Tentacles, Part Deux!

Since we started the week’s blogs with a Review of Critter Chache 6: Lovecraftian Bestiary, it seems only fitting that Friday’s 4e Freebie should be another compendium of alien monstrosities.  The Book of Distant Stars is a monster manual containing 64 aberrant creatures that hail from the Far Realms. 

As per the article in the Manual of the Planes, the Far Realms, or the “Outside”, is some plane or space that lies beyond the multiverse, essentially something “outside” of creation and the cosmology of most D&D 4e World Settings.  It is so alien, and so beyond what mortals would consider normal planar geometry, that it has the ability to drive one mad. 

Sound familiar, Mr. Lovecraft?

It’s even suggested that certain creatures like aboleths and mind flayers come from the Far Realms and have evolved here in the “normal” universe.  (see Manual of the Planes, “Far Realms”) 

Of course if those entities managed to emigrate from that bizarre alien place, who is to say other “things” might not come through from the Far Realms as well?  Or worse yet, what if your Heroes fell through some crack in the multiverse and reappeared in the “Outside”?

Just a touch of madness…

The Book of Distant Stars appeared on the EN World forums, posted by user Mesh Hong, in this thread and can be downloaded in pdf format from there.  The book consists of two sections of monsters, General and Themed, and they range from Level 2 to Level 12, so are mainly to be used against Heroic Tier Characters.  The ebook also has two appendices consisting of a table showing the Aberrations by Level, and also a section on handling Mental Disorders, which is tracked similarly to a Disease (see DMG).

Yes, messing with alien creatures from beyond the universe is apt to drive one crazy -and some of these horrors can inflict a Mental Disorder as some mundane creatures can inflict Disease!  While the Book of Distant Stars lacks illustrations – and maybe that’s a good thing *shudder* – the Author does an excellent job describing the aberrations, their tactics, and the bizarre and very alien attack forms these creatures can use against your hapless Heroes. 

A good example of one such blasphemous horror comes from the General Section, and is called the Graknik Brain Eater.  [Editor’s Note: You can’t write an article about alien other-dimensional entities without using the word, “blasphemous” at least one time – I think there is a rule or law or something.]

Graknik Brain Eaters are floating black balls of wriggling tentacles approximately two foot in diameter, one in every ten tentacles ends in a milky yellow unblinking eye. Every once in a while the tentacles part revealing a large toothless mouth containing a thick yellow tongue that ends in a crown of sharp barbs or teeth.

Brain Eaters are feared for the tales that tell of them feeding on its victims memories and the delicate liquids surrounding their brains. In combat a Brain eater will generally wait in hiding until most of its targets are engaged or distracted by other threats, then it will move in and attempt to restrain its chosen meal. Once attached, it will use its yellow tongue to bore into its target head, usually by means of the targets mouth or throat and attempt to feed on its brain. The shock and pain of this attack is usually enough to drive its target insane.

This Level 10 Lurker, described as a Medium Aberrant Magical Beast (undead) has a vicious array of attacks, first grabbing the head of its victim and then subjecting its prey to a Brain Bore:

Head Grab (Standard; at-will)
Attack + 13 vs. Reflex; 2d6+5 necrotic damage; on hit Brain Eater enters targets square and target is grabbed and restrained (while grabbed, escape ends), a creature escaping the grab may shift to any adjacent square as a free action

Brain Bore (Standard; at-will) restrained target only
Target must be restrained by Brain Eater at the start if its turn; attack +13 vs. Fortitude; 3d6+5 necrotic damage; on hit secondary attack +13 vs. Will; on hit Brain Eater gains 15 temporary HPs and target contracts a level 10 Mental Disorder (see special rules), (note: a target may gain multiple disorders)

Of course, if you happen to survive an attack from a Graknik Brain Eater, you still have to contend with the Mental Disorder it has left you with, which could range from Phobias or Fetishes to Mania, Paranoia, or Hallucinations.

Themed monsters consist of races of entities – such as the crab-like Pugee – to cultists and spawn creatures  - like those that worship Yog’Dol’Urn called “the god of the spinning void, the space between stars, emptiness, and the unforgiving warp”.   The Author give Themed Aberrations several different versions of the same creature type, each covering a different Encounter Role, such as Artillerist, Lurker, Controller, or Brute.

And while not all the entities of the Far Realms are evil, they are still so terribly alien to the known multiverse, that they still present a danger and threat to all who encounter them.  One such Themed Aberration is the race called the Arri-Vastril. 

These are creatures of radiant energy and they feast upon the necrotic energy found in undead.  While this may seem to be a good thing, the Arri-Vastril are alien entities, and have agendas all unto themselves.  While not malevolent, they can cause harm, for the energy and light they emit, while capable of actually healing mortals, subverts the will and makes other entities believe they are gods needing service and worship.  In essence, they brainwash and program the local inhabitants to assist them in getting more undead to feed on!

Much like the Critter Cache: Lovecraftian Bestiary, the Book of Distant Stars offers DMs the chance to take their adventures to a dark and terrifying level.  Whether the Heroes are dealing with an incursion of horrible entities from the “Outside” ravaging the countryside, or finding, in some lost ruin, a weak spot in the fabric of reality, this ebook can be used to shock and horrify even the most confident Player. 

So I can strongly recommend that this is one Freebie that is well worth the download.  It is well written and imaginative, and I certainly hope to see more aberrations from the Paragon and Epic Tiers from the Author, Mesh Hong.

So until next blog, I wish you Happy Gaming!

Tags: D&D 4e, free, horror, Lovecraft, monster, variant

This entry was posted by Editor-in-Chief on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 10:38 am and is filed under Dramatis Personae, Dungeonmasters' Insider, House Rules & Variations, Monsters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.