The Unfaithful
Fiend · Crown of Apostasy
T5d12Sovereign
Wearing the shattered armor of a holy warrior held together with clay, the Unfaithful was once the most devout servant of a dead or absent god. It fights with terrible precision but no joy, wielding a blade of black clay that severs the connection between divine spellcasters and their source.
Tier 5 · Role Sovereign · Pool Vigor 10 / Vitality 30 · AC 14 · ATK +8 · Save DC 19 · Dmg d12
| Stat | Score | Mod | Die |
|---|---|---|---|
| Body | 18 | +4 | d8 |
| Mind | 18 | +4 | d8 |
| Sense | 20 | +5 | d10 |
| Heart | 20 | +5 | d10 |
| Cunning | 18 | +4 | d8 |
| Fate | 8 | -1 | -d3 |
Passives
Spellcasting (hollow prayers)
The Unfaithful still recites the liturgy of the god that abandoned it, but every prayer now runs backward, unworking grace instead of granting it.
Null Blade
A divine spellcaster struck by the black clay blade is cut off from their god: they cannot cast divine spells until they spend 1 hour in uninterrupted prayer. The spells are not lost, only disconnected.
Formerly Faithful
Now and then, at the GM's discretion at the start of its round, an old compulsion seizes it and it freezes to recite prayers in a dead language, taking no actions that round. Attacks against it during a prayer pause deal 1 extra damage; if it finishes the prayer uninterrupted, it regains 1 Vigor.
Maneuvers
Anti-Consecrate
Touches the ground: a 20 ft radius becomes unhallowed for the rest of the fight. Holy water there turns to plain water and undead in the area cannot be turned.
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.
Anti-Miracle
It points the null blade at one creature within 30 ft and unmakes the grace holding them together. Heart save (DC 19) or the target takes 5 damage as healing and blessings received this day are torn away; on a success, 1 Vigor damage.
Tactics
GM tactics
The Unfaithful targets divine spellcasters exclusively, severing their divine connection with the Null Blade. It uses Anti-Miracle to undo healing, strip blessings, and even reverse resurrections. Watch for its prayer pauses - these are the only moments its guard drops. The creature fights with grim efficiency, not malice. It believed with every fiber, and was still abandoned. Its existence is the argument that faith is not enough.
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 16+ (Cunning 18).
- 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.