#but I accidentally used a resize spell the other day

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Drew my sky kid sitting with @artistdove's Kurro, they are silly together

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Throne of Night Theory Builds Extras Part 2: The Aquatic Drow and Companion

This build come about by pure coincidence. I had been searching around for more art by Michael and then I came across this. At the time it never dawned on me that it was without the Fire Mountain Games on it. All I saw that Michael’s name and website attached. As such, this is an extra build that wasn’t part of the “Throne of Night” AP. At least, it doesn’t appear to be. That didn’t stop me from coming up with a build though.

I honestly have no idea what this art was originally meant to go with. The site I found it on has since closed, but thankfully I found the art before it disappeared completely and  was able to save it to my Pinterest folder so I could use it at a later date.

If anyone knows, please tell me the origin of this picture/what its intended use was. It’s really cool to look at.

After looking over the build, be sure to read my final words regarding how things may or may not go after this and “Throne of Night” in the future.

I will say that I do have one more planned entry for the “Throne of Night” AP, but it’s not regarding a build or anything like that. It’s something I’ve been putting together with other game designers and a few players. It was something far too big for me, so I invited others I trusted the opinions of. I’m not sure how long it’ll take before I do that particular post though. We’ve already been working on it for a week, and it hasn’t seen much conclusion so far.

As always, for space reasons, I’ll be cropping the encounter build.

All images shared here were done by the forever fantastic and amazingly talented Michael D. Clarke, aka SpiralMagus

I do not have a Patreon or a Kickstarter, but I do have a Ko-Fi page (linked) for those who are looking to support me monetarily. There is no pressure or obligation to do so.

Finally, before I get to it, I hope everyone’s staying safe right now.

When I found this picture, I had just started up the builds for Book 5, when the PCs were traveling the Sunless Seas, and I absolutely thought this was someone who would aid the party in discovering what happened to all the kidnap victims, and not a random picture that was meant to be used for something else entirely separate from this AP. Well, for the purposes of this build, that’s its new intended designation.

The best part is because this build is completely extra, that means it’s entirely for fun and doesn’t need to conform to the OGL rules that the others would have to. To publish sources outside the official company, you need special permission to use non OGL material, or reproduce everything in its entirety. For example, a feat that’s not OGL would need to be placed in a side bar on the same page, a nearby page, or at the back of the book. In my experience,  when I first started, I unfortunately put a publisher or two in that predicament without realizing. I’ve since been told what consequences my actions have had with their books. It’s not necessarily a problem, but it does add unnecessary word counts to books that tight printing guidelines, so I knew there’s no way Gary would put himself in the position. But this? All bets are off, and it was fun to colour outside the lines, even if just a little.

I will say that had I not figured out that this wasn’t AP related, I had honestly considered doing a summoner build with the eidolon looking like a variant version of the hippocampus. Why? Because the drow had read up on them, they seemed cool, and she really wanted one. Instead, we get a druid and her actual hippocampus. I’m surprisingly happy about this change.

Despite this being a Book 5 build, she’s only a CR 15. The PCs are supposed to be level 14-16 during this time, and I didn’t want to make her so powerful that she’d be capable of possibly soloing encounters on the PC’s behalf. I mean, she is a controller type build with lots of summoning potential, and doesn’t really involved with fights personally, although she’s still capable in her wild shape.

Unlike the gug slave, who is meant to fight the party first, then be won over and unleashed upon its slavers, this drow is meant to be an ally right out of the gate. An ally that might be willing to share her discovery of a secret area that might just eventually lead to the sealed doors of the trapped demigod lich.

Slight tangent: Book 7 was going to be an “extra adventure” that was unlocked in the Kickstarter, where you discovered the demigod lich and apparently gained his phylactery and became a lich as well? Maybe stole the lichdom? I honestly wish I could say that anything regarding that encounter or discovery of location is mentioned anywhere, but sadly it’s not. At least not that I ever found. Just art for the phylactery, the lich, and the lich disintegrating? Losing power? You can see more of that in my Phylactery Guardian build. What was seen, however, was when Gary released the “world map”, there’s a spot all unto itself called the Hidden Sea. It’s my belief that that’s where the lich resides. Sadly, with the Fire Mountain Games site gone, so it the map. Thankfully, a much smaller, resized one was put up on /tg/, renamed “Underground Seas map.“

As for this drow’s story, she’s just a drow that loved the Sunless Seas, and felt drawn to it, and wanted to explore it during her younger years. A few years ago, she discovered a wounded hippocampus that had somehow been swallowed up by the above waters and dragged down the underground seas. She saved it, nursed it back to health, and they’ve been inseparable ever since.

