#spartoi's bone seeds

[thenightfolknetwork]

Want more bones? Want enough bones to replace your entire skeleton bone by bone? Want to have an existential crisis about whether the bones inside you are your skeleton or whether the bones you replaced and put back together outside yourself are? If the answer to any of those questions is yes, why? But also: You Need Spartoi’s Bone Seeds. Get boning!

Got Bones? (Printable)

Hey, I made a printable .PNG version of that “got bones” flyer if anyone wants to make a few copies to hang up in real life and cause some minor chaos around their town. Have fun, feel free to send me pics if you stick it up anywhere

[monstrousproductions]

Hello! Bit of a silly question really but I was wondering if you had a favorite line from the podcast? Either silly or serious

not a silly question at all, i love it! my favourite line to deliver was, people will be unsurprised to hear, from the Spartoi's Bone Seeds advert in E53. "want more bones??" nearly killed me but the real winner was "if the answer to any of these questions is yes.... why?!"

my favourite serious line is from way back in E05 because it feels like it sums up the show - "normal was never an option"

[monstersdownthepath]

Theme Bestiary: Spartolos

CR 6

Neutral Evil Medium Undead

Pathfinder Adventure Path: Council of Thieves: The Infernal Syndrome, pg. 88~89

Most famously raised by Jason during his quest for the Golden Fleece, the Spartoi--or Spartolos, as they’re known on Golarion--were originally fought by Cadmus, the first of the Greek heroes. These CR 6 warriors spring fully formed from the soil when the teeth of a great dragon are planted, though most of the time mortals will have little luck making anything but holes in the ground unless they magically treat the teeth first, typically costing about 1,600gp in reagents and only causing the creature to rise for an hour before crumbling into a useless pile of bones unless the teeth were taken from a particularly powerful dragon. 

Though Spartolos can also crumble into a useless pile of bones at will with their Disjoin, looking no different than a pile of old bones and tarnished equipment until they use a move action to suddenly snap back together and catch their foes by surprise. Intelligent and cunning, Spartolos are geniuses in the field of combat, far above that of the typical skeleton or zombie and typically use their Disjoin to make enemies think they’ve won, only to stab them in the back the moment the opportunity presents itself. They rise from the ground with perfectly functional weapons and armor but can be outfitted with almost anything due to their competence with a number of melee weapons, potentially making them even greater threats than before... and if someone (like the villain) just so happens to have a whole sack of Spartoi Teeth, things get a hell of a lot worse.

Spartolos excel in working together, functioning with instinctual cohesion and cooperation that allows them to get a +4 bonus to their attacks rather than +2 when flanking foes with others of their kind, and any channeled energy directed at them has its damage reduced by 5, plus an additional 5 for every other Spartolos within 10ft. A Cleric hoping that a single, powerful channel would take the whole group out will find that they can drop channel damage to 0 if enough of them are nearby, leaving the caster at the mercy of their weapons. Casters in general can have problems with these resilient skeletons, as they also possess Spell Resistance 17, and even disarmed they can slash with a pair of bony claws for 1d4+4 damage each. With Improved Disarm themselves, they’ll often rip weapons from enemy hands before laying into them, especially if an enemy has a bludgeoning weapon, which bypasses their DR 10.

Creating a permanent army of Spartolos is a little beyond the power of most mortals, but a sack of Spartoi Teeth found in an ancient tomb or a shady vendor usually contains about 2d4 of these special “seeds.” They’re creatures who have rather plain stat blocks, but between their superior cooperation and their resistance to magic and positive energy, they make for excellent and dangerous encounters nonetheless if the DM plays them like the intelligent tacticians they are.

You can read more about them here.

[dwollsadventures]

Daily D&D Monster: Helmed Horror

Hidden beneath a bronze helmet and iron face-mask is a horror beyond mortal comprehension. Spartoi are among the most feared creatures one can manufacture, as the recipe is so evil no one would even think of starting it. To create one, a black dragon must be slayed, totally and utterly, then the teeth have to be taken and planted in soil like seeds. Then they have to be watered with the blood of a friend, sacrificing one life for an invincible army. The resulting warriors are so bloodthirsty and depraved that they must be forced to eliminate each other, exhausting the remaining warriors enough to be able to take orders. Spartoi will do anything. They don't have morals, and they have no qualms about working without pay, food, or even sleep. Their bones never degrade and their armor never rusts. While some historical sources say the founders of Thebes were spartoi, those who've worked with them might find this hard to believe.