So I appear to be converting Warhammer-mythos creatures for Dungeons and Dragons. Right. Okay.
This idea was partly inspired by unearthing an old article on the Icosahedrophilia blog, and partly by my long-standing interest in mashing up D&D and Warhammer lore; in this case, the wild and bizarre Chaos creatures of the Warhammer universe.
Some Chaos critters are pretty straightforward, things like Bloodletters for example. I'm going to start by taking a look at one of the more interesting ones, the Horrors of Tzeentch.
Horrors of Tzeentch by Curtis
Horrors of Tzeentch for 3.5
Horrors are knobbly warp-spawned creatures with vaguely orangutan proportions, except that they skip the body bit entirely, connecting their toothy maws directly to stumpy legs and enormous arms. Their fingers end in a mixture of claws or gecko-like suckers, and their skin is covered in protrusions. Horrors babble constantly to themselves, producing a distracting chatter infused with a touch of arcane power that plagues the minds of mortals - basically like the typical "hearing voices" scene in films. pink horrors are savage but jubilant, cackling gleefully and whooping as they wreak havoc. When a pink horror is injured, though, its skin stretches and bursts apart, and two small blue horrors erupt from the remains like insects bursting from a cocoon. These are bitter, squabbling creatures, but no less dangerous for it; they bicker constantly, but their focus is still on maiming mortals rather than fighting amongst themelves. Only when the blue horrors are vanquished is the demon finally destroyed. As well as their physical brawn, as servants of the Lord of Change and magic, horrors have magical prowess. The amount varies a fair bit between editions of Warhammer and bits of lore.
Statswise, horrors are tough creatures rather than terrifying monsters. They're scary enough to devour civilians, but for veteran soldiers it's hordes of the things they have to worry about. They're very communal, and their magic is implied to be a collective rather than an individual thing. Taking a look at demons in D&D 3.5, there are a few wimpy ones around CR1-2, but the majority seem to push into CR10+. However, things like achaierai, abishai, advespas and so on hover around the 3-5 mark, which I think is roughly what I'm looking for. These should be horde monsters that will rampage through militia, can be fought off by hardened veterans (your level 3-4 warriors) given good odds or preparation, and which experienced adventurers can hack apart with a bit of effort. I suppose I'm looking for a feel that a horde twice the size of the party is a challenge and three or four times the size is a serious threat.
The signature move of horrors - bursting apart into smaller horrors - complicates the balance. This effectively provides additional HP to the monster, as well as a measure of protection from one-hit kills. Also, the ability to produce more (if weaker) creatures needs considering in terms of attack capacity. As such, horrors need to be somewhat less immediately threatening than their challenge rating suggests.
Another problem is that demons in Warhammer tend to have a collective magic thing going on. Basically, as creatures of the Warp, they are made of the stuff of magic, and the more demons in an area, the greater their magical power becomes. This works fine in a tabletop wargame, where the maths balances out fairly well, but I'm concerned about translating it to an RPG where Challenge Rating is pretty crucial. If you think about it, the difference between five CR4 creatures who can cast flaming hands at will and ten CR4 creatures who can cast burning hands at will plus fireball once each per day is enormous. To look at ways to handle this, I've looked at kuo-toa clerics and the shocker lizard, both of which have similar abilities.
In Warhammer, horrors may use several different powers; depending on the edition, that might be down to unit size, a random die roll during setup, or a straight-up purchase. Some of these are great for battles, but problematic for RPGs - for example, bolt of change transforms a victim into a rampaging chaos spawn, which is too much for a low-level monster, let alone the problem of every single horror having this power. In the end I decided that firestorm of Tzeentch is the emblematic horror power: not only is it one of the powers actually available to them, but it also summons additional horrors from the souls of the slain.
Another complication is that the way horrors work in Warhammer has actually changed a fair bit over various editions of the rules. Sometimes they're basically tenacious monsters, sometimes they're gibbering hordes with some magical power who can replenish their ranks by transforming enemies, and in the most recent rules I've actually seen, they're actually ranged specialists. But to my mind that's just not that interesting.
Finally, there are a couple of points where the blue horrors' attributes end up slightly out of whack with CR, notably their spell resistance and the DC for their cackling ability. This is very simply to keep things simple, so that players confronting a mass of pink and blue horrors have only a single SR and a single DC to deal with. I felt like the streamlining was worth the discrepancy. Moreover, blue horrors are intended only to show up as the spawn of pinks, and so designing them as a fully-balanced independent creature just isn't that important to me.
