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View Full Version : Crafting Crimes Against Nature and The Gods



Jergmo
2009-09-30, 11:13 PM
Alright, so I probably shouldn't be allowed to play this character, but my friend is allowing me to play the first ever true mad scientist in his campaign world, a Necromancer/Chirurgen (for those who haven't heard of the Chirurgen, it's pretty much mixing the awesome powers of medical Science and Magic). To celebrate this awesome fact, I've been compiling ideas for awesome/sanity-rending abominations that, while things could go horribly wrong, this is Science For The Science God And Magic For The Magic God!!, and that's all that matters! :smallfurious:

Idea 1 for Awesome and Horrifying: A Cloud Giant Ghast with Huge-sized axe blades for hands, and, assuming it could work, Beholder eyes grafted in (Chirurgen allows you to transplant a variety of internal organs and body parts, even brains at the level cap) so that it can shoot Disintegrate and Flesh to Stone death rays from its eyes. It would be difficult to control, but I can Teleport to safety and then watch what I hath wrought go forth into the world.

Idea 2 for Dear God, What's Wrong With You? This Was Never Meant To Be!: The character, as a normal-guy front, travels from town to town offering his services for general medical treatment, the delivery of babies, and as an embalmer. So, I was thinking that he could begin collecting the placentas and stillborns, massing them up in cold storage somehow over however long it would take, and as the tears of the Gods rained upon the land, a giant mass of dead baby and placenta flesh would be transmogrified into a giant shapeshifting stem cell undead monster.

Now, I'm not usually this horrifying as a human being, but when I play a character role, I begin thinking like that character. So what does the Playground think? Can Nightmare Fuel be any more High Octane than idea #2 FOR SCIENCE?

Shadowbane
2009-10-01, 12:17 AM
Heh. Idea 2 is pretty horrifying, my dear chap.

Masaioh
2009-10-01, 12:36 AM
Where did you get this Chirurgen class from?

Jergmo
2009-10-01, 12:36 AM
Heh. Idea 2 is pretty horrifying, my dear chap.

Why, thank you. :smallsmile:


Where did you get this Chirurgen class from?

It's from a book simply called "Undead".

Jalor
2009-10-01, 12:40 AM
Are... Are you trying to invent the Wave of Babies?

Why not make a legion of skeletal kittens while you're at it?

Jergmo
2009-10-01, 12:51 AM
Are... Are you trying to invent the Wave of Babies?

Why not make a legion of skeletal kittens while you're at it?

Ooh, there's an idea.

taltamir
2009-10-01, 12:53 AM
insects... that borrow... into flesh... of the still living.

Jergmo
2009-10-01, 12:55 AM
Wait, no, I've got it! You know those undead critters that are made up of a bunch of different skeletons fused together? I'll do that with the kittens instead.

taltamir
2009-10-01, 12:57 AM
some cute and adorable, like a kitten... only horrid and evil (well...actually... like cats?).

Infernal Housecat is a valid creature, you can apply infernal template to anything... just buff them up a bit too, and you got something scary.

Flickerdart
2009-10-01, 12:57 AM
Stitched-flesh familiars?

Also, the Atropal seems right down your alley.

Jergmo
2009-10-01, 01:00 AM
Stitched-flesh familiars?

Also, the Atropal seems right down your alley.

Yeah, but that's more of an aborted God-fetus. I can't actually make one, unless I somehow impregnate a Goddess and take things from there...

Crafty Cultist
2009-10-01, 01:02 AM
How about crafting corpses into an unliving stronghold filled with room after room of affronts to nature? Bonus points if it can fly.

the shapeshifting fetus monster is brilliant and I've always been a fan of modified undead.

the evil is strong in you

Jergmo
2009-10-01, 01:07 AM
How about crafting corpses into an unliving stronghold filled with room after room of affronts to nature? Bonus points if it can fly.

the shapeshifting fetus monster is brilliant and I've always been a fan of modified undead.

the evil is strong in you

Actually, I remember reading something in Secret College of Necromancy about an ancient necromancer conquering nations to collect corpses for a giant pyramid constructed of undead flesh and bone for some purpose, so there's a precedent...there are also undead creatures that are siege engines.

taltamir
2009-10-01, 01:25 AM
Actually, I remember reading something in Secret College of Necromancy about an ancient necromancer conquering nations to collect corpses for a giant pyramid constructed of undead flesh and bone for some purpose, so there's a precedent...there are also undead creatures that are siege engines.

the purpose obviously being that "it is cool"

Set
2009-10-01, 03:25 AM
Make the giant spider from the horrible movie Wild, Wild West.

Out of body parts. Or just bone, which would look cooler, but require raiding ancient battlefields, mass grave and a dragon's graveyard or two.

Build a wizard's tower out of bone, and then animate it.

Create undead that can control larger numbers of lesser mindless undead (at least 2x their HD, but preferably 4x their HD). Use them as 'sub-commanders' by controlling them, while they relay your commands to the ballista-fodder.

