Thursday, April 17, 2014

The Burning Man and Fire Nymph for 13th Age

I'm mostly running 13th Age exclusively now (even my Pathfinder crew has hung up their Core Books to play 13th Age for a while!) so using the Burning Men and Fire Nymphs in 13th Age is a no-brainer...heres my adaptation of both for 13th Age:

Burning Men
The burning men are among the worst sort of undead: not unlike wights, these cunning creatures are formed through an unholy combination of elemental fire and necromancy, imbuing the dead with evil intelligence and a perpetually burning body.

Because they are so destructive, necromancers who create burning men usually keep them in stony enclaves, held fast with thick wrought-iron gates or stone drops to insure they are not able to cause destruction until released. Burning men do occasionally escape...and some are even formed naturally, if the right combination of vile murderer put to death by fiery means intercedes with the right elements then a burning man can appear spontaneously. Such burning men, either escaped or natural, often cause great amounts of damage before disappearing, some believe consumed by their own fire, others believe pulled into the elemental plane of fire until a future time when they are once more released.

When in combat with a burning man they deal fire damage with their claw and weapon attacks, and anyone who touches one will take the fire damage as well. A burning man can spontaneously explode as well; this explosion functions like a fireball centered on the undead. Burning men are, themselves, immune to fire damage from all sources except when they explode; after the explosion there is nothing left of the immolated and detonated corpse.

Burning men are known to carry treasure left upon their person from their death, but flammable items are usually burned away and metallic items such as coins and weapons are usually dangerously hot to the touch (dealing the fire damage when wielded) until roughly 3D10 minutes after the burning man is destroyed, unless some other means of cooling is presented.

Burning Man
Level 3 wrecker [humanoid undead]
Initiative +5
Vulnerable: Holy
M: Burning Claws (+8 vs. PD; 6 damage and 5 fire damage)
Burning Presence: Anyone engaged with the burning man takes 5 fire damage per round.
Explosive Immolation: Escalation Die must be 1 or better (+7 vs. PD against all nearby targets; 10 fire damage and burning man is reduced to zero hit points)
Fire Immunity: Burning men are immune to fire damage (Alt: Fire Resistance 16+ for easier foes)
Undead: burning men are undead and as such are immune to mind affecting spells, poison, and other traits.
Tougher Burning Men: the explosive immolation deals 20 fire damage and 5 ongoing fire damage.
AC: 20                   HP: 45
PD: 18
MD: 12


Fire Nymphs
The fire nymphs are sultry fey who have been imbued with primordial elemental fire. Like their cousins the nymphs of the woods, fire nymphs are an innocent but inhuman and immortal race which exists in tandem with the natural manifestation of their element. In this case, of course...it is fire.

Fire nymphs are most likely to manifest in hot desert environments or near sources of geologic turmoil, where vulcanism is prevalent. They do not breath normal air so the toxic environment at the heart of a volcano...or in the bottom of the sea near a volcanic trench...each environment is equally comfortable to a fire nymph.

Fire nymphs do not suffer damage from water, but cold can harm them and they are vulnerable to cold attacks, taking double damage when struck. Fire nymphs likewise are immune to fire and heat damage. A fire nymph, when immersed in water, manifests as a more human-looking entity but the immediate water around her heats to a scalding boil and deals equivalent damage to anyone within five feet of her.

Like normal nymphs the mere sight of a fire nymph can be the death of mortal men. Any male human or demihuman who sets sight upon a fire nymph must make a save vs. paralysis or be struck dead on the spot. He will rise again 24 hours later as an undead burning man. Burning men created in this fashion are eternally loyal to the fire nymph who created them. A man who saves against the sight of the fire nymph is immune to this effect from that specific nymph forever more.

Fire nymphs can do two things when they touch mortal beings: they can burn them or they can render them immune to fire and heat damage for one hour.

Fire nymphs are flighty creatures, and when the source of their fiery interest evaporates or cools they will slip back into the border of the fey realm and the primordial fire, not to return until a new planar gate awakens due to another catastrophic geologic event or great fire of some sort calls to them.

Fire Nymph
Level 2  [humanoid enchanted fey]
Initiative: +6
Vulnerable: cold
M: Burning Touch (+7 vs. PD; 5 fire damage)
Burning Presence: Anyone engaged with the fire nymph takes 5 fire damage per round while engaged.
Incinerating Presence: The first time a male human or demihuman looks at a fire nymph he is subject to this passive attack (+6 vs. MD; target is reduced to zero hit points) - if the target perishes as a result of this attack then he arises 24 hours later as a burning man.
Gift of the Fire Nymph: the fire nymph can imbue a target with fire immunity for one hour. The target must have first been subject to her incinerating presence and survived.
Fire Immunity: fire nymphs take no damage from fire attacks. (Alt: Fire Resistance 16+ for easier foes)
Cold Weakness: fire nymphs take double damage from cold attacks.
Tougher Fire Nymphs: The incinerating presence kills immediately instead of reducing to zero HPs, and the corpse rises as a burning man in 1D6 rounds.
AC: 17                   HP: 36
PD: 12
MD: 17

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