monstersdownthepath

[monstersdownthepath]

Monster Spotlight: Lorelei

CR 12

Neutral Evil Large Aberration

Bestiary 4, pg. 184

Despite looking like the result of a tragic irony involving a Medua and a polished silver shield, the Lorelei are massive aquatic carnivores that dwell on rocky outcroppings overlooking stretches of the ocean, from which they watch carefully for passing ships or swimmers. Filled with an inexplicable loathing for other living creatures--to the point they'll even strip their lairs of vegetation in fits of rage--Lorelei find joy only in causing others to suffer, and their immense lifespans are spent concocting new and gruesome ways to rid the world of hope, happiness, and life in any form besides themselves. They're noted specifically to be driven into rages at the sight of any creatures who appear to be joy-filled, and will go out of their way to torment those creatures for as long as they possibly can before finally killing them. Thankfully for everyone, their hatred extends even to their own kind; though Lorelei will not attack one another, they will never work together and rarely have the energy to actually enact any of the lengthy plots they conceive, sticking to spontaneous acts of evil and misanthropy.

It's hard to have much energy when you are, technically, a sessile organism. The book actually reveals they're actually magical sea anemones, their stony exteriors natural camouflage, and their human face is almost entirely non-functional aside from the eyes. The real mouth is located on top of its body hidden by its tentacles, and a hidden fleshy disc at the bottom of their head sticks them in place for the majority of their lives. They ARE capable of moving, but most Lorelei despise the idea of meeting other creatures even accidentally, and thus will anchor themselves on an attractive rocky shoreline and remain there for the entirety of their lives. Many stories of cursed shorelines or dangerous stony islands are the results of a Lorelei infestation, because from the perspective of anyone on a ship the Lorelei has ensorcelled, it feels more like a curse than anything else.

The soothing Murmur of a Lorelei seems to promise safety and solace and affects all creatures within 300ft of the stone anemone if they fail a DC 20 Will save, grabbing hold of their mind and causing them to move towards the thing via the most direct means they have available. Entire ship-fulls of people have leapt into dangerous waters to their deaths (if the helmsman didn't steer the ship into the rocks themselves) once hypnotized by the Murmur, as those who fail the save only receive new saves against the effect if they can clearly see potential danger in their path... a clause that makes the horror's 3/day Fog Cloud far more dangerous than it normally is, as it can hide dangerous reefs and riptides, or mask the presence of other underwater predators! Notably, though the ability states creatures will defend themselves from others if attacked, they do not defend themselves from the Lorelei and will allow the murmuring stone to rip them apart. Being hypnotized by the Murmur is thus a death sentence for anyone too close to the thing, though thankfully succeeding any saving throw against it--either the initial one or the re-trigger when entering danger--renders one immune to its effects for 24 hours, and the Lorelei can be forced to stop its murderous muttering by any effect that prevents normal creatures from speaking.

Uniquely, Murmur also affects Undead, ignoring their normal immunity to mind-affecting effects. Lorelei may despise the living, but they have a few tools to populate their desolate islands and the waters surrounding them with undead thralls, kept in check with their 3/day Command Undead, which unintelligent zombies do not get saves for. Given that a single casting lasts 12 entire days, Lorelei can decorate their lairs with whole ghost ships full of zombies should they desire, though these are typically sent off to terrorize shoreline settlements that caught the aberration's eye. The undead also make getting rid of a Lorelei a multi-step process, as even killing the anemone means there's probably sitll scores of shambling zombies, gluttonous ghouls, and tragic ghosts behind like the bones and peels left behind after a feast, forcing the party to scour the beast's rocky lairs to assure there's no further dangers.

As for what Lorelei can do in a fight, first you must ask yourself "am I going to have to look up the rules for fighting underwater again?" And the answer, unfortunately, is yes. Thankfully, if the party regularly engages seaborne threats AND has reached levels 8~12, they should have more options for fighting underwater threats than they did around level 5 or so. One would hope, anyway. If not, or if the party was ambushed because the thing hijacked the guy driving their boat with its hypnotic Murmur (or its at-will Whispering Wind and +15 to Bluff), then I hope you're prepared for every turn for the next 45 minutes to begin with "make a Swim check." Lorelei have no reason to engage land-dwelling foes on fair terms and will flee into the water the moment they have the opportunity to do so... If they don't just bring the shoreline to them using their 3/day Control Water, which at their level can affect seven 10x10 blocks of water!

Once underwater, Lorelei can create a dangerous Vortex at will that can swallow smaller ships, damage medium-sized ones, and doom anyone swimming in their waters. Anything trapped in the churning column (20ft wide and up to 80ft high) takes 2d8+9 damage each round and must fight hard to escape its pull, lest the Lorelei simply wait until they drown. The best way to make the Vortex stop is to swim down towards the stone beast creating it and whacking them until they can no longer sustain it, though this means the beast is prompted to swing its quartet of powerful tentacles. They have 10ft of space but 15ft of reach, 5 more than the average Large monster, and each tentacle deals a modest 1d8+9 damage. The real danger is the poison carried in every blow, dealing 1d4 Str damage every round for up to 4 rounds, and remember that being exposed to consecutive poison doses raises not only the DC, but the duration. The DC to resist the poison is already 25, so another failed save makes it 27 and 6 rounds, then 29 and 8 rounds, so on and so forth.

