The Final Silence
Fiend · Crown of Despair
T5d12Sovereign
Nothing. That is not a description of its appearance -- that is its appearance. A space where something should be and is not. A doorway with nothing on the other side. When it enters a room, things simply become less. And then it asks you why you are here, and you realize you need an answer.
Tier 5 · Role Sovereign · Pool Vigor 4 / Vitality 30 · AC 14 · ATK +9 · Save DC 19 · Dmg d12
| Stat | Score | Mod | Die |
|---|---|---|---|
| Body | 20 | +5 | d10 |
| Mind | 22 | +6 | d12 |
| Sense | 22 | +6 | d12 |
| Heart | 8 | -1 | -d3 |
| Cunning | 20 | +5 | d10 |
| Fate | 22 | +6 | d12 |
Passives
Ontological Absence
Ordinary weapons and magic pass through it as through an empty doorway; it cannot be turned. Only acts of genuine meaning harm it: a sacrifice made freely, a promise kept at great cost, a truth spoken despite consequences (GM adjudicates).
Presence of Absence
Each round, one mundane object within 60 ft simply ceases to exist. A creature it kills ceases to have existed: memory fades within a month, records rewrite themselves, history adjusts.
Maneuvers
Silent Approach
Moves up to 20 ft. Creatures within 30 ft cannot speak, shout, or cast spells with verbal components until the start of its next turn.
Declarations
Declared in the enemy tactical window and resolved at the start of its next turn. Any Vitality it loses first forces the disruption roll: on a 1 the telegraph is lost.
The Question
In a voice like a room going quiet, asks one target: "Why?" The target must answer honestly. Heart save (DC 19): on a failure it takes 5 damage, on a success 1 Vigor damage. A target that articulates a genuinely meaningful reason for its existence is instead immune to the Final Silence for 24 hours. Once per day per creature.
Reactions
Void Echo
When attacked, the space around it swallows part of the blow. The attacker makes a Fate save (DC 19) or forgets why it attacked, dazed for 1 round.
Tactics
GM tactics
Enters silently. Uses The Question on the party leader first -- if they answer well, moves to the next target. Uses Silent Approach to prevent spellcasting. Anyone who cannot articulate a purpose begins to cease: the objects around them vanish and their name fades from record. It works through a group one answer at a time, leaving the most meaningful member for last. Can only be permanently harmed by genuine acts of meaning, making it a philosophical encounter as much as a combat one.
Running it
Rules
- Shield of Tier + Heart mod over a Vitality pool of 10 + 4 x Tier. Full Vigor at combat start; at the start of its turn it rolls 5 exploding d4s and regains 1 Vigor per 4. Dead at 0 Vigor and 0 Vitality.
- A hit rolls d12. A crit rolls two: 2d12.
- Crits on a natural 15+ (Cunning 20).
- Two or three attacks in a normal turn: multiattack is the threat scaler, and one swing a round makes it a mook.
- Sovereign: 2 Sovereign Actions a round, spent after other combatants' turns, on top of its attacks.
- Any Vitality lost while a telegraph is pending forces its disruption roll; on a 1 the telegraph is lost.
- Never checks morale: it fights to 0 Vitality or to the exit written into its lowest phase.
- NPCs never take wounds.