Significant Other (Succubus) – Day 14 D&D 40th Anniversary Blog Hop

This is day 14 of the of d20 Dark Ages’ D&D 40th Anniversary Blog Hop Challenge! Based off of the challenge’s prompts I will be sharing personal stories about my history with Dungeons & Dragons every day in February. You can hop to another participating blog by using the links at the end of the article or click here to see my previous answers.

Day 14: Did you meet your significant other while playing D&D? If so, do they still play? (Or just post a randomly generated monster in protest of Valentine’s Day.)

I did not meet my wife through table-top games. While she respects my devotion to this wonderful and silly hobby she has absolutely no interest in them. It’s something I am eternally grateful for! While role-playing is very rewarding on its own it’s also my preferred venue for personal-time away from my eerily blissful relationship. Seriously, she has to be a succubus or something.

Speaking of which…

Succubus for 13th Age

Double Strength Level 4 Spoiler (Devil)

Init +7; HP 108; AC 19 PD 15 MD 17

Unbearable Touch +9 vs PD – 28 psychic damage.
Special: If the target isn’t charmed immediately make an enthrall attack against it as a free action.

Ranged: Ray of Pain +9 vs PD (one nearby enemy) – 34 psychic damage.
Natural 16+: The target is hampered (save ends).

Close: Enthrall +9 vs MD (one nearby enemy) – The target is charmed (save ends). Charmed creatures are stunned (as the condition) and are subject to being commanded, see below.
Limited Use: If the succubus already has a PC charmed it cannot use enthrall.

Command the Charmed – Once during her turn as a free action the succubus can order her charmed creature to help her using one of the following two commands:

Protect Me! – The charmed creature moves to the succubus’s side as a free action. Until the beginning of the succubus’s next turn, as long as the charmed creature is still adjacent to the succubus, every natural odd attack roll targeting the succubus targets the charmed creature instead.

Get Them! – The charmed creature makes a basic melee, basic ranged, or at-will ranged spell attack of the succubus’s choice against an ally. If the escalation die is 5+, the creature can instead use any power or spell, including those that may be daily or recharge.

Assume Form: The succubus can change her appearance in a heartbeat, though she must always resemble a humanoid. They are supernaturally proficient at impersonating others, though assuming a form doesn’t impart any knowledge that they wouldn’t already have. It takes a ridiculously hard test to detect a succubus in disguise, though asking clever probing questions can easily reveal that something isn’t quite right.

Nastier Specials:

Escalating Charm – The succubus gains the value of the escalation die as a bonus to her enthrall attack rolls.

Mass Appeal – Remove enthrall’s limited use clause, the succubus can charm as many creatures as she dares. When using command the charmed she must pick a single charmed creature.

Building Battles

Because enthrall can completely swing a battle in her favor (and the devil’s natural desire to not share the spotlight) it’s ill-advised to include more than one succubus in a single encounter. This monster is best used in a capstone fight for lower level parties or an obnoxiously effective spoiler for higher level parties.

Knowing that their powers make them prime targets, succubi rarely choose to engage in combat where they’re not accompanied by tough allies to intercept and sneaky assassins to keep spell casting PCs busy. If given the time to ingratiate themselves in a community the succubus may have gangs of allies under her sway for protection such as city guards, bands of bandits, or even townsfolk. Having such backup don’t prevent her from using her enthrall power.

It’s a time honored tradition to make an NPC ally of the party a devil spy or to have parties get caught up in factions spurred to violent action thanks to the machinations of a succubus. When you employ a succubus in your story make sure that the reveal is potent and the comeuppance sweet. There is nothing more delicious than the paranoia of a party left wondering if their allies are exactly as they seem.

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