[Volaire, Pathfinder E6] Ishtarian Serpents

In Volaire, fiends do exist, but they are considered rare threats. Cultists can pool their resources and ritually summon energies from dark dimensions, but imps are among the most powerful fiends they can pull wholly into our dimension. It's generally more efficacious to use said energies to corrupt an extant being, generally a beast, as sentient minds don't react well to such corruption. Operating in such a manner over the span of years can twist the environment, leaving traces in the land itself. Over the span of generations, the uninterrupted work of dark cultists on a large scale can pollute entire ecologic regions.

The planet Unas is a world where rampant, uncontrolled channeling of extraplanar energies had gone unchecked for a century by a corrupt government who ignored the existential threat. The Moon Gate of Quag Keep, once the gleaming jewel of the system, was disrupted by a rival faction in an attempt at sabotage; resulting in a domino effect in an already magically unstable region that opened what is known as a Hellmouth, a permanently torn rift in space. The larger a Hell Mouth, the more powerful the fiend that can fit through. The Hell Mouth of Ishtar is the largest known in the Tapestry, and one of several such entities that came through is what is colloquially known as the Ishtarian Serpent. Academics call it a Thethtu.

O flower heart hides within a serpent’s face!

The gate is barred! Smash the door, shatter the bolt.

Life becomes death. Death becomes life.

• Cataclysm of Quag Keep, Epistle of Milo

Thethtu are exceptionally dangerous fiendish serpents; between five & six feet wide and roughly a hundred feet long. Most dangerous is Thethtu venom, which will enslave escalating loyalty to the serpent, animating their corpse if they die while it courses through their veins. As zombies are accrued, they move about like ants in service to their queen; protecting the serpent and its territory, seeking living creatures to subdue and drag to the serpent for conversion, etc.

Thethtu, Ishtarian Serpent [CR 6]

Gargantuan outsider (evil)

Init +1; Senses DV 60’, Notice +6; Spd 40’, 40' climb (compression); Reach 20’ (30’ tail)

hp 68 (5d8+45); AC 19 (+12 nat, +1 Dex, -4 size); SV Fort +13, Ref +2, Will +3

Immune mind-affecting; Resist cold/fire 10; DR 5/good; SR 11

Melee bite +10 (2d8+11 plus poison), tail slap +5 (1d4 nonlethal plus trip)

Stats 33.13.29.-.14.6; BAB +3; CMB +18; CMD 28 (cannot be tripped)

Skills Climb +19, Notice +6, Stealth +0

Ishtarian Poison (Su) When exposed to the poison, the victim must make a DC 21 Fortitude save or be unable to attack the Ishtarian serpent, effectively charmed. Every round afterward for the next minute, another Fortitude save must be made or the condition will progress. Failing a second time results in the victim being fascinated by the sight of the Ishtarian Serpent. Failing a third time results in the victim being dominated to serve the serpent for 1d4 hours. If the creature dies while under the effects of this poison, then their body is immediately animated as a zombie with the instinct to serve the serpent.

[3.X] Tomb of the Doomed One: A Sidequest

Tomb of the Doomed One

Regdar leans against the stone wall, sliding down it until he sits in defeat against the masonry. "How much farther does this lich's dungeon run? Ye told me the Doomed One's tomb was a small one. I swear, if I have ta fight one more dire rat..."

"Quiet Regdar," hushed the tall elf, his bald head slicked from humidity of the corridors, "...I already told you that we have not reached his tomb yet, this is merely the remains of his city we traverse. The entrance to his tomb should be just around this..." Glaur mumbles off just as his head peeks around the corner.

"Blast yer premonitions Glaur, did ye see another lass pine fer her true love?" Propping himself up by his axe, Regdar stands and strides to face the stammer's cause. It seemed a courtyard, with a small monument in the center of the entrance to the Doomed One's tomb, the slick moss draped over the ruined city. It was dry however, at the border to the tomb's entrance itself, cobwebs drooped across. The skeleton of a glabrezu lay just within the confines of the tomb's entrance, it's pincers outstretched before it, and heavy grooves line themselves out and into the courtyard; as if the tanar'ri were dragged back in.

Physical Description: The Tomb of the Doomed One is to be the final portion of an otherwise fully active dungeon of the DM's choice, with the expected dangers already overcome by the party. By all appearances, this is your typical dungeon tomb, full of traps and immortal guardians waiting to destroy any who dare to violate its sanctity. However, the dungeon itself is in ruins. Traps lay in open disrepair, inspection revealing that many of the components rotted from the inside. Golems, fiends, and normally eternal creatures who seek not food nor sleep are all destroyed. Their remains in positions of defeat, as if they had begun to wither from the inside and could do nothing to fight.

