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Articles › #1 - Rubberneck (Phrenic Choker Wilder)
| #1 - Rubberneck (Phrenic Choker Wilder) (Article #3 Page 1) |
Rubberneck (CR 7)
Ahead, the darkness stirs with unnatural movement, a boneless squirming just beyond the feeble light of your lanterns. Suddenly, two glowing orbs of azure fire spring to life in the blackness, and you feel the choking presence of another mind pushing into your own.
Phrenic Choker Wilder 4
CE Small Aberration (Psionic)
Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +5, Spot +5
Languages Undercommon
AC 18, touch 17, flatfooted 15
(+1 size, +3 Dex, +4 natural)
hp 45 (7 HD)
PR 17
Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +8
Speed 30 ft. (6 squares), climb 20 ft.
Melee 2 tentacles +10 (1d3+5)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Base Atk +5; Grapple +9
Atk Options Psionic Fist, improved grab, constrict 1d3+5
Special Actions surging euphoria +1, wild surge +2
Wilder Powers Known (ML 4th, 24 PP)
2nd – inflict pain (DC 15)
1st – inertial armor, offensive precognition
Psi-Like Abilities (ML 7th)
3/day – defensive precognition (+3, swift action), empty mind (+6 on Will saves), mind thrust (7d10, DC 17)
1/day – aversion (9 hours, DC 17), body adjustment (2d12), brain lock (any nonmindless), concussion blast (3d6, 3 targets), force screen (+5 AC)
Abilities Str 19, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 16
SQ elude touch +3, naturally pisonic, psychic enervation, quickness
Feats Improved InitiativeB, Psionic Fist, Speed of Thought, Stealthy
Skills Climb +16, Concentration +7, Hide +13, Listen +5, Move Silently +9, Spot +5
Possessions shard of Hide +7, shard of Move Silently +7, amulet of mighty fists +1
Constrict (Ex): Rubberneck deals 1d3+5 points of damage with a successful grapple check against a Large or smaller creature. Because he seizes his victim by the neck, a creature in Rubberneck’s grasp cannot speak or cast spells with verbal components.
Elude Touch (Ex): Rubberneck’s intuition supersedes his intellect, alerting him to danger from touch attacks (including rays). He gains a bonus to Armor Class against all touch attacks equal to his Charisma bonus (+3); however, his touch AC can never exceed his Armor Class against normal attacks.
Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, Rubberneck must hit a Large or smaller opponent with a tentacle attack. He can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If he wins the grapple check, he establishes a hold and can constrict. Rubberneck receives a +4 racial bonus on grapple checks, which is already included in the statistics block.
Psychic Enervation (Ex): Immediately following each wild surge, Rubberneck may be overcome by the strain of his effort. The chance of suffering psychic enervation is equal to 5% per manifester level added with the wild surge. If Rubberneck is overcome by psychic enervation, he is dazed until the end of his next turn and loses a number of power points equal to his wilder level.
Quickness (Su): Rubberneck is supernaturally quick. He can take an extra standard action or move action during his turn each round.
Surging Euphoria (Ex): When Rubberneck uses his wild surge ability, he gains a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls, damage rolls, and saving throws for a number of rounds equal to the intensity of his wild surge.
Wild Surge (Su): Rubberneck can choose to invoke a wild surge whenever he manifests a power. When he does so, he gains +2 to his manifester level with that manifestation of the power. The manifester level boost gives him the ability to augment his powers to a higher degree than he otherwise could; however, he pays no extra power point for this wild surge. Instead, the additional 1 power point that would normally be required to augment the power is effectively supplied by the wild surge. Level-dependent power effects are also improved, depending on the power Rubberneck manifests with his wild surge.
Background
The foul, rubbery beasts known as chokers are not usually counted among those gifted in the powers of the mind. Their feral disposition and general lack of intellect preclude them from becoming anything more than cunning, if creatively malicious beasts. However, psionic power is not the sole dominion of the intellectually gifted, and sages well-versed on the subject have noted a number of peculiar entities displaying moderate to potent psionic talents – including one very unique choker.
