting, no one wanting to miss the moment between one of their first creations and one of their newest.

She walked to you, slowly circling your still form. After a few silent moments, she began. Her eyes turned scarlet, her hands moved gracefully as the red wisps started to surround them and flow around your head. Your eyes flashed red and your stiff posture started to limp. Before you knew it, the dimly lit room you were standing in was gone.

It’s my own desire

The room was no longer dark and cold, but instead bright and warm. Shades of gold painted the place and lights were lit up all over. You could hear music playing; it was upbeat and could easily be danced to. You turned and were surprised when you discovered that you weren’t alone.

People were everywhere: some gathered around the wooden tables, some at the bar with drinks, some in the band playing, and some dancing with their partners. Smiles adorned their faces, many laughing and sipping drinks while talking to those that kept their company.

They all were dressed to the nines in dresses and suits. You looked down to see that your tactical suit and boots were gone and replaced with a (Y/F/C) dress and black heels. You could feel that your hair had changed to, going from its simple braid to elaborate (Y/H/C) curls that framed your face.

“Hey, Doll.”

You turned around at the sound of the voice. There, stood a handsome man, his blonde hair fixed perfectly and his outfit resembling a military uniform. His smile was bright and his blue eyes seemed to sparkle.

“I’ve been waiting for you. It’s about time you and I got our dance.” his words were spoken so differently than the people at Hydra; each one possessing something that you were unfamiliar with.

He placed his hand out for you to grab. Your gaze swapped between his hand and his face. Who was this man?

“Please?” he said it so softly that you could have missed it over the noise.

Your thoughts were all over the place. Should you attack? Should you run? You stood there frozen, all training gone from your mind. For once in a long time, you didn’t know what to do.

Slowly, you lifted your hand and placed it delicately in his. The music changed then; the fast pace replaced with a slow and steady beat.

You moved so perfectly with him, your mind spinning as you questioned how you knew what step to make next. You couldn’t help but continue to look around and take in everything.

When you finally turned back to him you were surprised to see that he was staring at you with a soft smile on his face. His expression held something, certainly an emotion that those at Hydra have never shown to you.

Your eyes grew wide as you felt him leaning closer to you. You could feel his breath on your lips as he came closer. He stopped suddenly, the smile still on his face as he said his next words:

“I love you, (Y/N).”

It’s my own remorse

With a blink of your eyes it was all gone. The warm atmosphere was cold again and the bright lights were replaced with darkness. Any previous colors were now shades of black, white, and gray. The cheerful music muted and was replaced with eerie silence. For once, in a long time, you were scared.

You cautiously took a step forward, then another one, and another one. When you took your next step you heard something squish.

Looking down you saw something you had become accustomed to over the years; its deep color seemed bright compared to its dull surrounding, causing it to stand out. A metallic smell now filled the air as you continued to look at the substance.

Blood. It felt as if it was starting to crawl up your shoe; its only goal being to stain everything it touched.

Tilting your head up you let out an audible gasp at the sight: Bodies littered the area, some with car crashes, others with used shells littered around them. The bright red stood out on the scene in the use of splatters, smears, and puddles.

The deafening silence changed to the sound of screams. Some were loud and deep while others were ear-piercing. You squeezed your eyes shut and covered your ears, but it did nothing. They echoed in your mind; bouncing from one side to the other.

The screams expanded into words and phrases, fear and anger lacing them. They were the voices of your victims and no matter how hard you forced your hands onto your ears, you couldn’t silence them.

You fell to your knees, the beautiful dress now gone and replaced with the uniform you’ve worn so many times. Blood soaked through the knees of your pants, staining your flesh with its scarlet color. You couldn’t take it any longer.

You screamed.

The voices stopped; the silence returning once again. You opened your eyes but still saw the same bloody scene in front of you. You brought your hands down from your ears and to the front of you as you continued to kneel. You cautiously took a look at them and started to shake at what you saw.

Both were covered in blood, warm and glossy as if it just came straight from its source. You stopped breathing as one last phrase echoed through your mind.

“This is who you are now.”

Help me to decide

You awoke with a start. Your breaths quick and sporadic while you looked around at your surroundings. You were in a room at the Hydra base, the thin cot underneath you doing nothing to comfort you in the state you were in.

Whatever that Maximoff girl did to you changed your outlook. Fear coursed through you as you thought of the horrid sights. The memories that you had wanted so much were now tainted with the knowledge of your past. You had to leave; had to get away from the vile place. So that’s what you did.

Feeling satisfied with the progress of the twins’ powers it was decided that you would be sent out on another mission. You arrived at the destination and your plan went into action. You took out the two guards that were sent with you and hid their bodies out of sight. Stripping yourself of anything you found unnecessary, you took a deep breath and looked towards the darkness. With the first step, your decision was made.

Help me make the most of freedom

It had been nearly 2 years since you escaped and you were finally able to get yourself into the “normal” lifestyle. Well, at least as normal as a person who escaped a thought-to-be gone Nazi group could get.

You stayed on the down low; you weren’t going to take any chances while Hydra still lived on. Though your main caution was avoiding Hydra, you should have also been aware of another group that was looking for you.

As you looked at the produce in the outdoor stall you started to feel eyes on you. You started to take subtle looks at those around you; years of training to be unnoticeable paying off. To your left was a red-haired woman standing a few stalls down. Sunglasses adorned her face but you could still tell that her focus was not on the daisy bouquets, but on you. A little farther from her was a dark-skinned man wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap. He leaned against a streetlight with his coffee in hand. As he took a drink his gaze moved to you. It was official: You were being followed.

You continued to stay calm. If you ran it would cause a scene and who knew what these people planned on doing to you.

You started to walk to the right, your sight still appearing to be on the different fruit that lay in front of you. Feigning little interest, you started on your way. Sure enough, the two slowly followed you.

Your pace was steady but quick. Finding a crowd, you attempted to blend in. You were only a block away from your makeshift apartment. If you could just get there you could grab your backpack and go.

The crowd started to dissipate, leaving you with having to round corners and hope that the two followers would get lost. Your hope was pointless though as the two continued to follow you.

Your steps became faster as your eagerness to get away started to arise. Eventually you were in a full sprint, causing the two to do the same.

They were gaining on you. Even with all the turns you made you still couldn’t shake them.

As you ran, you made the mistake of looking behind you. The man and woman were still chasing you closely, but you failed to see the man that was standing right in front of you. You turned back around just in time for him to grab you and press you to his chest.

You attempted to fight him off, but his grip on your arms stayed strong. Amidst your thrashing, the man pushed you up against the nearest wall. Your head hit the bricks behind you, your eyes shutting from the impact.

Opening your eyes again, they widened and your movements to escape stopped as you took in the man in front of you:

Short, blonde hair that had a messy look to it. A blue t-shirt hugged his chest while his arms were clad in a leather jacket. And his eyes. They were so blue that you were sure you could drown in the pools of color.

“It’s you.” you mumbled out, your voice barely above a whisper.

“(Y/N).” he said back, his voice as quiet as yours.

And of pleasure

Ever since that day, life has never been better. You found out your dream man was named Steve Rogers, also known as Captain America, and that the vision you had of him was actually a glimpse of your past in the forties.

He was beside you through every therapy session, doctor visit, and night terror. He listened when you needed him to and would smile at each recovered memory you had of your past together. Through this time, you couldn’t help but start to fall for Steve all over again.

Besides Steve, Bucky was also by your side. Having known each other in the forties and also during your time with Hydra, he was the only one that truly understood what you had gone through.

Your relationship with the rest of the team grew as well. You started to train with them each day, learning to use your skills for good rather than evil. After hours of training and a successful evaluation, you were welcomed as a member of the Avengers.

With new friends around you and your old love beside you, your future started to look hopeful for once.

Nothing ever lasts forever

It happened so fast.

You and Steve just finished a date and were riding his motorcycle back to the Avengers’ Tower when the bike’s front tire was shot out. The motorcycle slid across the concrete bringing you and Steve with it. As you both got up from the wreckage, groups of men approached you and started to attack. The both of you started to fight back; throwing punches and slowly knocking out each of your attackers.

It was in the middle of the fight when you felt the prick to the side of your neck. Your body started to slow down and your vision became fuzzy. As your limbs grew weak one of the men picked you up bridal style and carried you to a nearby van. The doors shut and the vehicle took off with you and a few of the men inside.

As you looked at your kidnappers your eyes started to close. Sinking deeper into unconsciousness, you heard a phrase that you hadn’t heard since you had left that horrid place.

“Hail Hydra.”

When Steve got back to the tower, he and the rest of the team didn’t waste any time in trying to find you. They all tried to hide their panic, but everyone had a fear inside of what was going to happen to you.

None of their feelings could compare to how Steve felt though. He had finally gotten you back after so long only for the same organization to kidnap you a second time.