Catalyst/History: Long ago, there was your typical master of the arcane who took over his city with an iron fist. Seeking immortality, he turned to the powers of lichdom, and as time passed, he spent less time ruling in person, leaving the duty to his minions. For sanctuary, he built a tomb in the center of the city, his studies conducted within the bottom of the dungeon. It was built as a maze to confuse any intruders that attempted to disturb him, and many a trap was built to further eliminate adventurers. As time went on, his city fell into ruin, but the lich had long since given up the desire to rule and only sought to study and stop intruders. His dungeon became more dangerous, and famous for its supposed treasure within.

Untold numbers of adventuring parties have attempted to storm the dungeon and obtain the treasures within. But time after time, yet another team of intrepid adventurers went into the dungeon only to meet their end. The dungeon had become infamous for its dangers, and the rumours of its treasure only inflated with it. Thus, the deaths continued in their horrible fashions. However, all things must end, and the toll of deaths grew too great for adventurers to risk venturing forth.

Something happened since that time though. The souls of the adventurers lost within the dungeon are countless, and their pain great. Eventually, the collective wrath of the parties lost got too great for even the lich to contain. Limitless, formless wrath rose up and took its vengeance upon both trap and guardian. Nothing survived, and even the lich was sundered. However, their lost lives remain unfinished, and remnants of the horrors seen within the dungeon remain. Some of the spirits are still trapped, reliving their last moments while the ruined traps retain a palpable horror to them.

Alignment: Neutral Evil is the dominant alignment. Unfettered wrath and angst from the lingering spirits that died within, combined with the feelings of loss and hopelessness make the dungeon feel like one has entered a microcosm of the Gray Waste of Hades. In fact, the crushing despair and agony from the spirits of the slain adventurers continue to weigh heavily on the psyches of any who enter, as listed below for long-term effects.


Rumours: Gather Information (DC 25) will reveal the historical elements of the tomb (Bardic Lore DC 20), as far as why the tomb was constructed and its bloody history. The fact it's now dead and haunted is not a fact known to anyone by this point. Information of historical value can be gleaned through the writings found in various situations (particular binding circles, bloodied transcriptions of someone's last words, etc), but the age of the place as well as deterioration will require a Decipher Script (DC 25) or so to understand.

Encounters: Many of the encounters of this dungeon are more flavour descriptions, as is shown by a few examples below. The order they are encountered in is up to you, as the actual layout of the dungeon is fairly freeform. In order to prevent the dungeon from being too much of a good thing, as it were, it is suggested that you try not to have too many more encounters such as these.

• A room with a handful of stone golems, either broken in half or significant portions fallen off. Attempts to examine the remnants show that they are mere sandstone, crumbling in the adventurer's hands like sand.
• A plain hallway with a pit in the center, the trap door swinging loosely open. Those that look for the first time at the bottom the pit trap will see a still living person impaled upon a barbed spike, blood flowing and arm reaching for the person who looks. Any who attempt to climb down and get a closer look will find the vision changing, and see that it is actually an old skeleton with a locket wrapped around its hand (its image aged into obscurity)
• Coming upon a closed iron door, a careful rogue will find a swinging scythe trap. But whether he attempts to disarm it or the party trips it, the result is the same. The scythe will come out of its slot, and fall to the ground, the metal rusted from the inside.
• Screams bellow from the room ahead, those that look see a vampire holding a battered human mage that only screams. The vampire leans against the wall, releasing a green cloud that causes the human's face to break into boils, eventually the screaming stops due to swelling in the throat. If the party tries to open the door fully to stop the vampire, the scene will change, and the vampire will be alone and leaning against the wall, face withered and eyes glazed over with lifelessness.
• Several of the spikes on the broken traps still have their poison on them. The centuries of neglect have caused them to fester and mutate, becoming small spore colonies of several types of disease, Slimy Doom being the most dangerous among them. Feel free to include a lone colony of yellow mold in one of the broken pits or in the corner of a room where a fungoid monster used to be.

In order to spice up the dungeon, more active remnants of the horrors from before remain...

• Before the encounter, have the party make a Will save such that only one is likely to succeed at. Entering an otherwise empty room, a creature of a CR roughly 7 higher than the party's average level enters through a secret door. The creature, immune to fire, will set off a trap that fills the room with flames that damage the party for about 2d6 per round, on top of the attacks the creature will levy forth upon the party until all have fallen (along with much boasting of its supremacy). The party will then awaken, realizing the encounter to be only a quasi-real illusion that deals subdual damage. If one of the party members either makes the save or was is immune to illusions, then they get to watch the party scream at nothing and fall unconscious.

