#jepson artemesia

[thecreaturecodex]

The Master of Revels

“Moonlight Satyr” © Matteo Parati, accessed at his ArtStation here

[Remember RPG Superstar? I did get into the Top Eight in 2012, but for several years before that entered an item annually, voted and debated on the Paizo forums, and even played along at home for challenges. That’s where this character comes from. My roommate, @canwefixitnoitsfucked​, placed a year (I want to say 2010?) where the challenge was to create a villain, first the concept and then the stat block. This was my “play-along-at-home” villain, who has been rewritten and revised, partially because I can’t find my original file for him. A word of caution: this may be one of the darkest Codex entries yet, with themes of torture and sex trafficking.

As a lighter aside, looking for art for this character was a pain. I learned that images of satyrs who were a) clothed, b) lean and c) male are rather slim pickings.]

Jepson Artemisia, Master of Revels CR 10 CE Fey This man has long horns, long ears and hooves for feet. He is dressed impeccably, and his eyes shine with malice.

Jepson Artemisia is a cleric of Calistria who has made a fortune on the backs of human misery. He is a drug dealer, pimp and slaver. Befitting his veneration of the goddess of revenge, he specializes in abducting and abusing people for hire. For an exorbitant fee, a cad can hire Artemisia to have one of his rivals abducted and have their mind and will broken, leaving them a perfect slave and trophy. Jepson accomplishes this psychological abuse through narcotics, mind-influencing magic, and old-fashioned torture. He especially relishes the servants of lawful gods as his victims, and every paladin who has renounced their oaths and lost their powers is a feather in his cap.

Artemisia spends most of the year traveling as he needs to for his cruel business, but does have a home base. Blackthorn Hall is his domain, a sprawling mansion overlooking an oak woodland. Here he hosts his annual Grand Revel, where his allies, business partners and sycophants engage in bacchanalian excess for an entire week. The Master of Revels employs many miscellaneous low-lives as his security, pushers, alchemists and jailers, but some of his allies are worth spotlighting. His majordomo is an ogre mage who accompanies him on his business trips. His housekeeper is a maenad who uses Blackthorn Hall for fatal feasts while her master is away. And Jepson maintains a stable of spider-eaters, which he uses as mounts, watchdogs and the perpetrators of one of his favorite tortures. Against especially willful victims, the Master of Revels has his spider-eaters sting them and lay eggs inside of them, paralyzing them. These victims he then poses as living statues, forcing them into humiliating postures while the eggs slowly incubate. Usually, victims of this torture are revived through magic and the spider-eaters do not come to term. Usually.

Jepson Artemisia              CR 10 XP 9,600 Satyr cleric of Calistria 9 CE Medium fey Init +5; Senses low-light vision, Perception +18 Defense AC 26, touch 18, flat-footed 20 (+5 Dex, +1 dodge, +5 natural, +3 armor, +2 deflection) hp 140 (8d6+9d8+68) Fort +12, Ref +13, Will +18 DR 5/cold iron Offense Speed 40 ft. Melee +1 deadly whip +16/+11 (1d3+2), gore +10 (1d6) Special Abilities anything to please, channel energy (5d6 negative, 10/day, Will DC 21 half), pipes Spell-like Abilities CL 8th, concentration +15 (+19 casting defensively) At will—charm person (DC 18), dancing lights, ghost sound (DC 17), sleep (DC 18), suggestion (DC 20) 9/day—copycat, dazing touch (9 HD) 1/day—fear (DC 21), summon nature’s ally III 9 rounds/day—master’s illusion (DC 23) Spells CL 9th, concentration +15 (+19 casting defensively) 5th—charm monster (DC 21) (D), greater command (DC 21), insect plague 4th—chaos hammer (DC 20), confusion (DC 20) (D), cure critical wounds (DC 20), freedom of movement 3rd—bestow curse (DC 19), dispel magic, nondetection (D), protection from energy, remove blindness/deafness 2nd—bear’s endurance, cure moderate wounds (DC 18, x2), hold person (DC 18), spiritual weapon, touch of idiocy (D), undetectable alignment 1st—bless, command (DC 17), comprehend languages, disguise self (DC 17) (D), divine favor, protection from law (DC 17), remove fear 0th—detect magic, mending, purify food and drink, stabilize (D)—domain spell (Charm [Lust subdomain], Trickery) Statistics Str 12, Dex 20, Con 18, Int 13, Wis 22, Cha 24 Base Atk +10; CMB +15 (+17 trip or disarm); CMD 27 (29 vs. disarm, trip) Feats Agile Manuevers, Combat Casting, Combat Expertise, Dodge, Improved Disarm, Improved Trip, Selective Channeling, Skill Focus (Bluff), Weapon Finesse Skills Bluff +18, Diplomacy +15, Disguise +15, Intimidate +12, Knowledge (arcana, local, nature, nobility, religion) +9, Linguistics +7, Perception +18, Perform (wind instruments) +19, Ride +10, Sense Motive +14, Spellcraft +9, Stealth +17. Survival +14; Racial Modifiers +4 Perception, +4 Perform, +4 Stealth Languages Abyssal, Common, Elven, Giant, Sylvan Gear +1 leather armor, +1 deadly whip, headband of mental prowess +2 (Wis, Cha), circlet of persuasion, cape of the mountebank, ring of protection +2, wand of remove paralysis (20 charges), wand of cure light wounds (50 charges), potion of invisibility, noble outfit, jewelry worth 100 gp, gold holy symbol of Calistria, masterwork panpipes, 10 pp, 4 gp SQ wealth and privilege Special Abilities Anything to Please (Su): Once per day, Jepson can compel a creature within 30 feet to attempt to please you as a standard action. The creature receives a DC 21 Will save to negate this affect. If the save fails, the creature attacks Jepson’s enemies for 1 round, gives him its most valuable item, or drops prone at his feet and grovels for 1d4 rounds (GM's choice). This is a mind-affecting effect and the save DC is Charisma based. Pipes (Su) Jepson can focus and empower his magic by playing haunting melodies on his panpipes. When he plays, all creatures within a 60-foot radius must make a DC 21 Will save or be affected by charm person, fear, sleep, or suggestion, depending on what tune he chooses. A creature that successfully saves against any of the pipes' effects cannot be affected by the same set of pipes for 24 hours, but can still be affected by Jepson’s other spell-like abilities as normal. Jepson’s use of his pipes does not count toward his uses per day of his spell-like abilities, and if separated from them he may continue to use his standard abilities. The pipes themselves are masterwork, and Jepson can craft a replacement with 1 week of labor. The save DC is Charisma-based. Wealth and Privilege (Ex) Jepson Artemesia’s statistics are built using 25 point buy, and he has gear equivalent to a 9th level PC. These advantages increase his CR by 1.