Strength may seem like a sacrifice many would be willing to make until you remember that Swim keys off Strength. To say nothing of the poor guy you've got tangling with the thing in melee to try and distract it; every point they lose is another -1 to their chance of cracking the thing's 27 AC! Thankfully, that AC is the only thing they have going for them; they have decent Fortitude and Will saves at +13 each, but a miserable +5 Reflex, and no immunities or resistances to any form of status effect. They ARE immune to Sonic and have 10 Acid resist, but this matters little to the Witch beating it unconscious with Slumber, the Monk practicing their stonecutting technique with Stunning Fist, or the Rogue finding out there's flesh and organs just underneath the rock that they can Sneak Attack. Lorlei, like many sea beasts, rely on the inherent defenses they get from fighting underwater and their superior reach to attack land-bound foes to withstand most parties.

But they DO have their Murmur. Unless the party has a Bard who remembers that Countersong exists, they're going to be starting at a disadvantage of being down between one and three party members, the ones who escape the hypnotic noise plugging the ears of those who didn't... And then there's the biggest potential problem the party can have, one that they may not even consider: After the thing is dead, how are they going to leave the island they're on? There's a very good chance (100% chance, if the DM planned it) that they're stuck on the Lorelei's rocky lair because their ship either ran aground or was destroyed by the creature's whirlpool, leaving them to figure out how to return to civilization.

Impromptu camping trip...?

You can read more about them here.

[monstersdownthepath]

Would it be too jarring to give fiends humanizing

Almost silly but still meanicing moments?

Like take a bubble bath in blood or gossiping with their fellows like teenage girls or book club moms.

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Given that the devil in charge of conquering Golarion is literally a clown that owns a clown school where clowns learn to clown, there's not much you can do that would be more jarring or absurd.

[monstersdownthepath]

I know Chamiaholom is the fear of Mortality

But what about the fear of Inevitability? Or rather stuff like unstoppable forces. Things you can only delay,not stop. Something that no barrier can stop, something that will wait ever so patiently for you to be vulnerable.

Besides we need more Active Sahkil. 3 seem rather lazy so more active and overtly terrifying ones are probably needed. The kind that makes a person want to run screaming from.

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There's already a tormentor of inevitability! His name is Chamiaholom. In fairness, it took until 2e to really get a good look at his motivations, which involve destroying Undead and slaying any creature that attempts to artificially extend their lifespans through any method.

(Divine Mysteries Web Supplement, pg. 20; more info for Chamia and the Tormentors as a whole is in Divine Mysteries, pg. 228-231)

Though, as of Divine Mysteries, Xiquiripat also plays the part of "unstoppable force of death." All things must fear it, and all things will fear it before being devoured.

Chamia and the other Tormentors got some good lore dumps in Divine Mysteries to really paint out their characterization, and I'm commending Paizo for making them feel... proper. They make sense as fallen psychopomps, a characterization that felt largely tacked on when they were first introduced. You can see the remnants of what were once supposed to be impartial judges in them, driven to some extreme behavior by either a hate they could not let go of or some bizarre quirk they could not shake off.

Chamia hates undeath, which is reasonable... but he also hates life extension of any kind, something that even Pharasma makes accommodations for!

Charg appears to be a passive observer of decline and destruction, especially the rampages of deadly monsters, as all psychopomps technically are... but they despise any interruption in this decline, attacking and destroying anything that would try and avert the fate of a civilization or ecosystem that they believe is fated to die.

Nameless believes all beings are equal! A belief they enforce with terrific violence upon any creature that would dare claim to be above another, no matter how petty the reason. Regardless of whether a ruler is just or unjust, the very act of being a ruler or even a figure of authority is reason enough for Nameless to plot against them.

There are others, but I won't make this answer any longer than it needs to be. I WILL share one of my favorite details though: Zipacna is the laziest of all the Tormentors, spending the majority of his eternity lounging in Xibalba's waters with his every whim attended to by his servants and creature he's bullied into subservience, and the book snidely remarks he's thought "not to have done so much as lift a stone since the days of Azlant." Despite this, he is among the most pragmatic and efficient of all the Tormentors, and drives his followers to work to solve their problems as thoroughly as possible... because putting off important tasks out of laziness now means you have less time to be lazy later.

