#level 20 eight players 5 boss creatures

[foldbaron]

[pathfinderunlocked]

Reverse Scylla - CR15 Aberration

Scylla, but it’s the Final Fantasy version with the wolf parts on the top and bottom, and the lady parts in the middle.

Artwork is concept art from Final Fantasy 14, copyright Square Enix.

I also enjoy Yoshitaka Amano’s concept art from Final Fantasy 3, copyright Square Enix.  It’s much rougher than the above art, but it’s also a lot more feral and dangerous looking.

Some of the mechanics of this creature’s abilities are based on the FF3 and FF14 boss fights, although it was very much just a spellcaster in both of those games.  In Pathfinder 1e, though, when something has 6 wolf heads and 8 claws, it’s definitely not a pure spellcaster, no matter how good its spells are.

The original Final Fantasy 3 Scylla is the guardian of a magic staff - actually a spirit sealed inside the staff, which manifests and wields the staff against the heroes to test them before they’re allowed to use it.  It’s not actually a villain, so I gave it a lawful neutral alignment, although the Final Fantasy 14 incarnation is a creature of darkness in the Final Fantasy equivalent of the Shadowfell.

When this creature uses Elder Barrier, it tries to follow it up immediately with Elder Daybreak, although it has to wait 1 round because it’s staggered on the next round.  If players can burn through its temporary hit points in 2 rounds, they can prevent the Elder Daybreak spell, although it’s probably safer and simpler to just move away.

Its Lawful Staff is mostly useful for casting Order’s Wrath, which it does if several targets are grouped up.  A PC who obtains this staff doesn’t take any penalty on spellcasting due to its size, but probably can’t use it like a quarterstaff the way they can with most magic staves.  If you use this creature as a guardian for a magic staff, feel free to replace the Lawful Staff with whatever staff you want to give the players, and either have it magically reduce in size after the fight or have the reverse scylla simply be holding a medium-sized staff.

You probably want a pretty big battlefield for this boss fight.

Reverse Scylla - CR 15

The six-headed, eight-legged wolf-like being towering 20 feet tall has a lower body that looks like four wolves merged together, the upper torso of a muscular giant woman with bronze skin, and six wolf heads snapping fiercly in different directions.  She’s holding a magical staff, and wearing a large flowing silk dress with an armored torso plate.

XP 51,200 LN Huge aberration Init +5 Senses all-around vision, darkvision 60 ft., keen scent 180 ft., low-light vision, read magic, see invisibility; Perception +27

DEFENSE

AC 26, touch 14, flat-footed 20 (+6 armor, +1 armor focus, +5 Dex, +1 dodge, +2 natural, +4 shield, –2 size); +2 deflection vs. chaos hp 261 (18d8+180); fast healing 5 Fort +14, Ref +13, Will +17; +2 resistance vs. chaos Defensive Abilities legendary resistance, six minds Resist force 10 Immune charm/compulsion/possession effects from chaotic sources SR 26

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft. Melee 6 bites +17 (1d8+6 plus trip), 8 claws +12 (1d6+3) Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft. (5 ft. with claws) Special Attacks ancient flare mark

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 18th; concentration +26)     Constant—read magic, see invisibility, shield, protection from chaos     At will—acid arrow (ranged touch +16, 5 rounds), elder orbs (DC 24), greater dispel magic, magic missile (5 missiles)     3/day—elder barrier (see text), elder daybreak (see text), identify, quickened magic missile (5 missiles), summon (level 6, 1 golden guardian)     1/day—ancient flare (see text)

Lawful Staff Spells (CL 18th)     10 charges—align weapon (lawful only, 1 charge), detect chaos (1 charge), magic circle against chaos (2 charges), order’s wrath (2 charges, DC )

STATISTICS

Str 22, Dex 20, Con 29, Int 27, Wis 23, Cha 16 Base Atk +13; CMB +21; CMD 37 (49 vs. trip); +2 deflection vs. chaos Feats Armor Focus (chain coat), Combat Casting, Combat Reflexes, Craft Staff, Dodge, Lightning Reflexes, Toughness, Power Attack, Quicken Spell-like Ability (magic missile) Skills Climb +24, Intimidate +24, Knowledge (arcana) +29, Knowledge (dungeoneering, history, local, planes, religion) +26, Linguistics +12, Perception +27, Sense Motive +26, Spellcraft +29, Use Magic Device +21 Languages Aboleth, Abyssal, Aklo, Celestial, Common, Cyclops, Elven, Draconic, Dwarven, Giant, Gnoll, Infernal, Sphinx, speak with animals (canines only) SQ intelligent verbal spellcasting, recharge staff, undersized armor, undersized weapons Gear +2 large-sized chain coat, large-sized lawful staff

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Ancient Flare Mark (Su) Once per day, as a swift action, a reverse scylla can mark a 30-foot radius within short range (usually 70 feet) as the targeted area for its Ancient Flare ability.  This marked area is clearly visible as a globe of pulsating, burning light, and lasts until the end of the reverse scylla’s next turn.  After using Ancient Flare Mark, a reverse scylla’s turn immediately ends, even if it has additional actions remaining.