The intel came in and a location was found. The team hurried to get suited up to go. As Steve and Bucky got ready, Bucky started to speak.

“Do you remember that time that you, (Y/N), and I all went to Coney Island to see the fireworks?”

Steve buckled the straps on his uniform, his lips still stuck in a straight line. “Which time? The time you left with a redhead or the time you left with a brunette?”

Bucky gave out a light chuckle as he continued to put his guns in their holsters. “The first time. And I’m pretty sure that redhead was named Doris.”

As Steve tightened his gloves he started to recall the memory. “Yeah, I remember. (Y/N) met us straight after work so she was still in her uniform. I grabbed her hand after the first firework went off and we held hands for the rest of the show.” He stopped his actions for a moment as sadness started to come over him. “We had our first kiss that night.”

Bucky finished with his guns and started working on his knives. A small silence started to form as they continued to prepare. “We’re gonna get her back.” His tone held no question; he knew for sure that they would get you away from there.

Steve finished with the strap of his helmet and grabbed his shield, swinging it into place on his back. “They’ve taken her from me twice, Buck.” he said, as he started to walk towards the quinjet. “I’m going to make sure they regret it.”

Everybody wants to rule the world

You started to come to as you felt that your arms were strapped down. Your eyes fluttered as they attempted to take in the little bit of light in the room.

“Ah, you’re awake!” a too familiar voice said. He approached where you sat, leaning down and grabbing your chin, forcing your head to face him. A sadistic smile was on his lips. “We’ve missed you greatly, Shadow.”

That name. You hated everything associated with it. Looking at the man in front of you, you spit in his face. “That’s not who I am anymore.”

The man let go of your chin roughly and returned to his standing position. He wiped your spit off his face, his smile now gone. He brought his hand up and slapped it hard across your cheek. The sting was instant and your head lashed to the side from the force. “Hydra will always be who you are.” He started to walk away as the others around you started to approach. “Wipe her. We have lost precious time with her absence and cannot afford to lose any more.”

Your eyes widened slightly and your breath became faster. No, you thought. You were not going to lose these memories that you’ve worked so hard to get back.

As they forced the mouth guard into your mouth, you continued to bring any memory you could to mind:

Watching movies with the team

The back of the chair leans back as it whirs to life.

Having girl’s nights with Wanda and Natasha

The restraints on your arms tighten, securing you to your seat.

Going with Bucky to the Farmer’s Market

The machine starts to move closer towards the sides of your head.

Falling in love with Steve

Pieces of cold machinery set harshly on your temples and over your left eye.

Steve’s laugh, Steve’s smile, Steve’s eyes

A tear slid down your cheek as you screamed from the electricity coursing through you. While you would forget your memories, you would never forget the pain.

There’s a room where the light won’t find you

The quinjet arrived at the warehouse that Hydra was keeping you in. A plan already going into action as soon as they get inside. You were their goal and not one person was going to keep them from getting to you.

Bringing down anyone who got in their way, the Avengers continued to search for you in every inch of the building. Every room they approached was checked, but still there was no sign of you.

Steve fought his way through; his fury motivated by his need to find you. His punches were harsher and his moves were quicker as he continued his search.

He ran through the next door he approached only to stop in his tracks at the sight in front of him.

There you stood, still as a statue, your eyes focused on him.

Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down

Relief entered his mind the same time an overwhelming amount of shock did. “(Y/N).” he breathed out.

You didn’t move, but your mind started to buzz. Why did this man look familiar?

Steve took a breath as his posture straightened. He started to approach you slowly, not knowing completely what they did to you. “(Y/N),” he said it louder this time, attempting to get through to you. “this isn’t who you are. Hydra is messing with your mind.”

You stood there staring at him, your knife twirling absentmindedly in your hand. Fuzzy pictures tried to come to the front of your mind but you willed them away in order to stay focused.

“Your name is (Y/N) (Y/L/N). You were born in Brooklyn, New York.” He started to feel a bit of déjà vu at his next words, but continued anyway. “You know me.”

Your mind started to hurt; the words from this ‘stranger’ starting to get to you. “No, I don’t.” While your words were meant to be harsh, you could hear the waiver in them.

At your words, Steve continued to step forward, taking the shield off of his arm and placing it on his back. “Yes, you do. We grew up together. We enrolled in the army together.”

It felt as if your brain was on fire and these things that this man was saying to you was not helping. “Shut up!” you shouted, as you advanced towards him.

You aimed your knife at him in attempt to strike only for him to catch your wrist in his grip. Your other fist flew towards his stomach and landed a punch. His grip on your wrist loosened as he started to bend over from your punch. You grabbed the back of his head and brought your knee up, only for him to block it, grabbing your knee instead. You then bring your other leg up and wrap your knee around the back of the man’s neck. Using the leverage, you swing yourself up to where your thighs are around his head. You then twist your body downwards placing your hands on the ground and flipping the man over to land on his back while you land on your feet.

As you run for your knife, the man gets up again. He looks at you as you turn back around, your knife in hand. “You know me, (Y/N).” he speaks as he starts to unstrap the buckle from his helmet. Pulling his helmet off, you finally get a look at him:

Blonde hair. A blue uniform with splashes of red and white. Blue eyes like a clear sky.

Your mind was still reeling, but the pictures were starting to become clearer. “Stop it.” The phrase was loud but had a tone of fear to it, something you were unfamiliar with.

Once again, Steve started walking towards you, but this time you didn’t attack. You instead took a step back with each of his steps forward.

“Your favorite color is (Y/F/C).” Another step. “You are terrified of drowning.” Another step. “You love watching fireworks.” Another step.

“Stop.” The word was barely audible. With all the steps you had been taking back, you had ended up with your back against the wall. You had realized at this moment that tears had been streaming down your cheeks and that your breathing had gotten heavier.

With one last step, Steve was chest to chest with you. Neither of you had taken your eyes off the other during this time. He slowly brought his hands up to lightly grab your arms.

You shook slightly as confusion and fear racked through your mind. Pictures and spoken words continued to cloud your thoughts, unable to make clear sense of it.

Steve stood there looking at you; the girl he had lost and found twice now. He felt like the energy had left his body and his own tears started to cloud his vision. Bringing one hand up he cupped your cheek and said the last words that he hoped would get through to you.

“I love you, (Y/N).”

When they do I’ll be right behind you

Like a flood, the pictures and voices became clear. Your eyes widened and the realization of who was in front of you hit you hard.

“Steve?” you asked breathlessly.

Steve let out a sob that turned into a quiet laugh. “Yes, yes (Y/N), it’s me.” His words were a mix of relief and joy as the tears he held back started to pour over.

You broke down right then, wrapping your arms around his neck as your body wracked with sobs. He caught you easily, tightening one arm around your waist and one hand in your hair. Your knees gave out and he helped guide you to the floor, the both of you still holding each other close.

“I’m so sorry.” you said between breaths. You couldn’t believe you had hurt him; that Shadow had hurt him. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“Shh, it’s okay, (Y/N). It’s okay.” he spoke quietly in your ear. He couldn’t imagine how you were feeling right now. All he knew is that he was thrilled to have you back in his arms. “It’s all over now.”

Your face was in the crook of his neck as you cried. The whole situation was becoming too overwhelming for you.

Steve brought a finger to his ear and clicked his com. “Guys, I got her.” he exhaled after he had said it; relief starting to take over his being. He brought his arm back down and picked you up bridal style. “Let’s get you home.” he said as he started to make his way out of the building.

And for once, in a really long time, you felt safe.

So glad we’ve almost made it

After that day things seemed to return to a somewhat normal state. You started to take therapy sessions again, making sure that the last brainwashing Hydra put you through wasn’t going to affect your progress too much. Training became part of your daily routine once more as you hoped to regain your status as an Avenger. You also became closer to Steve; trying once again at your relationship.

So sad we had to fade it

Things could never be exactly the way they were between you and Steve. Both of you had changed since the forties: He became a hero while you were made the villain. While he had all his memories you were still gaining more each day. Yes, your relationship would never be that fairytale it felt to be in the past, but that didn’t mean that either of you were giving up on the idea of happiness.

As the quinjet landed, you headed over to the wall where your weapons were located.

You started to place your guns in their holsters when Steve joined you by your side, grabbing his own weapons and putting them in their designated places.

The silence was peaceful between the two of you but it didn’t have time to last long as Steve spoke up.

“Do you remember that time when we saw fireworks at Coney Island?”

Your eyebrows furrowed as you pondered for a moment. Strapping your utility belt around your waist you made sure that it was on the way it should be before answering. “Was that the time that Bucky left with that redhead, Debra?”

Steve’s mouth turned up in a smirk. “Doris. And yes. It was just you and I.”

