Aetrimonde

Today, I’m going to introduce the members of the Autumn Court, starting with their creations and hangers-on. All of the Sidhe Courts have other creatures of Faerie among their ranks (though always in a subservient position). The Autumn Court attracts allies who, like the Sidhe in charge of the Court, have no use for so-called civilization.

The Blightreapt

The Sidhe make use of many disposable soldiers, among them the Blightreapt: scarecrow-like constructs made from farmers’ crops and sent to wreak havoc on their growers.

Blightreapt Lore

While individually weak, Blightreapt can be animated en masse, with dozens coming from a single field, and in a nasty twist characteristic of Autumn, they render the crops they are made from inedible. The Court often cares not whether a swarm of Blightreapt succeed in overrunning a farming community: in fact, they hope for survivors, in the expectation that they will turn on each other when they realize that they have no crops as winter approaches.

The Blightreapt fill a similar niche as zombies, although with stats taken to less of an extreme. They can be used as part of a horde, with the added twist that when destroyed, they stagger nearby creatures (due to the nauseating stench of their internal decay as it spills forth).

Redcap Vandal

Aetrimonde’s redcaps are gleefully nasty little fae, fond of endearing themselves to lone travelers only to stick a knife in their back, and destroying the treasured possessions and life’s works of those they cannot slay outright. This makes them fit right in with the Autumn Court, who likewise seek to tear down systems of civilization, spreading distrust and breaking infrastructure and institutions. Redcaps in general, but Vandals most of all, are only too happy to pursue these aims with a little direction from the Court.

Lore on Redcaps in General

Redcap Vandals, in particular, enjoy smashing things: the finer and more appreciated, the better. They are Afflictors, but unlike the mummies I’ve previously revealed, Redcap Vandals are Afflictors because of their potential to destroy the PCs’ possessions. (And as any experienced GM knows, that’s one of the surest ways to make the PCs mad at an enemy.)

The way Redcap Vandals do this is twofold: firstly, they must get an enemy flatfooted, either through typical means like flanking or ambush, or by using Spiteful Strike (an attack common to Redcaps) against larger or tougher PCs. One they have a flatfooted foe, the Vandal can then use Improved Sunder¹, dealing damage to an object the PC holds or wears…and if it chooses to damage, say, a PC’s armor, the Precise Smashing trait allows it to deal this damage to the PC, too. This is the first part of the puzzle that a Redcap Vandal presents: it is important to keep flatfooted PCs away from the Vandal, lest they wind up with broken armor in the middle of an adventure.

Also seen in this statblock is the Bloody Cap trait, also common to Redcaps, and this is the second half of the Vandal’s (and other Redcaps’) puzzle: injured PCs should try to stay out of a Redcap’s reach until they can be healed, because a Redcap gaining 5 invulnerable resistance is a definite problem. If a Redcap does manage to dye its cap, a counter to this would be to use Sunder on its cap, which would remove this resistance. A similar tactic would involve the use of Disarm to steal the cap, and if the PCs are prepared, they could always overcome the resistance with cold iron weapons and implements.

As one last remark, I’ll draw attention to the Vandal’s size of “Undersized-Medium:” this means that it occupies the same space as a Medium creature (a single square), but has some of the advantages of a smaller creature.² Some PC ancestries (halfling and goblin) are Undersized and gain these same benefits.

Ogre Glutton

The design of Aetrimonde’s ogres is centered around hunger: the core of their portrayal is their appetite, which is appropriately huge. The Autumn Court uses ogres much the same way that they use the Blightreapt: to destroy harvests and drive farmers to desperation. A clan of ogres coming “down out of the hills” (or more likely, through a crossing to Faerie) can eat a sizeable farming community out of house, home, and harvest…and that’s before they start in on the farmers for dessert. Ogre Gluttons simply take this to a logical extreme.

Lore on Ogres in General

The Ogre Glutton is an Elite enemy and a Controller, and it fulfills this role using its Swallow Whole action…which does exactly what it says in the name. An Ogre Glutton can grab an adjacent, flatfooted PC and stuff them bodily down its gullet, which effectively isolates them. The PC takes damage, cannot be healed by allies (for lack of line of sight and effect), cannot run away, and in fact, cannot really do much of anything except try to cut their way out of the Ogre’s gullet. That the Ogre also gains a bit of regeneration (from Fast Digestion) is merely a bonus.

Of course, this is a bit of a double-edged sword for the Ogre. Creatures in its gullet have disfavor on damage rolls against it, it’s true…unless they result from a critical hit. And if a creature in its gullet manages to cut their way out, the Glutton starts taking some fairly serious repeated damage. This can happen with a critical hit from outside its gullet too, but critical threat makes it a bit more likely for a creature in its gullet.

The Glutton has a few other tricks as well: its Brawl action allows it to sling a Butcher’s Hook at a foe just out of range, and reel them in on a chain before taking a swing with a Cleaver. And Morbid Bulk makes the Glutton take just a little less damage from area attacks: bringing it down will require some focused fire from melee and ranged attacks.

Up Next

Tune back in Wednesday for the first post in the creation of Gwynne of House Midwinter, elf artificer. And next week, keep an eye out for a continuation of this series dealing with another part of the Autumn Court: the Wild Hunt!

1. As a side note, Sunder is a combat maneuver that the PCs can use, too. Ordinarily, Sunder gives the target the option of taking damage themselves rather than letting it be dealt to their possessions. (In other words, they can shield an object with their body.) Improved Sunder is a feat that prevents the target of Sunder from taking this option…but Precise Smashing is, for the time being, unique to the Redcap Vandal. ↩︎
2. Principally, larger creatures (Medium and up) suffer a -1 penalty to attack rolls against the Redcap’s AC and Poise but gain +1 to attack rolls vs. its Brawn; the Redcap gains the opposite effect of +1 to attack rolls vs. larger creatures’ AC and Poise but -1 vs. their Brawn. ↩︎