Zalgo (3.5e Elder Evil)

Author: Eiji-kun (talk) Co-Authors: Ganteka Future Date Created: 12 July 2012 Status: Tentative Completion Editing: Clarity edits only please

Rate this article Your rating for this article: Favor Like Neutral Dislike Oppose Submit | Cancel Discuss this article

Zalgo

“	While I undertook this task under my own misguided ambitions, may these obscured words following provide not a curse and corruption, hopefully salvation. May only strong minded and those blessed of greater will than mine own read forth from here. I learned what I could. It was too much. Composing this final text is done with difficulty as my mind hangs upon the precipice of sanity, overlooking an edge, doomed, from which I can never hope to recover and whose fall shall mean worse things than death. Be warned, for as you read, I am now dead, and this warning may perhaps be the only path to your salvation as it may also be to your undoing as you are lost as I now am. I have discovered a thing, an eldritch abomination beyond our knowing or ever knowing. The more you know of it, the greater danger of corruption within you are. It speaks. Voice all around. Constantly. I've left out what I can to keep you safe enough. Enough. What I write is only my own theories, though all differing views may still hold true to it. I present to you below what I know of Zalgo, He Who Waits Behind the Wall.	”
—Daruth Winterwood

“	To invoke the hive-mind representing chaos. Invoking the feeling of chaos. Without order. The Nezperdian hive-mind of chaos. Zalgo. He who Waits Behind The Wall. ZALGO!	”
—Scrawlings which frequently occur during signs of corruption

Background

“	The Nezperdian hive-mind of chaos. An eyeless abomination with seven mouths. In his right hand he holds a dead star. In his left, the Candle Whose Light is Shadow, stained with the blood of Am Dhaegar. Six mouths speak in different tongues. When the time arrives, the seventh shall sing the song that ends it all. I theorize that Zalgo is the fusion of the minds of a group known as the Nezperdians, who had achieved total unity through a telepathic network in hopes of formulating a way to save their dying multiverse as represented by his dead star. Though a solution had been found in the Candle Whose Light is Shadow as their multiverse collapsed, it cost them their material form. Their entire world, Am Dhaegar, slipped through their vanishing fingers, swallowed whole in screams of madness. United, in endless void, they waited. It waited. It waits. How long did it wait for stars and gods to be born anew. As it watched, this new place could not be touched, grasped, felt. It waited still, disconnected, unable to bring back its world. Jealousy, hate, and despair fueled it, driving its immense, endless thoughts into twisted, clawing, rasping fingers seeking to pierce our world and drag it into the nothingness with it.	”
—Daruth Winterwood

Knowledge of Zalgo spreads Corruption (see below). Whenever making an appropriate Knowledge (history) check, characters are allowed a Will save to prevent adding to their Corruption Score, regardless of their skill check result.

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (history) can research Zalgo to learn more about it. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs (forcing another Will save for each lower result).

Knowledge (history)

DC1	Will DC	Result
20	20	Zalgo is from a time before our multiverse, trapped, waiting.
25	22	Zalgo is a tormented hive-mind of a long-extinct group known as Nezperdians.
30	24	Zalgo symbolically holds a dead star representing its fallen multiverse in one hand and their cursed salvation in the other, the Candle Whose Light is Shadow.
35	26	Zalgo, stained with the blood of Am Dhaegar, its home world, speaks with six of its mouths. When the seventh opens, it sings the song that ends it all.
The level of Zalgo's Sign affects the DC as noted below.

