Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Orcus Cult Vampire

Although I like vampires, I’ve always been a bit ambivalent about D&D’s take on them. For the Great Dungeon, I wanted something a bit more monstrous, in the vein of Nosferatu or 30 Days of Night. And while I don’t have a problem with the level drain mechanic, I wanted the vampire’s signature ability to be associated with blood-draining.

There were a couple of other important influences on my retooled vampires. In the Glorantha setting of RuneQuest, vampires are ancient, powerful cultists of the Chaos god Vivamort. There is a spooky lost temple to Vivamort in the “Dyskund Caverns” section of Shadows on the Borderland that haunts me to this day. (The caverns originally appeared in the adventure “Black Broo of Dyskund” in White Dwarf 51.)

In Vampire: The Masquerade the Tremere clan of vampires were descended from Hermetic magi of House Tremere, powerful wizards who sought immortality through dubious means. (House Tremere also crosses over into the Ars Magica game.) Robin Laws wrote the fantastic supplement House of Tremere for Vampire: The Dark Ages that vividly describes the fortress of these horrors.

So the vampires of the Great Dungeon have a bestial appearance and wield dark magic in service to their patron, Orcus. Worship of this demon prince originated in the Distant West, which has birthed many decadent religions. The cultists form a powerful faction in the Dungeon led by the master vampire Calar Linth.

The following 3.5e template is Open Game Content:

Orcus Cult Vampire Template

The gaunt figure has soulless eyes that are black as pitch, and large pointed ears. Its mouth curls into a snarl revealing long, jagged yellow teeth.

Sworn to a Demon Prince. The cultists of Orcus venerate vampirism as the most unholy expression of their master’s power. Within the cult even the lowliest vampire holds higher status than the most powerful living cultist, and the living toil to procure victims and otherwise serve their blood-drinking superiors.

A Dark Transformation. Many cultists aspire to be transformed into vampires via a foul ritual dedicated to the Demon Prince of Undeath. Orcus cult vampires differ from common vampires in both abilities and weaknesses.

Centuries of Unceasing Night. Granted immortal life but not immortal youth, these vampires burn with hatred as their bodies are steadily consumed by the slow passage of years. Although Orcus cult vampires are unable to create spawn they nevertheless hunger for the blood of the living.

Creating An Orcus Cult Vampire

“Orcus Cult Vampire” is an acquired template that can be added to any evil humanoid or giant pledged to Orcus and who has 5 or more Hit Dice (referred to hereafter as the base creature). The base creature is slain as part of the ritual and rises again as a vampire through dark magic.

An Orcus cult vampire uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

Challenge Rating: Same as the base creature + 2.

Alignment: Always chaotic evil.

Type: The creature's type changes to undead (augmented). The creature also gains the chaotic and evil subtypes. Do not recalculate class Hit Dice, base attack bonus, or saves.

Senses: An Orcus cult vampire gains darkvision 120 ft.

Armor Class: Natural armor improves by +8.

Hit Dice: Increase all current and future Hit Dice to d12s.

Defensive Abilities: An Orcus cult vampire gains the following abilities in addition to all of the defensive abilities granted by the undead type.

Turn Resistance (Ex): An Orcus cult vampire has turn resistance +4.

Damage Reduction (Su): An Orcus cult vampire with 6 or less HD has damage reduction 5/cold iron or good. A vampire with 7–9 HD has damage reduction 10/cold iron or good. A vampire with 10–13 HD has damage reduction 10/cold iron and good. A vampire with 14 or more HD has damage reduction 15/cold iron and good.

Death’s Blessing (Su): An Orcus cult vampire with 9 HD or more gains a profane bonus to all saving throws equal to its Charisma bonus (minimum of 1). A vampire with 11 HD or more gains a number of bonus hit points equal to its Charisma bonus (minimum of 1) times its Hit Dice. A vampire with 13 HD or more gains a deflection bonus to armor class equal to its Charisma bonus (minimum of 1). These blessings are cumulative.

Resistances (Ex): An Orcus cult vampire has resistance to acid 10, cold 10, and fire 10.

Fast Healing (Ex): An Orcus cult vampire heals 5 points of damage each round so long as it has at least 1 hit point. If reduced to 0 hit points in combat, an Orcus cult vampire dissolves into shadow, reforming 1 round later in its coffin with 0 hit points. Once at rest, the Orcus cult vampire is helpless. It regains 1 hit point after 1 hour, then is no longer helpless and resumes healing at the rate of 5 hit points per round.

Weakness: An Orcus cult vampires has all the weaknesses of normal vampires.

Speed: An Orcus cult vampire’s land speed increases by +10 feet over that of the base creature. If the base creature has a swim speed, the vampire is not unduly harmed by running water.

Melee: An Orcus cult vampire gains two claw attacks. If the base creature does not have this attack form, use the appropriate damage value from the table below according to the vampire’s size. Creatures that have other kinds of natural weapons retain their old damage values or use the appropriate value from the table below, whichever is better.

Claw Damage
Size Damage
Fine1
Diminutive1d2
Tiny1d3
Small1d4
Medium1d6
Large1d8
Huge2d6
Gargantuan2d8
Colossal4d6

Special Attacks: An Orcus cult vampire gains several special attacks. Saves have a DC of 10 + 1/2 the vampire’s HD + the vampire’s Cha modifier unless noted otherwise.

Abyssal Strike (Su): An Orcus Cult vampire overcomes damage reduction as if its natural weapons and any weapons it wields were chaotic- and evil-aligned.

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, an Orcus cult vampire must hit an opponent up to one size larger than itself with one or more claw attacks. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can drain blood. An Orcus cult vampire receives a +4 racial bonus on grapple checks.

Blood Drain (Su): An Orcus cult vampire drains blood from a grappled opponent, dealing 1d4 points of Constitution and Wisdom drain each round it maintains the hold. On each such successful attack, the vampire gains 5 temporary hit points. A vampire with 14 or more HD deals 1d6 points of Constitution and Wisdom drain and gains 10 temporary hit points for each successful attack. This ability does not affect elementals, plants, or creatures that lack a Constitution score.