A smile came to your lips as you thought of the memory. “We sat on a bench near the beach. I was still in my uniform and there was no way I was going to get sand in it.” You giggled at the thought. Placing your knives in their spots, you continued with the memory. “I forgot how loud the fireworks could be. I nearly jumped out of my skin after the first one.” Another giggle escaped your throat at the thought.

You then turned to look at Steve, a fond smile forming on your face. “You grabbed my hand then. And you held it for the rest of the show.” You could see the blush start to creep up his neck; his ears starting to turn red.

Feeling the heat rising in his face, Steve cleared his throat. “Do you, uh, remember what happened after that?” his focus was still on the weapons in front of him as he spoke.

Looking down at the last knife in your hand, you spun it around before finally putting it in its place. You then looked up, admiring the man in front of you. And after your time of adoration, you spoke up. “Yes, I remember.” You start to slowly walk closer to him as you continue with your story.

“The fireworks had ended, and with Bucky nowhere in sight, you walked me to my house. You held my hand the entire way, and when we got to my porch neither of us would let go.”

With everything in place, Steve finally turned to look at you. He let out a content sigh as a small smile started to form on his lips. He then directed his gaze to your hands, grabbing them in his and intertwining your fingers together. “I never wanted to let go.” his voice was quiet, as if speaking any louder might ruin the moment.

You looked at him sweetly, the emotions you felt starting to bubble over. “Is that why you kissed me?”

Steve chuckled a bit, happy to know you remembered that part of the memory. He returned his focus to you. “Not completely.” he took a step closer causing the space between the two of you to be nonexistent. “As we stood on your porch I realized that I was crazy in love with you.”

Your smile grew at his confession and you couldn’t believe how lucky you had been to end up with him.

“And with that thought running through my head, I couldn’t help but kiss you. And you know what?” he said as he let go of one of your hands and brought it to cup your cheek.

“What?” your voice quietly spoke.

He leaned down, his nose brushing yours as both of your eyes started to close. “I’m so glad I did.”

You smiled a full smile then and started to lean your head up towards his lips.

“Hey, lovebirds. How about we get on with the mission instead of making out like teenagers?” Bucky’s voice spoke loudly, interrupting your moment.

Letting out a sigh, you stepped back from Steve and started to head towards the exit of the quinjet.

“Jerk.” Steve mumbled under his breath.

As you and Steve joined the rest of the team at the exit, you started to look straight ahead. About three miles out from where you landed was the Hydra base you were about to infiltrate. The first of many that you would get to help destroy personally.

“Are you ready for this?” Steve asked as he came to stand next to you.

You looked over at him with a smirk then returned to look out at the distance.

“You have no idea.”

Everybody wants to rule the world

#steve rogers x reader #my fanfiction #marvel fanfiction #avengers fanfiction #steve rogers fanfiction #steve x reader #fanfiction #marvel x reader #avengers x reader #marvel angst #steve rogers angst #my writing #song fic

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watchmanis216 · 4 years

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Foibles: Of Mice, Men, and Bunny Tracks

“The Heart of man is the greatest imposter and cheat in the world. God Himself states it, ‘the heart is deceitful above all things.’” Matthew Mead, Puritan Preacher 17th century London; Almost Christian Discovered

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The danger of any people is that in their blindness, they see perfectly. It is here between the morbidity of idiocy and the sheer determination of people to elude the truth that wars begin. Of most danger is that the America which was borne and bred out of the bloodshed of those Americans who cherished liberty from the heavy burden of government and the rule of tyrants shall once again be taken captive by the same evil which America broke free from. How shall a people stand if in the sway of political correctness and in the pride of their own souls, they do not see the enemy before them. For say they, I looked and wondered where be the enemy? But as I saw, so saw I that indeed, “We are the enemy”!

“But should the people of America once become capable of that deep simulation towards one another, and towards foreign nations, which assumes the language of justice and moderation while it is practicing iniquity and extravagance and displays in the most captivating manner the charming pictures of candor, frankness, and sincerity, while it is rioting in rapine and insolence, this country will be the most miserable habitation in the world; because we have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” —John Adams, To the Officers of the First Brigade of the Third Division of the Militia of Massachusetts, 1798

Foibles: Of Mice, Men, and Bunny Tracks

Today in America we have Mice, some Men but not plenty, and as those in Washington and in the liberal press go about looking for enemies, the one they choose is Donald Trump. Along with him as a target is anyone who may have voted for him or have sympathized with him. While Islamic terrorism, open borders, and open immigration are not an enemy to these people, it proves that trying to protect America is viewed as an enemy. Free elections, democracy, and giving someone a fair shake in the Presidency is also not in the cards for the liberals who funded by Soros and others continue their war.

The Mice are rats, or a better term maybe cockroaches that have gotten into the American system and have chosen to undermine the constitution and the American way of life. The so called Men in the picture are anyone with testosterone and the sexual anatomy that God originally gave them. And The Bunny tracks are those systemic failures of a people to really see what is ahead of them and the real enemy which lay in their future. In short, the recent election of Donald Trump which followed 8 years of the liberal, left leaning, communist and socialist agenda of Barack Obama has shown just how far down the proverbial rabbit hole of destruction we have fallen. For a people in America, we cannot see the truth for the mud of oblivion which is being launched by the left wing media types and the political hacks in DC.

Let me digress for a minute. As I thought on this article, I was sweeping up my sidewalk and driveway. It was one thing I could take care of today. After a horrid winter some time ago which killed off all our trees, we have now laid to rest all of them. The branches, twigs, and remnants still remain to some respect. We have more to cut and the yard is the worse it has looked since we moved here. The lawn was the best in the area, and it was here I did gardening and planting and busied myself with things I enjoyed to do. As I surveyed it, I know with work; it will come back. But as I did clean up this morning; America, DC politics, and the divide in this country is not something that can get fixed. I might add, much less do anything about it!

The forces dividing this nation have taken root and what is more the systemic problem here in this nation is one of God, faith, and repentance. Today we herald multi-culturalism, homosexuality, transgenderism, lesbianism, fornication, murder, and many other things that are the rule of the day. We have cast off Christianity and the one True God. In its place under Obama we have pushed Islam and actually saw an uptick in the attacks on Christians and their businesses who wanted to stand on the principles of their faith.

It is true here that we are a lawless people and really have not one clue as to what is right or wrong. At the beginning of this article I quoted 17th century preacher, Matthew Mead. The likes of this Puritan preacher would have been drawn and quartered if he was preaching in London today like he was back then. The riots from Muslims and Christians alike would be expansive as they battle the heretic Mead and his preaching. The same thing would happen in America if he came here to preach his message.

But as America has fallen headlong into lawlessness and the iniquity which it has embraced, the silence of the major churches, denominations, and Pastors are the loudest of all. The preaching of the Gospel of Christ, the continuance of the Christian faith in America, and the freedom of practicing our faith are all in jeopardy today. The voices today do not call for repentance.

Instead they herald a cry for blood and vengeance over the election of Donald Trump. I have heard, seen, and read so many who openly called for Trumps assassination that this is truly unreal. Very few of those saying these things are ever taken to task for it. In fact, the thing to do is to threaten and aim such verbal assaults on Donald Trump.

I can hear the dismay of Michael Moore over Trumps election and his administration. Moore calls for his downfall and to put Hillary in his place; his voice which echo’s over the land can be heard and repeated by thousands of liberals who believe he is right.

On the heels of a New York Times story saying members of Republican President Donald Trump’s campaign had multiple interactions with senior Russian intelligence officials, Moore hopped on Facebook and wrote that it’s “what we all suspected. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what was going on: TRUMP COLLUDING WITH THE RUSSIANS TO THROW THE ELECTION TO HIM.” He then suggested that Hillary be put in his place. The Blaze

Moore is nuts, but the problem is; there are many just like him. Just as radical, and just a hateful. He just as soon as see America and her way life return to what he thinks is correct. That means liberal socialism, and not one conservative voice allowed to speak up.

Star Treker, George Takei took to the media to blast Trump as well. He views Trumps order to stop immigration like to the days when the Japanese in America were put into camps. This by far is the biggest stretch of imagination to date. Today is nothing like World War 2; although George was young at the time and with his parents was put into a camp. But realize at the time the Japanese did bomb Pearl Harbor, Germany had pretty much ran all over Europe and the world by then.

At the time Americans literally feared a Japanese invasion. You cannot judge history and what happened by just looking back. Even as a child Takei had no sense as to truth, all he saw was injustice. But the situation is not even close to the same although Takei wishes to stretch the truth. In World War 2, the Japs were the cause of the problems. If anyone is to blame it is the Japanese and not America’s policies at the time. If the Japs had not of attacked, then there would have been no camps.