Goals

“	Corruption. Corruption of the innocent and gentle, of form and function, of sanity and thought. Every attempt is a test, to change our world, our make and stuff, into the stuff of its own making. The boundary lifts between object and living flesh. The air grew dark. Light unable to breathe, choked out by Zalgo. Tenebrous tentacles reached out from walls and floors and the flesh of those nearby, caught mad and screaming. Tearing at their eyes, bleeding darkness from their mouths, discordant. Screams from mouths on hands, pulling those into darkness. There was the sounds, crunching, squelching, whispers. The children missing. The children returned. The herald, tall and pale and wrong. The herald spread the corruption faster. Through it, words of madness and monstrosity. Fields of eyes and maws, singing in echoes, peering through our world and into the void, bringing it with. The fear spread fast, those easiest fell to it first. To see such innocence twisted, their beloved fell next. The stars shifted in the sky. The wall fell away. We have such wonderful sights to show you. We believed in nothing. Thought was gone. Replaced by something less or eternally more. Over the edge I fall. We are waiting.	”
—Daruth Winterwood

Knowledge of Zalgo spreads Corruption (see below). Whenever making an appropriate Knowledge (the planes) check, characters are allowed a Will save to prevent adding to their Corruption Score.

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (the planes) can research Zalgo to learn more about it. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs (forcing another Will save for each lower result).

Knowledge (the planes)

DC1	Will DC	Result
20	20	Zalgo reaches across the divide, the wall, to spread corruption, first by attaching itself to an artifact to spread knowledge. Through knowledge, so to does corruption spread. Touching the affected artifact spreads corruption as well. Detail effects of its Faint sign and Hallucination level of Corruption.
25	22	Zalgo first seeks to corrupt the weak and fearful first, such as children and the innocent and helpless. Corrupted individuals gain horrible mutations and maddened hallucinations. Detail effects of its Moderate sign and Mass Tangible Hallucination level of Corruption.
30	24	The first of Zalgo's coming is his herald, tasked with spreading his corruption. If ever it fails in this task, a new one is created. Detail effects of its Strong sign and Mass Hallucination level of Corruption.
35	26	It aims to have followers construct a Gate of Zalgo to bring forth the end. Detail effects of its Overwhelming sign and Abomination level of Corruption.
The level of Zalgo's Sign affects the DC as noted below.

Zalgo in the Campaign

Zalgo first establishes a connection to our multiverse by attaching to an artifact, increasing the amount of knowledge about it in an area, spreading corruption.

Touching this corrupted artifact subjects the creature to a Will save (DC 10) or gain 1 point of corruption. Every hour the artifact is held, the creature must make another Will save or gain another point of corruption, increasing the DC by 1 for each hour, successful save or not. The DC does not reset for any individual creature if the artifact ever leaves it's possession. A creature need only save once per hour (if it picks up and puts it down repeatedly for example).

Once localized Corruption is high enough and an individual reaches a Corruption Score of 10, the victim is transformed into Zalgo's herald, often a slenderman. Later corrupted victims are transformed into various thralls and other abominations to serve its goal.

Destroying the attuned artifact will (temporarily, at least) sever Zalgo's connection to our multiverse. What happens after that is at the DM's discretion. Commonly, things begin to restore to normal, unless a Gate of Zalgo had been constructed (serving as a new connection point).

Description

“	He Waits Behind The Wall, in a palace of tortured glass, served by legions forged from the tears of the sleepless dead and clad in armor carved from the suffering of mothers. In his right hand he holds a dead star, and in his left hand he holds the Candle Whose Light is Shadow. Hands stained with the blood of Am Dhaegar. Sings the song that ends. The Hive-mind of Nezperdian perplexes the mortal soul, perpetuates torture and damnation. The eyes are taken. The windows of the soul. Only pain, forever. Remove the eyes, remove the soul. The still-living cursed husk, testament to cruelty and eternal suffering. It cannot be stopped. Fear cannot be stopped. It is inseparable from reality, beyond the veil, waiting.	”
—Daruth Winterwood

Zalgo has no definitive appearance, for no eyes have ever gazed directly upon it. Those glimpses of the maddened describe a great many things in their suffering. Common descriptions mention a lack of eyes in the darkness as well as some of the greater malformations upon the unlucky along with other varying details apparent only to the victims of such corruption.

Sign

Corruption

The sign of corruption gives creatures a "Corruption Score" based on the level of knowledge it possesses of Zalgo, where 1 is gaining basic knowledge and 10 is total transformation into an abomination (for PCs, this means the character is removed from the player's hands, as it is no longer playable).

