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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

Pathfinder RPG (1st Edition) Pathfinder RPG (2nd Edition) Starfinder RPG

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Abilities | Monsters | NPCs

Chancellor Kemnebi, Cunning Vampiric Mastermind

Long ago, in the days before Geb was a nation, Kemnebi was a mortal man with a wife and family. Tragedy struck, and the kindly father dove into dark magic to save the lives of those he loved. Kemnebi can't recall what events he took part in during those early days; he'd long since purged the memories from his mind to make room for memories he considered more useful as well as a wealth of knowledge and skills. What he does recall is by the end of his mortal life his family was dead, he was alone, and he died, coming back through spite, determination, and Urgathoa's blessing as a vetalarana.

Kemnebi was reckless in his early days and was nearly destroyed by the monk Balji, whose death he drew out over years as an act of vengeance. Eventually, Balji died, but the simple monk would live on inside Kemnebi, who had let in too many of the monk's memories. This new, enlightened Kemnebi was a far more cautious, cunning, and terrifying predator. He has destroyed countless lives, fed off millions, and rose through Geb's hierarchy to become the most powerful Blood Lord within the nation.

With Arazni's departure from Geb, the ghost king has returned to rule his nation, and Kemnebi has been forced to accelerate his plans—plans that would've devastated Geb's trade partners, sparked a war, and seen Kemnebi rival Geb himself. Now that the PCs have foiled Kemnebi's plans, Kemnebi has retreated into hiding in his shadow sanctum.

Campaign Role

Kemnebi is chief among the Blood Lords and the main villain of the Blood Lords Adventure Path. While the characters spend most of the campaign foiling Kemnebi's plans and saving their nation from war, in “Ghost King's Rage,” the characters must finally find and destroy Kemnebi, who hides within his shadow sanctum and plots revenge against both Geb and the meddlesome Blood Lords who have foiled centuries of planning and preparation. Kemnebi is unrepentant and difficult to destroy.

Recall Knowledge - Undead (Religion): DC 52
Unspecific Lore: DC 50
Specific Lore: DC 47

