Phlegamor's Servant Working Draft
Phlegamor's Servant (Template)
The creature has the pallid skin and lifeless eyes of a corpse. It wears a stone ring carved with mystic runes upon its left hand.
Phlegamor the Maze Master was a death slaad who the Slaad Lords transformed into a monstrous guardian of the Temple of Change in Limbo. The fickle Slaad Lords eventually abandoned Phlegamor, decaying his corporeal body to nothing and binding his spirit within an extradimensional maze formed from a carpet of woven space-time. This spatial carpet still lies in the entrance hall of the Temple of Change.
Phlegamor's trapped spirit can also appear as a horrifying, bellowing apparition that resembles a black slaad of terrifying size - his face alone is 10 feet across. This is merely a
minor image of Phlegamor's appearance back when he had a body. His spirit is only interested in two things - destroying all who disturbs his maze and gathering new knowledge. Phlegamor will spare intruders from destruction if they reveal exotic information of significant interest to him.
The Maze Master's spirit has the ability to animate the corpses of creatures that die in the maze, which then become his servants. These servants retain their physical abilities, but their thoughts and actions are Phlegamor's. Phlegamor animates his servants by creating mystical stone rings that appear upon their left ring finger (or the nearest approximate body part). These rings form an hour after a creature dies in his maze.
Creating a Phlegamor's Servant
"Phlegamor’s Servant" is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal creature (other than an undead) that has a skeletal system (referred to hereafter as the base creature).
The maximum hit dice of a Phlegamor's creature is 20 or the caster level of the creature that created it, whichever is greater (Phlegamor himself has a death slaad's caster level of 15). If the base creature has more hit dice than that, including those from class levels, it cannot become a Phlegamor's servant.
A Phlegamor's servant uses all the base creature's statistics and special abilities except as noted here.
Size and Type: The creature’s type changes to construct. Size is unchanged.
Hit Dice: All the creature's hit dice (including any gained from class levels) become d10s and change to construct hit dice. Recalculate the creature's hit points, including bonus hit points a construct of the creature's size would possess.
Speed: Same as base creature.
Armor Class: Same as base creature. A Phlegamor's servant retains all the armor proficiencies of the base creature. It usually wears whatever armor it had on when it died.
Attacks: A Phlegamor's servant retains all the natural weapons, manufactured weapon attacks, and weapon proficiencies of the base creature. A Phlegamor's servant also gains a slam attack.
Damage: Natural and manufactured weapons deal damage normally. A slam attack deals damage depending on the servant’s size. (Use the base creature’s slam damage if it’s better.)
| Fine | 1 |
| Diminutive | 1d2 |
| Tiny | 1d3 |
| Small | 1d4 |
| Medium | 1d6 |
| Large | 1d8 |
| Huge | 2d6 |
| Gargantuan | 2d8 |
| Colossal | 4d6 |
Special Attacks: A Phlegamor's servant loses all spell-like special attacks and any special attacks from the base creature's character classes, if any. It retains any extraordinary or supernatural special attack of the base creature that is purely physical in nature, including breath weapons, but loses any special attack that is language-dependent or has a saving throw DC based on a mental ability score (Int, Wis or Cha). It also loses any other special attack that requires the mind or soul of the original creature to use, at the DM's discretion.
Special Qualities: A Phlegamor's servant loses all spell-like special qualities and any special qualities from the base creature's character classes, if any. It retains the extraordinary or supernatural special qualities of the base creature with the following exceptions. It loses any special quality that is language-dependent or has a saving throw DC based on a mental ability score (Int, Wis or Cha). It also loses any other special quality that requires the mind or soul of the original creature, at the DM's discretion.
Outsider Construct (Ex): A phlegamor’s servant has a Base Attack Bonus equal to its Hit Dice and all good saves.
Single Mind (Ex): Phlegamor’s consciousness spreads throughout his servants. If one phlegamor’s servant is aware of a particular danger, they all are. If one in a group is not flat-footed, none of them are. No servant in a group is considered flanked unless all of them are.
A Phlegamor’s servant is technically mindless (Int –, Wis 11, Cha 1) so has no skills or feats of its own, but it uses Phlegamor’s skill ranks, feats and mental ability scores when animated by Phlegamor’s consciousness. However, it is subject to the normal prerequisites of the feats (i.e. it could only use Multiattack if it has three or more natural attacks, and its Great Cleave requires a BAB of +4). Furthermore, the servant has a maximum rank in a skill equal to its Hit Dice +3 (or one-half that number if it’s a cross-class skill).
Phlegamor was a death slaad before being discorporated, and this conversion assumes he had the standard characteristics of the death slaad in
Monster Manual.