Rubberneck was born a choker with a leg (or tentacle) up on his kin. He was smart – brilliant by choker standards – and possessed a number of strange talents that he neither understood nor fully controlled. These talents – latent psionic gifts – grew stronger as Rubberneck matured, allowing him to use his powers to subdue prey, defeat rivals, and remain undetected by more powerful subterranean monsters.
Upon reaching adulthood, Rubberneck was already a dangerous predator, but his grasp of his psionic powers was limited. He relied only upon the most direct and crude manifestations availiable to him, simply killing his prey with mind thrust or concussion blast. This worked exceedingly well for the inexperienced choker, requiring only that he quietly move within a dozen yards or so of a target to strike the killing blow. However, this all changed when a fateful encounter with a duergar psion almost cost Rubberneck his life and opened his mind to the potential of his own psionic power.
Duergar meat is considered a delicacy by chokers, and they will go to extraordinary lengths to obtain it. Rubberneck was no exception to this choker culinary inclination, and his territory included a well-traveled trade route between two duergar cities. Large bands of gray dwarves moved along this subterranean road frequently, and Rubberneck occasionally snatched a straggler lagging behind a large group, or, if luck was with him, a lone traveler foolish enough to brave the perils of the Underdark alone.
On one occasion, when Rubberneck was monitoring the duergar road, hoping for an easy meal, he spied, to his great surprise and pleasure, a single, unarmed gray dwarf traveling alone and unguarded. Without a moments hesitation, the hungry choker crept stealthily into position, all the while focusing his thoughts into a razored knife of psionic energy, a psychic blade with which he could strike and kill his target.
As Rubberneck neared the oblivious duergar, however, he noticed something peculiar about the lone gray dwarf. There was a slight buzz of energy around the short humanoid, something alien, yet strikingly familiar to the psionic choker. But hunger overrode caution, and when Rubberneck was within range, he lashed out at the duergar with tightly focused mental energy. The strike should have killed the gray dwarf on the spot, but instead of the visceral thrill of ravaging the mind of another, Rubberneck felt his psionic attack swallowed by a great hungry emptiness.
Surprised by the turnabout, Rubberneck failed to notice that his potential meal had spotted him. The duergar did not produce a weapon or summon a spell to smite the confused choker; instead, Rubberneck felt the great crushing presence of the gray dwarf’s mind descend upon his own like a thousand furious hammers. He felt the duergar’s presence surround him, battering away his confidence and motivation with mighty blows of psychic energy. He wanted to give up, to simply concede defeat and his own life to the marauding presence of the duergar’s furious mind…yet a small piece of his feral choker determination remained, and it compelled him to fight.
Rubberneck summoned every ounce of mental strength and fortitude available to him, pushing his mind beyond the limits and boundaries he had become accustomed to. A surge of wild psionic power flowed over the rudimentary barriers of Rubberneck’s mind and slammed into his duergar opponent. His mind thrust became a ballista bolt of raw telepathic force, shredding the duergar’s psyche and propelling the gray dwarf backward as if struck by a physical blow.
His body now thrumming with power, Rubberneck pushed more of the psionic energy through his body, sharpening his senses, improving his reaction speed, and cloaking his body in invisible armor of pure mental force. He then fell upon the reeling duergar with animalistic ferocity, tearing and biting at his foe until nothing was left but a ragged corpse.
Rubberneck’s encounter with the duergar psion was an eye-opening event, and it pushed him to further develop his powers. Deprived of any proper psionic training, Rubberneck has become a wilder, augmenting his hard-won skills with his natural phrenic abilities. Today, he still haunts dark tunnels of the underdark, using his growing psionic powers to tackle an ever-increasing variety of prey. He has taken to robbing his victims, in addition to simply eating them, and has collected a fair amount of treasure as a result.
Appearance
Rubberneck is an average-sized choker; he stands just over 3 feet tall and weighs around 40 pounds. His rubbery skin is a light, milky blue, spotted with patches of darker blue along his limbs and back. This odd skin coloring is the only indicator of his psionic nature. Rubberneck’s gaunt, skeletal head is truly horrific, with a wide, thick-lipped mouth, behind which a forest of needle teeth lurks, and two deep-set eyes that glow with a subtle azure light.
