Mind Thrall Stats

The Aboleth Mind Thrall is a new PC race for use with the Pathfinder RPG.

 The controlling Aboleth's intelligence directs the Thrall but horrible living conditions have weakened the Thralls body. Although the controlling Aboleth is intelligent enough to convincingly mimic human behavior the Thrall still bears a slightly degenerate appearance or otherwise exhibits an "alien" or otherworldly aura which is unsettling.

Ability Score Modifiers

Int +6

Con -2

Str   -2

Cha -2

  

Racial Traits

• Medium: Mind Thralls are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
• Normal Speed: Mind Thralls have a base speed of 30 feet.
• Swim: +2 racial bonus on swim checks.
• Low-Light Vision: Mind Thralls can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.

•  Vulnerable to Sunlight: A Mind Thrall takes 1 point of Con damage after every hour it is exposed to sunlight.
•  Immunities: Mind Thralls are immune to all forms of Fear, Charm, or Mind Control (they are effectively under a permanent mind control effect).
• Ferocity: A creature with ferocity remains conscious and can continue fighting even if its hit point total is below 0. The creature is still staggered and loses 1 hit point each round. The creature still dies when its hit point total reaches a negative amount equal to its Constitution score. -This represents the Aboleth Master forcing the Thrall to continue even when mortally wounded.
• Frightful Gaze: Creatures within 30 feet that meet the Thralls gaze must succeed on a DC 13 Will save or stand paralyzed in fear for 1 round. This is a mind-affecting fear paralysis effect. A creature that successfully saves cannot be affected again by the frightful gaze of that Thrall for 1 day. The save DC is Charisma-based. -This represents the Aboleth Master allowing the merest portion of alien intelligence to be visible for a brief moment in the eyes of the Thrall.
• Languages: Mind Thralls begin play speaking Common and Aboleth. Thralls with high Intelligence scores can choose from any of the listed languages.

 Aboleth Mind Masters usually cultivate Thralls into Sorcerers with the Aquatic bloodline, but may choose nearly any other class if they feel it will better suit their needs. Aboleths do not worship any divine entity however- so a Mind Thrall functioning as a Cleric would be extremely difficult if not impossible. An entire party of Mind Thralls would be cool but if a Thrall is in a party with non-Thralls the other characters probably shouldn't know what the Thrall really is. A Mind Thrall should be played very intelligently and with an evil slant in regards to alignment.

-Notes: Ok, so this class kinda started a joke I was having with George about his recent series of posts on monsters as PCs. As I worked on making Aboleths a playable option I got more and more into it, reading all the material I could find about these creepy fish-lords. I really like the result, because although the stats are for the Mind Thrall, the player is really taking on the role of an Aboleth Mind Master. It is very meta- "playing a player". It lets the Player be able to reasonably roleplay caring little for the characters life, and be a evil fish monster at the same time. If anyone plays this please let me know how it goes.

Pathfinder on Carcosa

My suggestions for playing a Pathfinder game set in Carcosa.

Pathfinder classes available in Carcosa:

Sorcerer
Available Bloodlines:
-Aberrant
-Aquatic
-Dreamspun
-Pestilence
-Serpentine
-Starsoul
No Archetypes.

Oracle
Dark Tapestry Mystery
No Archetypes.

Summoner
No Archetypes.

Fighter
No Archetypes.

Barbarian
No Archetypes.

DM notes:
Use the slow advancement track for experience. Severely limit magic items, in fact no standard type magic items should be in play. NPC's will not provide magical help for any reason, including healing or curse removal. Any character with skill ranks in knowledge Arcana, The Planes or Religion my attempt to use rituals. No prestige classes or multiclassing.

Many creatures in the Pathfinder Bestiary make excellent foes in Carcosa such as Serpentfolk, as well as pretty much anything reptilian, fungoid, slimy, or tentacled.


Happy gaming.

Carrion Hill

 Alright, so as I was saying in a previous post my group recently played the Carrion Hill Pathfinder module. It was pretty cool, very atmospheric and creepy.  I of course tinkered with it considerably- moving stuff around adding stuff and removing stuff. It was great. The reason I was so drawn to this module in particular was because it heavily features Lovecraftian horror.  Tentacled cultisty goodness!  Here is the blurb description:

The strange city of Carrion Hill has long loomed over the surrounding swamps in eastern Ustalav, yet its rulers have shifted many times through the centuries. Often enough that only a few sinister scholars and curious minds know the true nature of the hill’s original inhabitants—vile and depraved cultists of the Old Gods. Yet this morning, a dreadful recrudescence rises from the depths of buried nightmare in the vaults below Carrion Hill. A monster stalks the twisted alleys of the city, spreading panic before it and leaving destruction in its wake. Can the Carrion Hill Horror be stopped?

I changed the layout of the city quite a bit, just to clean it up. This is a side view of the city, and I will go into a little detail about the various districts and places ( I made a bunch up and added them myself). 

 (Klick to Bigify!)