[monstersdownthepath]

Hey! First off gotta say I really love and appreciate what you do! I especially enjoy reading your homebrew work. I got a question regarding the creation of monsters and such; is there a way to reasonable make creatures with thicker health pools without giving them additional hit dice? My issue is I was making something that is effectively just a giant meat sponge, but since it's an Aberration it's got full BaB and I am worried that it is too accurate to be a fair fight for my players. Also, I did want to ask if you are ok with people using some of your creations in your game. I was thinking of using your version of the Unknown from DBD, but I wanted to ask first

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1) Yes. Paizo gives its monsters arbitrary amounts of HP all the time, as long as it can be justified in the text. A handful of Constructs have bonus HP just because, and there's numerous monsters that add HP bonuses from ability scores besides Constitution (typically Charisma). Giving the creature Toughness as a bonus feat also tacks on an extra +1 HP/level without increasing any of the creature's other numbers.

You can also reduce a monster's attacks in this way, if you feel like they're too accurate; something like "Clumsy Claws (EX): This creature has -X to attack rolls with its claws because it's a foolish idiot." If you don't want to lower the attack roll, lowering the damage also works, either by reducing the damage dice or by lowering its Str.

2) I am ALWAYS prepared to let people use my stuff! That's one of the reasons I make it! All I ask is that you tell me how it went, and if you feel like anything needs fixing or clarification. The freak in question, by the way; for those of you who've already read it, I did some quick rewrites for clarity's sake to Unbound, Undone, Unwind (which was also buffed), and most importantly to Unknown.

[monstersdownthepath]

A pair of new deities

Well, sort of new. One of them is entirely original, but the first one is actually based on a comedic aside found in Agents of Edgewatch: Assault on Hunting Lodge Seven, where he's listed among a few of the notable names to try and miserably fail to take on the Test of the Starstone. In both cases, however, these deities are involved with the Starstone, a bit of lore I've not really touched before due to my preference for cosmic horror.

In reality, both of these could be full articles on their own, but I feel like they're not 'big' enough to get two individual pages. Maybe one day I'll change my mind. For now, though, here's a look at Veelich, the God of Failure, and Wittiby, the God of Familiars.

VEELICH, THE UNWANTED Chaotic Neutral God of Failure, Outcasts, and Falling Forever In Bottomless Pits

Domains: Chaos, Darkness, Luck, Protection, Void Subdomains: Caves*, Shadow, Curse, Imagination, Solitude, Isolation* Favored Weapon: Club Symbol: A hole or trench with a goblin hand reaching out of it. Sacred Animal: None Sacred Color: Green and yellow *Followers of Veelich can modify either the Darkness or Void Domains with the Caves Subdomain, and the Darkness Domain with the Isolation Subdomain.

Veelich the Unwanted was once known as the unluckiest goblin in all of Absalom, if not the Inner Sea, or perhaps even the world. Not a day went by that he didn't stub his toe, slam his fingers against something, spill his drinks and food, bump into the wrong person, or open his mouth and accidentally insult the very wrong person. To many, it felt as though he couldn't have possibly been doing it on accident; no one alive could be so cursed! Certainly, he was doing this for attention! But Veelich repeatedly insisted, sometimes tearfully, sometimes full of fury, that he wasn't doing anything on purpose, and near as anyone could tell, he was being genuine. Things just happened to him, constantly, and perhaps his only solace (or perhaps his true curse) is that he hadn't been killed for it yet.

That all changed when he tried to take the Test of the Starstone, so people thought. Like every aspirant, Veelich had to first make it inside the cathedral, and to do that, he had to first bypass the bottomless pit which surrounded it. Like so very, very many aspirants before him, the first challenge proved to be insurmountable, and to his credit, he did go all out on his attempt. He had purchased a powerful potion of Jump to heroically leap into the air, a sturdy parachute to glide the rest of the way, and a sturdy security line attached to a powerful, magic stake in the ground in case his luck went sour (as it always did), and even a Ring of Sustenance to both avoid the risk of food poisoning AND assure that his goblin appetite didn't force him to do anything stupid once he finally got into the cathedral.

What he did not know was that his Jump potion was on a discount due to being largely expired, its effects not nearly as dramatic as they should have been, his parachute wasn't secured properly, and a citizen passing by as he set up had accidentally dripped some savory sauce on his safety line, attracting the attention of a voracious rat. Even if none of those incidents had occurred, the sheer number of good luck charms he had brought with him in the hopes of stabilizing his cursed luck would have weighed him down anyway, but fate did not have to work especially hard to send him screaming into the darkness, never to be seen or heard again... For about ten or so years.

It was, perhaps, more surprising for Veelich than it was for the first of his unintentional Clerics, Oracles, Antipaladins, and the like to find out that he had achieved a measure of divine apotheosis as he fell endlessly in that pit; he had gotten so used to talking to figments of his imagination as he fell that it took his devoted several months to convince him that they were real, and that he had actually succeeded in his goal of becoming a god... But not in the way he had wanted. In a cruel cosmic jest, the cruelest yet, his attempts at becoming the God of Overcoming Adversity had cemented him as the God of Failure, a figure of mockery and a target of endless jokes, all of which he gets to hear every time someone mentioned him by name. He doesn't even get a proper divine realm, instead having been transported, at some point, to a dark pocket of the Maelstrom that perfectly imitates the pit he spent his final few years as a mortal falling through. His divine portfolio doesn't lend itself to any particularly major miraculous acts; he's mostly a sponge and scapegoat for misfortune and curses, which he then passes onto his followers so that they may then pass them onto their foes (provided they don't perish miserably from the influx of cursed power).

