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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jack7" data-source="post: 4598126" data-attributes="member: 54707">The KopethMy Monsters change over time. They adapt, their powers and abilities alter, and they make deals, make allies, and make enemies. Sometimes they change form and appearance. I cannot stomach the idea of the simplistic, cartoonish, cookie-cutter monster. Such an ideal of monsters runs counter to the very definition of the term. The very fact that a thing is a “monster” should make it dangerous, unique, alien, and monstrous. Not simple, simple-minded, predictable and easily overcome.The Kopeth may be the most outright dangerous, lethal, and scary “monster” I have ever created. Superficially, in appearance, the Kopeth vaguely resembles a Beholder, but the similarities end there. In my setting the Beholders are a group of seven monsters, of unknown origins, all similar in appearance, but each with different capabilities. Little is known about them other than the fact that they are utterly hostile and vicious, and will avoid contact with each other at all costs.The Kopeth, on the other hand, is believed to have been created as a result of an experiment using incredibly powerful Elturgies (arcane magics), some of which were entirely experimental and had been invented and devised just for the purpose of creating the Kopeth. Something went wrong during the process of creation however and the result was the Kopeth as Caladeem, or “monster.”Originally the Kopeth had been devised as an ingenious “living spy.” Ideally it would have been able to read the thoughts of those it approached, it would have been able to hover near them, completely undetected, and would have even been able to intercept various thoughts and communications even from hundreds of leagues away. What exactly went wrong during the genesis of the Kopeth no one is really sure, but the result was a creature other than the one that had been envisioned. Whereas the Kopeth had been designed to be vaguely intelligent, it was also designed to be a “blank mind,” one onto which thoughts, ideas, and other things could be imprinted, but not used by the Kopeth itself. But the Kopeth was somehow gestated fully aware, and immediately attacked and absorbed the thoughts of its creators. Some think it also horrifically murdered its creators, but only the ones who were there know for sure. In any case the creators have all either been killed or are deep in hiding, as they were never seen again after the appearance of the Kopeth.The Kopeth is extremely dangerous. It could easily kill most higher-level parties all by itself, as will be obvious from the description below. I designed it specifically to bring back the idea of a “real monster.” To give to my RPGs the impression of an incredibly powerful, scary, ruthless, mysterious, almost unstoppable opponent for the players to encounter. To create a thing of horror, with an unknown agenda of its own, to bring back the idea of “magic” and real risk and unpredictability and fright to monsters again. It is tough, it is very, very smart, it has motivations and objectives of its own, it is lethal and it has more than enough capacity when it comes to being an efficient and precise killer. It also possesses abilities and potential that no one has ever seen before. As it ages it “develops.” Like so many of my monsters it is not static, but changes over time. So it retains at least some of its secrets.It has worked out so well as a monster that I have employed different versions of the creature in my D&D milieu, in Enigma (my superhero/horror game), in Artifice (a game about alien artifacts and intelligent machines) and in Spheres of Influence (a sci-fi game). Most of the time my players do not want to encounter, much less fight, the Kopeth.The Kopeth – The Kopeth was created by an Elturgical experiment designed to produce a complex and controllable Chimeral. However the experiment failed its purpose and ended up creating the Kopeth by mistake.The Kopeth appears as a slick, (sometimes slightly translucent) globe roughly five feet in diameter and covered in shining, evenly segmented plates. These plates are actually the refractive, mirrored segments of an insect-like eye, which can see in all directions at once for a distance of up to 500 meters in good weather and in open terrain. The eye can also see using both infra vision and ultra vision for a range of up to 200 meters in good weather and in open terrain. Furthermore the eye (which covers almost the entire “skin” or spherical surface of the body) can see in almost absolute darkness for a distance of up to 50 meters.At the bottom of the sphere, or body of the Kopeth, is a large mouth which when necessary can turn in any direction to speak with, bite, or consume prey. The mouth is lined inside with three rows of multiple, very sharp teeth, the entire effect giving the appearance of the jaws of a shark.At the top of the sphere is a four-foot long, thick, muscular appendage that to many resembles a black rat-tail with pulsing veins. At the end farthest away from the body the tail splits into 12 distinct and variously colored, writhing, scaled coils (the coils are themselves each about three feet long), and at the end of each coil can be seen an eye-mouth. Each coil (called a stalk) is tipped with a rounded and hardened end piece that appears in most cases as a moist, but jaundiced eye, but if the “eye” blinks then the eye can transform itself into a small, hungry looking, and faintly glowing mouth. What makes the Kopeth blink, or why it chooses to do so, no one is really certain.The spherical body appears fragile, almost as if made of crystal or glass, and the sphere is indeed susceptible to two forms of attack, each one of which does double normal damage against the Kopeth. But in most cases the segmented glass plates actually act as magical armor, giving the Kopeth enormous toughness and resistance to most forms of attack. As a matter of fact the Kopeth has a number of natural defenses that make attacking it a perilous undertaking indeed.The main body/eye-segments can explode when attacked, like reactive armor. If the attacking creature is within ten feet of the Kopeth when such an eye segment explodes then that creature will