Carrion Hill is built on ancient hill, next to a river and it is the only really solid patch of land for many leagues. The city is built on the ruins of countless older cities and beneath those ruins lie uncharted catacombs and vaults from the dawn of civilization. The city is divided into three main districts (which will be described in greater detail in future posts) with a few prominent neighborhoods and locations in each.

Law and the Crows:
The Carrion Hill city guard are known as the "Crows". They wear heavy black cloaks which match their dour personalities. Although the Crows genuinely try to protect the citizenry they are generally unconcerned with most petty offenses, leaving most disputes for the Tax Collectors to settle (see Crime).  Carrion Hill is known among other things for having cramped and twisting streets, and so horses are strictly banned within the city unless they are used for official business.  Most livestock in the province are stricken with an albino wasting disease at birth anyway, so only the Crows and the wealthy can afford to import healthy steeds. Another important law is that unauthorized delves into the catacombs beneath the city are strictly prohibited.

Industry:
Carrion Hill has one unique export, "middenstone" (a strange drywall like compound) which is made of mud, bonemeal, and various other filth. The main ingredient of middenstone is the crushed up bits of the giant red cockroaches which infest the city. Middenstone is a sickly purple color and will begin to crumble eventually, making it an undesirable building material, it is very cheap however so is used extensively in the poorer areas. Carrion Hill also gets a decent amount of shipping coming in from the docks, since it is the only solid place on the river to dock for quite a distance in either direction.

Religion:
Although the godess of the dead Pharasma is particularly prominent in Carrion Hill, the city is well known for it's religious diversity. Shrines and small temples to all manner of gods and deities crop up on every street.

Beneath the Streets:
Most of the buildings in the city are built directly atop the ruins of older buildings, which in many cases were built on older foundations- and so on. As a result there is a maze of tangled cellars and subterranean passages just bellow the streets. Further down still lies the ancient rock of the hill. The mound itself is riddled with natural caverns and vaults just like a rotten and worm eaten apple. These caves are home to all manner of vile cave dwelling beasts- particularly aberrations. There are also large numbers of ghouls which haunt the catacombs and rumors of a large population of Morlocks. The city guard dedicates most of it's resources toward hunting down the horrors which periodically slink up from the darkness below.


Crime:
An unusual situation has developed in Carrion Hill, the local thieves guild has become so entrenched that it has semi legitimized. The "Tax Collectors" as they are known, actually do serve as tax collectors in the city. The native citizens know to keep their heads down and pay their due quietly, or else any guild member can levy "legal" taxes for nearly anything- such as a tax for wearing a hat in public; or another tax for not wearing a hat in public.  The Tax Collectors are very powerful but generally not too abusive, since they have a big stake in the status quo now that they are part of the establishment of the city.

Next I will discuss the Crown District. Cheers!

Pathfinder Beginner Box + Girlfriend

So I finally got the Beginner Box. It's like 40 bucks - pretty sweet deal I think. Got it from my local Indigo bookstore.  So I got it and brought it back to my place and opened it up with my girlfriend. The very first thing you see when you pull the lid off is a page asking you what your situation is-

1. You are alone but you wanna play RIGHT NOW- without reading any rules- Heroes handbook page 2.
2. You want to be a hero? Read the Heroes handbook and pick one of the 4 premade character sheets.
3. You want to be a Hero but want to make your own character- Heroes handbook page 10.
4. Wanna be a DUNGEON MASTER? page 2 of DM guide is a premade adventure- grab friends and start playing right now.

The solo adventure and the premade group adventure are all set up so you wont need to look up any rules or anything ahead of time. Which is really cool. I have found that the biggest obstacle to get new players into Pathfinder is all the painful pregame stuff- especially character creation. Someone who has never played before has absolutely no concept of what skill points are and such- its kind of ridiculous to ask a new player to go through all that before they even have an idea how to play.

Anyways, I open the box up with my girlfriend and immediately reach for the DM guide, but my gf stops me and asks if she can be the DM. I was super thrilled with the idea, I love DMing, but its no secret that I want to play once in a while. My gf has played D&D in several of its forms with my for several years, but she has never DMed before. This was the perfect way for her to break into it. We both had a blast, can't wait to do it again.

And a little blurb about my girlfriend- She is super cute and pretty and smart. I have no idea why she would ever want to be with a dude like me, I am crazy lucky and I love her madly. I am so happy I get to have a cool beautiful lady to play D&D and share my life with. It is our 5 year anniversary today- best 5 years of my life. I love you baby.

Ogrefolk of the Hook Mountain

So here are some of the tokens we used when we were playing the Hook Mountain Massacre adventure path. Very cool and creepy.

Click to Bigify

My Wildlife Tokens

So Pathfinder does the whole tactical grid combat thing, which you pretty much need tokens for and I like drawing and stuff so I make my own.

These are my natural wildlife guys. Moose, two Boars, Mountain Lion, and Black Bear along the top, that's the wolfpack along the bottom.

Click to Bigify 

E is for Evil PCs

My group and I started playing D&D when we were still in elementary school, we haven't grown up much since  then. Over the years there has been alot of party infighting, in fact the only TPKs have resulted from player vrs player combats.  Even when they aren't killing each other player pride and dickishness has shone through and made it difficult for the party to work together, (the party had a particular fondness for chaotic neutral..gah!)