It's not all bad, though. In a way, his bad luck never actually killed him, and though his power isn't especially impressive when compared to that of a proper Ascended, it DOES give him hope that one day, he will be able to find out who or what worked to make him so miserable in his mortal life.

As a proper god, Veelich can grant Boons to any creature taking the Deific Obedience feat, but he does not possess a dedicated Prestige Class such as Feysworn or Diabolist. Boons are typically gained slowly, achieved at levels 12, 16, and 20, but by entering the Evangelist, Exalted, or Sentinel Prestige Classes as early as possible, they can be obtained at levels 8, 11, and 14 instead. While normally a full god would grant three sets of Boons, Veelich isn't powerful or especially creative enough to come up with more than one. Perhaps, in time, he will.

Obedience: Either find or create a hole deep enough to hide your entire head inside, then do so. Spend at least half an hour making casual (though one-sided) conversation about what's been going on in your life so Veelich gets some respite from the deluge of frantic prayers, then you may devote the remaining time to redirecting any misfortune or accidents you have suffered or believe you will suffer to him. Benefit: Gain a +4 sacred or profane bonus to saving throws against curses, and to Climb and Athletics checks.

Boon 1: Cruel Irony (Sp): Gain Jump 3/day, Create Pit 2/day, or Curse of Befouled Luck 1/day.

Boon 2: Curse Sponge (Sp): Common faithful believe Veelich will soak up all their bad luck and misfortune, but you know that prayer isn't enough. Sometimes you have to roll up your sleeves and do it yourself. Up to three times per day, you may cast Accept Affliction as a spell-like ability, except you may use it on any creature within 20ft rather than as a touch spell. If you've absorbed at least three separate afflictions from another being with this ability (whether it be all in a single casting, or one affliction per casting) within the same 24 hour period, Veelich redirects a portion of your suffering; once within the next 24 hours, you can cast Bestow Curse as a spell-like ability.

Boon 3: Screaming Into the Darkness (Sp): Once per day, you may give a foe a taste of what the God of Failure had to deal with. This acts as using the Maze spell as a spell-like ability, except instead of sending a victim into an extradimensional labyrinth, it sends them falling into a bottomless pit inside of which flight--magical or mundane--is impossible. As such, the victim does not make Intelligence checks to escape, but must instead succeed Climb checks (DC 15 + 1/2 your Hit Dice + your Charisma modifier): the first to catch themselves and stop from falling, then 2 additional successful Climb checks for each round they failed to stop themselves from falling (thus a creature that fell for 3 rounds would need to make 6 successful Climb checks to fully emerge from the pit). A creature that fails to escape the pit reappears at the location they disappeared from falling at terminal velocity, taking 20d6 bludgeoning damage the moment they hit a solid surface.

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WITTIBY, THE SAGE OF SMALL MAGIC True Neutral God of Familiars, Cantrips, and Arcane Study

Domains: Animal, Community, Knowledge, Magic, Strength Subdomains: Animal*, Cooperation, Education, Arcane, Resolve Favored Weapon: Quarterstaff Symbol: An animal-patterned spellbook with a pearl clasp Sacred Animal: Any familiar Sacred Color: Lime green *Followers of Wittiby may select any of the Subdomains under the Animal Domain.

Disparagingly called the Undeserving God by many, the tale of Wittiby is a strange one, a story tinged with hubris, tragedy, and lost friends. They were once the proud assistance of an archmage, a familiar created from a beloved pet and instilled with a grasp of the mystic and the arcane. Who their archmage was, and what shape they had before their ascension, are both memories that were lost to them during the trauma experienced within the Starstone Cathedral.

No one is ever prepared for the Test of the Starstone, no matter how great their power. The archmage was no different, confidently striding across the bottomless pit with a powerful Wind Walk spell and deftly avoiding the pockets of dead magic sent up to stop them before throwing open the cathedral's doors as though they were the doors of the mage's own tower. All the while, Wittiby was on their shoulder, cheering them on as the doors closed behind them, sealing their fates.

What, exactly, happened within the cathedral is something they will not say, though they obviously remember it with perfect clarity. All they reveal is that their beloved archmage, whose name was taken from them, survived every trial the Starstone Cathedral placed in their path... every trial but the last one, in the Starstone's own chamber, which took their life. Though, by all accounts, the archmage appears to have been a haughty, self-aggrandizing blowhard, their final act was one of pure kindness, sealing their beloved familiar--pet, associate, friend--in a bubble of force to protect them from the terrible backlash of arcane severance to try and teleport them out of the Cathedral, wishing only for Wittiby to escape the cathedral and the rest of their life free, but fate had other plans in store.

