Kerapsis, the Carrion Fury

[Polyphemus]

Kerapsis, the Carrion Fury

Character Sheet

Race: Vrock                        Type: Prime-bound fiend, Tanar'ri

Gestalt Side 1: Vrock 1      Gestalt Side 2: Cleric 1 

Alignment: Chaotic Evil       Diety: Orcus

Profession: Soldier / scout  Age: 247

Gender: Female                  Height: 5'6" + 3"/level until 8'

Weight: 150lbs + 35/level until 500lbs

Appearance

Kerapsis' powerful wings and shoulders are covered in ash gray / black feathers. This contrasts sharply with the blood-red leathery vulture-like skin covering her body. Her head is a paler pink color and houses a pair of beady read eyes.

Her muscular build paired with her razor-sharp claws, serrated beak, and leathery tail combine to form quite the intimidating sight. But, despite how terrifying Kerapsis' physical appearance is, it all pales in comparison to when she smiles her wide, cruel grin.

In the wake of the portal 'incident', she is significantly smaller and weaker than she was before, at her prime, but most details of her appearance are pretty much the same otherwise.

Backstory

In the aftermath of a blood war battle with the devils, Kerapsis lay on the scorched and blood soaked battlefield drifting in and out of consciousness...

During the few times she had passed through Orcus' abyssal layer of Thanatos, Kerapsis had noticed she could feel Orcus' magical presence, it even seemed to stay with her for a brief time after leaving the layer. Bleeding out on the battlefield, she once again felt this presence with her.

She called out to Orcus, whispering a silent plea for help in exchange for her worship and services. Losing grip on her senses, she fell back into unconsciousness, but a sharp burning pain brought her reeling back. On one of her forearms, now bore the symbol of Orcus, cut and burned into her skin.

She had reached a point of shock and blood loss that as her life was fading away, she no longer felt the pain from her other injuries, but the pain coming from the symbol was immense. The pain didn’t make her pass out, in fact it kept her conscious and in excruciating pain. Shrieking from the pain, she slowly crawled over to the nearest corpse and started consuming the flesh of the fallen, devils and demons alike. Among the field of corpses, she slowly recuperated her strength and the pain from the symbol on her forearm eventually faded away to a barely perceptible ache.

Afterwards, she kept serving in the blood war, slaying many in Orcus' name, rising up in the ranks as an elite abyssal legionary. She also would, from time to time, be called upon by Orcus to do some reconnaissance work monitoring the army movements of some of his rivals like Graz'zt and Demogorgon. When the call went out for abyssal armies to gather to travel through the portal, Kerapsis answered, unaware of what treachery was at work...

Personality

• Kerapsis can be a prideful creature at times, but not so much that she is unwilling to occasionally humble herself to a great being if it will save her hide (as seen in her devotion to Orcus).
• She hasn't been around since the dawn of time like some demons, but she's determined to be around for for the end of it, if she has any say over the matter. At 247 years young, she has a certain scrappiness and fury she brings to fight tooth and nail to stay alive in the chaotic, conflict riddled life of a demon.
• She enjoys seeing the look of terror in her victims eyes. If she easily outmatches he prey, she sometimes has a tendency of playing with her food.

Humanoid Polymorph Form

While this won’t be fully decided until the ability is first used, here's an idea of what I think Kerapsis' polymorph form would be:

• Kerapsis' form is a very shifty, devious looking female Kenku (she naturally feels more comfortable in a bird-like form).
• She has beady black eyes. It's hard to read exactly what she's thinking behind those eyes, but it's certainly nothing good.
• Her feathers are black with some subtle blue tones to them.

 

 

 

Vrock Progression

Standard Vrock Progression tweaked slightly regarding house rules:

 

Racial Traits

• +2 Str, +2 Con, +2 Wis
• Speed: 30ft (land)
• 60ft Darkvision
• Poison immunity
• Skills: +8 racial to Spot (Listen is dead, long live the Spot), +15 knowledge (the old planes)
• Automatic Languages: Abyssal, Celestial, Draconic
• Prime bound fiend type
• Fast healing 1/min
• Immune to dismissal, banishment, cannot be hedged by protection spells etc.
• Humanoid polymorph form

 

