This is an earlier, original monster I designed that I never posted before because I didn't have art for it. But with the artistic talents of the excellent Vildevitus#2346, I have been granted an opportunity to post this cruel construct - the bloody maiden!
The original concept for this creature came from a heavily modified iron golem I was using for a campaign before I decided that the differences were simply too numerous. In my initial design, this creature was rarely fought alone so I went for a slightly lower CR than an iron golem so that I could feature an array of other foes alongside it. When I tested it, I was worried that its tears of blood had too low of a DC, but it worked often enough for me to be comfortable with it and I enjoyed the thematic effect that the PCs could interact with. Defense-wise, the bloody maiden is pretty standard for a construct with its hp, DR, and resistance. Naturally, its slam attacks are modified to grab people so that it can then use its centerpiece ability - imprison. I wasn't entirely sure how to design this ability first and looked at several different monsters, including the tophet, before coming up with an ability that I liked. Initially, I had the opposite concern with the DC of this ability than I did for its tears of blood, but in testing this monster, I found that PCs didn't struggle too much with escaping - either able to break the grapple before they were imprisoned, able to escape thanks to the aid of their allies, or the maiden was brought low before she could kill anyone. However, imprison was still effective in combat and something that the PCs dreaded, so I was content with the ability. Thematically, consume essence was another important ability to me that I had initially grant the effects of a death knell spell before remembering that constructs couldn't gain morale bonuses. Haste was a somewhat stronger but still appropriate spell that I ultimately decided on. In most cases, a bloody maiden won't be getting this off on any of the PCs, but if they fight a maiden in a dungeon where there's plenty of weak, malnourished prisoners for it to grab or if it starts combat with a poor soul imprisoned, it could likely pull it off if the heroes don't think about saving the unfortunate victim.
Pathfinder 1e:
As is traditional for these creatures, the PF2e version of the bloody maiden follows much of the same design ideas as the PF1e version though it was nice being able to set the DCs to the numbers I wanted. All of its core abilities were modified slightly, and were maybe made too forgiving, but I enjoy where it's at with them. One of the main differences is the extra damage worked into its Tears of Blood and the chance to allow different types of characters employ different tactics while under the effects of Imprison to escape.
Pathfinder 2e:
ENCOUNTER HOOKS
Breakout: The heroes are employed by a noble whose relative has been detained in another country on suspicion of being a spy. The prisoner is being held in an infamous prison and most attempts at negotiation have been stonewalled. As the heroes are unallied outsiders, the noble wants them to infiltrate the prison and rescue their imprisoned relative. While the heroes are free to determine the exact method, the noble doesn’t want a war breaking out and would prefer the not make the rescue obvious. Regardless of how they get into the prison, they find the captive in the torture chamber, being worked over by the chief torturer and its bloody maiden. No matter what chaos the heroes have created in the prison, the pair aren’t letting their captive go without a fight.
Made In Sorrow: In the course of its regular function, the soul of a bloody maiden’s victim wasn’t consumed normally and instead somehow possessed the construct. Enraged at her fate, she has launched on a swath of bloody revenge against those who imprisoned and killed her. However, that is not enough for the her and as she spends more time in her new form, her moralities begin to wither and she begins to kill indiscriminately. Taking over the prison where she was slain, she periodically captures victims that she then amuses herself with by hunting them through the twisting halls. The heroes must bring an end to her brutal campaign of death and terror, however they can.
I'm excited for the chance to finally post this creature and hope you guys like it! With more artists helping out on the Discord, I should be showing off more original monsters, which I'm very excited for. If you want to join in on the discussion of monsters I'm building, talk about the homebrew content you're working on, or just hang out with a bunch of PF/D&D nerds, come join our Monster Monday Discord! I try to discuss monsters and character builds I'm working on there with people and we even get a few games together now and then to test monsters out.
Have a Monstrous Monday!
Comments