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LordofBones
2012-07-23, 03:52 AM
Design notes: Archfiend and divine avatars and aspects get one feat per two HD in addition to any bonus feats they get from class levels, if any. Ability scores increase by a blanket +2 per four HD over the base creature, before ability score increases as a result from levels, size increases and inherent bonuses are applied.

I tend to treat statistics for archfiends and gods as approximations of how their avatars or aspects would look like. The Anthraxus presented below, in my view, is a manifestation of the real Anthraxus's will when forced to deal with powerful emissaries, divine minions, aspects of his fellow archfiends and so on. Greater and lesser aspects certainly exist as well.

Also, I take requests. :smallcool:


ANTHRAXUS THE DECAYED (CR 41)

Clad in a rotting gray robe and cape, his horrific creature towers over you like a plague-ridden giant. The fiend’s skin and flesh are similarly pallid, but what frightens you the most is its face. Almost like the head of a horribly scarred, diseased ram with curling horns, you recoil as you realize the horns are threaded with flesh and black iron wires, and the horrible yellow eyes are nuggets of gold. The creature’s face had been sculpted, you realize, for even as that horrible voice sears itself into your mind the creature’s maw does not move.

NE Large Outsider (evil, extraplanar, yugoloth)
Init +18; Senses Listen +55, Search +57, Spot +55; see in darkness
Aura rot; Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Draconic, Common, Infernal, Yugoloth; telepathy 380 ft
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AC 81 (-1 size, +4 deflection, +14 Dex, +16 profane, +39 natural); touch 43, flat-footed 67
hp 912 (38d8 plus 608), regeneration 16; DR 30/epic, good and silver
Immune ability damage, ability drain, acid, energy drain, exhaustion, mind-affecting effects, poison, polymorph effects
Resist cold 30, electricity 30, fire 30; SR 52
Fort +55, Ref +53, Will +53
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Speed 40 ft
Melee staff of the lower planes +59/+54/+49/+44 (3d6 + 30 plus 3d6 vs good and one negative level/20/x2 plus 6d6 vs good and 2 negative levels) or
Melee 2 slams +52 (2d8 + 15 and disease [Fort DC 46]) and
Melee touch +47 (3d6 drain)
Space 10 ft; Reach 10 ft
Base Atk +53; Grp +72;
Atk Options Arcane Strike, Awesome Blow, Improved Bull Rush, Power Attack; breath of contagion (cloud of gas, 38d6 acid damage [half vile] and 2 random diseases), disease (slam)
Special Actions call yugoloth, fascination (DC 46 or be held)
Spell-like Abilities (+53 melee touch, +52 ranged touch; CL 38th)
Always active – detect chaos, detect good, detect evil, detect law, detect magic, detect poison, detect scrying, detect thoughts, discern lies, true seeing, unholy aura;
At will – acid storm (DC 36), acid fog, astral projection, befoul, blasphemy (DC 36), chain lightning (DC 34), contagion (DC 32), curse of the putrid husk (DC 31), deeper darkness, desecrate, despoil (DC 37), dispel good (DC 32), energy drain (DC 36), fear (DC 31), flesh ripper, fly, greater dispel magic, greater scrying (DC 34), greater teleport (self plus 50 pounds of objects), mass inflict moderate wounds (DC 34), ravage (DC 35), ray of enfeeblement, ray of exhaustion (DC 30), rotting curse of ur-festra (DC 31), unhallow, wall of deadly chains (DC 32), wall of fire, wither limb (DC 30), wretched blight (DC 35);
6/day – chain of sorrow (DC 35), geas/quest, mass suggestion (DC 33), symbol of death (DC 35), symbol of fear (DC 33), symbol of insanity (DC 35), symbol of pain (DC 32), symbol of stunning (DC 34), symbol of weakness (DC 34), wrack (DC 32);
3/day – bestow greater curse (DC 36), death by thorns (DC 35), eternity of torture (DC 37), imprison soul (DC 35), mass harm (DC 37), pox (DC 35);
1/day – pestilence (DC 38)
Typical Necromancer Spells Prepared (CL 38th; +53 melee touch, +52 ranged touch)
16th – heightened avascular mass (DC 45), chained heightened gutwrench (DC 42), intensified tainted horrid wilting (DC 37);
15th – chained maximized blackfire (DC 37), chained empowered repeating orb of acid (DC 30), intensified polar ray;
14th – quickened violated maw of chaos (DC 35), intensified energy ebb (DC 36), empowered quickened mass inflict critical wounds (DC 37);
