The
Carapace of Karadchazuul
The Carapace of
Karadchazuul appears to be the lacquered, wooden, and highly ornamental (and
hence impractical) forearm piece of a set of exotic armor. [Similar to how the forearm piece of a set of
samurai armor would appear to a European seeing it for the first time.] It is made up of a hardened plate that fits
around the forearm, connected by a supple wrist to a thumb-less glove, the back
of which is protected by a hardened handguard.
It will fit over the wearer’s right or left forearm and hand. All of its hard surfaces are covered with
small spikes that slope back toward the wearer’s elbow. The spikes are the same material as the rest
and appear to have grown from the plates.
When found, the
Carapace will fit a very large man, but if anyone of any size or race slides it
onto their arm, it will adjust its size to fit their arm perfectly. The first time that an individual slides it
onto their arm, they will immediately and permanently have their Strength
increased by one point (up to a maximum of 18).
This change will occur for every individual that tries it on, even if
they immediately remove it. There is no
limit to the number of beings who will receive the benefit of this Strength
increase. Additionally, each person that
tries it on will feel the very strong urge to punch someone or something. A punch while wearing the Carapace will deal
1d6+2 hp of damage; it enables its wearer to damage items that must be struck
by magic weapons.
An individual trying it
on for the second time will immediately and permanently have their Constitution
increased by one point (up to a maximum of 18).
This second change will only benefit the first person who tries it on
for the second time—no others will receive this benefit, until 1337.5 days have
passed after the first individual has done so, at which time another may
experience the second and follow-on effects described below. The individual will have an even stronger
urge to punch someone or something; they must Save vs. Magic with a -4 penalty or
lash out at the nearest target.
The goal of the
Carapace to this point (if an unthinking, inanimate object can be said to have
a goal) is to convince its wearer to keep it and use it in combat. As its wearer uses the Carapace to inflict
further damage on living things, he or she will experience changes as detailed
in the table below. (The damage will
need to be tracked by the GM.
Additionally, the GM should determine in advance the ‘Additional Damage
Inflicted’ in the first column.) Note
that damage inflicted by the character using a weapon held by the carapaced
hand will not lead to changes—only that damage directly caused by the
carapace. Changes will occur
automatically, although the stylistic details of how the change occurs are up
to the individual GM, and are permanent.
If a limit to a change is reached, all follow-on changes of that nature
are skipped, although penalties that may occur at the same time are not skipped. If left unchecked, these changes will
eventually lead the wearer to actually become a Karadchazuul warrior. (See Karadchazuul description below.)
Additional Damage Inflicted by the
Carapace
|
Change to Player Character
|
|
1
|
3d10+6
hp
|
Strength
Increase
|
2
|
3d10+6
hp
|
Constitution
Increase and Permanent Attachment (-1)
|
3
|
3d10+6
hp
|
AC
Improvement
|
4
|
3d10+6
hp
|
Dexterity
Decrease
|
5
|
3d8+6
hp
|
Strength
Increase and Permanent Attachment (-2)
|
6
|
3d8+6
hp
|
Charisma
Decrease
|
7
|
3d8+6
hp
|
Hit
Point Increase
|
8
|
3d8+6
hp
|
Strength
Increase and Permanent Attachment (-3)
|
9
|
4d6+5
hp
|
Dexterity
Decrease
|
10
|
4d6+5
hp
|
Charisma
Decrease
|
11
|
4d6+5
hp
|
Strength
Increase and Permanent Attachment (-4)
|
12
|
4d6+5
hp
|
AC
Improvement
|
13
|
3d8+4
hp
|
Arm
Buds
|
14
|
3d8+4
hp
|
Charisma
Decrease and Permanent Attachment (-5)
|
15
|
3d8+4
hp
|
Hit
Point Increase and Rage (-2)
|
16
|
3d8+4
hp
|
Dexterity
Decrease
|
17
|
2d12+2
hp
|
Constitution
Increase and Permanent Attachment (-6)
|
18
|
2d12+2
hp
|
Charisma
Decrease and Rage (-3)
|
19
|
2d12+2
hp
|
AC
Improvement
|
20
|
2d12+2
hp
|
Dexterity
Decrease and Permanent Attachment (-7)
|
21
|
2d10+2
hp
|
Constitution
Increase and Rage (-4)
|
22
|
2d10+2
hp
|
Charisma
Decrease
|
23
|
2d10+2
hp
|
AC
Improvement and Permanent Attachment (-8)
|
24
|
2d10+2
hp
|
Constitution
Increase and Rage (-5)
|
25
|
2d8+4
hp
|
Strength
Increase
|
26
|
2d8+4
hp
|
Hit
Point Increase and Permanent Attachment (-9)
|
27
|
2d8+4
hp
|
AC
Improvement and Rage (-6)
|
28
|
2d8+4
hp
|
Dexterity
Decrease
|
29
|
2d8+4
hp
|
Charisma
Decrease and Permanent Attachment (-10)
|
30
|
2d8+4
hp
|
AC
Improvement and Rage (-8)
|
Strength Increase – The
character gains a permanent +1 addition to their Strength (up to a maximum of
18).