George Takei has taken out of context what happened in World War 2 and compares it to a limited 3 month immigration/refugee stay in order to see that those coming in are properly vetted. Even Obama did this during his rule as President.

Takei said Trump signed his travel ban executive order just like President Franklin D. Roosevelt did with the Japanese internment order in the early 1940s, “with a broad brush characterizing one group of people as terrorists.” Trump in late January temporarily banned travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering America — a measure that a federal judge later halted. Trump acted in the name of national security, much as Roosevelt did in 1942 when he authorized the relocation of several thousands of Japanese Americans into internment camps after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Takei said.

The issue here is that Muslims in the world are the terrorists and I can name you where Christian persecution exists and in many cases it is Islamic terrorism and war that causes it. Although many times it is simply Islam which persecutes Christians, like in Pakistan, Indonesia, Sudan, Yemen, and other places.

At the Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, student Caleb O’Neil recorded a video of a “human sexuality instructor telling a class that Republican President Donald Trump’s election was an act of terrorism”. The fact that such an idiot of an instructor said this and was allowed to say it to students shows how liberal classrooms in California have gotten. O’Neil literally got suspended for taking the video. In fact, the student cannot get back in school until he meets with the dean of students.

Right now Trump’s White House is besieged with leaks and the Left wing media, democrats, and Trump haters all smell blood. They have successfully taken out Michael Flynn and have eyes on Steve Bannon, and others who work alongside Trump. Then they are determined to take down Trump with a mighty stroke.

The problem is Obama’s hold-overs that are in place. These people are virulent, anti-capitalist, socialist leaning wackos that have not been ferreted out of the place.

Obama and his loyalists, it seems, will remain in the center of the political fray, officially and unofficially, in an organized effort to undermine the Trump administration…the leaks are part of a larger, loosely organized effort now underway to preserve Obama’s legacy. This effort involves Obama-era officials still inside the federal government, former Obama staffers working in the private sector, and Obama himself. Obama had eight years in the White House to secure his legacy. Any efforts on his part to undermine his successor aren’t just an affront to the principles of our democracy; they’re an admission that he and his acolytes never put much stock in democracy to begin with. The Federalist

Today the Foibles of those running DC, the government, the spy agencies, and the left leaning wacko newspapers can be seen everywhere. From specialized anti-Trump hit pieces to jumping on the issues that heralding Trumps possible downfall, the media has it covered. In fact, the worse besides ABC, CBS, NBS, MSNBC, CNN, and others is the MSN network and its own windows 10 app that covers the news. It is a minefield of Anti-Trump coverage and hit pieces. It is so bad I have stopped using it as much. They run and re-run old Anti-Trump news, and add to it.

The voices I have included in this piece are limited. There is enough out there to write several books on. To me, I will go back outside; clean up and make my world where I live a little cleaner and brighter place. I don’t expect America to change, or the churches to speak up, nor will the Pastors to do anything like really preach Holiness or the gospel. But I can change some things around me. But as for Washington DC, the Presidency has changed but Barack Obama, George Soros, and other liberals are in place in close proximity of DC politics. Nothing will change anytime soon and in fact things could get much worse. Between the socialist types like Soros and Obama and the globalists, America as we know has no chance of being brought back from the dead. America is on life support and much to the chagrin of those watching, we can identify with the danger to our society and way of life.

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Shalom, until next time;

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thecreaturecodex · 3 years

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Daemon, Sordesdaemon

[Commissioned by @justicegundam82, converted from Pathfinder 2nd Edition. This commission hews pretty close to the 2e version, although I opened its SLAs up a bit and reconfigured things so the mechanics work in 1e. I also gave it a swim speed--it seems weird for a monster that hangs out in sewers and pollutes water to be able to climb but not swim. It was the commissioner’s request that I tie it to Hexxus, the Daemonic Harbinger I have already statted up based on Ferngully: The Last Rainforest. I’m always down for some synergy.

In case you were wondering, “sordes” is Latin for filth or scum. It is used as the generic name for Sordes pilosus, the first pterosaur described with a fuzzy coat. In medicine, sordes refers to a black crust that forms on the gums, lips and teeth of people suffering from chronic fevers. Fun!]

Daemon, Sordesdaemon CR 15 NE Outsider (extraplanar) This humanoid creature stands half again as tall as a man, and is nearly as large around. Its body appears swollen with strange fluids that roil beneath the surface, and its broken horns ooze a green slime.

Sordesdaemons are sometimes called “filth demons” by laypersons; they represent death by pollution. A sordesdaemon is more patient than the typical daemon, as pollution requires time to kill. They sometimes allow themselves to be summoned to the Material Plane to act as tutors for alchemical secrets. They know many ways to despoil an environment, and happily pass on new ideas or inventions into the mortal world to accelerate this process. When on the Material Plane, they prefer to spend time in toxic environments, such as sewers, garbage dumps, manure lagoons or mine tailings.

Although sordesdaemons are willing to postpone violence in pursuit of a goal, they nevertheless love it. They typically open combat with their breath weapon, spewing acidic filth on enemies before wading in with their fists and horns. The very presence of a sordesdaemon spoils mundane food and magical potions alike, and they enjoy fighting alchemists, investigators or others that rely on extracts for their martial prowess. The ooze from their horns spreads a creeping corruption, causing its victims to melt into infectious sludge. Sordesdaemons rarely fight to the death, preferring to escape and spread their contamination elsewhere.

Sordesdaemons are young in the eyes of Abaddon, and they cooperate well with all of the Horsemen and their goals. After all, a mortal weakened by pollution can die more easily from a thousand other deaths. Their true goal, however, is to elevate their creator, the daemonic harbinger Hexxus, to the rank of full Horseman. Some plan to do this through the assassination of another Horseman, whereas others hope to corrupt the remains of the Oinodaemon in hopes of getting it to seep more power, or even to pollute another plane to merge with Abaddon.

Sordesdaemon CR 15 XP 51,200 NE Large outsider (daemon, evil, extraplanar) Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., detect good, detect magic, Perception +23 Aura miasma (30 ft., Fort DC 26) Defense AC 30, touch 12, flat-footed 27 (-1 size, +3 Dex, +18 natural) hp 217 (15d10+135) Fort +14, Ref +14, Will +14 DR 15/good; Immune acid, death effects, disease, poison, sickened and nausea effects; Resist cold 10, electricity 10, fire 10; SR 26 Defensive Abilities fortification (50%) Offense Speed 30 ft., climb 20 ft., swim 20 ft. Melee 2 slams +22 (2d6+8 plus 2d6 evil), gore +22 (2d8+9 plus pollution infusion) Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. (15 ft. with slam) Special Attacks breath weapon (30 ft. cone, 8d6 acid and 8d6 typeless, Reflex DC 26, 1d4 rounds), unholy strikes Spell-like Abilities CL 15th, concentration +20 Constant—detect good, detect magic At will—cloudkill (DC 20), greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs. goods only) 3/day—dispel good (DC 20), quickened eruptive pustules (DC 18), greater dispel magic, mass fester (DC 21) 1/day—horrid wilting (DC 23), summon (2 piscodaemons, 50%, level 6th), transmute blood to acid (DC 24) Statistics Str 27, Dex 17, Con 29, Int 22, Wis 20, Cha 20 Base Atk +15; CMB +24 (+28 disarm); CMD 37 (39 vs. disarm) Feats Blind-fight, Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Greater Disarm, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Quicken SLA (eruptive pustules) Skills Climb +16, Craft (alchemy) +24, Heal +23, Intimidate +23, Knowledge (arcana, dungeoneering, engineering) +21, Knowledge (planes, religion) +24, Perception +23, Spellcraft +21, Stealth +17, Survival +23, Swim +16 Languages Abyssal, Aquan, Common, Draconic, Infernal, telepathy 100 ft. SQ improved swift alchemy Ecology Environment any land or underground (Abaddon) Organization solitary, pair or workshop (3-6) Treasure standard Special Abilities Improved Swift Alchemy (Ex) A sordesdaemon can craft alchemical items in half the time, and apply poison to a weapon as a swift action. It never runs the risk of wasting a dose of poison. Miasma (Su) A sordesdaemon emits a supernatural stench in a 30 foot radius. All creatures in the aura must succeed a DC 26 Fortitude save or be sickened for 1 day. A creature that succeeds this save is still sickened for 1d4 rounds, but is then immune to the miasma of that sordesdaemon for the next 24 hours. All unattended food, water, potions or other edibles become contaminated and useless automatically—such items that are held are unspoiled if the creature carrying them succeeds a DC 26 Fortitude save. A creature with the plant type or water subtype can still be affected by this ability even though it is a poison effect, and any such creature that fails this save is staggered as long as they remain sickened. The save DC is Constitution based. A sordesdaemon can turn off or activate this aura as an immediate action. This is a poison effect. Pollution Infusion (Su) Curse, disease; gore—injury; save Fort DC 23; onset immediate; frequency 1/day; damage 1d6 Con drain and stench; cure magic only. A creature that has taken Con drain from pollution infusion emits a 10 foot radius of stench, as per the universal monster rule, using the disease’s DC. A creature suffering from pollution infusion cannot heal any ability damage while the curse is in effect, and a successful remove curse or similar magic must be used before the disease can be cured. A creature reduced to 0 Con dissolves into a puddle of stinking sludge—this sludge can transmit the pollution infusion if ingested or exposed to an open wound. The save DC is Charisma based. Unholy Strikes (Su) A sordesdaemon’s slam attacks deal +2d6 damage to non-evil opponents, as if they were unholy weapons.

