Mud-splattered and worn-thin, the farmer trudged through the streets of the city, the crops and livestock he had brought along gone and replaced with a meager pittance that he eyed disappointedly. He counted the coins again, hoping that they had somehow increased since he had put them in his purse, but the distraction him to stumble upon the cobblestone road. As a few of his coins scattered across the coins and he cursed, a chiming laugh rang from a shadowy doorway. A vein pulsed on his forehead and he prepared a new rant of curses only for them to die on his lips as he gazed at the shapely figure watching him. Although she was completely covered, her beauteous form was apparent, and it left him unable to speak beyond simple stammering. She seemed to float towards him and he shivered at the light touch she caressed his cheek with. Without thinking, the unfortunate farmer took the last breath he would ever draw and leaned in for a kiss.
Art by Vildevitus#2346
It wasn't intentional that I had two breath-themed monsters this close together, it just ended up being the way that things happened. I wanted to make something that could draw the breath from its victims lungs, and I thought the base way to do that was with a seduction-based creature. It didn't take a lot of abilities to get this thing where I wanted it to be. I designed love's in the air to help it entrance potential victims but kept it to a shorter range so that heroes have a chance to evade it. Their allies outside of the aura have a chance to break their fascination, but might be forced to rely upon ranged combat to avoid falling to it themselves. But if somebody can't help their allies in time, the breath taker can close-in for an easy breathtaking kiss. I wanted to includes a way to the breath taker to deliver her kiss even when she doesn't have a creature fascinated, and grapple seemed the obvious solution. However, given that she is a Dex-based monster, I gave her Agile Maneuvers so that she could grapple more consistently.
Pathfinder 1e:
I looked at the air elemental a bit when designing the 2e version, which led to me giving the breath taker the Swiftness ability, and also led to the choice of a gust as its attack. I thought Shifting Scarves was a fun reaction to give it and while its unlikely to critically succeed, given its low Athletics bonus, it might be enough to inflict a penalty on the attack, reducing the breath taker's chance of getting hit. It can also try to follow up the Disarm from its reaction with an actual Disarm its turn to completely divest them of their weapon. One design choice I made was to give Love's in the Air a lower DC given the effect it can inflict. I swapped out fascinated for stunned for the 2e version because it didn't lock down victims for her as much as I liked.
Pathfinder 2e:
Blue's D&D 5e:
ENCOUNTER HOOK
Tornado Facers: An incoming tornado has caused a mass of air elementals to descend upon a town in anticipation of the oncoming disaster and expression of their natural element. While most are content to simply await the approaching maelstrom, some have been caught up in the frenzy of the storm and wreak havoc around the evacuating town. The heroes, who have been dispatched to assist in the evacuation, must contend with a gang of breath takers who are stealing away the lives of fleeing citizens. As they fight with them, the winds within the city are growing stronger and begin presenting an obstacle as the battle goes on.
If you're interested in joining the discussion on what creatures I'm working on or just discussing your own homebrew works, check out our Discord! If you want to get some teasers or help us get to our yet unlisted milestones for extra content, check out the Twitter.
Until next time, have a Monstrous Monday!
Comments