• A slightly more vibrant room, there will be a tough monster remaining, attacking the party (roughly CR = party level + 3 or 4). However, 2 rounds into the fight, the damage will be revealed as fake (not even subdual damage) and the monster will get attacked by the collective spirit of dead adventurers from prior forays. Blue soul-stuff seeps from the masonry cracks, surrounding the creature and pulling it against the wall. Faces of wrath can be seen in the ephemeral smoke while they howl, causing the creature's ears to bleed while it's vital force is seen drained away until it lies motionless. The room's colors will fade to the usual color, and the drained creature will remain, almost totally untouched from the moment it was destroyed in the vision.

Treasure: The actual treasure of the dungeon is the lich's stash, famed and coveted by all of the adventurers that dared to enter and failed horrifically. It has, of course, been exaggerated in value, but remains of some significance to the party. Once to the bottom of the dungeon tomb, they will find a lich seated in a formerly lavish chair before its desk, its face one of horror and the body 'lifeless'. If they disturb the lich at all, soul-stuff (see last example encounter above) will rise from the body of the lich as if smoking. Its body will jerk artificially to face the party, and speak a cryptic riddle, sounding like a chorus of thousands speaking in unison.

You can use whatever is appropriate here, but it is suggested for the room to have astrological diagrams covering the walls and the riddle be "Born with the world, destined to live as long as the world, and yet never five weeks old.". The mechanism to uncover the treasure will be where the moon should be, as it is intentionally removed from the diagram. Thus, you need to figure out both the riddle and make a Knowledge (astronomy) check (DC 15). As most will not have ranks in astronomy, Knowledge (the planes) can be substituted at a +5 to the DC.

The actual treasure itself should be a variety of nonmagical, yet lavish, scepters, jewels, and velvet bags with diamond dust. All of these items are components for the various spells of the lich (jade circlet, etc), and are worth in total equal to the average treasure award for an encounter roughly 4 higher than the average party level. For example, a level 6 party will find 7,500gp worth of treasure.

The lich's tomes and spellbooks have been destroyed with him, due to age. However, a couple golden medallions are inscribed with highly complex geometries and symbols, containing encoded spell script. Learning spells from here are as from a normal spellbook, only the DC is +10 due to complexity.

Long Term Effects: This is a quality few adventuring parties will experience, but if they attempt to stay too long within it, they might succumb to the mental horror of the dungeon tomb. In a manner similar to the Gray Waste of Hades, every day spent within the dungeon requires a Will save (DC 10+total number of days in tomb). Failure will result in the player's mind being crushed beneath the weight of horror, pain, agony. His eyes will become dead, his mannerisms will be paranoid (as if the tomb was still active), and attempts to leave the dungeon tomb will cause blue soul-stuff to rise from the cracks and consume the character.

[3.X] An Argument Against 5th Level Commoners

Fully fleshed NPC classes, such as the aristocrat or commoner, are a bad idea. This is obviously within the context of D&D 3.X, but the argument can feasibly be applicable to any level-based RPG.

By the nature of the beast, a level 3 Expert is better than a level 1 Fighter; more and better skills, higher base attack bonus, better saving throws, better gear, etc.

Games such as D&D posit that PCs are individuals who matter at the beginning of their career (level 1), and this is something that even ‘gritty’ settings do in practice if you look at the adventures described. This is something inherent in the genre.

This facet will be countered if you do not simultaneously posit that third level Experts are uncommon; and tenth level Commoners absolutely must be highly rare. If your typical man on the street is a plurality of levels higher than you, even with a sub-optimal class like the Expert, then your PC begins play as their cohort or squire. When orcs invade the town, you do not send out the PCs, you send out Billy the Roof Thatcher. The party of combines their martial training, bardic music, and mystic knowledge to augment the raw power of Dread Thatcher Billy.

Sure, your PCs will eventually be better than the majority of NPCs, at like level 6 or something. I strongly doubt your players are interested in roleplaying the years of apprenticeship and character building to be better than the guy who flips the switch for the Bat Signal (only it’s a guy with a trowel instead of Batman).

Now, rallying the peasants into a force that can fight back Team Evil is certainly cool, but that’s a completely different message from “Billy’s wife, Mary, can beat up your entire party with a wooden foot.”

What this means is that NPC classes need to exist on fewer levels. There is no reason for there to even be such a thing as a 10th level warriors or 6th level commoners. Simultaneously, NPC demographics need to be weighted strongly for the bottom levels.

In a personal plug for my own 3.X games, I have dumped the Warrior and Adept NPC classes as written for homebrew versions that are only five levels long and are implicitly faster to design than a PC class. The Commoner class doesn’t exist, and PC-races without class (hah!) get by with a single racial hit die and a simple list of ‘templates’ based on their livelihood. I will admit, due to time and such, I have not made a final decision on how to handle the replacement of Experts and Aristocrats.