#sordesdaemon #daemon #pathfinder 1e #pathfinder 2e #commissions

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courtneytincher · 5 years

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America’s Problem of Empire

America is an empire and President Donald Trump is an emperor, at least that is how both behave. Why shouldn’t Washington swallow up the self-governing territory of Greenland with nary a nod to its people? Why shouldn’t the president cancel a trip because a foreign leader dared refer to his idea as “absurd”?It is as if King George III still ruled. Indeed, anti-Federalists could claim vindication. It seems America eventually did end up with a monarchy. Although a term-limited, elected king, he is no less imperious than his British forebears. The latest, almost comedic example was Trump’s public desire to buy a land not for sale and whiny decision to cancel his planned state visit when the Danes said no. Although his behavior was undiplomatic, some of his supporters were even more imperious, failing to even notice that there were some fifty-six thousand residents of Greenland who largely govern themselves.Those commentators who considered the Greenlanders assumed that they could be bought off with promises of more investment, subsidies, and tourism, as well as membership in America’s “national family.” Yet a similar offer made by another government to residents of, say, Alaska or Hawaii, would be viewed as highly insulting by most Americans.Moreover, why would Greenlanders want to submit themselves to the U.S. imperium? Today the island is governed rather like America’s states once were: by locals with only a light national touch. Joining today’s “national family” would mean submitting to the rules and regulations of Washington, DC. That would mean suffering through a painfully dysfunctional political system. One can love America while acknowledging its faults.Moreover, being absorbed by the United States would result in micromanagement of much of life that should be left to individuals, families and communities. Ironically, though Denmark and its Scandinavian brethren are often derided by Americans for being “socialist,” these countries typically balance more extensive economic redistribution with more efficient, market-friendly regulation. Lightly populated Greenland might not like direct rule by Washington, DC.Perhaps even worse, when it comes to international affairs these days America’s “national family” is a highly aggressive, brutal, sometimes almost Manson-like. As the president’s contretemps with Copenhagen demonstrates, Uncle Sam does not like to be told no. Canceling a trip is a minor sanction, however. More seriously, Washington routinely initiates economic war against other governments which resist its dictates—currently Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria, and Venezuela, most dramatically. These governments are malign, but no more so than many regimes backed by the United States. Moreover, average folks in these countries suffer the most from American sanctions. Washington even targets its allies to force them to adhere to Washington’s policies, such as against Tehran.War is a blunter and more catastrophically counterproductive policy. Denmark once was a military power, but those unfortunate days are well behind it. Not so for America. Unfortunately, it took only a few decades after its founding for military power to become a dangerous temptation for Washington. The attack on Mexico and seizure of half that nation; the unjustified war against Spain and then the Filipino people, beginning an era of so-called salt water imperialism. The unconscionably stupid decision to enter World War I in an attempt by the arrogantly sanctimonious President Woodrow Wilson to reorder the globe. (In contrast, in 1914 the Danes had the good sense to stay out of the looming imperial slugfest, which killed as many as twenty million people, destroyed four kingdoms, and nearly bankrupted many of its other participants.) America’s involvement led to an unbalanced peace agreement which helped trigger another, even greater war barely a generation later.More recently, the United States spent years, many lives, and enormous wealth unsuccessfully attempting to impose weak, incompetent, and corrupt governments on the peoples of Afghanistan and Vietnam. At horrendous cost to others, Washington pursued regime change in Iraq and Libya. To rebalance power in the Middle East American policymakers spent decades aiding if not formally endorsing the al-Saud family’s misrule over the people of Saudi Arabia, Israeli oppression of Palestinians, successive brutal military dictatorships in Egypt, and even Saddam Hussein’s bloody aggression against Iran. Perhaps madder still were interventions in horrid civil wars of little direct consequence to America: Lebanon, Libya, Syria, and Yemen. There is no good answer to the question, why are American lives and resources being wasted and the country’s reputation being soiled in such conflicts?Also dangerous are tripwires with which Washington has littered the globe. World War II has been over for 74 years and democratic European states have raced past Russia in economic strength and population. Yet Americans remain the preferred sentinels for NATO members, especially the newest members. Exactly what Montenegro and Macedonia have to do with U.S. security is not obvious. Georgia and Ukraine would bring war with Russia into the transatlantic alliance. However, America’s imperial capital is filled with advocates of making them all U.S. defense dependents.Yet the impact on Greenlanders should be the least important issue for Americans. There are bigger concerns. For example, why would those who believe in the best of the nation—that it is the “land of the free and home of the brave”—want to ever-enlarge it, incorporating peoples who may have very different visions of national life and purpose? That doesn’t mean their views are bad, wrong or evil. Rather, there is no reason to yoke ever more people together politically, especially as the resulting entity loses human scale, leaving a vast chasm between ruled and rulers.Consider the ruthless, winner-take-all nature of American politics today. The common desire is not so much to be left alone, but to impose one’s will. No doubt, the Electoral College and Senate have undemocratic impacts, yet their advocates not so unreasonably see such institutions as a last defense against mass mob rule. Rather than battling brutally, and likely futilely, over changing the rules, decentralizing power would be a better approach. And reducing, rather than aggrandizing, the mass being governed.Eloquent claims of “mystic chords of memory” are not enough to unite nearly 330 million people into a genuine “national family.” Dramatic differences divide red and blue, rural and urban, coastal and inland, and rustbelt and suburban America. Rather than dreaming about adding more, vastly different members to what increasingly acts like a disconnected empire, policymakers should focus on fixing what already is.Too many Americans imagine a country very different than the one experienced by those on the receiving end of its attention elsewhere in the world. America’s virtues are real and great, but so are its faults. If it enhanced the former and addressed the latter, it would find its influence increased and objectives advanced abroad. But that would require abandoning the imperial sanctimony and hypocrisy that has come to surround U.S. foreign policy. Instead of constantly looking for new grounds of aggrandizement, Americans should return to the earnest republicanism that characterized the nation’s original vision.Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. He is a former special assistant to President Ronald Reagan, the author of Foreign Follies: America’s New Global Empire.Image: Reuters

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theconservativebrief · 6 years

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President Donald Trump will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on Monday night. It will be one of the most dramatic diplomatic moments of his presidency — and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Trump will try to get a commitment from North Korea to denuclearize its nuclear weapons program over a yet-unknown period of time. That will be tough, as Kim has no incentive to give up that arsenal. He reportedly views his nukes as a deterrent against a US-led invasion.

But there’s a reason Trump — and staunch US allies in South Korea and Japan — worry about North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Pyongyang has an intercontinental ballistic missile that could potentially hit all of the United States, including major cities like Chicago, New York, and Washington, DC. And the US military believes North Korea has the capability to “miniaturize” a nuclear weapon to fit on a missile. (It’s unclear, though, if Pyongyang is capable of mounting the bomb atop a missile and hitting the US with it.)

So make no mistake: Trump has a tough task ahead of him, and the hope is that he succeeds.

But wait: Why is all of this happening? Why are we worried about historic negotiations with a tiny, desperately poor country on the other side of the world? It’s a long, complicated story that goes back decades — all the way to the Korean War in the early 1950s. It’s a story of diplomatic failures, madcap dictators, and tricky geopolitical maneuvering.

So for those of you who are confused, don’t sweat it — we’ve got you covered. Here are answers to some of the most basic questions about North Korea that will help you get up to speed on where we are in the conflict, how we got here, and where we’re likely headed.

North Korea, known officially as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a small country sandwiched between China and South Korea in Northeast Asia. It is home to an estimated 25 million people, nearly 3 million of whom live in the capital city of Pyongyang.

Since 1948, it has been run by the Kim family. The first leader was Kim Jong Un’s grandfather, Kim Il Sung, who was in power from 1948 to 1994. He was treated like a god in both life and death. He is still known today as the “Great Leader” and the “Eternal President,” and monuments glorifying his reign are everywhere in the country.

Kim Il Sung’s cult of personality really began to take root in 1950, when he led the Soviet-backed invasion of South Korea, kicking off the Korean War. The United States intervened in the war on behalf of South Korea, and China later intervened on behalf of the communist North. It was a bloody war that ultimately killed some 5 million soldiers and civilians.

