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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

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The Lantern King

The Lantern King is one of the Eldest—a pantheon of demigods whose rule over the First World is one of capriciousness that can be at times playful, enigmatic, bizarre, or even downright mean. For the most part, the Lantern King's plots and shenanigans tilt toward the cruel, and while he's long been a master at riding the proverbial razor's edge between mischief and outright sadism (if only by conserving his cruelest plans for those who invite that cruelty by being cruel themselves, as in the case of Nyrissa), his latest actions have certainly drawn the notice of the other Eldest. As such, they have largely distanced themselves from him, and as a result of this, any defeat the PCs deal to him in this adventure goes not only unpunished by the Lantern King's demigod siblings but will even be enforced, in a manner of speaking, by the other Eldest so that the Lantern King won't seek continued revenge against the PCs for their victories. Whether or not this also serves to teach the capricious eldest a lesson to temper his need for mischief with occasional bouts of patience and even mercy, only time can tell.

The Lantern King's direct interactions with the PCs in this campaign are via an avatar—a powerful proxy created from himself to rule over the Lantern Kingdom. While this avatar isn't as powerful as the Lantern King himself, it remains the single most dangerous foe the party faces in Kingmaker. As a demigod, the Lantern King is an even more dangerous foe, equivalent in power to a 29th-level creature and possessing abilities beyond the scope of the core experience in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Some of these abilities, such as the power to manipulate reality, to create powerful artifacts like the Apology, and to build entire demiplane realms like the Hunting Dream or the Lantern Kingdom, manifest during the course of the Kingmaker Adventure Path not as rules content but as story elements the PCs will need to endure—see Chapter 11 of this book for more details.

In combat, the Lantern King's avatar uses flight to remain out of melee for the first several rounds of combat, relying upon his spells to soften up the party before using his Strikes against them. He's fond of taking actions that disrupt, torment, or mock the PCs rather than those specifically tailored to maximize damage. For example, he often uses Playful Switch to swap a flying PC in the air with one who's on the ground and can't fly, or he uses illusions to create false foes or locations that play off of previous failures or embarrassments the PCs may have endured during the campaign itself. By playing the Lantern King's avatar in battle as more of a trickster than a cold-blooded killer, you'll not only enforce his legendary personality upon your players, but you'll also give their characters a bit more of a fighting chance against him in battle. He prefers to hold primal phenomenon in reserve to recover from an unwanted condition or situation, and as he realizes the PCs are dangerous foes, he abandons “playful tactics” for more serious or tactical decisions aimed toward defeating the party rather than toying with them.

While the Lantern King faces no lasting inconvenience if his avatar is slain, the sting of such a defeat is enough to compel the avatar to back down and ask for a truce if the PCs reduce him to fewer than 75 Hit Points. If the PCs agree to a truce, the avatar compliments their prowess and promises to turn his attentions away from the Stolen Lands. Furthermore, he agrees to any additional terms the PCs ask for, provided they are within his ability to grant. This includes restoring Nyrissa's place and realm to the First World (although he cannot provide further information about her lost lover) and unmaking Briar to restore her capacity to love.

Recall Knowledge - Fey (Nature): DC 58
Unspecific Lore: DC 56
Specific Lore: DC 53