Go to a slaughterhouse and make a gargantuan undead ooze out of cattle, sheep, pig, etc. organs and offal. Or from their spilled blood, a vampiric blood ooze, able to vaporize itself and move through the air as a gargantuan cloud of red mist (if it's anything like water, the volume of the liquid state will increase by a factor of 216 when it becomes a vapor, so an already gargantuan blood ooze would become a truly monstrous vapor-cloud, covering city blocks in reddish haze...).

Frustrated by the difficulty of acquiring giant corpses for animation, I wrote up the following spells, which are pretty much crimes against nature (they were written for 3.0, and probably would need tweakage to fit 3.5 standards)...


Bone Juggernaut.
Animates many man-sized skeletons into one larger one.

Necromancy [Evil]
Level: Sor/Wiz 5
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 8 hours
Range: Touch
Target, Effect or Area: Fuses 16 intact medium-sized skeletons into one gargantuan one.
Duration: Permanent
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

Description
Created in a collaborative effort by many necromancers of the Animator’s Guild of Hollowfaust, this spell was crafted to combat the severe shortage of gargantuan and larger skeletons for animation. The leader of the project, an unhealthy fellow known as Kadeth, proposed carrying the experiment to its logical conclusion by attempting to craft gargantuan zombies. His fellow Animators voted against that idea, and he quietly vanished one night, along with his personal libraries and servants.

Spell Effect
After a full night incanting over sixteen pristine humanoid skeletons of medium size, the bones slither and fuse together into a towering colossus of bone under the casters direct command. This macabre creation is treated in all respects as a gargantuan skeleton (core rulebook III, p. 165) and counts as 16 hit dice against the total amount of undead the caster can have controlled by such animation magic at one time (per the description under the animate dead spell in core rulebook I, p. 174).

The creation remains active until destroyed, and can be commanded by spoken commands from its creator or certain emphatic gestures (go, come, halt).

At 16th level, the caster may choose to perform this rite over 32 such skeletons (with the commensurate increase in blood sacrifice) to create a colossal skeleton. Such a creation will count as a 32 hit die undead for the purposes of control.

Material Components: In addition to sixteen intact humanoid skeletons, sixteen living creatures must be slain during the ritual and their blood made into a bath in which the bones to be animated must steep during the casting. These creatures must be of medium size, but need not be humanoid (and in fact must not be intelligent). Dogs, associated with mindless obedience by many, are generally preferred for this unhappy role.


Corpse Colossus.
Animates several humanoid corpses into one giant zombie.

Necromancy [Evil]
Level: Sor/Wiz 6
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 8 hours
Range: Touch
Target, Effect or Area: Animates a giant zombie from a dozen man-sized corpses
Duration: Permanent
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

Description
A necromancer from Hollowfaust named Kadeth fled to Glivid-Autel so that he could continue his studies among ‘less squeamish’ peers. In return for his knowledge, he was allowed to partake of the Societies research into immortality, to attempt to stave on his own deteriorating health. His research has reached its inevitable conclusion, and he now seeks out twenty-three appropriate bodies, which he means to awaken into unlife as a rotting colossus with himself as the guiding intellect…

Spell Effect
After gathering eleven suitable humanoid corpses, none dead more than three days, the caster draws out a suitable chopping tool and many yards of sturdy cat-gut. After eight hours of butchery and crude stitching, and one dark sacrifice, the caster has assembled a fearsome creation in the form of a gargantuan humanoid from the many smaller components.

This creation draws a spark of unlife from these dark deeds, being treated in all respects as a gargantuan zombie (core rulebook, pages 191-192) of particularly gruesome aspect, and counting as 24 hit dice against the total amount of undead the caster can have under his control at any one time (per the description under animate dead, core rulebook I, p. 174).

The creation remains active until destroyed, although it can only be directed by the spoken command of its creator, or certain emphatic gestures (go, come, halt).

While this spell could theoretically be increased, using 24 bodies to craft a 48 HD colossal zombie, no arcanist has yet been able to do create and control such a monstrosity. Some propose that the caster would have to be the equivalent of a 24th level spellcaster to initiate the ritual, others suggest the catalyzing death has to be more powerful (or more numerous?), perhaps of a larger creature, a magical beast or even a spellcaster. Experimentation, with all the horror that implies, continues…

Material Components: Eleven intact and fresh humanoid corpses, many yards of catgut, a strong needle of bone and a sharp cutting tool are required for the initial assembly process. To awaken the beast into unlife, a twelfth living humanoid must be sewn into the very center of the assembled construct, making up the ‘heart’ of the finished zombie. The bone needle used for assembly, still attached to the single long strand of catgut that holds the mass together, is pushed through this living victims heart and the spell traps the force of his death and channels it out through the needle and catgut into the creature, shocking it into an unholy semblance of life. It should go without saying that the casting of this spell is an evil act that goes beyond the pale of most ‘Evil’ spells.

golentan
2009-10-01, 03:38 AM
I have a far more horrifying idea. Those of sympathetic nervous dispositions may wish to stop reading.

