Tag: Brian Wiborg Monster

Infernal Choir     CR 9
XP 6,400
CE persistent haunt (50 ft. radius)
Caster Level 9th
Notice Perception DC 29 (to notice a barely audible unholy keen)
Hp 40; Trigger proximity; Reset 1 day

Effect When the haunt manifests, a wizard in tattered robes springs from the ground. He waves a baton as if directing a symphony; he points to to the ground a group of demons appear. These demons sing to music that appears from out of nowhere. The melody and the deep baritones of the demons are not for human ears and the high-pitched shrieking of quasits do not make it anymore delightful (quite the opposite). The deep bass voice of the glabrezu lead singer (that wears a sparkling purple tuxedo) is the only thing barely tolerable. Everyone in the haunt’s area takes 2d8 sonic damage from the cacophony of off-key notes and the generally horrifying nature of demonic singing. Furthermore each round the haunt is active everyone in its area takes 3d6 bleed damage as their ears, nose, and eyes start to bleed from the unnatural assault on the senses. Fortitude DC 19 negates the bleed damage (deaf creatures are immune to the bleed damage). The haunt can manifest at different places across the land independently of Perry’s grave’s location. The only clue the haunt leaves behind is a glimmering business card with the text:

Perry Gwibbles
Singer Extraordinaire
Independent Agent for hire

The card disappears at first sunlight after a performance.

Destruction Summoning a celestial choir to perform the ballad of the Nearsighted Gnome on Perry Gwibbles’ grave destroys the haunt; hopefully celestials don’t find it beneath themselves to perform the lewd and rude drinking song. The Nearsighted Gnome was, according to Perry Gwibbles, the lowest form of entertainment that ever existed across the planes.

Adventure Hook Perry Gwibbles was a promising young wizard studying enchantments at the esteemed Academy of Magical Studies in Owlsburg. A member of the academy’s renowned choir, it was said he would become the choir’s next lead singer. One day Perry was working in an academy laboratory on a potion that would enhance one’s vocal abilities. As he added the final ingredient, it reacted explosively to the other components of the concoction. The explosion threw Perry across the room and as the smoke cleared he opened his mouth to scream for help, but only a feeble croak emerged from his lips.

A professor helped Perry over to the infirmary and all the way the afflicting mage was croaking like a frog. After days of tests Perry was given the bad news—his condition was not reversible. He would have screamed but instead he croaked much to the amusement of the people assembled around him. Perry abandoned his enchantment studies and instead started to study conjuration, but only three months after his accident, he was killed in a summoning accident (a hezrou misinterpreted his croaking greeting as an insult and ate him in front of his stunned fellows.) Perry’s remains were buried outside the city on a hill overlooking his beloved academy, but the mage’s will to succeed at singing was strong, and he is bound to his grave, doomed to perform with a passionate albeit untalented choir.

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Pool of Narcissism     CR 7
XP 3,200
CE haunt ( 20 ft. radius)
Caster Level 7th
Notice Perception DC 25 (to hear the faint smug laughter of a man)
HP 14; Trigger proximity; Reset 1 day
Effect A pleasantly looking pool beckons the thirsty traveler with its cool, clear water. When a person approaches the pool they must specifically state that they do not look at their own reflection; if not, they are still allowed a Will save to avoid the effects (see below). Looking at one’s own reflection reveals a fantastically good-looking version staring back—a DC 19 Will save negates the effects of a smug narcissismspell, but otherwise it has a duration of 1 hour. The haunt itself has a special duration and tries to affect anyone approaching the pool and seeing their reflection within five minutes of the first person to do so. Making or failing the save renders the person immune to the haunt for 48 hours.

Destruction The bones of Gaston Grassion must be retrieved from the bottom of the pool and buried in consecrated ground in a temple dedicated to the goddess of beauty.

Adventure Hook Gaston Grassion was a vain man—an artist, a seducer, and caring for no one but himself—and considered himself above kings and priests, quickly making a fair share of enemies. On one fateful day as Gaston was fleeing yet another city after seducing the ruling duke’s daughter, he stopped to fill his waterskin in the pool. Upon seeing his reflection in the pool he stopped to admire this visage of perfection, and his enemies caught up with him. The duke himself snuck up behind Gaston while he gazed at the pool’s surface, grabbing him in a stranglehold and pushing the dilettante beneath the surface to drown. Gaston has haunted the pool ever since. 