On the following round, a reverse scylla can use no other move, standard, or full-round actions except for Ancient Flare.

Ancient Flare (Sp) Once per day, as a full-round action, as a spell-like ability, a reverse scylla can cast Ancient Flare.  It must choose the targeted area 1 round beforehand, using Ancient Flare Mark.

The reverse scylla targets the 30-foot radius previously marked with Ancient Flare Mark, which must be within short range (usually 70 feet), which explodes with destructive light that disintegrates creatures.  All creatures and unattended objects within this area take 1d6 force damage per caster level (usually 18d6 force damage), and the reverse scylla can choose up to 2 attended objects that each target is carrying to take the same amount of damage.  A Fortitude save (usually DC 27) halves the damage.  This spell does half damage to objects, as usual for energy damage vs. objects.  Magic items are granted their own Fortitude saves, and can use the wearer’s save bonus if it’s higher; see the rules for damaging objects.

This is a disintegration effect.  A target killed or destroyed by this spell is reduced to a pile of fine dust.  This spell affects even objects constructed entirely of force, such as forceful hand or a wall of force, but not magical effects such as a globe of invulnerability or an antimagic field.

Treat this as a 9th-level evocation spell with the light and force descriptors.  Spell resistance applies.

Elder Barrier (Sp) Three times per day, as a full-round action, as a spell-like ability, a reverse scylla can cast Elder Barrier.  It gains 10 temporary hit points per caster level (usually 180 temporary hit points) and 1 temporary point of legendary resistance (see Legendary Resistance, below), which last for 3 rounds.  Additionally, while these temporary hit points last, a visible magic barrier appears with a 50-foot radius, initially centered on the reverse scylla.  This barrier does not move with the reverse scylla.  The reverse scylla and its allies gain 5 points of resistance to all energy damage and fast healing 10 while within this barrier, and attacks that pass through the edge of the barrier are treated as if the target has improved cover (+8 AC).

If the temporary hit points or the temporary points of legendary resistance granted by Elder Barrier are depleted, all effects of Elder Barrier end immediately.

A reverse scylla is staggered on the round after it casts Elder Barrier.  While it has these temporary hit points, a reverse scylla can cast Elder Daybreak.

Treat this as a 6th-level abjuration spell.  Spell resistance applies to the beneficial effects to allies within the barrier.

Elder Daybreak (Sp) Three times per day, as a full-round action, as a spell-like ability, a reverse scylla can cast Elder Daybreak.  It can cast this spell-like ability only while it has temporary hit points from Elder Barrier and is within the area of Elder Barrier, and doing so ends the effects of Elder Barrier.

The reverse scylla releases a massive wave of deadly light centered on itself, dealing damage to all targets except for itself within the area of Elder Barrier, and sickening and blinding them for 1d4+1 rounds.  The damage is equal to half of the temporary hit points that the reverse scylla has remaining from Elder Barrier.  Half of this damage is force damage and half of it is untyped.  A Fortitude save (usually DC 26) halves the damage, and reduces the duration of the sickened and blinded effects to 1 round.

A target within a sphere of protective energy created by the Elder Orbs spell is not sickened or blinded by this effect.

Treat this as an 8th-level evocation spell with the light and force descriptors.  Spell resistance applies.

Elder Orbs (Sp) As a standard action, a reverse scylla can create several 5-foot-wide crackling energy orbs.  It can create a number of orbs up to 1/4 of its caster level (usually 4 orbs), choosing a different creature as a target for each orb.  Each orb is created in a location at least 60 feet away from the chosen target, and must be created within medium range of the reverse scylla (usually 280 feet).  Only one orb can target a single creature, even if the orbs were created by different castings of the spell or different reverse scyllas.

Each orb moves at the start of its target’s turn, flying 40 feet towards its target.  The orbs home in on targets intelligently, moving around walls and barriers if necessary.  If an orb collides with its target or any other creature, it explodes, and the creature and all other creatures and unattended objects within 10 feet take 3d6 force damage and 3d6 electricity damage.  A Reflex save (usually DC 23) halves the damage, but a target struck directly by an orb automatically fails its saving throw.

When an orb collides with a target, it disappears, leaving behind a stationary sphere of protective energy with the same radius as the explosion.  Any creature or object within this sphere of protective energy has 30 force resistance and 30 electricity resistance, and cannot be sickened or blinded by spells or effects with the light descriptor.  This sphere of protective energy lasts for 1 minute, or until it has negated 30 points of damage.

An orb disappears if it doesn’t reach its target within 4 rounds.

Treat this as a 5th-level abjuration spell. 

Intelligent Verbal Spellcasting (Su) A reverse scylla uses Intelligence, not Charisma, as its spellcasting ability score for its spell-like abilities.  This affects its concentration checks, spell DCs, and the effects of some spells.

