#Baleful Polymorph

[a-cypress-tree-draws]

.....

....so.

Xaitherin got Baleful Polymorph'd into a bunny. Weird things happen when you're drunk in the middle of the night in Quent while your girlfriend is on a deeply personal religious mission by herself.

anyway. She's probably gonna be okay. I think. Provided the rest of the (mostly drunk) party can find her.

[the-anchorless-moon]

I'm just thinking about how like. Most of Saltmist has met one (1) Daoine Sidhe and it's their Sweet Gentle Softboy Patrick. He's not a fighter! They need to protect him!! And then Simon shows up and not only is he an air breather gentle land fae, he's also traumatized he's their sad dry octopus blorbo and it's going to be an insane whiplash the first time they see him turn a guy into like. a minnow. and let it out the window. "He's free now : )" "he's going to get eaten" "he's certainly free to do that yes"

Like oh this one's unhinged what the fuck

[bewitchingbloom]

Random fact/headcanon about some of my OCs:

Ariadne and Elias both concentrate on the Transmutation school of magic, they just specialize in different aspects. Ariadne prefers to focus on spells that enhance skills like Haste, Reduce Person, etc while Elias' talents lie in shapeshifting a la Shapechange or Dragonkind.

The one overlap is they both love the spell Baleful Polymorph.

[mountainashfae]

OH YOU’VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME. HE GOT POLYMORPHED BECAUSE OF A CRIT FAIL.

We've found it. Vio's biggest shame. He's the sparkliest fucking dog in the Stolen Lands.

[tyrantisterror]

What are your top favorite fairy tales? Either classic literarily stories, adaptations of literary fairy tales, wholly modern fairy tales, or even just stories that you think are structured like fairy tales. (Roald Dahl books, Studio Ghibli movies, even Shrek and Puss in Boots movies, etc.)

That is an unfathomably vast genre of fiction to try and condense into a ranked numbered list. I think... I think that may be impossible to actually answer as requested. But I can ramble about some of my favorites I suppose.

Let's do this sorta like the Oscars and divide things into categories.

Category 1: The Heavy Hitters

Some fairy tales are significantly more famous than others, so this category is for them: the heavy hitters, the classic fairy tales that are most well known, as defined by my own nebulous perception of which fairy tales are more popular than others.

Of the heavy hitters, my favorites are Little Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk. Little Red Riding Hood is such a spooky story no matter which telling you're looking at, and has contributed a lot to both the fantasy and horror genres thanks to its simple yet evocative premise and visuals. Jack and the Beanstalk, meanwhile, is just a really solid story of a trickster fool, which is one of my favorite archetypes in all of fiction. Love a good trickster fool.

Category 2: The Obscurities

As I said, this ask is covering a HUGE amount of fiction in its topic, especially since the border between a fairy tale and, like, ANY folklore isn't really well-defined (not in a way anyone can agree too, anyway). But there are a lot of obscure folktales I love that are at least sometimes lumped in as fairy tales, and I'm gonna list them here:

The Lambton Worm - a classic tale of dragon-slaying and getting fucked over by prophecies

The Lindworm Prince - queen can't concieve and consults a witch, ignores witch's directions, gives birth to human baby and dragon baby. Dragon baby grows up and demands a wife before human baby can get his, and a clever girl decides this is her chance to get rewarded for monster fucking.

Maud and the Dragon of Mordiford - the story of a girl who adopts a dragon only for it to end tragically, which inspired one of the novels I'm gonna write one of these days

Tam Lin - the story of a woman who wanted that elf dick and wasn't afraid to do some weird shit to get it

Biancabella and Samaritana - a story about a girl and her sister who is a snake because her mother had trouble concieving

King Odd - a story about an odd king who's actually an exiled fairy queen in disguise, and the man who wins her heart after surviving her attempt to execute him. It's like a Nordic medieval Tenchi Muyo.

You've probably noticed some themes about my favorites right now - lots of stories with dragons, people being transformed into monsters, and heroes who are into that monster shit.

