Tag: Psionics

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Statblock Sunday (Uralicans Uncut): Aizskartz Asteroid

aizskartz asteroid

AIZSKARTZ ASTEROID     CR 11
XP 12,800
NE Colossal construct (psionic)
Init -2; Senses blindsight 400 ft., darkvision 240 ft.; Perception +20
Aura gravitic field (15 ft., DC 30, 3d6 bludgeoning and grab)

DEFENSE
AC 26, touch 4, flat-footed 26 (-2 Dex, +4 deflection, +22 natural, -8 size)
hp 184 (16d10+96) fast healing 4
Fort +7, Ref +5, Will +11
Defensive Abilities all-around vision; Immune cold, construct traits, electricity; PR 21; Resist acid 10, fire 10

OFFENSE
Speed fly 100 ft. (perfect)
Melee slam +24 (4d6+24 plus bull rush)
Ranged four boulders +8 (2d8+16, Range 240 ft.)
Space 60 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks gravitic field (DC 30, 3d6 bludgeoning and grab), trample (DC 34, 4d6+24)

Psi-Like Abilities (ML 16th; concentration +20)
Constant—detect psionics
At will—telekinetic force
4/day—divert teleport

TACTICS
Before Combat An aizskartz asteroid uses its control of psionic energy to masquerade as an asteroid with a dense gaseous exterior, sneaking up on unsuspecting foes until they are within range for a charge attack.
During Combat First the aizskartz asteroid flings itself at enemies with a charging bull rush, using Power Attack and Improved Vital Strike to deal the optimum amount of damage immediately (slam +22, 12d6+24). Afterward its gravitic field grabs up foes, and the aizskartz asteroid slams again with bull rush to increase the  damage opponents take when they are drawn to its surface once more. Any opponents that attempt to teleport away are placed 15 ft. away from its surface if it successfully uses divert teleport against them.
Morale Few foes can stand against an aizskartz asteroid and retreat is an unlikely option at best.

STATISTICS
Str 42, Dex 6, Con —, Int 16, Wis 18, Cha 15
Base Atk +16; CMB +40 (+44 bull rush/grapple); CMD 38 (42 vs. bull rush)
Feats Great Fortitude, Greater Bull Rush, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Natural Attack (slam), Improved Vital Strike, Power Attack, Toughness, Vital Strike
Skills Disguise +16 (+36 as asteroid), Knowledges (all) +8, Perception +20; Racial Modifiers +20 Disguise (as an asteroid); Size Modifiers -8 Fly, -16 Stealth
Languages telepathy 1,000 ft.

ECOLOGY
Environment demiplane of Uklonjen, space
Organization always solitary
Treasure quadruple

SPECIAL ABILITIES
Gravitic Field (Ps) Any creature within 15 feet of an aizskartz asteroid must make a DC 30 Fortitude save or be pulled by the pulsing microgravity field and against the aizskartz asteroid. For each 5 feet a creature travels within the gravitic field, they take 3d6 points of bludgeoning damage and are subject to a grapple combat maneuver by the aizskartz asteroid at the end of their turn. Using this ability, an aizskartz asteroid can grapple up to ten creatures simultaneously with no penalty.
This ability also grants the aizskartz asteroid a +4 deflection bonus to AC.

 

The Uralicans justly fear aizskartz asteroids, great masses of psionically empowered stone that wander the cosmos destroying entire fleets of ships—and if what some legends claim are true, entire civilizations. Little is known about these oddities, save that they are to be avoided at all costs.

One of these terrifying, monstrous rocks has wandered Uklonjen for some time and at the last moment, discovers the PCs escaping to Aventyr! The portal is too small to fit the massive aizskartz asteroid, and rather than allow the party to use the Ancestral Gateway, if they dally too long, it has time enough to catch up to the adventurers and try to stop them out of spite.

