Maddened Dabbler

Maddened Dabbler (CR 5)

True Chaotic - Medium - Humanoid (Outsider)

Lore:	Know (Local)
10		25
Basic DC		Full DC

Initiative

8

Perception:
18	+8
Passive	Active

Ambush:

10+

on a d20

Senses:

• Standard Senses
• Lifesense 30 ft.

Movement Types:

• Walk 30 ft.

Defense

AC

20

Man Def

20

Monster Health
61	30	7
Hit Points	Bloodied	Hit Dice

Saving Throws
Fort:	+3
Refl:	+3
Will:	+8

Strong Against:

Weak Against:

• Vulnerable: Interstice damage

Offense

Size:	Medium
5 ft.		10 ft.
Space		Reach

To-Hit

+8

Man Off

+8

Action

0

Points

Standard Attack (Melee):

• 1x Chaos Wand +8 (1d8+1/19-20 x2)
  as bludgeoning (physical, common)

Full Attack (Melee):

• 3x Chaos Wand +8 (1d8+4/19-20 x2)
  as bludgeoning (physical, common)

Standard Attack (Ranged):

• 1x Chaos Orbs +8 (1d8+4/19-20 x2)
  as interstice (physical, rare)
  (Increment: 50 ft.; Max Range: 500 ft.)

Full Attack (Ranged):

• 3x Chaos Orbs +8 (1d8+4/19-20 x2)
  as interstice (physical, rare)
  (Increment: 50 ft.; Max Range: 500 ft.)

Siege Damage: Not siege capable

Statistics

10

STR

16

DEX

16

CON

18

INT

10

WIS

12

CHA

Skills:

• Bailiwick (Spellcraft): 8
• Diplomacy: 8
• Perception: 8
• All other skills: 3 (no ranks)

Languages: Common, Gurahn'lloig (Low Aberrant)

Feats:

Special Abilities

Fanatical Vengeance (Ex) Immediate Action 1/Enc

Once per encounter, whenever any Maddened creature is killed by enemy actions, any Maddened Dabbler who has line of sight and line of effect to the attacker who made the killing blow may choose to make an immediate action attack of opportunity against that creature. They must have an attack of opportunity available. They may make this attack with either their Chaos Wand or their Chaos Orbs, and they must take all normal modifiers for such attacks as normal.

Maddened Dabbler

It is widely accepted among most intelligent creatures, at a very general level, that the world we all live in is balanced upon the surface of a much larger, darker, and far more terrible reality called the Outer Madness. Most people have little understanding of Planes, and in the minds of most people, Demons, Devils, Aberrations, and most 'weird' monsters are part of this terrifying background reality.

However, there are always those who think that 'larger and more terrible' means, 'a convenient way to get power'. As a result, all over the world, in every race, creed, and culture, civilized or not, there are those with far too much greed and far too little wisdom who seek out this Deep Darkness and pledge themselves to it. The Creeping Madness is easy to access, easy to draw upon...and insanely dangerous. A fair number of those who attempt this foolish act are consumed utterly by their very first sup of that dark well, their lives, essence, souls, and flesh consumed entire.

Many of those luckless fools do not quietly disappear, however.

Maddened Dabblers are some of those creatures, with the Spark or without, who have reached out to the Madness, and not only survived, they have thrived. Many Maddened Dabblers wear their corruption so lightly, they can still pass as their base species...but their insane mannerisms soon give them away. Some Maddened Dabblers are likely to work with Maddened Thugs. Maddened Dabblers are usually drawn from the Civilized Races, people who should have known better. It is possible that the occasional Orc, Goblin, or Gnoll will also be subsumed by the Outer Madness, and thus become Maddened Dabblers, but amongst those without the Spark, this terrible transformation is not so stark, and their native 'cultures' tend to exterminate such fools quickly. Such non-civilized Dabblers tend to migrate to the fold of their civilized brethren, where they are given a place...until their use comes to an end.

Maddened Dabblers, like all of the Maddened, are united in their allegiance to the Devouring Madness, the True Depths that lie Outside. They are more organized and better thinkers than most Maddened, and serve as 'clever' council for their brethren. Dabblers seem to have some facility for commanding Scraps, although such control is laughably uncertain, although it is well known that the seemingly mindless Scraps will flock to associate with Dabblers for...whatever mad reasons. Maddened Scraps and Maddened Dabblers are often found together, for whatever reasons.

