Showing posts with label human. Show all posts
Showing posts with label human. Show all posts

Thursday, October 1, 2020

Duskwalker ghost hunter

 Duskwalkers are the spawn of monitors/psychopomps and mortals, and thus deal with matters of life and death - though their mortal nature might make them fare more prone to making mistakes.

A duskwalker tracks down the party, claiming he is a ghost hunter, and senses the taint of undeath in the camp. Apparently, one of the party members is a vampire who cheated death, but has been hiding that from the rest.
In truth, the newcomer is no ghost hunter at all - he is a charlatan, hired by the group's adversary, hired to create tension and distrust, and make them easier targets.

In the world of Scythar, duskwalkers are the only beings on the material plane able to see ghosts and spirits. However, after a bloody civil war, they are now treated as a lesser race, and are hunted down.
The Guardians, an order of champions dedicated to protecting the world from supernatural threats, have heard a prophecy foretelling the advance of an entire army of spirits coming to eat the mortals' souls - but fighting such a threat without the aid of the duskwalkers spiritsense is nigh impossible. Regrettably, even those few among the monitor-kin who would be willing to help mankind have retreated into unknown sanctuaries, and just finding one is a tremendous task unto itself.

Though most duskwalkers hunt for restless spirits, some utilize their talents differently. Wahrong Whitehair styles himself a businessman and a patron of explorers, champions and heroes. In truth, his trade is tracking down the restless dead - and then selling their locations and (for an additional fee) secrets and weaknesses to would-be heroes.

Saturday, September 19, 2020

Dhampir wizard

 Preparing to do an introduction to this post, i realized one thing. Despite being a mostly pathfinder GM, and pathfinder being a combat focused rpg... i really, really love writing social/non-combat encounter ideas. Anyway, this should technically be a "family" kind of post, like the dragon posts, but since bestiary one really only gives us one member of said family, i'll stick to the traditional post format.

Two different anonymous patrons have hired The Molty Crew, a tengu band of mercenaries, to find an elusive mage. The mage turns out to be a dhampir - and the patrons, his parents. His paladin father wants to cleanse him of the vampirism and help him integrate fully into humanoid society, but must not socialize with a spawn of darkness. His vampire mother, on the other hand, wants to keep him safe in a dhampir haven - but in her world, safety is paid for with blood money and comes without any luxuries attached. For his part, Motlin the mage is notoriously bad at making decisions - and asks the tengu mercs to help him decide.

In the accursed land of Notorya, where vampires rule with an iron fang, dhampirs aren't mishaps. Instead, they are intentionally bred to be the vampires day-walking arm of the law. That is why, when a rag-covered dhampir steps out of a portal, and exclaims "come with me if you wish to save mortalkind", not many in the Mortal Liberation Army are willing to trust them. Which is a shame, as the brave five who do end up following him find that they have been transported to the Progenitor's Crypt - a labyrinthine complex that, legend has it, houses the sleeping deity of all vampirekind. Ancient lore claims that if this being is slain, all of the vampires will lose their dark powers.

A dhampir wizard looking to rid himself of his curse found an ancient artifact that split him in two. The crew he works with is now at a loss - while the vampire part kept all of the magical knowledge, it is also now a vicious and monstrous being, although one that can be bargained with. On the other hand, the humanoid half kept the undying loyalty he was known for, along with the connections in the city's shady underworld. Unfortunately, they both categorically refuse to work together ever again.

Thursday, May 14, 2020

Changeling Exile

Apparently, changelings are supposed to be a whole family of creatures, but we only get one so far - the exile, spawn of night or dreamthief hags.

The isolated, secluded town of Blackhornshire has long been a safe haven for changelings. For several decades, the secret was well kept, and the changelings' hag mothers had not shown up. Recently, however, there have been whispers of infiltration and betrayal - apparently, some of the changelings may have changed sides, and could be working to not only break the cover, but indeed, convert the rest of their brothers and sisters. A trusted group of investigators, who have helped the town before, are called in to sniff arround - but discretion will be of utmost importance.

Misfortunate Mariah was doomed to become an evildoer from the very beggining of her life - as a tiefling changeling, evil was bound to be woven in the fabric of her being. And yet, she chose a life of quiet devotion to the Emerald Gods, becoming a druid.
When the nearby town is struck with tragedy - in the form of a series of apparently ritual killings - the townsfolk are quick to accuse the poor woman. While the druid's small band of friends discover clue after clue, the people become increasingly violent towards Mariah, pushing her to lash out.
On the brink of her radicalization, as she is becomes increasingly open to the idea of unleashing her powers on the terrified people, it is revealed that the person behind the killings is none other but then her own night hag mother.

Stendra Sourheart is a changeling who takes resisting hags to a whole new level - having long ago slain her mother, she poses as a naive and lost soul looking for sisterhood, infiltrating covens, and then using her unique talents to slay the hags who form them.
A few months ago, she ended up finding something too much even for her - a coven consisting of exactly thirteen dreamthief hags, hiding in the Shard mountains. She is looking for a group of people good with swords but great with sneaking -as she intends to draw out the hags, while her allies ambush them.

Thursday, January 23, 2020

Aasimar Redeemer

Our first entry comes with some interesting baggage - aasimars are neither traditionally associated with "evil" acts, nor are they mindless monsters that can be thrown at players as random encounters with little after thought.

While we could hand wave something like that, I'd consider that a lazy and cowardly way out. In the following seeds, we will try to focus on what makes the angelic aasimars tick, while allowing for player character meddling to take its course

Angewyn Goldeye is a respected inquisitor and mage hunter, notorious among those willing to bend magic to their selfish wills for her apparent imperviousness to any spell, charm or ritual directed at her.
However, Angewyn's recent retreat from public life is secretly due to the fact that she mysteriously lost her ability to shrug off spells. She must now place her trust in a group of strangers collected from the citadel-city's underbelly, and hope that they can find a cure before her many enemies find her...

When the Faithful Five are convicted of the misdeeds they know to be the acts of the Hollow Hill Necromancer, an ugly conclusion becomes obvious - the secret identity of their nemesis, that they had been trying to figure out for months, is indeed their patron, Padre Imogen, the fair haired priest of the Holy Hearth.

While all Aasimars can force foes to feel their sins, Sir Jonathan Inferno is on a whole new level. For some reason, he can not only make sinners remember what they had done, but make them burn with pain as they realize the full extent of their actions. Fearing for their well-being, the Dukes of The Seven Isles offer a hefty sum to any adventurers willing to put Sir Jonathan down, as his trail of bodies leads him ever closer to their castles.