Oh, this seems like a necessary starting point: a new subtype. While there's no particular canonical reason for the miscellaneous resistances, they're cribbed right off existing demons. The transmutation resistance just seemed thematically appropriate, though it doesn't have any firm basis in Warhams.
Tzeentchian subtype: demons of Tzeentch share the following properties:
- Damage reduction 5/silver or lawful
- Darkvision 60 ft.
- Immunity to fire and poison
- Can choose to ignore any transmutation effect that would alter their form.
- Resistance to acid and electricity
Pink Horror of Tzeentch
This brilliant creature has no body, merely a wide-mouthed face atop two stumpy limbs. Its apelike arms gesture constantly as it cheers and grins, the irregular fingers tipped randomly with claws or suckers. A faint corona of many-hued light flickers over it, leaving a whirling radiance in its wake.
Horrors of Tzeentch are bizarrely misproportioned servants of the Lord of Change. Pink horrors are born from raw chaotic energy, and their forms vary wildly. They are insanely cheerful, and maintain a constant babble of gleeful malice. They are constantly in motion, bounding and leaping, sometimes on all fours, scrambling over and across obstacles with their muscular arms, and rending their victims with savage talons.
The magical power of the horrors grows as they congregate, allowing them to conjure up storms of chaos-flame that warp and twist their victims. As entities of living chaos, they are extremely resistant to alteration themselves, but revel in changing others.
When a pink horror is finally struck down - or simply chooses to spawn - its body writhes as two blue horrors wriggle out, leaving only a shrivelled skin. No-one can tell how these creatures form, or which of the two is their natural state. The smaller blue horrors are as morose and bitter as the pink are jubilant, dextrous and frail where the pink are lumbering. Though less powerful than the pink horrors, the sheer numbers of the blue make them a dangerous enemy. Eventually, two blue horrors will coalesce into pink horror, though often in a new combination as a new entity. Such is the nature of the Changer of Ways.
| Size/Type: | Medium Outsider (evil, extraplanar, chaotic, tzeentchian) |
| Hit Dice: | 5d8+10 (32 hp) |
| Initiative: | +2 |
| Speed: | 40 ft. (8 squares) |
| Armor Class: | 16 (+2 Dex, +4 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 14 |
| Base Attack/Grapple: | +7/+7 |
| Attack: | Slam +7 melee (1d6+2) |
| Full Attack: | 2 slams +7 melee (1d6+2) and bite (1d6+2) |
| Space/Reach: | 5 ft./10 ft. |
| Special Attacks: | Cacophonous cackling |
| Special Qualities: | Damage reduction 5/silver or lawful, darkvision 60 ft., firestorm of Tzeentch, fission, immunity to fire and poison, luminous, resistance to acid 10 and electricity 10, spawn of change, spell resistance 15. |
| Saves: | Fort +6, Ref +5, Will +5 |
| Abilities: | Str 15, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 9, Wis 13, Cha 12 |
| Skills: | |
| Feats: | Improved Grapple, Power Attack |
| Environment: | The Warp |
| Organization: | Pack (5-8), mob (12-20), horde (30-80) |
| Challenge Rating: | 4 |
| Treasure: | None |
| Alignment: | Always chaotic evil |
| Advancement: | 6-10 HD (Medium) |
| Level Adjustment: | — |
A pink horror's natural weapons, as well as any weapons it wields, are treated as evil-aligned and chaotic-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Fission (Ex): A pink horror reduced to zero hit points collapses. On its subsequent initiative count, two blue horrors burst out of its body, leaving only shreds of rubbery skin. The blue horrors take their sire's initiative count and can act immediately. The condition of the pink horror's corpse is irrelevant; if necessary they will clamber out of split halves, emerge from pools of molten demon-flesh, or coalesce from shredded fragments. A pink horror slain by other means or banished does not undergo fission.
Cacophonous Cackling (Su): The constant jeering, whooping and chattering of pink horrors is highly unnerving and interlaced with arcane energies. This is a free action continued every round. All creatures other than worshippers of Tzeentch within 20 feet of the horror must succeed on a DC 13 Will save or become shaken until 1d3 minutes after they escape the noise. A creature that successfully saves cannot be affected by the cackling for 24 hours. This is a sonic mind-affecting compulsion effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Firestorm of Tzeentch (Su): Two or more pink horrors can combine their innate arcane energies to unleash a storm of sorcerous fire once every 1d6 rounds. The pink horrors must join hands to focus their magic, but need merely remain within 30 feet of one another while it builds. The firestorm affects a 30ft. radius within 100ft. and line of sight of at least one pink horror. All creatures within the blast suffer 1d4 damage per contributing horror: half of this is fire damage, the other half results directly from diabolical power and is not subject to fire resistance. In addition, the magical energies warp the target's body chaotically for 1d6 rounds, imposing a -2 penalty on attack and damage rolls, skill checks and saving throws until they stabilise. A successful Reflex save will halve the damage and limit the warping to a single round. Tzeentchian creatures are unaffected by this ability.
