Spes Magna Games

If you’re not clear on which dragon types correspond to which energy types, check out the sorcerer’s draconic bloodline.

Dragon Warrior

The dragon warrior’s dedication to ancient practices rooted in martial dragon cults grants him a small portion of draconic power. When a character gains a level as a dragon warrior, he must select one of the chromatic or metallic dragon types. This choice cannot be changed, and it determines the dragon warrior’s resistance and the energy damage inflicted by his dragon bite (see below).

Draconic Resistance (Ex): At 2nd level, a dragon warrior gets a +2 bonus to Reflex saves against attacks that inflict damage of the same energy type of the warrior’s chosen dragon. This bonus increases by +1 for every four levels beyond 2nd, to a maximum of +5 at 14th level. Every four levels beyond 14th, the dragon warrior gains 5 points of resistance to the appropriate energy type (maximum 10 points of resistance).

This feature replaces bravery.

Draconic Prowess (Ex): At 3rd, 7th, 11th, 15th, and 19th levels, a dragon warrior rolls 1d12 for his Hit Die instead of 1d10 to determine hit points. The dragon warrior also gains other abilities, as explained below:

At 3rd and 15th levels, the dragon warrior gains a +1 increase to natural armor bonus.

At 7th level, he gains a bonus feat from the following list: Blind-Fight, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, or Toughness.

At 11th level as a free action, a dragon warrior can gain a bite attack. This is a primary natural attack that deals 1d6 points of damage (1d4 if the dragon warrior is Small), plus 1-1/2 times the dragon warrior’s Strength modifier. He can use his dragon bite for a number of rounds per day equal to 3 + his Constitution modifier. These rounds need not be consecutive.

At 19th level, the dragon warrior’s bite attack deals an additional 1d6 points of damage of his energy type on a successful hit.

This feature replaces armor training 1-4 and armor mastery.

Tags: archetypes, Pathfinder RPG

I retool two more reptilian humanoids.

Black Drakobold
CR 2; XP 600
LE Small dragon (reptilian)
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +7

DEFENSE
AC 19, touch 14, flat-footed 16 (+2 armor, +3 Dex, +3 natural, +1 size)
hp 8 (1d12+2)
Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +3
Defensive Ability acid evasion; Immune paralysis, sleep
Weaknesses light sensitivity

OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee spear +3 (1d6+1/x3), or
Ranged sling +5 (1d3+1, range increment 50 ft.)

STATISTICS
Str 13, Dex 17, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 13, Cha 12
Base Atk +1; CMB +1; CMD 14
Feats Skill Focus (Perception)
Skills Bluff +5, Climb +5, Craft (trapmaking) +7, Intimidate +5, Perception +7, Profession (miner) +3, Stealth +11, Survival +5, Swim +9; Racial Modifiers +2 Craft (trapmaking), +2 Perception, +2 Profession (miner), +4 Swim
Languages Aquan, Common, Draconic
SQ crafty

SPECIAL ABILITIES
Acid Evasion (Ex): If a drakobold makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an acid attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, it instead takes no damage. Acid evasion can be used only if the drakobold is wearing light armor or no armor. A helpless drakobold does not gain the benefit of acid evasion.

Crafty (Ex): Craft (trapmaking) and Stealth are always class skills for a drakobold.

ECOLOGY
Environment temperate underground or swamp
Organization solitary, gang (2–4), or nest (5–30 plus equal number of noncombatants, 1 sergeant of 3rd level per 20 adults, and 1 leader of 4th–6th level)
Treasure NPC gear (leather armor, spear, sling, other treasure)

Drakobolds come in four colors: red, green, blue, or black. A drakobold’s coloration determines what energy type its evasion applies against as well as grants certain other abilities, as explained below:

Black: Widely dispersed in forests, swamps, and underground, the black-scaled drakobolds are better swimmers than their brethren and gain a +4 racial bonus on Swim checks.

