Bleeding Edge Villains by Robert J
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Bleeding Edge Villains by Robert J. Schwalb Within each of Green Ronin’s Bleeding Edge Adventures is a compelling adventure designed to take advantage of the robust options and innovative concepts of the d20 system . The adventures provide compelling plots and engaging characters, all of which work to provide gaming groups with exciting play experiences that promise to keep them coming back for more. To demonstrate these features, Green Ronin is proud to present a collection of sinister foes for GMs to incorporate into their games. Each character includes a short history, advice for using the character with a Bleeding Edge adventure and a stat-block. Each villain is perfect for expanding play in any of these fantastic offerings. KLAX Skills Balance +15, Climb –1 (+1 ropes), Escape Artist +12 (+14 ropes), Hide +15, Mansion of Shadows Jump +6, Listen +3, Move Silently +12, Open Locks +13, Search +7, Sleight of Hand +15, “Don’t cry little one, candy will make you fat.” Spot +4, Survival +0 (+2 follow tracks), Having slipped through a planar rent that Tumble +15, Use Rope +14 (+16 bindings) connected the Material Plane to the dismal Possessions combat gear plus +1 short sword, layers of Gehenna, Klax has delighted himself masterwork thieves’ tools, sack of 240 gp by thieving anything he can from the Klax stands just over two-feet tall and weighs beleaguered people of Staufendorf. about 25 pounds. Like others of his kind, he is KLAX CR 3 small and frail with spindly arms and legs and Male furtivin* rogue 1 with a series of leathery ridges marching up *Book of Fiends his back. His face is monstrous, ears extending NE Small outsider (daemon, evil, extraplanar) from either side of his triangular head. He has Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +4, little use for clothing and carries only a leather Spot +4 bag, stolen from a local after he stabbed him to Languages Abyssal, Common, Draconic, death with his sword. The delicate fingers of Elven, Halfling; telepathy 100 ft. his slender hands are almost always gooey AC 19, touch 18, flat-footed 12 from stolen sweets he’s come to favor. (+1 size, +7 Dex, +1 natural) Using Klax hp 28 (4 HD); fast healing 1 Immune acid and poison Klax is a daemon of greed and avariciousness Resist cold 10, electricity 10, fire 10, evasion oozes from his person. He steals everything Fort +6, Ref +13, Will +3 and anything he can, regardless of actual Spd 30 ft. (6 squares) value, preferring instead to deprive others of Melee +1 short sword +12 (1d4/19–20) or things, regardless of its value. Taking the Melee slam +11 (1d3–1) crutch from a one-legged man is just as Base Atk +3; Grp –2 attractive as lifting the last pig out of a Atk Options sneak attack +1d6 starving family’s pen. It’s not that he needs Combat Gear 2 tanglefoot bags any of the things he steals, and in fact, he Spell-like Abilities (CL 3rd): leaves his takings in one of the many caves the At will—cause fear (DC 9), invisibility, knock, riddle the mound beneath the Staufen castle, lesser confusion (DC 9) he must rob folks because by doing so, he 1/day—dimension door spreads misery and suffering by making Abilities Str 8, Dex 25, Con 16, Int 14, Wis 11, victims of every person he encounters. Cha 6 The player characters might encounter SQ trapfinding Klax while exploring the Staufendorf, perhaps Feats Deft Hands, Weapon Finesse even becoming one of the daemon’s victims. A Bleeding Edge Villains 1 group of well-armed, potentially rich Skills Hide +11, Listen +7, Move Silently +15, characters is too good of a target for Klax to Spot +7, Survival +7, Swim +8 pass up and so once he spots them, he follows Possessions combat gear plus mithral shirt, them around at a distance, sneaking forward masterwork battle axe, masterwork to snatch an item when he can. This continues composite longbow (Strength +2) with until the PCs finally catch him in the act, at quiver of 20 arrows, backpack, waterskin, which point he flees using dimension door . one day’s trail rations, bedroll, sack, flint Pursuing characters are in for a merry chase and steel, 3 torches, 4 gp through some dangerous territory, possibly Shorgad is a thick-boned hobgoblin, with the leading the PCs into adventures of your own ruddy complexion and patchy tufts of gray fur design. common to most goblinoids of his breed. He SHORGAD THE UNSUBTLE wears a heavy gray cloak overtop of a fine mithral shirt he received as payment a few Beyond the Towers jobs back. He has a slight lisp and when he talks, the right side of his upper lip draws up “Have you seen a man named Frank?” revealing a sharp brown incisor. Squatting on the edge of the Carrion Swamp is Using Shorgad a