Prologue:
The Vodoni Wars have ended, and the Known Spheres back in control of their
natives. The invading Empire shattered, its home sphere taken by the
victors. As the last battle's wreckage was being sifted through by the
survivors, rumors hinted that the Emperor Vulkaran himself, an arm cut from
him during the final confrontation and the rest of his body a bloody ruin,
but yet alive, was seen being hustled into an outbound spelljamming ship of
the Tanu navy. Whatever became of him was discussed only in hushed
whispering--until now.
Returned to the homesphere of the Tanu, the war-god Andraxas took possession
of the Emperor, literally. In a hidden magical forge within the heart of a
volcano, dire rituals were performed on the broken spirit of the once-great
Vodoni monarch. Bent to the will of the Tanu god, Vulkaran was transformed,
to bow to the god and his people forever as a guardian spirit in service to
the those he'd hoped to enslave himself. He became the 14th Dreadknight,
beings made from the souls of Andraxas' enemies, who act as the planetars of
the Tanu god.
A great vessel was built, a stafish-shaped battlestation, to be sent to the
Vodoni homeworld to act as the Tanu fleet's command headquarters. Aboard,
the Dreadknight that was once Vulkaran was bound, set to haunt the ship and
defend it from all invaders. The warship ~Star of Morning~ set sail from
the homesphere--and disappeared.
By the intervention of Arioch, the Emperor's own deity, Vulkaran was set
free, given an amulet that broke the mighty compulsions laid on him in his
transformation. While still in the form of a vile spirit, and with a few of
his mortal powers returned, he rampages across the spacelanes, intent on
recreating a fleet of undead to serve him, and retake Vodonispace for
himself.
Current sketch:
Freed from the Bindings that held him in check, Vulkaran raged through the
ship he had been set to protect, destroying the mortal crew and transforming
them into undead minions. The Star of Morning now acts as the Emperor's
base, as he hunts for any and all ships that might cross his path. The fates
of these hapless ships are all the same: all hands are transformed into
undead of some sort, their ships added to the growing fleet of Vengeance.
DM's may tailor the escort vessels to their tastes and campaign needs.
However, the Star of Morning herself is presented, and should be used, as
is, providing a moving fortress of dread and danger for PC's. Vulkaran's
fleet grows slowly, but, since mortality is no longer an issue for him, he
can use the decades to amass a force with which to retake his former
holdings, and wipe out the descendants of those who defeated him, if the
original enemies are no longer available.
~Vulkaran, the 14th Dreadknight~
HIT DICE: 166 hit points, F17
TREASURE TYPE: nil
AC -7
THAC0: 4
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3
DAMAGE / ATT.: By
weapon type +7 (str. bonus)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: see below Cleric_Spells Bonus
SPECIAL DEFENSE: see below Level:1 2 3 4 5 6 7
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 75% + 3 3 2 1
INTELLIGENCE: Supra- genius; wisdom = 21
ALIGNMENT: Lawful Evil
SIZE: L (7 1/2' tall)
PSIONIC ABILITY: 288
att/def: all/all {1st ed.}
Saves:
PPD 3, Pet 4, RSW 5, Bre 4, Spell 6
Dreadknights are a group of powerful evil spirits created by the god
Andraxas to serve as his Planetars in the great celestial conflict. They
act as messengers, spies, or leaders as is required of them, and although
they are tied very strongly to the Prime, they may travel any of the planes
if instructed. They are unswervingly loyal and utterly ruthless. The
exception of course, is Vulkaran, who with the help of his own deity,
escaped the Binding spells laid upon him during his transformation.
Each dreadknight has three attacks per round, usually with a huge, black
bastard sword equal to a +4 wounding weapon (+10 pts. of damage a round, not
curable by magic). Each also carries a self-cocking Crossbow of Speed +3,
and a quiver full of Bolts of Slaying, one for each character class and d6
random ones. If hard- pressed in combat, a dreadknight will usually wield
its sword one-handed (no penalty), and fire bolts at opponents out of reach,
at -3 to hit. Each has a Strength of 19, Dexterity 21, Wisdom 21, with all
appropriate bonuses. They have the spell abilities of a 7th level cleric
and druid, as well as the following powers, at will, one per round:
blade barrier 1x day darkness 10' radius,
control weather 1x day dispel illusion 7x day
dispel magic 3x day earthquake 1x day
feeblemind 2x day etherealness
limited wish 1x day polymorph other 2x day
firestorm 2x day flamestrike 2x day
raise dead/slay living 3x day Heal 3x day.
They can remove/bestow curse, fear, or disease, as needed, speak with dead,
and teleport (no error) 3x day. Dreadknights radiate protection from good,
automatically detect lies, illusion, invisibility, magic, traps, and
alignment. They read all languages and speak in tongues. Once a day they
can gate in one of their fellows with no chance of failure. They can cure
or cause blindness or serious wounds by touch. Dreadknights are only
affected by +4 or better magic weapons. They are never surprised. They are
immune to life level loss, death spells or death magic, and cannot be
beguiled, charmed, confused, dominated, or feebleminded. Their souls cannot
be imprisoned or trapped. They regenerate 4 hit points a round, and can
only be slain permanently in Hell or Acheron. They are totally fearless and
are not affected by such magics. Normal animals and characters of 6 HD or
less will flee in fear at the sight of them. They cannot be turned.
Dreadknights are not affected by cold, magic missiles, petrification,
poison, or gas attacks. Normal weapons, even silver ones, do them no harm.