At the war’s end in 1953, the two countries became separated by a demilitarized zone, or DMZ, and remain so to this day. Technically, both sides are still at war, since an armistice (truce) was signed, not a peace treaty.

After the deal was signed, South Korea — with heavy US financial and security support — began to slowly transform itself into what is now one of the world’s wealthiest, best-educated, and most technologically advanced societies.

The North also briefly flourished because of support from the Soviet Union and China, but those good times didn’t last. Mismanagement, crippling debt, and a series of devastating droughts and floods demolished the North Korean economy and set off what would eventually become lingering food shortages in the country.

At the same time, the Soviet Union was suffering its own economic troubles, causing its leaders to pull back on aid to North Korea. When the Soviet Union finally collapsed in the early 1990s, the North Korean economy went into a dramatic downward spiral, culminating in a horrendous famine that killed between 600,000 and 1 million people.

Yet through all of this, Kim Il Sung cultivated a powerful cult of personality. North Koreans were inundated with propaganda branding Kim as the country’s benevolent father figure who was transforming the country into a glorious socialist utopia through his unique brand of ideology, known as “juche.” Translated as “self-reliance,” juche stresses total independence in all facets of national life, from foreign policy to economics to national defense.

When Kim died at the age of 82, the Korean Central News Agency, the country’s official news organization, published a glowing seven-page announcement that said “he turned our country, where age-old backwardness and poverty had prevailed, into a powerful Socialist country, independent, self-supporting and self-reliant.” He was, as the news agency concluded, the “sun of the nation.”

Since Kim’s death in 1994, his son and grandson, Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un, respectively, have carried on his legacy, aiming to run the country exactly like he did. They purposefully demonstrate in their own propaganda how closely they hew to Kim Il Sung’s style of governance. Kim Jong Un even goes out of his way to look as much like his grandfather as he possibly can.

Despite some modest reforms to the economy under the two younger Kims, the country is still far, far behind the rest of the world. The CIA ranks North Korea as the 215th-poorest country out of the 230 it tracks, and its people live on about $1,700 a year.

North Korea is almost solely reliant on China as a trading partner, with most of its money coming from the millions of tons of coal it exports to China every year. It also sends iron ore, seafood, and clothing to the Chinese. This is why the news that China had suspended its coal imports from North Korea back in February was such a big deal, even though China’s overall trade with North Korea has increased.

Yeah, it is.

As Human Rights Watch notes in gruesome detail:

North Korea remains one of the most repressive authoritarian states in the world. …Kim Jong-un continued to generate fearful obedience by using public executions, arbitrary detention, and forced labor; tightening travel restrictions to prevent North Koreans from escaping and seeking refuge overseas; and systematically persecuting those with religious contacts inside and outside the country…

[G]ross human rights violations committed by the government included murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortion, and other sexual violence, and constituted crimes against humanity.

Nothing exemplifies these violations like the gulags, or forced labor camps, run by the state. Usually, detentions there end in death — and not just for the imprisoned person. North Korea abides by the “three generations of punishment” rule. Basically, if the government thinks you committed a crime, you, your children, and your grandchildren have to suffer the consequences too. A 2017 report by the International Bar Association War Crimes Committee noted that some of the prisons are “as terrible [as] Nazi camps.”

Some North Koreans still find ways to live dignified and relatable lives despite the horrid conditions. In fact, in many ways, life in North Korea can be normal. Subway trains fill with people during rush hour in the capital city, Pyongyang. The city also now suffers from traffic jams, as more people have cars and want to get around on their own. Fashionable Western clothes are available in North Korean stores, and some North Koreans are even getting plastic surgery, despite the procedure’s illegality.

North Koreans also enjoy surfing the country’s intranet, but their choices are very limited with fewer than 30 sites on offer. There, citizens can find a selection of North Korean recipes and films. Of course, there is also a big section that allows Kim Jong Un to show off what he is doing throughout the day.

The few superrich North Koreans — who usually work in the government, the military, or state-run businesses — aren’t too dissimilar from superrich people anywhere else. They lead fairly cosmopolitan lives, frequenting an elite area of the capital nicknamed “Pyonghattan.” They wear designer clothes, eat at fancy restaurants, and go on vacations.

But of course, that is not the norm. Out in the rural areas, “life is little more than a daily struggle to find enough food to stay alive,” Alf Evans, a British aid worker who spent time in rural North Korea in 2013, told the Telegraph. “Every scrap of earth that can be used to grow something is being used,” he said.

North Korea and the US have been at odds ever since the US backed South Korea in the Korean War. Today, the US has 28,500 US troops stationed in South Korea. That country is also America’s sixth-largest trading partner (about $112.2 billion total in two-way trade during 2016), underscored by the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement that went into effect on March 15, 2012 (something Trump may to “terminate”).

For these reasons, North Korea is not a fan of the United States. North Korean propaganda portrays America as an evil imperialist aggressor hell-bent on subjugating the Korean people. There is an entire museum dedicated to alleged American atrocities during the Korean War.

America isn’t exactly thrilled with North Korea either. There are many reasons why, but the main one is that North Korea won’t stop developing its nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities.

For years, North Korea has tried to develop a nuclear weapon that it can put on a missile and hit its enemies. Most experts believe the country wants nukes as a deterrent so that no foreign country (like, say, the United States) would dare attempt to remove the Kim regime from power. The Pentagon also agrees with that assessment, by the way.

While some think Kim Jong Un is an irrational, “crazy fat kid” — as Senate Armed Services Committee Chair John McCain labeled the North Korean leader in 2017 — experts see his actions to ensure the survival of his family’s rule as rational.

The theory is that the Kims have seen what happened to leaders who don’t have nuclear weapons. Iraq’s Saddam Hussein persuaded much of the world that he had restarted his country’s nuclear weapons program; he hadn’t, but the boasts helped spark the 2003 invasion that drove him from power. In Libya, Muammar Qaddafi gave up his program to build closer ties to the West, but was eventually ousted from power and killed by a mob.

The Kim family wants to survive, and having a credible nuclear weapons program is one way to ensure that it does.

North Korea has accelerated its nuclear program to the point where it can now produce a new bomb every “six or seven weeks.” And it now has an intercontinental ballistic missile that is theoretically capable of hitting every part of the United States. It’s still unclear, though, if North Korea can reliably place a nuclear weapon atop the missile and have it survive reentry into the atmosphere and detonate at its target.

Trump has repeatedly pushed the idea that China, because of its economic influence, has the ability to rein in North Korea if it wants to. Specifically, the US wants China to cut off oil shipments to North Korea and either sharply limit or entirely halt broader trade with the country. However, after Chinese President Xi Jinping spent 10 minutes explaining the complexity of the issue to Trump during a meeting in April, Trump said he “realized it’s not so easy.”

So what are the things that make it “not so easy” for China to control North Korea?

First, China uses North Korea as a buffer. If the Koreas were to unify, which remains an extremely thin possibility right now, then for at least some period, American troops would be stationed in a country that borders China. For Beijing, that’s a no-no.

Second, should the Kim regime fall, the whole country could descend into chaos. Having that kind of instability, with millions of refugees flocking to the border, would not make the Chinese government happy. After all, China prides itself on stability in all its forms.

Finally, having America, Japan, and South Korea worried about North Korea takes the focus off China. China has many objectives in the region, and having its adversaries’ heads turned as it makes moves in the South China Sea and elsewhere is helpful to its cause.

All of these are reasons why China chooses not to be too hard on the Kim regime. China’s leaders may not like the Kim regime or want it to keep developing nuclear weapons, but they prefer that to the alternative scenario of a failed state on their Southern border or, perhaps even worse, an American-controlled state on their Southern border.

Even if China did more, of course, there’s no guarantee that North Korea — a proudly nationalist, nuclear-armed nation — would listen.

The best outcome would be for North Korea to just decide to give up its nuclear weapons program. But that’s probably never going to happen. On the other side, the US could just accept that North Korea is going to have nuclear weapons capable of hitting the US homeland. That probably won’t happen either.

So what to do?

There are no easy answers, and this situation has confounded presidents and skilled national security officials from both parties. The Trump administration’s current approach, according to a joint statement issued in late April 2017 by former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, is “to pressure North Korea into dismantling its nuclear, ballistic missile, and proliferation programs by tightening economic sanctions and pursuing diplomatic measures with our Allies and regional partners.”

In a 2017 interview with NPR, Tillerson put it more bluntly, stating that the goal is “a denuclearized North Korea” by way of a negotiated agreement.

But here’s the thing: We’ve tried this before, and it hasn’t worked yet. This is essentially the same policy the Obama administration pursued for the past eight years, to no avail.

