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Showing posts with label Ancalia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ancalia. Show all posts

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Godbound: Necrotitans In Ancalia

Continuing the theme of horror in October, some unique undead monstrosities to haunt Ancalia. A few of them are semi-identical monstrosities, close enough in appearance and behavior to warrant the same stat line while others are truly unique abominations. This is a part of an old post which I'd forgotten to finish before moving on to more generic Undead.

Necrotitans

At least three of these things have been sighted in Ancalia: away from cities, for now, fortunately. Their passage across the land is more noticeable than their surprisingly elusive actions. Each of these creatures is a monstrous undead giant, warped far beyond the size and shape of any ordinary human. They wander around, away from other Husk swarms, leaving behind gigantic footprint, collapsed bridges and destroyed ruins as they lumber from location to location.
  • The Leviathan of Anderaccha: Rarely seen up close, the Leviathan appears to be a massive and bloated creature of slimy, clammy grey fused flesh that wanders in circles in the Anderaccha Lowlands. It frequently goes back into the Bay of Gojeb, which explain the barnacle and other sea life which is encrusting itself in its hide. Those who observe the creature up close will confirm that it is vaguely humanoid, but walking on all four due to it's bent shape. It's fingers are whole human torso and it's 'head' is made of a thousand fused jaws. It's motives are utterly unknown but it will attack anything it perceive as a threat.
  • The Knight of the Tower: Formerly an Ancalian Knight of the Tilahun bloodline, the Knight of the Tower is a fallen hero driven mad by grief and despair which, rumors say, went to look for a cure to the Hollowing Plague in the dark corners of the world. Whatever happened, he is now a gigantic Energumen whose innate gift of great size and strength have become twisted even more in death. Seventeen feet tall but wiry, he is a creature of fused bone, metal and stone which carries a gigantic cleaver, it's face hidden behind its old helmet. The Knight goes around murdering specific people for reasons unknown, perhaps as part of some dark curse or covenant or as some mad attempt at curing the plague. He is the most intelligent and tactical of all the Necrotitans.
  • The Plagued Matron: A hideous, corpulent abomination which was once a woman.  Monstrously swollen, obese and constantly growing new boils the size of a man's head. The Plague Matron is a monstrous giant undead with a strange desire to collect children as it move around Ancalia. As the smallest of the Necrotitans, a mere twelve feet, she is capable of surprising stealth, possibly through some miracle. She cannot speak and is mostly insane but, somehow, this creature can perceive children affected by the plague and seek them out...and eat them, crying and weeping as she does so.  She's been known to destroy entire settlements if their population of infected children reach critical mass, turning into a horrific beacon for the creature.
  • There are rumors of a fourth, fifth and maybe even sixth Necrotitans going around Ancalia in the past two or three years. Their whereabouts, origin and nature is currently unknown. Only signs of their existence being sightings, hearsay and villages devastated by what appears to be a massive creature leaving vaguely human-like footprints of enormous size. Each description of the monsters, glimpse on the horizon, differ greatly. It is unclear if the creature's form is changing or if they are indeed different monstrosities.
Necrotitans are monsters with a range of HD between 13 and 18 HD. They have all abilities and traits of Ancalian Husks and their physical might is such that they count as having Bound the Words of Might and Endurance. In practice they never really create over miracles, preferring to use the power of their Word to display god-shaking might and an indestructible nature or to overcome the physical prowess of their enemies (usually a transhuman Ancalian Knight who will quickly regret trying to stop the monster!) with raw unholy size and bulk. Their movements are extremely slow and their AC tend to be low, however.

Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Godbound: More Uncreated Abominations

The agents and incarnation of destruction, entropy and unmaking are legion. Here are a few more tables to generate some Uncreated based off the courts of Ancalia.

Art by Dope Pope.