Additionally, unlike normal spell-like abilities, all of a reverse scylla’s spell-like abilities have verbal components.

Legendary Resistance (Ex) A reverse scylla has one point of legendary resistance per day.  Whenever it fails a saving throw, it can spend this point of legendary resistance, or spend a temporary point of legendary resistance that it gains from the Elder Barrier spell, to automatically succeed instead.

Recharge Staff (Su) A reverse scylla can recharge 1 charge to a magic staff each day when it regains its spell-like abilities.

Six Minds (Su) A reverse scylla has six heads, which normally act and think in unison.  Whenever a reverse scylla is subjected to a mind-affecting effect, it can choose to suppress the effect by shutting down one of its heads, losing access to 1 of its bite attacks and reducing its caster level, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma by 2 for the duration of the mind-affecting effect.  This reduced Intelligence lowers the saving throws of all its spell-like abilities by 1.  If all of its heads are shut down in this way, a reverse scylla falls unconscious.

A reverse scylla takes the same penalties if any of its heads are cut off or destroyed (such as with a vorpal weapon).

Undersized Armor (Ex) A reverse scylla wears armor as if it were a creature one size category smaller.

[candyradium]

Finally got around to typing up my Technoblade D&D build!!! I’ve been working on making these for a lot of the Dream SMP characters, and I thought it would be fun to have him in stat block format, so you too can throw c!Technoblade at your players as a final boss! (Disclaimer: I don’t know how accurate the CR level is, I just set it to 8 since the build is a lv8 build PC build.)

Image description and explanation/rambling below the cut!

[Image ID: A D&D stat block for Technoblade. It reads:

Technoblade

Medium humanoid (firbolg), Lawful Neutral

Armor Class: 18 (Half plate, defense fighting style)

Hit Points: 72 (8d12+24)

Speed: 40 ft.

STR: 18 (+4)

DEX: 14 (+2)

CON: 16 (+3)

INT: 14 (+2)

WIS: 13 (+1)

CHA: 6 (-2)

Saving Throws: Str +7, Con +6

Skills: Athletics +7, Intimidation +1, Perception +4, Survival +4

Damage Resistances: bludgeoning, piercing, slashing

Senses: passive Perception 14

Languages: Common, Elvish, Giant, Goblin

Challenge: 8 (3,900 XP)

Innate spellcasting. Technoblade's innate spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 12). He can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:

1/short rest each: detect magic, disguise self

Speech of beast and leaf. Technoblade has the ability to communicate in a limited manner with beasts and plants. They can understand the meaning of his words, though he has no special ability to understand them in return. He has advantage on all Charisma checks he makes to influence them.

Powerful build. Technoblade counts as one size larger when determining his carrying capacity and the weight he can push, drag, or lift.

Unarmoured defense. When not wearing any armour, Technoblade's defense equals 15. He can use a shield and still gain this benefit.

Reckless. At the start of his turn, Technoblade can gain advantage on all melee weapon attack rolls he makes during that turn, but attack rolls against him have advantage until the start of his next turn.

Great weapon master. When Technoblade scores a critical hit with a melee weapon or reduces a creature to 0 hit points with one, he can make one melee weapon attack as a bonus action. Additionally, before Technoblade makes a melee weapon attack with a heavy weapon that he is proficient with, he can choose to take a -5 penalty to the attack roll. If the attack hits, he adds +10 to the attack's damage.

Warrior of the Gods. If a spell, such as Raise Dead, has the sole effect of restoring Technoblade to life (but not undeath), the caster doesn't need material components to cast the spell on Technoblade.

Divine fury. While Technoblade is raging, the first creature he hits on each of his turns with a weapon attack takes extra necrotic damage equal to 1d6 + 3.

Action surge (1/rest). Technoblade takes one additional action on his turn.

Combat superiority (4/rest). Technoblade can apply the following maneuvers using his four superiority die (d8s):

Feinting attack: Technoblade expends one superiority die and uses a bonus action on his turn to feint, choosing one creature within 5 feet of his as his target. He has advantage on his next attack roll against that creature before the end of his turn. If that attack hits, add the superiority die to the attack's damage roll.

Menacing attack: When Technoblade hits a creature with a weapon attack, he can expend one superiority die to attempt to frighten the target. He adds the superiority die to the attack's damage roll, and the target must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, it is frightened of him until the end of his next turn.

Trip attack: When Technoblade hits a creature with a weapon attack, he can expend one superiority die to attempt to knock the target down. He adds the superiority die to the attack's damage roll, and if the target is Large or smaller, it must make a Strength saving throw (DC 15). On a failed save, he knocks the target prone.ActionsHidden step (1/rest).

As a bonus action, Technoblade can magically turn invisible until the start of his next turn or until he attacks, makes a damage roll, or forces someone to make a saving throw.

Greatsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) slashing damage.

Heavy Crossbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 100/400 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d10 + 2) piercing damage.