Category 3: Archetypal Pieces

Ok, so for this I'm going to focus less on individual folktales and more on recurring plotlines, character types, and story beats, which you begin to notice the more you read up on Fairy Tales in part because many of the more obscure ones take beats from ones you're probably more familiar with and mix them together in new ways. So, my favorite plot beats in fairy tales:

Any sort of monster, obviously

The villain who literally removed their heart out of fear of being vulnerable

The baleful polymorph (i.e. a human who inhabits a beast/monster body against their will)

Monsterfucker protagonists

Trickster Fool protagonists

Disobedient Girls (examples: Little Red, Goldilocks), though I don't like how this archetype is treated

You want to have a baby and seek a witch and she gives you VERY SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS which you ignore because you really want this baby and oops you've got twins and one of them is some sort of monster good job asshole

The hero helps three (or more) people/creatures in need, and when shit hits the fan, they return the favor

Category 4: Modern(ish) Adaptations

Our penultimate category focuses on adaptations of fairy tales from, like, the 1900's on - anything made in a century I've lived in part of, basically. These arguably shouldn't be divided from "normal" fairy tales, but my brain regards them differently than, like, Victorian era fairy tale retellings, because hey, I lived in the age of these, more or less. They're "modern" for whatever nebulous definition of that word my brain's decided on.

And there's a lot for me to put in this category. Sleeping Beauty might be my favorite of Disney's fairy tale retellings, though Beauty and the Beast is a strong competitor for that role (and maybe Mulan, if we count its source material as a fairy tale, but I'm not sure we can). I think overall I like Sleeping Beauty's more stylized animation and character designs as well as its less conventional story-telling structure a bit more than B&B's, but Beauty and the Beast is still gorgeous and kind of perfectly scripted, so it's a tough competition.

My alltime favorite adaptation of fairy tales, though, would be Jim Henson's The Storyteller:

Using the magic of 1980's muppeteering, it adapts several fairy tales, many of which are more on the obscure side, and sometimes mashes a few different ones together to make sure each episode has a good three act structure. It's wonderful and fully captures the weirdness of fairy tales, while also having a lot of heart - The Heartless Giant is my favorite of the whole series.

Category 5: Works Inspired By Fairy Tales

I almost lumped the following stories into the above category, but while the division is, again, purely in my mind, there's something different about modern works that claim to adapt fairy tales 1:1 and ones that take fairy tale characters or concepts and throw them in entirely new tales with different directions, so that's what our final category will be.

I've gushed about Puss In Boots: The Last Wish enough that I don't think it'd surprise anyone that it would end up here - the same goes with the works of Rankin Bass, which is why I doubt anyone is surprised I'd put The Last Unicorn here too (technically based on a book, but it still fits the "has big fairy tale vibes despite not being based on one specific one" that I'm using to justify this category).

Pan's Labyrinth would also go in this category, with a protagonist who's both a trickster fool AND a disobedient girl, as well as a beautifully gothic take on fairy tale motifs. I'd put Company of Wolves here as well, being a very multifaceted riff on the Little Red Riding Hood story and a movie that sets both my analytical and creative parts of my brain on fire each time I want it.

I'd also put The Path, a short video game explicitly inspired by Company of Wolves, on this part of the favorites list. It's a game about, like, a DOZEN or so different takes on Red Riding Hood and her story, all with different flavors and subtext to analyze. It's unsettling but good.

Dimension 20 had a whole season focused on a horror-themed crossover of fairy tale characters called Neverafter that was fantastic, with one of the best riffs on Little Red Riding Hood I've ever seen, Puss in Boots and Pinocchio working together as con artists, and a vampire Snow White, so yeah 10/10 there, no notes.

And while I've only seen scattered bits of it, what I've seen of Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure, a sequel series to Disney's Rapunzel adaptation, is pretty great, though maybe I just think Cass is hot.

If you put an angry woman with a sword in your work of fiction I will at least stay for a few episodes to see what you do with her.

Given how much it consumed my brain in so little time, Revolutionary Girl Utena has to rank among my favorite Fairy Tale things ever - like, this is too chaotic a list to really rank things, but if I were to try, it'd at least be in the top 10. The same is true for Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods, which in addition to being a big fun crossover between a bunch of the Heavy Hitter fairy tales, is also one of the best musicals ever written - and indeed, one of the best stage shows of all time.