Blue: The blue variant of drakobolds appears most often within tribes dominated by other scale colors. They are said to be among the best diabolists and schemers, and gain a +1 inherent bonus to their Wisdom. Many are powerful clerics of Asmodeus.

Green: These are the standard forest drakobolds, well camouflaged in leafy undergrowth. They gain an additional +4 racial bonus on Stealth checks.

Red: These drakobolds are pyromaniacs and make extensive use of fire, especially the alchemical and magical kinds. These kobolds gain a +2 bonus to the DC of any spell they cast with the fire subtype and a +2 bonus on saves made against fear effects. Most are a bit more arrogant than average drakobolds.

White: Like the blues, white-scaled drakobolds are a little less frequent than other types. They are often powerful sorcerers, gaining a +1 bonus to the DC of any spell they cast with the cold subtype and a +1 inherent bonus to their Charisma.

Black Troglodrake
CR 3; XP 800
CE Medium dragon (reptilian)
Init +1; Senses darkvision 90 ft., low-light vision; Perception +7
Aura stench (30 ft., DC 14, 10 rounds)

DEFENSE
AC 19, touch 11, flat-footed 18 (+1 Dex, +8 natural)
hp 19 (2d12+6)
Fort +8, Ref +4, Will +5
Immune acid, paralysis, sleep

OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee club +5 (1d6+3), claw +0 (1d4+1), bite +0 (1d4+1), or
Melee 2 claws +5 (1d4+3), bite +5 (1d4+3), or
Ranged javelin +3 (1d6+3)
Special Attacks tail sweep (1d6+4 plus trip)

STATISTICS
Str 16, Dex 13, Con 17, Int 12, Wis 15, Cha 15
Base Atk +2; CMB +5 (+7 trip with tail); CMD 16
Feats Great Fortitude
Skills Bluff +7, Climb +8, Intimidate +7, Perception +7, Sense Motive +7, Stealth +9 (+13 in rocky areas), Survival +7; Racial Modifiers +4 Stealth (+8 in rocky areas)
Languages Draconic, Undercommon

SPECIAL ABILITIES
Tail Sweep (Ex): As a full attack, a troglodrake can sweep its tail through any two adjacent squares that touch each other. It makes separate attack rolls against targets in those squares. A successful tail attack inflicts 1d6 + 1-1/2 times its Strength bonus, plus the trip ability. It gains a +2 racial bonus to its trip attempts.

ECOLOGY
Environment any underground
Organization solitary, pair, clutch (3–6), or squad (7–12 plus 1 cleric or druid of 3rd level and 1–2 monitor lizards)
Treasure NPC gear (club, 3 javelins, other treasure)

Tags: Pathfinder monsters

Do you want a small slice of fame? How about a small slice of fame with a side of free PDF? If so, I need playtesters/proofreaders for three PDFs:

Dodeca Decor: In this PDF there are many tables, 12 of which have more than 20 different dungeon details each. Most of the dungeon details don’t come with any specific game effect. They’re merely decorative or inspirational. In the former case, a merely decorative element may inspire your players into fits of speculation and investigation that lead nowhere. In the latter case, you the GM may have one of those great aha! moments and what started as merely decorative may become functional or even dangerous.

The Swamp Isle of the Croaking Priestess: This short adventure pits the PCs against a boggard army led by the Croaking Priestess herself. The PDF includes full stats for the Croaking Priestess, links to d20pfsrd for quick rules references, tips for running the adventure, and a cross-section map of the isle. Let the blood flow, and don’t fall off your lilypad!

A to Z: All 26 of my A to Z Challenge blogposts are collected in one volume. Edited, revised, and improved, these blogposts feature foes for your PCs to fight, alternate rules, two archetypes, as well as advice, wit, and wisdom.

All playtesters/proofreaders get credit on the table of contents page and a free copy of the completed PDF. If you’re interested in helping, please email me at mark at spesmagna dot com.

