Adam's D&D References

CR 12

Neutral Evil Medium Ooze

Pathfinder Bestiary 6, pg. 272

Ever wonder what the priest of a Great Old One looks like? You’re looking at it. Vespergaunts are emissaries and missionaries of Outer Gods, Great Old Ones, and powers just as horrible and alien, slithering from world to world to spread their word and find people to join them on their journey.

To assist in their adventures across all of space is a permanent Tongues effect, letting them speak any language that can be spoken, and an everlasting True Seeing to let them peer through any form of illusion, and their own Deeper Darkness. To counteract their unfortunate light sensitivity, Vespergaunts can cast Deeper Darkness at will, cloaking a 20-foot area in an area of supernatural pitch that not even Darkvision can see through. They’re also surrounded by a 60 foot Aura of Insanity, any entity within the aura needing to make a Will save or become confused for 1d4 rounds. When in polite or receptive company a Vespergaunt can suppress this aura as a free action, but will reactivate it the moment it feels as though its listening ears are becoming less than interested with its words.

Against hostile entities, a Vespergaunt relies on its twin slam attacks to deal all of its damage. Each slam deals 2d8+8 on connecting, but it also forces the victim to make a DC 21 Will save or be exposed to the ooze’s Siphon Spirit. Anyone failing their save vs Siphon Spirit has a portion of their mind and soul torn away, instilling one negative level on them. Vespergaunts have a special hate for opponents from other faiths, divine casters gaining two negative levels if they fail vs Siphon Spirit, accelerating their journey to meet the Vespergaunt’s gods.

You see, when someone is slain by the negative levels from Siphon Spirit, they aren’t truly killed. Their body dissolves into nothingness, save for two things: Their eyes and their brain, which the Vespergaunt absorbs into itself. These victims are ‘dead’ enough for True Resurrection and the like to bring them back, but they’re kept ‘alive’ and aware enough by the ooze so that some day they, too, may meet the gods that the creatures pledge themselves to. Outer God faithful may willingly offer themselves to the immortal Vespergaunts in the hopes of one day meeting the truly divine, but such journeys will often take a long, long time.

Vespergaunts travel very, very slowly, unfortunately. They do not possess Starflight or the like, nor do they have any method of actually transporting themselves between planets… Aside from one very powerful trick that they have to consciously save: Once a month, a Vespergaunt can cast Wish as a spell-like ability. While this Wish is usually reserved for moving the ooze from one planet to another, or creating a miracle to inspire others to put their faith in the alien gods above, there’s the possibility of a DM having a Vespergaunt saving their Wish until they’re in combat, and pulling out JUST the right spell to turn the tide of battle…

I like this a lot n kinda like that it opens up a sort of last ditch effort mechanic? If you’re out of spell slots but desperate then you can have one more go, except whatever your spellcasting roll is becomes the amount of damage you take as a consequence of overreaching yourself

YEAH nd like. From a narrative and aesthetic standpoint, I'm really interested in what that damage looks like? a cleric of a sun god pushes themself too far trying to heal a companion, and as they force the power through their body, wounds open that seep light instead of blood...

While we’re on industrial norms: Mesopotamia (another cradle of civilisation) had mass-produced bowls. They were traded with other city-states (read: internationally). They also had a writing system, schools (at least for the upper class), and exercise slates. The Sumerians and Akkadians in Mesopotamia formed a sprachbund that meant many people were bilingual in the 3rd millennium BC.

While we’re on the topic of literacy in ancient civilisations: Signboards were a thing. Enough people were literate to have signboards and inscriptions on houses. The oldest known inscription is on a lintel in Dholavira, Indus valley from 5000ish years ago (We have no idea what it says though.).

“The stairs have been out here as long as the parks have existed. We have records going back decades describing them. Sometimes people go up them, and nothing happens. Other times… Look, I really don’t like talking about this, but sometimes, really bad shit happens”