The Cultist: Patrons & Servitors

In the Shadowend, cultists follow the Typhos, the corrupt offspring of the gods.  Born from the union of two (or more) divine creatures, Typhos lack the divine spark and cannot become gods.  Nonetheless, they are nearly godlike in their power, and have created many monstrous races over the ages. The Elemental Princes, Archdevils, Demon Lords, and others are all Typhos.

Almost all Typhos are selfish, arrogant, and egotistical beings.  They adopt portfolios in mimicry of their parents, but lack any divine synergy with their area of concern.  Most Typhos pick portfolios that will not bring them into overt conflict with a deity; a few serve one of the Elder Host and have portfolios that reflect the concerns of that power.

Four sample cultist patrons are given below, along with some sample servitors and special abilities.  A cultist can summon one of the sample servitors (as the listed CL), build their own, or (with the assistance of the Referee) find other suitable published creatures.

Sample Patrons & Granted Special Abilities

Asterion the Bull (Impulsiveness, Minotaurs, Rage)

Asterion’s servitors have bovine features and shapes (see Gorgon, S&W Monster Book pg.42, CL 10; and Minotaur, S&W Monster Book pg.66; CL 6) and have access to the following special abilities: Extra Attack (Gore; +1 CL), Improved Armor Class (+1 CL), Improved Damage (+1 CL), Petrifaction (+2 CL).

Atar the Taker (The Dead, Duty, Tolls & Taxes)

Servitors of The Collector of the Dead take the form of cloaked and cowled humanoid figures that do not speak (See Dark Creeper & Dark Stalker, Tome of Horrors pg.124; CL 2 & CL 4) and usually have some of the following special abilities: Improved Damage (+1 CL), Invisibility (+1 CL), Poison (+2 CL), Silent (+1 CL).

Enyo the Leveller (Destruction of Cities & Civilization, The Tarrasque)

Servitors of Enyo appear as heavily armored monstrosities (see Bulette, S&W Monster Book pg.11; CL 12*) or statuesque women of stone or bronze (see Chalkeion, S&W Monster Book, pg.13; CL 5, 6,7, or 11; or Caryatid Column, Tome of Horrors pg.83; CL 7) and can have the following special abilities: Extra Attack (+1 CL), Improved Armor Class (+1 CL), Improved Damage (+1 CL), Magic Resistance 25% (+1 CL).

*The bulette's CL has been increased by one for purposes of summoning.

Urjin the Foul (Decay, Disease, Rot)

Servitors of Urjin usually take the form of giant goats or rams (see Goat, Giant, S&W Monster Book pg.39; CL 3; Dire Goat, Tome of Horrors pg.198; CL 5; or  Demon, Mehrim, Tome of Horrors pg.145; CL 9) or goat-like humanoids (see Satyr, S&W Monster Book pg.83; CL 6) and have access to the following special abilities: Disease (+1 CL), Improved Duration (+1 CL), Magic Resistance 50% (+2 CL), Regenerates 1hp/rnd (+1 CL).

Base Statistics for Servitors

These stat blocks are the base for unique servitors.  They can be adjusted by adding special abilities or other customization (ie, a servitor can make one attack instead of two, with damage two dice higher: 1-3HD = 1d8; 4-7HD = 1d10; 8+ HD = 1d12)

1HD Demonic Servitor: HD 1; AC 8 [11]; Atk 2 (1d4/1d4); Move 12 [30’]; CL/XP 1/15

2HD Demonic Servitor: HD 2; AC 7 [12]; Atk 2 (1d4/1d4); Move 12 [30’]; CL/XP 2/30

3HD Demonic Servitor: HD 3; AC 6 [13]; Atk 2 (1d4/1d4); Move 12 [30’]; CL/XP 3/60

4HD Demonic Servitor: HD 4; AC 5 [14]; Atk 2 (1d6/1d6); Move 12 [30’]; CL/XP 4/120

5HD Demonic Servitor: HD 5; AC 4 [15]; Atk 2 (1d6/1d6); Move 12 [30’]; CL/XP 5/240

6HD Demonic Servitor: HD 6; AC 3 [16]; Atk 2 (1d6/1d6); Move 12 [30’]; CL/XP 6/400

7HD Demonic Servitor: HD 7; AC 2 [17]; Atk 2 (1d6/1d6); Move 12 [30’]; CL/XP 7/600

8HD Demonic Servitor: HD 8; AC 1 [18]; Atk 2 (1d8/1d8); Move 12 [30’]; CL/XP 8/800

9HD Demonic Servitor: HD 9; AC 0 [19]; Atk 2 (1d8/1d8); Move 12 [30’]; CL/XP 9/1,100

10 HD Demonic Servitor: HD 10; AC -1 [20]; Atk 2 (1d8/1d8); Move 12 [30’]; CL/XP 10/1,400

11HD Demonic Servitor: HD 11; AC -2 [21]; Atk 2 (1d8/1d8); Move 12 [30’]; CL/XP 11/1,700

12 HD Demonic Servitor: HD 12; AC -3 [22]; Atk 2 (1d8/1d8); Move 12 [30’]; CL/XP 12/2,000

Something Wicked: The Cultist Class & Summon Demonic Servant power

Cultist

Hit Dice: 1d6+1 (+2 hp per level after 9^th level.)

Armor: Light or Medium armor, no shields.

