Tuesday, August 14, 2018

API: The Brainstormer and his Cloud Nymphs


"I can see it all, you can't understand, you could never, only I, I feel it, the poetry of the sky, the inverse breath of God breathing dew upon the grass and smiling down a child's flower, it's all so clear.  The vibrations of the atoms in the upper atmosphere, yes of course, and the movement of a butterflies wing in Peru, it all makes sense now!  The inverse mountains of water and dew, the great blue anti-sea, I understand it all!  All before, they were simpletons, they could not understand it.  That is why they failed.  I am the only one who could ever understand it.  Everyone else, they were all Fools!"
- Dr. Jacob Mattella, moments before he renamed himself to the Tornado Tyrant

One thing that no one likes to think about is that certain things are merely inborn.  No matter how hard you work, no matter how much you train, you will never start from the same place as a man who was born with more talent than you.  That's not to say you might not surpass them, but most of the time, the one who starts with a head start uses that head start to go even further ahead, to make the manageable gap insurmountable.  Most of the time, when the Tortoise and the Hare race, the Hare wins, no matter how little we like to acknowledge the fact.

This is a fact that Dr. Jacob Mattella could never grasp.  He was born lucky, blessed with a high IQ, high verbal intelligence, and he wasn't too bad looking.  He was popular in school and big man on campus, as well as Salutatorian of his college class.  And he was blessed in one other way.  Mattella was a Mageling, and had the ability to do magic most people couldn't conceive of.  The first woman who ever broke his heart caught leprosy right after their break-up, and Mattella became good enough at counting cards and manipulating fortune that he regularly walked away with thousands of dollars from playing poker and blackjack from his local Casinos.

But did Mattella count himself as lucky, blessed beyond all reasoning?  No, of course not.  Just as the brain surgeon does not compare himself to to the middle-class insurance salesman but to the real estate mogul, Mattella did not compare himself to the spiritual destitution of most Humans, but to the Mage-Lords and Sorcerer-Kings, the Wizards.  And compared to them, he was but an ant.  So he spent years of his life chasing after ancient texts and tomes, searching out ancient secrets.

Then he found one.  The secret to read the mind of the sky.  The process to be able to do this was arduous and virtually impossible in ancient times.  It involved, firstly, squeezing thousands of eels for their brine, and then capturing a thousand lightning bolts, then distilling, purifying and combining these two ingredients.  This would create the Elixir Anemoi. 

From there he had to drill dozens of holes into his skull, which was difficult but not impossible, especially with the help of anesthetic and some tools borrowed from an orthopedic surgeon.  This was actually the least dangerous part of the process.  Then, all at once, he had syringes filled with the Elixir Anemoi, and all at once, had them inject it into his brain.

At this point, he went completely fucking nuts.

From this moment on, he declared, he was now to be known as The Tornado Tyrant!  He then ascended into the sky and built himself a castle of solid cloud, a floating hurricane-palace kept aloft by his disturbing magical power.

The Tornado Tyrant then set about his goal of proving that not only was he right, but that he was better than any Wizard, and to prove this, he went and attacked Alcyione, the Thunder Wizard.  However, to his surprise, he was utterly and completely crushed.  But rather then kill him, Alcyione found him amusing.  So the Wizard decided to humor him, and said this to him.  "You want to defeat me, eh?  Well, that's fine.  Far be it for me to step on some child's dream.  Thus, let us bind our fates together.  I curse you to meet a man who will be your equal in every respect.  You and this man will fight.  This will be your fate.  So when you meet this man, if you survive the encounter, come find me, and we will see if you have grown enough to defeat me."     

So then the Wizard left, the leaving the Tornado Tyrant to think.  He realized that if this person he was going to meet was going to be his equal, he should be at least as strong as the Tyrant.  So he set about preparing.

The Tyrant Today

The Tornado Tyrant (formerly Dr. Jacob Mattella)
HD 4  AC 13  Bio-Lightning(+3) 1d6/1d6
Mor 12     Saves 9+

Bio-Lightning: The Tornado Tyrant can fire bolts of natural lightning from his hands.  This lightning is not nearly as strong as the stuff produced by clouds.  It does 1d8 damage, with an additional +1 damage for every piece of metal the target is carrying.  Additionally, if the target is wearing something that is insulated against electricity when they are hit, they may save.  On a success, they take no damage.  They also receive a -1 penalty to their save for every piece of metal outside their insulation, or every hole in the insulation.

