Virtue Archons (Variant Lanterns, Gates of Heaven Project) [WIP; PEACH]

[Eldan]

The Lantern of Virtue
Tiny Outsider (Archon, Extraplanar, Good, Lawful, )
HD 5d8+5 (22 hp)
Speed Fly 60 ft. (perfect)
Init: +6
AC 20 ; touch 16; flat-footed 17
(+3 natural, +2 size, +3 deflection, +2 Dex)
BAB +5; Grp --
Attack Light Ray +9 ranged touch (2d6) and Faerie Fire
Full-Attack Full attack 2 light rays +9 ranged touch (2d6) and Faerie Fire
Space 2.5 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks Light Rays, Spell-like abilities
Special Qualities Aura of Menace, Aura of Virtue, Damage Reduction 10/magic and evil, Darkvision 60 ft., Immunity to electricity and petrification, Magic circle against evil, Teleport, Tongues
Saves Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +9
Abilities Str --, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 6, Wis 16, Cha 16
Skills Concentration +9, Diplomacy +11, Knowledge (The Planes) +6, Knowledge (Religion) +6, Sense Motive +11, Spot +11
Feats Improved Initiative, Iron Will
Environment Mount Celestia
Organization Solitary, pair, constellation (3-5) or squad (6-12 and 1 hound archon)
Challenge Rating 5
Treasure None
Alignment Always lawful good
Advancement 6-8 HD (tiny), 9-12 HD (small)

Aura of Menace (Su) A righteous aura surrounds archons that fight or get angry. Any hostile creature within a 20-foot radius of an archon must succeed on a Will save (DC 17, charisma dependent, this includes a +2 racial bonus) to resist its effects. Those who fail take a -2 penalty on attacks, AC, and saves for 24 hours or until they successfully hit the archon that generated the aura. A creature that has resisted or broken the effect cannot be affected again by the same archon’s aura for 24 hours.

Light Ray (Ex): These rays have a range of 30 feet and their damage can not be countered by any kind of resistance. Creatures hit by them glow for one round, as if affected by a Faerie Fire spell.

Living Light (Ex): Lantern archons are creatures of living light. They gain a deflection bonus equal to their charisma bonus to armour class and are totally immune to all spells with the [light] descriptor. Their body continually sheds light as a torch, which overcomes all spells with the [darkness] descriptor of second level or lower. Finally, they can pass through all translucent, nonmagical materials (such as glass, crystal or water) at half speed.

Spell-Like Abilities (sp) At will—aid, detect evil, continual flame. 3/day: Daylight

The Virtues:

All seven virtues have the abilities described above, plus an aura and additional spell-like abilities, depending on their type. Each virtue also has it's own colour.

Caritas, the Lantern of Charity

Colour: Red

Aura of Charity (su):

Spell-like abilities: 3/day - Create Food and Water,

Humilitas, the Lantern of Humility

Colour: Orange

Aura of Humility(Su): The humility archon is surrounded by an aura that inspires quiet confidence in those doing a hard and unglamorous, but necessary job. All creatures within 20 feet of a humility archon that are currently ability damaged, blinded, deafened, exhausted, fatigued, nauseated, sickened, poisoned, diseased or suffering from energy drain gain a +4 morale bonus on all saving throws, attack rolls, ability checks and skill checks.

Spell-like abilities: 3/day: Shield other, Lesser Restoration

Industria, the Lantern of Diligence

Colour: Yellow

Aura of Diligence (Su): All creatures within 30 feet of a Lantern of Diligence can always take ten on any skill check, even if threatened, and receive a +2 morale bonus on the skill check if doing so. As long as they remain within 30 feet of the Lantern of Diligence, they are immune to fatigue, and if they are already fatigued, have the effect removed as long as they stay within the aura. Furthermore, they gain a +1 morale bonus on all will and fortitude saves.

Spell-like abilities: 3/day: Endure Elements, Remove Paralysis

Humanitas, the Lantern of Kindness

Colour: Green

Aura of Kindness (Su): All creatures within 30 feet of a Lantern of Kindness can feel each other's basic emotions, as if they were all under the effect of an Empathy power. All creatures within the aura must make a will save(DC 14) or have their attitude changed to friendly towards all other creatures within the effect (as if by charm person). Finally, all uses of the aid another action grant a +3 instead of a +2 bonus.

Spell-like abilities: 3/day: Remove Fear, Zone of Truth

Patientia, the Lantern of Patience

Colour: Blue

Aura of Patience (su): All creatures within 30 feet of the lantern of patience can choose to have their melee and ranged attacks deal nonlethal damage with no penalty, even with precision attacks such as a rogue's sneak attack. They gain a +5 morale bonus on all diplomacy checks.

