Pact Magic Vestige: Shami-Amourae, Lady of Delights (PEACH)

[Greymane]

Shami-Amourae, Lady of Delights

Shami-Amourae was a primal succubus, and was once Queen of all Succubi and consort to Demorgorgon himself. As a vestige, she grants abilities that are similar to that of a succubus.

LEGEND: Fluff

SPECIAL REQUIREMENT: You must sprinkle petal-less roses upon her symbol. They become wilted and covered in a foul-smelling ooze upon summoning.

MANIFESTATION: Shami-Amourae rises out of pitch black puddle of ooze, and appears as a young and beautiful human female with marble-hued skin, golden hair, and leathery bat wings, dressed in an elegant white gown that is tattered and ripped. A grey aquatic serpentine tail five feet in length protrudes from behind her, wet and seemingly swimming through unseen currents; and her left arm is nothing but a writhing mass of mucus-dripping tentacles. When Shami-Amourae returns from the void, she will give her summoner a 'come hither' look, and extend her arms awaiting an embrace. If her invitation is refused, she will pout.

SIGN: Vestigial bat wings erupt from the Binder's back, their tongue becomes forked, and their voice becomes more pleasant and lyrical.

INFLUENCE: Being the patron of debased sexuality, under Shami-Amourae's influence, the binder loses all sense of shame. They are not embarrassed of their opinions, their physical appearance, or especially their desires. Additionally, if they see an attractive member of either sex, they must take all reasonable steps towards wooing, romancing, or bedding said person.

GRANTED ABILITIES: Shami-Amourae grants you many of her own succubus abilities, as well as her own unique ability to alter the beauty of others.

Alter Beauty: Shami-Amourae grants the Binder the ability to change the physical appearance of others. For better or worse. A person touched can be granted a +4 Enhancement bonus to their Charisma for as long as the Binder has Shami-Amourae bound. Or as a melee touch attack the Binder can touch an opponent, and cause 1d4 points of Charisma damage as they make them uglier.

Charming Gaze: Succubi have the supernatural ability to charm almost any living creature, and Shami-Amourae grants just such an ability. As a Gaze attack, the Binder replicates the effect of a Charm Monster spell, except even if threatened by the Binder or her allies, the target does not receive the +5 bonus on their Will Save, and the duration is a number of rounds equal to your Effective Binder Level. Once you have used this ability, you cannot do so again for 5 rounds.

Energy Drain: The Binder drains energy from a mortal it lures into some act of passion, or by simply planting a kiss on the victim. If the target is not willing to be kissed, the Binder must start a grapple, which provokes an attack of opportunity. The Binder’s kiss or embrace bestows one negative level. Once you have used this ability, you cannot do so again for 5 rounds.

Flight: The vestigial wings prove to be useful. The Binder gains a fly speed of 50 ft. (average) on their turn as a free action, but at the end of her movement, must be on the ground or else she falls. You cannot use this ability if you do not show Shami-Amourae's sign. Once you have used this ability, you cannot do so again for 5 rounds.

Forked Tongue: The Binder receives a competence bonus to their Bluff and Diplomacy skills equal to their Effective Binder Level. You cannot use this ability if you do not show Shami-Amourae's sign.

Telepathy: The Binder gains Telepathy out to 100 ft.



Comments: Shami-Amourae, former Queen of the Succubi before Demorgorgon tossed her in the Wells of Darkness. There's a lot of things I'm not sure on so far, namely balance. I don't know what level to make this Vestige for starters, and I'm not quite satisfied all of the abilities granted are perfect yet. Telepathy, for example, is something all demons have and isn't specific to Succubi. Maybe an Alter Self or some sort of Etherealness ability would be better? I also want to change the Charisma bonus granted by Alter Beauty to something other than Enhancement, so it could stack with most magic equipment, but I'm not sure if that would be too good or not. If others have ideas for better Signs and the minor fluffy details, I'm all ears on that too.

[Heliomance]

"Attractive member of their preferred sex" would make more sense in the Influence. Succubi aren't known for disapproving of homosexuality :P

[Eldan]

Though since she's the patron of depraved sexuality, one could also make it really uncomfortable for the binder and force them to only hit on their non-preferred sex.

