The Black Grail
[note- I figure the sacrifice, if not prevented, will have a bonus of +13. The ritual leader has a Knowledge (Relgion) modifier of +14 or so. Kobalds, orcs, hobgoblins and goblins are all being excluded from the effect, so the DC is 38. So the ritual has about a 50% chance of success.
Oh, and any PC permanently transformed by the Toad God's Blessing will become an NPC. Just so you know.
]
The Black Grail is an artifact of the Toad God. It can be activated once per month with a ritual culminating in a DC 30 sacrifice check (see BoVD 26). If the check is successful the grail will produce an effect known as "the Toad God's Blessing" which affects humanoids (except troglodytes and lizard men) in the area of effect. The Toad God's Blessing is something like a combination of evil weather (green cloud- BoVD 34) and the BoVD spells Spread of Savagery and Morality Undone (see below). To complete the ritual the leader (who must be a troglodyte or lizard man) must drink from the Black Grail; this inflicts 3d6 points of constitution damage which cannot be avoided, and that can only be healed naturally. If the ritual leader does not have a constitution score, the ritual automatically fails. If the constitution damage is sufficient to kill the ritual leader, the ritual automatically fails.
Treat the Toad God's Blessing as an 8th level divine spell of the school of enchantment which is cast at caster level 20. It is a burst with a 4 mile radius area of effect, and an initial duration of 2 rounds; the effects of the Toad God's blessing have either a 20 minute duration or are instantaneous. The burst can pass unhindered through earth, wood, rock, copper and steel, but a room lined with a thin layer of lead or gold will block it.
The Toad God's Blessing has the [Evil], [Chaos] and [Mind-Affecting] descriptors. This information, along with the impression that the Blessing will cause a horrific mental and physical transformation, is available to anyone in the area of effect who succeeds in a DC 23 spellcraft or knowledge (arcana) check.
The effect of the Toad God's Blessing may be partially countered by dispel magic or dispel evil if these spells are cast within the initial 2 round duration. Dispel Evil is automatically successful, but protects only the caster; dispel magic requires a caster level check but protects everyone in the area of the dispel. An anti-magic shell, prismatic sphere or similar effect will also block the Toad God's Blessing. The effect of the Toad God's Blessing may be dispelled by dispel evil, remove curse, dispel magic or similar effects as long as the secondary fortitude saving throw was successful. Otherwise a wish or miracle is required to restore a creature to normal.
The Toad God's Blessing may be modified to exclude certain types of humanoids. Humans, elves and half-elves can never be excluded (they are hated too much by the Toad God), while troglodytes and lizard men are automatically unaffected (they are considered already blessed by the Toad God- especially the trogs); other humanoid races may be excluded, but each exclusion increases the sacrifice DC by +2. A living member of the excluded race must be present during the ritual and must survive a drink from the Black Grail. As noted above, drinking from the Black Grail inflicts 3d6 points of constitution damage. If the character dies from the damage another character of that race must survive a drink from the Black Grail in order that members of that race not be affected by the Toad God's Blessing.
Susceptible humanoids who are in the area of effect for the full two rounds must make a DC 20 will save; if the will save is unsuccessful the character must also make a DC 17 fortitude save.
If the will save is unsuccessful, the character's alignment changes temporarily to chaotic evil, and the character is polymorphed into a troglodyte for 20 minutes. If the fortitude save is also unsuccessful, however, the character actually becomes a troglodyte; treat the character as if he had been reincarnated in that form (though without loss of a class level). Only a carefully worded wish or miracle can restore the character to his original form and alignment.
For the 20 minutes following the initial burst, a character affected by the power of the Black Grail becomes exceptionally selfish, bloodthirsty and cruel. The character is automatically hostile towards any creature which resisted the Toad God's Blessing, regardless of alignment or former association. The troglodyte will likely attack such creatures, though it will retreat from opponents obviously too powerful for it.
After 20 minutes a character who passed the fort save returns to his normal form and alignment. Atonement may be necessary, depending on what the character did during that time. A character who has actually become a troglodyte by failing both saves shifts one step closer to evil, then one step closer to chaotic. For example, a LG character becomes True Neutral, NG becomes CN, and so on. No matter the final alignment, the character will be unusually cruel and bloodthirsty for that alignment.
A character who has permanently become a troglodyte gains a +4 ECL and so will have to gain much more experience to advance a level. (A second level character with 2000 XP becomes effectively a 6th level character, and needs a total of 21000 XP to add another class level (and become a 7th level character).
The effects of permanent transformation into a troglodyte are as follows:
+4 ECL
-2 Dexterity
+4 Constitution
+2 humanoid hit dice (+2d8 hp, +1 BAB (medium progression), +3 fort saves, 2x(2+int modifier, minimum 1) skill points, class skills hide and listen, possibly a bonus feat and/or ability score increase).
90 foot darkvision
+4 racial bonus on hide checks (+8 in rocky or underground surroundings)
multi-attack as a bonus feat
+6 natural armor bonus
natural attacks- claw/claw/bite (1d4/1d4/1d4)
Stench: When angry or frightened you emit a stench which sickens living non-troglodytes in a 30 foot radius (Fort DC = 10 + hd/2 + con bonus) for 10 rounds. This is a poison effect. Creatures that successfully save against a particular troglodyte's stench cannot be affected again by that troglodyte for 24 hours.
