Buy me a coffeeGrim Reaper/Death
A large creature seemingly composed entirely of shadow appears before you. Set deeply inside its incorporeal hood you see two twinkling lights like distant red stars among an endless nebula, and a pair of almost skeletal arms emerge from within its shoal. It speaks in a deep, booming voice “Your time is up”.
Originally Posted by Lyinginbedmon of the Giant in the Playground Forums.
Death is prevalent in every culture, religion, and plane. No matter where you are, you cannot escape death at one point or another in your life; his entire profession is based on the fact that nothing, not even immortality lasts forever. Once a creature’s life is over, he snuffs out their last breath and leads them to the world beyond for the trial of their life.
He can transform into other creatures, and usually does so to get closer to his customers or to simply spend time off. Of note is the fact that, despite being an outsider, Death has no home plane, and so never acquires the Native subtype regardless of location. He is very learned and knowledgeable, having spent thousands of years in the many realms, but it has been many millennia since he took corporeal form and experienced life personally. As such, he can sometimes seem very depressed, but otherwise is extremely formal and proper, aided by his experience with the living. Death speaks and understands all languages, including secret languages. He always speaks in the most appropriate language to his customers.
When facing Death, a customer is allowed to challenge him for their life, or continue on to their trial. If they are not alone, true comrades may instead challenge him, but no one has ever won. Ordinarily, Death is an invisible entity rarely seen except to solidify the legend and aura of his existence. However, having spent aeons in the darkness, he prefers it to lighter areas, so is loathe to enter sunlit regions (Not merely a daylight spell), and will often hurry to dispatch someone in the light. This can sometimes lead to him becoming visible to all around because of neglecting his invisibility.
| Death | |
| Large outsider (Extraplanar, Incorporeal) | |
| Hit Dice | 20d8+120 (210 HP) |
| Initiative | +15 (+11 Dexterity, +4 Improved Initiative) |
| Speed | Fly 60 ft. (good) |
| Armor Class | 29 (+11 Dexterity, -1 Size, +9 Deflection), touch 20, flat-footed 18 |
| Base Attack/Grapple | +22/- |
| Attack | Incorporeal touch +16 melee (2d6 plus 2d8 Constitution drain), Scythe +7 melee or +7 ranged (Line of sight) (2d4+9 plus 1d6 cold, 19-20/x4 plus 3d10 cold, vorpal) |
| Full Attack | Incorporeal touch +16 melee (2d6 plus 2d8 Constitution drain), Scythe +7 melee or +7 ranged (Line of sight) (2d4+9 plus 1d6 cold, 19-20/x4 plus 3d10 cold, vorpal) Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft. |
| Special Attacks | Constitution drain, Entrapping Aura |
| Special Qualities | Darkvision 60 ft., energy of balance, incorporeal traits, lawful repose, lifesense 60 ft., non nemo, spell-like abilities, unnatural aura, wisened resolve, DR 30/-, SR 40 |
| Saves | Fort +12, Ref +23, Will +18 |
| Abilities | Strength -, Dexterity 33, Constitution -, Intelligence 22, Wisdom 23, Charisma 19 |
| Skills | Diplomacy +28*, Disguise +20, Gather Information +22, Hide +26, Intimidate +28, Knowledge (Arcana) +19, Knowledge (architecture and engineering) +20, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +19, Knowledge (Geography) +20, Knowledge (history) +20, Knowledge (local) +19, Knowledge (nature) +19, Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty) +20, Knowledge (religion) +20, Knowledge (the planes) +20, Listen +27, Search +29*, Sense Motive +29, Spot +31, Survival +17 (+19 when following tracks)* |
| Feats | Alertnessb, Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Greater Weapon Focus (Scythe)b, Greater Weapon Specialisation (Scythe)b, Improved Initiativeb, Improved Natural Attack (incorporeal touch), Mobility, Spring Attack, Track, Weapon Focus (Scythe)b, Weapon Specialisation (Scythe)b |
| Environment | Any |
| Organization | Solitary (Though usually accompanied by 2 Shadesteel Golems) |
| Challenge Rating | 50 |
| Treasure | None, Scythe of the Reaper (see below) |
| Alignment | Lawful Neutral |
| Level Adjustment | – |
Combat
Death usually makes good use of his touch attack to reduce his opponent’s Constitution modifier, and consequently their Fortitude saving throw, before using finger of death on them, or power word kill if their hit points drop low enough. However, as he usually only appears to those about to die, he usually just uses his touch attack to finish them off. Death instinctively knows the present location of any client (Past, present, or future).