Multiattack. Technoblade can make 2 weapon attacks.

Rage (4/day). As a bonus action, Technoblade enters a rage that lasts for 1 minute, ending early if knocked unconscious or if Technoblade's turn ends and he hasn't attacked a hostile creature since his last turn or taken damage since then. He can also end his rage on his turn as a bonus action. While raging, Technoblade deals +2 damage, has advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws, and has resistance to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage. Technoblade cannot cast spells during a rage.

End ID.]

Okay. Rambling time.

Holy SHIT I loved making this. I tend to play spellcasters or dex based characters, so it was a lot of fun to make a str character for once.

Stats first. As a barbarian/fighter and also as a force of nature, str is his highest stat. I could have made it 20, but I have a weird aversion to writing up characters with maxed out stats for some reason? Anyway, that’s what he has. He can always boost it if he takes another level in fighter. I also decided to give him pretty high intelligence and wisdom, which are rare in barbarian characters, since, y’know, their main point is to hit things very hard. But Techno is so, SO resourceful, and one of the main reasons that he’s so good at fighting is because he does his research and acquires the best items for it and puts himself in the right place at the right time. Hence the high-ish int. I feel a little bad making his charisma so low, but cha represents several things, most notably the ability to talk to people and force of personality. Also known as: how hard it is to be swayed or controlled, magically or otherwise. Remember what happened at the festival? That’s low charisma. Also I had to give him a low stat to balance the fact that he’s insanely good at so many fucking things. Why.

As a side note, when picking his proficiencies, I was using the homebrew rule that you can use your strength modifier when you roll for intimidation. So his Strength (Intimidation) check would actually have a +7, which is MUCH better than the Charisma (Intimidation) check of +1. Big strong characters are absolutely scary, damnit, and I will die on that hill.

Next up: race. I HAD to make him a firbolg. They’re connected with nature and are often portrayed with animalistic features (e.g. Caduceus Clay from Critical Role), and it means we can have both pig Techno and anime Techno, since firbolgs naturally have the disguise self spell. I just think that’s neat. They also get the ability to turn invisible! Which Techno has been doing a LOT recently! Sure, firbolgs can only do it for a turn, but it still fits.

Onto classes. Barbarian was a dead certain for Techno, honestly - his battle prowess, how he acts when he fights, it just fits so well. Even his use of potions - he gets a lot of buffs from them, increased damage and damage resistance being the two most notable and the two that best translate to D&D rage. Even speed potions - barbarians get +10ft movement speed at level 5. And barbarians are made for two-handed weapons, so obviously I HAD to give him a greatsword. The Orphan Obliterator is a deadly weapon. He also still favours swords even when axes are better in the newest version, so a greatsword was a must. Also I just really like greatswords.

I wavered a bit when picking a subclass, to be honest. I’m not really a big fan of any of the official subclasses (they don’t really fir my playstyle, which is why I homebrewed an entire new subclass for my barbarian character, but that’s a post for another day), but looking through, there were a few that could work. Originally, I picked Juggernaut - this was because of how he fought during the Dream battle, moving Dream around the arena into a more advantageous position for Techno, which is the Juggernaut’s 3rd level ability in a nutshell. They also can’t be knocked prone, and both of these things work INCREDIBLY well for skywars/bedwars style combat - staying put on this island and knocking off your opponents.

However, in the end, I decided to go with Zealot. It was inevitable after he REALLY started building his character on the Dream SMP, which is what this is mostly based on. Zealots have two main points: they follow a God, and it’s very, VERY hard to kill them.

Sound familiar?

Techno isn’t just a barbarian - he also has three levels of Battlemaster fighter. The barbarian/fighter combo is one of the best there is for sheer combat power (bested only, in my opinion, by barbarian/moon druid - those characters are actually unkillable) and the choice of Battlemaster specifically opened up so many options in combat. I had debated going with champion, just for the crit probability boost, but ultimately decided that Battlemaster was infinitely more fun. The three maneuvers were picked for a combination of reasons - they’re all incredibly useful in combat, but I also just thought they were thematically accurate and/or funny. I just had to give him Menacing Attack, because one of the few constants in Technoblade’s combat is people running the hell away from him during competitions. Feinting is for pure combat ability, and Trip is just. Really funny to me. It worked better when he was Juggernaut and literally couldn’t be knocked prone, but I just like the idea of someone using their full action to try and knock over this eight foot tall firbolg (they’re so fucking tall! This bitch is massive!) Technoblade just. Looking down at them before knocking them clean off of their feet with one swing of his Greatsword.

