Bugbear Racial Paragon Path

One of the projects I was working on for 4E was a series of Racial Paragon Paths for monster races. The first one I finished was the Bugbear.

Adherent of Hruggek

“Anyone can be a brute, those with skill strike to kill in one blow.”

Prerequisite: Bugbear

The bugbear is the elite fighter of the goblin races. They serve as the brute force, tough bodyguards and sometimes as leaders of the lesser goblins. However, there are some that strive to reach a perfection in combat. Hruggek was one of their mightiest heroes. It is said he once killed three enemies at once, decapitating them with one swing. Ever since then the Bugbear have sought to emulate his martial prowess. Some take it to another level and work to hone their skills, focusing on the art of decapitation.

The techniques of the Adherents require their opponent being at their knees before the fatal swing. The obvious result is that the opponent is in a vulnerable position, but also it plays into the bugbear’s need to show their dominance. For some, this is more important than the actual kill. Many of their attacks are geared to putting their enemies on the ground and at their feet.

Adherent of Hruggek Path Features

Bully Action (11^th level): When you spend an action point your next attack that hits before the end of your next turn knocks the target prone.

Eye to Death (11^th level): Your Predatory Eye now does d8 instead of d6.

Double Fall (16^th level): When an attacker causes you to fall prone, the attacker falls prone also.

Adherent of Hruggek Powers

Here is a link to the Word file.

4E Character Theme: Cartographer

Dennis over at Spirits of Eden wrote up a nice article on the Cartographer. As I was reading, it struck me it should be a Character Theme for 4E similar to those seen recently in Dragon. Here is my version of such a Theme. I have not included the "fluff" and descriptive pieces of the Theme as I feel the Spirits of Eden article did a nice job of doing that.

If you are unfamiliar with the Character Themes as written for the Dragon (I can't deign to call it Magazine anymore), basically it is similar to the Dark Sun Character Themes with some slight variations. Its something extra a character can choose at character creation (with a slight power creep included). The character gains the Starting Feature, as well as the Level 5 and 10 Feature. In addition, there are 3 utility powers a character can choose to replace the ones they would normally get at levels 2, 6, and 10.

Cartographer

Starting Feature
You’ve seen it all before. Others may have seen the type of scale molting or curvature of a beast’s claw before, but you’ve seen the archway, corridor stonework and forest path before. You know the best way to utilize it to your advantage and to your enemy’s disadvantage. While everyone else runs in or ducks behind the occasional wall, you know how to use that which you map to its fullest potential.
     Benefit: You gain the Lay of the Land power.

Additional Features

Level 5 Feature
Where others overlook them, it’s the details you notice. Some would call you obsessive over the minor things, but you are able to see things others can not. This comes from taking painstaking measurements and keeping accurate notes. You are so good at what you do you can measure a room with your eyes alone. You also can see things that should be there, such as a hidden doorway, even when it is not readily apparent.
     Benefit: You gain a +2 power bonus to Perception checks. You also gain an additional +2 power bonus when there is a hidden terrain feature, such as a secret door or trap that can be found.

Level 10 Feature
Making maps keeps the world organized and structured. Within that structure lays knowledge as there is much which can be learned from a map. What was the intent of the designer? What was he thinking? These lessons can be applied everywhere. Also, having a map is just plain handy.
     Benefit: You gain a +2 power bonus to Insight checks. In addition, until your next extended rest, you are able to ask the GM one time for the direction to anything you have previously mapped. He will give you the general direction to the location (North, East, Southwest, etc) as well as an approximation of how far away it is.

Optional Powers

Level 2 Utility Power
One thing you have learned from map making is that there is always another way.. Where others see the impassable you can see a way through, and can then use that knowledge to your advantage.












Level 6 Utility Power
While knowledge of structural design can allow you to seek cover where the normal person can not, it also allows you see ways around the cover your opponents may be using. It may be because you are able to bounce an attack off a wall or angle a shot just right, you can make an opponent seem as if he is standing in the open.