[3.X] How Not to Be Seen

This is a set of house-rules for stealth, which has traditionally been poorly written in d20 systems. Originally, this was designed for use in my Arcana Evolved campaign, but it remains applicable in regular 3.5, Pathfinder, etc. Please understand that I am not necessarily saying your game has bad stealth rules, but the official rules in your book are bad; which is a distinct difference not many notice, which itself is amusing in this context. The rules as written are bad, but it's essentially a guarantee that your campaign does not use them strictly as they are written, and in many cases you might not even realize house rules are in effect. This set up is technically the same process, but I feel having the caulking be clearly visible so consistency is better maintained.


Skill Changes

Hide & Move Silently are merged into one skill, Stealth. Spot & Listen are merged into one skill, Notice (Perception for Pathfinder). Modifiers originally tied to just Spot or Listen apply to Notice, using the greater of the two, so long as the sense can be used; so Spot bonuses do not apply against invisible targets, thunderstones negate Listen bonuses, etc.


Dice Resolution for Observer and Stealther

Stealth is rolled once for the entire scene. Taking a standard action gives the full result plus modifiers for one round. A move action gives the same result with a -5 penalty for the round. With just a free action, this penalty increases to -10. After a character is spotted from stealth, they are permitted a single reroll to their Stealth for the scene. 

Observers are presumed to be constantly taking a free action to "Take 0" on Notice, which gives a Notice result equal to their bonus. When they Observe, a move action, they get to roll normally for that round. An observer will only roll once for the entire scene, using the same result for all further Observe actions. They are permitted a single reroll to their Notice for the scene after they fail to beat the Stealth by 5 or less.

Compare results to the point-of-view of any potential observer. Stealth is impossible against someone directly observing you until line of sight is broken (or the Bluff check for a distraction to dive for cover). Changes to the DC based on the circumstances apply instantly, and can make a stealthy subject change to noticed by the observer. 


Effects of Stealth

Until the subject is noticed, the observer is unaware and flat-footed to the subject. If conditions change to make the observer aware, they remain flat-footed until the end of the action. Multiple attacks from a full-attack action do not all get the bonus (just the first); though if it's the start of combat for the observer, they remain flat-footed until their action as normal.


Modifiers

Notice Modifier	Observer Status
-1 per 10'	Distance*
-10/1ft thickness	Wall
-5	Closed door
-5	Distracted, full conversation or using standard action
-5	Intense sensory input (spotlight in face)
-10	In combat, Asleep
-20	Pinpoint subject with total concealment
+10	Observe, subject without cover or concealment
+4	Observe, knows who to look for
-3	Observe as swift action

*Distance Modifier	Environment for Subject
x1/3	Daylight
x1/2	Bright Light
x2	Darkness
x1/2	Outdoor Terrain
x1/2	Flat/Exposed Terrain

Stealth Modifier	Subject Status
-5	Moving greater than half speed
-20	Attacking, running, charging
-30	Attacking observer
+20	Total concealment
-20	Carries light source, auto pinpoint
+/-2	Favorable/unfavorable conditions

If a subject has total concealment, such as invisibility or no line of sight with the observer, then an observer can only roughly know their direction; pinpointing will give the precise square. If the subject is completely immobile, including no breathing, then the bonus from total concealment increases by +20 and the observer requires an observe action along with a 10 point penalty to their own stealth attempts. 

Use common sense applications toward sensory bonuses, such as bonuses to Spot not applying while asleep. 


Beyond Sight & Sound

Ripping off Pathfinder, Notice can be used for senses beyond Spot/Listen. However, the standards use a human baseline, which is rather abysmal and therefore doesn't require the level of detail the others do. If a sense is acute enough to be a special ability, like a bat's blindsense or a beast's scent; then they can use it as a normal sense (out to the range limit) with a +8 bonus. 

DC	Detail
-10	Stench of rotting garbage
0	Smell smoke
10	Determine if food is spoiled
25	Sense a burrowing creature underneath you
15+caster level	Identify the powers of a potion through taste

Shadowrunning

Sometimes the entire party needs to infiltrate a location, and some of them are incompetent at this. With a -5 penalty, all allies within 30' who follow the stealth leader uses the leader's roll before situational modifiers (such as size, actions, etc). 

Alternatively, everyone can make individual Stealth checks as appropriate, and the leader reduces his own check to boost their allies. For every 1 point their result is lowered, every ally within 30' gains a +2 bonus. The recipient's check cannot exceed that of the person taking the penalty.

[Pathfinder] Instigate Psychic Duel

Psychic Duels are a fun concept, and fill similar narrative roles to wizard duels and shapeshifter duels. It is therefore natural to see Paizo attempt to dip into this evocative trope, but they managed to be simultaneously too cautious and drastic in their design.