Spell-like abilities: 3/day -Sleep, Enthrall

Temperantia, the Lantern of Temperance

Colour: Indigo

Aura of Temperance (Su): All creatures within 30 feet of a lantern of temperance have a +4 morale bonus on all saves versus glamer, charm, compulsion and figment effects, as well as a +5 morale bonus on all sense motive checks.

Spell-like abilities: 3/day Calm Emotions, Deathwatch


Castitas, the Lantern of Chastitiy

Colour: Violet

Aura of Chastity (su): All creatures within 30 feet of a lantern of chastity have a +2 morale bonus on all saves versus poisons and diseases, but also a -5 penalty on all bluff checks.

Spell-like abilities: 3/day: Sanctuary, Consecrate

[Iamyourking]

I like it, but don't you think it might be a little strong? I always tried to keep my variants on the same CR as the original, +/-1, but this is well over twice as powerful as a standard lantern and it seems like it's going to be the weakest of them.

[Eldan]

Not really the weakest, no. They will probably all be pretty much like that. And Tygre said CR 5. I'm not going to say no to that. I mean, I have pretty much no idea what I'm doing anyway. I mean, I basically just started with the Wraith, changed creature type and added archon instead of undead abilities.

Also, any ideas for fitting feats?

[Iamyourking]

Tygre has a point, I'll withdraw my claim. I figured that humility archons would be the weakest because of both their virtue and the fact that their light is red, but making them all CR 5 is fine.

As for feats, you only get two; so I would say Improved Initiative and either Purify Spell-Like Ability or Ability Focus (Aura of Menace).

From a proofreading standpoint, you forgot to add your Dex to AC and your initative is 1 point higher than it should be. Not sure about your skills, but I'll give them a look later to make sure you have the right amount.

[Eldan]

If I remember correctly, purify SLA is the one that makes them affect only evil creatures? That's not very useful with the SLAs it has.

Changed the others. And the attack score, where I also forgot the modifier.

[The Tygre]

Wunderbar! It looks positively loverly, berk. I suggested CR 5 because I thought it would give you plenty of room to work with special ability/attack wise. Not a really a lot you can do with base Lantern CR of 2, and little more at 3. And I never would have thought of reverse engineering it from a wraith. I was honestly just thinking of advancing a regular lantern and inserting a couple of extra abilities. Shows what I know.

As for the other Virtues, I thought they'd all just be the same CR; no one virtue greater than the others, y'know? But, it's your call on that, Mr. Monster Maker.

Also, should we come up with a different name for the group, so we don't confuse them with King's Virtues? (Virtus? Cardinals? Arete?)

[Iamyourking]

I've got nothing against calling them Virtues; I was actually going to suggest he find some way to integrate them with mine.

[Eldan]

He already did virtues? Oh. Well, since I already went with Humilitas, anyone know a good latin word for virtue? other than the obvious Virtus, of course.

Funny thing I found in the dictionary:
Latin virtus (“the qualities of a man, strength, courage, bravery, capacity, worth, manliness, applied to physical and intellectual excellence; also of moral excellence, virtue, morality”

So, manliness is virtuous.

[The Tygre]

Ooh, even better. But 'tis Eldan's call.

EDIT: Ninja'd! On topic, I'm personally fond of cardinal archons myself. Has a nice ring to it, y'know?

[Eldan]

Since I'm already digging through the dictionary:

Latin cardinalis (“pertaining to a hinge, hence applied to that on which something turns or depends, important, principal, chief”)

Doesn't sound like the lowest step of the hierarchy, really.

[The Tygre]

True, but they're not really the lowest; lanterns are still the lowest, these are just the elite. And could one not argue that lanterns are what Celestia hinges upon? Could one not make the case that, as the blessed souls of petitioners and the righteous entering Heaven, the very cause for which archons fight, that they are the very foundation of the Seven-fold Mount?

...

Okay, so maybe that's stretching it. I'll get my coat now...

[Eldan]

Well, or we could just keep the name Lantern, you know. Lantern of Humility doesn't sound too bad.

[The Tygre]

Pfft. That's reasonable and doesn't involve unnecessary leg-work on anybody's part. Whoever heard of such blasphemy?

So, 'yes' is what I'm getting at here.

[Eldan]

Well, then. It's been said in the main thread, are these things too strong? I basically took wraiths and added on lantern abilities.

However, compared to a wraith, this has:

-10 less HP
-5 less Initiative
-Better maneuverability
-5 points more AC
-3 points more BAB
-A 2d6 irresistible touch ray instead of a melee touch with constitution drain
-No daylight weakness
-Better saves across the board
-No bonus feats
-2 useful auras, a constant circle of protection
-Useful spells and at will teleportation
-Damage reduction


So it probably is too good. So, what should we do? Giving it only one ray per round is probably a good start. I never really knew why they had two in the first place. That lowers their damage output considerably. Then, probably lower their AC a little. Anything else?