Someone touched the Starstone that day, after all. It just wasn't the one who opened the door.

When asked what possessed them to do such a thing, Wittiby claims that they planned to use their divine powers to turn their archmage into their Herald, restoring them to life. It was not to be, though, and for such a selfless wish, the familiar's cataclysmic ascension event tore all records of who the archmage was from reality so thoroughly that no one who was there the very day they strolled into town could even recall the mage's face or name. Going even further, Wittiby's form became protean and chaotic, shifting between dozens of animals in the span of minutes, to rob them of the shape their master gave them. All they have left is their master's spellbook, bereft of details of their life but cover-to-cover full of immense arcane knowledge.

Whether this apparent cosmic cruelty is some form of punishment from the Starstone itself for trying to bypass its rules, a price paid by all Ascended that they simply do not speak of or cannot remember (Wittiby's arcane bond to their master may be the sole reason they recall anything about them), the fate of any being to make it to the center of the cathedral but who failed the final test or, as many sneer, the price paid for Wittiby all but literally riding their way to the Starstone without doing any real work, is the subject of conjecture... even by Wittiby theirself, who isn't yet sure if they even deserve their position.

Still getting used to their place as a new god, Wittiby's dour mood has yet to fully lift, but they find joy where they can in their new duties as God of Small Magics. Every time an aspirant caster learns a new cantrip, casts their first spell, and forges (or deepens) a bond with their familiar, the world gets a little bit brighter for the Shapeless Sage. Their time as a god is a mere handful of years, their faithful a scant handful in number, knowledge of their very existence all but unheard of beyond Absalom, so time will yet tell what sort of god they will grow to be as the passing years heal their wounds and scars over their memories. For the moment they are content performing small blessings to protect mages and their bonded allies from danger when they can, and putting hopeful casters on the path to discovering and mastering their first spells.

As a proper god, Wittiby can grant Boons to any creature taking the Deific Obedience feat, but they do not possess a dedicated Prestige Class such as Feysworn or Diabolist. Boons are typically gained slowly, achieved at levels 12, 16, and 20, but by entering the Evangelist, Exalted, or Sentinel Prestige Classes as early as possible, they can be obtained at levels 8, 11, and 14 instead. While normally a full god would grant three sets of Boons, Wittiby is too new to divinity to offer more than one.

Obedience: Practice magic with your familiar or animal companion for at least one hour. If you are not a caster or do not have a familiar/animal companion, spend at least one hour either researching magical theory or caring for an animal which trusts you. Benefit: Whenever you, your familiar, or your animal companion performs the Aid Another action, your target gains an additional +2 sacred or profane bonus to their check.

Boon 1: The Essentials (Sp): Gain Magic Missile 3/day, Levitate 2/day, or Tiny Hut 1/day

Boon 2: Hedge Wizardry (Su/Sp): The blessing of the God of Small Magic gives you mastery over the smallest magic there is: cantrips. Each time you complete your Obedience, select three cantrips from an Arcane caster class (Magus, Sorcerer, Summoner, Witch, or Wizard). You may cast these cantrips at will as spell-like abilities for the next 24 hours. In addition, once per round as a swift action, you may cast any level 0 spell you know (be it a cantrip, knack, orison, etc) with a casting time of 1 standard action or less, including the ones gained from this Boon.

Boon 3: Constant Companion (Sp): The pain of losing one's treasured companion can be crippling, and Wittiby seeks to alleviate that pain as quickly as they possibly can. You may cast True Resurrection once per day as a spell-like ability, but only to return a creature's bonded companion to life. This includes familiars, bonded mounts (like that of a Paladin or Cavalier), animal companions and, if need be, eidolons. This does NOT include hirelings or cohorts gained via Leadership. You may use this ability to resurrect bonded companions other than your own. Using this ability as an excuse to repeatedly send bonded companions into danger against their will is seen as an abuse of Wittiby's gift and may provoke their wrath.

[monstersdownthepath]

what are the funniest spells to cast without observable components? A lot of good options are ones which summon something absurd, but one of my favorite options is Destruction. Someone says something you don't like and they burst into unholy fire. Naught left behind but a smoking pair of shoes.

[monstersdownthepath]

You know, this earlier talk about soul trade being illegal in Hell make me ponder if there's a specialized 'police' Devil. Certainly would fit with their modus operanti as embodiment of tyranny and oppresive laws.

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The closest thing we have currently are the Bearded Devils (1e)/Vordine (2e), who serve as soldiers, guards, and whatever other strongarms that diabolic nobles need.

There's no direct "cop" devil that I can recall off the top of my head, so it's easy enough to make some enforcer of unjust or unfair laws willing to look the other way for their masters.

[monstersdownthepath]

Is it possible for a fiend to not really,know their a Fiend? Or like,they know but they simply refuse to acknowledge it. A being with their head so deep in the sand their practically touching the mantle.

