Jynx
(AKA. Frost Hag, Tundra Witch, Ice Diva, Cold Widow)
(GameFreak later changed its skintone to purple so it would look less like a woman in blackface but they also made its expression less dopey so we're going with this one.) |
Environment: Any sufficiently snow-blasted arctic waste.
No. Appearing: Roll 1d4. On a 1-2, there's only one. On a 3, there are two. On a 4, there are 1d30. It also appears whenever two players say the same thing at the same time.
What are they doing: Either a) Striking a pose, standing perfectly still. They will not budge as long as you're looking unless you come within arms reach. b) Dancing around, making this noise. Save versus spells or be drawn to look closer. c) Following you at a distance, watching. It seductively wiggles its hips as it walks.
AC As chain + shield, or as unarmoured + shield if attacking the hair
HD 2+1
Intelligence Average to above-average (9-14)
Languages Its own, which sounds like the noise linked above.
Movement Slow, graceful, yet distinctly inhuman
Movement Slow, graceful, yet distinctly inhuman
Attacks
Kiss - It will target the character with the highest Charisma first, or the one who has been kindest to it. A Jynx does not distinguish between sexes. The effect of a Jynx's kiss varies. Roll 1d6:
1 - 3: Save vs spells or become infatuated with the Jynx as per charm person. You can understand its babbled instructions but cannot speak its language. The Jynx's directives are usually either a) subdue your friends, b) kiss your friends, or c) dance.
4 - 6: Save vs spells or fall asleep for 1d6 hours. Since these are likely to appear in cold places, the DM is encouraged to enforce whatever freezing rules apply (keeping in mind that the body produces less heat when sleeping).
A character who has succumb to a Jynx's kiss has a d20% chance of seeing the Jynx in its dreams. The Jynx sees them too. The % chance is reduced by 1 every night.
Confusion - If a character does not appear to be succumbing to kisses a Jynx may use this mental attack. It deals 1d6 psychic damage and the target saves versus spells or becomes confused as per the confusion spell cast by a 10th-level Magic-User. A Jynx may use this power once a day. If you use psionics this is some kind of psionic attack.
4 - 6: Save vs spells or fall asleep for 1d6 hours. Since these are likely to appear in cold places, the DM is encouraged to enforce whatever freezing rules apply (keeping in mind that the body produces less heat when sleeping).
A character who has succumb to a Jynx's kiss has a d20% chance of seeing the Jynx in its dreams. The Jynx sees them too. The % chance is reduced by 1 every night.
Confusion - If a character does not appear to be succumbing to kisses a Jynx may use this mental attack. It deals 1d6 psychic damage and the target saves versus spells or becomes confused as per the confusion spell cast by a 10th-level Magic-User. A Jynx may use this power once a day. If you use psionics this is some kind of psionic attack.
Slap - 1d4 damage, but a Jynx will not use this unless the character attempts to harm it and does not succumb to kisses or confusion.
Behaviour
A Jynx's interests are to lure in victims, take thralls, and survive.
When all victims are charmed, sleeping, or dead, the Jynxes will whisk the charmed victims away. No one has ever seen where they are taken and lived to tell the tale.
A Jynx who sees a kiss-victim in their dreams will come find them the next day. There is a 50% chance it will bring 1d20 friends.
The Hair
This video reveals the Jynx's true nature:
A Jynx's interests are to lure in victims, take thralls, and survive.
When all victims are charmed, sleeping, or dead, the Jynxes will whisk the charmed victims away. No one has ever seen where they are taken and lived to tell the tale.
A Jynx who sees a kiss-victim in their dreams will come find them the next day. There is a 50% chance it will bring 1d20 friends.
The Hair
This video reveals the Jynx's true nature:
Notice how when it faints the body disappears; only the hair remains. This is because the body is actually a psionic projection of the true creature: the hair. The body is not quite an illusion - it occupies actual space and the victims of a kiss will feel its cold, slimy lips against their skin, but a sword will seem to swish through the folds of its extravagant dress without cutting. The actual Jynx is not an uncanny feminine apparition but rather yellow, tentacular, and starfish-like. Any character who catches on to this and targets the hair directly has a better chance to hit.
If a Jynx is ever killed or knocked unconscious its false body will disappear.
If a Jynx is ever killed or knocked unconscious its false body will disappear.
Awesome! I'm happy-but-not-surprised that a pokemon conversion came out so well. I'm tempted to do a few myself. (1d100 zubats, drowzee, koffing, vileplume) Pidgey and rattata would be boring--unless we give them the cool moves like super fang or whirlwind.
ReplyDeleteOnly one mistake on your jynx writeup: slaps should be doubled for 1d4/1d4.
Okay I have to think about this now.
DeleteJynx works because it's already intrinsically terrifying, which you can't quite say of most Pokemon. Except Ghost-types, obviously, but I feel like Chandelure is low-hanging fruit here. Psychic-types seem good. Exeggutor - psychic coconut ent. Grumpig - hog w/ magic jewel in head. Hypno - tapir-headed man with Elizabethan ruff, dream-extracting apparatus.
Basically I'm looking for guys who you could put in your regular game and then players wouldn't even realize they were Pokemon.
You just have to make sure you don't play it too afe and make an "it's just a rat/pterodactyl/dragon thing" critter.
DeleteMy picks:
Voltorb (self-destructing, artificial-looking spheres? Heck yeah!)
Lapras (a dragon/seal turtle hybrid)
Bulbasaur (symbiotic plant/animal dinosaur/tentacle monster fusion)
Charmander (It's just a dragon you can kill be snuffing out its flame)