And finally, weapons and magical items. The magic ones didn’t actually make it onto the stat block, because I wanted it to be purely basic character building, but I absolutely had some ideas. Some of these were rolled on loot tables, some were completely homebrewed to fit Techno’s canon weapons. Guess which ones lmao.

magical heavy crossbow (use charge to fire 3 bolts simultaneously, using only one arrow, rolling an attack for each. Each target must be within 10ft of each other. 7 charges per day)

explosive bolts (10ft radius, double dice of the weapon it’s fired from, dex save)

mithral half-plate

ring of feather falling

trident of flight (attunement) (30ft swim and flight speed, 120ft flight speed when its raining)

upgraded cape of the mountebank (8 charges, 2 for misty step, 4 for dimension door) (yes it looks like his normal cape)

bag of holding

sword of life-stealing (attunement) (I don’t know why I added this except Techno’s canon sword would be VERY hard to homebrew and also he can do enough damage with a normal one so he could literally just have like a +2 or something. Do what you want)

[noblecrumpet-dorkvision]

Encounter: Ilesstra, the Venom Chemist

This is a boss/miniboss that my players will likely be facing at some point in the future, but I thought I would share because I anticipate that it will be fun. I’ve started building encounters to be a bit more puzzle-like, forcing players to recognize patterns, move around the battlefield, and make tactical decisions. This miniboss highly interacts with her lair, so I’ve included an image of it to illustrate it. The PDF for the statblock and the lair image will be available on my Patreon, but I also will have the stats, lore, and tactics here to show you.

Ilesstra, the Venom Chemist

Ilesstra is an alchemist and poisons expert that works with a criminal syndicate. She experiments with poisons in her sewer lair while brewing toxins for her employers. She is a type 1 yuan-ti malison with a hooded cobra head and wields a poisoned dagger.

Her lair is rigged with pipes that can billow out poison gas, a bit of insurance should her patrons decide to try and get rid of her but foolishly face her head on. The gas can fill one of the three "lanes" in her lair, and she can choose which one and which type of poison to use every time.

The yuan-ti has a giant pet crocodile whom she has inoculated with her poisons, rendering him immune to their effects. The crocodile wanders in the waters of the sewers, only leaping onto land to grab intruders or defend his master.

Statistics

Medium humanoid (yuan-ti), neutral evil

Armor Class 16 (natural armor) Hit Points 104 (16d8 + 32) Speed 30 ft.

STR 16 (+3) || DEX 14 (+2) || CON 15 (+2)

INT 14 (+2) || WIS 12 (+1) || CHA 16 (+3)

Skills Deception +7, Stealth +6 Damage Immunities poison Condition Immunities charmed, poisoned Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11 Languages Abyssal, Common, Draconic Challenge 9 (5,000 XP)

Innate Spellcasting. Ilesstra's innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 15). She can cast the following spells without material components:

At will: animal friendship (reptiles only), mage hand, poison spray (11th level) 3/day: suggestion

Magic Resistance. Ilesstra has advantage on saving throws against magical spells and effects.

Shapechanger. Ilesstra can use her reaction to polymorph into a Medium snake, or back into her true form. Her statistics are the same in each form. Any equipment she is wearing or carrying isn't transformed. She doesn't change form if she dies.

Ravaging Poison. Whenever Ilesstra deals poison damage with her poison spray spell, her bite, or her dagger, if the target is already poisoned, they take the maximum amount of poison damage possible on the damage dice.

Actions

Multiattack. Ilesstra makes one bite attack and one dagger attack.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage plus 10 (3d6) poison damage.

Dagger. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft. or 20/60 ft. range, one target. Hit 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage plus 10 (3d6) poison damage.

Poison Gas. If in her lair and in her yuan-ti form, Ilesstra magically pulls a lever to cause one of the three vents on one of the walls within 30 feet of her to spill a 15-foot wide, 30-foot long line of poisonous gas into the chamber. Each creature within the area must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or suffer one of the following effects of her choice.

Malice. Each creature that fails their saving throw becomes poisoned for 1 hour and is blinded while poisoned in this way.

Essence of Ether. Each creature that fails their saving throw becomes poisoned for 8 hours. Creatures are unconscious while poisoned in this way. Each creature will awaken if it takes damage or if another creature uses their action to awaken them.

Distilled Othur Fumes. Each creature that fails their saving throw takes 21 (6d6) poison damage and becomes poisoned. Poisoned creatures must repeat the save at the start of each of their turns. On each successive failed save, the creature takes 10 (3d6) poison damage. After three successes, the creature is no longer poisoned.

Legendary Actions

Ilesstra can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action can be used at a time, and only at the end of another creature's turn. Spent legendary actions are regained at the start of each turn.

Envenom. Ilesstra makes one bite or dagger attack or else casts poison spray (11th level).

Serpentine Escape. Ilesstra transforms into a snake or back in to her yuan-ti form, then moves up to her movement speed without provoking attacks of     opportunity.

Poison Gas (Costs 2 Actions). Ilesstra uses her Poison Gas action.

Kamou

Kamou is Ilesstra's pet crocodile. Although he is huge, his narrow form lets him easily move about his master's lair as well as in the water below it. Kamou has the statistics of a giant crocodile except that it is immune to poison damage and the poisoned condition. It also has the following feature as a reaction:

Guardian's Bellow. If Kamou can see Ilesstra and she is targeted with an attack by a creature, Kamou can use his reaction to bellow menacingly at the attacker. If the attacker can hear Kamou and is not immune to the frightened condition, the attack is made with disadvantage.

