Act 1 — Echo Bestiary
Echoes are psychic impressions of the dead trapped near a veil-tear. They are not complete souls, and destroying one does not harm the person’s soul. Until the controlling shard is purified or destroyed, dispersed echoes eventually manifest again.
Cemetery Encounter (Initial Shard-Pulse)
For four Level 3 characters, two Death-Scene Echoes and two Lesser Echoes form a Moderate encounter.
- Shepherd Boy: Death-Scene Echo with Endless Fall
- Drowned Elder: Death-Scene Echo with Drowning in Air
- Additional Villagers: Lesser Thornwick Echoes with Last Walk Home or Final Accusation
Lesser Thornwick Echo
Creature -1A translucent villager endlessly repeating a few gestures from the final moments of its life.
Bound to the Tear The echo cannot willingly travel more than 300 feet from the veil-tear that created it. If forced beyond this distance, it immediately disperses.
Unstable Manifestation When reduced to 0 HP, the echo dissolves into mist instead of leaving a corpse. It reforms near the veil-tear after 1 hour unless the shard has been neutralized.
Echo Death-Scenes
Use these abilities with Lesser Thornwick Echoes or the stronger Death-Scene Echo below.
Endless Fall ◆◆ The echo rises several feet and suddenly plummets through the ground. Each creature in a 10-foot burst centered on the echo must attempt a DC 15 Reflex save.
- Critical Success: The creature is unaffected.
- Success: The creature takes 1d4 bludgeoning damage.
- Failure: The creature takes 1d6+2 bludgeoning damage and falls prone.
- Critical Failure: The creature takes 2d6 bludgeoning damage, falls prone, and is frightened 1.
Drowning in Air ◆◆ Water pours from the echo’s mouth while nearby creatures feel their lungs filling with icy grave-water. Each living creature in a 10-foot emanation must attempt a DC 15 Fortitude save.
- Critical Success: The creature is unaffected.
- Success: The creature takes 1 cold damage.
- Failure: The creature takes 1d6 cold damage and is sickened 1.
- Critical Failure: The creature takes 2d6 cold damage, is sickened 1, and can’t use actions with the auditory trait until the end of its next turn.
Last Walk Home ◆◆ The echo Flies up to its Speed. It can move through creatures during this movement. Each living creature it passes through must attempt a DC 15 Will save (one save max per use).
- Critical Success: The creature is unaffected.
- Success: The creature takes 1 mental damage.
- Failure: The creature takes 1d6 mental damage and is off-guard until the beginning of the echo’s next turn.
- Critical Failure: As failure, and the creature is stupefied 1 for 1 round.
Final Accusation ◆◆ The echo points at one creature within 30 feet and repeats an accusation spoken shortly before its death. The target must attempt a DC 15 Will save (temporarily immune for 10 minutes afterwards).
- Critical Success: The creature is unaffected.
- Success: The creature is frightened 1.
- Failure: The creature is frightened 2.
- Critical Failure: The creature is frightened 2 and fleeing until the end of its next turn.
Death-Scene Echo
Creature 1A particularly vivid echo capable of forcing nearby creatures to experience its death.
Bound to the Tear As Lesser Thornwick Echo.
Unstable Manifestation As Lesser Thornwick Echo.
Borrowed Awareness (aura) 10 feet. A creature that begins its turn within 10 feet of the echo must attempt a DC 17 Will save. On a failure, it becomes frightened 1 (frightened 2 on a critical failure). A creature that succeeds is temporarily immune for 10 minutes.
- Endless Fall: 2d6 bludgeoning (3d6 on critical failure)
- Drowning in Air: 1d6+3 cold (2d6+3 on critical failure)
- Last Walk Home: 1d6+3 mental
- Final Accusation: Save DC 17
Running the Church Defense (5 Rounds)
Regular attackers in this defense are Lesser Thornwick Echoes. The major threats are the Coalesced Echo and Shard-Resonant Echo.
Wave Schedule
- Round 1: 2× Lesser Echoes through main entrance.
- Round 2: 2× Lesser Echoes through cellar.
- Round 3: 1× Lesser Echo through bell tower & 1× Coalesced Echo through floor.
- Round 4: 2× Lesser Echoes through breached entrances.
- Round 5: 1× Shard-Resonant Echo manifests at the altar.
Round 5 Vitality Burst: At start of Round 5, Sister Mirela's ritual releases a pulse of vitality energy. Every Lesser Echo takes 10 vitality damage (usually dispersing them), and the Coalesced Echo takes 15 vitality damage.
