[C&C] New Monster: Blessed of Misery

[serleran]

Blessed of Misery

No. Encountered: 1-6 or 5-40
Size: Small - Medium
HD: 1 (d8)
Move: 20 feet
AC: 8
Attack: Fist x 2 (1d4)
Special: Pestilent, Immune to Healing, Skilled Thief, Cultist, Slow
Saves: P
Int: Low - Average
Alignment: Any Evil (Neutral)
Type: Humanoid
Treasure: Special
XP Value: 25 + 4

Blessed of Misery are an urban blight, found in the dark, forgotten places where the poor and disillusioned are left to eke a meager existence far from the polite eyes of "better society." Here, begging, theft, prostitution and other forms of illicit activity, including murder are the only viable options, and the Blessed are well versed in its arts - they have no choice. It is also where, according to the lore passed amongst their kind, that the first Blessed became... a sad recounting of an once-noble man, perhaps even a paladin, who had given to vice and craven acts, eventually becoming corrupted so thoroughly that his body developed an incurable disposition mimicking a perpetual disease, seemingly rotting. He then, to appease his benefactor and ease the intolerable pain, sought to spread his condition to others of like-minded nature, forming a cult of dedicated damned who then took leave, bearing the plague of blessed misery - there are no cities which do not house a population of Blessed.

To hide their condition, the Blessed have developed several standard procedures, disguising themselves as ordinary members of the diseased community, often appearing as lepers or plague bearers. It is unknown what dread purpose they serve.

Combat: Direct confrontation is not welcome as the Blessed are not particularly adept, though they will engage if needed; they are not cowardly, but subtle, preferring advantageous tactics over suicidal methods.

Pestilent: Miserable to the core, the Blessed reflect the inner dissolution of their being physically. Each Blessed of Misery has a condition unique to itself, some of which are manifested more strongly than another, but which causes enormous suffering. To determine the specifics of the affliction, decide to what extent it has progressed by rolling 1d12 - on a 1-7, it is minor; on an 8-11, it is major; with a result of 12, it is lethal (or would be to anyone not Blessed.) Those with more serious conditions (major or lethal) are also potentially contagious, resulting in any physical contact requiring a successful save vs. Death (against a difficulty of 4) to resist contracting the same symptoms, though reduced one category (major becomes minor; lethal becomes major) which then continues to progress thereafter. To determine specific symptoms, consult the following, noting that a minor condition has three symptoms, and each category beyond this (major and lethal) also exhibit at least one symptom for the lower category (that is, a lethal condition has at least 3 minor symptoms, at least 1 major symptom, and at least 1 lethal.)

Minor Symptoms (d20) [symptoms which are contrary cannot coexist]

1: Flakes of skin
2: Itching rash (-1 penalty to any action; every 1d6 hours for 1d3 rounds)
3: Pustules / blisters / boils
4: Skin tightens / hardens (+1 Armor Class)
5: Difficulty hearing (-2 on listen)
6: Continual stuffiness / nose bleed
7: Temporary deafness (every 1d3 hours for 1d3 x 10 minutes)
8: Loss of hunger / inability to drink or swallow
9: Need to consume mass quantities of food / beverage
10: Vomiting / nausea (every 1d3 hours, no actions for 1d3 rounds)
11: Mild fever
12: Chills
13: Swollen jaw (10% any spell with verbal components cannot be spoken correctly)
14: Headache or migraine (-1 penalty to any action; every 1d3 hours for 1d3 x 10 minutes)
15: Stomach pain (every 1d6 rounds, 25% -1 Armor Class)
16: Limb stiffness (10% any spell with somatic components cannot be performed correctly)
17: Dizziness (cannot act for 1 round; occurs every 1d4 hours)
18: Tiredness (cannot act for 1d3 rounds; occurs every 1d4 hours)
19: Insomnia (not affected by sleep and gains effect of haste for 1 round every 1d6 hours)
20: Emotional change (may rage as a barbarian primal rage)