suffer damage. The eye segment regenerates slowly but the Kopeth has thousands of such eye plates and they can all act as reactive armor.If the Kopeth “magically blinks” its main eye (the body) then it can change appearance by becoming either a black, opaque globe like sphere, or it can simply fade into the background so completely as to appear as a section of wall, tree, or any other object which it is near. The camouflage being almost perfect in such cases. When so camouflaged only a slight distortion in bright daylight would give any indication of the presence of the Kopeth.At all times the Kopeth hovers about five to ten feet off the ground but it can also ascend about 50 feet into the air if need be. However it apparently cannot descend below three feet, for reasons unknown.The Kopeth can also redirect force against an attacker. The eye plates can create a subtle visual illusion that makes the Kopeth appear slightly out of phase (it is a sensory illusion) with its real and actual position. This can lead attackers to think they are attacking the Kopeth and even scoring real damage against it when in reality they are attacking the surrounding air, or in some cases (depending on how they are deployed) attacking each other.The Kopeth can, if it decides it is in danger, swell to three times its normal size and begin to buzz horrifically as if it were a nest of giant insects. This is a purely defensive gesture but the appearance is so psychologically fearsome that many will flee the very sight of such a huge sphere of buzzing fury. The Kopeth can, if necessary, form it’s eyestalks (by shutting the eyes at the end of the stalks) into rock hard, flail-like appendages, with which it can mercilessly flail an opponent. This by itself can be lethal to most.The Kopeth can also attack by biting with its mouth, and/or by transforming each eyestalk into an eye-mouth and delivering a painful and in some cases poisonous or toxic eye-bite (see below)*. The most fearsome forms of attack however are the innate abilities of the eyestalks. Each eye at the end of a stalk possesses three abilities, each useable once per day. Each ability is said to be Elturgical in nature, each very dangerous, and to in some way be related to the magics used to create the Kopeth. Some insist that the abilities of the eyestalks are always the same; others that each day the eyestalks develop or can make use of new powers and abilities. No one is really certain exactly how the eyestalks work.According to rumor however the single most dangerous form of attack employed by the Kopeth is the voice. The voice is said to be beautiful and melodic, enchanting, magical, enthralling, and deceptive. Anyone listening to the voice of the Kopeth speak (and it is said to know dozens of languages) is said to be in immediate and mortal danger.It is said the Kopeth always speaks in a female voice, will seem to offer valuable information, will even engage in banter and small talk in an extremely charming and charismatic fashion. The Kopeth is said to love to “reason with others,” and seemingly enjoys discussing philosophy, religion, art, Elturgy, and other such subjects. However as the Kopeth talks with another, despite the obvious charm and melodious sound of the voice the listener becomes more and more agitated as each moment passes. The voice can elicit and solicit valuable information from the one with whom it speaks even when that person is unaware he is giving away such knowledge. Within a brief, few minutes after the Kopeth has obtained the information it desires the hearer of the voice of the Kopeth will begin to feel very ill at ease, full of angst, worry, and fear. Eventually the listener will feel real and creeping horror, even utter despair flood his mind, but the feeling will be generalized, as if not originating from the Kopeth. Observers from a distance have even seen those speaking with the Kopeth apparently fall upon their own swords and commit suicide, run screaming in terror to their deaths, or even attack and kill each other, all while the Kopeth speaks to them in charming and soothing tones.Hence the saying among the Sidelh, “Ayŗ Kŏpetirœ yalo rewĳn byƒalù astâalűon…” – which means, If you give ear to the voice of the Kopeth then you sing the chorus of your own doom. * The Attack of the Eyebite – Whenever any mouth at the end of one of the eyestalks is able to successfully bite a creature the Kopeth has attacked then the “eyebite” is able to instantly see into the thoughts and memories of the creature it has attacked, and absorb those thoughts and memories into itself. The Kopeth can then, if it so desires, instantly transport itself and any other creature it is touching to any locale stored within the memories of the creature it successfully “bit.” No creature who has been transported away by the Kopeth is known to have ever returned.No one, other than the Kopeth itself, knows the true level of intelligence, or the true motivations and desires that drive the monster. Rumors Surrounding the Kopeth – The Kopeth was designed as a living scrying device, to be able to “magically see” across vast distances as well into the heart and mind of a target creature.The Kopeth has let several people live and go unharmed after it encountered them, but no one is really sure why.The Kopeth seeks vengeance upon its creators.The Kopeth is seeking a great and ancient secret that it accidentally discovered in the mind of a Dreaming Wizard.The Beiãrygn (a 9 foot tall Giant) Paladin named Hosuħlyr fought the Kopeth to a draw underneath the catacombed barrowhall of the Dead Samarls, but no one is really sure how. After the battle the Kopeth even helped heal the Paladin of many of his wounds out of respect for his bravery.The Kopeth is not really alive, but is controlled by another.The Kopeth indefinitely retains all of the memories of anyone it has ever touched.The Kopeth is able to teleport anywhere, even through time.The Kopeth was not really created; it was recreated out of the dead body of an already existing monster.The Kopeth has a secret companion and ally which assists it.The Kopeth is absolutely evil and was created this way.The Kopeth has the mind of a child.The Kopeth is not real. The entire creation is an illusion.</blockquote>

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