Weapons: Club, Crossbow, Dagger, Mace, Shortsword

Skills: Cultists are skilled at feats of endurance and influence, disguise, local lore, religious lore, and stealth.

Alignment: Cultists must be Neutral or Chaotic.

Class Features

Ritual Support (1^st): The cultist can add this number to the Summon Minion roll of a cultist of higher level.  A cultist cannot summon their own minions while supporting another.

Summon Minion (1^st): Cultists have the ability to summon an other-dimensional minion of their patron.  This ability can be used at will, but each successive summoning after the first in a day inflicts a -2 penalty to the cultist’s duration and summoning rolls. The cultist must roll a saving throw to dismiss a demonic servant before its duration expires; on a failed save, the demonic servant remains until the end of its duration, but turns on and attacks the cultist. A cultist cannot summon another servant without dismissing the first, except as noted below.

To summon a cult minion, the cultist rolls 2d6 to determine how many rounds the cult minion will remain. The cultists then makes a summoning roll on 2d8 and checks the result on the table below, first finding their level reading down to find the result equal or less than their summoning roll, and then reading across to find the total Challenge Level of the summoned creature. A result of 0 or less on the final result (2d8 + modifiers) means the summoning fails.

A demonic servant has HD equal to its Challenge Level, an Armor Class bonus equal to its HD, and a move speed of 12 [30’]. Attack bonus and saving throw as a monster of the same HD.  The demonic servant has two attacks, which each inflict 1d4 points of damage if the servant has 3HD or less, 1d6 damage if it has 7HD or less, and 1d8 damage if it has 8 or more Hit Dice.  The basic demonic servant has no special abilities, is of low intelligence, and never appears with equipment.

The cultist can chose to summon a weaker servant with special abilities.  Each patron has a number of special abilities that demonic servants can receive, and cultists can sometimes discover the secret to different, non-standard abilities.  The cost of the abilities is added onto the servant’s Challenge Level to determine the demonic servants’s total CL. A servant’s HD must be at least half of its CL, except as noted below.  A list of special abilities is given below. Other special abilities can be derived from existing monsters, subject to the Referee’s judgment.

If the cultist chooses to summon a weaker creature than his roll allows, a result of † means the demonic servant has one extra +1 CL ability.  If the result is ‡, the servant has extra special abilities totaling +2 CL. If the result is £, the cultist can summon his level in demonic servants of that HD, all with a bonus +1 CL special ability (all minions have the same special ability).  If the result is Ω, the cultist can summon a horde of demonic servants: twice his level in minions of that HD, all with a bonus +1 CL special ability (all minions have the same special ability).

There is a small chance (no greater than 1% per HD) that an avatar of the patron chooses to manifest in place of the demonic servant.  The avatar automatically has 12 HD and +8 CL in special abilities.  The avatar requires at least 1HD per round in sacrifices to remain manifested, and it is not particularly picky about where the sacrifices come from. Cultists willingly sacrifice themselves to maintain the avatar; a newly manifested avatar typically consumes the essence of a cultist the first round it appears to gain enough power to last at least a few rounds (it can completely consume a willing sacrifice in a single round). This is one reason why more powerful cultists surround themselves with lesser followers at all times.

Examples

·         Lothqua the White is a 4^th level cultist.  He rolls 2d6 for duration, and gets a 7, which isn’t bad.  He rolls 2d8 for his summoning roll, and gets a total of 13. Finding his level (5) on the top bar and reading down, he finds he can summon a CL 5 demonic servant, which is pretty good.  (Lothqua gets CL 6 on a result of 13 or greater; if the summoning roll had been 16, he could have a CL 7 creature.)  Lothqua decides to keep things simple, and summons a basic CL 6 demonic servant (6 HD, 4 [15] AC, two attacks at +6 to hit and 1d6 damage, 11 save). The demonic servant appears at the beginning of the next round and remains for 7 rounds before disappearing.

·         Lothqua needs to summon another demonic servant later that day.  He’s already summoned one, so his duration and summoning rolls both have a -2 penalty.  He rolls 2d6-2 for the duration and gets a final result of 4.  He rolls 2d8-2 for summoning, and gets a total of 14 – the highest he can get with a -2 penalty! This time he needs something sneaky, so he opts for a 3HD demonic servant and three +1 CL special abilities: Improved Duration (which increases the duration to 8 rounds); a spell-like power (invisibility), and a special movement power (moving silently). He couldn't lower the HD any further, because HD must be at least half of CL, and his next attempt will have a -4 penalty to duration and summoning.

·         Aykol Adzurum is the 12^th level high cultist of Malis, the patron of lies and deception.  He summons a demonic servant and gets a duration of 5 and a summoning roll of 12, easily good enough for a CL 12 demonic servant.  He could also take a 10HD servant with +2 CL of special abilities; a 9 HD servant with +4 CL of special abilities (9HD + 3 CL = 12, +1 CL bonus because of the † result); a 7 HD servant with +6 CL of special abilities (7HD + 5 CL = 12, +2 CL bonus due to the ‡ result); twelve 4 HD demonic servants with a single special ability, or twenty-four 1 HD demonic servants with a +1 CL special ability.

EDIT: 12:18pm, April 19 2013 - I fixed the numbers and math on the examples; Lothqua had gotten a CL 5 servant, but I gave him a CL 6 one instead.  So I bumped his roll up to match the example.  It's Lothqua's lucky day. Maybe there will be cake.