Extheoria (3.5e Elder Evil)

Author: Eiji-kun (talk) Date Created: 1-29-14 Status: Complete Editing: Clarity edits only please

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Extheoria

Background

Throughout the realms countless worlds have civilizations who sat upon ancient ruins of a golden age past. The tale of ancient artifacts and lost technology is so common as to become a trope and yet these civilizations, as advanced as they were, always fell to ruin seemingly suddenly and all at once, their knowledge lost and their artifacts buried by time. The causes are often blamed on war, accident, or invasion, and this is often the case. And yet some of the downfalls of the greatest empires seem to possess a pattern and disturbing regularity. With what few reports are recovered from these times, each civilization makes note of a strange appearance in the sky of the same entity in each report (Knowledge History DC 30), and the destruction which followed. When civilization reaches great heights and society is at its richest, it comes from the darkness above to harvest the sentience of the world and make it part of its own. It is Exthoria, Reaper of Minds (Knowledge History DC 40), and woe be to those civilization which attract its hunger.

The true nature of Extheoria is debated, for when it is seen in the flesh it is too late to stop the inevitable reaping. Many claim it some random Far Realm nightmare drawn to the material plane (Knowledge The Planes DC 30), while others claim is the a mass hallucination caused by magic or psionics gone wild (Knowledge Arcana or Psionics DC 30). Some even claim it is not a being, but a ship or machine with alien origins (Knowledge Xeno DC 30). It is summoned when life blooms on the surface, especially strong, sapient life and life rich in intelligence and psychic potential (Knowledge Psionics DC 45). It hunts for planets which shine brightest with this essence and absorbs them into itself. Though it may simply eat them, many believe the minds of its victims still persist in some twisted hivemind space and that its collecting serves some sinister purpose not yet known. What is known is that as it approaches, the world awakens its psionic potential and its animals grow restless. For only creatures with Intelligence 2 or less can see the invisible astral form of Extheoria growing closer and closer. Intelligent beings have no idea until it is too late, when Extheoria reaches out with its "reapers" and begins using them to funnel the world's population into a single area.

Extheoria is said to be related somehow to the beings known as ureymiller oozes. It may be these terrible creatures were created as a perverse defense against the elder evil.

Goals

Extheoria seeks out planets rich in high level sapience, psionics, and advanced philosophy and societies. As it approaches it affects these beings, which advance rapidly until they are ripe and Extheoria reveals itself. After it has stripped the world of the sapient life it departs, but it is said to haunt the same realms over and over, letting civilization regrow and rebuild for the next harvest (Knowledge History DC 50).

Extheoria in the Campaign

Extheoria is only attracted to worlds with heavy psionics, an influx of powerful intelligent creatures such as wizards, or beings with highly advanced cultures and technologies.

Description

Reports are sketchy, but from various accounts of fallen civilizations Extheoria has been defined as not a being of matter so much as thought made flesh (Knowledge Psionic DC 45). As a result it is normally invisible, and its appearance shifts slightly from person to person, but always is defined by its large unblinking eyes. Many have described it as a rogue planet the size of the moon covered in eyes of various sizes, including at least one large one most define as its "front" (Knowledge Psionics DC 45). This form is almost never seen, instead its cuttlefish shaped "moons" are what appears to others. These beings act as its hands, literally and figuratively, with red eyes all over its vaguely metallic hide (Knowledge Psionics DC 40).

Its said that while intelligent creatures cannot see Extheoria's main body, creatures with less than 3 Int can make out its approach (Knowledge Nature DC 45). Extheoria is made of thought, not flesh, and is completely incorporeal and untouchable by normal means. It feeds by passing through the planet, and whenever intelligent creatures meet its "flesh" they rapidly evaporate into ectoplasm and are consumed body, mind, and soul, now exist within Extheoria (Knowledge Psionics DC 40). Because Extheoria is smaller than the planets it feeds on it uses its reapers to encourage the population to gather in one place by either trickery, force, or compulsion through The Gathering ability it possesses. When enough of the population is gathered, Extheoria allows itself to drop through the planet and devour them all (Knowledge History or Psionics DC 45).