To be involved in a psychic duel, you need to either cast or fail a Will save against a 2nd level spell. You and your opponent are functionally dazed while you spend character resources (be it spells, ki, fatigue, etc) in an attempt to ultimately drain the others' HP, which transfers into the waking world. The minigame is complete and different from the other core mechanics, and I'm not impressed with it. The most potent aspect of this spell is that your friends can wail on their unresponsive body while you try to hunker down against their willpower, which makes this spell objectively worse than hideous laughter, which is the same level and requires the same saving throw.

The barrier to entry is simply too high and too niche to justify the complexity. If you retain the complexity, regardless of my opinion on its quality, then you need to make it easier to participate and therefore make the entire basis of psychic duels become a keystone in your supplement. If you keep the "You Must Be This Tall To Ride" sign in place, then the effect of the spell needs to be dramatically simplified; single opposed roll with duration/effects based on the margin of failure/success level of complexity at most.

Personally, I think there are only two options for stuff like Psychic Duels in this context.

Psychic Tug of War
Describe it as evocatively as you like. The tactical result is the same, you and your opponent have an effect you're wanting to inflict upon the other and spend some non-trivial amount of time struggling. Commonly, the effect doesn't matter and it's simply a means for a weaker character to distract the stronger while their allies run off with the Dark Lord's underwear or something. At its core, this should just be a die rolling exercise where the iterative nature gives a disproportional advantage to small differences in strength; make a roll and make a tick mark of some kind until one side runs out and gets hit. It's fast to explain, takes up little time in a fight scene that involves more than two people, and gives the player something to do rather than waiting until the fight's over. It's boring for scenes where everyone sits back and watches the fight because it's too simple, but the players not involved in a duel are going to be bored anyway and this way you can go through each round faster than regular combat.

Mind Bullets
Ignore the whole mindscape angle and simply make psychic combat an extension of regular combat. Derive some modifier from your mental stats to make a Psi-CMB or something and create new combat maneuvers with a psychic aesthetic, similar to the Dirty Trick from Pathfinder. Want to mimic that stare-down between two psychics? Make it a ranged grapple of some kind. Make access to the psychic maneuvers a trait and automatically accessible for psychic spellcasters. Create an entire category of feats and spells that expand, enhance, and broaden the capabilities of psychic combat.

Evil Vow of Poverty

Asseveration of Avarice [Vile]

Mimicking the greediest of dragons, you endow yourself in the most extravgant displays of gross material wealth. The presence of such power bestows great strength, but your greed is such that you may never use or give up your riches.
Benefit: You gain the benefits of the Vow of Poverty, except that all sacred bonuses are instead profane, and you must choose [Vile] feats instead of [Exalted].
Special: To retain your power, you must collect all all of your wealth in your hoard, with the following exceptions: you may only carry and use weapons and armor so long as they are masterwork, you may only wear the finest of clothes. You may carry and use a spell component pouch, spellbook, and other components necessary for casting spells. You may wear jewelry and other accessories, provided they are nonmagical. You may not use magic items of any sort - any money put into purchasing magic items is money not improving your hoard. You can benefit from magic items used on your behalf, but you may not "borrow" these items unless you immediately put them in the hoard and refuse to give them back. You may not use consumable items, such as wands, staves, scrolls, or potions, because you might need them later.
If you break your vow, you lose the feat and its benefits, and may not atone until you increase the size of your hoard (from the time of breaking the vow) by 50%.

Wilati the Rat King

Wilati the Rat King

Male Human Rogue 3/Sorcerer 5
Wilati is a former fire-breather, petty thief, and hedge-mage for a traveling troupe. This changed when he jilted a witch, who cursed him to forever be as socially and physically repugnant as she saw him.

Description
A broken Keleshite, aged far beyond his years, isolation having left his mind as addled as his body. Stained stage jewelry adorns him in mockery of a king while his only vassal, his rat familiar, sits atop his shoulder. His teeth and breath are rotten from years of fire-breathing, supplemented by the powerful curse.

Notable Gear
Wilati always keeps at least one potion of fire substituted shocking grasp on his person, modified to be expelled through his breath rather than hands (statistically unchanged).

Motivations/Goals
His first goal is staking out a domain in the dredges of civilization where his liege can live comfortably. He defends his right to rule, and seeks riches that befit his imagined status to fill his coffers. Wilati harbors no small amount of resentment towards circus folk and many traveling entertainers after being run out by his troupe due to the curse, which readily turns to thoughts of vengeance.

Schemes/Plots
No stranger to a reputation ruined, Wilati is skilled at sabotage and levying accusations towards his mark. Sample tricks include disguising as his target and performing some public misdeed or planting stolen goods to sully their reputation. If his target sleeps unguarded, replacing the contents of their potions or otherwise tampering with their equipment is of particular effectiveness. There is little he can do about his odor, which leaves a clue for the party to follow once they notice the pattern of events.

