Aspect of Madness. Aspects are fragments from the shattered God of Madness, and can only exist in the minds of others. The Aspect must find a host and inhabit the creature's mind. While inside a host, the Aspect is untargetable unless otherwise specified by another spell or magic item. If the host dies, the Aspect is immediately released in an ethereal form and attempts to claim a new host. In this ethereal form, the Aspect takes half damage from all sources, unless it already has resistance, in which case it takes a quarter of the damage. Aspects can be forced into a tangible state through specific magical items or spells such as magic circle.
Crystalline Form. Anytime the Aspect of Creativity is subjected to radiant damage, it takes no damage and instead refracts the light around it. All creatures within 15 ft of the Aspect of Creativity must make a DC16 Dexterity saving throw or take 6d6 radiant damage.
Multiattack. The Aspect of Apathy makes three claw attacks, or it uses its Fixated Interest and one claw attack.
Fixated Interest (Recharge 5-6). The Aspect of Creativity focuses its attention on one target it can see. That target must make a DC 20 Intelligence saving throw or be overwhelmed with sudden inspiration to create and improve. On a failure, the target becomes preoccupied with drawing designs with anything at their disposal, from ink and parchment to their own blood and the walls. If the target doesn't have writing gear in their inventory, they will take 3d6 damage each turn as they draw forth their own bodily fluids to design with. On a success, the target remains in control of themselves, and gains a better understanding of Divinity's Doom.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 10 ft., 1 target. Hit: 18 (2d10 + 7) slashing damage. Creatures hit must make a DC 15 Intelligence saving throw or be marked with Imperfection. This attack has advantage on creatures already marked with Imperfection, as their mistakes and faults are made plain to the Aspect of Creativity.
Reject Imperfection (Costs 1 Legendary Action). The Aspect of Creativity immediately targets any creature that rolled a natural 1 on an attack, ability check, or saving throw. The target becomes incapacitated as they become trapped reliving their failure in their mind and the multitude of ways they could have done better. The target may make a DC16 Wisdom saving throw at the end of each of their turns, ending the effect on themselves on a success. The effect also ends if the target takes damage, or if the target and/or its companions provide excellent roleplaying for accepting their failures. If the target overcomes this effect through excellent roleplay, they are considered immune to the Aspect of Creativity's "Reject Imperfection" for a week.
The Aspect of Creativity is a Legendary creature with legendary actions. The Aspect of Creativity has 3 legendary actions that can only be used at the end of another creature's turn. The Aspect of Creativity regains all Legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Point Out Flaws (Costs 2 Actions). All creatures marked with Imperfection immediately take 13 (3d4+5) psychic damage per mark of Imperfection they have and have disadvantage on their next attack, ability check, or saving throw. All creatures then lose all marks of Imperfection.
Plato Would Be Proud (Costs 2 Actions): The Aspect of Creativity takes on a more idealized form, moving closer to the true self. The Aspect of Creativity heals 15 (3d10) hitpoints, plus 13 (3d4+5) per mark of Imperfection on any hostile creatures in 120 feet from the Aspect of Creativity as it absorbs the mistakes it learns to be better... no... perfect. All marks of Imperfection are immediately lost.
Claw (Costs 1 Action). The Aspect of Creativity makes one claw attack against a creature in range.
Description
A fragment of something older, these Aspects of Madness are ideas and maladies fully manifested, infecting a host and steering them down their particular path to insanity.
This is the Aspect of Creativity, insanity through inspiration and crushing weight of perfect understanding. A plague of perfectionism spreads from the host, needing to reject imperfections and craft and shape the world into the more idealized for it was always meant to be. As with all madness, it can be hard to notice when someone's glowing features and personality traits have been cranked beyond their healthy boundaries, victims of this Aspect will stop at nothing to create their art and bring about their perfect magnum opus.
When ejected from a host, the Aspect of Creativity takes the form of a large crystalline figure, immaculate in beauty, as if carved from the finest tanzanite, rarer than the most brilliant of diamonds. It's claws spear themselves into great minds and refuse to let go until their endless work has been completed everything is perfect.
Lair and Lair Actions
The Lair Actions described here are specific to the "Monarchs of Madness" campaign. If you use this creature for your own adventures feel free to change them to fit the setting and tone of your campaign!
The Aspect of Creativity has taken the mind of Fitzgerald Fitzband hostage, forcing him to create and design the ideal form of anything and everything under the sun, especially his numerous past failures and mistakes. The lair is a large art gallery filled with many sculptures and paintings of historical figures and settings. At this point the party may recognize many of these settings and sculptures as people and places from Fitzband's past. It is here in this great hall that Fitzband toils away on new renditions of his own life story.
Lair Actions
On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the Aspect of Creativity takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the Aspect of Creativity can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row. Effects only last until the next lair action takes effect.
- The Aspect of Creativity takes one of the paintings from the wall, throwing it at the party and creating a brand new environment to fight in. Choose a setting from the following. If a setting has been rejected by Fitzband, you cannot use that setting again. If the party has uncovered the true memories of a location, Fitzband will fight against the Aspect of Creativity
- The Siege on Scarlabreigh
- The Daedalus Courtroom
- The Dining Hall of Fitzband's Manor
- Election Night for Damascus
- Betrayal of Mordar
- The Aspect of Creativity brings its creations to life. All statues (or their equivalent in the current setting) make an attack against a creature within 10 ft of them. +7 to hit, 14 (2d8+5) slashing damage on a hit. These statues remain animate for the round, taking swings at any creature hostile to the Aspect of Creativity that draws near. If the party has helped uncover the truth to Fitzband, he'll speak the truth to these statues, ending the Aspect of Creativity's control over them and rendering them inert.
Regional Effects
The region containing the Aspect of Creativity’s lair is mentally corrupted, which creates one or more of the following effects:
- Creatures within 100 miles of the Aspect of Creativity's lair become more inventive and obsessive. Within 10 miles of the lair, any creature who goes to sleep must make a DC 12 constitution or be wracked with dreams of divine designs and contraptions beyond mortal comprehension. Each success raises the DC by 1. On a failure, the creature takes a level of exhaustion as it gets no rest from their fretful sleep.
- As the above symptom worsens, entire towns and cities will work together to construct mockeries of Divinity's Doom without understanding its true purpose, and growing more incessant and desperate when they don't understand why it won't work as it should.
If the Aspect of Creativity dies or is properly contained, these effects fade over the course of 2d20 days.
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