Rogues Gallery for Shemmy's Planescape Storyhour #1 (up to date 5-9-06)

[Solarious]

Well, if you liked Delinaser, then you're going to love this TPK-inducer. BEHOLD. Dialexis. The First Among Astraloths.
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Dialexis, First Among Astraloths (Fully Advanced Paragon Astraloth)
Huge Outsider [Evil, Extraplanar, Incorporeal, Yugoloth]
Hit Points: 45d8 + 855 + 540 (1755 hp)
Initiative: +23 (+15 Dex, +8 Superior Initiative)
Speed: Fly 180' (perfect)
AC 70 (+15 Dex, +18 Deflection, +5 Profane, +12 Insight, +12 Luck, -2 Size), Flat 42, Touch 57
BAB: +45; Grap: +92
Attack: Tail +82 (2d8+41)
Full Attack: Tail +82 (2d8+41), Bite +82 (2d6+41), 2 Claws +82 (2d6+34), 20 Tentacles +82 incorporeal touch (1d6+20+Energy Drain)
Space/Reach 15'/15'; tentacles 25', tail 30'
Special Attacks: Energy Drain, Devour Essence, Spell Drinker
Special Qualities: Aura of Dispair, Blindsight 100', DR 15/Silver and Good or DR 10/Epic, Fast Healing 20, Immunity to Poison, Cold, Acid, Fire/Elec/Sonic Resistance 20, Incorporeal traits, Inscrutable Mind, Scent, Spawn of the Ebon, Spell Drinker, Spell Eater, Spell-Like abilities, SR72, Telepathy 600', Thoughtouch
Saves: Fort +53, Ref +49, Will +44
Abilities: Str 38 (14) Dex 40 (15) Con 48 (19) Int 30 (10) Wis 33 (11) Cha 30 (10)
Skills: +68 Bluff, +77 Concentration, +71 Hide, +74 Intimidate (+80 vs medium-sized creatures), +68 Knowledge (Arcana), +68 Knowledge (Dungeoneering), +68 Knowledge (Geography), +68 Knowledge (History), +74 Knowledge (Nature), +68 Knowledge (Religion), +68 Knowledge (The Planes), +69 Listen, +68 Search, Spellcraft, +69 Spot, +69 Sense Motive, +75 Survival (+81 when tracking on the planes, and in any environment above ground or below ground), +73 Tumble
Feats: Cleave, Great Cleave, Improved Initiative, Track, Power Attack, Stand Still [XPH], Combat Reflexes, Multiattack, Improved Multiattack, Improved Critical (Tentacles), Weapon Focus (Tentacles)
Epic Feats: Improved Aura of Dispair, Widened Aura of Dispair, Legendary Tracker, Improved Combat Reflexes, Superior Initiative, Penetrate Damage Reduction (Silver, Cold Iron), Overwhelming Critical (Tentacles), Devastating Critical (Tentacles) [DC 44]
Environment: Unknown
Organization: Solitary
CR: 47
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Advancement: End of the line, pal. Time to eat your soul.

Dialexis understands Yugoloth, Infernal, Abyssal, Celestial, Planar Common, as well as six other languages determined by the DM

Aura of Dispair (Su)
Everyone in a 600' radius of an Astraloth must make a Will DC 64 save or take a -6 morale penalty to all rolls. The save DC is Constitution based.

Devour Soul (Su)
If a creature is grappled by Dialexis and dies while still grappled, the First Among Astraloths extracts and consumes the victim's soul in a manner similar to a Bharagest. True Ressurection, Wish, or Miracle are required to return the victim to life, and even then it only has a 50% of success.

Energy Drain (Su)
Dialexis attmepts to suck out the very soulstuff of creatures with every brush of a tentacle; each time a creature is hit by a tentacle, it must make a Fort DC 55 save or suffer a negative level. On a critical, it inflicts 2 negative levels. If a spell or effect protects the creature against negative energy, Dialexis makes a level check against that effect's caster level: on a success, Dialexis ignores that effect, and does not require another check to bypass it for 24 hours. These negative levels are difficult to remove, and require a level check against Dialexis each time an effect attempts to remove them. The DC for removing this negative level is the same as for resisting it. The save DC is Charisma based.

Inscrutable Mind (Ex)
Due to their construct natures and bizzare construction, Astraloths are immune to mind affecting spells, and anyone who foolishly attempts mental contact with one must make a Will DC 55 save or take 3d4 points of ability damage to all mental ability scores for touching pure evil and peering into the mechanations of the Ebon; even on a successful save, the victim suffers 1d4 damage to all their mental ability scores. The save DC is Charisma based.