Innate Spellcasting: The Tornado Tyrant can cast the following spells as a level 6 Magic-User.  He does not roll for Chaos or Corruption.  His dice burn out as normal.
At will: Fog Bank, Chill Breath
5/Day: Freezing Wind, Sense Electricity, Overdrive
3/Day: Acid Rain, Tesla's Retort
1/Day: Divine Retribution

Tactics:
- Find out which of these intruders is the rival
- Challenge him to a one on one fight.  Expect cheating, but wait for him to cheat first.
- If anyone interferes or it looks like you're losing, fry the most dangerous one with lightning and run for it

Mattella himself looks like an older man with light brown skin and a graying beard.  His head is shaved, and he has dozens of syringes stabbed through his skull, each one with an end capped in gold and full of the bubbling Elixir Anemoi.  Lightning arcs between these syringes, surrounding his head with a corona of electricity.  His eyes are wild and full of endless energy, and as he speaks, he gets more and more into it, gesturing and shrieking and making odd non sequitor statements.  He is prone to instability, randomly attacking people, and generally acting like a psychotic crazy person who can control the Weather.  But his Weather Control abilities are restricted to those in his statblock for smaller work.  He can summon clouds and rain down hail, conjure tornados and bring enough rain to cause a flood, but this is big, imprecise magic.  He is not suited for delicate work.
  
The Tyrant has been doing nothing for the last couple years but prepare for the arrival of the Rival, the man he is destined to fight.  He has fortified his hurricane-palace, stock-piling weapons, supplies, and other necessities.  He also been traveling around the world, seeking out rare treasures that could be of use.  Most of these don't prove nearly strong enough for him though, so most of them molder in his back room, so weak they aren't even worth the effort of using.

His hurricane-palace is also full of other things too, food, canned goods, rare animals and creatures, attractive and semi-traumatized people, piles of money and assorted books, and a bunch of other things.  Mattella is insane, after all.  And as a solidified construct generated from his power and mind, the hurricane palace is more proof of this then anything else.  The Palace is solid enough and some parts of it look quite imposing.  Yet other parts of it fracture and diverge into nonsense.  In the words of Patrick Stuart, "They look like they were designed by an architect on drugs, on in a dream.  Everything is there for a reason, it's just that the reason is insane."  But the biggest change the Tornado Tyrant made was finding some decent help.

He did this by creating the Cloud Nymphs.

The Cloud Nymphs

They are intelligent, sapient creatures woven of water vapor and bestowed with the spark of unnatural life.  They are all effortlessly loyal to the Tyrant, and regard him as a Father-figure or Master.  They love him unconditionally, and would never betray him.  However, they are intelligent and plagued with their own neuroses, and they are not flawless.  They overlook things and make mistakes. 

There are between 7 and 12 of the Cloud Nymphs at any given time.  See 'The Cumulus Brothers'.

Base Cloud Nymph
HD 3  AC 13  Atk Varies
Mor 8   Saves 10+

Cloud Shift: The Cloud Nymph can transform from mortal form, where they are solid with flesh made of solidified ice, snow and dust, bleed water and can be hurt by all normal damage, to their cloud form.  In their cloud form, they cannot be hurt by non-magical damage, can fly, and do not take fall damage.  It is a full action to transition between these two forms.  While in cloud form, the Cloud Nymphs cannot affect anything solid.

Cloud Walk: Cloud Nymphs can walk on clouds as if they were solid ground.

All-Weather: Cloud Nymphs are immune to cold damage, suffocation, poison and disease.  They do need to rest, but they only need to drink water.  

Tactics:
- Generally be friendly
- If you're alone, run and get help
- Always try and capture powerful people in case they are Mattella's Rival

Narci Pearl 

"Mother" of the Cloud-Men, The Tornado Tyrant's (Mattela's) "Wife".  She can spray acid.  Is fiercely protective of her "husband", but generally doesn't care for the lives of the other Cloud-Men.  She would die for the Tyrant, but not for them.  She is cold and ruthless, with the exception of when it comes to him.