If a creature of 4 or more hit dice is slain by the firestorm, a pink horror manifests within 5 feet of the victim.
Spawn of Change (Ex): Pink horrors can choose to ignore any effect that would alter their form, including any consequences of such a change. This includes polymorph effects, size changes and physical distortions.
Luminous (Ex): Pink horrors exude constant neon-pink light in a 5' radius.
Blue Horror of Tzeentch
| Size/Type: | Small outsider (evil, extraplanar, chaotic, tzeentchian) |
| Hit Dice: | 2d8 (9 hp) |
| Initiative: | +3 |
| Speed: | 40 ft. (8 squares) |
| Armor Class: | 16 (+3 Dex, +2 natural, +1 size), touch 14, flat-footed 10 |
| Base Attack/Grapple: | +3/-1 |
| Attack: | Slam +3 melee (1d4) |
| Full Attack: | 2 slams +3 melee (1d4) and bite (1d4) |
| Space/Reach: | 5 ft./5 ft. |
| Special Attacks: | Cacophonous cackling |
| Special Qualities: | Damage reduction 5/silver or lawful, darkvision 60 ft., firestorm of Tzeentch, immunity to fire and poison, resistance to acid 5 and electricity 5, spawn of change, spell resistance 15. |
| Saves: | Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +4 |
| Abilities: | Str 11, Dex 16, Con 10, Int 9, Wis 13, Cha 12 |
| Skills: | |
| Feats: | Weapon Finesse |
| Environment: | The Warp |
| Organization: | Found only with pink horrors. |
| Challenge Rating: | 2 |
| Treasure: | None |
| Alignment: | Always chaotic evil |
| Advancement: | 3-4 HD (Small) |
| Level Adjustment: | — |
A blue horror's natural weapons, as well as any weapons it wields, are treated as evil-aligned and chaotic-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Cacophonous Cackling (Su): The constant grumbling, snarking and chattering of blue horrors is highly unnerving and interlaced with arcane energies. This is a free action continued every round. All creatures other than worshippers of Tzeentch within 20 feet of the horror must succeed on a DC 13 Will save or become shaken until 1d3 minutes after they escape the noise. A creature that successfully saves cannot be affected by the cackling for 24 hours. This is a sonic mind-affecting compulsion effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Firestorm of Tzeentch (Su): Blue horrors cannot conjure a firestorm of Tzeentch, but can contribute to one conjured by pink horrors. Every two blue horrors participating increase the damage dealt by 1d4.
Spawn of Change (Ex): Blue horrors can choose to ignore any effect that would alter their shape, including any consequences of such a change. This includes polymorph effects, size changes and physical distortions.
Luminous (Ex): Blue horrors exude constant electric-blue light in a 5' radius.
Horrors for 4E
To some extent 4E actually makes things easier, because the monster-building is more... organised. There's less fiddly bits to consider, the system has some built-in utilities like "activate on death" powers, and I can just basically assign whatever abilities I want.
On the downside, you now have to allocate things like roles, which I frankly can't guess. They're kind of big and gangly mobs, so maybe soldier? But the Warhammer writeups don't really justify them having great defences. On the other hand, they're clearly not brutes because they don't hit hard (although they can soak damage), and they're not lurkers or controllers. Let's just go with skirmishers. The firestorm of Tzeentch is a bit of an issue, but let's not worry about it for now.
