Still Not Done With PF1: The Forgotten Ones (Patreon)

I had this drawn for me by Jacob Blackmon years ago… well into the period when my at-the-time-undiagnosed cancer was making it impossible for me to keep track of things. So it never got written up.

Now, it is.

I intentionally did this using the Simple Monster Creation (SMC) rules from Pathfinder Roleplaying Gam Pathfinder Unchained. As a result, there are entries in the stat block that just say (SMC*), so you know I didn’t forget them, the SMC rules just don’t use that. Of course as the SMC rules suggest, where the monster’s design conflicts wth the SMC rules, monster design wins.

I originally had a whole concept of why Forgotten ones did not follow the normal rules of reality, and thus using the SMC rules was a specific design choice. That feels a tad forced to me now, but I still like the concept. And, of course, Jacob’s art.

Forgotten Ones

“Forgotten Ones” are trans-reality creatures, residents of the Sunless Empire. But the Sunless Empire never existed. It was the dream of dread gods, the plan of mad prophets. So totally was it imagined by twisted minds that some small portions of it leaked into our world. Some ruins in places mortal never built. Some tomes of history that never happened. Some relics no one ever crafted.

A few places have tried to emulate to the Sunless Empire, hoping to model it so closely as to cause it to have once been real. The varghul cavern-cities of Ungol game closest, but were razed before they could succeed. The Black Lotus Eaters can dream of its horrific unlit majesty. The asgeroth have built monuments to it, far beneath the waves.

But thankfully, as yet, none have created more than a pale shadow of the hellscape where glowing night fuels gray plants with a dim vigor that replaces life, sanity is a crime, creating horrors directly grants power, and creatures think thoughts so primally wicked they become horrific reality.

There are more than just the Forgotten Ones in the Sunless Empire, but these are the entities who have most successfully moved from fel concept to malevolent reality. Many ancient stories talk of similar creatures, those who behold all, or flay the very minds of those who see them. But if those creatures truly existed, they do not now. But the Forgotten Ones remember being the original of those nightmare-fueled myths, and work endlessly to return to full tangible dominance and resume their true and original forms.

Forgotten One

This bulbous, alien creature has a wide, fanged mouth, ridged carapace atop its skull, and numerous tentacles, two longer than the rest.

Forgotten One CR 10

XP 9,600LE Large aberrationInit +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., lifesense 60 ft.; Perception +18AC 24, touch 14, flat-footed 18 (SMC*)hp 130 (SMC*)Fort +8, Ref +10, Will +13Defensive Abilities Spell immunity, unstoppable actions, unthinkable actionsSpeed 15 ft., fly 40 ft. (perfect), climb 15 ft.Melee bite +8 (3d6+15), tentacles (2) +12 (2d6+10 bludgeoning or piercing and grab), tentacle rays +12 (touch attacks)Space 10 ft., Reach 10 ft.Special Attacks Mind Drain, Tentacle Rays (CL 11, Concentration +18)Str 14 (+2), Dex 17 (+3), Con 10 (+0), Int 25 (+7), Wis 14 (+2), Cha 21 (+5)Base Atk (SMC*); CMB +14 (+18 to grapple); CMD 27 (31 vs grapple)Feats Improved InitiativeSkills Climb +10, Diplomacy +15, Intimidate +15, Knowledge (arcana) +12, Knowledge (planes) +18, Perception +18, Sense Motive +18, Spellcraft +18, Stealth +18, Survival +12Languages Aklo, Common, Infernal; telepathy 100 ft.Environment anyOrganization solitaryTreasure triple (no coins or trade goods)

Special Abilities

Mind Drain (Ex): A Forgotten One that begins its turn with one foe pinned and none others grappled is not considered grappled as long as it maintains that pin. The Forgotten One can then drain the fate of the foe one that round as a free action. It automatically does 1d6 Int, Wis, and Cha damage to the foe. If the target succeeds at both a DC 18 Fort save ad a DC 18 Will save takes only 1 point of damage to each of these ability scores that round. The save is Charisma-based.

Spell Immunity (Su) When a Forgotten One is targeted by or within the area of a spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability, after the effects of that magic effect are applied, it becomes immune to the same effect (from any source) for 24 hours, as if it was in an antimagic shell.

Tentacle Rays (Su): A Forgotten One can make eight tentacle ray attacks a round as free actions. It cannot make more than 8 such attacks under any circumstances, even if hasted. Each tentacle ray has a caster level of 11th and is a ranged touch attack with a range of 150 feet. The effects of the rays vary (see below), and are based on the spells of the listed names. Each ray must first make a ranged touch to affect a target, who then receives any appropriate saving throw or SR. each ray affects only a single creature, even if it normally has a larger effect, multiple targets, or an area. It can never aim more than two rays at the same creature each turn. The save DC of each ray is listed, where applicable.

The thought process of a Forgotten One is so alien to rational creatures that its tentacle ray attacks are randomized. Though it has only 8 tentacles, it has 16 possible ray attacks. Each time it targets a foe, roll 2d10 to see what ray it uses. Each ray can be used only once per round, if you roll the same result go to the next-highest die result that has not yet been used.

Roll 2d10

(2) Agonizing Rebuke (DC 18)(3) Debilitating Pain (DC 18)(4) Dispel magic (targeted spell only)(5) Ego Whip I (DC 18)(6) Excruciating Deformation (DC 17)(7) Find Fault. Forgotten One attacks the target of find fault with a melee attack before the end of its next round, if the target is in range. (8-9) Force Punch (DC 16)(10-11) Mind Thrust III (DC 16)(12-13) Scorching Ray. All rays fire at a single target with a single attack roll. Roll 1d6 for damage type with each use: 1-Acid. 2-Cold. 3-Electricity. 4-5-Fire. 6-Sonic.(14) Healing Thief (DC 18)(15) Isolate (DC 18)(16) Phantasmal Affliction (DC 18)(17) Slow (DC 19)(18) Stage Fright (DC 21)(19) Telekinetic Maneuver (CMB +18)(20) Vision of Hell (DC 20)

Unstoppable Actions (Su): A Forgotten One is under the effects of a constant freedom of movement. If its freedom of movement is somehow negated, it is restored automatically on the Forgotten One’s next turn.

Unthinkable Actions (Ex): A Forgotten One’s movements are always jerky, alien, and unpredictable. It never provokes attack of opportunity, regardless of what actions it has, or what ability foes have that would normally grant them attacks of opportunity.

Forgotten Ones are entities foreign to reality itself, the twisted wisps of creatures that never truly existed, brought to tangible form by the power of the hprrofoc non-reality that would be their native realm, if it existed. They are driven to ceaselessly seek to recreate the existence which they believe they came from, to bring more of its denizens and curses and nightmares into existence, so in time it can be a thing which has existed. While they can make allies, restrain their hatred for everything native to reality, and conceal their true motives, no Forgotten One is anything be a zealot for creating their impossible realm.