Victory Conditions
The encounter ends at the conclusion of Round 5 if Sister Mirela is conscious, the ritual hasn't lost more than 1 round of progress, and at least 1 hero remains inside. Surviving echoes disperse when the seal forms.
Defensive Actions
Characters adjacent to an entrance can spend 2 actions to seal it (Athletics/Crafting DC 18 to Barricade, Religion DC 18 to Consecrate, or Occultism DC 20 to Trace Sigil). An entrance stays sealed until an echo spends 2 actions breaking through. On a critical success, the first echo attempting entry takes 2d6 vitality or force damage.
Coalesced Echo
Creature 5Dozens of trapped memories have fused into one distorted humanoid form. Faces surface across its body, scream their final words, and disappear beneath its flowing silhouette.
Bound to the Tear Cannot willingly travel more than 500 feet from its veil-tear.
Unstable Manifestation Breaks apart into harmless silhouettes at 0 HP; reforms after 24 hours unless the controlling shard is neutralized.
Chorus of Last Words (aura) 15 feet. A creature starting its turn within 15 feet must attempt a DC 22 Will save.
- Critical Success: Unaffected.
- Success: Unaffected, but hears disturbing whispers.
- Failure: Frightened 1.
- Critical Failure: Frightened 2 and stupefied 1 for 1 round.
Success grants 1-minute temporary immunity.
- Critical Success: Unaffected.
- Success: Half damage.
- Failure: 4d6 mental damage and off-guard for 1 round.
- Critical Failure: Double damage, off-guard for 1 round, and confused until end of next turn.
- Critical Success: Unaffected.
- Success: 2d6 mental damage.
- Failure: 4d6 mental damage and slowed 1 until end of next turn.
- Critical Failure: 8d6 mental damage and slowed 1 for 1 minute (save ends at end of turn).
Shard-Resonant Echo
Creature 4A false soul formed directly from the shard's power with shifting faces of the dead and silver fractures across its body.
Resonant Link Gains fast healing 5 while within 60 feet of the shard or active veil-tear. If the shard takes damage, fast healing is disabled until the end of its next turn.
Ritual Predator Automatically knows the location of any creature conducting or sustaining a ritual within 120 feet (they are not concealed or hidden).
Shard Feedback ↺ Trigger: Takes vitality damage or shard takes damage within 60 ft. Effect: Psychic shriek in a 60 ft range. Target attempts a DC 21 Will save.
- Critical Success: Unaffected.
- Success: 1d6 mental damage.
- Failure: 2d6 mental damage and stupefied 1 until end of next turn.
- Critical Failure: 4d6 mental damage and stupefied 2 until end of next turn.
- Critical Success: Unaffected.
- Success: Half damage.
- Failure: 4d6 mental damage and pulled 10 feet toward nearest veil-tear.
- Critical Failure: Double damage, pulled 20 feet, and falls prone.
- Critical Success: Unaffected (immune 1 min).
- Success: Stupefied 1 until start of next turn.
- Failure: Stupefied 1 for 1 round and loses 1 action at start of next turn.
- Critical Failure: As failure, and 1 round of ritual progress is lost (max 1 round lost total).
- Critical Success: Takes 4d6 spirit damage, loses Resonant Link for 1 minute, and stunned 1.
- Success: Takes 2d6 spirit damage and loses Resonant Link until end of next turn.
- Failure: Character takes 1d6 mental damage.
- Critical Failure: Character takes 2d6 mental damage and stupefied 1 for 1 round.
Sister Mirela
Leads the ritual during the church defense encounter.
Tactics & Support
Mirela spends 2 actions maintaining the ritual each round. Her 3rd action can be used to:
- Cast 1-action heal on an adjacent ally
- Cast guidance
- Raise a religious ward (+1 circumstance bonus to AC for an adjacent ally until her next turn)
- Step away from an approaching echo
Grist's Wife
Normally a noncombatant echo. Appears at midnight in the kitchen, whispering:
“Grist, the door. You forgot the door.”
Perception DC 18: Reveals a loose floorboard containing her wedding ring and an undelivered letter.
Benefits: Returning the ring to Grist gives a +2 circumstance bonus to gain his trust. Performing a burial rite lets her rest peacefully until the next Shard-Pulse.
If forced into combat, use a Death-Scene Echo with Last Walk Home (she never attacks Grist).