Spawn of the Ebon (Ex)
Although living, Dialexis is more a sentient, living contruct rather than a true living being. Thus, they possess many of the standard immunities granted to Constructs, although they are as true outsiders in every other sense. Astraloths possess immunity to Poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, and necromancy effects. They are not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability damage, ability drain, fatigue, or energy drain. It is not at risk of death from massive damage. Only Epic Holy or Epic Blessed weapons ignore all these traits and immunities. Astraloths have a bizzare use of negative energy imbued into their structures, which renders them vulnerable to damage from positive energy a 1/2 the rate normal for undead and other negatively powered beings. Astraloths seems to be incorpereal regardless of the plane they happen to be in, even on the Etheral, and only hints at the insane and bizzare methodology behind their creation. Their tail, bite, and claw attacks, despite being incorporeal, resolve normally as if the Astraloth were not incorporeal.

Spell Drinker (Su)
Whenever Dialexis hits with a tentacle attack, make a level check against the spell with the highest caster level on that creature. If Dialexis overcomes the caster level, then Dialexis consumes that spell, taking the spell for itself, and can either consume it to heal 1d4 points per caster level, or instead steal the effects for itself, continuing as if cast upon Dialexis by the original caster with no inturruption or extention of the spell. Dialexis automatically knows what the spell's exact capabilities are before it makes this choice, as well as the remaining duration upon the spell and all other relavant details. The caster of the spell thereafter becomes familiar to Dialexis for all purposes, and can be detected by Dialexis' Locate Creature spell regardless of dinstance, location, or the fact the target is on another plane. Similarly, Dialexis may use Locate Object to locate any magic items created by the caster, regardless of location, dinstance, or the fact the target is on another plane. Both Locate Creature and Locate Object now pinpoint the caster or magic items created by the caster as though Dialexis were using Discern Location instead. Nonepic spells that foil divinations no longer protect against Dialexis' Locate Creature or Locate Object spells, and cannot be fooled by nonepic illusions or nonepic transmutaions. The same applies for Dialexis' Thoughtouch ability.

Spell Eater (Su)
Spells and spell effects that fail to overcome an Dialexis' spell resistance can be absorbed fully by Dialexis immediately as a free action, recovering 1d4 per caster level, or alternatively redirected at a legal target within range at the original spellcaster's caster level and any original alterations to it at the time of casting, such as metamagic or Wild Surges on Dialexis' next turn as a free action. The caster of the spell thereafter becomes familiar to Dialexis for all purposes, and can be detected by Dialexis' Locate Creature spell regardless of dinstance, location, or the fact the target is on another plane. Similarly, Dialexis may use Locate Object to locate any magic items created by the caster, regardless of location, dinstance, or the fact the target is on another plane. Both Locate Creature and Locate Object now pinpoint the caster or magic items created by the caster as though Dialexis were using Discern Location instead. Nonepic spells that foil divinations no longer protect against Dialexis' Locate Creature or Locate Object spells, and cannot be fooled by nonepic illusions or nonepic transmutaions. The same applies for Dialexis' Thoughtouch ability.

Spell-Like Abilities (CL35, DC 20 + Spell Level)
at will/ - Detect Thoughts, Locate Object, Locate Creature, Teleport Without Error, Planar Transition [for a 2ED planar cosmology; replace with Plane Shift for 3.5 cosmology]
3/day - Greater Dispel Magic, Haste, Hold Monster, Interplanar Sending (100 word limit, works across planes), See Invisibility

Thoughtouch (Su)
An Astraloth can vaugely detect locations of intelligent creatures within range of it's telepathy, which consists mostly of direction and little else. Nondetection and equivilant protection from divinations or mind-affecting spells protects against detection by Thoughtouch.

*Astraloths recieve a +6 racial bonus to Hide, due to it's translucent nature blending into the surroundings
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This is only a rough draft. I need help on wording for the abilities. I need help making Dialexis worthy of that CR 47... either over the limit or not. And I need checking of everything. EVERYTHING. The Paragon template affects everything.... So I probably missed something along the line. This would probably a good time for the actual Dialexis to show up.

What did I forget?

Oh yes. I need suggestions on replacements on replacements for Penetrate Damage Reduction (Cold Iron) and " (Silver). They seem under par for a beast of this might.

 

[Dialexis]

Solarious,

Well, it isn't every day someone creates a soul-sucking fiend and names it after you, right? (Especiallly since it is an uber-soul-sucking uber-fiend!). The tip of the hat is nice.

Funny thing is, I hadn't checked the thread in a while, and here I go plodding along in a Planewalker forum, and <wham> someone says, "Hey, there is an Astraloth named Dialexis", and gives a link to this site. Needless to say, I had a good long chuckle.