Sign

Psionic Awakening

As Extheoria approaches, sentient minds "ripen" and start obtaining, or enhancing, psionic powers (Knowledge Psionics DC 40). By the time Extheoria has arrived, most sentient beings have developed at least a small amount of psionic powers. The powers are sometimes seen as a blessing, and many other times brings chaos as even commoners begin to possess the strength to push others around, resulting in social upheaval. Ironically the advancement of one culture over another only serves to hasten its arrival (Knowledge History or Nobility DC 50).

Faint: Psionic creatures gain 2 extra power points each day, and their manifester level is increased by 1. Nonpsionic creatures with at least Intelligence 3 gain the Wild Talent feat. When using a psionic power there is a 5% chance it will cause 1 point of backlash damage. Creatures with animal intelligence begin acting seemingly concerned, though they can't tell why. In truth, it is because they can see a strange "star" in the sky. This is Extheoria, and it is coming.

Moderate: Psionic creatures gain 5 extra power points each day, and their manifester level is increased by 2. Nonpsionic creatures with at least 3 Int gain the Hidden Talent feat^XPH choosing a 1st level power, and their power points become 5 instead of 2. The backlash chance rises to 10% and deals 1 point of damage per level of the power manifested. If this backlash kills a creature, they are subject to decerebrate (no save) as the psionic force is too much for them to bear. Creatures of animal intelligence begin watching the sky at night seemingly looking for something. Extheoria begins growing in the sky, a expanding orb of light.

Strong: Psionic creatures gain a number of power points each day equal to their highest mental ability score, and their manifester level is increased by 3. Nonpsionic creatures gain the manifesting ability of a 1st level psion, with a manifester level of half their character level, and using their highest mental ability score for manifesting. The backlash chance rises to 20%, and now deals 1d4 damage per power level. Creatures of animal intelligence will begin acting erratic and strange, most seeking to avoid exposure to the sky when possible. Birds cease flying for this reason, and many go underground. Extheoria is now the size of the moon and growing bigger every day.

Overwhelming: Psionic creatures gain a number of power points each day equal to twice their highest mental ability score, and their manifester level is increased by 4. Nonpsionic creatures gain the manifesting ability of a psion half their character level, and a manifester level of their character level. The backlash chance becomes 30%, and this time provokes a Fortitude save DC 15. If the save fails, they are subject to decerebrate, otherwise they take 1d8 damage per power level. Animals are in a full panic, many growing aggressive if encountered, and seek to find shelter underground or away from exposure to the sky. Animal companions can be calmed, but are considered constantly shaken. Extheoria fills much of the sky, and will soon pass through the planet. Its reapers manifest, gathering the population of the world into the crash zone. When Extheoria hits, it passes through solid matter but will sweep away all the sentient life in its way.

Malefic Properties

Psionic Anathematic Secrecy: Immune to all divine divination spells and effects. Unique to it, it is also immune to all psionic clairsentience powers and effects.

The Gathering: Each round as a standard action, an elder evil can force a single creature with Int 3 or higher to make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 the elder evil's HD + Cha modifier). On a failure, the creature is compelled to reach a desired location by any means nessicary and given the desire to stay there as if under the effect of sympathy. They retain their own mindset, but will taken any means they see appropriate to reach the location. This location is, of course, the same location Extheoria will pass through the planet. There is no duration, but other creatures within 60 ft can attempt to break the effect over the course of 1 round with an opposed Charisma check. Though it is a mind-affecting effect, immunity is bypassed. Only being mindless or having an intelligence less than 3 can prevent it.