Shit, where do I put A Midsummer Night's Dream? It feels like it should be here, but it predates the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson, whose works my brain categorizes as "old fairy tales" rather than "modern fairy tale retellings." Well, it'd be somewhere among these categories, being one of the best tales with fairies in it ever told.

The Princess Bride would be up high like Utena no matter what - it's one of the best works of fiction about love that we've got. Same goes with Galavant, which I consider its spiritual successor, although I think one could argue Galavant isn't specifically a fairy tale pastiche and is more just a lampooning of fantasy in general.

Oh, and The Hazards of Love, a concept album by The Decemberists, should be here too. That's the last one I can think of right now, but I'm sure I'll think of a few others later that I like enough to regret not putting on here.

[assassuub]

With Isabel's fear of dogs, and Shred and the Cousinhood coming to town; someone's got to get got by a werewolf, right?

It would need to be someone close to Isabel, to capitalize on the inherent dramatic tension; but I feel adding lycanthropy to any of the spectral kids would be needless narrative bloat that would weigh down their characters. You can probably tell where I'm going with this:

Concept: Suzy becomes a werewolf.

Even beyond the drama that would come with being a baleful canine polymorph and her love interest having cynophobia, it would mean Suzy and Isabel's relationship would mirror Jean and Rick's.

[dailycharacteroption]

Retrograde Revision 5: Beast-Bonded Witch

(art by SirTiefling on DeviantArt)

Ah yes, the first witch archetype I did here on the blog. In the original entry I was so excited to talk about the witch class as a whole that I barely talked about the archetype at all.

In any case, the Beast-Bonded Witch!

It’s no secret that witches have especially strong bonds with their familiars, only rivaled perhaps by shamans. After all, these practitioners of the old ways depend on their familiar to store their spells and provide a link between them and their patron.

However, there are those that take this a bit further, developing the magical bond between them and their familiar for various benefits, changing their familiar and in turn having their familiar change them as well.

Such mages might carry symbols or wear clothing that evokes the species or family that their familiar belongs to, while others are more subtle in that regard. Either way, there’s no denying how strong the bond between them is.

Sometimes, These mystics might prefer if their little companion learns new techniques instead of themselves, and some of the beast-bonded do just that, sacrificing their own capacity for growth to infuse the knowledge of new techniques into the magical bond that already grants the familiar intelligence beyond it’s own species. Of course, if the familiar dies, the witch can choose to reclaim said capacity if they so desire.

Their strong bond also somewhat accelerates the development of the normal powers and enhancements that familiars gain.

Just as their familiar grows, the nature of the familiar affects the witch in kind. As such, these witches learn how to shapeshift into forms associated with their familiar. This is not limited to the same exact species as the familiar, but anything else in the same clade. A beast-bonded witch with a cat familiar, for example, might shapeshift into a lion, tiger, or panther, for example.

At greater levels of mastery, their bond becomes so strong that the familiar and witch alike can serve as a vessel for the other when one dies or is near death, allowing the practitioner to perhaps save themselves with a healing hex from within the familiar, or the two souls to flee the battlefield to seek aid in resurrecting the fallen one elsewhere.

There are also some recommendations for hexes with this archetype, including those that let them charm animal and humanoid alike, bolster their familiar or look through it’s senses, speak with animals, provide wards, and even curse foes with a lesser animal form.

This is a fun and thematic archetype offering ways to make the duo of witch and familiar even stronger. With the built-in beast shape, the witch has access to potentially several forms for scouting or combat, making stealth and combat viable things to consider, though I’d also like to recommend lots of fun animal-themed spells like baleful polymorph and whatnot.

Some witches might use their familiars as a mere proxy for their patron, and that may suit them depending on the nature of their patron. Not so with these practitioners. Their bond demands that they have a proper relationship with their familiar, so definitely take some time to explore what that may be.

Gnak Skin-wearer is a cruel old man, betrothed to a patron of transformation, the Lady of Many Shapes. He is rumored to be able to take the shape of many beasts, but his favorites are those of cats. Townsfolk tell their children not to go near his one-eyed cat when it wanders into town, but no one dares to harm it, though they won’t say why.