But of course, after the chuckle was the intake of breadth at seeing the PC-killing abomination before our eyes.

Well, I checked out the Minspy, and I really liked it a lot.

Two minor points:

1. The CR seems off, since the 5 levels don't seem to be ascociated levels, and thus should be +1 CR/2 levels, so the Mindspy Astraloth should be CR 21 (which is more like what it is -though Epic is always hard to pin down, since the comparative data is few and convoluted).

2. As for the +8 profane ability -don't sweat it -it is necessary for the build to have relevancy. However, to make the addition sound less arbitrary, and to increase flavor, make the +8 bonus come from something -i.e. like an embedded psicrystal in its forehead (constructed in the Pits of Khin-Oin, and implanted in the 'loth labratories). Thus, the item could have several other powers -essentially being like the equivalent to the Night Hag's Heartstone -making the Astraloth tougher, but also providing *some* treasure for victorious PCs -like gem golems).
This flavor building sets them apart, as well as creating a unique visual dynamic.
I could see for instance, an upper echleon Ultraloth having a cadre of these elite Mindspy Astraloth (or maybe being favored servants of one of the Demented or other Baernaloth in slaying/spying on said Ultraloth -hence puppeteer, turned puppet).
Finally, the "construct-graft" could help to justify the CR being a little higher -even CR 22 would be fine.

The Dialexis Astraloth is a daunting task indeed. I'll have to look it over at another time (I don't have my copy on the ELH on hand -and would want to make vast reference comparisons with the 3.5 Complete epic revisions, as well as the work DF has done).

Moreover, anything so ghastly powerful is something I'd like to flag by Shemeska and say, "hey, could something like this exist currently in your cosmology?" -since her/his SH is not done, and so extrapolations are hard to make.

Once again, Solarious, very good job.

(hopefully, though, you might not be upset if I say that Dialexis is not such a good name for a paragon Astraloth -since Dialexis as a term has a meaning already, one which is antithetical to an Astraloth).

As always, it is a pleasure conversing and swapping thoughts (as long as Delinesar isn't listening...)

 

[Shemeska]

This flavor building sets them apart, as well as creating a unique visual dynamic.
I could see for instance, an upper echleon Ultraloth having a cadre of these elite Mindspy Astraloth (or maybe being favored servants of one of the Demented or other Baernaloth in slaying/spying on said Ultraloth -hence puppeteer, turned puppet).

At least in my conception of them, I've never actually had the Demented using direct servitors on their behalf. They either do something on their own, or they plant the seeds of an action or series of longer term actions into the heads of various (perhaps even competing) higher caste yugoloths.

But I did eventually have Astraloths being granted as servitors to powerful ultroloths on the Waste, Carceri, and in the future they became something of a personal guard for 'The Manged'. [I believe I've mentioned before at some point that she ends up the Oinoloth by the time of my 2nd storyhour]

Moreover, anything so ghastly powerful is something I'd like to flag by Shemeska and say, "hey, could something like this exist currently in your cosmology?" -since her/his SH is not done, and so extrapolations are hard to make.

It's a cool idea, so I can't see why not. *grin*

I've had lots of CR 20+ yugoloths, though most of them have typically been greater yugoloths with class levels (nycaloths with rogue or ranger levels, arcanaloths with sorcerer levels, ultroloths with sorcerer or psion levels, etc). I did eventually have some other bizarre yugoloth constructs crafted by The Ebon, but I don't think they show up till the campaign moves into the inner planes (specifically the positive quasielemental planes).

 

[Solarious]

I like your ideas Dialexis. I'm getting all kinds of twisted ideas out of them... I'm going to promote Delinaser into an Astraloth Mindspy5/Mortalhunter10 (more reason to get my hands on that Book of Vile Darkness), and make the standard Astraloth Mindspys into it's underlings.

They'll be an evil police force-cum-assasins-cum-bodyguards-cum-spys-cum-interrogators-cum-claws and tentacles away from home of the most fearsome kind, mindreading through the walls, spying on things with Thoughtouch, scaring the begezes out of minions...



I shouldn't be allowed to DM. I'll have this frightening urge to unleash these kinds of horrors on my players.

Okay, here's a rough sketch of what this thing can do... need a name for it.... hmn....


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Jraktharpon's Crystal
Named after the first psion Ultraloth who was the first of all such crystals, these are the remnants of the souls and psyches of the unfortunate victims, psions all, who are now trapped, shattered, and rendered completely insane inside their own psicrystals. They were intended to be used to amplify psychic power for some twisted plot, but it was discarded after it was discovered that when in use, these crystals also projected the victim's insanity at the user.

