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Mind Dragons (level 4 Familiar)

• back to Familiars
• by Telgar

One of the more dangerous inhibitants of Southeastern and Southwestern swamps, Mind Dragons are huge lizards, adult males reaching lengths of 16 feet and weighing several hundred pounds. Strict carnivores, these huge reptiles present such a danger to nearby villages that they are the subjets of near-constant hunting. A Mind Dragon is slow, but its natural armor provides protection equal to the best Superheavy plate. Villagers fear the Mind Dragons not for their formidable armor or weaponry, but for their unique power. A Mind Dragon can inflict crippling mental wounds on their prey with their gaze and overwhelming mental presence. Highly intelligent, Mind Dragons will sit in wait for a victim and then emerge from cover only enough to catch the eyes of the target. When another creature moves in to rescue or dispatch the mentally crippled bait, the Mind Dragon emerges form hiding and quickly devours both victims.
Mind Dragons are related, distantly, to the Southern Dragon-Kings. At one time they were similar to the Stalkers of Rathess but many changes were forced upon them by unknown means. Some suspect the Wyld was responsible, others suggest a sorcerer may have been the source of the mutations. Now unable to speak and forever barred from increasing their Essence and gaining civilization, Mind Dragons are wild animals that retain only fragments of their Dragon-King cunning, intelligence and magic.
Difficult to domesticate or even bind as Familiars, only a few rare Exalted keep Mind Dragons as companions. Their fearsome appearance and vicious attack endears them to Abyssals and particularly mean-spirited Lunars most commonly.

Attributes: Str 7 Dex 3, Sta 7, Cha 0, Man 5, App 1, Per 4, Int 3, Wits 3
Abilities: Brawl 4 (Claw x2, Bite), Endurance 4, Resistance 3, Presence 5 (Mental Attack x3), Survival 3, Athletics 4, Awareness 4, Dodge 1, Stealth 3 (Ambush x2)
Dodge & Soak: 6 | 17B/17L (Hide Armor: 10B/10L)
Essence: 2
Willpower: 8
Health Levels: -0, -1, -1, -1, -2, -2, -2, -2, -4, Incap
Virtues: Compassion 1, Temperence 4, Conviction 3, Valor 5
Attacks:

• Claw - Acc 11 | Dmg 10L | Def 11 | Rate 4 | Spd 10
• Bite - Acc 10 | Dmg 12L | Def 5 | Rate 2 | Spd 6

Special Notes:

• Mind Bruise - Once they catch the gaze of a victim, a Mind Dragon can strike the unfortunante's mind, causing paralyzing mental damage. Launching a Mind Bruise attack requires the Mind Dragon to roll its Manipulation + Presence, which is resisted by the target's Willpower. The Mind Dragon gains a number of bonus dice equal to its current temporary willpower and his victim gains a bonus equal to his Temperence. Any net successes gained by the Mind Dragon are applied as "mental health levels" of damage.
  • All characters are considered to have seven of these health levels which function the same as physical health levels. If the character's Willpower + Highest Virtue exceeds 7 then the character has one additional -2 mental health level for each dot beyond 7.
  • If a character is "killed" by mental damage they are rendered unconscious for 1 hour, unable to be awakened unless magic specifically designed to heal mental wounds is applied. Mental health levels regenerate at the rate of 1 per hour.
• Dragon-King Legacy - Mind Dragons retain some vague trace of the magics of their Dragon-King forebears. They start play with five dots in the Ten Paths of Elemental Mastery which may be distributed however the Storyteller wishes. No single Path rating may exceed 2.

Comments

I don't know of any magic specifically designed to heal mental wounds. Would Contagion-Curing Touch work, since it removes all penalties for unfavorable conditions? What if the Solar has Wholeness-Restoring Meditation - this seems to be a normally incurable Crippling effect, so five successes on a Medicine roll would allow curing it at that point? (I know you're using 1e, so forgive me for using 2e charm examples, it was the book I had on hand) - IanPrice

If something removes all kinds of badness, then yes it probably heals mental wounds. There's also a DB Charm designed to cure derangements and such things, that would also heal mental damage. And yes, this is First Edition. You're like the third person to be unure what system I use for my Familiars. I'd think the stats would give them away. And my reputation for being a big fat hater in regards to Ex2.

Also if this were Ex2, it'd be a social combat attack. - Telgar

I was quite sure you were using 1e, thus why I said "I know," and why I apologized for not having my 1e book on hand. Just trying to help clarify Mind Bruise. Other than that, I don't see anything wrong with these beasties. Definitely worth 4 background points. - IanPrice

Whups, accidentally read a "don't" in there then. Sorry. Also I'd forgotten to adjust the copy & pasted combat stats to their own abilities. Now fixed. - Telgar