A couple of Undead

[Mesh Hong]

Here are a couple of undead for your amusement.

1: Slaughterborn Spirit (level 3 Skirmisher)
2: Slaughterborn Spirit Gatherer (level 5 elite Controller)

You of course could use them in any way you see fit.

I might say that a Slaughterborn Spirit rises 24 hours after a person has been killed by an Orcus Slaughter Legion. These legions could be small groups of murderous cultists that have taken part in an unholy ritual to add power to their God. They would sweep into a community killing everyone they see then trying to escape into the night. 24 hours later their victims would rise up as either Slaughterborn Spirits or other Undead and be met by a Slaughterborn Spirit Gatherer who would either lead them back to the Shadowfell or onwards to assault another target, possibly a temple to the Raven Queen.


Slaughterborn Spirit Level 3 Skirmisher
Medium Natural Animate (undead) XP 150

Initiative +6 Senses Perception +2
HP 30; Bloodied 15; see Bloodied Despair
AC 17; Fortitude 14, Reflex 16, Will 16
Immune disease, poison;
Resist insubstantial
Speed 6, fly 6 (hover), phasing

Ethereal Swipe (Standard; at-will) ♦ necrotic
Attack +6 vs. Reflex; 1d8+3 necrotic damage; on hit target takes a -2
penalty to Will until the end of Spirits next turn

Bloodied Despair (Immediate Reaction; encounter) ♦ when first bloodied
When bloodied Spirit howls in pain and despair; burst 3; attack +5 vs. Will;
on hit target is dazed and takes 2 ongoing necrotic damage (save ends
both)

Drift of the Dead (Move; at-will)
Spirit may shift 3 squares as a move action and may move through enemy
squares but cannot end its turn in an occupied square

Alignment Unaligned Languages common
Skills Intimidate +9, Stealth +9
Str 12 (+2) Dex 16 (+4) Wis 12 (+2)
Con 8 (+0) Int 10 (+1) Cha 16 (+4)

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Slaughterborn Spirit Gatherer Level 5 Elite Controller (Leader)
Large Shadow Humanoid (undead) XP 400

Initiative +4 Senses Perception +8
Gather Souls aura 10; Every time a creatures inside the aura dies the
Spirit Gatherer gains 1 soul spark
Soul Shield (necrotic, only active while bloodied) aura 2; all living
creatures entering or starting their turn inside aura take necrotic damage
equal to the number of Soul Sparks the Soul Gatherer possesses
HP 128; Bloodied 64; see Soul Shield
AC 21; Fortitude 19, Reflex 17, Will 20
Immune disease, poison;
Resist 10 necrotic; Vulnerable 5 radiant
Saving Throws +2
Speed 5
Action Points 1

Clawed Swipe (Standard; at-will)
Reach 2; attack +10 vs. AC; 1d10+2 damage

Chill the Soul (Standard; at-will) ♦ necrotic
Range 10; attack +9 vs. Fortitude; 2d6+4 necrotic damage; on hit target
is slowed and takes 5 ongoing necrotic damage (save ends both)

Marshal Souls (Minor; at-will) ♦ 1/round
Burst 3; slide all undead allies inside burst 1 square

Blast of Fear (Standard; recharge ) ♦ fear, necrotic
Area burst 2 within 15; enemies only; attack +9 vs. Will; 1d6+4 necrotic
damage; on hit target is immobilised and takes a -2 penalty to attack
(save ends both)

Consume Soul (Minor; at-will) ♦ 1/round
Spirit gatherer may consume a number of Soul Sparks to recieve one of
the following benefits:
1 spark: gain a +2 bonus to its next attack roll this turn
2 sparks: gain a +2 bonus to all defences until the start of its next turn
3 sparks: gain a +5 necrotic damage bonus to all attacks until the start of
its next turn
4 sparks: regain 30 HPs
5 sparks: gain an action point

Soul Sparks
The Soul Gatherer starts the encounter with 1d4 Soul Sparks

Alignment Evil Languages common
Skills Endurance +10
Str 14 (+4) Dex 15 (+4) Wis 12 (+3)
Con 16 (+5) Int 12 (+3) Cha 18 (+6)

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Example Encounters:

Level +1 encounter for 5 level 5 characters (1230 xp)