Dominate (Su): An Orcus cult vampire can crush an opponent’s will just by looking onto his or her eyes. This is similar to a gaze attack, except that the vampire must use a standard action, and those merely looking at it are not affected. Anyone the vampire targets must succeed on a Will save or fall instantly under the vampire’s influence as though by a dominate animal or a dominate person spell (whichever applies; caster level 13th or equal to the vampire’s HD, whichever is higher). The ability has a range of 30 feet.

Fear Aura (Su): An a swift action, an Orcus cult vampire can create an aura of fear in a 30-foot radius around it. This effect is otherwise identical to a fear spell (caster level 13th or equal to the vampire’s HD, whichever is higher; Will DC negates). If this save is successful, that creature cannot be affected again by that vampire’s fear aura for 24 hours.

Summon Undead (Su): More powerful Orcus cult vampires can summon undead creatures once per night. The undead arrive in 1d10 rounds and serve for 1 hour or until released. A vampire of 11–12 HD can summon 1d3+1 shadows. A vampire of 13 or more HD can summon 1d4+4 shadows or 1 greater shadow. This ability is the equivalent of a 7th-level spell (CL 13th or equal to the vampire’s HD, whichever is higher).

Special Qualities: An Orcus cult vampire retains all the special qualities of the base creature and gains those described here.

Shadow Blend (Su): In any condition of illumination other than full daylight, an Orcus cult vampire can disappear into the shadows, giving it total concealment. Artificial illumination, even a light or continual flame spell, does not negate this ability. A daylight spell, however, will.

Shadow Jump (Su): As a move action, an Orcus cult vampire can travel between shadows as if by means of a dimension door spell. The limitation is that the magical transport must begin and end in an area with at least some shadow. An Orcus cult vampire can jump up to a total of 200 feet each day in this way; this may be a single jump of 200 feet or two jumps of 100 feet each. This amount can be split among many jumps, but each one, no matter how small, counts as a 10-foot increment.

Telepathy (Su): An Orcus cult vampire can communicate telepathically with any creature within 60 feet that speaks the same languages. In addition, an Orcus cult vampire can communicate with any animal, magical beast, or vermin.

Abilities Increase from the base creature as follows: Str +2, Dex +4, Int +2, Wis +6, Cha +4. As an undead creature, an Orcus cult vampire has no Constitution score.

Feats An Orcus cult vampire gains Alertness, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, and Skill Focus for two separate skills.

Skills An Orcus cult vampire has a +8 racial bonus on Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Search, Sense Motive, and Spot checks.

Vampire Weaknesses

Vampires cannot tolerate the strong odor of garlic and will not enter an area laced with it. Similarly, they recoil from mirrors or strongly presented holy symbols. These things don't harm the vampire—they merely keep it at bay. A recoiling vampire must stay at least 5 feet away from the mirror or holy symbol and cannot touch or make melee attacks against that creature. Holding a vampire at bay takes a standard action. After 1 round, a vampire can overcome its revulsion of the object and function normally each round it makes a DC 25 Will save.

Vampires cannot enter a private home or dwelling unless invited in by someone with the authority to do so.

Reducing a vampire's hit points to 0 or lower incapacitates it but doesn't always destroy it (see fast healing). However, certain attacks can slay vampires. Exposing any vampire to direct sunlight staggers it on the first round of exposure and destroys it utterly on the second consecutive round of exposure if it does not escape. Each round of immersion in running water inflicts damage on a vampire equal to one-third of its maximum hit points—a vampire reduced to 0 hit points in this manner is destroyed. Driving a wooden stake through a helpless vampire's heart instantly slays it (this is a full-round action). However, it returns to life if the stake is removed, unless the head is also severed and anointed with holy water.

Sample Orcus Cult Vampire

An initiate is a newly created vampire, a cultist rewarded for particularly adept service to the Demon Prince of the Undead. The initiate had the following ability scores before racial modifiers and Hit Dice ability score increases: Str 13, Dex 12, Con 10, Int 9, Wis 11, Cha 8.

Vampire Initiate CR 6

Orcus cult vampire human warrior 5

CE Medium undead (augmented humanoid, chaotic, evil)

Init +7; Senses darkvision 120 ft.; Listen +13, Spot +13

Languages Abyssal, Common; telepathy

Defense

AC 26, touch 14, flat-footed 23
(+3 armor, +1 deflection, +3 Dex, +9 natural)

hp 35 (5 HD); fast healing 5

Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +6

DR 5/cold iron or good; Immune undead traits; Resist acid 10, cold 10, fire 10; turn resistance +4

Weakness vampire weaknesses

Offense

Spd 40 ft.; shadow jump

Melee +1 longsword +9 (1d8+4/19–20), claw +3 (1d6+1) or
2 claws +8 (1d6+3)

Special Attacks abyssal strike, blood drain (1d4 Con and 1d4 Wis), dominate (DC 13), fear aura (30 ft., DC 13), improved grab

Statistics

Str 16, Dex 16, Con –, Int 11, Wis 17, Cha 12

Base Atk +5; Grp +8

Feats Alertness, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Skill Focus (Intimidate, Search), Stealthy, Toughness

Skills Hide +13, Jump +13, Intimidate +12, Listen +13, Move Silently +13, Search +11, Sense Motive +11, Speak Language (Abyssal), Spot +13

SQ shadow blend

Gear +1 longsword, amulet of natural armor +1, ring of protection +1, masterwork studded leather armor

OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a

The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc (“Wizards”). All Rights Reserved.

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Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Advancing Aboleths

Advancing monsters by Hit Dice in 3.5e was notoriously complex and unreliable. For monsters that relied mostly on simple, physical abilities—animals, magical beasts, vermin—advancing by HD usually worked fairly well.

But special abilities did not generally improve alongside HD as did physical stats like base attack bonus or saving throws. Spell-like abilities are a particular problem: caster level and Charisma scores (which determined saving throw DCs) did not steadily improve with HD. Further, the selection and frequency of spell-like abilities never changed.

For example, imagine a 5 HD, CR 5 monster able to use fireball as a spell-like ability once per day as a 5th level caster level with a DC of 15. This is a reasonable ability for a CR 5 monster. Now advance this monster to 20 HD. Depending on the creature type, this might increase the Challenge Rating by +3 to +7. By the book, the monster doesn’t get to use the fireball any more times per day, the damage doesn’t increase, and the DC might only increase by up to +2 with ability score increases. While a single 5d6 fireball is still somewhat useful for a CR 8 monster, it’s almost worthless for a CR 12 monster.

