As part four of our ongoing adaptation of Pathfinder's Kingmaker adventure path, today's post will deal with the culmination of the first book, and confronting the chieftain of the bandits, the mysterious warrior known as the Sun Lord!
The brutal survivor now known as the Sun Lord was raised in misery by his father, a cruel and misanthropic traveling druid who came to rule a group of wild and outlandish bandits. He was beaten often, and starved and thirsty most of his life, and learned cruelty and toughness at every step. When he became a man, he was visited by a Dream, a psionic vision wherein he was visited by a blindingly beautiful woman who left him a lock of her hair, and tod him to fight back. Filled with the anger, spite, rage, and vengeance that had built up over nearly two decades, he beat his father to within an inch of his life and brutally took control over the bandits. His power and rage quickly cowed other bandits nearby, and over the next dozen years, he became respected as well as feared, drifting south to the Verdant Belt. Here, in a ruin, he discovered the mask that now defines his life- a ceramic mask imbued with psionic enchantment allowing him to focus his battle-mind, and to move like dry lightning across the scrub. Once he placd this on his head, he assumed the identity of the Sun Lord, and has not removed it since, although his hopes of building an army worthy of challenging the Sorcerer-Kings have been undermined by his drunkenness and lack of any kind of discipline. His rage and combat prowess is certainly impressive to bandits, but he has no formal training or knowledge of how to organize people, and finds trying to run the camp very frustrating and challenging. His lieutenants, a trio of rough-and-tumble bandits each themselves in charge of a smaller gang, are important and control different parts of the camp and the Sun Lord's operations. These three are: * Akiros Ismort, an exiled former Templar. Akiros was exiled for having slain the husband of his lover in a fight, and fled the city of Tyr. While he has lived a rough life for several years, he yearns for civilized places and to be accepted again. His organizational skills are more useful than his combat prowess, to be honest. If he senses that the battle is turning against the Sun Lord, he will declare himself with the PCs, casting off his necklace and turning his mace on his former companions. * Auchs, a Tarek who escaped from a slave caravan years ago. A devout follower of priestly magics, he believes that the Sun Lord's father has marked his son as special, and listens to his commands. He is a skilled warior, and carries a clutch of javelins, attempting to pin foe down and then close to range. * Dovan from Nibenay, a tattooed half-elf with an obvious taste for pain and cruelty. He has a talent for manipulation, and had been planning to murder the Sun Lord and take his position with Auchs' help. The Sun Lord's Fort The fort is a run-down old stone fortress which once belonged to the city-state of Kalidnay, and was lost to the sands when the city-state ended abruptly. The bandits have made some ad-hoc repairs, but do not have the manpower or resources to properly restore it. The hillside at the front of the fort has a large tree which is the lair of a flock of Kestrekels, fed scraps by the bandits. They raise a racket if anyone approaches, and dive upon anyone who doesn't offer them food immediately, attacking as a swarm and tearing strips from anyone unlucky enough to draw their attention. The bandits are generally scattered about the fort, but will be roused to alertness by Akiros if the alarm is raised. If things are particularly dire, they'll unleash the Fordorran that was captured a few months ago, and set it on their attackers (replacing the Owlbear written into the adventure). The Sun Lord himself spends most of his time in his quarters, reeking of stale Broy (alcohol made of Kank honey) and Sapwine. A predator and terrorist of ruthless reputation, lately he's isolated himself, partaking in fewer raids and letting his lieutenants do his work for him. The flesh of his entire face is hideously scarred left by acid burns he suffered as the result of his father's torture. The Sun Lord, Bandit Captain Medium humanoid (human), Chaotic Evil Armour Class 15 (partial scale mail) Hit Points 78 (12d8+24) Speed 30ft. Str 16 (+3); Dex 16 (+3); Con 14 (+2); Int 12 (+1); Wis 9 (-1); Cha 13 (+1) Saving Throws Str +5, Dex +5, Wis +1 Skills Athletics +5, Intimidate +3 Senses passive Perception 10 Languages foul Common, Dwarven Challenge 3 (700xp) Rage. At the start of his turn, the Sun Lord can gain a +2 bonus to damage on melee weapon attacks for that turn, but attack rolls against him have advantage until the start of his next turn. Actions Multiattack. The Sun Lord makes three melee attacks with his whistling maces. Whistling Mace. Melee weapon attack: +6 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6+4) damage. Battlemind. The Sun Lord's wild talent is focused by his psionic mask, allowing him to predict opponents' movements and reactions. As a psionic bonus action, he can concentrate to gain advantage on melee weapon attacks until the start of his next turn. This ability refreshes after a short rest. Psychoportation. As a psionic bonus action, the Sun Lord can teleport up to twenty feet in a flash of light. Attack rolls made against him until the start of his next turn have disadvantage. This ability refreshed after a short rest. Reactions Brutal Critical. The Sun Lord rolls one extra weapon damage die when determining the extra damage for a critical hit with a melee attack. The Sun Mask which the Sun Lord wears is an ancient item bearing psionic enchantment, and allows him to use the Battlemind and Psychoportation powers. Anyone taking it from him can attune to the mask, and gain the powers themselves. In the fort's cellar, the Sun Lord's father, a decrepit and miserable old Druid by the name of Nugrah, dwells. He spends most of his time crafting twisted fetishes and haunting the darkened cellar. Although he has the power to heal wounds, most of the bandits avoid him unless they fear for their lives, terrified of the creepy old man. The bandits' substantial treasure can be found in the cellars, and might be highly useful to the PCs in establishing their own home in the Verdant Belt. Although the bandits are currently held together by a combination of greed and fear of their leader, they quickly rout if the Sun Lord is defeated, and flee into the wilds to be devoured by Anakores, Braxats, and the like. This does substantially make the Verdant Belt safer, but allows the PCs to explore more easily before moving on to the next adventure- Rivers Run Red. Also posted on Game Masters Stash on 25 September 2020. Comments are closed.
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AuthorI'm Luke. He/him pronouns. Archives
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