Throughout her life, Irma of Canenbow has had to fight for her survival, cast out for her tiefling heritage. This anger attracted the attention of her patron, a spirit of vengeance who granted her the retaliatory ferocity of her pet snapping turtle, Dymblewyrd.

Though not true druids, the beast-bonded witches of Blackwood have received a rare honor, being inducted into the circle of druids. However, when dark powers begin to manifest in their forest, the druids are quick to accuse the witches of harboring a member with a fell patron, whose presence corrupts the natural order.

[tempestclerics]

this train heist (module by @r-n-w, my second time ever DMing for those following along at home) is going great:

- three PCs and a horse have stacked themselves under a coat to pretend to be a centaur. they are passing a Shetland pony off as their collective cousin by draping it in worms on a string

- the “one last job, I’m supposed to be retired” dwarf learned one of his many adoptive granddaughters also got recruited for this job and has both shown half the party her baby pictures and also had to hold her back from trying to go assassinate her ex who she definitely is still in love/psychosexual obsessive lesbianism with. for like the twentieth time.

- warlock “called their dad” to do recon and contacted a worm on a string coat wearing minor trickster god. you know, his dad

- the ex accountant turned fighter fully slid a knife through the bars of her former coconspirator (and the sheriff’s prisoner)’s cell by distracting the deputy with a flying bison

- the Shetland pony quacks btw

- changeling gunslinger transformed into a shorter version of the warlock and when he tried to change back his heterochromia got flipped

- capybaran fighter drank a complimentary cocktail invented by the saloon car attendant called the Baleful Polymorph and grew fantasy Texas longhorn cattle horns

- oh, and the sheriff is about to throw down w them in the most crowded train car. nbd

[thecreaturecodex]

Protean, Yexhul

"Naga" © Igor Klymenko, accessed at his ArtStation here

[This monster is picking up a plot thread I laid down years ago: how to introduce slaadi into the Pathfinder cosmology. It also continues me use of anagrams as the namesakes of proteans. This one is fairly short, so I suspect it's going to be one of the more solvable ones.]

Protean, Yexhul CR 16 CN Outsider (extraplanar) This serpentine creature has four arms, each ending in a clawed hand. Instead of a single head, a riot of dozens of small necks and heads grow from its shoulders like the branches of a great tree. The scales of its chest have eyespots, like the feathers of a peacock.

Yexhuls are the proteans that observe and meddle with animal evolution. Yexhuls push animals in new directions, both by introducing organisms into new habitats and by physically altering organisms, taking what is typically a slow and orderly process and interjecting sometimes bizarre flights of fancy. The touch of a yexhil can alter the abilities of an organism permanently, and the transformations they imbue are heritable. A number of the magical beasts found on Material worlds, especially those that are incongruous hybrids of two animals, are yexhul creations.

No two fights with a yexhul are likely to progress the same way, as these creatures can alter their bodies on the fly. They also have an experimental approach to violence, changing their abilities in different ways for different fights, and summoning different animals to assist them in combat. Although they have many heads, a yexhul can only bite a single target at once, striking with all of their jaws simultaneously (unless it gives itself more bite attacks with its acclimation ability). If their enemies are gaining the upper hand, a yexhul will turn them into something harmless with baleful polymorph, or use primal regression to disable their ability to cast spells.

Most other types of proteans distrust yexhuls, as they were the creators of the Spawning Stone. That continent-sized chunk of reality brought to the Maelstrom was an enormous experiment in the survival of the fittest, and its “fittest”, the slaadi, swiftly escaped the Spawning Stone and eventually the Maelstrom entirely, running amok through the planes. Yexhuls, for their part, consider the slaadi a resounding success, and they are among the proteans more likely to work with slaadi than against them. Annunaki are a species that have a great dislike for yexhuls, and try to exterminate them when their paths cross.

One of the great philosophical debates among yexhuls concerns domestication.  Some yexhuls consider it a natural outgrowth of evolution, and use their abilities to make unusual species more likely to associate with humanoids and start the process of becoming domesticated. Other yexhuls consider artificial selection by any hands other than their own to be a grave insult. Some even “un-domesticate” animals, rendering livestock and pets aggressive and uncontrollable or helping feral populations adapt better to the wild. Other proteans encourage this infighting, as it keeps the yexhuls from conducting any more experiments as far-reaching as the Spawning Stone.

