Scalamander
2012-12-18, 02:51 AM
The Battleloth
Intended as an example of the horrible power the Daemons wield over those who serve them, the Battleloths may prove to have a different destiny. For they are every bit as cruel and conniving as their dark creators and have managed to spread despite repeated attempts to annihilate them. Forged with the ability to become a specific, enchanted weapon that must be wielded by another, it seems unlikely that they would be able to achieve any independence. But the long centuries spent imprisoned in Carceri and other dark places of the Multiverse have hardened them and allowed them to fulfill their twisted potential in ways their Daemonic creators could have never imagined.
Original credit for the idea goes to Mike Mearls for the "By Evil Bound" article from Dragon #306. I have decided to adapt the six battleloths for the Pathfinder system, adding new abilities and flavour, as well as inventing some new additions including fearsome prototypes never meant to be released as well as the synergistic Armourloths.
Kagaloth (Sword Battleloth)
"Poised to strike, this gaunt figure stands tall, staring at you through shadowed eyes set into a sleek skull. Its skin appears metallic and unyielding but pulsing veins run all along its human-like body, ending in densely corded muscles. A single sword is held in one hand, seemingly made of the same material as itself, while the other hand gestures you forward.
“Before we deal, I request a contest of arms. Only through combat will we be able to truly judge who will be master and who will be servant. My conditions are the same. Prepare yourself.”
CR: 5
XP: 1,600
NE Small outsider (battleloth, evil, neutral, shapechanger)
Init: +1; Senses: darkvision 60ft., telepathy 100ft.; Perception +12
Languages: Abyssal
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AC: 17, touch 13, flatfooted 15 (+1 Dex, +1 dodge, +4 natural, +1 size)
hp: 60hp (6d10+18)
Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +5
Immune: acid, death effects, disease, poison; Resistance: cold 10, electricity 10, fire 10
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Speed: 30ft.
Melee: Short sword +13/+8 (1d6+7+1d6 cold) or
Melee: Power Attack +12/+7 (1d6+10+1d6 cold)
Space: 5ft.; Reach: 5ft.
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Str 18, Dex 13, Con 17, Int 14, Wis 11, Cha 14
Base Atk: +6; CMB: +10; CMD: 20
Feats: Combat Expertise, Dodge, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (short sword)B
Skills: Acrobatics +8, Bluff +12, Craft (weapons) +12, Disguise +12, Intimidate +12, Knowledge (planes) +12, Perception +10, Sense Motive +10, Stealth +8
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Environment: Carceri, Gehenna, Hades
Organization: Solitary
Advancement: Small 6-11HD, Medium 12-17HD, Large 18HD+
Treasure: Standard
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Enhanced Attacks (Su): The Kagaloth retains any magical enhancements and abilities it gains in weapon form to its natural attacks.
Guided Strikes (Su): While in its weapon form, the Kagaloth can choose to forgo its free attack and instead use the aid another action to grant its wielder a +2 bonus on its next attack roll against an opponent or a +2 bonus to its wielders AC against that opponent’s next attack. The choice is the wielders and the attack must come before the end of its next turn.
Shared Repertoire (Ex): As long as the wielder is holding a Kagaloth in its weapon form, it gains the use of the Martial Weapon Proficiency feat with the Short Sword as well as the Weapon Focus (short sword) feat. If the Kagaloth resumes its natural form or the wielder lets go of the weapon it loses the use of these feats.
Short Sword Form (Su): As a standard action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity, a Kagaloth can become a +1 short sword with a +1 weapon enhancement (usually frost) or change back into its natural form.
In its weapon form it may make a single attack using its highest attack bonus against any target its wielder successfully strikes. It may only use this ability once per turn.
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Combat: Kagaloths will attempt to negotiate with other creatures of seemingly equal or greater power when caught unawares by proposing a contest of arms. The conditions the Kagaloth sets are usually harsh but fair and may include indentured servitude for the loser to the winner. Of course Kagaloths hate to lose and have no qualms about summoning reinforcements unexpectedly and using other dirty tricks to get the upper hand. They use their Power Attack feat unless they are not hitting enough and then switch to using Combat Expertise if things are going against them.
In weapon form they use their powers to aid their wielders attacks while telepathically offering advice wreathed in sarcasm and disgust to facilitate them to improve. They also have a habit of attempting to sunder the weapons and armour of other combatants with their extra attack, especially if they come up against other magical weapons.
Habitat and Society: Unlike the majority of their Battleloth kin who are content to live out their lives roaming across the Lower Planes, killing and dying in rapid succession, the Kagaloths believe they see a bigger picture. Their racial compulsion to create copies of themselves extends not only to the swords they are constantly forging, but the recruited Battleloths they are training as well. They see themselves and by extension all other Battleloths as creatures who may have been created as tools and cast away, but now are ready to come into their own. For the Kagaloth this future is the Blood War.
Some Kagaloth are consumed in a semi-religious cult they call the Dreams of Blood, a central tenant of which is that the Battleloth are destined to win the Blood War for whichever side wields them. Skeptical outsiders point to this as merely a clever marketing technique, but to the Kagaloth and others who endorse the message, it is their life’s calling.
