[The last of the slaad lords, and the one I like @tredlocityââs art for the best. I asked to incorporate more froggy details into the amoeba-like shape: ending the tentacles in frog fingers and having a frogâs brain instead of a human brain within. Tred delivered in spades, as well as adding a bunch of wacky organelles and drawing her shape up into a suggestion of a body. Very cool.
Ssendam has had statistics twice, in 1eâs Fiend Folio and in 2e in Dragon Magazine. Both versions are rather different. In 2e, Ssendam got much larger (Huge instead of Medium), gained a tentacle and changed genders. Iâm returning her to her 1e size and shape, but keeping her female. The 2e version is also more powerful than Ygorl, not less, which I am keeping as well. The statistics draw from both versions, but also have new abilities, namely the symbol shape to go with me giving her the Rune domain.
Also, it took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that âSsendamâ is âmadnessâ spelled backwards.]
Slaad Lord, Ssendam
CR 25 CN Aberration
This yellow amorphous creature has three tendrils, each ending in a paw like a frogâs hand. One of these carries a large black sword. A brain floats in the amber mass, accompanied by organs, small items and stranger things.
Ssendam, Lady of Madness, Mistress of the Insane
CN female slaad lord of insanity, mental prowess and symbols
Domains Chaos, Knowledge, Madness, Rune
Subdomains Insanity, Slaad, Thought, Wards
Worshipers sapient oozes, pattern seekers, the mad
Minions living runes, shoggoths, slaadi
Holy Symbol a brain cut between the hemispheres with a black blade
Favored Weapon longsword
Obedience Spend ten minutes scribbling, and then fifty minutes sorting out writing, images and patterns from the chaos you made. Gain a +4 racial bonus on pattern spells and language-dependent spells
Boons: 1: hideous laughter 2/day; 2: confusion 2/day; 3: symbol of persuasion 2/day
Ssendam is the Lady of Madness, a slaad lord who has abandoned the shape of the slaadi almost entirely and is in the process of becoming something new. When dealing with slaadi, she sometimes takes the form of an immense golden slaad with three arms, or an elven warrior woman when dealing with humanoids. But she much prefers to keep to herself, wandering the planes in search of cosmic secrets that would drive the mad insane. Ssendam is friendly with some members of the Elder Mythos, and it is suspected that she intends to become a Great Old One herself.
In combat, Ssendam tears at both the bodies and minds of her foes. She would rather leave enemies alive but insane, feebleminded or permanently impeded rather than kill them. Her mastery of symbol spells is such that she can change the form of the strange objects floating around in her body to take the appearance and the power of any symbol she chooses. Ssendam is difficult to pin down, as she usually fights through an astral projection and/or project image, and flees a combat if she feels there is a chance of her losing.
Ssendam has little organized cult, even by the standards of the slaad lords. Her followers typically stumble upon her existence in their own researches, and become obsessed with her shifting shape and mind. Worshipers of Ssendam are perhaps masters of apophenia, able to see signs and portents in the most random of data. Whether they are truly insightful or merely deluded is up to the beholder, but they can tap into Ssendamâs glorious madness as well as any divine caster can access their godâs powers. Ssendam, unlike other powerful beings, desires to be summoned by mortals, the better to reach new areas to explore and new minds to warp. She is incredibly knowledgeable, making her a tempting target for summoners, but few mortals who speak with Ssendam are unchanged in the process.
Black Blade
Price 99,400 gp; Aura strong evocation and necromancy; CL 17th; Weight 4 lbs
This sword was originally Ygorlâs, but Ssendam stole it from him when she defeated the Lord of Entropy in eons past, and adopted it as her weapon and symbol. The Black Blade functions as a +4 anarchic longsword that deals negative levels on a critical hit as if it were a sword of life stealing. The Black Blade changes size in order to fit its wielder.
Construction Requirements
Cost 49,700 gp; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, chaos hammer, enervation, creator must be chaotic
Ssendam        CR 25
XP 1,640,000
CN Medium aberration (chaos, extraplanar, slaad, slaad lord)
Init +14; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +42, thoughtsense 60 ft.
