Helioedes template

DamienWilacoth

First Post
Hey Damien! :)



...there had to be one, didn't there. :hmm:

If I get some spare time over the next few days I'll try and brainstorm a few ideas. First point of reference would perhaps be the Call of Cthulhu d20 book though.

In fact I am sure I had some psuedonatural aura progression thing worked out for 3E. Based upon the chain of spells, dammit I can't remember, there was one of fear, one of insanity. Totally gone from my head. Thats it Symbols. The Symbol chain. I was using that for like: 5th level spell = demideity, 6th = lesser or something like that. I am sure I must have given the Akishra and the Cogent in the Epic bestiary auras or some sort of powers based on these spells. Which means there must be a 9th or higher version somewhere for the Helioeides Template.

I'd appreciate any help that's offered on this - I don't have any sort of access to Call of Cthulhu.
 

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I'd appreciate any help that's offered on this - I don't have any sort of access to Call of Cthulhu.

The d20 Call of Cthulhu deities' abilties are strongly based off Deities & Demigods, though with the names changed and explained worse ;)

Basically they tend to get Squamous Blast (range = 1 mile/rank, damage = 1d12 x (rank + Charisma modifier), destroys walls of force etc., no immunity or resistance applies) - probably use Cosmic Effect for this. A lot of them get Divine Shield (use Forcefield). Then they have some really scary individual things; Cthulhu has 2d4 Constitution drain/round when grappled, Nyarlathotep has 'Divine Dodge' which is the same thing as Nebulous (50% miss chance for everything), Azathoth has a very nasty Sanity draining attack (hard to represent in standard D&D really, but just treat it as a mass insanity spell maybe).

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To do a pseudo-Helioedes; well, it's supposed to be to Pseudonatural what Amidah is to Paragon.

So take the Pseudonatural template and make some improvements...

A helioedes is a pseudonatural that has gone entirely mad, and in that madness, transcended. The insanity no longer affects only the creature itself, but spills over into a vast area of surrounding reality, shaped into twisting madness. The creature's energies also are past containment, searing outwards, as the creature ignites like a miniature sun...

“Helioedes” is a template that can be added to any creature with the pseudonatural template (referred to hereafter as the base creature), with 80 Hit Dice or more.

HD A helioedes has d100s for hit dice, and always has maximum hit points.

Speed A helioedes’s speed becomes Supersonic (as the cosmic ability).

AC Helioedes gain a natural armor bonus equal to 3/4 their Hit Dice, or +105, whichever is better, unless the base creature has higher natural armor.

Special Attacks
A helioedes creature retains all the special attacks of the base pseudonatural creature and also gains the following:

Constant Insight (Su):
The helioedes gains an insight bonus of +24 on all rolls, equivalent to an elder one's divine bonus.

Solar Constriction (Su): Once the creature has hold of an opponent, each successful grapple check it makes during subsequent rounds deals 1d20 divine fire damage per 4 hit dice of the Helioedes.

Gamma Ray Burster (Su): The helioedes can direct its intense radiation at an opponent. This has a range of extreme (1600 ft. + 160 ft./HD) and inflicts 1d20 divine fire damage per 2 hit dice of the helioedes. This requires a ranged touch attack.

Fiery Storm (Su):
The helioedes is surrounded by a flaming aura with a radius of 400 ft. + 40 ft./HD; all creatures within the aura take 1d6 fire damage per 8 HD of the helioedes per round.

Madness Aura (Su): The helioedes' hyper-intense perceptions warp a large area around it (400 ft. + 40 ft./HD); all creatures within the aura suffer a -24 insight penalty on all rolls as mad perceptions and patterns bombard their minds.


Special Qualities: A pseudonatural creature retains all the special qualities of the base creature and also gains the following.

Damage Reduction:
60/-, as an elder one, unless the base creature has higher damage reduction.

Nebulous: All attacks and effects have a 50% miss chance.

Nova: When a helioedes is killed, it explodes dramatically, as its massive energies are no longer even tenuously restrained by its will. See the Kiloton spell for effects; caster level = helioedes' HD.

Abilities: Increase from the base creature as follows: Str +44, Con +20, Dex +20, Wisdom +20

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I'm sure U_K would make something much better, though; that's just my stab at a "sun-themed super-pseudonatural".