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Sidequest Saturday (Uralicans Uncut): The Ancestral Gateway

As the PCs make their final step of the journey to the Ancestral Gateway it becomes obvious they are traveling towards a bright beacon of light that is surrounded by a vast shroud of asteroids. This is an artificial star that marks the point in which Uklonjen and the Prime Material Plane were once connected through the Ancestral Gateway.

AAW-ColliaturHead-color-02When the great cataclysm occurred generations ago and the ancestors of the Uralicans were forever severed from contact with their brethren in the Prime Material Plane, the Ancestral Gateway violently collapsed in upon itself. The great portal’s implosion compressed all of the arcane energies within into a single, infinitely small point—in that instant, the focus of so much power into such a minute space caused the birth of an artificial star. A shining beacon of light has continuously radiated its arcane light ever since, forever marking the exact spot where the portal once existed in this dimension; it is to this point that the crystal compass is being drawn.

It takes the PCs seven days of travel to navigate through the dangerous asteroid field that envelopes the area and reach the parameter of the gateway star; a DC 30 Profession (sailor) or Profession (soldier) check reduces this to four days. The gateway star’s generates a stronger field of gravity than Uklonjen, causing the shroud of asteroids to slowly shift, roam, and collide as they revolve around it (posing a major hazard to the party.

There is a 75% chance each day that an errant asteroid suddenly shifts towards the PCs’ ship as it travels through the area. A DC 20 Profession (sailor) or Profession (soldier) check avoids the oncoming asteroid; otherwise it collides with the ship, dealing 3d12 bludgeoning damage.

On the third day traversing the asteroid field the PCs spot a glint in the distance—a twinkling metallic gleam reflecting the bright light emanating from the star. A DC 15 Perception check reveals the exact location of the oddity.

Traveling toward the strange reflection, the PCs soon notice the glint repeating in a rhythmic pattern, blinking in and out of existence. When the party is within 100 feet of the peculiarity, they discover a spyglass (eyes of the traveler) floating in open space and covered by a fine layer of silver space dust.

The collapse of the Ancestral Gateway and birth of its remnant star caused a magnificent shockwave that permeated throughout Uklonjen, and many of the ancestor’s interdimensional airships were instantly destroyed, cast into the massive asteroids that drifted in and around the portal site. The majority of these vessels smashed against the largest of a dozen asteroids within the parameter of the star, and the xyrx crystals powering their arcane engines slowly expanded until the wreckage (and even the asteroid itself) became encased within a single massive xyrx crystalis that now orbits the star.

This place is forbidden to the Uralicans; despite being the most logical point for their ancestors to have attempted to open another portal to return home, the light emitted from the star causes a sort of mindlessness, known to them as “blinding of the mind”. This has prevented research at the site for generations.

The blinding of the mind causes the descendants of those exposed to the initial shockwave from the star’s birth to quickly lose their cognitive abilities (-1 Intelligence each round) when within 10 miles of the star. The effect continues until the victim’s Intelligence is reduced to zero, at which point their minds are forever lost and they immediately die. If taken out of the area of effect before completely losing their minds, any Uralican affected by the blinding of the mind can fully recover in 1d4 +1 hours for each Intelligence point lost.

crystalis tombA DC 20 Knowledge (arcana) check reveals that to re-open the Ancestral Gateway, the xyrx crystalis must be knocked out of orbit, sent plummeting towards the gateway star. When the ship nears it, it begins to glow and reverberate with a loud hum as the crystalis tomb haunt triggers. After overcoming the haunt the PCs can continue in their attempt to ram the floating crystal mass.

Altering the trajectory of the crystalis toward the gateway star requires a DC 25 Profession (sailor) or Profession (soldier) check; on a failure the massive object travels towards the star but fails to collide with it, continuing past it and away from the star (additional attempts are made with a cumulative +1 DC). When the enormous crystalis finally crashes into the gateway star, the beacon’s blinding light goes dark. There is a deafening vacuum-like sucking sound and a sudden rush of wind as the portal to Aventyr tears open once more, the ship and surrounding debris (a dozen huge-sized asteroids) sucked into the resulting gravity well.