As a creature gains more knowledge, its corruption score changes as detailed on the table below.

Table: Corruption

Corruption		Classification	Description
Score	Overwhelming Score1
1-3	1-2	Hallucination	The creature begins to hallucinate. These hallucinations function like major images except that only the creature is capable of interacting with them (despite that it can't touch the hallucinations. The creature passes through the hallucinations harmlessly). Resistances or suppression of mind-affecting abilities negates the hallucinations, though the effects cannot be dispelled.
4-6	3-4	Tangible Hallucination	The creature can now physically interact with the hallucinations. They deal real damage and can physically move the creature or manipulate the creature. The hallucinations cannot be seen by others nor can they directly interact with other creatures.
7-9	5-6	Mass Hallucination	The hallucinations become manifest. Other creatures can now see and interact with them. The hallucinations can manifest either within sight of the corrupted creature or within a 120 foot radius around it.
10	7-10	Abomination	The hallucinations manifest themselves into the creature itself, warping its flesh and mind. If the creature was a PC, the character is no longer playable and is removed from the player's hands.
Used for the Overwhelming Sign presence as noted below.

Illusions and hallucinations are at the discretion of the DM, as they are highly varied. Commonly occurring hallucinations include the appearance of natural weapons or growths on the corrupted creature, the distortion of visual perception (distances appear shortened, lengthened or bent and warped as well as words being obscured or replaced in text) and the distortion of auditory perception (strange silences, whispers, sudden yowling, distorted voices and sounds and discordant music).

Physically separate hallucinations might include shadowed figures which keep their faces turned away from the creature, mangled corpses, hovering abominations, oozing fountains and pools of unknown shadowy liquids as well as tentacles erupting from surfaces in clusters.

Faint: Rumors of kidnappings begin to circulate, usually pertaining to missing children. News of missing or recovered obscure artifacts becomes common discussion. Items turn up missing or misplaced. Communication is hampered with misheard words. Strange monsters may appear with features that hint that they were transformed into their current state.

Corruption at this level is fairly benign, limited to paranoia and suspicion.

Moderate: Rumors of cultists in the area devoted to dark far-planar mysteries begin to spread. With further investigation, the cultists have been worshipping a herald and the greater power that it serves, preparing the area for infection of corruption and manifestation of the elder evil.

Corruption at this level is more disturbing, more likely to result in terror than confusion. These corruptions are usually malicious but not directly violent or lethal. Kidnapped victims are often mutated and corrupted to varying degrees. Commoners gain minor mutations, distortions and odd growths.

Reduce Knowledge skill check research DCs by 5.

Strong: Commoners and low-level NPCs spread panic and paranoia in the face of uncontrolled and unmanaged "plague of mutation and corruption". Social unrest leads to riots and constant patrols of troops attempting to keep a handle on the chaos. The herald of the elder evil begins taking an active roll in corrupting the populace.

Corruption at this level is purposeful and violent. Nearby water sources turn black. Mutations become more pronounced and may turn violently against their hosts.

Reduce Knowledge skill check research DCs by 10.

Overwhelming: It becomes known (often through screams or whispers of the corrupted) that a Gate of Zalgo has been constructed and the ritual to open it has undergone initial preparations.

Corruption at this level now scales on the Overwhelming Score column as noted above on Table: Corruption.

Reduce Knowledge skill check research DCs by 15.

Removing the Signs

Spells that remove or alter a creature's memories have a chance to remove 1d4 points of Corruption. A limited wish can be cast to remove 2d4 points of corruption (along with any memories from their source), while a wish or miracle removes all of a creature's Corruption (along with any memories from their source).

Malefic Properties

Anathematic Secrecy: Immune to all divine divination spells and effects.

Property: Dark Visiting.