Statblock Changes:


Acid Spray: Narci can spray acid in a 30' cone.  This does 2d6 damage, save for half, and then does 1d6 damage a round to everyone who took damage from it originally until they take an action to wash it off.  Her acid cannot dissolve glass, plastic, or ceramics. 

The Cumulus Brothers 

There are between 3 and 12 of them.  Roll 1d12 at the start of the adventure to see how many are currently running around.  They generally travel in packs of 2 to 3, so if you roll 10, there are two pairs and two groups of three running around the hurricane-palace or adventure sight.  They all have names like "Joe, Rick, Todd, or Bob, and Cumulus is always their surname. They generally run around causing trouble and asking pointless questions, acting like a bunch of unsupervised children in a candy shop.  Will avoid direct combat, but generally fearless.  If attacked by something that could actually hurt them, they will run away and combine, piling up to form Cumulonimbus, their "big brother".

Statblock Changes:

1 HD each.

Cirrus 

Whispy, flaky.  A coward, and she knows it.  Continually crying.  She is either spying on people for her siblings, or she is sitting alone, weeping over her own lack of courage.

Statblock Changes:

As base.

Strain 

A blocky creature.  His solid form is ice.  Lazy and unmotivated, except to protect his siblings.  If threatened, he'll run, and throw up walls of ice to block your path.  Can combine with Alto to form Nimmar.

Statblock Changes:

Ice Maker: Can conjure walls of ice from thin air.  These walls have 2 HD, cannot be hurt by sharp damage, and take half damage from ranged weapons such as guns.  Some ranged weapons such as bows may have no effect at all, Referee's discretion.

Cecillia 

A talented, lanky swords-woman made of ice and sleet.  Fights with a freezing sword of the same substance.  Cold and mostly emotionless in her demeanor.  Only gets excited when she is fighting someone who can seriously challenge her.  Can combine with Virga to form Streleitza.

Statblock Changes:

Freezing Sword: Her sword does 1d6 damage on a hit, and 1d6 CON damage.  If someone is suffering from any amount of CON damage, they subtract -1 for each time they have taken CON damage from any roll requiring precision, dexterity, or fine, delicate movements.  If the amount of CON damage taken ever equals or exceeds someone's Constitution score, they start shivering uncontrollably and get -10 to do anything.  This CON damage can be restored by spending an equal amount of time to the CON damage taken in a warm place, such as in front of a fire, sharing warmth with another person, or something like that. But until then, the person uses their reduced CON score for everything relating to CON, such as Saving Throws and Con checks.

Virga 

A young warrior woman, who wants to prove herself.  This is stymied by the fact that she is completely incompetent, and has no skill in either violence or magic.  Knows a single attack that pulls water out of the air to form ice, but this does no damage (it's about as dangerous as being hit by a snowball).  Can combine with Cecillia to form Streleitza.

Statblock Changes:

Terrible Swordsman: Virga has a sword that does 1d6 damage.  However, she attacks at -4, and anyone with any training can tell she's a complete amateur, with very little, if any potential.

Snowball: Has a single technique that she can use as a full action.  She calls it 'Dire Winter'.  It conjures a ball of cold. You should have her pose dramatically before using it.  Then she must make an attack.  If it hits someone, they must make a save.  On a failure, they take 1 cold damage.  On a success, it has about as much effect if someone hit you in the face with a snowball.

Alto 

A dutiful servant and helpful person.  She is the big sister to all of the Cloud Nymphs, and almost a  second mother to the Cumulus Brothers.  A good friend, though a bit of stick in the mud.  Cannot break a rule, no matter what.  Can blast water out of her hands and control it to a limited degree.

Statblock Changes:

Water Hose: Can blast a jet of water from her hands.  This does 1d6 damage to anyone it hits and they must save or knock it over.

Slick Floors: As a free action, Alto can cover the floor around her with water.  Anyone running or not paying attention must save or fall over on their face.