A fiend who simply refuses to acknowledge reality and has such thick rose colored glasses on they regard other fiends as good people.

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It's doable, but it requires a bit of nuance. I've toyed with the idea with Father Dermosi, but he eventually took his rose-colored glasses off and decided that Hell really is the way to go. It's easier for a devil to fall into this mindset than anyone else, I think; from their perspective, the evils of free will are all around us, and mortals simply cannot be trusted with their own safety. It's best to have a firm hand.

Other Lawful Evil fiends like the velstrac and asura may be able to do the same, especially in the former's case; they're just artists, after all.

For other fiends, I think around the time they start palling around with guys with more spikes than normal skin cells and whose ideas of block parties involve arson and arsenic, they probably have a pretty good idea that they've screwed up somewhere and they're not associating with people with good morals. By this point, most demons don't care and just want to party, and any would-be daemon wearing rose-colored glasses got eaten ages ago.

[monstersdownthepath]

Here's a fun fact for you: Slime Naga, naga who live in sewers and love lounging in cesspits and picking through garbage and negotiating with filth-ridden sewer denizens, are not immune to disease for whatever reason.

[monstersdownthepath]

If you know daganronpa

Would you say Junko Ensohima would end up a daemon or a Sahkil after death?

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I could have sworn I answered a question like this before, but I guess I haven't because I can't find it!

Anyway, she'd probably end up being a daemon. I could go into my reasoning, but if I think too hard about Danganronpa my cursed hand starts craving blood.

[monstersdownthepath]

Monster Spotlight: Boruta

CR 9

Neutral Medium Plant

Adventure Path: Carrion Crown: Trial of the Beast, pg. 84-85

These maniacal guardians of the natural world reside in deep swamps, which they protect from all forms of danger or intrusion, from the destructive expansion of civilization to rampaging monsters. Despite resembling reanimated human remains (something which has made many an adventurer accidentally heal them), Boruta are Plant creatures through and through, growing inside of mysterious pods among swamp reeds, granting them a deep and personal connection with their mire homes from birth and instilling upon them a fanatical love of plantlife that actually crosses into unreasonable. Even other natural guardians (especially the Arboreals) view the Boruta with the wariness one would give to someone whose ideals technically match their own, but which veers into destructive extremism.

Boruta treat every tree, brush, and blade of grass as beloved members of their extended family and are easily sent into a rage if any harm comes to them (notably, harm that isn't motivated by hunger; they allow local wildlife to graze!). Breaking away a branch to fuel a fire, digging a patch of grass up to set up a camp, or slicing away vines to clear a path is considered to be an act violence against the whole of the swamp, something which moves the Boruta to retaliate to a degree which matches that of an offended Fey, a sentence that should worry anyone reading it. The book worryingly notes that while they're willing to scare people or destroy their tools instead of attacking them directly, they're also willing to kill innocents or destroy entire settlements if they believe there is no other way to resolve a situation, and they don't tend to think clearly enough to consider other ways to resolve situations when enraged by land-clearing and logging, something which gets them labeled as "shortsighted" by their fellow natural guardians.

It's a tragedy waiting to happen for which there is no easy resolution, as Boruta will not accept the loss of a single tree any more than a band of humans would concede the life of one of their own to the hunger of a tyrannical dragon. In their mind, once one life is given, what's to stop the invaders from asking for more? More space taken, more resources consumed, more lives lost to the hunger of the insatiable. It's better to snip all of it in the bud, in their minds. Unlike Arboreals, the Boruta cannot be reasoned with once enraged, and the book even notes that "if forced to choose between the lives of invaders and the lives of their plants, they will always side with nature."

Knowing that they're ferociously trying to defend their homes because they're essentially defending their families can make dealing with one a moral quandary for a soft-hearted party, but more pragmatic ones will realize that once the Boruta has chosen to destroy an encroaching civilization, it's the Plant or the people. Whether the decision is made in a minute or after three hours of furious in-character debate, the party has to make their choice of relocating the settlement or slaying the monster. More often than not, it's going to come down to slaying the monster. But how hard is that? I've been talking about their lore and beliefs for so long, so let's take a look!

A Boruta has no outstanding defensive abilities, no Fast Healing or Regeneration, no DR, and no SR, relying on the variety of status immunities granted to it by its Plant typing and whatever the players mistakenly believe about it when seeing it for the first time. None of this matters, though, because the party's never going to be able to set up for a proper full round of attacks against it; it fights in swamplands and has the casting prowess of a 7th level Druid while also having a slew of annoying spell-likes at its disposal like an at-will Entangle and the ability to, 1/day, call a Shambling Mound to its side for some extra muscle.