QUILDAN BAENERVS    (CR 15; 51,200 XP) Female drow aquatic druid 16 CN Medium humanoid (aquatic, elf) Init +2; Senses darkvision 120 ft.; Perception +8 DEFENSE AC 18, touch 13, flat-footed 16 (+4 armor, +1 deflection, +2 Dex, +1 shield) hp 111 (16d8+32) Fort +13, Ref +10, Will +18; +2 vs. enchantments Defensive Abilities deep diver, resist ocean’s fury +4; DR 8/slashing or piercing; Immune sleep; SR 21 Weaknesses light blindness OFFENSE Speed 30 ft., swim 30 ft. Melee +1 shortpear +15 (1d6+3/x3) Ranged mwk light underwater crossbow +15 (1d8/19–20) or      +1 shortpear +15 (1d6+3/x3) Special Attacks wild shape (level –2) 7/day Druid Spells Prepared  (CL 16th; concentration +22)   8th—earthquake, word of recall   7th—animate plants, heal, mass cure moderate wounds   6th—antilife shell, greater dispel magic, mass bear’s endurance, mass bull’s strength   5th—animal growth, blessing of the salamander, cure critical wounds, death ward, raise animal companion   4th—atavism, echolocation, freedom of movement, rusting grasp, thorn body   3rd—cure moderate wounds, greater longstrider, thorny entanglement (R-DC 19), water breathing (already cast on companion), wind wall   2nd—aquatic cavalry, barkskin, beast speak, resist energy, tar ball   1st—blend, bristle, goodberry, heightened awareness, speak with animals, wave shield   0 (at will)—detect magic, guidance, mending, read magic Spell-like Abilities (CL 16th; concentration +18)   Constant—endure elements (cold only)   1/day—dancing lights, darkness, faerie fire STATISTICS Str 14, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 8, Wis 22, Cha 14 Base Atk +12; CMB +14; CMD 27 Feats Augment Summoning, Divine Interference, Evolved Companion (cold resistance), Monstrous Mount, Monstrous Mount Mastery, Mounted Combat, Natural Spell, Spell Focus (conjuration) Skills Handle Animal +15, Heal +13, Knowledge (geography) +8, Knowledge (nature) +10, Perception +17, Ride +14 (+16 to stay in the saddle), Spellcraft +6, Survival +14, Swim +14; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception, +8 Swim Languages Druidic, Elven, Undercommon SQ aquatic adaptation +8, amphibious, poison use, nature bond (companion), nature sense, natural swimmer, timeless body, wild empathy (aquatic or water subtype only) +10 Combat Gear lesser extend metamagic rod, wand of air bubble (5 charges), wand of cure light wounds (39 charges); Other Gear +1 wild studded leather, darkwood buckler, +1 short spear, masterwork light underwater crossbow with 20 bolts, mithral dagger, belt of incredible dexterity +2, cloak of resistance +2, headband of inspired wisdom +4, ring of protection +1, aegis of recovery, assisting gloves, elixir of vision, polymorphic pouch, spell component pouch, diamond (worth 5,000 gp), 236 gp SPECIAL ABILITIES Aquatic Wild Empathy (Ex) An aquatic druid’s wild empathy functions only on creatures that have a swim speed or the aquatic or water subtype; however, she can improve the attitude of any such creature with Intelligence 2 or less regardless of type, including mindless creatures. Deep Diver (Ex) An aquatic druid gains DR/slashing or piercing equal to 1/2 her level. This damage reduction also applies against spells and spell-like abilities that inflict damage by grappling or crushing (e.g., black tentacles, crushing hand). She never takes pressure damage from deep water. Poison Use (Ex) Drow are skilled in the use of poison and never risk accidentally poisoning themselves. Drow favor an insidious toxin that causes its victims to lapse into unconsciousness—this poison allows drow to capture slaves with great ease. Drow Poison—injury; save Fortitude DC 13; frequency 1/minute for 2 minutes; initial effect unconsciousness for 1 minute; secondary effect unconsciousness for 2d4 hours; cure 1 save. Resist Ocean’s Fury (Ex) An aquatic druid gains a +4 bonus on saving throws against spells of the water type or the exceptional or supernatural abilities of creatures with the aquatic or water subtype.

--drow’s name means “sea strider, blessed of the depths” --companion’s name means “water ally”

BRIZABBAN    (CR —; — XP) Female hippocampus N Large animal (aquatic) Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent; Perception +12 DEFENSE AC 32, touch 14, flat-footed 28 (+4 armor, +1 deflection, +4 Dex, +14 natural, –1 size) hp 97 (13d8+39) Fort +12, Ref +13, Will +9; +4 vs. enchantments Defensive Abilities devotion, evasion, improved evasion; Resist cold 15 OFFENSE Speed 5 ft., swim 80 ft. Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft. Melee 2 bites +17/+12 (1d6+8), tail slap +11 (1d4+4) STATISTICS Str 24, Dex 18, Con 16, Int 3, Wis 14, Cha 11 Base Atk +9; CMB +17; CMD 32 Feats Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Bodyguard, Endurance, Iron Will, Weapon Focus (bite) Skills Acrobatics +12, Perception +12, Stealth +4, Swim +15; Racial Modifiers +8 Swim Languages understands Undercommon SQ link, share spells, water dependency Tricks attack, come, defend, down, fetch, guard, heel, perform, seek, stay, track Gear +1 studded leather barding, amulet of mighty fists +1, cloak of resistance +1, headband of inspired wisdom +2, ring of protection +1, beast bond brand, bit and briddle, exotic military saddle SPECIAL ABILITIES Water Dependency (Ex) A hippocampus can survive out of the water for 1 minute per point of Constitution. Beyond this limit, a hippocampus runs the risk of suffocation, as if it were drowning.

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And this concludes the planned builds for Throne of Night. Anything else would honestly be just the monster stats as they are, or something with a Simple Class Template, or the Simple Advanced Template. Sadly, it’s as easy as that. At least from what I can see.

If I do any other builds, it’ll be because I had some kind of epiphany and was asked/paid to do them.

Thank you for coming with me on this journey to theory build what may have been an amazing, award-winning, underground adventure path for Pathfinder 1e.