SMUG NARCISSISM
School enchantment (compulsion) [emotion, mind-affecting]; Level bard 3, sorcerer/wizard 5, witch 5
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (a tiny shard of a mirror)
Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target one creature
Duration instantaneous
Duration 10 minute/level (D)
Saving Throw Will negates; Spell Resistance yes
You cause your target to become overwhelmed by its own importance, talents, and attractiveness. The target cannot help but look at itself in every reflective surface at every possible opportunity. In social situations, the target always tries to comment about how attractive it is or how ugly someone else is by comparison. The target remains constantly distracted, always looking for a reflective surface to gaze upon (such as a mirror, pool of water, a polished shield, and so on). The distraction gives the target a –2 penalty on all skill checks. In combat, the target worries about enemies damaging its appearance, and focuses on defense rather than offense (casting defensive spells rather than offensive spells, using the fight defensively or total defense action, and so on).

Do you have a chilling idea for a haunt or cursed item? Send it along to us at submit (at) adventureaweek.com, but please, bear the following in mind before you submit anything for review:

1. Anyone can submit an entry.
2. One entry per person at any one time. An entry must be your own work, not being published previously or considered by any other publisher, and it must original and not infringe upon copyrighted material.
3. All entries become property of Adventureaweek.com, LLP.
4. By submitting an entry you authorize the use of your name and likeness without additional compensation for promotion and advertising purposes in all media.
5. Adventureaweek.com, LLP reserves the right to withdraw or terminate this endeavor at any time without prior notice.
6. All decisions of Adventureaweek.com, LLP and their arbiters are final.
7. There is no compensation provided – any entries are given freely by their creators for use by Adventureaweek.com, LLP in perpetuity.
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Mime of the Troll Glade
XP 4,800
CE persistent haunt (50 ft. radius)
Caster Level 8th
Notice Perception DC 27 (to smell the faint lingering smell of vomit)
HP 42; Trigger proximity; Reset 1 day
Effect A ghostly troll appears as the haunt manifests. He is dressed completely in white and his face is stark white from powder, only a single black tear upon his left chin, breaks the pale monotony of his appearance. He starts to communicate with the party by miming something unclear, and ends the miming with holding his hands to his ears—then he opens his mouth and unleashes a cone of ethereal vomit. The breath weapon is a 30-foot cone (Reflex DC 19 negates) and gives the victims the nauseated condition (a Will DC 19 lowers the condition to sickened). Any conditions obtained from the haunt lasts for 1d6+2 rounds as the ethereal vomit slowly dissipates. The mime makes three such attacks over three rounds and he moves up to 20 feet each round to get a better “barfing” position.

Destruction Consecrate must be cast in the glade by a good aligned spellcaster while a bard sings the Ballad of the Trollish Mime. All participants in the ritual must wear makeup similar to the trollish mime’s.

Adventure Hook Grobblebarf was an usual troll—instead of tearing peoples arms off, he asked them to perform a piece of music or dance for him. The unfortunate ones whom could not do so were eaten, but the fortunate ones were only eaten after their performance. A lucky few were even allowed to leave, usually because Grobblebarf had eaten their companions first. The troll grew especially fond of miming (which he considered the finest artform) and spent many nights performing for his fellow trolls. Eventually this was not enough for Grobblbarf and he wanted to perform in a town instead of in the woodlands where he had his lair.

The troll acquired a hat of disguise from a traveler who tried to avoid his fate by parting with treasure (to no avail). Grobblebarf donned the hat and set off for the nearby town of Grostburg in the guise of a half-orc. While he performed, a gust of wind blew off his hat—the villagers were horrified that a troll stood in the town square. Grobblebarf was chased out of town by torch wielding mobs and an allocation of adventurers that were passing through Grostburg.

Grobblebarf was cornered in a glade where he fought for his life and his right to perform his art, but the combined might of the mobs and the experienced adventurers was too much for a lone troll and he was killed in the glade, his body burned. A year later to the day, Grobblebarf’s spirit rose from the ground and manifested for the first time when a traveling troupe of actors made their camp there—soon the word spread of the haunted glade to Grostburg and beyond.

Do you have a chilling idea for a haunt or cursed item? Send it along to us at submit (at) adventureaweek.com, but please, bear the following in mind before you submit anything for review:

1. Anyone can submit an entry.
2. One entry per person at any one time. An entry must be your own work, not being published previously or considered by any other publisher, and it must original and not infringe upon copyrighted material.
3. All entries become property of Adventureaweek.com, LLP.
4. By submitting an entry you authorize the use of your name and likeness without additional compensation for promotion and advertising purposes in all media.
5. Adventureaweek.com, LLP reserves the right to withdraw or terminate this endeavor at any time without prior notice.
6. All decisions of Adventureaweek.com, LLP and their arbiters are final.
7. There is no compensation provided – any entries are given freely by their creators for use by Adventureaweek.com, LLP in perpetuity.
8. Your statblock must be properly formatted (compare to similar content on the AaWBlog for correct formatting).