The Cult of the Other

[Mathew_Freeman]

This is going to be an ongoing thread where I put down some ideas for a group of Far Realms cultists and their various abilities. All feedback welcome!

Sacrificed

The Sacrificed are the human foot-soldiers of the Cult of the Other, sent into battle swiftly. Their facial tatoo indicates their status, and during the battle they are often taken over by soliders from the Far Realm as the violence of their actions rends a hole in reality.

Sacrificed Level 11 Skirmisher
Medium Natural Humanoid XP 600
Initiative +10 Senses Perception +14;
HP 109; Bloodied 54
AC 25; Fortitude 23, Reflex 22, Will 22
Resist 5 radiant
Speed 6

Longsword (standard; at-will) * Weapon
+16 vs AC; 2d6 + 5 damage
and the Sacrificed can shift one square

Bring Forth the Other (standard; encounter) * Summoning
+16 vs AC; 4d8 + 5 damage
usuable only when bloodied. After attack is resolved, the Sacrificed dies and replaced by a Soldier of Madness.

Tatoo of Madness (standard; encounter) * Fear
Close blast 3; +12 vs Will; 3d8 + 5 damage
targets all enemies in blast, also deals push 3 on a hit

Alignment: Evil Languages: Common
Str 19 (+9) Dex 16 (+8) Wis 16 (+8)
Con 13 (+6) Int 13 (+6) Cha 13 (+6)

Equipment: Longsword, cloth armour, face tatoo

Sacrificed Tactics
Sacrificed are in constant agony as they feel the soldiers of the Far Realm trying to break through. As such, they welcome death and will gladly close to melee as swiftly as possible in order to end their unpleasant lives.They normally start with their tatoo attack, scattering their enemies before them as their allies follow on.

Sacrificed Lore
Arcane DC 15: The Cult of the Other have various members that act as entry points for the forces in the Far Realm. In battle, these soldiers can enter our world, but only at the death of those that provide the link.

Note: I could really use some feedback on keywords, suitbale skills, lore DC's and on their sacrifical power. The idea is that in battle they die and are replaced by a new monster (see below). I figured that using the bloodied state to trigger this would mean it would be staggered throughout the battle, and help clever players to manage the battle.

Soldier of Madness

Dark grey-skinned and thin, the Soldiers of Madness eye their enemies and close swiftly to deliver their attacks.They come from the Far Realm, waiting there to enter our reality and wreak the havoc they can.

Soldier of Madness Level 13 Soldier
Medium Aberrant Humanoid XP 800
Initiative +12 Senses Perception +16;
HP 128; Bloodied 64
AC 29; Fortitude 27, Reflex 25, Will 25
Resist 5 radiant, 5 weapon
Speed 6

Axe from Beyond (standard; at-will) * Radiant
+20 vs AC; 2d8 + 6 damage
and the target is marked

Madness Strike (standard; encounter)
+20 vs AC; 4d8 + 6 damage
and the target makes a melee basic attack against a random, adjacent creature.

Bolt of Strife (standard; encounter)
Ranged 10; +20 vs AC; 2d8 + 6 damage
two targets, one attack against each; on a hit, the target is dazed (save ends).

Alignment: Evil Languages: Common, Deep Speech
Str 22 (+12) Dex 19 (+10) Wis 19 (+10)
Con 16 (+9) Int 16 (+9) Cha 16 (+9)

Equipment: Axe, chainmail

Soldier of Madness Tactics
Soldiers of Madness will typically open a battle with Bolt of Strife, seeking to split up their foes ability to respond. They then close quickly with their enemy, seeking to fight more than one foe at once so that they can use their Madness Strike.

Note: Again, I could do with some help with Lore, suitable skills and keywords on attacks and abilities. All feedback is welcome on their powers, too - I may have been a bit conservative considering I'm placing these as early Paragon level monsters.

 

[Mesh Hong]

I really like the flavour of what you are trying to do. but I would be very careful about giving standard creatures high damage encounter powers. You end up with a situation where you have a massive alpha strike.