Like most chokers, Rubberneck does not normally wear clothing; however, when hunting, the canny aberration does wear a wide leather belt, from which hang a number of pouches and sacks. These containers are used to carry any goods Rubberneck finds upon his victims.
Personality
Rubberneck is a greedy, malicious, and thoroughly awful creature. He has no concept of mercy, compassion, or loyalty, and is concerned only with fulfilling his own horrific urges. However, this is not to say that he is an unthinking beast, far from it. Rubberneck has learned the value of introspection and patience, as they are both keys to unlocking further psionic powers. The continuing growth of his psionic prowess is very important to the phrenic choker, as it allows him possess the things he desires – food and treasure paramount among them – with greater ease.
Tactics
Rubberneck relies heavily on his psionic abilities in combat, and will attempt to disable or kill opponents from hiding whenever possible. When Rubberneck spots a potential victim, he attempts to sneak within 60 feet of his target, the maximum range of mind thrust, a power he favors. Once the phrenic choker is in range, use the following round by round tactics.
Prior to Combat: Rubberneck usually has inertial armor active at all times, renewing the power as necessary throughout the day.
Round 1
Swift Action: Activate defensive precognition.
Standard Action: Activate force screen.
Standard Action: Target strongest melee threat with mind thrust.
Round 2
Standard Action: Target a likely spellcaster with brain lock.
Standard Action: Continue to target melee types with mind thrust.
Move Action: Keep opponents within 60 feet with a move action if necessary.
Round 3
Standard Action: Target another melee type with mind thrust, or another spellcaster with brain lock.
Move Action: Move 30 feet closer to victims.
Standard Action: Activate offensive precognition with a wild surge (ML 6th).
Round 4:
Move Action: Close for melee.
Standard Action: Attack weakest foe with tentacles; augment with Psionic fist.
Standard Action: Attack weakest foe with tentacles.
Round 5 and Beyond: Rubberneck continues melee until all foes are dead or unconscious. He will use body adjustment to heal his wounds in combat, and empty mind to guard against mind-affecting spells. Rubberneck retreats if reduced to half his hit points or less, activating aversion to discourage pursuit.
Lair
Rubberneck’s lair is a small cave cut into the wall of a deep subterranean chasm. It is only accessible by creatures with ability to fly, or scale the sheer surface of the chasm wall. The cave is fairly shallow and consists of a single wide chamber littered with bones, decaying offal, and other foul organic detritus. Amid this rather frightful mess, Rubberneck stores his treasure in a shallow hole near the back of the cave.
Treasure
Rubberneck’s intelligence and psionic skill have allowed him to amass a considerable amount of treasure over the years. In addition to his gear, he has the equivalent of double the standard treasure value for a CR 7 creature (about 5,200 gp) secreted in his lair. Rubberneck is quite fond of silver, and much of the treasure he keeps consists of silver coins or jewelry.
Expanded Psionics Handbook ©2004 Wizards of the Coast
Dungeons & Dragons is a registered trademark of Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
Aeryn "Blackdirge" Rudel is a freelance writer, game designer, and editor, and the owner of Blackdirge Publishing.
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| Author | Blackdirge |
| Date & Time | 16-01-2008 18:00 |
comments
| Angellis_ater - 18-01-2008 04:51 |
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| Note here - force screen is a standard action to activate, not a swift action, so it cannot be activated as described on the first round. |
| Blackdirge - 18-01-2008 07:54 |
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| Angellis, you're right. It should be defensive precognition as the swift action, and force screen as one of the standard actions. I've fixed it; good catch. |
| jbsaff - 18-01-2008 14:55 |
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| Cool setup. This site is rapidly shaping up into an excellent support community. Features like this will be extremely useful as I work with my group. |
| Blackdirge - 18-01-2008 16:10 |
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| Thanks, jbsaff. I'm going to do between 2 and 4 of these a month, depending on my schedule. Feel free to make suggestions in the general forum about monster and NPC types you'd like to see. |
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