Indeed, America and others have been trying to come to some sort of negotiated agreement with North Korea since 1985. And we’ve gotten really close twice. In 1994, the US and North Korea signed the Agreed Framework, in which the North agreed to freeze its plutonium weapons program in exchange for aid. However, the agreement collapsed in 2002, and by January 2003 the North had resumed its nuclear program.

Then in August 2003, the international community launched the so-called “Six Party Talks,” which were designed to get North Korea to halt its nuclear program through negotiations with five other countries: China, the United States, South Korea, Japan, and Russia.

In September 2005, it looked like the talks might work — North Korea formally agreed to abandon “all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs” in exchange for energy assistance from the other countries. But in 2009, amid disagreements over technical details related to verification, North Korea walked out on the talks. It says it will never return to the talks and maintains that it is no longer bound by their agreements. And it has been ramping up its nuclear and ballistic missile programs ever since.

The hope is that the administration’s “maximum pressure and engagement” strategy will lead to a diplomatic solution.

But if it doesn’t — and the Trump administration still refuses to allow North Korea to have a nuclear weapon that can hit the US mainland — then the only other option that seems to be on the table is a military strike targeting the North’s nuclear facilities. In other words, war.

North Korea doesn’t have many friends.

It has China and, to a lesser degree, Russia, both of which oppose unilateral American military strikes on sovereign countries. The two countries believe that any US move would destabilize the region and harm their own interests. North Korea borders China and Russia, and any crisis on the peninsula would add extra strain to those borders.

(Fun fact: Did you know that if you want to drive from Finland to North Korea, you could drive only through one country? Yeah, Russia is that large.)

On its own, Russia also helps North Korea with its economic woes. Russian Railways is in discussion with the government in Pyongyang to expand the rail connections between the two countries. Moscow also invests heavily in North Korea’s energy sector and gives Kim’s regime hard currency, which it needs to purchase foreign goods. There are also around 10,000 North Koreans in Russia as part of a guest worker program providing cheap labor to Russia.

But North Korea’s cordial relations with other countries basically stop there. It understandably has a bad relationship with South Korea. It’s also hostile toward Japan, which Pyongyang has threatened to nuke many times. The most recent animosity stems from Japan’s harsh colonial rule of Korea from 1910 to 1945.

“Japan pushed Koreans to assimilate, requiring them to speak Japanese, take Japanese names, and worship at Shinto shrines,” writes Robert S. Boynton in the New Yorker. “Men were forced to labor in Japanese factories and mines, and some women were dragooned into sexual slavery.” The period of Japanese colonialism understandably left many Koreans with a deep animosity toward Japan, and the Kim family has continued to perpetuate this hostility in its official propaganda.

In addition, Japan, like South Korea, has been backed by the United States since the end of World War II, where America wanted to make its relationship with Tokyo a centerpiece of its postwar strategy in Asia.

Essentially, North Korea is alone in the world, with very few exceptions. But so far, it doesn’t seem to care all that much — at least, not enough to change its ways.

Sure thing, especially since you made it this far. Here’s your North Korean jam, “Footsteps”:

[embedded content]

Catchy, right? By the way, the version here has subtitles — you’re welcome — but it’s worth your time to watch a North Korean chorus sing it live with an orchestra at a big national concert.

There’s no doubt this song is propagandistic. It’s not a complicated song to understand: The Kim family’s message is “stepping with vigorous energy throughout this land.” In other words, the Stalinist ideology championed by the Kims in the 1950s is now the operating system of the whole country and may spread further and further.

North Korea, it’s fair to say, is a world-class innovator when it comes to propaganda. This country continues to roll out new messages and slogans, including 300 to mark the 70th anniversary of its founding in 2015. Here’s a shortened list the BBC provided:

“Let us turn the whole country into a socialist fairyland by the joint operation of the army and people!”

“Serve the country and people! Aid the people! Let the wives of officers become dependable assistants to their husbands!”

“Let this socialist country resound with Song of Big Fish Haul and be permeated with the fragrant smell of fish and other seafoods!”

“Scientists and technicians, stand in the vanguard of the struggle to build a thriving country that is developing, civilizing and advancing at a fast pace! Build ‘gold mountains’ and ‘treasure mountains’ with brilliant scientific and technological achievements!”

“More stylish school uniforms and quality school things for our dear children!”

“Let us raise the status of our country to that of a sports power at an earliest date possible! Play sports games in an offensive way, the way the anti-Japanese guerrillas did!”

A lot of North Korean propaganda comes in musical form, as we’ve seen. It’s a tool the state uses and blasts over the loudspeakers throughout the day, including the song “We are the Happiest in the World,” which I’m going to guess is untrue.

But as you can see, a lot of these slogans are about the Kim family, the improvement of mundane things like school uniforms, and the desire for scientific improvement. They are meant to cover nearly every aspect of North Korean life. But …

Given how little access outside journalists and academics have to North Korea, it’s really hard to know with any certainty how many North Koreans truly believe the regime’s propaganda and how many just pretend to believe it in order to survive. But North Korean defectors estimate that only about 20 to 50 percent of North Koreans today buy what the regime is selling.

This steady loss of support has been going on since the Great Famine of the 1990s that starved around 23 million North Koreans and killed around 10 percent of the population. The country was and remains an agricultural society. The problem is North Korea’s climate is tough: It’s a mountainous region with harsh winters. Plus, the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, and with it the help it provided North Korean farmers.

As a result, farm yields dwindled, and the government asked its citizens to “eat only two meals a day!” (Yes, with an exclamation mark.) It also didn’t help that in 1995, a big flood took out about 15 percent of North Korea’s arable land. As the food went away, so did a lot of the support for the government’s propaganda.

New technologies have also begun to play a role. As NK News reports:

[A]s new media technologies have emerged over the past decade or so – simultaneous to increasing numbers of defectors leaving North Korea – the effectiveness of the Pyongyang propaganda is increasingly coming into question. A combination of foreign DVDs, USB drives and defector-run radio stations are all slowly chipping away at the propaganda that Pyongyang monopolized for so long.

So while the propaganda is still prominent, there are clear signs that the Kim family’s grip on information is starting to slip. That’s a big development, and one that needs to be watched in the years to come.

We now know that North Korea appears capable, based on tests it has carried out, of firing a long-range missile that could hit all of the United States. And the US military believes North Korea has the capability to “miniaturize” a nuclear weapon and fit it onto that missile, though questions remain about how accurate their targeting is and whether a nuclear bomb would be able to survive reentry into Earth’s atmosphere using their current ICBM design.

Experts are more confident that if North Korea wanted to strike South Korea and Japan with a nuclear weapon, it could very likely do so. And any nuclear strike on those countries would put American troops stationed there directly in harm’s way.

This is partially why the United States has decided to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea to defend against certain missile strikes and why America is conducting missile interception tests with Japan.

But while the nuclear and missile programs get all the attention, a seriously underappreciated threat comes from North Korea’s arsenal of conventional weapons, including the world’s largest artillery force. And a third danger comes from the country’s elite special operations forces that could magnify the impact of a North Korean strike on South Korea.

South Korea’s capital city, Seoul, is a so-called “megacity” with a whopping 25.6 million residents living in the greater metropolitan area. It also happens to be within direct firing range of thousands of pieces of North Korean artillery already lined up along the border, also known as the demilitarized zone. Around 70 percent of North Korea’s ground forces are within 90 miles of the DMZ, presumably ready to move south at a moment’s notice.

Simulations of a large-scale artillery fight between the North and South produce pretty bleak results. One war game convened by the Atlantic back in 2005 predicted that a North Korean attack would kill 100,000 people in Seoul in the first few days alone. Others put the estimate even higher. A war game mentioned by the National Interest predicted Seoul could “be hit by over half-a-million shells in under an hour.”

My colleague Yochi Dreazen, who reported on what a war with North Korea might look like, came up with this depressing conclusion: “A full-blown war with North Korea wouldn’t be as bad as you think. It would be much, much worse.”

That leads to the most important question of all: What happens next? That, unfortunately, is the question we don’t have an answer for.

Original Source -> 9 questions about North Korea you were too embarrassed to ask

via The Conservative Brief

#IFTTT #The Conservative Brief

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thecreaturecodex · 4 years

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Demon Lord, Yhidothrus

[Commissioned by @bobmuffin52. A lot of folks want top tier threats this go around, it seems. My version of Yhidothrus borrows a lot of mechanics from other impossibly large monsters. It’s kaiju massive, for one. I snagged the endless coils SQ from my previous ayakashi statistics.The impossible lunge is borrowed from Bestiary 5′s cetus, and the shifting coils ability is borrowed from the wrackworm in Planar Adventures (which the flavor text ties to Yhidothrus)]

Demon Lord, Yhidothrus CR 30 CE Outsider This impossibly immense creature looks like a mammoth worm, its oily night-black body opening at one end to reveal a maw filled with hooked jaws. Patches of shaggy bristles hang from it in chunks. The other end of the monster disappears into the distance.