This lack of scalability may not be too important if the monster’s spell-like abilities are not essential to its attack routine or core concept. (But then again, from a design perspective why add a bunch of unnecessary abilities that never get used in-game? This is a lesson the 5e designers took to heart.)

If the spell-like abilities are central to the monster concept, advancing the creature by HD is almost always disappointing. One solution might be to devise an elaborate system that calculates a point value for SLAs, and as the monster advances it gains more points that could be spent on better SLAs. But this solution would be very hard to implement, as 3.5e monsters were assigned spell-like abilities without any systematic balancing mechanism.

Better to emulate the approach for true dragons: create specialized progressions that allow for special abilities and spell-like abilities to improve alongside HD. The aboleths, with their many mental powers, would be good candidates for such an approach.

A standard aboleth is a CR 7 Huge aberration with 8 HD, capable of advancing up to 24 HD and Gargantuan size. Using the 3.5e guidelines for improving monsters, aberrations, which are generally weak physical combatants, gain +1 Challenge Rating for every 4 additional HD. As such, adding 16 HD and one size increase to the base aboleth would result in a paltry CR 12 by the guidelines. Given that aboleths are supposed to be ancient, apex monsters a Challenge Rating of 12 seems underwhelming for a specimen of maximum size. Creating a specialized advancement progression would also allow us to add new abilities to goose the CR value for the oldest and largest aboleths.

The following table lays out the main changes to an aboleth’s statistics as it advances:

Advanced Aboleths
CRHDSizeACFortRefWillAtEnslave
DC		StrDexConIntWisChaNotes
78Huge1673111217261220151717-
79Huge1684111217261220151717Additional feat
710Huge1684121318261220151717-
711Huge1684121418261220151717-
812Huge1695131520261220151718+1 ability score, additional feat
813Huge1695131520261220151718-
814Huge1695141621261220151718-
815Huge16106141721261220151718Additional feat
916Huge16106151822261220151718+1 ability score
1017Gargantuan16126162022341224151818Size increase
1018Gargantuan18137172123341224151818Additional feat
1019Gargantuan18137172223341224151818-
1120Gargantuan18137182324341224161818+1 ability score
1121Gargantuan18148182324341224161818Additional feat
1122Gargantuan18148192425341224161818-
1123Gargantuan18148192525341224161818-
1224Gargantuan18159202626341224161819+1 ability score, additional feat

It is useful to look at how these statistics compare to their expected Challenge Ratings. Thankfully, Bad Axe Games’ Trailblazer supplement does a rigorous analysis of the “spine” of d20 games, which details expected values by CR:

Expected Monster Stats by Challenge Rating
CR AC HD Fort Ref Will Attack Ability DC
7 20 10 +5 +5 +10 +12 17
8 20 11 +6 +6 +10 +13 18
9 21 12 +7 +7 +12 +15 18
10 22 13 +7 +7 +12 +16 19
11 23 14 +8 +8 +14 +17 20
12 24 15 +8 +8 +14 +19 21
13 25 16 +10 +10 +14 +20 21
14 26 17 +11 +11 +15 +21 22
15 26 18 +11 +11 +15 +23 23
16 27 19 +12 +12 +16 +24 24

This comparison suggests that the Challenge Rating guidelines severely underrate higher HD aboleth. A 24 HD specimen has statistics more in line with CR 16 or higher, rather than CR 12. The one notable exception is armor class: an aboleth has consistently much worse AC than would be expected for its CR.

The key reason for this disparity between calculated CR and expected CR is the aboleth’s Huge size, which in 3.5e drives many physical stats. Even though it is an aberration and the concept is “powerful manipulator from a distance,” an aboleth has formidable Strength and Constitution scores that better fit a front-line tank, and this factor only grows more pronounced once the monster reaches Gargantuan size. At the same time, most of its mental abilities remain static with additional HD. The end result is a mess: a monster that no longer effectively fits its conceptual role with a wildly inaccurate Challenge Rating.

This exercise shows us that a custom progression doesn’t need to boost an aboleth’s attack bonus, saves, or enslave DCs, allowing us to focus on improving the enslave ability in other ways and to change the spell-like abilities to scale with HD and reinforce the aboleth’s concept.

A custom progression should avoid simply adding many new abilities on top of old, making the monster more complicated and difficult to run; instead we should try to replace or upgrade abilities, trying keeping the overall number of options available small and focused.

We can also use the progression to address a few holes in the aboleth design. One of these holes is clearly Armor Class, though we don’t want to overcorrect here given the monster concept. Other holes to consider include the aboleth’s lack of mobility as well as its limited ability to perceive events from a distance—a real handicap for a manipulator.

Many of the aboleth’s standard spell-like abilities are at will and fairly high level for a CR 7 monster. Project image, for example, is a 7th-level spell normally first available to wizards at 13th level. As most of the SLAs are illusions that cannot directly harm PCs, they might have been considered balanced to 3.5e designers. The Psionic Handbook details an aboleth that swaps in psi-like abilities for spell-like abilities; the new suite has more abilities but these tend to be lower level in power and more in line with a CR 7 monster—which would make them much easier to adjust for higher level aboleths than the standard spell-like abilities. The trick in adjusting the SLAs will be to retain the aboleth’s signature illusion and manipulation capabilities while keeping new abilities within the target Challenge Rating.

We can also use the new progression to try to address a serious flaw with most high CR monsters in 3.5e: action economy. The basic problem is that PCs have many more actions per round than monsters; this is true even at low levels but becomes greatly exacerbated at high levels, where each 3.5e PC has several actions. As a result, high-level PCs can quickly take out a boss monster several Challenge Ratings higher than expected.

The action economy problem was only recognized fairly late in the 3.5e cycle, once higher-level play had been sufficiently tested by enough groups. One solution to action economy lies in encounter building: mixing boss monsters with groups of minions. And aboleths are a monster that really require careful encounter design: as ancient masterminds, they should always be met in an environment of their own choosing, complete with powerful servitors, fiendish illusions, and multiple escape routes.

