La Belle Dame Sans Merci
(The beautiful woman without pity)
The La Belle Dame Sans Merci is inspired by the poem with the same name by John Keats. She is a pale form of vampiric fey, a dark nymph who seduces pious knights and drains them of life. The ghosts of those she slays are never far away. Often her victims, in their last moments of life, see visions of the ghosts of her seductees as precious life slips away.
Those fortunate enough to be found and treated before they slip away across the veil are often left changed for the experience, being left with the gift (or curse) of Ghostsight (see p.62 of the Ravenloft Player's Handbook for more information on the feat of the same name).
These alluring creatures dwell deep in forests, and may be heard singing from afar, drawing in youth and piety to an early grave. La belle dame sans merci thrives on choosing noble knights and strong warriors, and revels in their fate - for all their strength and nobility, they are ruined by their weakness for a fair maiden. No birds sing about la belle dame sans merci, though this is something her victims rarely notice as they are enthralled by her.
Belle Dame Sans Merci
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Medium Fey
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Hit Dice:
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6d6+6 (27 hp)
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Initiative:
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+3
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Speed:
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30 ft. (6 squares), swim 20 ft.
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Armor Class:
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17 (+3 Dex, +4 deflection), touch 17, flat-footed 14
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Base Attack/Grapple:
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+3/+3
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Attack:
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Dagger +6 melee (1d4/19-20)
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Full Attack:
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Dagger +6 melee (1d4/19-20)
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Space/Reach:
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5 ft./5 ft.
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Special Attacks:
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Blinding beauty, life drain, spells, spell-like abilities, enthrall
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Special Qualities:
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Damage reduction 10/cold iron, low-light vision, unearthly grace
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Saves:
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Fort +7, Ref +12, Will +12
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Abilities:
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Str 10, Dex 17, Con 12, Int 16, Wis 17, Cha 19
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Skills:
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Concentration +10, Diplomacy +6, Escape Artist +12, Handle Animal +13, Heal +12, Hide +12, Listen +12, Move Silently +12, Ride +5, Sense Motive +12, Spot +12, Swim +8, Use Rope +3 (+5 with bindings)
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Feats:
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Combat Casting, Dodge, Weapon Finesse
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Environment:
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Temperate forests
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Organization:
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Solitary
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Challenge Rating:
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8
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Treasure:
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Standard
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Alignment:
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Usually chaotic evil
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Advancement:
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7-12 HD (Medium)
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Level Adjustment:
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+7
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A belle dame sans merci is about the height and weight of a female elf.
Belle dames sans merci speak Common, Sylvan plus three additional languages.
Combat
Blinding Beauty (Su): This ability affects all humanoids within 30 feet of a belle dame sans merci. Those who look directly at her must succeed on a DC 17 Fortitude save or be blinded permanently as though by the blindness spell. A belle dame sans merci can suppress or resume this ability as a free action.
The save DC is Charisma-based.
Life Drain (Ex): The kiss of la belle dame sans merci is as dangerous as a vampire's blood drain. The belle dame entralls her foes and then bids them to kiss her. This kiss inflicts 1d4 points of Constitution drain each round that the kiss is maintained. On each such successful round of using this ability, the belle dame gains 5 temporary hit points.
If the belle dame drains more than half of her vicitm's Constitution score by this kiss, the victim falls into a stupor, lying where she left him. He will be unable to do anything, but mutter about the beauty of la belle dame sans merci, and witness as the ghosts of her past victims tell him of his fate. The victim continues to loose 1 point of constitution per hour until he eventually dies when it is reduced to 0. La belle dame sans merci need not be in the vacinity after she has taken half of the victim's Constitution score.
A victim found lying can be restored by casting Dispel Magic on him before his Constitution score falls to 0. From this point on, the Ghostsight feat is available to him.
Spell-Like Abilities: Once per day, la belle dame sans merci can slip through a dimension door, as the spell, dissapearing without a trace. 1/day-dimension door. Caster level 7th.
Spells: A belle dame sans merci casts divine spells as a 7th-level druid.
Typical Druid Spells Prepared (6/5/4/3/1, save DC 13 + spell level): 0-cure minor wounds, detect magic, flare, guidance, light, resistance; 1st-calm animal, cure light wounds, entangle, longstrider, speak with animals; 2nd-barkskin, heat metal, lesser restoration, tree shape; 3rd- call lightning, cure moderate wounds, protection from energy; 4th-rusting grasp.
Enthrall (Su): A belle dame sans mercy can enthrall an opponent as if using a domination spell. While under the effects, the subject feels obsessive about the belle dame sans merci, and can think, see nor hear anything but her. This is similar to a gaze attack, except that the belle dame sans merci must use a standard action, and those merely looking at her are not affected. Anyone the belle dame sans merci targets must succeed on a Will save or fall instantly under the belle dame's influence as though by a dominate person spell (caster level 12th). The ability has a range of 30 feet.
Unearthly Grace (Su): A belle dame sans merci adds her Charisma modifier as a bonus on all her saving throws, and as a deflection bonus to her Armor Class. (The statistics block already reflects these bonuses).
Skills: A nymph has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. She can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. She can use the run action while swimming, provided she swims in a straight line.
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