|
|
Post by magus on Mar 20, 2009 4:17:04 GMT 1
Thought I'd throw up a thread with some random thoughts and ideas ^_^ Since we're all about trying to encourage new DMs, I thought something to help would be a spot to test out new ideas or concepts.
This would be a thread for new critters we develop for others to comment about, or offer some constructive criticism.
|
|
|
|
Post by magus on Mar 20, 2009 4:53:54 GMT 1
Introducing the Che'luan (pronounced "chay-loo-ahn" or "shay-loo-ahn" with the stress on the first syllable). I envision a creature that is sly, stealthy, and silver-tongued. Capable of great despair, this fey lives for the moment of hopelessness in others' hearts. Cold and cruel, it is an inexplicable offshoot of civilization, a ghost of the past from both our own and nature alike.
"A chilly luminance lights the creature's delicate features, striking in its eerie beauty, like the first frost that crept in one cold, moonless night. Eyes watch you in a mix of mournful knowing and malice alike; an air of the inescapable hanging about the slight frame like winter's icy mantle."
Sometimes called a dirge or moon-speaker, the Che'luan is an oddity among the traditional conceptions held about fey. Unlike those that are depicted as fervent nature lovers, or even mischievous pranksters, these fey hold dear instead that fleeting fairness that is the twilight of beauty, rather than its bloom. Perhaps sweeter still to the darker minded che'luan is the struggle of the mortal spirit before it succumbs to bitter despair.
Che'luan
Medium Fey
HD: 7d6+3 (23 hp)
Init: +4
Speed: 30 ft (6 squares)
AC: 19 (10 + 4 Dex + 5 deflection), touch 19, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple: -2 / --
Attack: Touch +2 melee (1d3 Wis)
Full Attack: Touch +2 melee (1d3 Wis)
Space/Reach: 5 ft. / 5 ft.
Special Attacks: Master of puppets, mind melt, sing down the moon, spell-like abilities
Special Qualities: DR 5/cold iron, low-light vision, unearthly grace
Saves: Fort +7, Ref +14, Will +11
Abilities: Str 7, Dex 18, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 13, Cha 20
Skills: Concentration 12, Escape Artist 16, Hide 16, Listen 13, Move Silently 16, Sense Motive 13, Spot 13
Feats: Weapon Finesse, Stealthy, Ability Focus (mind melt)
Environment: Urban (usually), anywhere hospitable enough really
Organization: Solitary, not counting potential minions
Challenge Rating: 9
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Neutral (sometimes), Neutral Evil (often)
Advancement: 8-14 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: ---
Che'luan are rather classic masterminds, building and preparing a stage for their advantage as they stalk their intended prey, weakening their victim(s) with self-doubt and other seeds of discord. Appears as a pale-skinned male or female, usually dark blue-black hair and eyes that have an odd blue pupilless glow. Che'luan speak Common, Elven, Sylvan, and Undercommon.
Combat:
Preferring to play to their strengths, che'luan will often use their abilities to create a lair of sorts, a dank and depressing atmosphere that complements their eerie knack for illusion and deception as much as their uncanny gift at discerning truths, however fragmented. They tend to selectively target from among those in a group, slowly waning away the will to fight, or even to live.
If cornered or confronted in ways not on its own terms, a che'luan will draw on its abilities to withdraw and retreat, doing its best to confuse or evade opponents; this can be via concealment spells, illusions, or even simply restraints created via their control over plants.
Master of Puppets (Su): Che'luan are skilled manipulators, being able to mimic sounds and voices, even creating illusory doubles or images one would swear are real. (Functions as hallucinatory terrain, mirage, simulacrum, ghost sounds, or mirror image).
Mind Melt (Ex): A unique melee touch attack used as a last line of defense usually, or when the target is completely immobilized, it drains 1d3 Wisdom points each time it is successful.
Sing Down the Moon (Su): The che'luan selects a target and wears away their will into indifference or even outright surrender, depending on a successful save (DC 19 initial, +2 additional each round succeeding that the effect remains in place). The victim may not even realize that they are being singled out, simply falling sway to the suggestion. Failure to save results in paralysis (1d4 rounds), -2 to saves, skills, and attacks, and possible effects of being shaken or feared additionally.
Spell-like Abilities: at will-control plants, entangle, obscuring mist, speak with plants, speak with dead; 3/day-bestow curse, soften stone and earth, rusting grasp, wood warp; 1/day-scrying, suggestion, zone of truth; 1/year-geas/quest
Unearthly Grace (Su): Che'luan add their Charisma bonus to saving throws and as a deflection bonus to their Armor Class.
|
|
|
|
Post by She-Elf on Mar 22, 2009 10:49:29 GMT 1
Can we look forward to a game where we face one of these creatures?  I love the "Master of Puppets" thing. Awesome! |
|
|
|
Post by magus on Mar 23, 2009 0:04:59 GMT 1
Thought y'all might be interested on an update with the che'luan. I'm working on crafting an encounter area for the heck of it, and darn if it's not fun.
I'm using some inspiration from a few photographs I've taken over the years, particularly one of a house where a huge tree is literally growing right up through it. There's also some shots of botanical gardens, so the availability of different plants and the like is also great. Further, from my ingame travels of DDO there's a fun instance called Rainbow in the Dark, where you have one torch and beyond it's pitch dark aside from the occasional spatter of bioluminescent fungi.
It's quite fun to piece together thus far.
|
|
