Big Fish in a Small Pond
Welcome again to Masters and Minions, where I strive to give you interesting NPCs and encounters that can be placed easily into your game. This week’s encounter is with the notorious crime lord, Salazar the Shark. Salazar is actually the aboleth sorcerer, Ghizgalqul. Ghizgalqul’s base of operations is set beneath a large thriving port city. The people in Ghizgalqul’s organization have no idea that they are actually working for an aboleth.
The PCs find the projected image of Ghizgalqul as the human Salazar, sitting behind his desk. Behind the desk is a giant aquarium large enough to comfortably hold Ghizgalqul. When fighting through his projected image he tends to use dominate monster and charm monster spells and spell-like abilities first, then he uses his acid arrow spell and acid ray bloodline ability to finish off the non-charmed or dominated PCs. If they see through his projected image, he seals his office and the aquarium opens up into the office, flooding the room in a matter of rounds (approximately 4 rounds) with about four feet between the ceiling and the water’s surface. If the PCs manage to break down the office door, effectively draining the room, Ghizgalqul dimension doors himself into a large crystal globe seated atop a stone pedestal; the globe is filled with water. This mini-aquarium is actually his escape pod.
Quotes by Ghizgalqul:
“Congratulations: you have managed to see through my illusions. Now welcome to your watery grave!” – just before he floods his main office
“Welcome to the organization… thrall!” – after dominating a PC
Ghizgalqul aka Salazar the Shark |
CR 12 |
XP 3,200
Aboleth sorcerer 9
LE Huge aberration (aquatic)
Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft; Perception +23
Aura mucus cloud (5 feet)
DEFENSE
AC 20, touch 9, flat-footed 19; (+2 Dex, +11 natural, –2 size)
hp 195 (17 HD; 8d8+9d6+128)
Fort +12, Ref +9, Will +16; +2 bonus on saves vs. poisons
Defensive Abilities Resists fire 10
OFFENSE
Speed 10 ft, swim 60 ft
Melee 4 tentacles +15 (1d6+7 plus slime)
Space 15 ft; Reach 15 ft
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 16th)
At will—hypnotic pattern (DC 18), illusory wall (DC 20), mirage arcana (DC 21), persistent image (DC 21), programmed image (DC 22), project image (DC 23), veil (DC 22)
3/day—dominate monster (DC 25)
Bloodline Spell-Like Abilities (CL 9th)
Acidic Rays — (9/day)
Sorcerer Spells Know (CL 9)
4th (5/day)—black tentacles(B), charm monster (DC 20), dimension door
3rd (7/day)—displacement, hold person (DC 19), tongues(B), vampiric touch
2nd (8/day)—acid arrow, blur, phantom trap, see invisibility(B), touch of idiocy
1st (8/day)—charm person (DC 17), chill touch, enlarge person(B), mage armor, magic missile, shocking grasp
0 (at will)—acid splash, bleed, dancing light, detect magic, mage hand, open/close, resistance, touch of fatigue
Bloodline aberrant
STATISTICS
Str 24, Dex 14, Con 24, Int 15, Wis 15, Cha 23
Base Atk +10; CMB +19; CMD 33 (can't be tripped)
Feats Arcane Strike, Combat Casting, Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Craft Construct, Craft Wondrous Items, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Weapon Focus (tentacle)
Skills Bluff +20, Intimidate +14, Knowledge (local) +13, Linguistics +3, Perception +23, Spellcraft +21, Swim +33; Racial Modifiers +8 Swim
Languages Aboleth, Aklo, Aquan, Common, Undercommon
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Mucus Cloud (Ex)
While underwater, an aboleth exudes a cloud of transparent slime. All creatures adjacent to an aboleth must succeed on a DC 22 Fortitude save each round or lose the ability to breathe air (but gain the ability to breathe water) for 3 hours. Renewed contact with an aboleth's mucus cloud and failing another save extends the effect for another 3 hours. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Slime (Ex)
A creature hit by an aboleth's tentacle must succeed on a DC 22 Fortitude save or his skin and flesh transform into a clear, slimy membrane over the course of 1d4 rounds. The creature's new “flesh” is soft and tender, reducing its Constitution score by 4 as long as it persists. If the creature's flesh isn't kept moist, it dries quickly and the victim takes 1d12 points of damage every 10 minutes. Remove disease and similar effects can restore an afflicted creature to normal, but immunity to disease offers no protection from this attack. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Ghizgalqul’s Escape Tank |
CR 9 |
XP 6,400
N Gargantuan construct
Init -2 Senses darkvision 60 ft, low-light vision; Perception -5
DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 4, flat-footed 20 (-2 Dex, +14 natural, -4 size)
hp 115hp (10d10+60 size)
Fort +3, Ref +1, Will -3
Defensive Abilities hardness 8 Immune Construct Traits
OFFENSE
Speed 50 ft, fly 50 ft (clumsy), swim 50 ft
Melee slam +18 (1d6+12)
STATISTICS
Str 34, Dex 6, Con -, Int -, Wis 1, Cha 1
Base Atk +10 CMB +26 CMD 34
SQ 5 construction points
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Construction Points
Gargantuan animated objects have 5 construction points.
Stone (Ex, 1 CP): The object is made of stone or crystal. Its hardness increases to 8 and it gains a +1 increase to its natural armor bonus.
Additional Movement (Ex, 1 CP): Gains a new mode of movement (fly [clumsy]) at a speed equal to its base speed.
Faster (Ex, 3 CP): One of the object's movement modes increases by +30 ft.