Monster: Vaati

 Monster: Vaati

The D&D multiverse has a long history, and some ancient events might have affected all worlds regardless of the campaign setting in question. For example, most of you probably know about the Blood War – the endless war between demons and devils that is usually contained to the Lower Planes, but sometimes spills over to other planes, including the Material one. But the Blood War is merely a continuation of a much more ancient conflict. Forces of chaos and law were at war in the Age before Ages, when mortal life was barely a thing. The forces of chaos were led by the Queen of Chaos, an obyrith demon lord, and Miska the Wolf-Spider, her demon lord consort. The forces of law were led by the vaati, also known as the Wind Dukes of Aaqa. These beings of elemental air managed to expand their empire and conquer all the elemental planes and many planets on the Material plane. Eventually, they managed to turn the war into a stalemate, and then uneasy peace, despite that bringing their empire to ruin; the balance was sort of restored, but the demons and devils kept fighting – that’s how the Blood War started.

What I find fascinating about this conflict is that it’s unusually asymmetrical. Lawful empire of beings from the Elemental Plane of Air fighting against chaotic evil obyriths; various archomentals joining one side or another side. It really does feel very chaotic and primordial, for the lack of a better word. It’s also something that spawned some interesting monsters that were left in AD&D and never got updated in the more recent D&D editions, such as elementals of law and chaos, the spyder-fiends, etc. And since this war affected many worlds, you can introduce its remnants in any setting in the D&D multiverse. Since the vaati had an empire that spanned the elemental planes and many material worlds, your characters could find ruins or artifacts that come from an age before all the other lost ancient civilization of the setting. And what would a ruined city of the vaati look like somewhere, for example, on the Elemental Plane of Fire? This is making my imagination run wild.
 
So, who are the vaati? They actually exist in D&D 3.0, but the statblock is hidden away in a very unexpected place – a web enhancement for Oriental Adventures. Despite being elemental air entities, the vaati are solid and humanoid. They are androgynous, with smooth ebony skin and white eyes. Slightly taller than humans, they were imposing figures. They rarely wore any clothing and usually shaved their hair.
    This description and the statblock seem to imply Size Modifier +1, ST+6 (Size Modifier, -10%) [54], IQ+2 [40], and HT+1 [10]. They also seem to have DR 1 with Tough Skin. Since they are beings of air, they also possess a magical ability to fly slowly.
    They are said to be attractive and androgynous. Let’s give them Appearance (Handsome/Beautiful; Androgynous).
    The vaati also are beings of order. I will give them Vulnerability to Anarchic Weapons and the Axiomatic Touch perk that will make their natural weapons count as axiomatic weapons.
    The wind dukes of Aaqa are ageless, but they still require sustenance, even if just a little bit. I will give them Unaging and Reduced Consumption 4. They also can see in the dark, so I will give them Infravision.
    As masters of elemental air, the vaati get resistance to air-based attacks and non-damaging air effects, such as the Embolism spell. Since the vaati have been known to live all over the elemental planes, I will give them Temperature Tolerance 8.
    Finally, we have the spell-like abilities. They had endure elements, feather fall, gust of wind, and wind wall as at will spell-like abilities. Endure elements isn’t necessary, I already gave them passive Temperature Tolerance. Feather fall doesn’t make sense – they can fly, and it’s better. We have gust of wind and wind wall left. I decided to replace wind wall with my Enveloping Winds spell that protects against ranged attacks, and gust of wind became Air Jet 3 from the Sorcery book.
    In terms of mentality, the vaati are generally peaceful beings, so I will give them Pacifism (Cannot Harm Innocents). They are lawful beings that have trouble coming up with something new. I will give them Honesty (9) [-15] and Hidebound [-5].
    That’s the base template done. But here’s something I neglected – the vaati have a caste-based society, and the caste actually affects the statblock in some cases.
    The wergadeam is the worker caste. They don’t really have anything special, so they use the base statblock.
    The houdeam is the caste of civil and military leaders, guards, and soldiers. They have increased natural armor bonus, so I will upgrade the DR from 1 to 2, and give them Combat Reflexes. They also have an ability to animate their swords, but I don’t like it, so I will skip it.
    The haikjadeam is the caste of teachers, investigators, and lorekeepers. I will give them Eidetic Memory [5] and two new spell-like abilities: Personal True Seeing and Atmosphere Dome 2.
    The trygrideam is the caste of farmers, animal keepers, and judges. Like the houdeam, they have increased DR, and I will also give them Animal Empathy [5] and Empathy [15]. The book says that they also should get Atmosphere Dome, but I will remove this ability to make the previous caste more unique.
    The kheirdeam is the caste of physicians and counselors. Instead of whatever the book tells me to give them, I will give them Empathy [15] and Healer 1 [10].
    The vindeam is the caste of philosophers, guardians, and advisors. I will give them two levels of the Sage talent [20] from GURPS Fantasy.
    There is also the rumored seventh caste, the wendeam, who wander the lands and planes on an unknown mission. Let’s give them 3D Spatial Sense [10], Absolute Timing [2], and Eidetic Memory [5].