D12
Court
Stats
General Appearance
1



Incendiary
War-Draugr with The Cold Breath (1).
Monstrously organic and animalistic., with exposed muscles or jagged spikes.
2
Titanic Beast with The Cold Breath (1).
Loudly colorful and oozing energy and viciousness.
3
Twisted Ogre with The Cold Breath (2).
Elemental and inorganic, hinting either and fire and/or weaponry.
4

Poxed
Stalking Horror
Twisted, wizened and deceptively weak-looking.
5
Lesser Eldritch with The Cold Breath (2).
Seemingly almost human but with one truly disturbing alien feature.
6
Greater Eldritch with The Cold Breath (2)
Covered in shifting shadows or made of black waxy material that shift.
7

Rotting
Stalking Horror
Almost fossilized or like a mummy in appearance.
8
Guardian Automaton with The Cold Breath (2).
Gooey, slimy and almost translucent in part.
9
Lesser Eldritch with The Cold Breath (2).
Bloated, grotesquely swollen and filled with noxious gas.
10

Shackled Court
War-Draugr with The Cold Breath (1).
Hollowed out chest or head filled with tempting (but illusory) goods.
11
Lesser Eldritch with The Cold Breath (2).
Blasphemous, animated idol with skin of gold or jade.
12
Greater Eldritch with The Cold Breath (2).
Hideously deformed man or woman in princely outfits.

Thursday, June 28, 2018

Godbound/Exalted: Random Undead Horrors (or Ancalian Husks), Part 2

We continue our journey in the realm of the damned with staples of any bestiary of the ghostly terrors of Creation.

Undead With Claws-Halloween by andibrase.

Ghost-Devils

When I first read the old Exalted: The Abyssal book and the section on ghostly powers (or 'Arcanoi') one line of powers which jumped to me immediately are those which allow a ghost to remake and reshape their form, eventually gaining the power to grow claws, horns and assume a monstrous form called a Ghost-Devil. Being a fan of the more monstrous and eldritch ghostly critters of folklore it come to no surprise the Ghost-Devils have found a place as a permanent fixture of my games as those ghostly beings who willingly reshape their bodies into weapons, ranging from reclusive monks to ghostly berserkers.

The Ghost-Devils are well-suited to representing monstrously mutated undead, possibly changed by the madness of the Uncreated Night. This unlocked in them the ability to willingly transform themselves.

Appearance Table: Ghost-Devil and either Deformed or Inorganic.

Ghost-Devil
AC: 4*
Move: 30’ Float or Walk
HD: 6
Saves: 14+
Attacks: +6 x2
Damage: 1d10+3
Morale: 11
Effort: 3
*If used as regular undead, the Ghost-Devil require magical weapons to hit and damage.

Ghost-Devils have learned to reshape their plasmic form to not only become powerful and monstrous warriors but also to anchor themselves to the realm of the livings. Ghost-Devils can assume the form of other ghosts and individuals with the exception that highly specific forms require a great amount of time and skill and cannot be done on the stop. They cannot use their combat-related gifts without transforming into their Ghost-Devil form. More advanced Ghost-Devils have more HD, obviously.
Ghost-Devil Gifts
D4
Offensive
Defensive/Support
1
Unerring Blade
Lick Your Wounds
2
Surge of Strength
Harder Than This
3
The Claw that Catch
Contempt of Distance
4
A Knife in the Dark
Fear No Steel

D6
Ghost-Devil Tactics
1
Attack the most exposed/vulnerable target.
2
Use all available actions to destroy the last foe which damaged it.
3
Dart away from danger and attempt to recuperate.
4
Regroup with allies and prepare to counter-attack.
5
Change shape and attempt to confuse foes.
6
Spend a turn reshaping it’s Ghost-Devil form.

The Monk by faustie.


Nephwracks

The dreaded Nephwracks are spectres which have turned to the worship of the dark powers of Oblivion. This devotion and the warping exposure of the forces of death and unmaking has slowly stripped these creatures of their humanity just as much as it empowered them into beings far more dreadful than their mortal selves could have ever hoped to be. They are the priests and evangelist of Oblivion.