But while encounter design can partially compensate for action economy, it’s not ideal for solitary creatures such as dragons. But what’s worse, adding minions also adds considerable complexity to an encounter, and high level 3.5e play was plenty complex to begin with.

Thus the 5e designers tried to fix the action economy by limiting the sheer number of PC actions and by baking solutions directly into monster design. One of the 5e solutions is “Reactions,” which are additional monster actions that occur automatically in response to PC actions, just like 3.5e Attacks of Opportunity. Another solution to give important monsters “Legendary Actions,” which are extra volitional actions in addition to standard actions. These ideas can readily be back-ported to 3.5e, which introduced swift and immediate actions fairly late in the edition.

In developing a specialized 3.5e progression for aboleths I looked hard at revisions in the Psionics Handbook as well as Pathfinder and 5e. All of these sources had some good ideas that were well worth considering. The following text is Open Game Content.

Advanced Aboleths

Aboleths of 10 to 13 HD are older and notably more powerful specimens than standard aboleths.

Aboleth Superior CR 8

Usually LE Huge aberration (aquatic)

Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +18, Spot +18

Languages Aboleth, Aquan, Undercommon

Defense

AC 17, touch 10, flat-footed 16 (+1 Dex, +1 insight, +7 natural, -2 size)

hp 95 (10d8+50 HD)

Fort +8, Ref +6, Will +12

Offense

Spd 10 ft., swim 60 ft.

Melee 4 tentacles +13 (1d6+8 plus slime)

Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft.

Special Attacks improved enslave (DC 18), mucus cloud (DC 20), slime (DC 20)

Psionics (CL 17th)

1/day—modify memory (DC 17), rainbow pattern (DC 17), scrying (DC 17)

At will—illusory wall (DC 17), mirage arcana (DC 18), persistent image (DC 18), programmed image (DC 19), project image (DC 20), veil (DC 19)

Statistics

Str 26, Dex 12, Con 20, Int 15, Wis 17, Cha 17

Base Atk +7; Grp +23

Feats Alertness, Combat Casting, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes

Skills Concentration +18 (+22 casting defensively), Knowledge (any) +15, Listen +18, Spot +18, Swim +16

Special Abilities

Improved Enslave (Su) Three times per day, an aboleth superior can attempt to enslave any one living creature within 60 feet. The target must succeed on a DC 18 Will save or be affected as though by a dominate person spell (caster level 17th). An enslaved creature obeys the aboleth’s telepathic commands until freed by remove curse, and can attempt a new Will save every 48 hours to break free. The control is also broken if the aboleth dies or travels more than 2 miles from its slave. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Mucus Cloud (Ex) Fortitude DC 20 save resists.

Prescient Defense (Ex) An aboleth superior has a +1 insight bonus to its armor class.

Slime (Ex) Fortitude DC 20 save resists.

Aboleths of 14 to 17 HD are older leaders of aboleth communities. All use the elite array for ability scores. The aboleth elder presented below had the following ability scores before racial adjustments and Hit Dice ability score increases: Str 8, Dex 10, Con 12, Int 15, Wis 14, Cha 13.

Aboleth Elder CR 10

Usually LE Huge aberration (aquatic)

Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +24, Spot +24

Languages Aboleth, Aklo, Aquan, Undercommon

Defense

AC 18, touch 11, flat-footed 17 (+1 Dex, +2 insight, +7 natural, -2 size)

hp 150 (14d8+70 HD)

Fort +10, Ref +7, Will +16

Offense

Spd 10 ft., swim 60 ft.

Melee 4 tentacles +16 (1d6+7 plus slime)

Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft.

Special Attacks enslave (DC 20), mucus cloud (DC 22), slime (DC 22)

Psionics (CL 18th)

1/day—confusion (DC 19), dimension door, modify memory (DC 19), rainbow pattern (DC 19), scrying (DC 19)

At will—mirage arcana (DC 20), persistent image (DC 20), programmed image (DC 21), project image (DC 22), veil (DC 21)

Statistics

Str 24, Dex 12, Con 22, Int 19, Wis 20, Cha 20

Base Atk +10; Grp +25

Feats Alertness, Combat Casting, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Weapon Focus (tentacle)

Skills Bluff +22, Concentration +23 (+27 casting defensively), Diplomacy +7, Disable Device +4, Disguise +5 (+7 acting), Intimidate +24, Knowledge (any) +21, Listen +24, Sleight Of Hand +3, Spot +24, Swim +15

Special Abilities

Improved Enslave (Su) Three times per day, an aboleth elder can attempt to enslave any one living creature within 90 feet. The target must succeed on a DC 20 Will save or be affected as though by a dominate person spell (caster level 18th). An enslaved creature obeys the aboleth’s telepathic commands until freed by remove curse, and can attempt a new Will save every week to break free. The control is also broken if the aboleth dies or travels more than 6 miles from its slave. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Mucus Cloud (Ex) Fortitude DC 22 save resists.

Prescient Defense (Ex) An aboleth elder has a +2 insight bonus to its armor class.

Slime (Ex) Fortitude DC 22 save resists.

Aboleths of 18 to 21 HD represent ancient and powerful individuals and are rarely encountered outside of aboleth cities. All are Gargantuan in size and use the elite array for ability scores. The antediluvian aboleth presented below had the following ability scores before racial adjustments and Hit Dice ability score increases: Str 8, Dex 10, Con 12, Int 15, Wis 14, Cha 13.

Antediluvian Aboleth CR 14

Usually LE Gargantuan aberration (aquatic)

Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +28, Spot +28

Languages Aboleth, Aklo, Aquan, Undercommon

Defense

AC 22, touch 10, flat-footed 21 (+1 Dex, +3 insight, +12 natural, -4 size)

hp 228 (18d8+144 HD)

Fort +14, Ref +9, Will +18

Offense

Spd 10 ft., swim 60 ft.

Melee 4 tentacles +21 (1d8+11 plus slime)

Space 20 ft.; Reach 15 ft.