Holy symbols do not deter them, but in order to attack an individual
presenting one, the dreadknight must first remove the holy item - simply
knocking it from the victim's hand requires a roll to hit and causes 2-12
points of damage to the dreadknight. In addition, while a feign death spell
will not affect one, a raise dead or resurrection successfully cast on one
will destroy a dreadknight. In addition, Vulkaran wears a glowing Amulet of
Unbinding, the item which has freed him from his compulsions. Should it
somehow be taken from him {good luck!}, he will revert back to his original
'programming''
Psionic abilities are: telepathy, aura alteration, energy control, body
control, mass domination, molecular
agitation, and telekinesis, all at 15th level.
Vulkaran {and indeed, the other Dreadknights} appear as huge, black
humanoids, armed & girded all in black. Their great bat-like wings appear
as cloaks when not in use. Their faces are hidden under shadows, except for
their glowing red eyes.
~~~
Crew:
Vulkaran has gathered to him several of the scattered Vodoni troops who fled
the home sphere's wreck, and managed to cross his path. He also commands a
great army of relatively mindless undead, who can be packed into
spelljamming ships until the gunwales bulge, with no regard for air, food,
or comfort needs.
Currently, his command crew consists of:
5 Vodoni Breeders; Bellen'tain, Var'harashu, Var'hemmenin, Kup'devill,
Venar'ashen.
Fighter /Magic User 7-9/14-16, Avg HP 145 {tailor for campaign needs}
AC 5 to 1 w/o Defender
THACO 14-12
# Att: 3/2
MR : 25% or better
Morale: 16 {Champion}
Staff of Power
Longsword: Defender +1 to +4 or similar
Bracers of Defense AC 4 to AC 2
Cloak of Protection +1 to +4
Innate abilities: Eagle Vision at will
Immune to lycanthropy
Suggested Spell List:
1) Charm Person, Fist of Fire, Fire Burst, Lasting Breath,____, _____ .
2) Hornung's Baneful Deflector, Insatiable Thirst, M.'s Earthen Grasp, Storm
Cloud, ____ .
3) Fireball, Dispell Magic, M's Stoney Grasp, Watery Double, PNM/Slow/LB
4) O's Dispelling Screen, Dilation I, There/Not There, Pebble-Boulder,
Unluck
5) Lower Resistance, Mindfog, Wall of Force, Feeblemind, ____ .
6) F's Fiery Constrictor, Disintegrate, ____ .
7) M's Flame Fist/Suffocate, ____ .
8) A's Horrid Wilting/ G's Kalidescopic Strike/____ .
These alien spell-slingers are all utterly loyal to Vulkaran, obeying his
every whim in a near-mindless fashion {perhaps due to both the proximity of
the Emperor, and his new powers}, but are cunningly ruthless, merciless
battle-mages. Fawning synchophants all, they nonetheless are brutally
efficient at what they do. They understand that any foe is potential crew
material, but are not delicate in how they defeat their foes; a little
damage can be repaired later. Expect them to attack without quarter. They
have typical Vodoni-style shorn heads and many rank tattoos; in addition,
each now sports a red-outlined diamond, the interior filled with black, with
two glowing red eyes floating within. These new body-inks are centered on
their foreheads, as signs that they serve the risen Emperor. The two
Breeders with the Var surname are a mated couple who are rarely separated;
the others are all rogue males. All have abandoned their former pursuit of
lycanthropic research, as Vulkaran has deemed the design inefficient; undead
are produced far more easily & quickly, and raw materials are always at
hand.
Each has as his familiar:
Furnace Golem
AC -8
Move: 6 or Spelljam{6000lbs;SR2; MC B}
HD: 20 (90 hp)
Dam: 2d6 +12 or Weapon + STR 24 {2 Hull Pts}
Hurl boulder 300 yds, 3d10+12, catch
similar 10%
Immune to less than +3 weapons, cold att. slows for 3 rounds, fire repairs
2pt/ HD
Not only do the golems act as heavy assault troops when enemy spell-casters
get the best of the Breeders and as stand-by catapults, they are also
last-ditch life-boats.
~~~
Main crew:
Predominantly Juju Zombies {300}
AC 6
HD 3 + 12
THACO 15
# ATT: 1
Dam: 3-12 or weapon {typically sword 1-8 +1}
+1 or better weapon to hit, edged/cleaving weapons and fire do half damage.
Immune to psionics, illusions, electricity, magic missiles. Can climb walls
as thief at 92%. These are Vulkaran's marines and weaponeers, as they are
well-equipped to act as either when well-supervised. They have been taught
to operate the large weapons on board the Star of Morning, since many of
them served aboard her before its take-over. They are also easily
replaceable. Typical armaments should be determined by the DM, as the Tanu
homegrown race used items made of glassteel. Figure plate or chain and
shield, longsword, bow and/or spear.
~~~
Vulkaran has eschewed any living allies for his crew, deeming them
untrustable. He intends to accumulate as many ships and troops as he can,
until his ego & impatience finally get the best of him. He will then return
to his home sphere and attempt to retake the worlds there from all invaders.
He would accept offers of alliance from intelligent undead, however,
provided they are no match for his Breeders {in case they get ideas about
trying to take the ship from him}. He would, however, keep any such allies
aboard the Star of Morning and away from the lesser ships, to prevent
deserters and keep an eye on their activities.
The Star of Morning is presented to the List Contest as a link only. The
entry was far too long to add via cut-and-paste, the email got rather large.
Also, the ship can be seen as originally created, and with the several 3D
pictures and all deck plans intact. A DM confronted with a ship this large,
and of an unfamiliar design, would need some ideas as to what the interior
looks like, and how defenses would be laid out. I hope this doesn't irk the
Judges!
Star of Morning, Star-class vessel:
http://members.tripod.com/arkaela/Doomstar.htm