Elite | Normal | Weak
Proficiency without Level

Chancellor KemnebiCreature 21

Legacy Content

Unique LE Medium Undead Vampire 
Source Pathfinder #186: Ghost King's Rage pg. 88
Male vetalarana vampire
Perception +18; darkvision, thoughtsense 100 feet
Languages Ancient Osiriani, Common, Kelish, Necril, Osiriani, Vudrani; tongues
Skills Acrobatics +14, Arcana +22, Athletics +12, Crafting +20, Deception +15, Diplomacy +15, Intimidation +15, Mechitar Lore +20, Nature +20, Occultism +20, Performance +16, Religion +22, Shadow Plane Lore +20, Society +20, Stealth +14
Str +6, Dex +8, Con +7, Int +10, Wis +10, Cha +8
Thoughtsense (occult, divination, mental) Kemnebi senses all non-mindless creatures within 100 feet as a precise sense.
Items ring of spell turning, wand of widening (9th level), religious symbol of Urgathoa
AC 22; Fort +13, Ref +14, Will +20
HP 350 (fast healing 20, mental rebirth, negative healing); Immunities death effects, disease, paralyzed, poison, sleep; Resistances mental 15, physical 15 (except magical cold iron); Weaknesses vetalarana vulnerabilities
Enlightened Mind Whenever Kemnebi is targeted by a mental effect, that effect's source or caster must succeed at a DC -16 flat check. If this check fails, the mental effect doesn't affect Kemnebi.Mental Rebirth curse, incapacitation, mental, necromancy, occult) Unlike most other undead, a vetalarana isn't destroyed when they reach 0 HP. Instead, their body is destroyed, crumbling to ash, and their mind is immediately transferred into a creature they rendered comatose through Drain Thoughts. This creature must be within 1 mile; if no such creature is in range, the vetalarana is destroyed. The creature becomes controlled by the vetalarana and loses the stupefied and unconscious conditions. If the creature controlled by a vetalarana in this way is killed, the vetalarana's mind transfers to another creature within 1 mile who they rendered comatose through Drain Thoughts. After 1d6 days of being controlled, the controlled creature dies, and its body transforms into that of the vetalarana who rendered it comatose.Vetalarana Vulnerabilities All vetalaranas possess the following weaknesses.
  • Barred Senses A vetalarana can't see or sense through force effects or cold iron, and their mind can't penetrate force effects or cold iron. Such barriers can prevent the transference of a vetalarana's mind through Mental Rebirth.
  • Revulsion A vetalarana delights in consuming memories and secrets, and is disgusted by those who share such sensitive tidbits openly. A vetalarana can't voluntarily come within 10 feet of a creature loudly voicing their intimate personal secrets or most cherished memories aloud. Speaking such information aloud with conviction is a single action that has the auditory, concentrate, and linguistic traits, and protects the creature until the start of its next turn. A vetalarana that involuntarily comes within 10 feet of a creature sharing such information gains the fleeing condition until they're 10 feet or farther from the creature. After 1 round of being exposed to the secrets of a creature, a vetalarana can attempt a DC 4 Will save as a single action, which has the concentrate trait. On a success, they overcome their revulsions for 1d6 rounds (or 1 hour on a critical success).
  • Vulnerable to Brain Destruction A vetalarana whose brain has been destroyed, or is reduced to 0 HP while unable to take mental actions, can't use Mental Rebirth.
Deflect Attack [reaction] Requirements Kemnebi is aware of the attack, isn't flat-footed, and has a hand free; Trigger Kemnebi is the target of a physical ranged attack or ranged spell attack; Effect Kemnebi gains a +4 circumstance bonus to AC against the triggering attack. If the attack misses, Kemnebi has deflected it. He can't use this reaction to deflect unusually massive ranged projectiles (such as boulders or ballista bolts).
Speed 40 feet, climb 40 feet
Melee [one-action] claw +18 [+14/+10] (agile, finesse, magical), Damage 4d10+16 slashing plus paralyzing claws and Improved GrabArcane Prepared Spells DC 27, attack +19; 10th flense; 9th shadow raid, suffocate, unspeakable shadow; 8th bound in death, flense (×2); 7th paralyze, phantasmal calamity, plane shift; 6th grim tendrils, magic missile, teleport; 5th animate dead, shadow siphon, shadow walk; 4th enervation, fly, telepathy; 3rd haste, magic aura, vampiric touch; 2nd blur, deafness, invisibility; 1st magic missile (×2), ventriloquism; Cantrips (10th) ancient dust, chill touch, ghost sound, produce flame, read aura
Divine Prepared Spells DC 27, attack +19; 10th harm (×9), spirit blast; 9th dirge of remembrance, spirit blast, spiritual torrent; 8th shadow blast (×3); 7th eclipse burst, finger of death, spirit blast; 6th blade barrier, chilling darkness, crisis of faith; 5th blink charge, blood vendetta, crushing despair; 4th darkness, spell immunity, steal voice; 3rd bind undead, dream message, heroism; 2nd false life, see invisibility, status; 1st alarm, goblin pox, ray of enfeeblement; Cantrips (10th) daze, detect magic, divine lance, stabilize, torturous trauma
Occult Innate Spells DC 27; Constant (5th) tongues
Focus Spells DC 27, attack +19, 3 Focus Points; 10th athletic rush, call of the grave, enduring might, life siphon
Rituals DC 27; 2nd create undead (doesn't require secondary casters)
Center Self [one-action] Frequency once per round; Effect Kemnebi regains 1 Focus Point. If he's stupefied, he reduces the value of his stupefied condition by one. If Kemnebi is affected by a mental effect or spell, Kemnebi attempts to counteract that effect or spell with a +33 counteract modifier.Control Comatose (exploration, incapacitation, mental, necromancy, occult, possession) Frequency once per day; Effect The vetalarana manipulator spends 10 minutes to take psychic control of the creatures they've rendered comatose with Drain Thoughts. This has the effects of the possession spell, but lasts for up to 6 hours, has a range of 1 mile, and the vetalarana can control a number of comatose victims at a time equal to half the vetalarana's level. A comatose victim can't resist this possession and automatically gets a critical failure on its saving throw against Control Comatose.
As long as a comatose victim is controlled by a vetalarana manipulator in this way, the victim's stupefied and unconscious conditions are temporarily suppressed.Drain Thoughts [one-action] (necromancy, occult) Requirements A grabbed, paralyzed, restrained, unconscious, or willing creature is within Kemnebi's reach; Effect Kemnebi seizes a creature and consumes its memories. This requires an Athletics check against the victim's Fortitude DC if the victim is grabbed and is automatic for any of the other conditions. The victim is stupefied 2f and Kemnebi regains 35 HP, gaining any excess HP as temporary Hit Points. Draining Thoughts from a creature that's already stupefied doesn't restore any HP to Kemnebi but increases the victim's stupefied value by 2. Additionally, Kemnebi views one of the victim's memories and can choose to alter, enhance, or erase the memory he views as 4th-level modify memory.
A victim's stupefied condition value decreases by 1 every week.
A victim who becomes stupefied 5 in this way is rendered comatose, becoming permanently unconscious. As long as Kemnebi lives, a comatose victim can't regain consciousness, and its stupefied condition doesn't decrease.Flurry of Blows [one-action] Frequency once per round; Effect Kemnebi makes two claw Strikes. If both hit the same creature, combine their damage for the purposes of resistances and weaknesses. Kemnebi applies his multiple attack penalty to the Strikes normally.Paralyzing Claws (incapacitation, necromancy, occult) Any living, non-mindless creature hit by Kemnebi's claw Strike must succeed at a DC 15 Fortitude save or become paralyzed. It can attempt a new save at the end of each of its turns, and the DC cumulatively decreases by 1 on each such save.