Encounter Information

The cultists, tainted followers and the herald have succeeded in assembling a Gate of Zalgo, intent on opening it and summoning forth Zalgo to sing the song that ends it all. They gather around the gate with the tainted artifact at hand. The area is under an Overwhelming sign.

	Gate of Zalgo
Size/Type:	Huge Outsider (Chaotic, Evil)
Hit Dice:	25d8+440 (552 hp)
Initiative:	+8
Speed:	0 ft.
Armor Class:	46 (+13 deflection, +25 profane, & minus;2 size), touch 46, flat-footed 46
Base Attack/Grapple:	+25/+53
Attack:	Morphic Weapon +43 melee (4d6+30, 20/x2)
Full Attack:	Four Morphic Weapons +43 melee (4d6+30, 20/x2)
Space/Reach:	15 ft./15 ft. (See Text)
Special Attacks:	Dead Star, Light is Shadow, Morphic Weapon, Seven Mouths, Spell-Like Abilities, Tortured Glass
Special Qualities:	Armor of Suffering, Blind, Blindsight ∞, DR 15/epic, Hive-Mind, Immunities, Regeneration 100, Resist Acid/Cold/Electric/Fire 30, SR 35, The Gate
Saves:	Fort +28, Ref +16, Will +25
Abilities:	Str 50, Dex 10, Con 38, Int 33, Wis 33, Cha 37
Skills:	Concentration +42, Escape Artist +28, Intimidate +40, Knowledge (all knowledge skills) +28, Listen +28, Search +28, Sense Motive +28, Spellcraft +28, Spot +28
Feats:	Epic Toughness x3B, Devastating CriticalB, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (morphic weapon), Cleave, Great Cleave, Lightning Reflexes, Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative, Overwhelming Critical, Superior Initiative
Environment:	Behind the Wall
Organization:	Unique
Challenge Rating:	25
Treasure:	None
Alignment:	Always Chaotic Evil
Advancement:	26-50 HD (Huge)
Level Adjustment:	—

The gate is open. Zalgo fills the room.

HE COMES... no, HE IS!

ZALGO. He who waits behind the wall waits no longer. A gate of tortured glass has been built, and within its impossibly angled straight curves boils a star of darkness, a portal to the world of Z̷A͡LGO. Woe, woe, woe unto the world unto which the gate has been built. In his palace of tortured glass, served by legions forged from the tears of the sleepless dead and clad in armor carved from the suffering of mothers, he awakens and pours into this world. The room fills with Z̸̠͕̝͕̤̜̐͂̾ͤ̿ͯ̋͜͝A̖͓̯͊̇ͩ̕͟L̗̼͕̼̺ͥ̀ͯ̂͢G̴̟̹ͧ́̔ͮǪ͔͔͕̓̃̕.

Even given "substance", none have ever seen his true form. Blinded by darkness and served by eyeless cultists thrice mad, his image is obscured. Yet all come away speaking the same, of a being with no eyes, of seven mouths and uncountable tentacles, barbs, and teeth. A being of pure malice and hate for this world and all that it stands for. And all one can feel after is pain.