Level	Hit Dice	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Skill Points	CR	Special
1st	1d8	+1	+2	+2	+2	(8 + Int mod) x4	1	subtypes (chaotic, evil), 2 claws 1d6, bite 1d6, +2 natural armor, resistances (acid 5, cold 5, electricity 5, fire 5)
2nd	2d8	+2	+3	+3	+3	8 + Int mod	1	+2 Dex, lesser vrock powers 1/day*
3rd	3d8	+3	+3	+3	+3	8 + Int mod	2	+2 Str, +4 natural armor, telepathy 100ft*
4th	3d8	+3	+3	+3	+3		3	+2 Con, 2 rakes 1d4, lesser vrock powers 3/day*, vrock powers 1/day*
5th	3d8	+3	+3	+3	+3		3	+2 Dex, +6 natural armor, Greater vrock powers 1/day
6th	4d8	+4	+4	+4	+4	8 + Int mod	4	+2 Str, spores 1/day, claws 1d8, lesser vrock powers at will*
7th	4d8	+4	+4	+4	+4		5	+2 Int, +8 natural armor
8th	4d8	+4	+4	+4	+4		5	+2 Wis, spores 3/day, vrock powers 3/day*
9th	5d8	+5	+4	+4	+4	8 + Int mod	6	+10 natural armor
10th	5d8	+5	+4	+4	+4		6	Spores 1/3 rounds, Stunning Screech 1/day, DR 5/+1, electricity immunity, resistances (acid 10, cold 10, fire 10), greater vrock powers 3/day*
11th	6d8	+6/+1	+5	+5	+5	8 + Int mod	7	Large size, reach 10ft, +2 Con, +12 natural armor, spell resistance
12th	6d8	+6/+1	+5	+5	+5		7	Vrock powers at will*
13th	7d8	+7/+2	+5	+5	+5		8	+14 natural armor, stunning screech 3/day
14th	7d8	+7/+2	+5	+5	+5		8	Dance of ruin, +2 Str, +2 Int
15th	8d8	+8/+3	+6	+6	+6		9
16th	8d8	+8/+3	+6	+6	+6		9	Stunning screech 1/hour, DR 10/+2, +2 Cha, greater vrock powers at will*

*Telepathy works as normal, but requires a shared language

*Lesser vrock powers now include flight 50ft (average) at 10mins/level

*Vrock powers no longer include 'teleport without error'

*Greater vrock powers added for 'teleport without error' only

 

-Removed summon tanar'ri powers

-Changed progression of all vrock power groups based on house rules post

 

Humanoid Polymorph Form:

• This is a specific individual form which once selected, cannot be changed.
• In this form you lose physical attacks, armour bonus etc but maintain senses and magic abilities. 
• The form can be selected anytime in the first 3 levels
• You can change 1/day/3 levels, and the change lasts 1 hour per level.
• You can choose to doppelganger a humanoid you have seen.  You will become a perfect physical replica of that person but gain none of their memories or knowledge.  Well, probably not.  What if you ate them beforehand.  Who knows?
• The special polymorph can hide your alignment, and is undetectable and undissmissable.  It is a "true" alternate form of you.

 

Class Features

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Vrocks are proficient with all simple and martial weapons but not with armor or shields.

Claws: A vrock has two claw attacks that are natural weapons dealing the indicated damage plus Strength bonus.

Bite: A vrock has a bite attack that is a natural weapon dealing the indicated damage plus 1/2 Strength bonus.

Rake: Starting at 4th level, a vrock has two rake attacks with its lower claws that are natural weapons dealing the indicated damage plus 1/2 Strength bonus.

Telepathy (Su): Starting at 3rd level, a vrock gains telepathy. It may communicate telepathically with any creature within 100 feet that has a language.

Lesser Vrock Powers (Sp): Beginning at 2nd level, a vrock can use the following spell-like abilities the indicated number of times per day: darkness, desecrate, detect good, detect magic, and mirror image. Its caster level for all spell-like abilities is equal to its Hit Dice from class levels + 4 (save DC 10 + spell level + vrock’s Cha modifier).

Vrock Powers (Sp): Beginning at 4th level, a vrock can use the following spell-like abilities: mass charm, telekinesis. Initially a vrock can use these abilities once per day; at 8th level it can use them three times per day; and at 12th level and higher it can use them at will.

Greater Vrock Powers (Sp): Beginning at 5th level, a vrock can use the following spell-like abilities: teleport without error (self plus 50 pounds of objects only). Initially a vrock can use these abilities once per day; at 10th level it can use them three times per day; and at 16th level and higher it can use them at will.

Spores (Ex): Beginning at 6th level, a vrock can release masses of spores from its body. The spores automatically deal 1d8 points of damage to all creatures within 5 feet of the vrock. They then penetrate the skin and grow, dealing an additional 1d2 points of damage each round for 10 rounds. At the end of this time, the victim is covered with a tangle of viny growths. A delay poison spell stops the spores’ growth for its duration. Bless, neutralize poison, or remove disease kills the spores, as does sprinkling the victim with a vial of holy water. Initially a vrock can release spores once per day; at 8th level it can use the attack three times per day; and at 10th level and higher it can release spores once every 3 rounds.