Encounter Information

	Extheoria Reaper
Size/Type:	Colossal Outsider (Psionic)
Hit Dice:	25d8+280 (480 hp)
Initiative:	+0
Speed:	60 ft, fly 200 ft (good), swim 100 ft
Armor Class:	60 (+25 deflection, +33 natural, -8 size), touch 27, flat-footed 60
Base Attack/Grapple:	+25/+56
Attack:	Tentacle +33 melee (4d6+15 plus grab, 20/x2)
Full Attack:	Six Tentacles +33 melee (4d6+15 plus grab, 20/x2)
Space/Reach:	30 ft/20 ft
Special Attacks:	Dream Shift, Improved Grab, Psionics, Swallow Whole, The Gathering
Special Qualities:	Darkvision 60 ft, DR 25/epic, Extraordinary Health, Hard Shield 125, Immunities, Multischism, Regeneration 10, Resistance to Non-Siege Weapons, SR 36, Telepathy 1000 ft, Touchsight 1000 ft
Saves:	Fort +26, Ref +16, Will +21
Abilities:	Str 40, Dex 10, Con 30, Int 35, Wis 21, Cha 25
Skills:	Autohypnosis +33, Balance +28, Bluff +35, Concentration +38, Escape Artist +28, Intimidate +51, Knowledge (all) +40, Listen +33, Psicraft +40, Spot +33, Use Psionic Device +35
Feats:	Adamantine Stomach, Great Fortitude, Lightning Reflexes, Iron Will, Psionic Meditation, Burrowing Power, Split Psionic Ray, Dire Charge-CE, Epic Toughness
Environment:	Any
Organization:	Solitary, Pair, or Armada (3-8)
Challenge Rating:	25
Treasure:	None
Alignment:	Often Neutral Evil
Advancement:	26-50 HD (Colossal), 51-75 HD (Titanic)
Level Adjustment:	—

A black cephalopod shaped shadow blotted out the stars as it decends, its uncountable red eyes glowing likes stars all of their own. Its body had a black metallic sheen, yet flexed like flesh, and dark red bolts of psionic energy course up its body like veins.

The "hands" of Extheoria, the Reaper of Minds, they only make themselves known in the final stages of Extheoria's coming and yet their influence is often felt on the planet long before. Many times Extheoria sends a single scout extheoria reaper out to determine the psionic ripeness of a planet, leaving the physical mass of the creature buried deep underground, in the sea, or on a nearby moon to watch and observe. When the time it right it awakens and begins its dark planet to dominate all sentience and bring them to the location of the feast, where Extheoria shall consume them all. They may be solitary if found early, but in the final stages there could be a dozen of these things. Though they are all technically part of Extheoria, they do have individual quirks and personalities which can be spoken of as individualism. Ultimately though they all serve the same purpose unquestioningly.

An extheoria reaper appears as a colossal cuttlefish-like being of black metallic flesh of unknown origin, and red psionic energy which flows through it like blood. It is immortal and hails from the unknown dimension Extheoria comes from, some place in between the spaces on the Plane of Dreams. They are covered in a random assortment of red eyes, most centered around the "face" of the cuttlefish.

An extheoria does not age, does not eat, sleep, or breathe, and can endure even the most extreme environments and even outer space, which it often moves through when not orbiting Extheoria on its home plane.

Combat

Often combat is not needed, for the reaper has already manipulated or compelled others to do their bidding. When actually fighting extheoria reapers tend to be direct and arrogant as they have little to fear from conventional weapons. For foes which prove capable of harming it, it turns from its task of bringing creatures for The Gathering and focuses on the offenders, seeking to break them with its psionics, and then eat them to subject them to either unconciousness or domination by The Gathering. It shows little to no interest in beings of animal intelligence but usually does go out of its way to preserve the lives of sentient beings, if only to sacrifice them in The Gathering.

With its multischism, it is very capable of taking on entire parties solo, and devestating them. It is not above trickery, manipulation, or any code of ethics and will only keep word if it has no reason to break it.