Level 10 Utility Power
There are patterns in everything and you are able to see them. Every dungeon has its own style, feel and architecture. Soon enough you can tell what the designer has built before you even reach it, simply from what he has previously built.

Mythic Monsters-Acheri

This is part of the A-Z Blog Challenge. Herein I will be presenting a new monster that hopefully has not been seen before in any RPG game. These will be drawn from stories and mythologies found in a variety of real-world cultures.

Acheri

The song was mournful and sad. Each note was held too long and a sense of the unnatural preceded the singing. Before the singer rounded the corner its shadow was seen first, creeping along the road. Longer than a shadow had the right to be, its caster, a small child came into view. The sight of the emaciated child captured the eyes of those looking, causing them to forget the shadow...until its darkness crept over them and then it was too late.

The undead form of a child that died in pain and suffering, the Acheri seek to do the same to living children. They appear as spindly children themselves, some in better condition than others; some can pass as living with the right clothes. They often exist on the fringes of civilized settlements, preferring hilly or mountainous regions. They have a modicum of intelligence and can act subtly.

Their shadow is able to spread a horrible disease that can then spread throughout an entire community very quickly. There are fables that a person wearing something red will protect them from an Acheri. Some claim to have witnessed this, but others claim the opposite.

Acheri are fond of singing dirges. Often the visit of an Acheri is presaged by the sounds of an unknown child singing. While an Acheri is dangerous in its own right, its shadow is where its true strength lies. Let not its shadow fall upon you.

The Acheri seem to exist only to bring the pain and suffering they experienced as they died to others. Their primary targets are children, but anyone can become the object of their attacks. They are often able to mingle with a community, spreading their diseases. If they do so, they tend to avoid direct contact and if confronted they will play up the part of a frail child.

The legend of the Acheri is unique in that it is in both a Native American myth and a myth of India. According to legend the Acheri is indestructable, though according to the India myth if it is worshipped on a home made altar and the altar is removed far away, the Acheri will follow it. In the Native American myth the Acheri can be driven away by the red scarf of a wise woman tied around its neck.

Abilities
-Disease: A highly contagious disease that can spread quickly and virulently. The disease can spread during a round of combat until the entire party has it. As such it should not be too deadly and more of a damage spike.
-Dirge: This mournful singing can cause a loss of willpower.
-Shadows: Increased damage if its shadow passes over a character.

Adventures
-Disease has gripped a village. It has targeted the children primarily. Stories told lead people to believe there is an Acheri operating in the area, but thus far they have not been able to find its lair. In fact, the first child lost to the village belonged to Martha the Seamstress. However, the loss of her child was too much for her and she saw the Acheri as a replacement for her lost child. She has since taken the Acheri in as her daughter and provides the Acheri a safe haven. In her deranged mind the Acheri/daughter must be protected from those that would harm it.

-The orphanage burned down over 10 years ago, but every year on the anniversary of the horrible fire death stalks the area. Many of the children who died in the fire came back as Acheri. They spread throughout the land taking misery with them. However, they feel compelled to return to the place of their undead rising on the anniversary of their deaths…and that time is coming again soon.

-After a few random Acheri attacks, it is noticed that there is an uprise in Acheri. Further investigation reveals a slave trade in children that have been orphaned or abandoned, some even sold into slavery by destitute parents. The slavers have no patience for the weaker children and waste no resources on their well-being, allowing them to die, whereupon they simply dump the body in the nearest ditch. However, these children are rising as Acheri and plaguing the area. The characters must put a stop to the slavers after discovering they are the source of the infestation.

My original intent was to stat out the A-Z monsters, but that will be impossible for me to do within the timeframe allowed, so instead I have decided to present system neutral monsters. However, I did have this monster statted for 4E so here it is...

