Ghearus' Gibberings

Welcome back!

This is our first Creature Feature article, a writeup of the Barbegazi. Barbegazi are mythical Swiss creatures who live on mountain peaks and burrow through the snow.

Creature Features are full monster write-ups that are suitable for adoption and contain all of the same details you would expect to see in a Monster Manual entry.

You can download a full pdf by clicking [here], or the image below.

Before we get to the creature, I would also like to send a huge thank you to Tyler Hill (General Theory of Creativity) for allowing us to use his excellent Barbegazi illustration!

BARBEGAZI

Barbegazi are a race of small gnome-like creatures that live near mountain peaks and work to preserve the natural state of the environment. Generally friendly toward other humanoids, they are shy, and fiercely protective of nature and natural environments.

Barbegazi appear as child-sized wizened humans, although they have the feet of a fully grown adult. They typically wear furs that help them hide easily in the winter, and are not affected by natural cold.

BARBEGAZI PEAKWALKER TACTICS

A barbegazi peakwalker will usually attempt to flee, while groups will work together to keep dangerous foes prone and subject to additional attacks.

BARBEGAZI SNOWCALLER TACTICS

A barbegazi snowcaller and its barbegazi allies will usually burrow until they are in position to use Avalanche Song, and then they will work together to eliminate foes, one at a time.

BARBEGAZI LORE

A character knows the following information about Barbegazi with a successful Arcana check.
DC 15: Barbegazi inhabit tunnel and burrows they have carved in arctic tundra and mountain peaks. They hibernate during the summer, and can move quickly over and through snow and ice. They are usually friendly and only attack if provoked.
DC 20: Barbegazi Snowcallers are the heads of Barbegazi clans that have the ability to cause small avalanches.

ENCOUNTER GROUPS

Barbegazi are usually encountered in small groups near mountain peaks or underground in cold areas.
Level 4 Encounter (XP 850)

• 1 Berbegazi Snowcaller (level 5 elite lurker)
• 3 Berbegazi Peakwalkers (level 3 lurker)

EpicRealms.com Creature Feature - Barbegazi by Yvan Boily is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License

I posted this to EnWorld today; the PDF can be downloaded [here].

Here is the feat:

Honored Companion

Requirement: Level 2
Benefit: By forgoing training in your class, you gain an honored companion.
Restriction: You may not take this feat if you have a Class Feature that grants you a companion.

You sacrifice a class feature of your choice when you take this feat. You gain an Honored Companion.

Complete the statistics block below by following these rules:

• Select the race of your Honored Companion
• Grant attributes with the standard array (16, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10), and adding racial modifiers.
• Your Honored Companion is treated as being the same level as you. Your companion has hit points equal to 12, plus 6 times your level.
• All defenses are calculated according by applying the base 10, plus equipment modifiers and racial modifiers.
• Your companion gains training in one skill
• Choose a Companion role from Defender, Striker, or Leader
• Defenders gain the benefit of the Student of the Sword feat, and +2 to Fortitude
• Strikers gain the benefit from either Sneak of Shadows, or Warrior of the Wild, and +2 to Reflex
• Leaders gain the benefit of Student of Battle, and +2 to Will.
• All Honored Companions have simple melee, simple ranged, and light armor proficiencies.
• Your companion gains the same attribute increases at each level you do.
• Your companion has no action points, and healing surges equal to 1 + constitution modifier.
• Your Honored Companion starts with one non-magical melee weapon, non-magical armor, and an adventurer’s kit.

Your Honored Companion is subject to the same restrictions as detailed under “Commanding a Beast Companion” and “Beast Companions and Healing” in the Martial Power source book, with the exception that your Honored Companion can only be raised using the Raise Dead ritual, and you do not gain any rituals from this feat.

You may not retrain Honored Companion while your companion is not present and alive. You may not re-acquire this feat once you have retrained it. You may not acquire a new Honored Companion.

And now the Paragon Path:

Fatebound

“Our lives are bound together, I live as you live, I fall as you fall.”
Prerequisites: Honored Companion feat

You have found your soul mate, and you have chosen to do battle against the darkness together. Walking and fighting as one, your shield complements the blade of your companion.

Fatebound Path Features

Fateshield (11th level): While you are within 5 squares of your companion, the companion gains +2 to all defenses.
Act as One(11th level): When you spend an action point to take an extra action, your companion may take a move action.
One Soul, Two Forms(16th level): When you take a second wind, you can choose to spend a second healing surge and grant your companion additional hit points equal to your surge value.

Fatebound Exploits

So who was responsible for creating that Rotten Feywalker? Why were the villagers turned to undead? Here is a suitable foundation for a Heroic Tier villain that fills the role of Necromancer quite neatly.

Since this villain will be used for more than a single combat encounter, the villain will be level 10; this will be challenging enough to provide a reasonably solid heroic villain. Since this Necromancer is one that is making bargains with dark powers to avoid death, the build starts with the Necromantic Theurge.

Necromantic Theurge

Necromantic Theurge Tactics

The Necromantic Theurge will always be encountered with allies, usually undead and living allies. The Theurge will move in to use Necromantic Surge to its best effect, then retreat to use longer range abilities. At the earliest opportunity the Theurge will use Dark Summoning to gain new allies.

Introducing Nick Anders, intrepid adventurer, and master thief!

Nick moved stealthily through the remains of the small town. His allies, Kova and Barouth were nearby in case anything nasty appeared, but he always liked to have the first look; no one knew what lovelies he might find for himself before the others joined him!

Crawling through a window in the wall of what seemed to be an abandoned home, he knew the smell of undeath the moment he was through. As he dropped from the hole a loud crunch could be heard as his foot crushed a dust covered remnant of the glass that once filled the window. Cursing, Nick darted forward and cut the foul zombie, noting that it seemed to flicker in the shadows as it turned towards him.

As the Zombie reached for him, Nick stabbed the monster repeatedly knowing that his friends would take too long to get to him. The rotted Eladrin face seemed shocked as the last blow sunk into its rotted corpse; even to the Undead, Death came as a surprise. The creature flickered green, and in turn Nick was shocked, “A zombie that can feystep?” was his thought as the zombie exploded in burning gore. As Nick wiped the burning mess from his eyes he heard a wet thud from the far corner. “Bloody Hell!”, Nick shouted as he saw the remnants of the eladrin corpse begin to crawl towards him…

Om nom nom... , one wonders how Nick will fare on his own against such a nasty critter.

ROTTEN FEYWALKER

A Rotten Feywalker is the animated corpse of an Eladrin warrior. The typical Rotten Feywalker is encountered in the Shadowfell, the Feywild, or the Mortal World. They have no motives, no personality, and have only one objective: consume the flesh of living creatures.

Rotten Feywalker Tactics

The Rotten Feywalker will move to the closest living enemy and attempt to use the Zombie Grab action, and if successful it make Zombie Bite attacks until the target dies. After the target dies, it will continue to make bite attacks until someone else attacks it, or the target is fully dead; the Feywalker will then move to the next living target.

When the Feywalker is bloodied, it will activate the Feyburst power and the Feywalker Remnant will appear within five squares.

Feywalker Remnant Tactics

The Feywalker Remnant will appear within 5 squares of its original square, but will appear beside a target other than its previous attacker if possible. The Feywalker makes bite attacks against the closest enemy until destroyed or its target is dead.

Extra Flavour

If you want to make the Feywalker more challenging, grant the Feywalker the insubstantial property while moving, and partial concealment when in low-light, capturing the flavour of a creature flickering between planes.