Constitution Increase –
The character gains a permanent +1 addition to their Constitution (up to a
maximum of 18).
Permanent Attachment –
The character must Save vs. Magic (with Penalty as indicated in parentheses) or
the Carapace is permanently attached to his arm. It cannot be removed from the character’s arm
in any way. If the arm is amputated or
if the character is killed, the Carapace will consume the arm in its
entirety. (How this consumption occurs
is up to the GM.) The Carapace will then
return to the form in which it was originally found.
Armor Class (AC) Improvement
– The character gains a permanent +1 to their natural Armor Class (to a maximum
of 6 points better than natural AC for that race). These changes occur as the character’s skin
grows tougher, first thick and leathery, and then hardening into an insect-like
carapace. With each 2 points of increase
in Armor Class, any clothing or armor worn by the character will cease to fit,
and the character will have to obtain new clothing and armor.
Dexterity Decrease –
The character loses a permanent -1 to Dexterity (down to minimum of 8).
Charisma Decrease – The
character loses a permanent -1 to Charisma (down to minimum of 6). These changes occur as the character’s
appearance changes toward that of a Karadchazuul (see below), and the character
begins to lose the ability to appropriately interact with beings other than
Karadchazuul.
Hit Point Increase –
The character gains an additional 3 hp (up to a maximum of 50).
Arm Buds - Two buds
will form on the character’s rib cage, one on each side, a few inches below his
or her arm. Each bud will grow into a
full arm in 2d4 weeks. The arms are
smaller than the character’s original pair, but otherwise resemble his normal
arms. If the arms are amputated, they
will regenerate in 2d4 weeks.
Rage - The character
must Save vs. Magic (with Penalty as indicated in parentheses) or fly into a
Rage. A character in a Rage will attack
everyone around him (friend or foe) for 1d6 rounds. While in a rage, the character will attack
solely using the Carapace. Upon
completion of the Rage, the character must Save vs. Magic (with a penalty
identical to that which caused the rage).
If the Save fails, the character will feel a strong urge to do
everything in his power to continue forward with the transformation, i.e. use
the Carapace as his preferred weapon over any other. The character may not necessarily abandon the
party or thwart their plans. As its
transformation continues, however, the chance that the character will abandon the
party increases (10% increase at each subsequent Rage).
Each 2d8+2 hp of damage
inflicted by the Carapace after the 30th step will lead to another
instance of Rage, with an increase in the penalty to the Saving Throw (-9, then
-10, etc.). Eventually, the character will choose to abandon the party. At that point, it becomes an NPC controlled
by the GM. One week after that, it will
complete the transition to Karadchazuul.
Karadchazuul
The Karadchazuul is an
alien race, not native to this material plane.
It is bipedal and walks upright, although it has four arms. Its entire body is covered in a thick,
segmented carapace; its face vaguely resembles that of a lobster. It is intelligent although it can only
communicate with a series of clicks and hisses.
Nothing is known of their culture or society or if they even have such
things; none beyond individuals created by the Carapace have ever been
encountered.
For the karadchazuul
that was created by the Carapace, it remembers others of its kind, although it
doesn’t know where they are from or how to return to them. Two weeks after it forms, it will amputate
one of its main arms, thus creating a new Carapace
of Karadchazuul. The amputated arm
will grow back in 2d4 weeks. If the
karadchazuul is killed, one of its main arms will likewise form a new Carapace of Karadchazuul.
In combat, the
karadchazuul attacks with each of its claws.
Its statistics are as follows:
AC 4; HD 8d8 (50hp); #
of Attacks: 4; Dmg 1d6+2/1d6+2/1d4/1d4.
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