Spes Magna Games

Aello is a harpy. “These are the vilest of all monsters. No plague or visitation of the gods sent up from the waves of the river Styx has ever been worse than these. They are birds with the faces of girls, with filth oozing from their bellies, with hooked claws for hands and faces pale with a hunger that is never satisfied.” Virgil. The Aenied, III.212-218. Translated by David West. Penguin Classics: revised edition, 2003.

Aello, Harpy Ranger 4; CR 8
XP 4,800
CE Medium monstrous humanoid
Init +4 (+6 in plains); Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +11

DEFENSE
AC 20, touch 15, flat-footed 15 (+4 armor, +4 Dex, +1 dodge, +1 natural)
hp 82 (11d10+22)
Fort +11, Ref +14, Will +8

OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft., fly 80 ft. (average)
Melee masterwork morningstar +14/+9 (1d8+2), 2 talons +8 (1d6+1), or
Melee (vs. humans) masterwork morningstar +16/+11 (1d8+4), 2 talons +10 (1d6+3), or
Ranged masterwork composite longbow with +1 arrows +13/+8 (1d8+9/x3, 110 ft. range increment), or
Ranged (vs. humans) masterwork composite longbow with +1 arrows +15/+10 (1d8+11/x3, 110 ft. range increment), or
Ranged (vs. humans) masterwork composite longbow with +1 human bane arrows +17/+12 (1d8+13 plus 2d6/x3, 110 ft. range increment)
Special Attacks captivating song, favored enemy (humans) +2

SPELLS
Ranger Spells Prepared (CL 1st)
1st – resist energy

STATISTICS
Str 14, Dex 19, Con 14, Int 9, Wis 12, Cha 15
Base Atk +11; CMB +12; CMD 25
Feats Ability Focus (captivating song), Deadly Aim, Dodge, Endurance (B), Flyby Attack, Great Fortitude, Far Shot (B), Skill Focus (Bluff)
Skills Bluff +11, Craft (fletching) +6, Fly +14, Intimidate +12, Knowledge (local) +8, Perception +11, Perform (song) +8, Stealth +15, Survival +11
SQ favored terrain (plains) +2, track +2, wild empathy +6
Languages Common

SPECIAL ABILITIES
Captivating Song (Su) Aello’s song has the power to infect the minds of those that hear it, calling them to her side. When she sings, all creatures aside from other harpies within a 300-foot spread must succeed on a DC 17 Will saving throw or become captivated. A creature that successfully saves is not subject to Aello’s song for 24 hours. A victim under the effects of the captivating song moves toward Aello using the most direct means available. If the path leads them into a dangerous area such as through fire or off a cliff, that creature receives a second saving throw to end the effect before moving into peril. Captivated creatures can take no actions other than to defend themselves. A victim within 5 feet of Aello simply stands and offers no resistance to her attacks. This effect continues for as long as Aello sings and for 1 round thereafter. This is a sonic mind-affecting charm effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Favored Enemy (Ex) Aello enjoys a +2 bonus on Bluff, Knowledge, Perception, Sense Motive, and Survival checks against humans. Likewise, she gets a +2 bonus on weapon attack and damage rolls against them. She make a Knowledge (local) skill check untrained when attempting to identify humans.

Favored Terrain (Ex) Aello gains a +2 bonus on initiative checks and Knowledge (geography), Perception, Stealth, and Survival skill checks when is a plains terrain. When traveling through plains, she leaves no trail and cannot be tracked (though she may leave a trail if she so chooses).

Hunter’s Bond (Ex) Aello can spend a move action to grant half her favored enemy bonus against a single human to all allies within 30 feet who can see or hear her. This bonus lasts for 1 round. This bonus does not stack with any favored enemy bonuses possessed by his allies; they use whichever bonus is higher.

EQUIPMENT & BACKGROUND
Treasure NPC gear (+1 studded leather, quiver with 10 +1 human bane arrows and 10 +1 arrows, cloak of resistance +1, potion of blur, two potions of cure moderate wounds, masterwork composite longbow [Str 14], masterwork morningstar, two vials of alchemist fire, two tanglefoot bags, plus 45 gp)

Aello the Swift Storm hunts well-traveled plains for human prey, a task for she is frighteningly well-suited. She drop most humans with a single arrow fired with Deadly Aim. Against more experienced humans, she attacks with her magical arrows, preferring to stay at the upper limits of her bow’s range increment. Too sow confusion and disorient her prey, she may make strafing runs using alchemist fire and tanglefoot bags. Victims of her captivating song are typically ignored while free-willed foes remain a threat.

Worst of all, Aello seldom hunts alone. She is usually accompanied by a flight of six regular harpies armed with light crossbows. (This makes Aello and company roughly equal to a CR 11 encounter). Aello keeps her harpies under control by threats, violence, and a share of the spoils, including the choicest morsels cut from victims’ bodies.