[Eldan]

Also, someone please help me with sorting colours to virtues, please?

We have, with symbolism from a few web sources. I've tried taking both western and eastern (chinese and chakras) symbolism into account.

Red: sin, guilt, passion, blood, anger, fire, courage, sacrifice, loyalty, honour, success, weddings, life, desire
Orange Energy, balance, courage, sacrifice, creativity, joy, enthusiasm
Yellow Joy, happiness, willpower, achievement, fear, anxiety, spirituality, growth, idealism
Green: Compassion, tenderness, love, well-being, nature, health, luck, regrowth, envy, hope, lust, resurrection, prosperity
Blue: Communication, thought, independence, peace, stability, security, harmony, depression, being drunk, happiness, optimism, glory
Indigo: Third eye, intuition, clarity
Violet: Meditation, unity, royalty, wisdom, arrogance (yes, both), harmony, love, expectancy, decadence.


So, basically? The symbolism is all over the place.

[Debihuman]

I'd recommend changing the advancement. Normally creatures double their hit dice when they advance: 6-8 HD (Tiny), 9-16 HD (Small). See for example the Hound Archon.

Debby

[The Tygre]

Dice said that we should remove the incorporeal sub-type. He does make the good point that light can't travel through solid matter, so theoretically, neither should beings of pure light, regardless of their aethereal/spiritual nature.

As for color, I'd say Humilities should be violet. Violet is associated with royalty, pride, and arrogance, and humility is the virtue opposing those elements, so it makes a kind of sense in a 'through a mirror brightly' way.

[Eldan]

I chose red mostly for the mentioned "courage" and "sacrifice". But violet makes sense too, I guess.

Hmm. It's a good point about not being incorporeal, yeah. How, then, do you represent their nature as creatures of pure light?

I'll probably also change the stat block (or rather, I've already started): post the basic framework above, then the various virtue abilities below.

Okay, so. I'm trying to fit this into the colour framework again:


Charity: Red. It stands for love and strong feelings.
Humility: Orange. It stands for courage and sacrifice, important parts of humility.
Diligence: Yellow. Yellow stands for Willpower and achievement, a big part of Industria.
Kindness: Green. Kindness has parts of both hope and compassion.
Patience: Blue. Peace, stability and harmony fit with patience.
Temperance: Indigo. To be honest, this is just what was left over. But Indigo stands for intuition and clarity, while temperance requires self-control and mindfulness.
Chastity: Violet. Violet represents honesty and wisdom, which are both part of chastity.

[Iamyourking]

I would say give them some of the traits of the incorporeal subtype that make sense for them to have; that is everything except the ability to pass through objects and ignore physical armor.

[Eldan]

Edit-ninjad, but added a lot to the post above.

The ability that makes them most likely incorporeal is that I kinda can't see a normal weapon hitting them. How about giving them a miss chance against nonmagical weapons, and the deflection bonus incorporeals have?

Kicked out incorporeality for now, butl eft in the deflection bonus.

As for feats, I gave them Iron Will. I think the personification of a virtue will not easily be corrupted.

[The Tygre]

I like the color chart you've come up with. It makes sense, even indigo.

[Iamyourking]

Now how should we tie them together with my Virtues? I figure they'd just be part of the Virtue's retinue, perhaps as a means of allowing the Virtue to set an example even if they aren't there.

[The Tygre]

Maybe they're the special chosen of the Virtues, or the Virtues collect enough righteous soul which they feel exemplify the cardinal, or just one that is promoted. Maybe they're tiny aspects of the Virtues, or the remains of a Virtue that is gone somehow; ascension, death, memories left behind at falling, etc.

[Iamyourking]

Hmm, I like the idea of Virtues having a quota of incoming souls they can select for their own purposes; perhaps they turn those souls into Cardinals, which puts them on a different track from the other archons, and use them to set examples for mortals. Eldan, they're your beasts, what do you think?

[Eldan]

I actually saw them as the replacement for normal lanterns when we started out. Someone said somewhere that we were supposed to increase the challenge rating of all archons.

If not, then we should use them as elite lantern archons. Those that are so exceptional that they become even truer lanterns and more perfect embodiments of virtue, instead of moving up the ladder to more combat focused ranks.

[Eldan]

Update: it's four lanterns now. And there's an update to Living Light, so they actually shed light, and pass through translucent materials. That seemed fitting.

[Eldan]

Got them all other than Charity, though some feel a bit boring to me.

How do you turn "I love everyone" into an aura?

[LOTRfan]

... Aura of Calm Emotions, maybe?

[Eldan]

I already have Calm Emotions on the Temperance, though. Where it seems to fit better.

[LOTRfan]

Oh, I should've read more carefully. I'm not sure what the auras should be... I'll post if I come up with anything.