Z̷͕̤͕̦͔͈̯̝̬̤͍̖̣̈́ͮͧ͐ͤ͑ͣͨͥ̄̀͟Ă̶̟̝̦͔̙̊̓ͫ̍ͩ̏͛́͊͑̂̉̃̾ͦͦ̆͛͜͢͠͠Lͦ͒ͯ̋̒̾̋̓̋́ͪ̽͛̿ͩ̀͆҉̧̛̹̣͕͇̹͝G̠̘̺̯̼̪͖͚̠̫̩̝̰̳̜ͥ̈̿̒̈̓ͣ͋͛̀ͮ̈́̿̉̈́̓̐́Ǭ̷̷͍̫̖̯̹̝̤̫͕̳͉̬̙̟͔̉̉̋͞ ̶̬͙̫̯͍̖̊̃͊ͬ̇̅̎̎̓̀͝S̒ͦͥ̋̅͑̈̐͛̓̚͏͝͡͏̧̤̪̭̜̭̻̦͉I̢ͫͬ͌̆ͧ̊́̇̇̑̇ͬ̓̐̊͏͔̜̠̮̲Ṉ̷̙̩̹̃ͨ͗͐̇̀̇̂ͥͨ͐͢͟͜͜G̶̨̱̭͖̞̳̼̩̰͙̦͓̼̣̝̮̓̂ͥͦ͋ͥ͡͡͠S̷̛̖̩͍̱̲̫̟̪̦̪̜̜̟͚̺̖̉̃̍̈́͗̽ͣ̌̃̎͛̽͆͛͌͜,̉̀͐̏̂̉̿͛̔̔ͧͪ̍̏͆͂̈́ͧ҉̗̖̳̩̙̺̪̗̼̦̻̰̪ ̾̅ͤͧ̽̓͒͋̑͏̸̛̮̼̼̮̱̯̖͘͞A̛̠̣̪̲̟͖̤͖̘̘͓̣̺̤̓͋̅ͭ̄ͨͩ̚͡Ñ̸̹͇̻̺͖̞̦̜̥͎̮̬̞̘̩̙̖̳̅̒̓̊̈̊̈̈́̐̂͋̈́̈́͡͠Ḑ̸̝͇̥̯͖̲̥͓̳͍̾̓ͧ͗́̿̿ͭ̀͢͠ ̢̛̜͔̹̞͓̻̗̼̻ͧ͑ͪͬ̄ͧͭ͌̅̐ͦ͞͠T̻͎̺̗͚̜̻̠̣͕̯͓͛̄ͯ̄̈̊̑̐ͧ͗̀͒͐ͤ̓̾̋̚͞H̶͍͓͖̺̳͖͔̠̘͈̯̦̭̝͕͔̠̗͒ͨ͐͂̈ͤͤ͐͐̍̀̇͗̊͘͘͞͞ͅȨ̷̵̛̙͉̘͓̙͎͖̋͋̍ͫ̅̿͛͋̌ͨ͊̚͟ ̾̊̑ͮ̿͆ͧ̽̀̾ͬ̅ͩ̎̆͏̛̣̪̰̮͚̥͈̰̣̩̩̠͢W̸̡͓̰̹̭̲̱̭̜̯̞̺̖̙̳̋̋ͧ̆̿͆͛ͪ̇̆ͬͪͥ̋̈̾ͦ̚̕͡ͅÓ̴̡̧̮̜̙̹͇̣͔̹͚̜̝̲̰͐ͥ̑̓̾ͭ̂̆͑́̀Ŗ̧̰͚̯̩̄̃̇̅̀̑ͯͨ̾̍ͯ͛̔ͤ͘L̼̘̣̟͈͚ͤ͗́ͯͤͧ͗͐͆̽ͮͪͬ̉̈̑̋͋ͫ͜͞ͅD̵̵͚̪̭͚͇̤̹̝̜̺͈͎̳ͮ̏̉̆̔̀̓͂̐͛̒͗ͬͣ̏̊́́ ̨̒ͯ̓̅͋ͦ͐̉ͦ̒͛͂̓̓ͧ̈ͮ͂͏͇̞͕̪S̷̵̲͔̠̰͓͎̲̬̗̣̙͖͍̫͛̿̓̅̒͗͐ͧ̍́̀̈́ͮ̀̀͘͟Ḧ̘͙̞̟̩͓̳ͥ͌̆̅̈ͧ̈́ͨ̚̕͡Ā̧́ͩ̋ͯͮ̏͊̓ͥ̎ͩͯ̔̓̑̀͝͞͏͓̪̻̙̗L̵̶̜͎̣̟̫͉̝̖̖͍͓̖̑̉̑̌ͦ̉͘L̆ͩ̑̒ͮͫ͊͊͋̇̐ͫ̈́̇͏̷̶̹̖̫͍̤̗͚͙͇̰͎̬̹̟͎̩̬̭̀͘ ̷̺̯̩̟͚̹̥̦͎̻ͬ̎ͩ̄̓̂ͨ̃̏̅ͩͭ͋̒̄͒̽͞ͅͅE̴̶͔͈̮̯̻̺̱̣̔̃̅̾ͮ̓͆ͪ̚͘͠ͅͅN̢̪̰̲̜͓̬͒̇̑͆͛̕̕͞D̷̝̘̭͚̰̯͉̦͍͈͔̩̃ͨͦͣ͐͗͊̓ͪ̓̓ͬͪͧ͜͢ͅͅ.̴̛̮̰̝̭̰͓̹̫̹̟̗̥̇̇̏̋͋ͥ́͋́̎ͨ͐̈́ͤ͢͡