Yexhul    CR 16 XP 76,800 CN Large outsider (chaos, extraplanar, protean) Init +10; Senses all-around vision, blindsense 60 ft., darkvision 60 ft., Perception +26

Defense AC 31, touch 15, flat-footed 25 (-1 size, +6 Dex, +16 natural) hp 241 (21d10+126) Fort +15, Ref +18, Will +17 DR 15/lawful; Immune acid, electricity, sonic; Resist cold 10; SR 27 Defensive Abilities amorphous anatomy, freedom of movement

Offense Speed 40 ft., fly 60 ft. (perfect) Melee bite +27 (3d8+10 plus 1d6 cold), 4 claws +27 (1d6+7 plus 1d6 cold), tail slap +22 (1d12+3 plus 1d6 cold and grab) Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. (15 ft. with tail) Special Attacks constrict (1d12+7),powerful blows (bite), probing bite, rend (2 claws, 1d6+10), specialization, trample (DC 27, 1d8+10) Spell-like Abilities CL 16th, concentration +22 (+26 casting defensively) Constant—speak with animals At will—atavism (DC 20), hold animal (DC 18), magic circle vs. law (DC 19), pup shape (DC 19) 3/day—animal growth, baleful polymorph (DC 21), quickened chaos hammer (DC 20), summon nature’s ally VII (animals only) 1/day—animal shapes, plane shift (DC 23), polymorph any object (DC 24), primeval regression (DC 23)

Statistics Str 25, Dex 23, Con 23, Int 24, Wis20, Cha 22 Base Atk +21; CMB +29 (+33 grappling); CMD 46 Feats Combat Casting,Dodge,Flyby Attack, Great Fortitude,Greater Vital Strike, Improved Initiative,Improved Vital Strike, Mobility, Power Attack, Quicken SLA (chaos hammer), Vital Strike Skills Acrobatics +24, Bluff +27, Climb +25, Fly +18, Handle Animal +27, Intimidate +27, Knowledge (arcana, religion) +25, Knowledge (nature, planes) +28, Perception +26, Spellcraft +25, Stealth +26, Survival +26, Swim +25 Languages Abyssal, Protean, speak with animals SQ acclimation (7 points, energy attacks (cold), reach (tail), rend, trample) change shape (animal or magical beast, beast shape IV), wild empathy +27

Ecology Environment any (Maelstrom) Organization solitary, pair or council (3-6) Treasure standard

Special Abilities Acclimation (Su) A yexhul can alter its physical traits on the fly. It has a number of evolution points equal to 1/3 its Hit Dice, which it can spend on any evolution as if it were a summoner’s eidolon. It may take any evolution legal for a serpentine shape, and treats its Hit Dice as its summoner level for the purpose of qualifying for evolutions. A yexhul can change its acclimations by taking 1 full round, and can carry them over into its alternate forms with change shape if it so desires. Change Shape (Su) A yexhul may change shape at will, but does not heal when it reverts to its normal form. Probing Bite (Ex) The many heads of a yexhul strike simultaneously, but reach around obstacles. A yexhul’s bite ignores any cover short of total cover, as well as ignoring shield bonuses to Armor Class. Specialization (Su) As a standard action, a yexhul may touch a creature to alter its ability scores. An unwilling creature can resist this with a DC 26 Fortitude save. The creature touched gains a +6 bonus to one of its ability scores, but a -2 penalty to two of its other ability scores, as chosen by the yexhul. This is an instantaneous effect, and can only be removed with a break enchantment, limited wish, wish or miracle spell. This bonus is passed on to this creature’s offspring. If a creature’s Intelligence is raised above 3, it gains the ability to speak and understand one language of the yexhul’s choice (typically Protean). These penalties cannot lower a creature’s ability scores below 1. A creature that successfully saves is immune to the specialization of that yexhul for the next 24 hours. No creature can be specialized in this way more than once simultaneously. This is a polymorph effect, and the save DC is Charisma based. Wild Empathy (Ex) A yexhul can use wild empathy as a druid with a level equal to its Hit Dice.