filthy little outpost called Lonely Shore. This isolated speck of a town caters to trappers, What he lacks in personality, he makes up for rangers, and other men of dubious character. in efficiency. He’s made a name for himself by Shorgad the Unsubtle has come here to find a never double-crossing his employers, a fact man named Frank. He’s going to find him and that keeps him employed. He specializes in when he does, he’s going to kill him because hunting down humans since they’re usually that’s what he’s been paid to do. easy, careless prey prone to making mistakes. When sent out to kill his victims, Shorgad SHORGAD THE UNSEEN CR 3 knows many of his targets surround Male hobgoblin ranger 3 themselves with allies, making a direct LE Medium humanoid (goblinoid) confrontation with his axe difficult. Therefore, Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +7, the hobgoblin can and does stalk his prey for Spot +7 several days, and picking him off with a few Languages Common, Goblin well-placed shots with his bow. AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 14 (+3 Dex, +4 armor) When Shorgad arrives in Lonely Shore, he hp 19 (3 HD) asks a few questions about Frank, but since Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +3 most people are close-lipped (to say nothing Spd 30 ft. (6 squares) of their general disdain for goblinoids), he’s Melee mwk battle axe +6 (1d8+2/×2) been forced to skulk about, listening to Ranged mwk composite longbow (Str +2) +7 conversations and looking for clues about just (1d8+2/×3) or who, exactly, Frank is. Frank eventually learns Ranged mwk composite longbow (Str +2) someone’s come for him. If he flees, the killer +5/+5 (1d8+2/×3) with Rapid Shot would suspect him, so Frank approaches Base Atk +3; Grp +5 Shorgad, claiming to be Professor Stewart. He Atk Options Point Blank Shot, Rapid Shot, claims his employer, the real Professor favored enemy (humans) Stewart, is actually Frank. Shorgad buys the Combat Gear elixir of hiding, elixir of sneaking, 2 story and waits for the chance to kill the old potions of cure light wounds, 2 tanglefoot bags, man, but before he can, the real professor 5 smokesticks heads out into the swamp. Shorgad follows, Abilities Str 14, Dex 17, Con 15, Int 10, Wis 12, waiting for the chance to strike. Cha 8 SQ wild empathy +2 (–2 magical beasts) Feats Endurance B, Point Blank Shot, Rapid Shot B, Stealthy, Track B Bleeding Edge Villains 2 KASTAASS Skills Concentration +7, Hide +9, Jump +8, Knowledge (arcana) +6, Listen +6, Move Dirge of the Damned Silently +10, Search +6, Spellcraft +10, Spot +6, Use Magic Device +4 (+6 scrolls) “You will pay for your trespass!” Possessions combat gear plus masterwork The serpentines are distant cousins of the scimitar, 2 javelins, bracers of armor +1 serpent people that ruled much of the world Spellbook all prepared plus all cantrips; 1st— in ages past. When the great catastrophe befell cause fear, charm person, chill touch, silent their empire, the serpentines and other image ; 2nd—invisibility survivors fled to make new homes where they could. Like the serpent people, the serpentines Poison (Ex) injury, Fortitude DC 15, initial and have begun to stir and now set out to carve secondary damage nauseated for 2d4+2 out a new empire for themselves. minutes. KASTAASS CR 5 Kastaass wears a heavy green cloak to conceal Male serpentine wizard 1 his features, but those who watch him long CE Medium monstrous humanoid (reptilian) enough cannot help but notice the tip of a Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light reptilian tail peaking out and swishing on the vision, scent; Listen +6, Spot +6 ground. The cloak’s hood conceals his Languages Abyssal, Common, Draconic, grotesque snake-like features. Bright green Giant, Serpentine, Sylvan and yellow scales cover the entirety of his AC 21, touch 15, flat-footed 16 body. (+5 Dex, +1 armor, +5 natural) Using Kastaass hp 37 (4 HD) Fort +4, Ref +8, Will +5 Professor Stewart and the reptilian bandits Spd 40 ft. (8 squares) described in Beyond the Towers weren’t the Melee mwk scimitar +5 (1d6+1/18–20) and only ones interested in the ruin. After the bite –1 (1d3 plus poison) and player characters left the ziggurat, Kastaass claw –1 (1d3) and and a band of other serpentines located the tail slap –1 (1d6) or site and explored the contents. Finding the Melee bite +4 (1d3+1 plus poison) and place plundered, the group was enraged. The claw –1 (1d3) and emerged from the Carrion Swamp and set tail slap –1 (1d6) upon Lonely Shore, killing and torturing the Ranged javelin +8 (1d6+1) folks there until they learned the identities of Base Atk +3; Grp +4 the PCs (who should likely have at least a little Atk Options Combat Expertise, poison something from the ruin).