After a suitably long eternity of gathering dust, they attracted the attention of the same Yugoloth lords who created the Astraloths. Seeing as they were already impervious to any kind of mental influence, it was taken to incorperate them into the making of a new batch of Astraloths. The results... did not elicit hope.

Jraktharpon's Crystal (Su) Incorperated directly into the Astraloths, these crystals are situated aproximately where the 'heart' of the beast would reside. It bestows a +8 profane bonus to the Detect Thought's saving throw. It also allows an Astraloth to force a mental 'connection'. By using a swift action, an Astraloth can force a 'mental contact' upon any creature it is currently Detecting Thoughts on purely for the purposes of triggering the Inscrutable Mind quality. It can also refine this ability using a full round action instead, to either opt to not damage any number of ability score, or to reduce the ability damage by any number (it makes this decision after saving throws and damage are rolled), or both. An Astraloth can also simply extract memories from a pinned creature forcefully. -insert explaination which would involve access to to the Complete Mage, but is similar to Probe Thoughts or Mind Probe, except the memories come out physically as a crystal-. Finally, whenever an Astraloth with a Jraktharpon's Crystal devours a creature's soul, an allip rises from the corpse, advanced (if possible) up to the creature's HD, under the Astraloth's command. It may control up to twice it's HD in allips. All save DCs are Cha based.

Collapse (Ex) An Astraloth may opt to 'fold up' as a full round action, disappearing endlessly into the Jraktharpon's Crystal like in a conjourer's trick. This effectively reudces an Astraloth's size to tiny, and adjusts the AC and hide modifiers accordingly (it still retains all other modifiers to AC, as well as all other qualities). An Astraloth's speed does not change, but cannot attack while 'folded up'. As a standard action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity, it can 'unfold'. Astraloths typically use this ability for infiltration, or to guard a location or person.
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How does it sound?

 

[Shadowlord Karsus]

Just keep in mind that I simply used this as a guideline, not a hard and fast statblock, and since I generally play so loose with the rules, it's not a complete statblock either. It's just a suggestion for most of its powers, with some numbers added as appropriate. It's also representative of him at his weakest, as far removed from the Gray Waste as possible.

Sarkithel fek Parthis, The Flesh Sculptor

Any chance you'll share stats for other Baernaloth soon?

 

[Shemeska]

Any chance you'll share stats for other Baernaloth soon?

Well its been around 4 years since I posted the Flesh Sculptor's stats. Updates are lacking at this point.

Most of them never got full stats at all, and I really don't know at this point where the others were written up. I think most of them were jotted down by hand among my notes on that campaign (and I just moved, so God only knows where those notes are even at right now).

 

[Shadowlord Karsus]

Well its been around 4 years since I posted the Flesh Sculptor's stats. Updates are lacking at this point.

Most of them never got full stats at all, and I really don't know at this point where the others were written up. I think most of them were jotted down by hand among my notes on that campaign (and I just moved, so God only knows where those notes are even at right now).

Aww, that's too bad. I would have loved to see some of the unique abilities the others would have.

 

[Shemeska]

Aww, that's too bad. I would have loved to see some of the unique abilities the others would have.

Well I do recall some of them off the top of my head.

Tellura ibn Shartalan perpetually had double actions each round, one for her physical humanoid body and another for her shadow. The physical form was also effectively immune to physical damage, soaking it up without suffering any mechanical detriment. Only damage to her shadow could actually harm her (which had some god-awfully-high miss chance ala a cloak of displacement or blur).

The Ineffable had some form of phantasmal killer aura going on.

Chorazin ibn Shartalan the Thrice-Damned (not one of The Demented) had some pretty hard-core flame-based effects and an obscene caster level (I want to say he auto bypassed SR).

Lazarius ibn Shartalan 'The Architect' absorbed arcane magic completely, healed by it or just auto-reversing the effects on anyone else in range (his range, not the original caster). I want to say that divine magic was one of the few things capable of actually doing damage to him.

Only Tellura, the Flesh Sculptor, the Blind Clockmaker, and the Ineffable ended up rolling for initiative in that campaign (versus the PCs and allies at least).

 

[Shadowlord Karsus]

Whoops, I need to get better about following up on posts...

Awesome. This will be very helpful in the campaign I'm running (here's hoping the players don't get bored or lose interest before they get wind of the baern plots *crosses fingers*), thanks.

Lazarius ibn Shartalan 'The Architect' absorbed arcane magic completely, healed by it or just auto-reversing the effects on anyone else in range (his range, not the original caster). I want to say that divine magic was one of the few things capable of actually doing damage to him.

After reading 'Evil Still Seeps Through', it seems a bit strange to me that the Architect would be damaged at all by divine magic, considering how far beyond the gods each of the others of the Demented appeared to be.