[homeofhousechickens]

Wondering if you could help me, ok so I, (23m) was flirting with this lady at the bar right? And well she joked (or at the time I thought she joked) about cursing me and I was like "haha I'd like that"

Anyway, long story short but I'm now a massive chicken who roams the woods, killing farmers and stealing their flocks to form my own. Any advice? It's been really hard to make friends because I peck them to death immediately upon catching them 😔

It sounds like she cast some kind of baleful polymorph curse on you.

Usually when this is cast it is to teach the victim a lesson. Chickens when it comes to forced transformations are associated with cowardice so I find it quite interesting that she turned you into a giant one. It makes me wonder what you said or did to offend her so much 🤔

Anyway the typical way to break these kinds of curses is to either kill the caster or to cast aside the behavior that got you into this mess.

Unfortunately it seems you have lost yourself to your transformation and have committed many grievous errors. Instead of finding help from a hero or perhaps rescuing yourself, you have gone about terrorizing the countryside and stealing from our hard-working farmers. Perhaps this was the witches' goal in the first place as giant chickens are their own monster class with unique drops that might be useful to her.

If you want to return to being a human, you must find the source of your cowardice and overcome it. If you can not perform this task, be aware that there is only one fate for a giant aggressive fowl. Maybe you are enjoying the life of a murderous giant chicken as I am sure it is much more fun then being a human maybe it could be as simple as giving this new chicken lifestyle up, as that can be very brave.

[appendingfic]

like i understand the strategic reasoning for it but hate it when enemies baleful polymorph my spellcasters, i.e. the people with access to spells to remove baleful polymorph later

[penwrythe]

Sorry for the blur! The left screenshot is the reorganized and rewritten documents I have completed so far. The right screenshot are all the documents drafts from 2021-2023. So a good ways to go...

I think for now on...I need to make sure when I make worldbuilding notes on Tumblr or Blogger, I make them first in my worldbuilding master then post online. There's so much that's missing in my worldbuilding master that is on my Tumblr, Blogger, or World Anvil. I am not the most organized person lol.

Anyway, still working on this, then back to rereading and revising RFR script, a lot needs to be updated!

Why my object people are so complicated?!

Oh, almost forgot!

I updated my content warnings list for World of Relics! See below!

A thing you should know while reading this wiki is that this project, and any concepts, stories, characters, and settings within it, are targeted to New Adults (ages 18-30+). Despite how cute my Object characters are and how strange and fantastic their world is, this project is not for kids nor is it child friendly. All of WOR is for mature audiences. With this said, because WOR is targeted for New Adults, for an easy reference for age ratings, see the following: 17+, PG-16, TV-MA, ESRB T or M. I know these are for different media, but I hope my point is clear: THIS IS NOT FOR CHILDREN. Saying it louder for the content farmers in the back. Do not touch this. Because WOR has mature and dark themes, here is a brief helpful content warning guide for this wiki. This does not cover what is in the stories, they will have their own content warnings.

Content Warnings for World of Relics Wiki

May contain discussion of or implications of the following:

Baleful Polymorph Trope (of all characters, including humans)

Fantasy violence: including wars, conflicts, murder, and fighting

Injuries, death, diseases, blood, body horror, loss, loss of humanity, and suffering

Neutral explanations of anatomical traits of animals, humans, and non-human peoples

Extinction and drastic change, tone of writing may invoke fear of death or emotional distress

Societal change and conflict

Discrimination and effects thereof on fictional peoples/species based on their characteristics, ethnicity, disabilities, genders, beliefs, and attraction. Implications of fantasy bigotry in a fantasy setting.

Worldbuilding spoilers for Rise of Relics and short stories set in The Mundane Realm

Note: while it is understandable about the concern around the usage of allegories in fiction, I see certain discussions within my work more “in-world” rather than a reflection of the “outer-world” (our world’s) view of certain issues. However, I am okay with readers drawing connections between our reality and the stories we write. This opens up discussion on these issues and how they effect our day to day lives, and the art, worlds, and stories we create. As a Black person, there are a few issues that I faced in my life that no doubt influenced my worldbuilding for World of Relics. With this said, I welcome any feedback and criticism on my project by others if they feel either inspired, concerned, or intrigued by my project.

