Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Illigom

Illigom
No. Enc.: 1* (+1d4 companions)
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 90'
Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 6
Attacks: 2 (pick two: Staff, Bite, Spells or Prophecy)
Damage: 2d4+2/1d4+poison/by spell-type/special: See below
Save: F7
Morale: 10

Crafty, sly and older than worlds, the Illigom wander meaningfully across myriad planes. Some say they look for truth or work for justice. Others accuse them of fomenting rebellions and disrupting the status quo. Trouble seems to follow them wherever they go. Heroes and patriots arise at their challenge, mobs take on terrible purposes, and armies have been known to disband or fall to looting their own supply trains after crossing the path of an Illigom.

Sowers of discontent, rabble-rousers and agitators--the Illigom never leave things the way they found them, even if things were just fine. They incite mobs, spark uprisings, and set revolutions into motion with a few well-chosen words, a discrete healing of a potential leader, the not so discrete assassination of a suitable martyr--they are meddlesome and wicked and extremely disruptive.

Great heroes have been prophesied by the Illigom--heroes that they then went out and raised-up from amongst the populace. Heroes have returned from the past, even the dead, rejuvenated or resurrected and filled with a terrifying zeal and fanaticism that only one who has literally given their all for a cause can muster. Legends have a tendency to sprout in the wake of the Illigom like apple trees or plague outbreaks.


Spells
Illigoms know the following spells (and very likely a few others as well):
Level One: Cure Light Wounds, Protection, Purify Food & Drink, Remove/Cause Fear, Resist Cold.
Level Two: Bless/Curse, Hold Person, Resist Fire, Silence 15' Radius, Speak With Animals.
Level Three: Cure/Cause Disease, Locate/Hide Object, Remove/Bestow Curse, Striking.
Level Four: Create Food and Water (wine), Cure Serious Wounds, Neutralize/Enhance Poison.
Level Five: Commune, Cure Critical Wounds, Quest, Raise Dead, True Seeing.
Level Six: Find the Path, Heal, Stone Tell.
Level Seven: Regenerate, Restoration, Resurrection.

Illigom cast their spells as a 15th level cleric, but have no holy symbols, and can not cast these spells for their own benefit even if on the verge of dying. They can only use these spells to the benefit of another being.

In addition, Illigoms also have access to 1d4 of the following spells each day (received at random):
  1. Charm Person
  2. Ventriloquism
  3. ESP
  4. Invisibility
  5. Mirror Image
  6. Phantasmal Force
  7. Clairvoyance
  8. Haste
  9. Arcane Eye
  10. Charm Monster
  11. Confusion
  12. Dimension Door
  13. Massmorph
  14. Animate Dead
  15. Feeblemind
  16. Magic Jar
  17. Geas
  18. Reincarnation
  19. Simulacrum
  20. Statue
These spells can be used however they will, but they cannot teach them to anyone else, nor can they transcribe them onto a scroll or embed them in any other item.

It is rumored that the Illigom also have a few secret spells that they have developed over time, but this is probably only a rumor.
Prophecy
Illigom can enter into a trance-state and utter words of prophecy that may or may not make any sense, creating a brief 1d4 turn Feeblemind effect on anyone who actually listens to the cryptic mutterings. Whether or not the prophecy comes to pass or is fulfilled remains to be seen, as very few Illigom have ever remained in one place long enough to see whatever chain of events they set into motion actually play themselves out.

Invariably, within every crowd addressed by a prophecying Illigom, there are typically 1d4 stalwart true believers and impressionable types who will adopt the prophecy as though it were the most important thing they've ever heard or experienced. They will then seek to live by these words, to implement anything hinted at in the spontaneous screed, and to fulfill the sacred prophecy to the best of their abilities...often with bizarre, unexpected, unpredictable consequences...

Companions
*Illigom are accompanied by 1d4 random companions that the Illigom is in the process of training to become an agent provocateur, a great hero, or something along those lines. See the Random Illigom Companion Table for details/ideas.

4 comments:

  1. Clever concept. It feeds into so much existing material, real-world and otherwise. The companions aspect also brings in a lot of potential for mixing up spaces.

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    Replies
    1. Somehow I missed another comment. Sorry about that. Thanks for the kind words. These creatures work primarily through their companions. They also have a lot of restrictions on their spell-use, etc. so that they remain focused on their mission. They are not fanatics, but very determined, resolved and committed to their chosen path. Player characters can be interacting with the Illigom's companions for many sessions before they ever locate the creature, and even if they defeat/destroy the thing, there are often other Companions still out there to resume the effort. Becoming a Companion can also be quite an interesting launching-point for a whole campaign unto itself...

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  2. They'll have plenty of recruits if they visit certain areas of Xeno-Meso. To me they read as somewhat less nihilistic iterations of the Steel General cosmic principle.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Illigom are free-thinkers and freedom-fighters who work to bring about liberty...and to break-up entrenched elites. They disrupt societies that have gone stagnant or that ossified under the weight of oppressive regimes. They do not shy away from Revolution, and wherever they go, they spread turmoil and change in their wake.

      They are not nihilistists, far from it; they value life as it facilitates the experience of freedom. But they also do not shy away from death, especially the deaths of others...and for this they are often unwelcome, even vilified by those who value comfort and security over liberty and whatever 'justice' might actually mean to these beings.

      If the Illigom come into your world, they will do everything in their power to overthrow the existing control structures and prevailing social order...so there will be lots of conflict, both overt and covert, and things will begin to change.

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