Adventure Hooks
* While too proud to truly follow anybody, Wilati is easily manipulated by those that play to his delusions and resentments, directing him towards the party.
* Deciding that his 'kingdom' needs to expand, Wilati begins a campaign of terror amongst the beggars and vagrants, extracting tithe wherever possible; until one of the unwanted beseech aid against the almost demonic ruler.
* A man is found burned to death in an adjacent room to the party, with an uncomfortable odor about him and the window. The news devastates the four other people in the inn, who hadn't seen each other since their traveling troupe disbanded shortly after that terrible curse was afflicted on their fire-breather.

Thaumaturgical Trinkets: Part II

Final Blot

Aura moderate transmutation; CL 7th
Slot -; Price 17,280 gp;Weight - lbs.
Description
A well-used and expertly made painter's brush. The handle is of carved darkwood and the bristles are from a barghest's tail.
With a command and with a touch upon a surface, all surfaces in a 20' radius are cleansed and sanitized. Objects are bleached white, all writing and inscriptions are subject to erase, and any sources of infection for diseases or poisons are rendered inert. This does not cure the afflicted and the cleaned surfaces can be reinfected normally.
Creatures in the area are also affected. The brush will automatically dispel and remove modifiers to morale and any fear effects. It will also end a rage (including a golem's berserk) and the confused condition (Will DC 16 negates). This does not prevent the subjects from being subject to the conditions or modifiers again.
The brush can be used twice per day.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, erase, calm emotions; Cost 8,640 gp

Horn of World's End

Aura moderate abjuration and transmutation; CL 10th
Slot none; Price 56,000 gp; Weight 1lb.
Description
Carved from stone found in the highest peak of the world, this large horn emits a deep tone that can be heard from miles away. A character can blow into the horn as a standard action, creating a 360’ cone of windstorm wind strength blowing outward. The winds last for 1 hour. See Environment for details.
The horn can be blown like this once per day with no risk. If it is used more frequently, there is a 20% cumulative chance per usage that day that it cracks and shatters into uselessness.
The wearer is never checked or blown away by winds of windstorm strength or less.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item; cloak of winds, control winds; Cost 28,500gp

Thaumaturgical Trinkets

Balor's Salve

Aura strong evocation; CL 15th
Slot none; Price 4,000 gp per dose; Weight —Description
This substance is thick, unctuous, and always warm. This magical contact poison has a one minute onset time, after which the victim must make a DC 20 Fortitude save or be the center of a fireball (15d6, Reflex DC 20 half). The victim does not get a Reflex save to resist the fireball.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, fireball; Cost 2,000 gp

Hand of Eternal Remorse

Aura moderate necromancy; CL 7thSlot hand; Price 70,000gp; Weight —
Description
This ebon gauntlet has a single blank eye in its palm, filled with hatred and drawn to suffering. The wearer can open the gauntlet’s eye to curse those around him (one target per round) as a gaze attack, except that the wearer must take a standard action, and those merely looking at the eye are not affected. Those failing a DC 16 Will save are cursed to be unable to heal naturally; any attempt to magically heal the creature must succeed on a DC 16 caster level check or the spell does not function. Successfully cursing someone grants the wearer fast healing 1 for one minute.
The wearer will see calamity after calamity, with the sick and dying plaguing their existence like a literal disease.The Crime modifier is increased by +4 for any community the item is in. In addition, the Danger value of the settlement, for the character, is increased by +10. See Settlements for details.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, bestow curse, vampiric touch; Cost 35,000gp

Mandolin of Ooze Hail

Aura moderate conjuration and evocation; CL 7th
Slot -; Price 32,250 gp; Weight 50lbs
Description
This appears to be an ordinary mandolin, but if the possessor learns the proper tune, he can call upon a storm of ooze. With a successful DC 15 Perform (string instruments) check, ice storm is cast upon the chosen area, dealing 4d6 acid damage instead of the normal damage; in addition to having the [acid] subtype rather than [cold].
After the first round, an amoeba swarm is called and follows the player's telepathic commands for as long as the mandolin is played. If for any reason the player ceases playing, the swarm disappears. The Perform DC increases by +5 each time the ooze hail is successfully called.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, ice storm, summon monster II; Cost 16,125 gp

Warriors of the Empire of the Sun: Epilogue

And so, the campaign comes to a close. Ssevar'nac is able to negotiate with Ethedril (variety of speak with dead), and learns enough about the group to concoct a plan. It's determined that Cast & Marshal do not have a reasonable chance to survive an encounter with a prepared Golden Lord. In addition, the campaign has lasted sufficiently long for a change of pace to be desired, especially as we now have two new players who wish to join.

And so, we have the campaign world fade to black, and I shall begin preparations, including details concerning the rules as they're designed.

Warriors of the Empire of the Sun: Session XX

They level up by this point, and are now level 9. 