Anyway, yeah, just want to put this in the updated worldbuilding master so when I update my World Anvil (or move to my own site), there's a content warning list for people not familiar with my work.

[paperanddice]

Gigantic snakes over 60 feet long with iridescent black scales, the andrenjinyi are a select few children of one of the spirits present at the start of the world. Born from scales cast off of the great Rainbow Serpent, these lesser nature spirits hold sway over the land in several ways. They represent the sky, rain, and quite often have an interest in birth and fertility.

They might as well be gods to many regular people, with their power over nature and weather in particular. One that establishes itself in a region can influence those who live nearby in immense ways, and often nearby people wind up offering it ritual and obedience in exchange for benevolent use of its power. As a guardian the andrenjinyi can assure the safety of the community, as few creatures will dare challenge it, but it sets specific edicts with harsh punishment for failure, a hanging blade that could fall upon the people depending on it.

One particularly interesting feature of the andrenjinyi is its gullet. Creatures it swallows are transformed into beasts, which the andrenjinyi then releases to populate the area surrounding its home. A lake with a menagerie of unusual creatures (often in mixed gender pairs) may mark the presence of one of these great serpents, and approaching closer without the proper rites and offerings could be quite dangerous.

With their low numbers, each lost andrenjinyi is irreplaceable. As such, they have become more cautious with this new world, only living in isolated regions beyond the reach of the major powers, and if severely injured by an actual threat they will attempt to use their rainbow arch to escape to safety rather than fight to the death.

Originally from the Tome of Beasts 1. This post came out a week ago on my Patreon. If you want to get access to all my monster conversions early, as well as access to my premade adventures and other material I’m working on, consider backing me there!

Pathfinder 2e

Andrenjinyi Creature 15 N Gargantuan Monitor Amphibious Perception +28; darkvision, tremorsense (imprecise) 120 feet Languages Common, Celestial, Jotun, Sylvan Skills Arcana +26, Diplomacy +27, Intimidation +29, Nature +26, Religion +30 Str +9, Dex +4, Con +8, Int +5, Wis +7, Cha +8 AC 39; Fort +29, Ref +23, Will+26; +1 status to all saves vs. magic HP 282; Immunities mental; Resistances acid 20, electricity 20, fire 20 Speed 60 feet, burrow 20 feet, climb 20 feet, swim 60 feet Melee bite +30 (magical, reach 15 feet), Damage 3d12+15 piercing plus Improved Grab Melee body +29 (magical, reach 15 feet), Damage 3d6+13 bludgeoning Divine Innate Spells DC 33 ; 8th dispel magic (×3), hydraulic torrent, sudden blight; 6th flesh to stone; 4th shape stone (at will); 2nd speak with animals (at will); 1st create water (at will); cantrips (8th) spout Divine Rituals Spells DC 33 , 8th control weather, reincarnate; 6th commune; 4th plant growth; Rainbow Arch (2 actions) (divine, teleportation); Requirement The andrenjinyi is touching a pool of fresh water large enough to hold its entire body. Effect The andrenjinyi can teleport up to 1 mile to another body of fresh water it knows of. For 1 minute after it uses this ability, a ranbow manifests between the origin and destination point. Swallow Whole (one action) Huge, 3d8+9 bludgeoning, Rupture 25 Thrash (2 actions) The andrenjinyi makes a Strike against each creature within its reach. It can Strike up to once with its bite, and any number of times with its body. Each attack counts toward the andrenjinyi's multiple attack penalty, but the multiple attack penalty doesn't increase until after it makes all the attacks. Transmuting Gullet (free action) (divine, polymorph) When a creature ends its turn swallowed by the andrenjinyi, the andrenjinyi casts baleful polymorph on that creature (save DC 33).