Also you have a level 11 skirmisher that when bloodied becomes a fresh level 13 soldier. I think the general convention is that summoned creatures are factored into the XP value of the summoning creature so this ability looks too powerful on many levels. (it is a cool idea though)

I am also a little dubious of the level 13 soldiers double ranged attack that dazes. That has all the hall marks of an elite controller.

My own personal philosophy with soldiers is to use them sparingly, their high AC and to hit bonuses can make them troublesome. This is usually temperred by using the low damage expression and making them melee only. Your soldiers are running the risk of becoming "superman" - able to cover all roles without a drawback.

Anyway this is only my quick initial reaction, and I am prepared to be proved wrong. I hope this helps.

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

Thanks for the feedback.

I think I might rework the Soldier of Madness as a controller, that sounds like a much better idea. Will change the name, though, to avoid confusion.

The idea of a skirmisher that turns into the other creature is that you'd budget the Sacrificer as a half-XP monster and the new creature at full XP, meaning, a single Sacrificer would be 1100XP (600/2 + 800XP). Or something. I'm still thinking about it.

In terms of the damage, I was using the Monster Builder on the Wizards site. Maybe I'd be better off usign Asmor's system - I'll have to track it down.

 

[Mesh Hong]

The idea of a skirmisher that turns into the other creature is that you'd budget the Sacrificer as a half-XP monster and the new creature at full XP, meaning, a single Sacrificer would be 1100XP (600/2 + 800XP). Or something. I'm still thinking about it.

Interesting, but I would start from the principle that they are both worth full XP. The skirmisher technically could use the power when it had 1 HP, and it is also getting to use both of its encounter powers before it pops, just using those 2 powers is probably worth the price of admission. (or more correctly its xp value)

Its a tough one. I will think about it some more and report back on monday.

 

[Neubert]

A minor thing - you've put the face tatoo as equipment. I am not sure I would agree as it isn't anything the players can loot?

Also, I second the feedback on "Bring Forth the Other". I would make it an immediate reaction: when bloodied, so a GM can't choose to save the power for when the monster is about to die.

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

I'll take both of those ideas on board, thanks.

I need to spend some time on this when I've got time - but the feedback is really useful.

Here is the list of the other 'creatures' that I've got in my head that will end up in this thread, I think:

Protectorate - armoured crossbow users, possibly with some sort of "draining shot" power that can steal encounter or daily powers (with a save ends mechanic).

Chosen of the Other - armoured controllers, probably elite.

Guardian Cultists - the soldiers of the group.

Acolytes of the Other - artillery (leader), can do some healing but mostly deal out extra-planar damage.

Voidstalkers - sneaky, phasing lurkers from the Far Realm that rend with claws.

Finally, I need to work out how to do the two most powerful monsters. One is a kind of radiant creature of energy that buffs and debuffs mostly (almost certainly a controller) and the other is similar to an Eidolon but with some sort of "store and release" power to damage it's enemies.

 

[Mesh Hong]

I have had time to give your idea of one creature sacrificing itself to summon another a little thought.

I think I would design the two creatures together but reduce their individual HPs by half, so that the combined total is a normal amount for a standard creature.

I have taken the liberty of giving you an example which is my take on the idea you presented:

Sacrificial Warrior (level 11 skirmisher, half HPs)
Madness Berserker (level 11 brute, half HPs)



Sacrificial Warrior Level 11 Skirmisher
Medium Natural Humanoid XP 600

Initiative +11 Senses Perception +8
HP 55; Bloodied 27; see Bring Forth the Other
AC 25; Fortitude 24, Reflex 23, Will 22
Resist 5 radiant
Speed 6

Longsword Hack (Standard; at-will) ♦ weapon
Attack +16 vs. AC; 2d6+5 damage; hit or miss Warrior may shift 1 square

Gaze of Madness (Minor; encounter) ♦ gaze; fear
Close blast 3; targets 1 enemy; attack +14 vs. Will; 1d6+1 damage; on hit
target takes a -2 penalty to attack rolls and saving throws and grants
combat advantage to Warrior (save ends all 3)