Make young children undead. They retain their unmodified minds and personality, and control over speech, and other than that they act exactly like mindless undead. Then as a "Psychological and Physiological Stress experiment," send the creatures after the town you took them from while using divination to monitor the parents. Add additional horror elements to taste, or as variations on the experiment in other towns. Throw in body horror, attacks from unexpected quarters, and make sure the kids keep crying and asking their parents for help the whole time as ways to turn up the horror.

Deliverance
2009-10-01, 03:49 AM
How about just reading Girl Genius - more warped science than you can shake a stick at.

Your opening post reminded me somewhat of the mad social scientist

http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090506
http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090706

paddyfool
2009-10-01, 04:33 AM
Au contraire, he's very clearly a mad biological scientist.

Some more ideas for your character:

Bioterrorism - he could create evil, evil, magical plagues if you like. There's a (rather underpowered) spell called Contagion you could look at as a basis for this, but you'd want to upgrade that to having a mind-affecting virus. (Either mind-affecting as in "make everyone docile and easily led/conquered" or mind-affecting as in "zombie plague" could work... a zombie plague based on a virus which (a) is very easily transmissible and (b) has a long incubation period could be pretty devastating, especially with your abilities as a necromancer to control the zombies that result and seed the virus wherever you wish).

Zombie kittens - plainly superior to skeletal kittens. Also it would be interesting to warp and weaponify be livestock, wildlife, plantlife etc, never mind bona fide monsters. You could butcher a herd of cattle for undead mounts for a small taskforce of warped undead humanoids, have skeletal bird scouts, etcetera. etcetera.

Fleshgrafts are your friend, too - offer them widely to party members.

Bayar
2009-10-01, 05:06 AM
Have you heard of the "Graft" feats ? Combine construct grafts and undead grafts as per the description in Magic of Eberron. The subject will probably die in about a couple of weeks, but at least he will look as a being that should not be (at least that is the fluff of it).

SparkMandriller
2009-10-01, 05:14 AM
Make a zombie virus.

Get your game banned in Australia.

Krimm_Blackleaf
2009-10-01, 05:25 AM
Why, I've never heard of such vile debauchery and crimes (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10647) against (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39607) nature (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10255)!

...Oh wait.

Cicciograna
2009-10-01, 05:36 AM
Devise a new kind of virus which infects pregnant women, turning their babies into blood-sucking undeads, then watch as the little horrors literally suck dry their mother, eat their way out from the corpse and go rampaging: an horde of undead fetuses, eyes red, pieces of placenta hanging from their small bodies, crawling on the ground ready to jump and tear is a sight to behold.

Create a new type of golem, stiching together all the organs you can put your hands on (gravedigging on fresh corpses helps a lot here), grafting a dead human face on the neck. Then, as a final touch, add an illusion, some sort of allucination that makes the face look like some relative of its victims, who keeps screaming for help, while tearing apart the vicitim itself, drinking her vital fluids and leaving no more than an empty human skin.

Jergmo
2009-10-01, 12:13 PM
Would a Fell Animate Plague spell work? (Plague is a version of Contagion that affects everything in a 180 foot radius. Use it in a crowded place.)

Randel
2009-10-01, 01:58 PM
A few ideas:

1). zombie trees - somehow mix together the animate plant spell with a contagious zombification virus (or the create spawn power of wights) so that an infected tree will animate and then attack other trees to animate them. They only attack other plants or things that attack them first, so unleash one of these bad boys into a forest and watch the nature-loving elves, dryads, and forest animals cry in fear and horror.

The bad guys have a hideout in the forbidden forest? Heh, heh, heh...

2). Self sustaining exploding zombie rat factory - build a stationary trap that turns rat corpses into zombies with the fell-animate thing built in. The undead rats are then ordered to move in swarms to track down, kill, and retrieve other rats or any vermin they find. They bring the rats back, animate them, and head out to get more. Continue until all rats in the area are exterminated... then watch the ecosystem get messed up now that hawks and foxes can't get tasty rodents for food. Or after you ammass a huge army (that people more or less accept since you got rid of the rats) then set them to grab anything that isn't you. Cue exploding zombie chicken apocolypse.

Foryn Gilnith
2009-10-01, 02:04 PM
Reanimate a volcano? (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0148.html)

Jergmo
2009-10-01, 02:19 PM
Reanimate a volcano? (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0148.html)

Maybe, but I need to find a high level Diviner and Conjurer to help me...

chiasaur11
2009-10-01, 02:26 PM
Hmm. We want horrible and creative here...

Well, it's not creative, but ripping a page from SHODAN's book might be an idea. Reanimate the dead with golem parts...

And have them both be fully aware of the agony of their existence and unable to do anything to change it. Have their primary task be to spread and infect.