Right at the end of high school the players decided they wanted to start a new game up, but with evil characters. There were a few evil wizards, a dark knight, and an evil ranger, one or two players were vampires. Funnily enough the party worked together during those sessions more than any other time we played. It was kind of creepy how well they all came together and razed a peasant village, they were genuinely going out of their way to be helpful to one another.

This summer when I head home the old group is going to get back together and start a party of lvl 10 evil heroes.  They have some plans in the works for becoming liches, raising armies, and toppling the kingdom of Taldor from the Pathfinder setting.

A Murder at the Royal Wedding

More Harrow cards and their possible uses in the Dreamlands


The Crows
The Crows are a dangerous trio of notorious robbers and bandits.
When invoking The Crows a wise dreamer will have either a very large sum of treasure to secure their services or else propose a very profitable venture indeed.  Invoking The Crows is always a risky proposition, as they are extremely greedy and completely without scruples.  Although each member of the band is of course a skilled Rogue, they should not be underestimated in a straight up fight either though; they fight dirty and have an uncanny ability to put a blade in an unwary opponents back.     





The Queen Mother

The Queen Mother can be a powerful ally in the Dreamlands. This card can represent a very wise motherly figure in many Dreamscapes. Often she wields significant power and has much sway with the rulers of the Dreaming Realms.  A Dreamer which manages to earn the love or respect of The Queen Mother will have a much easier time traveling in the Dreamlands. When invoked a large royal train and majestic palanquin bearing the Queen will come into view.
Note this card does not automatically guarantee a positive attitude from the Queen, it merely grants a opportunity to earn her favor.





The Marriage
This is a powerful card to invoke and not one to be done lightly. Invoking The Marriage creates a intense union; two seperate elements forming a new whole.  The nature of that union is left up to the Dreamer but common Marriages are between two people, two groups, or two things - and all combinations in between.
Such is the strength of this card that it can even bind bitterly opposing forces together such as fire and water, light and dark or Montague and Capulet.

Adventures in the Dream Lands

Alright, So its been a little while, hope to be back up to at least a few posts a week.

So here are two Pathfinder Harrow cards the Cyclone and the Forge, and here is how they can be invoked in the Dreamlands.

The Cyclone
When invoked a slight breeze will begin blowing, a breeze which quickly becomes a howling gale, heralding a terrible storm which will become visible on the horizon.  At the center of this storm spins the Cyclone. A terrible and very destructive force, the Cyclone can shatter the normally  peaceful landscape of the Dreamlands. Although the Cyclone is nigh impossible to control a skilled dreamer can enter into the Cyclone and by subtly guiding its movements use it as a means of fast transportation across vast distances. Needless to say this is an extremely dangerous way to travel.


The Forge
When invoked a small smithy will appear. The Blacksmith is a gruff sort of fellow who does not like being interupted from his work. A skilled dreamer may be able to convince the Blacksmith to create a single item for them. The item will obviously be crafted from metal and of a excellent quaility, quite often even having magical qualities.  A magical sword  would be suitable item to ask for, but a giant metal fortress would not.  Greedy dreamers who ask for too much will be chased away by the Blacksmith`s fire sprite assistants.

Adventures in the Dream Realm

I'm home for reading week so I'm trying to spend lots of time with my folks while I'm here.  We watched Inception last night. My third time seeing it now (I went twice to see it in theaters) and geeze is that ever a good movie. It blew my mind again even though I knew all the stuff that was coming. The action and visuals are fantastic, but they ultimately serve only as the back drop for the story and a very interesting counterpoint to the plot.  It really seemed to build like a song in the way it was filmed and how it cut back and forth and up and down and forward and backward throughout the film, and yet it managed to do it all in such a pleasing way (without being too disorienting- possibly confusing yes- but during the action climax where several action sequences are being presented simultaneously its not too hard to figure out what is going on ).
Also I have to say the love story in Inception is I feel one of the best I have ever seen, the love, loss and regret expressed between Dom and Mal is so intense, sad, and beautiful.

Anyway, late last night i was reading this post here http://sorcerersskull.blogspot.com/2011/02/ad-cosmology-defense.html and it really got me thinking about what it would be like to adventure in some kind of strange Dream Realm.  The Pathfinder setting has something called a Harrow Deck which is basically a D&D version of a Tarot deck, each of the 54 cards represent a specific combination of an alignment and a ability score. So for example The Rabbit Prince here represents Chaotic Neutral and Dexterity. Each card title is really interesting and the art is super cool and evocative.

What does this have to do with Inception? Well basically in a dream world type adventure I don't think the characters should be able to just create anything Inception style but they should have some influence on the dream and its landscape. So I decided in my setting part of the journey into the Dream Realm involves having your cards read, not quite sure on the specifics yet but the players keep the cards they draw and may evoke them at some point on the dream quest, thereby gaining an advantage and altering the dream.

So say I got The Rabbit Prince card, at some point in the quest I can summon The Rabbit Prince himself to come aid me on my adventure- creating a new npc ally who may join the party or preform some other service.

More on this later. .