Ilesstra’s Lair:

Her lair is a 15 x 55 ft stone platform surrounded by eight rounded niches roughly 15 x 15 ft. The niches have grates above lightly obscured sewer water., but the western niches are open with no grates, just exposed sewage piping of varying size. She has a workbench containing vials of various chemicals, barrels and crates of reagents, and four low tables with shackles for holding live test subjects in place to experiment on before feeding them to Kamou.

When Ilesstra uses her Poison Gas action, the gas fills one of the three indicated horizontal “lanes” of her choice (see the image below). The gases emanate from pipes on the western side of the chamber, each near the ceiling (10 feet above the water,  8 feet from the floor level).

A creature can attempt to clog a pipe using cloth or some other creative method using an action and a DC 16 Sleight of Hand check. Alternatively, a pipe can be bent shut by a creature attacking it with a blunt object. Each pipe has AC 18 and 20 hit points. Reducing it to 0 hit points causes enough damage to prevent gas from escaping it.

The center of the chamber is a stone “island”, 2 feet above the water’s surface. The water, through pipes large enough for Kamou to squeeze through, encircles the stone platform, although Kamou can still only enter or exit the water via one of the three western cells.

Tactics

Ilesstra is slippery, using her Serpentine Escape to get out of tight spots and escape into the water through grates. She tries to poison trespassers using her Poison Gas. Once one, preferably two, creatures are poisoned, she will enter combat to take advantage of her Ravaging Poison trait.

As a Yuan-ti, Ilesstra can cast suggestion. This can prove useful when trying to get enemies away from her or to trick them into getting out in the open or targeting Kamou or a pipe instead of her. Heck, she could even suggest that one of the vials on her little workbench is actually a potion of giant’s strength and definitely not a vial of wyvern poison (it is).

Kamou will do his best to grapple intruders and drag them into the water or hold them in the open for Ilesstra’s Poison Gas to affect them. He tries to distract heavy hitters from attacking his master using his Guardian’s Bellow reaction.

[pathfinderunlocked]

Sin-Carver Mummy - CR16 Undead

Who dares plunder the final rest of the Sin-Carver?  Your sins are at an end.

Artwork by Adnan Ali on Artstation.

Here’s another crazy boss fight for you.

A sin-carver mummy was pledged in life to the eradication of what it perceived as sin, through any means necessary.  After great battles against both demons and humans, it was laid to rest as a hero, along with its armor and weapon.  But those who enter its tomb should beware - the forces of sin have defiled its place of final slumber, and now it rises for vengeance.

This is a high level mummy lord with the powers of both a hell knight and a cleric, and then some more unique powers on top of that.  Some of the mummy lord abilities were altered to make them more fun and dynamic.  Hopefully it’s obvious that this is designed to be a boss fight, though if you have a level 20 party and want to make them fight a group of eight of these things, I’m not going to tell you what to do.

It would be totally reasonable to give this boss a cool unique weapon, or some unique cursed armor or other cursed magic items, maybe putting its Carve Away Sin ability or Sin’s Revenge ability on a magic item.  But that would just be loot, and wouldn’t affect the encounter, so I didn’t include that in its gear.

Its constant aura sight effect lets it automatically know which target to use Smite Chaos on.  It saves the Good Fortune ability for important saving throws or other defensive rolls, and if that fails, then the Hell Knight Aegis feat is a neat alternative to legendary resistance.

It uses its Harm spells to heal itself when below half hit points, moving into an area of Lingering Sandstorm Wrath to safely heal if possible.  Even on rounds when it heals, Opportunistic Dread Bolt allows it to also do some damage as well.

If the players are trying to flee from a sin-carver mummy, it uses the Scar hex on one or more of them, and thereafter uses the Unnerve Beasts hex and the Nightmares hex on them from long distance, leaving the target cursed for defiling the mummy’s tomb.  It doesn’t use its hexes otherwise.

It lacks a typical mummy lord’s Undead Mastery ability that takes control of other undead.  A sin-carver mummy prefers to destroy other undead if they’re not already loyal to it.

Sin-Carver Mummy - CR 16

The fully armored figure rises from the sarcophagus, sword in hand.  Glowing sin runes adorn the pauldrons of his armor and the flat of his blade.

