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Fine Outsider (Chaotic, Extraplanar, Swarm) Hit Dice: 5d8-5 (17 hp) Initiative: +8 Speed: 5 ft. (1 square), fly 40 ft. (Perfect) Armor Class: 18 (+4 Size, +4 Dex), Touch 18, Flat-Footed 14 Base Attack/Grapple: +4/- Attack: Swarm (1d6) Full Attack: Swarm (1d6) Space/Reach: 10 ft./0 ft. Special Attacks: Bewilderment, Spell-Like Abilities Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., Hive Mind, Immune to Weapon Damage, Immune to Wind, Malleability, Swarm Traits Saves: Fort +3, Ref +8, Will +6 (+8 versus Illusions) Abilities: Str 1, Dex 18, Con 9, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 17 Skills: Bluff +11, Disguise +15 (+17 Acting in character), Hide +28, Knowledge: The Planes +5, Listen +10 Sense Motive +8, Spellcraft +3, Survival +10 (+12 On other planes, +16 Navigating Limbo) Feats: Ability Focus (Bewilderment), Improved Initiative Environment: Limbo Organization: Solitary, Flock (2-6 Swarms) or Tide (7-12+ Swarms) Challenge Rating: 4 Treasure: None Alignment: Usually Chaotic Neutral Advancement: 6-10 HD (Least) 11-19 HD (Lesser) 20+ HD (Greater) Level Adjustment: - (Improved Familiar)
Summary
Chaos Butterfly swarms are a product of the endless generative energy that flows throughout Limbo, raw chaos given form as a mass of rainbow butterflies. They are cousins to the Slaad, though generally much less hostile. Generally cheerful and friendly, if a bit child-like, Chaos Butterflies can provide welcome aid to a party exploring or trapped in Limbo - or mislead them into travelling somewhere they would rather not via a series of illusions.
The individual butterflies of a swarm can be incredibly hard to make out, appearing as one single scintillating mass, but closer examination reveals each butterfly to much resemble their mundane counterparts. Their wings are formed of a strange crystalline substance that shifts between all the colours of the rainbow and is suffused with a soft glow. By controlling their colour and luminosity, the butterflies can disguise themselves and generate illusions. The individual butterflies of a swarm are essentially harmless, it is only when united that they wield the magical abilities of a swarm. Larger and more powerful swarms wield vastly more potent Spell-Like Abilities.
Chaos Butterflies tend to be very enthusiastic about crafting illusions, seeing it as an art form. While their own illusions are generally quite realistic, they rarely acknowledge this, focusing on flaws so minute only they can easily notice them. This dissatisfaction with their own works can lead some swarms to seek out more talented illusionists, particularly those who demonstrate a high degree of artistic talent or creativity, occasionally taking on a role as their familiar.
Chaos Butterfly swarms understand, but are not physically capable of speaking, Common and Slaad. They use their Spell-Like Abilities to communicate if they feel the need to, generating sounds or text as appropriate.
Combat
Chaos Butterfly swarms are generally non-hostile, except when dealing with characters who are strongly aligned with the powers of Law, as indicated by the Chaos Butterfly swarm's Detect Law Spell-Like Ability. They may, however, attempt to trick or mislead a party using their other Spell-Like Abilities as a practical joke. If pressed into direct combat, a Least Chaos Butterfly Swarm will attempt to hover out of reach of it's enemies while using Mirror Image and Hypnotic Pattern, before closing to envelop as many targets as possible - particularly targets who are standing close together - and allowing their Bewilderment ability to do the work for them. Should they receive too much damage, the swarm will retreat, possibly under the cover of a Minor Image or Disguise Self effect.
A Least Chaos Butterfly swarm’s attack is treated as a chaotic-aligned weapon and a magic weapon for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction, dealing 1d6 points of damage to any creature whose space it occupies at the end of its move.
Bewilderment (Ex): Any creature that begins its turn with a Least Chaos Butterfly swarm in its space must succeed on a DC 17 Will save or be affected as though by a Confusion spell for 1d2 rounds. This is a Mind-Affecting Pattern effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Hive Mind (Ex): Any Chaos Butterfly swarm with at least 1 hit point per Hit Die (or 5 hit points, for a standard Least Chaos Butterfly swarm) forms a hive mind, giving it an Intelligence of 8. When a Chaos Butterfly swarm is reduced below this hit point threshold, it becomes mindless.