Stunning Screech (Su): At 10th level, a vrock gains the ability to emit a piercing screech. Every creature within 30 feet must succeed on a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 vrock’s HD from class levels + vrock’s Con modifier) or be stunned for 1 round. Initially a vrock can use its stunning screech once per day; at 13th level it can use the ability three times per day; and at 16th level and higher it can use the ability once per hour.

Spell Resistance (Ex): A vrock of 11th level or higher has spell resistance equal to 14 + Hit Dice from class level.

Dance of Ruin (Su): To use this ability, a group of five or more vrocks must join hands in a circle, dancing wildly and chanting. At least one of the vrocks must be 14th level or higher. If the vrocks dance for 3 rounds, a wave of crackling energy flashes outward in a 100-foot radius. All nondemons within the radius take 2d20 points of damage (Reflex half DC 10 + 1/2 vrock’s HD from class levels + vrock’s Cha modifier; calculate the save DC for each vrock in the group and use the highest one).

 

 

 

 

Edited May 30, 2023 by Polyphemus (see edit history)

[Polyphemus]

@Michael

Hi Michael, I was thinking about making a Vrock and focusing on their vulture-ish nature of eating the dead; and now seeing your rule on the eating-based progression definitely sells me on it as a good fit. Considering going Cleric for the class and just wanted to check in regarding my deity / domain thoughts:

1. Could I choose a powerful demon lord as my deity? It feels more fitting to me than being a demon who worships a god, even though technically this sounds more like Warlock territory. If so, I definitely have my eye on Orcus, as I think his undead aspect would mesh well with the flesh eating (and has potential for some necromancy fun of animating skeletons of consumed enemies later down the road).

2. If Orcus works as a diety choice, what domains should be available? I haven't seen an official list for him, but he's listed under the Demonic domain (FC I). Undeath (SC) seems fitting to me too. Evil and Chaos too just for demons in general. Death could also work in place of Undeath, but Undeath feels maybe slightly more specific to him? Let me know your thoughts, on those / if there's other fitting ones I'm missing.

[Michael]

Big fan of the vrock.

You can choose whatever you like as a deity because it's all going to drastically change at game start in Eberron where none of the standard deities reside, demon princes included.  Having a cleric in the party is a good hook for me for plots around the fiends understanding the divinity in the new world, and a good one for the cleric as they come to terms with it. Note this dramatic shift wont affect your clerical mechanics.

 

As such, I agree orcus would fit evil, chaos and undeath, also greed and destruction.

[Polyphemus]

Sweet, sounds good! For backstory / mechanics, I'll go ahead with Orcus, choosing from those domains, but excited about the options of how that might change in the new world.

Edited May 18, 2023 by Polyphemus (see edit history)

[Polyphemus]

@Michael

I updated the vrock progression from savage species to fit your house rules, but could you give the table a look over when you have a chance? Some things moved later, some moved earlier. Don't think anything should change level 1 regardless, so no rush getting to this, but just curious if this is right or if i misinterpreted any of your changes

[Polyphemus]

Also a question for later levels, but might affect starting feat choice:

Are you cool with Divine metamagic / persist spell? I wouldn't go overboard, just eventually having one or two persisted buffs for myself to be a bigger scarier vrock. I just now doing this can get a bit out of hand if using nightsticks or other ways to get tons of turn/rebuke charges, so wanted to check in about it.

[Michael]

For metamagic you cannot empower beyond what you can cast, regardless of nightsticks.  In other words, since persistent spells are 6 lvls higher, it is not possible to persist any spell higher than 3rd, and even that you wont get till you can cast 9th level spells.  A nightstick means you don't have to actually use the higher level slot, but the slot still needs to be in existence.

 

Progression looks good.

[Polyphemus]

Ok cool, and that ruling makes a lot of sense. Thanks for taking a look at the progression.

[Polyphemus]

@Michael I think I'm all set. I'll lock this application in unless you see any issues to address.

[Michael]

looks good.

[Polyphemus]

Level 2, huzzah!

[Polyphemus]

Gestalt Progression:

 

1. Cleric / Vrock HD: HD d8 BAB +1. Saves 2/2/2. Domains, cleric spells, rebuke undead

2. Cleric / Vrock HD: HD d8 BAB +2 Saves 3/3/3. More cleric spells