Page 193 - Lords of Madness: The Book of Aberrations

with spells such as bear’s endurance, bull’s strength, stoneskin, their leader. Aberrations are drawn to this prestige class as well;
mage armor, and the like. Once you are forced into melee, a fleshwarper mind flayer or grell would make a memorable

any number of grafts can give you a significant advantage in villain.

combat.
Organization
Advancement The study of the fleshwarper’s art is a solitary pursuit. No

As you gain levels, don’t be afraid to create new grafts for organization composed exclusively of fleshwarpers exists.

yourself or your allies. The combination of grafting and the However, evil fleshwarpers sometimes strike bargains with

various elder secrets you can learn make you more versatile powerful aberrations such as aboleths or mind flayers, trading
their service and fealty for knowledge of new grafts.
than your companions. Take care not to generalize too much;
CHAPTER 9 THE ABERRATION HUNTER you should decide early on what your goal should be with your Fleshwarpers have difficultly interacting with others, espe-
grafts. Do you want to be a better fighter? A better scout? A NPC Reactions

better spellcaster? Focus your elder secrets and grafts along
these lines, and you’ll find yourself in a much stronger position

cially with the keepers of the Cerulean Sign or the abolishers
than if your grafts and secrets aren’t complementary.
Regarding interactions with others, keep in mind when of the Circle of the True. They are taken to be aberrations
themselves, even well before they actually reach apotheosis.

selecting new grafts for yourself how extreme they appear. If Such individuals have initial reactions of hostile to a flesh-
you choose grafts that involve major changes to your appear- warper; most others have initial reactions of unfriendly. This

ance, you might find yourself spending resources and time extends even to other fleshwarpers; they guard their secrets

just keeping others from attacking you on sight. jealously and fear the interest of other fleshwarpers more than

One way to combat this problem, of course, is to invest in anything else.
items such as a hat of disguise or a robe of blending that you can
use to disguise your grafts. If you can use them, a wand of FLESHWARPER LORE

polymorph or alter self can be similarly helpful. If you’re not Characters with Knowledge (arcana) can research fleshwarp-
interested in how others react to your true appearance, though, ers to learn more about them. When a character makes a
your best bet is to focus your purchases on items that augment skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including the
the particular type of grafts you select for yourself. information from lower DCs.
DC 10: “Fleshwarpers are spellcasters who specialize in the
Resources construction of grafts.”

While most people are repelled by the fleshwarper’s work, a DC 15: “Fleshwarpers have several minions that they use as
fleshwarper is usually an arcane spellcaster of no small skill. guardians and experimental stock for their projects.”

Consequently, a fleshwarper is often tolerated in wizards’ DC 20: “Not all fleshwarpers are evil; some merely seek

guilds or other arcane associations, or even welcomed in a ways to enhance their bodies. The majority of them are cruel
guild of evil spellcasters who aren’t very squeamish about a and sadistic, though, and society as a whole should fear these
fleshwarper’s peculiar interests. As a member of a guild or individuals.”

similar organization, a fleshwarper can often contribute to the DC 30: Characters who achieve this level of success can

organization by teaching new spells, acquiring rare material learn important details about specific fleshwarpers, including
components, or capturing interesting creatures for study and the nature of their researches and possibly even what kind of

vivisection. The exact nature of the benefits available in return grafts they and their minions have.
for those efforts depend on the guild in question.
FLESHWARPERS IN THE GAME
FLESHWARPERS IN THE WORLD Fleshwarpers make excellent villainous masterminds. Their
Fleshwarpers don’t make new friends easily; their bizarre minions can have numerous bizarre and deadly grafts to
obsession with alien grafts makes them difficult creatures make them more dangerous, and the fleshwarper himself

to approach. As a result, fleshwarpers live in out-of-the-way can be a memorable and unique villain. Yet they can also

places, deep in the wilderness or underground. The few who make interesting allies; a friendly fleshwarper can give PCs
live in large urban areas tend to be shut-ins and rely on allies powerful grafts and assistance as rewards for accomplishing
or minions to run errands for them. Of course, exceptions tasks, or as payment.

exist; rare fleshwarpers take glee in displaying their bodies
and discoveries to the world. Adaptation

Too often, the lonely life of a fleshwarper leads to cruelty or Fleshwarpers are fairly insulated from the external factors of
insanity. Evil fleshwarpers are sadists who enjoy the torments a campaign world; as long as your world has grafts in it, the

they inflict on others as much as they enjoy the thrill of creat- fleshwarper can thrive more or less unadapted from the way

ing new grafts. The PCs might find themselves pitted against he is presented here.

a small army of graft-enhanced minions with a fleshwarper as
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