Combat

He Who Waits is immobile, fixed to the gate, yet ever-spreading. The real opponent here is not Zalgo, who cannot be killed, but the gate which he pours through. Only by destroying the gate can Zalgo be defeated. This is not easy, as the gate, "his body", is far more durable than its glassy appearance would imply, and Zalgo will try to stop any would-be heroes. The moment Zalgo feels threatened (usually after he or the gate takes damage), it will begin to sing the song that ends the earth (see Seven Mouths). The PCs must hurry, either delaying the song or seeking to destroy the gate quickly. Zalgo mixes physical and magical attacks as appropriate, usually favoring magic when possible.

If the heroes win and the gate is destroyed, Zalgo will be banished, but will quickly return once a new gate is formed. The PCs will need to find a way to remove memory of He Who Waits from the minds of all that know of it, including themselves. If they cannot do this, they have only delayed their inevitable demise.

Armor of Suffering (Ex): Zalgo adds his hit dice as a profane bonus to AC, and his Charisma bonus as a deflection bonus to AC.

Blind (Ex): Zalgo is blind and cannot see. However, it has infinite blindsight and can thus "see" any creature in line of effect. As a result, Zalgo cannot be flanked or affected by any visual effect.

Dead Star (Su): Every 1d4+1 rounds, Zalgo can summon the non-existence of its home universe. As a 1-round action, a gaping smoking hole of nothing opens up in the skies, stealing light, sound, and all sensation save one own's sensation of pain. On a failed save, all creatures in a 80 ft. radius burst take 50d6 damage and are sucked towards the center of the effect. The creatures are wracked with pain, resulting in a −4 penalty to attack rolls, ability checks, and ability scores for the next 10 minutes. On a successful save, creatures take half damage, are not moved, and only take the penalty from pain for 1 round. It is a Fortitude save DC 35 partial, and the saving throw is Charisma-based.

Hive-Mind (Ex): Zalgo is the Nezperdian hive-mind representing chaos. It is immune to all mind effects, and any attempts at affecting its mind (via direct contact through detect thoughts or indirect assault such as mind thrust) must make a Will save vs insanity, DC 35 negates. The saving throw is Charisma-based.

Immunities (Ex): Zalgo is immune to ability damage, ability drain, blindness, death, energy drain, fear, mind-affecting effects, paralysis, petrification, and polymorphing.

Light is Shadow (Ex): None can, or should, bear witness to his terrible visage. No light functions in a 60 ft. radius around Zalgo, even magical light or effects which see through the darkness such as See In Darkness. Indeed, it is as if the universe rejects the ability to show its form. However, non-visual methods of sight work such as blindsight and tremorsense.

Morphic Weapon (Ex): Zalgo's limbs are many and varied. Mouths, tentacles, claws, and unspeakable things burst from its engorged mass. It can make up to four natural attacks a round from any of these weapons, with no difference in damage between them, and they are treated as two-handed weapons, including for gaining strength and a half on damage. They can choose to be bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing, with each attack having a slightly different effect when they make a critical hit:

Bludgeoning: On a confirmed critical, a bone is crushed and broken. The subject takes a −8 penalty on AC when confirming future critical threats against them, until healed by the effect of regeneration or greater.