The Nephwrack statlines offer a bit more variety in origin for use in vanilla Godbound: are they the 'relatives' or masters of the Ghost-Devils, twisted by the Uncreated Night and having learned to harness the chaotic powers for themselves and, where the Ghost-Devils changed their bodies the Nephwracks changed body and mind? Are they deliberate creations of some dark power, maybe some dreadful impossibly-powerful Made or Parasite God of Death and Oblivion? Do they form the upper echelon of an established religion which is accepted in a Realm? Are they a form of liches?

Appearance Table: Fading Humanity and either Ectoplasmic or Inorganic.


Baroque Nephwrack Rank or Title
D4
D8
Title


1
1
Bishop of
Suffering
2
Pastor of
Damnation
3
Priest of
Annihilation
4
Deacon of
Despair
5
Abess of
Madness
6
Priest of
Obliteration
7
Inquisitor of
Scarification
8
Guru of
Pain


2
1
Destroyer of
Pleasure
2
Eraser of
Life
3
Annihilator of
Meaning
4
Obliterator of
Fertility
5
Corruptor of
Sanity
6
Defiler of
Continuation
7
Undoer of
Memory
8
Executioner of
Souls


3
1
Grey
Destroyer
2
Joyous
Defiler
3
Ebony
Iconoclast
4
Pyrelight
Despoiler
5
Jade
Apostle
6
Bone
Deacon
7
Ashen
Guru
8
Void
Missionary


4
1
He/She Who Scream Joyous Praise
2
He/She Who Bring Gifts of Oblivion
3
That Which Teaches Undoing
4
The Wise Priest of Blessed Unmaking
5
The Bone And Iron-Garbed Missionary
6
Ten Thousand Lessons of Oblivion
7
The Whispering Monk Who Bring Despair
8
Pastor of the Torturous Revelations

Undead Priest by ARTek92.

Least Nephwrack
AC: 3*
Move: 40’ Float or Walk
HD: 10
Saves: 10+
Attacks: +10 x2
Damage: 1d8 Straight Magic
Morale: 11
Effort: 4
*If used as regular undead, Nephwracks require magical weapons to hit and damage.

Even the least and weakest of the Nephwrack is a dangerous and unique foe. It has been touched and changed by the powers of oblivion, giving it power and mastery over a Word. This creature is less of a true ghost and more akin to a minor godling or spirit of death. They are never encountered alone and they invariably have minions both alive and undead. Nephwracks of greater power should be modeled as Eldritch. Nephwracks are able to take two actions per turn.

Suitable gifts for the Nephwracks are best found in Death, Entropy, Fear, Madness, Murder, Underworld and Vengeance. However some more unique Nephwracks could have different approach, method or even creed and could develop gifts more suited to these thematic, such as a crusader-Nephwracks with Sword and Command gifts or an hedeonistic whore-priestess using Desire and Passion. There is no possible limit to the forms of corruption and destruction the Nephwrack bring about with their unholy evangelism.


D6
Nephwrack Tactics
1
Spend an action using Miracles to debuff/impair foes as it sing praises to Oblivion or go on some long-winded and maddening speech.
2
Use a Gift or Miracle to empower or heal undead allies. If it lack such allies, spend all available actions in a ritual/spell summon a small mob of 4 HD Hungy Ghosts.
3
Use all available actions to attempt to obliterate the most healthy foe.
4
Use Gifts or Miracles to attempt to confuse or sway to it's side the most weakened foe.
5
Use Gifts or Miracles to summon or call to it's aid more minions. If it lack such Gift by default, spend all available actions in a ritual/spell summon a small mob of 4 HD Hungy Ghosts.
6
Boost their minions with a Word, granting them an immediate extra action and inflicting 1d12 damage on all foes from the Word’s side-effects.