Aello earned her nickname the Swift Storm due to her preference for ambushes and hit-and-run tactics. Especially against ground-bound opponents, Aello doesn’t see the need to risk too much injury on her hunts. Most often she and her followers retreat after suffering minor to moderate wounds. They then lick their wounds and look for an opportunity to attack again, hoping to wear down their prey through attrition. A favorite tactic is for Aello and company to all focus their ranged attacks against a single victim. Then, they fly away for a few minutes before returning to strike again.

The Swift Storm sometimes sells her services to evil masters, especially when doing so gives her an opportunity to torment and kill humans. She is not an especially loyal henchmen. Still, her skill with ranged combat and ambush tactics have their uses, and more than one evil creature has sought Aello’s services.

This Saturday, May 15, my wife and I celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary! You can share in our joy with a Special Anniversary PDF sale!

For one week starting today, Tuesday, 11 May, both Spes Magna PDFs are on-sale. The discount code is happy17. Here’s the purchase link.

You can get Rewarding Roleplaying for $0.75. There are links for short reviews of this PDF in the post made before this one. You can also get Latina Facta & Versatile Performance Redux for $0.50. This PDF includes two separate topics. Latina Facta offers 15 new feats based on Latin sayings. Versatile Performance Redux introduces an alternate Versatile Performance class feature for bards that draws upon terminology from acting, dance, and music.

Caveat: Latina Facta and Versatile Performance Redux were previously available for free to Quid Novi? subscribers. If you’re one of the lucky ones who’ve already downloaded these, there’s no need to purchase them.

One-half of sales from Spes Magna products are donated to help the Mission of Yahweh, a faith-based shelter located in Houston, Texas, that empowers, enriches, and restores the lives of homeless women and children and provides outreach services to low-income families in our neighborhood.

Remember: Everything we sell has a money-back guarantee.

And the word is good.

Alzrius briefly discusses Rewarding Roleplaying in a blog post about “Positively-reinforced role-playing“. About Rewarding Roleplaying linking player-defined roleplaying goals and Action Point awards, Alzrius writes, “It’s a good idea, simple and elegant, and I’m quite honestly surprised that no one else has done it before.”

Over at the Paizo boards, regular Paizo poster Urizen chimes in with his own review of Rewarding Roleplaying. Urizen has some flattering things to say about both my writing style and Rewarding Roleplaying‘s contents.

Now through midnight on Mother’s Day, Rewarding Roleplaying is on sale for 50% off cover price. The discount code is mater. To quote Urizen, “It’s definitely worth your three quarters. It’s a five star from me.”

I was up at about seven this morning. I did the dishes. I started the laundry. I sat down and started writing. By eleven, I had Quid Novi? IX finished and in the email queue for early Sunday morning. I got an email telling me that Game Geek #5 from Avalon Game Company is now on sale for $1 US. Among other things, it features my second regular column, this one about using real world history as a starting point for a sandbox-style campaign.

It seemed like a good idea to take a break. The wife had gone to the grocery store. We put away groceries. Giant Boy and I climbed into the car to head to Target to purchase few other items, including a small bookshelf for Giant Boy’s room. While were gone, the girls started working on lunch. Christopher and I got back. We put his shelf together. While my daughter was slicing an apple, she cut through the meaty part of her right thumb’s tip. In an instant, the day went from pleasant to craptacular.

Christopher and wife Katrina performed admirably under pressure. When an emergency hits, I can bark orders like nobody’s business. I discovered that, yes, my aging Toyota can hit 80 miles per hour on the highway. Adrienne’s cut’s a bad one. She and Katrina are still at the ER after nearly four hours. Katrina just told me the doctor is seeing them.

At the ER, when we were told it would be two hours before a doctor would see Adrienne, Katrina inquired about getting something for Adrienne for her pain. In a hospital full of highly trained medical personnel, there wasn’t a single person we could find qualified to make the weighty decision to give my daughter a couple of Tylenol.

If bureacracy has an alignment, it’s closer to lawful evil than anything else.

I hit a nearby gas station and bought a bottle of water and some Tylenol. Back in the ER, I gave the Tylenol to Adrienne, who worried that I was doing something wrong. How quickly people can accept the senseless limitations imposed on them by others. Before leaving the ER to head back home, leaving Katrina with Adrienne, I told Katrina:

“When you see the doctor, tell him I gave Adrienne some Tylenol. If he doesn’t like that, tell him that your husband said, ‘Kiss my ass.'”

Of course, I doubt seriously Katrina would do this. She’s the filter on my too loud internal monologue.

Christopher and I got home. I cleaned up the blood. I got rid of the fruit slicer that injured my daughter. I know this is a senseless act, but I couldn’t beat it up, and the desire to take revenge on something for her getting hurt could not be ignored. The boy and I ate lunch, and we watched this week’s Fringe episode. Since then, Christopher’s worked on homework, and I’ve typed this.

The bottom line is that further progress on Spes Magna projects has been derailed for at least today. Of course, there’re still some points of interest. Rewarding Roleplaying remains on sale. If you’re not subscribed to Quid Novi?, you can sign up for our newsletter. If you get that done early enough today, you’ll not miss Issue IX being emailed to you. You can also become a Spes Magna Facebook fan.