XP 76,800 Unique human mummy lord, divine scourge cleric 12 / hell knight 2 LE Medium undead (augmented humanoid, human) Init +5 Senses aura sight, darkvision 60 ft., deathwatch; Perception +17 Aura great despair (30 ft., DC 26)

DEFENSE AC 30, touch 17, flat-footed 24 (+9 armor, +1 deflection, +5 Dex, +1 dodge, +4 natural) hp 208 (12d8+2d10+140) Fort +18, Ref +12, Will +18 Defensive Abilities channel resistance +4, hell knight aegis (1/day), rejuvenation, sin’s revenge DR 10/— Immune cold, electricity, undead traits

OFFENSE Speed 30 ft. Melee +1 unholy bastard sword +21/+16/+11 (1d10+14/19-20 plus insidious mummy rot plus purging wave plus carve away sin; +2d6 vs. good creatures) or slam +20 (5d6+13 plus insidious mummy rot plus purging wave plus carve away sin) Special Attacks channel rot, hexes (blight, scar, nightmares), insidious mummy rot (DC 19), lingering sandstorm wrath (DC 26, 8d8 fire and slashing), purging wave, spontaneous casting (inflict), opportunistic dread bolt

Cleric Spells Prepared (CL 12th; concentration +21)     6th—eyebite (DC 26), greater bestow curse (touch +22, DC 26), harm (touch +22, DC 26, carve away sin) x2     5th—break enchantment, dispel evil (DC 24), dispel good (DC 24), greater contagion (DC 25), slay living (DC 25) x2     4th—divine power, freedom of movement, poison (touch +22, DC 24) x2, spit venom (ranged touch +14, DC 24) x2     3rd—bestow curse (touch +22, DC 23), dread bolt (ranged touch +14, DC 21, carve away sin ) x5, sands of time (DC 23)     2nd—aid, dread bolt (ranged touch +14, DC 21, carve away sin) x5, silence (DC 21)     1st—bane (DC 21) x8     0th—detect magic, detect poison, purify food and drink, read magic

Spell-like Abilities (CL 14th; concentration +23)     Constant—aura sight, deathwatch

STATISTICS Str 28, Dex 20, Con —, Int 12, Wis 28, Cha 28 Base Atk +11; CMB +20; CMD 37 Feats Combat Casting, Dodge, Heavy Armor Proficiency, Hell Knight Aegis, Lightning Reflexes, Martial Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword), Spell Focus (enchantment), Spell Focus (necromancy), Toughness Skills Intimidate +26, Knowledge (religion) +18, Knowledge (planes) +16, Sense Motive +24, Spellcraft +18, Perception +17, Stealth +17; Racial Modifiers +8 Intimidate, +8 Sense Motive, +8 Stealth Languages Common, Necril, Thassilonian SQ aura (evil, law), curse domain, good fortune, hell knight order (order of the scourge), hell knight armor 1 Gear +1 unholy bastard sword, mwk mithral hell knight plate, ring of protection +1, 1200 gp worth of ruby

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Hell Knight Aegis (Su) Once per day as a full-round action, a sin-carver mummy can give its Hell Knight armor the broken condition.  Upon doing so, it is affected by one of the following spells of its choice (caster level 14): break enchantment, neutralize poison, remove disease, or remove paralysis.  Once it has used this benefit, its armor must be repaired as normal to restore its full bonus to its Armor Class and return its armor check penalty to normal.

A sin-carver mummy can use this ability even if paralyzed, helpless, or otherwise unable to act.

Great Despair Aura (Su) All creatures within a 30-foot radius that see a sin-carver mummy must succeed at a DC 26 Will saving throw or be paralyzed with fear for 1 round, then shaken and unable to willingly move towards the sin-carver mummy for the following 1d4 rounds.  Whether or not the saving throw is successful, that creature cannot be affected again by the same sin-carver mummy’s great despair aura ability for 24 hours.  This is a mind-affecting paralysis and fear affect.  The save DC is Charisma-based.

Rejuvenation (Su) One day after a sin-carver mummy is destroyed, the necromantic energies that created the abomination begin to rebuild its body. This process takes 1d10 days. If the body is destroyed before that time passes, the process starts anew. After this time, the sin-carver mummy awakens fully healed in its tomb. To permanently destroy a sin-carver mummy, it must be destroyed and then its remains must be targeted by consecrate, hallow, and then dispel evil, cast in consecutive rounds and in that order.

Channel Rot (Su) A sin-carver mummy can deliver its insidious mummy rot through melee weapon attacks, its slam attack, and any natural attacks it possesses.

Insidious Mummy Rot (Su) Curse and disease—slam; save Fortitude DC 26; onset 1 minute; frequency 1/day; effect 2d4 Constitution and 2d4 Charisma damage; cure —.

Insidious mummy rot is both a curse and disease, and can be cured only by first removing the curse and then curing the disease.  Even after the curse element of insidious mummy rot is lifted, a creature suffering from it cannot recover naturally over time.  Anyone casting a conjuration (healing) spell on the afflicted creature must succeed at a caster level check (DC 26), or the spell is wasted and the healing has no effect.  Anyone who dies from insidious mummy rot transforms into a pile of sand and cannot be raised by means other than resurrection or greater magic.