4E Skill Use- Insight

In my current 4E sandbox I determined the players needed some way to gauge the strength of potential opponents before they actually engage them. In a sandbox the encounters are not placed with the level of the characters in mind so it is easy to be outmatched quickly if the players are not careful.

I decided on Insight because this is more than a simple Perception; it is more about coming to a conclusion after observation. The character watches an opponent, sees how they carry themselves; how self-confident they are, how they handle their weapons, how alert and on guard they seem.
This use of the skill is used when there is a chance for conflict in a standard encounter format. It is not meant to determine if a village of 100 orcs will be dangerous (they will be). This is more for determining if the party can handle the orc guards at the gate of the village or one of the patrols around the village.


Insight

Threat Assessment

Make an Insight roll to determine how dangerous a group of potential opponents could be.

4E Ritual- Empower Magic Item

I like it when a magic item can grow with the character. Often a character can be defined by his magic item. Where would King Arthur be without Excalibur? Did he disenchant it into magic components when he got too high in level?  This ritual should allow a character the same attachment to a magic item as he levels, while still retaining a cost.

Empower Magic Item

The weapon shines with a new glow. What is old is new again.

Level: 8                        Component Cost: 120 gp, plus a magic item (see below)
Category: Creation       Market Price: 680 gp
Time: 1 hour                 Key Skill: Arcana (no check)
Duration: Permanent

Upon completion of this ritual, a magic item will gain the properties of a higher level version of the same item. Part of the component cost of the ritual is a magic item of equal or higher level to what the target item is being raised to. For example, an Elven Cloak level 7 could be changed into an Elven Cloak of level 12 and would require the sacrifice of a magic item of level 12 or higher. A magic item’s level can not be raised above the level of the ritual caster.

4E Ritual- Reincarnation

I have always liked the Reincarnation spell in previous editions. I liked the randomness of it and the fact a player could play a completely new race.

Reincarnation
Your slain comrade is alive. You reached out and touched a part of him even he did not know existed. You brought that part of him to the fore and used it to bring him back from the dead, only in a truer form.
Level: 6                         Component Cost: 100 gp
Category: Restoration    Market Price: 400 gp
Time: 6 hours                 Key Skill: Heal (no check)
Duration: Instantaneous

This ritual allows the caster to bring to life a slain compatriot in another body. You must have a part of the corpse of a creature that died no more than 60 days ago. The new form returns as if he had just completed an extended rest and is free of any temporary conditions.

The target’s soul must be free and willing to return to life. Effects that prohibit the free movement of the soul will prevent this ritual from succeeding.

Roll on Table 1 to determine the target’s new race. If a race is rolled that is the same as the target’s current race then the target stays the same race, but he will look different. A reincarnated being retains its class, feats and skills. Remove all the previous racial adjustments and abilities and then add the new racial abilities. The character retains his previous knowledge; unfortunately this means he can not speak the language of his new race unless he previously knew it.

The cost of the ritual is the same no matter the level of the target creature.

Sleeper- 4E Monster

Sleeper

When mighty empires have the will and resources to create their own monsters of war, what they create can break the laws of decency and common sense. One such empire, now lost in the sands of time, did just that. They sought to fuse the cunning and ingenuity of a man with the relentless force of a golem. They gathered their smartest artificers and ordered them to augment their finest soldiers with the magic and metal of a construct.

In one respect they created what they sought, a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. The only problem was they lost self-will and with that self-will they lost the thing that made them creative in combat. They needed to be controlled at all times. They could follow easy instructions but any deviation from a command was beyond them. They required constant control, which on the battlefield is difficult at best. Their enemies soon learned to ignore the constructs and focus their attacks on their handlers, who were alot easier to kill. The constructs lost their effectiveness and many were mothballed.
Many years passed since they were first created but several of them still exist. When first rediscovered they were given the label "The Sleepers" for lack of a better name. Smart thinkers have found ways to control them and, while they require constant commands to be effective, they are a force to be reckoned with again.

