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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

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Romi Bracken

Romi Bracken has been no stranger to failure, but he knows persistence even better. After losing his parents to disease, Romi was left to fend for himself at the age of eight. He spent the next several years on the streets of Sothis, finding ways to get by through whatever means necessary. No matter if it was stealing, deceit, or striking down those who threatened him, Romi learned everything he needed to survive. Whenever he got in over his head, hefd run. Over the years, he'd escape his problems by traveling somewhere else. This led him to a number of great cities, including Katapesh, Katheer, Cassomir, and eventually Absalom. It was during his time in the Foreign Quarter when Romi learned to finally work with others.

While Romi initially kept his head down like he always did upon arriving in a new place, it didn't take long before he'd garnered the attention of other ne'erdo- wells in the district. To his surprise, this attention didn't bring conflict, but admiration and respect. His skills as a thief had grown, and other inexperienced thieves hoped to learn from him and ride his coattails. While initially hesitant about keeping others around, Romi quickly realized he enjoyed the attention and power that came from others working beneath him. After several months, he came to be in charge of a gang that was rising in power and notoriety.

The extra attention soon turned into a problem as Romi's gang drew the ire of the Bloody Barbers. Romi wasn't one to back down from a fight, but even his cunning and determination weren't enough to take on an organization that large. Having met his match, Romi fled once more to Andoran. This time, however, his past kept up with him. The Bloody Barbers' enforcers tracked Romi down in Augustana, intent on finally putting an end to the gang that had become a thorn in their side. In a moment of desperation, Romi snuck aboard the next ship leaving the docks, eventually learning it was heading west to the settlement of Talmandor's Bounty.

Romi had several months to craft a new persona and make a fresh start in Talmandor's Bounty. Knowing that running away from his problems wouldn't be easy in a small island community, he found new, scrupulous uses for his skill set. Rather than resort to thievery, Romi made his living through scavenging. He began to explore Ancorato and then the nearby islands of the region, searching for scraps. Eventually, he began to stumble on Azlanti relics and struck it big. For a time, things worked out well.

During one of Romi's expeditions in the jungles of northern Ancorato, a vicious beast tore into his flesh with a gruesome bite. Romi managed to escape the creature, but he ultimately fainted in the depths of the jungle. As he lay unconscious, Romi heard the voice of Camazotz, offering him great power on the condition he stay alive. Romi persisted, as he always did, and when he woke days later, he found himself transformed. Romi had become a werebat, and Camazotz's influence directed Romi to the nearby island of Vil-Azmar. Once there, Romi joined the cult of Camazotz, eventually rising through the ranks to become the cult's leader. For many years, Romi enjoyed his place at the head of cult.

During this time, Romi grew fond of his deception. He delighted in living a dual life, leading a cult by night and by day playing a friendly, eccentric scavenger to the people of Talmandor's Bounty. His purported lifestyle made for a good cover, easily explaining why he was away from town for extended periods of time. His cult's proximity to Azlanti ruins made it easy for him to show results of his long scavenging expeditions as well. Romi would light up inside every time someone in Talmandor's Bounty greeted him with a smile or invite him over for afternoon coffee. He knew he had them all fooled.

Things changed for the cult in 4724 ar. An earthquake led the cult to discover the depths of En-Gokal and encounter Deg. As the cult's leader, Romi met Deg and eventually Nizca and Lady Nalushae also. He agreed to help the two with their goal, offering the cult's aid as part of the alliance. Romi now sees this opportunity as a chance for his cult to grow in knowledge and power. He hopes to eventually expand the cult enough to overtake and destroy the other groups outright, but for now, he bides his time.

Campaign Role

Romi is the ultimate antagonist of this adventure. As the leader of the cult of Camazotz, Romi will eventually clash with the PCs. He generally looks to further his own desires for greater power and more control, and the PCs likely represent an obstacle toward these goals. There's a chance the PCs can speak with Romi and possibly offer an opportunity to advance his goals by releasing Noltari, the vampire trapped in stasis within the intake. Romi's desire to become a vampire outweighs his concern about the PCs, for a time. Once he grows in power, or when it's clear that the PCs are no longer useful to him, Romi is quick to betray them and seek greater power.

If the PCs manage to capture Romi or otherwise get him in a position to share his knowledge, he keeps most of his cards close to the chest. He shares the fact that there are other groups deeper in the prison but doesn't share any knowledge about what he knows of Nizca's ultimate plan. For the most part, he shares only what he believes he can use to trick the PCs into a more vulnerable position. He isn't above selling out the cult and Alzira if he believes he can get the upper hand. Ultimately, Romi looks out for himself and does whatever is necessary to survive or outright win in his circumstances—even exposing all he knows about what's going on in the rest of the ruins.

Recall Knowledge - Beast (Arcana, Nature): DC 29
Recall Knowledge - Humanoid (Society): DC 29
Unspecific Lore: DC 27
Specific Lore: DC 24