Other extremely annoying tricks include Spike Stones to make both retreat and advance a slow, arduous, and painful process, Obscuring Mist to block line-of-sight for anyone attacking or casting from a range, and Soften Earth and Stone, a spell which isn't especially useful in most environments but which is devastating in the swampy environs Boruta call home, where it can turn entire swaths of the map into impassable pits of sticky mud that threaten to rob anyone inside of their actions for several rounds. Boruta are more dangerous if they can stay hidden and harass groups of adventurers from afar with their spells, something they're incentivized to do with their +19 to Stealth and tendency to shroud their forms with mud, grass, and peat. A party may not even realize anything especially supernatural is going on as the ground gives way to quicksand or plants scrape at them with sharpened thorns, leaving them vulnerable to the predations of other swamp-dwellers.

When subtlety is no longer needed, the Boruta can rain destruction upon slowed, entangled, and stuck victims with reliable damage from Call Lightning (of which it prepares two castings). The pain doesn't stop if someone manages to get past all the plant's battlefield control spells to get into melee with it, thinking it won't just blast the lightning into its own square to hit the both of them, as Boruta are immune to Electricity damage! They are, in fact, empowered by it like their shambling kin, gaining 1d4 Constitution every time they're shocked, bolstering their HP totals and their Fortitude saves alike.

If forced into melee, Boruta aren't helpless as the average caster. Their two slams deal pathetic damage at 1d4+3 each (1d4+4 if bolstered by its druidic Magic Fang, a spell it can also hand to called allies), but afflict their victims with a painful Grounding Curse unless the victim succeeds a DC 20 Fortitude save. This "curse" is a supernaturally swift-growing plant that incubates in their body in a single round before vines burst from their skin, dealing 1d6 damage before entangling them and rooting them in their space, leaving them vulnerable to the swamp guardian's Call Lightning blasts or being beaten senseless by the Shamblers or any other Plant monsters the Boruta has brought into the fight via its 3/day Command Plant.

These seeds are tenacious, and succeeding the DC 10 Strength check to rip away the vines (an act that deals 1d4 damage to the victim as well) only allows the victim to move for that turn before they grow back the next round, rooting the fool in place again and again. Any effect which ends curses also ends this infestation, but uniquely so does any effect which kills or weakens plants, such as Blight and Diminish Plants... but using such magic in view of the Boruta likely just justifies its rage further, as preparing these spells is a sign you were going to use them on its territory. If it wasn't planning to kill you before, it likely will now.

With its own melee damage being relatively low, Boruta can Wild Shape as a 7th level Druid up to 3/day, an ability that not only gives it significantly more power in melee, but allows the swamp lord to scout out locales it plans to attack, disappear into the foliage, or gain access to entirely new abilities. A 7th level Druid can turn into any creature of the Animal type from Tiny to Large size (mimicking the effects of Beast Shape II), or any Small Elemental (mimicking Elemental Body I), meaning that at any time, this squishy plant man could explode into a monstrous Dire Tiger or a Giant Octopus (horrifying in its swampy home), both of which can swiftly shred through just about anyone unfortunate enough to be in their threat radius. If it needs more utility, it can shift into a Small Fire Elemental to spread wildfires through human settlements, create whirlpools as a Small Water Elemental... or retreat as an Earth or Air Elemental, if need be.

Oh yes, perhaps the most frustrating part of its kit is that if a Boruta decides it needs to leave, you're never going to catch it. Remember all that sticky mud, all those spike stones, all its conjured mists, and the infinite entangling plants? Imagine trying to catch a fleeing monster through those. A monster with Pass Without Trace as a constant effect. A monster that can turn into mice, or hide among the forest with Tree Shape. A monster that has access to healing magic. A monster with a rage that cannot be quelled once roused, cannot be reasoned with because its judgment is too alien to relate to, and the power to hold grudges for its entire life.

Druids who inhabit lands hosting a Boruta often tell hopeful settlers it's easier to go around a swamp than to build a path through it, and they aren't kidding. Especially kind druids may even help the effort to move, lest they also draw the avenger's wrath for not preventing the settlers from settling! It's just kind of stressful for everyone. Everyone except the animals, they're all fine.

You can read more about them here.

[monstersdownthepath]

This is more or less exactly what I was looking for, thank you! @bi-hop in the replies to this post also mentioned Torag's lore changing in Divine Mysteries, a book I DO own, and reading THAT does offer Torag--and the dwarven royalty of times long past--a lot more nuance than before.

I've heard that the Sky King's Tomb AP contains cultural details about the interactions between dwarves and orcs, from historical to modern-day. I haven't picked up copies of the AP myself, but what does that look like?

[monstersdownthepath]

Fun Pathfinder lore, presented succinctly as possible:

[monstersdownthepath]

I've heard that the Sky King's Tomb AP contains cultural details about the interactions between dwarves and orcs, from historical to modern-day. I haven't picked up copies of the AP myself, but what does that look like?

[monstersdownthepath]

Weird Idea I wanna know if it's too niche

A Sahkil tormenter based on the Fey; specifically the bizarre unlogic,alien morality and causal way they warp reality. The first world IS a place where the laws of physics are more like a suggestion and reality is malleable like wet clay.