As the ship and debris are sucked towards the narrow dimensional tear they all violently collide, dealing 10d10 bludgeoning damage to the party’s airship and obliterating the asteroids. A successful DC 30 Profession (sailor) or Profession (soldier) check to pilot the ship during its uncontrolled acceleration into the sucking void reduces this damage by half (a result of 40 or higher reduces the damage by half again).

When the ship emerges into Aventyr, the dimensional tear and portal in which they traveled through closes with a deafening clap and they find themselves addled with the ship roughly landed upon the ground within a very large, very dark cavern. [Continued in January when the AaWBlog explores Aventyr once again! –MM]

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Foul Machinations Friday: Uralicans Uncut – Part 2

spheresIt has been a wild ride through the demiplane of Uklonjen as the AaWBlog advances Uralicans Uncut! After getting past the first gateway, to continue onward the party need to fix their ship and in so doing, overcome a dangerous, sticky situation with gelatinous spheres. With the help of the native Uralicans, the PCs can modify their vessel to run on xyrx crystals (and might get an interesting item along the way).

Continuing through the demiplane, the party comes across strange floating creatures, god spores, some of which contain avaricious xyrx crystals! Uklonjen’s strange nature can be unsettling, however, and they might be in peril of losing their composure (or worse). The odd things lead the party to a third gateway and the tentacle of a mad god; to close the portal, the PCs must fend off more of its offspring, veinar, while they ram the limb back to the misbegotten place from whence it came!

god sporesAs they travel farther through Uklonjen in their efforts to return home, the party encounters a curious item floating in space, surrounded by a fine silver dust as they approach the Ancestral Gateway. When they finally get there a powerful haunt rebuffs the PCs, but to take the final step home, the party has much more to overcome—find out what in this weekend’s Sidequest Saturday and Statblock Sunday!

If you’ve been apprehensive about including the psionics rules from Dreamscarred Press that are being used in Uralicans Uncut, there’s an article you need to check out! Should you be coming by the AaWBlog for the killer artwork, there are two featured artist posts to see: Jacob Blackmon and Mates Laurentiu!

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Magic Item Monday (Uralicans Uncut): Eyes of the Traveler

Eyes of the Traveler
Aura moderate clairsentience; ML 10th
Slot none; Price 61,050 gp; Weight 1 lb.

DESCRIPTION
Three large lenses crafted of iceland spar, a transparent crystal, are coupled with a smaller lens within this rolled piece of tanned hide. The hide itself is glossy auburn in appearance and has been emblazoned with a trio of runework bands in a style common to the Vikmordere region of Aventyr.

When rolled, the hide forms a slightly conical tube that holds a single large lens at one end, and the smaller lens at the other—creating a crudely fashioned spyglass. A double-braid of sinew binds the edges of the hide together, allowing it to be tightened to secure the lens and also easily loosened to switch between either of the three larger lenses. The loose lenses are contained in a simple small burlap pouch that is bound to and dangles loosely from the sinew cording of the composite spyglass.

aaw_magic-item_jam_travlensThe magic of the lenses only works when used via the spyglass crafted of the rolled hide tube and smaller lens they were found with. No special skill is required to peer through the spyglass once it is assembled with a specific lens (which requires a DC 10 Craft [leather] check).

When a character peers through the assembled spyglass she finds that the image presented is of another location (possibly very distant or even on another dimension or plane of existence). Each of the three larger lenses is magically focused on a predefined location, and the viewer sees their surroundings through the eyes of the traveler as if they were standing at the exact spot in which the lens is focused on. Each lens offers a full spherical 360-degree view of its attuned location in real time.