No one knows how many Sleepers still exist hidden away in lost archives, but to find one and learn how to control one gives a person great power. Woe betide the person who finds a Sleeper still following a previous command, such as "protect this area from all intruders", as they will find themselves in a battle they may not be able to win.

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Racial Ancestry

Most races tend to breed amongst themselves. It is a part of tradition and provides a certain familiarity and comfort level. Occasionally love breaks the boundaries of race. The offspring of these unions often carry the traits of both their parents. These qualities can be handed down from generation to generation. Sometimes the traits are dormant and sometimes they manifest in force, giving the select progeny abilities beyond their dominant race.
Selection of one of the following racial feats indicates there was a member of the race in your past lineage. Perhaps this personage is well known to your family or perhaps its involvement has been covered up. Either way, you have reaped the boon its blood has added to your family line.

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4E Monster- Swarm of Bees

Swarm of Bees

I am converting a Pathfinder module to 4E and this monster was in a couple of encounters. With no easy comparison monster I threw this version together. Rather than do a full writeup with Lore and such (it is only a bunch of bees after all), I simply present the stat block.

Magic Masks- 4E Magic Item

Magic masks generally have similar traits. They are made of a magical silky fabric that molds to the face of the person putting one on. The mask clings to the face under its own power and requires no string to hold it in place. Touching the mask allows it to be taken off. 1 in 20 masks have a stronger bond and will only come off if willed by the wearer.

Note: The Beast Masks come in a variety of different animals.

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Goblin DiveBomber- 4E Monster

Goblin Dive-Bomber

This type of goblin enjoys dropping down upon unwary prey from above. Within their lair they will create crawl spaces that run the length of a ceiling. Special trap doors allow them to quickly drop down upon adventurers as they pass underneath.
They hope to incapacitate their victims, but most of the time this doesn't happen, especially when they miss and hit the ground hard. As such, the goblin dive-bombers are seen as expendable. However, goblin leaders try to portray the life, however quick it may be, of a goblin dive-bomber as a highly specialized, elite fighting force.

Goblin Dive-Bomber Lore
Nature DC 18
Goblin dive-bombers hide up in the ceilings of caverns and drop down on unsuspecting adventurers. Look up!

Grau- 4E Monster

Grau

Within the Shadowfell there are hidden places and sometimes a creature will hide therein. The race known as the grau chose to do just that. They sought to find a safe place for themselves away from the other races and creatures native to the Shadowfell. They found a place deep and well hidden and named it the Grey Cleft. However, unknown to them, within it was a connection to the Far Realm. Over the years, prolonged exposure to the Far Realm altered them. They began to lose their native shape and form and began to gain the insubstantiality of shadow.

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Caedes- 4E Monster

Caedes

As the waning days of a former mighty empire came to a close, General Delin O’Mere sought for ways to stop the decline. He went to the Autumn League, a premiere guild of mages, and gave concessions for their aid in designing ways to augment his forces. One of the most powerful additions he had created were the caedes. They were specially bred to be genetic weapons of destruction.
Caedes look vaugely humanoid. They have long, slender limbs that end in long needle-like talons. Their head is elongated into a snout and they have a single bulbous, mulit-facted eye in the center of their forehead. Their skin is leathery and runs from a soft brown to deep green. They move exceptionally fast and seem to jerk as they move from a postion of complete rigidity to a sudden burst of speed. Their movements are designed for the highest efficiency; they move just enough to complete their function, and their function is to kill.
Caedes were bred to kill indiscriminately. Once let loose from their "kennels" they could not be controlled until they had killed something. There are tales of them killing their own forces if their bloodlust could not be assuaged fast enough.

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Rotting Ghoul- 4E Monster

Rotting Ghoul

The rotting ghoul is an undead barely held together. At first creation it appears much the same as any other ghoul but as time goes on parts start to rot off. Unfortunately, they have a unique and grotesque way of gaining new body parts. They can rip a missing part off another corpse and attach it to themselves, fusing with the part. They also can restore their health by eating the dead.
The lair of a rotting ghoul band usually contains a number of dead corpses both for feeding when hunting is poor but also to heal themselves if their lair is ever invaded.