Dabblers also have potent ranged attack abilities, and are often seen in the back ranks of attacking Thugs or Scraps, pouring the Madness down upon their enemies in a deadly ranged barrage. Like all Maddened, Dabblers lurk and plot, they poison, murder, and ruin, they steal and burn, everything. Madness Dabblers will attack babes in arms just as readily as they will battle undead, and for the same reason: All things must fall to the Dark, sooner or later.

Unike lesser breeds of the Maddened Scraps or Thugs, Dabblers are actually fairly capable at what they do. Madness Dabblers are a notable force in the world, although they are thankfully unorganized and have difficulty staying focused on any long-term goal. When Dabblers are discovered, they must be expunged, before their rot can spread.

When more than one Maddened meet each other, they naturally band together, as every hand in the Prime Plane is raised against them as their enemies, and you must take your allies where you can find them. Bands of Madness Dabblers seem almost like cults, except that there is no Diety involved, simply the utter alien void that has subsumed these maniacs, and invests their every action.

Combat Tactics

Maddened Dabblers are simple, murderous enemies. Once battle begins, they will never break away, fighting to the last maddened breath, utterly convinced they are winning. They usually try to make pack attacks, jumping their victims from ambush if they can manage it and always from a ranged position, using their deadly Chaos Orbs. Like all the Maddened, Dabblers want to destroy as much of the structure of the world as they can before they are destroyed, and so they sneak and creep, attacking under cover of darkness.

Their connection to the Outside gives them the ability to detect the living, their hated foes, within a short distance. This is not terribly useful for getting around, since it is short ranged, but once they have closed into battle range, they are nigh-impossible to deter, and will frequently try to knock out lanterns and other light sources and fight in the dark.

They prefer to use their Orb attacks, so much that they will forgo full attacks to back away if they must. They will stay at range as well as they can, moving back and using Orbs, but they will never stop attacking, even when backed into a corner. Their Fanatical Vengeance power is a terrible, terrible surprise to whoever manages to drop one of their Dark Brothers, and they will typically use this ability without hesitation as soon as they are able to do so...waiting to use it rarely works out well. With luck, the barrage of ranged attacks will kill or cripple one of their enemies outright, and allow them to turn the tide of a battle.

Out of Combat

Maddened Dabblers try to blend in with civilization...they must lean heavily on their Diplomacy skill to try and explain away their bizarre mannerisms, but unless confronted by heroes, it is surprising how well they can get away with this. Maddened Dabblers actively seek out their more robust brethren, as the company of some Scraps or Thugs make their lives much better, and they have even been known to tag along with more mighty Maddened. It is very rare to see a whole pack of Dabblers without at least one or two other sorts, but it is possible. Maddened Dabblers venture out as the treacherous snipers and backstabbers of the True Dark, and then go to lair again, secure in the invisibility of no witnesses. Maddened Dabblers often wind up living in lairs and dungeons of other monsters, or hidden in sewers and abandoned, ruined places in cities, acting as merciless harassing raiders. Maddened Dabblers, to be fair, can and will attack monstrous neighbors just as readily as they will attack the civilized, and an infestation of madness can actually drive away local orcs or hobgoblins, as the maddened fiends kill everything they can catch.

Surprisingly, Maddened Dabblers seem to tolerate Vampire Thralls quite well, and it is not unheard of for the two types of wild-eyed beasts to work...not together, but toward similar goals. Such alliances are dark days indeed for all other creatures, and must be rooted out immediately.

Rewards

XP: 1,600

Treasure: Sellable Goods worth 1,625 gp.

Weight: 50 lbs.     Volume: 2 cu. ft.

Optional Treasure Rules: Roll a d20 on Table 1 below once per encounter (NOT per creature). Any items discovered are in addition to the normal treasure for the encounter.

Table 1: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 10	Nothing Found
11 - 14	1 Languid Remnant (tier 1)
15 - 17	1 Pale Remnant (tier 2)
18 - 19	1 Bright Remnant (tier 3)
20	Roll on Table 2
###	Nothing to see here!
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 2: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 5	3 Languid Remnants (tier 1)
6 - 10	3 Pale Remnants (tier 2)
11 - 14	1 Intense Remnant (tier 4)
15 - 17	1 Blazing Remnant (tier 5)
18 - 19	1 Vital Remnant (tier 6)
20	Roll on Table 3
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 3: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 5	3 Bright Remnants (tier 3)
6 - 8	3 Intense Remnants (tier 4)
9 - 11	3 Blazing Remnants (tier 5)
12 - 14	3 Vital Remnants (tier 6)
15 - 17	1 Prime Remnant (tier 7)
18 - 19	1 Mythic Remnant (tier 8)
20	1 Empyrean Remnant (tier 9)