13th – quickened repeating mass contagion (DC 35), chained repeating fleshshiver (x2; DC 35);
12th – intensified night’s caress (x2; DC 34), corrupt maximized polar ray, empowered maximized whirlwind of teeth (DC 33);
11th – heightened quickened heartfreeze (DC 36), empowered violated lightning ring (DC 37), chained tainted violated reciprocal gyre (DC 31), quickened retributive enervation;
10th – heightened evil glare (DC 39), quickened eyebite (DC 35), quickened superior resistance, corrupt tainted zajimarn’s field of icy razors (DC 34);
9th – black blade of disaster, greater dimension jumper, lash of force (DC 35), plague of undead, soul bind, quickened touch of vecna (DC 34), utterdark;
8th – create greater undead, quickened finger of agony (DC 33), flensing (x2; DC 34), power word stun, tainted violated storm of fire and ice (DC 32), touch of the graveborn (x2; DC 35);
7th – antimagic ray (DC 33), avasculate (DC 36), finger of death (x2; DC 36), greater seed of undeath, necrotic curse, empowered night’s caress (DC 34), violated otiluke’s freezing sphere (DC 31);
6th – ashen union (DC 35), ghoul gauntlet (DC 35), greater anticipate teleportation, tainted violated orb of sound, ray of entropy (x2), wave of pain (DC 35);
5th – acid sheath, channeled lifetheft (x2), cryptwarden’s grasp (x2), death throes, graymantle, vitriolic sphere (DC 31);
4th – burning blood (DC 33), caustic mire, corporeal instability (DC 30), entangling staff, evard’s black tentacles, heart ripper (DC 33), horrid sickness (x2; DC 33), summon undead IV;
3rd – blade of pain and fear (DC 29), contagious fog, dolorous blow, greater disrupt undead, icelance (DC 29), violated melf’s acid arrow, prickling torment (DC 32), corrupt ray of ice (DC 28), vampiric touch;
2nd – blindness/deafness (DC 31), burning blood (DC 28), cloud of bewilderment (DC 28), death armor, escalating enfeeblement (x2), ghoul touch (DC 31), incendiary slime, kelgore’s grave mist;
1st – backbiter, blade of blood (x2), blood wind, corrosive grasp, reaving aura, rime (DC 30), true strike, whelm (DC 27);
Cantrips – arcane mark, presdigitation, silent portal, touch of fatigue (DC 29)
Epic Spells per Day 3; Epic Spells Known many
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Abilities Str 41, Dex 38, Con 43, Int 42, Wis 39, Cha 47
SQ profane grace, yugoloth traits
Feats Arcane Strike, Awesome Blow, Chain Spell, Corpsecrafter, Corrupt Spell (B), Dark Speech (B), Empower Spell, Evil Brand (B), Greater Spell Focus (Necromancy), Heighten Spell, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Initiative, Maximize Spell, Quicken Spell, Power Attack, Repeat Spell, Spell Focus (Necromancy), Taint Spell, Violate Spell (B)
Epic Feats Epic Evil Brand (B), Epic Reputation, Epic Spellcasting, Epic Spell Focus (Necromancy), Improved Heighten Spell, Intensify Spell
Skills Balance +43, Bluff +63, Climb +30, Concentration +57, Decipher Script +57, Diplomacy +75 (+83 evil creatures), Disguise +42, Forgery +57, Gather Information +67, Hide +39, Intimidate +67 (+75 evil creatures), Jump +19, Knowledge (arcana, geography, history, local, nobility and royalty, religion, the planes) +58, Knowledge (nature) +18, Listen +55, Move Silently +34, Search +57, Sense Motive +55, Sleight of Hand +33, Spellcraft +61 (+65 scrolls), Spot +55, Survival +34 (+38 to avoid getting lost, extraplanar, tracking), Tumble +39, Use Magic Device +59 (+68 scrolls)
Possessions staff of the Lower Planes plus quintuple standard
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Aura of Rot (Su) Anthraxus’s presence stifles all forms of healing. He nullifies all form of fast healing and regeneration within 380 feet of him. Healing spells only heal half the usual amount, and unattended items and equipment have their hardness and hit points decrease by 3 each round they remain in the altraloth’s presence. Magical items gain a Fortitude save to negate the effect. Finally, his aura negates magical and natural protection against disease, ability damage and ability drain although creatures normally immune to ability drain treat it as ability damage instead.

Breath of Contagion (Su) Cone of putrid yellow-black mist 40 feet high, 45 feet wide and 100 feet long, once every 1d4 rounds, 38d6 acid damage (half of which is vile) plus two random diseases; Ref DC 44 half for the damage and Fort DC 44 for the disease.