Constitution Drain (Su): Living creatures hit by Death’s incorporeal touch attack must succeed on a DC 37 Fortitude save or take 2d8 points of Constitution drain. The save DC is Charisma-based. On each such successful attack, Death gains 5 temporary hit points.
Energy of Balance (Ex): Death is so finely tuned to the cosmic forces that drive him, both positive and negative, that any effect using such energies, including spells with the Darkness and Light descriptors, heals him by 1 point of damage for each point it would otherwise deal. He is immune to all enchantment effects, and is immune to other effects as an undead creature. This immunity functions as spell immunity.
Entrapping Aura (Ex): Death emits a distinct aura that allows him to prevent his target(s) from escaping magically, and can even make nanoseconds seemingly pass like decades. As an immediate action, Death can trap up to 100 HD of creatures per HD in this field, when released (A swift action) only a single round has passed. In addition, Death can use this field to prevent up to 100 HD of creatures per HD from using magic to escape, such as plane shift or Teleport, no spell with the teleportation descriptor functions for a creature in this field, and temporal magic (Such as time stop and Celerity) simply does not function (Though spell slots are still used up if a creature attempts to use them). Death can use either of these effects simultaneously or individually at his option.
Lawful Repose: Death is immune to all effects that allow a Fortitude save, unless he wishes to be affected. His spell-like abilities are exempt from this ability.
Lifesense (Su): Death notices and locates living creatures within 60 feet, just as if he possessed the Blindsight ability. He also senses the strength of their life force automatically, as if he had cast deathwatch.
Non Nemo (Ex): Anyone who successfully kills Death must take his place. When he dies, a burst of energy is implanted in the character(s) who killed him. Every minute, they must make a Fortitude save against DC 40, this DC increases by +1 for every previous attempt. A failed save means that the character(s) transform immediately into an exact duplicate of Death, complete with memories. Constructs and undead (As well as other creatures immune to Fortitude saves) are not immune to this effect, though their creators may be affected if they were specificaly ordered to kill Death.
When chains of command, such as a familiar of a wizard that creates a Homunculus to kill Death, the person who gave the initial order is the first affected. Death, once regenerated so, continues his work as always. The character(s) altered this way cannot be raised or ressurected, except by the intervention of a deity. This serves as punishment for killing Death. If more than 1 character destroys Death, only 1 character is transformed into Death and the others simply vanish into nothing, receiving the same afterlife as the single character.
Spell-Like Abilities (Sp): At will – death knell (DC 21), erase, finger of death (DC 26), plane shift (DC 26), programmed amnesia (DC 23), shapechange (Death keeps his own Dexterity score and supernatural abilites when shapechanged), simulacrum (Death’s simulacrums only last until their purpose has been fulfilled before disintegrating), superior invisibility (self only), teleport, greater.
10/day – power word kill, slay living (DC 24). Caster level 20th. The save DC is Charisma based.
Unnatural Aura (Ex): Animals, whether wild or domesticated, can sense the unnatural presence of Death at a distance of 30 feet. They will not willingly approach nearer than that and panic if forced to do so; they remain panicked as long as they are within that range.
Wisened Resolve (Ex): Death applies his Wisdom modifier to all Hit Die in place of his Constitution modifier.
Skills: *Death has a +8 racial bonus on Diplomacy, Search, and Survival checks
Scythe of the Reaper: The scythe of the reaper is Death’s personal Scythe, and is considered a Major Artifact. It is treated as a +5 Scythe with the ghost touch, Keen, Merciful, Returning, Throwing, vorpal, and icy burst special abilities, and the Distant Shot epic special ability. Additionally, anyone other than Death who wields it acquires 3d6 negative levels permanently.
Personality
Death has spent countless aeons, hurrying the dying and the dead to their ultimate ends. As such, he has a fairly bleak view of mortal existence, knowing full well that he personally will outlive any life that should appear. However, he admires the persistence of mortal life, its perennial drive to continue living, and its curious natures. As an agent of universal law, he has a profound regard for rules, and takes an instant dislike towards anyone that breaks even the smallest of rulings, a dislike that often results in a near-instantaneous “spiritual relocation” (As he calls it).
Death makes his home in a personal demiplane, though this does not serve as his home plane, merely his home. Within the demiplane is his reading room, stocked with books spanning countless millenia of written words, his private collection of hour glasses, each of which tracks the flow of life for a mortal in existence elsewhere (So you can imagine there are quite a few), and his elaborately designed stables, in which he keeps his personal steed, Alep.
Plot hook
The elderly Archmage Laurel de’Camphor is nearing his end, and has called out to adventurers across the land to stave off his end until he can finally finish his unified theory of the Laws of Magic and Universal Action. However, what he hasn’t mentioned, is precisely how the adventurers are to do this…