After having taken the damage, they decide it prudent to turn around and instead head for the capital to heal up the vile damage, and just send Ethedril's cleric to the kobolds. This should take about four or five days, and they pass through a couple small towns with warm welcome. On the third day, they encounter a hamlet that's been holed up as if under siege, and find out they've been attacked by a horde of ninja over the last three days (two attacks thus far, three dead). 

Cast and escort travel to pick up the more isolated people who were trying to weather the assault in their cottages, and helps them suit up to leave by morning (~75 of 'em). When morning draws near, a score of Shadowed Hand genin charge, and 15 of the villagers are revealed to be chunnin in disguise in this attack. The party makes quick work of them, three rounds of Marshal's fast healing removing the marks made. Concerned of further treachery, Cast makes sure not a single villager has any weapons, and keeps his weapon readied at them. Once at the castle, the villagers are quarantined, and will be released after the party leaves. 

At the castle, they get some information concerning the name they were given on the person who hired the Shadowed Hand to kill them; Ssevar'nac the Golden Lord, Plague Father, Master of Shapes. He is a disgustingly wealthy lord of a node in the Blackened Grove, known for his mastery of shapeshifting, ability to birth monsters, and curse people into all manner of shapes, and is also known to shape corpses (fabricate level) for the Grove's war machine. They get directions and convince the Empress to loan them two hippogriffs so as to swiftly reach the node (with a buff from Chantico), as well as a handful of fireball flasks to deal with swarms. 

They travel long hours, but are a mere 10 miles from Ssevar'nac's castle when they make camp. In the middle of the night, Ethedril is awakened to the sound of an old man singing very off-key in some local dialect on a path that will go through the party; and hears him far enough away for Cast to put his armor on and ready a bow. When the old man sees the party, he barely has a chance to register their presence before Cast knocks an arrow and demands that he turn around and go the other way, stating that they are adventurers under siege. Old man, partially apologetically and partially crotchety, states he's just trying to reach a shrine that the party is on the way of; and if he could take his old knees and around far enough out to not be seen by either. Just the act of explaining nearly brings Cast into a rage (the insolence, near as I can tell), which Marshal manages to subdue him enough to not just slay the old man where he stands. 

The old man backtracks a bit and takes the long way around the party, mumbling with crotchety annoyance at them and hoping that Ssevar'nac that turns them into stoats. Ethedril can hear this from the distance, which sorta surprises Cast that the old man knows of Ssevar'nac, tempting him to go and kill the obvious spy; Ethedril instead follows the old man to the shrine, which is dedicated to Kiransal. When the old man enters, Ethedril overhears him making confessions, which for Kiransal means confessing of every sin visited upon you; and money is exchanged for karmic vengeance, the party having been mentioned. The priestess inside exits the shrine to deliver the money and prayers to the greater church, who Ethedril sees to be a harpy. 

Following the harpy, Ethedril goes awhile without being seen, but is eventually spotted. The harpy asks a question, getting a snarky answer with a hint of danger, so she sings her Captivating Song and Ethedril rolls a natural 1. And so, our drow is lead directly into the Ssevar'nac's estate, and brought before one of the accountants under the guard of two trolls. The harpy is paid and leaves, while the accountant questions Ethedril for a name and reason for being around. Ethedril delays for a short bit, then flies forward to cut the accountant down and attempts to batter a wall down to escape; but is grappled and rended unto death by the two trolls (reach is a powerful thing when you don't otherwise have the edge). 

After four hours, Cast and Marshal decide to search for Ethedril, following the old man's tracks. They come upon the shrine with the old man outside and partially on his way away, where Cast demands to know what happened to his travelling companion. The old man states he hasn't a clue (Sense Motive checks state he's telling the truth) but does a short cackle at the idea, which is the last straw for Cast who charges and kills; revealing that the old man was an Obake, a lesser type of human-turned-oni with a bee hive in their hunch (minor shapeshifting hides this). 

Marshal enters the shrine to ask the priestess for information, eventually being convinced to pay a small tithing (4gp), where she tells them she will call upon divine wisdom from Kiransal to lead them. She asks for them to follow, where they mount up and do so; Cast tries a few times with his helm of telepathy to start reading her mind, eventually getting through the Will save and finding out that she's leading them to the primary counting house instead of the ancillary because there were two of them. 

At the central counting house, there are half a dozen dire vultures in gilded cages with three well-groomed gnolls in fine clothing caretaking the entire room. The floor is covered with ivory white marble expertly cut, the floor otherwise being fairly bare aside from the back end where three japanese-like men in kimonos write notes and keep track of numbers with an abacus, while formian workers work behind them to physically move money at their demand. 

The three accountants, looking close enough to be brothers, ask for their names. They are told the full titles, and that the two are seeking Ethedril. Notes are passed to a formian worker, who wanders off with it, and the head accountant tells them to wait a moment for them to receive permission. After a couple minutes, the formian returns with a message, which the accountant reads and informs the party that they can simply enter the palace to speak with Ssevar'nac for further information. 