Call Yugoloth (Su) At will, Anthraxus can call two ultroloths, three nycaloths or arcanaloths or eight of any other yugoloth.

Decay (Su) With a gesture, Anthraxus can force a victim to wither away under the weight of years. As a standard action, Anthraxus may designate a single victim as a target for decay. When this happens, the target must immediately make a Fortitude save (DC 47) or take 10d6 vile damage each round and lose 3 points of Strength, Dexterity and Constitution. If the victim’s ability scores drop to zero as a result of the ability score or takes damage beyond its current hit points, it dies and is reanimated as an angel of decay under Anthraxus’s control the following round. Anthraxus can alter the duration of the decay as he desires.

Creatures immune to aging effects still take damage.

Disease (Su) Anthraxus’s natural attacks inflict a cruel, debilitating disease (1d4 Con and 1d4 Cha drain, incubation one round, Fort DC 44). This pox is contagious; anyone in contact with the affected victim suffers the same fate. Healing spells must succeed at a DC 48 caster level check to cure the victim; even so the healer must make the save as well to avoid being infected. Hit point loss from the disease’s effects is permanent unless a greater restoration, miracle or wish is cast after the disease is removed.

Regeneration (Ex) Weapons capable of bypassing Anthraxus’s damage reduction as well as good spells and effects deal normal damage to him.

Remake (Ex) Before his ascendancy to the throne of Khin-Oin, Anthraxus was a necromancer specialized in the creative use of corpses. He is capable of tormenting living beings as well; when he so desires he can remake creatures into grotesque parodies of their former selves. Anthraxus can remake any creature that has an ability score reduced to 1 by his natural attacks, spells or spell-like abilities.

Hereafter, Anthraxus can mutate his victims, providing cruel, unwanted monkey paw-esque boons. He is capable of remaking and reshaping his victims, restoring their ruined ability scores along with augmenting them. The altraloth has a pool of 100 ability points to “bless” his target with; he does not need to use all of them at once. He can bestow a profane bonus to an ability score of his choice (maximum +20) to his victims. He can shift and remove these augmentations at will.

Gifting his victims with these augmentations is horribly traumatizing. He can impart any of his prepared spells or spell-like abilities to his victims, to be triggered when certain conditions are met. Gifting his victim a boon of Strength, for example, might result in one arm withering away into a desiccated limb (as the spell wither limb), while the other arm becomes a grotesque, veined mass of muscle. When he grants a boon of Intelligence, the victim’s head elongates and swells; the veins clearly visible. Hereafter, casting a spell becomes extremely painful and the victim must make a Fortitude save (DC as the spell being cast) whenever he casts a spell or suffer the effects of a wrack spell for one minute per spell level, or casting a spell triggers a wail of the banshee on the caster and his allies. Anthraxus is fond of irony; which is taken into account when he grants a boon. Creatures normally immune to the adverse effects are affected as though they were unprotected.

Anthraxus can also allow the victim’s scores to reach zero, at which point the victim dies. He can then reshape the corpse into any form he wishes – in more sadistic cases, the altraloth turns the victim into a chair or a table, or just a mass of rotting flesh, before granting the tortured victim life again.

Scarring Touch (Su) Anthraxus’s face bears horrific marks of experimental surgeries and self-inflicted scars. His touch similarly warps his victims, scarring them horribly physically and mentally. Anthraxus’s touch deals 3d6 drain to an ability score of his choice; he generally chooses Charisma to scar his victims in imitation of his own horrible scars. A Fortitude save (DC 47) halves the drain.

Spells Anthraxus casts spells as a 38th level wizard specialized in Necromancy with access to all arcane spell lists. Anthraxus prefers offensive magic to defensive magic. As a Lord of the Lower Planes the Diseased One does not suffer the cost of corrupt spells, nor does he need to meet material or racial component prerequisites.

Vile (Ex) Anthraxus’s natural attacks always deal vile damage. He treats Corrupt Spell, Evil Brand, Epic Evil Brand and Violate Spell as bonus feats.

STRATEGIES AND TACTICS

Anthraxus is brutal in melee combat. The disgraced altraloth prefers to wade in confidently; the fury of his assault stoked by the memory of his dethronement. He makes good use of his scarring touch against foes within range, and savors the agony of those who suffer from Decay. He is just as fond of hurling spells into the fray as he is of melee combat; softening up foes with judicious use of corrupt and damaging spells before finishing them with death magics. He often marries Arcane Strike and entangling staff with the Staff of the Lower Planes, combining this deadly combination with Power Attack for the best results.