Once attuned to a specific location, the only way to disable the spyglass from peering into that location is to either change the location the lens is attuned to or destroy the attuned lens (hardness 15, 10 hp) or the eyes of the traveler itself. The sight provided by the lens can even peer into areas otherwise protected from magic or scrying, though the viewer is still only able to see what they would observe with their own natural sight if actually viewing from the attuned location—natural and/or constructed obstructions cannot be peered around. Magic-negating or cancelling effects may still affect the eyes of the traveler and can prevent its use to both peer into attuned locations as well as attuning to a new location.

The view is as if the character were using her own eyes (for example, when taking into consideration darkvision or low-light vision). For the purposes of spells, spell-like abilities or other supernatural abilities, magic cannot be transmitted through the lens (in either direction) and sight through the lens cannot be used for purposes of line of sight effects. However, a character may use skills, such as Perception, to better understand what they are seeing through the magical device.

To attune one of the lenses to a new location the lens must be submerged in water created by magical means (such as create water) for an uninterrupted 24-hour period to be cleansed. Once cleansed, the next location that particular lens is peered through in the assembled spyglass automatically becomes its newly attuned location.

CONSTRUCTION
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, four calcite crystals worth at least 250 gp each, 50 gp of mundane materials, remove viewing, wrench; Cost 30,525 gp

 

When the eyes of the traveler are discovered, all three lenses have already been attuned to three random locations in Aventyr. When peering through the spyglass, a DC 25 Knowledge (Geography) check allows a character to recognize the attuned area and its various landmarks (either recalling the location from memory if they have visited before, or from the very unique terrain of the region being depicted on a map they once saw).

Moonrise over the Vikmordere Valley
Moonrise over the Vikmordere Valley

If a viewer looks upon the same attuned area multiple times, or if the eyes of the traveler is peered through longer than 10 minutes, the viewer can make a DC 15 Perception check to become aware of the time dilation offset between this dimension and Aventyr (for instance they may notice clouds moving quickly or the expedited rising and setting of the sun or moon). The time dilation offset is roughly equivalent to one day passing on the prime Material Plane for every 4 hours that pass in Uklonjen.

 

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Statblock Sunday (Uralicans Uncut): Veinar

veinar

Bright orange, red, and green gems and chunks of ore shine in the twilight, but as you draw closer an overwhelming stench worse than death reaches your nose and tentacles unfurl, lashing out in every direction.

Veinar      CR 5
XP 1,600
CN Medium aberration (extraplanar)
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., mindsense; Perception +7
Aura stench (DC 17, 5 rounds)

DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 13, flat-footed 15 (+2 Dex, +1 dodge, +5 natural armor)
hp 38 (4d8+20)
Fort +6, Ref +3, Will +6
Defensive Abilities mind screen; Immune disease, mind-affecting effects, poison, diseases; PR 10
Weakness confused (10 hp)

OFFENSE
Speed fly 20 ft. (poor)
Melee 3 tentacles +5/+0/+0 (1d6+2 plus grab)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks gene fusion, implanting touch, strangle
Psi-Like Abilities (ML 4th; concentration +6)
At will—mind thrust (DC 14, 4d10)

TACTICS
Before Combat When outside of combat, veinar curl into shapes that resemble gems or chunks of ore until disturbed by a nearby mind.
During Combat Veinar are constantly confused, but when they are able to act, manifest mind thrust at targets beyond their reach. After an opponent proves resistant to its mental attack or rendered defenseless, the veinar uses its tentacles.
Morale When a veinar goes below 10 hp it snaps out of its confusion and moves toward the nearest veinar to gene fuse with it; if there are no other veinar it fights to the death instead.

STATISTICS
Str 14, Dex 15, Con 20, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 11
Base Atk +3; CMB +5 (+11 grapple); CMD 17 (19 vs. grapple; cannot be tripped)
Feats Combat Reflexes, Improved Grapple
Skills Acrobatics +9, Fly +5, Perception +9, Survival +9
Languages telepathy 100 ft.