Sacrificial Advantage
When Warrior makes a Longsword Hack attack against a target that is
granting it combat advantage it deals an additional 2d6 damage; hit or
miss the Warrior takes 5 damage

Bring Forth the Other (Immediate Reaction; encounter) ♦ summon,
when reduced to zero HPs
When reduced to 0 HPs Warrior makes an immediate free Longsword Hack
attack against an adjacent target; hit or miss the Warrior explodes in a
shower of blood and is replaced by a Madness Berserker (see seperate
stat block)

Alignment Evil Languages common
Skills Athletics +15, Dungeoneering +13, Streetwise +11
Str 21 (+10) Dex 18 (+9) Wis 16 (+8)
Con 13 (+6) Int 10 (+5) Cha 13 (+6)
Equipment longsword, light armour

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Madness Berserker Level 11 Brute
Medium Aberrant Humanoid XP see Sacrificial Warrior

Initiative +9 Senses Perception +5, low light vision
HP 70; Bloodied 35; see Moment of Madness & Bloodied Focus
AC 23; Fortitude 24, Reflex 23, Will 22
Resist 10 radiant, 5 weapon
Speed 6, charge 7

Axe Strike (Standard; at-will)
Attack +14 vs. AC; 2d8+5 damage

Maddening Cleave (Standard; at-will)
Attack +14 vs. AC; 3d6+5 damage; on hit Berserker deals 5 damage to a
secondary adjacent target

Moment of Madness (Immediate Reaction; encounter) ♦ psychic,
when bloodied
When bloodied Berserker lets out an incoherant scream calling on the
maddening forces of the Far Realms; Burst 3; attack +10 vs. Will; on hit
target takes 5 psychic damage and makes an immediate free basic melee
attack against a random adjacent target

Bloodied Focus (Immediate Reaction) ♦ while bloodied
While Bloodied Berserker gains a +2 bonus to attack rolls with melee
attacks

Alignment Chaotic Evil Languages deep speech
Skills Athletics +15, Endurance +14, Intimidate +13
Str 21 (+10) Dex 18 (+9) Wis 10 (+5)
Con 18 (+9) Int 8 (+4) Cha 16 (+8)
Equipment axe, light armour


I have tried to keep the individual creatures as simple as possible while still keeping them interesting. You could probably get away with increasing the HPs slightly on the Berserker but I have left them at half as a baseline example.

Anyway I hope this is of use or gives you some ideas.

 

[Rechan]

For those looking ot tinker, another example (although different) is the Fey Lingerer in MM2. They are monsters that, when they die, are replaced with a brand new monster, fresh out of the box.

The other avenue would be to say that both the Sacrificed and the Madness Soldier do not have bloodied states; when the Sacrificed are bloodied, they just become a Madness Soldier, who has the bloodied value of X of their level.

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

For those looking ot tinker, another example (although different) is the Fey Lingerer in MM2. They are monsters that, when they die, are replaced with a brand new monster, fresh out of the box.

The other avenue would be to say that both the Sacrificed and the Madness Soldier do not have bloodied states; when the Sacrificed are bloodied, they just become a Madness Soldier, who has the bloodied value of X of their level.

I haven't got the MM2, so that's excellent advice and well spotted, thanks!

I'd like to stick to both creatures having Bloodied stats, if only because it allows those PC's with abilities that trigger off that condition to still use them. Plus, it'll tip them off (in the first encounter at least) that something odd is going on.

 

[Mesh Hong]

I'd like to stick to both creatures having Bloodied stats, if only because it allows those PC's with abilities that trigger off that condition to still use them. Plus, it'll tip them off (in the first encounter at least) that something odd is going on.

I'll second that. The bloodied state is very important during combat. Not only does it give the players a physical reference (which creatures are bloodied? OK lets finish them off first!) but many powers and feats work off it too, so if you remove it you are removing several key abilities from players.