Special Attacks frenzied tail 2d6+16 (DC 27), improved enslave (DC 24), mucus cloud (DC 27), psychic drain, slime (DC 27)

Psionics (CL 19th)

1/day—greater scrying (DC 22), probe thoughts (DC 21)

3/day—confusion (DC 19), dimension door, modify memory (DC 19), rainbow pattern (DC 19)

At will—mirage arcana (DC 20), persistent image (DC 20), programmed image (DC 21), project image (DC 22), veil (DC 21)

Statistics

Str 32, Dex 12, Con 26, Int 20, Wis 20, Cha 20

Base Atk +13; Grp +36

Feats Alertness, Combat Casting, Improved Initiative, Improved Natural Armor, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Weapon Focus (tentacle)

Skills Bluff +26, Concentration +29 (+33 casting defensively), Diplomacy +7, Disable Device +5, Disguise +5 (+7 acting), Intimidate +28, Knowledge (any) +26, Listen +28, Sleight Of Hand +3, Spellcraft +26, Spot +28, Swim +19

Special Abilities

Frenzied Tail (Ex) Once per day an antediluvian aboleth that takes 20 or more points of damage from a single attack can use an immediate action to thrash out with its massive tail, affecting all Medium or smaller creatures within 15 feet. A frenzied tail automatically deals 2d6 plus 1½ times the aboleth’s Strength bonus (round down). Affected creatures can attempt DC 27 Reflex saves to take half damage. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Improved Enslave (Su) Three times per day, an antediluvian aboleth can attempt to enslave any one living creature within 120 feet. The target must succeed on a DC 24 Will save or be affected as though by a dominate person spell (caster level 19th). An enslaved creature obeys the aboleth’s telepathic commands until freed by remove curse, and can attempt a new Will save every month to break free. The control is also broken if the aboleth dies or travels more than 24 miles from its slave. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Mucus Cloud (Ex) Fortitude DC 27 save resists.

Slime (Ex) Fortitude DC 27 save resists.

Prescient Defense (Ex) An antediluvian aboleth has a +3 insight bonus to its armor class.

Psychic Drain (Su) As a swift action, one creature enslaved by the aboleth takes 3d6 psychic damage, and the aboleth regains hit points equal to the damage the creature takes.

Aboleths of 22 to 24 HD represent some of the most powerful aboleths in their entire world and are usually installed as rulers of aboleth cities. All are Gargantuan in size and use the elite array for ability scores. All are able to take epic feats. The sovereign aboleth presented below had the following ability scores before racial adjustments and Hit Dice ability score increases: Str 8, Dex 10, Con 12, Int 15, Wis 14, Cha 13.

Sovereign Aboleth CR 16

Usually LE Gargantuan aberration (aquatic)

Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +28, Spot +28

Languages Aboleth, Aklo, Aquan, Undercommon

Defense

AC 23, touch 11, flat-footed 22 (+1 Dex, +4 insight, +12 natural, -4 size)

hp 278 (22d8+176 HD)

Fort +15, Ref +10, Will +20

Offense

Spd 10 ft., swim 60 ft.

Melee 4 tentacles +24 (1d8+11 plus slime)

Space 20 ft.; Reach 15 ft.

Special Attacks frenzied tail 2d6+16 (DC 29), improved enslave (DC 26), mental lash (DC 22), mucus cloud (DC 29), psychic drain, slime (DC 29)

Psionics (CL 20th)

1/day—astral spell, insanity (DC 22), scintillating pattern (DC 23)

3/day—dimension door, greater scrying (DC 22), modify memory (DC 19), probe thoughts (DC 21)

At will—mirage arcana (DC 20), persistent image (DC 20), programmed image (DC 21), project image (DC 22), veil (DC 21)

Statistics

Str 32, Dex 12, Con 26, Int 20, Wis 20, Cha 20

Base Atk +16; Grp +39

Feats Alertness, Combat Casting, Jack-of-All-Trades, Improved Initiative, Improved Natural Armor, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Weapon Focus (tentacle)

Skills Bluff +26, Concentration +29 (+33 casting defensively), Diplomacy +28, Disable Device +5, Disguise +5 (+7 acting), Intimidate +28, Knowledge (any) +26, Listen +28, Sleight Of Hand +3, Spellcraft +26 (+28 to decipher scrolls), Spot +28, Use Magic Device +12 (+14 with scrolls), Swim +19

Special Abilities

Frenzied Tail (Ex) Once per day a sovereign aboleth that takes 20 or more points of damage from a single attack can use an immediate action to thrash out with its massive tail, affecting all Medium or smaller creatures within 15 feet. A frenzied tail automatically deals 2d6 plus 1½ times the aboleth’s Strength bonus (round down). Affected creatures can attempt DC 29 Reflex saves to take half damage. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Improved Enslave (Su) Three times per day, a sovereign aboleth can attempt to enslave any one living creature within 180 feet. The target must succeed on a DC 26 Will save or be affected as though by a dominate monster spell (caster level 20th). An enslaved creature obeys the aboleth’s telepathic commands until freed by remove curse or if the aboleth dies or leaves the same plane as its slave. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Mental Lash (Sp) Three times per day a sovereign aboleth can attack one humanoid creature within 30 feet as a swift action. The target must make a DC 22 Will saving throw or be dazed for one round. The save DC is Charisma-based. This is a mind-affecting compulsion effect. This ability is the equivalent of a 7th-level spell.

Mucus Cloud (Ex) Fortitude DC 29 save resists.

Slime (Ex) Fortitude DC 29 save resists.

Prescient Defense (Ex) A sovereign aboleth has a +4 insight bonus to its armor class.

Psychic Drain (Su) As a swift action, one creature enslaved by the aboleth takes 5d6 psychic damage, and the aboleth regains hit points equal to the damage the creature takes.

Feats The Jack-of-All-Trades feat allows the sovereign aboleth to use any skill untrained, even those that normally require training.

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Sunday, October 14, 2018

Aboleth Equipment

One of the great appeals of the aboleth as a monster is its versatility. Although it debuted in a classic high fantasy module, its alien appearance and body-horror abilities (it transforms victims into water-breathing slaves!) fit well within Lovecraftian settings. And because its mental abilities are psionic in nature, the aboleth could easily work in a science fiction campaign. This last point was first developed by Brandon Grist in “The Ecology of the Aboleth: The type best known is also the least dangerous,” from Dragon Magazine (March 1988). In addition to statting out a series of progressively more powerful aboleth variants, Grist explicitly connects aboleths with use of advanced technology. For example, the noble aboleth “is almost never encountered outside an aboleth city, where its role is that of the scientist. It does research, conducts experiments, and travels to alternate worlds to gather information.”