[dysprosium]

Since Shami-Amourae is imprisoned in the Wells of Darkness in the Abyss, I don't know if she would be eligible to be a vestige. She still exists fully but is just imprisoned. Vestiges are supposed to be remains of an ultra powerful being.

But let's say she is eligible for being a vestige.

For the flight and forked tongue abilities, you should have the clause that says those abilities are only available if you show her sign.

I would make the alter beauty ability benefit self only though I like the ability damage or enemies.

If I was judging what level vestige she should be I would peg her either 5 or 6.

[Amnoriath]

1. Vestiges classically have 4 standard abilities. So you need to prioritize which ones to have.
2. Vestiges typically have abilities different than what the typical creature they may have been. It usually has something to do with fall.

[Greymane]

"Attractive member of their preferred sex" would make more sense in the Influence. Succubi aren't known for disapproving of homosexuality :P
Good point!


Though since she's the patron of depraved sexuality, one could also make it really uncomfortable for the binder and force them to only hit on their non-preferred sex.
Even better point. I think I'll change it to just "attractive member of either sex", though.

Would that sound best of both worlds? Or should I add a clause about it being tempting to break societal taboos as well? Spontaneous attraction to an immediate family member? There's a lot of different directions to take the influence, honestly. I'm loath to play up ALL the aspects of debased sexuality due to making it seem more like an excuse to bring fetishes into a game, but that's probably something I should have thought about before trying to stat this thing up. :smalltongue:


Since Shami-Amourae is imprisoned in the Wells of Darkness in the Abyss, I don't know if she would be eligible to be a vestige. She still exists fully but is just imprisoned. Vestiges are supposed to be remains of an ultra powerful being.
Is there a hard or fast rule on this? Because as I understand it, creatures trapped in the Wells of Darkness are perfect candidates for Vestiges. The guy who turned that layer of the Abyss into a prison, Ahazu the Seizer, is ironically trapped in there as well and only communicates with his followers because of Binding.


For the flight and forked tongue abilities, you should have the clause that says those abilities are only available if you show her sign.
Flight has it, but I wasn't sure if I wanted it on for the Forked Tongue because having huge bat wings is usually counter-intuitive to being a lying manipulator. It would make sense though. I'll add that in.


I would make the alter beauty ability benefit self only though I like the ability damage or enemies.
I practically cribbed the entire ability from her 2E stat block in an ancient Dungeon Magazine, where she is pointed out as being able to make people prettier or uglier on a whim. If I made it effect only the Binder, I'd want to change it to a different type of bonus other than Enhancement. Luck, maybe?


If I was judging what level vestige she should be I would peg her either 5 or 6.
Excellent, a ballpark number. I was thinking around a similar area, but I just have no eye for balancing things of my own creation.


1. Vestiges classically have 4 standard abilities. So you need to prioritize which ones to have.
After looking over Tome of Magic, it looked like Vestiges have anywhere between 3-6 abilities. I went kind of whole hog on this one though, and I could see myself definitely axing Telepathy and maybe Flight, if people thought it needed to be toned down.


2. Vestiges typically have abilities different than what the typical creature they may have been. It usually has something to do with fall.
Very true, but Shami-Amourae's fall was due to her attempting to manipulate Demorgorgon's twin personalities for her sole benefit. When he wizened up to it (thanks to Malchanthet), he tossed her into the Wells of Darkness. Forked Tongue was the closest I could think for that, since those two skills are what you'd use for manipulation. If anyone has any other ideas for that, I'm all ears. That, and some vestiges have abilities they had prior to becoming a vestige. Acererack has a few Lich abilities IIRC.

[Silva Stormrage]

I would go with Binder level 5 over 6, 6 is competing with Zericyll the overpowered after all :smalltongue:

Also most of the abilities aren't THAT great, the huge bonus to diplomacy and bluff and charm monster are probably the most useful.

One thing I might like is to change the charisma bonus to +2 but make it profane type. That way it stacks with any +charisma items the binder might have.