The Storm Nymphs

The Storm Nymphs enter the scene are when two or more of the Cloud Nymphs merge together to form a new entity.  The Storm Nymphs that result from this fusion are intelligent and highly powerful, each one possessing abilities based on the component parts that formed it.  When ever a Storm Nymph is formed, it is always at full HP.  Additionally as it is a fusion monster, a Storm Nymph may at any time, as a free action, revert back into its component parts.  The component parts are restored to their autonomous, separate nature and are back at full HP.

Base Storm Nymph
HD 6  AC 16  Atk varies
Mor 11  Saves 7+

Abilities: As base 'Cloud Nymph'.

Tactics:
- Strike fast, strike hard
- Protect your siblings
- Split back into your pieces if you are in danger of dying

Nimmar [Nim-arr]

A fusion of Alto and Strain.  A blocky, androgynous man made of ice and sleet, with hanging dreadlocks of white hair, adorned with ice crystals.  He can create walls of ice and control water.  He usually uses this power to trap people in boxes of ice, then fill the interior with water, drowning them.  But if he needs to fight seriously, he can blast water with the force of a fire hose, powerful enough to blast someone off their feet and peel bark off trees.

Statblock Changes:

Atk: Fist 1d6/1d6 or Cold Cage or Water Coffin

Cold Cage: As a full action, Nimmar can create a cage of ice around a person.  This cage has 4 HD, cannot be hurt by sharp damage and takes half damage from ranged weapons such as guns.  Some ranged weapons such as bows may have no effect at all, Referee's Discretion. If two people are close enough to each other, Cold Cage can surround both of them.  He also uses it to block doors and exits, especially if he is retreating.

Water Coffin: As a full action, Nimmar can create a bubble of water around a person's head.  This does 1d6 STR damage to them for every round it is in place.  If the STR damage taken by this attack ever equals or exceeds a person's STR score, they collapse and start drowning.  STR damage done by this attack is healed as soon as the person can breathe and has vomited up all the water.  Nimmar must be able to see you for this attack to work.  If he cannot see you, the bubbles of water fall apart.

Streleitza [Stre-lie-za]

A fusion of Cecillia and Virga.  A powerful, super-fast warrior woman with lance that if it hits you, freezes your blood and internal fluids.  Your death would be painful, if it wasn't so quick, or you weren't so cold.  Streleitza rarely speaks, but when she does, her voice is liquid and cold, utterly lacking sympathy.  The only thing that brings her joy is a worthy opponent, and so few are actually worth her time.  Most of the time she is only going through the motions.

Statblock Changes:

Atk: Ice Lance(+3) 1d8/1d8

Ice Lance: On a hit, target also must choose.  They can choose to either have a limb covered in ice or take an extra 1d6 cold damage.  Whatever limb affected by the Ice Lance is chosen by the Referee.  A limb covered in ice cannot be used for anything except to as a blunt melee weapon, dealing 1d4 damage.  Additionally, if Streleitza chooses to cover a leg with ice, the person cannot move, as their leg is frozen to the ground.  This ice has 1 HD, cannot be hurt by sharp damage and takes half damage from ranged weapons such as guns.  Some ranged weapons such as bows may have no effect at all, Referee's Discretion.

Winter Warfare: As a full action, Streleitza can fire off a hail of razor-sharp ice crystals in a 30' cone.  This does 2d6 damage, save for half. 

Cumulonimbus 

A fusion of as many of the Cumulus brothers that are left.  Can shoot lightning and is absolutely enormous.  Has a bunch of other abilities.  A smaller version of the Tornado Tyrant.

Statblock Changes:

Atk: Electric Fists 1d6/1d6 + must save or be temporarily stunned as a tiny electrical shock screws up your neural patterns

Variable HD: Cumulonimbus has a number of HD equal to the number of Cumulus Brothers that combined to form him, with a maximum equal to the number rolled at the beginning (see the Cumulus Brothers above) and a minimum of 6.

Innate Spellcasting: Cumulonimbus can cast the following spells as a level 4 Magic-User.  He does not roll for Chaos or Corruption.  His dice burn out as normal.
At will: Fog Bank, Chill Breath
3/Day: Freezing Wind, Shocking Blow, Incapacitating Grip, Overdrive
1/Day: Divine Retribution

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