I have to admit, at the time Grist’s article appeared I didn’t much care for mixing D&D with science fiction. (I didn’t dig Barrier Peaks, either.) But something about the idea must have stuck with me.

“After Strange Gods” was a proposed mini-campaign of mine explicitly intended to be a temporary change of pace from D&D. I had found a game system I liked and had written notes and an outline, but unfortunately, the campaign never quite got off the ground—schedules just never aligned. I was going to use Bad Axe Games’s Grim Tales rules, which are an excellent adaption of d20 Modern for low-magic, fantasy settings.

The primary inspiration for “After Strange Gods” was the fantastic Tripods series of books by John Christopher: The White Mountains (1967), The City of Gold and Lead (1968), and The Pool of Fire (1968). I was introduced to this series through a nifty comic adaption that ran in Boys Life magazine during the early 1980s. Given the recent popularity of young adult fiction, I am shocked that Christopher’s series has not been revived for television or the movies.

Another important inspiration was Steven Spielberg’s 2005 underrated remake of War of the Worlds. The first ninety percent of this movie is unalloyed greatness, which makes it all the more of a letdown when Spielberg loses his nerve at the very end. That aside, I found his depiction of the alien tripods completely terrifying.

Other, lesser inspirations included movies like Planet of the Apes (1968), Zardoz (1974), Logan’s Run (1976), Stargate (1994), and the Mist (2007).

The campaign was to begin as a classic, low-magic setting, with the PCs all members of a tribe of bronze-age hill folk living on the edge of civilization, caught between a howling wilderness filled with unknown terrors and a decadent kingdom ruled by distant, heathen princes. Typical perils included cannibal humans, mutated animals, giant vermin, aberrations, oozes, and carnivorous plants.

In the first few sessions the PCs would have discovered that their world was actually a post-apocalyptic landscape. The Ancients of legend had been humans defeated by an alien invasion. The victors had installed themselves as the distant and unseen Masters, ruling through mind-control and brute force. The most visible representatives of the Masters were the Seraphim, masked creatures in golden armor who flew through the air in silver chariots, and the omnipotent Tripods.

As the campaign progressed the PCs would have explored the kingdom, eventually discovering that the Masters were aboleths and their Seraphim servants skum in power armor. The Masters were working to open dimensional rifts that would completely transform the planet into a Lovecraftian hell. The culmination of the campaign was to have been a battle in the City of the Masters to close the rifts and drive the aboleths from the sunlit world.

Once I made the connection between aboleths and the Masters of Christopher’s Tripods series, a lot of the campaign fell quickly into place. I was also inspired by reading “Operation: Counterstrike,” an old AD&D adventure by Marcus L. Rowland from White Dwarf 28 (Dec 1981/Jan 1982). This adventure was an experimental mashup of science fiction and fantasy elements; the villains of the piece, the ralkans, are based on the Martians from H. G. Wells' the War of the Worlds.

Fortunately, d20 Modern provides useful rules for supra-science equipment that could be easily ported into a 3.5e game. Although aboleth tripods wouldn’t make sense in every D&D campaign, I think they have a lot of potential.

The following text is Open Game Content.

Aboleth Equipment

Aboleth employ alien knowledge to construct organic devices.

Aboleth Cap: This strange device resembles a small net made of slimy, pulsing seaweed. When placed on the head of a living creature an aboleth cap immediately bonds to the host and can only be removed with a DC 23 Heal check. Failure inflicts 1d6 points of Intelligence damage to the host. An aboleth cap occupies the same magic item slot as a helmet or hat. While worn, the host has a -4 circumstance penalty to all Will saves to resist an aboleth's enslave ability. Further, an enslaved creature wearing a cap is only entitled to a new Will saving throw once per month, and the aboleth's control is extended to 24 miles.

Aboleth Tripod: These towering fighting machines consist of a large, turreted body on top of three long legs. The body has a large window recessed under a deep cowl. While within the tripod, an aboleth has the following changed statistics:

Tripod CR 11

Gargantuan aberration (aquatic)

Init +0

AC 21, touch 7, flat-footed 21 (+8 armor, +0 Dex, +7 natural, -4 size)

hp 476; hardness 15

Ref +0

Immune critical hits

Spd 40 ft.

Melee 2 claws +22 (4d6+20/19-20) or tentacle +20 (2d8+20)

Ranged gas projector +6 touch (gas)

Space 20 ft; Reach 15 ft

Special Attacks lightning gun

Str 50, Dex 10

Grp +26

Gas Projector (Ex) This weapon fires cylinders of poisonous gas. Each tripod can hold up to 4 cylinders. This is a thrown splash weapon, range increment 250 ft, that on contact generates a 20-ft. radius bank of black smoke, similar to a fog cloud. These vapors automatically kill any living creature with 3 or fewer HD (no save). A living creature with 4 to 6 HD is slain unless it succeeds on a DC 15 Fortitude save (in which case it takes 1d4 points of Constitution damage on the aboleth's turn each round while in the cloud). A living creature with 6 or more HD takes 1d4 points of Constitution damage on the aboleth's turn each round while in the cloud (a successful Fortitude save halves this damage). Holding one's breath doesn't help, but creatures immune to poison are unaffected by the effect. The cloud lasts for 1d4+1 rounds.

Hardness (Ex) A tripod has hardness 15. Subtract 15 points from all damage the tripod would take.

Lightning Gun (Ex) 180 ft line, once every round, damage 6d6 electricity, Reflex DC 15 half.

Skills The aboleth suffers a -8 armor check penalty on the appropriate skills while within the tripod.

Arms and Armor of the Seraphim: The Seraphim are skum outfitted with golden armor covered with elaborate decorations and featuring a fearsome articulated mask. The armor weighs about 20 lbs. and provides a +7 armor bonus, with a maximum Dexterity bonus of +4 and an armor check penalty of -3. Seraphim armor also augments the skum’s physical abilities. A skum wearing Seraphim armor is stronger, faster, and more nimble than ever before. The armor augments physical strength, granting a +4 bonus to the skum’s Strength score. The armor augments reaction times, granting a +2 bonus on all Reflex saves. Additionally, Seraphim armor can improve traction and augment the ability to move quickly, increasing the skums’s movement speed by 10 feet.