Immune to Wind (Su): Chaos has never been a force for consistency. Though the flapping of their wings can trigger storms and hurricanes, Chaos Butterflies themselves feel not a thing, oblivious to the storms they brew. Through the collective magic of the swarm, a Chaos Butterfly swarm with at least 1 hit point per Hit Die (or 5 hit points, for a standard Least Chaos Butterfly swarm) is completely immune to the effects of high winds, storms and other adverse weather conditions (including the vulnerability to high winds possessed by most swarms).
Malleability (Ex): Due to their nature as a collective of thousands of much smaller creatures, Chaos Butterfly swarms are able to arrange themselves into virtually any shape they desire. This does not in any way alter their traits, save for changing the the space that they occupy, though they cannot exceed the shapeable 10 ft. cube that they would normally assume. They may reduce the amount of space the swarm occupies however, by crowding together tightly. This ability allows the swarm to mimic the shape of virtually anything it can imagine and then apply their Disguise Self ability to complete the disguise, explicitly allowing the shapes and formations assumed with this ability to count as the base body type used for the spell. Rearranging and coordinating the swarm in this way is a Move action.
Skills: A Chaos Butterfly swarm has a +4 racial bonus on Hide checks, Disguise checks and Survival checks made to navigate Limbo.
Spell-Like Abilities: At Will - Dancing Lights, Detect Law, Disguise Self, Ghost Sound (DC 13); 3/Day - Gust Of Wind (DC 15), Minor Image (DC 15); 1/Day - Hypnotic Pattern (DC 15), Mirror Image. Caster level 5th. The save DCs are Charisma-based.
Fine Outsider (Chaotic, Extraplanar, Swarm) Hit Dice: 10d8+10 (55 hp) Initiative: +10 Speed: 5 ft. (1 square), fly 40 ft. (Perfect) Armor Class: 20 (+4 Size, +6 Dex), Touch 20, Flat-Footed 14 Base Attack/Grapple: +10/- Attack: Swarm (2d6) Full Attack: Swarm (2d6) Space/Reach: 10 ft./0 ft. Special Attacks: Bewilderment, Spell-Like Abilities Special Qualities: Damage Reduction 10/Lawful, Darkvision 60 ft., Free Movement, Hive Mind, Immune to Weapon Damage, Immune to Wind, Immunity to Sonic, Resistance to Acid 5, Cold 5, Electricity 5 and Fire 5, Spell Resistance 20, Swarm Traits. Saves: Fort +8, Ref +13, Will +10 (+12 versus Illusions) Abilities: Str 1, Dex 22, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 19 Skills: Bluff +17, Concentration +14, Disguise +21 (+23 Acting in character), Escape Artist +9, Forgery +12, Hide +35, Knowledge: Arcana +7, Knowledge: The Planes +11, Listen +13, Move Silently +19, Sense Motive +16, Spellcraft +11, Survival +8 (+10 On other planes) Feats: Ability Focus (Bewilderment), Improved Initiative Environment: Limbo Organization: Solitary, Flock (2-6 Swarms) or Tide (7-12+ Swarms) Challenge Rating: 9 Treasure: None Alignment: Usually Chaotic Neutral Advancement: 11-19 HD (Lesser) 20+ HD (Greater) Level Adjustment: -
A more potent swarm of Chaos Butterflies, it is unknown what causes Lesser Chaos Butterfly Swarms to be so much more powerful than it's Least kin. Those academics given to the study of such things have, however, noted that there is usually a rough correlation between the age of a Swarm and it's power, but exceptions abound throughout Limbo.
Lesser swarms bear the enhanced durability typical of Outsiders that Least swarms conspicuously lack, with a strange resemblance to the Slaad in the specifics. They are also notably smarter, but the key distinction is in the the scale and breadth of the arcane might they wield. Lesser Swarms has a much broader and more potent selection of Spell-Like Abilities, demonstrating some ability in relation to transformative effects and matters of life and death that Least swarms show no inkling of.