Aura cloak of chaos (DC 29)
Defense
AC 43, touch 26, flat-footed 31 (+11 Dex, +1 dodge, +4 deflection, +17 natural)
hp 573 (31d8+403); fast healing 25
Fort +27, Ref +24, Will +29
DR 20/epic and lawful; Immune acid, death effects, mind-influencing effects, paralysis, petrifaction, poison, sleep, stunning; Resist cold 20, electricity 20, fire 20; SR 36
Defensive Abilities amorphous, maddening mind, oozelike
Offense
Speed 50 ft., air walk
Melee Black Blade +38/+33/+28/+23 (1d8+15/17-20x2 plus 2d6 chaotic), 2 slams +32 (2d8+5 plus 4d6 acid) or 3 slams +34 (2d8+11 plus 4d6 acid)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks rend sanity (2 slams, 2d8+16 plus 4d6 acid plus madness), symbol shape
Spell-like Abilities CL 25th, concentration +36
Constantâair walk, cloak of chaos (self only, DC 29)
At willâarcane sight, astral projection, confusion (DC 25), detect thoughts (DC 23), dispel magic, mind thrust VI (DC 27), plane shift (DC 28), project image (DC 27), telekinesis (DC 26), touch of idiocy
3/dayâquickened feeblemind (DC 26), empowered fire storm (DC 29), quickened greater dispel magic, insanity (DC 28), psychic crush IV (DC 29), word of chaos (DC 28)
1/dayâgate (DC 30), power word kill, power word stun, summon slaad, telekinetic storm (DC 30), wish (DC 30)
Statistics
Str 33, Dex 31, Con 36, Int 28, Wis 26, Cha 33
Base Atk +23; CMB +34 (+38 disarm); CMD 59 (61 vs. disarm)
Feats Blind-fight, Combat Expertise, Critical Focus, Dodge, Empower SLA (fire storm), Greater Disarm, Improved Critical (longsword), Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Lunge, Power Attack, Multiattack, Quicken SLA (feeblemind, greater dispel magic), Staggering Critical, Stunning Critical
Skills Bluff +42, Diplomacy +42, Disguise +42, Intimidate +45, Knowledge (arcana, planes) +44, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +58, Linguistics +40, Perception +42, Sense Motive +39, Spellcraft +43, Stealth +44, Use Magic Device +42
Languages Aklo, Common, Draconic, Protean, Slaadi, 31 others, telepathy 300 ft.
SQ bardic knowledge (+15), change shape (shapechange), compression, no breath, slaad lord traits
Ecology
Environment any
Organization unique
Treasure double standard (Black Blade, other treasure)
Special Abilities
Acid (Ex) Ssendamâs acid attacks made within the same round count as a single source for the purposes of overcoming energy resistance.
Bardic Knowledge (Ex) Ssendam gains a bonus on all Knowledge checks equal to half her Hit Dice, and may make Knowledge checks untrained, as if she were a bard.
Maddening Mind (Ex) Any creature that attempts to read Ssendamâs mind must succeed a DC 36 Will save or take 20d6 points of damage and be permanently confused, as per an insanity spell. A successful save halves the damage and negates the insanity effect. This is a mind-influencing effect and the save DC is Charisma based.
Oozelike (Ex) Ssendam has immunity to paralysis, poison, sleep and stunning effects as if she were an ooze.
Rend Sanity (Ex/Su) Any creature that takes damage from Ssendamâs rend attack must succeed a DC 36 Will save or gain a random greater madness. This is a mind-influencing effect and the save DC is Charisma based.
Slaad Lord Traits (Ex/Su/Sp) Ssendam is a slaad lord, a powerful slaad that has assumed quasi-divine traits. A slaad lord has the following abilities:
DR 20/lawful and epic
Resist acid 20, cold 20, electricity 20, fire 20
Immune to two of the following: charm effects, compulsion effects, death effects, energy drain, fear effects, pattern effects, phantasms, poison, petrifaction
Summon Slaadi (Sp) As a standard action once per day, a slaad lord can summon one or more slaadi constituting a CR 20 encounter. This is   the equivalent of a 9th level spell
Immortal (Ex) A slaad lord does not need to eat or drink, and cannot age.
Capable of granting followers spells, as per their cult entry above
Symbol Shape (Su) As a full round action, Ssendam can shape her organs to form any one symbol of her choice. This affects creatures she chooses in a 60 foot radius as if it were any symbol spell. A DC 36 saving throw negates or reduces the effect, if appropriate. A creature that saves against a given symbol is immune to Ssendam using that symbol through symbol shape again for the next 24 hours (for example, a creature could become immune to symbol of persuasion, but still have to save if Ssendam uses symbol of stunning next turn). The save DC is Charisma based.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
â Live Streamingâ Interactive Chatâ Private Showsâ HD Qualityâ Free Actions
Free to watch ⢠No registration required ⢠HD streaming
The slaadi, chaotic neutral denizens of Limbo; more of Charlie Strossâ contributions to D&D lore (Russ Nicholson illustrations, AD&D Fiend Folio, TSR, 1981):
Top to bottom, left to right -- the red and blue slaadi which despise each other, the green and grey (executioner) slaadi who are more powerful spellcasters, a death slaad (of whom only 4 are known to exist, and which usually appear disguised in human form), and the 2 slaad lords Ssendam, Lord of the Insane (read his name backwards) and Ygorl, Lord of Entropy (who appears on his own plane as a large black slaad).
Their original appearance in the 1st ed Fiend Folio established this hierarchy of different color types, but it wasnât until 2nd edition that we learned the red slaad could implant eggs in humanoid hosts. The Planescape setting further described their complex patterns of parasitic reproduction, in which a red slaad egg produces a blue slaad, and vice versa. An egg implanted into a spellcaster host produces a green slaad, which can morph into higher forms over time.