Yhidothrus, The Ravager Worm CE male demon lord of age, time and worms Domains Chaos, Death, Evil, Repose Subdomains Ancestors, Demon, Entropy, Murder Favored Weapon spiked chain Unholy Symbol an hourglass filled with worms instead of sand Worshipers conqueror worms, liches, worms that walk Minions ghosts, grimslakes, worm-like monsters For information on Yhidothrus’ obedience and boons, consult Book of the Damned

Yhidothrus the Ravager Worm is associated with all of the negative aspects of time—aging, entropy and decay. His worshipers are few and far between, mostly made up of those that would do anything to prevent their own deaths, or creatures that have already died but have eternal unlives, such as ghosts and liches. Despite the obscurity of his cult, he is immensely powerful, roaming endlessly through the Spiral Paths that weave below the surfaces of all of the Abyssal layers.

Yhidothrus is so immense that lesser creatures usually fail to catch his attention. They wither away to nothing in his mere wake, so why bother fighting them? If his attention is forced, he usually opens with a powerful spell-like ability or two, then use his bite and Whirlwind Attack to finish off any survivors. Creatures that survive his bite have their years stripped away from them, aging to death even if the wounds do not take their toll. He is impossibly long, and always appears emerging from some surface—the space and reach listed below are the part of his body that appears on a battlefield. If attacked at range, he can lunge almost half a mile at a time to pick off distant opponents.

The true nature of Yhidothrus is obscure. Rumors abound as to what is at the other end of his ravenous maw. Is he a demon at one end and a qlippoth at another? Is he merely an appendage of some greater being, an animate tongue or intestine of something truly divine? Is he, in fact, infinite? It is said that when Yhidothrus uses his time stop ability, his true nature becomes briefly visible…and all those who have survived to witness this are utterly insane.

Yhidothrus CR 30 XP 9,830,400 CE Colossal outsider (chaos, demon, evil, extraplanar) Init +6; Senses darkvision 600 ft., Perception +47, tremosense 240 ft., true seeing Aura cloak of chaos (DC 27), entropy (60 ft., 5d6 damage, Fort DC 43) Defenses AC 48, touch 9, flat-footed 45 (-8 size, +2 Dex, +1 dodge, +4 deflection, +39 natural) hp 752 (35d10+560); regeneration 30 (deific or mythic) Fort +31, Ref +27, Will +32 DR 20/lawful, cold iron and epic; Immune ability damage, ability drain, aging effects, cold, death effects, disintegrate, electricity, energy drain, mind-influencing effects, negative energy, petrification, and poison; Resist acid 30, fire 30; SR 41 Defensive Abilities ferocity, freedom of movement, massive, shifting coils Offense Speed 80 ft., burrow 80 ft. Melee bite +48 (6d10+21/19-20 plus grab plus dispelling bite and decline), 1d4+1 slams (2d8+21) Space 60 ft. Reach 60 ft (120 ft. with bite) Special Attacks endless coils, hurl foe, impossible lunge, part the veil, swallow whole (AC 30, 75 hp, 10d6 damage plus annihilation) Spell-like Abilities CL 30th, concentration +41 Constant—cloak of chaos (DC 27), freedom of movement, true seeingAt will—astral projection, cone of cold (DC 24) M, create greater undead, greater dispel magic, greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs. objects only), insanity (DC 26), slay living (DC 24), word of chaos (DC 26) M 3/day—quickened empowered disintegrate (DC 25) M, quickened greater dispel magic, empowered horrid wilting (DC 27) 1/day—gate, summon (9th level, 1 demon of CR 20 or lower, 100%), power word kill M, time stop M, wail of the banshee (DC 28) M = Yhidothrus can use the mythic version of this spell-like ability in his realm. Statistics Str 52, Dex 15, Con 42, Int 33, Wis 28, Cha 32 Base Atk +35; CMB +64 (+68 sunder); CMD 80 (82 vs. sunder, cannot be tripped) Feats Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Critical Focus, Dodge, Empower SLA (disintegrate, horrid wilting), Greater Sunder, Improved Initiative, Improved Sunder, Lightning Reflexes, Mobility, Power Attack, Quicken SLA (disintegrate, greater dispel magic), Spring Attack, Staggering Critical, Stunning Critical, Whirlwind Attack Skills Bluff +49, Climb +51, Diplomacy +49, Escape Artist +37, Intimidate +49, Knowledge (arcana, dungeoneering, engineering) +46, Knowledge (history, planes, religion) +49, Perception +47, Sense Motive +47, Stealth +24, Spellcraft +46, Survival +44, Swim +51 Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Celestial, Draconic, Protean, telepathy 120 ft SQ burrow through, compression, demon lord traits Ecology Environment any land or underground (Abyss) Organization solitary (unique) Treasure standard Special Abilities Aura of Entropy (Su) All objects and creatures within 60 feet of Yhidothrus decay. All unattended objects have their hardness halved permanently; a worn or attended object may resist this effect with a successful DC 43 Fortitude save). All corporeal creatures take 5d6 points of damage a round (Fort DC 43 halves); a creature reduced to 0 hit points by this ability is reduced to dust, as per the disintegrate spell. The save DC is Constitution based. Burrow Through (Ex) Yhidothrus can burrow through solid stone without penalty. He may burrow through iron or other metals at a rate of ¼ movement. Decline (Su) A creature bitten by Yhidothrus must succeed a DC 38 Fortitude save or advance to the next age category. This aging can never have beneficial results (such as for a true dragon). The target gains the penalties associated with its new age category to its Strength, Dexterity and Constitution, but no benefits to its Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma. This advanced age effect is permanent unless removed via remove curse, break enchantment or a similar effect. A venerable creature that fails its saving throw is instantly slain as if by old age, and cannot be restored to life via a miracle, reincarnate, true resurrection or wish spell. This is a curse effect, and the save DC is Charisma based. Dispelling Bite (Su) A creature bitten by Yhidothrus is affected by a targeted greater dispel magic effect (CL 30th). Endless Coils (Ex) Yhidothrus can make a variable amount of slam attacks in a round. He can never make more than one slam attack a round against a single Huge or smaller creature. Hurl Foe (Ex) When Yhidothrus damages a Huge or smaller foe with one of its natural attacks, he can try to hurl the foe as part of that attack by attempting a combat maneuver check. On a successful check, the foe is knocked back 10 feet in a direction of Yhidothrus’ choice and falls prone. The distance the foe is hurled increases by 10 feet for every 5 points by which Yhidothrus’ check exceeds the foe's CMD. If an obstacle stops the hurled creature before it travels the whole distance, the hurled foe and the obstacle struck each take 1d6 points of damage per 10 feet of distance remaining and the foe is knocked prone in the space adjacent to the obstacle. Impossible Leap (Su) Yhidothrus can uncoil upward, revealing more length than it seems it could possibly possess while soaring to great heights. As a full-round action, he can leap out of the ground toward a creature up to 2,400 feet in the air and make a bite attack against that creature before coiling down and returning to his original space. This leap provokes attacks of opportunity. Massive (Ex) Because Yhidothrus is so massive, uneven ground and other terrain features that form difficult terrain generally pose no significant hindrance to his movement, though areas of forest or settlements are considered difficult terrain to him. A Huge or smaller creature can move through any square occupied by Yhidothrus, or vice-versa. Yhidothrus can make attacks of opportunity only against foes that are Huge or larger, and can be flanked only by Huge or larger foes. Yhidothrus gains a bonus for being on higher ground only if its entire space is on higher ground than that of its target. It's possible for a Huge or smaller creature to climb Yhidothrus—this generally requires a successful DC 30 check, and unlike the normal rules about Yhidothrus and attacks of opportunity, a Small or larger creature that climbs on his body provokes an attack of opportunity. Part the Veil (Su) Any creature that can see Yhidothrus when he uses his time stop spell like ability must succeed a DC 38 Will save or gain two madnesses with an instantaneous onset—one of these is moral insanity, and the other is of Yhidothrus’ choice. This is a mind-influencing effect and the save DC is Charisma based. Shifting Coils (Su) The first time each round that Yhidothrus is targeted by anything that resolves againsth is touch AC, he gains a +39 dodge bonus against that attack. Swallow Whole (Ex/Su) The damage dealt to a creature in Yhidothrus’ gut disintegrates creatures reduced below 0 hit points, as a disintegrate spell. In addition, a swallowed creature must succeed a DC 38 Fortitude save every round or be utterly annihilated, as per a sphere of annihilation.

#yhidothrus #demon lord #pathfinder 1e #commissions #eldritch horror

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