ECOLOGY
Environment Veinar are only found in dimensions that the mad god has entered. Veinar are part of the mad god and are only found within it or alongside god spores; when separated from the mad god, they remain curled up and motionless.
Organization clutch (3-5) or horde (12-30)
Treasure none

SPECIAL ABILITIES
Gene Fusion (Ex) As a standard action, a veinar can merge with another veinar, granting that veinar +2 power resistance for 4 rounds and giving it 10 temporary hit points. If a veinar fuses with 4 other veinar, it evolves into a high veinar.
Implanting Touch (Su) Whenever a creature come into contact with the veinar’s body they must make a DC 30 Will save or have hallucinations about the veinar for 1d4 weeks. For every -5 a creature fails this save by, the duration of these hallucinations increases by +1 week (on a natural 1, they last for an entire year).
Shared Confusion (Ps) Targets that fail a Will save against a veinar’s mind thrust psi-like ability by -5 or more are confused for 1d4 rounds.

 

Deep hues of orange red and green shimmers from the tentacles of this large beast as it reaches out to embrace another helpless, sane creature.

High Veinar      CR 10
XP 9,600
CN Large aberration (extraplanar)
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., mindsense; Perception +11
Aura stench (DC 18, 10 rounds)

DEFENSE
AC 26, touch 16, flat-footed 19 (+4 Dex, +3 dodge, +10 natural armor, -1 size)
hp 92 (8d8+56)
Fort +9, Ref +6, Will +9
Defensive Abilities mind screen; DR 3/—; Immune diseases, mind-affecting effects, poison; PR 13
Weakness confused (50% chance each round)

OFFENSE
Speed fly 50 ft. (good)
Melee 4 tentacles +11/+8/+8/+8 (2d6+6 plus grab)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 15 ft.
Special Attacks gene fusion, implanting touch, strangle
Psi-Like Abilities (ML 8th; concentration +11)
At will—id insinuation, mind thrust (DC 17, 8d10), time hop

TACTICS
During Combat A high veinar has a 50% chance of being confused each round, but otherwise acts like a veinar. When facing difficult opponents, it uses time hop to remove some from the battlefield before manifesting id insinuation to disable others while its allies move in. When a foe seems unable to defend themselves, a high veinar moves in to grapple with its tentacles.
Morale At 15 hp or less the high veinar seeks out a veinar to gene fuse with it; if there are none nearby, it fights to the death instead.

STATISTICS
Str 22, Dex 19, Con 24, Int 11, Wis 17, Cha 15
Base Atk +6; CMB +13 (+19 grapple); CMD 27 (33 vs. grapple; cannot be tripped)
Feats Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Improved Grapple, Rapid Metabolism, Sidestep Charge
Skills Acrobatics +11, Fly +13, Perception +11, Stealth +7, Survival +9, Use Magic Device +6
Languages telepathy 100 ft.

SPECIAL ABILITIES
Gene Fusion (Ex) As a standard action, a veinar can merge with another veinar, granting that veinar +2 power resistance for 4 rounds and giving it 10 temporary hit points. If a veinar fuses with 4 other veinar, it evolves into a high veinar.
Implanting Touch (Su) Whenever a creature come into contact with the veinar’s body they must make a DC 38 Will save or have hallucinations about the veinar for 1d4 weeks. For every -5 a creature fails this save by, the duration of these hallucinations increases by +1 week (on a natural 1, they last for an entire year).
Shared Confusion (Ps) Targets that fail a Will save against a high veinar’s mind thrust psi-like ability by -3 or more are confused for 1d6 rounds.

 

[Submitted by Tim Snow, using abilities (see below) designed for the encephalon gorger from Frog God Games’ Tome of Horrors Complete!]

 

Mindsense (Su)
As a move action, an encephalon gorger can gauge the relative intelligence level of any creature within 60 feet as follows: unintelligent, animal (Int 1–2), low (3–8), average (8–12), high (13–16), genius (17–20), or supra-genius (21+).