Purging Wave (Su) When a sin-carver mummy performs a melee attack, it also creates a shockwave in a 15-foot cone in the direction of its target.  All creatures in this region must succeed on a DC 22 reflex save or take 2d8 force damage and be pushed back 5 feet.  Immediately after doing this, the sin-carver mummy can move five feet as a free action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity; this does not have the normal limitations of a five-foot step.  The save DC is Strength-based and includes a -4 racial penalty.

Lingering Sandstorm Wrath (Su) Three times per day as a standard action, a sin-carver mummy can exhale a blast of superheated sand in a 40-foot cone.  The blast deals 8d8 fire damage and 8d8 slashing damage and blinds targets for 2d4 rounds.  A successful DC 26 Reflex save halves this damage and negates the blindness.  The save DC is Charisma-based.

The area affected by a sin-carver mummy’s sandstorm wrath becomes filled with superheated sand particulate which floats in the air for 3 rounds.  Creatures other than the sin-carver mummy which enter this area or end their turn in it take an additional 2d8 fire damage with no save.

Smite Chaos (Su) Once per day, a sin-carver mummy can call out to the powers of law to aid it in its struggle against chaos.  As a swift action, the sin-carver mummy chooses one target within sight to smite.  If this target is chaotic, the sin-carver mummy adds its Charisma bonus (typically +9) to its attack rolls and adds +2 to all damage rolls made against the target of its smite.  If the target of smite chaos is an outsider with the chaotic subtype, a chaotic-aligned aberration, or a fey, the bonus to damage on the first successful attack increases to 4 points of damage  Regardless of the target, smite chaos attacks automatically bypass any DR the creature might possess.

In addition, while smite chaos is in effect, the sin-carver mummy gains a deflection bonus equal to its Charisma modifier (typically +9) to its AC against attacks made by the target of the smite.

If the sin-carver mummy targets a creature that is not chaotic, the smite is wasted with no effect.   The smite chaos effect remains until the target of the smite is dead or the next time the sin-carver mummy rests and regains its uses of this ability.

Good Fortune (Ex) Twice per day, as an immediate action, a sin-carver mummy can reroll any one d20 roll it has just made before the results of the roll are revealed.  It must take the result of the reroll, even if it’s worse than the original roll.

Spontaneous Casting (Su) A sin-carver mummy can “lose” any prepared cleric spell that is not an orison or domain spell in order to cast any inflict spell of the same spell level or lower (an inflict spell is any spell with “inflict” in its name).

Sin’s Revenge (Su) When a sin-carver mummy is subjected to a spell or spell-like ability that allows for a Will saving throw, and succeeds on that save, as an immediate action the sin-carver mummy can cast Bestow Curse (DC 22) as a spell-like ability on the enemy that targeted it, as long as that enemy is within 100 feet.  Bestow Curse gains a range of 100 feet when cast in this way, and requires a ranged touch attack as if being cast with the reach spell metamagic.

Opportunistic Dread Bolt (Su) When a creature moves within close range (55 ft.) of a sin-carver mummy, as an attack of opportunity, it can cast Dread Bolt as a cleric spell against that target.  A sin-carver mummy can only use this ability while it has Dread Bolt prepared as a cleric spell, and the spell is expended as normal.

Carve Away Sin (Ex) A sin-carver mummy gains a +2 profane bonus on attack rolls and deals 2d6 additional damage whenever it makes an attack to deal lethal damage to a living humanoid or evil outsider.

Scar (Su) A sin-carver mummy can hex a target to scar it.  The target may make a Will save (DC 25) to resist this hex.  The sin-carver mummy can use its Unnerve Beasts and Nightmares hexes on the scarred target at a range of up to 1 mile, and it is considered to have a body part from the target for the purpose of scrying and similar divination spells.  This scar persists through disguises and shapechanging.

The sin-carver mummy can withdraw this hex from a target as a move action at any range.  The sin-carver mummy can maintain 4 scars at once; once it reaches this limit, it must remove the scar from a current victim in order to mark another.  Effects that remove curses can remove the scar.

Unnerve Beasts (Su) A sin-carver mummy can hex a target within its line of sight (or within 1 mile if the target is affected by its Scar hex) to unnerve beasts.  The target becomes offensive to animals (DC 25 Will negates). Animals become distraught and aggressive in the victim’s presence—horses buck, dogs snap and bark, bulls charge, and so on.  The hex lasts a number of hours equal to the witch’s Intelligence modifier.  A creature that saves against the hex cannot be affected by the hex for 1 day. The reaction of the animals is a mind-affecting charm effect, but the hex on the target is not.

Nightmares (Su) Calling upon fell powers, a sin-carver mummy can hex a target within 60 feet (or within 1 mile if the target is affected by its Scar hex) that causes its sleep to permanently be tormented by terrible nightmares.  A DC 25 Will save negates this effect.  If the save is failed, the target must make a new save each night or be unable to rest, become fatigued, take 1d10 damage, and be unable to recover arcane spells.  A target affected by the sin-carver mummy’s Scar hex takes a -10 penalty on these additional saving throws each night.  This is an evil mind-affecting illusion effect.