 

Vaati [Oriental Adventures WE, page 9]

229 points
Attribute Modifiers: ST+6 (Size Modifier, -10%) [54]; IQ+2 [40]; HT+1 [10].
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: SM+1.
Advantages: Appearance (Handsome/Beautiful; Androgynous) [12]; DR 1 (Tough Skin, -40%) [3]; Flight (Magical, -10%; Slow, -25%) [26]; Reduced Consumption 4 [8]; Temperature Tolerance 8 [8]; Unaging [15].
    Air Resistance [60]: DR 20 (Includes Eyes, +10%; Includes Internal, +20%; Limited, Air, -40%; Tough Skin, -40%) [50] + Immunity to Noxious Air Effects [10].
    Spell-Like Abilities (Alternative Abilities) [32]:
    Air Jet 3 [18/5=4] – GURPS Thaumatology: Sorcery, page 12;
    Enveloping Winds 2 [28].
    Select one caste [0-56]:
    Houdeam [18]: Combat Reflexes [15]; DR 1 (Tough Skin, -40%) [3].
    Haikjadeam [56]: Eidetic Memory [5] and two new spell-like abilities – Personal True Seeing [13/5=3] and Atmosphere Dome 2 [70] (GURPS Sorcery: Protection and Warning Spells, page 4). Enveloping Winds 2 now cost [28/5=6].
    Trygrideam [23]: Animal Empathy [5]; DR 1 (Tough Skin, -40%) [3]; Empathy [15].
    Kheirdeam [25]: Empathy [15]; Healer 1 [10].
    Vindeam [20]: Sage 2 [20].
    Wendeam [17]: 3D Spatial Sense [10]; Absolute Timing [2]; Eidetic Memory [5].
    Wergadeam: No changes.
Disadvantages: Hidebound [-5]; Honesty (9) [-15]; Pacifism (Cannot Harm Innocents) [-10]; Vulnerability (Anarchic Weapons, x2) [-10].
Perks: Axiomatic Touch [1].
Creature Type: Outsider (Air, Lawful).

Knowing Your Own Strength [235] Replace ST+6 (Size Modifier, -10%) [54] with ST+6 [60]

Typical Stats – Vaati (Wergadeam Caste)

ST:	16	HP:	16	Speed:	5.25
DX:	10	Will:	12	Move:	5 ground, 5 air
IQ:	12	Per:	12
HT:	11	FP:	11	SM:	+1
Dodge:	8	Parry:	11	DR:	1* (tough skin), 20 (vs. air)

    Punch (14): thrust 1d+1 crushing (KYOS: 2d+1 crushing), Reach C-1.
    SM+1 Longsword swing (16): swing 3d cutting, Reach 1.
    SM+1 Longsword thrust (16): thrust 2d impaling (KYOS: 3d-1 impaling), Reach 1-3.
    SM+1 Longbow (ST 16) (16): thrust 2d impaling (KYOS: 3d-1 impaling), Acc 3, Range 240/320, RoF 1, Shots 1(2).
    Spell-Like Abilities (Alternative Abilities):
    Air Jet 3 (14) – GURPS Thaumatology: Sorcery, page 12;
    Enveloping Winds 2.

    Traits: Appearance (Handsome/Beautiful; Androgynous); Axiomatic Touch; Flight (Magical; Slow); Hidebound; Honesty (9); Immunity to Noxious Air Effects; Reduced Consumption 4; Temperature Tolerance 8; Unaging; Vulnerability (Anarchic Weapons, x2).
    Skills: Bow-16; Brawling-14; Broadsword-16; Innate Attack (Jet)-14.
    Creature Type: Outsider (Air, Lawful).