The Fool
Romar the Fool
Master Lich
Headquarters: The warrens (area #42)
Armor Class: -2
Move: 6, Fl 12 ©
Hit Points: 80
No. of Attacks: 2
Damage/Attack: 3-18
Special Attacks: paralysis
Special Defenses: Immune to enchantment and necromantic magic, polymorph, poison, cold, insanity, electricity; amulet of protection against detection and location
Wizard Spells: 1st: 5, 2nd: 5, 3rd: 5, 4th: 4, 5th: 4, 6th: 2
Magic Resistance: 20%
Size: M (5 ft. 5 in.)
Alignment: CE
Psionic Ability: Nil
Str 13, Dex 17, Con 15, Int 18, Wiz 17, Cha 5
The creature known as the Fool was once a human captain of the Spelljammer named Romar. Romar was a serious, intense young human, driven to conquier any obstacle. However, with the amount of power the Spelljammer possessed, his direct-line approach meant reaching for the ship’s "sting" regularly, and Romar left the debris of dwarven citadels and asteroid ports behind him in the wake of his decisions. As with other dangerous captains, Spelljammer sought to remove and imprison him.
But Romar's drive, determination, and intelligence short-circulted that attempt. He has discovered the fate of those who passed before him, and made alternate arrangements, including deals with various dark forces of other planes. When the shivaks finally broke into the control room, Romar took his own life, intent on his dark allies to rescue him.
However, Romar did not take into account the fact that most extra-planar beings have nothing to do with the Spelljammer, and avoid It where possible. In slaying himself, Romar called into play his old dealings with these beings, but they could not or would not respond by pulling him from the great ship. He was trapped, and his form given an undying life of lichdom.
Romar suddenly dropped from sight, as the Spelljammer could no longer see his undead energy. He fled from the control room into the warrens, where he hid from the various natives of the citadels above.
In the process, Romar's body and mind twisted into their present shape, and he went mad. His name was recorded as a former captain, but he became the entity known only as the Fool.
The Fool is a master lich, a new form of undead (see new monsters section). He is unaffected by the atmosphere of the Spelljammer, but cannot leave it as his spirit would then be collected by his dark allies. Therefore he remains, working diligently toward a new goal-destruction of the Spelljammer, so that he may take the great ship with him in his passing.,
The Fool is pictured by the populace of the Spelljammer as dressecd in ripped, rotted finery, his face a mask of dried skin tightened over tbe skull. His distinctive trademark is a cap of bells that he wears on his head, and the jangling sound of a pproaching bells often warns of his presence (for the same reason, he has been known to give a zombie or undead servant the bells in order to move silently himself).
In reality, the Fool is a powerful Individual, his skin translucent and tight over his skeletal frame. He wears a hooded cloak of star black, trimmed with gold around the sleevee and hood. His eyes glow with a golden resonance, such that with the hood up all that can be seen are the twin lamps of his eyes. The Fool allows the grim jester image to persist, if only because that allows the natives something else to worry about.
In addition to his normal abilities, the Fool possesses an angle-bladed long sword of lifestealing. This weapon functions like the item in the DMG, but in addition, creatures which are drained of their life energy become zombies under the Fool's control. Also, the Fool carries a wartd of conjuration, topped by a stuffed doll's head representing the Fool himself. The Fool uses the wand of conjuration for its unseen servant, prismatic wall, and curtain of blackness functions, but cannot access its monster summoning abilities.
The Fool knows the full story of the Spelljammer, having once been linked to it. He knows how one becomes captain, the closing of the gardens, the creation of the srnalljamrners, and the final fate of the captains. He guards that ioformatlon most carefully, in that he wishes no others to benefit from it.
The Fool controls an undead army of about 160 common zombies and 40 monster zombies, the latter being both umber hulks and gnolls which have been taken under the control of the undead lord, including the former gnoll lord Argargon.
The Fool's control allows him to see through their eyes, along with the eyes of the zombie rats. The Fool has practically eliminated the vermin problem on the ship by reducing most of the rodents to unliving status, where they serve as his eyes and ears throughout the ship.
Also under the control of the Fool are a group of 20 ghouls, three specters, and a banshee. These creatures are under the command of the Fool, but do not provide him with direct information like the zombies do. Instead, they have some form of free will, and occasionally act on their own. …
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The Fool will fight only if he has no other escape, and will first attempt to escape, tempting the heroes with knowledge in exchange for avoiding damage. His voice is the rattling, hissing speech of such undead, and he seems deathly serious. The name Fool does not apply to him so much as to the fact that by his craftiness he has fooled others.