This does not sit well with Cast, who demands to know immediately where Ethedril is, which the accountants state that they cannot tell them. Cast begins walking towards them with the intent of blocking the back exit (which is 15' behind the accountants, the front door is on the opposite side over 75' away), where the gnolls move to keep him from getting too close to the accountants. Cast cuts down the gnoll, which sends the entire room into a flurry and a fight breaks out. The accountants prove to be expert unarmed combatants, pinning and disarming the two, but proving to be virtually incapable of scratching them (disguised Ogon no Oni from Creatures of Rokugan, 5000 koku on them). Once the first accountant is finally struck down, they surrender and beg to be spared, telling the two that Ethedril had been killed for slaying their brother and his corpse is with Ssevar'nac and is likely being interrogated. 

Cast is tempted to slay the two anyway, though there exists the chance he would use the suggestion power in his telepathy helm, demanding the Ogon no Oni to both give up his money bag and to forgo any incoming saving throw (will immediately kill the oni if he doesn't forgo). But we end the session and debate there for next time, likely in two weeks because Cynic's coming down and wants a one-shot (aWoD).

Warriors of the Empire of the Sun: Session XIX

Our player for Plank finally returns to his home. And thus, the game has returned to three once more. The game also got started late because one player slept in and got enthralled playing Dragon Age on his computer, that and when conversation began he got bored and drove off quickly for food (very common behavior for him). 

After a day of holing up in their room in town for nearly 24 hours to await their meeting with the Shadowed Hand (avoiding the townspeople like crazy), the shadows in their room coalesce into a figure to inform them to go north to the dojo for the meeting. At about noon, they reach the place, and they enter the area that looks much like the Plane of Shadow. They can see the building built into the bottom of the cliff, and the front gate to the grounds is guarded by a pair of orc vampires. The guards open the gate slowly into impenetrable mist, request that the party wait a moment for the path to be shown, in which a gust of wind from the other side of the fog parts the way so the party can swiftly walk across and into the building. 

Inside is a dark room with interior paper walls, the largest one being a long table with cushions all around. At the head of table is Shadowtongue (two ninja guards behind him), and on each side of the table are individuals that Shadowtongue introduces as representatives of two other ninja guilds to witnesses to the proceedings. One is a ghoul-like bugbear named Jabb, who leads the Barghest's Maw. The other is a human with a deathly blue flame coming from his eyes, wearing samurai armor made of stone, representing the Scratch. Shadowtongue introduces himself as a negotiator for the Shadowed Hand itself. 

Talk about what the party wants is laid out, the contract to be ripped up under threat of violence, the contract to be nulled by a competing offer, or the name of the individual who bought the contract. Negotiation is slow at first because the player for Cast doesn't like the idea of giving the Shadowed Hand anything; 2000gp is his initial limit for buying out the contract (basic magic items are generally worth that, and Cast himself pulls in ~8k a month from taxes). Eventually, Ethedril brings up the idea of giving up the wizard tower they obtained back in the Valley of the White Dragon, with the extra bit that Ethedril will inform her kobold followers to put it back in place (and repaired). This would be in exchange for the name of the person who hired the Shadowed Hand. One Diplomacy check later, and things work out. 

Shadowtongue tells them they must wait until tomorrow to leave due to the nature of how they entered the place, and provides the party access to the guest wing. He promises that they will not make any attempt on their lives until nightfall the next day (giving them half a day's travel of seperation from the base), as part of a general pact of hospitality that comes with a ninja negotiation. Inside the guest wing, they are offered a wide selection of food and women and are told they can ask for any other diversion for the day. They all forgo any pleasures, Cast specifically asking for a white room for him to sit and ignore everything in, though Ethedril tries out the food and discovers that it's illusory (30% real because it's a shadow illusion). The next day, they suit up and leave for the Valley of the White Dragon to inform the kobolds to undo what they've done to the tower so far. 

They push themselves to the limit of fatigue to avoid getting ambushed in camp right at nightfall, delaying it until about 4am, where half an hour into their rest they are interrupted by a wall of fire forming on them, dealing vile damage (yay Carnage domain). Marshal manages to spot something above the party, nearly 200' above them with wings flapping utterly silently, while releasing a bird to begin diving towards the party. While Marshal and Cast jump out of the fire, Ethedril charges upward to chop the bird in half mid-flight, discovering that it was a very simple conjuration that holds a scrap of real paper. At the winged creature's turn, with a flap it seems to fold itself into the night and disappear (Ethedril cannot sense it). The message tells the party that while they are not yet at the level for his full attention, they are worth a visit to soften them up for the rest of the guild, and it is signed from the Crow.