| Pink Horror of Tzeentch | Level 5 Skirmisher | |
|---|---|---|
| Medium immortal humanoid (demon, chaotic) | XP 200 | |
| Initiative +4 | Senses Perception +4; darkvision | |
| HP 40; Bloodied 20; see also fission | ||
| AC 19; Fortitude 17, Reflex 15, Will 18 | ||
| Speed 5 | ||
| Immune fire, polymorph; Resist 5 force | ||
| Traits | ||
| Cacophonous Cackle (sonic, charm) ♦ Aura 3 | ||
| Attack: +9 vs. Will | ||
| Hit: the target incurs a -2 penalty to attack rolls and skill checks until the start of their next turn. | ||
| Luminous | ||
| A pink horror exudes neon-pink light, illuminating all adjacent squares and making it visible in darkness. | ||
| Standard Actions | ||
| (M) Claw ♦ At-will | ||
| Attack: +9 vs. AC | ||
| Hit: 1d8 + 4 damage | ||
| RB Firestorm of Tzeentch (fire, radiant) ♦ Recharge 6 | ||
| Attack: Area burst 2 within 10; +8 vs. Reflex. | ||
| Hit: enemies within the burst suffer 2d8+2 fire and radiant damage. If a target is reduced to 0 hit points or fewer, a blue horror spawns within the burst area. | ||
| Triggered Actions | ||
| Fission ♦ Encounter | ||
| Trigger: when reduced to 0 hit points. | ||
| Effect: the pink horror is replaced by two blue horrors. The blue horrors retain their sire's initiative count. | ||
| Horde Arcana ♦ At-will | ||
| Trigger: an ally within 4 squares uses firestorm of Tzeentch. | ||
| Effect (Immediate Reaction): expend a charged firestorm of Tzeentch to grant +1 to the ally's attack rolls and increase the damage inflicted by 1d8. Using this ability does not count as an attack or provoke attacks of opportunity. | ||
| Skills Arcana +9, Athletics +8, | ||
| Str 18 (+3) | Dex 15 (+2) | Wis 12 (+1) |
| Con 12 (+1) | Int 13 (+1) | Cha 11 (+0) |
| Alignment Chaotic evil | Languages Abyssal | |
| Blue Horror of Tzeentch | Level 3 Minion Skirmisher | |
|---|---|---|
| Small immortal humanoid (demon, chaotic) | XP 38 | |
| Initiative +4 | Senses Perception +2; darkvision | |
| HP 1; a missed attack never damages a minion. | ||
| AC 16; Fortitude 14, Reflex 12, Will 15 | ||
| Speed 6 | ||
| Immune fire, polymorph; Resist 5 force | ||
| Traits | ||
| Cacophonous Cackle (sonic, charm) ♦ Aura 3 | ||
| Attack: +9 vs. Will | ||
| Hit: the target incurs a -2 penalty to attack rolls and skill checks until the start of their next turn. | ||
| Luminous | ||
| A blue horror exudes electric-blue light, illuminating all adjacent squares and making it visible in darkness. | ||
| Standard Actions | ||
| (M) Claw ♦ At-will | ||
| Attack: +9 vs. AC | ||
| Hit: 5 damage | ||
| Triggered Actions | ||
| Horde Arcana ♦ At-will | ||
| Trigger: an ally within 4 squares uses firestorm of Tzeentch. | ||
| Effect (Immediate Reaction): any damage inflicted increases by +1. Using this ability does not count as an attack or provoke attacks of opportunity. | ||
| Skills Arcana +7, Athletics +6, | ||
| Str 13 (+1) | Dex 16 (+3) | Wis 12 (+1) |
| Con 12 (+1) | Int 13 (+1) | Cha 11 (+0) |
| Alignment Chaotic evil | Languages Abyssal | |
In this case, I departed somewhat from the original horrors, trying to keep within 4E tendencies. Rather than the miscellaneous resistances of the 3.5 horrors, I picked out two thematically-appropriate ones: fire because of their abilities and the association of Tzeentch with fire, and force because it's the closest to raw magic the game gets, and Tzeentch is very much the magic one.
For the cackling, I was torn between an aura and a minor action attack. In the end I went with an aura because attacking only a single creature seemed inappropriate, and because it's just supposed to be something that happens from being around them. However, this does mean a single horror affects all nearby enemies.
The firestorm power is much easier than in 3.5, because triggered actions are a great way to model contributions to other people's powers. It also allows pink and blue horrors to contribute different amounts nicely. On the downside, it's basically impossible to model the slow build of the power across a unit. I was very tempted to make it an encounter power that begins play uncharged, in order to prevent unscrupulous DMs unleashing a whole horde's powers at once, but I'm not keen to introduce unnecessary exceptions. It's quite hard to judge the effect of cumulative damage. I hope that the balance of the firestorm's damage, recharging and horde arcana will work out well. Horrors must choose between using their own power and enhancing another horror's attack, and this also provides a way for blue horrors to contribute in a minor way. I knocked the damage down to below the usual amount for a limited damage at 5th level, in order to allow for both recharge possibilities and cumulative damage; in theory you could end up with a gang dealing 7-8d8 damage even so, but only once, and that's still only 36 damage - not enough to take down a single 5th-level character. Sounds about right. It's possible that this is actually underpowered, but I think it's about right when recharging is taken into account.
So anyway, hope that was fun for someone. I might do more in future, but we'll have to see.
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