A Seraphim rod is a ranged weapon that fires a pulse of destructive sound at the target, dealing 2d6 points of sonic damage. In addition, any creature damaged by the sonic pulse must succeed on a DC 15 Fortitude save or be deafened and shaken for 1d4 rounds. A Seraphim rod weighs about 3 lb. and has a range increment of 40 ft.

Seraphim CR 2

Usually LE Medium aberration (aquatic)

Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +5 (+9 underwater), Spot +5 (+9 underwater)

Languages Aquan

Defense

AC 20, touch 11, flat-footed 19 (+7 armor, +1 Dex, +2 natural)

hp 11 (2d8+1 HD)

Fort +1, Ref +3, Will +3

Offense

Spd 20 ft., swim 40 ft.

Melee bite +7 (2d6+6), 2 claws +2 (1d4+3)

Ranged Seraphim rod +2 (2d6 sonic plus special)

Special Attacks rake (+0, 1d6+2)

Statistics

Str 23, Dex 13, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 6

Base Atk +1; Grp +7

Feats Alertness

Skills Hide +0 (+4 underwater), Listen +5 (+9 underwater), Move Silently +0, Spot +5 (+9 underwater), Swim +8

SQ amphibious

Special Abilities

Rake (Ex) Attack bonus +0 melee, damage 1d6+2. A skum also gains two rake attacks when it attacks while swimming.

OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a

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Tuesday, October 2, 2018

The Secret Masters: Aboleths

Aboleths are a classic D&D monster that go all the way back to the 1e module Dwellers of the Forbidden City (1981). The Pathfinder supplement Sunken Empires: Treasures and Terrors of the Deep includes a nice essay by the designer David Cook, who created the aboleth for Dwellers. Cook notes that “the aboleth was a nod to things Lovecraftian, an unspeakable horror silently dreaming of ancient secrets more terrible than man can bear.” Aboleths were also the ultimate villains behind the huge 2nd edition Night Below boxed set (1995).

Aboleths are exceptional boss monsters because they are individually powerful, with formidable mind-control and illusion abilities. But they also have an interesting and mysterious back story that blends D&D with eldritch horror as well as elements of weird supra-science.

That said, the first time I ever had a chance to use an aboleth was in a long-running 3e retro-campaign: we had played through conversions of the Giant (G1-2-3) and Drow (D1-2-3) modules. However, rather than move on to Queen of the Demonweb Pits, the group sailed out of the Vault of the Drow down to the Sunless Sea, where I used some Night Below set pieces before running a conversion of the 2e Kingdom of the Ghouls.

The single toughest encounter in that entire campaign was an aboleth, which dominated the party tank, the Bold Salamander. The Salamander, a heavily armored, hard-hitting fighter then proceeded to slaughter his teammates, very nearly resulting in the first TPK of my entire DMing career. In a campaign that had a lot of great moments, my first chance to use an aboleth remains one of my favorite memories.

Despite the ongoing popularity of aboleths, there has been a surprising lack of miniatures for these horrors. I don't think one was ever produced for 1st, 2nd, or 3rd edition. In fact, as far as I known the first and only official D&D aboleth figure was the rather uninspiring “Aboleth Slime Mage” for the 2009 Dangerous Delves set. The distinctive appearance of the aboleth makes it a little tricky to produce a third party miniature without infringing on the intellectual property of Wizards of the Coast. Reaper Miniatures has therefore produced a comparable monster with its own look: the goroloth, sculpted by Michael Brower. This figure was part of an expansion set of the second Reaper Bones Kickstarter.

The goroloth is a nice sculpt that took me a long time to get around to paint—I just never found a reference illustration that really grabbed me. I originally started by painting directly onto the figure, but I have never had much luck with painting large unprimed figures. I quickly abandoned this effort, soaking the figure in Simple Green and starting from scratch. For round two I primed the figure using Army Painter Uniform Gray, and then thin translucent layers to get a color I liked. Although there is a hole in the bottom of the figure, it does not come with a mount so I used a LITKO 3 inch RPG Flight Stand, which worked really well. I attached the figure to the stand using green stuff, but was pleasantly surprised to find that the model balanced on the stand very nicely without anything.

The following text is Open Game Content.

Aboleth

Four long tentacles writhe from this three-eyed fish-like creature’s flanks, and its green body glistens with thick, greyish slime.

Alien and Cold and Endlessly Plotting. The aboleth is a revolting fishlike amphibian, very rarely seen but greatly feared for its powerful mental abilities. These evil, alien creatures prefer to act from a distance through enslaved proxies.

Largely Unknown to the Surface World. Aboleths are found primarily in subterranean lakes and rivers, and are rumored to have erected immense cities in the underground seas deep below the earth.

Among the World's Oldest Forms of Life. They once ruled the world with vast empires, and today view most other forms of life as either food or slaves—and sometimes both.

An aboleth has a pink belly. Four pulsating blue-black orifices line the bottom of its body and secrete gray slime that smells like rancid grease. It uses its tail for propulsion in the water and drags itself along with its tentacles on land. A typical aboleth is nearly 20 feet long and weighs about 6,500 pounds. Particularly large specimens are said to be over 40 feet long.

Aboleth CR 7

Usually LE Huge aberration (aquatic)

Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +16, Spot +16

Languages Aboleth, Aquan, Undercommon

Defense

AC 16, touch 9, flat-footed 15
(+1 Dex, +7 natural, -2 size)

hp 76 (8d8+40 HD)

Fort +7, Ref +3, Will +11

Offense

Spd 10 ft., swim 60 ft.

Melee 4 tentacles +12 (1d6+8 plus slime)

Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft.

Special Attacks enslave (DC 17), mucus cloud (DC 19), slime (DC 19)

Psionics (CL 16th)

At will—hypnotic pattern (DC 15), illusory wall (DC 17), mirage arcana (DC 18), persistent image (DC 18), programmed image (DC 19), project image (DC 20), veil (DC 19)

Tactics

Before Combat Aboleth encounters are particularly dangerous, as the creatures are highly intelligent and rarely met by chance.