Probably take inspiration from scp 4000 alongside Alice in Wonderland. But played for surreal horror, the Mad Hatter's Mad Tea Party for example would be an excellent inspiration.

Basically,is a fey Sahkil too niche or no?

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That's getting into territory that's a bit too niche and redundant, considering the abundance of Fey who themselves enjoy inspiring terror and spreading death among mortals! I would cut out the middleman and just make it a Fey Noble/Archfey/Eldest Fey of terror unless you really, really want it to be a Sahkil. You could have it be a sahkil who was formerly a psychopomp in charge of escorting the rare fey soul to the afterlife when one perished outside the First World, only to be corrupted or go mad.

[monstersdownthepath]

So question, since in pathfinder Quiploths are in effect the embodied malevolent aspects of chaos and the natural world without mortal sin or souls. What do you think can be done for an analog to them in the Lawful evil realm of Hell would be? If one doesn't already exist. I have ideas for like embodied aspects of essentially natural law and innate hierarchies and relationships turned towards malevolent ends. Not like devils since devils are related to mortals and mortal sin. Like the natural injustices and horrors that occur simply because reality is the way that it is. Like a creature that embodies the innate cruelty of the selection pressures that cause evolution.

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You'll be happy to know that it not only exists, but it's one of my favorites! And while he claims to be an Archdevil, many have their own theories about the truth to his identity; my personal favorite, and the one that makes the most sense to me, is that he is a Qlippoth Lord that went Lawful.

Barbatos is an Archdevil representing the innate cruelty required for nature to continue its function. Much like the ask I just answered below, he is present in every predator, parasite, and homicidally territorial herbivore as the savagery required to create an environment that can remain in perfect, perpetual balance. The strong triumph, the weak are culled, and all creatures fall into a proper niche, like a well-oiled machine that only grows more beautiful over time as its pieces and parts gradually evolve.

If you want more canon Lawful Evil fiends with similar themes, here's a pair:

Morrobhan the Parasite Seed. Morrobhan is a parasite that infuses portions of itself into every "perfect" creature it encounters, and its followers regularly quest to find (or create) perfect creatures for it to inhabit, scouring countless worlds and forcing captured beings to fight to the death for the honor of being the Demagogue's host.

Also a Velstrac Demagogue, Raetorgash the Skull-Hoarder is also interested in evolution, though her "evolution" is far more scientifically guided. It's not known exactly why she's performing planet-wide eugenics experiments, but it certainly has something to do with whatever secrets she sees when she gazes into the empty eye sockets of her skull archive.

And one names with less lore:

Barbariccia, the Fearsome Father, a Malebranche whose areas of concern include predators and slaughter, and who is said to have sired an entire army on his own.

[monstersdownthepath]

Something that I realized after browsing through Bogleech and then going into Pathfinder lore is the amount of evil deities associated with parasitism like Ghlaunder.

While parasites are no fun for the people infected with them. They do play a vital role in ecosystems and I am disheartened that natural creatures are so demonized.

I’s like a neutral deity associated with the concept of symbiosis Including parasitism, mutualism, and communalism.

Who instead represents all different ways creatures can live with each other and isn’t into turning people into Last of Us Zombies Fungi.

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The unfortunate truth of it all is that though parasites serve a useful role in the world, it's always going to be seen as unpleasant due to the negative effects many parasites have on their hosts. It is all true, that the humble mosquito does not know it spreads malaria, nor does the leech have the capacity to consider the effects of its saliva on the wounds it causes, and the endless varieties of ticks and lice feeding upon the blood and skin of every species are no more malevolent than butterflies and pillbugs. Yet, our instincts tell us to swat and kill and destroy these creatures if we find them feeding from us, because despite the mosquitos actions being motive for survival, so is us swatting them.

Millions of years of evolution tell us that finding a parasite on our body is a problem which must be rectified as soon as possible, and the bones of billions who've died from such infestations is a sign that we're right. Predators play an important role in the ecosystem, as well, and in there is roughly the same push and pull; it is their right to prey upon creatures they catch, just as it is the right of prey to fight back and potentially wound or kill their attacker.

A Neutral deity that lauds parasites would recognize this and not begrudge mankind for it. All beings have a right to live, and oftentimes this requires the pain or death of another. Such is nature! Mutualism and symbiosis would be a much easier sell for a casual worshiper, but you could easily make a Neutral deity that represents all such aspects, including the unpleasant ones. The end goal for such a deity may be the creation of a truly unified ecosystem, where all beings work in harmony with one another as though they were the cells in a singular body.

NOTE: This hypothetical deity, and also myself, would like to remind the readers that despite swatting mosquitos being perfectly okay and an expected reaction, demanding the extinction of mosquitos entirely is a very very very very very bad idea. Do Not Do This. Let your dislike of parasites be rational, and do NOT get rid of a keystone species locking together thousands of different links on the food chain!