Friday, May 31, 2013

Frightful Fridays! Deific Kaida

Welcome back to Frightful Fridays! featuring one of the more esoteric dragons I've ever created. I realized I had given most of the classes a kaida that augmented their abilities, with the exception of divine spellcasters. So, the deific kaida starts off its life as an "untainted" manifestation of divine energy (represented by its access to the Divine subdomain), but it seeks out creatures that worship deities or have a strong philosophy and bonds with those items to achieve a greater understanding of the divine. By playing around with energy channeling or domain accesses, this kaida is useful for clerics, inquisitors, and many other divine characters (however, not for oracles; their kaida will have to wait for another time).

The extra ties in with some of the deific kaida's abilities and allows characters with access to domains to benefit from an additional domain.

That's it for this week. I'll be at ConCarolinas this weekend, where I'll be running a game in which the characters are drakes, which is what put me in the mood to work on another kaida. While you're waiting for next week's monster, Flash will have a new shield feature for you on Sunday. Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!


This little dragon glows with divine energy and its strange outline of a body seems to twist into a variety of divine symbols.
Deific Kaida CR 2
XP 600
N Tiny dragon
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +10


Defense
AC 16, touch 14, flat-footed 14 (+2 Dex, +2 size, +2 natural)
hp 22 (3d12+3)
Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +7
Immune magic paralysis and sleep, dragon traits


Offense
Speed 10 ft., fly 40 ft. (good)
Melee bite +1 (1d3-4) and 2 claws +1 (1d2-4)
Space 2.5 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks channel energy, domain access
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 3rd; concentration +7)
1/day—bless water, identify


Statistics
Str 3, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 18, Cha 15
Base Atk +3; CMB +3; CMD 9 (13 vs. Trip)
Feats Improved Channel, Quick Channel
Skills Diplomacy +8, Fly +16, Heal +10, Knowledge (religion) +15, Perception +10, Sense Motive +10, Spellcraft +7, Stealth +10; Racial Modifiers +8 Knowledge (religion)
Languages Common, Draconic; telepathy (60 feet)
SQ bond with divine item


Special Abilities
Bond with Divine Item (Su) A deific kaida can choose to bond with a holy/unholy symbol or a deity's favored weapon (provided the weapon is wielded by someone who worships the deity). When it does so, its image appears on the bonded item. While a deific kaida is bonded with an item, the owner may cast spiritual weapon 3 times per day; the weapon takes the shape of the kaida. Additionally, the kaida grants an insight bonus equal to half its Knowledge (religion) bonus to Knowledge (religion) checks made by the character possessing the item.
Channel Energy (Su) A deific kaida can channel energy as a cleric with a level equal to the kaida's Hit Dice (a typical deific kaida can channel energy 5 times per day, dealing 2d6 damage, DC 15 Will save for half). An unbonded deific kaida chooses whether to channel positive or negative energy and cannot change this choice until after it bonds with a divine item. A bonded deific kaida allows a character who possesses the bonded item to channel energy additional times per day equal to half the kaida's channel energy uses.
Domain Access (Su) A deific kaida has access to one domain or subdomain of its choosing (a typical kaida starts with the Divine subdomain), and it gains the domain powers and can use domain spells as spell-like abilities, as if it were a cleric with a level equal to the kaida's Hit Dice (the spells are reflected in the kaida's spell-like abilities). A kaida cannot change its domain until after it bonds with a divine item. A bonded deific kaida either increases the effective character level of the bonded item's owner by 2 with respect to domain powers, or it allows the owner to access an extra domain from her deity's domain list, gaining the domain's powers and access to domain spells.


A deific kaida embodies divine energy in all its forms and coalesces into specific divine energy as it encounters other beings. Holy or unholy symbols, weapons favored by deities, and other divinely touched items attract a deific kaida, which seeks to bond with an item to gain greater knowledge of deities or philosophies. As a being primarily composed of energy, the 2 foot long kaida only weighs 5 pounds.


An "unspoiled" deific kaida starts off with access to the Divine subdomain and channels negative energy, primarily as defense against predators. However, once the creature gets a taste of other divine energies by bonding with items, it changes up its domain access and may decide to channel positive energy. The dragon likes to bond with multiple different items and will sometimes change bonds in the middle of a battle involving characters of opposing faiths.


A spellcaster can choose a deific kaida as a familiar. The spellcaster must be at least caster level 4th, have the Improved Familiar feat, be able to use a domain power or channel energy, and provide a holy symbol or her deity's favored weapon with which the kaida can bond.


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Permeated Symbol
Aura moderate evocation; CL 7th
Slot neck; Price 14,100 gp; Weight 1 lb.
Description
A deity's power suffuses this masterwork holy (or unholy) symbol. When the wearer of this symbol channels energy, the DC to resist the channeled energy increases by 2. Additionally, the wearer can select an additional domain from which he can gain domain spells, and he gains the domain power available to first level characters for the selected domain. The selected domain must be one that the wearer's deity offers (or, for those characters not devoted to a particular deity, must conceptually fit with the character's other domain[s]).
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, imbue with spell ability, creator must have access to domain spells or powers; Cost 7,100 gp