Mind Screen (Ex)
The mind of an encephalon gorger is an alien and dangerous place. Should a creature attempt to scan the mind or read the thoughts of an encephalon gorger (with detect thoughts, telepathy, or the like), it must make a successful DC 20 Will save or be driven permanently insane (as by an insanity spell, CL 15th); if the save succeeds, the creature is instead confused (as the spell) for 1d4 rounds. The save DC is Intelligence-based.

 

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Sidequest Saturday (Uralicans Uncut): Mad God’s Gateway

god sporesAfter the PCs have stocked up on xyrx crystals and are either on their way to the Ancestral Gateway or exploring the demiplane, flying out and across the endless void they spot 1d4 god spores with a DC 18 Perception check, enticed to approach the traps by the rare treasures and gems hidden within them. At least one of these mindless creatures drops an avaricious xyrx crystal during the conflict, at which point the cursed item takes hold of one member of the crew or party, leading them to chase down a possible stash of xyrx crystals by following more of the god spores.

The PCs can follow a trail of the god spores with a DC 25 Perception or Survival check, finding a cohesive line of the things arrayed towards an ancient interdimensional gateway; if the party attacks the god spores, the creatures do not actively resist them (though they still pose a danger). All told this takes the adventurers 4 hours of travel with the vessel moving at its normal pace to reach the portal that opens up in the skies above the PCs.

If the party didn’t follow this treasure trove of cursed loot and traps (or veered off course), more god spores appear, lining up in the sky from several different directions, all pointing towards the same ancient interdimensional gateway (noticed with a DC 22 Perception check), and filling up the air space both above and below the ship. Every hour a DC 18 Profession (sailor) check is required to navigate through the floating god spores without running into them; failure on the check means the PCs are engaged by 1d2+1 of the devious traps. There is a 45% chance that a lesser veinar [tomorrow’s Statblock Sunday! -MM] spills out of a god spore, immediately attacking the PCs.

When the party is within half a mile of the portal the god spores are attuned to, read the following:

Following the great gathering of treasure-laden spores in the void sky, you make out an enormous, semi-tangible limb extending from a great portal suspended in the air. The disfigured tentacle sways with an eerie rhythm, countless spores spewing from its decaying form.

The limb of the mad god is spewing forth torrents of god spores in every direction—the PCs need to close off this gate to keep Uklonjen from being overrun by the creatures. The god spores are ejected hundreds of feet from the mad god’s limb, and there is only a 5% chance each round that two of them are close enough together to engage the PCs.

mad god tentacleAs the party approaches the mad god’s limb, they feel their minds touched by darkness and light, warmth and cold, a soft sensation and a rigid accompaniment followed by contracting sensations of other worlds vividly rampant in their psyche. Deep within, the adventurers instinctively know that should they touch the limb itself, they are sure to lose their minds, or worse yet, die.

The mad god’s limb is impervious to damage, leaving the PCs with only one option: to push the thing back through the gateway. Six DC 20 Profession (sailor) checks are needed to ram the vessel against the mad god’s limb at the right angles, each taking a round to attempt. After the first attempt (successful or failed), 3 lesser veinars and a high veinar [again, tomorrow, folks! -MM] shuffle off from the otherworldy appendage, attacking the party. Each time the PCs move the limb, there is a 30% chance another lesser veinar joins the fray.

After the limb is finally pushed through the gate, a rush of wind tears though the sky, sucking in 90% of the god spores spread nearby before closing—the party is free to move normally, unmolested by the remaining creatures. A DC 30 Perception check as the gate closes reveals to the PCs that the decaying limb was only a small part of something bigger, an entity that engulfed the whole other side of the gate with layer upon layer of an unidentifiable substance that changed every moment, yet somehow remained the same all the while…


[Submitted by Tim Snow!]