Anthraxus is cruel, and will often teleport away with a drained enemy to better employ his Remake ability with no interruptions. When feeling particularly sadistic, he Remakes an opponent in the heat of battle – the sight alone is enough to make even the most hardened veterans sick with horror.

SERVANTS, MOTIVATIONS AND GOALS

Anthraxus was the most warlike of the Oinoloths. The only one known to have ever successfully breached the defenses of Khin-Oin in an open assault, he was originally an ultroloth necromancer specializing in the creative use of corpses. The hags responsible for his transformation into an altraloth did so in return for the archfiend’s aid in repelling plane-wide crusades of the paladins of the Order of the Knights Militant. For centuries, Anthraxus the Decayed ruled the Wasting Tower and all its secrets from the throne of the Siege Malicious.

Until Mydianchlarus.

Mydianchlarus, who glided into the throne-room of the Khin-Oin unchallenged and whispered into Anthraxus’s tattered ear something so disturbing it broke the Oinoloth’s will. Even now, the secret torments the disgraced fiend, compelling him to seek the truth from any source willing to hear him out.

Anthraxus prefers not to have followers. Most of his yugoloth servants deserted him, except for the broken arcanaloth Nivsiim (NE arcanaloth wizard 12) who was bound into the archfiend’s service when Anthraxus was an ultroloth. Still, when he was Oinoloth he ordered the construction of numerous safehouses throughout the Lower Planes filled with money and magical items, and he uses these to finance schemes to regain control over the Wasting Tower.

Anthraxus hates Mydianchlarus with a burning passion, but there is still some uncertainty about having to confront the ultroloth prince once more. He bears a special loathing for the god Vhaeraun, and even a whisper of the fallen Oinoloth’s name strikes mortal terror in the Masked Lord; to the point where Anthraxus can enter and leave the power’s realm in Carceri with no ill-effect. Rumor is he maintains a palace made of flayed and blighted drow petitioners there.

Anthraxus currently wanders the Lower Planes, his ambition ever-burning; some say he sought to challenge the General of Gehenna himself. Perhaps that was why Mydianchlarus was sent, armed with something Anthraxus had no hope of defending against, to send him on his way; and even the gods fear what he may do and what he may yet become.


Staff of the Lower Planes (Major Artifact)

Jealously guarded and hoarded by Anthraxus the Decayed, the Staff of the Lower Planes was the only item he carried from Khin-Oin after Mydianchlarus dethroned him.

Lore: The Staff of the Lower Planes is the symbol and standard of Anthraxus the Decayed. Scholars say the price of the staff’s creation could have bought entire Prime worlds. (Knowledge [arcana, the planes]) DC 30)
It was bestowed on him by the same night hags responsible for his apotheosis, and resembles nothing less than an imitation of the Wasting Tower itself. (Knowledge [arcana, the planes] DC 40)

Description: This staff stands at almost ten feet high, and seems to made of interlocking bone segments. Closer inspection reveals that that the fragments are really the defiled bones of a pit fiend and balor, knit with tough sinew and threads of black iron. The staff is crowned by a grisly melding of the skulls of both fiends; the backs of each skull flawlessly fused together to form one dual-faced bone. The staff constantly writhes in Anthraxus’s grasp; perhaps the forces of law and chaos cannot abide cohabitation in one vessel.

Powers: The Staff of the Lower Planes is a +7 quarterstaff of unholy power with a base damage of 2d8 and all the powers of a staff of domination and a staff of epic necromancy. Any fiend struck by the staff must make a Fortitude save (DC 54) or be transformed into the lowest ranked creature of their respective types (i.e. a balor would become a mane). The bearer of the Staff of the Lower Planes is immune to all negative planar effects of the Lower Planes. In addition, it allows use of the following spells 6 times per day:

• Violated intensified deadly lahar
• Gate
• Chained greater harm (DC 43)
• Reaching imprisonment (DC 43)
• Wave of pain (DC 42)

One per day, the wielder of the Staff can cast the following spells:

• Chained true dominate (DC 41)
• Heightened (to 15th) wish (DC 48, 51 for Necromancy effects)

Anyone that touches the staff without Anthraxus’s permission – which is seldom forthcoming – must make a Fortitude saving throw (DC 54) or be permanently transformed into a larva. A wish spell and a caster level check against Anthraxus’s SR can reverse the effect.

Aura/Caster Level: Overwhelming conjuration, enchantment and necromancy, overwhelming evil; CL 35th.


Parts of Anthraxus's flavor text comes from the old Realms of Evil forums, courtesy of ripvanwormer. The post has been lost for years now; I just posted it from memory. His description is based on a Planewalker story by sciborg.