Elite | Normal | Weak
Proficiency without Level

Avatar of the Lantern KingCreature 24

Legacy Content

Unique CN Gargantuan Fey Fire 
Source Kingmaker Adventure Path pg. 600
Eldest of laughter, mischief, and transformation
Perception +39; darkvision, true seeing
Languages Aklo, Common, Sylvan; telepathy 300 feet, tongues
Skills Acrobatics +46, Arcana +41, Athletics +41, Deception +49, Diplomacy +42, First World Lore +43, Intimidation +46, Nature +46, Occultism +41, Religion +41, Society +39, Stealth +42, Thievery +42
Str +9, Dex +12, Con +7, Int +9, Wis +7, Cha +12
AC 54; Fort +36, Ref +39, Will +41
HP 500; Immunities bleed, blinded, controlled, dazzled, death effects, doomed, fire, sleep, unconscious; Resistances physical 20 (except cold iron); Weaknesses cold iron 20, cold 25
Fortune's Friend [reaction] (divination, fortune, primal) Trigger The Lantern King fails or critically fails a saving throw. Effect The result of the saving throw is improved one degree. The Lantern King can't Fortune's Friend for 1d4 rounds.Lantern King's Glow (aura, evocation, light, primal) 120 feet. The Lantern King illuminates his aura with bright light. At the start of his turn, this aura attempts to counteract any ongoing darkness effect in the aura (counteract check +44). The Lantern King can suppress or activate this aura as a free action.Mocking Laughter (aura, emotion, enchantment, incapacitation, mental, primal) 30 feet. Whenever a creature misses the Lantern King with an attack or fails a skill check or saving throw, the creature is overtaken by overwhelming mirth at its mistake, as hideous laughter (DC 45 Will save). The creature is thereafter temporarily immune to mocking laughter for 1 hour.Reactive The Lantern King gains an additional reaction at the start of his turn, but he can use this additional reaction only to take a reaction he hasn't already taken since the end of his previous turn.Attack of Opportunity [reaction]
Speed fly 60 feet
Melee [one-action] searing rune +44 [+40/+36] (agile, finesse, fire, magical, reach 20 feet), Damage 4d6+24 bludgeoning plus 4d6 fire plus drain luckRanged [one-action] blinding beam +44 [+39/+34] (fire, magical, mental, range 100 feet), Damage 4d8+19 fire plus blindnessPrimal Innate Spells DC 48, attack +40; 10th fireball, primal phenomenon; 9th disjunction, illusory creature, meteor swarm; 8th illusory object, illusory scene, sunburst, teleport, wall of fire; 7th plane shift, prismatic spray (at will); Cantrips (10th) dancing lights, light, produce flame, read aura; Constant (6th) tongues, true seeing
Rituals DC 48; 9th fantastic facade; 8th control weather, create demiplane, freedom; 6th commune with nature, primal call; 3rd geas
Adjust Temperature [one-action] (primal, transmutation) The Lantern King adjusts the temperature of his flames. He shifts from orange to blue, and his Strikes inflict cold damage until he takes this action again to switch back to fire damage.Blindness A creature damaged by the Lantern King's blinding beam Strike must make a DC 48 Fortitude save. If the Strike was a critical hit, the save's result is worsened one degree.
Critical Success The creature is unaffected by blindness.
Success The creature is dazzled for 1 round.
Failure The creature is blinded for 1 minute. At the end of each of its turns, the creature can attempt a DC 48 Fortitude save to end this blindness early.
Critical Failure The creature is blinded permanently.Change Shape [free-action] (concentrate, polymorph, primal, transmutation) The Lantern King can take on the appearance of any fey or humanoid, but he typically does so only to trick and confuse creatures. He loses his searing rune and blinding beam Strikes, but he gains a melee fist Strike that inflicts 4d8+19 bludgeoning damage.Drain Luck (curse, enchantment, mental, primal, misfortune) When the Lantern King damages a creature with his searing rune Strike, he drains the creature's luck. The creature must succeed at a DC 48 Will save or gain a –1 status penalty to all checks; it is then temporarily immune to Drain Luck for 1 round. Further damage dealt by the Lantern King's searing rune Strikes increases the status penalty by 1 on a failed save to a maximum status penalty of –4. This status penalty is reduced by one every time the affected creature achieves a critical success on a die roll against a creature that is at least equal to them in level, but otherwise is permanent until removed.Playful Switch [one-action] (conjuration, primal, teleportation) The Lantern King targets two creatures within 60 feet, causing each to become surrounded by glowing runes. The Lantern King attempts a single Thievery check against each target's Reflex DC. The Lantern King can't use Playful Switch again for 1 round.
Critical Success If the Thievery check achieves a critical success against both targets, they swap places and are both stunned 1. Each creature must be able to fit into their new spaces or the effect fails.
Success If the Thievery check achieves a success against both targets (or a critical success on one and a success on another), the two targets swap places. Each creature must be able to fit into their new spaces or the effect fails.
Failure If the Thievery check fails against either target, neither target is affected.
Critical Failure As failure, but both creatures are temporarily immune to Playful Switch for 24 hours.Prismatic Burst [reaction] Trigger A creature achieves a critical hit against the Lantern King or damages it with a cold iron weapon. Effect The Lantern King casts prismatic spray.