10 Zombie Rotters (level 3 minion) 380 xp
3 Slaughterborn Spirit (level 3 skirmisher) 450 xp
1 Slaughterborn Spirit Gatherer (level 5 elite controller) 400 xp

Level +3 encounter for 5 level 5 characters (1775 xp)

6 Slaughterborn Spirit (level 3 skirmisher) 900 xp
2 Gravehound (level 3 brute) 300 xp
1 Corruption Corpse (level 4 artillery) 175 xp
1 Slaughterborn Spirit Gatherer (level 5 elite controller) 400 xp

 

[Minigiant]

I'm using these. Especial since my lvl 5 Big Bad is undead.

I suggest...
Limit Consume Spark to 1/round just to be safe.
And make the 1 spark abilty until end of turn to prevent stacking.

 

[Mesh Hong]

Good points, I have made slight changes.

Comsume Soul - power changes
1: added the 1/round as suggested to prevent abuse
2: added the words "this turn" to the end of the the 1 spark power.

thanks

 

[Kwalish Kid]

One thing that you may want to do is change the Consume Soul thing to an immediate reaction when anyone dies within 10 to 20 squares. You may want to up the result, then, but the change should help give flavour and will naturally limit the useage to maximum 1/round.

 

[Mesh Hong]

One thing that you may want to do is change the Consume Soul thing to an immediate reaction when anyone dies within 10 to 20 squares. You may want to up the result, then, but the change should help give flavour and will naturally limit the useage to maximum 1/round.

I appreciate your thoughts but I don't think your suggestion would work either themeactically or mechanically in this case.

The creature is designed to naturally suck up any released spirits within 50ft. The Gather Souls aura achieves this result by generating Soul Sparks. I set the range at 10 squares to encourage the Gatherer to follow the action and position itself so that it stays close enough to all its allies to profit from their deaths.

The creature is then designed to be able to tactically use the Soul Sparks to gain various short term benefits, deciding wheter to use them regularly for a small benefit or saving them for a more expensive option. If it was forced to only spend them as an immediate reaction to a creature dying it would limit the Gatherers options and add a time consuming level of complexity to the encounter. In other words you would have to stop and think carefully about whether to spend sparks during someone elses turn, interrupting the flow of play. As it stands now as a minor action on the Gatherers own turn gives it a broad scope of tactical options (flavour) and keeps the decision whether to use the power to its own turn, maintaining the flow of the game.

Its a subtle design point that is purely based on my own experience and opinion but I feel it is the best approach.

 

[Kwalish Kid]

I was suggesting that you get rid of the aura altogether and simply use the reaction, perhaps slimmed down to two options like a push/slide, a basic attack, or a recharge. This would make the thing far less complicated and give it more actions, like an elite should have.

 

[Mesh Hong]

Oh OK, I understand.

This would make the thing far less complicated and give it more actions, like an elite should have.

Actually low level elites do not really get extra attacks, if you look in the monster manual you will see the Goblin Underboss and the Gelatinous Cube only getting one attack.

I think this is basically because a level 5 elite could very easily be encountered by a level 3 party where a double attack/action point/double attack could cause too many problems.

The Spirit Gatherer can be slightly more dangerous than a standard elite by saving its soul sparks to gain an additional action point, thus in essence gaining a double attack.

As for it being too complicated that's a matter of opinion. I can understand how you might think it is too complicated, I would call it interesting but that really is only my opinion and not an arguement.

I have duely noted that you are not in favour of my Gather Souls / Consume Souls mechanic and will bear it in mind in the future. Again thanks for your response, any and all feedback is always useful.

 

[Neubert]

I think the Consume Soul mechanic is very nice. It is a way of reducing the feeling the players might get when there is just a single opponent or two left - they know they've won, now they just need to actually "clean up". It makes the monster more dangerous the fewer allies it has left. I pity the players who has an evil GM that sends in minions together with this elite!

 

[Mesh Hong]

Thanks Neubert.

Actually if you look at the first sample encounter you will see 10 minions included. The creature is designed to work well with minions as it will encourage the PCs to make interesting choices between attacking the minions or the leader and the merits or flaws of both. It will also reward PCs who can use the enviroment or powers to move the creatures outside of Gather Souls range (aura 10).