I'd be glad to see the "real" version though...
 
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Sykyrys

First Post
I'm sure U_K would make something much better, though; that's just my stab at a "sun-themed super-pseudonatural".

I'd use it for something sun-themed, but I'd need something more generic for entities that don't care about the sun and haven't given themselves completely over to madness. It is nice work though.

I'd be glad to see the "real" version though...

Likewise, it would be interesting to see what Krusty comes up with. Maybe he could post the 3.5 ideas he'll never publish on his website. He seems to have a lot of those and any 3.5 material he has would definitely be a boon to the 3.5 community.
 

Belzamus

First Post
Likewise, it would be interesting to see what Krusty comes up with. Maybe he could post the 3.5 ideas he'll never publish on his website. He seems to have a lot of those and any 3.5 material he has would definitely be a boon to the 3.5 community.

Good luck with that. In the years I've visited here, the man's given barely a hint of what the unreleased stuff entailed.

Of course, I don't play DnD anymore, so I'm a bit less concerned about it than I used to be.

I think the best we're ever going to get is wait for the 4E releases and then reverse engineer the monsters from there. You have to wonder what'll be lost in translation, though.
 

Hey guys! :)

Thanks to Khisanth for the template. ;)

Belzamus said:
Good luck with that. In the years I've visited here, the man's given barely a hint of what the unreleased stuff entailed.

Most of the unreleased stuff is a bunch of notes on a page somewhere. I mean (for example) the hundred (or so) 3E epic spells I was planning for the Grimoire are just names with maybe one sentence explaining the general mechanic.

I have maybe 500+ new monsters similarly treated.

These are ideas I'll delve into with my 4E stuff.
 

Belzamus

First Post
Most of the unreleased stuff is a bunch of notes on a page somewhere. I mean (for example) the hundred (or so) 3E epic spells I was planning for the Grimoire are just names with maybe one sentence explaining the general mechanic.

I have maybe 500+ new monsters similarly treated.

These are ideas I'll delve into with my 4E stuff.

Well, they still sounded awesome! :D

Hope it didn't sound like I was venting above, you certainly aren't the reason I don't play anymore, I'm just not able to. Otherwise I'd probably still be salivating over thoughts of Umbrals and Antimatter Golems.

I still like hanging around though, your stuff will always interest me.
 

Hiya matey! :)

Belzamus said:
Well, they still sounded awesome! :D

I try to keep things interesting.

Hope it didn't sound like I was venting above,

Not at all mate...and anyway sometimes a bit of venting is good for the soul. ;)

you certainly aren't the reason I don't play anymore, I'm just not able to. Otherwise I'd probably still be salivating over thoughts of Umbrals and Antimatter Golems.

Don't worry, we'll see all of these and much more in 4E and hopefully by then you will be able to play again.

I still like hanging around though, your stuff will always interest me.

I appreciate the love dude. I always try and put a lot of thought into this stuff (arguably too much though and not enough typing). :eek:
 


Hiya mate! :)

Khisanth the Ancient said:
Antimatter Golems? What tier would they be?

Not saying. :p

Did recently plot out where a lot of golems will sit, although I am having kittens about the Mega and Giga versions...specifically if you have a set level difference for each golem type then you cannot set the base golem too high otherwise the larger versions go past Time Lord.


You're welcome.

How would you change it if you were making it? Is this about the power level you had in mind?

The first thing I would do is take the Pseudonatural template and multiply everything by 5. Then see which abilities look broken and fix them. I mean the DR of the Pseudonatural Template is a bit silly for instance. Spell Resistance is likewise ludicrous.

The HD requirements are very low. What might work is also boosting the Hit dice Requirements by 5.

5-19
20-39
40-59
60-79
80-99
each 20 more Hit Dice

Although even then you have to wonder if we should have started with 105 Hit Dice...which makes sense given the Hit Dice of the Cogent (101 IIRC).

I'd also work something out with Power Words and Symbols...I think I favoured both in my Akishra and Cogent monsters.
 

DamienWilacoth

First Post
What about the Welkin template? Does it share a similar relationship to the Vampire template, or is it a further evolution of the as-yet unseen Nosferatu template?
 

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