Intended as an example of the horrible power the Daemons wield over those who serve them, the Battleloths may prove to have a different destiny. For they are every bit as cruel and conniving as their dark creators and have managed to spread despite repeated attempts to annihilate them. Forged with the ability to become a specific, enchanted weapon that must be wielded by another, it seems unlikely that they would be able to achieve any independence. But the long centuries spent imprisoned in Carceri and other dark places of the Multiverse have hardened them and allowed them to fulfill their twisted potential in ways their Daemonic creators could have never imagined.
Original credit for the idea goes to Mike Mearls for the "By Evil Bound" article from Dragon #306. I have decided to adapt the six battleloths for the Pathfinder system, adding new abilities and flavour, as well as inventing some new additions including fearsome prototypes never meant to be released as well as the synergistic Armourloths.
Kagaloth (Sword Battleloth)
"Poised to strike, this gaunt figure stands tall, staring at you through shadowed eyes set into a sleek skull. Its skin appears metallic and unyielding but pulsing veins run all along its human-like body, ending in densely corded muscles. A single sword is held in one hand, seemingly made of the same material as itself, while the other hand gestures you forward.
“Before we deal, I request a contest of arms. Only through combat will we be able to truly judge who will be master and who will be servant. My conditions are the same. Prepare yourself.”
CR: 5
XP: 1,600
NE Small outsider (battleloth, evil, neutral, shapechanger)
Init: +1; Senses: darkvision 60ft., telepathy 100ft.; Perception +12
Languages: Abyssal
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AC: 17, touch 13, flatfooted 15 (+1 Dex, +1 dodge, +4 natural, +1 size)
hp: 60hp (6d10+18)
Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +5
Immune: acid, death effects, disease, poison; Resistance: cold 10, electricity 10, fire 10
__________________________________________________ ______________
Speed: 30ft.
Melee: Short sword +13/+8 (1d6+7+1d6 cold) or
Melee: Power Attack +12/+7 (1d6+10+1d6 cold)
Space: 5ft.; Reach: 5ft.
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Str 18, Dex 13, Con 17, Int 14, Wis 11, Cha 14
Base Atk: +6; CMB: +10; CMD: 20
Feats: Combat Expertise, Dodge, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (short sword)B
Skills: Acrobatics +8, Bluff +12, Craft (weapons) +12, Disguise +12, Intimidate +12, Knowledge (planes) +12, Perception +10, Sense Motive +10, Stealth +8
__________________________________________________ ______________
Environment: Carceri, Gehenna, Hades
Organization: Solitary
Advancement: Small 6-11HD, Medium 12-17HD, Large 18HD+
Treasure: Standard
__________________________________________________ ______________
Enhanced Attacks (Su): The Kagaloth retains any magical enhancements and abilities it gains in weapon form to its natural attacks.
Guided Strikes (Su): While in its weapon form, the Kagaloth can choose to forgo its free attack and instead use the aid another action to grant its wielder a +2 bonus on its next attack roll against an opponent or a +2 bonus to its wielders AC against that opponent’s next attack. The choice is the wielders and the attack must come before the end of its next turn.
Shared Repertoire (Ex): As long as the wielder is holding a Kagaloth in its weapon form, it gains the use of the Martial Weapon Proficiency feat with the Short Sword as well as the Weapon Focus (short sword) feat. If the Kagaloth resumes its natural form or the wielder lets go of the weapon it loses the use of these feats.
Short Sword Form (Su): As a standard action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity, a Kagaloth can become a +1 short sword with a +1 weapon enhancement (usually frost) or change back into its natural form.
In its weapon form it may make a single attack using its highest attack bonus against any target its wielder successfully strikes. It may only use this ability once per turn.
__________________________________________________ ______________
Combat: Kagaloths will attempt to negotiate with other creatures of seemingly equal or greater power when caught unawares by proposing a contest of arms. The conditions the Kagaloth sets are usually harsh but fair and may include indentured servitude for the loser to the winner. Of course Kagaloths hate to lose and have no qualms about summoning reinforcements unexpectedly and using other dirty tricks to get the upper hand. They use their Power Attack feat unless they are not hitting enough and then switch to using Combat Expertise if things are going against them.
In weapon form they use their powers to aid their wielders attacks while telepathically offering advice wreathed in sarcasm and disgust to facilitate them to improve. They also have a habit of attempting to sunder the weapons and armour of other combatants with their extra attack, especially if they come up against other magical weapons.
Habitat and Society: Unlike the majority of their Battleloth kin who are content to live out their lives roaming across the Lower Planes, killing and dying in rapid succession, the Kagaloths believe they see a bigger picture. Their racial compulsion to create copies of themselves extends not only to the swords they are constantly forging, but the recruited Battleloths they are training as well. They see themselves and by extension all other Battleloths as creatures who may have been created as tools and cast away, but now are ready to come into their own. For the Kagaloth this future is the Blood War.
Some Kagaloth are consumed in a semi-religious cult they call the Dreams of Blood, a central tenant of which is that the Battleloth are destined to win the Blood War for whichever side wields them. Skeptical outsiders point to this as merely a clever marketing technique, but to the Kagaloth and others who endorse the message, it is their life’s calling.