Apart from their greater power and intelligence, Lesser Swarms otherwise act little differently from a Least Swarm. They will no longer enter into familiar bonds with talented mortals, but their increased powers allows them to act as valuable allies to those they take a liking to none the less. Those who can impress a Lesser Chaos Butterfly swarm, typically with a demonstration of creativity or artistic talent, though other methods have been known to work as well, will typically find the swarm volunteering the use of one or more of it's Spell-Like Abilities on their behalf. Beware though, Chaos Butterflies are creatures of whimsy and mischief and keeping one around in the long term can often be more trouble than it is worth.
Combat
Similarly to a Least swarm, Lesser swarms prefer to engage opponents indirectly via their array of potent illusions. Their expanded abilities allow them to work more elaborate tricks however, and they frequently set them up in advance and conceal them from paranoid spellcasters using a False Vision. They also make better use of their weather manipulation, harassing opponents indirectly with devastating storms and hurricane winds. It will likely also take the opportunity to inspect it's foes using Detect Magic, Detect Law, Detect Chaos and it's ranks in Spellcraft, attempting to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the target or targets, as well as any specific magical effects they might rely on in order to target them with Dispel Magic at a later date.
If a Swarm has time to prepare for combat it will typically ensure that harsh weather prevails, using spells like Control Winds, Sleet Storm, Obscuring Mist and Control Weather whilst relying on their immunity to the effects in order to attack with an advantage. Before combat begins a swarm will also normally attempt to use it's Protection From Law, Displacement, Nondetection, Invisibility and Mirror Image Spell-Like Abilities to protect itself.
Once combat begins the swarm will typically move into melee, attempting to envelop the most dangerous enemy present in the hopes that it's Bewilderment attack will neutralise the threat. Adjacent foes are also tempting targets. It will then begin attacking using Call Lightning, Dispel Magic, Rainbow Pattern, Shatter, Baleful Polymorph, Chaos Hammer, Ice Storm and Phantasmal Killer as appropriate, assuming that it managed to worsen the weather before the fight began. If attacked without time to properly prepare, the swarm's first actions will, barring the possibility of escape under Invisibility, be to stir up the strongest winds it can with Control Winds, followed by applying Protection From Law and Displacement, preferably whilst positioning itself to catch any obvious spellcasters in it's Bewilderment.
A Lesser Chaos Butterfly swarm’s attack is treated as a chaotic-aligned weapon and a magic weapon for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction, dealing 2d6 points of damage to any creature whose space it occupies at the end of its move.
Bewilderment (Ex): Any creature that begins its turn with a Lesser Chaos Butterfly swarm in its space must succeed on a DC 20 Will save or be affected as though by a Confusion spell for 1d2 rounds. This is a Mind-Affecting Pattern effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Free Movement (Su): Chaos is nearly impossible to pin down, and Lesser Chaos Butterfly swarms reflect this in their very being. As such, via the collective magic of the swarm, a Lesser swarm can slip out of bonds, grapples, and even the effects of confining spells easily. This ability duplicates the effect of a freedom of movement spell, except that it is always active. This ability is identical to the Scout ability of the same name (page 13 of Complete Adventurer) except that it is unaffected by the use of armour. This ability only functions for a Lesser Chaos Butterfly swarm with at least 1 hit point per Hit Die (or 10 hit points, for a standard Lesser Chaos Butterfly swarm). When a Lesser Chaos Butterfly swarm is reduced below this hit point threshold, this ability ceases to function.
Hive Mind (Ex): Any Chaos Butterfly swarm with at least 1 hit point per Hit Die (or 10 hit points, for a standard Lesser Chaos Butterfly swarm) forms a hive mind, giving it an Intelligence of 12. When a Chaos Butterfly swarm is reduced below this hit point threshold, it becomes mindless.
Immune to Wind (Su): Chaos has never been a force for consistency. Though the flapping of their wings can trigger storms and hurricanes, Chaos Butterflies themselves feel not a thing, oblivious to the storms they brew. Through the collective magic of the swarm, a Chaos Butterfly swarm with at least 1 hit point per Hit Die (or 5 hit points, for a standard Least Chaos Butterfly swarm) is completely immune to the effects of high winds, storms and other adverse weather conditions (including the vulnerability to high winds possessed by most swarms).