Earth Guardian- 4E Monster

Earth Guardian

Earth Guardians can be summoned by those with the proper rituals to protect an area. To be more specific they are a part of the consciousness of an elemental chaos being. This segment of the consciousness is imbued into a collection of common earth or rock and given just enough sentience to allow the guardian to complete its assigned task. The original chaos being is aware of the theft of a portion of its mind, but they seldom can do anything about it.

Relentless Armor- 4E Magic Item

Years ago, a once mighty empire was in decline. Rulership was decadent and distracted from leading their kingdom. They had left the “trivial” tasks to province Governors, Governors who took advantage of the lax control to better themselves over the concerns of the empire.

Petty rebellions of subjugated lands began to spread. Incursions of evil humanoids began to penetrate the exterior of the empire. It was becoming harder and harder to maintain control. The General of the Armies, General Delin O’Mere, was beset on all sides. For some time he was able to maintain the status quo but as time kept moving forward he began to lose more troops and there was little to replenish his forces. The Battle of Shale Hill was a turning point. Despite winning the battle and stopping the invasion of the Horse Armies, the elite guard was decimated. The empire’s foremost fighting force was gutted.

General Delin sought for a way to augment his armies. If he could not do this through conscription, he knew he had to find another way. He eventually went to the Autumn League, the premiere guild of mages. He had to allow them greater concessions within the empire (some say this had a hand in the Red Cataclysm) but they gave him what he asked for. One of the greatest creations was the Relentless Armor.

He was able to equip an entire division with the armor. Even when the soldier was killed the armor would keep going. It proved its worth upon the battle field many times, but the empire did eventually fall. Suits of the armor can still be found in old ruins on occasion and are prized for their obvious value.

Gleam Shard- 4E Monster

Gleam Shard

Gleam shards are small splinters of the massive crystal found at the blurred edge between the Abyss and the Elemental Chaos. They are 3 feet long crystalline structures and shift coloring every few seconds, hurting the eyes as they do so. They are content to serve, and die for, other beings, as long as they can sow chaos in doing so.

Bonebane Skeleton- 4E Monster

Bonebane Skeleton

At first glance a bonebane skeleton looks much the same as a "traditional" skeleton. However, the bonebane has a habit of breaking its bones fairly easily, often to the detriment of the creature it is fighting, as pieces of bone remain stuck into its victim.
Creatures that create the bonebane are usually not adverse to sacrificing the bonebane in order to have it do as much damage as possible before it is destroyed.

Klagen Geist- 4E Monster

Klagen Geist

The klagen geist is a truly pitiable creature. Undead creatures exist for a number of reasons; as a curse, as penance for a sin, to fulfill an unfinished duty, as the servants of a necromancer. When an undead is killed the sprit animating it finally is allowed to move on to wherever its final resting place is, for good or ill. The klagen geist is that extremely rare type of undead, one that should have been released on its way but it can not.
The klagen geist is caught between the spirit world and the mortal one. As such, parts of its body have moved on and others have not. At first glance it looks like floating bits of flesh and bone advancing, but upon closer inspection it is revealed that the body form is simply missing large pieces.

She'tar- 4E Monster

She’tar

The she’tar are a race of humanoid insects. They have average intelligence, but to a normal human they often appear slow witted. They seldom talk. They often act without first talking amongst themselves; it seems as if they know what the others are thinking. This is not from some sort of hive mind, but rather because they are trained to know their place in their society from birth. Every action and task is accounted for. For example, the second one into a room always goes to the left and the third one always goes to the right. This level of pre-determined actions can be found in almost everything they do.
When they have a task to accomplish they do so with a resolve that can lead them to their death, as nothing is allowed to stop their attempt to complete their assigned goal.