During Combat An aboleth attacks by flailing with its long, slimy tentacles, though it prefers to fight from a distance using its illusion powers.

Morale If faced with powerful foes or reduced to less than 30 hp, the aboleth will use its illusions and any servitors to distract opponents while it makes its escape, often through an underwater tunnel.

Statistics

Str 26, Dex 12, Con 20, Int 15, Wis 17, Cha 17

Base Atk +6; Grp +22

Feats Alertness, Combat Casting, Iron Will

Skills Concentration +16 (+20 casting defensively), Knowledge (any one) +13, Listen +16, Spot +16, Swim +16

Ecology

Environment underground

Organization solitary, brood (2–4), or slaver brood (1d3+1 plus 7–12 skum)

Treasure double standard

Advancement 9–16 HD (Huge); 17–24 HD (Gargantuan)

Special Abilities

Enslave (Su) Three times per day, an aboleth can attempt to enslave any one living creature within 30 feet. The target must succeed on a DC 17 Will save or be affected as though by a dominate person spell (caster level 16th). An enslaved creature obeys the aboleth's telepathic commands until freed by remove curse, and can attempt a new Will save every 24 hours to break free. The control is also broken if the aboleth dies or travels more than 1 mile from its slave. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Mucus Cloud (Ex) An aboleth underwater surrounds itself with a viscous cloud of mucus roughly 1 foot thick. Any creature coming into contact with and inhaling this substance must succeed on a DC 19 Fortitude save or lose the ability to breathe air for the next 3 hours. An affected creature suffocates in 2d6 minutes if removed from the water. Renewed contact with the mucus cloud and failing another Fortitude save continues the effect for another 3 hours. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Slime (Ex) A blow from an aboleth's tentacle can cause a terrible affliction. A creature hit by a tentacle must succeed on a DC 19 Fortitude save or begin to transform over the next 1d4+1 minutes, the skin gradually becoming a clear, slimy membrane. An afflicted creature must remain moistened with cool, fresh water or take 1d12 points of damage every 10 minutes. The slime reduces the creature's natural armor bonus by 1 (but never to less than 0). The save DC is Constitution-based.

A remove disease spell cast before the transformation is complete will restore an afflicted creature to normal. Afterward, however, only a heal or mass heal spell can reverse the affliction.

Skills An aboleth has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. It can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims in a straight line.

Psionic Aboleths

Campaigns using the psionics rules should make the following changes to the standard aboleth described above:

Usually LE Huge aberration (aquatic, psionic)

Special Attacks slime

Feats Alertness, Combat Manifestation, Iron Will

Spell-like Abilities A psionic aboleth does not possess spell-like abilities or the enslave ability of the standard aboleth. Instead, it has psi-like abilities, including psionic dominate.

Psi-Like Abilities (ML 13th)

At will—disable (30-ft. cone, 12 HD, DC 20*), false sensory input (five targets, DC 16*), mental disruption (20-ft. radius, DC 18*), mindlink (unwilling, nine targets, DC 14*)

3/day—ego whip (ML 7th, 2d4, DC 17*), id insinuation (ML 7th, three targets, DC 17*), psionic dominate (any target, 24 hours, DC 20*), thought shield (power resistance 21, 3 rounds*)

1/day—psionic modify memory (DC 17), remote viewing (DC 17), wall of ectoplasm (DC 17).

*Includes augmentation for the aboleth’s manifester level.

Advanced Aboleths

Although aboleths typically advance by hit dice, their great intelligence also allows them to advance by class levels. Aboleths with class levels often serve as researchers and savants for aboleth communities.

Aboleth Mage CR 13

Aboleth wizard 10

Usually LE Huge aberration (aquatic)

Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +15, Spot +17

Languages Aboleth, Aquan, Undercommon

Defense

AC 18, touch 11, flat-footed 15
(+3 Dex, +7 natural, -2 size)

hp 177 (8d8+56 plus 10d4+70 HD)

Fort +14, Ref +10, Will +16

Offense

Spd 10 ft., swim 60 ft.

Melee 4 tentacles +18 (1d6+9 plus slime)

Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft.

Special Attacks enslave (DC 16), mucus cloud (DC 21), slime (DC 21)

Psionics (CL 16th)

At will—hypnotic pattern (DC 14), illusory wall (DC 16), mirage arcana (DC 17), persistent image (DC 17), programmed image (DC 18), project image (DC 19), veil (DC 18)

Typical Wizard Spells Prepared (CL 10th)

5th—hold monster (DC 22), empowered lightning bolt (DC 18), wall of force

4th—greater invisibility, phantasmal killer (DC 21), scrying, stoneskin

3rd—dispel magic, displacement, fly, lightning bolt (DC 18)

2nd—blur, bull's strength, darkness, fox's cunning, see invisibility

1st—alarm, charm person (DC 18), color spray (DC 18), mage armor, magic missile (2)

0—daze, detect magic (2), resistance

Tactics

During Combat The aboleth mage uses a number of spells, such as displacement, greater invisibility, and wall of force, to protect itself while seizing control of its foes with spells and innate abilities.

Morale An aboleth mage fights until reduced to 70 hp.

Statistics

Str 28, Dex 16, Con 24, Int 20, Wis 16, Cha 14

Base Atk +11; Grp +28

Feats Combat Casting, Empower Spell, Eschew Materials, Extend Spell, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Scribe Scroll, Spell Focus (enchantment), Spell Focus (illusion)

Skills Bluff +13, Concentration +25 (+29 casting defensively), Decipher Script +15, Diplomacy +6, Disguise +2 (+4 acting), Intimidate +4, Knowledge (arcana) +15, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +25, Knowledge (history) +15, Knowledge (the planes) +15, Listen +15, Search +11, Sense Motive +14, Spellcraft +20, Spot +17, Survival +3 (+5 following tracks, on other planes, and underground), Swim +17

SQ summon familiar

Special Abilities

Enslave (Su) Will DC 16 save resists.

Mucus Cloud (Ex) Fortitude DC 21 save negates.

Slime (Ex) DC 21 Fortitude save resists.

OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a

The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc (“Wizards”). All Rights Reserved.

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