Piercing: If there are any creatures in a 60-foot cone behind the target, the attack penetrates through and strikes a second creature, using the attack roll result against their AC as normal and confirming as needed. Theoretically, Zalgo could daisy-chain attacks forever if provided enough victims in a line.

Slashing: The attack leaves a bleeding wound, dealing half the damage it dealt as bleed damage each round on Zalgo's turn. The bleeding can be stopped by a DC 15 Heal check, or healing from spells or fast healing.

Reach: Zalgo's reach is unusual. While its reach for provoking attacks of opportunity is 15 feet as normal, its reach to strike creatures with its physical attacks is effectively infinite, so long as there is line of sight. Zalgo attacks with reality itself, taking the form of spikes shooting from the ground, the air becoming an infinite chainsaw of teeth, or even an opponent's face collapsing and devouring itself. Because of this endless range and its endless blindsight, those unaware of Zalgo's invocation may be terrified to see "random murders done by the black arts of an uncaring world".

Regeneration (Ex): Nothing bypasses Zalgo's regeneration, ever. In fact, the only way to "kill" Zalgo is to destroy the gate. With that said, beating on Zalgo until it is unconscious at least helps prevent it from assaulting you or repairing its gate, until it heals enough to wake again.

Seven Mouths (Ex): The time is right, and Zalgo will bring the end upon this universe, killing it as so many others. When Zalgo's torment of the world is at an end or when it feels endangered, it will begin to sing the song that ends the earth. As a free action each round, it will open another one of its mouths and begin singing. Its terrible sound, not bound to sonic waves or sanity, warp spacetime in a manner similar to the hallucinations of corruption, but on a worldwide scale. If the seventh mouth opens, all is lost and the universe is filled with ZALGO.

The song can be stopped. When Zalgo takes damage while singing, it must make a Concentration check with a DC equal to the damage taken (after damage reduction and resistances). If it fails, it cannot advance and open its next mouth. There is no way to reverse it, short of breaking the gate, so PCs are on a time limit to save the world. There is only one chance.

Spell-Like Abilities (Sp): At will- black tentacles, blight (DC 28), circle of death (DC 29), confusion (DC 27), control weather, eyebite (DC 29), giant vermin, greater arcane sight, greater dispel magic, moment of prescience, power word blind, rusting grasp (DC 27), soul bind (DC 32), telekinesis, unhallow; 3/day- creeping doom, disintegrate (DC 29), energy drain, feeblemind (DC 28), horrid wilting (DC 31), mind fog (DC 28), power word kill, prismatic spray (DC 30), stinking cloud (DC 26), weird (DC 32); 1/day- harm (DC 29), maze, solid fog, wail of the banshee (DC 32), wish. Caster level 25th. The saving throws are Charisma-based.

The Gate: The gate is the object from which Zalgo emerges. A great engine of fear forged of irregularly angled glass folded in multidimensional space, its center is a smoking orb of nothing in which only the distant screams of children can be heard. The glass itself is fantastically strong, having hardness 40, 1000 hp, and often being repaired by Zalgo in the effect of damage. Effects which typically bypass hardness only succeed in halving the hardness to 20. Only sonic and force damage are not halved before hardness applies. Attacking the gate has its own set of problems, that being its Tortured Glass effect.

For all purposes, the Gate takes up the same space as Zalgo, though they are two separate targets. Attacking the gate provokes an attack of opportunity from Zalgo. Zalgo can use a standard action to transfer up to 250 points of its own hp into the Gate each round.

Tortured Glass (Su): Whenever the gate is attacked, shards of glass fly off and strike down nearby victims. Any creature that strikes the gate is bombarded by shards of glass, taking damage equal to the damage they inflicted upon the gate; this retaliatory damage is always epic slashing damage, regardless of the original type of damage. The range of the effect is unlimited, but requires line of effect.

---

Back to Main Page → 3.5e Homebrew → Deities → Elder Evils

Eiji-kun's Homebrew (5607 Articles)

Eiji-kunv