If one manages to actually kill an extheoria reaper early, it may be possible to dissuade Extheoria's approach. It is however only theory, it may be that nothing more than the cessation of a large amount of sentient life on the planet will convince the elder evil to change course.

Dream Shift (Ps): An extheoria reaper can manifest dream travel at will (but with a 3 round manifesting time), and usually use this to transport themselves to and from the obscure dimension they hail from.

Extraordinary Health (Ex): An extheoria reaper always receives maximum hit points per hit die.

Hard Shield (Ex): An extheoria reaper has a shield with hardness 20 and 5 hp per level (125 hp). It regenerates 1 point per minute of its shield each round, a +25 deflection bonus, and immunity to critical hits as long as the shield is up. The shield manifests as a glowing orange hexagonal buckeyball that is visible when struck. It can restore 25d6 of its shield's hp as a 1 round action.

Immunities (Ex): An extheoria reaper is immune to death effects, disease, mind-affecting effects, nausea, paralysis, poison, and sickening. They are immune to environmental effects as if under the effects of adapt body, but non-environmental effects still can injure them. Like the elder evil that spawned them, it is immune to all divine and psionic divination and clairsentience attempts.

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a extheoria reaper must hit with a tentacle. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity.

Multischism (Su): An extheoria reaper is always under the effects of a unique form of schism. They may make up to four purely mental standard actions a round in addition to their normal manifesting, but do so at a cumilative -5 penalty to manifester level, starting at -5. Therefore an extheoria reaper could full attack and manifest at ML 20th, 15th, 10th, and 5th. Or they could manifest at 25th, and then manifest at 20th, 15th, 10th, and 5th. In all cases, none of the manifested powers can target the same creature in the same round (including manifesting powers on itself). It is believed that an extheoria reaper is not one creature, but many, and sharing the same focus on a target at one time ruins their collective concentration.

Psionics: An extheoria reaper manifests as a 25th level psion (seer). The save DCs are Intelligence based.

Typical Psion Powers Known (493 PP; save DC 22 + power level)
1-destiny dissonance, energy ray, entangling ectoplasm, know direction and location, mind thrust; 2-concussion blast, id insinuation, mental disruption, psionic tongues; 3-dispel psionics, energy wall, fate link, ubiquitous vision; 4-death urge, psionic divination, psionic freedom of movement, remote viewing; 5-ectoplasmic shambler, psionic true seeing, psychic crush, shatter mind blank; 6-mass cloud mind, psionic contingency, psionic disintegrate; 7-energy conversion, fate of one, ultrablast; 8-bend reality, psionic greater teleport, hypercognition; 9-assimilate, microcosm, primal energy cataclysm, psionic etherealness, timeless body, unreality zone.

Regeneration (Ex): An extheoria reaper has regeneration 10, bypassed by starmetal and sonic damage.

Resistance to Non-Siege Weapons (Ex): An extheoria reaper takes half damage from non-siege weapons, and from spells which do not bypass its regeneration.

Swallow Whole (Ex): The extheoria reaper can try to swallow a grabbed opponent of Huge or smaller size by making a successful grapple check. Once inside, the opponent takes 10d6 nonlethal damage per round from psionic energies crackling within its interior, and it is subject to The Gathering each round. A swallowed creature can cut its way out by dealing 50 points of damage to the extheoria reaper's digestive tract (AC 35). Once the creature exits, muscular action closes the hole; another swallowed opponent must cut its own way out. The extheoria reaper’s gullet can hold 1 Huge, 4 Large, 16 Medium, 64 Small, or 256 Tiny or smaller creatures.

Touchsight (Su): An extheoria reaper is constantly under the effects of touchsight out to 1000 ft.

The Gathering (Su): An extheoria reaper may use the malefic property "The Gathering" granted by Extheoria's presence. For the purposes of range the reaper is considered to be the elder evil itself. The DC is 29, and the DC is Charisma based.

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