Major Symptoms (d20) [symptoms which are contrary cannot coexist]
1: Change in color of flesh
2: Flesh cracks / peels / bleeds (every 1d6 days, 1 damage sustained; cannot kill)
3: Swelling of extremities (50% hands: -1 to hit / damage; 45% feet: -10 movement; 5% face: speech, sight, or hearing impossible)
4: Rotted gums
5: Change in hair color (-2 disguise)
6: Baldness / hair loss (-3 disguise)
7: Finger/toenails rot (-1 encumbrance limit)
8: Blackout / fainting (every 1d4 hours, loss of actions for 1d3 rounds)
9: Hallucinations (-2 saves against illusions)
10: Uncontrollable coughing (every 1d4 hours, loss of actions for 1d3 rounds and 1 damage; this cannot kill)
11: Temporal displacement (cannot determine direction / distance / time)
12: Partial amnesia (may not use 1d3 abilities selected at random)
13: Uncontrollable spasms (every 1d4 hours, loss of actions for 1d4 rounds)
14: Loss of balance (every 1d3 x 20 minutes, falls prone)
15: Partial paralysis (each limb checked at 25%, with success preventing use; cannot affect head)
16: Weakness (encumbrance limit and Strength-based checks / saves reduced by 3)
17: Exhaustion (affected by negative effects of primal rage of barbarian)
18: Allergy (random substance causes +1d2 damage on contact)
19: Obscene odor (radiates stinking cloud as 1st level spellcaster)
20: Antipathy (animals, including those ordinarily friendly such as familiars, will not approach within 40 feet)

Lethal Symptoms (d20) [symptoms which are contrary cannot coexist]
1: Rotting flesh (every 1d3 days, loss of 1d2 hit points and -1 on actions every 1d3 weeks; this cannot kill a Blessed)
2: Permanent nodule / pustule growth (-1 Charisma and -2 disguise)
3: Brittle bones (+1 damage from blunt trauma per die rolled)
4: Anemia (affected as per wounding regardless of weapon / attack trait; this cannot kill a Blessed)
5: Rapid aging (-1 Charisma and -3 disguise)
6: Blindness
7: Deafness
8: Muted
9: Organ failure (15% per day of death; this cannot kill a Blessed)
10: Cardiac arrest (15% death and -1 Strength and Constitution if survived; this cannot kill a Blessed)
11: Stroke (5% death and -1 Intelligence and Wisdom if survived in addition to 10% partial paralysis as Major Symptom; this cannot kill a Blessed)
12: Comatose (remains inactive for 1d6 days with cumulative 10% death per day; this cannot kill a Blessed)
13: Complete amnesia (cannot use any abilities)
14: Severe hallucinations (no save against illusions)
15: Madness (affected by confusion spell permanently)
16: Catatonia (every 1d6 hours, loss of actions for 1d3 x 20 minutes; when not affected, gains +2 on Strength and Constitution saves / checks)
17: Irrational fear (random object affects as per cause fear)
18: Deformity (random limb becomes unusable)
19: Unusual growth (equal chance of either increasing or decreasing size as if alter size is cast by 1d10 level caster as permanent effect)
20: Loss of natural ability (random natural ability, such as flight or innate spellcasting, is lost)

Immune to Healing: The Blessed of Misery are not able to have injuries healed by magical means, nor can their affliction be cured - it is permanent, remaining so even if powerful spells such as wish or heal are used. A deity or powerful extraplanar (such as any of the Fiend type) may heal a Blessed, however, so all Blessed remain faithful to their cause.

Skilled Thief: Every Blessed is a skilled practitioner of stealth and thievery, functioning as a rogue of 3rd level; a rare few (5%) are also versed in the ways of the assassin, possessing these abilities as if 3rd level.

Cultist: Devoted to a mysterious cause, some Blessed of Misery exhibit ability beyond the expected. Any encounter with ten or more Blessed will find one of them is enhanced, having three Hit Dice and acting as a leader, able to control the actions of the others. This individual will also have the spellcasting ability of a 3rd level cleric but cannot use any healing spells. Furthermore, all encountered Blessed of Misery gain immunity to mind-influencing effects such as charms and those which manipulate emotions.

Slow: Due to overriding pain and the symptoms of their appearance, Blessed of Misery are slow to respond, always acting last in any combat. They will also moan in pain, a fact that sometimes mistakenly causes the Blessed to be thought as zombies.

Special: A Blessed of Misery has a 55% of possessing a Type 1 treasure, a 35% of Type 2, and 10% for Type 3 - they cannot have all three, but each is checked for separately, and the best applied.



15. Author: Robert Doyel

[Julian Grimm]

Wow! Mix these with the Plague Bearers and you have something truly horrifying infesting cities. We may need to do something with that idea.

[serleran]

Been a while... bump, out of curiosity.