If you like these, you might also like my alternate versatile performance class feature for bards that uses terminology related to acting, music, and dance to represent 18 bardic talents. It’s available along with 15 new feats in Latina Facta & Versatile Performance Redux at both Paizo.com and DriveThruRPG for a mere $0.99. 🙂

Accelerando
School transmutation; Level bard 1
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S
Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target one creature/level, no two of which can be more than 30 ft. apart
Duration 2 rounds + 1 round/level
Saving Throw Fortitude negates (harmless); Spell Resistance yes (harmless)

Targets affected by accelerando enjoy a gradual increase in base land speed. On your turn each round the spell is in effect, affected creatures have their base land speed increased by 10 feet, to a maximum increase of 30 feet. This adjustment is treated as an enhancement bonus. There is no effect on other modes of movement, such as burrow, climb, fly, or swim. As with any effect that increases your base land speed, this spell affects your jumping distance (see the Acrobatics skill).

Adagio
School transmutation; Level bard 0
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (a drop of molasses)
Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target one creature of 4 HD or less
Duration 1 round
Saving Throw Will negates; Spell Resistance yes

An affected creature moves and attacks at a drastically slowed rate until the end of its next turn. An affected creature takes a -1 penalty on attack rolls, AC, and Reflex saves. A slowed creature moves at half its normal speed (round down to the next 5-foot increment), which affects the creature’s jumping distance as normal for decreased speed.

Adagio does not stack with itself or with other slow effects don’t stack. Adagio does not counter or dispel haste.

Deceptive Cadence
School illusion (figment, glamer; see text); Level bard 4
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S
Range personal
Target you
Duration see text
Saving Throw Will disbelief (if interacted with, see text); Spell Resistance no

Deceptive cadence has two effects when it is cast. First, it causes you to become invisible for up to 1 round/caster level just as if you were the target of an invisibility spell. Second, it creates a major image of you in the space you occupied when you cast the spell. The major image lasts for as long as you concentrate on it, plus 3 rounds.

Creatures that interact with your illusionary double are entitled to a Will save as normal for a figment. While concentrating, you can move the major image within a radius around its initial space equal to 10 feet per level. The image disappears when struck by an opponent unless you cause the illusion to react appropriately.

Dissonance
School enchantment [compulsion, mind-affecting]; Level bard 2
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S
Range medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Target one living creature
Duration 1 min./level
Saving Throw Will negates; Spell Resistance yes

Dissonance creates disordered thoughts and difficulty concentrating in an affected creature. The target suffers a -2 penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks. Furthermore, an affected creature must make a concentration check (DC 15 + spell level) to cast a spell (or lose the spell). Since a concentration check is neither a skill checks nor an ability checks, it does not suffer the -2 penalty imposed by this spell.

Maestro’s Polyphony
School transmutation; Level bard 5
Casting Time 1 round
Components V, S, F (a conductor’s baton)
Range personal
Target you
Duration 1 minute, or until expended

After casting this spell, you gain the ability to cast two bard spells simultaenously as a standard action. The combined levels of these spells cannot exceed 4 and neither spell can have a casting time greater than 1 standard action. You have one minute after casting maestro’s polyphony to benefit from its effects. You cannot be under the effect of more than one maestro’s polyphony spell at a time.

Requiem
School necromancy; Level bard 3
Casting Time 1 standard
Components V
Range 30 ft.
Area one or more undead creatures within a 30-ft.-radius burst
Duration 1 round/level
Saving Throw Will partial; Spell Resistance yes

A requiem spell overwhelms up to 10 HD of undead creatures with the peace of the grave. Undead within range that fail their saving throw can do nothing but stand and sway gently for the spell’s duration. These undead are helpless. Undead that succeed on their saving throw can act normally, but suffer a -2 penalty to armor class and attack rolls for the spell’s duration. Requiem affects undead with fewer HD first. Among creatures with equal HD, those closest to the caster are affected first. HD that are not sufficient to affect a creature are wasted. Wounding an undead creature rendered helpless by requiem negates the spell’s effects on that particular undead.

Tags: bards, spells