Sometimes you want a truly menacing villain that will take a sizeable team of heroes just to drive off. This villain ought to do the job just fine with a little help from its undead thralls. Be wary of using him with less than five heroes, and he can give even larger groups a hard time.
Ymum the Undying
The name of Ymum the Undying has been cautiously whispered in occult circles for countless years. The true nature and origin of this entity is known to none, yet he is credited with the creation of numberless abhorrent rituals, foul incantations, and mind-blasting imprecations to forgotten horrors. Dark sorcerers would give anything to possess a fraction of his knowledge, while mages of the light tremble at the mere thought of confronting such a foe. Ymum is a remnant of a pre-human civilization otherwise lost to history, and regards all mere mortal as dross, worthy only of service as slaves to his will.
Description: A middle aged man, apparently of Mayan descent, dressed in a dark suit of understated elegance. When seen without this illusory veil of magic, a desiccated corpse wound in tattered grave clothes and wearing a fortune in jewelry crafted by pre-human hands, all wrapped in a hooded cloak of faded black. Its eyes glow with a sickly violet light, brightening as it works its magic.
Gender: Male Age: Ancient Beyond Reckoning Height: 5'8" Eyes: Black
Hair: Black Skin: Dark Build: Stooped
Approach: Ancient Archetype: Overlord
Health: 70 + (5 x H)
Powers: Infernal d12, Illusions d12, Teleportation d12, Remote Viewing d10
Qualities: Imposing d12, Magical Lore d12, Otherworldly Mythos d10, History d8, Undying Necromancer d8
Status: (# of Minions & Lieutenants) 9+ - d12 / 5-8 - d10 / 3-4 - d8 / 1-2 - d6 / 0 - d4
Abilities:
Beneath My Notice (R) Redirect an Attack to one of your minions.
Demand of Ymum (A) Boost all of your minions until the start of your next turn using Leadership.
True Immortality (I) If you would be reduced to zero Health and you don't have a penalty, roll your single Infernal die and become that Health.
Vile Litany (A) Hinder multiple targets using Infernal. Use your Max die. Attack each target using your Mid + Min dice.
Vortex of Screaming Souls (A) Attack using Illusions. Use your Max die. Defend against all Attacks against you until the start of your next turn using the number of your minions in the scene.
Upgrades & Masteries (factored in above, Ymum counts as 2 difficult scene elements):
Hardier Minions + 5 Health. Gain Bolster the Undead (A) Upgrade a number of your minions equal to the number of heroes in the scene by increasing their die size by one (max d12).
Power Upgrade +20 Health. Increase all Power die sizes by one (max d12). Gain Raise the Dead (A) Use Magical Lore to create a number of Dread Spirit or Reanimated Corpse minions equal to the value of your Max die. The starting dies size for those minions is the same as the size of your Min die.
Master of Mysticism (I) If you have access to proper materials, automatically succeed at an Overcome in a situation involving harnessing magical forces.
Tactics
Ymum generally operates as a solo villain, accompanied by ranks of mindless supernatural minions and the occasional more potent and free-willed undead lieutenant. If he doesn't start a battle with a d12 status die he'll use Raise the Dead until he's achieved it. When forced to confront the heroes directly, he relies on Vile Litany to weaken and injure his foes, while Beneath My Notice and Vortex of Screaming Souls defends against counterattack and True Immortality acts as a final line of defense. Ymum prefers to let his minions do the fighting, aiding them with Demand of Ymum and Bolster the Undead. If his status die reaches a d8 or less he'll Raise the Dead again to conjure more, but at that point he'll be looking for a way out of the fight (most likely by an Overcome using Teleportation) rather than risk the inconvenience of "death" or capture.
Ymum's upgrades are factored in above, and he counts as two difficult elements for purposes of scene building. The remaining budget should be spent on minions, possibly some lieutenants, and an environment and/or challenge related to stopping some mystic ritual or preventing the activation of an arcane artifact.
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Dread Spirit variable, usually d8, d10, or d12 minions
Description: Ghostly apparitions, gleaming like moonlight and howling like the winter winds.
Ethereal: You may move as though you had Flight d4 and Intangibility d4.
Reanimated Corpse variable, usually d8, d10, or d12 minions
Description: Shambling undead, from ancient withered mummies to stinking masses of rotting flesh to victims so fresh that blood still drips form their wounds.
Unfeeling: When you make a save against damage, add +1 to the result.
Shambling Horror d10 lieutenant
Description: A hulking undead horror, crafted from parts grafted together from multiple corpses, human, animal, and unidentifiable.
Stitched Together: Any time you roll an unmodified one on your die, your die size drops by one step. When you make a save against damage, add +2 to the result.
Undead Grasp: After you Attack a target, you and the target cannot voluntarily move to a new location in the scene until the start of your next turn.
Sorcerous Thrall d10 lieutenant
Description: Once a living spell caster, now a broken spirit bound to an undead husk. They come from many schools and traditions of magic, and most still clutch arcane implements and tattered scrolls. They move awkwardly, like the puppets they are.
Vestiges of Magical Power: When you Boost or Hinder, add +2 to the result.
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