Stone Ring (Ex): A stone ring carved with mystical runes appears on the left hand of a Phlegamor's servant when it animates. If the corpse is missing a left hand, a stone band appears around the nearest convenient bodypart (e.g. a bracelet on the left wrist, anklet on a left forefoot, et cetera). The ring is made out of semi-precious stone and worth 10 gp.
A Phlegamor's servant loses its animation and collapses if its stone ring is removed or destroyed (hardness 8, hit points 10). An opponent can remove the ring with a Sleight of Hand check against a DC of 15 plus the servant's Hit Dice plus the servant's Dexterity modifier (DC 21 for a standard servant). The servant will immediately reanimate if its stone ring is replaced, either by the ring it lost or the stone ring from another Phlegamor's servant.
Saves: All base save bonuses are +1/2 HD +2.
Abilities: A Phlegamor's servant’s Strength increases by +2, its Dexterity increases by +2, it has no Constitution or Intelligence score, its Wisdom changes to 11 and its Charisma changes to 1.
When animated by Phlegamor's consciousness, the servant uses Phlegamor's mental ability scores instead of its own. He has the standard mental abilities of a death slaad: Int 18, Wis 18, Cha 18.
Skills: A Phlegamor's servant has no skills of its own. Phlegamor can use his own skill ranks when animating a servant, up to a maximum rank in a skill equal to the servant's Hit Dice +3 (or one-half that number if it’s a cross-class skill).
Phlegamor has the standard skill ranks of a Death Slaad: Climb 18, Concentration 10, Escape Artist 18, Hide 18, Intimidate 18, Jump 18, Knowledge (any two) 18, Listen 18, Move Silently 18, Search 18, Spot 18, Survival 8.
Feats: A Phlegamor's servant has no feats of its own, but can any of use Phlegamor's feats provided it meets the normal prerequisite of the feat.
Phlegamor has the standard feats of a Death Slaad: Cleave, Great Cleave, Improved Initiative, Improved Sunder, Multiattack, Power Attack.
Environment: Ever-Changing Chaos of Limbo (Phlegamor’s Maze in the Temple of Change).
Organization: Any.
Challenge Rating: Same as base creature, unless the base creature's combat power was dependent on mind-based abilities that it loses as a Phlegamor's Servant, such as a sorcerer or psionic monster. In which case the CR equals the Servant's Hit Dice divided by 2.
Treasure: Same as base creature.
Alignment: Always chaotic neutral.
Advancement: As base creature, or — if the base creature advances by character class.
Level Adjustment: —
Sample Phlegamor’s Servant
This example uses a human 4th-level fighter as the base creature.
Phlegamor's Servant, 4th-level Human Fighter
Medium Construct
Hit Dice: 4d10+20 (42 hp)
Initiative: +6
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares, 30 ft. base)
Armor Class: 18 (+2 Dex, +5 masterwork chainmail, +1 masterwork light steel shield), touch 12, flat-footed 16
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+7
Attack: +1 longsword +8 melee (1d8+4/19–20) or slam +7 melee (1d4+3) or composite longbow [+3 Str] ranged +6 (1d8+3/×3)
Full Attack: +1 longsword +8 melee (1d8+4/19–20) or slam +7 melee (1d4+3) or composite longbow [+3 Str] ranged +6 (1d8+3/×3)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: —
Special Qualities: Construct traits, darkvision 60 ft., outsider construct, single mind, stone ring, telepathy 100 ft.
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +8
Abilities: Str 16, Dex 14, Con –, Int 18* (–), Wis 18* (11), Cha 18* (1)
* The servant uses Phlegamor’s mental ability scores instead of its own
Skills: Climb +6*, Concentration +7, Escape Artist +5*, Hide +5*, Intimidate +11, Jump +6*, Knowledge (arcane) +11, Knowledge (the planes) +11, Listen +11, Move Silently +5*, Search +11, Spot +11, Survival +11 (+13 when tracking, +13 on other planes), Use Rope +2 (+4 with bindings)
* includes -4 armour check penalty
Feats: Cleave
ᴮ, Great Cleave
ᴮ, Improved Initiative
ᴮ, Improved Sunder
ᴮ, Power Attack
ᴮ
Environment: Ever-Changing Chaos of Limbo (Phlegamor’s Maze in the Temple of Change)
Organization: Any
Challenge Rating: 4
Treasure: Items only (weapons and armour, plus the stone ring)
Alignment: Always chaotic neutral
Advancement: —
Level Adjustment: —
A humanoid warrior armed for battle. A closer look reveals the pallid skin and lifeless eyes of a corpse.
Equipment: +1 longsword, masterwork chainmail, masterwork light shield, composite longbow [+3 Str] with 20 arrows, everburning torch.
Originally appeared in Tales From the Infinite Staircase (1998).
Note: A
githyanki version of a Phlegamor's Servant can be found on the development thread.