13th Age

Andrenjinyi  Huge 8th level spoiler [beast]  Initiative: +11 Great Maw +13 vs. PD - 50 damage Natural Even Hit: The target is swallowed if it’s smaller than the andrenjinyi (see below). Miss: 25 damage. C: Thrash +13 vs. AC (1d3 random nearby enemies) - 30 damage. Miss: 15 damage. Limited Use: The andrenjinyi can make this attack as a free action if it has no enemies swallowed after using its standard action during its turn. Swallow Whole: While a creature is swallowed, it is stuck, hampered, and unable to attack or affect anything outside the andrenjinyi’s stomach (and vice-versa). The andrenjinyi makes a transmuting gullet attack against any creature that ends its turn swallowed. There are two ways to escape. Cut Yourself Free: If a creature inside the andrenjinyi makes a single attack that deals 40 or more damage, it can climb free. All weapons are reduced to d6 damage dice if they were higher. Crawl Out: When the andrenjinyi is staggered, you can try to climb up the andrenjinyi’s throat as a standard action. Roll a hard save (16+), on a success, you crawl into its mouth and it spits you out somewhere nearby. When the andrenjinyi is reduced to 0 hit points, all creatures it’s swallowed can climb out of its stomach as a move action. [Special Trigger] Transmuting Gullet +13 vs. MD - The target transforms into a tiny animal until the end of its next turn. While in this form, the target is weakened, hampered, cannot cast spells or use powers, and deals half damage with all its attacks. Natural 18+: The transformation is permanent, until removed by a ritual or other powerful magic. Burrow, swim, and climb walls. Rainbow Arch: As a standard action, the andrenjinyi can teleport to a nearby or far away source of fresh water. It may attempt to teleport to a similar spot up to a mile away, leaving the battle entirely. It rolls a hard save (16+). On a success, it immediately leaves the battle, carrying any creatures in its gullet with it. AC 24 PD 21 MD 19 HP 410

[wearesorcerer]

Some Clarification on Why Which Spells Got Listed in the Poll

There are only twelve spots per poll and thousands of spells published since the mid-70s (50ish years).

My intention was for the most "iconic" (famous, distinctive, perhaps stereotypical) spells.

Most of the spells I listed I drew from Chainmail. I renamed "Concealment" to the more familiar invisibility (which is losing by a wide margin), put "Slowness" (slow) inside the parenthetical for hold person, expanded "Conjuration of an Elemental" to summon monster, and qualified "Polymorph" to be baleful polymorph. Animate dead, charm person, magic missile, and teleport all post-date Chainmail, but were too iconic not to include.

Counterspell is new to 5e. In previous editions, you didn't have counterspell. You had a counterspelling mechanic -- which usually entailed having a specific spell prepared and using it to counter its opposite (e.g., bane vs. bless). Dispel magic could be used as a general counterspell in 3.x, but you had to succeed at a "caster level check" (d20 + effective level in whatever casting class provided you with the spell) against I don't recall what DC. I'm not sure if you could use it that way in BD&D or AD&D.

I didn't bother listing any form of anti-magic because everything else I listed is more iconic and because of #6.

I figured if anything in Other got significant notes and votes, I'd include it in a follow-up/run-off poll.

While misty step is new to 5e, blink and dimension door have long been variants of the same idea (short-ranged teleport). D&D has had its ups and downs with teleportation.

I fully expect fireball to win, though otherwise it would be teleport. You just can't go wrong with either the most iconic offensive spell in the game or one of the best modes of transportation ever. I only included magic missile because it's that iconic and would have included lightning bolt for the same reason if I hadn't run out of space, even though fireball is probably better than both. PROVE ME WRONG.

[lydialeereborn]

My idea for my commander in the second round.

I haven't decided on her name yet. Probably choose from Faith, Fiona, and Melody.

She's a tiefling feyspeaker druid, and she'll go trickster mythic route. She's kind, optimistic, and has oneesan-energy. Many people have negative opinions on tieflings, and she wants to change it by doing good deeds, helping others with her druid power. However, she likes the feeling of playing tricks on the others. She struggled with that since she wanted others to change their opinions of them tiefling. Throughout the adventures on worldwound, she'll learn a way to accept that trickster aspect of hers.

I think Woljiff might be her good friend, and he's the one that she plays tricks on the most.

For example, one day in Drezen, Woljiff lost a bet with her, and she used baleful polymorph to turn him into a cat boy for a day.