Malleability (Ex): Due to their nature as a collective of thousands of much smaller creatures, Chaos Butterfly swarms are able to arrange themselves into virtually any shape they desire. This does not in any way alter their traits, save for changing the the space that they occupy, though they cannot exceed the shapeable 10 ft. cube that they would normally assume. They may reduce the amount of space the swarm occupies however, by crowding together tightly. This ability allows the swarm to mimic the shape of virtually anything it can imagine and then apply their Disguise Self ability to complete the disguise, explicitly allowing the shapes and formations assumed with this ability to count as the base body type used for the spell. Rearranging and coordinating the swarm in this way is a Move action.
Skills: A Chaos Butterfly swarm has a +4 racial bonus on Hide checks, Disguise checks and Survival checks made to navigate Limbo.
Freedom From All Things (Su): Restraining a creature of such anarchic power as a Greater Chaos Butterfly swarm is a physical impossibility, chaos simply can not be restrained. Even death itself has a difficult time laying claim to one such as this. As such, a Greater swarm can slip out of bonds, grapples, and even the effects of confining spells easily and is immune to all death spells, magical death effects, energy drain, negative energy effects, all mind-affecting spells and effects, information gathering by divination spells or effects and all other devices and spells that detect, influence, or read emotions or thoughts, up to and including Limited Wish, Miracle, and Wish if they are used in this way. This ability duplicates the effects of the Death Ward, Freedom of Movement and Mind Blank spells, except that it is always active. This ability only functions for a Greater Chaos Butterfly swarm with at least 1 hit point per Hit Die (or 20 hit points, for a standard Greater Chaos Butterfly swarm). When a Greater Chaos Butterfly swarm is reduced below this hit point threshold, this ability ceases to function.
Spell-Like Abilities: At Will - Control Weather, Dancing Lights, Control Winds, Death Knell, Detect Chaos, Detect Law, Dimension Door, Discern Lies, Disguise Self, Displacement, Greater Arcane Sight, Greater Invisibility, Mage Hand, Mirror Image, Major Image, Magic Circle Against Law, Tongues, True Seeing, Shatter, Wind Wall; 3/Day - Baleful Polymorph, Break Enchantment, Call Lightning Storm, Chaos Hammer, Cloak Of Chaos, Dispel Law, False Vision, Finger Of Death, Greater Dispel Magic, Greater Teleport, Ice Storm, Mirage Arcana, Permanent Image, Phantasmal Killer, Plane Shift, Programmed Image, Prismatic Spray, Prismatic Wall, Reverse Gravity, Scintilating Pattern, Screen, Sleet Storm, Storm Of Vengeance, Sunburst, Telekinesis, Whirlwind; 1/Day - Earthquake, Freedom, Maze, Mordenkainen's Disjunction, Polymorph Any Object, Prismatic Sphere, Time Stop, True Resurrection, Weird, Word Of Chaos. Caster level 20th. The save DCs are Charisma-based.
This is something I cooked up and am still in the process of tweaking - I have to replace that picture with one of my own for one - but if anyone has any thoughts, opinions or suggested changes, I'd love to hear them.
I'm considering doing up some more advanced, and much scarier, versions. Could probably also come up with a better name.
I think you are over using spoilers, but if that is just your style, then go for it I guess.
Quote:
Chaos Butterflies are capable of rough alterations to the shape of the swarm, which, combined with their Disguise Self Spell-Like Ability, allows them to attempt to disguise themselves as virtually anything imaginable.
This needs the crunch to back it up, since right now they can disguise themselves as any sort of a swarm of fine outsiders.
First, I really like these. Second, I think you should lose the spoilers. Monster stats don't need to be put in spoilers.
Making the butterflies immune to the effects of high winds is an interesting touch but you don't really explain how this works. Is it something special about their physiology or something else? I think you need a little fluff -- just a sentence or two -- that fleshes this out. Also, do individual butterflies have this ability or just when they are a swarm? It could be neat if only the swarm had this ability.
Debby
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P.E.A.C.H. Please Evaluate And Critique Honestly. Being nicer and kinder doesn't hurt either.
Please, please, please when using non-core material, cite to the books. There are too many books to wade through to find the one with the feat, special ability or spell you use.
First, I really like these. Second, I think you should lose the spoilers. Monster stats don't need to be put in spoilers.