Elite | Normal | Weak
Proficiency without Level

Romi BrackenCreature 4

Unique Medium Beast Human Humanoid Werecreature 
Source Pathfinder #213: Thirst for Blood pg. 93
Perception +9; echolocation (precise) 40 feet, low-light vision
Languages Aklo, Common, Sakvroth, Thalassic
Skills Acrobatics +10, Camazotz Lore +9, Crafting +7, Deception +10, Diplomacy +8, Religion +7, Society +7, Stealth +10, Survival +7, Thievery +10
Str +0, Dex +4, Con +2, Int +1, Wis +1, Cha +2
Bat Empathy (primal) Romi can communicate with bats. Echolocation Romi can use his hearing as a precise sense at the listed range.
Surprise Attack On the first round of combat, if Romi rolls Deception or Stealth for initiative, creatures that haven't acted are off-guard to him.
Items blood-drinker blade, dagger, intake skeleton key, leather armor, lesser healing potion
AC 21; Fort +8, Ref +12, Will +9
HP 61; Weaknesses silver 5
Deny Advantage Romi isn't off-guard to hidden, undetected, or flanking creatures of his level or lower, or creatures of his level or lower using surprise attack.
Speed 25 feet, fly 25 feet
Melee [one-action] blood-drinker blade +11 [+7/+3] (agile, finesse, magical, versatile S), Damage 2d6+4 piercingMelee [one-action] claws +10 [+6/+2] (agile, finesse), Damage 1d6+4 slashingMelee [one-action] fangs +10 [+5/+0] (finesse), Damage 1d8+4 slashingRanged [one-action] dagger +10 [+5/+0] (thrown 30 feet), Damage 1d6+1 piercingChange Shape [one-action] (concentrate, polymorph) primal Human with fist for 1d6+4 bludgeoning and no fly Speed or Medium giant bat with Speed 15 feet and fly 30 feet.Curse of the Werebat (curse, primal) Saving Throw DC 18 FortitudeMoon Frenzy (polymorph, primal) Sneak Attack Romi deals 1d6 extra precision damage to off-guard creatures.Tumble Behind When Romi successfully Tumbles Through a creature's space, the creature is off-guard against the next attack Romi makes against it before the end of his turn.Unbalancing Blow When Romi critically hits and deals damage with a Strike, the target is off-guard against his attacks until the end of his next turn.

All Monsters in "Werecreature"

NameLevel
Batkin Guard1
Romi Bracken4
Werebat2
Werebat Warrior3
Werebear4
Wereboar2
Werecrocodile2
Weremoose3
Wererat2
Wereshark4
Weretiger4
Werewolf3

Werecreature

Source Monster Core pg. 344 1.1
Werecreatures are humanoids doomed to transform into animals and animal- humanoid hybrids under the light of the full moon. These shapechanging creatures are the result of an ancient primal curse that they can, in turn, transmit through their own bites. Their ability to lurk unseen in the wilds as well as among people, combined with the contagiousness of their condition, makes werecreatures a perennial cause of panicked suspicion.

Creating Werecreatures

You can either create a werecreature using the creature-building rules from GM Core (similar to the creatures in this section), or you can turn an existing, living humanoid into a werecreature by completing the following steps. The latter is an excellent choice for a recurring NPC who becomes a werecreature during a campaign. These changes reflect a werecreature in its hybrid form.

Increase the creature's level by 1 and change its statistics as follows.
  • It gains the beast and werecreature traits.
  • Increase its size by one category if the animal is a larger size than the base humanoid.
  • Increase its AC, attack bonuses, DCs, saving throws, and skill modifiers by 1.
  • Increase its damage with Strikes and other offensive abilities by 1. If the werecreature is limited in how often it can use an ability (such as magical breath), increase the damage by 2 instead.
  • Increase its HP by the amount shown on the table. This HP increase is more than typical in order to compensate for the creature's weakness to silver.
  • The creature gains weakness to silver as shown on the table.
Starting Level HP Increase Weakness to Silver
4 or lower +25 5
5–7 +35 7
8–14 +50 10
15+ +75 15

Werecreature Abilities

All werecreatures gain the following abilities, some of which match an ability of the animal the werecreature transforms into. You might also need to adjust some abilities that conflict with the theme of the werecreature.

Senses The werecreature gains all the senses of the animal.
Animal Empathy The werecreature can ask questions of, receive answers from, and use the Diplomacy skill with animals of its general kind.
Claws The werecreature gains a claw Strike (an agile unarmed attack that deals slashing damage). If it had any agile attacks, the damage dealt by its claws should be roughly the same as the damage dealt by those attacks. If it had only non-agile attacks, its claws should deal three-quarters that damage.
Jaws The creature gains a jaws Strike (an unarmed attack that deals piercing damage) that inflicts its curse of the werecreature. If it had any non-agile attacks, the damage dealt by its jaws should be roughly the same as the damage dealt by those attacks. If it had only agile attacks, its jaws should deal one-third more damage.
Change Shape [one-action] (concentrate, polymorph, primal) The werecreature changes into its humanoid, hybrid, or animal shape. Each shape has a specific, persistent appearance. A true werecreature's natural form is its hybrid shape. In humanoid shape, the werecreature uses its original humanoid size, loses its jaws and claws Strikes, and gains a melee fist Strike that deals bludgeoning damage equal to the slashing damage dealt by its claw. In animal shape, its Speed and size change to that of the animal, it gains any special Strike effects of the animal that it didn't already have (such as Grab), and it loses its weapon Strikes.
Curse of the Werecreature (curse, primal) This curse affects only humanoids; Saving Throw Fortitude DC is the moderate spell DC for the werecreature's new level. On each full moon, the cursed creature must succeed at another Fortitude save or turn into the same kind of werecreature until dawn. The creature is under the GM's control and goes on a rampage for half the night before falling unconscious until dawn.
Moon Frenzy (polymorph, primal) When a full moon appears in the night sky, the werecreature must enter hybrid form, can't Change Shape thereafter, becomes one size larger, increases its reach by 5 feet, and increases the damage of its jaws by 2. When the moon sets or the sun rises, the werecreature returns to humanoid form and is fatigued for 2d4 hours.