Making the butterflies immune to the effects of high winds is an interesting touch but you don't really explain how this works. Is it something special about their physiology or something else? I think you need a little fluff -- just a sentence or two -- that fleshes this out. Also, do individual butterflies have this ability or just when they are a swarm? It could be neat if only the swarm had this ability.
Debby
Thank you. And I'll take the spoilers out.
It's an innate supernatural ability, mostly added to enable them to use Gust of Wind without killing themselves. Gust of Wind, of course, is there for the butterflies and hurricanes thing. Thank you for bringing this up, I'll edit something in.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DracoDei
I think you are over using spoilers, but if that is just your style, then go for it I guess.
This needs the crunch to back it up, since right now they can disguise themselves as any sort of a swarm of fine outsiders.
Right, that's two folks who think I should lose the spoilers. They're gone.
Interestingly, Disguise self doesn't specify that. It specifies that you can make yourself appear different, but can't change your body type. I'd assumed that the swarm could simply arrange itself into, say, a roughly humanoid shape and then use Disguise Self to look like an Elf. Although whether simply shaping itself into a humanoid shape (or some other shape, Disguise Self doesn't actually limit itself to creatures either) would be enough to allow this might be up to a DM's interpretation. Maybe I should add some sort of Ex ability specifically enabling this? Or remove the Spell-Like and just give it a Su ability to do the whole thing? What do you think?
EDIT Added in an Ex ability to explicitly allow it to use Disguise Self like that. I'm not sure about the wording, so if anyone has any suggestions...
Also, do you think the save DCs, particularly for Bewilderment, are a bit high for 4th level characters?
EDIT2 Added the slightly nastier version in a spoiler box underneath the main entry. It's a bit more durable and has a lot of nasty weather effects. I'm still pretty unsure about the numbers on this one, so critique would be nice. The really nasty version is still being worked on.
I also have a slew of other Chaotic Outsider ideas drifting around, but I'm not sure if enough folks are going to want to see them to make it worth stating them up properly. Dancing Stars, Formless Things and Entropic Maws, to be exact. Is anyone interested in seeing them?
I'd be interested in seeing at least the basic concept of those outsiders. Dancing Stars sounds like "Dancing Lights", which makes me think it would be able to look like the visual appearance of 1st level spells that create visual effects (Light, by coating an object and glowing; Dancing Lights by floating in separate but close-up groups; some uses of Prestidigitation, similarly to how it would imitate Light) Of course, I am probably completely off the mark.
I'd be interested in seeing at least the basic concept of those outsiders. Dancing Stars sounds like "Dancing Lights", which makes me think it would be able to look like the visual appearance of 1st level spells that create visual effects (Light, by coating an object and glowing; Dancing Lights by floating in separate but close-up groups; some uses of Prestidigitation, similarly to how it would imitate Light) Of course, I am probably completely off the mark.
Sort of. The idea for them comes from the line "I tell you: one must have chaos within oneself, to give birth to a dancing star" from Nietzsche's Thus Spake Zarathustra.
The idea I had for them was as incarnations of generative chaos - they revel in creating things. In creating anything, really. Which could be quite destructive on the material plane, I'd imagine, as they wouldn't exactly restrain themselves when it comes to where to make things and what to make them out of. On the other hand, summoning/visiting one would be an excellent idea if you can convince it to make something specific for you.
The Formless Things would ever-changing, shapeshifting monsters. Unlike most shapeshifters, who just assume the complete shape of some other creature, they'd continuously change parts of themselves into just about anything they could imagine. Constants change would be their theme, and they'd probably be more of a physical threat than the other ideas.
Entropic Maws would, suprise suprise, represent Entropy. Despite being Outisders with the Chaotic subtype, they'd actually be Lawful Evil. They'd be patient, polite and follow every law to the letter. To go about their driving goal of destroying everything in existence they would, through perfectly legal means, acquire property and then annihilate it. Tough to stop, particularly for Lawful Good and Lawful Neutral characters, since while they're actively trying to destroy the world piece by piece, they're doing so in a way that's perfectly legal - it's their property, after all. It's the long way to go about it, but they're nothing if not patient. They'd even leave willingly if presented with a law that requires them to do so. They can wait until things change, they have all the time in the world...
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[3.5; Monster] Chaos Butterfly Swarm [PEACH]
